“I may have just doomed a hundred people to their death.”

In January of 1988, I and the rest of the 48 Hours crew spent a couple days at Stapleton International Airport in Denver (which no longer exists). We detailed the hazards and complications of winter air-travel at the base of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains (which could get pretty chaotic).

In one of the two segments I worked on (both are included in today’s clip), I met an entertaining fellow known as the Iron Messiah.

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“It’s very degrading to a man to get put in this situation.”

In late November of 1987, I did a Thanksgiving piece on homelessness and other social struggles for the CBS Evening News. I talked to some families going through a very hard time, and I suspect the piece left many viewers at home feeling thankful for the things they had in life.

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“Memories mean money.”

Nostalgia in advertising is pretty common these days, but back in 1985 it was still a novel approach — one being used quite successfully on wealthy baby boomers by Madison Avenue.

I did a report on the story for the CBS Evening News.

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“This is going to be one dynamite company.”

In December of 1985, General Electric (GE) agreed to acquire RCA Corporation (Radio Corporation of America) in a landmark $6.28 billion all-cash deal. Led by CEO Jack Welch (GE) and Chairman Thornton Bradshaw (RCA), it was, at the time, the largest non-oil merger in U.S. corporate history.

I covered the story for the CBS Evening News.

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“We’re showing Mr. Gorbachev something: This is how we do things in America.”

In 1985, a new book called “A Time for Peace” became a big commercial success. What made that success ironic is that the book was by Mikhail Gorbachev — a proud communist who, at the time, was the freshly minted leader of the Soviet Union.

The book was a collection of Gorbachev’s speeches, interviews, and letters that included his political views on various issues. There was still a consumer demand for it come Christmas time of that year, and capitalists in America were finding new, innovative ways to sell more copies.

I covered the story for the CBS Evening News.

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“A 40-something year-old man who couldn’t remember the months of the year in sequence.”

In 2012, when I was with HBO’s Real Sports, we worked on an extensive story called “Head Games” about Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, and its link to concussions in NFL football players. The multiple-piece series (and yours truly) won a prestigious Alfred I. duPont Award, and shed new light on a serious issue that previously hadn’t gotten enough attention.

Today’s video isn’t the piece itself (Real Sports rarely released full stories online), but rather an interview with producer, Joseph Perskie, that I believe was shot and put together by people at the Alfred I. duPont Awards.

It’s an interesting look at how the story began, and where it went.

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“It just goes down your stomach like a dead glass of water.”

In 1985, Coca-Cola was convinced they were unveiling the beverage of the future. They called it “New Coke,” announcing in April of that year that it would replace the original 99-year-old Coca-Cola formula.

Public reception to the change was… not good (as you’ll see in this week’s video). Millions of Americans didn’t like the taste, sparking one of the most famous consumer backlashes in marketing history.

The company would eventually switch back to the original formula (calling it “Coca-Cola Classic”), but in early June (when my report aired), they were still convinced Americans would warm up to it.

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“Too often ‘winning’ really means winning at any cost.”

In October of 1985, I did a two-part series for the CBS Evening News called “When the Cheering Stops.” It covered college sports scandals… including that of athletes never learning the non-sports professional skills that college should have taught them. The result was a knowledge deficit that held them back in life.

Both parts are included in this week’s video.

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“Can’t is not part of your vocabulary.”

In 2012, while working for HBO’s Real Sports, I did a story on one of the most remarkable and inspiring people I’ve ever met: a young woman named Jennifer Bricker.

Bricker has an amazing personal story, from her birth and upbringing, to her life now. I hesitate to give any of it away here, as it might spoil the unfolding of that story in today’s video piece. I’ll just mention that I actually did two stories on Bricker — the first one in 2012, and a follow-up in 2016. Clips from both segments are in the video.

When you’re finished watching it, let me know what you think in the comment section.

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“Sharks aren’t the problem. Jaws is.”

Editor’s note: Today’s 50-year-old news clip his poor audio-quality, so we suggest that you turn up your volume all the way.

By August of 1975, the newly released Steven Spielberg film-classic, Jaws, was smashing box-office records and already having a major impact on American culture. It was driving many people’s fear of sharks through the roof… and also driving beach-community tourist bureaus nuts! They believed that irrational fears stoked by the movie were keeping visitors away from their beaches, and they were looking for ways to deal with the situation.

I covered one such community — Carolina Beach, North Carolina — for CBS News.

What gets me, while revisiting this report, is how the individuals we filmed and interviewed both look and sound like they could have been actual characters in the film.

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“There’s an awful lot of crudeness out there, in the street and all over our pop-culture.”

In 1998, I anchored a CBS prime-time documentary called “In Your Face, America.” It was an hour-long report about the coarsening of our country, and how vulgar and uncivil our popular culture was becoming. This was well illustrated, at the time, by junky, combative, daytime talk-shows (that I covered in one of the segments).

A lot of that crudeness may seem quaint by today’s standards, but people like former United States Secretary of Education, Bill Bennett (who I interviewed for the documentary), used to be very concerned about the social corrosion. (I say “used to,” because he changed quite a bit at the beginning of this political era). I also talked to Sally Jessy Raphael, a popular daytime talk-show host (who many of you will remember).

