nixon inherited the war in vietnam. but nixon ended others, there were 545,000 americans in vietnam, and we had just gone through the tet offensive which was a major attack by the vietnamese and we had riots in the streets in this country against a the war and the vietnam. we were the same country in which of the security of almost every region of the world depended command nixon felt even though he hadn't made the original commitment he would not abandon the people in reliance on american promises have staked their future on cooperating with us, so nixon decided to withdraw from vietnam but to do it in a way in which the people of south vietnam would be given the opportunity to develop to choose their own faith. the one condition he would not meet is to turn over the vietnamese population. he wanted the political process and people say we could have ended the war more quickly than ever tell you how because if you look at the record of negotiations you will see every other condition to be made except that one. now the v

nixon. >> what stands out to my mind is we were talking a moment ago about the king assassination. robert kennedy gives an amazing speech that so many people still remember in indianapolis on the night of the king assassination. there was writing all over the country. there is racial anger and an ease. he talks about the king assassination in terms of his own brother's assassination. he drops the pain and all we can do to try to ease the pain. the patients that is required. just a few months later, here he is laying dead in los angeles. i think the sense is that america's leaders are being killed. people who are in the idealists. people who are to carry on the grand traditions of liberalism, people establishing -- challenging the establishment are being eliminated. there is a sadness and despair in the american body politic at the moment. it is hard to capture the extent of it. sometimes we have arguments today about polarization that people always said, if he were here in 1968 you will unde

would nixon -- when i had been to china before nixon when, nixon invited the french novelist, andrea munro who had been in china to see what we could learn from them and the growth in china to such a desperately poor country that the most important thing you could do for them is to do a kind of a personal plea of economic aid. but he didn't want china to fit with the rest of the world at all. china was so poor at the time that would nixon would there they did not have equipment to connect to us with washington in a way to the president. so we brought in a ground station to the chinese sort could not be said they did not do it. at any rate, we would have been amazed at the rapid progress taken place, which really could take place until mao had died and the reforming crew came in. >> host: until now he was succeeded by deng xiaoping to which revolutionized the economy because he was under agriculture and reforms had laid the framework for we see today. great? >> guest: ray. he, for mao everything was radiology. he said i don't know whether it's black or gray as long as it catches mice.

of course, richard nixon always thought the press was unfair. >> let's listen as president nixon describes a conversation with his valet and asking him if he'd ever been down to the lincoln memorial. >> i said get your clothes on and we'll go down to the lincoln memorial. i got dressed and approximately 4:35, we left the white house and drove to the lincolnmerial. >> "i had never seen the secret service quite so petrified with apprehension." did richard nixon do these things often? >> that was not that unusual. he had done this when he was campaigning and the following year in san jose, california, he got out of his car, hoping-- literally hoping that stones would be thrown at him, much to the horror of the secret service. he was both fearless and some might say irresponsible and not just on this occasion. >> it signals a kind of interesting relationship with his valet. >> yes, menolo sanchez was his valet. he was a cuban emigre. >> and they're discussing this at 4:00 in the morning after a turned down offer of hot chocolate but asked him if he had ever been to the lincoln memorial at nigh

the real nixon is the nixon of the watergate tapes. unfettered, in his office, ordering break-ins, fire bombings, covering up. that's the real nixon. this is a witness who wants to make sure that he is not caught in a legal trap, who also wants to get some digs in at the prosecutors, at the press, at his enemies. he thinks, and you can see that these things might be read someday at some point. he was very cagey. in terms of the record of what the nixon presidency is really about, i don't see much there that adds to the picture. >> yeah, in other words, he had a lot of time to think over those 11 months about how to cover himself. >> it's the same nixon as we see on the frost interviews, which is rehearsed. it's not spontaneous. and it's lawyered. he's been prepped by his lawyers. but again, every moment of richard nixon is fascinating. and this is no exception. including the digs, including the cageyness. but really, what struck me once again, he calls watergate this silly break-in when in fact this was a huge criminal conspiracy to un

