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[♪♪♪]
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[suspenseful music]
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[tense music]
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[gunshot]
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[dramatic music]
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[Richard Schweiker]
This report documents
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the failures of the
US intelligence establishment
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in their investigation
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of President Kennedy's assassination,
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and their cover up
to the Warren Commission.
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During the 1975
Church Committee investigation
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of US intelligence activities,
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Committee Member
Richard Schweiker,
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in an interview at the time,
remarked about Oswald that
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"everywhere you looked with him,
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there are fingerprints
of intelligence."
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Those fingerprints
extended back to 1959
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when Oswald defected
to the Soviet Union.
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State Department intelligence officer,
Otto Otepka,
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had noted the marked increase
in the number of Americans
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defecting to Russia
at that time.
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He also noted that some of them
came from the military.
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He therefore suspected
that some of these men
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were fake defectors.
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They had been assigned
by the CIA
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to garner intelligence
behind the Iron Curtain.
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He sent a letter to the CIA
asking which ones were real,
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and which were their agents.
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Oswald was one of the names
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on Otepka's list.
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Otepka's request was
forwarded to James Angleton,
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Chief of Counterintelligence.
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He instructed that there be
no research done on Oswald,
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but Otepka continued to work
on the Oswald case.
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[Lisa Pease]
The only thing of significance
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was that he was
really interested
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in Lee Harvey Oswald
before the assassination.
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And he actually had a study
of these defectors in his safe.
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Well, things got worse.
His office was not only bugged,
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they planted people
in his office, to spy on him.
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They started putting
confidential documents
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in his burn bag, and then
trying to blame him
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and saying he's burning
confidential documents.
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The guy's gone, you know, wacko.
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[Whoopi Goldberg] As a result,
he was formally removed
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from the State Department
on November the 5th, 1963,
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just 17 days
before the assassination.
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So you will not see Otepka's
name in the Warren Report,
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and he was not called
as a witness before that body.
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And in fact, James Angleton,
the man who had access
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to all the Oswald files
at the CIA,
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coordinated the agency's response
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to the Warren Commission's requests.
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-Can you describe
the setting up
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of the Oswald file at the CIA?
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-It could be opened
after a few documents
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arrived at the CIA from
other intelligence agencies,
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and that would be enough
to trigger the opening
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of a 201 file. Sometimes
they call it a personality file.
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And another thing
that could trigger
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the opening of a 201 file
would be an American citizen
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defecting to
a communist bloc country.
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Well, the interesting thing is,
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Oswald met
both of those criteria
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within nine days
of his defection.
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And they didn't open a 201 file
on him for 13 or 14 months.
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Immediately after the defection,
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Oswald's threat to commit
an act of espionage,
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which his words were
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"something special about
my Marine Corps experience-
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which could only be
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the U-2, which is a program
he'd worked on,
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a very secret CIA program--
that threat caused him to be put
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on the mail-intercept program
and not opening a 201,
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at the same time,
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which is a very, very
unusual combination,
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and can only be explained
by Oswald being part of
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a very covert,
very sensitive ongoing operation,
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which was the hunt for a mole.
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The history of the KGB
and the CIA, their wars, uh,
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are not actually
shooting each other
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so much as trying to
penetrate each other.
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And so we-- we call them moles,
or penetrations.
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And so, it was an ongoing war;
very, very, complicated.
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But that's what the mole hunters
were doing for Angleton
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is looking for KGB moles
inside of the CIA.
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So, 351 164 was the--
the file in the security office
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that was opened up
right after his defection.
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And that was shared only with
Angleton's mole hunting office,
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but not with any of the other
components of the CIA.
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The CIA and the FBI knew
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what the KGB would
figure out very quickly
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was because of his assignment
in Atsugi, Japan,
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where he tracked the
super-secret U-2s at the time.
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So once you've established
the lure,
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the place where you
trap the animal
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isn't in the Moscow embassy,
it's back at Langley
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where they thought the mole was.
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You want the KGB to contact
their mole to ask questions.
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The moment that the mole
asks a question, it's over.
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He or she is-- is exposed.
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This program,
which did not work, years later,
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was put in front of
probably our most celebrated
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and capable
counterintelligence officer
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in the history of
the Central Intelligence Agency.
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His name was
"Pete" Tennent Bagley.
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He began searching for the mole,
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he was the key person leading it
for years with Angleton.
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Well, after he was retired,
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he attended a meeting
of former CIA officers
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down in the Carolinas.
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And a British researcher
happened to be down there,
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his name is Malcolm Blunt,
and they met and got along well.
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And fortunately for history,
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a couple of years
before Pete Bagley died,
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Malcolm sat down with him
one day
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and showed him
all those first documents
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that had come into the CIA
on Oswald
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from the State Department
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and the Navy components
at the embassy.
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And Pete Bagley
looks at Malcolm and he says,
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"Was he witting?"
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And Malcolm didn't really know
how to respond.
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And so Bagley raised his voice
and insisted,
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"He had to be witting!
He had to be witting!"
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That was a telling,
seminal moment
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in the history
of CIA/KGB spy wars,
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in the history
of Lee Harvey Oswald.
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His early use by the CIA was just
a very, very important one
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because finally,
after all these years,
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a very senior CIA officer
had just told Malcolm and us
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that Lee Harvey Oswald
was a witting false defector
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when he went to Moscow.
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[Goldberg]
There was another unusual event
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that took place at the time
of Oswald's defection--
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the source of his income
changed.
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-Oswald's
last quarter of earnings
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in the United States, before he
defected to the Soviet Union,
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should have been paid by
the United States Marine Corps.
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And they weren't.
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Because we asked to see his
Marine Corps earnings records
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that the Marine Corps deposits
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with the Social Security Administration.
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They did not pay him
any money the last quarter
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he was in the United States
before his defection.
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But no income
from the Marine Corps,
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when he should have had.
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[Goldberg]
Could this all be coincidence,
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or was Otto Otepka
correct in suspecting
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Oswald
was not a legitimate defector?
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And is this
why Angleton told his secretary
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to withhold information
from Otepka?
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-The line that the CIA
fed the Warren Commission,
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we didn't, really didn't know
anything about this guy.
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We now know that
that was complete nonsense.
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Oswald was a figure
of intense interest
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for four years
before the assassination,
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and a dozen senior CIA officers
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were very well acquainted
with him.
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Everything he did,
where he went,
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what his politics were,
his family life.
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I mean, remember, they were
reading his mother's mail.
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That's how closely
they were watching him,
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right up until
Kennedy was killed.
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And then, Kennedy was killed,
Oswald's arrested,
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and they say, ah, we know
nothing about this man.
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[Goldberg]
In fact, ARRB records show
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that James Angleton and the CIA were
receiving reports on Oswald
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up until one week
before the assassination.
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The Warren Commission
pushed the idea
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that Oswald
was a staunch communist,
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citing evidence of
his distributing pro-Castro leaflets
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in New Orleans,
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and by his supposed
defection to Russia in 1959.
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But records show
that Oswald was working with
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fiercely anti-communist elements.
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And not surprisingly,
many of these groups were known,
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and in some cases supported,
by the US government.
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In the spring of 1963,
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Oswald moved from Dallas back to
his hometown of New Orleans,
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where he began associating
with men who,
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it would be revealed, had clear connections
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with
these government efforts.
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One of these men, David Ferrie,
had been with Oswald
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in the Civil Air Patrol
back in 1955,
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and was known
as an extreme anti-communist.
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He was also a trainer
and a pilot for the CIA
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in its secret war against Cuba.
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Oswald was involved in these
Cuban exile training activities
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with Ferrie.
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Another person Oswald was seen
with in New Orleans in 1963
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was Guy Bannister.
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Bannister
was an extreme right-winger
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who was close to the FBI,
the CIA,
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and the American Nazi Party.
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Bannister gave Oswald
his own office
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at 544 Camp Street.
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Oswald now began
to use his office
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to print up and stamp
pro-Castro literature,
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much of it associated with
the Fair Play
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for Cuba Committee
centered in New York.
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Against their advice,
he began a chapter of the FPCC
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in New Orleans,
of which he was the only member.
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-The Fair Play for Cuba committee
was created
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in April of 1960,
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at exactly the same time
that President Eisenhower
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ordered the creation of
a program to overthrow Castro.
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Very interesting,
the coincidence of those two events.
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Oswald had another job
working with Guy Bannister
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to develop adverse information
on political leftists,
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or communists or communist sympathizers.
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He did this at
the universities like Tulane.
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So all this stuff in New Orleans
that he's doing,
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that includes FPCC propaganda
and other things, are done to,
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very publicly on television,
on the radio,
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in the streets, uh,
of New Orleans
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to develop this profile,
to establish his bona fides
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as a hot-headed
pro-Castro supporter.
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At some point, the FBI,
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I think probably
after the assassination,
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decided they didn't--
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they wanted to disconnect
Oswald from the FBI.
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And of course, that Bannister,
who's associated with the FBI,
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would have to be
disconnected as well.
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The problem with that,
many of those handbills
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had the 544 Camp Street
address on them.
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There was a message from
New Orleans to the Bureau
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written by Special Agent Maynor,
who actually mentioned
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pamphlets that had the 544 Camp Street
address on it.
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And before
that message was sent,
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it was scratched out.
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[Goldberg]
After the assassination,
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when the FBI questioned Bannister,
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a former FBI agent himself,
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they did not ask him
about Oswald.
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One of the places Oswald
leafleted in front of
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was Clay Shaw's
International Trade Mart.
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Shaw, who was arrested
by New Orleans D.A. Jim Garrison
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on charges that he was
part of the conspiracy
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to kill President Kennedy,
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always denied he was
associated with the CIA.
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[interviewer]
"You have never, yourself,
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had any CIA connection?"
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-"None whatsoever."
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[interviewer] "Any association
with the organization?"
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-"No, none."
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00:13:48,413 --> 00:13:49,664
[Goldberg]
The Review Board has shown
248
00:13:49,747 --> 00:13:51,499
these denials to be false.
249
00:13:51,583 --> 00:13:55,295
Shaw was both
a highly valued contract agent
250
00:13:55,378 --> 00:13:57,672
and had a covert
security clearance
251
00:13:57,839 --> 00:14:01,759
for a project codename QKENCHANT.
252
00:14:03,636 --> 00:14:05,597
New Orleans attorney
Dean Andrews
253
00:14:05,680 --> 00:14:09,100
had worked with Oswald in May
of '63 in an attempt
254
00:14:09,183 --> 00:14:10,810
to upgrade his military
255
00:14:10,893 --> 00:14:14,647
discharge from its
undesirable status.
256
00:14:14,731 --> 00:14:16,441
After the assassination,
257
00:14:16,524 --> 00:14:20,278
a man calling himself
Clay Bertrand phoned Andrews
258
00:14:20,570 --> 00:14:24,699
and asked him to consider going
to Dallas to defend Oswald.
