Chappaquiddick | The Bridge | 2

0:00American scandal uses dramatizations that are based on true events. Some elements, including dialogue, might be invented, but everything is based on historical research.

0:20It's around 12.45 a.m. on Saturday, July 19, 1969. Christopher Huck Look is behind the wheel of his car on Chappaquiddick, a small island off Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. Look is a part-time deputy sheriff, and tonight he's been working security at a regatta party in Egertown. He rubs his eyes and stifles a yawn, but as he nears his next turn, Look is jolted alert by the headlights of a car rapidly approaching.

0:51Look slows down and pulls off slightly to let the other driver pass. And as the car flashes by in front of his headlights, Look can see it's a black Oldsmobile with a man and a woman in the front seats. They pull off the main road and onto a private dirt lane where the car stops. Figuring the driver's a tourist in need of directions, Look gets out of his car. When he gets to within 30 feet of the Oldsmobile, he calls out. Hey, evening, folks. Anything I can help you with? The car suddenly shifts into drive and then speeds off, kicking up a cloud of dirt. As a deputy sheriff, Luke intuitively narrows his eyes on the license plate.

1:30It's dark, but in the red glow of the taillights, he can see it's a Massachusetts plate that begins with L7. Then, with a shake of his head, Luke goes back to his car. And as he drives off, it occurs to him that he's still wearing his police badge. The pair in the Oldsmobile had probably been drinking and got spooked when they saw a cop. But Look hasn't gone too much further when he's fought some more people, a man and two women, dancing in a clumsy conga line in the middle of the road. Look slows down and leans his head out the window. Hey, you folks doing all right? Need a lift? One of the women responds without even looking at him.

2:08Hey, shove off, buddy. We're fine. Excuse me? The woman turns toward Look, and when she notices the badge, her tone changes. Oh, officer, sorry. Hello, what did you say? I said, do you need a lift? Oh, no thank you, sir. We're headed home. We rented a cottage just down the road. Well, I suggest you stop dancing in the middle of the road. I almost got sideswiped a minute ago. It's regatta weekend, you know, and you're not the only people who have been partying out here. All right, yes, sir. We'll do that. Okay, well, you have a safe night. Look pulls away and watches in his rearview mirror as the trio takes his advice and moves to the shoulder of the road.

2:45He swears under his breath. This damn regatta. Tourists get crazier every year. But as Deputy Huck Look continues home, his mind drifts back to the Oldsmobile. He wonders where the couple could have been going. Chappaquiddick is a tiny island with no bars, restaurants or stores. Even the ferry to Egertown closed at midnight. and wherever they were going, they seemed to be in a hurry. Look just hopes they got there okay.

3:15I'm Raza Jaffrey, and in the new season of The Spy Who, we go back in time to meet Benedict Arnold, the spy who betrayed the American Revolution. As America fights for freedom from Britain, Arnold emerges as one of the rebels' greatest generals. But when his loyalty is pushed to the limit, he turns spy and devises a plot to shatter the rebellion and make George Washington a prisoner. Follow The Spy Who now, wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also listen to the full season of The Spy Who Betrayed the American Revolution early and ad-free on Audible. I heard a rumour that the CIA poisoned my grandad.

3:49Gordon Banks, the world's number one goalkeeper. It happened in Mexico, supposedly, at the World Cup in 1970. Sounds crazy? I'm an investigative journalist on the hunt for evidence. We needed to do some extraordinary things to counter the Soviets. This is Foul Play, an unbelievable tale of sports, spies and family secrets. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts or early and ad-free on Audible.

4:22From Audible Originals, I'm Lindsey Graham and this is American Scandal.

4:46In 1969, Ted Kennedy was only 37 years old, but he'd already been through enough ups and downs for several lifetimes. As the youngest child of a wealthy and powerful dynasty, Kennedy had been bailed out of a cheating scandal at Harvard, gotten away with multiple instances of reckless driving, and still managed to be elected to the U.S. Senate. But while his life had been privileged, it had also been enormously tragic. Of his eight siblings, one had been institutionalized and four had been killed, including his older brothers John and Bobby, who were both assassinated. Many assumed that Kennedy would take up their mantle and run for president one day, too.

5:26But the trauma of losing his siblings had left him scarred, frightened, and more susceptible to his bad habits than ever. In July of 1969, Kennedy's cousin and lifelong protector, Joe Gargan, threw a party at a cottage on Chappaquiddick Island. Joining them were six young women from Bobby Kennedy's ill-fated presidential campaign, along with a handful of other men from the Kennedy political machine. But thanks to Ted Kennedy's demons, what was supposed to be a happy weekend get-together would soon turn into yet another tragedy. This is Episode 2, The Bridge.

