commission generally. almost 2-3 americans seem to feel that behind such a monstrous deed, there must've been a conspiracy. tomorrow night, we will be back at the same time with dan rather and eddie barker in dealey plaza when we consider the question, was there a conspiracy? >> according to cbs news, a 1967 gallup poll showed that more than 6-10 americans believe there was more than one gunman in dealey plaza on november 22, 1963, when president kennedy was assassinated. in an effort to document lingering controversies and investigate lingering questions, cbs news broadcast fou 1-hour specials in 1967. next on reel america, part two of the cbs news inquiry, the warren report anchored by walter cronkite and including interviews with key witnesses. the second program sets out to

answer the question --was there a conspiracy to assassinate president kennedy? the second program is about 50 minutes. [video clip] >> a cbs news inquiry, the warren report continues. here again is walter cronkite. walter: last night, in the first of the series of four broadcasts about the warren report, cbs news considered and tried to give reasonable answers to some major questions about the report. did lee harvey oswald take a rifle to the book depository building? our answer was yes. where was he on the day president kennedy was shot? in the building on the sixth floor. was his rifle fired from the building? yes. how many shots were fired? most likely three. shots]res three how fast could oswald's rifle be fired?

fast enough. what was the time span of the shots? most likely the assassin had more time and not less. these cbs news conclusions added up to the answer. did lee harvey oswald shoot president kennedy? our conclusion was that he did. beyond a reasonable doubt, he was at least one of the men that fired upon president kennedy. but was he "the killer" or "a killer?" the lone man -- tonight's central question -- was there a conspiracy to assassinate president kennedy? >> this is a cbs news inquiry. the warren report. here is walter cronkite. walter: in the 888 pages of the warren commission report on the assassination, these are certainly among the most

significant words -- the commission has found no evidence that either lee harvey oswald or jack ruby were part of any conspiracy, domestic or foreign, to assassinate president kennedy. and the report also states that the commission has found no evidence that anyone assisted oswald in planning or carrying out the assassination. let us stop a moment to examine just what that says and more important, what it does not say. note that contrary to the popular impression, the commission by these words left the question of conspiracy open just a crack. the words do not preclude the possibility of a conspiracy. they do not say that the commission concluded that there was no conspiracy or that oswald was the sole assassin. they only say that the commission can find no evidence that others were involved. no evidence that there was a conspiracy. if there was a conspiracy, it could have taken one of two

forms. either oswald was a solo gunman and the behind the scenes manipulator or there were one or more additional gunmen firing at the president. most of the critics of the report insist there were other gunmen. within the broad manner of conspiracy, our basic questions tonight are where do the shots come from? if they did not all come from the book depository window, there was more likely some sort of conspiracy. could a single bullet that wounded both president kennedy and governor connally -- the single bullet theory has become the most controversial aspect of the report. the commission said it was not essential to its conclusion. but to make those conclusions square with the facts, three groups of wounds were caused by two bullets, the single bullet theory or all three bullets from oswald's rifle struck president kennedy and governor connally which the commission rejected. the only other alternative is a

second assassin. let us look first at the scene of the assassination in dealey plaza, dallas, texas. here is our correspondent, dan rather. dan: here is a part of the story not in dispute. the presidential motorcade entered the plaza with a sharp right turn off of maine and on to houston. it ran slowly along the eastern edge of dealey plaza. then the motorcade slowed even more for the extremely sharp left, more than 90 degrees onto elm street which runs directly beneath the windows of the depository building. a perfect place for an ambush. as the limousine drifted into the odd s-curve, shots rained down on it. walter: here is the first basic question of the night -- where did the shots come from? dan: in last night's program, we

decided that some of the shots came from here. there were reports of virtually simultaneous shots which would mean more than one assassin. the shots are reported from over there, the famous grassy knoll ahead of, to the right of, and slightly above the president's car. witnesses from both sets of shots are positive and persuasive. this photograph shows one group of those witnesses. oswald's coworkers who put themselves in other windows to watch the parade and instead saw the murder. >> when the president came around, we saw him standing up and waving. as he turned to go down the street, we heard a shot and we saw the president slump. we are sad. we saw him slump and one guy said -- i believe they are

shooting at the president. and i believe it came from over there. >> somebody said someone is shooting at the president. i said -- i know it because i can hear the shots above me. after the shots were fired, all of the officers and everyone else seemed to think they came from there. just like i said, i have been around enough to know the sound especially that close to me.r. >> the witnesses in the fifth floor window say they heard the shots right overhead. other witnesses below say they heard shots from elsewhere. this is the view of elm street from the grassy knoll near the picket fence where some people think there was another gunmen hidden.

