Bernice Moore

Thanks Robin for the Murray..appreciated..... If that is her in such, I do not see the man who could be with her in Darnell...?? That is a great scan...I do have the book, and the photos are high quality..... I just have never been able to get to it as well as many others to scan what I would like to...I guess I am going to have to ask the hubby to give me a hand and.... dig out more of the photo books, to get more copies of photos... ........ About the man, I do not know, that is the why of the ???s....could be either, As he crosses the road, I did notice his sweater could be loose fitting, as it appears perhaps the wind is blowing up against it or could be... What I was more interested in was what could be perhaps both her arms one on each side of the child, if so....that only makes it appear more awkward......?? For now, B....

Don. I didn'y mention any time frame for the image. All the caption say's is that is was taken AFTER the assassination. Looking at the freeway sighns across ELM st, it is obvious that it wasn't taken in 1963 those sighns weren't there then. ********************* Don : I wish I did have their findings,and reseach, all I have of the Shaw & Harris work is from a 1976 as mentioned, I believe, in a book of theirs named, " Cover Up" .....I am quite sure that is the name..it is a larger sized soft cover... I looked further into this, a little.... All I found is the one of the right was marked Dillard, showing the DPD...officer..and the one of the right Murray....?? and I cannot tell you right now ,where that information has come from, I will search further.... and shall dig out the book tomorrow.... Robin : Correct the across the road signs were not there in 1963..... Anyone going to Dallas, could you possibly have a look at the cement apron on the right hand corner....and see if per-chance the mark is still there...?? Long shot, but..one never knows..... and thank you..... Jack : If you read this, coud you give us an approximate date that the signs went up.... across the road......and Many thanks.... B.......

Robin, Jack..all...?? Wait till you get a load of this illusion of the lady...in the middle..from Darnell...the one shown on the right... Is that her right arm seen in both as well as her left, ?? is she facing him..in the right one, is that her right arm tucked under the child...?? ....Input please..... From two frames of the Darnell film a comparison of two men.......?? The crop is from the full Cancellare, taken afterwards...he is on the left...middle of the street.. ......approaching the steps..... A comparison...... B

Don : If it is the one I believe you are referring to, it is in Robin's post # 13........and was taken after in front of the TSBD.... Thanks for the Groden's close up of the Willis, BDGM.. B......

Hey Jack : I found his feet, for all........ Thank goodness....... B......

Jack : I have made a couple of notes on your work......just rough.. ..To me, it appears her bottom half looks as if she is facing to the right, so does go along with the direction of her foot.. But it appears that the upper part of her body is facing to the left.....and I know that is impossible, I am going to have a further look within the Darnell frames, and there is something about her head ?? I do not know.... thank you.. B........

Hi Bernice. Here's a nice color scan i did of your image ( Groden ) ***************** Hi Robin; Very appreciated..that is a grand view........... Is this within Groden's book, ? if so does he mentioned anything further, or about the Shaw & Harris...research..... would you know....? That certainly was taken that day, and also did not come from the TSBD.....but buried of course as so much else was.....shame.... Thank you.....and nice to know the Gremlin did not re-appear..... B.....

Here also are the reports, findings on the BDMN....... It states the BDMN had the same colouring as Marilyn Sitzman.....when compared, that the BDMN was human, FWTAW.... HSCA Report, Volume VI Current Section: ( The grassy knoll Begins at page 122 http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...p;relPageId=128 Or the History Matters http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk..._Vol6_0064b.htm Or see below....which for some reason posted from bottom to top.....?? B..

Thanks Jack, should we not be able to see a part of her face, we have been trying it nothing new, and no matter how we turn we are able too see an outline of such...?? Does it appear to you, that the outline of the top front of her hair appears fair ?? Or it could be the suns reflection...... I had not even looked at the man up till now, you are correct where are his feet..?? Also here is another Darnell frame, showing he has no feet ?? But more of the bench.. All...... Now this woman is seen in Darnell, after the assn, a baby was never mentioned ever, in any of the past research, now a question, who is to say this is the woman with a baby who was on the bench ??? Even though a baby has never been mentioned till now....?? If there ever was one...?? Also keeping mind the age differences mentioned by Hudson & Sitzman....of the people involved.. Simply because she is now seen within the Darnell taken after the assn....and possibly in front of the TSBD...?...whether one agrees it or not, there are many questions yet to be clarified....and no documentation..... That is one problem, another is that Marilyn Sitzman, was interviewed after the BDMN was found. as well as the Nix wall shooter......I have read.. She never gave a statement, she did say that no one asked or was interested, in what a young woman had to say, which does not comply as many other young woman did....Marilyn said many things that did contradict her own statements down through her years...so I do regard her information with a question mark..?.... ..All of a sudden after these two characters were discovered, she is interviewed by Tink and she recalls a couple on the bench, ok giving her the benefit of the doubt she may have....or ???? In her remarks I believe she says they each had small bags with their lunch within, if you look at the photo of the Dets on the bench, examining such, it appears to be one bag and I do believe it mentions the trade name on the small bag... So, coming around again, how do we know, that a couple who was not reported to be there till some years later, who finally recalled this couple, and a baby that was never mentioned as well as a difference in ages........and how do we know who left the lunch bag, this photo was taken some time after, could not someone who had run up to the knoll after have left such......?? Also the bag seen in the Darnell on the bench is a very tall large bag, I believe Marilyn said they were small...?? I am looking for the DPD report on the bag..was this report and photo released before, or after the M.S interview in which she mentioned a couple.....?? Also if you read Hudson's information he states that this man who sat down on his left before the motorcade tuned the corner and came down, told him to the effect he could not find a parking spot, and so he had parked over there in one of the parking areas, and that he then walked up.....Up where, ?? Did he park in behind the TSBD parking lot, or elsewhere......over there....and did he walk down to the corner the and up Elm to where Hudson sat......?? That also is a possible.... There are many shade differences within the different types of films used, as well as the colour, that is a given.. Seen below is the no foot man, he has a hard time with such it would appear.. and as seen in a couple of frames from Muchmore.....his pants appear to be a tighter fit as well, as that he does at times have feet.. B...

""Past requests for access to these materials had all been refused by a committee of loyalists that included one of JFK's closest advisers, speechwriter Ted Sorensen. To my surprise, the committee had given me the chance to read the files; I had to agree not to photocopy them but was free to take notes or read passages into a tape recorder."" Dallek Bill: From his notes, ??????? That perhaps could lead to the , not documented nor verified, pertaining to the information within said notes......So this is just on his take, of what he says he read..........People are not quite that gullible, Dallek. The public did not know of what I regard as Bush's "Off the wall " mentality, let alone his past addictions, and behaviour...... Whom I notice Dallek does not mention...?? IMO this is more of the same old "knives out " which does pop up with some regularity.. This does not have anything to do with the "slaughter" of JFK.... B.....

Hi Robin : I fully understand it is not a given at the present time, and all must be considered.I believe it is best IMO..that we combine the two....old and anything new is as always, interesting... New eyes and info is always, and has been appreciated..and thank heavens there is new input and a younger generation that have become interested........I have no problems ever with such... And if after further deeply researched,within the information that is accessible and past studies reviewed, with the whomevers input, a positive comes out from within.....that is great........imo......and Working together is so welcomed....and this is what I am seeing...kudos..to all.... It is as you say always healthy....Well....it shakes all up, new, mid and older...anything in this regard always appears to be so interesting, we all, I do believe thirst in some way for any possibilty of what may be seen as a break through within the realm..... "It has always taken a village."....and will continue to do so... Ron : Re Bill Miller's input, I cannnot recall, hopefully he shall....contribute..... If you look at the tree in the shade, that specific area, the BDM appears even darker than the shade ?? Have a look and see what you think.... Now Lee for you and all...... Something new I have noticed, and have cropped and enlarged the lady, within the Darnell frame, somewhat......... Now, please all have a look, if you will........As to me after trying to make some sense of this....... It appears at this time to me , that her foot, appears to be possibly on backwards to the rest of her body,...???? Also if that is her face on the left, which is hard to make out, then her foot is on the back of her body ????? If not, and her right side is her front, her head position seems impossible, or could be to her body stance.......... Jack, Robin, all please have a look, and post your thoughts.......... Thanks much..... B....

""Hey Bernice - I had some similar thoughts. I think Robin is on the right track. The woman in the Darnell seems without a doubt the same as the one seen in the Murray - the only notable exception is the lighter colored sweater. There could be a simple explanation - she had the sweater off at 12:30, and redonned it when they left the area of the bench. On the sweater on the man - it appears to be differently shaded or colored depending upon what you are looking at - much like Hudson's shirt - esp when compared to the Towner. On Sitzman - doesn't seem so open and shut. Especially when one is dealing with a child. The man could have come running up the stairs, grabbed the child while she gathered up her things, and then they could have moved off. If she is BDM - and I still think it has a lot of merit - esp given the dark color of the shirt she appears to have been wearing sans the light sweater we see her in later - she would in all likelihood NOT been seated on the bench at the time of the arrival of the motorcade? The bench would be convenient to take care of the child - until the big event. I like it. I tried my best to enhance the highest quality Willis I have to see if there was anything better I could so - it's simply not happening. And mine is pretty good. For fun, a look at the Moorman, with the man on the stairs to provide some sort of scale. - lee "" Hi Lee: I do not know if Robin is on the right track... That she had a sweater off in one photo and on in another is a thought, but nothing more...... Yes of course the mans sweater appears to be lighter on the steps and darker in the Darnell as I stated, because he is in the shade, .......and also keeping in mind, the sun lit wall area, as Jack mentioned the BDM is all dark, she appears in light clothing...which also does not comply...with showing up in a sun lit area..... .....I doubt any Mom would place a child some months old on a bench by itself, that distance away from the wall, it appears to have been a few feet, they are very active and quick at that age, and if they turn. which they also do in their sleep,.......then the child could have fallen, so I cannot see that happening...I know I would never have done so....and would have reamed a daughter or daughter in law for doing the same... ......Sitzman states they were there when they climbed up on the pedestal and there during and she saw them rise from the bench and take off, after the head shot, as the limo was going under the underpass....throwing down their bottles ....She mentions nothing of either one being alone dashing back to the bench, or picking up a child off a bench or him or her running to each other... She would have been looking about straight at them in that direction, and would have seen and so she says saw their actions......So I have many questions as yet......and no conclusions on my part......and Marilyn says she saw them there before the motorcade, so it would appear if so, she had lots of time to have a good look at them....Also Hudson stated he was in his late 20's thereabouts, and M.S says they were kids in around 18 ish Thanks for the Willis, I did check with the Moorman earlier, and they are about the scale, but not positive.....This needs much more reseach imo..as it does not comply with what we do know and have known within the past research by many of the photo diggers, as I call them and some experts as well..........so I am not about to throw that out until checked into much further..as that is what would have to happen.. It also appears to me, just my own impression, that the young man on the steps in these scans of him, what have been posted in this thread, appears to be possibly seen as a darker completion, than could be shown in earlier versions...of the same photos....?? .....But that needs also to be delved into and looked at....Also I believe someone, Bill mentioned that the photos had not been searched as yet for the possibility that she was elsewhere along the parade route, so I do think there is much further work to be done within before any conclusion can be assertained.... Thanks for the come back.... Take care B.....

Robin : A few thoughts...... Why would the woman's sweater appear to be very dark in the Darnell frame, yet very light in the Murray in front of the TSBD.....The man you are comparing appears to be wearing a light sweater on the steps, and still appears light in the Darnell frame......... Also it would appear that the wall area was in bright sunlight, which would mean that the front of the bench wall area..where the BDMN was caught on camera was also..The shade from the tree appears not to have reached that far as yet, also seen within some of the other photos taken, Moorman,Willis, Bond and such.... Emmett Hudson stated..... Page 559 Mr. LIEBELER. So, you were standing about where I placed the "X" on photograph No. 18 of Commission Exhibit No. 875. Tell me what you saw--tell me what happened to the best of your recollection. Mr. HUDSON. Well, there was a young fellow, oh, I would judge his age about in his late twenties. He said he had been looking for a place to park and he walked up there and he said he finally just taken a place over there in one of them parking lots, and he come on down there and said he worked over there on Industrial and me and him both just sat down there first on those steps. When the motorcade turned off of Houston onto Elm, we got up and stood up, me and him both. He was on the left side and I was on the right and so the first shot rung out and, of course, I didn't realize it was a shot, what was taking place right at that present time, and when the second one rung out, the motorcade 560 Mr. LIEBELER. Did you watch the President after he got hit in the head like that? Mr. HUDSON. Well, as soon as everybody realized what had happened, you know, everybody went to going up the hill so we did too. Mr. LIEBELER. So, you only saw the President hit once; is that right, sir? Mr. HUDSON. Yes, sir; I just saw him hit once. Mr. LIEBELER. That was in the head? Mr. HUDSON. Yes, sir. Page 562 Mr. LIEBELER. Do you see this little pedestal back up here? Mr. HUDSON. Yes. Mr. LIEBELER. Just above the "X" where you were standing? Mr. HUDSON. Yes. Mr. LIEBELER. Did you see anybody standing up there that you can remember, during the time the President went by? Mr. HUDSON. Oh, there was a bunch of people in there, you know, a whole bunch of them--a lot of people in there a lot of people in here. Mr. LIEBELER. Did you see anybody standing up there taking motion pictures with a movie camera? Mr. HUDSON. Oh, yes; I seen people up there trying to get--taking pictures. Mr. LIEBELER. Did you see a man with a moving picture camera? Mr. HUDSON. Not in particular, I didn't. It was such an exciting time--- now---I did notice a man back over here on this triangle. Mr. LIEBELER. Standing across Elm Street? Page 563 Mr. HUDSON. No, sir; I can't, unless it is one of these two men right here I can't tell--if I had that picture that was taken in the Times Herald .paper--I can show you myself in it. Mr. LIEBELER. Which one is that? Mr. HUDSON. Well, it was in the Times Herald paper the next morning after, I believe, after the assassination, maybe the evening after the assassination. Mr. LIEBELER. Look at this picture. Mr. HUDSON. [Examining picture referred to.] I don't know--if that's one of them men and myself or not up there. http://jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/hudson.htm Marilyn Sitzman ......To Josiah Thompson....... November 29, 1966. Sitzman: Some ran ... I mean ... I finally got back up to the alcove. There was bunches of people just swarming back there, and I think almost everybody on that hill ran back up that way. And another thing that I remember this day: there was a colored couple. I figure they were between 18 and 21, a boy and a girl, sitting on a bench, just almost, oh, parallel with me, on my right side, close to the fence. Thompson: In other words, between you and the fence, there's a tree right next to the ... Sitzman: There's a tree, and there's another part of the marble or concrete, whatever they call it, slab, fence, whatever they call it, between that and the wooden fence. Thompson: Which direction was the bench facing when you ... Sitzman: It was facing towards the street. Thompson: Towards the street. Parallel? Downstreet? Facing forward? Sitzman: And they were eating their lunch, 'cause they had little lunch sacks, and they were drinking coke. The main reason I remember 'em is, after the last shot I recall hearing and the car went down under the triple underpass there, I heard a crash of glass, and I looked over there, and the kids had thrown down their coke bottles, just threw them down and just started running towards the back and I ... Of course, I don't see anything unusual in that because everybody else was running that way, 'cause when I look over on my left side, the people on the hill were all running back the same way too. snip Thompson: Could I ask you something about your gaze and actions immediately after the head shot? On the trailer of Mr. Zapruder's film, we noticed that he turned to his right and photographed the general area of the stockade fence, the trees and the stockade fence and that particular area. Did you turn in that direction after the head shot too? Sitzman: In a way, I have a feeling this: He might have heard the kids throw down the coke bottles and heard that crash or else maybe it was just what he saw could have caused a reaction where he'd jump, but I don't think it was the sound of bullets, because I didn't jump. Thompson: No. Sitzman: Because the pop bottle crashing was much louder than the shots were. Thompson: No, this is a slightly different thing. I remarked earlier that in the Zapruder film, around frame 318, 319, we see a very sudden jiggle in the film as if the photographer was startled by a noise or by seeing something, and earlier you suggested ... well, what did you suggest? Sitzman: Well, seeing what we saw when the bullet hit Kennedy's head and it opening up like this, you don't stand there very calmly and do nothing. I'm sure ... it ... to me, it would be a normal reaction to kind of jump or something. Thompson: In other words, one would be startled by what one saw there rather than necessarily by what one heard. Sitzman: Sure, sure. If you're the type of person that would react that way. Some would just immediately freeze. Some people would ... Some women would've probably passed out, some ... rather bloody .... Thompson: Darn right. I know. I've seen the films too. Now, to get to this area between the stockade fence and the cement abutment, or small mall: Did you turn after the shot to look in this general area? Sitzman: Yes. Thompson: And did you see anyone in this area? Sitzman: No, just the two colored people running back. Thompson: I see. They were already ... they'd gotten up from the bench and were now running around into the gap made between the stockade fence and the pergola. Sitzman: Either in the gap there or back in the alcove. I don't recall which way they went. I saw ... I heard the bottles crash, and of course I looked that way, to my right, right away, and they were getting up and running towards the back. And I turned back to see if there was anything in the front street, because then they didn't affect me one way or another. Thompson: To see if anything else was going on. Had you seen them sitting on the bench before you stood next to them? Sitzman: Oh year, yes. Everybody is ... oh, ten or fifteen minutes before, everybody was milling around down there, trying to find a place to stand and everything, and I know when we went over to get up on the marble thing, they were already sitting there. Thompson: Well, did you notice at any point whether either of these two moved up to the end of the, to the point of the wall? Sitzman: No. They may have. I don't know. Thompson: Of course, you were looking at the parade at that point, and you wouldn't have seen what they did. Sitzman: Yeah. I always have the feeling that they were still sitting on the bench, because when I looked over there, they were getting up from the bench. http://jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/sitzman Though I realize some information from Marilyn did change. this is what she had to say about the young couple, they did remain sitting, so this then brings up the thought, that the young man could not have been sitting on the steps before the motorcade turned down into Elm, and also been on the bench all the time during.....?? Below you will see the wall in shade in the Jean Hill, though taken many years latter... I have also wondered If there were coke bottles thrown down, that broke,crashed according to Sitzman, why were they never seen within the Darnell frames........?? The last photo added , Darnell shows where the bench was......and one taken some years later showing the view of Zapruder & Sitzman from the pedestal towards the bench area.....for now.. FWIW..... Thanks.......B....

