More involved in Oklahoma City bombing?

NICHOLS: Oh. God has given him the most amazing strength. I've seen such a change in that individual. I've seen such a change in my father in the past 11 years. To be in the position he is in, he's in solitary confinement, also, he doesn't have contact with nobody whatsoever. They bring the shower to him. He's cut off from the world. One phone call a month and all he has is his Bible, and that's gotten him through.

COSBY: Do you believe that someone in the government had prior knowledge about the bombing or covered it up?

NICHOLS: I do believe it. I mean, how could something that huge happen and just two people know about it? It doesn't make sense.

COSBY: How high up do you believe it goes?

NICHOLS: I really don't know who is involved, what individuals or what positions they have in their department but it's obvious to me, it's very obvious to me that he's fearing for his life for some reason.

COSBY: And when you say department, do you believe the FBI?

NICHOLS: ATF, FBI, some government agency investigation, agency, CIA, some department investigates this kind of stuff.

COSBY: Your Dad has said that he believes that there's some government cover up here.

NICHOLS: I don't know what he knows but it is also obvious to me that what he knows is something that's very powerful and he doesn't want to go out and exploit it when the time isn't right. When there's a lot more at stake than just telling a story.

COSBY: Do you think your dad is ready to tell the truth now about the Oklahoma City bombing?

NICHOLS: I know he is.

COSBY: Do you believe your dad's faith is also persuading him to speak?

NICHOLS: I do. I really do because of the fact that having faith in God and Jesus; you learn to wash your sins, you learn to open up and confess to the things you've done wrong and because of the involvement that God has had in his life in the past 10 years, it's opened up a whole other room, it's opened up a whole other ballgame. In other words, I believe it prepares him to say what he needs to say.

COSBY: Do you think the American public is ready to hear the truth and accept it whatever it is?

NICHOLS: I think the American public can accept it, but I don't believe the government can.

COSBY: What kind of a man was Timothy McVeigh? You knew him.

NICHOLS: In fact, he was an extremist. He really didn't care too much for children. He used to drive like a maniac. The times I did see him, he was real moody, real isolated. And that's the picture that I got of McVeigh. That's how he carried himself. He was independent and I guess he stuck to what he believed.

COSBY: When you say he didn't like kids, how so? I mean, he wrote in a letter to me many years ago, the kids in the daycare center were collateral damage. Were you surprised to hear that?

NICHOLS: He just has no heart. I've never seen a good feeling from him. I've just seen negativity; negativity from McVeigh.

COSBY: Did you have any idea that Timothy McVeigh and your father were planning this?

NICHOLS: No I didn't.

COSBY: None at all.

NICHOLS: None at all.

COSBY: Nothing suspicious?

NICHOLS: No.

COSBY: Nothing unusual?

NICHOLS: No.

COSBY: You're in seventh grade at the time and they pull you in and say "Did you play a role in this horrible crime"?

NICHOLS: You know, it was kind of strange to me. I was going through my sixth hour class and all of the sudden, the dean, the principal, the hall monitors, they surrounded me and said, Mr. Nichols, you ought to come with us. I thought I was in trouble for goofing off in school. And they pulled me in the dean's office, locked me in a room, by myself, and said your mom's boyfriend is coming to get you.

I tried to open the door, the door was locked, and I'm like, what's going on? They're like just, calm down, your mom's boyfriend will be here in a few minutes.

My mother's boyfriend arrives and we hop in the vehicle and I say, what's going on, what's going on? He said, Josh, there is somebody following us and I say, well, so? As a kid I'm like, who's following us? He's like, the FBI. And he let me know why they were there, what happened the day before, a couple days before.

I'm like, OK, so, you know? What's the bombing got to do with me and why is the FBI following us? 

So we get to my house and there's five or six white government vehicles. There's eight to 10 government FBI agents in my house, all in their suits, business attire and my mom is just crying and crying and crying and I don't know what's going on. I'm still kind of new to the fact what the news was. The news was a building was blown up in Oklahoma City. As a child you don't watch the news. As a child you go out riding bikes, you play with your friends. You're not aware of what happens in the real world.

And my mom was just crying and crying and crying and I swore it was a mistake. Your father has been arrested for what happened in Oklahoma City and I'm like, yeah right, you know? Because reality, it doesn't set in on a child as it does an adult.

COSBY: Has he told your mom that that there were several others involved? It's my understanding is that there were a number of people involved, beyond your Dad and Timothy McVeigh.

NICHOLS: He has related that to my mother. I haven't personally had a conversation with him about other people's involvement and stuff like that, but my mother's conversation with him would be in more depth and more in tune with what he is trying to do with the story, with what he is trying to convey to America.

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