we are looking through the trees at where the final shot took effect. the shot that killed the president. at this point, the president would've presented as good a target from here as from the book depository. some think that right from here is where the fatal shot came from. a railroad man was up on the overpass when the firing started. from here, you can see the book depository from here and the grassy knoll. mr. holland came back to appear with us a short while ago and his is perhaps the most telling account in favor of the grassy knoll theory. not only because of what he saw and heard during the assassination but what he says he found on the grassy knoll immediately afterward. >> just about the time that the parade turned on elm street, where the truck is or bus is now, there was a shot that came from the upper end of the street. i could not say at that time that it came from the book depository building.

i heard it come from the other end of the street. and the president slumped over, forward like that and tried to raise up his hand. the governor, governor connally was sitting in front of him on the right side of the car and tried to turn to his right. he was sitting too close to the door. he could not make it and turned back with his arm out. about that time, a second shot was fired and it knocked him forward and he slumped to the right. and i guess his wife pulled him over into her lap because he fell over into her lap. about that time, there was a third report that was not very loud as the two previous reports and it came from the picket fence. and then there was a fourth report. a third and fourth report were

almost simultaneous. the third was not nearly as loud as the two previous reports or the fourth report. i glanced over underneath the green tree and you could see a little puff of smoke, and it was about 8-10 feet off the ground. and about 15 feet this side of the tree. i immediately ran around to the spot where the shot came from. but there was no one there because it took us a while to thread our way through the crowds. there were so many cars parked there. but when i got over there, i did find where a man had been standing and walking from one end to the other. i guess if you could have counted the footsteps, it would have been 200 or more. muddy spots. footprints. there were two mud spots on the bumper of the station wagon.

>> would you show me the place you're talking about? >> yes, i will. >> now mr. holland, where with the person have been --have to have been standing? right here. were they fresh footsteps? >> he was standing right here. they were fresh because it was raining that morning. there was mud on the bumper of the station wagon. there were two sets of footprints. they left the station wagon and went behind a white chevrolet car that was sitting over there. her, --ams uproot abraham zapruder, whose film of the assassination was studied at length unless nice program was standing up on this little while, right at the edge of the dressing all.

mr. zapruder, when we interviewed him, tended to agree was not grassy knoll involved. >> i am not a ballistic expert that i believe the shots came from my right ear -- i would've heard a different sound. i heard shots coming from -- i would not know which traction, but it could have been the book depository and they all sounded alike. there was no difference at all. >> associated press photographer james allkin was looking towards the book depository. james: as i was getting ready to make some pictures, i heard this noise. i thought it was a firecracker explosion. i made the picture which shows the president right after he is was struck with a bullet. struck in the neck, the first shot. and this was a picture that the warren report later fixed as being made two seconds after the shot was fired.

and as they got close into me and i was prepared to make the picture, i had my camera almost at i level. that is when the president was shot in the head. and i do know that the president was still in an upright position, tilted favoring mrs. kennedy and at the time that he was struck by this blow to the head, it was so obvious that it came from behind. it had to come from behind because it caused him to fall forward dislodging him from this depression in the seat cushion. and already favoring mrs. kennedy, he automatically fell in that direction. the one thing that did seem to be strange, immediately the car proceeded onto parkland hospital, men with guns drawn ran into this plaza which is

considered to be the knoll area thinking they had the assassin cornered in the knoll area. it seemed strange as i say because knowing the shot came from behind, this fellow really had to move in order to get into the knoll area. >> you have no thoughts about another assassin the hind the fence or on the knoll? >> i have had a lot of people contact me saying they thought another person was involved. they tried to have me verify photographs that they had or work out information they thought they had come across to substantiate the fact that there was another assassin. but at no time has this evidence proved to me beyond the shadow of a doubt that there was another assassin. with car in which i was driving which occupied the vice

