yeah.  thank you.
what i've seen. i've liked.
because i think hezbollah is trying to broaden into a political party right now. so you care about what you're thought of in america. and in america, at this moment in time, hezbollah does not have a face. that's why.
no. we don't do that. you've seen "60 minutes" and mike wallace. so you know our reputation for integrity and objectivity. you also know we are the highest-rated, most-respected, tv-magazine news show in america.
that's good. that works. uh, you know, i want to ask you something. i know it sounds odd. but.
hello, sheikh? hello, sheikh?
norman.
take your blindfold off.
welcome to the world.
mike, it's me. we're on.
norman?
we're there.
don't interpret that! hold it. hold it. hold it! slow, slow!! sheikh, do you mind. if you would just turn your chair a little bit to face mr. wallace?
are you ready? or you want to keep fucking around and warm up some more?
alright, todd, give me the three-button on mike, please. okay. we are rolling. okay, mike.
everyone thinks canadian mounties ride horses and rescue ladies from rapids, mike. they backed locals in oka in a fight with mohawks over building a golf course on their burial site. they beat up protesters at kanasake.  where'd you hear that?
let me call you back.
yeah, stuart.  what new york bank?
will he go on-camera and talk about the mexico city branch?
will independent sources corroborate that?
let me see this.  no, 'cause i gotta know where you're going at all times.
"ignition propensity?" . you understand any of this?
it's anonymous. references to "p.m." it's got to be philip morris, huh?
yeah.
oh, hi, doug. it's lowell. i'm doing this story on fire safety.  people burning up from falling asleep smoking. i received a shitload of scientific papers from inside philip morris.  anonymous. you or anybody in fda know someone who can translate this stuff into english for me?
mr. wigand, please.
my name's lowell bergman.  i'm --
no, bergman. b.e.r.g.m.a.n.  i'm a producer with "60 minutes".
yeah.
yes.
how does he know he doesn't want to talk to me? he doesn't know what i'm calling him about.
if you're curious to meet me.
have you always lived in louisville?
that's room service. they usually knock first. come on in.  over here, please.
how do you like your coffee? black?
is there anything you want to know about me, mr. wigand?
just so i know you know, when i talk to people in confidence, it stays that way.
i still do the tough stories. "60 minutes" reaches a lot of people.
far as you go where?
between journalists and management, yes, i believe they do. but i don't take that seriously. where do you work?
did work.
that, you have to discuss with cbs business affairs. but, for something like this, i would say anywhere between 10, 12 thousand.
if you want to do it.
come in earlier on mike's marine barracks line when he's talking to sheikh mussawi.
yeah.
debbie.
oh, bill.  main justice is investigating a major new york bank. laundering narco dollars out of their mexico city branch. you want it for the evening news?
i'm gonna do a follow-up.
catch ya' later.
debbie.
i want you to get legal onto corporate confidentiality agreements. boundaries of their constraint. kentucky state law about. i want you to drop everything.
yeah.
who is this?
what are you talking about? where are you?
mrs. wigand, how do you do?
i'm lowell bergman. we spoke on the phone, remember?
c'mere. i want to talk to you.
i did not burn you. i did not give you up to anyone!
to straighten something out with you. right here. right now.
why am i gonna mention your name?
how the hell do i know about brown & williamson?
and i don't like paranoid accusations! i'm a journalist. think. use your head. how do i operate as a journalist by screwing the people who could provide me with information before they provided me with it?
no. i did not. big tobacco is a big story. and you got something important to say. i can tell. but, yes. i did. i came all the way down here to tell you: story, no story, fuck your story, i don't burn people.
they're afraid of you, aren't they?
talk to me outside the zone of your agreement?
like where'd you work before brown & williamson?
i don't know. you think the knicks are gonna make it through the semi-finals?
seven dwarfs?
and swore under oath that they know nothing about addiction, disease.
okay, so, here you are. you go to work for tobacco. you come from corporate cultures where research, really, creative thinking, these are core values. you go to tobacco.  tobacco is a sales culture. market and sell enormous volume. go to a lot of golf tournaments. the hell with everything else. what are you doing? why are you working for "tobacco" in the first place?
nothing's wrong with that. that's it; you're making money. you're providing for your family? what could be wrong with that?
then. you're in a state of conflict, jeff.
because, look, here's how it lays out: if you got vital, insider stuff the american people for their welfare really do need to know. and you feel impelled to disclose it and violate your agreement in doing so, that's one thing. on the other hand, if you want to honor this agreement, then that's simple. you do so. you say nothing. you do nothing. there's only one guy who can figure that out for you. and that's you. all by yourself.
he referred to this. the seven dwarfs.
