good evening from the cbs news control center in new york. >> he was the most trusted man in america, who put the anchor in anchorman. >> the eagle has landed. >> oh, boy. boy. >> through good times and bad, for 19 years, he gave america what it needed most, the truth. >> that's the way it is. >> today we pay tribute to walter cronkite, early this saturday morning, july 18th, 2009. captioning funded by cbs and hi everyone. welcome to this very special edition of "the early show" on a saturday morning. i'm chris wragge write with maggie rodriguez. a sad moment in a storied news division here in cbs but also a celebration of the most trusted man in america. >> yes, we're going to spend the next two hours remembering walter cronkite by doing what he did best telling stories. we're going to tell his personal and professional stories. we're going to hear them from the people who knew him best the people who worked with him or were influenced by him quite a lineup, morley safir, leslie stahl, roger mudd harry smith, the list goes on and on and on. >> and they're all here over the next two hours. you will not see a lineup like this anywhere. we have so much to get to as we celebrate, like i said walter cronkite. this morning, we remember the life and times of the cbs news anchorman, walter cronkite who passed away at his home in new york last night. he was age 92. here is katie couric. >> that's the way it is. that's the way it is. >> that's the way it is. that's the way it is. >> reporter: for half a century, walter cronkite told it the way it was, delivering the news straight, and unvarnished. >> good evening, everyone. here is the news. >> reporter: among the pioneers who built television news from the ground up he forged a special bond with audiences. trustworthy, plain spoken unflappable. >> and you were there. >> reporter: walter was there. he had lived the history of the century and reported it. born in 1916 in st. joseph missouri as a young man, growing up in houston and kansas city he saw firsthand the dust bowl of the 1930s and the great depression. as a young wire service reporter in world war ii he hit the ground with troops in north africa, and was the first to make it back with the story. >> i'm just back from the biggest assignment that any american reporter could have so far in this war. >> reporter: he was all of 26 a natural before the camera and the microphone. he covered the nuremberg war crime trials sitting just a few feet from the nazi architects of the holocaust. >> some of them were sniffling, you couldn't stand them. terrible men. you wanted to get up there and personally cut his throat. hess was obviously mad as a hatter, absolutely insane. >> reporter: in the early 1950s, television came calling. walter anchored the news on cbs, first in washington then on the network from new york. as television began taking wing in the 1950s, so did walter covering the coronation of queen elizabeth -- >> to be crowned the sixth reigning queen. >> atomic device. >> reporter: atom bomb testing in nevada the birth of the american space program. >> to raise the paray. >> reporter: he knew 12 american presidents. >> i met all of america's presidents since herbert hoover. i've known some of them pretty well. lyndon johnson call the cbs evening news while i was on the air and insisted that they put him through to me on the air. secretary said but he's on the air, mr. president. i don't give a -- where he is, put him on the phone. >> reporter: he assumed the anchor chair of the "evening news" in 1962. >> good evening from the cbs news control center in new york. this is walter cronkite reporting. legalized abortion -- a fleury of activity at the jack ruby trial -- risk of a meltdown at the three mild island atomic plant. >> reporter: he was with us during america's darkest moments. >> from dallas texas, the flash apparently official president kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. central standard time. 2:00 eastern standard time. some 38 minutes ago. i almost lost it there. there has been a display of naked violence in the streets of downtown chicago. the witness to that violence -- >> reporter: cronkite was a fixture at political conventions, including the democrats' chaotic meeting in chicago in 1968 a party and a country at war with itself over vietnam. walter's skepticism grew while reporting on the vietnam war. he shared those feelings in a landmark broadcast in which he acknowledged he was stating his opinion, that it was time for the nation to withdraw. >> it is increaseingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could. >> after that report i recall that lbj said to many of us that i've lost walter cronkite i've lost the war. >> reporter: but his personal passion was space. >> i think that our conquest to space will probably be the most important story of the whole 20th century. looks like a good flight. >> reporter: in 1969 a waiting world held its breath as man first approached the surface of the moon. >> the eagle has landed. >> we cop you ony you on the ground. >> oh boy. >> when we got -- when that vehicle landed on the moon i was speechless. i really couldn't say a thing. >> reporter: it is a measure of the man that he preferred the triumph of the space program to the despair in so much of the news. >> at a time when there were a lot of other problems in this country, and elsewhere people were downcast everybody there was upcast. we were looking toward the stars, looking toward the moon. there was a spirit that was absolutely incomparable. this is my last broadcast as the anchorman of "the cbs evening news." for me it is a moment which i long planned but which nevertheless comes with some sadness. >> reporter: his own spirit was uncomparable. after leaving the evening news he traveled well into his 80s, making documentaries and enjoying himself. in 1996 he told us how he felt about the amazing century he had witnessed. >> if there is anything i've learned, it is that we americans do have a way of rising to the challenges that confront us. just when it seems we're most divided, we suddenly show our remarkable solidarity. the 20th century may be leaving us with a host of problems but i also noted that it does seem darkest before the dawn. there's reason to hope for the 21st century. and that's the way it will be. >> president obama also paid tribute to walter cronkite. >> for decades walter cronkite was the most trusted voice in america. his rich baritone reached millions of living rooms every night, and in an industry of icons, walter set the standard by which all others have been judged. he was there through wars and riots, marches and milestones calmly telling us what we needed to know. and through it all he never lost the integrity he gained growing up in the heartland. walter was always more than just an anchor. he was someone we could trust to guide us through the most important issues of the day, a voice of certainty in an uncertain world. he was family. in moments of tragedy, walter looked us in the eye and shared our pain. in moments of triumph, he rejoiced with us. he was the first to share the devastating news of john f. kennedy's assassination, crystallizing the grief of a nation while fighting back tears of his own. he cheered with every american when we went to the moon boldly exploring a new frontier. and he brought us all those stories large and small which would come to define the 20th century. that's why we loved walter because in an era before blogs and e-mail, cell phones and cable, he was the news. walter invited us to believe in him, and he never let us down. this country has lftost an icon and a dear friend and he will be truly missed. >> joining us now is morley safir. good morning to you. chris wragge and maggie rodriguez in new york. >> good morning. >> what did walter cronkite mean to you? >> well above all, he was a friend. and when i came to work for cbs, shortly after i was hired, i went to vietnam. and the feeling that you had as a correspondent covering this war that was in the course of escalating, at that kind of distance, before satellites and all of that stuff, you really felt like you were at the other end of the world and out of reach. walter changed that. he -- you felt you had a friend in court as a correspondent. cronkite had been there. world war ii and the aftermath. so above all he was a friend he was also a funny man off camera. i think people might have had an idea that this guy was all serious. he was not. >> really? what kind of things would he do that were funny? >> many of them may not be repeatable. but he was a great -- he was a great drinking companion, i'll tell you that. there used to be a really -- i was going to say sleazy bar, wasn't quite sleazy, but was not the nicest place in the world, that everybody went to after the broadcast went off the air, just about every night. and walter never lost that kind of old front page wire service guy with a fedora and press card in his hat, and he really kept that. he also was a man -- a remarkable man in the sense that with all the adulation and everything else he really was the most down to earth person you could possibly know. and it was a wonderful grace about him, about how he approached stories, he was tough. but fair about how he dealt with people. many years ago i was invited in one of those cruise things where he gave lectures and i declined not my kind of thing. and walter loved to do those. i asked betsy, his wife i said how can walter do