president had just completed his turn. i felt a blast which appeared to be a rifle blast come from behind me. i turned and looked up. >> what about the people that say shots came from the fence area right here? would you agree with that? >> i do not hear that i do not think there was. i could feel the concussion from all three. austine barker went to to ask the same question about governor and mrs. connelly, who were in the best possible position to know where the shots came from. >> they all came from the same place. from behind my shoulder. not in front of us or beside us. there were no sounds like that emanating. >> was there any doubt in your mind the direction that the shots came from? >> no, they all came from the same direction. wax which was? >> behind us, over my right shoulder. the first sound, the first shot

i heard and turned and looked right into the president's face. the sound drew me to that direction. and i had a definite reaction. in abraham zapruder's film of the assassination, the fatal shot appears to move the head of the president back. critics contend that can only mean that the shot came not from the book depository but from somewhere in front. not for the first time or in the last, we find equally qualified experts in disagreement. we put the question of the president's head movement to a photo analyst and two expert pathologists. >> from a photographic analysis point of view, what can you tell about the direction of the bullet? >> in frame 313 there was an

apparent explosion at this point which would be on the front side of the head. now characteristically, this would indicate to me that the bullet came from behind. and this is what is called spawling -- a minor explosion where pieces of the material have left and go generally in the direction of the bullet. >> now, this minor explosion occurs forward of the president. wouldn't that indicate the bullet coming from the front? >> quite contrary. it indicates the bullet was coming from behind. >> you are aware that some critics say that in the picture you can see the bullet on the front side of the president and that that certainly indicates the bullet came from the front. >> i do know believe any physicist ever said that. -- i do not believe any

physicist ever said that. this picture might explain the principle we are talking about more clearly. it is a picture of a bullet going through a light bulb. the bullet was traveling from this direction, entered the lightbulb or, past a thorough and caused a rather violent explosion to occur on the exiting side and is very similar to the situation in the zapruder kennedy assassination film. >> that is one explanation from a physicist as to how a head could move backward after being struck from behind. forensic pathologists are experts in the examination of victims of violent death, both medically and legally qualified. dan rather put it to one of them, professor cyril wecht. wecht: i have seen so many biological and physical variations occur in forensic pathology to say that it would've been impossible.

i say that it is quite unlikely. i say that it is difficult for me to accept but i would have to admit that that it is a possibility that his body could have moved in that direction after having been struck by a bullet that hit him in the back of the head. walter: eyewitnesses and film analysts often produces many problems as they solve. the physical evidence in this case would seem to be more reliable and that came to the attention of the doctors of parkland hospital who were the first to look closely at the massive head wound and the less critical wound. perry,land, dr. malcolm the attending surgeon, tried to keep the president alive. the very urgency of that problem prevented him from examining the two wounds. he now explains in his first public statement since the report was published. was the right posterior portion of the head. i did not examine it. there was no time for first examinations.

if a patent airway cannot be some things must take precedence and priority. in this instance, the bleeding had to be controlled initially. dan: what about the will and that you observed -- what about the wound that you observed in the front of the president's net? would you tell me about that? perry: the emergency proceedings at hand necessitated immediate action. there was no time to do anything more than an extremely light examination. >> there has been a lot said and written about was this an exit wound or an entry wound? would you discuss that with me, sir? dr. perry: this is a difficult problem. the determination of exit or entrance frequently requires the trajectory. i did not do this. none of us did at the time. there was no time. the differentiation between

wounds isnd exit often made on the disparity of sizes. if the bullet does not expand and it is a full jacketed bullet such as is commonly used in the military, the entrance and exit ones would be the same. without the bullet, the wounds would be similar and even the trained observer could not distinguish between the two. >> did it occur to you at that time, or did you think this was an exit wound? dr. perry: i did not give it much thought. i realized it would've been better had i done so. i applied my energies and all of us there did focus on the problem at hand. i wasn't too concerned with how it happened or why. and for that reason i did not think about cutting through the

wound, which of course rendered it useless for further examination. it did not occur to me. i did what was necessary. i did not think much about it. >> you did not turn the president over? perry: there was no reason to do that. it made very little difference to me since my immediate concern was an attempt at resuscitation. cronkite: the nature of the throat wound can no longer be verified. no records remain and no pictures were taken before the doctor cut through it in an attempt to relieve the breathing of the patient. they were engaged in a desperate struggle to keep the president alive. all else was secondary. their task was impossible. one of the shots had virtually destroyed the head of the president. even as they worked, the president died. the scene was turbulent and disorderly. the press and the public were clamoring for news. dr. parry was rushed from the emergency room to a press conference where he was badgered into giving a description of the

