Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Kennedy Curse?

Aired July 02, 2003 - 07:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A new book claims to tell the real story behind the marriage of John Kennedy, Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. Excerpts of the book, entitled "The Kennedy Curse," are in the new issue of "Vanity Fair." Author Edward Klein claims Kennedy was angry about Bessette's use of cocaine and says the couple's arguments often turned violent. He quotes JFK, Jr. as saying to a friend just days before their fatal plane crash: "I've had it with her. It's got to stop. Otherwise we're headed for divorce."
But another Kennedy biographer takes issue with this new book. Laurence Leamer is the author of "The Kennedy Men," and he joins us now.

By the way, CNN contacted representatives of the Kennedy and Bessette families. Neither family wishes to comment on the "Vanity Fair" article. And we should point out, too, that we don't have a copy of the book, nor is the author available.

Having said all of that, we've read the "Vanity Fair" article. What are your thoughts?

LAURENCE LEAMER, AUTHOR, "THE KENNEDY MEN: 1901-1963": Well, Miles, I've been working four years on a book called "The Kennedy Sons" that comes out next year. And a lot of it deals with John Kennedy, and all of his closest friends are cooperating with me. They wanted one place to have a definitive story of his life. And it's nothing like this at all. It's very different.

John has a foundation called Reaching Up that John founded. It helps thousands of people. I can't -- when my book comes out, "The New York Post" isn't going to have a headline saying John Kennedy, secret philanthropist. So, my first take was I was really upset, because I'm not going to get this kind of publicity.

O'BRIEN: So, the truth may not sell as many newspapers.

LEAMER: Exactly. No. But then I thought about it, and I realized, stop feeling sorry for yourself and realize what John would say. His magazine, "George," was about the parameters of freedom, about how we should write about public figures. And he thought that we should naturally find our limits. And he was the victim of this stuff for all of his life.

O'BRIEN: Well, but...

LEAMER: He would have understood this. We can't do anything about it. This is the downside of freedom, and we'll get over it. O'BRIEN: All right, I want to ask you about whether the limits have been crossed. But let's first of all give people a little better sense...

LEAMER: OK.

O'BRIEN: ... of what's in this article. First of all, they talk about the wedding day...

LEAMER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: ... in Cumberland Island, Georgia. And it relates a scene that does not speak well of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. Tell me about what you know about that, and what you know to be true about that day.

LEAMER: Well, the scene in the "Vanity Fair" article is that the wedding is two-and-a-half hours late, because she's off in this little house and she's screaming because she can't get her dress on right, OK? The reality is that the wedding was late, she was having trouble, and John lost his cufflinks. I mean, that's John, he was always forgetting things. Who cared that the wedding was two-and-a-half hours late? These are 60 people on Cumberland Island having the best time of their lives. They didn't even know it was two-and-a-half hours late.

He suggests it was like this wedding chapel in Vegas and they're standing there and somebody is getting in line to get married. The context is totally wrong.

O'BRIEN: All right, now, the allegations of cocaine use by Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, perhaps the most damning accusation in that article.

LEAMER: Well, yes, there was recreational cocaine use. I mean, he occasionally did drugs, too. But it's not that she was an addict. I mean, this is, again, it's just blown out -- even the things that are true are blown out of proportion.

O'BRIEN: Well, but recreational use, I mean, where do you draw the line on that?

LEAMER: Well, I don't know. But if we walked out on the street and talked to 10 people, I bet that a couple of them are doing that.

O'BRIEN: All right, thin sourcing here...

LEAMER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: ... to say the least. I saw maybe one name mentioned, and that's a previous boyfriend of Carolyn Bessette. The rest is just unnamed sources. Who was this person Mr. Klein was talking to?

LEAMER: Well, anonymous sources are like garlic. A little bit makes the dish tastes good, a lot of it in the dish stinks. OK? This book is almost exclusively an anonymous source. I don’t know who they are. I mean, I know they're not John's closest -- I don't know. He didn't even contact John's friends. I mean, he asked them for interviews. So, I don't know.

I mean, he's a pedicurist, a manicurist. I don't know who -- I know when I -- frankly, when you do a book, a biography, there are few people that know the inside story (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Miles, I bet there are 10 people that if I wanted to write about you that really would know about you. There are people you meet on the street, some guy that, you know, you see in a cab, but they don't know what you're really like.

O'BRIEN: So, did this book, from what you've seen of it...

LEAMER: Right.

O'BRIEN: ... in this "Vanity Fair" excerpt, does it appear to cross the line?

LEAMER: The American people have -- sooner or later, we are going to figure out as Americans we have the freedom that people have never had in the world. We're going to use how we want to use that freedom and how we don't. Do we want to spend our summers reading this? Do we want -- or don't we? Do we care that things are well- sourced, that we think they are truthful or not? Or is this just entertainment?

O'BRIEN: Laurence Leamer, author of "The Kennedy Men," among other book about the Kennedy clan, thanks very much for being with us.

