J$P Instant Transcript! On Fox & Friends, Bernard Goldberg gives a fair and balanced assessment of Dan Rather.

From Fox & Friends, March 9 2005:

BRIAN KILMEADE [FOX NEWS]: Dan Rather's calling it quits tonight. Many people will watch to see what he says at the end, but many people already know and have a sense of what it's going to be like and how Dan Rather's legacy will play out. And we have a special guest who knows Dan well.

STEVE DOOCY [FOX NEWS]: Bernie Goldberg worked with him for years, and he's also the author of Arrogance: Rescuing America from the Media Elite, and he joins us live from Miami. Good morning to you.

BERNARD GOLDBERG: And Bias, which really said in advance what we're seeing happening right now.

DOOCY: Absolutely. Hey Bernie, as Dan Rather says adieu from the anchor chair, your thoughts?

GOLDBERG: Well, the big question is, is this last episode with memogate going to be his legacy? And I know this is going to offend some of my conservative friends, but that shouldn't be his sole legacy. I don't think that's fair. I don't think one episode as bad as it is should be an entire legacy. He covered every major story since the assassination of Kennedy. As a reporter he's physically fearless. I mean, that matters, that counts for a lot. But I think--

E.D. HILL [FOX NEWS]: But--

GOLDBERG: Let me just say this. But I think a big part of his legacy, a big part of his legacy, will also be his unwillingness and maybe even his psychological inability to take serious criticism seriously.

HILL: But Bernie, we're having Mike Walker, he's the author of Rather Dumb, and we had him on last week. We're bringing him back again today. And in his book, he says it's not just, that if it were just this one report that would be one thing. But in his book he lists a number of various reports, not when he was on the anchor desk but reporting jobs, where he did similar things.

GOLDBERG: Yeah, and over a 40-year career I'll bet you you can find stuff that anybody has done that--

HILL: Oh, we're perfect here. [laughter]

GOLDBERG: --except for the three of you.

DOOCY: Yeah, thanks.

GOLDBERG: We could point out specific things Rather has done, and say that's clearly an example of liberal bias. But I don't think that's the way to go. And not just because I don't think it's generous. I think a more important thing to look at is, after the memogate scandal, he corrupted the flagship broadcast of CBS News, and that's the CBS Evening News. What he did was run several absolutely one-sided stories, and I mean totally one-sided stories, which did nothing more than defend the first flawed story on 60 Minutes Wednesday. That's corrupting a news broadcast. You can't do that.

DOOCY: And Bernie, you were on this program shortly after that, and you said you know what, he's taking a page out of Richard Nixon's playbook. He's stonewalling.

GOLDBERG: Yeah, and that's also part of his legacy. He has a tendency to lash out when people criticize him. Listen, when I first wrote about liberal bias in the news, and I was at CBS News, he knew me very well. He could have come up to me and said, Bernie I don't like what you did, but tell me what you mean by liberal bias. Give me some examples. He circled the wagons. He lashed out and started saying that I'm the one with a political bias and a political agenda--something he had never said in the 25 years before that. So I think, I think one of the reasons he's in the position that he's in today is because instead of being introspective and taking serious criticism seriously, he circles the wagons, he stonewalls, and that's not good for anybody, let alone a journalist.

KILMEADE: Bernie, in your book you have facts about how you felt about the way CBS was set up and the way the media is set up. When we come back I want to ask you about what Mike Wallace, what Walter Cronkite, Don Hewitt, and others, why they might be calling them out. Is it different from the reasons that other people have criticized them for? Among a few other things. Plus, Steve will make nice talk with you in the break.

DOOCY: Hey Bernie, also during this commercial time out, can you possibly find a necktie down there somewhere?

KILMEADE: That's not happening.

GOLDBERG: Yeah, I can and I will. And I will

DOOCY: We'll see about that. Will he be wearing a necktie? We'll find out in two minutes.

KILMEADE: Your tease is better.

DOOCY: Thank you. Right back.


DOOCY: Well, we hope he was able to locate a necktie. Joining us right now from our Miami bureau is Bernie Goldberg, former CBS reporter and author of Arrogance and Slander.

HILL: Look at you!

DOOCY: What, our sound man is not wearing a necktie right now. [laughter]

GOLDBERG: You know, there are certain shows you dress up for, and certain shows you dress down for. [laughter]

DOOCY: I see, thanks Bernie.

HILL: We understand that entirely.

KILMEADE: I understand. Bernie, back to the topic today, we're talking about Dan Rather and his legacy. Does Mike Wallace, Don Hewitt, and Walter Cronkite, what is their problems with Dan Rather? Why have they gone out of their way to rip him?

GOLDBERG: First, I think it was less than generous to kick a guy when he was down. If they wanted to criticize Rather they had plenty of time over the past 25 years to make substantial points about things that his critics have been saying. But they never did that. Hewitt has never liked Rather. It's my understanding anyway that Hewitt has never been a big fan of Rather. And Cronkite was indeed pushed out. That's an absolute fact. I was there when it happened. So maybe Cronkite, 25 years later, is finally getting even. But I saw him the other day talking about how they should have gotten rid of Rather years ago, and I thought that was less than, as I say, less than generous on Walter's part.

DOOCY: And just out of curiosity, Bernie. I know you still know people over there at CBS, and you've been on to discuss the memogate thing. CBS management fired Mary Mapes, and then asked three others to resign. What's up with that right now? Have they resigned? Are they retaining lawyers? Where's that going?

GOLDBERG: Yeah, all three retained lawyers. Two of them have in fact resigned; they took a financial settlement and resigned. And the third, Josh Howard, the executive producer of 60 Minutes Wednesday, has not. And Josh Howard feels--correctly--correctly feels that CBS News contradicted its own report and in effect, I don't want to use a legal word and say they slandered him, they might have. But they certainly made it very very difficult for him to get a job.

DOOCY: Got you.

GOLDBERG: Listen, Josh Howard is the guy who said this report should not run on Wednesday. Let's wait until Sunday when we have several more days to find out if it's true. And Josh Howard is the guy who said we can't cover this thing up. We should go forward and say it may be wrong, and CBS News said no, we're sticking with the story.

DOOCY: Right. All right.

HILL: All right.

DOOCY: The one man wearing a necktie in Miami right now, Bernie Goldberg. Always a pleasure; thank you sir.

HILL: I guess I've got to give Brian's necktie back now.

KILMEADE: I'll put it on during the break...