Woodward: New info on Nixon confirms my views

Additional documents and audio recordings have been released by The Richard Nixon Library that reveal more about the Watergate scandal.

Among the documents is a memo from David Gergen, who was a staff assistant in Nixon's administration. His message? An urgent call had come from Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward and the reporter had the goods on the Watergate cover-up. A later Gergen memo, on May 5, 1973, CBS News Senior White House Correspondent Bill Plante noted, indicates to the White House Counsel that the story may never run because "It is not well-sourced at this point."

But Woodward's sources did hold for the duration of the coverage of the Watergate scandal.

And on "The Early Show," the celebrated journalist said the newly-released materials "confirm" his views of the Nixon administration.

Speaking of being mentioned in the memos, Woodward said, "What was interesting is to go in there for an hour and a half, lay out the details, have one of the president's aides write a memo to the president saying, 'This is what's coming."'

He added, "Of course, it took another 18 months before Nixon resigned. But it was, quite frankly, an honest effort to get their point of view. This was uncharted territory for us. The idea that the president might be a criminal running a criminal conspiracy, a massive effort to sabotage and spy on the democrats. You know, that had not happened before, so we were going to take it very carefully. And (his partner, Carl Bernstein) is off reporting, trying to figure out what John Dean, who was Nixon's counsel, who eventually accused Nixon in the cover-up, and that was eventually supported by Nixon's tapes. So we're in there saying, 'What's the White House view on this?"'

And now, "Early Show" co-anchor Rebecca Jarvis noted, Woodward is getting a more in-depth look than ever.

Woodward said he's also getting to see the scandal unfold from another perspective.

"(Now I get) to see the frenzy of that period in that meeting at the White House," he said. "It was two days before Nixon fired his top aides, (H.R. 'Bob') Haldeman and (John) Ehrlichman and (John) Dean resigned."

Looking back, Woodward said, the Watergate story came about because it was a different era in Washington reporting.

He said, "This was 38 years ago. Carl Bernstein and I were reporting for the Post, getting details about the cover-up, illegal campaign money, dirty tricks. It was an era when you could go to the White House and talk to Dave Gergen for an hour-and-a-half, spell out what we had and say, 'What can you give me guidance on; what's your response?' There was no rush to print. We eventually printed all of the stories, but sometimes it would take weeks."

Jarvis asked whether presidents have an easier or harder time dealing with the press in this new era of YouTube and Facebook.

Woodward responded, "Everything is driven by speed, and 'Give me a sound bite.' In doing the story about Nixon, it wasn't about sound bites. It was about real reporting and getting detail and so forth."

He added, "You know, I think, in a sense, it's easier for presidents. I think Obama can control the message. They weren't going to stop us in the Nixon era from printing stories. In the Obama administration, they won't stop the press either, but because the press has to go in there every day, sometimes three or four times a day and say, 'We need assistance, we need guidance,' the Obama administration is able to control the message and get their hands around the throats of reporters who are dependent on that feed."

Jarvis said, "You're saying ... the administration can say, 'We won't give you access unless you play by our rules?"'

"That's right," Woodward said. "In a sense, they have more message control now than ever."