Mr. Moss. Mr. Rogers?

Mr. ROGERS. Thank you very much.

Mr. Morrone, did you make the decision to do the pot show? Was it your decision to do it?

Mr. MORRONE. I was included with

Mr. ROGERS. With whom?

Mr. MORRONE. With Mr. Ferrante and Mr. Edelstein.

Mr. ROGERS. Who basically made the decision?

Mr. MORRONE. Mr. Ferrante would make that decision.

Mr. ROGERS. Had you recommended it to him?

Mr. MORRONE. In general discussion with him, I thought it was a good idea.

Mr. ROGERS. How did the idea occur?

Mr. MORRONE. As near as I can remember, it was during a meeting that we have a meeting every morning at 10:15, where we discuss what is happening that day, and the marihuana discussion

Mr. ROGERS. Who was present at this meeting?

Mr. MORRONE. Mr. Ferrante, Mr. Edelstein, Mr. Ashe, who was then assignment editor, and Mr. Missett, who was the assistant assignment editor. He happened to be sitting there because the assistant assignment editor sits next to the assignment editor.

Perhaps if he hadn't been sitting there that is how Mr. Missett wound up at the meeting. He doesn't normally attend the meetings. Mr. ROGERS. Doesn't he any more?

Mr. MORRONE. He drops by. He no longer is the assistant assignment editor.

Mr. ROGERS. So where did the idea originate, from Mr. Missett? Mr. MORRONE. The idea originated from Mr. Ferrante.

Mr. ROGERS. How did he present it? What did he say?

Mr. MORRONE. As the testimony has shown, we had conducted a survey of young people smoking marihuana in various suburbs, and the results of the survey were not much. We had contacted the various police chiefs who said they had no problem, and then I think Mr. Missett brought up the topic of the possibility of marihuana smoking in Evanston around the campus-I have forgotten—and he was told to pursue it.

Mr. ROGERS. No other instructions besides that?

Mr. MORRONE. Not at that time, no.

Mr. ROGERS. When was the next instruction given?

Mr. MORRONE. Not as I recall.

Mr. ROGERS. What was the date? The month before it occurred? Two months? Three months?

Mr. MORRONE. The initial meeting would have been in August sometime.

Mr. ROGERS. In August?

Mr. MORRONE. Yes, sir.

Mr. ROGERS. And the next instruction?

Mr. MORRONE. The next instructions would have come-I am very bad on times.

Mr. ROGERS. I realize that. I am just trying to get a general sequence. Mr. MORRONE. It would have come in the midst of other reporters coming to me with various projects.

Mr. ROGERS. In other words, you picked it up from Mr.

Mr. MORRONE. Myself and Mr. Ferrante whom I am always in consultation with.

Mr. ROGERS. Who gave the next instructions as far as you know? Did you give them or Mr. Ferrante?

Mr. MORRONE. After we said, "Pursue it"?

Mr. ROGERS. Yes. Did it fall into your province or not?

Mr. MORRONE. It was in my province, but my province and Mr. Ferrante's province are so close together.

Mr. ROGERS. Who gave the next instructions? Let's put it that way? Mr. MORRONE. I would like to answer that, but I could not answer it accurately.

Mr. ROGERS. When did you give the next instructions?

Mr. MORRONE. At a time when Mr. Missett said that he had contacted some people, and I laid down some guidelines for him to follow. Mr. ROGERS. About when was that?

Mr. MORRONE. It seems like it was at least 2 months after the August initial conversation.

Mr. ROGERS. About 2 months after?

Mr. MORRONE. It seems that way. I couldn't testify accurately on that.

Mr. ROGERS. You talked to Mr. Missett ?

Mr. MORRONE. Correct.

Mr. ROGERS. What were the guidelines?

Mr. MORRONE. The guidelines were that, "Remember, we can't pay any money, we can't promise anything, we can't urge anybody, it must all be voluntary on their part.'

Mr. ROGERS. Any other?

Mr. Moss. Would you yield?

Mr. ROGERS. Yes, I yield.

Mr. Moss. Mr. Morrone, I thought from your statement that it was all to be voluntary on their part. Do you honestly believe that a reporter could go out and undertake these arrangements with the whole thing being voluntary and the initiative coming from others than the reporter?