those, people fawning all over him? she said you don't understand walter. walter loves people. and he truly did. he truly did. and always curious about what they did, where they came from what their background was, what their interests were and katie mentioned in the piece just now, he loved the whole space exploration business. that, to him, was pure heaven. he also had every new gizmo that came along. bought his computer before most people had computers. every conceivable navigational device that you could imagine for his boat. so even though he was a man of the '30s, you could say, he really thought like a man of the 21st century. >> morley another member of walter's a-team is bob schieffer, of course. he joins us on the phone -- he joins us live from california this morning. bob, you once said that you wanted to be walter when you grew up. why? >> i still do. walter, when i was a young reporter walter was my idol. he was who i wanted to be when i grew up. and, you know when i got the chance to come to work at cbs news and come into the great washington bureau, i was just beyond myself. i thought it would never get any better than that. and the fact of the matter is it never did. working for walter cronkite was one of the great honors of my life. walter loved the news. and people understd that. nothing got him -- he had this great respect for the news. and the people who covered it and also the people who made it. and it was just to be a part of that team and be with walter i mean, it is something that i'll take -- i never got over it. this is someone we'll never see his likes again. he was a great mentor to me. he was the major influence on journalism in the 20th century. you know, i was sitting listening as walter was talking about being the anchorman, you know walter was the first person that they used that term to describe. nobody had ever called anybody an anchorman or an anchor. and someone, no one knows quite where the term came from but someone started calling walter the anchorman and he for me will always be that the anchorman. amazing. >> bob, let me ask both you and morley, you were both part of walter's a-team. what was it like -- was it at all intimidating working for this man because was watching everything you read and wrote? was it tough or did he just make you better? i'll start with you, bob. >> it was just -- it was just such an honor to be part of it. i'll never forget when i walked into that great washington bureau for the first time in 1969 dan rather was a white house correspondent, roger mudd was a capitol hill correspondent, marvin kalb daniel shore, eric severide was doing the commentaries. i felt look a little leaguer called to yankee stadium to walk up to the plate and pinch hit. i couldn't believe i was there. but, you know you got a good story, walter used to talk to the reporters, he would call you on the beat what's going on? why did they say this? why did they do that? but on those days when walter would call you after the broadcast and say, good job on that tonight. you really felt good about it. that was the highest compliment you could get. >> morley did you feel that way too? >> still the highest compliment you could get. >> definitely. >> walter was really the correspondent's friend at court. he was a very tough editor a very tough, demanding man. but as fair as you could be. and when you got things right, there was no praise that he wouldn't heap on you. and just a really remarkable boss, people look at people in television as just slightly cardboard characters. and of all of them though, walter was the most lively most interesting, most demanding, most fair certainly, editor i've ever worked for. and, well what bob said about, you know there will never be another one like him, absolutely right. i think this -- he captured a moment in history that is just not going to be repeated. >> morley stay there, i have to cut you off just real quickly. we're going to come back to you morley safer and bob schieffer. thank you for taking the time now. we'll get back to you later on in the broadcast. it is so amazing to hear the stories, especially from them who worked with him. >> i'm so looking forward to these two hours. we'll get back to more on that in a moment. first, let's get you up to date on the weather. lonnie quinn is here. >> morning, chris. i feel like a million bucks, but the voice just not cooperating. i want to apologize for that. i'll be brief. couple of spots i want to highlight, tennessee valley beautiful weather for you. mother nature has just checked out in terms of humidity. temperatures in the 80s, lovely there. to the north, rain around the great lakes. no swimsuits. we're talking sweatshirts and jackets. temperatures not getting out of the 60s.?ñ >> we're having a nice day so far. i want to say, the temperatures across the area, we're coming in in the 60s and starting to lose the humidity. it was very high this morning and was high the last few days. a west-northwest wind is going to bring it down as we go through the afternoon. the forecast for today, looks like this. we're going to top out in the >> all right, everybody. make it a great day wherever you are. over to you. >> lonnie thanks so much. coming up more to learn about cbs' walter cronkite in his own words. stay with us. >> i never really dreamed of doing much sailing. i've been brought up in houston but haven't had much chance to it was a rich man's sport then and we weren't rich then. i was racing automobiles and the kids were growing up and i realized it wasn't exactly a family sport. and maybe we ought to have one that we could all indulge in. we were living a wonderful little place called gypsy trail club in new york had a one-mile pond on it and they were racing sun fish. i got involved. that was it. i never looked back. >> betsy, i take it you don't share walter's passion for all things nautical. >> well no. i like it. at the end of the day, the anchor was happy. the rest of us are kind of lost on it. >> she likes the camaraderie but not the sailing, i think. >> i like camping. i like sleeping under the stars and looking up in sleeping bags. walter has his bed made up with down pillows and sheets. >> not supposed to tell that. i'm a rugged sailor. >> they won't believe it. ?y? the story of douglas brinkley, cbs news consultant and studying walter cronkite's personal papers for an upcoming biography. he joins us from austin texas, this morning. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> you had a chance to look at walter's personal archives reporter's notebooks what have you uncovered? >> they're just the old-fashioned kind with the spiral, but many reporters scrawl on them and cross out and flip it in their very messy. walter kept perfectly kept notebooks, he kept control of his pen at all times, no crossouts, yet he would always find time to write the word source and add a colon and then put exactly where he got the figure from or the person he talked to at where, at what time. this was while he was an anchor. for example, i was looking at his tet 1968 notebook just yesterday, and you go through it and it is filled. every line is -- it is small writing throughout it but it is very neat and organized. so i think that was a key to him. he had an ability to organize cbs news. he had a lot of young reporters running around and cronkite seemed to be able to stay above that. the hurley burley atmosphere of the 1960s and be kind of a calm voice of serenity. i think it became because he was personally very well organized. >> how fascinating is it though to read these notes of this man who was basically -- seen just about everything in the 20th century? >> well some people say historians like myself do is read other people's mail for a living. so going through mr. cronkite's archive, it is looking at his notes, what he thought about things. i uncovered recently this very funny exchange with abbie hoffman, because hoffman was one of the yippies, was in chicago, disturbing the convention cronkite was covering. but hoffman reached out to walter cronkite and said get rid of those dark granny glasses, the famous ones he pulled off slowly during the kennedy assassination. and mr. cronkite said you're right, i'm turning to contact lenses then. here is somebody who you think of dealing with secretaries of defense, and presidents also dealing with the anti-war movement and abbie hoffman and had taken advice from one of them on what kind of glasses to wear versus contacts. >> douglas brinkley thank you for taking the time this morning. we do appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. >> our look at walter cronkite's life and times continues. you're watching "the early show" on cbs. >> the biggest assignment that any american reporter could have so far in this war, covering the occupation of north africa by american troops. here is my first time on camera. i just fell into whatever it is i do naturally. i never took any el kugs lessons no diction lessons. i may have been a pretty decent broadcaster if i had. we continue remembering walter cronkite. what did he mean to a generation of journalists who grew up watching him on tv? let's bring in my partner in the morning, harry smith. good morning, harry. >> good morning. >> i watched you interview walter cronkite and his wife betsy. you changed a little bit. that must have been such a treat. >> you know walter did the morning news here many many many, many years ago. whenever i tell walter he always teased me. he said