Nov. 11, 2009 : Family of Secrets: Russ Baker's in-depth look at the Bush dynasty

WHEN WE CONTINUE RUSS BAKER
WITH HIS BOOK, FAMILY OF
SECRETS.
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST RUSS
BAKER HAS BEEN DIGGING INTO
THE BACK GROUND OF THE BUSH
FAMILY AND SAYS A SHADOW
PRESIDENCY OF OIL MEN,
FINANCIERS AND INTELLIGENCE
OPERATIVES HELPED SHAPE BOTH
BUSH ADMINISTRATIONS.
THE BOOK IS FAMILY OF SECRETS,
THE BUSH DINE AITY, THE
POWERFUL FORCES THAT PUT IT IN
THE WHITE HOUSE AND WHAT THEIR
INFLUENCE MEANS FOR AMERICA
AND RUSS BAKER IS HERE.
WOW, THIS IS QUITE A --
FIVE YEARS AND 500 INTERVIEWS.

>> THOUSANDS OF DOCUMENTS,
RIGHT.

>> YOU SAID YOU STARTED OUT
LOOKING AT BUSH TWO, GEORGE W.
BUSH.
AND YOU ENDED UP FOCUSING MORE
ON POPY.
WHAT LED YOU THERE IN THE
FIRST PLACE?

>> TO THE FATHER.
AS I LOOKED AT GEORGE W. I WAS
TRUCK BY THIS STORY, SORT OF A
RIFT IN THE FAMILY, THE SON
WAS SO DIFFERENT FROM THE
FATHER AND CLEARLY ON HE
ESTABLISHED THAT THAT HAD BEEN
EXAGGERATED DELIBERATELY TO
MAKE THE SON MORE ELECTABLE,
BECAUSE THE FATHER WAS NOT
THAT POPULAR AS A POLITICIAN,
HE WAS DENIED A SECOND TERM.
IN FACT WHAT I FOUND WAS THAT
THE FATHER AND SON WERE VERY
CLOSELY CONNECTED, AND WHAT
THEY DIDN'T WANT US TO DO WAS
TO LOOK AT THE FATHER AND FIND
OUT MORE ABOUT THE FATHER'S
OWN BACKGROUND.
SO ABOUT HALF OF FAMILY KRETS
IS ABOUT GEORGE H. W. BUSH'S
KRELT LIFE.

>> KRELT LIFE WAS THE C.I.A.
SO, THAT'S UNDERSTANDABLE, HE
WAS HEAD OF THE C.I.A. IN '76,
BUT HE HAD BEEN IN THE C. I.
A. FOR A LONG TIME BEFORE
THAT.

>> IF YOU LOOK AT LEON PANETTA
NOW, HE WAS A CONGRESSMAN, NO
CONNECTION TO THE C.I.A.,
GEORGE H. W. BUSH WAS PUT IN
AT A TIME, BROUGHT IN AS A
FRESH FACE WHO WAS GOING HELP
IN THIS PROCESS OF REFORMING.
WHAT I DISCOVERED WAS THAT HE
HAD BEEN A LIFE LONG OFFICER
INVOLVED IN ALL MANNER OF
OPERATIONS INCLUDING DOMESTIC
OPERATIONS OF GREAT GRAVITY
ACTUALLY.
AND THIS IS AN INTERESTING
ISSUE, BECAUSE OF COURSE WE
TALK ABOUT VLADIMIR PUTIN AND
HOW THE SOVIET UNION FELT IT
WAS OKAY TO MAKE SOMEONE AND
MAKE HIM THE HEAD OF A
COUNTRY. AND WE DID THE SAME
THING AND JUST DIDN'T KNOW IT.

>> WE GO BACK TO FOX IN THE
EARLY 90s SO, I KNOW HOW
LEGITIMATE YOU ARE, I KNOW HOW
HARD YOU WORK.
HAVING SAID THAT, SOME OF THIS
STUFF SOUNDS NUTTY, AND I KNOW
YOU'RE NOT, BUT THE
ASSOCIATIONS, GEORGE BUSH
SENIOR'S ASSOCIATION WITH THE
ASSASSINATION OF JOHN F.
KENNEDY, WITH SOME OF THE BIN
LADEN FAMILY, WITH THE SAUDI
STUFF WAS SORT OF KNOWN ABOUT.
WHAT ARE YOU SUGGESTING HERE,
THAT THERE WAS SOME --
YOU ARE TIES TO FIDEL CASTRO.
WHAT ARE YOU SUGGESTING?