6:03It's around 1.15 a.m. on Saturday, July 19, 1969, on Chappaquiddick Island. In the kitchen of the small cottage he's rented, Joe Gargan scrapes leftovers off a plate and into the trash. The party's finally beginning to wind down, and he's getting sleepy. Looks like it's going to be a rough night, though. It's been about two hours since Ted Kennedy and 28-year-old campaign aide Mary Jo Kopechny took off in Kennedy's Oldsmobile. Gargan assumes they caught the last ferry back to their hotel rooms across the channel in Egretown. So now, Gargan and the nine remaining party-goers are stranded in the two-bedroom cottage.

6:41Gargan does the math on how many beds and couches are available, and if he's lucky, he'll be able to sleep in the Lazy Boy, but equally likely, he'll be making do on the living room floor. As Gargan continues to tidy up, he feels a hand on his shoulder and turns to see Ray LaRosa, another party guest and longtime aide of Senator Kennedy. In a hushed voice, LaRosa tells Gargan that Kennedy is outside and wants to speak with him. Gargan is surprised. He thought Kennedy had left for the night. Eager to know what's going on, Gargan quickly follows LaRosa out the back door. and he finds Kennedy slumped in the backseat of a Plymouth Valiant sedan, the other car that was used to bring guests to the party.

7:23Gargan frowns in confusion. There's no sign of the Oldsmobile or Kopechny. But before he can ask Kennedy anything, he's joined by another aide, Paul Markham. La Rosa heads back inside, while Gargan and Markham climb into the car with Kennedy. Now it's just the three of them. Kennedy explains what's happened. He says there's been an accident. The senator was driving with Kopechny when his car went off a bridge down by the beach, about a mile from the cottage. His voice is strangely calm, a matter of fact. But then the story gets worse. Kennedy tells them that the Oldsmobile is in the water and Kopechny is still inside.

8:00Shock washes over Gargan. For a moment, he's frozen in his seat, thinking this can't be happening. But then Gargan pulls himself together. It's possible Kopechny is still alive, which means they need to get to the crash site. Gargan turns the key in the ignition and guns the Valiant onto the road. Seconds later, they're at an intersection. The main road curves around to the left, and to the right is a narrow, private dirt lane that leads to the beach. Gargan yells out to Kennedy, asking which way to go, and from the back seat, Kennedy tells Gargan to turn right. A lot of the roads on Chappaquiddick are little more than dirt tracks, but this one is especially treacherous.

8:40About a half mile from the intersection, it veers sharply to the left, then immediately crosses an old wooden bridge that spans a channel linking the sea with an island pond. The bridge itself is even narrower than the road, just wide enough for a single car, and there are no guardrails. Gargan slows as the bridge comes into view, and Kennedy tells him this is where he crashed. Carefully, Gargan drives across the bridge, and then on the other side, he turns back around and shines the sedan's headlights over the channel.

9:14Gargan gets out of the car and hurries over to the water's edge. Markham joins him while Kennedy takes a seat on the hood of the parked Valiant and just stares silently into space. Gargan peers into the dark water. He sees the Oldsmobile flip upside down and almost completely submerged. He turns to Markham. Jesus, how long has it been since the crash? Must have been half an hour. If Mary Jo's in there, I mean, there's no way anyone can survive, right? Well, we gotta try. Gargan heads toward the bridge and Markham follows. As they walk, Gargan starts unbuttoning his shirt. Yeah, we should probably take our clothes off.

9:50You know, we don't want anything catching on a door handle or a broken window or something. Yeah, good idea. Two men strip down, and a moment later, they're both standing on the bridge, completely nude. Markham dives into the pond first, followed by Gargan. He's relieved to find the water isn't too cold, but as he surfaces and kicks out toward the car, he can feel the tug of the current pulling at him. He swims harder, and a few seconds later, both men have reached the rear of the submerged car. Catching his breath, Gargan lays out a plan. All right, I don't think we'll be able to see anything down there.

10:22I'm just going to feel around the car with my legs, try and find an open window that we can get inside of. But after a moment of kicking around, Gargan can tell this isn't going to work. I can't feel anything. I need to go under. Okay, but be careful. Gargan lets go of the car and submerges fully underwater. But he still can't find a way in. He pops back up. This isn't working. I'm going to try the front. Gargan swims to the front of the overturned car and feels around the vehicle with his legs. Hey, there's an opening here. It must be a window. I'm going to try and get inside. Just make sure you can get back out.

