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WERE YOU BEATEN AS TOM WAS AT THE BEGINNING? THEY WERE PRETTY ROUGH. THERE WAS SOME PHYSICAL ABUSE, NOT TERRIBLY BAD. IT ENDED FAIRLY QUICKLY. YES. AFTER A WHILE THEY LEFT ME ALONE VERY. GOOD. NOW DON’T DON’T DON’T MIND. I’M GOING TO SLIDE OUT. OKAY. THANKS, GUYS. WELL, NOW PAUL TERRY BEGINS HIS LIFE AGAIN AS A REPORTER, BUT NOT UNTIL HE SPENDS, HE SAYS A FEW MONTHS WITH THE FAMILY AND FRIENDS THAT HE WANTS TO MEET AGAIN. AFTER A LONG ABSENCE, AND HE SAYS HE’LL GET TO WORK TELLING HIS STORY, PROBABLY IN THE FORM OF A BOOK. THAT WAS KEVIN COONEY LIVE IN GERMANY IN 1991, WHEN TERRY ANDERSON WAS RELEASED AFTER SPENDING YEARS AS A PRISONER IN LEBANON. IT IS ONE OF THE MANY, MANY STORIES KEVIN COVERED DURING HIS CAREER HERE AT ����vlog, AND HE’S JOINING US NOW BACK ON THE ANCHOR DESK. YEAH, IT’S WHERE YOU BELONG. IS ����vlog CELEBRATES 70 YEARS ON THE AIR. LOVE HAVING YOU BACK. IT’S GOOD TO SEE YOU HERE. WE’VE GOT TO START WITH THE STORY FROM GERMANY. HOW DID IT COME TO PASS THAT YOU ENDED UP IN GERMANY? FOR THAT MOMENT, WE HAD FOLLOWED TERRY’S STORY. YOU KNOW, TERRY IS A FORMER CHANNEL EIGHT REPORTER. WHEN HE WAS A STUDENT AT IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY, HE GRADUATED IN 1974. YEAH. CLASS OF 74. JOURNALISM IOWA STATE. AND HE WAS A PART TIME EMPLOYEE, WORKED RADIO, DID SOME TV AND THINGS LIKE THAT. SO HE WAS PEOPLE KNEW HIM. AND HE WENT ON TO WORK FOR THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AND THEN EVENTUALLY WAS ASSIGNED TO THE BUREAU CHIEF IN LEBANON AND WAS KIDNAPED IN 1985, HELD HOSTAGE FOR ALMOST SIX YEARS ALONG WITH TOM SUTHERLAND, WHO WAS ANOTHER IOWAN. HIS HIS FATHER IN LAW WAS ACTUALLY THE ONE WHO CREATED LIVING HISTORY FARMS. AND TOM WAS, YOU KNOW, STRONG CONNECTIONS TO IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY. SO WHEN TOM SUTHERLAND WAS RELEASED, WE KEPT THAT STORY ALIVE FOR 5 OR 6 YEARS WITH TERRY AND TOM AND AND SO WHEN TERRY WAS RELEASED ABOUT TEN DAYS LATER, IT WAS LIKE, OKAY, HOP ON THE PLANE BACK AND WE’RE GOING TO GO DO THIS ALL OVER AGAIN. AND IT WAS JUST, I STILL GET A LUMP IN MY THROAT THINKING ABOUT IT, BECAUSE IT WAS JUST THE CULMINATION OF JUST A LOT OF WAITING AND A LOT OF WORRYING AND EVERYTHING. IT HAD A GOOD ENDING AT THE END, YOU KNOW, IT’S SO UNIQUE AS A JOURNALIST TO HAVE THAT TYPE OF PERSONAL CONNECTION TO A STORY LIKE THAT. WHAT WAS IT LIKE DEALING WITH THAT SIDE OF IT, TOO? WELL, THAT WAS THE THING, YOU KNOW, IS THAT WE EVERYTHING ABOUT TERRY’S CONNECTION WAS WAS PERSONAL. IT WAS PERSONAL TO US IN CHANNEL EIGHT. HE HAD A LOT OF FRIENDS HERE IN IOWA. HE WAS A VIETNAM VETERAN IN THE MARINE CORPS AND WAS RECRUITER UP IN AMES PRIOR TO WORKING AT CHANNEL EIGHT. SO, I MEAN, PRIOR TO GOING TO IOWA STATE, TOO. AND SO HE WAS YEAH, THERE WAS A PERSONAL SIDE TO IT, AS YOU SAID, BEN, BECAUSE, I MEAN, I WENT TO CLASS WITH HIM. WE COMMUTED BACK AND FORTH TO DES MOINES, BACK AND FORTH TO AMES AND EVERYTHING LIKE THAT. SO IT WAS WE KEPT IT. WE KEPT IT CLOSE TO OUR HEART. YEAH. EXTRAORDINARY THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO BE THERE AND HELP. WELCOME. WELCOME HIM HOME. IT WAS YOU