>> I THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT
TO SAY THAT I CAME AT THIS
WITH NO AGENDA AT ALL.
I WANTED TO ASK THE QUESTION,
HOW DID THIS FAMILY ATTAIN SO
MUCH POWER.
THEY WERE PRESIDENT OR RPT FOR
20 OF THE LAST 28 YEARS, IT A
REMARKABLE THING.
NOTHING LIKE THIS HAS HAPPENED
BEFORE IN AMERICAN HISTORY AND
I WANTED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT
THAT.
SO I WAS WILLING TO AND
QUESTIONS AND FOLLOW THIS.
AND ABOUT TWO YEARS INTO THIS
PROCESS I WENT DOWN THIS
RABBIT'S HOLE AND I STARTED
FINDING THAT THE FATHER HAD
ALL THESE SECRETS, REALLY
PROFOUND ONES.
FOR EXAMPLE, IN A TELEVISION
INTERVIEW SOMEBODY HAD ASKED
HIM THE UNEXPECTED QUESTION,
DO YOU REMEMBER WHERE YOU WERE
THE DAY KENNEDY WAS SHOT
NOVEMBER 22, 1963.
AND THE ELDER BUSH STUMBLED
AND HE SORT OF SAID HE COULD
NOT REMEMBER, AND I THOUGHT
THAT WAS SO STRANGE.

>> NOBODY CANNOT REMEMBER
THAT.

>> HE WAS 40 YEARS OLD, HE WAS
A TEXAN AND TURNS OUT HE WAS A
CANDIDATE FOR U.S. SENATE THAT
YEAR TRAVELING AROUND.
SO I JUST THOUGHT I'LL JUST
ANSWER THAT QUESTION AND THIS
TOOK ME TWO YEARS. WHAT I CAME
UP WITH ARE FOUR CHAPTERS OF
NEW MATERIAL ON THE KENNEDY
ASSASSINATION AND HAS
COMPLETELY CHANGED MY MIND.
I THOUGHT IT WAS LEE HARVEY
OSWALD AND DONE WITH.
BUT IT TURNS OUT THAT WHAT WE
KNOW ABOUT WHAT GUESS ON IN
THE WORLD AND THE ADMISSIONS
BY OUR OWN AGENCIESS ABOUT
WHAT THEY HAVE DONE AGAINST
LEADERS IN OTHER COUNTRIES
ALSO APPLIES TO THIS COUNTRY.
WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT WE
HAVE THIS ENTRENCHED INTERESTS,
WE SEE THIS ON WALL STREET, WE
KNOW ABOUT IT WITH THE
EISENHOWER WARNING ABOUT THE
INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX, ALL THESE
POWER CENTERS HAVE GROWN IN
THE INTERVENING YEARS, THEY
ARE REPOWERFUL PLAYERS.
BUT ARE YOU SUGGESTING THAT
FIDEL CASTRO WAS BEHIND THE
NATION AND THAT BUSH KNEW
ABOUT IT?

>> OH, NO.
THERE WAS AN EFFORT TO FRAME
THE CUBANS AND THE RUSSIANS
FOR THE ASSASSINATION.
I'M NOT THE ONLY PERSON THAT
HAS COME TO THIS CONCLUSION.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF VERY
FINE BOOKS THAT HAVE BEEN
RESEARCHED BY PEOPLE FOR YEARS
AND EVERY ONE OF THOSE --

>> AND YOU'VE DEBUNKED THEM
ALL?

>> I'VE POKE TONE VINCENT
ABOUT IT.
BUT HE WORK BOSE --

>> I EXPLAIN THE REVELATIONS
IN MY BOOK 'AND HE DID NOT
KNOW ABOUT THAT.

>> WHAT I FOUND FASCINATING
WITH AS THE CONNECTION TO THE
OIL WORE AND THAT DUMMY
FOUNDATION OR COMPANY THAT
THEY SET UP, REALLY HE WAS
STILL IN THE C.I.A. AND HE
PULLED SOMEBODY ELSE AWAY FROM
THE C.I.A., PUT HIM IN CHARGE
OF THIS COMPANY.
BUT REALLY IT WAS A PIE
COMPANY, UNDER THE NAME OF AN
OIL COMPANY THAT WAS TRAVELING
AROUND THE WORLD.

