Ollie, on the cbs crew now is to be in this room during this. Only the crew. No, there will be no picture. No. After the broadcast. Youve taken your pictures. Facing certain removal, Richard Nixon is moments away from resigning as president. Its enough, okay . Ill secret service or any secret service in the room . Theres plenty, mr. President. Out. There can be no greater fall from no greater height. I used to rule the world five men were nabbed in the Democratic National headquarters here in washington. Nixon was desperate. The whitewater controversy whitewater. I have nothing to say about it. Hes thinking what am i going to do. Andrew johnsons impeachment was over policy. He did not deserve to be president of the United States. Im not a crook. One thing leads to another. A grave and profound crisis. One minute i held the key youre in the office of the president of the United States. How can you talk about blackmail and keeping witnesses silent . William Jefferson Clinton. I did not have sexual relations with that woman. The impeachment effort against him failed by a single vote in the senate. President nixon aye. Aye. Aye. A fallen leader. Impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors. I have impeached myself. Thats when i ruled the world impeachment is no longer just history. Good evening. Im fareed zakaria. It is happening now. The house is conducting an impeachment inquiry into president donald trump. We dont yet know how this will end, but we do know we need history more than we ever have. Its the only guide to how and why and even if this president should be impeached. Remember the Founding Fathers who wrote the impeachment clause had just fought a revolution to escape the tyranny of kings. Their goal was to keep the president from becoming an elected monarch, unrestrained in his exercise of power. Together they carefully weighed what the grounds for impeachment should be. They agreed on treason and bribery. Also proposed was maladministration. James madison objected. He said that was too vague. Impeachment wasnt a remedy for a bad president. But what if a president , madison asked, were to cook up a scheme of speculation . In other words, what if the president were a crook . So george mason of virginia came up with a broader phrase high crimes and misdemeanors, and that is article ii, section 4 of the american constitution. There was a moment in our history when it saved american democracy. But at other times its been turned into a cheap political trick hurled at opponents as a weapon. So which is it right now . If ever there were a time to impeach, it is now. Hes got to go. Almost three years into the trump presidency, calls for his impeachment come every day, sometimes every hour. I say impeachment, impeachment, impeachment. Impeach trump impeach trump thousands are in the streets out here this evening. But this was just one day after donald trump was elected president. From the first moment, donald trump has been the most polarizing president in an already bitterly divided america. We will impeach him. We will impeach him. The people said, but he hasnt done anything wrong. Oh, that doesnt matter. We will impeach the president. We have been through periods of polarization before. The difference now, i think, is that we dont have a common baseline of facts. We disagree on reality. That dangerous state of affairs, we disagree on the facts, on reality itself, is reflected in how americans feel about impeachment. In a new cnn poll, exactly half of americans say they support the impeachment and removal of donald trump. But is the case Strong Enough . About a year ago at the height of the mueller investigation, i put that question to one of the countrys premier constitutional scholars. Im not calling for the impeachment of donald trump. I think it would be very unwise to pursue impeachment unless there were a high probability of removing the president from office. And as i read the circumstances now, there isnt a high probability of that. That was then. This is now. So here you have the president of the United States abusing his power openly. Noah feldman is talking about trumps apparent quid pro quo to ukraine. Investigate the bidens, or we wont give you the aid money. Its extremely clear that it is a quid pro quo. Its laughable to think that the president was not trying to gain personally in investigating joe biden. This constitutional scholar is worried about the very survival of americas defining document. Its absolutely essential to the entire constitutional structure. If the president abuses his power, congress has to check the president s actions. Its the only branch with that authority and responsibility, and thats what the impeachment process is fundamentally for. And the constitution will fail. In other words, for feldman, democracy may depend on impeaching the president. For others, it is congress that is overreaching. This is unamerican. To understand todays crisis, we need to go back to the last time america debated these issues. We now think of watergate as a time when america came together and forced a crooked president out of office. But to Richard Nixon and the republican party, the watergate scandal was a partisan war. It was a fivefront war with a fifth column. I had a partisan Senate Committee staff, special prosecutor staff, media. We had a partisan Judiciary Committee staff, and a fifth column. I gave them a sword, and they stuck it in, and they twisted it with relish. The real story of the war nixon describes is one that few americans know. Its a story of a small group of men who turned impeachment into an act of patriotism. It all begins on june 17th, 1972. Five