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Campbell Brown
Walter Cronkite Dies; Why Were Florida Parents Killed?
Aired July 17, 2009 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Tonight, here are the questions we want answered.
Why were the parents of 17 children really murdered? Is there more to the story?
DAVID MORGAN, ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA, SHERIFF: We're now at a phase in this investigation that is much like master's level chess.
BROWN: A safe buried in the backyard, eight people now under arrest. The sheriff is tonight's newsmaker.
Plus, is a custody deal in the works for Michael Jackson's children? Will Janet step in to raise her brother's three kids? And why has he still not been buried?
Then the strange case of Amanda Knox. Is this young American student getting railroaded in Italy? She's accused of murdering her roommate and now her sisters are speaking out on her behalf. But are they doing more harm than good?
Also, the week's must undercovered stories.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I realize that the last few miles of any race are the hardest to run. But I have to say, now is not the time to slow down.
BROWN: We will update you on some of the big stories that just aren't getting enough attention.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is your only source for news. CNN prime time begins now. Here's Campbell Brown.
BROWN: Hi, everybody.
Those are our big questions tonight, but we're going to start, as we always do, with the "Mash-Up." It is, of course, our look at all the stories making an impact right now, the moments you may have missed today. We're watching it all, so you don't have to.
Tonight, we have exclusive surveillance video of that suicide bombing at the Ritz-Carlton in Jakarta, the whole thing caught on tape as it unfolded. Take a look. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: You have to look at this video. Let's watch it together. Here we go.
Take that, Rog, if you got it. Look at this man. See him right there? He is walking through the hotel lobby. He's following into that area where it seems like the elevator is on. He disappears into the archway and then, bam.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It was so big, especially at the Marriott. There was suddenly white smoke in the area. And then about five minutes later, the Ritz-Carlton got hit.
SANCHEZ: This is exclusive CNN footage as well. There, you see the two hotels as mayhem begins to break out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police here now believe that the suspected bombers were actually guests in this hotel, the J.W. Marriott, and that they detonated their bombs using homemade explosives that police found in their room, number 1808.
KATIE COURIC, HOST, "CBS EVENING NEWS": An Indonesian terror network with links to al Qaeda is suspected.
BRIAN WILLIAMS, NBC ANCHOR: Big-name hotels overseas, especially those with Western ties, have become the new target of Islamic terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: And there's still no claim of responsibility for the double suicide bombing that also targeted the Marriott Hotel, six people killed, more than 50 wounded, including at least eight Americans. President Obama, who has lived in Indonesia, called the attacks outrageous.
And New York City police announced they are stepping up security at New York hotels, just as a precaution.
Well, we were expecting to it be a quiet summer Friday in Washington, but that all changed when at the last minute President Obama called in reporters to short-circuit the 24-hour news cycle and give, he called -- quote -- "the long view" on health care reform. Here's your crib sheet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: The health insurance reform cannot add to our deficit over the next decade, and I mean it. Let me repeat. Health insurance reform cannot add to our deficit over the next decade. And I mean it.
The last few miles of any race are the hardest to run. But I have to say, now is not the time to slow down. And now is certainly not the time to lose heart. Those who are betting against this happening this year are badly mistaken. We are going to get this done. We will reform health care. It will happen this year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: And this is just the beginning of the president's push. He has called a prime-time news conference for next Wednesday night. You're going to see that right here on CNN. The White House announced it today on Twitter. A new age out there, folks.
To Wall Street now, where bailed-out banks are now making money, big-time. Bank of America, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs all announcing this week billions of dollars in profits this quarter.
Remember, your money just bailed these guys out. So, the big question, are taxpayers getting taken for a ride here?
Well, usually, we would ask Ali Velshi to help us explain it, but he's on a well-deserved vacation.
So, here's Jon Stewart with the bottom line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")
JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": How is it happening? Well, it's simple. Let me explain. The U.S. economy is basically a pyramid. And it's taken some real hits lately.
Unemployment is at a 26-year high -- 6.5 million jobs have been lost -- 1.9 million house foreclosure filings just this year. And consumer confidence is at an all-time low, all economic indicators that have left the beloved top of our pyramid, the eye, Goldman Sachs, in peril.
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: Pyramids can survive the loss of the foundation, but once they get poked in the eye.
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: Anyway, that's where the government came in. First, they let a couple of Goldman Sachs' competitors, like Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, collapse or be absorbed. That can't be bad for Goldman's business.
Then we gave AIG $13 billion, so they could pay back 100 cents on the dollar, the $13 billion they owed Goldman Sachs. Then we let Goldman Sachs become a holding bank and gave them $28 billion in loan guarantees to keep their cost of capital down. It's what's known in business as the invisible government-funded scaffolding of the free market.
(LAUGHTER) STEWART: And it worked, just enough for Goldman Sachs to pay its employees a total of $11.36 billion so far this year.
So, fret not, America. Your work has not gone in vain. We can all rest assured that -- wait, what's happening? Is there -- no, the supports are giving out. Quick. Everybody, throw your bodies under Goldman Sachs to cushion its fall.
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: Children first. They're the softest.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
STEWART: The trickle-never theory of the economy.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: All right. So, it's Friday night. We're going a little lighter, and, of course, that would explain everything to you.
Now to Main Street. While the banks are raking in the cash, millions of people around the country tonight out of a job. Sixteen states now have unemployment levels above 10 percent. Michigan is the hardest-hit, with 15 percent of the people there unemployed.
