John and Teresa Heinz Kerry on the Tavis Smiley Show

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.

Finally it was my impression that the Tavis Smiley Show would be providing a video at some point, if and when it becomes available I will post it here. And... I still have more to come on the the Kerry's west coast stops on their book, so stay tuned...

UPDATE: WATCH THE INTERVIEW HERE.