- Coffee? - Yeah, thank you.
How have you liked your stay?
What I've seen, I've liked.
Please to explain why I should agree to interview...
with pro-Zionist American media?
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. - Perhaps you approve journalism objectivity,
and I see the questions first.
Then I decide if I grant the interview.
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.
So, Mr. Wallace... should he get on a plane or not?
Tell him I'll see him day after tomorrow.
That's good. That works.
You know, I want to ask you something. I know it sounds odd, but...
Hello? Sheikh?
- Norman? - What? What?
Take your blindfold off.
Welcome to the world.
Fluctuating all over the place.
Anywhere we shoot here, it's gonna be portable gennies and we'll run cable.
- Hello? - Mike, it's me.
We're on.
Hi, honey.
- Hi, Daddy. - What's new?
- Miss Loughrey gave me a star today. - Yeah? What for?
- For reading. - That's great.
A little early for cartoons, isn't it?
Okay.
Deborah? Debbie?
Oh, I didn't know you were home.
It's early, isn't it?
Gotta take Debbie to ballet.
Mommy!
Sweetheart, come on. Come on.
- She was playing with my Pooh doll again.
Slow down. Slow down. Slow down. Breathe deep. Breathe deep.
Slow down, honey. Slow down.
Slow down.
Here we go. Deep breaths.
- Deep breaths. - She was playing with the Pooh doll.
Pooh's dusty, sweetheart. He's dusty, and you breathed him in.
Okay? So, what's happening to you... Look at me.
What's happening to you now is cells called mass 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.
Uh-huh? Okay?
Better already, aren't you?
Okay, baby?
Can I go to dance tomorrow? I-I'm better.
If you are, then I'll take Barbara to soccer and take you to dance after.
I can take her.
Don't you have to be at the office?
- Is there any more rice? - Yes, it's on the stove.
Do you want more rice?
- Maybe later. - How about you?
- I'll take some. - Instant rice?
Can I go over to Jeanine’s house?
- I'm sorry, darling. Have you seen my coffee mug? - Try the car.
Um, what are those boxes?
- I'm going to the store. You need anything? - What do you need at the store?
- Soy sauce. - Right now?
That's my stuff from the office.
Why did you take your stuff from the office?
- I didn't want to leave it there. - I don't understand.
I got fired this morning.
Where else am I gonna take it?
Why? Who said?
Thomas Sandefur.
What are we supposed to do?
What about our medical coverage? What about our health?
What about our... car payments? The payments on this house?
The severance agreement includes cash payoffs over time...
and continuing medical coverage.
Sure you don't need anything?
No, thank you.
Jeffrey?
I am very pleased to receive you as my guest, Mr. Wallace.
- Well, thank you for having us. - Think I got a problem with the gennie.
I gotta go outside.
Give me a hand with this, will you?
Norman!
- He says, uh, you must not sit so close. - What?
I can't conduct an interview from back there.
You must move back your chair.
Well, you tell him that when I conduct an interview,
I sit anywhere I damn please.
- There is no interview. - You!
I'm talking to you! What the hell do you think I am, a 78-year-old assassin?
You think I'm gonna karate him to death with this notepad?
- Are you interpreting what I'm saying? - Yes.
- We're there. - Good. Well, ask him if Arabic is his second language.
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.
- Is that okay? - Okay.
Are you ready, or do you wanna keep fucking around...
and warm up some more?
- No. I've got my heart started. - Okay.
All right, Todd.
Give me the three-button on Mike, please.
Good. Good.
Okay, we are rolling.
- Okay, Mike. - Sheikh Fadlallah.
Thank you so much for seeing us. Are you a terrorist?
Mr. Wallace, I am a servant of God.
A servant of God? Really?
Americans believe that you... as an Islamic fundamentalist...
that you are a leader who contributed to the bombing of the U.S. Embassy.
Everybody 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? - Hello.
Oh, someone took a poll? "Are all things Canadian boring?"
- It's Stuart. He's in Mexico City. - Oh. Let me call you back.
Yeah, Stuart?
- What New York bank? - Hey, Dad.
Will he go on camera and talk about the Mexico City branch?
- Hey, Jake. - Whose money are they laundering?
- No classes this morning? - I don't have to be there till 10:30.