the greatest success that cbs ever had in the morning was when i anchored the show. >> he was right. >> he was correct. and i would always tease him back and say, walter was it you or was it the puppet? when he did the morning news here way back when it was walter cronkite was a puppet named charlemagne. and they did the show together. charlemagne was the comic relief our dave price. but very interesting because he really had such a sense of pride about everything that he did. but he also had this wonderful sort of spectacular sense of humor. and he was generous. he had a very very generous spirit because as somebody coming along, sort of hoping in some tiny way to be following in his footsteps and trying to honor the legacy that he so profoundly built, all you were trying to do was do him proud. and i think that's what we're all still trying to do today. >> sounds like someone i know >> good morning, it's saturday july 18th. i'm gigi barnett. baltimore county police are reviewing surveillance video trying to find suspects who shot and killed a liquor store owner. it happened thursday night at putty hill liquors in fullerton. two men were proud lie lytrying to rob the store and ended up killing the owner. the robbers ran away without cash, according to police. new details in the steve mcnair murder case. police say the semi automatic pistol used to kill the former ravens quarterback previously belonged to a convicted murderer. investigators say 33-year-old adrian gilliam admitted to selling the gun to mcnair's girlfriend for $100. he was convicted of murder in 1993 in florida. he's now charged with possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. there is a water restrict for parts of northwest baltimore city and some areas of baltimore county. the restriction bans people from watering lawns or washing cars, even restaurants are blocked from serving water unless requested. the city and county leaders say repair work along a large water main are making it difficult to pump water through the area. let's look at today's exclusive first warning forecast ahead, a nice weekend ahead. take a look. this morning, 64 degrees. by midday, 81 and 83 degrees tonight. i am. >> joe: barnett. that is our report. thanks for joining us. today we mourn the passing of walter cronkite. >> that's the way it is. >> a television pioneer whose unique voice changed the way americans saw themselves, and the world. >> this is walter cronkite on the greenland ice cap. >> reporting from across the globe, cronkite spoke to presidents, and pop stars, and covered scandals and space. >> man on the moon, boy. >> today we remember. welcome back to "the early show." as we remember walter cronkite we would like to hear from you this morning. if you would like to share your memories with us we invite you to e-mail us at saturdayearlyshow@cbsnews.com. we'll try to read the tributes on the air. we have been talking to a lot of people so far thi morning. one thing we heard is that walter cronkite's passion was space. how ironic that almost 40 years to the day of the moon landing he passes away. >> yeah. >> it reminded me of something his wife said in an interview once. he was one of the finalists to be the first journalists up in the space but after the "challenger" disaster they scrapped that idea. she said he would look up to the sky and say i want to go up there. i felt kind of fitting for today. >> and wonderful, and we talked about him being almost like a boy, you look at this man who guided this nation through some of its toughest times, with such composure and such comfort, but at the same time with the whole space exploration, like a kid in a candy store. >> exactly. >> he even said during apollo 11 he was speechless for first time ever. he said he probably had about as much time as nasa did to actually come up with something to say and couldn't do it. joining us once again now is bob schieffer, anchor of "face the nation" and cbs's chief washington correspondent, thank you for joining us. what was it about walter cronkite that we'll never see another walter cronkite. what was so unique about this man? >> well it went back to his love of the news. it went back to something else too. this is what people understood and why people came to trust him and depend on him. walter was exactly off camera as he was on camera. this was the real deal. he was a reporter. he had been there. when you were reporting for walter cronkite you knew that walter understood the problems you were having getting a story. he knew the stories didn't just walk up to you and say, hey there, i'm a story, you can broadcast me now. walter knew the trouble you had to go to do get the story. so reporters loved that. people understood that walter was guiding you through these events. you never saw walter cronkite come off as someone who thought he was smarter than the rest of us. he was just somebody who did his homework who was interested in the news and who really liked to gather the news. walter knew 12 presidents. walter liked to talk to presidents. not because they were president, but because he wanted to find out what was on their mind. he had this insatiable almost childlike curiosity about everything he did. and he brought this enthusiasm to the broadcast. and, you know the leader always sets the tone. that's the most important thing that the leader does. and walter always set the right tone. he set the right standards. he set the right kind of enthusiasm. and he just wanted to make him get out there and get some news for people. and -- because that's what he liked to do and that's why he made this organization what he did. >> yeah. he walked the walk. he didn't just talk the talk. a lot of people i've been reading, said that they were a little scared of him for that reason because, you know two hours before the show he would sit everybody down like a drill sergeant and make everybody explain why they chose to put in the broadcast the stories that they did and why certain stories didn't make the cut. did you ever see that walter cronkite bob? >> oh yes. and that's what we as reporters loved about walter cronkite. if you came up with a story, you got it at the last minute you just called walter directly and he would take your call and you say, walter we need to get this story on the air and here's why. and he had this great sense of news and walter delighted in just tearing the whole broadcast apart at about 6:20 and putting in a new lead story, and if it was your lead story, your story you know, you liked it even more. but he was -- he was -- he was theuy that you went to. and you knew that walter knew what news was and so you know we would call him and say, walter, we got to get this in. nbcs is going with this story or abc. he would turn things upside down. it was just a wonder to behold to see him in action. he saw himself as the editor. we talk about using the blue pencil walter had a blue pencil that he used from time to time. i mean he did the whole deal. >> i heard he would send a copy back to the writers, you know all afternoon long and he would -- i heard he drove three writers to drink. >> and, bob, we also talk about his relationship with presidents. and you say the roareporters would call him, a lot of people would call him, lbj calling him one time on the air. can you imagine sitting there on the air, and getting a call from the president when you were live? >> my guess is that walter probably took that call. walter talked about people would try to call him. but if walter thought there was some news there, he would find a way to take that call. and he was always open to news. and that's what you know i said last night during one of the broadcasts walter once said to me you know there is nothing like a little news to pep up a news cast. walter knew what newscasts were about. and that was getting the news and putting it on television. nothing got in front of the news as far as walter was concerned. that came first. nothing got in front of the news including walter himself. he knew what the anchor's job was, to report the news not to be the news. >> he was one of a kind. bob, thank you. please do stick around. >> okay. >> all right. now a closer look at the weather, let's bring back lonnie quinn for one more check of the forecast across the nation for us this morning. >> chris good morning to you and good morning, everybody. let's get to high points here. i apologize for the voice but i feel look a million bucks. cold weather around the great lakes, beautiful weather in the tennessee valley. storms around the gulf coast. and check this out, i mean from phoenix, all the way up to boise, idaho, temperatures will be in the triple digits. big time heat out west. everybody, make it a great day. over to you. >> lonnie thank you. still ahead, walter cronkite. >> you're watching "the early show" on cbs, on walter cronkite's network. we'll be right back. >> got nastier and nastier. >> there seems to be some kind of battle going on over there. >> yes, there is a battle going on. if you can get over there, we can see it directly under our booth here. they're carrying a man out, bodily by the legs and the arms. there is a lot of shouting and shoving going on. mike wallace is down in there. mike? >> now comes the strong arm. the chicago police the chicago police are coming in. >> sometimes i think it is perfectly legitimate for an anchor person or a news person on the air to let people know he's got a few feelings of his own. it makes us and