hi, honey.
what's new?
yeah? what for?
that's great.  little early for cartoons, isn't it?
sweetheart, c'mon. c'mon.
slow down. slow down. slow down. breathe deep. breathe deep. slow down, honey. slow down. slow down.
pooh's dusty, sweetheart. he's dusty, and you breathed him in, okay? so what's - what's happening to you now is.  cells called mast cells told your lungs "don't breathe any more of that dust in." . and the airways in your lungs are like branches. and when the branches close up, you get an asthmatic attack. and, we give you medicine, and you get better. huh? okay? you're better already, aren't you?
i can take her.
is there any more rice?
instant rice?
try the car.
i'm going to the store. you need anything?
soy sauce.
that's my stuff from the office.
i didn't want to leave it there.
i got fired this morning.  where else am i gonna take it?
thomas sandefur.
there's a severance agreement.  it includes cash payouts over time and continuing medical coverage.  sure you don't need anything?
mr. bergman? what did you want me to consult about?
who's that?
black, black.
look, i really don't have that much time.
like what? your sign?
i know what i have to know.
how did a radical journalist from ramparts magazine end up at cbs?
let me see the documents.
this is a fire-safety product study for philip morris. burn rates. ignition propensity. things of this nature. i could very easily explain this to you in layman's terms, because it's from another company.
this issue is a drop in the bucket. i can talk to you about what's in here. but i can't talk to you about anything else.
i signed a confidentiality agreement. i honor agreements.
doesn't cbs have confidentiality agreements, mr. bergman?
did work.
how much would i get paid?
should i just take the documents now?
i worked as the head of research and development for brown & williamson tobacco company. i was a corporate vice president. mr. bergman.
seven.
i'd rather play than talk about it. what did you want to see me about? i don't like being back here.
chapter and verse.
is that a threat?
you threatening my family, now, too?
"research" you declare, as a badge of honor, you don't even know what makes water boil.
okay. i don't believe you can maintain corporate integrity without confidentiality agreements. i was paid well for my work. the health and welfare benefits are good. the severance package is fair. i have no intention of violating my confidentiality agreement and disclosing that which i said i wouldn't.
and if i don't?
dr. wigand.
so, what you are saying is: it isn't enough that you fired me. for no good reason! now you question my integrity? on top of the humiliation of being fired? you threaten me?! you threaten my family?! it never crossed my mind not to honor my agreement.  but i will tell you, mr. sandefur, and brown & williamson, too.  fuck me? well, fuck you!!
protect your sources! you screwed me! you sold me out!
fuck you, too!
stay away from me! you stay away from me!
jump in, quick, c'mon.
good. i want to talk to you.
what do.
this is my house.  in front of my wife, my kids?! what business do we have?
so, you didn't mention my name? you haven't talked to anybody about me?
how did brown & williamson know i spoke to you?
it happened after i talked to you. i do not like coincidences!
you came all the way down here to tell me that?
ride with me while i take the girls to school.
and, i'm unemployed. so i have to protect my medical coverage. . so i left them a message this morning. their expanded confidentiality agreement? i will sign it.
they should be.
like what?
johnson & johnson. union carbide in japan. i was general manager and director of new products. i speak japanese. i was a director of corporate development at pfizer. all health- related. what else? outside the "zone"?
for example. james burke, the ceo of johnson & johnson. when he found out that some lunatic had put poison in tylenol bottles, he didn't argue with the fda.  he didn't even wait for the fda to tell him. he just pulled tylenol off every shelf of every store right across america. instantly. and then he developed the safety cap.  because, look, as a ceo, sure, he's gotta be a great businessman, right? but he's also a man of science. he's not going to allow his company. to put on the shelf. a product that might hurt people. not like the seven dwarfs.
the seven ceos of big tobacco. they got up in front of congress that time. it was on television.
it was on c-span. yeah.
i can't talk about it. the work i was supposed to do. might have had some positive effect. i don't know. it could have been beneficial. mostly, i got paid a lot. i took the money. my wife was happy. my kids had good medical. good schools. got a great house. i mean, what the hell is wrong with that?
i've always thought of myself. as a man of science. that's what's wrong with it.
i've got to go pick up the girls. they only had half a day.
i'm trying to. start a new career.  i believe i could be a good teacher.
and not a lot of companies in the health-care field hire ex-tobacco scientists.