men were arrested early saturday while trying to install eavesdropping equipment at the Democratic National committee. Why was someone breaking into the Democrats Campaign offices . I again proudly accept that nomination for president of the United States. Well, Richard Nixon won the presidency in 1968 by promising to get america out of vietnam. All we are saying are you listening, nixon . Is give peace a chance but as the war dragged on, the Antiwar Movement exploded. As nixon campaigned for his second term, he feared vietnam might give his enemies the ammunition to defeat him. And so his men planned a series of dirty tricks. I suppose he went up the wall . Cripple the democrats. One of them was the watergate breakin. In 1972, nixon won reelection by a historic landslide. I, Richard Nixon, do solemnly swear but the watergate story was still growing. So just weeks after the election, inside the oval office, Richard Nixon declared war on the press. The press is the enemy. The mess is the enemy. The press is the enemy. Write that on the blackboard 100 times and never forget it. Sound familiar . You are the enemy of the people. Go ahead. I call the fake news the enemy of the people. There are other reminders of the present day. Donald trump directs particular anger at certain news organizations. Its like the failing new york times, which is like so bad, or cnn, which is so bad and so pathetic. They are the fake, fake, disgusting news. Nixon went after the washington post, whose reporters bob woodward and Carl Bernstein led watergate coverage. Nixon hated the press because it was digging into the very story he was desperate to hide, that the white house was deeply involved in the watergate coverup. His campaign seemed to work. Early in his second term, nixons Approval Rating soared. But then came the first crack in the white house defense. In the summer of 1973, all of america was riveted by the Senate Watergate hearings. What did the president know, and when did he know it . As the country watched, white House Counsel john dean turned on his president. I began by telling the president that there was a cancer growing on the presidency. Dean testified that the watergate burglars were blackmailing white house aides. The white house was now being directly subject to blackmail, and i didnt know how to handle it. I told him i could only make an estimate that it might be as high as 1 million or more. He told me that that was no problem. It was john deans word against the president of the United States. I have no comment. Nothing less than Richard Nixons presidency may ride on whether the public believes john dean or not. Most republicans continued to stand by their president. But then from a little known white house aide, a dramatic twist. My name is Alexander Porter butterfield. Mr. Butterfield, are you aware of the installation of any listening devices in the oval office of the president . I was aware of listening devices, yes, sir. If wt was a bombshell. The pressure is on the president to produce those tapes. Had it not been for the tapes, im convinced Richard Nixon would have completed his second term. Instead, Richard Nixon would spend the rest of his presidency trying to keep anyone from hearing them. The white house made it clear today that president nixon has decided not to release tapes of his conversations. If i were to make public these tapes, the confidentiality of the office of the president would always be suspect from now on. He fought subpoena after subpoena. I have never heard or seen such outrageous, vicious, distorted reporting. Even as he tried to convince the American People that watergate was a press creation. What is it about the Television Coverage of you in these past weeks and months that has so aroused your anger . Dont get the impression that you arouse my anger. One can only be angry with those he respects. Mr. President , mr. President finally, a drastic step. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Their offices have been sealed by the fbi. A mass firing of the men pursuing the tapes. The saturday night massacre. The news calls the sensation in the White House Press room and sent reporters scrambling for their telephones. A grave and profound crisis in which the president has set himself against his own attorney general and the department of justice. Does it have to do with the resignation of the attorney general . Well, it might. By the time it was over, the attorney general, the Deputy Attorney general, and the special prosecutor were all out. The bipartisan american coverage changes the politics of the situation for Richard Nixon. Tens of thousands of telegrams flooded washington. So many, Western Union was swamped. Most of them demanded impeaching mr. Nixon. Nixon was forced to appoint a new special prosecutor. And as the months went on, bit by bit he was forced to turn over the tapes. They were as damning as he had feared. White House Counsel john deans testimony turned out to be entirely accurate. How much money do you need . I would say these people are going to cost a Million Dollars over the next two years. You could get a million dares, and you could get it in cash. I know where it could be gotten. It was clear nixons defenses were beginning to crumble. Would you consider the crimes to be impeachable if they did apply to you . Well, ive also quit beating my wife. The meeting will come to order. In july of 1974, in a packed hearing room, the house Judiciary Committee began to debate removing the president. Make no mistake about it. This is a turning point whatever we decide. Committee chairman peter row dino was a democratic machine liberal from newark, new