But, if you're feeling down, just look up for some positive thinking, courtesy of good Samaritans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These billboards are the product of an anonymous donor, along with the Outdoor Advertisers Association, to lift the spirits of a nation in fear of recession. And during times when we don't know where the economy is headed next, this campaign is driven to sell a little bit of hope, if you look in the right direction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe if somebody sees the Bill Gates billboard and thinks that, you know, maybe it's not a bad time to try that idea I have always had.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Whatever it takes.
Now, forget positive thinking. This next story is more like, what are they thinking? We know dealerships are doing everything they can to sell cars these days, but get this. Starting in August, one car dealer in Missouri will be giving away free AK-47 assault weapons with the purchase of any truck. Yes, you heard me right, AK-47s if you buy a truck.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARK MULLER, AUTOMOTIVE DEALER: We're just trying to generate some traffic, generate some interest and enthusiasm and excitement. And it seems to work real well.
You know, we're not just going to give people an AK-47 gun. You know, felons buy cars, too. What we are going to do is we are going to give them a voucher, where they can go to their local gun dealer, and -- or local gun dealers we would strongly recommend, where they can buy a gun and go through the proper background checks, and so that the guns end up in the right hands.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, some people watching this might think, you know, owning a handgun is one thing, but owning an AK-47 is something else and maybe this is just a tad irresponsible?
MULLER: We're real firm believers in the Second Amendment and we don't want to become victims.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Felons buy cars, too -- the line of the day, everybody.
So, here is a sports shocker to share with you. Tiger Woods missed the cut at the British Open today by just one stroke. He's out of there. And even the sports reporters called it a meltdown. And, boy, did Tiger realize it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: Just made mistakes. And, obviously, you can't make mistakes and expect to not only, you know, make the cut, but also, you know, try and win a championship. You have to, you know, play clean rounds of golf, and I didn't. And I made my share of mistakes out there today, and didn't play a very clean card.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Here's the nice part of the story. The current leader of the Open, 59-year-old Tom Watson, who is taking out the young gun.
And if you are thinking of kids -- or taking the kids, rather, to go see "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," well, you're not going to be alone this weekend. The movie had an opening fit for a king. That's tonight's punchline.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN": The new "Harry Potter" film opened yesterday. It earned a whopping $58 million in its first day.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
O'BRIEN: Yes, producers are still marveling at the ability of "Harry Potter" fans to clear their social schedules on a Wednesday. (LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: It's been reported that "Harry Potter" books have spawned a new genre of music called wizard rock.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: Wizard rock. Yes, it's the first-ever music, rock music, where the main drug of choice is for asthma.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
BROWN: And that is the "Mash-Up."
Tonight's live blog is up and running. Chat now at CNN.com/Campbell. Go check it out.
And the big question when we come back, why were the parents of 17 children really murdered? Eight people have now been arrested. This is a case that has so many twists and turns. What exactly is the backstory here? We're going to ask the sheriff. He is tonight's newsmaker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID MORGAN, ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA, SHERIFF: We're now at a phase in this investigation that is much like master's level chess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: New developments tonight in the killings of the parents of 17 children in Florida. Just minutes before the family and friends gathered at the funeral, this was for Byrd and Melanie Billings, a lawyer representing their relative tried to end days of speculation by revealing previously confidential details about a key piece of evidence, a safe that was taken during last week's home invasion, when the couple was shot and killed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRYSTAL SPENCER, BILLINGS FAMILY ATTORNEY: As a result of the intense speculation regarding the motive of the crime, I have been authorized to tell you that the safe that was removed from the Billings' home contained only children's prescription medication, important family documents, and some jewelry of sentimental value.
Hopefully, this will put to rest the intense speculation and rumors that are swirling about the Billings family. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: We want to get all the latest developments in the investigation from the man who is in charge of it, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan joining me tonight from Pensacola.
Sheriff Morgan, welcome to you. Appreciate your time.
MORGAN: Thank you. It's an honor to be here.
BROWN: We have heard from our reporters there that there actually may be another arrest next week. What can you tell us about that?
MORGAN: That's a possibility, because this investigation continues.
As we have stated all along, this web is like concentric circles and we're working our way out. And that's a very real possibility, because we're working this case as diligently as we did in the first day.
BROWN: Sheriff, you have compared this case to everything from a Truman Capote movie to the Charles Manson killings. I mean, why these comparisons? When are we going to get sort of a bigger picture here?
MORGAN: It may be a while, because, as I have explained, we're in the prosecutorial phase of this investigation now, meaning that there is so much information that we cannot speak openly and freely about.
Those examples, I made because of the numbers of people that have been involved in murders that were very high-profile throughout the United States. In the Truman Capote case, the Clutter family, of course, in Kansas, there was only two individuals involved in that murder. And when you go out to California in '69, '70 with the Tate- LaBianca murders, there were only seven involved with that. Sadly, we're at eight and possibly counting.
BROWN: And why -- I don't know if you can answer this question. Maybe you can't, because I know there's a lot you can't say. But that number of people for what appears, at least from what you told us, to be a robbery? It just doesn't make sense.
MORGAN: Well, I would agree with you. On its surface, it doesn't.
But, as the state attorney has said -- and I also concur with -- that a motive -- a motive for this crime was a home invasion and robbery. And, as we have tried to tell everyone, that please be patient with us, because the information will come out as this case progresses, and more motives will become apparent as this case progresses.
BROWN: Can you give us any sense for what other motives may have been involved here? MORGAN: I'm sorry. I am truly not at liberty to speak about that.
BROWN: We also understand that there are additional people of interest. What can you tell us about that?
MORGAN: That is true. Just like in the last instance with Miss Long Wiggins, we have some additional people that we have interviewed in this case and that have been involved with this case.