259
00:14:25,450 --> 00:14:29,579
Under oath, Clay Shaw denied
that he was Clay Bertrand.
260
00:14:29,662 --> 00:14:33,791
And Andrews claimed that
because of medication he was on,
261
00:14:33,875 --> 00:14:36,586
he had only imagined
the phone call.
262
00:14:36,669 --> 00:14:38,379
But today,
because of the work
263
00:14:38,463 --> 00:14:41,924
of the Assassination Records
Review Board, we now have
264
00:14:42,008 --> 00:14:44,594
evidence and 12 people
who confirm
265
00:14:44,677 --> 00:14:47,472
that Shaw used this name
as an alias.
266
00:14:47,555 --> 00:14:50,475
Andrews later admitted that
Shaw was Bertrand
267
00:14:50,558 --> 00:14:53,895
to author Harold Weisberg,
but made him promise
268
00:14:53,978 --> 00:14:57,607
not to reveal this
until after Andrews' death.
269
00:15:08,117 --> 00:15:11,704
Evidence of another aspect
of Oswald's time in New Orleans
270
00:15:11,996 --> 00:15:13,915
is supported by
Robert Tanenbaum,
271
00:15:14,165 --> 00:15:17,752
the Deputy Chief Counsel
of the House Select Committee,
272
00:15:17,835 --> 00:15:22,674
and others who have seen film
of Oswald, David Ferrie,
273
00:15:22,757 --> 00:15:27,345
and CIA director of Cuban Operations
David Atlee Phillips
274
00:15:27,428 --> 00:15:29,681
at anti-Castro training camps.
275
00:15:30,264 --> 00:15:32,934
Phillips was
a propaganda specialist,
276
00:15:33,017 --> 00:15:36,729
and his tactics to neutralize
the Fair Play for Cuba Committee
277
00:15:37,146 --> 00:15:39,982
included infiltration, surveillance,
278
00:15:40,066 --> 00:15:43,444
and recruitment
of other agent provocateurs.
279
00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:49,867
David Phillips also created an
anti-Castro Cuban exile group.
280
00:15:50,535 --> 00:15:53,996
The Student Revolutionary Directorate,
or DRE,
281
00:15:54,247 --> 00:15:57,709
was based in Miami,
and had a chapter in New Orleans
282
00:15:57,792 --> 00:16:00,503
led by Carlos Bringuier.
283
00:16:00,586 --> 00:16:03,673
Records
released by the ARRB
284
00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:06,217
show the CIA
was funding this group
285
00:16:06,300 --> 00:16:09,429
and helped plan activities,
including the attack
286
00:16:09,512 --> 00:16:13,683
on a Cuban hotel
which housed Soviet advisers.
287
00:16:13,766 --> 00:16:15,852
[Jefferson Morley]
AMSPELL was the CIA's code name
288
00:16:15,935 --> 00:16:17,645
for the Cuban Student Directorate.
289
00:16:17,729 --> 00:16:18,646
The name doesn't appear
290
00:16:18,730 --> 00:16:20,481
in the final report
of the Warren Commission.
291
00:16:20,565 --> 00:16:23,443
They certainly did not know
that the group was receiving
292
00:16:23,526 --> 00:16:27,029
51,000 dollars a month
from the CIA in 1963,
293
00:16:27,947 --> 00:16:31,033
and they didn't know that
the group was being run from Miami
294
00:16:31,117 --> 00:16:32,326
by George Joannides,
295
00:16:32,410 --> 00:16:34,287
a psychological
warfare officer,
296
00:16:34,370 --> 00:16:36,247
who reported
directly to Dick Helms.
297
00:16:37,290 --> 00:16:40,710
The DRE published the first
JFK conspiracy theory
298
00:16:41,252 --> 00:16:45,465
saying that Oswald and Castro were
the presumed assassins.
299
00:16:45,548 --> 00:16:48,843
and that publication
was paid for by the CIA
300
00:16:49,051 --> 00:16:51,012
under the auspices
of George Joannides.
301
00:16:51,387 --> 00:16:52,889
The Joannides story tells us
302
00:16:52,972 --> 00:16:56,642
that Dick Helms'
hand-picked man in Miami
303
00:16:56,976 --> 00:17:00,271
was controlling the group that
had the most to do with Oswald
304
00:17:00,354 --> 00:17:01,939
before and after
the assassination.
305
00:17:02,023 --> 00:17:05,526
I found out Joannides' identity
many years later,
306
00:17:05,610 --> 00:17:06,861
and I went to Bob Blakey,
307
00:17:06,944 --> 00:17:09,655
the head
of the HSCA investigation,
308
00:17:09,781 --> 00:17:12,033
and I said, "Bob, did you ever
know this guy Joannides?"
309
00:17:12,116 --> 00:17:13,993
And he said, "Yeah, you know,
we dealt with him a lot,
310
00:17:14,076 --> 00:17:15,036
he was the liaison."
311
00:17:15,328 --> 00:17:18,164
And I said, "Did you know
what he was doing in 1963?"
312
00:17:18,247 --> 00:17:20,166
And he said, "He wasn't
doing anything in 1963.
313
00:17:20,249 --> 00:17:21,584
We had an agreement with the CIA
314
00:17:21,667 --> 00:17:24,629
that nobody who was operational at the time
of the assassination
315
00:17:25,046 --> 00:17:26,672
would be involved
in the investigation."
316
00:17:27,298 --> 00:17:29,550
And I said, "Bob, think again.
317
00:17:29,634 --> 00:17:31,594
Joannides was running
those Cubans
318
00:17:31,677 --> 00:17:32,720
who were in touch with Oswald.
319
00:17:32,804 --> 00:17:34,806
He was running the Cubans
who were blaming Castro
320
00:17:34,889 --> 00:17:36,224
for the assassination.
321
00:17:36,307 --> 00:17:38,559
And then he came along,
and he stonewalled you."
322
00:17:38,935 --> 00:17:41,229
The reason why they brought
Joannides in to do it
323
00:17:41,687 --> 00:17:44,106
was to hide the connection
to Oswald.
324
00:17:44,524 --> 00:17:45,691
He was definitely shocked
325
00:17:45,775 --> 00:17:49,320
because he saw
just how clever they had been.
326
00:17:49,403 --> 00:17:52,240
They had gone right to
the heart of his investigation,
327
00:17:52,323 --> 00:17:54,158
and figured out
how to paralyze it.
328
00:17:54,784 --> 00:17:56,410
[Dan Hardway]
I no longer trust anything
329
00:17:56,494 --> 00:17:59,580
that the agency has told us
in regard to the assassination.
330
00:17:59,997 --> 00:18:02,250
It lied
to the Warren Commission.
331
00:18:02,333 --> 00:18:04,502
It lied to the ARRB.
332
00:18:04,585 --> 00:18:08,714
It lied to the HSCA in admitting
that Joannides was employed
333
00:18:08,798 --> 00:18:12,718
in a covert capacity
as liaison to the HSCA.
334
00:18:12,802 --> 00:18:17,181
It has admitted
that it violated its charter,
335
00:18:17,390 --> 00:18:19,600
and ran a domestic
covert operation
336
00:18:19,684 --> 00:18:24,355
aimed at subverting the HSCA
and its investigation.
337
00:18:24,438 --> 00:18:26,274
[Jefferson Morley] On the night
of the assassination,
338
00:18:26,357 --> 00:18:29,360
the spokesman for the DRE
in Miami got on the phone
339
00:18:29,443 --> 00:18:30,945
and started telling reporters,
340
00:18:31,404 --> 00:18:33,698
"We know all about the guy
who killed the president."
341
00:18:50,548 --> 00:18:54,218
And they talked to 10 or 15 reporters
that night.
342
00:18:54,302 --> 00:18:58,472
So the CIA's propaganda assets
shaped the story
343
00:18:58,848 --> 00:19:01,350
from the first hours
after Kennedy was dead.
344
00:19:07,315 --> 00:19:08,482
[Goldberg]
Even the Assassination
345
00:19:08,566 --> 00:19:09,775
Records Review Board
346
00:19:09,859 --> 00:19:12,778
had trouble getting documents
from government agencies.
347
00:19:13,571 --> 00:19:17,158
In late 1992, a month
after the Records Act
348
00:19:17,241 --> 00:19:19,785
was passed,
the Secret Service
349
00:19:19,869 --> 00:19:23,247
began its compliance plan,
but by January
350
00:19:23,331 --> 00:19:29,003
of 1995, it had begun destroying
important documents.
351
00:19:29,086 --> 00:19:30,922
-And they destroyed
a group of records
352
00:19:31,005 --> 00:19:33,507
which involved threats
to President Kennedy
353
00:19:33,883 --> 00:19:35,885
in the fall of 1963.
354
00:19:35,968 --> 00:19:38,429
They have what are called
threat sheets.
355
00:19:39,013 --> 00:19:41,766
And there were many threats
made to President Kennedy's life
356
00:19:41,849 --> 00:19:43,893
during the year 1963.
357
00:19:44,018 --> 00:19:46,646
They fought us on release
of those records,
358
00:19:46,729 --> 00:19:49,690
they even enlisted
Vice President Gore's wife
359
00:19:49,941 --> 00:19:53,694
to help them because she had
a very legitimate concern
360
00:19:53,778 --> 00:19:55,112
for mental health records.
361
00:19:55,404 --> 00:19:57,573
And the idea was
that this might disclose
362
00:19:57,657 --> 00:20:00,409
the names of people
who had mental health problems.
363
00:20:00,493 --> 00:20:03,663
In the end, when we required
agencies to disclose,
364
00:20:03,746 --> 00:20:06,415
to swear under oath
that they had located
365
00:20:06,499 --> 00:20:07,875
all assassination records,
366
00:20:07,959 --> 00:20:09,669
and had turned
everything over to us,
367
00:20:10,086 --> 00:20:14,006
the Secret Service refused to sign
the document under oath.
368
00:20:14,215 --> 00:20:15,758
I think that was telling.
369
00:20:15,967 --> 00:20:20,096
-The destruction of records
is actually referenced in the,
370
00:20:20,179 --> 00:20:23,683
uh, Assassination Records
Review Board final report.
371
00:20:23,849 --> 00:20:26,811
A very, um, very disappointing.
372
00:20:26,894 --> 00:20:28,604
They were records
that related to trips
373
00:20:28,688 --> 00:20:33,693
that President Kennedy had taken
in the fall of 1963
374
00:20:33,776 --> 00:20:35,569
prior to him going to Dallas.
375
00:20:36,112 --> 00:20:42,410
In the FBI, uh, a stop or flash
was placed on Oswald's files,
376
00:20:42,660 --> 00:20:47,748
which meant that no one
could ask for a document
377
00:20:47,832 --> 00:20:49,959
in those files,
or no one could even
378
00:20:50,042 --> 00:20:53,879
add a document to those files,
without going through
379
00:20:53,963 --> 00:20:55,798
the FBI's espionage division.