wound. the network, he told the press, looked like an entry wound. in the transcript of the news conference, there is no doubt that the doctor made a sound that he had a firm opinion. the reporter's flash to the news. in that moment of confusion, this established once and for all a conviction that at least one bullet had been fired from the front of the motorcade. legally the dead president was now just another part of the evidence in a texas homicide case. the murder had been committed in that state and there were no laws that give the federal government jurisdiction. in his book "the death of a president," william manchester describes a scene of almost horrifying confusion where the medical examiner tried to prevent the removal of the president. kennedy aides bulldozed him out of the hospital. during the flight to washington

come it was agreed that an autopsy had to be performed. mrs. kennedy chose bethesda military hospital because her husband had been a naval officer. the autopsy was performed by the chief of pathology. dr. j thorton boswell was the pathologist. he reported in a document that the president's wounds were inflicted from the rear. as part of standard procedure, they had photographs and x-rays taken as they proceeded. confusion continued at bethesda. fbi agents submitted a report later disclosed in edward jay epstein's book on the inquest, that one pathologist had found a wound in the back of the president and could not find an exit. the warren report was explicit -- the war and report was explicit that there was not a wound in the back. the photographs and x-rays which might clear up the issue were in possession of the kennedy family

and only officially turned over on october 31, 1966, with a provision that they not be made public until now. the senior apologist has since gone to the archives and re-examined the x-rays and photographs. his conclusions we will hear later in an exclusive interview, the only one he has granted since that fateful night. but first, the observations from dr. wecht. dr. wecht: this sketch made by dr. boswell is a very important sketch. it shows the bullet hole which he diagrammed in at a point approximately several inches below the collar level although he does give other measurements to the side which would place it at a higher level.

the commission report accepted that the bullet entered very near the neck. take a look at this sketch if you would please. this was made by a medical illustrator at the bethesda hospital. this sketch shows the one that was accepted by the warren commission showing the point of entrance in the back at a much higher level and the point of exit at approximately the level of the nknot of the tie. you can see why it was important to accurately determine whether or not the bullet wound in the back was at this point or 5.5 inches below the collar level. mr. cronkite: since the x-rays and films were turned over to the archives, the captain has re-examined them and for the first time he discusses with dan rather what was contained in them. dan: captain hughes, have you had a look at the pictures and x-rays of the autopsy since they were submitted into the commission?

captain hughes: yes, i have. dan: do you have any differing conclusions or thoughts after seeing them again than you did at the time? captain hughes: no. we think they bear out very well and closely to our testimony before the commission. dan: how many wounds in the president's body? captain hughes: two of entry and two of exit. one was low in the right posterior scalp and one at the base of the neck on the right. dan: let us talk about the two wounds. both of these are blowups from the commission report. these sets of drawings. there are people who think they see discrepancies in these two drawings from the commission report. in this drawing, it shows what you called an entry wound at the base of the neck of the president. it seems to show it to be in the

upper back near the shoulder blades. that is considerably below the base of the neck. whereas, this drawing does show the entry wound to be at the base of the neck. could you talk about these and reconcile those? captain hughes: yes, sir. this first drawing is a sketch where the outlines of the figure are already prepared. these are routinely used to mark in general where wounds might be in conducting a postmortem examination. they were never meant to be accurate or precisely to scale. dan: this is routine in preparing autopsy reports to use these drawings? and at this stage for them not to be percent -- to be prepared precisely? captain hughes: no precise measurements are made. they are used as an aid memoir to the pathologist when he later

writes his report. more importantly we feel that the measurements which are noted here in the margins of the drawing are the precise measurements which we took. one states that we drew two lines for points of reference. we note that the wound was 14 centimeters from the tip of the right of the right to mastoid. this is the most extreme outer portion of the shoulder. prominenceony outside of the ear, the mastoid. if we were trying to draw that to scale, which we were not trying to do as this mark was made, this i think would appear higher. dan: you examined this whole area of the back. were there any other wounds other than the base of the neck and one in the skull? captain hughes: there were not.

