1973 Watergate Hearings; 1973-08-02; Part 6 of 6

set yes or those who are not is a legal course parents or the cia to india and you think of an elephant the coming three years and i think that this procedure is usually reserved for onlookers yes this is what you do the job that's

right so we want to focus more likely to go back to them you know the white house one of the three documents and thought that far yet right you're welcome and that

the play with the appearance of the two former cia officials today the committee's probe has entered a new phase with the senators seeking to fill in the blanks left in the story's set forth by the principals in the case that there's a shark tank and one generally devoid of drama but there was added detail we have a marine corps commandant robert cushion say he remember john erlichman calling him to rest for a d e howard and even available and couldn't recall a conversation the parade of spies continues tomorrow as the candidate tries to pin down the role of the cia in the watergate cover up and in pre watergate aid to the plumbers today we get to see

our first official us government spies like freelancers bernardo barker and tell us what some others richard helms and robert cushman were both one hundred percent with them jack murphy professor of law georgetown university law center near washington and john lockwood was about to become a syndicated newspaper columnist that for three years editing monday in first monday official publications the republican national committee are back with us today and i watched these two former officials say i am action last year jack what dirt from an evidence pointed me what you think we learned that while i think the yeah the critical and intriguing then the development today's hearings is for me is to be a developing split on the committee as to what to make of the administration's approach the cia sent is that the victims of the day you have been the case of both testimony by mr helms am by a gentle cushman a

bias i thought that evidence on opposite sides of the aisle as too what impression should be left as to why the approach was made to mr helms and then john waters on june twenty thirteen the republicans seem to be saying isn't it proper to do this approach in which the cia was suggested would go to graham limit the investigation as simply a logical reaction to an inquiry in their minds at the cia might've been involved in this cia operations might be compromised a logical inquiry because after all hard had been a cia agent their number of the cia agents a former employees of cia involvement break him and that wouldn't be sensible to look at all of them say they see it as possibly involved the other site i was trying to say this is very suspect that you're going to see it in this fashion so soon after the break in and make the kinds of statements to work orders and towns which own contradictory evidence have been made and they're saying but

in fact what has happened here is not a logical approach because after all hunky contact was a white house employee was hired by written for the plumbers union and this was in effect emphasized by cushions testimony that on august twenty seven to nineteen seventy one following trends persist in efforts to get more materials and assistance from the sea a cushman called up mental and the call pun off to become a prestigious as bad judgments on a new bike and seventy one clearly that was the cia operative jack even though it's being done as you say are meeting down from what are some reasons don't you consider this from the standpoint of everybody watching this healthy thing though in terms of both theories and advocates that they get a full ted olson i take your joints absolutely no question it in my own position a somewhat loosely like you were in yemen so i'm coming out strongly against the notion that there was an ideological necessarily going to the cia at the time which they did and in a man with a good person that was my respect for general wald is testimony to clarify

what was often the fuzzy picture of precisely what was said on june twenty third instance testimony this morning and you feel about that i think that for john dean that richard helms testimony was just one more person challenging dean's testimony been in his testimony said is john dean's request to general motors for cia salaries and bail money for the watergate burglars was at the request of john ehrlichman been indicated he was not enthusiastic about the proposal and that he agreed with general was it was an appropriate however and relating to walters testimony mr helms indicated that funding was very enthusiastic about the audience seemed to be asking if the agency couldn't fight dewit reminiscing the proper something's gonna be interesting when gen walter says about that as a witness to over a general cushman i thought he was rather flaky and i didn't think it was too credible witness he recruited himself twice at least twice once when he said that the original colin request to see howard hunt was an extraordinary request and then today he retracted

that were extraordinary say that was exactly the right word i didn't mean to use it again ehrlichman and ask him to turn out on the mall and then he said but that was exactly right that that he had used the war is imprecise phrasing was forty it again when it came to john dean's name being mentioned in a memo which are the general cushman written he said that you know we've not talked to john bain he put his name in the memo because his name and to be in the news at the time so i don't think he would he was very believable us but from up would you not agree on one thing though that on that one there are many issues involved with a key issue as to who called me and said you know help out each hour top of that it came to come over you conclusive that the other is no longer an issue at least as far as he's concerned that was in fact john ehrlichman who might call you know something definitely so how's that i had something to that there and said in passing that he knew that john erlichman

was in charge of security here in the widest domestic security area and of course mr helms denied that he knew anything about the plumbers and i'm sorry that the committee didn't ask a general person if you know about the plumbers operation john thanks very much ever since they series began people of been comparing them with commercial entertainment and last night are followed light as dick cavett take the television show the caucus room was our listeners and that's peter carey talk with cavett after today's session and asked whether he was becoming more of the longest running show in town the village level of the watergate junkie the phone that are not only watch them but that night i was the same thing again and i wake in the middle of the night wishing that was more on after it's all over that natalie fascinating that they're interesting because we do you can kind of drift into a state of subconsciously hearing them said the semi conscious that this semi been so many are out

any particular heroes of the nuns in this state we know that really i think the man's most overlooked is the one who first found that piece of work masking tape the current owners that man's name and that there's one person in about five votes that sounds like a is that if you wear the hill i was wondering though how many people in america do you think use that the ministry named seven members of the community well i mean i saw her as the day which is evaluating perhaps a poor mention that in most of the people have an opinion about everybody on the committee are not been a signal that we are well because the people who were telling us was nobody's watching this is that a few people in new york and washington as the country's snoring ryan doesn't care but i don't get the impression that that's true at all he had an awful lot of people say that every seven you run into somebody a doctor a professional dancer so i step following in some ways that i couldn't tell you

who's the ruins sound let me ask you a question to ratings show that people are watching and that enthusiasm and chicken i chose myself through the most from the watergate hearings because people who do know what we're also watching them so give them an interesting conflict on tuesday when i have four members of the committee on my show while they're actually opposite themselves assuming that hearing runs that long the replay well maybe some people were watching tonight were to switch back and forth that says the debt that's connected to the militia there've been a number of indications recently that president nixon has begun something of a counterattack on the watergate committee there were well founded reports last week that the president was angry at the committee which she felt was out to get him when he got out of the hospital after being treated for viral pneumonia mr nixon scorned people who are low

and watergate but before last two slipped into a speech honoring japanese premier tonight the remarks which resumed refer to the hearings he said let others spend their time dealing with a monthly small and important vicious little things we spend our time and we'll spend our time building a better word it's not certain what mr nixon's intention is but if it is as summer suggested to turn public opinion against the hearings themselves is going to have a tough job that national poll taken by the terrorist organization which peter just referred to publish today says that sixty two percent of the american people give the senate committee a positive rating interestingly the positive rating for the committee of committees were rises to seventy three percent among business executives the chairman senator and it's a favorable rating from sixty two percent of americans for his handling of witnesses followed by republican vice chairman howard baker were fifty seven percent the figures do not show that the american people like wallowing in watergate figures are not a measurement of how the public

ways the evidence so far as exonerating more incriminating to the administration but the popularity the committee suggested trying to discredit it or turn the american people against it might be an impossible public relations test and you're the fact that mr nixon's own approval rating according to the latest national poll has sunk into the low forties we'll be back tomorrow night i'm robert macneil my colleagues peter gaytan jim lehrer good night for him from washington and you've been watching gavel to gavel videotape coverage of hearings by the senate select committee on presidential campaign activities as coverage is made possible by grabs for a special event coverage from the corporation for public broadcasting and the ford foundation and has been a production of unpacked and a vision of a greater washington educational telecommunications association you're only woman in

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