380
00:20:56,716 --> 00:20:58,884
And that lasted for four years.
381
00:20:59,510 --> 00:21:02,179
It was essentially
a blinking red light
382
00:21:02,722 --> 00:21:04,932
on Oswald's files at FBI.
383
00:21:06,350 --> 00:21:09,770
On 8 October 1963,
384
00:21:10,187 --> 00:21:13,024
an FBI agent
whose name was Marvin Gheesling
385
00:21:13,190 --> 00:21:15,901
took that status
off of Oswald's files.
386
00:21:15,985 --> 00:21:19,739
He dropped the flag
on Oswald's files.
387
00:21:20,239 --> 00:21:24,869
What that action did was to
lower Oswald's threat profile
388
00:21:24,952 --> 00:21:30,249
at the FBI just weeks before
the Kennedy assassination.
389
00:21:30,750 --> 00:21:33,461
And what that would mean is
there was no reason
390
00:21:33,544 --> 00:21:36,922
to put Oswald's name
on the security index.
391
00:21:37,006 --> 00:21:39,216
One thing about
the security index is
392
00:21:39,300 --> 00:21:41,343
when you have
a presidential motorcade
393
00:21:41,594 --> 00:21:43,637
going through
a particular route,
394
00:21:43,929 --> 00:21:45,222
anybody who's on that index
395
00:21:45,306 --> 00:21:47,141
has to be removed
from where they are.
396
00:21:47,224 --> 00:21:48,517
They cannot be
on the parade route.
397
00:21:49,310 --> 00:21:52,772
That action at the FBI
didn't happen in isolation.
398
00:21:52,855 --> 00:21:56,525
The same thing happened at CIA
at exactly the same time.
399
00:21:57,109 --> 00:21:59,028
And of course,
it exposes the president
400
00:21:59,111 --> 00:22:02,406
to a dangerous situation
that he shouldn't have been.
401
00:22:04,116 --> 00:22:05,868
[Goldberg] Few people
knew that there had been
402
00:22:05,951 --> 00:22:11,290
at least two prior plots
to kill President Kennedy in 1963.
403
00:22:11,373 --> 00:22:14,001
One was in Chicago
on November 2nd.
404
00:22:14,085 --> 00:22:17,963
The second one was in Tampa
on November 18th.
405
00:22:18,172 --> 00:22:20,466
-Kennedy ended up
not going to Chicago.
406
00:22:20,549 --> 00:22:21,967
Tell us about that plot.
407
00:22:22,510 --> 00:22:25,888
-An informant,
on October 31,
408
00:22:25,971 --> 00:22:27,556
an informant named Lee,
409
00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:29,475
who could have been
Lee Harvey Oswald,
410
00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:34,647
gave a warning to the FBI stating
that four Cubans
411
00:22:35,106 --> 00:22:37,441
were headed
to Chicago to shoot Kennedy.
412
00:22:37,650 --> 00:22:41,195
The following day, a landlady
reported to the Chicago police
413
00:22:41,278 --> 00:22:43,614
that she had rented a room
to four people
414
00:22:43,864 --> 00:22:46,075
that had rifles
with telescopic sights,
415
00:22:46,158 --> 00:22:47,201
and a sketch of the motorcade.
416
00:22:47,284 --> 00:22:50,412
The FBI passed that
on to the Secret Service.
417
00:22:50,663 --> 00:22:53,791
And the Secret Service
botched the surveillance
418
00:22:53,874 --> 00:22:55,543
of these four individuals.
419
00:22:55,626 --> 00:22:57,670
Two of them escaped,
but they actually picked up
420
00:22:57,753 --> 00:23:00,339
two of the snipers,
and they detained them.
421
00:23:00,798 --> 00:23:02,633
They were stonewalled
by the snipers.
422
00:23:02,716 --> 00:23:04,218
They didn't get any information
out of them.
423
00:23:04,426 --> 00:23:06,053
While this was goin' on,
424
00:23:06,470 --> 00:23:08,764
there was another threat
coming in from
425
00:23:08,848 --> 00:23:13,018
another alternate patsy
named Thomas Arthur Vallee,
426
00:23:13,102 --> 00:23:14,687
who was making
open and loud threats
427
00:23:14,770 --> 00:23:17,064
that he would
assassinate Kennedy.
428
00:23:17,148 --> 00:23:20,109
They only picked him up
when Kennedy canceled
429
00:23:20,192 --> 00:23:23,904
his trip on November 2nd
at 10 in the morning.
430
00:23:24,238 --> 00:23:25,656
One day before the trip,
431
00:23:25,739 --> 00:23:28,534
the Diem brothers
had been assassinated.
432
00:23:28,617 --> 00:23:30,411
And that was
the stated reason
433
00:23:30,494 --> 00:23:32,663
for the cancellation
of the trip to Chicago.
434
00:23:33,789 --> 00:23:37,668
What you found in Vallee,
and the whole Chicago plot,
435
00:23:38,085 --> 00:23:41,922
is so many similarities to what
eventually happened in Dallas
436
00:23:42,131 --> 00:23:44,466
that it-- it can't be
considered coincidental.
437
00:23:44,884 --> 00:23:49,305
Vallee, if we compare him to Oswald,
is an ex-Marine.
438
00:23:49,597 --> 00:23:51,599
He had been posted
like Oswald in the
439
00:23:51,682 --> 00:23:55,561
Far East on a station
that was linked to the CIA
440
00:23:55,644 --> 00:23:58,689
because there were U-2 surveillance
planes on it.
441
00:23:58,772 --> 00:24:02,651
It was easy to portray him
as disgruntled, anti-Kennedy,
442
00:24:02,735 --> 00:24:04,320
a loner, armed.
443
00:24:04,820 --> 00:24:08,282
He had another intelligence
link that he shared with
444
00:24:08,365 --> 00:24:13,287
Oswald in that he trained Cuban
exiles for combat, which was
445
00:24:13,370 --> 00:24:15,331
a CIA responsibility.
446
00:24:15,414 --> 00:24:18,459
And Oswald, we know,
at least offered to do that.
447
00:24:18,542 --> 00:24:20,044
He most likely
did train Cuban exiles,
448
00:24:20,127 --> 00:24:23,964
but we know he tried to.
Oswald, as we know,
449
00:24:24,048 --> 00:24:28,385
was moved from New Orleans
to Dallas in October
450
00:24:28,469 --> 00:24:32,473
to be there just at the
right time for the motorcade.
451
00:24:32,681 --> 00:24:34,475
And he's placed
in a tall building
452
00:24:34,558 --> 00:24:35,684
where he gets a job,
453
00:24:35,768 --> 00:24:38,395
he's adjacent to
the perfect kill zone.
454
00:24:38,896 --> 00:24:41,482
Now, if we look at what
happened to, uh, Vallee,
455
00:24:41,899 --> 00:24:47,446
he's moved like a pawn in August
from Long Island to Chicago
456
00:24:47,738 --> 00:24:49,573
to be in there in time
for the motorcade.
457
00:24:49,657 --> 00:24:50,950
And where does he get a job?
458
00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:54,203
In a tall building
adjacent to the motorcade
459
00:24:54,578 --> 00:24:57,289
with a perfect view
of a, uh, kill zone.
460
00:24:57,373 --> 00:25:01,293
It would have forced Kennedy's
motorcade to do a sharp turn,
461
00:25:01,377 --> 00:25:02,962
slow down and be in a point
462
00:25:03,295 --> 00:25:06,131
where you could have had
perfect triangulation of fire.
463
00:25:06,215 --> 00:25:08,008
-And what about
the trip to Florida?
464
00:25:08,092 --> 00:25:11,136
-On November 18th,
Kennedy was scheduled to do
465
00:25:11,220 --> 00:25:14,431
a 27 mile-long motorcade
in Tampa.
466
00:25:14,515 --> 00:25:16,850
The Secret Service
was very nervous
467
00:25:16,934 --> 00:25:18,727
about the Floridian Hotel
468
00:25:18,811 --> 00:25:20,521
where the motorcade
would have gone by.
469
00:25:20,604 --> 00:25:21,981
It would have forced
a sharp turn.
470
00:25:22,231 --> 00:25:23,691
Nobody fired away at him.
471
00:25:23,774 --> 00:25:26,360
But in this case,
the alternate patsy
472
00:25:26,443 --> 00:25:29,530
would have been
a Gilbert Policarpo Lopez.
473
00:25:29,780 --> 00:25:31,615
He was a Cuban exile.
474
00:25:31,949 --> 00:25:33,367
He, uh, attended
475
00:25:33,617 --> 00:25:36,161
Fair Play for Cuba Committee meetings.
476
00:25:36,370 --> 00:25:39,873
One day after the assassination,
on November 23rd,
477
00:25:40,207 --> 00:25:42,167
he makes his way to Mexico City.
478
00:25:42,251 --> 00:25:45,462
The Fair Play for Cuba Committee
loaned him money for his travel,
479
00:25:45,713 --> 00:25:47,798
and he ends up being
the lone passenger
480
00:25:47,881 --> 00:25:49,550
on an airplane to Cuba.
481
00:25:49,925 --> 00:25:52,052
The CIA, they found out
482
00:25:52,136 --> 00:25:53,595
about the Fair Play
for Cuba Committee,
483
00:25:53,804 --> 00:25:56,056
the weird trip to Mexico City,
the fact that he was
484
00:25:56,140 --> 00:25:59,059
a lone passenger on a plane
to, uh, Cuba.
485
00:25:59,393 --> 00:26:01,395
And they didn't pass
on the information
486
00:26:01,478 --> 00:26:02,771
to the Warren Commission.
487
00:26:03,063 --> 00:26:06,233
So when the HSCA found out
about this lead
488
00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,653
that wasn't pursued,
even they called it egregious.
489
00:26:10,321 --> 00:26:12,948
-And what do you think
was the relevance of it?
490
00:26:13,198 --> 00:26:16,827
-Well, if he had been
assassinated in Tampa, Lopez,
491
00:26:17,036 --> 00:26:19,246
he would have been
the potential patsy.
492
00:26:19,330 --> 00:26:21,749
If they had to admit
to a front shot,
493
00:26:22,499 --> 00:26:25,836
because Oswald was behind,
there were rumors
494
00:26:26,170 --> 00:26:30,049
that he had assisted Oswald
in the assassination in Dallas.
495
00:26:30,299 --> 00:26:32,468
-Had anyone, anyone
tried to speak to
496
00:26:32,551 --> 00:26:35,012
the Warren Commission
about these incidents?
497
00:26:35,346 --> 00:26:38,140
[Paul Bleau] Abraham Bolden
was the first Black
498
00:26:38,223 --> 00:26:41,685
Secret Service agent assigned
to the White House detail,
499
00:26:41,769 --> 00:26:43,687
and he was handpicked
by Kennedy.
500
00:26:43,771 --> 00:26:46,523
He was in Chicago, uh,
when this plot went down.