And so we want to ensure -- ensure that they are just on the periphery of this and not actually intimately involved with it, because, as I have stated all along in this case, that we're looking for culpability, and anyone that shared any part in this case, we intend to bring to trial.
BROWN: And some of those people at least you are questioning about the security cameras on the property, correct?
MORGAN: That is correct, because in an otherwise very well- executed plan for the entry to the compound and then into the home and even their exit strategy, that is the one gaping hole as I call it in the strategy that was left to chance.
We believe and had theorized all along that there was someone, someone whose position in this escapade, if you will, that was their responsibility, was to disable that system. And, of course, it wasn't disabled, which was a tremendous break in this case.
BROWN: Right. And I do understand that there are security cameras throughout the house, so I guess does that mean that you have all aspects of this crime on tape?
MORGAN: I will state that there are exterior and interior cameras,, and I will leave it at that.
BROWN: And you have called in the DEA, the ATF, the FBI. Can you be any more specific about what they're focusing on?
MORGAN: Yes, ma'am, I can.
They're focusing on specific areas of their responsibility. Some of it, of course, is with us in this case. And I want to reiterate that we are focused on the murders of the Billings family. But, during the conduct of this investigation, some of the elements that came to light about, again, these individuals that we currently have incarcerated, that there is some information that these other federal agencies needed to know. And so we held a conference and passed that information on to them.
So, now it's within their purview, not mine.
BROWN: Sheriff Morgan, we do appreciate your time tonight. I know you have got a lot on your plate right now, so thanks very much for talking to us.
MORGAN: Thank you, ma'am, for your time.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
BROWN: We have some breaking news to share with you right now, legendary newsmaker Walter Cronkite dead at the age of 92 years old. CBS News has just announced it.
Cronkite, who in many ways, invented the job of television news anchor, had been ill for some time. CBS says he died today peacefully in New York City.
Wolf Blitzer right now has a look back at his incredible life.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALTER CRONKITE, CBS NEWS: And that's the way it is.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Or so it was in the days when Walter Cronkite said so, when his warm, certain voice spoke strongly night after night from inside the American television set.
CRONKITE: It will be the biggest broadcast we had here.
BLITZER: When there were fewer channels, less staff, one man behind the wheel, Walter Cronkite was the most trusted man in America, according to a 1973 poll. He was one of them, and that mattered.
Born in a small Missouri town to the local dentist, he committed his life to telling stories.
CRONKITE: I'm just back from the biggest assignment that any American reporter could have so far in this war.
BLITZER: Tales from the front for the United Press wire service during World War II, reviving history on his signature CBS show "You Are There." He was the first to anchor national coverage of a presidential nominating convention.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you preside over a great event, for an American public that is watching you, you become synonymous with the great event.
BLITZER: In 1962, he became anchor of "The Evening News," which rose in the ratings like one of his trademark broadcasts of a rocket launch -- 19 million Americans watched this man. In return, he made them moon men...
CRONKITE: Whew. Boy.
BLITZER: ... and kept them company in times of grief.
CRONKITE: President Kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. Central Standard Time.
BLITZER: He prided himself for staying out of the news. But, man, did he make news when he had something to say. In 1968, after a reporting trip to Vietnam, he rocked the White House with his prediction that the war in that country would not be won, but would end in a stalemate.
CRONKITE: To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, if unsatisfactory, conclusion.
BLITZER: President Lyndon Johnson reportedly declared -- quote -- "If I have lost Cronkite, I have lost Middle America" -- unquote.
Long after he left the anchor seat, he kept speaking out about wars and reporters and their relationship with each other and lots of other things that mattered deeply to the American public.
BOB SCHIEFFER, CBS NEWS: Walter spoke like the average person. It wasn't all literary, flowery kind of language. People don't talk that way. And Walter didn't either.
BLITZER: He was Cronkite, the modern master of the anchor chair, perhaps the first and last for this generation to matter so much at a time when the globe found its access on TV, because of the way he was, night after night, whether speaking of the stars, bomb blasts, common people, or uncommon politicians, history in the making, for making history himself.
CRONKITE: Old anchormen, you see, don't fade away. They just keep coming back for more.
BLITZER: Wolf Blitzer, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And we have Sam Donaldson on the phone to talk to us right now.
Sam, are you there?
SAM DONALDSON, ABC NEWS: I am here, Campbell.
BROWN: Tell me your memories. Tell me the moments for you that made this man.
DONALDSON: Well, of course, I didn't work for CBS, but I watched Walter Cronkite from a very early age.
And let's face it. There's no one who I think was on the air like him. Two things. You have already talked about the fact that he was Middle America himself. He was just an average person from the standpoint of the way he talked to us, nothing pretentious, nothing put-up, nothing special, just somebody that we knew next door.
And, on the other hand, Campbell, he had paid his dues big time, in ways that it's very difficult today to see how you could do it. He was on D-Day in Normandy as UPI's correspondent, and, from then on, he had been in the trenches. So, when he talked about President Kennedy and that great moment when he choked up, having to report the death, when he talked about the landing on the moon and all of the other great Apollo flights, when he talked about all of the events that he reported on, he had been there. And I think that that's one of the last of the generation to have done that.
BROWN: And, you know, Sam, you can't really overstate his influence and the role that he played. You talked about him choking up when reporting the assassination of President Kennedy. The other very famous moment was in 1968, when he said on the air that the United States had become mired in a stalemate when he was talking about Vietnam, and President Johnson telling an aide, "If I have lost Cronkite, I have lost Middle America."
I mean, that level of influence certainly doesn't exist today.
DONALDSON: No, I think that's right.
And I think one reason, of course, is that -- the fragmentation of available channels. There were only three networks then. If you watched television, oh, there were a handful of independent stations, but they didn't really count. We had 98.8 percent of the audience, ABC, CBS and NBC. You had to watch one of us.