11:00Gargan takes a deep breath and dives under the surface. Grabbing the sides of the window, he pulls his body through the opening. He claws around the inside with his hands, but he can't make sense of what he's groping at. When Gargan begins to lose his breath, he tries to go back the way he came, but suddenly he can't find the window. He thrashes out, grasping for anything. Finally, his hands catch on a hard surface, and he pushes off. Stretching out for the open window, Gargan forces himself back through. Joe, you okay? The current threatens to pull Gargan downstream, but Markham grabs a hold of him and drags him back to the car.

11:37Holding on to the submerged trunk, Gargan tries to gather his strength. I couldn't see anything. I got turned around and started panicking. You're okay. You're okay. That's the main thing. You're okay. I'm worried I lost you for a second, though. I'm going back in. Oh, no. It's too dangerous. I'll stay outside of the car. Maybe I can get one of the doors open. No, Joe, I have to try, Paul. I'm the one who invited her. But even though he tries, Joe Gargan can't force a door open, and eventually the two men decide they're only risking their own lives. They swim to the low-slung bridge and pull themselves up onto its wooden beams.

12:14Then exhausted, they trudge over to the Valiant, where Ted Kennedy remains seated on the hood. They tell him they've done all they can. Kennedy is distraught. He puts his hands on his head, and over and over he mutters, I can't believe this is happening. Gargan and Markham begin putting their clothes back on. And as they dress, they ask Kennedy again what happened. Kennedy can't tell them much more than he already has. He says he was driving his Oldsmobile on the dirt road when he suddenly found himself on the bridge. Then, in an instant, the car was off the bridge and upside down in the pond.

12:48Kennedy thought he was going to drown, but he somehow freed himself from the car and made it to shore. He went back for Kopechny, but couldn't save her. So he did the only thing he could think of and walked back to the cottage to get help. There's a long silence. No one is sure what to say or do. So Gargan gets behind the wheel of the Valiant with Markham in the passenger seat and Kennedy in the back. As he starts the car up and carefully crosses the bridge again, Gargan begins to think. As Kennedy's lifelong protector, it's up to him to ensure that this already nightmarish situation doesn't get any worse.

13:24There's a dead girl back there in that Oldsmobile, and Kennedy was behind the wheel when the accident happened. They clearly need to report it as soon as possible, and not just because it's a legal requirement. Failing to alert the authorities in a timely manner will expose Kennedy to all manner of legal and political trouble further down the line. So Gargan begins laying out a plan. When they get back to Egertown, they'll head to the police station to report the accident in person. After that, they should call Kennedy's mother, Rose, to let the family know what's happened before they hear about it from the media.

13:57Markham agrees that this sounds like a good course of action. But then Kennedy interjects from the backseat. He's got a different idea. Kennedy proposes that they all go back to the cottage and work out a story they can stick to. Then he'll go back to his hotel in Eggertown alone, allowing Gargan to go to the crash site and discover the accident for himself. When Gargan reports it, he can claim he found Kopechny alone in the car, making it appear that Kopechny crashed herself into the pond while Kennedy was asleep miles away. Gargan is horrified. Kennedy's plan is full of holes. First of all, he and Markham already know what happened, and they're not going to implicate themselves in a crime by lying to the police.

14:39And even if they did, there are people back at the cottage who saw Kennedy leave with Kopechny. There's no way the five other boiler room girls are all going to agree to lie about what they saw. Besides, they'd have to cook up some reason why Kopechny was driving alone on an unfamiliar road late at night, behind the wheel of a car that wasn't hers, while all her friends were back partying at the cottage. They don't even know if Kopechny had a license. It's all too risky. Kennedy tries to argue back, insisting that those are minor details that can be worked out, but Gargan cuts him off, raising his voice.

15:13Gargan reminds Kennedy that the three of them were being quite loud at the crash site just now, well within earshot of nearby homes. They also had the valiant's headlights shining over the pond, which anyone passing by would have seen. There could be witnesses they don't even know about. Kennedy goes quiet. Gargan hopes his old friend has come to a census and is ready to take responsibility for what happened. When Gargan reaches the next intersection, he continues straight toward the ferry landing, in the opposite direction of the cottage. Kennedy doesn't protest. As far as Gargan is concerned, it's an unspoken agreement.

15:47They're going to report the accident just as it happened.

15:54I'm Raza Jaffray, and in the new season of The Spy Who, they open the file on Benedict Arnold. the spy who betrayed the American Revolution. America is fighting to free itself from the British Empire, and one of its foremost generals is Benedict Arnold. He's a smuggler turned battlefield hero and admired for his aggressive tactics. But when a war wound, a new wife, debts and politics test his loyalty to the mags, he turns spy and devises a plot to shatter the revolution and help Britain capture rebel commander-in-chief General George Washington. And that plot would make him the most infamous traitor in U.S.