the seven ceos of big tobacco.  referred to this.  said they should be afraid of him.  i assume, afraid of what he could reveal. now, you tell me. what does this guy have to say that threatens these people?
hardly new news.
what's this?
why not?
that's not good enough. this guy is the top scientist in the number three tobacco company in america. he's a corporate officer. you never get whistle-blowers from fortune 500 companies. this guy is the ultimate insider. he's got something to say; he wants to say it; i want it on "60 minutes."
okay, let's look through the looking glass the other way.
we got a guy. who wants to talk but he's constrained. what if he were "compelled"?
i mean compelled by a justice department, state courts, be a witness. that would cut through any confidentiality agreement, wouldn't it?
what do you mean, what's it do?
because he has to reveal it in a court of law. it's on record, it's out. it's no secret anymore. so how can they restrain his speech or retaliate? it's out in the world.
i don't think he's got any attorneys.
what do you say, mike? what do you think?
yeah.
no. no, it's okay.  how's - how's the new place?
you okay?
you know, i was thinking of calling you tomorrow, anyway. how are your kids handling the new house?
jeffrey, describe for me in detail what happened.
oh, yes, yes, yes, i did. i wanted to talk to you. i wanted to hook up and talk to you. about what we were talking about in your car.
makes you feel good? putting what you know to use?
it's obvious, isn't it?
hello. you there
it's okay.
what did you get us?
marcuse. yeah. he was my mentor. he had a major influence on the new left in the late '60s. and on me, personally.
my father? what the hell's that got to do with my father?
you charge by the hour?
well, my father left us when i was five- years old. he was not the most ingenious man i ever knew.  let's get back to brown & williamson. if you decide to go on "60 minutes," i got to know everything about why you got fired.
they're gonna dig up stuff from your past, they're gonna throw it at you. i got to know what they're gonna throw. you understand?
i'm not pushing you around! i'm asking you questions.
to a network, probably, we're all commodities. to me? you are not a commodity. what you are is important.
you should. because when you're done, a judgment is going to go down in the court of public opinion, my friend. and that's the power you have.
i believe that? yes, i believe that.
yes.
are you talking to me or did somebody else just walk in here?! i never abandoned a source!
no, don't evade a choice you gotta make be questioning my reputation or "60 minutes'" with this cheap skepticism!
words! while you've been dickin' around at fucking company golf tournaments, i been out in the world, giving my word and backing it up with action.
the stringer was supposed to be shooting b-roll on street cops in new orleans. what's with all the horses?
don't any of these guys ride in cars or walk?
what was he seeing?
yes, i'm right here. could you call me back on a hard line?
area code 212-555-0199.
what do we do with that?
you filed a lawsuit against tobacco on behalf of the state of mississippi, did you not?
well, i'm working with someone, now, who was the former head of research at brown & williamson, a former corporate officer there.
well, he may tape an interview with us. and, we believe if his testimony showed up in a court record first, it would free him up from his confidentiality agreement and give him some protection.
yeah, and he's going to need legal representation.
well, actually, no. well, he's on the fence. that's the point.
well, would you want him to call you? or, you want to call him? how do you want to do it?
yeah.
okay. thank you.
oh, we need cops on the street. we don't need them on horses.
oh, for god's sake, what has this guy got, a horse fetish?
get me to new orleans this afternoon. i'll shoot the fucking thing myself!
what happened?
was it gang related?
excuse me. yeah.
jeff, call the fbi right away.
jeff.
good. but jeff.
i'm telling you, your agents in that office are acting improperly! now, who are they trying to protect?
you better take a good look! because i'm getting two things: pissed off and curious! now, any of these guys been offered jobs in corporate security after they retire? either one of those guys have ex-agent pals already in those jobs? like, for instance, their ex-supervisor, who's already at brown & williamson as we fucking speak?
you're getting my drift?
so, is everything okay?
do you think we could talk about the taping? tomorrow's taping, just so we can get it out of the way and order.
liane, this is a preliminary.  you didn't tell her we were taping? what did she think she was coming to new york for?
oh, man.
ordinary people! under extraordinary pressure, mike. what the hell do you expect? grace and consistency?
it's okay, jeff.
it's okay. you got your own security now.
they "volunteered." a friend owns a large security company.
i heard.
i know. i'm going to go there tonight.
yeah. want to play that game we were playing before? you know, i think you got it up to five. i was ahead of you.
you attract a crowd.
i heard about the kentucky gag order.
maybe things have changed.
you mean. since this morning?
no, i don't have a clue.
run that sandefur piece on "nicotine's not addictive." run that on-camera. then cut right to wigand with "i believe they perjured" then go wide to the ceos all taking the oath. back on jeff and play the pause after the word "felt" on the b-side.
it went great in mississippi, mike.