501
00:26:46,690 --> 00:26:49,360
So he was there
when the Secret Service
502
00:26:49,443 --> 00:26:51,820
was briefed about
the four snipers,
503
00:26:52,154 --> 00:26:56,784
and he witnessed how much the
security was lax for Chicago.
504
00:26:57,201 --> 00:27:00,454
And he also witnessed,
after the assassination,
505
00:27:00,537 --> 00:27:02,122
the steps that were taken
506
00:27:02,373 --> 00:27:05,501
to keep the Chicago plot
completely secret.
507
00:27:05,751 --> 00:27:07,795
No paper trail,
compartmentalized,
508
00:27:07,878 --> 00:27:10,255
agents ordered to
keep silent about it.
509
00:27:10,631 --> 00:27:15,803
This information did not make
its way to Secret Service agents
510
00:27:15,886 --> 00:27:18,847
that were protecting Kennedy
for future motorcades,
511
00:27:18,931 --> 00:27:19,807
including Dallas.
512
00:27:20,182 --> 00:27:22,351
[Goldberg]
Secret Service Agent Elmer Moore
513
00:27:22,559 --> 00:27:26,355
was aware of Agent Bolden
and the Chicago plot.
514
00:27:26,939 --> 00:27:29,650
-I met with Elmer
three times face-to-face.
515
00:27:30,234 --> 00:27:33,362
Several phone calls, very short.
One very long one.
516
00:27:33,570 --> 00:27:37,116
I first asked him,
"Did you ever interview
517
00:27:37,282 --> 00:27:38,784
Thomas Arthur Vallee?"
518
00:27:39,034 --> 00:27:40,786
And he said, "Oh, Washington wouldn't
519
00:27:40,869 --> 00:27:42,913
let me see the files on that."
520
00:27:42,996 --> 00:27:45,165
I said, "Oh, well,
what about a man,
521
00:27:45,249 --> 00:27:48,377
a Secret Service agent
by the name of Abraham Bolden?"
522
00:27:49,962 --> 00:27:51,755
His demeanor completely changed.
523
00:27:51,839 --> 00:27:53,966
He stood up from his chair.
524
00:27:54,049 --> 00:27:57,678
He pulled out his revolver
and he put it on the table,
525
00:27:57,761 --> 00:27:59,096
right in front of me.
526
00:27:59,179 --> 00:28:01,640
He leaned over the table,
and he says,
527
00:28:01,723 --> 00:28:04,977
"Jim, tell me right now,
who are you working for?"
528
00:28:07,646 --> 00:28:10,858
I said, "I'm an independent
researcher."
529
00:28:11,275 --> 00:28:12,401
He told me
530
00:28:14,820 --> 00:28:16,405
in a very loud voice,
531
00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:20,701
and with a very stern look
on his face,
532
00:28:21,452 --> 00:28:25,080
"That goddamned lying nigger.
We finally got him."
533
00:28:26,373 --> 00:28:28,500
I said, "You got him?"
He says, "No."
534
00:28:28,876 --> 00:28:31,295
He said,
"Kelley and the chief got him."
535
00:28:31,378 --> 00:28:32,671
I think that, uh,
536
00:28:32,754 --> 00:28:34,840
Moore and the rest of his crew
537
00:28:35,424 --> 00:28:40,137
were scared speechless
that Bolden knew somethin'.
538
00:28:40,345 --> 00:28:42,514
[Paul Bleau] Abraham Bolden
was one person
539
00:28:42,598 --> 00:28:45,642
who did try to say what he knew
to the Warren Commission,
540
00:28:45,934 --> 00:28:48,770
but they blocked him.
He was blocked from talking
541
00:28:49,062 --> 00:28:52,649
and eventually railroaded
into some phony crime
542
00:28:52,733 --> 00:28:54,943
and put into jail
for a number of years.
543
00:28:57,613 --> 00:28:59,281
[Jim Gochenaur]
Moore leaned back in his big
544
00:28:59,364 --> 00:29:00,574
comfortable leather chair,
545
00:29:00,657 --> 00:29:03,368
and he said,
"Who killed Jack Kennedy?"
546
00:29:04,244 --> 00:29:08,081
Then he said,
"Well, I'll tell you who didn't.
547
00:29:08,290 --> 00:29:13,003
With 100 percent certainty.
It wasn't the Russians."
548
00:29:14,338 --> 00:29:16,715
And my head is starting to swim.
549
00:29:16,798 --> 00:29:20,177
I wanted to break in right
at that point, but then he said,
550
00:29:20,511 --> 00:29:21,845
"I'll tell you why--
551
00:29:23,430 --> 00:29:27,392
JFK was the Russians' boy.
552
00:29:28,727 --> 00:29:31,021
He was giving away
everything he could.
553
00:29:33,482 --> 00:29:37,736
That the man, for all intents
and purposes," he says,
554
00:29:37,819 --> 00:29:39,363
"Dare I say it?
555
00:29:39,446 --> 00:29:43,534
Jim, I will say it,
JFK was a traitor."
556
00:29:46,286 --> 00:29:47,788
[Oliver Stone]
The ghost of John Kennedy
557
00:29:47,871 --> 00:29:49,122
would turn over in his grave
558
00:29:49,206 --> 00:29:53,669
at these cruel words.
But the truth is,
559
00:29:53,752 --> 00:29:56,713
the competing narrative
of his life and death,
560
00:29:56,964 --> 00:29:59,967
as told us by Allen Dulles
and his ilk--
561
00:30:00,050 --> 00:30:03,512
of a leftist assassin
killing a president
562
00:30:03,595 --> 00:30:06,056
with three shots
from a sixth-floor window--
563
00:30:06,515 --> 00:30:07,641
has won the day
564
00:30:07,724 --> 00:30:10,018
and continues
as the official story.
565
00:30:11,103 --> 00:30:14,106
But, the ghost
will not be appeased.
566
00:30:23,198 --> 00:30:25,158
[Donald Sutherland]
After the Bay of Pigs debacle,
567
00:30:25,409 --> 00:30:27,494
JFK began to use
his brother Bobby
568
00:30:27,578 --> 00:30:29,413
as a foreign policy advisor.
569
00:30:29,955 --> 00:30:33,417
Bobby was influential in the
decision to fire Allen Dulles.
570
00:30:33,500 --> 00:30:36,545
He then figured
as an important advisor
571
00:30:36,628 --> 00:30:39,214
during the Berlin confrontation, on Vietnam,
572
00:30:39,298 --> 00:30:43,802
in both 1961 and '63,
and during the Missile Crisis.
573
00:30:44,553 --> 00:30:46,680
-Uh,
after the Cuban Missile Crisis,
574
00:30:46,930 --> 00:30:50,142
wasn't President Kennedy attempting
a back channel
575
00:30:50,225 --> 00:30:53,312
with Russia and Cuba,
and your father was aware of it?
576
00:30:53,729 --> 00:30:56,356
-Jack had an intense interest
in Cuban history
577
00:30:56,690 --> 00:30:58,525
and all the history
of Latin America.
578
00:30:58,817 --> 00:31:02,904
And he-- he believed
that Castro had a point,
579
00:31:02,988 --> 00:31:05,240
in fact he sent a message
to Castro
580
00:31:06,158 --> 00:31:09,953
that he read
and admired Castro's declaration
581
00:31:10,037 --> 00:31:11,538
at the Sierra Maestra
582
00:31:11,622 --> 00:31:14,583
about the liberation
of Cuba and the--
583
00:31:14,666 --> 00:31:18,670
the right of the Cuban people
to exercise sovereignty
584
00:31:18,754 --> 00:31:20,797
over their nation,
and over their island.
585
00:31:21,506 --> 00:31:25,010
The message that he sent
through Lisa Howard and Attwood
586
00:31:25,802 --> 00:31:27,220
was a message that
587
00:31:27,971 --> 00:31:30,057
"We don't care
if you're communists.
588
00:31:30,140 --> 00:31:31,850
We don't care
if you're Marxists.
589
00:31:31,933 --> 00:31:34,186
We don't care
what kind of government
590
00:31:34,269 --> 00:31:35,812
that you experiment with.
591
00:31:35,896 --> 00:31:41,318
The only thing we care about is
that you don't make your island
592
00:31:41,401 --> 00:31:44,196
a platform for Soviet
aggression in the hemisphere.
593
00:31:44,279 --> 00:31:45,822
And that you stop your campaign
594
00:31:45,906 --> 00:31:48,450
against the Alliance
for Progress nations,
595
00:31:48,533 --> 00:31:49,868
against the Social Democrats,
596
00:31:49,951 --> 00:31:54,081
Betancourt in Venezuela,
Lleras Camargo in Colombia,
597
00:31:54,164 --> 00:31:57,209
people who really were trying
to democratize their country
598
00:31:57,292 --> 00:31:59,836
and develop
fair systems for the poor.
599
00:32:01,546 --> 00:32:05,467
By '62, President Kennedy
was actively engaged
600
00:32:06,259 --> 00:32:09,513
with Khrushchev,
and they had a secret
601
00:32:09,596 --> 00:32:11,848
exchange of 26 letters
with each other.
602
00:32:12,015 --> 00:32:15,018
And they were operating
through back channels,
603
00:32:15,102 --> 00:32:17,437
because both of them
found themselves
604
00:32:17,521 --> 00:32:22,442
in identical positions,
um, surrounded by war hawks,
605
00:32:23,485 --> 00:32:26,238
surrounded by
a bellicose intelligence
606
00:32:26,321 --> 00:32:28,990
military establishment,
and all of them viewing
607
00:32:29,074 --> 00:32:32,119
all-out thermonuclear war,
not only as inevitable,
608
00:32:32,369 --> 00:32:34,287
but in some cases, desirable.
609
00:32:35,539 --> 00:32:40,460
The first of those letters
was smuggled by Khrushchev
610
00:32:40,544 --> 00:32:44,881
through a KGB spy
named Georgi Bolshakov.
611
00:32:44,965 --> 00:32:48,802
Georgi was a friend
of my parents.
612
00:32:48,885 --> 00:32:52,889
My uncle wrote the first
of his from Cape Cod,
613
00:32:53,765 --> 00:32:57,477
and he talked about how
his children and their cousins,
614
00:32:57,644 --> 00:32:59,563
which meant us,
were playing in the yard,
615
00:32:59,646 --> 00:33:04,776
and that these two leaders
had no right to bring the world
616
00:33:04,860 --> 00:33:08,280
to a crisis that would
destroy children like us
617
00:33:08,363 --> 00:33:11,825
who had no political
involvement.
618
00:33:11,908 --> 00:33:14,536
And the millions of other people
around the world
619
00:33:14,619 --> 00:33:16,037
who would be destroyed.
620
00:33:16,246 --> 00:33:18,749
And that it would be
their failure and their sin
621
00:33:18,832 --> 00:33:21,084
if they allowed that to happen.