our anger, i want to just turn off our cameras and pack up our microphones and our typewriters and get the devil out of this town. tttt4f0@!g&)wt@&pl@d ú1@@ ttttpwlu.vibéqçku":d)c=uñ happiness starts with healthiness. and healthiness starts at petsmart. get more of both when you enter the petperks sweepstakes. sign up in-store for your chance to win... a three-night trip and hundreds of other great prizes. don't miss the petperks sweepstakes, going on now, at petsmart. [ alarm buzzes ] [ elevator bell dings, telephone rings ] [ indistinct conversations ] [ elevator bell dings ] good night america. [ alarm buzzes ] [ elevator bell dings, telephone rings ] [ indistinct conversations elevator bell dings ] good night amer-- [ alarm buzzes elevator bell dings ] [ female announcer ] nutri-grain. mmmm. one good decision can lead to another. ♪ ♪ made with real fruit and now with more of the whole grains your body needs. nutri-grain can help you eat better all day. what's up, smart? being smart. yep. just booked my 10th night on hotels.com, so i get a night free. you. me. getaway. really? where? anywhere you want. a bed and breakfast? bed and breakfast. check. a place by the beach? a place by awesome. oh, you are smart. accumulate 10 nights and get a night free. welcome rewards from hotels.com. smart. so smart. welcome back to "the early show." walter cronkite was a national institution. as anchor and managing editor of the"the cbs evening news"," he helped make television the dominant medium for national news. here is a look at how an ambitious student became america's most trusted newsman. >> i was a workaholic from the very beginning. i always had two or three jobs going at the same time. >> reporter: walter leeland cronkite jr. grew up with an ethic for hard work and a passion for news. >> i just fell in love with the darn business. i was still delivering newspapers a copy boy, and it was quite a thrill to deliver a paper in which i would have a three or four paragraph story. >> reporter: his broadcasting break came while he was a student at the university of texas. >> i got so involved in the newspaper business which i loved, and little bit of radio on the side that actually i wasn't going to classes as much as i should have. >> reporter: cronkite dropped out of college during his junior year and headed to oklahoma then kansas city to work in radio. ♪♪ >> it came the day at kcmo when down the corridor came the most gorgeous creature i had ever seen in my life. an absolutely sensational red head. her name was betsy maxwell. >> reporter: cronkite married betsy maxwell in 1940. a year later, at the age of 25 cronkite was offer to cover the second world war for the united press. >> the press service was one of the most exciting interesting, demanding businesses in the world. you got to be right and fast and first, if possible. i'm just back from the biggest assignment that any american reporter could have so far in this war. >> reporter: it was the first war in the age of television and the first time walter cronkite would appear in living rooms across america. >> i just fell into whatever it is i do naturally. i never took any elocution lessons, no diction lessons. i might have been a pretty decent broadcaster if i had. this is walter cronkite. good night. >> to talk more about walter cronkite, the man, we go to his long time friend and colleague, morley safer. good morning again. >> good morning. >> let's talk about this remarkable marriage that he had with betsy, married 65 years. what were they like together? >> well they were remarkable. walter really was a man of the midwest. he was a man of the people and all of that. but he was also a man who had -- got a great deal of adulation by people. and if there was any danger of walter taking that seriously, betsy cronkite was there to pull him right back to earth and remind him who he was and what he came from and where he was and who he really was. so walter was pretty good about that kind of thing. but betsy was there as the kind of fail-safe mechanism that kept him grounded. and, you know television broadcasters sometimes are considered elitist and i don't think that charge is a fair one, except occasionally it is. there was never anything elitist about walter cronkite. he was a true reflection i think, of the best of this country. there is an old saying in the news business who are you writing for back in the newspaper only days and you were writing for quote/unquote the kansas city north man. he's got to understand exactly what you are trying to report to him. walter was the kansas city milk man. he was there, really as i say reflecting the interests of the nature of the best in this country. >> morley safer, thank you, please stay with us throughout the next hour. we have a lot more to come with you. up next we'll have buzz aldrin to remember the giant leap for mankind and walter cronkite's broadcasting of it. you're watching "the early show" on cbs. >> to be there for the normandy invasion to be there for the landing on the moon he had seen wide-eyed what america was. ♪ ♪ mom: i can't go to class with him. mom vo: i can't do his history report for him. mom vo: or show the teachers how curious he is. that's his job. mom vo: my job is to give him everything he needs to succeed, while staying within a budget. mom: that's why i go to walmart. son: and that's how the constitution helped shape america... mom: i love my job. vo: find all the brands those other stores have but for low walmart prices, like dell, hp and toshiba. vo: save money. live better. walmart. it was 40 years ago this weekend that cbs news anchorman walter cronkite was live on the air for 18 straight hours, keeping everyone on the edge of their seats, watching something out of this world. >> the eagle has landed. >> oh boy. >> thank you. >> july 20th, 1969 the day man reached and walked on the moon. >> joining us now by phone is astronaut buzz aldrin who walked on the moon 40 years ago this monday. and also calling in fellow astronaut senator john glenn. gentlemen, thank you for taking the time. let me begin with you, mr. aldrin aldrin. when you got back and saw the videotape with walter cronkite's narration of it what did you think? >> i just came in from dayton where -- we were at the national aviation hall of fame when i first heard the news. all of us were very saddened for such a trusted voice to have passed on. we knew he was ill for a while. of course as you mentioned, it took us three and a half days to get back. we were on the aircraft carrier in quarantine when they showed us some film of the reactions back on here when we landed on the moon. and the people cheering and, of course interspersed with that was the broadcast with walter and wally shera who passed away also. that was also a very good view with walter. and the glasses on his forehead mopping his brow and i think that's one of the first times he was really speechless. as we saw this it was just a striking -- i tapped neil on the shoulder and said look at all that cheering. we missed the whole thing. of course what i meant was as the rest of the world got to see the transmissions and the interpretations for those 18 hours -- >> mr. aldrin, i have to jump in for a second. we want to welcome senator glenn in real quickly. what was it like to know you had a fan like walter cronkite in the space program? >> well walter was a good friend and we were with him a long time. walter started covering the space program clear back in alan shepard's days in the first suborbital flight and covered my orbital flight completely. and then came back all those years later and -- at the end of 1998, and covered when i went back up in space again. walter came out of retirement on that one i think, because of his interest in the whole program. he was fascinated by the space program. thought it was one of the big things that this country had ever done. there is another aspect i hadn't heard mentioned about walter. he was interested in people and other things too. he was on the board of give kids the world, which takes terminally ill children and lets them go disney world as one of their last wishes. and it was on the astronaut scholarship foundation board too. we shared those places. >> a spectacular man all around. thank you, i'm so sorry to interrupt. we have to take a break, senator john glenn and astronaut buzz aldrin, thank you very much. >> stay with us. more on -- excuse me on walter cronkite when we come back. >> he's not a guy to me. he's just a friend. i've known walter for so long. i know everything about him. he's just a good guy, a really good guy. ♪♪ the amazing always infinity. ♪♪ it's astonishingly flexible. ♪♪ unbelievably soft. ♪♪ and has an amazing material... that's 4x more absorbent than you may need. making fluids seem to... poof... disappear. just like magic. ♪♪ always infinity. have a happy period. unlock a magical world where all your cat's favorite flavors including real carnation milk, come alive. friskies feline favorites. feed the senses. welcome back. harry smith is back with us. what made walter cronkite so important, harry? >> you think about the times he lived in especially some of the most turbulent times in our modern american history. and we see walter cronkite at the helm of a sailboat. and walter was even keeled. didn't matter what the shoals were beneath, didn't matter where the winds were blowing above, walter was even keeled and he was steady steady as she goes walter cronkite. >> make