And during most of the time that he was on, you watched him, because he had an audience so large, compared with the audiences today, why, prime-time shows would just give everything they had to have half of what Walter Cronkite had as a news audience in the late '60s and into the '70s.
BROWN: The most trusted man in America.
Sam, stay with us, if you can.
I want to bring on John Roberts, who is also on the telephone with us.
John, obviously, you worked at CBS for many, many years. Tell us your story.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: I did, Campbell, and I had the honor of meeting Walter Cronkite several times during the 14 years that I spent at CBS.
But I remember the very first time that I saw him was as a 5- year-old boy in Canada watching the CBS News when John Kennedy was assassinated. And I remember, as Sam was saying, that moment where he took off his glasses and he looked at the clock, and he said that President Kennedy has died.
And I -- you know, that was one of the, you know, the earliest moments that I can remember that I really wanted to pursue a career in news. Then I watched Walter all through the -- the days of the Apollo space program. And I remember him saying on July 20, 1969, that man has landed on the moon, and followed him from there. And I mean, it's just -- you know, it -- to think that he was the most trusted man in America really was, I think, an understatement, because at that time, any time anything ever happened, any time anything bad ever happened, the world turned to Walter Cronkite, not only for the news, but for reassurance.
And he was he was not just an icon, but he was, you know, almost like a member of your family. And to think that he is gone now is just such a sad occasion.
And I know that he's been in poor health for the last few years, and as I said, I had the opportunity to meet him a number of times over the course of the last decade. And he always had a good word for you. You know, I remember him -- the very first time I met him, he says, you know: "I like I like what you have been doing. You have been doing a good job."
And for a kid who came from the middle of nowhere to finally get to New York, that was just, like, the most incredible thing that anybody could ever hear. And to think that he is -- he's gone now is just such a sad occasion in the history of America.
BROWN: And, John, there was -- I was just reading a public opinion survey that was released in 1972 that gave Cronkite a 73 percent rating as the most trusted figure in the United States, far more than the president at the time, President Richard Nixon. But it's impossible to imagine a scenario like that today.
But he was -- he dominated in every way, didn't he?
ROBERTS: Well, as Sam said, it was -- it was a different world back then. There weren't the plethora of cable channels that there are now and the Internet.
It was basically CBS, ABC and NBC. And you were watching one more than the other. And it was a time when people would come home from work and they would set up television tables. Somebody would make dinner, and the family would set up tables in front of the television, those little TV trays, and they would watch the evening news with Walter Cronkite.
It was a different time in America. It was a very special time in America. And Walter was certainly an amazing leader and a guiding light in this country.
And, you know, while he hasn't been on the air since the early 1980s, he's a person that I have always missed turning to in the evening for my daily digest of news. And he's a person that will always be missed in the eyes of America.
BROWN: And, Sam, talk to us a little bit about how many people tried to emulate him. I mean, he created -- as we said, he was the consummate television news anchor. I mean, he set a standard, and he was what you aspired to, wasn't he?
DONALDSON: Well, that's true. There were two people in that era -- David Brinkley was one and Walter Cronkite -- who stood out above the rest. Now, people tried to copy David Brinkley because of his voice and style. "Here we are" and "How are you?"
But you couldn't copy Cronkite's voice style, and you couldn't copy the fact that he was authentic from the standpoint of just being an American. So, yes, people understood that pretentiousness was out, pomposity was out, to the extent that you didn't have to explain it. But Cronkite didn't have those things.
Campbell, I want to bring up one point that John mentioned, since the early '80s. He was forced to retire at the age of 65 by Bill Paley, who had founded CBS and had one rule. You turn 65, you had to go.
Frank Stanton, Paley's very important president, was forced out at 65. And Cronkite, at the height of his power, with the largest audience of any news audience in this country ever, was forced to retire by Bill Paley.
He could have gone on, what, another 10 years, easily, and been number one easily. But he stepped down, and Dan Rather took over. And, as they say in the old country, the rest is history.
BROWN: Do you know, Sam, how did he feel about that at the time? I mean, obviously, there must have been enormous mixed feelings.
DONALDSON: I do know because I talked to him. I do know. He was not happy about it. He accepted it. He knew it was the rule. Publicly, he had said all the right things.
I mean, people like Cronkite do not publicly show their emotions when it comes to being dissatisfied. That's no class. And he was class. So, he accepted it. He praised Dan Rather, in the sense that he said to the public: "I'm glad he took over."
He retired. CBS paid him $1 million a year -- that was real money -- today, it is, but, boy, in 1981 it was a lot of money -- just to be around. But he disappeared.
It's very interesting. When -- when the king is shoved aside, he's not allowed to appear, because the person who has now taken the throne would feel threatened. So, you didn't see Cronkite anymore, except once in a while on CBS, after he stepped down.
You would think that CBS would make use of him, but the point was, Dan Rather needed to be built up. He needed to be shown as the person who now was in the anchor seat. And so Walter had to take a real backseat to that. He didn't like it, but he accepted it.
BROWN: John, he must have left quite a legacy, even after he stepped down at CBS in terms of the influence he had on the people there, like you, following in his footsteps.
ROBERTS: Yes, Walter Cronkite was the reason, Campbell, that I wanted to get into the news business.
And what Sam says is true. You know, when he was forced to retire at the age of 65, I think he still felt that he had a lot of strength left in him and a lot of years left in him. And I remember that he had said publicly over the years that, you know, he was kind of forced out of the business just before the real money came in, and he would have liked to have had the opportunity to stay on for a few more years.