the second drawing was prepared as we were preparing to testify before the commission to show schematically and as accurately as we could. dan: in this drawing you were trying to be precise? captain hughes: yes, sir, we were. we were trying to be precise and refer back to the measurements that we made that were noted in the margins of the other drying. -- of the other drawing. time, we since this also have had an opportunity to review the photographsl that we clearly that the wound was exactly where we stated it to be in our testimony before the commission and as it is shown in the drawing. dan: your re-examination of the photographs verify that the wounds were as they are shown here.

about the head wound. there was only one? and that was where? captain hughes: yes sir. posterior. dan: and the exit wound? captain hughes: it was a large, irregular wound to the front right side of the president's head. dan: can you be absolutely certain that the wound you describe as the entrance wound was in fact? captain hughes: yes, we can. the missile traversed the skin and then the bony skull. as it passed through the skull, it produced a characteristic co beveling effect showing that the wound was made from behind.

dan: this is very important. you said it was scientific evidence, is it conclusive? captain hughes: yes, it is. dan: how many autopsies have you performed? captain hughes: approximately 10,000. doubt thatre any that was an entry when? cap to use: no. cronkite: there is no doubt it was made from the back of the head. the chief pathologist states without the slightest hesitation that the shots that killed the president came from the rear. a cbs news inquiry, the warren report continues. mr. cronkite: in answer to our question whether shots came from other than the book depository, ear witnesses inside the

building saying the shots came from there. mr. holland said he sure heard a shot here. this book shows that 58 out of 90 people ask said they thought the shots came from the grassy null. expert opinions differ. experts agree that the shots could have come from the rear. but where some experts say bluntly that they did, others find it highly unlikely. cbs news concludes that the most reasonable answer is that the shots came from the book depository building behind the president and governor connally but if the shots came from the rear and if there were only three, can all of the wounds be accounted for? the president was struck twice. governor connally was wounded in the chest, the wrist, and the five. one bullet was recovered intact. the warren commission concluded that of the three bullets fired, one missed entirely, one struck the president and one went through his neck and inflicted

all of the governor's wounds. this is the single bullet theory. we must ask, could a single bullet have wounded president kennedy and governor connally? this is what the report says. although it is not necessary to any findings of the commission to determine which shot hit governor connally, there is there a persuasive evidence from the experts to indicate that the same bullet that pierced the governorso caused connally's wounds. however, the governor's testimony and other factors have given rise to some difference of opinion as to this probability but there is no question in the minds of anyone in the commission that all of the shots that caused the wounds were fired from the sixth floor of the texas school book depository. through the tortured english of that paragraph, the sentence that begins with "however" and has "but" in the middle, we can hear the commission struggling to paper over disagreements.

it is unfruitful to try to puzzle out the meaning. instead we asked arlen specter, assistant counsel to the commission and now district attorney in philadelphia and the author of the single bullet theory. mr. specter: the possibility of one bullet inflicting the woman's on the president's neck and the body of the governor came in a gradual way. the first insight was given when the doctor testified based on his autopsy findings. at that time, it was made clear for the first time that the bullet that went through the president's neck hit no bone or solid muscle. and according to the doctor came out with great velocity. it was at that juncture that we wondered for the first time what happened to the bullet? where did it go? the probability is that it went into governor connally because it struck nothing else in the car. that is the single most convincing piece of evidence.

that the one bullet hit both men because looking down the trajectory as i see it through oswald's own rifle and others did also, the trajectory was such that it is all most certain that the bullet came out of the neck of the president with great velocity would have had to hit the car or someone in the car. dan: it is stated in the commission report that belief in the single bullet theory is not essential. to support the conclusion of the commission report. can you describe for us any other theory besides the single bullet theory that would support the conclusions in the report? mr. specter: the commission concluded that it was probable that one bullet inflicted the wound on the president's neck and all of the wounds on governor connally. but you could have three separate bullets striking in the sequence as we know it. for example, the president could have been struck at frame 186 of

the zapruder film, a number given to the zapruder film. then governor connally could've been struck some 42 frames later which would be a little over 2.25 seconds at about frame number 229. and the third shot could've hit president kennedy's head at frame 313. it is not indispensable to have the single bullet conclusion to come to the basic finding that oswald was the sole assassin. mr. cronkite: the dilemma of the commission was that it had to choose between two unpalatable conclusions. having decided that three shots were fired and having three sets of wounds explain, the commission could only find either that all three shots hit their marks or one hit two men. but if all three shots hit, one would've had to pass through the

neck of the president, emerge on a downward path in the midst of the car and the six people in it and vanish in midair, hitting nothing and leaving no mark. this was more than the commission could stomach despite its own words. the single billet bullet theory is essential to its findings. the man who found the bullet was darrell c tomlinson. >> there was a doctor the way -- that went into the doctor's lounge. he had to pull this stretcher out. whenever he came out, he failed to push up against the wall. so i stepped over, gave a kick to get it back in line. i tried to walk away and i heard a rattle.