WERE ON THE ANCHOR DESK FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. THAT’S WHAT YOUR ROLE WAS WHEN YOU RETIRED. BUT YOU STARTED AT ����vlog AS A TEENAGER. I DID. I WAS A JUNIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL AT DOWLING HIGH SCHOOL AND CAME FROM A JOURNALISM FAMILY. MY MOTHER AND FATHER WERE BOTH REPORTERS AND EDITORS FOR THE DES MOINES REGISTER, BUT THIS TELEVISION THING REALLY INTRIGUED ME A LOT. AND SO ONE THING LED TO ANOTHER, AND I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET A PART TIME WEEKEND JOB AS A PRODUCTION ASSISTANT. THE PEOPLE WHO STAND NEXT TO THE CAMERAS AND GIVE CUES AND THINGS LIKE THAT, AND, AND THAT’S WHAT GOT ME STARTED. BUT IT EVEN GOES BACK BEFORE THAT A LITTLE. WHEN I WAS A CUB SCOUT, I WAS ON BILL RILEY’S VARIETY THEATER IN THE AFTERNOON AS A FOURTH GRADER, A THIRD GRADER OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. AND I SAW WHAT THEY DID IN THE TV STATION. I GET PEOPLE GET PAID TO DO THIS. THIS IS AMAZING. THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO DO THIS. AND SO, I MEAN, I WAS ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE THAT WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO DO WHAT I WANTED TO DO ALL MY LIFE. YEAH. AND YOU TRANSITIONED FROM PRODUCTION ASSISTANT TO THEN SPORTS, RIGHT. IN SPORTS DID LITTLE SPORTS BECAUSE MY SOPHOMORE YEAR UP AT IOWA STATE, I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO MOVE INTO THE SPORTS DEPARTMENT, WHICH WAS KIND OF THE TRADITIONAL WAY OF TO GET INTO THE NEWSROOM. BACK THEN. YOU DO A LITTLE STUFF IN SPORTS, YOU KNOW, KIND OF DO YOUR INTERNSHIP, SO TO SPEAK, AND THEN WORK INTO NEWS OR STAY IN SPORTS, WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE. BUT I WORKED WITH PETE TAYLOR, WHO WAS ONE OF THE BEST BOSSES YOU EVER COULD HAVE HOPED FOR IN A LIFETIME. AND HE ALLOWED PEOPLE TO BE CREATIVE AND DO ALL SORTS OF WONDERFUL THINGS. AND AND THEN EVENTUALLY, IN ABOUT 1973 74, I GOT INTO THE NEWSROOM. IF THERE’S SOMEBODY WHO’S DONE IT ALL IN A NEWSROOM, IT’S THIS GENTLEMAN SITTING RIGHT NEXT TO US. I WANT TO TALK ABOUT ANOTHER BIG STORY THAT YOU COVERED. YOU HAD THE FIRST INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT CLINTON AFTER THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING. BUT THAT’S NOT INITIALLY WHAT YOU WERE GOING TO TALK TO THE PRESIDENT ABOUT? NO, THERE WAS GOING TO BE AN AGRICULTURAL SUMMIT IN A FEW WEEKS AFTER THAT, AND WE WERE INVITED TO COME TO THE WHITE HOUSE, ALONG WITH OTHER TV STATIONS, AND TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON AT THIS AGRICULTURAL SUMMIT UP AT IOWA STATE. AND SO HAPPENED THAT THAT MORNING WAS THE MORNING OF THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING OF THE MURRAH FEDERAL BUILDING. AND WE FIGURED, WELL, OUR INTERVIEWS JUST GOT BLOWN OFF THE MAP. WE’RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT. WE CHECKED WITH THE WHITE HOUSE AND SURE ENOUGH, THEY SAID NO. STILL PLAN ON COMING OVER. WE’LL WE’LL STILL DO THE INTERVIEW. AND SURE ENOUGH, WE DID. AND WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO THE PRESIDENT. AND IT WAS INTERESTING BECAUSE HE HAD GIVEN A STATEMENT