And I -- I -- I really agree with Sam that he probably could have done it for another 10 years. I mean, he was -- he was in his prime when he gave up that seat. And, you know, for whatever reason, right or wrong, he did accept it. He accepted it with grace. Though, you know, I think there is plenty of evidence that in the years that followed that he probably regretted the decision.
But, you know, just in terms of when you look at the panorama of America and you look at the history of news in America, you had Douglas Edwards at CBS. You had Edward R. Murrow, who, of course, is somebody who created a unique niche in American news, but I just don't think that there will ever be anyone like Walter Cronkite.
Walter Cronkite was not only a pioneer in terms of creating this format of the evening news, but he was a man whose credibility and whose generosity and whose trust in America I don't think will ever be repeated. I don't think that there will ever be another Walter Cronkite, and that's probably a good thing, because he came in at a time when America was going through a transitional phase, and he really became sort of the figurehead for so many different things in America. And I think that he will always be remembered for that.
And I know, for this person who started watching him from the age of 5 years old, he will forever remain an icon of journalism and sort of the pinnacle of American television journalism. I don't think that anybody could ever take on the mantle that he had.
BROWN: All right, John Roberts, stay with us, and Sam Donaldson, if you guys can. Wolf Blitzer actually interviewed Walter Cronkite. This was on the beaches of Normandy. We want to take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We do have a very special guest, someone who is probably best known in the United States, someone who is associated with D-Day, the entire World War II effort, and I'm talking, of course, about veteran newsman Walter Cronkite.
Mr. Cronkite, thank you very much for spending a few moments with us on CNN.
WALTER CRONKITE, AMERICAN BROADCAST JOURNALIST: Good to be you, Wolf.
BLITZER: You're going to be the master of ceremonies at this memorial service, 50th anniversary service at the cemetery here today.
CRONKITE: Very small part, but that's what they call it.
BLITZER: What's your message? What do you hope will be achieved by all of these events?
CRONKITE: Well, I think that by reviewing again, looking again at the sacrifice of young men and women today that was taken in the name of warfare, we ought to be sobered into a realization that conflict resolution is far more important than picking up arms to settle our disagreements. It's a terrible thing to think of the thousands upon thousands of young people who will never have a chance to live their lives, who will never see their own children.
As Dwight Eisenhower told me sitting on this very wall over here on the 20th anniversary of D-Day, that he thinks of the grandchildren that these young kids will never have. And that's something for all of us to think about. It's no way to settle our disagreements.
BLITZER: Is it your sense that this younger generation born after World War II knows what happened, or is beginning to think of it as some long-forgotten past?
CRONKITE: Well, it is a long-forgotten thing for them. When I think back when I was 20 years old or thinking back 50 years, for heavens sake, beyond the Spanish-American war and I didn't think much of the Spanish-American war. Of course, it was a vastly different war than this one, which was a fully justified conflict in defense of liberty and attempt to win it back for people who had been trampled under the boot of despicable Hitler.
So, there wasn't any disagreement about this war on the part of the American people. Very few dissenters. It was a war for a very just cause.
BLITZER: What goes through your mind? Fifty years ago today, where were you right now?
CRONKITE: Right now, I was back in London (INAUDIBLE) the moment that these guys hit the beach for the first time, 6:30 a.m. I was about 12,000 feet overhead in a B-17 flying fortress.
BLITZER: Did you know what was going on?
CRONKITE: Oh, yes. We knew it was D-day by that time. I didn't know a few hours before that when an Air Force officer came by my apartment and said, we've got a very dangerous assignment, I can't tell you anything more about it than that, but if you want to come here, we go. And after we got into the car, he said this is D-Day.
And the Air Force has a very late mission, the Army has asked for some close support behind the beaches from heavy bombers. We weren't trained to do that kind of mission, but a squadron from the 303rd group led by a then-Major Louis Lyle (ph), came over and I was aboard.
BLITZER: You have friends, acquaintances, who were killed on D- Day?
CRONKITE: Oh, quite a few. Quite a few including some correspondents, not on D-Day, but within a few days of the landing.
BLITZER: And so have you been thinking about them over these past few days?
CRONKITE: Oh, you can't but help remember those who have died. And I went through that -- you know, suffered the ultimate sacrifice in this thing.
Correspondents were -- without tooting my own horn at all, I had a -- my motto was let's get the devil out of here. But the guys who went in on D-Day here were a brave bunch. They knew what they were getting into, attacking Hitler's fortress, and they knew it was going to be tough on the beaches, but they came to do their job of informing the American people. And I think we should all honor them.
BLITZER: Now, you recently wrote an article --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Walter Cronkite there being interviewed by Wolf Blitzer. Walter Cronkite died today. He was, of course -- he took over as anchor of the CBS "Evening News" in 1962, and until he retired and was replaced by Dan Rather. And we actually have one of his executive producers, a former executive producer, Susan Zirinsky, on the phone with us now, I believe.
Susan, are you there?
SUSAN ZIRINSKY, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, 48 HOURS MYSTERY (via telephone): Yes, I am, Campbell.
BROWN: Tell us what it was like to work for the man.
ZIRINSKY: Well, you know, in the day when we were all kids and those of us who were starting under Walter, Walter embodied kind of the best of everything and the best you would aspire to do.
There were three networks at that point and Walter was the most important man. You lived and died by what he said, how he wanted pieces to be told. You were answerable to Walter. When Walter picked up the phone, you were scared to death.
But on the other hand, there was a core value in what we did, and, you know, it was a time when one voice mattered. The world we live in now, the proliferation of news, which is great for the consumer, but it was a different time. One single man mattered above all else. And that's the dynamic of Walter.