- Hey, Mom. Hello. - Hi, sweetheart.
- Hello? Yeah. - Do independent sources corroborate?
- Dad, you got a box out here. - Let me see this a second.
- 'Cause I gotta know where you're going at all times.
I can't. I've gotta fly to Boston tomorrow.
2:00 P.M. Great.
- Bye-bye. - "Ignition propensity."
You understand any of this?
No.
Uh, this looks like a table of temperatures.
- Who's this from? - It's anonymous.
References to "P.M."
It's gotta be Phillip Morris, huh?
Hmm. I have to take a shower.
Yeah?
Hi. This is Doug Oliver.
Oh, hi, Doug. It's Lowell.
I'm doing this story on fire safety, and people burning up from falling asleep smoking.
I receive a shitload of scientific papers from inside Phillip Morris.
Anonymous. You or anybody in F.D.A. Know someone...
who can translate this stuff into English for me?
Uh, yeah.
- Hello? - Uh, Mr. Wigand, please?
Someone's calling for Daddy, Mom.
- Oh. Thank you, Bob. - Who's calling?
Uh, my name is Lowell Bergman.
- Did you say "Berman"? - No, Bergman. B-E-R-G-M-A-N.
- I'm a producer for 60 Minutes. - 60 Minutes?
- Yeah. - 60 Minutes, the television show?
- Yes. - He doesn't want to talk to you.
How does he know he doesn't want to talk to me? He doesn't know what I'm calling him about.
He doesn't care to know.
This is the Wigands'.
If you'd like to leave a message or send a fax, start now.
This is Lowell Bergman with 60 Minutes, and I'm doing a story...
on fire safety and cigarettes.
I have scientific documents from a tobacco company,
and I could use your help as a consultant...
explaining these documents to me.
Now, my number is area code 510-555-0199.
I'll be there at this number in ten minutes.
If you're curious to meet me,
I'm gonna be in the lobby of the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville...
reading The New York Times tomorrow at 5:00.
Have you always lived in Louisville?
Mr. Bergman, what did you want me to consult about?
Who's that?
That's room service.
They usually knock first.
Come on in.
Over here, please.
- Thank you. - How do you like your coffee? Black?
Black. Black.
I really don't have that much time.
Is there anything you want to know about me, Mr. Wigand?
Like what? Your sign?
I know what I have to know.
Just so I know you know, when I talk to people in confidence,
it stays that way.
How did a radical journalist from Ramparts magazine end up at CBS?
I still do the tough stories.
60 Minutes reaches a lot of people.
Let me see the documents.
This is a, um,
fire-safety product study for Phillip 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.
- But that's as far as I go. - As far as you go where?
This issue is a drop in the bucket.
I can talk to you about what's in here, but I...
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?
Between journalists and management, yes, I believe they do.
But I don't take that seriously. Where do you work?
Did work.
- Did work? - How much would I get paid?
That you have to discuss with CBS Business Affairs.
But for something like this, I would say anywhere between ten, 12 thousand.
Should I just take the documents now?
If you want to do it.
I worked as a, uh,
head of Research and Development for Brown & Williamson.
Tobacco company.
I was a corporate vice president.
Mr. Bergman.
President Assad of Syria said...
that difficult obstacles remain, but that his country,
"looks forward to a great long peace with Israel."
That's a Peabody, Mike.
When you're dead and buried, this is the one they're gonna remember you by.
- Are you eating with us? - Yeah.
- Bring a tie so they let us in the front door.
Come on.
- Debbie! - Hey, Lowell.
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 news? - What about you? You got a crew already?
- I'm gonna do a follow-up. Catch you later. - Okay.
- Debbie. - How are you?
I want you to get Legal on a corporate confidentiality agreement.
- Okay. - Boundaries of their constraint,
Kentucky state law about...
- I want you to drop everything. - Okay.
- I don't have any change. You got some change? - Oh, here.
Tony.
Mr. Wigand? You can go up now.
Sorry. I'm accepting an award...
from the Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation.
It's gonna kill the rest of my day.
So, have you had a chance to play golf?
Jeff's a premier golfer. What are you, a two handicap?
- Seven. - And he gets out there...
and he has five strokes on us.
He has more concentration than anybody I've ever met.
