John and Teresa Heinz Kerry on the Tavis Smiley Show

[kerrygoddess]

John and Teresa Heinz Kerry on the Tavis Smiley Show
April 6th, 2007 @ 5:55 pm

As I wrote here yesterday, I was the guest of the Kerry’s on Wednesday, for the taping of their interview on the Tavis Smiley Show which aired last night on KCET in Los Angeles. I took notes while the show was taping, but had been asked not to blog about the show until it aired. Respectful of that request, now that the show has aired, I know that folks who aren’t in the L.A. area couldn’t watch the show and have been dying to know what was said in the interview.



Tavis started the interview off with a bang by asking Kerry a few political questions including about the “Kerry Was Right” admission from Matthew Dowd in Sunday’s N.Y. Times. Here’s a brief part of the interchange:

TS: Is it just me or are you like the most vindicated man in America right now?

JK: Well, that’s up for other people to decide, not me… I think it’s just inappropriate for me to be running around talking vindication, but I am concerned about getting the policy right in Iraq and this administration is still on the wrong track. And, I’m deeply concerned about as you know, Teresa and I about the lack of adequate response on a host of domestic issues, environment, healthcare, education and others… We’re going backwards my friend.

TS: Matt Dowd in the NY Times on Sunday… Kerry was right…

Smiley also noted the who asked who about McCain as a possible VP for Kerry dustup that originated in the blogosphere the day before the interview was taped. In a nutshell, Kerry’s response was this, “The who did what is not a great use of time, Tavis to be honest with you. The more important question is John McCain’s position on Iraq. I believe it is fundamentally flawed.”

I think the Kerry’s would rather be talking about their book right now that past politics and other isses, as pertinent as they may be. But as Smiley noted in the beginning of the interview, it’s hard to have John Kerry on show and not ask political questions. Tavis Smiley did manage to devote far more time discussing the Kerry’s book, “This Moment On Earth,” than some of the other recent interviews have.

The interview is far batter than I can do justice with quips and quotes… So, rather than post my notes, the audio is up now and I encourage readers to listen here. Note also, there’s a very important admission from Tavis Smiley in the interview, that I was told from one his producers that he has never admitted to on air so take the time to listen to the interview.

LINKS & AUDIO - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=5592

[wisteria]

1. I caught the program on my local PBS station last night.

You did a wonderful job summarizing it all.

[politicasista]

2. Thanks

Will check out the links since I don't get his show here locally. Sounds like Tavis was nice to them. :)

[sandnsea]

3. Just watched it

It was very good. He touched on some topics that others don't, like diesel trucks and the tendency to place toxic hazards in minority neighborhoods. It was a very friendly discussion.

[kerrygoddess]

4. The discussion on minority neighborhoods

reminded of stuff JK talked about at the LCV forum in June '03. Environmental justice is a an issue that really needs more focus.

They spent quite a bit of time talking with Tavis privately after the show also. Not sure what was said in there, just JK, THK and Tavis in the room.

[cadmium]

5. Thanks KG. I will

get a cup of coffee and check it out.

[beachmom]

6. Oh. my. God. That was indeed one of the best interviews I've ever

seen the Kerrys do. I agree with you on that, KG.

Stuff that gave us a glimpse of a Kerry presidency:

Four, yeah count 'em, FOUR Republicans would have been named in the cabinet to acknowledge that it was indeed a tight race, and to show bipartisanship in Washington (sorry but this evokes Lincoln. Sigh)

He would have opened a special office in the Justic Dept. called "Environmental Justice" whose job would be to ENFORCE laws already on the books. This harks back to his prosecutorial days and the innovative things he did back then.

He spoke a little bit more on the McCain flack, which makes me think this is the timeline:

McCain people approach Kerry people
Kerry liked the idea of a bipartisan ticket.
Kerry and McCain talked, but McCain wasn't interested in switching parties.
It didn't get far.

That's it. So the stuff the McCain people said didn't address what Kerry had said to the blogger this week. That a McCain aid had started the whole thing. They were talking about later on in the process. This, to me, is why John McCain is so swarmy. If he wasn't interested in the first place, why send your aid out for feelers? My guess is "just getting attention" -- the thing they accused Kerry of this week.

[ginnyinWI]

9. I taped it to save.

A really nice one. Encapsulizes so much--their relationship, how his presidency would be, what they are focused on now, etc. He looked very at ease around Smiley--you can see the difference between this interview and with someone like Chris Wallace or Chris Matthews. The look in JK's eyes when he answered showed it.

[beachmom]

7. It's available on the PBS site now:

http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200704/20070405.html

I HIGHLY recommend this interview. The 30 minutes FLY by.

[cadmium]

8. worth listening to whole interview n/t

[karynnj]

10. Smiley asked Teresa about the work done by the African woman

who won the Nobel Peace Prize. Here's a link of the audio of a speech Ms. Maathai gave at a MA college - the sophmore I know loved the speech and was impressed enough to send me the link.

http://www.holycross.edu:80/publicaffairs/features/2006-2007/maathai_audio