Mr. MORRONE. The possibility I was talking about, to make myself clear, is that he was to ask no one to smoke marihuana necessarily. It started out as a first-person report. He was to gather information and make a report himself, in person.

Mr. Moss. I yield back to Mr. Rogers.

Mr. ROGERS. Did you tell him the police should be notified?

Mr. MORRONE. I did not.

Mr. ROGERS. No police clearance?

Mr. MORRONE. No, sir.

Mr. ROGERS. Is this normal?

Mr. MORRONE. You mean is it normal? Would you repeat the question, please?

Mr. ROGERS. Is this a normal procedure where you know a crime is to be committed ahead of time and you plan to film that crime, that you would not obtain the police clearance? Would that be a normal way of operating for your station?

Mr. MORRONE. In this situation it was.

Mr. ROGERS. I just asked

Mr. MORRONE. It's not normal.

Mr. ROGERS. It is not normal. Of course it isn't. At least from the testimony we have had so far it is not a normal procedure.

Mr. MORRONE. No. sir.

Mr. ROGERS. Why was it not done in this instance? Who made the decision not to do it? Did you do it, or Mr. Ferrante, or did the station manager, did CBS, or who?

Mr. MORRONE. To my knowledge there was no one who said, "Let's not call the police."

Mr. ROGERS. Did anyone ever discuss it?

Mr. MORRONE. Not to my knowledge.

Mr. ROGERS. It didn't occur to you that this would be a situation where the police should be advised?

Mr. MORRONE. No, sir.

Mr. ROGERS. Pardon?

Mr. MORRONE. It did not.

Mr. ROGERS. How did your script begin?

Mr. MORRONE. You mean

Mr. ROGERS. Your final script?

Mr. MORRONE. You mean the exact wording?

Mr. ROGERS. Yes. Do you recall it?

Mr. MORRONE. "Tonight," as clearly as I remember. I would not know.

Mr. MINOW. We have a copy.

Mr. ROGERS. I think we may have one here.

Mr. MINOW. I think it's in the record already.

Mr. Moss. It is in the record. We do have one. We will get it very promptly. I believe it begins by saying, "You are about to see a crime committed." That is paraphrasing it.

Mr. ROGERS. Isn't that about the way it starts out?

Mr. MORRONE. Yes, sir.

Mr. ROGERS. Those words were, and I may not be exact

Mr. MORRONE. Yes, sir.

Mr. ROGERS. "You are about to see a crime committed"?

Mr. MORRONE. Yes, sir.

Mr. ROGERS. Who wrote that and who gave approval for that wording?

Mr. MORRONE. Jack Missett wrote it, and I approved it.

Mr. ROGERS. Here is the actual wordage, I believe. I quote: "In the eyes of the law you are witnessing a crime. Under Illinois law possession of marihuana is a crime punishable by imprisonment for 2 to 10 years for the first offense and up to life in prison for repeaters.' Now, are you aware that Mr. Missett is guilty of a crime in Illinois, under Illinois law?

Mr. MORRONE. No, I am not.

Mr. ROGERS. After hearing the evidence today?

Mr. MORRONE. From what I hear the implication is that he is.

Mr. ROGERS. Well, you have two of your own men that saw him take marihuana and give a $5 bill, and then his own words.

Mr. MORRONE. I would have no legal judgment on that at all.
Mr. MINOW. We will be glad to answer that.

Mr. ROGERS. I won't pursue that.

Mr. Moss. Mr. Minow, I am not trying to be difficult with you, but I hope you do not try me anymore. You can advise your client and, if

he seeks to have you speak on his behalf, he can so indicate to the Chair. You are not to interrupt the proceedings.

Mr. MINOW. I apologize, Mr. Chairman. Since he was asked a legal question

Mr. Moss. Then he is the one who determines whether he requires counsel. You have the rules. They are very clear, very explicit on this. Let's not have any more of these occurrences.

Mr. ROGERS. Let me ask you this. There was no discussion at all as to whether the police should be advised? There was no consultation with counsel on your part or by any of your associates that you know of?

Mr. MORRONE. No, sir.

Mr. ROGERS. None. Did you have charge of the crew that went out on the project to film the LSD incident the week before?

Mr. MORRONE. I did not.

Mr. ROGERS. Who would have had charge of that?

