Today In History: Oliver North

July 9, 1987, was the third morning in a row that a spit-and-polish Lt. Col Oliver North strode into the Senate Caucus Room to testify in the Iran-Contra hearings. CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer reported on the day's events.

On this day, North was finally allowed to read the prepared statement that he had wanted to read on day one, and he immediately launched into a scathing attack on his interrogators.

North's defiant statement set the tone for a day when emotions ran high. At one point, North literally ducked, almost as if he was in battle, when shouting demonstrators inside the Caucus Room disrupted his testimony, protesting U.S. policy in Central America.

However, the most dramatic part of the day came as North testified before the congressional committees that he shredded evidence as part of a long-planned cover-up of his role in the Iran-Contra affair, even as Justice Department investigators were searching his office 10 feet away. North said he shredded documents until practically the moment he was fired by President Reagan at midday on Nov. 25, 1986. North said the attorney general's men saw this and could hear the machine but did not ask him to stop.

The Justice Department disputed his account.