622
00:33:21,793 --> 00:33:24,171
And they proceeded
along a course
623
00:33:24,254 --> 00:33:29,134
that ended up with them
really talking very seriously
624
00:33:29,217 --> 00:33:32,262
about complete demobilization.
625
00:33:32,721 --> 00:33:34,556
And Khrushchev's career was,
626
00:33:34,848 --> 00:33:38,101
um, it was ended
by that as well.
627
00:33:39,561 --> 00:33:40,479
-Among the many traits
628
00:33:40,562 --> 00:33:43,148
the peoples of our two countries have
in common,
629
00:33:43,607 --> 00:33:47,277
none is stronger than
our mutual abhorrence of war.
630
00:33:48,236 --> 00:33:51,990
Almost unique among
the major world powers,
631
00:33:52,282 --> 00:33:54,242
we have never been
at war with each other.
632
00:33:54,785 --> 00:33:55,869
[Lisa Pease] Norman Cousins,
633
00:33:55,952 --> 00:33:58,455
who was then the editor
of the Saturday Review,
634
00:33:58,997 --> 00:34:01,541
had gotten a meeting
with Khrushchev.
635
00:34:01,625 --> 00:34:04,544
And so Norman Cousins
goes to Kennedy, and he said,
636
00:34:04,628 --> 00:34:08,006
"Let's talk
about antinuclear plans.
637
00:34:08,089 --> 00:34:09,758
Let's see if we can, you know,
638
00:34:09,841 --> 00:34:11,885
go for some sort of
form of disarmament."
639
00:34:11,968 --> 00:34:15,138
He's like, "What can I say
as to your level of commitment?"
640
00:34:15,222 --> 00:34:17,724
And Kennedy's like,
"I'm 100 percent committed
641
00:34:17,808 --> 00:34:19,142
to disarming our nukes."
642
00:34:19,309 --> 00:34:21,061
And that was very difficult
because, again,
643
00:34:21,144 --> 00:34:22,854
there are hardliners
on both sides.
644
00:34:22,938 --> 00:34:26,566
And so, they ended up with
the Limited Test Ban Treaty
645
00:34:26,650 --> 00:34:29,486
where they banned all
above-ground testing.
646
00:34:29,569 --> 00:34:31,613
But that's what came
of that meeting,
647
00:34:31,822 --> 00:34:35,283
is that conversation.
But when he came back,
648
00:34:35,367 --> 00:34:37,828
he also said, "Khrushchev's
gonna need a real sign from you
649
00:34:37,911 --> 00:34:39,704
that you're really
committed to this."
650
00:34:40,247 --> 00:34:44,042
-And of course,
this became very eloquently real
651
00:34:44,751 --> 00:34:49,214
in June of 1963, when Kennedy
gives the famous "peace speech"
652
00:34:49,381 --> 00:34:52,175
as it came to be known,
at American University.
653
00:34:52,259 --> 00:34:54,219
-I realize the pursuit of peace
654
00:34:54,928 --> 00:34:58,765
is not as dramatic
as the pursuit of war.
655
00:34:59,266 --> 00:35:01,309
And every graduate
of this school,
656
00:35:02,060 --> 00:35:06,356
every thoughtful citizen
who despairs of war,
657
00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:11,820
and wishes to bring peace,
should begin by looking inward,
658
00:35:12,404 --> 00:35:14,698
by examining his own attitude
659
00:35:15,156 --> 00:35:17,242
towards the possibilities
of peace,
660
00:35:17,784 --> 00:35:19,369
towards the Soviet Union,
661
00:35:19,995 --> 00:35:22,163
towards the course
of the Cold War,
662
00:35:22,956 --> 00:35:25,083
and towards freedom and peace
here at home.
663
00:35:26,418 --> 00:35:29,462
First, examine our attitude
towards peace itself.
664
00:35:30,380 --> 00:35:33,049
Too many of us think
it is impossible,
665
00:35:33,383 --> 00:35:35,594
too many think it is unreal.
666
00:35:36,136 --> 00:35:39,681
But that is a dangerous,
defeatist belief.
667
00:35:40,348 --> 00:35:44,561
It leads to the conclusion
that war is inevitable.
668
00:35:45,061 --> 00:35:47,564
That mankind is doomed.
669
00:35:48,064 --> 00:35:51,776
That we are gripped by forces
we cannot control.
670
00:35:52,193 --> 00:35:55,322
-I think Mr. Kennedy has done
some significant things
671
00:35:55,405 --> 00:35:59,200
in civil rights, and I would
include the attorney general.
672
00:35:59,284 --> 00:36:04,331
I think, uh, both of these men
are men of genuine good will.
673
00:36:04,539 --> 00:36:07,500
And, uh, I think
there is a necessity now to
674
00:36:07,584 --> 00:36:09,753
seize the urgency of
the moment.
675
00:36:10,211 --> 00:36:11,546
[Oliver Stone]
Although we've focused
676
00:36:11,630 --> 00:36:13,381
primarily on foreign policy,
677
00:36:13,465 --> 00:36:16,092
we cannot overlook
Kennedy's battles in the South
678
00:36:16,176 --> 00:36:19,095
with Governor Ross Barnett
of Mississippi
679
00:36:19,179 --> 00:36:21,097
and, in that June of '63,
680
00:36:21,181 --> 00:36:24,184
with Governor George Wallace
of Alabama.
681
00:36:24,476 --> 00:36:25,560
[George Wallace]
And I'm asking from you
682
00:36:25,644 --> 00:36:27,187
an unequivocal assurance
683
00:36:27,354 --> 00:36:30,273
that you will not
bar entry to these students.
684
00:36:30,357 --> 00:36:32,484
And that you will step aside, peacefully,
685
00:36:32,567 --> 00:36:34,277
do your constitutional duty.
686
00:36:34,569 --> 00:36:35,904
[Oliver Stone]
In both showdowns,
687
00:36:35,987 --> 00:36:37,447
using federal troops,
688
00:36:37,822 --> 00:36:40,825
the Kennedy Administration
won admission of Black students
689
00:36:40,909 --> 00:36:43,411
to the last public colleges
in the South.
690
00:36:44,287 --> 00:36:47,582
George Wallace made it clear
that this fight was not over.
691
00:36:47,666 --> 00:36:50,877
-And-- and-- and-- and the--
the South this year,
692
00:36:50,961 --> 00:36:54,673
next year, will decide
who the next president is.
693
00:36:54,756 --> 00:36:56,800
Whoever the South votes for
is the president.
694
00:36:56,925 --> 00:36:59,177
And you're gonna see
that the South is wanting
695
00:36:59,260 --> 00:37:01,221
to be against some folks.
696
00:37:01,388 --> 00:37:03,890
[Oliver Stone] That night,
Kennedy addressed the nation
697
00:37:03,974 --> 00:37:06,726
in what many consider
the finest presidential speech
698
00:37:06,810 --> 00:37:09,646
on civil rights
since Abraham Lincoln.
699
00:37:10,021 --> 00:37:12,774
-And that the rights of every man
are diminished,
700
00:37:12,857 --> 00:37:15,610
when the rights of one man
are threatened.
701
00:37:15,860 --> 00:37:19,322
Even America,
because his skin is dark,
702
00:37:19,406 --> 00:37:22,701
cannot enjoy the full
and free life,
703
00:37:22,993 --> 00:37:24,661
which all of us want.
704
00:37:24,744 --> 00:37:27,872
Then who among us
would be content to have
705
00:37:27,956 --> 00:37:29,374
the color of his skin changed?
706
00:37:29,749 --> 00:37:32,252
One hundred years of delay
have passed
707
00:37:32,627 --> 00:37:35,296
since President Lincoln
freed the slaves,
708
00:37:35,755 --> 00:37:38,466
yet their heirs,
their grandsons,
709
00:37:38,550 --> 00:37:40,218
are not fully free.
710
00:37:40,468 --> 00:37:43,346
And this nation,
for all its hopes,
711
00:37:43,722 --> 00:37:46,891
and all its folks,
will not be fully free,
712
00:37:47,517 --> 00:37:49,352
until all its citizens are free.
713
00:37:49,644 --> 00:37:51,730
We face, therefore,
a moral crisis,
714
00:37:51,813 --> 00:37:53,356
as a country and a people.
715
00:37:53,606 --> 00:37:56,359
And this is a matter
which concerns this country,
716
00:37:56,443 --> 00:37:57,694
and what it stands for.
717
00:37:57,777 --> 00:37:58,945
And in meeting it,
718
00:37:59,112 --> 00:38:01,531
I ask the support
of all of our citizens.
719
00:38:01,614 --> 00:38:03,450
Thank you very much.
720
00:38:03,533 --> 00:38:05,994
[Sutherland]
By the fall of 1963,
721
00:38:06,077 --> 00:38:08,580
Kennedy had made many enemies.
722
00:38:08,663 --> 00:38:12,042
He was working on an American
withdrawal from Vietnam,
723
00:38:12,417 --> 00:38:15,962
an upcoming state visit
to Indonesia in '64,
724
00:38:16,337 --> 00:38:20,091
an independent,
unified democracy in the Congo.
725
00:38:20,341 --> 00:38:23,887
Through Nasser, a balanced
policy in the Middle East.
726
00:38:24,220 --> 00:38:26,973
Normalization of relations
with Cuba.
727
00:38:27,265 --> 00:38:29,309
And a detente with Russia--
728
00:38:29,642 --> 00:38:31,686
even going so far
as to offer them
729
00:38:31,770 --> 00:38:33,313
a joint mission to the moon.
730
00:38:34,397 --> 00:38:36,483
But on November 22nd,
731
00:38:36,649 --> 00:38:39,486
another face of America
asserted itself.
732
00:38:40,862 --> 00:38:43,448
[reporter] Several thousand
enthusiastic Texans are on hand
733
00:38:43,531 --> 00:38:46,785
to give the President and
Mrs. Kennedy a warm welcome.
734
00:38:46,868 --> 00:38:50,872
[Sutherland] On that day
the world changed.
735
00:38:56,461 --> 00:38:58,713
Lyndon Johnson
did not have the understanding
736
00:38:58,797 --> 00:39:00,465
of Third World countries,
737
00:39:00,548 --> 00:39:02,967
nor did he have
the anti-colonial sympathies
738
00:39:03,051 --> 00:39:04,844
that President Kennedy had.
739
00:39:05,053 --> 00:39:08,807
Therefore, numerous changes
in foreign policy took place
740
00:39:08,890 --> 00:39:12,268
within a short period of time
after the assassination.
741
00:39:13,103 --> 00:39:16,898
-President Johnson
did a 180-degree turn
742
00:39:16,981 --> 00:39:19,150
in terms of Congo policy.