i turned and looked. i walked back over to the stretcher. there was this bullet laying there. i looked at it. i put in my pocket. recall, was there any blood on the bullet? how did the bullet look? >> it was copper colored bullet. i could not tell whether it had blood on it or not. i really didn't look. >> it was a spent shell? >> yes. >> is you think back, is there any doubt in your mind that the stretcher on which he found that -- on which you found that bullet was the one that came off off of the elevator? >> that i know. i just don't know who was on that stretcher. >> but the stretcher was on the elevator. >> right. >> and that's the elevator governor connally would've taken or placed on to go to the

operating room? >> yes. that is the one he went up on. mr. cronkite: the bullet came from the president's stretcher according to critics. but his stretcher was never in the elevator. consequently, his recollection disposes of that particular dispute. it does not dispose of another claim, however. the claim the bullet was planted on the governor stretcher as part of a plot to link oswald to the assassination. that claim can never be disproved. >> the bullet was almost intact, almost completely flattened. could such a bullet have penetrated a human neck, torso, five, and emerged in this condition? they use blocks of gelatin to test. they fired repeated shots from oswald's rifle. this is standard technique. because of the difficulty of lining up such a shot they fired separately through the various simulators.

each time they measured how much speed the bullet lost from its initial 2000 feet per second. in the end, they concluded the bullet would have retained enough velocity to penetrate the governor's side. it seemed the only completely valid test would be a single shot directly through a series of objects with the same thickness and density of the two bodies. we decided to make that shot. >> the ballistics expert who conducted the cast for the warren commission served as consultant to cbs news at the ballistics laboratory. he suggested using gelatin blocks to simulate human tissue. the object was to line up targets similar to the president and governor. and to see how far a bullet would penetrate. extensive research has shown

gelatin in a 20% concentration gives a good simulation of human tissue. the first block was made 5.5 inches thick to simulate the president's neck. with cloth added to represent his coat and shirt. a 12 inch block to simulate -- to simulate the governor's chest. this shows the chest simulation block and how the bullet, slightly unstable begins to turn off course as it tears through the gelatin. the wrist block was 2.5 inches thick to represent bone. beyond was a fourth target representing the governor's thigh. >> when the bullet struck the simulated neck, it was perfectly stable. it made a small track in the

gelatin. this closely simulates the wound received by the president. it was a small entrance and exit. >> this is about the way it would look through human muscle tissue. >> yes. after the bullet left the simulated neck, it had a chance to strike this block. by the time it struck this block, it was tipped. you can see the difference. a much larger track than the gelatin block, which represents a more serious wound as the type the governor received. in his case, the bullet fractured the rib. it through fragments into the lung. we have no rib here that it still simulates passing through flesh. by the time it passed through

here it lost considerable velocity and entered the simulated wrist. in some cases it passed through, and in others it stopped. we had another gelatin block representing the governor's thigh. it would have caused a similar wound. >> what do you think these tests have indicated? >> i think they strongly show this one bullet could have caused all the wounds. >> did someone outline these experiences for you? >> no. i am afraid i am guilty of the whole business. mr. cronkite: our tests conclude that a single bullet could have wounded all men. but we must also ask if it is probable. we asked to distinguished pathologists experienced in the study of one's to give us their best judgment.

first, dan rather. dan: i have had cases in which missiles have run through heavy bone and little deforming. the fact that it went through two men is acceptable because of velocity. it hits a bone, it shatters a bullet. depends upon the construction of the missile. it is a full jacketed bullet. , with remain intact little or no deformity. >> is it impossible? is it impossible that the bullet would've gone through president --nedy, onto governor colony to governor connally, and not shown more damage? upon theicine we fall trite expression that we don't like to say something is

impossible. i would say that it is highly improbable. i would hesitate really to say that it is absolutely 100% impossible. but it is highly improbable. highly one of the many improbable's that we are asked to accept by the warren commission if we are to except the validity of the full report. >> the most persuasive critic of the single bullet theory is the one who seems to know best, texas governor john connolly. although he accepts the war and reports conclusion that oswald did the shooting, he never believed that the bullet could've hit both the president and himself. only way i could ever reconcile my memory of what happened and what occurred with respect to the one bullet theory is that it had to be the second bullet that might have hit us both.