that's it.
hey, hey, hey, c'mon. c'mon. we can make this work for us. okay? it's just. it's a smaller scale. simpler. easier. more time. more time together. more time with the kids. more time for us, okay? it's just.  can you imagine me coming home from some job feeling good at the end of the day? this is gonna be better. this is gonna be better.
hey, baby. what's wrong?
did you see somebody or did you hear them?
where?
sit at daddy's desk, okay? why don't you just sit up at the desk. get out some paper and draw me a picture, okay? what are you gonna draw me, baby? an animal, something like that? you stay down here until daddy gets back. alright, barbara? you stay down here.
you almost got your damn head blown off.
it's just a raccoon, baby. nothing.
they're nocturnal. you know what that means? that means that they only come out at nighttime.
lowell.  jeffrey wigand.
the new place? new.
good. you have kids?
she's okay.
hold on a minute, lowell.  . somebody. may be following me. i don't know. they came on the property.
i don't want to be paranoid.  i mean, maybe it's a game. some kind of mind game.
i don't know what the fuck i really think! are they doing it? is some crank doing it? are they doing it to make me feel paranoid? are they doing it for real and don't give a shit what i think? i don't know! i don't fucking know.
well, no, look. i mean, there was a footprint. forget it. it's probably not important at all. you know, i got a job now. i'm teaching high school. japanese and chemistry. so, what were you calling about?
no, you said you were going to call me tomorrow. so, what about?
okay.
how'd you know that, lowell?
yeah.  look, thanks for talking. i'm sorry i woke you up.
lowell?
who is this? do not call here! do not.
tempura.
next to your father?
is that why you became a journalist? then you get to ask all the questions?
my father was a mechanical engineer. most ingenious man i ever knew.
why?
i drink. a couple of occasions more than i should have. i was cited for shoplifting once. but it was a mistake.  i pushed liane one time. we were both stressed out because of the pressure. she went to her mother's. i got fired because when i get angry i have difficulty censoring myself. and i don't like to be pushed around!
i'm just a commodity to you, aren't i? i could be anything. right? anything worth putting on between commercials.
no.
you believe that?
you believe that because you get information out to people. something happens?
maybe that's just what you've been telling yourself all these years to justify having a good job? having status? and maybe for the audience, it's just voyeurism? something to do on a sunday night. and maybe it won't change a fucking thing. and people like myself and my family are left hung out to dry. used up! broke, alone!
i don't think you really understand --
i have to put my family's welfare on the line here, my friend! and what are you puttin' up? you're puttin' up words!
i said i'd call the kids before they went to bed. onisa.
they're terrorizing us. death threats?! to my family? my kids?!
someone put a bullet in my mailbox.
they do this with impunity!
they get to go home at night. what does it cost these people to do this to us? nothing?! my girls are crying, so fuck them! i want to tape! i'm done thinking about it.
then hold it off the air until you got that. but i want to go to new york. and i want to go on the record. right now!
i'll call them, lowell.
yes, i'm afraid i did.
a gun? yes.
what caliber is my gun?
what does that have to do with the price of tea in china?
you think i put that bullet in the mailbox myself?
i don't think it's unconstitutional yet to own a gun. i'm a target shooter.
yes, i do. a .38 target master. in my gun safe downstairs. a .45 gold cup. a .22 target pistol. so what?
yes. yes, i do. yes, i get extremely emotional when assholes put bullets in my mailbox!
what's going on?
you can't take that.  it's personal property!
my files! personal correspondence.
letters to my brother. my will.
i'm doing an interview.
to talk about it. to think about it. i had a plan to ease her into it. but, i really - i didn't know how to do that.
i believe mr. sandefur perjured himself because i watched those testimonies very carefully.
part of the reason i'm here is i felt that their representation clearly misstated, at least within brown & williamson's representation, clearly misstated. what is common language within the company. we are in the nicotine delivery business.
a delivery device for nicotine.
you're gonna get your fix.
the process is known as "impact boosting" while not spiking nicotine, they clearly manipulate it. there's extensive use of this technology, know as "ammonia chemistry." it allows for the nicotine to be more rapidly absorbed in the lung and therefore affect the brain and central nervous system.