It's spooky how he can concentrate.
I'd rather play than talk about it.
What did you want to see me about?
I don't like being back here.
Jeffrey says exactly what's on his mind.
Most people consider what they're saying... social skills.
Jeffrey just charges right ahead.
Now, I know you understood the nature of the confidentiality portion...
of your severance agreement with Brown & Williamson.
- Chapter and verse. - Yeah, I know you do.
You know, I came up through sales.
One of the reasons I was a great salesman...
was I never made a promise I couldn't keep.
I knew that if I ever broke my promise,
I'd suffer the consequence.
Is that a threat?
We worked together for... what was it, three years?
Now, the work we did here is confidential, not for public scrutiny...
any more than are one's family matters.
You're threatening my family now too?
Now, don't be paranoid, Jeff.
About the direction of research here, we may have had our differences, but...
Research. You declare as a badge of honor you don't even know what makes water boil.
Well, that's why we hire scientists.
Okay.
I don't believe that 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.
I appreciate all that, Jeff,
but upon reflection, we've decided to expand our zone of comfort with you,
so we've drafted a supplement to your agreement.
It broadly defines and expands in more detail...
what is confidential.
Nobody will be able to say, "Well, hell's bells, Margaret,
I didn't know that was a secret."
We're very serious about protecting our interests.
We'd like you to sign it.
And if I don't?
If we arrive at the conclusion that you're acting in bad faith,
we would terminate right now payoffs under your severance package,
you and your family's medical benefits and initiate litigation against you, Mr. Wigand.
- Dr. Wigand. - Dr. Wigand.
If you've examined the document, you'll see it's in your own best interest...
and you'll sign it.
What you're 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.
I will tell you, Mr. Sandefur... and Brown & Williamson too...
Fuck me? Well, fuck you!
I'm not sure he got the message.
Oh, I think he did.
- Yeah. - You fucked me!
- Who's this? - Protect your sources?
You screwed me. You sold me out.
- What are you talking about? Where are you? - Fuck you too!
Stay away from me.
You stay away from me!
Jeffrey, you forgot the lunches!
- Mrs. Wigand? - Jump in quick. Come on.
How do you do? I'm Lowell Bergman. We spoke on the phone.
- Come here. I want to talk to you. - Good. I want to talk to you.
- This is my house. In front of my wife, my kids? - I did not burn you.
I did not give you up to anyone.
- What business do we have? - I'm here to straighten something out with you.
Right here, right now.
You haven't mentioned my name? You haven't talked to anybody about me?
- What am I gonna mention your name for? - Why are Brown & Williamson...
How the hell do I know about Brown & Williamson?
It happened just after I talked to you. I do not like coincidences.
Well, 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?
- You came all the way down here to tell me that? - 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.
Ride with me while I take the girls to school.
My little girl has acute asthma.
Deborah, my oldest daughter.
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're afraid of you, aren't they? - They should be.
Talk to me outside the zone of your agreement.
- Like what? - Like, uh, where'd you work before Brown & Williamson?
Johnson &Johnson.
Union Carbide in Japan.
I was the 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?
I don't know. Do you think the Knicks are gonna make it to the semifinals?
- Just give me an example. - Okay.
For example, um, James Burke.
- C.E.O. Of Johnson &Johnson. - Yeah.
When he found out that some lunatic had put poison in Tylenol bottles,
he didn't argue with the F.D.A.
He didn't even wait for the F.D.A. To tell him. He just pulled Tylenol...
off every shelf of every store right across America, instantly.
And then he developed a safety cap.
Because as a C.E.O., sure, he's gotta be a great businessman, right?
But he's also a man of science.
He's not gonna allow his company to put on the shelf a product that might hurt people.
Not like the Seven Dwarfs.
- Seven Dwarfs? - Seven C.E.O. S of Big Tobacco.
They got in front of Congress that time. It was on television.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Swore under oath that they know nothing about addiction...
It was on C-SPAN. Yeah.
Okay, so, here you are. You-You-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? - I can't talk about it.
The work I was supposed to do...
might have had some positive effect, I don't know.
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?
Nothing's wrong with that. That's it. You're making money.
You're providing for your family. What could be wrong with that?
I always thought of myself as a man of science, that's what's wrong with it.
