could easily win a national election. he had left the 1960 election which he lost narrowly to john f. kennedy with bitterness. and a sense the election had been stolen from him. this allowed the demon that is he always had within him to play during elections. >> it is about lust for power and absence of morality. >> it was all about holding on to power. no one can find out about this. whatever it takes. >> when the president does it it means that it is not illegal. >> i told the american people i did not trade hostages for arms. >> there will not be an abuse of power in this office. >> he develops weapons of mass destruction. >> we are in trouble. >> i just want to find 11,780 votes. >> and that's really when you reach a tipping point in a democracy. >> that's how dictators come to power. >> within hours of the arrests at the watergate, the nixon white house started covering up. i was the desk officer of the cover-up. i get the information and gather it and i share it and they were making decisions based on it as to how they can contain this problem. >> after the break-in, the fbi started an intense investigation to find out who in fact was responsible for sending these people in and how high up the orders came. >> john dean's primary job was to keep the investigators the hell away from the white house. don't let that investigation going on out there about the break-in and that sort of thing get into the white house. >> nixon understood that if people found out that the campaign staff was breaking in to the democratic national committee it would be a disaster for his re-election so he had to stop it. >> johner lickman called pat gray who i would be in charge of monitoring the fbi investigation. but i was also getting information above pat gray from the head of the criminal division of the department of justice henry peterson. we had been at the department of justice together. he knows not only everything the fbi knows but the grand jury and the u.s. attorneys know. i was keeping a eye generally on where the investigation was going and sending it up to the president. >> we learned very quickly that secret service had a report from metropolitan police. howard hunt's name was in the address book they found in the possession of the burglar. howard hunt was involved with the plumbers trying to track down leaks. >> hunt is the reason why the white house has to go into full cover-up mode immediately. hunt leads back to the plumbers. hunt leads back to the break-in. hunt leads back to coleson. this was really explosive stuff. >> i was in a meeting in ehrlichman's office. howard hunt had an office in the executive office building and stuff in the safe that we should get our hands on. ehrlichman called another staffer and told him to get the con tints of the safe. my deputy started to go through them and when i came in he said, listen, we don't want to leave fingerprints on this. why don't i get some rubber gloves to see what's here? that's the way it started. >> hunt's safe was loaded. there were some disguises that came from the cia that hunt used in '71. they were in the safe. >> there was a big briefcase and in it chap sticks with wires hanging out of them. literally these were from the scene of the crime. >> i told him about it and he said, john, you drive across the river at night. i said, i do. he said stop on the bridge and deep six that stuff. i convinced him that the smartest thing for the president was to give as much to the fbi as we could. >> he wanted to give the fbi the oirmgs was a unique event by the out of control group and the white house was cooperating. >> we had a night police reporter who heard from one of his source that is one of the burglars had an address book and in it was the name howard hunt as well as the initials for the white house next to it. woodward took the information and trying to find out who howard hunt was. >> called the white house switchboard. asked for howard hunt and the operator said, i believe he might be in mr. colson's office. he was nixon's hatchet man and that, of course, increased the interest and finally i got hunt on the phone and said, how come your name is in the address books of the burglars caught at the watergate? and he paused and screamed, good god! and hung up the phone. >> and so that became the next great focus of what we were trying to learn. if one of the burglars is known to be working for the white house, then that's quite amazing. >> the burglars believed that they were engaged in a national security effort ordered by the president. nixon did not want the congress and the american people to learn they thought they were working for him. >> to keep the burglars quiet the nixon white house starts talking to the cia about paying their legal fees and their salaries through the end their trial. >> i went in. i said those who were arrested at the dnc appear to have connections with the cia. they're now in a lot of trouble. is this the thing that the cia can come in and take care of them? >> the cia said, what? why? we won't be paying your spys. that will make the country think we are somehow involved. >> the next thing i heard about money to take care of the people arrested at the watergate is from john mitchell who said to get the services of a fund-raiser for the re-election committee good at raising money. >> herb dispersed $220,000 to the burglars. >> i didn't really stop to ponder it. i didn't want to ponder it. i didn't want to think about what i was doing so i didn't dwell on it. >> my sense is john deeb started out as a loyal soldier to try to prevent this from getting out of control but it is not just people in the government covering up something. it is really aimed at paying people to lie to protect higher ups and ongoing grand jury investigation. >> dean was an essential part of the criminal enterprise. he is the one who helped to deliver the money to the burglars. he is the one who got information from the justice department and so forth to help squash what was going on. >> i thought i could help myself and help these people who were in a whole hell of a lot of trouble and never needed me as much as they do and i got deeper in the mix than i otherwise probably would have been. (man) [whispering] what's going on? (burke) it's a farmers policy perk. get farmers and you could save money by doing nothing. just be claim-free on your home insurance for three years. (man) that's really something. (burke) get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. (dad) bravo! (mom) that's our son! (burke) we should. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ it's still the eat fresh refresh, and now subway's refreshing their italians. like the new supreme meats, topped high with new italian-style capicola. that's one handsome italian. uh... thanks. not you, garoppolo! ♪ subway keeps refreshing and refreshing and refres- ugh-stipated... feeling weighed down by a backedup gut" miralax is different. it works naturally with the water in your body to unblock your gut. ...free your gut. and your mood will follow. life... doesn't stop for diabetes. be ready for every moment, with glucerna. it's the number one doctor recommended brand that is scientifically designed to help manage your blood sugar. live every moment. glucerna. this is a warrior. midnight to morning, she's in command. all-day comfort. all-night shift. head nurse. heart on her sleeve. so, when leaks show up, our protection helps keep them dry. depend. the only thing stronger than us, is you.™ meltin', breadin', bakin', shreddin'. slicin', dicin', spicin', ricin'. if you're swissing it, then you're missing it. fryin', flyin', savorin', favorin'. over rotini. inside a panini. egging, maining, siding, plain-ing. debunk the inglorious. one shape's victorious. kraft singles. square it. august 27 i was asked to come out to the western white house. the president was going to do a press conference. by late august watergate was really a nonissue with the public. it wasn't a campaign issue. but nixon knew that the media would ask him questions so he said, i have had my white house counsel john dean investigate this. >> dean has conducted a complete investigation of all leads which might involve any present members of the white house staff or anybody in the government. >> nixon lied inventing a story about the investigation using me as his new shield. >> his investigation indicates that no one in the white house staff, no one in this administration, presently employed was involved in this very bizarre incident. >> i was flabbergasted. i thought, what a nice vote of confidence. isn't that flattering that he called me out? but then i realized he putt me in front of the bus. >> john dean was gradually being set up. nixon planned to make dean the fall guy. >> in the first couple weeks after the break-in i learned that there was an investigation by a prosecutor in florida who had found a check that went through the watergate burglar's catalanotto and connected to the committee for the re-election of the president so i said to the editors at "washington post," there's a guy down there in florida doing an investigation and they got me on the next plane to go down to florida where the burglars were from and there's the check for $25,000. i called woodward. i said somewhere in this world is a guy named kenneth and we need to find him really fast. woodward found him and indeed he worked at the campaign for the re-election of nixon. he gave a check and then he had gone into the bank account of one of the watergate burglars and the key connection between the committee for re-election of the president and the higher ups in the campaign. >> "the washington post" discovered that $25,000 in political contributions to president nixon's campaign somehow turned up in a florida bank account. >> over the summer there was a number of newpaper stories about all different things going on at the committee to re-elect the president and how the house bank committee got involved. >> the only serious investigation aside from the police arrests of the burglars was an effort by the house banking committee in congress to find out the source of the money for the burglars and headed by wright patman a forceful congressman from texas. >> chairman patman asking for subpoena powers to compelled those to appear before open televised hearings. >> he had the staff start an investigation in mid-august. >> he put that together and made an initial report to the members of the committee september 12th. september 15th the watergate burglars were indicted so that included the five at the watergate and e. howard hunt and g. gordon liddy. >> the fbi did the job and felt there's seven people to seek indictments for and when the indictments to limited to only seven people richard nixon knows who he has to thank. it is john dean. >> i was called in for what was called in those days a stroking session and it is sort of a pat on the head for a job well done. just the fact in the presence of the president is the reward. i'd nevada been in a one on one with just he and alderman and myself. nixon waxed long on what he wanted to do in the second term, to use the power of the presidency to go after enemies. >> we will not use the power. we had to used it narrowly. the justice department. but things are going to change now. it is an exciting prospect. >> no line in this tape is more embarrassing than the exciting prospect line which was pure suck-up. i had no idea there were tapes. i was embarrassed at my own behavior. >> there's a tremendous similarity between nixon, dean and trump and cohen. every now and then you get a pacpat on the back and a ray of sunshine on your body and feel a tremendous warmth from the most powerful person in the world. that's intoxicating. >> from the time of watergate to the trump era is you do for him and do for him, you do for him. you prostrate yourself. sacrifice your honor to protect him or in some way retaliate against adversaries. >> cost me everything. the law license. my freedom. my family's happiness. i was in the prison because i advocated for donald j. trump. >> september 15 meeting nixon met with halderman and dean. they discussed how to stop the patman investigation. >> stand up there in front of the cams ra. >> it could have been a disaster. nixon really couldn't withstand a wide open investigation. >> the members will vote to give the american people the facts, all the facts about this political espionage or shut the door. >> the solution was let's just get rid of it. use the republican power on the hill to block it. >> they went to gerald ford who was the republican leader in the house of representatives and asked him to marshal the republican votes on the pat marn committee to oppose any investigation and ford did that. >> 15-20. >> the resolution lost. >> so we lost the vote 20-15. >> we were running out of time. he called the hearing for october 10. so even though we didn't have subpoena power we thought that we can get them. we called mitchell, stands and dean and they did not show up. >> patman had the cameras come in and take pictures of the empty chairs and the cover-up went on. ♪ ♪ excuse me! uh, sir, we just cleaned the windows. enjoy the minions