>> do you believe that it could've hit kennedy? >> it is possible. the best witness i know doesn't believe that. my wife was there. she sought. she saw him. she thinks the second bullet hit me and the third bullet hit him. the first bullet hit. i turned and looked right into the president's face. he was clutching his throat. he just slumped down. he had a look of nothingness on his face. he did not say anything. that was the first shot. the second shot that hit john, i could see him covered with blood. and his reaction to a second shot.

the third shot, even though i did not see this, i felt matter all over me and could see it all over the car. i will just have to say that i think there were three shots and i had a reaction to three shots. that is just what i believe. >> beyond any question, the first bullet did not hit me. the second did hit me. the third did not hit me. so far as i am concerned, all i can say with any finality is if the single bullet theory is correct, it had to be the second bullet that hit president kennedy and me. >> he heard a shot before he was struck and he could not have been struck the first bullet as the warren commission supposes. those of you with us last night

remember that we decided filmations in the zapruder indicate a first shot was fired earlier, which missed. the governor could indeed have heard a shot and the gun reacting to it before he himself was hit. we have three theories to explain the same facts. the single bullet theory, the second assassin theory, the theory that all three bullets found their targets. our own view is that it is difficult to believe the single bullet theory but to believe the other theories is even more difficult. if the governor's wounds were caused by a separate bullet, then we must believe a bullet passed through the president's neck, emerged on a course taking it into the middle of the automobile and then vanished without a trace. or we can complicate matters even further adding a second assassin who fires almost simultaneously and his bullet travels miraculously and that

second assassin vanishes without a trace. difficult to believe is the single bullet theory may be, it seems to be the least difficult of all of them to believe. in the end, we are persuaded a single bullet wounded president kennedy and governor connally. the warren report's contention that there was only one assassin rests on the conviction all of the wounds suffered by both men were inflicted by no more than three shots. we have heard captain humes and other doctors and experts. we have looked hard at the single bullet theory. the case is a strong one. there is not a single item of hard evidence of a second assassin. no wound attributed to him. no one who saw him, although he would have been firing in full view of the crowded plaza. no bullets, no cartridge cases, nothing tangible. if the demands for certainty made upon the commission were

applied to critics the theory of a second assassin would banish. as for the governor, he concedes he might have been struck by the bullet that pierced the president's throat. our own investigation makes it likely that the bullet was the second and not the first oswald fired. the governor's objections now disappear. that oswaldcludes was the sole assassin. was he truly alone? were there others behind him, co-authors of a plot? tomorrow we will look into those charges and concern ourselves with officer tibbett, jack ruby, and the murky account introduced into the case of jim garrison in new orleans. >> he did not touch a gun on that day. he was a decoy at first and then a patsy.

>> we will hear garrison and we will try to answer the third of our major questions. part of arvey oswald conspiracy? did night. >> this has been the second of a series, a cbs news inquiry. the warren report. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] this broadcast is been broadcast under the supervision and control of cbs news. tune into real american next saturday at 10:00 p.m., or sunday at 4:00 p.m. for parts

three and four, and the conclusion of the cbs news inquiry of the war and report. this is american history tv, all we can, every weekend on c-span3. >> the midterm election of 2018 change the balance of power in congress. thecrats took control of house, and republicans held a majority in the senate. members now prepare for the new congress in january. new leaders. watch the process unfold on c-span. >> tonight on q&a, tell afforded democratic congresswoman jackie memoir,lked about her "undaunted." >> i was on an airstrip in just concluded a

delegation tour with leo ryan. we were ambushed and shot. the congressman was shot 45 times. members of the press died. temple died.e and i was shot five times on the right side of my body. the bone jutting out of my right arm, a wound in my leg the size of a football. and, it was, oh my god, i am 28 years old. this is it. >> tonight at 8:00 eastern. >> i'm standing on the banks of the mississippi river, the same route used by slaves trying to escape imprisonment in the south. up next, the slave haven museum, a stop on the underground railroad that tried to aid these slaves and their escape. >> this usually looks kind of derogatory in the way that he is