EARLIER TO THE PRESS, IN THE PRESS ROOM AND STUFF AND TALKED ABOUT IT, AND HE KIND OF GAVE US THAT SAME REACTION. BUT I JUST HAD TO ASK THE OTHER THE FOLLOW UP QUESTION, WHICH WAS, WELL, HOW DID YOU FEEL? HOW WOULD THE STAFF FEEL, YOU KNOW, WAS YOU WERE WATCHING THESE PICTURES COME IN AND THE RESPONSE THAT HE GAVE THEN WAS ONE OF THE, I DON’T KNOW, JUST ONE OF THE CLASSIC SOUNDBITES, SO TO SPEAK, FOR THE FOR THE NEWS FOR, FOR YEARS, I THINK JUST IN TERMS OF WHAT HOW IT ALL OF A SUDDEN IT GOT PERSONAL, LIKE YOU WERE SAYING, IT GOT PERSONAL FOR HIM. IT WASN’T JUST THE PRESIDENT TALKING, IT WAS A HUMAN BEING TALKING. WHAT’S IT BEEN LIKE TO HAVE ACCESS TO THESE PEOPLE, THESE NEWSMAKERS IN A IN YOUR CAREER? WHAT WAS IT ACCESS TO THESE NEWSMAKERS? YEAH, WELL, I THINK THAT’S ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS, AS YOU ALL KNOW, IS THAT, YOU KNOW, IN THIS BUSINESS, YOU DO HAVE THAT ACCESS. YOU DO HAVE THE AND IT’S NOT BECAUSE OF ANYTHING YOU’RE DOING. IT’S NOT BECAUSE, I MEAN, ME. IT’S NOT BECAUSE OF ANYTHING I’M DOING. IT’S BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, IT’S THE MEDIA. IT’S THE POWER OF THE CAMERAS, THE POWER OF THE TELEVISION STATION OR THE NEWS OPERATION AND STUFF LIKE THAT. SO YOU’RE INVITED TO DO THESE THINGS. I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO PRESIDENT OBAMA ON THREE DIFFERENT OCCASIONS, TWICE AT THE WHITE HOUSE. YOU KNOW, THAT TYPE OF THING. DID INTERVIEWS WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, FOR GOODNESS SAKE, YOU KNOW, SO IT RUNS THE GAMUT. YEAH, WE HAVE ABOUT 30S LEFT. I KNOW I TRY TO FIT IT ALL IN THIS SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO LEAVE WITH THE VIEWERS DURING OUR TIME HERE? THIS STATION IS ONE OF THE BEST PLACES IN THE ENTIRE WORLD TO WORK, AND IT’S ONE OF THE BEST PLACES TO WATCH FOR NEWS. AND I’M NOT JUST SAYING THAT I’M NOT GETTING PAID ANYMORE BY THEM OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, BUT THERE IS. THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT THIS PLACE. IT’S A SPECIAL SORT OF CHEMISTRY. IT’S A SPECIAL SORT OF THERE’S SOMETHING UP HERE AND IT GOES ALL THE WAY BACK TO THOSE DAYS OF RUSS VAN -- AND PAUL RHOADS AND, AND AND PETE TAYLOR AND ALL THOSE PEOPLE WHO HELPED GET THIS STATION ON THE AIR, YOU KNOW, 50, 60, 70 YEARS AGO. AND IT’S STILL HERE. YOU CAN STILL SEE IT EVERY NIGHT WITH PEOPLE LIKE THIS. WELL, IF I MAY, REALLY QUICKLY, YOUR TWO GRANDDAUGHTERS ARE HERE, TWO OF THEM. AND THEY SAID, OH MY GOSH, GRANDPA’S GOING TO BE UP THERE. YEAH, GIRLS, THIS IS WHERE HE BELONGS. SO ANYWAY. AND HE’S MADE SUCH A DIFFERENCE IN THEIR LIFE. EVERYBODY WATCHING, YOU KNOW. SO JUST THANK YOU FOR THE PATH THAT YOU’VE BLAZED. FOR SOMEBODY LIKE ME WHO’S NOW IN THAT POSITION, YOU’RE DOING A WONDERFUL JOB. WELL, YOU ARE, I JUST, YOU KNOW, I JUST HOPE TO MAKE YOU PROUD. WELCOME TO THE CIRCUS. YEAH. THAT’S RIGHT, THAT’S RIGHT. AND IT’S BEEN WONDERFUL TO HAVE YOU BACK AND SHARE STORIES WITH US. THANK YOU. WELL, THANKS. THANKS FOR THE INVITATION. AND IT WAS GREAT TO SIT NEXT TO YOU FOR TEN YEARS. YEAH, WELL, I ENJOYED IT, TOO. YEAH, YEAH. I CAN’T I CAN’T TALK UNLESS I’M ON HER. GOT TO BE ON THIS SIDE.