Lee & Don : On Wed , late during the evening, I made this same short post to you both.....re the Country Records Building, and a possible different trajectory...... I was not the only that saw the post, so I do know I have not lost the marbles, as yet.... and it was commented to me that they had never seen the photo previously...some time later the next day by email.........When I and the other person, came back to the F , Thurs, and checked the post was gone, and still is, ?? Yes, it was posted, yes others saw it, and yes I even edited it and added about the trees, and yes it was still there, after ......so all I can assume is that for some reason it was deleted, or a finger slipped ???????? seeing as I did not use invisible ink.......So for whatever it is worth, which now I do ponder..?? Here it is again, and will check back to see if it has become invisible a second time.... This is from the Shaw & Harris research, done before 1976......Possible different trajectories . This is from the left corner of the roof.....a missed shot......It also does show the height of the trees at the time. As these photo were taken that day... Also keeping in mind that DPD Weatherford as well as another who was with him ,was said to be stationed on that roof, with rifles........the photos are by Jim Murray as far as I know... Also they found within their research the possibility that a second shot, the first missing, and hitting the cement sewer apron, shown in the photos...... The ....second shot being taken from the right hand corner of the roof, and could possibly have been the one that hit Gov Connally.... FWIW...... B......

Lee : This photo is from the Shaw & Harris studies......showing a possible trajectory....Where DPD Weatherford is said to have been stationed on the roof with a rifle..303 ?? not sure now....Also showing the height of the trees this was taken that day... B....

Hey Bill : Many flowers are being tossed your way.....This report is so very appreciated... I do believe this is the most informative reports on any of the symposiums and or conferences that I have read in such a very long time, and that last more than likely was one of yours....There is a fountain of new information within .... I know others as well as myself are always so anxious for any news, at times we tend to grovel for such...... The reports are so few and so seldom forthcoming, with any real detail ..other than mainly what a good time they had, but with no real specifics as to what was reported.... Hopefully this fine example will show them the how.....when some return from future Symposium's , and or conferences in Dallas....There is the odd person that does make an effort , and perhaps the majority that are able to attend, do not realise that the large majority await......any report on any new research... ....Unless one goes to the expense, if such expense can be afforded, that is, and some time later when they finally may be made available, to buy the DVDs, CDs, new books whatever......surely many could give us some information such as you have done and continually do...for all without hurting those sales.... .....I repeat, it has been so very appreciated... I realize I am asking for MORE...... but ...am.... ...when and if you get the time that is...upon your return from Dallas, perhaps you could do so for all...again.........I do so wish as one of the very many, than I could attend....and sit and have a listen.....but... Your mighty fine reports are a great boost...You take good care, as we continue to appreciate such as many have for many years.... Best B........

""My opinion of Pat Speer has never sunk lower. Bob Livingston was a world authority on the human brain. He founded the first department of neuroscience in the world at UCSD. His accomplishments were so great that, when he was appointed as the scientific director of the National Institute of Mental Health and of the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness, they had to create a new, higher, civil service rank since they had never had anyone of his degree of distinction. Anyone who would like to review his credentials should consult ASSASSINATION SCIENCE (1998), which I am quite sure Speer, who would not have qualified to carry Bob's luggage, has never done. Livingston was a founding member of the first society to be awarded the Nobel Prize and served as the science advisor to His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Bob Livingston taught at some of the most distinguished universities in the United States. He danced with Jackie at a state dinner and was the most exceptional American I have ever known."" ""My final memory of Bob was taking him to Encinida for presentations by Noel Twyman, David Mantik, Gregory Burnham, and me. His hair was long and a bit unkempt when I picked him up in a Sebring convertible. He had a great time and I will never forget the wind blowing through his hair as we navigated the Interstate highway"" I believe this is Encinida.....Dr.Jim..and hopefully the names are correct.... Rear..Len Osinac....Karen Holt....Greg Burnham.......Front left..Noel Twyman..Correction.....Not Twyman...unknown.....Dr.Fetzer...Dr.R.Livingston..... and sorry I do not know the ladies name... B......

Phil: Here is the quote....and link...... The Senator who Suspected a JFK Conspiracy Yarborough's Suspicion of Lyndon Johnson "...There is the well-publicized story of Agent Rufus Youngblood, who reportedly threw himself on top of Vice President Johnson after the shooting began in Dealey Plaza.... Johnson, in a statement to the Warren Commission, mentioned the incident: I was startled by a sharp report or explosion, but I had no time to speculate as to its origin because Agent Youngblood turned in a flash, immediately after the first explosion, hitting me on the shoulder, and shouted to all of us in the back seat to get down. I was pushed down by Agent Youngblood. Almost in the same moment in which he hit or pushed me, he vaulted over the back seat and sat on me. I was bent over under the weight of Agent Youngblood's body, toward Mrs. Johnson and Senator Yarborough.... However, former Texas senator Ralph Yarborough, who was sitting beside Johnson that day, told this author: 'It just didn't happen.... It was a small car, Johnson was a big man, tall. His knees were up against his chin as it was. There was no room for that to happen.' Yarborough recalled that both Johnson and Youngblood ducked down as the shooting began and that Youngblood never left the front seat. Yarborough said Youngblood held a small walkie-talkie over the back of the car's seat and that he and Johnson both put their ears to the device. He added: 'They had it turned down real low. I couldn't hear what they were listening to.'" --Jim Marrs, Crossfire: The Plot that Killed Kennedy http://www.geocities.com/senatoryarborough/ In the V.P car.. a rented 1964 Lincoln 4 door Convertible...Driver Hurchel Jacks a Texas Hghwy Patrol Officer..... SS Rufus Youngblood.. Back seat..LBJ.......Lady Bird Johnson......Senator Ralph Yarborough Here is a bown up crop from the Altgens photo....showing the VP car after the first shot had been sounded.... Note : Do you notice the man behind on the right with what appears could be, a walkie talkie to his mouth.....?? B..........

Pat : Quote :"Bernice, "Three Patients" was not written from original interviews. It was written by an author given access to the original statements of the Parkland doctors, which were by no means covered up. These statements were, in fact, printed with the Warren Report. The "everyone who saw the head wound thought it was on the back of the head" argument is just not true. It is a conspiracy myth. Several people thought it was on the back of the head, but the photos used by Lifton and Groden were all taken many years later. More telling, by far, are the observations of people on 11-22." Pat: I have done studies within the W/C .......thank you....just the same. Your first quote answers the question......"given access to the original statements". Your second "The everyone who saw the head wound thought it was on the back of the head" argument is just not true..."It is a conspiracy myth." I suppose we are to assume now that all are conspiracy myths... Those within the photo, were giving their opinions as to what they saw...with their eyes..... some years later, but that is what they recalled...amazing that so many blind people, regarded the same area as to where they saw the blow out wound.... Their opinion and it should always be kept in mind,that theirs more so than yours or anyones should be respected, as they were there, and we were not... and should never be disregarded...and never so dismissively.. Personally each time I read a post stating the witnesses were wrong, I read obfuscation, some people seem to deliberately put aside that aspect that [b]"they were there, they saw..and all cannot be in error.."..... Whatever is your opinion, and though I respect your right to such......It seems someone should remind you that was theirs, in case if you have perhaps forgotten, we have gone around the bush in the past........and I do recall it came to an agree to disagree...... IMO you follow the Gov.findings, and support those,....... I do not.....and no where will the twain ever meet... But other than perhaps on occasion, posting such as I did for Antti's information, I have not any inclinations to debate any of those that do appear to defend Gov findings....I have been there and done that in the past ,many times......and now, imo, it does nothing but give them the opportunity to continue to post such.... No offense Pat....Just MO.... ....Thank you for your reply, and I wish you well ...... P.S and imo you know exactly what Jack was referring to in his post.....in reference to...exit and entrance wounds.... B......[/b]