Then you're in a state of conflict, Jeff.
Because look, here's how it lays out.
If you've 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.
I gotta go pick up the girls. They only had a half a day.
I've heard virtually all the... We touched on it...
- Yes or no, do you believe nicotine is not addictive? - Congressman,
cigarettes and nicotine clearly do not meet the classic definitions of addiction.
- There is no intoxication. - We'll take that as no.
Again, time is short.
I think each of you believe nicotine is not addictive...
and just would like to have this for the record.
I believe that nicotine is not addictive.
I too believe that nicotine...
He referred to this... the Seven Dwarfs...
- What Seven Dwarfs? - The seven C.E.O. 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?
Well, it isn't cigarettes are bad for you.
- Hardly new news. - No shit.
- What's this? - What that is is tobacco's standard defense.
It's the "we don't know" litany.
Addiction? We believe not. Disease? We don't know.
We take a bunch of leaves, we roll them together, you smoke 'em.
After that, you're on your own. We don't know.
So, that tells me nothing.
- Besides, you'll never get what he's got. - Why not?
Because of this guy's confidentiality agreement,
he's never gonna be able to talk to you.
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.
Doesn't matter what he wants. Am I missing something here?
- What do you mean, Mike? - He's got a corporate secrecy agreement.
Give me a break.
This is a public health issue, like an unsafe air frame on a passenger jet...
or some company dumping cyanide into the East River.
Issues like that. He can talk, we can air it.
They've got no right to hide behind a corporate agreement. Pass the milk.
They don't need the right. They got the money.
The unlimited checkbook. That's how Big Tobacco wins...
every time on everything.
They spend you to death. $600 million a year in outside legal.
Chadbourne-Park, Ken Starr's firm, Kirkland and Ellis.
Listen, G.M. And Ford, they get nailed...
after 11 or 12 pickups blow up, right?
- These clowns have never... I mean ever... - Not even once.
Not even with hundreds of thousands dying each year from an illness...
related to their product have ever lost a personal injury lawsuit.
On this case, they'll issue gag orders, sue for breach... anticipatory breach...
enjoin him, you, us, his pet dog, the dog's veterinarian,
tie 'em up in litigation for ten or 15 years, I'm telling you, they bat a thousand.
Every time. He knows that. That's why he's not gonna talk to you.
Okay, let's look through the looking glass the other way.
What do you mean?
We got a guy who wants to talk, but he's constrained.
- What if he were compelled to talk? - Oh, torture. Great ratings.
What do you mean, "compelled"?
I mean, compelled by a, uh, Justice Department.
State courts. Be a witness.
That would cut through any confidentiality agreement, wouldn't it?
- What does that do? - What do you mean, what does it do?
What I mean is like, how does it cut through the confidentiality agreement?
Because he has to, uh, 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.
If you could engineer it into the court record, you might have something.
They would have a hell of a time trying to restrain his speech then, wouldn't they?
Yeah, but what venue? And where does he get... Does he have killer attorneys?
I don't think he's got any attorneys.
He's gonna need attorneys who aren't afraid of risking years of litigation...
and millions of dollars of their own dough in legal costs.
What do you say, Mike? What do you think?
Even if he gets the defense team,
will he go for it?
You're awfully overqualified, Dr. Wigand.
I'm trying to start a new career.
I believe I could be a good teacher.
Let me give it some thought.
And not a lot of companies in the health care field hire ex-tobacco scientists.
That's it.
It's where our babies were born.
Debbie took her first steps right there on...
In the grass.
- I didn't plan on this. - Hey, hey, hey.
Come on. Come on.
We can make this work for us. Okay?
It's just... It's not...
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.
Love your home with beautiful Broyhill furniture...
You'll find incredible sale prices throughout Smith's Broyhill showcase gallery,
with extra savings on every style for every room in your home.
If you've been putting off decorating that special room,
now's the time to act during the love-your-home sale at Smith's.
- Back to... - Welcome back.
Hey, baby. What's wrong?
Who's that outside, Daddy?
- Did you see somebody or did you hear them? - I heard him.
- Where? - In the backyard.
Sit at Daddy's desk, okay? Why don't you sit up at the desk.
All right?
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, all right, Barbara?
You stay down here.
You almost got your damn head blown off.