that's the real nixon. this is a witness who wants to make issue he is not caught in a legal trap, who also wants to get some digs in at the prosecutors, at the press, at his enemies. he thinks -- and you can see these things might be read some day at some point. he's very cagey. in terms of the record of what the nixon presidency is really about, i don't see much there that adds to the picture. >> in other words, he had a lot of time to think about how to cover himself. >> it's the same nixon as we see on the frost interviews, which is rehearsed. it's not spontaneous, and it's lawyered. he's been prepped by his lawyers but again every moment of richard nixon is fascinating. this is no exception, including the digs, including the cageyness, but really what struck me once again, he calls watergate this silly break-in, when in fact this was a huge criminal conspiracy to undermine the electoral process of this country. it was a conspiracy presided over by the president of the united states. i was struck also t

>>> the secret tapes richard nixon thought would never be public. tonight they are out and we are learning more about one of the strangest episodes of his presidency. >>> and making a difference. a woman helping other women soar to new heights and make millions along the way. to new heights and make millions along the way. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good evening. a sexual abuse scandal is tearing apart the fabric of a storied institution -- penn state university. the legendary football coach and the university president are out and even though this is a scandal over the alleged predatory abuse of innocent boys and the failure to stop it, last night the nation watched as some penn state students turned to violence, protesting the firing of coach joe paterno on a campus famously devoted to college football. they were warned today by the governor of pennsylvania that the nation is now watching their behavior. the irony of course here, not enough people were apparently watching the behavior inside penn s

also released, secret transcripts of nixon's testimony to a watergate grand jury. already granted immunity by his successor gerald ford, nixon told of his reaction when he learned a white house tape of a critical watergate meeting had a gap of 18 1/2 minutes. the only sound, a buzz. i practically blew my stack, nixon testified, adding, i don't know how it happened. scholars say the new releases reveal part of nixon that contributed to his downfall. >> this was a man who could be very erratic, terribly emotional, and quite unpredictable. >> again, that was nbc's mike vacara reporting. >>> two deals around the bay area. first, a special screening in the east bay tomorrow of the new movie "immortals" that came out yesterday on 11-11-11. meet the screen writers and that ticket will get you $11 worth of soda and popcorn. the other, imagine paying less than $20 for a high-end hotel room in san francisco at the resqeria park hotel aua psaron n square as part of the 100th anniversary celebration. to find out the info, follow me on twitter @dianedwyernbc. keus from 20 leadi

of course, richard nixon always thought the press was unfair. >> let's listen as president nixon describes a conversation with his valet and asking him if he'd ever been down to the lincoln memorial. >> i said get your clothes on and we'll go down to the lincoln memorial. i got dressed and approximately 4:35, we left the white house and drove to the lincoln memorial. >> "i had never seen the secret service quite so petrified with apprehension." did richard nixon do these things often? >> that was not that unusual. he had done this when he was campaigning and the following year in san jose, california, he got out of his car, hoping-- literally hoping that stones would be thrown at him, much to the horror of the secret service. he was both fearless and some might say irresponsible and not just on this occasion. >> it sials a kind of interesting relationship with his valet. >> yes, menolo sanchez was his valet. he was a cuban emigre. >> and they're discussing this at 4:00 in the morning after a turned down offer of hot chocolate but asked him if he had ever been to the lincoln memorial at nig

of course, richard nixon always thought the press was unfair. >> let's listen as president nixon describes a conversation with his valet and asking him if he'd ever been down to the lincoln memorial. >> i said get your clothes on and we'll go down to the lincoln memorial. i got dressed and approximately 4:35, we left the white house and drove to the lincoln memorial. >> "i had never seen the secret service quite so petrified with apprehension." did richard nixon do these things often? >> that was not that unusual. he had done this when he was campaigning and the following year in san jose, california, he got out of his car, hoping-- literally hoping that stones would be thrown at him, much to the horror of the secret service. he was both fearless and some might say irresponsible and not just on this occasion. >> it signals a kind of interesting relationship with his valet. >> yes, menolo sanchez was his valet. he was a cuban emigre. >> and they're discussing this at 4:00 in the morning after a turned down offer of hot chocolate but asked him if he had ever been to the lincoln memorial at n