Hello Antti: You may be interested in this article.......This is only part one, the next is on LHO, and the third John Connally, which I have never found.....all attended as you know at Parkland... This article is originally from the alts, I found it some years back, it was posted by thanks to Michael Parks. ........It came from "The Texas State Journal of Medicine", dated January, 1964. It was written in late November/early December, 1963 before the 'OFFICIAL' story was set in stone. I have been told, it is somewhat different, in content in some regards, than how it is Now Found on the web.? If it can be found..........Though I have not checked...it is possible it could be.... Thanks....B Michael Parks.. THREE PATIENTS at PARKLAND PARKLAND Memorial Hospital, Dallas, treats an average of 272 emergency cases a day. It is adjacent to and is the major teaching hospital for the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. It is staffed by the faculty of the medical school and has 150 interns and residents in all medical specialties. It is a modern hospital, well equipped, one of which any community might be proud. Today and for none of these reasons-Parkland has a new reputation all over the world, and historians are typing its name into manuscripts that will be textbooks for generations to come. This has happened because three particular gunshot victims were carried there out of the bright November sunlight, two to die and the third to leave by wheelchair almost two weeks later, his arm in a sling. Many Texas physicians have visited Parkland hospital; many have worked or trained there. Members of the Parkland staff are their acquaintances and friends. Many Texas physicians know personally the surviving gunshot victim, Gov. John Connally; some personally knew President John F. Kennedy, who died in Trauma Room 1; perhaps a few even knew Lee Harvey Oswald, the man charged by Dallas authorities with the assassination of the President and who was himself shot two days later. The assassination of President Kennedy, the wounding of Governor Connally, and the fatal shooting of Oswald are events of profound import to people everywhere, but they have special, personal meaning for Texans. So because a Texas hospital and Texas physicians figured prominently in this tragedy, the Texas State Journal of Medicine records for its readers of the medical profession a full account of treatment given a never-to-be-forgotten trio. When President John F. Kennedy in a moribund condition entered Parkland on Nov. 22, there was never opportunity for medical history taking. Such a history, had it been taken, would have shown that the patient "had survived several illnesses, the danger of war, the rigor of exposure in icy water, and . . . had waged grueling electoral campaigns in spite of a serious and painful back injury." Parkland records show that the President arrived at the emergency room sometime after 12:30 p.m. (There is conflict as to the exact moment.) At 1 p.m. Dr. William Kemp Clark, associate professor and chairman of the Division of Neurosurgery of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, declared him dead. During the interim of less than 30 minutes, continuous resuscitative efforts were made. Later that day, several attending physicians filed reports. The following identifies these physicians and gives the gist of their reports: Charles J Carrico - Dr. Carrico was the first physician to see the President. A 1961 graduate of Southwestern Medical School, he is 28 and a resident in surgery at Parkland. He reported that when the patient entered the emergency room on an ambulance carriage he had slow agonal respiratory efforts and occasional cardiac beats detectable by auscultation. Two external wounds were noted; one a small wound of the anterior neck in the lower one third. The other wound had caused avulsion of the occipitoparietal calvarium and shredded brain tissue was present with profuse oozing. No pulse or blood pressure were present. Pupils were bilaterally dilated and fixed. A cuffed endotracheal tube was inserted through the laryngoscope. A ragged wound of the trachea was seen immediately below the larynx. The tube was advanced past the laceration and the cuff inflated. Respiration was instituted using a respirator assistor on automatic cycling. Concurrently, an intravenous infusion of lactated Ringer's solution was begun via catheter placed in the right leg. Blood was drawn for typing and crossmatching. Type 0 Rh negative blood was obtained immediately. In view of the tracheal injury and diminished breath sounds in the right chest, tracheostomy was performed by Dr. Malcolm 0. Perry and bilateral chest tubes inserted. A second intravenous infusion was begun in the left arm. In addition, Dr. M. T. Jenkins began respiration with the anesthesia machine, cardiac monitor and stimulator attached. Solu-Cortef (300 mg.) was given intravenously. Despite those measures, blood pressure never returned. Only brief electrocardiographic evidence of cardiac activity was obtained. Malcolm 0. Perry - Dr. Perry is an assistant professor of surgery at Southwestern Medical School from which he received his degree in 1955. He I9 34 years old and was certified by the American Board of Surgery in 1963. At the time of initial examination of the President, Dr. Perry has stated, the patient was noted to be nonresponsive . His eyes were deviated and the pupils dilated. A considerable quantity of blood was noted on the patient, the carriage, and the floor. A small wound was noted in the midline of the neck in the lower third anteriorly. It was exuding blood slowly. A large wound of the right posterior cranium was noted, exposing severely lacerated brain. Brain tissue was noted in the blood at the head of the carriage. Pulse or heart beat were not detectable but slow spasmodic respiration was noted. An endotracheal tube was in place and respiration was being controlled. An intravenous infusion was being placed in the leg. While additional venesections were done to administer fluids and blood, a tracheostomy was effected. A right lateral injury to the trachea was noted. The cuffed tracheostomy tube was put in place as the endotracheal tube was withdrawn and respirations continued. Closed chest cardiac massage was instituted after placement of sealed-drainage chest tubes, but without benefit. When electrocardiogram evaluation revealed that no detectable electrical activity existed in the heart, resuscitative attempts were abandoned. The team of physicians determined that the patient had expired. Charles R. Baxter - Dr. Baxter is an assistant professor of surgery at Southwestern Medical School where he first arrived as a medical student in 1950. Except for two years away in the Army he has been at Southwestern and Parkland ever since, moving up from student to intern to resident to faculty member. He is 34 and was certified by the American Board of Surgery in 1963. Recalling his attendance to President Kennedy, he says he learned at approximately 12 :35 that the President was on the way to the emergency room and that he had been shot. When Dr. Baxter arrived in the emergency room, he found an endotracheal tube in place and respirations being assisted. A left chest tube was being inserted and cut-downs were functioning in one leg and in the left arm. The President had a wound in the midline of the neck. On first observation of the other wounds, portions of the right temporal and occipital bones were missing and some of the brain was lying on the table. The rest of the brain was extensively macerated and contused. The pupils were fixed and deviated laterally and were dilated. No pulse was detectable and ineffectual respirations were being assisted. A tracheostomy was performed by Dr. Perry and Dr. Baxter and a chest tube was inserted into the right chest (second interspace anteriorly). Meanwhile one pint of O negative blood was administered without response. When all of these measures were complete, no heart beat could be detected. Closed chest massage was performed until a cardioscope could be attached. Brief cardiac activity was obtained followed by no activity. Due to the extensive and irreparable brain damage which existed and since there were no signs of life, no further attempts were made at resuscitation. Robert N. McClelland - Dr. McClelland, 34, assistant professor of surgery at Southwestern Medical School, is a graduate of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. He has served with the Air Force in Germany and was certified by the American Board of Surgery in 1963. Regarding the assassination of President Kennedy, Dr. McClelland says that at approximately 12:35 p.m. he was called from the second floor of the hospital to the emergency room. When he arrived, President Kennedy was being attended by Drs. Perry, Baxter, Carrico, and Ronald Jones, chief resident in surgery. The President was at that time comatose from a massive gunshot wound of the head with a fragment wound of the trachea. An endotracheal tube had been placed and assisted respiration started by Dr. Carrico who was on duty in the emergency room when the President arrived. Drs. Perry, Baxter, and McClelland performed a tracheostomy for respiratory distress and tracheal injury. Dr. Jones and Dr. Paul Peters, assistant professor of surgery, ; inserted bilateral anterior chest tubes for pneumothoraces secondary to the tracheo-mediastinal injury. Dr. Jones and assistants had started three cutdowns, giving blood and fluids immediately. In spite of this, the President was pronounced dead at 1:00 p.m. by Dr. Clark, the neurosurgeon, who arrived immediately after Dr. McClelland. The cause of death, according to Dr. McClelland was the massive head and brain injury from a gunshot wound of the right side of the head. The President was pronounced dead after external cardiac massage failed and electrocardiographic activity was gone. Fouad A, Bashour - Dr. Bashour received his medical education at the University of Beirut School of Medicine in Lebanon. He is 39 and an associate professor of medicine in cardiology at Southwestern Medical School. At 12 :50 p.m. Dr. Bashour was called from the first floor of the hospital and told that President Kennedy had been shot. He and Dr. Donald Seldin, professor and chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine, went to the emergency room. Upon examination, they found that the President had no pulsations, no heart beats, no blood pressure. The oscilloscope showed a complete standstill. The President was declared dead at 1:00 p.m. William Kemp Clark - Dr. Clark is associate professor and chairman of the Division of Neurosurgery at Southwestern Medical School. The 38-year-old physician has done research on head injuries and has been at Southwestern since 1956. He reports this account of the President's treatment: The President arrived at the emergency room entrance in the back seat of his limousine. Governor Connally of Texas was also in this car. The first physician to see the President was Dr. Carrico. Dr. Carrico noted the President to have slow, agonal respiratory efforts. He could hear a heart beat but found no pulse or blood pressure. Two external wounds, one in the lower third of the anterior neck, the other in the occipital region of the skull, were noted. Through the head wound, blood and brain were extruding. Dr. Carrico inserted a cuffed endotracheal tube and while doing so, he noted a ragged wound of the trachea immediately below the larynx. At this time, Drs. Perry, Baxter, and Jones arrived. Immediately thereafter, Dr. Jenkins and Drs. A. H. Giesecke, Jr., and Jackie H. Hunt, two other staff anesthesiologists, arrived. The endotracheal tube had been connected to a respirator to assist the President's breathing. An anesthesia machine was substituted for this by Dr. Jenkins. Only 100 per cent oxygen was administered. A cutdown was performed in the right ankle, and a polyethylene catheter inserted in the vein. An infusion of lactated Ringer's solution was begun. Blood was drawn for typing and crossmatching, but unmatched type O Rh negative blood was immediately obtained and begun. Hydrocortisone (300 mg.) was added to the intravenous fluids. Dr. McClelland arrived to help in the President's care. Drs. Perry, Baxter, and McClelland did a tracheostomy. Considerable quantities of blood were present in the President's oral pharynx. At this time, Dr. Peters and Dr. Clark arrived. Dr. Clark noted that the President had bled profusely from the back of the head. There was a large (3 by 3 cm.) amount of cerebral tissue present on the cart. There was a smaller amount of cerebellar tissue present also. The tracheostomy was completed and the endotracheal tube was withdrawn. Suction was used to remove blood in the oral pharynx. A nasogastric tube was passed into the stomach. Because of the likelihood of mediastinal injury, anterior chest tubes were placed in both pleural spaces. These were connected to sealed underwater drainage. Neurological examination revealed the President's pupils to be widely dilated and fixed to light. His eyes were divergent, being deviated outward; a skew deviation from the horizontal was present. No deep tendon reflexes or spontaneous movements were found. When Dr. Clark noted that there was no carotid pulse, he began closed chest massage. A pulse was obtained at the carotid and femoral levels. Dr. Perry then took over the cardiac massage so that Dr. Clark could evaluate the head wound. There was a large wound beginning in the right occiput extending into the parietal region. Much of the right posterior skull, at brief examination, appeared gone. The previously described extruding brain was present. Profuse bleeding had occurred and 1500 cc. of blood was estimated to be on the drapes and floor of the emergency operating room. Both cerebral and cerebellar tissue were extruding from the wound. By this time an electrocardiograph was hooked up. There was brief electrical activity of the heart which soon stopped. The President was pronounced dead at 1:00 p.m. by Dr. Clark. M. T. Jenkins - Dr. Jenkins is professor and chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology at Southwestern Medical School. He is 46, a graduate of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, and was certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology in 1952. During World War II he served in the Navy as a lieutenant commander. When Dr. Jenkins was notified that the President was being brought to the emergency room at Parkland, he dispatched Drs. Giesecke and Hunt with an anesthesia machine and resuscitative equipment to the major surgical emergency room area. He ran downstairs to find upon his arrival in the emergency operating room that Dr. Carrico had begun resuscitative efforts by introducing an orotracheal tube, connecting it for controlled ventilation to a Bennett intermittent positive pressure breathing apparatus. Drs. Baxter, Perry, and McClelland arrived at the same time and began a tracheostomy and started the insertion of a right chest tube, since there was also obvious tracheal and chest damage. Drs. Peters and Clark arrived simultaneously and immediately thereafter assisted respectively with the insertion of the right chest tube and with manual closed chest cardiac compression to assure circulation. Dr. Jenkins believes it evidence of the clear thinking of the resuscitative team that the patient received 300 mg. hydrocortisone intravenously in the first few minutes. For better control of artificial ventilation, Dr. Jenkins exchanged the intermittent positive pressure breathing apparatus for an anesthesia machine and continued artificial ventilation. Dr. Gene Akin, a resident in anesthesiology, and Dr. Giesecke connected a cardioscope to determine cardiac activity. During the progress of these activities, the emergency room cart was elevated at the feet in order to provide a Trendelenburg position, a venous cutdown was performed on the right saphenous vein and additional fluids were begun in a vein in the left forearm while blood was ordered from the blood bank. All of these activities were completed by approximately 12:50 at which time external cardiac massage was still being carried out effectively by Dr. Clark as judged by a palpable peripheral pulse. Despite these measures there was only brief electrocardiographic evidence of cardiac activity. These described resuscitative activities were indicated as of first importance, and after they were carried out, attention was turned to other evidences of injury. There was a great laceration on the right side of the head (temporal and occipital), causing a great defect in the skull plate so that there was herniation and laceration of great areas of the brain, even to the extent that part of the right cerebellum had protruded from the wound. There were also fragmented sections of brain on the drapes of the emergency room cart. With the institution of adequate cardiac compression, there was a great flow of blood from the cranial cavity, indicating that there was much vascular damage as well as brain tissue damage. President Kennedy was pronounced dead at 1 p.m. It is Dr. Jenkins' personal feeling that all methods of resuscitation were instituted expeditiously and efficiently. However, he says, the cranial and intracranial damage was of such magnitude as to cause irreversible damage. ********************** Point your mouse over the skull x-ray.....for information.... See #4 ON XRAY -- OCCIPITAL IS ALWAYS THE MOST POSTERIOR BONE -- http://anatomy.med.umich.edu/radiology/hea...l_lateral.html# Hypophyseal fossa Axis Odontoid process External occipital protuberance Temporal bone B......

Good post. I agree with much of what you say. Any cursory reading of this thread, from the beginning can see the problem that exists. Of course, some will argue (and maybe even believe, though I doubt it) that they are concerned about forum rules and that is the only reason they repeatedly and continuously hit the report button and make a huge issue of 'the rules'. This isn't limited to either 'side'. The truth is, "the rules" are being used in a childish game of oneupmanship to irritate and annoy - members, admins, mods - generally everyone - sometimes, but rarely, even annoying the intended target. Mark, I find, Dixie's concerns are shared by many folk. I shan't defend her, suffice to say she has contributed a great deal of quality in those posts and is a highly respected member of the forum. It does seem you've made a strange call based on a stranger metric. Unless it is a person's job posting 20-100 times a day in most functional forums seems excessive. I know a lot of forums where that would be considered spamming. I also know a lot where a forum is no more than an instant messaging tool. Though I'll not make your mistake and rush to a judgement... ****************** Gary Loughran Aug 26 2008, 09:46 PM Good post. I agree with much of what you say. Any cursory reading of this thread, from the beginning can see the problem that exists. Of course, some will argue (and maybe even believe, though I doubt it) that they are concerned about forum rules and that is the only reason they repeatedly and continuously hit the report button and make a huge issue of 'the rules'. This isn't limited to either 'side'. The truth is, "the rules" are being used in a childish game of oneupmanship to irritate and annoy - members, admins, mods - generally everyone - sometimes, but rarely, even annoying the intended target. Gary If your words, are meant as an implication in anyway, that includes myself, Quote : Gary :""Of course, some will argue (and maybe even believe, though I doubt it) that they are concerned about forum rules and that is the only reason they repeatedly and continuously hit the report button and make a huge issue of 'the rules'. I want to make it Very clear to you, and All, that I have never hit the report button...... I have made one complaint and to John Simkin directly, some years back.....long before any rules were implimented on this forum.... I am asking that John now stand by his words...not mine.....That he stated in the email he had sent out.....to all members..... Quote : John Simkin .."What they do not have the freedom to do is to make personal attacks on other members. If you do this in the future, you will be immediately dealt with." B.....

******************************* Quote : John Simkin .."What they do not have the freedom to do is to make personal attacks on other members. If you do this in the future, you will be immediately dealt with." Quote : Vernon : ""JHC....you have 200 posts in over 4 years on this site.... get over yourself"". John : Awaiting to see your "immediately dealt with".....?? B..........

The same email was sent to every member of the forum. It did not accuse you personally of being involved in such a conspiracy. ******************** John: I think that Jack can be forgiven for misinterpreting your message. Mine started out with "Bernice Moore " and finished with "John Simkin" -- along with the use of "you" in the text. Apparently others did as well.......It is understandable.....IMO..... This below is the email message I received...... Please note also, the line, where Gentlemen, it states......... What they do not have the freedom to do is to make personal attacks on other members. [/b] Important Information ( The Education Forum ) Monday, August 25, 2008 9:29 AM From: "The Education Forum" <andrew@dtc.kent.sch.uk> Add sender to Contacts To: bmoore Bernice Moore, I have deleted the thread “Death of a Great Idea, when bad moderation kills a forum”. I will also delete any other thread that attacks the administrators or moderators of this forum. It is my opinion that a small group of members are intent in severely damaging this forum before they go off to form their own forum. I am not going to allow them to destroy what I believe is important. I have attempted to run this form in a way that would provide the maximum of freedom for members. It was the way I tried to teach my classes in school. However, I did realize as a teacher that some groups were too immature to benefit from this approach (this had nothing to do with age). Most members have responded well to this approach. However, a small minority have always caused problems by their attacks on other members. Recently, when moderators tried to protect those being attacked, they have themselves been the target of their venom. So much so, that they have resigned from the job. One of the ways that this group has been “rebelling” is to remove the link to their biography. Unless this is put back the member’s posts will be made invisible and they will be placed on moderation. Eventually, all their posts will be deleted from the forum. The same goes for those who do not have an identifiable photograph as an avatar. This forum receives a large number of page views. It is an excellent resource for people who wish to publicize their opinions, books, websites, etc. because of its search-engine ranking. Members are still free to use it in this way. What they do not have the freedom to do is to make personal attacks on other members. If you do this in the future, you will be immediately dealt with. They can then go away and talk amongst themselves, convinced that they are victims of a CIA conspiracy. John Simkin ------------------------------------- The Education Forum Statistics: ------------------------------------- Registered Users: 1830 Total Posts: 147374 Busiest Time: 1014 users were online on 23rd August 2006 - 01:44 PM ------------------------------------- B.........

Of the twenty attempts by the eleven marksmen..the CBS only made known, four..... CBS perhaps would have said so...if the other marksmen had averaged two out of three hits.... CBS finally did disclose that only four of the eleven marksmen managed, two hits out of three,,,, "Who Killed Kennedy ? The Final Chapter".....CBS Reports, November 22, 1993 B.......