sure you stay with us, harry. we want to talk more with you. also coming up we have a number of other lumme nairies here to join us including katie couric charlie gibson tom brokaw roger mudd lesley stahl, they join us to share their memories of walter cronkite. you're watching "the early show" on cbs. we'll be right back. >> good morning, it's saturday july 18th. i'm gigi barnett. baltimore county police are reviewing surveillance video trying to find suspects who shot and killed a liquor store owner. it happened thursday night at putty hill liquors in fullerton. two men were proud lie lytrying to rob the store and ended up killing the owner. the robbers ran away without cash, according to police. new details in the steve mcnair murder case. police say the semi automatic pistol used to kill the former ravens quarterback previously belonged to a convicted murderer. investigators say 33-year-old adrian gilliam admitted to selling the gun to mcnair's girlfriend for $100. he was convicted of murder in 1993 in florida. he's now charged with possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. there is a water restrict for parts of northwest baltimore city and some areas of baltimore county. the restriction bans people from watering lawns or washing cars, even restaurants are blocked from serving water unless requested. the city and county leaders say repair work along a large water main are making it difficult to pump water through the area. let's look at today's exclusive first warning forecast ahead, a nice weekend ahead. take a look. this morning, 64 degrees. by midday, 81 and 83 degrees tonight. i am. >> joe: barnett. that is our report. thanks for joining us. he told it the way it was, more than an anchor he was an icon the voice that americans trusted most. >> from dallas texas, the flash apparently official president kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. central standard time. >> through our darkest moments, and grandest triumphs he was our eyewitness to history. >> good evening, everyone. here is the news. >> this morning, on the network walter cronkite called home, we pay tribute to america's anchorman, early this saturday morning, july 18th, 2009. welcome back to a special edition of "the early show." remembering walter cronkite. i'm maggie rodriguez with chris wragge and harry smith. >> we pay tribute it a hero of all of us at cbs and to millions of americans, walter cronkite passed away at the age of 92 on friday night. >> people now maybe can't appreciate how important he was, every single night in america, as a kid growing up south of chicago, my father would get off the milk truck at 5:00 in the afternoon, and come home read the chicago daily news and watch the evening news. 20 million people every night, watched that broadcast. that's more than all of the evening news combined. he was the -- the most trusted man in america, and one of the most important men in america. >> i remember as a kid, i was literally the remote control for my grandparents. it was -- i went to the television and put on walter every night and those are some of my fondest memories of times with my grandparents back then of watching "the cbs evening news" and to work at cbs. >> and, you know the polls told the story of popular opinion with walter cronkite. everyone knew him, everyone loved him. his approval rating during the nixon years was higher than the president's, but when asked how many people knew walter cronkite i think 98%. >> and still the most tsted man in america, 15 years removed from the anchor desk. >> more remarkable. coming up in this hour we'll speak with katie couric, tom brokaw charlie gibson bob schieffer, morley safer, roger mudd and many more. we begin with katie couric who has a look back at walter cronkite cronkite's distinguished career. >> and that's the way it is. and that's the way it is. that's the way it is. that's the way it is. >> reporter: for half a century, walter cronkite told it the way it was delivering the news straight and unvarnished. >> good evening, everyone. here is the news. >> reporter: among the pioneers who built television news from the ground up he forged a special bond with audiences. trustworthy, plain spoken unflappable. >> and you were there. >> reporter: walter was there, he had lived the history of the century and reported it. born in 1916 in st. joseph missouri as a young man growing up in houston and kansas city he saw firsthand the dust bowl of the 1930s, and the great depression. as a young wire service reporter in world war ii, he hit the ground with troops in north africa and was the first to make it back with the story. >> i'm just back from the biggest assignment that any american reporter could have so far in this war. >> reporter: he was all of 26 a natural before the camera and the microphone. he covered the nuremberg war crime trials sitting a few feet from the nazi architects of the holocaust. >> some of them were sniffling, you couldn't stand them striker, terrible men. you wanted to get up there and personally cut his throat. hess was obviously mad as a hatter absolutely insane. >> reporter: in the early 1950s, television came calling. walter anchored the news on cbs, first in washington then on the network from new york. as television began taking wing in the 1950s, so did walter covering the coronation of queen elizabeth -- >> to be crowned the sixth reigning queen. >> atomic device. >> reporter: atom bomb testing in nevada, the birth of the american space program. >> fire. >> reporter: walter knew 12 american presidents. >> i met all of america's presidents since herbert hoover. i've known some of them pretty well. lyndon johnson called "the cbs evening news" while i was on the air and insisted that they put him through to me on the air. secretary said but he's on the air, mr. president. i don't give a -- where he is put him on the phone. >> reporter: he assumed the anchor chair of the evening news in 1962. >> good evening from the cbs news control center in new york this is walter cronkite reporting. legalized abortion -- a flurry of activity at the jack ruby trial -- risk of a meltdown at the three mile island atomic plant. >> reporter: and he was with us during america's darkest moments. >> from dallas texas, the flash apparently official president kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. central standard time 2:00 eastern standard time some 38 minutes ago. and i almost lost it there. there has been a display of naked violence in the streets of downtown chicago. the witness to that hilton violence -- >> reporter: cronkite was a fixture at political conventions, including the democrats' chaotic meeting in chicago in 1968, a party and a country at war with itself over vietnam. walter's skepticism grew while reporting on the vietnam war. he shared those feelings in a landmark broadcast in which he acknowledged he was stating his opinion, that it was time for the nation to withdraw. >> it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could. >> after that report, i recall that lbj said to many of us that if i've lost walter cronkite, i've lost the war. >> reporter: but his personal passion was space. >> i think that our conquest to space will probably be the most important story of the whole 20th century. >> looks look a good flight. >> reporter: in 1969 a waiting world held its breath as man first approached the surface of the moon. >> the eagle has landed. >> we cop you on the ground. >> oh boy. boy. >> when that vehicle landed on the moon i was speechless. i really couldn't say a thing. >> reporter: it is a measure of the man that he preferred the triumphs of the space program to the despair in so much of the news. >> i mean at a time when there were a lot of other problems in this country, and elsewhere, people were downcast. everybody there was upcast we were looking toward the stars, looking toward the moon. there was a spirit that was absolutely incomparable. this is my last broadcast as the anchorman of "the cbs evening news." for me it is a moment for which i long planned, but which nevertheless comes with some sadness. >> reporter: his own spirit was incomparable. after leaving the evening news, he traveled well into his 80s, making documentaries and enjoying himself. in 1996 he told us how he felt about the amazing century he had witnessed. >> if there is anything i have learned, it is that we americans do have a way of rising to the challenges that confront us. just when it seems we're most divided, we suddenly show our remarkable solidarity. the 20th century may be leaving us with a host of problems but i also noted that it does seem darkest before the dawn. there is reason to hope for the 21st century. and that's the way it will be. >> and katie is joining us on the phone this morning. katie, good morning. >> good morning, maggie. >> i have to ask you what it is like to every night hear walter cronkite say this is "the cbs evening news" with katie couric and to sit in that chair. >> clearly, it is a thrilling opportunity for me maggie. and i feel at times woefully inadequate, especially now listening to all the stories about walter. you know i met him on several occasions. he was kind enough to take me out to dinner the summer before i started at cbs news. he is as everyone has been saying last night and this morning, a truly wonderful man, an american icon and when he agreed to do the announce before the evening news commences every night, you know everyone was so grateful and