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“You said you wanted straight answers to straight questions… She can’t give straight answers because she’s too vulnerable.”

In recognition of all the new members who recently subscribed to this website after my appearance with Bill O’Reilly (thanks again!), I figured I’d take this week’s Bernie’s Time Machine trip back to The O’Reilly Factor — this time on November 3, 2016 (just a few days before the presidential election).

Hillary Clinton was leading in national polls, but important state polls were a bit tighter. The Clinton and Trump campaigns were both avoiding the media, perhaps afraid they’d make a last-minute, unforced error — Hillary because of her latest trouble with the FBI, and Trump (if I remember correctly) because of the Access Hollywood Tape controversy.

I spoke to Bill about the situation.

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“Going on these comedy shows gives a politician an opportunity to portray himself or herself in a different light.”

You may have forgotten this, but back when Donald Trump first entered the 2016 presidential race (which began in 2015), the liberal media — including the entertainment media — loved him (even after he did things like call Mexicans “rapists,” mock a reporter’s physical disability, and knock John McCain for his wartime capture).

Well, it wasn’t so much him they loved, but rather a couple things about him:

1. He and his antics were great for ratings.

2. The Left was enjoying the chaos he was bringing to the GOP nomination process, and believed that, if he won the Republican primary, he would be an easy defeat for Hillary Clinton in the general election.

So, in November of 2015, Trump was asked to host Saturday Night Live. In the run-up to the episode, Bill O’Reilly had me on the O’Reilly Factor to talk about whether or not it was a smart political move for Trump.

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“Cable didn’t start the fire. Cable didn’t start the polarization… But [it’s] adding to the polarization.”

I’ve written a lot in recent years about how I believe cable news has been one of the most polarizing forces in our country. But a decade ago, the debate on that topic was a bit more nuanced. Former ABC News journalist Ted Koppel was adamant that cable news was a big problem. He argued that many news consumers have trouble distinguishing between opinion and hard-news reporting, and that cable news commentary was prioritizing ideology over facts.

After a high-profile exchange between Koppel and Fox News’s Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly brought me on his show to discuss the topic. I think some good points were made, though Bill got a little sidetracked on defending President Trump’s approval rating at the time (which kept me from getting out some of what I wanted to say).

Still, I suppose it was a worthwhile discussion.

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“When parody becomes reality, we have a problem.”

Over the years, there have been several racial controversies related to sports mascots — typically in regard to phrases or imagery from an earlier era in U.S. and world history. But this particularly silly one — involving a horse and its name — galloped into the public arena in August of 2017.

I was asked onto Fox News to talk about it…

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“He was old-school. He was a throwback to another era — in my view, a better era.”

In February of 2015, I received the tragic news that my former CBS News colleague, Bob Simon, had died in car accident.

A Fox News producer set up a morning phone-call segment with me to talk to Martha MacCallum about Simon’s life. I think it was a decent tribute to a great journalist.

At the beginning of the exchange, you’ll hear me refer to a different journalist who’d recently been exposed for making things up. That was NBC News’s Brian Williams, who infamously got caught fabricating details of various stories he’d covered, including war coverage in Iraq several years earlier.

Anyway, Bob Simon was the real deal — a consummate professional who I wish more journalists emulated.

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“You’re about to meet a man you’ll either love or hate.”

In 1994, for CBS News’s Eye to Eye with Connie Chung, I covered Ken Hamblin, a controversial conservative radio host from Denver who referred to himself as “The Black Avenger.” One of the things that made him “controversial” was that he was an African American who spoke quite harshly about the black community, welfare, affirmative action, and liberalism itself.

I’d say more, but I wouldn’t do his point of view justice. Just watch and listen for yourself.

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“Every now and then you meet someone who’s really inspiring.”

In late 1994, for CBS News’s Eye to Eye with Connie Chung, I did on a story on basketball star, Muggsy Bogues.

At 5’3”, Muggsy was the shortest man to ever play in the NBA. He defied enormous odds to achieve success in a sport dominated by giants, and his height was just part of that story.

But as you’ll see at the end of the clip, he did eventually meet his match.

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“They’re convincing a large number of people that maleness and masculinity are synonymous with violence. ”

In 1994, a book titled “Who Stole Feminism?” generated an enormous amount of attention. In it, author Christina Marie Hoff Sommers challenged a lot of conventional wisdom about how badly women had it in the modern United States.

On “Eye to Eye with Connie Chung,” I spoke to Sommers about the book, as well as some of the inaccurate statistics and themes being tossed around about men at the time. The conversation may feel like some of the ones we have today in this country.

On a side note, Sommers, these days, is an AEI resident scholar.

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“Once you’re done with college, college is typically done with you.”

NCAA rules have changed a bit in recent years, but back in 2015, when I was reporting for HBO’s Real Sports, injured college athletes were getting what many considered a raw deal, as far as health insurance goes. Massive injuries sustained while playing college sports largely weren’t covered after the injured student graduated or otherwise left the college. And there were a number of young individuals who paid the price — literally!

Here’s a part of my report.

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