For anyone who perhaps either disregards or turns a deliberate blind eye to all Media control ..or is not informed.........of "Mockingbird".... This is the information on the farce that CBS : ABC produced.... ""The Feiman Report CBS : ABC News and the Lone Assassin theory "" Neither the Donahue accomplishment nor the recreation was rather exactly...... The first in quotes gives the information pertaining to Donahue and the recreation........ Then Below that is the Feiman Report in Full........... "" CBS WAS NOT PERMITTED TO TEST THE MANNLICHER-CARCANO RIFLE THAT THE GOVERNMENT ALLEGES OSWALD USED TO ASSASSINATE THE PRESIDENT. TO PROVE THAT HE COULD HAVE FIRED THREE SHOTS WITHIN THE TIME FRAME ALLOWED BY THE WARREN COMMISSION, CBS OBTAINED ITS OWN MANNLICHER-CARCANO AND SIMILAR AMMUNITION. THEY BUILT A FIRING RANGE WITH MOVING ****************************************** TARGETS TO SIMULATE THE GEOMETRY OF DEALEY ************************************************* PLAZA, EXCEPT THAT THE TRACK WAS STRAIGHT, ************************************************ NOT CURVED LIKE ELM STREET. THE TARGETS, ******************************************** SIMILAR TO STANDARD FBI TARGETS, FEATURED ********************************************* OVERSIZE ORANGE SILHOUETTES ON A FOUR-BYFOUR- ****************************************** FOOT BLUE BACKGROUND. THEN THEY ************************* HIRED ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS SHARPSHOOTERS ********************************************** OF THE DAY, RETIRED ARMY COLONEL EDWARD B. *********************************************** CROSSMAN. CROSSMAN WAS THE AUTHOR OF MANY ************ BOOKS AND MAGAZINE ARTICLES FOR GUN ENTHUSIASTS, WRITING UNDER THE PEN NAME “COLONEL JIM CROSSMAN.” §GRAPHIC: LISTER TO MIDGLEY FEBRUARY 3, 1967 CBS ALLOWED CROSSMAN A FULL WEEK TO FAMILIARIZE HIMSELF WITH ITS COPY OF THE MANNLICHER-CARCANO. THEN, AT THE END OF JANUARY 1967, THEY GAVE HIM SIX CHANCES TO DUPLICATE OSWALD’S ALLEGED FEAT. THIS MEMO REPORTED THE RESULTS. CBS-ABC Script Page 28 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: (EXTRACT OF LISTER TO MIDGLEY FEBRUARY 3, 1967) (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: EXTRACT OF LISTER TO MIDGLEY FEBRUARY 3, 1967 V.O. NARRATION: CROSSMAN FAILED TO BREAK SIX-AND-ONEQUARTER SECONDS. HE SCORED TWO OUT OF THREE HITS IN ONLY ONE-HALF OF HIS ATTEMPTS. THE MEMO DESCRIBES CROSSMAN’S DIFFICULTY WITH THE STICKY BOLT ACTION OF THE RIFLE. CROSSMAN ALSO HAD TO COMPENSATE FOR A FAULTY SCOPE. (THE FBI HAD FOUND IT NECESSARY TO ALTER THE MOUNTING OF THE SCOPE ON THE ALLEGED ASSASSINATION WEAPON.) §TEXT: RATHER INTERVIEWS CROSSMAN (CUT TO:) -TEXT: RATHER INTERVIEW CROSSMAN DAN RATHER INTERVIEWED CROSSMAN ON FILM IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE TEST. CROSSMAN DESCRIBED THE RIFLE AS “NOT VERY ACCURATE.” HITTING THE TARGET WITH TWO OUT OF THREE SHOTS, HE SAID, WOULD REQUIRE A LARGE ELEMENT OF LUCK. CBS COMPLETELY DISCARDED THE CROSSMAN TEST AND HIS INTERVIEW, AND MADE NO MENTION OF THEM ON THE AIR. §GRAPHIC: MARKSMEN TEST RESULTS IN ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO PROVE THE LONE ASSASSIN THEORY, CBS ASSEMBLED ELEVEN EXPERT MARKSMEN. AFTER GIVING THEM AMPLE TIME TO PRACTICE WITH THE RIFLE AT AN INDOOR RIFLE RANGE, CBS FILMED THEM AT ITS OUTDOOR MOCK-UP OF DEALEY PLAZA. CBS-ABC Script Page 29 (-MORE-) §GRAPHICS: INDIVIDUAL MARKSMAN TEST RESULTS (FADE IN AND DISSOLVE TO NEXT) V.O. NARRATION: TIME WAS RECORDED IN ONLY 20 OUT OF 37 ATTEMPTS TO FIRE THREE SHOTS AT THE MOVING TARGET. IN THE OTHER 17 ATTEMPTS, EITHER A BULLET JAMMED DURING THE BOLT-CYCLING PROCESS, RESULTING IN NO TIME, OR THE STICKY BOLT SLOWED THE RIFLEMAN SO MUCH THAT THE TARGET COMPLETED ITS RUN BEFORE HE COULD GET OFF HIS THIRD SHOT. §GRAPHIC: DONAHUE TEST RESULT ONLY THREE OF THE ELEVEN MARKSMEN WERE ABLE TO SCORE AT LEAST TWO HITS IN LESS THAN 5.6 SECONDS. HOWARD DONAHUE SCORED *************************** THE BEST ON HIS THIRD TRY, BUT ONLY AFTER ******************************************** HIS FIRST TWO ATTEMPTS FAILED COMPLETELY. ********************************************* §GRAPHIC: RIFLE TEST CONCLUSION ALTHOUGH CBS CLAIMED AN AVERAGE RECORDED TIME OF 5.6 SECONDS, THEY FAILED TO TELL VIEWERS THAT THOSE 20 RESULTS AVERAGED ONLY 1.2 OUT OF THREE HITS. STILL, CBS PROVED THAT IT WAS PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE FOR THREE OUT OF A DOZEN EXPERT MARKSMEN TO OPERATE A RIFLE SIMILAR TO THE ASSASSINATION WEAPON WITHIN THE COMMISSION’S TIME FRAME. CBS-ABC Script Page 30 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: MANNLICHERCARCANO RIFLE -VIDEO: ZOOM RIFLE §GRAPHIC: ROGER FEINMAN V.O. NARRATION: WHAT IS STRIKING ABOUT THE CBS RIFLE TESTS IS NOT THE ACTUAL RESULTS, BUT HOW MANY TIMES ITS MARKSMEN FAILED TO GET RESULTS; BECAUSE, ANYTIME THE RIFLE WAS LOADED WITH LIVE AMMUNITION, THE BOLT ACTION JAMMED MORE OFTEN THAN NOT. SOME OF THE RIFLEMEN HAD TO TAKE THE RIFLE OFF THEIR SHOULDERS BETWEEN SHOTS TO GET BETTER LEVERAGE ON THE BOLT. THEN THE PROBLEM BECAME REACQUIRING THE TARGET THROUGH THE SCOPE, TRACKING IT, AND SQUEEZING OFF A SHOT. USING IT IN THIS ASSASSINATION WOULD HAVE REQUIRED AN EXPERT EXPERIENCED ENOUGH (AND PRACTICED ENOUGH) TO COMPENSATE FOR ITS STICKY BOLT ACTION AND FAULTY SCOPE. AS CROSSMAN SAID, AN EXPERT USING THIS WEAPON ************************************************* HAD A REASONABLE CHANCE AT HITTING *************************************** SOMETHING – NOT NECESSARILY PLACING HIS ********************************************* SHOTS PRECISELY WHERE HE WANTED; SOMEONE ************************************************ WITH OSWALD'S ABILITY USING THIS WEAPON ******************************************** WOULD HAVE HAD TO HAVE A VERY LUCKY DAY. *********************************************** EVEN IF HE WAS A HIGHLY SKILLED MARKSMAN, ********************************************** THE WARREN REPORT OFFERED NO EVIDENCE THAT ************************************************* OSWALD HAD FIRED ANY RIFLE – LET ALONE ******************************************* PRACTICED FIRING THE ASSASSINATION RIFLE - ******************************************** - DURING THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE ******************************************** CRIME. REGARDLESS, CBS CONCLUDED THAT ****************************************** OSWALD COULD HAVE FIRED ACCURATELY AND ********************************************** FAST ENOUGH. *************** CBS-ABC Script Page 31"" ******************************************************************************** ******** Total information posted below........ CBS-ABC Script Page 1 (-MORE-) Date: 4/7/05 Writer: Roger Bruce Feinman Title: CBS News, ABC News, and the Lone Assassin Theory Producer: Roger Bruce Feinmam Subject: Segment: Part I: CBS The Media and the Kennedy assassination Medium: Web & CD-ROM Time: Draft: Revision 9 Copyright: ©2005 Roger Bruce Feinman (All Rights Reserved) VIDEO AUDIO LINEUP #1 (OPENING) §TE XT: COPYRIGHT WARNING AND "NEXT" BUTTON (SILENT) §TE XT: DISCLAIMER (SILENT) §TEXT: AUDIENCE SUITABILITY (SILENT) §GRAPHIC: (FADE IN) ROGER FEINMAN (DISSOLVE TO:) -GRAPHIC: CONFERENCE PROGRAM MONTAGE V.O. NARRATION: HELLO, MY NAME IS ROGER FEINMAN. THIS IS THE WEB VERSION OF MY PRESENTATION TO A CONFERENCE IN WASHINGTON, D.C., ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 , 2004. THE CONFERENCE WAS CALLED "T HE WARREN REPORT AND ITS LEGACY." IT MARKED THE FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WARREN COMMISSION REPORT ON PRESIDENT K ENNEDY's ASSASSINATION. MY TOPIC WAS “CBS NEWS, ABC NEWS, AND THE LONE ASSASSIN THEORY.” THIS IS THE FIRST OF TWO PARTS. I SINCERELY HOPE YOU WILL FIND THIS PRESENTATION INFORMATIVE AND WORTHWHILE. § TEXT(SALANT QUOTE) (SILENT) CBS-ABC Script Page 2 (-MORE-) §VIDEO: CRONKITE SET (ZOOM IN) (FADE OUT/FADE IN) -GRAPHIC: CBS NEWS INQUIRY TITLE V.O. NARRATION: IT WAS THE COSTLIEST TELEVISION DOCUMENTARY OF ITS TIME. IT WAS SO BIG THAT IT FILLED FOUR HOURS IN PRIME TIME ON CONSECUTIVE EVENINGS. IT WAS SO COMPLICATED THAT IT TOOK SEVEN MONTHS TO PRODUCE. IN JUNE 1967, CBS NEWS JOINED THE DEBATE OVER THE WARREN COMMISSION'S REPORT ON PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S ASSASSINATION. BUT WAS IT IMPARTIAL INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM, OR DID IT REFLECT FAVORS AMONG POWERFUL FRIENDS? FOR THE FIRST TIME, EVIDENCE NEVER BEFORE MADE PUBLIC PROVIDES THE ANSWER. §GRAPHIC: MAIN TITLE (FLY-DOWN/FADE OUT) (MUSIC: CBS REPORTS THEME EXCERPTED FROM “APPALACHIAN SPRING”) LINEUP #2 §GRAPHIC: GOODMANSCHWERNER- CHANEY MEDIUM(APPEAR ONE-BYONE. . . THEN QUICK CUT TO) -VIDEO: GOODMAN SCHWERNER & CHANEY CU(PAN LEFT-TO-RIGHT) V.O. NARRATION: (MUSIC: GHOSTLY RUBATO UP AND UNDER) JANUARY 2005. MORE THAN FORTY YEARS AFTER THE MURDERS OF THREE CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS IN NESHOBA COUNTY, MISSISSIPI, A SUSPECT IS ARRESTED AND CHARGED. THE FORMER EDITOR AND PUBLISHER OF A LOCAL NEWSPAPER SAYS, "THE CASE IS JUST AS CURRENT NOW AS IT WAS THE NIGHT THE MURDERS WERE COMMITTED, LEGALLY AND MORALLY." §GRAPHIC: TITLE: "NEWSWORTHINESS" (MUSIC CONTINUES) CBS-ABC Script Page 3 (-MORE-) §VIDEO: HEADLINES SUPERED OVER JFK (FADE IN AND DISSOLVE TO NEXT) V.O. NARRATION: THESE ARE HEADLINES FROM NEWS STORIES WITHIN THE LAST THREE YEARS. WE FREQUENTLY HEAR OF OLD MURDER CASES REOPENED -- SOME EVEN PROSECUTED TO A GUILTY VERDICT. BUT WHENEVER PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S ASSASSINATION IS BROUGHT UP, SOME PEOPLE – INCLUDING THOSE IN THE NEWS MEDIA – SAY, "IT'S NO LONGER NEWS," OR "IT HAPPENED SUCH A LONG TIME AGO," OR "IT'S TOO MESSY, TOO INCONCLUSIVE." RIDICULE AND DERISION CONTINUE TO PLAGUE STUDENTS OF THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION. THE MAINSTREAM PRESS EITHER IGNORES THEM OR MARGINALIZES THEM AS "CONSPIRACY THEORISTS" AND "BUFFS". PERHAPS THAT’S BECAUSE THEY FAILED IN THEIR WATCHDOG ROLE. INSTEAD OF RAISING QUESTIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO ANSWER, THE AMERICAN NEWS MEDIA TRIED TO REASSURE THE PUBLIC THAT THE WARREN COMMISSION GOT IT RIGHT – THAT LEE HARVEY OSWALD ACTED ALONE WHEN HE ASSASSINATED PRESIDENT KENNEDY. (FADE OUT GHOSTLY RUBATO MUSIC) WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT TWO PRIME EXAMPLES: CBS AND ABC. §BUMPER: LINEUP #3 INTRO: "THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE" (MUSIC: GOSPEL INTERLUDE) CBS-ABC Script Page 4 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: ROGER FEINMAN -GRAPHIC: ANOTHER ROGER FEINMAN V.O. NARRATION: FIRST, YOU ARE ENTITLED TO KNOW MY BIAS. YOU ARE ENTITLED TO KNOW WHERE I STAND SO THAT YOU CAN JUDGE FOR YOURSELVES HOW MUCH WEIGHT YOU'RE GOING TO GIVE TO WHAT I'M ABOUT TO TELL YOU. TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS AGO, ON SEPTEMBER 7, 1976, I WAS FIRED BY CBS NEWS FOR SENDING MEMOS TO ITS SENIOR EXECUTIVES. I HAD WORKED AT CBS FOR SEVERAL YEARS. IN THOSE MEMOS, SPREAD OVER A NINE-MONTH PERIOD, I RAISED QUESTIONS ABOUT WHETHER TWO MAJOR DOCUMENTARIES ON THE WARREN REPORT VIOLATED CBS'S OWN STANDARDS AND PRACTICES. THE FIRST WAS BROADCAST IN JUNE 1967; THE SECOND IN NOVEMBER 1975. §GRAPHIC: THUMBNAILS OF DECEMBER 1, 1975 MEMO TO RICHARD S. SALANT I STARTED BY WRITING TO THE PRESIDENT OF CBS NEWS, RICHARD S. SALANT, ON DECEMBER 1, 1975. §GRAPHIC: EXCERPTS FROM DECEMBER 1, 1975 MEMO TO RICHARD S. SALANT IN THAT MEMO, I URGED SALANT TO APPOINT A COMMITTEE TO REVIEW THOSE DOCUMENTARIES FOR FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY. SALANT DECLINED MY SUGGESTION AND AFFIRMED HIS CONFIDENCE IN THE BROADCASTS. §GRAPHIC: THUMBNAIL OF AUGUST 18, 1976 LETTER TO BILL