jersey. He was new to the job. Some doubted whether he could handle it. A highly partisan prosecution if ever there was one. Many nixon loyalists were angry and still immovable. For republicans, impeaching their president was tantamount to political suicide. So they kept holding out for more evidence. The weight of evidence must be clear. It must be convincing, and lets keep to those two words. You cant substitute them for anything else. Clear and convincing but you cannot and you should not under any circumstance attempt to remove the highest office in the world for anything less than clear and convincing. But as emotions began to run high, the facts were calmly recited and documented. And something surprising happened. Theres an obstruction of justice going on. Someones trying to buy the silence of a witness. Nixon republican larry hogan, the father of marylands current governor, was moved by the evidence. The thing thats so appalling to me is that the president , when this whole idea was suggested to him, didnt in righteous indignation rise up and say, get out of here. Youre in the office of the president of the United States. How can you talk about blackmail and bribery and keeping witnesses silent . This is the presidency of the United States. One by one, rockribbed conservatives who had revered the president put conscious over party. I cannot condone what i have heard. I cannot excuse it, and i cannot and will not stand still for it. I wish the president could do something to absolve himself. Perhaps the most conservative southerner was Walter Flowers of alabama. He had served as the segregationist George Wallaces campaign chairman. I wake up nights, at least on those nights ive been able to go to sleep lately, wondering if this could not be some sordid dream. Impeach the president of the United States. But he did vote to impeach even though Walter Flowers said it gave him an ulcer. Even the conservatives who stuck with the president reached across the aisle to say thank you. I must admit in all candidness that it has been very fear. This impeachment inquiry has been both historic and honorable. Republicans understood that they were not going to carry their base if they voted for impeachment. And some of them did it anyway. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. All those opposed, no. Mr. Donahue . Aye. Mr. Brooks . Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. The Committee Approved three articles of impeachment obstruction of justice, contempt of congress, abuse of power. Mr. Hutchis son. No. Mr. Row dino . Aye. Chairman peter row dino left the room and cried. Official impeachment would come later with a full house vote, but it never happened. Nixons wall of republican defenders had crumbled. Theres a countdown of sorts on tonight, a countdown toward the expected end of the nixon presidency. Tonight at 9 00 eastern daylight time, the president of the United States will address the nation. It was over. I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as president , i must put the interests of america first. Therefore, i shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. The impeachment the framers had imagined, it worked. Democracy worked. There is the president waving goodbye, and you hear the applause. But the scandal itself triggered a loss of faith in government and in politicians. Did they read you your rights . It would be 25 years before impeachment would come up again. Your testimony is subject to the penalty of perjury. Do you understand that, sir . This time i do. It was a completely different story. Yeah, thats half the fun of a new house. Seeing what people left behind in the attic. Well, saving on Homeowners Insurance with geicos help was pretty fun too. Ahhhh, its a tiny dancer. They left a ton of stuff up here. Welp, enjoy your house. Nope. No thank you. Geico could help you save on homeowners and renters insurance. Geico could help you save on homeowners breathe freely fast, with vicks sinex. My congestions gone. I can breathe again ahhhh i can breathe again ughh vicks sinex. Breathe on. All my life, ive wanted to be involved with people. In 1978, a bright eyed 32yearold bill clinton was running for governor of arkansas. Ive tried to bring out the best in people through politics, and ive been happy doing it. He and his wife hillary were also investing in some real estate. A nice little patch of land in the ozarks called whitewater. That plot of land on the white river, a twobit real estate deal that ended up losing money, would change the course of history. Are you a subject or a target . Did they read you your rights . Decades later the whitewater controversy. Whitewater. Political turbulence over whitewater. Whitewater became a massive, spiraling investigation. Is there a deal, monica . That led prosecutors to a sex scandal. The ayes have it. There it is. William Jefferson Clinton is impeached. That became the second president ial impeachment in American History. How on earth did that Little Corner of arkansas. I hereby deliver these articles of impeachment. Explode into a constitutional showdown . It was a twobit real estate deal, and yet somehow one thing leads to another, and we are on the house floor debating whether the president of the United States should be removed from office. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, miss lewinsky. When we think of the clinton impeachment, we think of a certain white house intern. But before there was monica, there were the mcdougals, jim and susan. Clinton might never have been impeached if not for them. It was jim mcdougal who had convinced the clintons to invest in whitewater, and they