appreciative. and, you know, i don't think there will ever be anyone like walter cronkite. and if i could do one quarter of the job that he did on "the cbs evening news," i would be very proud of my work. so that just shows how tremendously influential and important he was and continued to be, even after he left the anchor chair. >> katie, in the run-up of the time when you came on to be the anchor of "the cbs evening news," what was it like to know that you would be walking in the same halls, following in the footsteps of a man who was steeped in such tradition at cbs? >> i think he set a standard for all of us. and i think this is the -- you know, as sad as it is chris, that walter has passed away i think this opportunity to celebrate his legacy and his accomplishments is really an important opportunity for all of us because i think sometimes the standards of journalism have been challenged. certainly journalism itself is a very different animal than it was in terms of how fragmented it is when walter was sitting in the anchor chair. but, you know i think that his spirit lives on in a very palpable way, in the hallways of cbs. and his honor and integrity and decency, his -- he always cared about accuracy intensely and sourcing and, you know he was the dean of television journalism for so long. and for me it is just a daily reminder about how important it is to really embody all of the qualities or at least attempt to embody all the qualities that he exemplified. >> when you think about it if he hadn't taken over and done that job, the evening news could have been a completely different animal. it could have been performers. it could have been something completely different. but when he started, he purposefully gave him the title of managing editor because he wanted to dispel the notion he was a performer and it was a show. >> or a presenter. that's true maggie. he really guided the ship in so many ways. and, you know as i continue to read and learn about walter again, you know in this period of time you know he did a piece on watergate and it was 14 minutes long which was just unheard of which was a very strong message to the american people that this wasn't "the washington post" just out to get nixon. this was truly an important story. and i think he made decisions like that all the time morley safer told us that he was a reporter's best friend when a reporter was out in the field. he really did guide this genre and this broadcast called "the cbs evening news." and is responsible for making it such a long-lasting creature in television journalism. and i think he did it in the best possible way, as you said. he wasn't a performer. he wanted to have -- be the -- have authority over the what went into the news the content, the visuals that were used and, you know i think that was critically important for everyone who followed in his footsteps. >> katie, thank you for taking the time and joining us this morning. we appreciate it. >> thank you. nice talking to you guys. >> you too, katie. still to come more with harry smith, charlie gibson tom brokaw roger mudd they offer their remembrances of walter cronkite here on "the early show" on cbs. >> good evening from paris. reporting from moscow. from the great wall of china. reporting from madrid. this is walter cronkite aboard the naval aircraft somewhere over the north atlantic. dry, damaged hair, frankly is crunchy. all you need is pantene. even experts agree. it's damage protection results leading salon brands can't beat. the blow dryer, the curling iron, and my hair's still shiny. pantene. if you think all batteries are the same, consider this: a tornado hits air life denver takes off... their night-vision goggles keeping the rescue mission safe... and powering those goggles-- the only battery air life trusts: duracell. trusted everywhere. now at chili's -- welcome to chili's. start your three-course meals with a shared appetizer. for a second course, choose two entrees from over 15 chili's favorites like our big mouth bites -- the mini burgers with giant layers of flavor. or a half-rack of our triple-basted baby back ribs. then save some room to share a decadent dessert. a lot of bold flavors, for a limited time only. chili's -- abetes scared me to death. there's so much to learn. i just shut down. but liberty lked me through it all like when i test at night or after i eat makes a big difference. a good diet and testing your blood sugar regularly can help you manage-even reduce-the risk of complications. that's why liberty offers a wide selection of most brand-name meters. and, all the help you need to understand your meter. if you're over 65, have diabetes and are on medicare, call now and we'll send you a free meter. it offers alternate site testing, so you can test on your arm. no more pricking your fingers. so it's less painful. it makes a big difference. and to make it even less painful, the cost of your diabetes testing supplies may be covered by medicare. join over a million others who have chosen liberty medical. call now and get your free meter. plus, for a limited time get a free cookbook when you join. call the number on your screen. as a reporter and anchorman, cbs' walter cronkite connected with viewers in profound ways. he was at his best even when the news was the worst. like this memorable broadcast, november 22nd, 1963. >> from dallas texas, the flash apparently official president kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. central standard time, 2:00 eastern standard time some 38 minutes ago. vice president johnson has left the hospital in dallas but we do not know to where he has proceeded, presumably he will be taking the oath of office shortly and become the 36th president of the united states. >> joining by phone, roger mudd who often sat in for walter cronkite on "the cbs evening news" and lesley stahl joins us on the phone from africa. good morning to the both of you. roger, let me ask you first, that moment why do you feel that moment is so engrained in american history now? >> well it reflected that walter cronkite felt the same way so many americans did, and i think we all identified with him, all of us when that moment came cried, privately, publicly but for someone on the air who was watched all over the world to show that emotion when the tradition that he had established was not to show emotion, that was a quick peek into walter's character and stability. >> lesley his colleagues called him old iron pants because of his marathon coverage of political conventions. to be a political reporter in walter cronkite's day, describe that for us. >> well first i would like to say that everybody called him uncle walter. everybody who watched him and those of us who worked with him, he was very much the leader of our team. and not just for politics. obviously every convention and every election night, but for every big story, and we wanted to please walter. i'm sure roger would agree with me, if walter was happy, we were happy. if he was unhappy, we heard it. he inspired us as much as he did the rest of the country. i think -- he just was universally respected. and presidents feared him because if walter you may have already had this on the broadcast, but if walter turned against a policy as he did in vietnam, or he did with watergate when he as much as said on the broadcast that president nixon was probably involved that really -- that really affected the rest of the term for a president. so powerful but fair and just essentially likable as a human being. >> roger, talk a little bit about his authenticity. we look at that moment we're looking at that moment from the moment when president kennedy was assassinated there was no veneer here this was not -- this was -- you saw the actual person night after night after night. >> he was -- he was so reassuring and made us feel comfortable as viewers. when you watched him, you knew he was -- we were in good hands. he was in control of his broadcast, and to work for him and with him as i did and lesley did, for 20 years it enabled all of us to say with pride that we were television journalists. we weren't blow dried guys and even the skeptical press had to admit that cbs was the best there was. walter was unlike any of his competitors. he wasn't flip like david brinkley or ponderous like huntle or even stylish like reesener. he was straightforward, steady crisp and reliable. for those of us in the washington bureau as lesley knows, walter cronkite was our god because he thought washington was the center of news in america. and he resisted time and again of others in new york who tried to move the story outf washington. so for us in the washington bureau, he was our protector. >> roger mudd, lesley stahl, thank you for sharing your memories. >> thank you. still ahead on "the early show," tom brokaw and charlie gibson. you're watching "the early show" on cbs. >> -- take and seize the cities. they came closer here than anywhere else. and now three weeks after the offensive began, the firing still goes on. whatever price the communists paid for this offensive, the price to t allied cause was high. kraft light raspberry vinaigrette... delicious flavors... expertly blended... because great tasting dressings aren't just made they're crafted. kellogg's has always made... waking up to breakfast delicious. now, we're making it more affordable. with five one-dollar-off coupons... in specially marked boxes of cereal. wake up to breakfast -- on kellogg's. the best to you each