SMALL I ENDED BY WRITING A LETTER TO THE SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF CBS NEWS, BILL SMALL. CBS-ABC Script Page 5 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: EXCERPTS FROM AUGUST 18, 1976 LETTER TO BILL SMALL CUT TO: -GRAPHIC: EXCERPT FROM AUGUST 18, 1976 LETTER TO BILL SMALL V.O. NARRATION: HERE, I MOVED BEYOND RAISING QUESTIONS TO PROTESTING WHAT I BELIEVED THEN AND STILL BELIEVE WERE VIOLATIONS OF JOURNALISTIC ETHICS IN THE CREATION OF THOSE DOCUMENTARIES. §GRAPHIC: WESTON EXCERPT FROM AUGUST 18, 1976 LETTER TO BILL SMALL ONE OF MY COMPLAINTS CONCERNED DAN RATHER'S INTERVIEW WITH DOCTOR JAMES WESTON, A FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST WHO WAS ASKED BY CBS NEWS TO EXAMINE THE KENNEDY AUTOPSY PHOTOGRAPHS AND X-RAYS IN THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES. CBS HYPED THIS AS AN INDEPENDENT EXAMINATION. THE VIEWING AUDIENCE NEVER KNEW THAT, WHEN THE INTERVIEW WAS TAPED, CBS PROVIDED DOCTOR WESTON WITH VISUAL AIDS PREPARED BY A UROLOGIST, DR. JOHN K. LATTIMER, WELLKNOWN AS A LONGTIME DEFENDER OF THE WARREN COMMISSION'S LONE ASSASSIN CONCLUSION. §GRAPHIC:: EMERSON STONE FILE MEMO ALONG THE WAY, THE EXECUTIVES OF CBS NEWS MADE IT CLEAR THAT THEY WANTED ME TO LEAVE. THEIR ONLY HESITATION IN FIRING ME WAS THAT I WAS COVERED BY A UNION CONTRACT. THIS IS A FILE MEMO WRITTEN BY MY BOSS, EMERSON STONE, WHO WAS THE VICE PRESIDENT FOR RADIO NEWS. (PAUSE) CBS-ABC Script Page 6 (-MORE-) V.O. NARRATION: I OBTAINED THIS MEMO FROM THE CBS LAW DEPARTMENT DURING DISCOVERY PROCEEDINGS IN LATER LITIGATION. YOU'LL SEE A COUPLE MORE OF THOSE ITEMS AS WE GO ALONG. §GRAPHIC: MEMO TO ARTHUR TAYLOR (CUT TO:) FINALLY, AS THE END OF MY TIME AT CBS DREW NEAR, I WENT OUTSIDE THE NEWS DIVISION. ATTACHED TO THIS MEMO, I SENT A COPY OF MY SMALL LETTER TO ARTHUR TAYLOR, WHO WAS AT THAT TIME THE PRESIDENT OF CBS, INC., THE PARENT CORPORATION. -GRAPHIC: EXCERPT OF MEMO TO ARTHUR TAYLOR NOTICE THAT I TOLD TAYLOR I WAS PREPARED TO BACK UP MY ALLEGATIONS WITH PROOF. DURING THOSE NINE MONTHS, I HAD PREPARED TO DO EXACTLY THAT. SO NOW, I'M GOING TO TAKE YOU BEYOND YOUR TV SCREEN, BEHIND THE CAMERAS, AND THROUGH THE DOORS OF EXECUTIVE OFFICES THAT YOU, THE VIEWING AUDIENCE, NEVER GET TO SEE. §BUMPER: LINEUP #4 INTRO: "IN THE HIGHEST PUBLIC INTEREST" (MUSIC:GOSPEL INTERLUDE) §GRAPHIC: MANNING TO SALANT, AUGUST 12, 1966 (CUT TO:) BY THE SUMMER OF 1966, SEVERAL BOOKS AND MAGAZINE ARTICLES CHALLENGED THE WARREN REPORT'S CONCLUSIONS AND THE ADEQUACY OF ITS INVESTIGATION INTO PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S MURDER. CONTROVERSY MUSHROOMED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. CBS-ABC Script Page 7 (-MORE-) (MANNING PHOTO FLASHES) -GRAPHIC: EXCERPT OF MANNING TO SALANT, AUGUST 12, 1966 V.O. NARRATION: IN AUGUST, GORDON MANNING, THEN A CBS NEWS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, RECEIVED A SUGGESTION FROM BILL SMALL, THEN CHIEF OF CBS'S WASHINGTON BUREAU, AND DANIEL SCHORR, ONE OF CBS'S TOP WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENTS. THEY PROPOSED A CBS NEWS SPECIAL REPORT TO TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT KENNEDY'S DEATH. HERE, MANNING RELAYS THE IDEA TO THE PRESIDENT OF CBS NEWS, RICHARD SALANT. SALANT REJECTED IT. BUT AS THE CONTROVERSY INTENSIFIED, MANNING PERSISTED. §GRAPHIC: THUMBNAILS OF MANNING TO SALANT, OCTOBER 5, 1966 (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: EXCERPTS OF MANNING TO SALANT, OCTOBER 5, 1966 (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: EXCERPTS OF MANNING TO SALANT, OCTOBER 5, 1966 OCTOBER 5, 1966. MANNING PROPOSED A TELEVISED DEBATE BETWEEN REPRESENTATIVES OF THE WARREN COMMISSION AND THEIR CRITICS. IT WOULD BE CALLED "THE WARREN REPORT: A JUDICIAL REVIEW." ALTHOUGH MANNING'S PROPOSAL DID NOT INVOLVE ANY JUDGES, THE DEBATE WOULD BE MODERATED BY THE DEAN OF A PROMINENT LAW SCHOOL, OR MAYBE THE PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION. MANNING SEEMS TO HAVE HAD AN OPEN MIND ABOUT THE WARREN REPORT. BUT HIS MEMO REFLECTED SKEPTICISM AT CBS ABOUT GIVING THE PROMINENT CRITICS OF THE DAY A PLATFORM. HE REFERS TO EARLIER CONTACTS WITH JOHN J. MCCLOY, A FORMER MEMBER OF THE WARREN COMMISSION, WHO REFUSED TO DEBATE WITH CRITICS SUCH AS MARK LANE, EDWARD JAY EPSTEIN, AND LEO SAUVAGE. CBS-ABC Script Page 8 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: LIFE MAGAZINE COVER (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: MANNING TO SALANT, NOVEMBER 29, 1966 (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: EXCERPTS OF MANNING TO SALANT, NOVEMBER 29, 1966 (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: EXCERPT OF MANNING TO SALANT, NOVEMBER 29, 1966 V.O. NARRATION: LIFE MAGAZINE WAS VERY WIDELY READ AND INFLUENTIAL DURING THAT ERA. IN LATE NOVEMBER, LIFE PUBLISHED EXTENSIVE STILLS FROM THE ZAPRUDER FILM, AND AN INTERVIEW WITH TEXAS GOVERNOR JOHN CONNALLY, WHO WAS RIDING IN PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S LIMOUSINE WHEN HE WAS ASSASSINATED. CONNALLY DISPUTED A KEY FINDING OF THE WARREN COMMISSION, THAT HE AND KENNEDY WERE BOTH WOUNDED BY A SINGLE BULLET. LIFE URGED THAT THE ASSASSINATION INVESTIGATION BE REOPENED. ON NOVEMBER 29, MANNING AGAIN PRESSES FOR A SPECIAL REPORT, TO BE CALLED "THE TRIAL OF LEE HARVEY OSWALD." HERE, A PANEL OF LAW SCHOOL DEANS WOULD EVALUATE THE EVIDENCE IN A MOCK COURTROOM SETTING --- --- INCLUDING EVIDENCE THAT THE WARREN COMMISSION IGNORED. THE POINT TO REMEMBER ABOUT MANNING'S CAMPAIGN FOR A CBS NEWS SPECIAL: HE FAVORED GIVING SPOKESMEN FOR BOTH SIDES OF THE DEBATE OVER THE WARREN REPORT A CHANCE TO BE HEARD. CBS-ABC Script Page 9 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: LESLIE MIDGLEY §GRAPHIC: MIDGLEY TO SALANT, NOVEMBER 30, 1966 (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: MIDGLEY TO SALANT, NOVEMBER 30, 1966, CONTINUES V.O. NARRATION: NOW, MANNING IS JOINED BY AN EXECUTIVE PRODUCER NAMED LESLIE MIDGLEY. IN 1964, THE DAY THE WARREN REPORT WAS MADE PUBLIC, MIDGLEY WAS IN CHARGE OF TRANSLATING IT INTO A TWO-HOUR TELEVISION NEWS BROADCAST. MIDGLEY NOW SUGGESTS, INSTEAD OF PUTTING LEE HARVEY OSWALD ON TRIAL, THAT CBS PUT "THE WARREN REPORT ON TRIAL" HERE, HE SUBMITS AN OUTLINE FOR A MAJOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORT TO CONSUME THREEHOURS, POSSIBLY ONE HOUR ON THREE CONSECUTIVE NIGHTS. ONE OF THOSE NIGHTS WOULD BE DEVOTED ENTIRELY TO WITNESSES WHOM THE WARREN COMMISSION EITHER DISCOUNTED OR TOTALLY IGNORED. THE THIRD NIGHT WOULD FEATURE A PANEL OF LAW SCHOOL DEANS OR STATE SUPREME COURT JUSTICES, WHO WOULD GIVE THEIR VERDICT. §BUMPER: LINEUP #5 INTRO: "SLEEPLESS, UNEASY THOUGHTS" (MUSIC:GOSPEL INTERLUDE) CBS-ABC Script Page 10 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: SALANT TO SCHNEIDER, DECEMBER 1, 1966 (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: EXCERPT FROM SALANT TO SCHNEIDER, DECEMBER 1, 1966 V.O. NARRATION: THE POWER TO DEVOTE TIME ON THE AIR FOR A CBS NEWS SPECIAL REPORT DID NOT REST WITH SALANT. CBS PRESIDENT FRANK STANTON MADE THOSE DECISIONS, WITH THE CONSENT OF CHAIRMAN WILLIAM S. PALEY. THE NEXT DAY, SALANT PROPOSES THE PROJECT TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE CBS BROADCAST GROUP, JOHN SCHNEIDER. HE SAYS HE MAY ALSO ASK PERMISSION FROM THE "C-N-E-C" FOR CBS NEWS TO STATE ITS OWN CONCLUSIONS. "C-N-E-C" STOOD FOR "CBS NEWS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE." LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE WORKINGS OF THIS COMMITTEE, BUT ITS EXISTENCE, AND SALANT'S ROLE IN IT, INDICATE HOW CBS NEWS WAS MANAGED. TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED NEXT TO THE MANNING-MIDGLEY IDEA OF AN EVENHANDED, TWO-SIDED DEBATE OVER THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY, WE NEED TO PUT SALANT’S MEMO INTO CONTEXT. §GRAPHIC: PHOTO OF SALANT WHO WAS RICHARD S. SALANT? A SON OF PRIVILEGE AND A PRODUCT OF EXETER ACADEMY, HARVARD COLLEGE, AND HARVARD LAW SCHOOL, SALANT WAS A VERY BRIGHT LAWYER WITH A SARDONIC AND OFTEN SCATHING WIT. IN 1952, STANTON HAD RECRUITED HIM TO LEAVE PRIVATE PRACTICE AND JOIN CBS AS A VICE-PRESIDENT AND GENERAL EXECUTIVE, FOCUSING ON LEGISLATIVE AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS. CBS-ABC Script Page 11 (-MORE-) V.O. NARRATION: SALANT BECAME STANTON'S PROTEGE, RIGHTHAND MAN, AND CLOSE FRIEND. (PHOTO OF STANTON APPEARS) (SUPER NAME CAPTIONS) (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: MURROW (SUPER: “EDWARD R. MURROW”) STANTON, THE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF CBS, WAS SECOND IN AUTHORITY ONLY TO ITS FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN, BILL PALEY. HE WAS ALSO A CLOSE FRIEND AND CONFIDANT OF PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON, WHO OWNED CBS-AFFILIATED RADIO AND TELEVISION STATIONS IN TEXAS. JOHNSON REPORTEDLY ONCE OFFERED STANTON A POST IN HIS CABINET. IN DECEMBER 1960, EDWARD R. MURROW'S ERA AS THE STAR AND PUBLIC SYMBOL OF CBS NEWS RAPIDLY NEARED ITS END. SALANT WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN FORMING A MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE CALLED THE CBS NEWS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (C-N-E-C), WHICH HE INITIALLY CHAIRED. IT INCLUDED PALEY, STANTON, SCHNEIDER, AND SIG MICKELSON, THE PRESIDENT OF CBS NEWS (WHOM SALANT WOULD SOON REPLACE). CBS-ABC Script Page 12 (-MORE-) -GRAPHIC: MURROW FIRST (MCCARTHY BROADCAST) (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: PHOTO MONTAGE: SALANT, STANTON, PALEY (SUPER CAPTION PALEY) V.O. NARRATION: THIS COMMITTEE TOOK CHARGE NOT ONLY OF POLICY-MAKING FOR, BUT ALSO THE OPERATIONS OF CBS NEWS. IT WAS A RESPONSE TO THE VARIOUS CONTROVERSIES IN WHICH MURROW HAD CONTINUED TO EMBROIL THE COMPANY LONG AFTER HIS CONFRONTATION WITH SENATOR JOSEPH MCCARTHY. AS PALEY ONCE FAMOUSLY SAID TO MURROW AND HIS PARTNER, FRED FRIENDLY, "I DON'T WANT THIS CONSTANT STOMACH ACHE EVERY TIME YOU DO A CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECT." THE ESTABLISHMENT OF C-N-E-C EFFECTIVELY CURTAILED THE NEWS DIVISION’S INDEPENDENCE. A SHORT TIME LATER, SALANT BECAME PRESIDENT OF CBS NEWS. ALTHOUGH HE QUICKLY ASSUMED THE MANTLE OF A JOURNALIST, HE HAD NO JOURNALISM BACKGROUND, EDUCATION, OR EXPERIENCE. SALANT FREQUENTLY TOUTED THE AUTONOMY, INDEPENDENCE AND SEPARATION OF CBS NEWS FROM THE PARENT CORPORATION. IN FACT, AS SALANT WOULD LATER WRITE IN HIS MEMOIRS, AS PRESIDENT OF CBS NEWS HE HAD ALMOST DAILY PERSONAL GIVE-AND-TAKE WITH STANTON. CBS-ABC Script Page 13 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: ROGER FEINMAN -GRAPHIC: ANOTHER ROGER FEINMAN V.O. NARRATION: HE FREQUENTLY EXERCISED EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OVER CBS NEWS BROADCASTS. WHAT IS CURIOUSLY ABSENT FROM HIS MEMOIRS AND PUBLIC PAPERS IS ANY EVIDENCE OF EITHER HIS EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OR HIS LIASON BETWEEN THE NEWS DIVISION AND THE C-N-E-C. THIS IS NOT THE ONLY IMPORTANT GAP IN HIS PAPERS. NOT ONLY ARE HIS PUBLIC PAPERS COMPLETELY DEVOID OF THE MATERIAL YOU SEE HERE, BUT HIS MEMOIRS ARE COMPLETELY SILENT ABOUT THESE WARREN REPORT DOCUMENTARIES. IN THE DOZENS OF BOOKS THAT HAVE BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT THE HISTORY OF CBS, VERY LITTLE HAS BEEN SAID ABOUT C-N-E-C. REGARDLESS, ITS VERY PURPOSE AND EXISTENCE BELIED SALANT'S FREQUENT PUBLIC ASSERTIONS OF CBS NEWS'S INDEPENDENCE FROM CORPORATE INFLUENCE. CBS-ABC Script Page 14 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: MIDGLEY & MANNING TO SALANT, DECEMBER 1, 1966 V.O. NARRATION: EXCITED ABOUT SALANT'S PROPOSAL TO SENIOR CORPORATE MANAGEMENT, MANNING