LEAMER: Thanks, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired July 2, 2003 - 07:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A new book claims to tell the real story behind the marriage of John Kennedy, Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. Excerpts of the book, entitled "The Kennedy Curse," are in the new issue of "Vanity Fair." Author Edward Klein claims Kennedy was angry about Bessette's use of cocaine and says the couple's arguments often turned violent. He quotes JFK, Jr. as saying to a friend just days before their fatal plane crash: "I've had it with her. It's got to stop. Otherwise we're headed for divorce."
But another Kennedy biographer takes issue with this new book. Laurence Leamer is the author of "The Kennedy Men," and he joins us now.

By the way, CNN contacted representatives of the Kennedy and Bessette families. Neither family wishes to comment on the "Vanity Fair" article. And we should point out, too, that we don't have a copy of the book, nor is the author available.

Having said all of that, we've read the "Vanity Fair" article. What are your thoughts?

LAURENCE LEAMER, AUTHOR, "THE KENNEDY MEN: 1901-1963": Well, Miles, I've been working four years on a book called "The Kennedy Sons" that comes out next year. And a lot of it deals with John Kennedy, and all of his closest friends are cooperating with me. They wanted one place to have a definitive story of his life. And it's nothing like this at all. It's very different.

John has a foundation called Reaching Up that John founded. It helps thousands of people. I can't -- when my book comes out, "The New York Post" isn't going to have a headline saying John Kennedy, secret philanthropist. So, my first take was I was really upset, because I'm not going to get this kind of publicity.

O'BRIEN: So, the truth may not sell as many newspapers.

LEAMER: Exactly. No. But then I thought about it, and I realized, stop feeling sorry for yourself and realize what John would say. His magazine, "George," was about the parameters of freedom, about how we should write about public figures. And he thought that we should naturally find our limits. And he was the victim of this stuff for all of his life.

O'BRIEN: Well, but...

LEAMER: He would have understood this. We can't do anything about it. This is the downside of freedom, and we'll get over it. O'BRIEN: All right, I want to ask you about whether the limits have been crossed. But let's first of all give people a little better sense...

LEAMER: OK.

O'BRIEN: ... of what's in this article. First of all, they talk about the wedding day...

LEAMER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: ... in Cumberland Island, Georgia. And it relates a scene that does not speak well of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. Tell me about what you know about that, and what you know to be true about that day.

LEAMER: Well, the scene in the "Vanity Fair" article is that the wedding is two-and-a-half hours late, because she's off in this little house and she's screaming because she can't get her dress on right, OK? The reality is that the wedding was late, she was having trouble, and John lost his cufflinks. I mean, that's John, he was always forgetting things. Who cared that the wedding was two-and-a-half hours late? These are 60 people on Cumberland Island having the best time of their lives. They didn't even know it was two-and-a-half hours late.

He suggests it was like this wedding chapel in Vegas and they're standing there and somebody is getting in line to get married. The context is totally wrong.

O'BRIEN: All right, now, the allegations of cocaine use by Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, perhaps the most damning accusation in that article.

LEAMER: Well, yes, there was recreational cocaine use. I mean, he occasionally did drugs, too. But it's not that she was an addict. I mean, this is, again, it's just blown out -- even the things that are true are blown out of proportion.

O'BRIEN: Well, but recreational use, I mean, where do you draw the line on that?

LEAMER: Well, I don't know. But if we walked out on the street and talked to 10 people, I bet that a couple of them are doing that.

O'BRIEN: All right, thin sourcing here...

LEAMER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: ... to say the least. I saw maybe one name mentioned, and that's a previous boyfriend of Carolyn Bessette. The rest is just unnamed sources. Who was this person Mr. Klein was talking to?

LEAMER: Well, anonymous sources are like garlic. A little bit makes the dish tastes good, a lot of it in the dish stinks. OK? This book is almost exclusively an anonymous source. I don’t know who they are. I mean, I know they're not John's closest -- I don't know. He didn't even contact John's friends. I mean, he asked them for interviews. So, I don't know.

I mean, he's a pedicurist, a manicurist. I don't know who -- I know when I -- frankly, when you do a book, a biography, there are few people that know the inside story (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Miles, I bet there are 10 people that if I wanted to write about you that really would know about you. There are people you meet on the street, some guy that, you know, you see in a cab, but they don't know what you're really like.

O'BRIEN: So, did this book, from what you've seen of it...

LEAMER: Right.

O'BRIEN: ... in this "Vanity Fair" excerpt, does it appear to cross the line?

LEAMER: The American people have -- sooner or later, we are going to figure out as Americans we have the freedom that people have never had in the world. We're going to use how we want to use that freedom and how we don't. Do we want to spend our summers reading this? Do we want -- or don't we? Do we care that things are well- sourced, that we think they are truthful or not? Or is this just entertainment?

O'BRIEN: Laurence Leamer, author of "The Kennedy Men," among other book about the Kennedy clan, thanks very much for being with us.

LEAMER: Thanks, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.