743
00:39:19,651 --> 00:39:21,694
The US, which under Kennedy,
744
00:39:21,778 --> 00:39:24,322
was a champion of
African nationalism
745
00:39:24,697 --> 00:39:27,367
and the lead peacekeeper
in the Congo,
746
00:39:27,492 --> 00:39:32,539
becomes the agent of
white reactionary nationalism
747
00:39:32,622 --> 00:39:34,457
and imperialism led by
748
00:39:34,541 --> 00:39:36,918
the Belgians and
the South Africans,
749
00:39:37,127 --> 00:39:39,796
and of all things,
the anti-Castro Cubans.
750
00:39:43,133 --> 00:39:46,344
[rapid gunfire]
751
00:39:49,347 --> 00:39:50,682
[Sutherland]
The CIA now began
752
00:39:50,765 --> 00:39:53,101
to furnish planes and
Cuban exile pilots
753
00:39:53,184 --> 00:39:55,937
to fly sorties
to stamp out the rebellion.
754
00:39:56,646 --> 00:40:00,233
According to one pilot,
the CIA manned the embassy,
755
00:40:00,316 --> 00:40:02,443
and brought members
of a secret operation
756
00:40:02,527 --> 00:40:06,447
from the Bay of Pigs
codenamed Operation 40.
757
00:40:06,614 --> 00:40:09,117
-All of whom
mount this operation
758
00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:12,912
to return a reactionary government to power
759
00:40:13,121 --> 00:40:16,124
under Joseph Mobutu,
and to bring Moise Tshombe,
760
00:40:16,207 --> 00:40:18,418
who was the secessionist
leader of Katanga
761
00:40:18,501 --> 00:40:20,128
back in as prime minister.
762
00:40:20,628 --> 00:40:25,466
And it was as if the
United States had never really had,
763
00:40:25,758 --> 00:40:28,595
you know, this deep association
with African nationalism
764
00:40:29,262 --> 00:40:30,430
under President Kennedy.
765
00:40:30,763 --> 00:40:32,056
[Sutherland]
Joseph Mobutu became
766
00:40:32,140 --> 00:40:34,017
the front man
for imperial forces,
767
00:40:34,100 --> 00:40:37,437
profiting in the billions
from the riches of the Congo.
768
00:40:38,062 --> 00:40:41,608
The Congo never recovered from
the assassination of Lumumba.
769
00:40:42,859 --> 00:40:45,236
And today, despite
its natural resources,
770
00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:47,280
it is considered a failed state
771
00:40:47,363 --> 00:40:49,407
where 80 percent
of the population
772
00:40:49,616 --> 00:40:51,159
live in abject poverty.
773
00:40:53,494 --> 00:40:54,495
Like Foster Dulles,
774
00:40:54,579 --> 00:40:58,041
Johnson now favored
Saudi Arabia over Egypt,
775
00:40:58,291 --> 00:41:01,002
and greatly favored Israel
in the Middle East.
776
00:41:01,169 --> 00:41:05,673
The fairness and even-handedness
Kennedy was building was lost.
777
00:41:05,757 --> 00:41:09,052
In 1968, when Johnson
learned Israel had acquired
778
00:41:09,135 --> 00:41:11,679
atomic weapons,
he made the decision
779
00:41:11,763 --> 00:41:14,098
to order CIA director
Richard Helms
780
00:41:14,182 --> 00:41:17,644
not to tell the Pentagon
or the State Department.
781
00:41:18,102 --> 00:41:20,855
In 1973, while Egyptian tanks
782
00:41:21,105 --> 00:41:22,190
were crossing the Sinai
783
00:41:22,273 --> 00:41:25,777
during the Yom Kippur War,
Commander Moshe Dayan
784
00:41:26,027 --> 00:41:28,988
proposed the use
of nuclear weapons.
785
00:41:29,656 --> 00:41:33,159
Kennedy's goals of peace through
alliances with moderates,
786
00:41:33,243 --> 00:41:34,160
and a solution for
787
00:41:34,244 --> 00:41:36,412
the Palestinian
refugee problem,
788
00:41:37,163 --> 00:41:38,414
were abandoned.
789
00:41:39,916 --> 00:41:42,835
In Latin America,
JFK's Alliance for Progress,
790
00:41:43,294 --> 00:41:45,463
a program promoting
economic development,
791
00:41:45,713 --> 00:41:47,674
suffered as well under Johnson.
792
00:41:47,966 --> 00:41:50,301
In 1964, Johnson said,
793
00:41:50,385 --> 00:41:52,303
you could take all
the gold in Fort Knox,
794
00:41:52,553 --> 00:41:55,098
and it would just go
down the drain in Latin America
795
00:41:55,306 --> 00:41:58,351
unless the private investor could have
some confidence
796
00:41:58,685 --> 00:42:00,228
that he could make
his investment,
797
00:42:00,812 --> 00:42:02,647
and it would not
be confiscated.
798
00:42:03,815 --> 00:42:06,150
Johnson's
private investment idea
799
00:42:06,359 --> 00:42:09,696
broke with Kennedy's policy,
which was to make
800
00:42:09,779 --> 00:42:13,241
most of the loans out of
the United States Treasury,
801
00:42:13,324 --> 00:42:15,118
thereby charging little or
802
00:42:15,201 --> 00:42:16,661
no interest.
803
00:42:16,869 --> 00:42:18,413
Under Johnson's leadership,
804
00:42:18,496 --> 00:42:22,500
the future allotments
for '67 to '69 were reduced
805
00:42:22,792 --> 00:42:26,254
and much of it was shifted
to military programs.
806
00:42:27,255 --> 00:42:30,717
By 1973, it was eliminated.
807
00:42:33,011 --> 00:42:35,972
Under Secretary of State
George Ball referred to
808
00:42:36,055 --> 00:42:38,808
the island archipelago
of Indonesia
809
00:42:38,891 --> 00:42:41,394
as the true
breaking point in Asia--
810
00:42:41,602 --> 00:42:44,605
more important to
the United States than Vietnam.
811
00:42:45,189 --> 00:42:49,485
-What were some of Kennedy's
plans for Indonesia after 1964?
812
00:42:50,194 --> 00:42:52,530
-Three days
before Kennedy was killed,
813
00:42:52,864 --> 00:42:57,285
he signed an 11-million dollar
aid package that included,
814
00:42:57,410 --> 00:42:58,953
you know,
not just military weapons--
815
00:42:59,037 --> 00:43:00,788
because that's something
they hadn't been willing
816
00:43:00,872 --> 00:43:03,499
to provide before Kennedy,
and Kennedy knew, look,
817
00:43:03,583 --> 00:43:04,834
if we don't
give them the weapons,
818
00:43:04,917 --> 00:43:06,669
they're just gonna go
get them from the Soviets.
819
00:43:06,753 --> 00:43:07,920
So he did agree to that.
820
00:43:08,129 --> 00:43:11,257
But Kennedy wanted to emphasize
roads, infrastructure,
821
00:43:11,341 --> 00:43:14,177
education, you know,
money for food,
822
00:43:14,552 --> 00:43:17,680
money to help levee places
and create rice paddies.
823
00:43:17,930 --> 00:43:21,309
Kennedy wanted to help Indonesia
become self-sufficient.
824
00:43:21,934 --> 00:43:23,102
[Bradley Simpson]
President Johnson
825
00:43:23,186 --> 00:43:24,979
had a visceral
dislike of Sukarno
826
00:43:25,063 --> 00:43:27,899
that led him to conclude
that he didn't want to spend
827
00:43:27,982 --> 00:43:31,319
any political capital attempting
to appeal to a leader
828
00:43:31,694 --> 00:43:33,780
that he viewed
as a regional bully.
829
00:43:34,113 --> 00:43:37,283
So Sukarno bitterly criticized
the US war in Vietnam.
830
00:43:37,617 --> 00:43:39,619
He signaled that he was
going to pursue
831
00:43:40,036 --> 00:43:42,622
a radical, anti-colonial
foreign policy
832
00:43:42,705 --> 00:43:45,208
that the Johnson administration saw
as a direct threat
833
00:43:45,291 --> 00:43:46,417
to American interests,
834
00:43:46,709 --> 00:43:48,294
and something
that had to be stopped.
835
00:43:48,544 --> 00:43:51,881
The US State Department
signaled to the Indonesian army
836
00:43:52,048 --> 00:43:53,883
that overthrowing Sukarno
837
00:43:54,133 --> 00:43:57,220
and killing
lots and lots of communists
838
00:43:57,345 --> 00:43:59,514
would produce
a political payoff.
839
00:43:59,972 --> 00:44:02,517
[Sutherland]
September 30th, 1965.
840
00:44:02,809 --> 00:44:06,396
Following rumors of a suspected
military coup against Sukarno,
841
00:44:06,479 --> 00:44:10,066
leftist officers tried to bring
the disloyal generals to trial.
842
00:44:10,483 --> 00:44:13,111
Their plan
quickly descended into chaos,
843
00:44:13,361 --> 00:44:15,530
and General Suharto
took control.
844
00:44:16,572 --> 00:44:19,200
The Indonesian
army, with CIA support,
845
00:44:19,450 --> 00:44:22,620
blamed the killing of the
generals on the communist party.
846
00:44:22,912 --> 00:44:25,623
General Suharto
then used this as a pretext
847
00:44:25,915 --> 00:44:27,625
to turn the army
on the communists,
848
00:44:27,917 --> 00:44:30,628
and eventually neutralized
President Sukarno,
849
00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:32,630
taking his place as president.
850
00:44:33,506 --> 00:44:36,426
-Five hundred thousand,
at least, were killed,
851
00:44:36,717 --> 00:44:38,386
people that were identified
as communists,
852
00:44:38,469 --> 00:44:39,470
whether they were or not,
853
00:44:39,554 --> 00:44:41,389
whether they even knew
what communism was or not.
854
00:44:41,472 --> 00:44:43,933
If their name was on a list,
they were killed.
855
00:44:45,226 --> 00:44:48,146
-And this is the most consequential legacy
856
00:44:48,229 --> 00:44:50,314
of President Kennedy's
assassination.
857
00:44:50,982 --> 00:44:52,650
The coming to power
of a president
858
00:44:52,733 --> 00:44:54,902
who not only
didn't care about Indonesia,
859
00:44:55,069 --> 00:44:57,738
but who surrounded himself
with officials,
860
00:44:57,822 --> 00:45:01,617
who had a stake in a far more
confrontational approach
861
00:45:01,701 --> 00:45:04,829
towards Indonesia that
ultimately resulted in
862
00:45:04,912 --> 00:45:07,415
a spasm of mass killing
in which nearly half a million
863
00:45:07,623 --> 00:45:10,001
unarmed civilians were killed
by the Indonesian army.
864
00:45:14,464 --> 00:45:15,965
[Sutherland]
Regarding Vietnam,
865
00:45:16,048 --> 00:45:18,050
a review of the
declassified record
866
00:45:18,134 --> 00:45:22,096
shows that Kennedy continuously
pushed back against the Pentagon
867
00:45:22,180 --> 00:45:25,433
by refusing every request
to commit combat troops there.