AND MIDGLEY IMMEDIATELY OUTLINE THEIR VISION FOR THE THREE-NIGHT SPECIAL REPORT, "THE WARREN REPORT ON TRIAL." §GRAPHIC: EXCERPT FROM MIDGLEY & MANNING TO SALANT, DECEMBER 1, 1966 IN A COURTROOM SETTING, THE PROSECUTION WILL PRESENT ITS CASE THE FIRST NIGHT, FOLLOWED BY THE DEFENSE. THEN, BOTH SIDES WILL SUM UP TO A PANEL OF LAW SCHOOL DEANS, WHO WILL RETIRE TO CONSIDER THEIR VERDICT. §GRAPHIC: EXCERPT FROM MIDGLEY & MANNING TO SALANT, DECEMBER 1, 1966 (SILENT) §GRAPHIC: SALANT TO MANNING, DECEMBER 2, 1966 THE NEXT DAY, HOWEVER – THE DAY AFTER SENDING THE PROPOSAL TO CBS CORPORATE MANAGEMENT – SALANT TELLS MANNING HE IS HAVING UNEASY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE TRIAL FORMAT. MANNING ADVISES MIDGLEY THAT SALANT'S ENTHUSIASM FOR THE TWO-SIDED PRESENTATION IS WANING. §BUMPER: LINEUP #6 INTRO: "IN DEFENSE OF THE WARREN REPORT" (MUSIC:GOSPEL INTERLUDE) CBS-ABC Script Page 15 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: MANNING TO SALANT, DECEMBER 30, 1966 V.O. NARRATION: LATER THAT MONTH, SALANT SENDS MANNING AND MIDGLEY TO CALIFORNIA TO MEET WITH TWO PROMINENT MEMBERS OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION. MANNING'S REPORT ON THE TRIP IS A HASTILY COMPOSED MEMO WITH NUMEROUS HANDWRITTEN INSERTIONS. IT MARKS AN IMPORTANT TURNING POINT IN THE WORK CBS NEWS DID ON THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION. ONE OF THE TWO LAWYERS IS EDWIN HUDDLESON, A PARTNER IN THE SAN FRANCISCO LAW FIRM OF COOLEY, GODWARD, CASTRO AND HUDDLESON. HE WAS RICHARD SALANT'S LAW SCHOOL CLASSMATE AT HARVARD. HUDDLESON IS A MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF THE RAND CORPORATION, WHILE CBS PRESIDENT FRANK STANTON SERVES AS ITS CHAIRMAN. IT IS HUDDLESON WHO BRINGS THE NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING PHYSICIST LUIS ALVAREZ TO STANTON AT CBS WITH AN IDEA ABOUT HOW TO PROVE THE WARREN COMMISSION CORRECT BY ANALYZING JIGGLES IN THE ZAPRUDER FILM. THE OTHER LAWYER IS BAYLESS MANNING, DEAN OF THE LAW SCHOOL AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY. §GRAPHIC: EXCERPT OF MANNING TO SALANT, DECEMBER 30, 1966 BOTH HUDDLESON AND MANNING TELL THE CBS EXECUTIVES THEY ARE AGAINST CBS UNDERTAKING A MAJOR REVIEW OF THE WARREN REPORT. THEY CITE "THE NATIONAL INTEREST" AND "POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS" AS PART OF THEIR REASONING. CBS-ABC Script Page 16 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: EXCERPT OF MANNING TO SALANT, DECEMBER 30, 1966 V.O. NARRATION: BAYLESS MANNING SUGGESTS THAT CBS IGNORE THE CRITICS, OR AT THE MOST CONVENE A PANEL TO REVIEW AND CRITICIZE THEIR BOOKS. ACCORDING TO GORDON MANNING OF CBS, BOTH LAWYERS TAKE THE SIDE OF THE WARREN REPORT AND THE ESTABLISHMENT. LET THE MATTER REST, THEY ADVISE. CBS-ABC Script Page 17 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: EXCERPT OF MANNING TO SALANT, DECEMBER 30, 1966 (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: EXCERPT OF MANNING TO SALANT, DECEMBER 30, 1966 (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: EXCERPT OF MANNING TO SALANT, DECEMBER 30, 1966 V.O. NARRATION: CLEARLY SENSING THAT THE WIND HAS SHIFTED AGAINST HIM, GORDON MANNING, FOR FIVE MONTHS THE LEADING PROPONENT OF A TELEVISED DEBATE, NOW DOES AN ABOUT-FACE. HE PROPOSES CHANGING THE PROJECT TO "IN DEFENSE OF THE WARREN REPORT," AND PRESENTING MORE CONVINCING EVIDENCE OF ITS LONE ASSASSIN CONCLUSION. CBS WOULD DISMISS WHAT HE NOW CALLS "THE INANE, IRRESPONSIBLE, AND HARE-BRAINED CHALLENGES OF MARK LANE AND OTHERS OF THAT STRIPE." HE INDICATES THAT MIDGLEY DOES NOT AGREE WITH THIS OBVIOUSLY DRAMATIC REVISION OF THEIR PREVIOUS PLAN. IN A MARGINAL NOTATION, MANNING TELLS MIDGLEY HE IS FREE TO EXPRESS HIS DISAGREEMENT, BUT MANNING HAS LEFT MIDGLEY OUT ON A LIMB BY HIMSELF. BY THIS TIME, HOWEVER, ANOTHER INFLUENCE HAS POSSIBLY CONTRIBUTED TO MANNING'S TURNAROUND. SALANT HAS INVITED A NEW PLAYER TO JOIN CBS NEWS'S PREPARATION OF THE WARREN REPORT BROADCASTS AS A SECRET COLLABORATOR. HIS CLANDESTINE, BEHINDTHE- SCENES ROLE BRINGS THE INDEPENDENCE AND OBJECTIVITY OF THE CBS EFFORT INTO SERIOUS QUESTION. §BUMPER: LINEUP #7 INTRO: "THE DIPLOMATIC POUCH" (MUSIC:GOSPEL INTERLUDE) CBS-ABC Script Page 18 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: MIDGLEY DISCUSSION MEMO, DECEMBER 14, 1966 V.O. NARRATION: THIS IS A DISCUSSION MEMO WRITTEN BY LESLIE MIDGLEY ON DECEMBER 14, 1966. IN IT, HE EXPLAINS HOW HE INTENDS TO APPROACH THE JOB OF PRODUCING THE CBS SPECIALS ON THE WARREN REPORT. ONCE AGAIN, HE ARGUES FOR THE INCLUSION OF "AS MANY PEOPLE AS WE CAN FIND WHOSE TESTIMONY IS PERTINENT, AND WHO WERE DISCOUNTED OR NOT EVEN HEARD BY THE COMMISSION." §GRAPHIC: MIDGLEY DISCUSSION MEMO, DECEMBER 14, 1966, PAGE 5 MIDGLEY WANTS TO CONDUCT EXPERIMENTS THAT ARE "MORE SCIENTIFIC" THAN "THE RIDICULOUS ONES RUN BY THE FBI." AND THE CRITICS HAVE CONVINCED HIM THAT THE ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION OF THE WARREN COMMISSION WAS "ALMOST INCREDIBLY INADEQUATE." AT THIS POINT, MIDGLEY IS STILL PUSHING FOR A MOCK TRIAL OF THE WARREN REPORT. §GRAPHIC: MCCLOY RESPONSE (SUPER ENLARGEMENT OF MCCLOY RESPONSE HEADER) (PHOTO OF MCCLOY) SOON, SALANT CIRCULATES TO HIS COLLEAGUES AN ANONYMOUS, PARAGRAPH-BY-PARAGRAPH REBUTTAL TO MIDGLEY'S BROADSIDE. ALTHOUGH UNDATED AND UNSIGNED, IT COMES FROM FORMER WARREN COMMISSION MEMBER JOHN J. MCCLOY. THE DOCUMENT CONTAINS A HANDWRITTEN ANNOTATION BY MCCLOY'S DAUGHTER, ELLEN. SHE WORKS FOR RICHARD SALANT AS HIS ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT AT CBS NEWS. CBS-ABC Script Page 19 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: MCCLOY RESPONSE PAGE 3 V.O. NARRATION: MCCLOY IS OFFENDED BY MIDGLEY’S DESCRIPTION OF THE WARREN COMMISSION’S ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION AS “INCREDIBLY INADEQUATE.” HE CHASTISES MIDGLEY FOR ACCEPTING A CRITIQUE BY EDWARD JAY EPSTEIN. AND HE ADDS, “THE CHIEF EVIDENCE THAT OSWALD ACTED ALONE AND SHOT ALONE IS NOT TO BE FOUND IN THE BALLISTICS AND PATHOLOGY OF THE ASSASSINATION, BUT IN THE FACT OF HIS LONER LIFE.” §GRAPHICS:MEMOS COPIED TO MCCLOY (FADE IN AND DISSOLVE TO NEXT) (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: SALANT TO MIDGLEY APRIL 26, 1967 W/PHOTO OF LBJ & MCCLOY BEGINNING IN MID-DECEMBER 1966, MCCLOY'S DAUGHTER WILL BE ON THE DISTRIBUTION LISTS OF MOST OF THE EXECUTIVE MEMOS, SCRIPT OUTLINES, AND DRAFT SCRIPTS RELATED TO THE WARREN REPORT SERIES. SHE WILL TAKE THEM TO HER FATHER AND RELAY HIS COMMENTS BACK TO THE EXECUTIVE SUITES. THIS COLLABORATION IS INTERRUPTED ONLY WHEN MCCLOY TRAVELS ABROAD FROM FEBRUARY UNTIL LATE APRIL 1967. PRESIDENT JOHNSON ASKS HIM TO NEGOTIATE A FOREIGN EXCHANGE OFFSET PROBLEM INVOLVED IN MAINTAINING BRITISH AND AMERICAN TROOPS IN WEST GERMANY. §GRAPHICS:MORE MEMOS COPIED TO MCCLOY (FADE IN AND DISSOLVE TO NEXT) HERE SALANT ASKS MIDGLEY: “IS THE QUESTION WHETHER OSWALD WAS A CIA OR FBI INFORMANT REALLY SO SUBSTANTIAL THAT WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT?” MIDGLEY ANSWERS: “YES, WE MUST TREAT IT.” CBS-ABC Script Page 20 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: SALANT TO MIDGLEY MAY 15, 1967 V.O. NARRATION: NO CRITIC OF THE WARREN REPORT IS GIVEN SIMILAR ACCESS TO CBS NEWS INTERNAL WORKING PAPERS. LOWER-LEVEL ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS REMAIN UNAWARE OF THE SECRET COLLABORATION, WHICH ALMOST CERTAINLY VIOLATED CBS NEWS POLICIES. §BUMPER: LINEUP #8 INTRO: "NOT A BRIBE . . . JUST A GIFT" (MUSIC:GOSPEL INTERLUDE) §GRAPHIC: FEINMAN TO MCCLOY MARCH 11, 1977 -GRAPHIC: MCCLOY TO FEINMAN MARCH 31, 1977 (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: EXTRACT OF MCCLOY TO FEINMAN MARCH 31, 1977 V.O. NARRATION: IN MARCH 1977, I WROTE TO MCCLOY ASKING FOR AN INTERVIEW ABOUT HIS BEHIND-THESCENES RELATIONSHIP WITH CBS IN 1967. MCCLOY DECLINED TO BE INTERVIEWED, CLAIMING HE COULD NOT RECALL GIVING CBS ANY ADVICE ON THE PREPARATION OF THEIR SCRIPT. §GRAPHIC: FEINMAN TO MCCLOY APRIL 4, 1977 ANXIOUS TO MAKE A RECORD THAT I HAD GIVEN MCCLOY A FAIR OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLAIN, I WROTE HIM AGAIN, THIS TIME LAYING OUT THE DETAILS I HAD LEARNED. §GRAPHIC: MCCLOY TO SALANT APRIL 5, 1977 THE NEXT DAY, MCCLOY WROTE TO SALANT AT CBS NEWS. THIS IS ANOTHER DOCUMENT I OBTAINED FROM THE CBS LAW DEPARTMENT. THE HANDWRITING IN THE UPPER RIGHT-HAND CORNER IS SALANT’S. HE IS INSTRUCTING LES MIDGLEY TO PULL HIS FILES AND DETERMINE IF THEY HOLD ANY EVIDENCE OF THE SECRET COLLABORATION. CBS-ABC Script Page 21 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: EXTRACT OF MCCLOY TO SALANT APRIL 5, 1977 V.O. NARRATION: MCCLOY DENIES THAT HE WAS EVER GIVEN OR SAW CBS MEMORANDA OR DRAFTS RELATING TO THE ASSASSINATION, BUT HE SUGGESTS THAT SALANT LOOK OVER WHATEVER RECORDS HE HAS. §GRAPHIC: SALANT TO MCCLOY APRIL 11, 1977 (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: (EXTRACT OF SALANT TO MCCLOY APRIL 11, 1977) ANOTHER DOCUMENT PROVIDED BY THE CBS LAW DEPARTMENT. APRIL 11, 1977, SALANT REPLIES . . . STATING EMPHATICALLY AND UNEQUIVOCALLY THAT AT NO TIME DID ELLEN MCCLOY EVER SERVE AS A LIASON OR CONDUIT BETWEEN HER FATHER AND CBS NEWS. §GRAPHIC: EXTRACT OF SALANT TO MCCLOY APRIL 11, 1977 (SILENT) §GRAPHIC: EXTRACT OF SALANT TO MCCLOY APRIL 11, 1977 (SILENT) §GRAPHICS: HANDWRITTEN NOTES (FADE IN AND DISSOLVE TO NEXT) V.O. NARRATION: MCCLOY DIED IN 1990. BUT IN 1992, A REPORTER FOR THE VILLAGE VOICE CONFRONTED BOTH SALANT AND ELLEN MCCLOY WITH COPIES OF THE DOCUMENTS YOU HAVE SEEN AND THESE NOTES IN HER HANDWRITING. MISS MCCLOY ADMITTED ACTING AS A CONDUIT. SALANT, WHILE NOT DISPUTING AN ARRANGEMENT HE HAD ONCE VEHEMENTLY DENIED, NOW CLAIMED THERE WAS NOTHING UNUSUAL ABOUT IT. CBS-ABC Script Page 22 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: HANDWRITTEN NOTE V.O. NARRATION: BUT THIS NOTE, FROM ELLEN MCCLOY TO LES MIDGLEY, IMPLIES AT THE VERY LEAST THAT JOHN J. MCCLOY FELT UNUSUALLY COMFORTABLE IN HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE EXECUTIVES OF CBS NEWS EVEN AS THEY PREPARED A PURPORTEDLY INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATIVE REPORT ABOUT THE WARREN COMMISSION. THE REFERENCE TO “LUCI’S BABY” PERTAINS TO LUCI JOHNSON NUGENT, PRESIDENT JOHNSON’S DAUGHTER. §GRAPHIC: FURNESS (FURNESS AS WESTINGHOUSE GIRL) -GRAPHIC: MIDGLEY & FURNESS WHILE PRODUCING THE 1967 SERIES ON THE WARREN REPORT, LESLIE MIDGLEY BECAME ENGAGED TO MARRY BETTY FURNESS, THE FORMER ACTRESS AND TELEVISION COMMERCIAL SPOKESWOMAN. LYNDON JOHNSON THEN APPOINTED FURNESS HIS SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR CONSUMER AFFAIRS. HER MAIN QUALIFICATION FOR THE JOB SEEMED TO BE ELEVEN YEARS OF SELLING WESTINGHOUSE APPLIANCES ON TV. SHE WAS SWORN IN ON APRIL 27, 1967, LESS THAN TWO MONTHS BEFORE THE WARREN REPORT SERIES WAS BROADCAST. TWO WEEKS AFTER THE WARREN REPORT SERIES AIRED, MIDGLEY AND FURNESS WERE MARRIED. AT THE SAME TIME, MIDGLEY WAS PROMOTED TO EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF THE CBS EVENING NEWS WITH WALTER CRONKITE, MAKING HIM THE NUMBER ONE EDITOR AT CBS NEWS. CBS-ABC Script Page 23 (-MORE-) §BUMPER: LINEUP #9 (INTRO: "DESIGNED TO RATHER LOOSE STANDARDS") -GRAPHIC: ROGER FEINMAN V.O. NARRATION: WE HAVE SEEN HOW THE 1967 CBS SERIES ON THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION TOOK FLIGHT, AND HOW IT VEERED OFF COURSE FROM AN EVENHANDED DEBATE TO A DEFENSE OF THE WARREN REPORT, AIDED SECRETLY BY A MEMBER OF THE COMMISSION. BUT HOW DID THESE DEVELOPMENTS AFFECT THE INTEGRITY OF WHAT THE VIEWING AUDIENCE FINALLY SAW OR NEVER GOT THE CHANCE TO SEE? WHILE IT’S IMPOSSIBLE IN THIS FORMAT TO EXAMINE EVERY ASPECT OF THE