yeah, they argued he was going to reveal the secret formula of "kools" to the world. "sealed" doesn't hurt scruggs' litigation, and since we're the only ones with the story, i believe we're sitting on an exclusive.
when's the air date?
tell her i'll call her back in ten.
i think what we're trying to tell you is that it happens all the time. this is a news organization. people are always telling us things they shouldn't. we have to verify if it's true and in the public interest.  and if it is, we air it.
what does that mean? "rife with -- ?"
no, only that we would hold the story until it was safe for him.
his "veracity" was good enough for the state of mississippi.
well, as a "standard". i'll hang with "is the guy telling the truth?"
come again?
is this "alice in wonderland"?
is cbs corporate telling cbs news do not go to air with this story?
"tortious interference"? sounds like a disease caught by a radio.
debbie, it's me. i want you to check some filings and give me john wilson's number at bear-stern.
what now?
so, what happened to ms. caperelli's checking with outside counsel first, all that crap?
i'm not touching my film.
no, i'm not.
since when has the paragon of investigative journalism allowed lawyers to determine the news content on "60 minutes"?
before you go.
i discovered this. sec filing.  for the sale of the cbs corporation to westinghouse corporation.
it's not a rumor. it's a sale. if tisch can unload cbs for $81 a share to westinghouse and then is suddenly threatened with a multibillion-dollar lawsuit from brown & williamson, that could screw up the sale, could it not?
i'm not implying. i'm quoting. more vested interests.  "persons who will profit from this merger.  ms. helen caperelli, general counsel of cbs news, 3.9 million. mr. eric kluster, president of cbs news, 1.4 million"
oh, no, of course they're not influenced by money. they work for free. and you are a volunteer executive producer.
no, i'm questioning your hearing! you hear "reasonable" and "tortious interference." i hear.  "potential brown & williamson lawsuit jeopardizing the sale of cbs to westinghouse." i hear.  "shut the segment down. cut wigand loose. obey orders. and fuck off!" that's what i hear.
i am? you pay me to go get guys like wigand, to draw him out. to get him to trust us, to get him to go on television. i do. i deliver him. he sits. he talks. he violates his own fucking confidentiality agreement. and he's only the key witness in the biggest public health reform issue, maybe the biggest, most-expensive corporate-malfeasance case in u.s. history. and jeffrey wigand, who's out on a limb, does he go on television and tell the truth? yes. is it newsworthy? yes. are we gonna air it? of course not. why? because he's not telling the truth? no. because he is telling the truth. that's why we're not going to air it. and the more truth he tells, the worse it gets!
c'mon, what are you? and are you a businessman? or are you a newsman?! because that happens to be what mike and i do for a living.
"put the corporation at risk"? give me a fucking break!
these people are putting our whole reason for doing what we do. on the line!
what?
they're killing the wigand interview.
they're pretending it's process. bullshit, it's foregone.
i'm alone on this.
jeffrey.
i don't know how to say this, jeff, except to just say it right out, so i'll say it. they do not want to air it.
b & w may have threatened litigation.  cbs is on the block.  but you, i mean, i know how.
no? no, what?
jeff.
well, what do you think i'm going to do? quit in protest? i'm not going to do that.
no. i'm not going to take "no" for an answer. no.
i'm staying right here. doing my job. fighting to get my show on the air. you don't like it? hey, i'll tell you what. fire my ass.
get me wigand.
fuck is this? fuck!
oh, you know what we do or do not need to know? since when have you become a media expert?
oh, my god.
jeff! wake the fuck up! everybody is on the line here. if they can catch you in a lie, they can paint everything with that brush. do you understand? everything you say!
everything. you. say! and i can't defend you, man, with one hand tied behind my back! because you keep from me. what they can discover. and they will discover everything! believe me.
she sued you for back payments of child support?
yes. did you lie about being on the american judo team in the olympics?
some public relations guy got a hold of a tape of an interview. where you're saying you were on the american judo team in the olympics?
alright. the abc telemarketing company?
abc telemarketing company.
that's the whole point, jeffrey. that's the whole point. anyone's. everyone's. they are gonna look under every rock, dig up every flaw, every mistake you've ever made. they are going to distort and exaggerate everything you've ever done, man. don't you understand?
that's not the point.
that's not the fucking point, whether you told the truth or not! hello?
and i've got to refute every fucking accusation made in this report before the wall street journal runs. i am trying to protect you, man!
well, are you or are you not, charlie?
we gotta hook up.
p.j.'s.
yeah, i got it. 500 pages of it. they looked in every corner of this guy's life. from a spousal abuse charge, to shoplifting, to a traffic ticket he got once for running a red light. it's terry lenzner's outfit, igi. jack, listen to me. their strategy: discredit this guy, ruin his reputation in the wall street journal, and then nobody will ever listen to what he's got to say about tobacco. he's dead. unless i can get this thing knocked down.
