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American Morning
Interview of Alex Kuczynski, Raoul Felder
Aired January 21, 2002 - 09:49 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The big question this hour: Is $320,000 a month enough to raise a child? Believe it or not, that's exactly what the ex-wife of movie and casino mogul Kirk Kerkorian claims she needs to raise their daughter, 3-year-old Kira, properly, and she's taking her billionaire ex to court to get it.
Among other things, she wants: $14,000 for parties and play dates, $5,900 a month for eating out, $4,300 a month for eating in, I have no idea what they eat in that household, $2,500 for movies and other outings, $1,400 for laundry and dry cleaning, $1,000 for toys, books, and videos, $436 for Kira's pets, and $144,000 a month for travel on private jets. I'm not making this stuff up.
Joining us right now to talk about this bizarre legal battle, renowned divorce lawyer Raoul Felder, and Alex Kuczynski of the "New York Times," who has just written about the case. Good to see the two of you.
Now, Alex, you've got put this into context for our audience this morning. This woman, who was a former professional tennis player, was married to Kirk Kerkorian for how long?
ALEX KUCZYNSKI, NEW YORK TIMES: She was a tennis instructor, and they were married for one month, and that was five months after the birth of her child, Kira.
ZAHN: To Kirk.
KUCZYNSKI: Yes. And she asked Kirk to marry her, because she wanted to confer -- quote -- "dignity and respect" -- end quote -- upon the child.
ZAHN: So he cobbled together a deal where he agreed to marry her in exchange for her giving up spousal support?
KUCZYNSKI: That's right, so she gets no alimony, but she does get child support.
ZAHN: And it was set up for $35,000 a month, but she can contest that, which she is doing now.
KUCZYNSKI: She can contest that, and in fact he was until, you know, recently paying $75,000 a month, and gave her an $8 million house, and also paid for $3 million worth of renovation, so she is not living on skid row here.
ZAHN: Raoul, you've handled a lot of hot potato cases of your own. Are these numbers just nuts?
RAOUL FELDER, DIVORCE LAWYER: Well, I mean -- for instance, you left out one number: $7,000 a month for charity contributions.
ZAHN: Oh, I'm sorry.
FELDER: This is a 3-year-old girl.
ZAHN: We didn't do that on purpose.
FELDER: So, we're in the realm of absurdity, but, you know, a lawyer sits there with a secretary, and he said, well, let's add this, let's add that. He -- the lawyer has something else going for him here. He has an 84-year-old billionaire who it may not matter very much, what kind of money he's going to pay, he's going to leave a vast estate, probably go mostly to his little girl, so why not ask for it?
ZAHN: Why not ask for it? I mean, the rest of America looking at these numbers thinks this is sick.
KUCZYNSKI: I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that, you know, she is really irked at Kirk, you know, for not having done her right, you know, in terms of the nups, you know. And she was his third wife, and she --- I think, really, thought, you know what, I'm going to go for as much gusto as I can, and see what I come out with.
ZAHN: And you could make the argument that if he exposed her to this lifestyle, perhaps, he got her prepared for the idea, that maybe she felt like she's entitled to this lifestyle.
FELDER: It's a tough argument. It happened in the Pearlman (ph) case too, where they were making these absurd claims, and, you know, sometimes it pays off. You've got a rich guy who doesn't want to go court, maybe he's a little older, but every time they go to court, they don't end up with that kind of money.
ZAHN: I thought it was very interesting that the last sentence of your article that you filed, you said that the attorney representing this woman, who felt she was wronged by Kirk Kerkorian, said, oops, we left out another big chunk we think she is entitled to, and that was for...
KUCZYNSKI: He said that was for private yacht charters, because the 3-year-old girl, you know, needs a private yacht chartered.
ZAHN: I want to know where this 3-year-old goes for $144,000 a month, travel on private jets.
(CROSSTALK)
FELDER: ...psychiatrist, at one point in the life of -- this is what the...
(CROSSTALK)
KUCZYNSKI: And the Betty Ford Clinic.
ZAHN: Raoul, would you have asked for this kind of money...
FELDER: No.
ZAHN: ...given what the financial universe is of Kirk Kerkorian, which is huge.
FELDER: Paula, you know, it depends where you live. I think if you are in la-la land in California, okay, I don't think it will fly in New York, I don't think it would fly in Chicago. That's probably the only place in America where you could do it, and people would smile at you.
ZAHN: You know what I found really interesting, and kind of painful to read, were these young kids that you quoted in this paper, who grew up in this community, who talk about flying in private planes, like they're what --
KUCZYNSKI: Well, flying in private planes, if you're a really wealthy kid living in that Hollywood society is a natural state of being, and flying commercial is "bogus, dude." You know, that's what the private school kids who are 10 years old in L.A. say.
ZAHN: And they were referring to mansions like 8,000-square foot and 6,000 square foot --
KUCZYNSKI: Yeah, like, "dude, how can you live in such a tiny place?" It's a really -- it's a very skewed universe.
ZAHN: So, besides getting a great story out of this controversy, what is to be learned from this?
FELDER: That there are silly people all over the world, and there are people ready to ruin kids, and lawyers ready to do silly things. I think that's the only moral here.
ZAHN: And your reflections, now that you've really gotten into the details of this case?
KUCZYNSKI: I think I feel really sorry for Kirk Kerkorian, and Lisa, and the child. I mean, I really feel a great, grave sorrow for everybody involved in it, to be honest.
ZAHN: Well, if nothing else, they have certainly given the American public a lot of fodder to chew on. $320,000 a month in child support. Alex Kuczynski, congratulations to you.
KUCZYNSKI: Thank you.
ZAHN: Soon to be married. Hopefully, she will never have to visit you, Raoul.
FELDER: My loss. That's the first step to divorce, though. ZAHN: Oh, no, no, no! The guy is drumming up business on our show. You will never, ever need to go to the offices of Raoul Felder. Delightful to see you as well.
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