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American Morning
Talk with Actor Chris Lawford
Aired March 27, 2002 - 07:46 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The movie "Thirteen Days" took you inside the Kennedy White House during the Cuban missile crisis in October of 1962, when the world came as close as it ever has been to nuclear war. In the film, actor Chris Lawford, a Kennedy nephew, played the Air Force pilot who led a dangerous low-flying mission to get photos of Soviet military installations in Cuba.
Well, now Lawford is continuing to look at the Cuban missile crisis, offering his thoughts to Cubans working on a documentary about those 13 days with a view from the Cuban side. Just this past weekend, Lawford was in Cuba doing some research and talking with ordinary Cubans about their feelings about the U.S. then and today. And he joins us today in the studio -- good to see you.
CHRIS LAWFORD, ACTOR/FILMMAKER: Good to see you.
ZAHN: Welcome home.
LAWFORD: Yes, it's good to be back.
ZAHN: All right. What you've got to help us understand this morning is that you are involved in another project that is ostensibly supposed to show the Cuban side of the Cuban missile crisis.
LAWFORD: Right.
ZAHN: Would your uncles, Robert Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, think you are selling out here?
LAWFORD: I don't think they would, because really this is an issue -- nuclear proliferation and nuclear weapons, it's a world issue. It needs to be addressed. It is as relevant today as it was in 1962, and I think anything that puts that issue into public consciousness -- whoever does it, whether it's the Cubans, the Americans or the Russians.
We went down there in April. Kevin Costner and a group of us went down there to exhibit the film in Havana, and we actually showed the film to President Castro. And President Castro, you know, loved the movie. And everybody from him down said basically, you should make a movie about our -- you know, what was happening here.
The great thing about "Thirteen Days" was you got into the Kennedy White House. You saw -- you really believed you saw these two guys wrestling with this, you know, when President Kennedy says, you know, the only thing -- there is something immoral about abandoning one's own judgment. The idea is the Cubans want to make a film that looks at their side of it, and I think that's really important.
ZAHN: How much editorial control will you have? And do you think most Americans will perceive it as propaganda once it is finished?
LAWFORD: We won't to have any editorial control at this point...
ZAHN: I guess...
LAWFORD: ... because there is an embargo in place, and it's illegal for Americans to do any kind of business with the Cubans. So this is an indigenous film. They are developing it. They are -- you know, they are doing it. You know, whether it's propaganda or not, I don't think so. I think what they have represented is they are going to really look at this. They are going to declassify information. They are going to really look at the personal history of the leadership and the people down there through what they call their crisis of October.
ZAHN: I guess we'll have to wait and see to make our judgment...
LAWFORD: Yes.
ZAHN: ... and how accurate it is and whether it's propaganda or not.
LAWFORD: I guess so.
ZAHN: You also had the opportunity to go around with a handheld camera and talk with a bunch of Cubans about their reaction to what happened on September 11 and their reaction to the U.S. military action. Let's listen to some of these conversations, and then I want you to give us a broader view of it all -- let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't like the Guantanamo Bay (UNINTELLIGIBLE), no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It has taken our peace (ph). So the United States and put anything there is people (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: American prisoners, Cuba (UNINTELLIGIBLE) country (ph) and at certain times will know (UNINTELLIGIBLE) like that.
LAWFORD (on camera): These signs were put up all over Havana after September 11. They say "Cuba against terrorism and against the war."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Terrorism is bad, but which (ph) is the terrorist is not to impose the American law to everybody else.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody have some family in the United States of America. We can (ph) be enemies to have to be friends. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Now, I don't know how accurately that reflects the viewpoint of the total Cuban population. But by and large, were most people offended that these prisoners were being held at Guantanamo, that's at least what you got the impression of from listening to these small bits of interviews?
LAWFORD: No, they weren't. The Cubans are very -- they are very knowledgeable, and they know. I mean, I don't know how representative this sample is either, but the thing that I got from this exploration was a deep affinity between the Cuban people and the American people. They have a really deep, strong feeling towards us. And their feelings about Guantanamo, the prisoners there are an American issue. They have very strong feelings, however, about Guantanamo belonging to Cuba.
The other thing that was interesting was I asked if they were afraid -- the other -- about terrorism there. And they said, you know, most Cubans believe that they have been dealing with terrorism for the last 40 years in real acts of terrorism, violence against the Cuban people and against the Cuban state, and the embargo. Many Cubans feel that is a form of terrorism.
ZAHN: All right. But the problem they have to deal with, of course, is the fact that you've got a bipartisan congressional commission basically exploring ways to put pressure on the Bush administration to drop the embargo, but there doesn't seem to be any sign coming from the Bush administration that they plan to do that. In fact, the sign is quite the opposite that the restrictions will be increased.
LAWFORD: That's true. It has gotten a little bit more difficult to interact with Cuba on a variety of levels. There is some sentiment, at least in the circles that I -- that maybe after the November elections, there may be some -- some of the restrictions on the travel ban will be lifted. But you are right.
It's funny, when I came back through Miami, I was with Customs, and one of the Customs guys said, "What's in your bag?" And I said, well, just a few cigars. And he goes, "Oh, that's OK. You're allowed to bring a few cigars back." But he goes, "Lay (ph) your congressman. Tell him to get rid of this embargo. It's driving us crazy." So...
ZAHN: The problem is his congressman is serving in a state with a Republican governor who happens to be the brother of the president, and there are all sorts of interesting state issues there and pressures to contend with as well.
LAWFORD: This is true. This is true.
ZAHN: Chris Lawford, thank you for dropping by.
LAWFORD: My pleasure.
ZAHN: And thank you for taking those pictures for us as well from Cuba.
LAWFORD: Thank you.
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