868
00:45:26,225 --> 00:45:27,643
This conflict is reflected
869
00:45:27,727 --> 00:45:32,648
in a National Security
Action Memorandum-NSAM 273.
870
00:45:32,732 --> 00:45:36,527
Drafted in the days before
his death, in its final form,
871
00:45:36,611 --> 00:45:40,406
it allowed for direct American
involvement in Vietnam.
872
00:45:42,283 --> 00:45:43,743
[John Newman]
McGeorge Bundy,
873
00:45:44,118 --> 00:45:45,912
who's the national
security adviser,
874
00:45:45,995 --> 00:45:49,207
puts together a memo,
uh, based upon the--
875
00:45:49,290 --> 00:45:51,792
the truth about the war,
which is it's going terribly.
876
00:45:52,210 --> 00:45:55,588
And he does it in a way
to try and make sure
877
00:45:55,671 --> 00:45:57,465
that Kennedy would be able to
go along with it.
878
00:45:57,548 --> 00:46:01,135
So the way he writes
the first draft of 273
879
00:46:01,219 --> 00:46:03,846
is to say, look, we need to
intensify the war effort
880
00:46:03,930 --> 00:46:06,682
against the communists.
But the way we're gonna do it
881
00:46:06,766 --> 00:46:09,852
is to increase
South Vietnamese forces.
882
00:46:09,936 --> 00:46:12,522
There's not a word
about American forces
883
00:46:12,813 --> 00:46:13,981
or Americanizing the war.
884
00:46:14,398 --> 00:46:16,192
[Sutherland] In fact,
after much maneuvering,
885
00:46:16,275 --> 00:46:17,193
Kennedy, Bundy,
886
00:46:17,276 --> 00:46:19,362
and Secretary of Defense McNamara
887
00:46:19,445 --> 00:46:23,533
had already settled on a plan
to withdraw 1,000 US troops
888
00:46:23,616 --> 00:46:27,703
by 1963, with the goal
of having South Vietnam
889
00:46:27,787 --> 00:46:30,665
responsible for its own
combat operations.
890
00:46:36,254 --> 00:46:38,297
[John Newman] While Kennedy's
body is still in the casket
891
00:46:38,381 --> 00:46:40,841
in the rotunda
over on the Capitol building
892
00:46:41,050 --> 00:46:44,679
is when Johnson changes
NSAM 273 to a new version.
893
00:46:44,971 --> 00:46:48,724
It's Sunday, and McGeorge Bundy
has to take the old version
894
00:46:48,808 --> 00:46:51,060
around town,
and show it to Rusk
895
00:46:51,143 --> 00:46:54,146
and show it to all the
principals and get their input.
896
00:46:54,438 --> 00:46:57,775
And when it comes to
the key paragraph, paragraph 7,
897
00:46:57,858 --> 00:47:00,653
which talks about how we're
going to intensify the war,
898
00:47:00,736 --> 00:47:02,905
all of a sudden,
the restrictions
899
00:47:02,989 --> 00:47:06,409
that McGeorge Bundy
had put on that,
900
00:47:06,492 --> 00:47:08,244
instead of changing a few words,
901
00:47:08,327 --> 00:47:11,455
there's two big hash marks
through that paragraph,
902
00:47:11,539 --> 00:47:12,957
and it's completely rewritten.
903
00:47:13,165 --> 00:47:14,875
And I asked Bundy
in an interview, I said,
904
00:47:14,959 --> 00:47:17,628
"Who told you to do that?"
He said, "Johnson did."
905
00:47:18,337 --> 00:47:20,881
[Sutherland] In the Review
Board's declassifications,
906
00:47:20,965 --> 00:47:23,175
there is evidence
that Johnson was fully aware
907
00:47:23,259 --> 00:47:25,303
of Kennedy's Vietnam
withdrawal plans,
908
00:47:25,970 --> 00:47:28,764
disagreed with them,
and worked on Robert McNamara
909
00:47:28,848 --> 00:47:30,266
to make him renounce them.
910
00:47:41,152 --> 00:47:45,656
-McNamara came into this,
um, the decision
911
00:47:45,740 --> 00:47:48,284
to withdraw US forces,
and in my view,
912
00:47:48,367 --> 00:47:50,161
he implemented it faithfully
913
00:47:50,369 --> 00:47:52,121
until the time
that Kennedy was killed.
914
00:47:53,122 --> 00:47:54,707
[Sutherland]
These changes allowed the US
915
00:47:54,790 --> 00:47:57,585
to unilaterally engage
in combat in Vietnam,
916
00:47:57,668 --> 00:47:59,920
rather than simply
supporting and advising
917
00:48:00,254 --> 00:48:01,672
South Vietnamese troops,
918
00:48:02,089 --> 00:48:04,550
which led to serious consequences.
919
00:48:04,759 --> 00:48:07,094
-And within days,
we're talking about
920
00:48:07,178 --> 00:48:10,097
sending out the
De Soto missions, these--
921
00:48:10,181 --> 00:48:15,227
these naval excursions along
the coastline of North Vietnam.
922
00:48:15,311 --> 00:48:17,355
That ends up with the Maddox
and--
923
00:48:17,647 --> 00:48:19,482
and the so-called Tonkin,
924
00:48:19,565 --> 00:48:22,443
Gulf, uh, attacks and then
the resolution in Congress
925
00:48:22,526 --> 00:48:25,112
opening the door
to intervention in Vietnam.
926
00:48:25,321 --> 00:48:28,282
-In retaliation
for this unprovoked attack
927
00:48:28,366 --> 00:48:29,367
on the high seas,
928
00:48:30,117 --> 00:48:32,203
our forces have
struck the bases
929
00:48:32,286 --> 00:48:34,955
used by the North Vietnamese patrol craft.
930
00:48:35,039 --> 00:48:36,123
-But the new news there is,
931
00:48:36,207 --> 00:48:39,460
it wasn't Johnson who first
figured out, you know,
932
00:48:39,543 --> 00:48:40,836
the day after Kennedy was shot,
933
00:48:40,920 --> 00:48:42,922
that he needed to
change this NSAM.
934
00:48:43,005 --> 00:48:44,590
He just rubber stamped what
935
00:48:44,715 --> 00:48:49,720
Taylor had been doing covertly
ever since NSAM 263.
936
00:48:52,098 --> 00:48:53,766
[Sutherland]
And, as declassified memos
937
00:48:53,849 --> 00:48:56,185
have revealed,
by autumn of 1964,
938
00:48:56,268 --> 00:48:59,063
during his campaign
against Barry Goldwater,
939
00:48:59,313 --> 00:49:00,690
Johnson had already decided
940
00:49:00,773 --> 00:49:03,317
that he was going to
escalate the Vietnam War.
941
00:49:04,193 --> 00:49:05,111
In fact, the directive
942
00:49:05,194 --> 00:49:07,446
that would become
the Tonkin Gulf Resolution
943
00:49:07,571 --> 00:49:10,950
had been written before the
Tonkin Gulf incident itself.
944
00:49:11,534 --> 00:49:14,412
-We are not about to send
American boys
945
00:49:14,495 --> 00:49:17,748
nine or 10,000 miles
away from home
946
00:49:17,832 --> 00:49:22,211
to do what Asian boys ought
to be doing for themselves.
947
00:49:23,045 --> 00:49:24,588
[Sutherland]
On August 7th,
948
00:49:24,672 --> 00:49:26,090
three months
before the election,
949
00:49:26,173 --> 00:49:29,510
Johnson had already planned
for an extensive air war.
950
00:49:29,844 --> 00:49:32,763
It was to begin
after his inauguration.
951
00:49:34,390 --> 00:49:37,560
[Lyndon Johnson] We intend to
convince the communists
952
00:49:38,477 --> 00:49:42,940
that we cannot be
defeated by force of arms,
953
00:49:43,524 --> 00:49:45,484
or by superior power.
954
00:49:49,572 --> 00:49:51,907
-And no nation
in the history of battle
955
00:49:52,575 --> 00:49:54,827
ever suffered more than
the Soviet Union
956
00:49:55,286 --> 00:49:56,746
in the Second World War.
957
00:49:57,288 --> 00:49:59,582
At least 20 million
lost their lives.
958
00:50:00,332 --> 00:50:02,668
Countless millions
of homes and families
959
00:50:03,627 --> 00:50:05,045
were burned or sacked.
960
00:50:05,546 --> 00:50:07,548
A third of the nation's
territory,
961
00:50:08,466 --> 00:50:10,634
including two thirds
of its industrial base,
962
00:50:10,718 --> 00:50:12,511
was turned into a wasteland.
963
00:50:13,179 --> 00:50:16,015
A loss equivalent to
the destruction of this country
964
00:50:16,098 --> 00:50:17,850
east of Chicago.
965
00:50:17,933 --> 00:50:19,310
[Sutherland]
After his brother's death,
966
00:50:19,643 --> 00:50:20,770
Robert Kennedy knew
967
00:50:20,853 --> 00:50:23,022
that relations with
the Soviet Union
968
00:50:23,105 --> 00:50:24,523
hung in the balance.
969
00:50:24,732 --> 00:50:27,401
-On November 29th, he--
970
00:50:27,485 --> 00:50:30,738
which is one week
after the assassination,
971
00:50:30,821 --> 00:50:34,074
my father, he had a meeting
with Bill Walton,
972
00:50:34,158 --> 00:50:35,868
who was a friend of the family
and was on a--
973
00:50:35,951 --> 00:50:38,996
it was a cultural trip
to the Soviet Union.
974
00:50:39,079 --> 00:50:45,419
And he asked Walton to convey a
message through Georgi Bolshakov
975
00:50:45,503 --> 00:50:47,630
to Premier Khrushchev,
976
00:50:48,047 --> 00:50:51,258
saying that our family knew
that the Soviets
977
00:50:51,342 --> 00:50:53,219
were not involved
in the assassination,
978
00:50:53,385 --> 00:50:57,515
that it was a right wing plot
from our own country.
979
00:50:57,598 --> 00:51:01,977
-In other words, the CIA,
or forces aligned with the CIA.
980
00:51:02,895 --> 00:51:06,732
They said they also believed
that Bobby Kennedy
981
00:51:06,816 --> 00:51:09,944
intended to run for office,
and that eventually
982
00:51:10,027 --> 00:51:11,695
he would get back
to the White House.
983
00:51:11,904 --> 00:51:15,533
And when he did, he planned to
resume his brother's policies
984
00:51:15,616 --> 00:51:18,244
of detente and peace
with the Soviet Union.
985
00:51:18,702 --> 00:51:20,412
But they had to
bide their time,
986
00:51:20,496 --> 00:51:22,915
and wait for that
political opportunity.
987
00:51:23,415 --> 00:51:26,794
This is a stunning message
to be delivering to Bolshakov,
988
00:51:26,877 --> 00:51:27,795
because, of course,
989
00:51:27,878 --> 00:51:30,130
Bolshakov is going to take this
right to the Kremlin.