what president nixon told its legal investigation into the watergate affair. it is published for the first time. >> the southeast asian games will begin in just a few hours. in a new departure, the public sector workers' union says the 10-year deal is an accident waiting to happen. >> another big hit -- another busy day for the staff. circle is promising doctors and nurses a bigger say. the hospital. the doctor told me he hopes it will mean less red tape. >> it never allows them the speed to deliver these changes. but we're hoping to have is to achieve that speed by which we can bring this new innovation. >> the hospital has about 40 million pounds worth of debt. that is partly due to this treatment center, which did not bring in a minute that was expected. the deal with circle is meant to pay off those debts. staff have been told no job losses, but union officials said there are bigger questions. >> it is one thing running a private elected surgery, but not running the range of services. >> hello. >> circle is one of the contracts up for competition and. it w

>>> the secret tapes richard nixon thought would never be public. tonight they are out and we are learning about one of the strangest episodes of his presidency. >>> and making a difference. a woman helping other women soar to new heights and make millions along the way. to new heights and make millions along the way. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good evening. a sexual abuse scandal is tearing apart the fabric of a storied institution -- penn state university. the legendary football coach and the university president are out and even though this is a scandal over the alleged predatory abuse of innocent boys and the failure to stop it, last night the nation watched as some penn state students turned to violence, protesting the firing of coach joe paterno on a campus famously devoted to college football. they were warned today by the governor of pennsylvania that the nation is now watching their behavior. the irony of course here, not enough people were apparently watching the behavior inside penn state'

nixon. >> what stands out to my mind is we were talking a moment ago about the king assassination. robert kennedy gives an amazing speech that so many people still remember in indianapolis on the night of the king assassination. there was rioting all over the country. there is racial anger and unease. he talks about the king assassination in terms of his own brother's assassination. all we can do to try to ease the pain. the patience that is required. just a few months later, here he is laying dead in los angeles. i think the sense is that america's leaders are being killed. people who are the idealists. people who are to carry on the grand traditions of liberalism, people challenging the establishment are being eliminated. there is a sadness and despair in the american body politic at the moment. it is hard to capture the extent of it. sometimes we have arguments today about polarization that people always said, if you were here in 1968 you will understand how bad things could have been. it

it forced richard nixon to become the only u.s. president to resign from office. for the first time, the official transcript has been made public. we have the highlights. >> richard nixon was already a broken man when he appeared before the grand jury in june of 1975. he resigned as president a year earlier. despite being granted oregon by his successor, he still risked perjury charges and lied under oath. he was asked about a meeting with the stiffest off just days -- with this chief of staff days after burglars broke again to the headquarters. he secretly taped it, but investigators found a mysterious 18-minute gap in the recording. nixon told the grand jury, i practically blew my stack all morning that part of the recording was missing. if you are interested in my view as to what happened, it is free sample. it was an accident. -- it is very simple. it was an accident. investigators suspected potentially incriminating dialogue had been deliberately wiped out. we can read it all for ourselves in a treasure trove of opened up by the national archives. there are h

richard nixon took his advice. richard nixon resigned on august 9, 1974. >> the relationship between the two? >> testy. barry goldwater consistently throughout watergate would broad richard nixon to tell the truth. he said this is beginning to smell. there was a very famous showdown between barry goldwater and richard nixon at the 1960 republican convention. one of the most important set pieces and conservative history. nelson rockefeller basically threatened a floor fight unless he could dictate the terms of the republican platform. he forced richard nixon to fly to new york to negotiate the terms of the platform. it was announced in chicago where the convention was. barry goldwater was so mad he give this angry speech calling it munich of the republican party. that was when people started demonstrating for barry goldwater at that convention to usurp the nomination from richard nixon. ever since that point i don't think he ever really trusted richard nixon. >> tipping ahead to watergate is what brought on the resi

they actually wanted to shoot president nixon, but he could not get close enough to president nixon. he essentially was released. he is now, after many years -- i cannot remember the exact date, -- >> 2007. >> i remember i was approached in 1999 about eight statement for his parole hearing. he was turned down at that time. is only in the last four years after all those years that he has been released. >> let's go back to 1965. george wallace is governor. he is living here at this governor's mansion in montgomery, alabama. governor martin lived -- rev. martin luther king had been pastor of a church at one block from the alabama state capital. there are marches from selma to montgomery. very quickly, dr. carter, why are these marches happening and what were their defects? >> the broader context was a voter registration effort on the part of african-americans. there were a whole series of these violent incidents. there was an assault on some demonstrators in marion, alabama in which one young man was killed by a state trooper. that was really the triggering episode they began to talk ab