Daddy!
It was just a raccoon, baby. Nothin'.
They're nocturnal. You know what that means?
That means that they only come out at nighttime.
- Yeah. - Lowell. Jeffrey Wigand.
Is it too late?
No, no, it's okay. I...
How-How's the new place?
The new place? New.
- You okay? - Sure.
I was thinking of calling you tomorrow anyway.
- Uh, how's your kids, uh, handling the new house? - Good.
- You got kids? - We have a couple.
One's hers, one's mine. Everybody uses a different name.
Modern marriage.
Uh, how's Liane?
Uh, she's okay. Uh...
Hold on a minute.
Lowell.
Somebody may be following me. I-I don't know. They came on the property.
What do you mean, following you? Did you call the police?
I-I don't wanna be paranoid. I mean...
- Maybe it's a game. Some kind of mind game. - What do you really think?
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 fuckin' know. - Jeffrey, describe for me...
in detail what happened.
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.
Uh, so, uh, what were you calling about?
- You called me. - No, you said you were gonna call me tomorrow.
- So, what about? - Oh, yes, yes, yes. I did. I wanted to talk to you.
I wanted to hook up with you, talk to you about what we were talking about in your car.
Okay.
It makes you feel good, putting what you know to use?
- How'd you know that, Lowell? - It's obvious, isn't it?
Hello? Are you there?
Yeah.
Look, um...
Thanks for talking. I'm sorry I woke you up.
- I didn't know. - It's okay.
Lowell.
Who is this?
Do not call here! Do not...
What are you gonna get us?
Tempura.
The Internet said you did graduate work at Wisconsin,
then went to U.C. La Jolla with Professor Herbert?
- Marcus... - Marcuse. Yeah.
He was my mentor.
He had a major influence on the New Left in the late '60s.
And on me, personally.
- Next to your father? - My father?
What the hell's that got to do with my father?
I, uh...
Is that why you became a journalist? Then you get to ask all the questions?
You charge by the hour?
My father was a... A mechanical engineer.
Most ingenious man I ever knew.
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 gotta know everything about why you were fired.
- Why? - They're gonna dig up stuff from your past.
They're gonna throw it at you. I gotta know what they're gonna throw.
You understand?
I drink.
- Couple of occasions more than I should have. - Um-hmm.
I was cited for shoplifting once, but it was a mistake.
Pushed Liane one time. We were both stressed out because of the pressure.
She went to her mother's.
I got, uh, fired, because, uh,
when I get angry, I have difficulty censoring myself,
and I don't like to be pushed around.
I'm not pushing you around. I'm asking you questions.
I'm just a commodity to you, aren't I?
I could be anything, right? Anything worth putting on between commercials.
To a network, probably, we're all commodities.
To me, you're not a commodity. What you are is important.
You go public, and 30 million people hear what you gotta say,
nothing... I mean nothing... will ever be the same again.
- You believe that? - No.
You should. Because when you're done the judgment...
is gonna go down in the court of public opinion, my friend.
And that's... the power you have.
- You believe that? - I believe that?
- Yes, I believe that. - You believe that...
- because you get information out to people, something happens? - Yes.
Maybe that's just what you've been telling yourself all these years...
to justify having a good job.
Having status.
Maybe for the audience it's just voyeurism, something to do on a Sunday night.
Maybe it won't change a fuckin' thing,
and people like myself and my family...
are left hung out to dry, used up, broke, alone.
Are you talking to me, or did somebody else just walk in here? I never...
Don't evade a choice you gotta make by questioning my reputation...
or 60 Minutes with this cheap skepticism.
I have to put my family's welfare on the line here, my friend.
- What are you putting up? You're putting up words. - "Words."
While you've been dicking around some fucking company golf tournaments,
I've been out in the world givin' my word...
and backing it up with action.
Now, are you gonna go and do this thing or not?
I said I'd call the kids before they went to bed.
Stringer was supposed to be shooting B- roll on street cops in New Orleans.
- What's with all the horses? - Camera guy's got a thing about mounted police.
Don't any of these guys ride in cars? Walk?
- How long are these things? - What was he saying?
Hello. Yes, I'm trying to reach Mr. Richard Scruggs.
This is Richard Scruggs.
Can you hold on a second, please?