to make it even a little more attractive, i don't know if you're ever gonna get paid.
that's a good question. "is there any truth to any of it?" i doubt it.
soon.
that's great, jack.
how are you, jim?
really? hi, joan.
catch you later.
when's your deadline?
push it.
it's a smear campaign, charlie.
oh, it's real selective. about as hard to get a hold of as the manhattan phone book.
and it's bullshit. and if i'm right, are you going to put the journal's reputation behind a story that's going to blow up in your face?
yeah. catch you later.
what does it look like i'm doing? i'm editing.
no. i should have. i told them i disagreed with you, mike and kluster that this segment is as good as the original. i'm not lying for you. i'm not gonna shut up for you. not on any of it.
i've been banished. in lieu of being fired.
i don't know. how does that get wigand on the air?
here.
these are their leads, their sources. i want you to have your reporters.
have them make their own calls. they'll find that these sources have a different story than the one that's in the dossier.  push the deadline, charlie.
yeah.
i disappeared on you?
i think it was a disgrace.
alright. get me the manager's office.
no, no. don't call the police! just tell him i'm on the phone with you.  my name is lowell bergman.  just tell him that.
did he hear you?
what about now?
hello, can you hear me now?
what's happening?!
alright, now listen to me. i want you - i want you to tell him, in these words: get on the fucking phone!
no, you can. tell him to get on the fucking phone!
that's bullshit, jeff!
i greased the rails for a guy who wanted to say yes. i helped him to say yes. alright. you're not a robot, jeff! that's all. you got a mind of your own, don't you?
i fought for you. and i still fight for you.
jeffrey, where you going with this? so where you goin'? you are important to a lot of people, jeffrey. you think about that. you think about them.
i'm running out of heroes, man.  guys like you are in short supply.
i'm on a leave of absence. forced vacation.
yeah. yeah, i will.
"i'm lowell bergman, i'm from '60 minutes.'" you know, you take the "60 minutes" out of that sentence, nobody returns your phone call. maybe wigand's right. maybe i'm hooked. what am i hooked on? the rush? "60 minutes"? what the hell for? infotainment. it's so fucking useless, all of it.
free press? press is free. for anyone who owns one. larry tisch has a free press.
i got perspective.
from my perspective, what's been going on and what i've been doing is ridiculous. it's half-measures.
patch him through.
oh, good.
yeah, i'm here.
and i'd be lying to you if i didn't tell you, i'm about out of moves, dick.
hi. so, what are you folks doing here in lincoln?
geology. yeah? really?
i work for cbs news.
just ran into two of your "geologists." geologists whose hands aren't all chewed up?
so, i'll hold it.  and.
how long?
you got a deal.
jim, it's lowell.
how prominent? what kind of placement?
well, until you do, all i can tell you is what you already know. they will not air an interview.
i can't get out of here til mid-morning. i'll be in tomorrow night.  listen, could you call a number for me, it's in mississippi.
here's how it works. you ask me questions. i tell you if you're wrong.
yeah?
why?
you ready?
did i tell you you were wrong?
no, i usually sit around in my hotel room, dressed like this at 5:30 in the morning, sleepy look on my face.
oh, lots.
but in all that time, mike, did you ever get off a plane, walk into a room, and find that a source for a story changed his mind? lost his heart? walked out on us? not one fucking time! you want to know why?
i'm going to tell you why. because when i tell someone i'm going to do something, i deliver.
oh, please, mike.
no, you give me a break! i never left a source hung out to dry, ever. abandoned. not 'til right fucking now! when i came on this job, i came with my word intact. i'm gonna leave with my word intact. fuck the rules of the game! hell, you're supposed to know me, mike. what the hell did you expect? you expect me to lie down? back off? what, get over it?
like what? corporate responsibility? what, are we talking celebrity here?
mike. in my.
yeah.
good.
no, you fucked you! don't invert stuff! big tobacco tried to smear wigand; you bought it. the wall street journal, here, not exactly a bastion of anti- capitalist sentiment, refutes big tobacco's smear campaign as the lowest form of character assassination! and now, even now, when every word of what wigand has said on our show is printed, the entire deposition of his testimony in a court of law in the state of mississippi, the cat totally out of the bag, you're still standing here debating! don, what the hell else. do you need?
they cancelled the six o'clock. i don't know why. i'm on the 8:10. i should be home. 9:30. i'll see you then. love ya'. bye.
thank you, bill.
yeah? what did i win?
everything interests me.
i quit, mike.
i did? what do i tell a source on the next tough story? hang in with us. you'll be fine. maybe?