the straw that broke the camel's back for me and really put me in trouble with sandefur was a compound called "coumarin." when i came on board at b&w, they had tried to transition from coumarin to a similar flavor that would give the same taste, and had been unsuccessful. i wanted it out immediately. i was told that it would affect sales, so i should mind my own business. i constructed a memo to mr. sandefur indicating i could not in conscience continue with coumarin in a product that we now knew, we had documentation, was similar to coumadin, a lung-specific carcinogen.
i sent the document forward to sandefur. i was told that we would continue to work on a substitute, we weren't going to remove it as it would impact sales, and that that was his decision.
most certainly.
poor communication skills.
yeah, there are times i wish i hadn't done it. there are times i feel compelled to do it. if you asked me would i do it again? do i think it's worth it? yeah, i think it's worth it.
hi.
my name is jeff wigand. you can call me mr. wigand; you can call me dr. wigand--i have a ph.d. in biochemistry and endocrinology; you can call me jeff.  anything else you want to call me. you'll have to do so in private.  okay.  i find chemistry to be magical. i find it an adventure. an exploration into the building blocks of our physical universe.  so, how many of you have taken chemistry before?
okay. i've never taught it before, so we're gonna be fine.
mr. scruggs, jeff wigand. lowell bergman said i should give you a call.
when should we do this?
who the hell are you?! what are you doing in my house?!
lowell, i can't afford --
i called richard scruggs in mississippi.
i'm going to be a witness for them in their litigation. so i'm going to fly to pascagoula to give a deposition.
did you have a good day?
coffee, lowell?
where should i wash them?
what's the difference.
can we talk about this when i get back?
i'm not free to testify. here?
jail?
how does one"go. to. jail?" what does my family do? go on welfare? if my wife has to work? who's going to look after the kids? put food on the table? my children need me. if i'm not teaching. there's no medical. no medical. even on co-pay, that's like.  tuition.
yeah, great.
i don't know what to do.
i can't seem to find. the criteria to decide. it's too big a decision to make without being resolved. in my own mind.
what's changed?
no. i mean since whenever.
fuck it. let's go to court.
i do.
jeffrey s. wigand.
that is correct.
yes. it produces a physiological response, which meets the definition of a drug! nicotine is associated with impact, with satisfaction. it has a pharmacological effect that crosses the blood-brain barrier intact.
"part of the reason i'm here is i felt that their representation clearly, at least within"
there is - there is no family.
liane has filed for divorce.
and, so, i moved out.  i see the girls a couple of days a week.
our favorite hotel, honey.  i checked into room 930. odd choice? huh?
what?!
no.
i do not think that you "know" for me. what it is to walk in my shoes.  . for my kids to have seen it. for them to know why i've put them through what i did. the public airing of that. the testament to why i did what i did. you're telling me is not going to see the light of day.
well, how is that any of your business?! that is not something that you people need to know!
what do you want to do, lowell, look up my ass, too!
i told the truth!
i was young. i was young. confused.  we didn't handle it the right way.
she did not sue me. we had a dispute over money.  i settled it, she dropped the complaint.  any other questions?
what?
what kind of shit is this? i was not on the team, i sparred with the olympic team. okay?
abc?
a can opener! a $39.95 can opener. i cancelled payment.  it was junk. you ever bounce a check, lowell? you ever look at another woman's tits? you ever cheat a little on your taxes? whose life, if you look at it under a microscope, doesn't have any flaws?
what does this have to do with my testimony?
what does this have to do with my testimony?! i told the truth! it's valid and true and provable!
i told the truth.  i told the truth.
i've got to teach class. i've got to go. i've got to teach class.
well, i hope you improve your batting average.
"i would bet on it."
you manipulated me into this!
you greased the rails!
"up to you, jeffrey. that's the power you have, jeffrey. vital insider information the american public need to know." lowell bergman, the hot show who never met a source he couldn't turn around.
you fought for me?! . you manipulated me. into where i am now. staring at the brown & williamson building. it's all dark. except the 10th floor! that's the legal department. that's where they fuck with my life!
yeah, guys like you, too.
where are you, anyway?
you try and have a good time.
"i believe mr. sandefur perjured himself.  because i watched those testimonies very carefully."
". that their representation"
okay, so let's get back to it. alright, now, what we saw there was.
"there are times. i wish i hadn't done it. but there are times that i feel compelled to do it" "i've - if you asked me if i would do it again or if it's - do i think it's worth it. yeah. i think it's worth it."