morning. . we continue remembering walter cronkite on this special edition of "the early show." he saw just about everything there was to see newswise yet he said the most important story of the 20th century was the space program, the space exploration. and how ironic that he died almost 40 years to the day after the moon landing that we hav't been back to the moon since walter cronkite was in the chair. he wanted to go up in space. probably would have liked to see us go back to the moon and continue that. >> no question. i remember so well all those broadcasts, there was so much coverage of space in those early days. and once wally shera retired as an astronaut it was walter and wally, space flight after space flight after space flight. they were -- they had their own world. they were just so brilliant at. >> nobody covered space exploration better than cbs news and walter cronkite back in the day. probably the time he was happiest on the air. >> you could tell. giddy like a school boy. let's check in with lonnie for one more check of the weather. >> if we take the mississippi river, cut the country into two pieces on the east side of the mississippi, much more comfortable temperatures then what we're dealing with on the west side, that's the big heat. everybody, i apologize for the laryngitis. hope you make it a great day. guys, over to you. >> lonnie thanks so much. he's battling through a little laryngitis in case you haven't figured that out. >> gravelly but not yet, lonnie. >> no deep baritone. >> i'm trying. still ahead, harry smith right here with two other giants in broadcasting tom brokaw and charlie gibson. you're watching "the early show" here on cbs. a lot of pressure, huh? >> he's one of them. today we mourn the passing of ofwalter cronkite. >> and that's the way it is. >> a television pioneer whose unique voice changed the way americans saw themselves and the world. >> this is walter cronkite on the greenland ice cap. >> reporting from across the globe, cronkite spoke to presidents and pop stars, and covered scandals and space. >> man on the moon. boy. >> today we remember. >> walter cronkite was not only the most trusted man in america, and a reporter's reporter, he was a witness to history. >> that's the way it is. that's the way it is. and that's the way it is. >> reporter: walter cronkite was the most trusted man in america. >> good evening from paris. reporting from moscow. from the great wall of china. reporting from madrid. this is walter cronkite aboard the naval aircraft somewhere over the north atlantic. >> reporter: in a career that helped define a medium -- >> here we are again in studio a. >> reporter: cronkite anchored america's first national television broadcast of a presidential convention in 1952. >> this is the way it always is on election nights isn't it? >> reporter: and in 1963 it was walter cronkite who inaugurated the evening news as we know it today. >> the first broadcast of network television's first daily half hour news prram. >> government still has time but that's a decision -- >> reporter: cronkite broke the news and set the tone for some of the most important events of his time. >> president kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. central standard time 2:00 eastern standard time, some 38 minutes ago. >> reporter: from the civil rights era -- >> they're chanting, we want jobs. >> reporter: -- to the vietnam war -- >> they came closer here than anywhere else. >> reporter: -- cronkite was a witness. >> it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people. >> reporter: after cronkite's words, president johnson was reported to have said if i've lost cronkite, i've lost middle america. >> most of what is known of the watergate affair has emerged in puzzling bits and pieces. >> reporter: walter cronkite helped decipher the now infamous break-in that ended richard nixon's presidency. >> i shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. >> to secure man's survival in the hostile environment of outer space. >> reporter: and it was cronkite who captured the optimism and the spirit of adventure as america headed into space. >> look at that rocket go into the clouds at 3,000 feet! man on the moon, oh, boy. boy. >> reporter: reporting on presidents wars, and icons of popular culture, walter cronkite had a front row seat. all that news became our history. >> that's the way it is. >> with us now are charles gibson, anchor of abc's "world news" and by phone, tom brokaw former anchor of "the nbc nightly news." thank you for taking the time to speak with us. >> good morning, harry. >> good morning, harry, how are you? >> very well. charles, for those of us of a certain age, it is hard for us to remember certain eras that we lived through without thinking about walter and how he did the job he did. >> absolutely. i mean he was, as i said the gold standard and remains so and always will be so. because he basically invented these jobs. and there was no flash and dash in the news in those days. it was walter in front of a desk. and it was always about the news. you always felt that. i remember you just mentioned 1963 he started a half hour broadcast, very few people remember that the evening newscasts were 15 minutes until 1963. he began it with an interview of john kennedy from over in hyannis and then it was not long after that that he was reporting on kennedy's death. but he really did set the standard for all of us who have followed in his footsteps. >> tom, talk about walter cronkite a little bit, because he was a man who lived in new york and who was accessible to a lot of us. he was -- >> he loved new york. >> he was a great story teller. he was -- he was terrific company as morley safer said earlier this morning. >> he was a true -- he loved new york. he missed very few broadway openings or movie premieres with his beloved betsy at his side. you always knew it was going to be a good evening if walter and betsy were there. we shared many anecdotes, drinks dinner and always a laugh, always a laugh. and i -- what i always felt was quite remarkable about walter is that he was so much a man of new york, but at the same time he was a personification of main street. you looked at walter cronkite you said uncle walter. the title of avuncular never fit anyone better than -- as charles was just saying we're all beneficiaries of the standards that he set. i dare say i have to give some tribute to david brinkley in the early days as well if when network news first began, it could have gone in a lot of different directions. but it became a very serious enterprise and walter of course, took it to heights that no one could have imagined. >> tom, talk about that competition because the competition was phenomenal. >> it was. huntley and brinkley obviously took off very quickly. they became the first real television news celebrities in america. they took their jobs very seriously. but then when chap left that was a great opening for walter cronkite. and that a-team he had around him of correspondents and producers very quickly they became like 1929 new york yankees. and to be across the street from them was sometimes frustrating but i always admired the work that cbs news would do. and walter was a generous man. when i was a young reporter covering watergate in washington i ran into him at one of those white house correspondents dinners and he came right over to me and said nice things about my work and patted me on the shoulder and said young man, we're keeping an eye on you. and along the way we became great friends and there is a story that i think pretty well summed him up. when i was leaving the "today" show to do the nightly news they gave a small dinner for me and walter and betsy were there, and by then we had become friends and walter stood up to give a toast and said i want you to keep something in mind, there will be a night when you think you've done everything right on a big story and you'll have an enormous sense of pride. and then you'll walk out of your office and into the streets of new york and there in new york alone will be millions of people who didn't see anything that you had done. i think that was very helpful to me. and walter had that kind of perspective. listen he was very proud to be who he was, he loved being walter cronkite. but at the same time no one could mock walter cronkite more effectively than he could. >> he was enormously self-aware that way. charles, talk a little bit more about you -- we just interrupted you for a second there, you were about to say something. >> i think tom made an interesting point. walter came out of the wire services and, you know the basic who, what why, where, when was critical to him. and when people came to him, i remember we a conversation about it once when people came to him and talked about the fact that you ought to run for office et cetera, and you are the most trusted man in america, et cetera that was heresy to him. it was not about walter. and so much of this business has gotten to the point where it is about the people who are on the air. and walter always made sure that you understood it was about the news. and indeed as he preached to those of us who came up in the business after him, that was always what he was talking about. and i think you sense that always when you watched him. tom makes an interesting point. we were very fortunate, i think, in this business and as a result, i think the country fortunate that people like chet and david at nbc and walter at cbs