16:37history. Follow The Spy Who now, wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also listen to the full season of The Spy Who Betrayed the American Revolution early and ad-free on Audible.

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18:04It's just before 2 a.m. on July 19, 1969. Joe Gargan, Paul Markham, and Ted Kennedy reached a ferry landing on Chappaquiddick Island. Gargan's plan is for them to find a way across the channel to Egretown so that they can report the car accident at the police station as soon as possible. He was hoping that by some miracle, the ferry might still be running at this late hour, or that there might be someone here who could help. But as he looks around, the ferry master is nowhere to be seen. The ferry itself is tied up across the water on the Eggertown side. The entire landing is quiet and deserted.

18:40As the three men sit in the car, Gargan once again insists that they need to find a way to get to the police station. Slumped on the back seat, Kennedy just closes his eyes. He's had enough of Gargan's voice for one night. He desperately needs a moment to himself to try and process what's just happened. It's all so surreal. He can see his political life flashing before his eyes, and can't imagine how he'll possibly explain to the public that he was out with a young woman late at night while his wife was asleep at home. Even worse, now that young woman is dead. But it's hard to think straight with Gargan going on and on from the front seat.

19:18Eventually, Kennedy can't take it anymore. He just wants to get away from his cousin, away from the island, away from everything. So Kennedy interrupts Gargan and tells him and Markin to go back to the cottage without him. He says they shouldn't tell the other partygoers anything about the accident. Kopechny's friends might go to the bridge and hurt themselves, trying to pull her body from the water. Kennedy then says he'll take care of everything. Gargan doesn't need to call the police or anyone else tonight. He'll handle all of it. And with that, Kennedy opens the door and strides away from the car.

19:49His friends don't follow. For a moment, Kennedy stands at the water's edge and stares across the channel. He can see Egnertown just 500 feet away. Kennedy wants nothing more than to get back to the safety and comfort of his hotel room, so he dives headfirst into the water, fully clothed. If Gargan or Markham shout after him or try to call him back, he doesn't hear them. And the water feels good. The shock of the cold on his body is exactly what he needs. He takes strong, confident strokes, and at first the swim is smooth. Kennedy is an accomplished athlete and a lifelong swimmer. But after a while, he begins to lose steam.

20:28His head is pounding, and his back aches from the accident. He's also got a belly full of booze and hors d 'oeuvres from a long night of partying. Now, halfway across the channel, the current begins to get stronger. Kennedy feels himself being pulled along, out toward the deeper waters of the bay. He doesn't think he can make it across, but now it's too late to turn around. Terrible thought creeps into his mind. The Kennedy curse is real, and it's about to strike again. This might be how the great dynasty finally ends. His brother Joe Jr. was killed in the war, and Jack and Bobby were struck down by assassins.

21:06Now the last Kennedy man standing is going to drown on Martha's Vineyard, swimming drunk in the middle of the night, fleeing the scene of an accident. But Kennedy pushes this thought from his head. He's too proud to give up, and a Kennedy always fights to the very end. So he kicks harder, his lungs burning. But despite all his efforts, the opposite shore still seems so far away, until he hits a calmer stretch of water. The current eases, and with each stroke of his arms, the beach grows closer. When Kennedy finally reaches solid ground, he collapses on the sand, exhausted. He's relieved just to be alive, but he's also glad to be away from Gargan, Markham, and the whole mess he's left behind on Chappaquiddick.

21:50And when his strength returns, Kennedy picks himself up and begins trudging along the beach toward his hotel. He just needs to lie down for a while in the peace and quiet of his room to decide what to do next. Back on Chappaquiddick, Joe Gargan and Paul Markham have headed back to the cottage as instructed. They were astonished when Kennedy suddenly jumped into the water, fully clothed. But they could do nothing except watch as he struggled across the channel to Egertown. Only after he made it across did they follow his orders. So now they're back at the party with the others. When the rest of the girls quiz Gargan on the whereabouts of Kennedy and Mary Jo Kopechny, Gargan mixes truth with lies.

22:31He correctly explains that Kennedy swam back to Egertown, but Gargan tells the women that Kopechny drove Kennedy's Oldsmobile to catch the last car ferry of the night, and she must be safely back at her hotel by now. In reality, he knows that the Oldsmobile is only a mile away, submerged upside down in the water, with Kopechny's corpse trapped inside. But none of the others seem to suspect that Gargan is lying. Steadily, everyone finds a bed, a couch, or a space on the floor where they can lay their heads. It's an uncomfortable night for all the partygoers, but especially Gargan and Markham. Neither man sleeps, and as the hours tick by, their anxieties grow.