BROADCASTS, HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES OF SUPPRESSION AND DISTORTION. §GRAPHIC: VIEW FROM TSBD SIXTH-FLOOR WINDOW LIKE THE WARREN COMMISSION, CBS’S THEORY CALLED FOR NO MORE THAN THREE SHOTS FIRED DURING THE ASSASSINATION. BUT CBS HAD TO FACE THE SAME PROBLEM OF TIMING THAT VEXED THE COMMISSION. THE FBI AND SECRET SERVICE HAD DETERMINED IN THEIR ON-SITE RECONSTRUCTIONS THAT AN OAK TREE PARTIALLY BLOCKED THE PRESIDENT FROM THE VIEW OF AN ASSASSIN LURKING IN THE SIXTH FLOOR WINDOW FROM ZAPRUDER FRAME 166 UNTIL FRAME 209, EXCEPT PERHAPS FOR A SINGLE FRAME AT Z-186 WHEN THERE MAY HAVE BEEN AN OPENING IN THE FOLIAGE. EVEN THE WARREN COMMISSION REJECTED THE IDEA OF A SHOT THROUGH THE TREE. CBS-ABC Script Page 24 (-MORE-) -GRAPHIC: ROGER FEINMAN V.O. NARRATION: THERE WASN'T ENOUGH TIME TO REACT, AND THE ASSASSIN WAS ABOUT TO ENJOY AN UNOBSTRUCTED VIEW ONCE THE PRESIDENT EMERGED FROM UNDER THE TREE AT FRAME 210. THE COMMISSION ALSO COULDN'T SWALLOW THE IDEA THAT A SHOT AT SUCH CLOSE RANGE WOULD HAVE COMPLETELY MISSED THE LIMOUSINE, AND THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE THAT IT HAD PENETRATED THE TREE. WITH THE ZAPRUDER FILM SERVING AS A CLOCK STARTING WITH A FIRST SHOT AT FRAME 210, THAT LEFT A WINDOW OF 103 FRAMES BEFORE THE OBVIOUSLY FATAL WOUNDING OF KENNEDY. HOW COULD ONE MAN HAVE CAUSED ALL THE WOUNDS TO BOTH KENNEDY AND GOVERNOR JOHN CONNALLY IN JUST 5.6 SECONDS? IN ITS BROADCASTS, CBS GAVE TWO ANSWERS INTENDED TO EXPAND THE TIME FRAME OF THE ASSASSINATION: OSWALD HAD INDEED FIRED THE FIRST SHOT THROUGH THE TREE AND MISSED. ALSO, ZAPRUDER’S CAMERA WAS RUNNING SLOWER THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT. TOGETHER, THESE THEORIES ALLOWED MORE TIME FOR THREE SHOTS. CBS-ABC Script Page 25 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: MIDGLEY TO SALANT FEBRUARY 23, 1967 (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: EXTRACT OF MIDGLEY TO SALANT FEBRUARY 23, 1967 V.O. NARRATION: CBS NEWS HIRED PHOTOANALYST CHARLES WYCKOFF TO FOLLOW THROUGH ON THE JIGGLE ANALYSIS OF THE ZAPRUDER FILM FIRST PROPOSED BY DR. LUIS ALVAREZ. AS BROADCAST BY CBS, DAN RATHER’S INTERVIEW WITH WYCKOFF SUGGESTED THAT HE HAD FOUND THREE “EVENTS” – JERKY MOTIONS IN THE FILM – INDICATING THAT ZAPRUDER HAD BEEN STARTLED AT THREE POINTS, PRESUMABLY BY THREE RIFLE SHOTS. BUT AS THIS MEMO FROM MIDGLEY TO SALANT AND DAN RATHER’S UNCUT INTERVIEW WITH WYCKOFF BOTH SHOW, CBS WAS AWARE THAT HE HAD ACTUALLY DISCOVERED FOUR DISTURBANCES. ONE OF THE FOUR, HE APPARENTLY DECIDED, WAS DUE TO THE SOUND OF A SIREN. HOW WYCKOFF DISTINGUISHED BETWEEN THE SOUNDS OF RIFLE FIRE AND A SIREN ON AN EIGHT-MILLIMETER SILENT FILM IS AN ELUSIVE QUESTION, BUT IT GAVE CBS NO PAUSE WHATSOEVER. WHEN THE SHOW AIRED, THE NUMBER OF BLURS WAS WHITTLED DOWN TO JUST THREE. IN FACT, THE ZAPRUDER FILM CONTAINS SEVERAL MORE JIGGLES. CBS-ABC Script Page 26 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: SALANT TO MIDGLEY MAY 15, 1967 (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: EXTRACT OF SALANT TO MIDGLEY MAY 15, 1967 V.O. NARRATION: CBS WAS NOT PERMITTED TO TEST THE ACTUAL ZAPRUDER MOVIE CAMERA. BOTH THE FBI AND BELL & HOWELL, THE CAMERA’S MANUFACTURER, TESTED ITS SPEED AT 18.3 FRAMES PER SECOND. CBS CONCLUDED ON THE BASIS OF TESTING SIMILAR CAMERAS THAT ZAPRUDER’S MUST HAVE BEEN RUNNING SLOWER. BUT THIS CONCLUSION WAS BELIED BY RICHARD SALANT’S OWN ANALYSIS THAT THE CBS TESTS WERE LOGICALLY INCONCLUSIVE AND UNPERSUASIVE. §GRAPHIC: DIAGRAM OF TAGUE POSITION (TIMED OVERLAY OF CURBSTONE PHOTO) ANOTHER TACTIC USED BY CBS TO BOLSTER THE LONE ASSASSIN THEORY WAS TO TOTALLY IGNORE THE WOUNDING OF JAMES TAGUE, A SPECTATOR STANDING NEAR THE TRIPLE OVERPASS, 535 FEET FROM THE SO-CALLED “OSWALD WINDOW.” TAGUE’S FACE WAS CUT BY THE RICOCHET OF A MISSILE THAT STRUCK A CURBSTONE NEARBY. THERE IS NO MENTION OF THIS INCIDENT ANYWHERE IN THE TRANSCRIPTS OF THE FOUR ONE-HOUR BROADCASTS. CBS-ABC Script Page 27 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: H.P. WHITE BEL AIR MOCK UP V.O. NARRATION: CBS WAS NOT PERMITTED TO TEST THE MANNLICHER-CARCANO RIFLE THAT THE GOVERNMENT ALLEGES OSWALD USED TO ASSASSINATE THE PRESIDENT. TO PROVE THAT HE COULD HAVE FIRED THREE SHOTS WITHIN THE TIME FRAME ALLOWED BY THE WARREN COMMISSION, CBS OBTAINED ITS OWN MANNLICHER-CARCANO AND SIMILAR AMMUNITION. THEY BUILT A FIRING RANGE WITH MOVING TARGETS TO SIMULATE THE GEOMETRY OF DEALEY PLAZA, EXCEPT THAT THE TRACK WAS STRAIGHT, NOT CURVED LIKE ELM STREET. THE TARGETS, SIMILAR TO STANDARD FBI TARGETS, FEATURED OVERSIZE ORANGE SILHOUETTES ON A FOUR-BYFOUR- FOOT BLUE BACKGROUND. THEN THEY HIRED ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS SHARPSHOOTERS OF THE DAY, RETIRED ARMY COLONEL EDWARD B. CROSSMAN. CROSSMAN WAS THE AUTHOR OF MANY BOOKS AND MAGAZINE ARTICLES FOR GUN ENTHUSIASTS, WRITING UNDER THE PEN NAME “COLONEL JIM CROSSMAN.” §GRAPHIC: LISTER TO MIDGLEY FEBRUARY 3, 1967 CBS ALLOWED CROSSMAN A FULL WEEK TO FAMILIARIZE HIMSELF WITH ITS COPY OF THE MANNLICHER-CARCANO. THEN, AT THE END OF JANUARY 1967, THEY GAVE HIM SIX CHANCES TO DUPLICATE OSWALD’S ALLEGED FEAT. THIS MEMO REPORTED THE RESULTS. CBS-ABC Script Page 28 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: (EXTRACT OF LISTER TO MIDGLEY FEBRUARY 3, 1967) (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: EXTRACT OF LISTER TO MIDGLEY FEBRUARY 3, 1967 V.O. NARRATION: CROSSMAN FAILED TO BREAK SIX-AND-ONEQUARTER SECONDS. HE SCORED TWO OUT OF THREE HITS IN ONLY ONE-HALF OF HIS ATTEMPTS. THE MEMO DESCRIBES CROSSMAN’S DIFFICULTY WITH THE STICKY BOLT ACTION OF THE RIFLE. CROSSMAN ALSO HAD TO COMPENSATE FOR A FAULTY SCOPE. (THE FBI HAD FOUND IT NECESSARY TO ALTER THE MOUNTING OF THE SCOPE ON THE ALLEGED ASSASSINATION WEAPON.) §TEXT: RATHER INTERVIEWS CROSSMAN (CUT TO:) -TEXT: RATHER INTERVIEW CROSSMAN DAN RATHER INTERVIEWED CROSSMAN ON FILM IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE TEST. CROSSMAN DESCRIBED THE RIFLE AS “NOT VERY ACCURATE.” HITTING THE TARGET WITH TWO OUT OF THREE SHOTS, HE SAID, WOULD REQUIRE A LARGE ELEMENT OF LUCK. CBS COMPLETELY DISCARDED THE CROSSMAN TEST AND HIS INTERVIEW, AND MADE NO MENTION OF THEM ON THE AIR. §GRAPHIC: MARKSMEN TEST RESULTS IN ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO PROVE THE LONE ASSASSIN THEORY, CBS ASSEMBLED ELEVEN EXPERT MARKSMEN. AFTER GIVING THEM AMPLE TIME TO PRACTICE WITH THE RIFLE AT AN INDOOR RIFLE RANGE, CBS FILMED THEM AT ITS OUTDOOR MOCK-UP OF DEALEY PLAZA. CBS-ABC Script Page 29 (-MORE-) §GRAPHICS: INDIVIDUAL MARKSMAN TEST RESULTS (FADE IN AND DISSOLVE TO NEXT) V.O. NARRATION: TIME WAS RECORDED IN ONLY 20 OUT OF 37 ATTEMPTS TO FIRE THREE SHOTS AT THE MOVING TARGET. IN THE OTHER 17 ATTEMPTS, EITHER A BULLET JAMMED DURING THE BOLT-CYCLING PROCESS, RESULTING IN NO TIME, OR THE STICKY BOLT SLOWED THE RIFLEMAN SO MUCH THAT THE TARGET COMPLETED ITS RUN BEFORE HE COULD GET OFF HIS THIRD SHOT. §GRAPHIC: DONAHUE TEST RESULT ONLY THREE OF THE ELEVEN MARKSMEN WERE ABLE TO SCORE AT LEAST TWO HITS IN LESS THAN 5.6 SECONDS. HOWARD DONAHUE SCORED THE BEST ON HIS THIRD TRY, BUT ONLY AFTER HIS FIRST TWO ATTEMPTS FAILED COMPLETELY. §GRAPHIC: RIFLE TEST CONCLUSION ALTHOUGH CBS CLAIMED AN AVERAGE RECORDED TIME OF 5.6 SECONDS, THEY FAILED TO TELL VIEWERS THAT THOSE 20 RESULTS AVERAGED ONLY 1.2 OUT OF THREE HITS. STILL, CBS PROVED THAT IT WAS PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE FOR THREE OUT OF A DOZEN EXPERT MARKSMEN TO OPERATE A RIFLE SIMILAR TO THE ASSASSINATION WEAPON WITHIN THE COMMISSION’S TIME FRAME. CBS-ABC Script Page 30 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: MANNLICHERCARCANO RIFLE -VIDEO: ZOOM RIFLE §GRAPHIC: ROGER FEINMAN V.O. NARRATION: WHAT IS STRIKING ABOUT THE CBS RIFLE TESTS IS NOT THE ACTUAL RESULTS, BUT HOW MANY TIMES ITS MARKSMEN FAILED TO GET RESULTS; BECAUSE, ANYTIME THE RIFLE WAS LOADED WITH LIVE AMMUNITION, THE BOLT ACTION JAMMED MORE OFTEN THAN NOT. SOME OF THE RIFLEMEN HAD TO TAKE THE RIFLE OFF THEIR SHOULDERS BETWEEN SHOTS TO GET BETTER LEVERAGE ON THE BOLT. THEN THE PROBLEM BECAME REACQUIRING THE TARGET THROUGH THE SCOPE, TRACKING IT, AND SQUEEZING OFF A SHOT. USING IT IN THIS ASSASSINATION WOULD HAVE REQUIRED AN EXPERT EXPERIENCED ENOUGH (AND PRACTICED ENOUGH) TO COMPENSATE FOR ITS STICKY BOLT ACTION AND FAULTY SCOPE. AS CROSSMAN SAID, AN EXPERT USING THIS WEAPON HAD A REASONABLE CHANCE AT HITTING SOMETHING – NOT NECESSARILY PLACING HIS SHOTS PRECISELY WHERE HE WANTED; SOMEONE WITH OSWALD'S ABILITY USING THIS WEAPON WOULD HAVE HAD TO HAVE A VERY LUCKY DAY. EVEN IF HE WAS A HIGHLY SKILLED MARKSMAN, THE WARREN REPORT OFFERED NO EVIDENCE THAT OSWALD HAD FIRED ANY RIFLE – LET ALONE PRACTICED FIRING THE ASSASSINATION RIFLE - - DURING THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE CRIME. REGARDLESS, CBS CONCLUDED THAT OSWALD COULD HAVE FIRED ACCURATELY AND FAST ENOUGH. CBS-ABC Script Page 31 (-MORE-) §BUMPER: LINEUP #10 INTRO: "A MOST IMPORTANT DOCUMENT” §GRAPHIC: MIDGLEY TO SALANT MAY 25, 1967 V.O. NARRATION: ON THE AFTERNOON OF THE ASSASSINATION, TWO OF THE DOCTORS WHO TRIED TO SAVE PRESIDENT KENNEDY HELD A NEWS CONFERENCE AT PARKLAND HOSPITAL. THE NEWS MEDIA QUOTED THEM AS SAYING A BULLET HAD ENTERED THE PRESIDENT’S THROAT, AN OPINION INCONSISTENT WITH AN ASSASSIN SHOOTING FROM BEHIND. TESTIFYING TO THE WARREN COMMISSION, THEY REPUDIATED THESE NEWS REPORTS. FOR YEARS, ASSASSINATION RESEARCHERS WERE UNABLE TO LOCATE A TAPE OR TRANSCRIPT OF THE NEWS CONFERENCE. ONE AUTHOR ALLEGED THAT THE FBI HAD SEIZED ALL AVAILABLE TAPES AND FILMS FROM RADIO AND TELEVISION STATIONS. BUT IN MAY 1967, CBS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT ROBERT PIERPOINT DISCOVERED AN OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT IN THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS OFFICE. CBS-ABC Script Page 32 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT UNALTERED V.O. NARRATION: THE IMPORTANT POINT ABOUT THIS TRANSCRIPT IS NOT WHAT THE DOCTORS SAID OR WHETHER THEY WERE CORRECT. IT IS THAT THE WARREN COMMISSION HAD ALSO SOUGHT THIS DOCUMENT. THE COMMISSION ASKED THE SECRET SERVICE FOR A TAPE OR TRANSCRIPT, BUT THE SECRET SERVICE REPLIED THAT THEY COULD NOT LOCATE EITHER AFTER AN EXTENSIVE SEARCH. YET, IT WAS IN THE WHITE HOUSE ALL THE TIME. ON THIS COPY FOUND BY PIERPOINT IN MAY 1967, THE PRESS CONFERENCE IS NUMBERED 1327-C OF THE KENNEDY ADMINISTRATION. IF IT WAS PART OF THE KENNEDY ADMINISTRATION’S RECORDS, ONE MIGHT HAVE REASONABLY EXPECTED IT TO GO TO KENNEDY’S LIBRARY IN MASSACHUSETTS. §GRAPHIC: PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT ALTERED BUT IN THIS COPY, WHICH WAS LATER FILED AT THE JOHNSON LIBRARY IN TEXAS, THE ORIGINAL NUMBER HAS BEEN CROSSED OUT, AND THE PRESS CONFERENCE IS REDESIGNATED NUMBER ONE OF THE JOHNSON ADMINISTRATION. THE EVIDENCE SHOWS THE RENUMBERING HAD TO OCCUR SOMETIME AFTER PIERPOINT DISCOVERED THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT IN MAY 1967. SO, THE QUESTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN ASKED, WHY WAS THIS DOCUMENT WITHHELD FROM THE WARREN COMMISSION? CBS-ABC Script Page 33 (-MORE-) §TEXT: CBS TRANSCRIPT V.O. NARRATION: INSTEAD OF ASKING THAT QUESTION, CBS REFUSED TO RELEASE THE DOCUMENT OR SAY WHERE THEY FOUND IT. HERE IS THE RELEVANT PORTION OF THE CBS BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT. NOTE THAT DR. PERRY WAS NOT “RUSHED” INTO THE NEWS CONFERENCE. IT BEGAN MORE THAN TWO HOURS AFTER PRESIDENT KENNEDY WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD. THIS IS HOW CBS PROTECTED THE JOHNSON WHITE HOUSE FROM EMBARRASSMENT OVER WHY THE TRANSCRIPT WAS NEVER GIVEN TO THE WARREN COMMISSION. §BUMPER: LINEUP #11 INTRO: "THE PROBE” (MUSIC:GOSPEL INTERLUDE) CBS-ABC Script Page 34 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: RICHTER TO MIDGLEY JANUARY 10, 1967 (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: EXTRACT OF RICHTER TO MIDGLEY JANUARY 10, 1967 V.O. NARRATION: CHOOSING TO RELY ON SCHEMATIC DIAGRAMS OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY’S WOUNDS, THE WARREN COMMISSION NEVER ASKED FOR THE X-RAYS AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF HIS AUTOPSY. THEIR WHEREABOUTS WERE UNKNOWN UNTIL THE KENNEDY FAMILY DONATED THEM TO THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES IN LATE 1966. SEQUESTERED FOR A PERIOD OF YEARS, THE X-RAYS AND PHOTOS BECAME THE FOCUS OF INTENSE CURIOSITY. IN JANUARY 1967, MIDGLEY RECEIVED EXPLOSIVE INFORMATION THAT HAD NEVER BEEN PUBLICLY REVEALED. A CBS EMPLOYEE IN WASHINGTON, WHO BELONGED TO THE SAME CHURCH AS THE CHIEF AUTOPSY PATHOLOGIST, DR. HUMES, HAD ENGAGED HIM IN CONVERSATION ABOUT THE ASSASSINATION. HUMES REPORTEDLY TOLD HIS FRIEND THAT ONE X-RAY TAKEN SHOWED A SOFT METAL PROBE TRACING A PATH THROUGH THE PRESIDENT BETWEEN THE NONFATAL WOUNDS IN HIS BACK AND THROAT. HUMES ALSO SAID THAT HE HAD BEEN ORDERED NOT TO DO A COMPLETE AUTOPSY. THIS INFORMATION CAME TO CBS MORE THAN TWO YEARS BEFORE ONE OF THE OTHER AUTOPSY PATHOLOGISTS TESTIFIED TO THESE RESTRICTIONS AT THE TRIAL OF CLAY SHAW IN NEW ORLEANS. CBS-ABC Script Page 35 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: MIDGLEY TO MCCLOY JANUARY 11, 1967 (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: EXTRACT OF MIDGLEY TO MCCLOY JANUARY 11, 1967 V.O. NARRATION: MIDGLEY RECOGNIZED THE SIGNIFICANCE OF WHAT HE HAD. FORSAKING THE USUAL ROUTE THROUGH SALANT’S OFFICE, HE WROTE DIRECTLY TO JOHN J. MCCLOY, ASKING HIS HELP IN GETTING AN INTERVIEW WITH HUMES, WHO HAD ALREADY REFUSED TO GO ON CAMERA. AS MIDGLEY NOTED, THE PROBE X-RAY COULD RESOLVE ISSUES THAT WERE CENTRAL TO THE LONE ASSASSIN THEORY. INDEED, ONE MIGHT HAVE EXPECTED THE GOVERNMENT TO SEEK WORLD-WIDE PUBLICATION OF THE X-RAY – IF, THAT IS, IT SUPPORTED THE OFFICIAL CONCLUSIONS. AT THE INTERVENTION OF ATTORNEY GENERAL RAMSEY CLARK, DOCTOR HUMES AGREED TO BE INTERVIEWED BY DAN RATHER IN JUNE 1967. BUT RATHER DID NOT ASK HIM A SINGLE QUESTION EITHER ABOUT THE PROBE OR RESTRICTIONS ON THE AUTOPSY, AND CBS NEVER DISCLOSED THIS INFORMATION. THIS IS JUST ONE INSTANCE IN WHICH CONCEALMENT BY CBS MAY HAVE ASSISTED AN OFFICIAL COVER-UP. CBS-ABC Script Page 36 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: ROGER FEINMAN -GRAPHIC: JENKINS INTVU -GRAPHIC: KARNEI INTVU §GRAPHIC: KNUDSEN_ (EXTRACT OF KNUDSEN HSCA TESTIMONY APPEARS) V.O. NARRATION: THE HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON ASSASSINATIONS NEVER KNEW ABOUT THE HUMESPROBE STORY WHEN THEY INVESTIGATED THE CASE TEN YEARS LATER. BUT THEY DID FIND THREE WITNESSES TO THE AUTOPSY WHO INDEPENDENTLY TOLD THEM SIMILAR STORIES. WERE IT NOT FOR PUBLIC PRESSURE INSPIRED BY OLIVER STONE’S “JFK” MOVIE, YOU AND I WOULD NEVER HAVE KNOWN. THE COMMITTEE TRIED TO LOCK UP THIS TESTIMONY FOR FIFTY YEARS. MEDICAL TECHNICIAN JAMES CURTIS JENKINS RECALLED X-RAYS BEING TAKEN OF THE PROBE PROCEDURE. DOCTOR ROBERT KARNEI RECALLED PHOTOGRAPHS BEING TAKEN WITH PROBES THROUGH THE BODY. ALMOST TWENTY YEARS LATER, KARNEI REPEATED HIS STORY TO THE STAFF OF THE ASSASSINATIONS RECORDS REVIEW BOARD. ROBERT KNUDSEN WAS A MEMBER OF THE WHITE HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHIC: STAFF. FOLLOWING PRESIDENT KENNEDY’S AUTOPSY, KNUDSEN WAS INVOLVED IN PROCESSING THE PHOTOGRAPHS. IN SWORN TESTIMONY, HE TOLD THE HOUSE COMMITTEE STAFF THAT HE HAD SEEN PHOTOS OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY’S REMAINS WITH PROBES INSERTED. CBS-ABC Script Page 37 (-MORE-) (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: EXTRACT OF KNUDSEN-HSCA TESTIMONY V.O. NARRATION: THERE ARE NO SUCH PHOTOGRAPHS OR X-RAYS IN THE COLLECTION HOUSED TODAY IN THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES. THE MYSTERY OF AUTOPSY X-RAYS AND PHOTOGRAPHS KNOWN TO HAVE EXISTED AT ONE TIME BUT NOW MISSING PERSISTS TO THIS DAY. CBS NEWS RECEIVED THE FIRST CLUE TO THE MYSTERY LONG BEFORE THE TRAIL RAN COLD. THEY BURIED IT. §BUMPER: LINEUP #12 INTRO: “ROADS NOT TAKEN” (MUSIC: “GOSPEL FANTASIA (AMEN)” – 1ST CHORUS) §GRAPHIC: MIDGLEY & CRONKITE V.O. NARRATION: THIS IS REALLY THE STORY OF HOW TWO GREAT JOURNALISTS – LESLIE MIDGLEY AND WALTER CRONKITE, WHOSE ROLE IN THIS AFFAIR WAS ESSENTIALLY LIMITED TO READING A SCRIPT THAT WAS HANDED TO HIM – WERE USED AND ABUSED BY THE CBS CORPORATE MACHINERY. ULTIMATELY, THE WARREN REPORT SERIES DID NOT REFLECT THE CONCEPTS AND JUDGMENTS OF EITHER ITS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER (MIDGLEY) OR ITS ANCHORMAN.(CRONKITE). IN HIS MEMOIRS PUBLISHED MORE THAN 20 YEARS LATER, MIDGLEY WROTE THAT HE STILL FOUND IT HARD TO ACCEPT AS FACT THAT LEE HARVEY OSWALD DID THIS TERRIBLE THING ALL ALONE. AND HE REAFFIRMED HIS BELIEF THAT THE FBI'S INVESTIGATION OF THE CASE WAS "UNBELIEVABLY SLOPPY." CBS-ABC Script Page 38 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: DAN RATHER 1963 W/TEXT: Z-FILM BG) -GRAPHIC: DAN RATHER 1963 W/TEXT: RATHER Z-FILM FIRST QUOTE APPEARS -GRAPHIC: DAN RATHER 1963 W/TEXT: RATHER Z-FILM SECOND QUOTE APPEARS V.O. NARRATION: BUT WHAT ABOUT DAN RATHER? HE CONDUCTED A NUMBER OF INTERVIEWS AND WITNESSED SOME OF THE TESTS. EVEN IF HE HAD NOT BEEN FAMILIAR WITH WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THE EXECUTIVE SUITE, DAN RATHER WAS CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE PROJECT TO MAKE OUT ITS ODD TILT IN ONE DIRECTION – THE OFFICIAL THEORY OF THE CRIME – JUST AS CRITICS HAD SAID OF THE WARREN REPORT. WHAT ABOUT DAN RATHER? CBS-ABC Script Page 39 (-MORE-) GRAPHIC: “60 MINUTES” LOGO §GRAPHIC: MIDGLEY TO BIRNBAUM, BARTELS, PHILLIPS & RATHER JULY 24, 1975 (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: EXTRACT OF MIDGLEY TO BIRNBAUM, BARTELS, PHILLIPS & RATHER JULY 24, 1975 (CUT TO:) -GRAPHIC: EXTRACT OF MIDGLEY TO BIRNBAUM, BARTELS, PHILLIPS & RATHER JULY 24, 1975 V.O. NARRATION: EARLY IN 1975, THE 60 MINUTES UNIT BEGINS A SERIOUS INVESTIGATION TO FIND A LINK BETWEEN LEE HARVEY OSWALD AND JACK RUBY. AFTER SEVERAL MONTHS OF RESEARCH, HOWEVER, RICHARD SALANT KILLS THEIR PROJECT AND, IN APRIL 1975, ORDERS THE 60 MINUTES TEAM TO TURN OVER ALL THEIR RESEARCH TO LESLIE MIDGLEY. BY NOW, IT IS CLEAR THAT MIDGLEY OWNS THE ASSASSINATION STORY AT CBS FOR ALL PURPOSES WHILE SALANT REMAINS PRESIDENT. HIS CORE PERSONNEL ON THE STORY HAS REMAINED CONSTANT SINCE 1964. BUT MIDGLEY UNDOUBTEDLY RECALLS THE STING OF REJECTION YEARS EARLIER FOR HIS IDEA OF PUTTING THE WARREN REPORT ON TRIAL. NOW, BOTH HE AND CBS NEWS HAVE TOO MUCH INVESTED IN THE LONE ASSASSIN THEORY. MIDGLEY TELLS HIS STAFF AND DAN RATHER THEY WILL AVOID GOING DOWN THE SAME ROAD THEY DID IN 1967. THEY WILL NOT REEXAMINE THEIR SUPPORT OF THE LONE ASSASSIN THEORY. CBS-ABC Script Page 40 (-MORE-) §BUMPER LINEUP #13 INTRO: “TENURE” (MUSIC:”GOSPEL FANTASIA (AMEN)-2ND CHORUS) §GRAPHIC: RATHER IN STUDIO 1963 -GRAPHIC: RATHER AT TSBD SIXTH-FLOOR WINDOW -GRAPHIC: RATHER OUTSIDE TSBD -GRAPHIC: EDDIE BARKER V.O. NARRATION: DAN RATHER WAS NOT IN DEALEY PLAZA WHEN PRESIDENT KENNEDY WAS MURDERED. HE NEITHER SAW NOR HEARD THE SHOOTING. HE COVERED THE AFTERMATH FROM INSIDE A STUDIO AT CBS'S DALLAS AFFILIATE KRLD. FOR DECADES AFTERWARD, THIS CONNECTION ENABLED BOTH CBS AND RATHER TO PROMOTE THEMSELVES AS AUTHORITATIVE AND CREDIBLE NARRATORS OF THE ASSASSINATION SAGA. BUT IN THEIR REPEATED RETELLINGS AND RECONSTRUCTIONS OF THAT AFTERNOON, SELF-SERVING MYTHS HAVE SOMETIMES OVERTAKEN THE FACTS, EMBEDDING RATHER DEEPER INSIDE THE STORY AND ENLARGING HIS ROLE. AS LATE AS MARCH 2005, FOR EXAMPLE, CBS CONTINUED TO CLAIM THAT "RATHER WAS THE FIRST TO REPORT KENNEDY HAD DIED, BEFORE THE OFFICIAL CONFIRMATION OF THE PRESIDENT'S DEATH." IT'S AN OUTRIGHT FALSEHOOD. THE FIRST REPORTER TO BROADCAST THAT KENNEDY HAD DIED WAS EDDIE BARKER, THEN THE LOCAL NEWS DIRECTOR OF KRLD. CBS-ABC Script Page 41 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: YOUNGER RATHER -GRAPHIC: RATHER 1981 -GRAPHIC: RATHER W/SWEATER 1987 -GRAPHIC: WALTER CRONKITE W/TEXT V.O. NARRATION: DAN RATHER'S STATURE AT THE NETWORK GREW, AT LEAST IN PART DUE TO HIS PUBLIC IMAGE AS A MAINSTAY OF CBS'S REPORTING ON THE ASSASSINATION. IN 1981, RATHER SUCCEEDED WALTER CRONKITE AS ANCHORMAN OF THE CBS EVENING NEWS. BUT HE STRUGGLED TO FILL CRONKITE'S SHOES AS THE SHOW'S RATINGS STEADILY DECLINED OVER THE NEXT 24 YEARS, AND IT FELL TO THIRD PLACE BEHIND THE OTHER NETWORKS. WALTER CRONKITE RECENTLY TOLD CNN: "IT SURPRISED QUITE A FEW PEOPLE AT CBS AND ELSEWHERE THAT, WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO PULL UP THE RATINGS BEYOND THIRD IN A THREE-MAN FIELD, THAT THEY TOLERATED HIS BEING THERE FOR SO LONG." §GRAPHIC: GUARD DOCS -GRAPHIC: BUSH & DAD -GRAPHIC: BUSH GUARD POSE ON SEPTEMBER 8, 2004, RATHER CITED PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN MILITARY RECORDS AS PROOF THAT PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH ENTERED THE TEXAS AIR NATIONAL GUARD DURING THE VIETNAM WAR THROUGH POLITICAL INFLUENCE, AND THAT HE RECEIVED PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT DESPITE DISOBEYING ORDERS. AFTER VIGOROUSLY DEFENDING RATHER'S REPORT FOR TWELVE DAYS AGAINST QUESTIONS OF FORGERY, CBS NEWS CONFESSED THAT IT COULD NOT SUBSTANTIATE THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE DOCUMENTS USED IN THE STORY. CBS-ABC Script Page 42 (-MORE-) §GRAPHIC: RATHER 2004 W/TEXT V.O. NARRATION: RATHER SAID, "I'M OF THE SCHOOL, MY NAME IS ON IT, I'M RESPONSIBLE." §GRAPHIC: RATHER 2004 W/TEXT AND HE ADMITTED, "I DIDN'T DIG HARD ENOUGH, LONG ENOUGH, DIDN'T ASK ENOUGH OF THE RIGHT QUESTIONS." THE STORY'S PRODUCER WAS FIRED. THREE EXECUTIVES WERE ASKED TO RESIGN. ANOTHER EMPLOYEE WAS PUBLICLY DEFAMED AND DISGRACED, BUT ALLOWED TO STAY. ALTHOUGH DAN RATHER ABDICATED HIS ANCHOR CHAIR UNDER A CLOUD OF SCANDAL, BY THE TIME THE PRESENTATION YOU ARE WATCHING WAS PLACED ON THE INTERNET, HE REMAINED A CORRESPONDENT FOR CBS NEWS, WHICH PAID HIM A ONE-HOUR TRIBUTE RARELY ACCORDED TO LIVING TELEVISION PERSONALITIES. §GRAPHIC: CBS EYE W/TEXT: POLLS V.O. NARRATION: THE CBS DOCUMENTARIES FAILED TO PERSUADE THE PUBLIC THAT ONE MAN ACTING ALONE ASSASSINATED JOHN F. KENNEDY. QUITE THE OPPOSITE, IN LATER YEARS PUBLIC OPINION POLLS SHOWED A GROWING BELIEF IN A CONSPIRACY – LONG BEFORE OLIVER STONE'S "JFK". DESPITE CBS'S FAILURE TO INFLUENCE PUBLIC OPINION, ITS INFLUENCE ON OTHER NEWS ORGANIZATIONS CANNOT BE SO EASILY DISMISSED CBS-ABC Script Page 43 §GRAPHIC: LINEUP #14 “BEYOND DISHONESTY: ABC LOOKS AT THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION” (ABC TITLE ANIMATION) -GRAPHIC: PRESENTATION TITLE V.O. NARRATION: THE IRON DETERMINATION OF THE MAJOR NETWORKS TO RAM THE LONE GUNMAN THEORY DOWN THE THROATS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WAS MOST RECENTLY DEMONSTRATED BY ABC NEWS AND PETER JENNINGS. NEXT IN PART TWO: "BEYOND DISHONESTY," ABC LOOKS AT THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION. §GRAPHIC: TEASE AND COMING SOON, THE EFFECTS OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S MURDER ON AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS FROM ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE: "JUSTICE AT FIVE POINTS: HOW THE FEDERAL COURTS ASSASSINATED THE TRUTH IN THE CASE OF ROBERT GRODEN AGAINST RANDOM HOUSE, THE NEW YORK TIMES, AND GERALD POSNER." §VIDEO: IN MEMORIAM, THANKS, CREDITS, Copyright 2005 by Roger Bruce Feinman. B.....................