Kill the Messenger Page #4

There was this one time when Ollie...

Ollie went to his friends in Washington,

- and this is years ago-

- Oliver North?

Oliver North.

No, Oliver Hardy. Yes, Oliver North.

So he said why don't we use the cash

seized from the cocaine arrests...

...to fund and support the Contra war?

Of course, they declined you know.

But as you can see,

Ollie wasn't the only

person with ideas like this.

Did it have to be drugs?

The ends justify the means.

Yeah, write that down.

You Americans don't

want coconuts or bananas.

You want cocaine,

and I know where to find cocaine.

And my pilots were already flying

from Central America to the United States.

And they were American.

How long ago was this shut down?

Eight to ten years ago.

The land is now privately owned.

If I was in the CIA and I was risking my life

overseas doing something illegal...

...believe me, I would want someone

like me to help do the job.

Write this name down: Fred Weil.

W-E-I-L

That's the guy you have to talk to.

What was stored here?

Weapons. Cash.

Lots and lots of cash.

These pilots, do you know their names?

I don't know.

Now that you know the truth,

you will be faced with the

most important decision of your life.

Oh yeah. What's that?

Deciding whether to share it or not.

You have a family? You married?

Like I said.

The pilots used little airstrips

in Florida, Arizona, California.

Come.

I'll take care of it.

Down on your knees.

Keep your head down.

Don't answer that.

Passport.

Yes, we have to go now.

We're leaving.

Nice and calm.

Nice and calm.

You're where?

I'm in DC. And look, don't worry.

You want me here.

Trust me on this, Anna.

The guys are getting nervous.

You're supposed to be back here.

Look, I changed planes in Miami.

I kept all my receipts.

I'll pay for my own damn flight back

home if I have to, all right?

We can't do this on the phone,

and I don't want

to do this on the phone.

Look, I've got to go.

Fred Weil?

Gary Webb, San Jose Mercury-News.

I don't talk to the press.

Call Public Affairs.

I spoke to Norwin Meneses.

That's classified. How did you get it?

Got it from a drug dealer.

Perfect.

Listen, I was John Kerry's lead investigator on

the senate subcommittee that investigated this.

You have no idea

what you're getting into.

Why don't you tell me?

Tell me what I'm getting into.

I'm on the National

Security Council now.

And I have the trust

of the President and his cabinet.

It took me ten years

to get back to that place.

Your name goes nowhere near this.

This conversation never happened.

You have my word on that.

You ever done anything like this before?

No.

Has your paper?

Not that I'm aware of.

Some fancy information that you have there.

And dangerous.

I'd be remiss if I didn't

tell you that other reporters

have been down this rabbit hole.

Seasoned reporters.

Who knew their way around Washington.

And Central America.

- So what are you telling me?

- I had an American citizen...

...a rich Republican Party fund-raiser,

a White House favorite, in my office..

...upset about things he was hearing.

He believed in freedom

and defeating communism...

...but not in laundering

narcotics money for guns.

And he's sitting

in my office in the U.S. Senate...

...and he gets a phone call

telling him that if he talked to me...

...he'd die.

This is your ticket out of small time,

right?

- You're going to make your bones on this.

- This is a true story

My friend, some stories

are just too true to tell.

That's bullshit.

Yeah?

And yes, it is.

Congratulations.

You figured that out.

Too true to tell.

Welcome to San Francisco

International airport.

Please do not leave your bags unattended.

Sometimes I wish I could just climb

inside that head of yours

...and see all the sh*t you carry around.

Really?

No. Not really.

There's too many bad guys.

And ghosts.

And scary monsters running around.

Well, what do you want me to do,

Sue? Do something else for a living?

No.

This one just scares me.

Be careful.

Hey.

Yeah.

Jesus.

Hello?

It's Russell Dodson.

Hello, Russell Dodson.

Listen, we haven't

handled this right at all.

Before you print anything,

there's a few guys from

D.C. that would like

to sit down with you.

You should hear them out.

I'm listening.

Gary.

Thanks for coming.

I'm Agent Miller,

and this is Agent Jones.

- Can we get you a cup of coffee?

- No.

How about one of those cappuccinos?

Just got a new espresso machine probably

cost the tax payers thirty grand.

No, I'm fine.

Get him a cappuccino.

Now we don't agree

with everything that happens in

our agencies, so this

is a little awkward for us.

But you're getting

into some sensitive areas.

There are ongoing operations

you're in danger of exposing.

Operations that have taken months,

years to set up.

Thousands of man hours,

millions to fund.

And how do you know that?

We know you were in Nicaragua.

We know you saw Meneses.

Am I being followed?

What's your angle, Webb?

Some governmental informants are scumbags?

Look, I was under the impression that

you guys had something to say to me?

But, to answer your question, no.

My angle is that the

American government knew drugs were

put on the streets

to fund an illegal war.

What you want to say happened,

never happened.

Then why am I here?

American kids...

...were going to die in that war.

American kids did die.

They're still dying.

Just not the ones you care about,

apparently.

We'd never threaten your children, Mr. Webb.

My children?

What did you say?

I'm writing the story.

Okay. I'm about to press send.

We're ready. All hands on deck.

Don't over-edit it.

Don't worry.

Anna.

Gary. I got it.

Go enjoy your family.

Let's go, let's go, let's go!

All right last one in is a rotten egg!

Is it cold or warm?

- It's warm.

- Ready?

All right; precious cargo.

Dizzy yet?

- No.

- Okay.

Come on, Momma!

- Come on, Mom, get in.

- Why do they gang up on momma?

- You have to dry my hair!

- Where you going, Dad?

- Dad...

- Don't!

Dad, it's up! It's online!

Mom!

Oh my god, Mom, check this out.

It just went up. It's everywhere.

Gary!

For the better part of a decade,

a San Francisco Bay-area

drug ring sold tons of cocaine...

...to the Crips and Bloods street gangs of

Los Angeles and funneled millions...

...in drug profits to

Latin American guerrilla army run

by the US Central Intelligence Agency...

...a Mercury news investigation has found.

This drug network opened the first

pipeline between Columbia and...

Hey.

Hey.

You did it.

Yeah.

Want to go fool around in the woods?

Yeah.

- Yes, I do.

- Yes, I do.

- Don't look, don't look.

- Hey, come on!

You should see our switchboard!

It is lit up like a Christmas tree!

We're getting calls

from all over the world. Gary.

What do you want to do?

Well, it's just the beginning,

isn't it?

I think there's more to do.

Got to keep riding out the story.

Keep digging.

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