menu at ihop. for a limited time kids eat free! and catch minions: the rise of gru. only in theaters. i brought in ensure max protein, with thirty grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks! (sighs wearily) here i'll take that! (excited yell) woo-hoo! ensure max protein. with thirty grams of protein, one gram of sugar, and nutrients to support immune health. it's started. somewhere between a cuddle and a struggle, it's...the side hug. tween milestones like this may start at age 9. hpv vaccination - a type of cancer prevention against certain hpv-related cancers, can start then too. for most, hpv clears on its own. but for others, it can cause certain cancers later in life. you're welcome! now, as the "dad cab", it's my cue to help protect them. embrace this phase. help protect them in the next. ask their doctor about hpv vaccination today. there's a reason comcast business powers more businesses than any other provider. actually, there's a few... comcast business offers the fastest, reliable network... the protection of securityedge™ and the most reliable 5g network. want me to keep going? i can... whether your small business is starting or growing, you need comcast business. technology solutions that put you ahead. get a great offer on internet and security, now with more speed and more bandwidth. plus find out how to get up to a $650 prepaid card with a qualifying bundle. 550,000 copies of this paper circulate every day. it is the only morning newspaper in the most powerful capital in the world. >> we wrote during watergate 300 stories, 350. first year we wrote 200 stories. most people, including our colleagues in the washington press corps, didn't believe the stories we were writing. we were way out there on a limb. >> we had witnesses and then we had deep throat, mark felt. >> woodward has this source. he had been a deputy director of the fbi. >> i was in the navy, navy operations sent me to the white house. i met felt, got his phone number, and when i became a reporter, he helped me with a number of stories before watergate, and then watergate was the big story. and i pressured him, and he said okay, let's meet in an underground garage. what he was talking about was the significance of the criminality, explaining in a very important way the scope and the scale of watergate. >> the media was critical in focusing the public's attention on what was happening with president nixon. >> i think the work of journalists was crucial in helping to expose nixon's criminality and improprieties. and they were young people. maybe they were too green in a way to know what they were up against, but it took a lot of courage and guts, and i have huge admiration and respect for bob woodward and carl bernstein. >> i don't respect the type of journalism, the shabby journalism that is being practiced by "the washington post." >> woodward and bernstein were obviously the most aggressive reporters, but it shows that journalism has its limit against the president. a president's pulpit is much more powerful than any one newspaper. >> we were attacked almost every day by the leadership of the republican party. they would try to make our conduct at "the washington post" the issue in watergate rather than the conduct of the president and the men around him. >> using innuendo, third person hearsay, unsubstantiated charges, anonymous sources, and huge scary headlines, "the post" has maliciously sought to give the appearance of a direct connection between the white house and the watergate. >> when somebody denies something that you know is true, it actually was a stimulus to us to keep working on this story, no matter how harsh the criticism and denunciation was. >> we started at the bottom. we learned from this bookkeeper who worked at the committee for the re-election of the president that there had been a secret fund that paid for undercover operations against the democrats. there were five people who controlled the funds, and finally, we get to the point where we know that nixon's campaign manager john mitchell, former attorney general of the united states, had been among those five people who controlled the secret funds. so we decided we're going do a story on this. i had this number for mitchell, and i called him, and mitchell answered the phone. and i said, mr. attorney general, i have a story i'd like to read to you that's in the next day's paper and get your response. i'm starting to read, and i got as far as john n. mitchell, attorney general of the united states, controlled a secret fund. and mitchell said, "jesus." and then i went a few more words into the first paragraph, and mitchell said, "jesus." and then i got to the end of the first paragraph, by which time the drift of the story was unmistakable. and mitchell said "jesus christ, all that crap, you're putting it in the paper. if you print that, katharine graham the publisher of "the washington post" is going to get her tit caught in a big fat ringer. and when this campaign is over, we're going do a little story on you two boys," and hung up the phone. i have to say, it is the most chilling story i've ever experienced as a reporter, because the threat was real. >> the brazenness that they could say those things about us, we'll do a little story on you and about mrs. graham, spoke volumes about their perception of their own dominance and power. >> i called ben bradlee, the editor of the paper. bradley said to us, you know there has never been a story like this ever before. you're about to say that the attorney -- the former attorney general of the united states, the highest law enforcement officer in the country is a crook. and we said, yeah. but we're right. >> "the washington post" says it has been told that while mitchell was attorney general, he controlled a secret republican party fund used to finance clandestine political espionage operations. mitchell denied the allegations today with some intensity. >> and so mitchell and some of the others at the committee for the re-election of the president came up with the idea that they could put "the washington post" out of business. one day a subpoena server came to "the washington post." i got a call from downstairs, and i said, don't let him upstairs to the newsroom. just hold him there. and i called bradlee, and i said, there is a subpoena server there for our notes. and he said, let me call katharine. i get emotional when i talk about this to this day. bradlee called me back. and he says, katharine graham says they're not your notes. they're her notes. and if anybody is going to go to jail, she is going to go to jail. a