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American Morning
Arnold Schwarzenegger Speaking Candidly
Aired August 29, 2003 - 07:05 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Group sex, drugs and bodybuilding are not your typical fare in politics, but California's recall race is anything but typical. We all know that by now.
Arnold Schwarzenegger talked openly about the subjects in an interview with an adult magazine more than 25 years ago. Now, he's finding he can't run from it.
CNN national correspondent Bob Franken is live now from Los Angeles -- Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's hardly the secret life of Arnold Schwarzenegger, as you point out. Not only did he discuss this with "Oui" magazine in 1977 in an interview that coincided with the release of the movie, "Pumping Iron," but it also was the type of thing that appeared in an autobiographical book called "Arnold" that came out about the same time.
Some disclosures by Arnold Schwarzenegger that he had been involved in group sex with one woman and several bodybuilders in 1977. Also, that he had used marijuana and hashish.
You're seeing him on the campaign trail in Fresno appearing before a group at a charter school in Fresno, where obviously the subject did not come up, but it did come out when reporters talked to him afterwards.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know what you're talking about, but on top of that, I'm here to push my economic agenda. I'm here to listen to the people. I'm here to have a rally in Fresno. That's what I'm doing. I'm not paying any attention to all of those things. I have no memory of any of the articles I did 20 or 30 years ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: Now, CNN spoke with the author of that article, Peter Manso (ph), who spoke with us yesterday by phone. And he said that, in fact, he could prove that those were the comments of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Now, compare what Schwarzenegger said yesterday in Fresno with his comments to a Fresno radio station the night before that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SCHWARZENEGGER: I know exactly what you're saying. I never lived my life to be a politician. I never lived my life to be the governor of California.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: And by the way, as far as substantive comments from Schwarzenegger yesterday, there has been such interest, Anderson, in having him talk about that. There wasn't much interest in that yesterday.
COOPER: Yes, it's interesting. I mean, on Sunday, he seemed to reference the article, saying that he knew what the person was talking about. And then yesterday, I guess, he was saying he didn't know what the people were talking about.
I mean, if you ask his handlers, the people around him, do they talk about it, or are they just keeping their mouths shut?
FRANKEN: Well, right now, they're just keeping their mouth shut. I can tell you that they're having several meetings to decide how to answer those questions.
COOPER: All right, Bob Franken, thanks for the update this morning.
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 August 29, 2003 - 07:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Group sex, drugs and bodybuilding are not your typical fare in politics, but California's recall race is anything but typical. We all know that by now.
Arnold Schwarzenegger talked openly about the subjects in an interview with an adult magazine more than 25 years ago. Now, he's finding he can't run from it.
CNN national correspondent Bob Franken is live now from Los Angeles -- Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's hardly the secret life of Arnold Schwarzenegger, as you point out. Not only did he discuss this with "Oui" magazine in 1977 in an interview that coincided with the release of the movie, "Pumping Iron," but it also was the type of thing that appeared in an autobiographical book called "Arnold" that came out about the same time.
Some disclosures by Arnold Schwarzenegger that he had been involved in group sex with one woman and several bodybuilders in 1977. Also, that he had used marijuana and hashish.
You're seeing him on the campaign trail in Fresno appearing before a group at a charter school in Fresno, where obviously the subject did not come up, but it did come out when reporters talked to him afterwards.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know what you're talking about, but on top of that, I'm here to push my economic agenda. I'm here to listen to the people. I'm here to have a rally in Fresno. That's what I'm doing. I'm not paying any attention to all of those things. I have no memory of any of the articles I did 20 or 30 years ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: Now, CNN spoke with the author of that article, Peter Manso (ph), who spoke with us yesterday by phone. And he said that, in fact, he could prove that those were the comments of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Now, compare what Schwarzenegger said yesterday in Fresno with his comments to a Fresno radio station the night before that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SCHWARZENEGGER: I know exactly what you're saying. I never lived my life to be a politician. I never lived my life to be the governor of California.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: And by the way, as far as substantive comments from Schwarzenegger yesterday, there has been such interest, Anderson, in having him talk about that. There wasn't much interest in that yesterday.
COOPER: Yes, it's interesting. I mean, on Sunday, he seemed to reference the article, saying that he knew what the person was talking about. And then yesterday, I guess, he was saying he didn't know what the people were talking about.
I mean, if you ask his handlers, the people around him, do they talk about it, or are they just keeping their mouths shut?
FRANKEN: Well, right now, they're just keeping their mouth shut. I can tell you that they're having several meetings to decide how to answer those questions.
COOPER: All right, Bob Franken, thanks for the update this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