Mr. MORRONE. We changed assignment editors, recently. That still would have been Gerry Ashe; yes, sir.

Mr. ROGERS. Is Mr. Ashe still here?

Mr. MINOW. He was here until a few minutes ago and just left. Mr. ROGERS. Yes, I recall that. So you knew nothing about that. Did you know anything about the LSD assignment?

Mr. MORRONE. I knew they were going out. The details of it I did

not know.

Mr. ROGERS. You had not heard of a police clearance?

Mr. MORRONE. No; I did not.

Mr. ROGERS. Have you ever sent out a team before under your supervision, to film a crime to be committed, without police clearance? Mr. MORRONE. Not that I can readily recall.

Mr. ROGERS. Is there any policy of your management?

Mr. MORRONE. Not that I know of.

Mr. ROGERS. You don't have a policy?

Mr. MORRONE. No, sir.

Mr. ROGERS. My time is up.

Mr. Moss. Mr. Brown?

Mr. BROWN. Mr. Morrone, can you advise me what instructions you gave the film editor with reference to his editing of this film, the visual part of the program which eventually appeared on the air?

Mr. MORRONE. You are referring to Mr. Harris?

Mr. BROWN. Yes.

Mr. MORRONE. To get the record straight he was a news writer. There is another film editor.

Mr. BROWN. As I understood from his comments

Mr. MORRONE. He does not physically edit the film. So my instructions would be given to Harris who would, in turn, give them to the film editor.

Mr. BROWN. Can you advise me what those instructions were, please?

Mr. MORRONE. I screened the film with Mr. Harris and told him that in editing the film he should attempt to not show any faces. We looked at some of the interviews, and I think we decided between us that we would use, I think, three out of six, maybe two out of six. I forget the exact number.

Mr. BROWN. Is that all that you advised him?

Mr. MORRONE. Yes, sir. There might have been small things. As an executive producer and a writer look at film you throw lines and words in like, "Don't use that shot. Use that shot." I am not speaking of just this piece now, but anything you do like that there is a certain rapport that you carry on with the writer that is not necessarily, "This is what you will do," but he gets the picture.

Mr. BROWN. Did you instruct him to attempt to edit with objectivity in mind?

Mr. MORRONE. By all means.

Mr. BROWN. You consciously instructed him of that?

Mr. MORRONE. Yes, sir.

Mr. BROWN. Did you make the decision as to which interviews should be left out?

Mr. MORRONE. The way this worked, if I may, the way it worked you may have six interviews and you screen all six. Then Mr. Harris is left alone in the editing room and thinks about these things and goes back and says "I think X looks good but Y didn't talk loud enough," et cetera. You will say, "That's fine take X and not Y then."

Mr. BROWN. Aren't these decisions made, not only on the quality of the sound or the picture, but on the substantive nature of the remarks? Mr. MORRONE. I just made an example. It was probably a poor example, but to show the running conversation you have with the writer when he is doing something like this.

Mr. BROWN. Did you make any decisions with reference to the substantive nature of the remarks made by the interviewers?

Mr. MORRONE. I did not.

Mr. BROWN. Did Mr. Harris?

Mr.MORRONE. Not to my knowledge.

Mr. BROWN. Could you tell me which of the interviews you omitted, again bearing in mind the problem of anonymity here, but which ones were left on the cutting room floor as it were?

Mr. MORRONE. I would like to but I can't give an honest answer to that at all.

Mr. BROWN. You don't know.

Mr. MORRONE. No, sir.

Mr. BROWN. But you do recall that you instructed him specifically to be very objective.

Mr. MORRONE. I do that constantly. That is part of my job. My job is overseeing editing of all film.

Mr. BROWN. Did Mr. Ferrante suggest any editing procedures or any ideas that should be brought out in this film?

Mr. MORRONE. The only one I can recall is the fact that we should make an effort not to show the faces.

There may have been other general discussion between Mr. Ferrante and myself. We do half our work walking back and forth in the office. I don't recall these things.

Mr. BROWN. But you don't recall any of the things that were said in connection with the editing of the film?

Mr. MORRONE. Not necessarily. The film was very repetitious, really. Mr. BROWN. Do you recall anything that you said to Mr. Missett at any stage of the game, either in prior conversation in regard to making this film, after the shots had been taken at the party, or before