. >> and still ahead, richard nixon's secret testimony, recordings. what he said under oath about that infamous 18 1/2 minute gap on the watergate tapes. ♪ [ male announcer ] how could a luminous protein in jellyfish, impact life expectancy in the u.s., real estate in hong kong, and the optics industry in germany? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. for a medicare plan? now is the time to take action. the medicare annual enrollment period ends wednesday, december 7th. call unitedhealthcare medicare solutions today. consider a medicare advantage plan. it combines your doctor and hospital coverage and may include prescription drug coverage for as low as a zero dollar monthly premium. you only have until december 7th to enroll. call unitedhealthc

there are transcripts of what nixon told the grand jury. it will take the historians time to go through all of this and tell us if there's something new about watergate. even from a quick reading of the documents, there are fascinating glimpses into what the psyche of one of the most complex presidents. in previously unreleased audio, nixon records audio about the vietnam, suggesting how to improve the country's image. >> i have a report on how we can get a good pr story out. this capture can be used. >> a man under pressure who would eventually fold. today, we know a little bit more about why. >> other news from around the world, the u.s. forc found the head of a rogue army unit. the staff sergeant was found guilty of 15 counts including premeditated murder for his role in killings while he was stationed in afghanistan. during the trial, he acknowledged cutting fingers off of corpses to keep as trophies. two weeks after an earthquake struck eastern turkey, a powerful aftershocks killed at least 10 people and tonight we have some dramatic f

. >>> and still ahead, richard nixon's secret testimony, recordings. what he said under oath about that infamous 18 1/2-minute gap on the watergate tape. and the optics industry in germany? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. for a medicare plan? now is the time to take action. the medicare annual enrollment period ends wednesday, december 7th. call unitedhealthcare medicare solutions today. consider a medicare advantage plan. it combines your doctor and hospital coverage and may include prescription drug coverage for as low as a zero dollar monthly premium. you only have until december 7th to enroll. call unitedhealthcare today. i wanted support for my heart... and now i get it from centrum specialist heart. new centrum specialist vision... help

there are transcripts of what nixon told the grand jury. it will take the historians time to go through all of this and tell us if there's something new about watergate. even from a quick reading of the documents, there are fascinating glimpses into what the psyche of one of the most complex presidents. in previously unreleased audio, nixon records audio about the vietnam, suggesting how to improve the country's image. >> i have a report on how we can get a good pr story out. this capture can be used. >> a man under pressure who would eventually fold. today, we know a little bit more about why. >> other news from around the world, the u.s. forces found the head of a rogue army unit. the staff sergeant was found guilty of 15 counts including premeditated murder for his role in killings while he was stationed in afghanistan. during the trial, he acknowledged cutting fingers off of corpses to keep as trophies. two weeks after an earthquake struck eastern turkey, a powerful aftershocks killed at least 10 people and tonight we have some dramatic

foreign policy since world war ii," your chapter on richard nixon is entitled richard nixon and henry kissinger. >> right. >> why? >> because henry kissinger was an exceptionally important figure. i only include a handful of people who were not presidents, and nixon/kissinger really were a team. at the end of the day, nixon was president, and kissinger has said that himself, but he's the best living resident of a certain strain of republican foreign policy thought which i would call realism, and that emphasizes balances of power, the international behavior of other countries, not their internal behavior. the need to kind of carefully coordinate force and diplomacy. the kissinger approach is very, very different from the bush approach. and very different from the reagan approach. and so i think kissinger's deserving of special mention for that reason. >> richard nixon went to china in 1972. what did that do to republican foreign policy expectations? >> well, at the time it was a popular move. i mean -- >> on the republican side as well? >> with the general voting public it was popular,