And he had this remarkable career. He, himself, loved every story he went on -- science, space, Russian stories. It was just -- it was a -- it was just inspiring to grow up under his watch because this was the man who was inventing it. So, you know, you felt like at the ground level.
And in today's world, it's fantastic to have this many resources. Life was a bit simpler, and there were no questions about core values. Do you pay for footage? Do you pay for interviews?
You know, it was a different time and place. And those of us who were fortunate to work under him have those -- have that core body -- embodiment of him in our hearts, in our brains.
BROWN: What was he like as a person, because you talk about, Susan, his enormous influence, and you would think, OK, somebody, this incredible has to have an enormous ego, but what was he like as a mentor to someone like you? I mean, now you're the executive producer of "48 Hours." I mean, you were just coming up the ranks. How influential was he on you, personally?
ZIRINSKY: Well, you know, he -- I had the script that he wrote the night Nixon resigned from office, and he actually threw it away in the garbage can. And I picked it out and I thought, oh, my, this is history. I've got to keep this. I've got to hold on to this.
He was about telling the story. It's about the story. It wasn't about him. It was about what we were covering. And I think that he was not afraid to take on the administration.
I mean, you know, everybody remembers when he went to Vietnam, and he came back and Lyndon Johnson turned to his people and he said, if we've lost Walter Cronkite, we've lost the war. And the -- he embodied every person.
He really approached news. He wasn't a trained broadcaster. He had been a print reporter, but he wasn't trained in broadcasting. But he knew the power of the written word and he really transferred it to the visual medium. He saw the impact when he went to Vietnam. He saw the impact on space.
I think part of the joy of working with Walter, and for those of us that are still around, is that every single day was kind of an adventure. Every day he wanted to break something, to show something. And if somebody else broke something, it was, like, power to the people. He picked up the phone. It was a very exciting time.
And, you know, quite frankly, the basis of what you do, what people in cable and in network television do, we all came out of the Walter Cronkite school, whether you know it or not. The power of that single person, of that single heart, of news value, is what we all grow up with, you know?
Some people may get diverted on the course, but when it comes to the end of the day, Walter's voice is kind of what rings loud and clear here at CBS, even today.
BROWN: And, Susan, there was also this incredible love story between he and his wife. Tell us a little bit about that.
ZIRINSKY: You know, there was a very late birthday party and George Clooney was there for him. And there was a big audience. And they asked him, of all the people you've met, who is the most important person in your life that you have met? And he said, I'd have to say my wife, Betsy. You know, that's pretty blow-away for a guy that brought Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin together for the Mideast peace talks. There was this -- this was what Walter was. He had this dynamic life. He met every world leader, but the core of Betsy and the family and the kids, he knew, he took time with them.
You know, he went away for his vacations. He took those -- those vacations. And it really made him a more interesting and grounded person. He was not blinded by the lights. He really saw the value in family. And Betsy was his rock.
BROWN: And, Susan, you know, you talked about when he did speak out about an issue, the power it had that, you know, how much it conveyed because he so rarely did. And even after he left the air, he did speak out against the war in Iraq, though. He said it had reminded him of Vietnam.
Was that ever a struggle for him as an anchor, you know, the objectivity? And it's far different today, as you know in cable news, full of opinion, but he completely set a different standard.
ZIRINSKY: You know, I think he understood the power and the growing power of the medium. You know, Edward R. Murrow talked about lights in a box and wires in a box and the power of it. Walter was the next generation and, you know, the increasing power during Watergate, you know, Walter would come down to Washington to do all these specials that were breaking on a daily basis.
The press during that era, in the '70s, and until Nixon resigned, you know, the power of the press was pretty remarkable. Vietnam was pretty remarkable.
You -- you know, you were holding people accountable. And for Walter, that was the penultimate. That was the deepest value of what a journalist could do. It could shed light.
He wasn't there with an agenda. He was there with an honest take of what he saw in the situation and thought it was his duty to bring it to the American people. That is the value of a Walter Cronkite.
And, you know, after he left being the anchor, he did feel that he had influence. He really did understand the value of -- of the power of a journalist and the observation.
You know, we're observers. That's what we're trained to do. We're supposed to shed light. There's just a lot more flashlights out there now, and sometimes -- just sometimes, it's harder to have a unique voice. The cacophony of the world that you and I inhabit to this day is so loud that you have that dramatic impact. It's harder today. It's the nature of the beast.
BROWN: Susan, it was this week that he announced a man has made it to the moon. Let's listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rocket Tranquility, we copy you on the ground.
CRONKITE: Oh, boy. Boy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to busy for a minute.
CRONKITE: When that vehicle landed on the moon, I was speechless. I really couldn't say a thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: You know, Susan, and I -- John Roberts is still with us as well. I want to get both of your reaction to that. Because you just look at his face, the joy and excitement of witnessing that moment and, of course, the space shuttle takes off all the time now. We take it for granted. And that was such an extraordinary thing. He was very passionate about covering those events, wasn't he?
ZIRINKSY: There was that scene, you know, when they landed and he was kind of speechless, and he was wringing his hands. And, you know, he just -- he was -- it was joy. And but, you know, Walter saw the space program as something else also. Walter saw the space program as the embodiment of a country that needed something to hold on to.
And so it became not just about the space program, but it was about the power of the American spirit. And he saw it, and he got it and he felt it. But then he -- he brought it forth and just shared it.
You know, you know how when somebody walks in, they're so excited? Well, when Walter Cronkite went on the air on space, you couldn't help but feel that joy.
BROWN: Goose bumps almost just watching it again.