>> I STUDIED GEORGE W. BUSH'S
COMPANIES, MANY OF THE
COMPANIES THAT HAVE NEVER BEEN
REPORTED ON BEFORE, ONE OF
THEM THAT WE KNEW A LITTLE
ABOUT BEFORE, I WENT DEEPER,
THIS IS THE ONE WHY HARVARD
UNIVERSITY PUT $40 MILLION OF
OATES ENDOWMENT IN.
I DISCOVER THAT THE MAN THAT
WAS THE CHAIRMAN OF THE
HARVARD CORPORATION HAD C.I.A.
CONNECTIONS AND WERE MOVING
LARGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY.

>> MAYBE THEY COULD GET SOME
OF IT BACK.

>> IT WAS BEING MIXED IN WITH
MONEY FROM MACCOS FROM THE
PHILIPPINES AND THE SAUDIS.
WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT
GLOBALIZATION IT CHANGES
COMPLETELY YOUR UNDERSTANDING
OF THE NOTION OF NATIONALISM,
BECAUSE THE PLAYING FIELD THAT
THESE PEOPLE OPERATE ON IS A
DIFFERENT ONE THAN YOU AND I
MIGHT.

>> WHAT KIND OF RESPONSE, IF
ANY, HAVE YOU GOTTEN FROM THE
BUSH FAMILY?

>> TOTAL SILENCE.
BECAUSE THEY WOULD ARE TO
ANSWER QUESTIONS LIKE WHERE
WERE YOU ON NOVEMBER 22, 1963.
AND BY THE WAY IN THIS BOOK I
ACTUALLY REVEAL WHERE MR. BUSH
WAS, AND I THINK HE'LL HAVE
TROUBLE TALKING ABOUT ANY OF
THIS.
I ALSO GO --

>> YOU SAY HE MADE A PHONE
CALL THAT DAY?

>> HE DID A LOT MORE THAN THAT,
HE WAS IN DALLAS AND WE HAVE
DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS SHOWING
HIM WITH SEVERAL DIFFERENT
IDENTITIES, ONE AS A PRIVATE
CITIZEN CALLING IN TO THE
F.B.I. CLAIMING HE KNOWS WHO
SHOT THE PRESIDENT AND THE
SECOND INTANS HE'S A C.I.A.
OFFICER GETTING A BRIEFING
FROM THE F.B.I., AND IN THE
THIRD INTANS HE'S THIS PRIVATE
MAN WHO DOESN'T REMEMBER WHERE
HE WAS.
THESE ARE JUST DOCUMENTED
FACTS, NOT PUTED, BUT WOULD IT
BE INTERESTING TO MOW WHAT THE
ANSWER IS.
AS FAR AS GEORGE W. BUSH GOES,
YOU REMEMBER THAT STORY WITH
DAN RATHER AND EVERYTHING,
THAT MILITARY SERVICE RECORD,
CBS WAS ON THE RIGHT TRACK.

>> YOU THINK BUSH SET SET THEM
UP TO FAIL ON THAT?

>> THAT'S RIGHT.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE FACT, THE
THING ABOUT FAMILY SECRETS AND
THE STRENGTH OF IT AND THE
REASON IT'S BEING TAKEN SO
SERIOUSLY IS I GO TO GREAT
LENGTHS TO LAY ALL THIS
MATERIAL OUT AND I SAY LET THE
PUBLIC READ IT AND DECIDE FOR
THEMSELVES WHAT ALL THIS
MEANS.
BUT CLEARLY GEORGE W. BUSH
SKIPPED OUT ON TWO YEARS OF
SERVICE WHILE HE'S SENDING ALL
OF THOSE NATIONAL GUARD MEN TO
IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN AND ALL
THESE HORRIBLE THINGS, AS YOU
POINT OUT, HE'S NEVER BEEN
HELD ACCOUNT FOOTBALL FOR
THIS.
THIS BOOK IS ABOUT
ACCOUNTABILITY AND ALL THESE
THINGS GOING ON AND I HAVE TO
SAY THESE ARE THINGS THAT ARE
GOING ON TOMORROW, BECAUSE
BARACK OBAMA FACES THE SAME
CHALLENGES WITH THE SAME POWER
CENTERS.

>> ALL RIGHT, RUSS, PLEASURE
TO HAVE YOU.
FAMILY OF SECRETS.
THAT IS IT FOR "GREATER
BOSTON".
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO
CATCH A PREVIOUS SEGMENT, LOG
ONTO GREATERBOSTON.ORG.
TOMORROW MIGHT THE PARENTS OF
DAVID WOODMAN WHO DIED DURING
A CELTICS CELEBRATION, DESIGN
RESEARCH IN CAMBRIDGE AND
THAT'S TOMORROW AT 7:00.
I'M EMILY ROONEY.
GOOD NIGHT.+++ATH0