Lowell, got him on the phone.
- Hello, I'm Lowell Bergman. - Hold on.
Mobile Approach, this is Leo-November-643. Over.
Request a flight level of 220...
on a heading of 284 degrees. Over.
- Mr. Bergman? - Yes, I'm right here.
- Could you call me back on a hard line? - All right.
- Area code 212-555-0199. - I'll call you then.
What do we do with that?
I don't know.
Richard Scruggs.
You filed a lawsuit against tobacco on behalf of the state of Mississippi.
- Did you not? - That's right.
I'm working with someone now who's the former head of research at Brown & Williamson.
Former corporate officer there.
What's your interest in this, Mr. Bergman?
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.
It could work. If it's public record, it's public record.
Yeah, and he's gonna need legal representation.
He sure as hell will.
Has he decided to go public?
Because let me tell ya. We been doin' this for three years now,
and we've worked with a lot of corporate cases involving whistle-blowers.
So we know Big Tobacco will do everything in their power to stop him.
So is your man truly committed?
Well, actually, no... Well, he's on the fence. That's the point.
Well, we'd certainly be interested in making his acquaintance.
But without knowing what he's gonna do...
Would you want him to call you, or you wanna call him? How do you wanna do it?
It would be better if he called us.
- Yeah. Okay. - All right?
Okay. Thank you. Shit.
We need cops on the streets. We don't need them on horses.
- I don't know what he was thinking. - For God's sake.
- This guy got a horse fetish? - All right, all right.
Get me, uh... Get me to New Orleans this afternoon.
I'll shoot the fucking thing myself!
- Have a good one. - All right.
What are you cooking?
- I'm cooking pasta primavera. - Oh, I love that stuff.
I'm going to have to go downstairs.
Jeffrey!
Jeffrey! Jeffrey!
- What happened? - Dispatcher received a call of shots fired in the area.
Uniforms arrived on the scene, found this white male subject shot to death.
- Was it gang related? - There's no indication...
as far as a tag or an advertisement.
Yeah.
They're terrorizing us. Death threats. My family, my kids.
Whoa. What are you talking about?
- Someone put a bullet in my mailbox. - Jeff, call the F.B.I.
- Right away. - They do this with impunity.
- Jeff... - 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 wanna tape. I'm done... - I heard you.
I gotta arrange for a legal defense first.
I gotta get you to testify in court, get it on public record.
Then hold it off the air until you got that, but I wanna go to New York,
and I wanna go on the record... right now.
- Good. But, Jeff... - I'll call them, Lowell.
Did you handle the round, Mr. Wigand?
Yes, I'm afraid I did.
We won't be able to lift usable prints.
Do you own a gun, Mr. Wigand?
- A gun? Yes. - What caliber is your gun?
What caliber is my gun?
Yes, sir. What caliber is your gun?
What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?
You think I put the bullet in the mailbox myself?
If we could take a look, Mr. Wigand.
Why do you keep this gun?
I don't think it's unconstitutional yet to own a gun. I'm a target shooter.
That bullet was for a.38 caliber. Do you own a.38?
Yes, I do. A.38 Target Master in my gun safe downstairs.
A.45 Gold Cup, a.22 target pistol. So what?
Do you have a history of emotional problems, Mr. Wigand?
Yeah. Yes, I do.
Yes, I get extremely emotional when assholes put bullets in my mailbox.
I didn't tell you that so you could pick it up and take it away.
- Jeffrey! - What's going on?
I told them you had an e-mail death threat that told you...
if you didn't shut the "F" up, they were gonna kill you.
You can't take that. It's personal property. My personal correspondence,
letters to my brother, my will.
You all right?
That computer has every single...
You all right, Mr. Wigand?
We need to take a look at your gun safe, Mr. Wigand.
I'm telling you... your agents in that office are acting improperly.
Now who are they trying to protect?
Let me, tell you something, Lowell. Look, look.
You're talking about two agents in a regional office in Louisville.
I got the goddamned Unabomber threatening to blow up L.A.X.
I gotta move 45 agents from all over the country into L.A.
All right? When I get a chance, I'll give it a look.
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 got ex-agent pals already in those jobs?
Like, for instance, their ex-supervisor who's already at Brown & Williamson...
as we fuckin' speak!