Guys, let's watch this also. This is the moment where he announced the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRONKITE: From Dallas, Texas, the flash apparently official, President Kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. Central Standard Time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: John Roberts, we didn't show the whole thing there, but an incredibly powerful moment for him.
ROBERTS: And, Campbell, here is the thing about Walter Cronkite. You know, as journalists (ph) we're trained to be dispassionate. We're trained to be just the observer. We're trained to keep our emotions out of it. The most amazing thing about Walter Cronkite was his honesty and his honesty of character and his honesty of journalism.
And in that moment, when President Kennedy died and he announced the time at 1:00 p.m., and he took off his glasses and you could see the tears welling up in his eyes, it's because he was actually feeling it.
It's the same thing that happened, only the opposite end of the scale, on January -- on July 20th, sorry, 1969, when the Eagle landed on the moon -- and Susan was just talking about this -- the honesty of his reaction there. You know, he was the newsman who brought the news to America. He was the one who you trusted.
And the reason why you trusted him was not because you knew that what Walter Cronkite was going to tell you was the absolute fact, as he understood it, but that he felt the news as well. He felt the assassination of President Kennedy. He felt the moment that the -- the moment that John Kennedy died. And he also felt it the moment that the man touched down on the moon.
And I think that's what made him such an amazing newsman. And it was both an inspiration and a frustration for people who were coming up through the business as well because everybody wanted to be Walter Cronkite type of journalist, but everyone knew that they could never match Walter Cronkite, because he was just completely untouchable in the world of journalism.
But I think, again, the very core of that was the sense of honesty, and that's why he became the most trusted newsman in America. Because anything that came out of Walter Cronkite's mouth, you could believe, because you knew that he believed in it and that he felt it to his core.
BROWN: The authenticity, much more than the performing aspect of it, which you see quite a lot of, I think, today on television.
Susan, let me also ask you about him at political conventions, because those are some of my more vivid memories. How much did he enjoy politics?
ZIRINSKY: He began prepping probably close to a year before the conventions. There was the normal politics lead-up. He had somebody who was working with him named Mark Harrington, who has passed away. A fantastic, brilliant guy. And Mark would begin literally six months making remarkable cards for Walter on every state, on every key person in the delegation.
By the time Walter got to the convention, it was as if he had studied for the law boards, the med boards, and the GREs (ph). He was so versed. Mark sat underneath him sort of helping him feed information, and we used to call Mark the puppet, and it was great because Walter used to try to step on his hand quite often when he was handing up a card. We invented this clothespin on a poker for Mark.
But the truth was, he felt this was -- this was the Democratic process at work. This was American politics at its best. Even the bizarre convention in Chicago, when -- when all hell broke loose and Dan Rather got beat up on the floor, you know, he really saw it as the empowerment of people. You know, this is what he was able to do. He took large events. He synthesized them in palatable informational packages for the American people. And that's really -- you know, we all know that when a 9/11 happens and even today, in, you know, with the terrorist bombs overseas, we need information in things we can understand. Walter got that.
You know, listen, it was not the speed of which we work at today, because technology didn't afford us that. I mean, when Walter Cronkite was doing the "Evening News" we were processing film. You know, you treat a story and it had to be processed in film. So it wasn't until just about the end when we were making the conversion to tape. You know, now it's, you know, do your flip camera and FTP (ph) it and we're there.
Walter's value was he saw everything as it was. There was an honesty, as John talked about. And, you know, John and I have worked together for years when he was here at CBS. This was the Walter Cronkite newsroom. It will always be. It started with Murrow, it went to Cronkite. We totally embody what Walter was about.
And -- and, you know, I take pride in the fact that I was a Cronkite producer. I take pride in the fact that when I took a cab with Walter, he never had money on him and I had to pay every single time. I took pride in the fact that he was cheap and I loved him for it.
He was a remarkable man. And, you know, I think that as the world looks at this person, we have a special, actually, if I can plug it, a special Cronkite hour on Sunday night at 7:00. It will be in place of "60." And I think when you -- when you watch Cronkite in your clips that you're playing and our show on Sunday night at 7:00, the -- what you see is you live history with this man.
This isn't just a great man who did a great job. This is a man who you watched history and experienced history with.
BROWN: "That's the way it is," of course, his signature phrase. Any idea, Susan, where that came from?
ZIRINKSY: You know, I think he actually -- he talks about this, and he said -- he thought, you know, there's -- -- Edward R. Murrow had "good night and good luck."
BROWN: Right.
ZIRINSKY: So he really kind of wanted a signature. And I can't remember the story, but he was quite proud of himself, because it really stuck. Actually, that's what we call our special on Sunday night, "That's the Way It Was: Remembering Walter Cronkite."
I mean, let me tell you something. This is a man who had friendships late in his life with George Clooney, Mickey Hart from the Grateful Dead, and Robin Williams. It just doesn't get better than that. As a matter of fact, Mickey Hart, within the last year, had brought Walter an entire set of drums, set it up in his apartment in New York, and Walter was delighted, delightful. You know, here was a man who kind of, you know, conducted the Boston pops. What happened? So, Mickey brought him a set of drums and Walter was learning how to play the drums at 92 years old, I might add.
BROWN: Wow. John Roberts, I want to ask you this, because I know this about you, too. You sit behind an anchor desk now, but your heart is often in the field, where you want to be out covering stories. And he was very much the same way. I mean, not an anchor who just sat behind the desk, but he went to Vietnam. And it made his remarks his -- what he said when he was in the anchor chair that much more powerful and that much more influential because he did have a reporter's curiosity and interest in the world that was genuine.
ROBERTS: He didn't just have a reporter's curiosity, Campbell, he was the quintessential reporter. He was -- he was like Edward R. Murrow.