990
00:51:31,215 --> 00:51:32,800
[Sutherland] When Khrushchev
paid his respects
991
00:51:32,883 --> 00:51:35,302
to President Kennedy
at the American Embassy,
992
00:51:36,470 --> 00:51:39,306
he was reportedly
holding back tears.
993
00:51:41,767 --> 00:51:43,435
Castro got the news
of Kennedy's death
994
00:51:43,519 --> 00:51:45,062
while discussing detente
995
00:51:45,145 --> 00:51:48,023
with the French journalist,
Jean Daniel.
996
00:51:48,107 --> 00:51:51,485
He then exclaimed,
"This is bad news.
997
00:51:51,694 --> 00:51:53,821
Everything is now
going to change."
998
00:51:54,280 --> 00:51:55,781
Like Bobby Kennedy,
neither man
999
00:51:55,865 --> 00:51:58,325
believed the conclusions
of the Warren Report.
1000
00:51:59,577 --> 00:52:01,287
[Lisa Pease] When news came
of Kennedy's death,
1001
00:52:01,579 --> 00:52:05,249
all over the planet,
people were mourning and crying
1002
00:52:05,332 --> 00:52:06,876
and going to embassies.
1003
00:52:07,084 --> 00:52:09,461
In Latin America,
people just lit candles
1004
00:52:09,545 --> 00:52:11,547
because they didn't even
have electrical power.
1005
00:52:11,630 --> 00:52:13,132
But they wanted
to honor his killing.
1006
00:52:13,215 --> 00:52:16,760
In the Yucatan Peninsula,
peasants cleared an area
1007
00:52:16,844 --> 00:52:18,387
and planted a peace garden.
1008
00:52:18,804 --> 00:52:20,598
[Philip Muehlenbeck] Nasser
learned of Kennedy's death
1009
00:52:20,681 --> 00:52:21,724
in the middle of the night.
1010
00:52:21,807 --> 00:52:23,225
He got up, dressed,
1011
00:52:23,309 --> 00:52:25,728
went down to his office
and then realized,
1012
00:52:25,936 --> 00:52:27,813
well, there's nothing
I can do about this.
1013
00:52:28,105 --> 00:52:30,608
According to his son,
Nasser went into, uh, a great,
1014
00:52:30,691 --> 00:52:33,569
uh, state of depression
after Kennedy's death.
1015
00:52:33,777 --> 00:52:36,864
Uh, relations with Egypt
gradually deteriorated,
1016
00:52:37,072 --> 00:52:39,867
and they increasingly
shifted their allegiance
1017
00:52:39,950 --> 00:52:41,785
towards the Soviet Union
as well.
1018
00:52:41,994 --> 00:52:43,871
-A mass was held in the leading
1019
00:52:43,954 --> 00:52:47,416
Catholic Church in Cairo,
which has a capacity of 600.
1020
00:52:47,708 --> 00:52:51,253
They somehow fit 4,000 people
into that church.
1021
00:52:51,462 --> 00:52:54,340
Algeria, which had a special
feeling for Kennedy,
1022
00:52:54,423 --> 00:52:56,175
declared a state of mourning
for a week.
1023
00:52:56,258 --> 00:52:58,928
Flags were flown at half-mast.
1024
00:52:59,553 --> 00:53:02,056
The US ambassador to Egypt said
1025
00:53:02,222 --> 00:53:05,184
that he thought the Egyptians
had seen in Kennedy
1026
00:53:05,517 --> 00:53:07,061
the best of what they saw
in Americans,
1027
00:53:07,144 --> 00:53:10,022
that Kennedy had represented
a kind of ideal of America
1028
00:53:10,105 --> 00:53:11,690
to ordinary Egyptians.
1029
00:53:11,774 --> 00:53:15,069
-They polled historians, they polled
the American people
1030
00:53:15,152 --> 00:53:17,363
to say who are the most
popular presidents.
1031
00:53:18,113 --> 00:53:21,408
One metric that you can use to,
objectively at least,
1032
00:53:21,492 --> 00:53:25,913
judge their foreign policy
is how many boulevards
1033
00:53:25,996 --> 00:53:28,082
are named after
that president
1034
00:53:28,165 --> 00:53:29,375
in foreign countries,
1035
00:53:29,458 --> 00:53:31,377
how many hospitals,
how many colleges,
1036
00:53:31,460 --> 00:53:32,795
how many schools,
1037
00:53:33,295 --> 00:53:37,591
how many statues are--
are standing of that president
1038
00:53:37,675 --> 00:53:39,468
in capitols all over the world?
1039
00:53:39,551 --> 00:53:41,845
And in that sense,
President Kennedy
1040
00:53:42,054 --> 00:53:44,223
beats every other president
hands-down.
1041
00:53:46,100 --> 00:53:48,811
[Sutherland] That feeling
is not held only abroad.
1042
00:53:48,894 --> 00:53:52,231
Many people at home felt
that after Kennedy's death,
1043
00:53:52,314 --> 00:53:56,068
a period of depression and
cynicism overtook the country,
1044
00:53:56,151 --> 00:53:59,279
and that America was
somehow changed forever.
1045
00:53:59,947 --> 00:54:01,740
Our overwhelming disbelief
1046
00:54:01,824 --> 00:54:03,784
in the Warren
Commission's findings
1047
00:54:03,867 --> 00:54:06,078
contributed
to increased skepticism
1048
00:54:06,161 --> 00:54:09,915
of all our foundational
beliefs about government.
1049
00:54:10,207 --> 00:54:15,587
-I think there's a direct thread between
the events of 1963,
1050
00:54:15,671 --> 00:54:18,007
and the kind of horror show
1051
00:54:18,340 --> 00:54:21,510
that America is having to
endure right now.
1052
00:54:22,052 --> 00:54:24,930
And I think once you kill
a president in broad daylight
1053
00:54:25,014 --> 00:54:26,598
on the streets
of an American city,
1054
00:54:26,682 --> 00:54:29,476
and everyone knows
that powerful forces did it,
1055
00:54:29,560 --> 00:54:32,146
and it can never be solved,
that crime,
1056
00:54:32,229 --> 00:54:35,524
that sends a signal, not only
to the American people,
1057
00:54:35,607 --> 00:54:39,445
but to the American media,
to American future leaders.
1058
00:54:39,528 --> 00:54:42,448
And if America really wants
a democratic society,
1059
00:54:42,531 --> 00:54:45,826
then we should get to the bottom
of this traumatic crime
1060
00:54:45,909 --> 00:54:49,371
that continues to reverberate
throughout American history.
1061
00:54:50,122 --> 00:54:51,248
[Sutherland]
The Assassination
1062
00:54:51,331 --> 00:54:54,543
Records Review Board
made many startling discoveries
1063
00:54:54,626 --> 00:54:56,712
in the four years
of its existence.
1064
00:54:57,129 --> 00:54:59,923
In October of 2017,
in compliance with
1065
00:55:00,007 --> 00:55:03,218
the JFK Records Act
25-year deadline,
1066
00:55:03,302 --> 00:55:04,511
President Trump said
1067
00:55:04,595 --> 00:55:07,389
unless he was in
receipt of further information,
1068
00:55:07,473 --> 00:55:09,266
he would not block
declassification
1069
00:55:09,349 --> 00:55:11,560
of the last of the files.
1070
00:55:11,643 --> 00:55:12,561
Six months later,
1071
00:55:12,644 --> 00:55:15,064
he postponed releasing
the last batch,
1072
00:55:15,147 --> 00:55:16,690
which the Review Board
1073
00:55:16,774 --> 00:55:19,610
had previously
delayed from 1998.
1074
00:55:19,693 --> 00:55:22,362
This means
that 56 years later,
1075
00:55:22,488 --> 00:55:25,574
the US government
is still maintaining secrets
1076
00:55:25,657 --> 00:55:27,785
about the JFK case.
1077
00:55:28,535 --> 00:55:32,164
Can a democracy survive
if it does not know
1078
00:55:32,247 --> 00:55:37,127
its deepest secrets about
the darkest days of its past?
1079
00:55:38,253 --> 00:55:40,297
-Do you think
there was any connection
1080
00:55:40,380 --> 00:55:44,259
between your father's
assassination and your uncle's?
1081
00:55:44,468 --> 00:55:47,596
-I don't think anybody
has connected all the dots.
1082
00:55:47,679 --> 00:55:49,223
There are dots there.
1083
00:55:49,306 --> 00:55:53,644
There are dots that look
like certainly, um, that are,
1084
00:55:53,727 --> 00:55:56,605
uh, that we should be investigating.
1085
00:55:56,688 --> 00:56:01,193
And my father's death has never
been investigated properly.
1086
00:56:01,276 --> 00:56:02,194
[cheering]
1087
00:56:02,277 --> 00:56:03,654
[Robert Kennedy] Because
I think we can do better.
1088
00:56:03,737 --> 00:56:05,656
And I think we can do better
around the rest of the globe.
1089
00:56:05,739 --> 00:56:08,408
I'm not going to be satisfied
until that war is over,
1090
00:56:08,492 --> 00:56:10,452
and American soldiers
are brought back in.
1091
00:56:10,536 --> 00:56:13,205
[cheering]
1092
00:56:14,206 --> 00:56:17,042
-I have therefore
chosen this time and place
1093
00:56:17,960 --> 00:56:21,338
to discuss a topic
on which ignorance too often abounds,
1094
00:56:22,422 --> 00:56:24,299
and the truth
too rarely perceived,
1095
00:56:25,092 --> 00:56:29,763
and that is the most important topic
on Earth: Peace.
1096
00:56:30,097 --> 00:56:31,640
What kind of a peace do I mean,
1097
00:56:31,723 --> 00:56:33,767
and what kind of a peace
do we seek?
1098
00:56:34,726 --> 00:56:36,478
Not a Pax Americana,
1099
00:56:37,521 --> 00:56:40,899
enforced on the world
by American weapons of war,
1100
00:56:42,151 --> 00:56:43,777
not the peace of the grave,
1101
00:56:44,611 --> 00:56:46,572
or the security of the slave.
1102
00:56:47,656 --> 00:56:49,825
I am talking about
genuine peace,
1103
00:56:50,868 --> 00:56:54,037
the kind of peace that makes
life on earth worth living,
1104
00:56:55,330 --> 00:56:58,000
and the kind that enables
men and nations to grow
1105
00:56:58,083 --> 00:56:59,293
and to hope
1106
00:56:59,710 --> 00:57:01,712
and build a better life
for their children,
1107
00:57:02,713 --> 00:57:04,673
not merely peace for Americans,
1108
00:57:05,549 --> 00:57:07,426
but peace for all
men and women.
1109
00:57:08,343 --> 00:57:13,098
Not merely peace in our time,
but peace in all time.
1110
00:57:52,054 --> 00:57:54,932
[♪♪♪]