Rather Not

Scene: the White House lawn. Time: after 10 p.m. on the night of a crucial U.N. Security Council debate on the Israeli-Arab conflict. Dramatis personae: CBS White House Correspondent Dan Rather and a camera crew that he kept on after others left, in hopes of getting a post-debate statement. TV lights are on, microphones are live, cameras off.

Enter, lawn left, Lyndon Johnson and Lady Bird, hand in hand. Double take by Rather. Then: "Good evening, Mr. President." Pleasantries. The President and the First Lady stroll on, then return to Rather. Cameras on by now, taping. Almost casually, the President tells Rather that developments of the day had kept the U.S.-Russia detente intact, had helped save the U.N. He had had "some exchanges" with the Russians--the first hard news on use of the hot line. Lady Bird tugs L.B.J. out of the light, but he returns. The Israelis are not going to give up easily what they have won, he says; they have always talked about Jerusalem, the west bank of the Jordan, the Syrian heights, Aqaba. Would they reach Suez? The President did not feel that anything would stop them. Good night, Dan. Good night, Mr. President.

An exclusive. A scoop, Rather. But hold on. The President did not know that the cameras were on, said Press Secretary George Christian, who passed the word to Rather via a CBS Washington, D.C., studio executive. Dan can use the material that he got as the basis of a news report, but as for use of the taped interview itself, the President would Rather not.

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