really set the standards. i wish i could say abc was in the game those days but we really weren't. >> so many people from cbs who cut their teeth working for walter cronkite ended up going to abc. and to nbc. and they populate the world of news as we know it. let's get brian williams on the phone with us now. brian, good morning. >> good morning and thanks for having me. >> your thoughts this morning as we look back at walter cronkite and what he meant to us and what he meant to the country. >> well i don't think we can overstate his place. it is unfashionable to say this but i think in one aspect we were a little bit better off as a country when we only had two, three choices in the evening to watch. in this respect, it did give us a communal experience. i always say that where i grew up the houses were so small, we could see the light reflection in our neighbor's windows on either side of us. enough so that we knew that they too were watching "the cbs evening news" with walter cronkite. not much diversity of media or viewpoint there, but it gave us a kind of a central notion of our nation and our world. and we tended to talk about it the next day because we kind of knew and assumed that we were seeing the same thing the night before. and for that to be back during his dominant years one guy who was, as my friend put it addressing the nation instead of doing the evening news what a tremendous responsibility. and he wore it so well as kind of an aw-shucks guy from missouri. >> you know it seems interesting, tom following up on that this notion that these networks would say this half hour of time is going to be actually devoted to news and it created a tone for the culture. because as brian suggested, we all watched and we all did talk about it the next day. the culture has changed a lot. i think maybe we were, as brian suggested, better served in that time. >> well i -- the last thing i want to do is disagree with my colleague, but i think we have to work harder at it now. i think the country, probably when you stand back better to have have the many choices that it has. there was some big stories that the evening news and all of its glory, the "nbc nightly news" didn't pay quite enough attention to. we didn't take the women's movement seriously enough at the beginning, for example. we missed a lot about science and medicine that was important and breakthroughs in cancer. it was pretty much washington-oriented and internationally, obviously it got a good deal of attention. now you have to work harder at it. there are many more choices out there. this is an information-rich society in which we live. >> all right. thank you very much, tom brokaw for keeping our feet on the ground here this morning. charles gibson great to see you, thanks for taking the time. brian, be well. >> harry, thank you. >> all right. coming up next how walter cronkite became america's most trusted newsman, telling it like it is. you're watching "the early show" on cbs. >> it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could. it can be tough living with copd... but i try not to let it slow me down. i go down to the pool for a swim... get out and dance... even play a little hide-n-seek. i'm breathing better... with spiriva announcer: spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled maintenance treatment for both forms of copd... which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. i take it every day. it keeps my airways open... to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announcer: spiriva does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. stop taking spiriva and call your doctor if your breathing suddenly worsens your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, or have vision changes or eye pain. tell your doctor if you have glaucoma problems passing urine or an enlarged prostate, as these may worsen with spiriva. also discuss the medicines you take, even eye drops. side effects may include dry mouth, constipation and trouble passing urine. every day could be a good day to breathe better. announcer: ask your doctor if once-daily spiriva is right for you. ♪ ♪ mom: i can't go to class with him. mom vo: i can't do his history report for him. mom vo: or show the teachers how curious he is. that's his job. mom vo: my job is to give him everything he needs to succeed, while staying within a budget. mom: that's why i go to walmart. son: and that's how the constitution helped shape america... mom: i love my job. vo: find all the brands those other stores have but for low walmart prices, like dell, hp and toshiba. vo: save money. live better. walmart. kellogg's has always made... waking up to breakfast delicious. now, we're making it more affordable. with five one-dollar-off coupons... in specially marked boxes of cereal. wake up to breakfast -- on kellogg's. the best to you each morning. discover a smoothie like no other! new activia smoothies. creamy, delicious, and above all, it contains bifidus regularis and is clinically proven to help regulate your digestive system. new activia smoothies. ♪ activiaaa! ♪ (music plays) . wellbeing. we're all striving for it. purina cat chow helps you nurture it in your cat... with a full family of excellent nutrition and helpful resources. purina cat chow. share a better life. what was it like behind the scenes here at cbs news during the apollo 11 monday landing? howard sterner knows. he was in the control room. walter cronkite's researcher producer writer and friend we'll talk to howard who later became a president of cbs news ahead this morning as we continue our special tribute to walter cronkite. >> sid baxter, walter cronkite. >> it is an honor to meet you, mr. cronkite. >> call me walter. sir howard stringer is a former president of cbs news. before that he was walter cronkite's right-hand man, his writer researcher producer colleague and a friend for 40 years. sir howard stringer good morning. >> good morning. i'm not sure right-hand man. he had more right-hand man than most of us had hot lunches. he was a wonderful colleague and he gave me two of the earliest opportunities upon which i was able to build a career. i'm forever grateful to one of the kinder men who ever held a high position at cbs news. >> kind but tough. he ran a tight ship didn't he? >> yeah. tough about the things that mattered. but not tough about the things that didn't. no ego, no inner agony, no anxiety, no wondering around saying should i be doing this what does it all mean. walter cronkite was happy being walter cronkite. >> safe to say he held everyone to the same standard he held himself? >> yeah. absolutely. but much more open than you would imagine. when i traveled -- i was down at cape kennedy with him and i was on the -- to the moon landing with him. and i produced and wrote a couple of documentaries for him. and he was a pleasure to deal with. if i messed it up i might have found out. but he was kind. he was kind and thoughtful. >> what was that day like the day of the moon landing at cbs news? >> well he it was tense because we had to fill so many hours of air time. and walter was at the center of it all. and so enthusiastic that actually we were mostly worried about him being carried away. i was in charge of a suedpseudo computer and we couldn't convince walter that this thing called hal would not be helpful. he would turn to me and say, now what does hal say? we would fake it a little bit and run some old clip or something. that was good hal, i'll get back to you. no getting in the way of his enthusiasm on that day. and he showed no fatigue until after the whole thing was over. all the rest of us were falling off our chairs. >> thank you very much, sir howard stringer. we'll be back with final thoughts about walter cronkite, right here on cbs, his network. right now all over the country discover card customers are getting 5% cash back bonus at the pump. now more than ever it pays to discover. thank you for joining us this morning. we want you to know we'll have ongoing coverage of the life of walter cronkite on "the cbs evening news" with katie couric and tomorrow on "face the nation" and all day long ong cbsnews.com. >> and don't miss the special, "walter cronkite: that's the way it was" right here on cbs tomorrow night at 7:00. >> now some final words from walter cronkite himself. we want you to have a great weekend and we'll see you again soon. >> stand by walter. okay, you're on. >> good evening. dr. martin luther king the apostle of nonviolence in the civil rights movement has been shot to death in memphis, tennessee. >> that building across the street molotov cocktails, firebombs, sniper fire. >> the eagle has landed. >> boy. >> how have you been? how's your health? are you serious about going to israel? is this walter cronkite or david brinkley? how are you, walter? mr. president, the only hot water we have got running at the moment is the one in vietnam. >> it is their war. they're the ones who have to win it or lose it. >> there has been an attempt on the life of president kennedy. from dallas texas, the flash apparently official president kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. central standard time. 2:00 eastern standard time, some 38 minutes ago. and now, three weeks after the offensive began, the firing still -- it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victims, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could. and that's the way it is. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com