there was a good reason to go after nixon because nixon did not have the character to be president. >> i think the 1956 campaign, from a historical standpoint, it is the campaign that laid the groundwork for the new frontier. that is the campaign when adlai stevenson embraced the idea of a nuclear test ban treaty. that is the campaign when he endorsed a constitutional amendment so 18-year-olds could vote. in terms of foreshadowing policy to,, 1956 turns out to open a fountainhead of ideas. you are right, the last speech on election eve where he said the medical evidence suggested a real possibility that richard nixon would become president. that is something that tom dewey had not done in 1944 under somewhat similar circumstances. you did not go there. in some ways, he paid a price for that. >> you are right. the nuclear test ban, which was very unpopular point of view to take in 1956, he took it very courageously because he believed in it deeply. he said -- someone asked what the weapons would be in world war iv, and he said there would be sticks and stones. >> between 1952 and 1956,

yes, i'm unsnarkly quoting richard nixon. the epa had photographers document the consequences of environmental neglect, of why our country needed something like an epa. these are some of those images. in 1970, there was no clean water act. that's a woman holding water from her well. no clean air act, right? virtually no laws regulating how much toxic waste companies could dump into the water. the epa changed all that after richard nixon created it. richard nixon, by the way, in case you haven't heard, was a republican. today's republicans blame the epa for pretty much everything wrong in the country and that's only half hyperbole. seven of the ten jobs agenda ideas put forward by house republicans this august, ideas meant to create jobs, were things that would kill environmental regulations. seven of the ten were to undermine the epa in some way. anti-epa politics are so extreme in republican politics right now that kentucky senator rand paul recently argued against power plant pollution rules by actually sort of arguing that

yes, i'm unsnarkily quoting richard nixon. the epa had photographers travel across the country and document some of the consequences of environmental neglect. of why our country needed something like an epa. these are some of those images. in 1970, there was no clean water act. that's a woman holding water from her well. no clean air act, right? virtually no laws regulating how much toxic waste companies could dump into the water. the epa changed all that after richard nixon created it. richard nixon, by the way, in case you haven't heard, was a republican. today's republicans blame the epa for pretty much everything wrong in the country and that's only half hyperbole. seven of the ten jobs agenda ideas put forward by house republicans this august, ideas meant to create jobs, were things that would kill environmental regulations. seven of the ten were to undermine the epa in some way. anti-epa politics are so extreme in republican politics right now that kentucky senator rand paul recently argued against power plant pollution

tonight, we are hearing from richard nixon in historic fashion. our own resident water gate historian, chief washington correspondent james rosen reports on secret grand jury testimony that is secret no more. >> reporter: it was june 1975, when expresident richard nixon spent 11 hours over two days in a coast guard facility adjacent to his san clemente home fielding questions from water gaters and two drand jurors from washington. "i am not going to be loose with my tongue and try to cooperate with you in a vendetta." he scolded a young prosecutor, don't put words in my mouth and make he lie about something. >> i had no knowledge whatever of the water gate break-in before it occurred. >> nixon repeated that to the grand jury. it learned about the break-in florida. i saw the chief of staff and we rode back on the plane together and discussed this to be terribly wrong and utterly stupid activity. nixon was determined to cover other subjects like predecessor lyndon johnson. he told me emotionally the greatest mistake he made was after his election in

ever since kennedy and nixon, television has been the decider. down in the polls, the obama campaign is not going to stick to the high road. they're going negative to use tv to try to take down the republican. but in the huge balancing act, they hope to reignite the positive passion obama aroused in 2008. >> this moment -- this moment, this election is our chance to keep in the 21st century the american promise alive. >> to make tv work for them, the obama hopes for soft interviews like this. >> do you have a transition team for the dog? >> we don't. we're getting a lot of suggestions. >> you talked about your mother-in-law, is she moving in with you? >> well, i don't tell my mother-in-law what to do, but i'm not stupid. that's why i got elected president. >> you got a new dog and your mother-in-law moving in? >> steve, i'm not going to compare my mother-in-law to a new dog. >> they must know interviews are more likely to look like this one. >> does it disturb you that so many people hate you? it's a serious question. >> you know, the people who