You know, I give a lot of speeches to journalism classes and talk to a lot of young people who would like to aspire to get into our business. And so many of them say to me, you know, how do I become an anchor? And I say that the way to become an anchor is first you have to become a great reporter.
BROWN: Right.
ROBERTS: Because great reporters make the best anchors.
BROWN: All right.
ROBERTS: And Walter Cronkite was the best reporter, absolutely the best reporter. And that's why he made such a great anchor.
BROWN: John, stand by for a minute, if you will. Charlie Gibson is on the phone with us, who is, of course, a great anchor, our friend from ABC News.
Charlie, share with us your favorite memory, if you will.
CHARLES GIBSON, ABC NEWS ANCHOR (via telephone): Well, Campbell, it is not unexpected news, but so sad. And you were just as I got on the phone, I heard you making the point about Walter who is a reporter.
I think we were very fortunate in the fact that he, who really became the model for what anchoring an evening newscast would be, came out of a wire service training. And -- and then after that was one of Edward R. Murrow's boys and grew up in that training as well during World War II. So, it really was a very fortunate example that we had set as what an anchor ought to be, and Walter was that.
As far as the favorite memory is concerned, I had no idea I would ever get the job that I've got now. But I was with Walter, oh, I don't know, 10 years ago, 12 years ago, and he was grousing about the fact that the evening newscast could promote what they had on the next day. And he said, damn it, we've only got 22 minutes and change and you can't tell me what the news is going to be the next day. You want -- you just can't go to those promos so that the promo is the news. That's the news and you can't tell me what the news is going to be 24 hours in advance.
So, of course, you know, now that I'm in the job, we promote a story for the next day. And -- but every once in a while when we're in our afternoon meetings, we're talking about the fact that we have 20 pounds of potatoes to put into a ten-pound bag and I always vote for killing the promoted piece. And everybody looks around the room, and when we do that, I always say, that was due to Walter.
BROWN: How much has it changed? I mean, obviously, the business has changed dramatically, but you're in that job now. I mean, is there still very much -- or do you try to emulate what he did in many ways, at least in terms of the journalism and the commitment to what you're saying, killing the promoted piece, when necessary?
GIBSON: Well, it's a -- you know, well, you know, what it's like. This business is a tenuous balance between what people need to know and what they want to know.
You know, I mean, you look at the orgy of Michael Jackson coverage. You look at the fact that we do a -- we do a webcast or a podcast every day. And we do the most -- the most searched-for things on Google or the fastest rising searches on Google. And I remember one day somebody walked in and said Anna Nicole Smith is the fastest rising search by a factor of ten of anything we've ever seen.
So, those things are things that people, you know, are interested in, but you have to do a balance between what people are interested in, what they want to know and what they need to know. And it's a -- because, you know, it's a business and you need ratings, et cetera, et cetera. But basically it is what people need to know that you need to keep in mind. And I think that's what Walter's example is.
BROWN: Will there ever be anyone else like him, Charlie? Can we even have that in the way the business exists today?
GIBSON: No, because, you know, when he was -- when he was in his -- in his prime, there were really only three networks, and with all due respect to my network, ABC wasn't in the game in those days. It was really Walter and it was Huntley-Brinkley. It was those two things.
Now, the number of news sources has proliferated so greatly. I mean, the cables didn't exist then. You know, you would be working for a nonexistent organization then, but you are working for what was a nonexistent organization then. But it -- so that kind of concentration doesn't exist, but, you know that there's still a whole lot of people who tune in at 6:30 at night and the ABC, CBS and NBC newscasts are going to exist, I believe, for quite some period of time.
BROWN: Charlie Gibson with us tonight. Charlie, thank you so much.
We also have Don Hewitt on the phone with us now, who is, of course, the longtime executive producer of "60 Minutes."
And, Don, just I -- this is, you know, the obvious question. Tell us what Walter Cronkite meant to CBS News.
DON HEWITT, "60 MINUTES" CREATOR (via telephone): Say that again and I'll answer it. I didn't understand some of what you said.
BROWN: Tell us what he meant, what he meant to CBS News.
HEWITT: He was the consummate television newsman. He had all the credentials to be a writer, an editor, a broadcaster. There was only one Walter Cronkite, and there may never be another one.
BROWN: Share with us, Don, your favorite memory of him.
HEWITT: My favorite memory of him, there were so many. We covered so many events all over the world together.
We were in India. We were in China. We were in Japan. We were in Australia together. Walter had a command of a story and told it in ways that no one else had ever figured out.
BROWN: Talk to us about the personal side, Don. We haven't heard enough of that, I don't think. What was it like to be friends with him?
HEWITT: It was spectacular. Being friends with Walter Cronkite was about as high as you could rise in our business. To be his -- his -- his colleague and his friend was a double blessing.
BROWN: Will there ever be another anchor like him? Is it even possible? Charlie Gibson and I were just talking about this.
HEWITT: Who knows? Who knows? I mean, I make it a point to never say never. I look around and I don't see one. But when Walter Cronkite stepped down, the CBS "Evening News" lost a lot of its glitter.
BROWN: And was there anything -- what was he most passionate about? Was it politics? Was it being in the field? Was it being behind the anchor desk?
HEWITT: Behind the anchor desk was maybe the least of it. Walter Cronkite was one of the few news guys I ever worked with who could get anybody on the phone that he wanted to. People took calls from Walter Cronkite that they never took from anyone else, so that Walter would check out things by going to the source.
BROWN: All right. Don Hewitt joining us tonight. Don, thank you so much.
Again, Walter Cronkite has died. "LARRY KING LIVE" taking over our coverage right now. John King sitting in for Larry -- John.
