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Interview With Lloyd Grove

Aired June 04, 2003 - 15:46   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: Bill Clinton's affair with an intern captured the nation's attention and resulted in impeachment by the House. Now the former first lady is revealing what went on behind closed doors during that troubling time in the White House. In her new memoir, "Living History," Hillary Clinton describes the moment her husband finally told her about his relationship. She writes, we quote her now, "I could hardly breathe. Gulping for air, I started crying and yelling at him, what do you mean? What are you saying? Why did you lie to me? I was furious and getting more so by the second. He just stood there saying over and over again, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I was trying to protect you and Chelsea. I was dumbfounded, heartbroken and outraged that I'd believed him at all. As a wife, I wanted to wring Bill's neck."
If the advance billing is true, another former first lady's book could steal the political thunder and have some famous pundits taking cover. Barbara Bush reportedly doesn't mince any words in her upcoming memoir, entitled "Reflections." My next guest, Lloyd Grove, has the scoop. He writes "The Reliable Source," a column appearing in "The Washington Post." Lloyd, thanks for joining me. Lloyd, I guess it's no surprise that Barbara Bush is not pulling her punches, that's kind of her style, isn't it?

LLOYD GROVE, THE RELIABLE SOURCE: She never has. Ever since she said, "rhymes with rich" about Geraldine Ferraro, and she's known to her (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as someone who is very direct and straightforward, has a wicked sense of humor, and I think some of that will be on display in her memoirs that's about the life between the presidencies of her husband and her son.

And it's coming out in October. And some of the stuff in this book is apparently so hot that the legal people at Scribner, her publisher, have asked her to tone it down, and it's about a dozen cases of that. And what I've heard is that in a couple of cases, she's agreed to tone it down a little bit, and in most of the cases she's sticking to her guns.

O'BRIEN: You got to name names for us. Who is singled out?

GROVE: Well, I haven't seen the book. Only a few people have read it so far, because unlike Hillary's book, she wrote it every word herself. But I'm told that David Gergen, who back in 1979 wrote speeches for then presidential candidate Bush and then went through various iterations until he became a Bill Clinton aide, comes in from some heavy fire from Barbara Bush.

O'BRIEN: Little disloyalty issue there. She's not big on that issue.

GROVE: That is the worst, that's a capital offense in the Bush family. And other people who might come in for heavy fire are people like Maureen Dowd, who used to have good relations with the family, but her columns have been very tough on Bush 43.

O'BRIEN: Talking about the "New York Times" columnist.

(CROSSTALK)

GROVE: Just people who have run against various Bush progeny. Ann Richards, who I'm told Barbara Bush refers to as "that woman," much like Bill Clinton talks about Monica Lewinsky, and Ross Perot, who Mrs. Bush sometimes calls "that horrid little man."

O'BRIEN: Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. This sounds like a definite page turner. Which book do you think will ultimately win in the sales column?

GROVE: Well, Hillary's book is coming out with a million copies, $8 million advance, so her book better sell. Barbara Bush, she wrote every word herself, I don't know what the press is going to be, but I bet you there will be a lot of interest, she's very well beloved in this country.

O'BRIEN: Who wrote Hillary's book then?

GROVE: Well, I think Hillary will says she wrote it. It takes a village to write a Hillary Clinton book. I am interested who among the several people who worked on the book contributed to the scene that you just read from.

O'BRIEN: All right. I think we all have great interest in that scene and definitely we will be turning the pages on that one. Lloyd Grove, of "The Washington Post," writes a column called "The Reliable Source." Thank you.

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 June 4, 2003 - 15:46   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Bill Clinton's affair with an intern captured the nation's attention and resulted in impeachment by the House. Now the former first lady is revealing what went on behind closed doors during that troubling time in the White House. In her new memoir, "Living History," Hillary Clinton describes the moment her husband finally told her about his relationship. She writes, we quote her now, "I could hardly breathe. Gulping for air, I started crying and yelling at him, what do you mean? What are you saying? Why did you lie to me? I was furious and getting more so by the second. He just stood there saying over and over again, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I was trying to protect you and Chelsea. I was dumbfounded, heartbroken and outraged that I'd believed him at all. As a wife, I wanted to wring Bill's neck."
If the advance billing is true, another former first lady's book could steal the political thunder and have some famous pundits taking cover. Barbara Bush reportedly doesn't mince any words in her upcoming memoir, entitled "Reflections." My next guest, Lloyd Grove, has the scoop. He writes "The Reliable Source," a column appearing in "The Washington Post." Lloyd, thanks for joining me. Lloyd, I guess it's no surprise that Barbara Bush is not pulling her punches, that's kind of her style, isn't it?

LLOYD GROVE, THE RELIABLE SOURCE: She never has. Ever since she said, "rhymes with rich" about Geraldine Ferraro, and she's known to her (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as someone who is very direct and straightforward, has a wicked sense of humor, and I think some of that will be on display in her memoirs that's about the life between the presidencies of her husband and her son.

And it's coming out in October. And some of the stuff in this book is apparently so hot that the legal people at Scribner, her publisher, have asked her to tone it down, and it's about a dozen cases of that. And what I've heard is that in a couple of cases, she's agreed to tone it down a little bit, and in most of the cases she's sticking to her guns.

O'BRIEN: You got to name names for us. Who is singled out?

GROVE: Well, I haven't seen the book. Only a few people have read it so far, because unlike Hillary's book, she wrote it every word herself. But I'm told that David Gergen, who back in 1979 wrote speeches for then presidential candidate Bush and then went through various iterations until he became a Bill Clinton aide, comes in from some heavy fire from Barbara Bush.

O'BRIEN: Little disloyalty issue there. She's not big on that issue.

GROVE: That is the worst, that's a capital offense in the Bush family. And other people who might come in for heavy fire are people like Maureen Dowd, who used to have good relations with the family, but her columns have been very tough on Bush 43.

O'BRIEN: Talking about the "New York Times" columnist.

(CROSSTALK)

GROVE: Just people who have run against various Bush progeny. Ann Richards, who I'm told Barbara Bush refers to as "that woman," much like Bill Clinton talks about Monica Lewinsky, and Ross Perot, who Mrs. Bush sometimes calls "that horrid little man."

O'BRIEN: Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. This sounds like a definite page turner. Which book do you think will ultimately win in the sales column?

GROVE: Well, Hillary's book is coming out with a million copies, $8 million advance, so her book better sell. Barbara Bush, she wrote every word herself, I don't know what the press is going to be, but I bet you there will be a lot of interest, she's very well beloved in this country.

O'BRIEN: Who wrote Hillary's book then?

GROVE: Well, I think Hillary will says she wrote it. It takes a village to write a Hillary Clinton book. I am interested who among the several people who worked on the book contributed to the scene that you just read from.

O'BRIEN: All right. I think we all have great interest in that scene and definitely we will be turning the pages on that one. Lloyd Grove, of "The Washington Post," writes a column called "The Reliable Source." Thank you.

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