richard nixon took his advice. richard nixon resigned on august 9, 1974. >> the relationship between the two? >> testy. barry goldwater consistently throughout watergate would prod richard nixon to tell the truth. he said this is beginning to smell. there was a very famous showdown between barry goldwater and richard nixon at the 1960 republican convention. one of the most important set pieces and conservative history. nelson rockefeller basically threatened a floor fight unless he could dictate the terms of the republican platform. he forced richard nixon to fly to new york to negotiate the terms of the platform. it was announced in chicago where the convention was. barry goldwater was so mad he give this angry speech calling it munich of the republican party. that was when people started demonstrating for barry goldwater at that convention to usurp the nomination from richard nixon. ever since that point i don't think he ever really trusted richard nixon. >> tipping ahead to watergate is what brought on the resig

. >> the informant whom we'll refer to as nixon can follow orders and completes the intro and drug buy. >> he'll callback later tonight and say hey my cousin, he liked that product. can he come back tomorrow. that's how it works. >> he says she hasn't been arrested in ten years. this is all she's doing. she's got a pretty good connection. we would like to find out who that is. hopefully we got a good case going. >>> what if you did an intro. if you brought a guy into the car or whatever, like, man, my guy want as 20. >> handling informants is more of an art than a science. investigators never know when and if a confidential source will turn on them. >> we got good security. he's secured. >> everybody. >> impossible neighborhood sit on. guys on both end watching for police. they don't know you don't get served. you're not going to get served. >> that means authorities need roosevelt on the block to tell them whose coming and going with pay loads of drugs and money. >> wherever his stash is at. >> that first step doing reconnaissance with roosevelt the next day. >> our informant is going

i came from the nixon white house, and you were probably involved with it. tosihiba took the super quiet technology we had for our submarines, and they had access to it, turned it over to the soviet union, and i thought the congress should come down on them with both feet, and i found out that guys i worked with in the nixon white house were remitting toshiba up there, and that's parting line for me. >> host: well, in the book, which i have read, the one thing that there's very little of was how in the mix of dissen gracious you described is corporatism and the power of copingses. we know corporations know few limits, and every major religion didn't want to give too much to the merchant class, the money lenders, and what we've seen in america because you see a decline, i see a decline in this way. parental authorities being sidestepped by corporations selling to kids junk food, violence programs, sadistic stuff. >> guest: right, i agree 100%. >> host: and i'm trying to get the variables in here. the military industrial complex doesn't mind our empire abroad.

. >> and still ahead, richard nixon's secret testimony, recordings. what he said under oath about that infamous 18 1/2 minute gap on the watergate tapes. ♪ [ male announcer ] how could a luminous protein in jellyfish, impact life expectancy in the u.s., real estate in hong kong, and the optics industry in germany? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. for a medicare plan? now is the time to take action. the medicare annual enrollment period ends wednesday, december 7th. call unitedhealthcare medicare solutions today. consider a medicare advantage plan. it combines your doctor and hospital coverage and may include prescription drug coverage for as low as a zero dollar monthly premium. you only have until december 7th to enroll. call unitedhealthc

nixon. then came the republican convention. >> what stands out to my mind is we were talking a moment ago about the king assassination. robert kennedy gives an amazing speech that so many people still remember in indianapolis on the night of the king assassination. there was rioting all over the country. there is racial anger and unease. he talks about the king assassination in terms of his own brother's assassination. all we can do to try to ease the pain. the patience that is required. just a few months later, here he is laying dead in los angeles. i think the sense is that america's leaders are being killed. people who are the idealists. people who are to carry on the grand traditions of liberalism, people challenging the establishment are being eliminated. there is a sadness and despair in the american body politic at the moment. it is hard to capture the extent of it. sometimes we have arguments today about polarization that people always said, if you were here in 1968 you will understa