- I'll give it a look. - You're getting my drift?
I'll give it a look.
So is everything okay?
- How are the rooms? Comfortable? - Yes, very.
Do you know, I enjoy your work so much.
When you're talkin' to somebody, I always feel like I'm right there.
Thank you for saying that.
Do you think we could talk about the taping?
Tomorrow's taping? Just so we can get it out of the way and order.
Yeah, well, questions will go towards what work you did there, why you were fired and other...
Taping?
- What are you taping? - I'm doin' an interview.
An interview?
Do you know what they will do to us?
I thought we...
I'm sorry.
Liane, this is a preliminary...
You didn't tell her we were taping?
What did she think she was coming to New York for?
Talk about it, think about it. I had a plan to, uh, ease her into it,
but I really... I don't know how to do that.
Oh, man.
Who are these people?
Ordinary people under extraordinary pressure, Mike.
What the hell you expect, grace and consistency?
Five, four, three, two...
You heard Mr. Sandefur say...
before Congress that he believed nicotine was not addictive.
I believe Mr. Sandefur perjured himself...
because I watched those testimonies very carefully.
All of us did. I mean, there was this whole line of people,
whole line of C.E.O. 's up there swearing.
Part of the reason I'm here is that 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.
And that's what cigarettes are for.
Delivery device for nicotine.
A delivery device for nicotine.
Put it in your mouth, light it up and you're going to get your fix.
- You're gonna get your fix. - You're saying that Brown & Williamson...
manipulates and adjusts the nicotine fix...
not by artificially adding nicotine,
but by enhancing the effect of nicotine...
through the use of chemical elements such as ammonia.
The process is known as impact boosting.
While not spiking nicotine,
they clearly manipulate it.
There is extensive use of this technology, known 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 effect 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.
And you sent the document forward to Sandefur?
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.
In other words, you are charging Sandefur...
and Brown & Williamson...
with ignoring health considerations consciously?
- Most certainly. - And on March 24,
Thomas Sandefur, C.E.O. Of Brown & Williamson,
had you fired.
And the reason he gave you?
Poor communication skills.
And you wish you hadn't come forward?
You wish you hadn't blown the whistle?
Yeah, there are times I wish I hadn't done it.
There are times I feel com... compelled to do it.
If you'd asked me...
would I do it again, do I think it's worth it?
Yeah, I think it's worth it.
- Hi. - Hi.
My name is Jeff Wigand.
You can call me, uh, 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.
Um, 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.
Our first experiment is gonna be measuring...
the molecular weight of butane.
He's on line three.
- Hello? - Mr. Scruggs? Jeff Wigand.
Lowell Bergman said I should give you a call.
My co-counsel, Ron Motley and I,
have filed a lawsuit against the tobacco industry on behalf of the state of Mississippi...
to get the state reimbursed Medicaid costs...
for treatin' people with smoking-related illness.
If you'd be interested in talkin' to us,
we'd certainly like to talk to you.
When should we do this?
Who the hell are you? What are you doing in my house?
- It's okay, Jeff. It's okay. - Mr. Wigand, you need to speak to...
You've got your own security now.
You know, Lowell, I can't... I can't afford to...
No, they volunteered. A friend owns a large security company.
How're you doing, Mr. Wigand? I'm John Telafarro.
There'll be three of us on the detail.
I'm going to the store. Please explain our new houseguests to your children.
Mrs. Wigand's leaving the house.
Uh, I called Richard Scruggs in Mississippi.
- I heard. - I'm gonna be a witness for them in their litigation.
So I'm gonna fly to Pascagoula, give a deposition.
I know. I'm gonna go there tonight.
You all right?
- Did you have a good day? - Yes, I did. I had a great day.
- Uh, coffee, Lowell? - Yeah, all right.
Wanna play that game we were playing before?
You know, I think you got it up to five.
I was ahead of you, and then you just...
Please don't wash your hands in the sink.
Where should I wash them?
Use the bathroom.
What's the difference?
That's for food.
Leave it on. Just leave it on! Okay?
I don't think I can do this.
I want to stand by my husband.
I really do, Jeffrey, but...
I don't think I can do this anymore.
I am so sorry.
Can we talk about this when I get back?
Yes, Jeffrey.