i> TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2000
1OPM
Bernie interviewed Larry Flynt regarding his
appearence on CNN's Crossfire last Friday. Bernie
interviewed Flynt on his show after he heard that Flynt
was on Crossfire talking with Donna Rice about
internet porn. In the midst of the Crossfire show, Flynt
had supposedly accused Bush of facilitating an
abortion of his ex-girlfriend. When Bernie went to the
CNN site to check on this information, there was no
transcript of the program, though there were the usual
CNN transcripts of the other programs. From callers
and from the Bushwatch site, Bernie discovered that at
first the transcript was posted, but with Flynt's
incendiary comments deleted. Later, the whole
transcript was deleted. Bernie invited Flynt on his
program to hear what Flynt's comments were that had
been censored. After Flynt's appearance on this
program, Bernie was deluged with calls and emails
requesting a tape or a transcipt of the show. The
following is a transcript of Bernie's Larry Flynt
interview. The interview obviously does not reflect the
views of KGO, but it is verbatim, what Flynt told
Bernie.
BERNIE WARD: Last week, my guest, who is going to
join us was on Crossfire, and he talked about some
things and there is now question as to whether or not
CNN deleted on purpose the entire transcript of that
program because of what he had to say. On the KGO
live line with me is the publisher of Hustler Magazine
and many other publications, Mr. Larry Flynt. Mr. Flynt,
good evening.
LARRY FLYNT: Good evening.
WARD: Let’s start from the beginning. You appeared
on Crossfire last week, correct?
FLYNT: Yes, on Friday.
WARD: And on Friday on Crossfire, you got Bob Novak
to finally recognize you and you talked about a subject
that you say you have evidence about concerning
Governor Bush, correct?
FLYNT: Yes, that’s correct.
WARD: We’ll get into the substance of that in just a
moment. You said what you said and then the program
ended. And as of now, is there any evidence on the
CNN website that you said anything on their program?
FLYNT: No, it was removed, and even after I made the
remarks on the program, I could hear in my ear piece
someone screaming there is nothing I can do about it,
we’re live. They were in a panic because I had said
what I said.
WARD: Are you surprised that a news organization
would delete your remarks?
FLYNT: No, I’m not surprised because I’ve talked to the
leading mainstream media people all over the country
about this story, just wanting to get it out. If I had to
sum up a consensus, it is that they don’t want to be
accused of sabotaging the election going into the
homestretch which is the most wimpiest excuse I ever
heard a journalist ever make.
WARD: Well, it’s one thing maybe not to report it, but it
seems to me it’s a whole different thing that once it’s
gotten out onto your air that you then go back onto
your web site and every other way and delete it so that
no –
FLYNT: I did a KROC radio station in Los Angeles,
Kevin and Bean Show. When that show finished,
within twenty minutes—it’s Infinity Broadcasting, which
is owned by CBS—
WARD: Which also runs Howard Stern –
FLYNT: Within twenty minutes, they had the station
manager and the two DJ’s on a conference call saying
that no tape of that interview is to be released and that
no transcripts are to be made available, so you know
they’re scared to death of this story.
WARD: Are they doing this because they think there is
a legal reason? You are an expert-- for want of a better
term—- on the legalities of what you can say on the
air, what you can publish etcetera. Are they concerned
about some legal exposure that they have?
FLYNT: No. I see no concern there, because they asked
George W. Bush the question about his use of cocaine
without any evidence at all, and he sidestepped the
issue. Of course, he admitted he’s been a drunk for
twenty years and so that coupled with the additional
information that we have, you know, would just be
devastating to him.
WARD: Well, Let’s talk about the information that you
have.
FLYNT: Well, we’ve been doing an investigation for a
little over eight months to the effect that an abortion
took place in 1970 in Houston, Texas. He was working
for his father’s campaign when he was running for the
senate against Lloyd Bentsen, and a fellow by the
name of Robert Chandler was the campaign manager.
He got a girl pregnant during this period of time, and
she had an abortion. We’ve been able to locate the
doctor who preformed the procedure (unintelligible)
hospital in Houston. Not only that but we have the
affidavits from four of her friends stating that they knew
about the affair, the pregnancy and the subsequent
abortion. The only thing we could not have which we
needed to break the story was the girl to come out,
and she would not come out. Whether she was afraid
or whether she was paid off, I don’t really want to
speculate, because I don’t know what the actual
reason was. But when I started taking this to the
mainstream media, I said you don’t have to break the
story, just ask the question, you know. You asked the
cocaine question, so just ask if he’s ever facilitated an
abortion or paid for an abortion or if he was the father
of a child. Just give him the chance to admit or deny it.
No one would touch it.
WARD: As of now, the woman who you know denies
that she had the abortion?
FLYNT: No, no, no. She doesn’t deny that. We know
she had the abortion. We know she was Bush’s
girlfriend at the time. This was in the 1970’s, he would
have been in his twenties at the time. But she does not
want to come out. The last conversation my
investigators had with her, she said I don’t have
anything bad to say about George W. And they said,
well, how about when he did not come to visit you in
the hospital when you had the abortion, didn’t that
upset you? So she got very upset and irate because I
took that line of questioning, and said, you know, I am
not going to talk to you anymore about this issue.
WARD: But when your investigators talked to this
woman, did she ever say to them that you guys are
wrong, I never had the abortion.
FLYNT: No. No.
WARD: And in these affidavits, I assume you have
copies of the affidavits, you have affidavits from four of
her friends saying that they know she had the
abortion?
FLYNT: Yes, and we have this guy, Robert Chandler,
who I said was George Bush’s campaign manager at
the time, his girlfriend is one of our key sources on this
story who actually accompanied the girl who had the
abortion to the hospital.
WARD: Were abortions legal in Texas at this time?
FLYNT: No, that was before Roe versus Wade and that
makes it a crime. And that’s the reason why I felt the
story was important, because I felt the media should
ask him: Is abortion okay for you and your family but
not the rest of America? I felt the issue of it being a
crime should be brought up as well.
WARD: What do you say, Mr. Flynt, to the news sources
we contacted today who told us to be very wary of you
because you have yet to produce any evidence of this,
that this is, at least they seem to be saying, that this is
fantasy and that we will get ourselves into hot water if
we interview you because they don’t believe you’ve
produced the goods.
FLYNT: Look, they said the same thing during the
impeachment hearings before we brought down
Livingston and exposed Barr. They’re always going,
you know, to say this. I am not telling you I got a story
that I could go with tomorrow, but I’m telling you I’ve
got a story that questions should be asked about.
WARD: When you say we investigated this, who is we?
FLYNT: I have three investigators—
WARD: Okay--
FLYNT: Who have been in Texas for the last eight
months.
WARD: It is said in the Bob Livingston case that you
had an awful lot on him that you just agreed not to
publish or to make public. Is that an accurate
statement?
FLYNT: Yes. His wife phoned me after he had resigned
and told me about the pain that this had caused their
marriage and asked me if I would not make the details
available of the investigation, and I agreed not to
because I figured, you know, what’s the point, he’s
resigned, so it really would serve no further purpose.
WARD: What did you go on Crossfire to talk about?
What did they invite you on to talk about?
FLYNT: (Laughter) They invited me on there to talk
with Donna Rice about internet censorship. I was just
really frustrated with not being able to get the
mainstream media interested in this story. I figured if I
got an opening or an opportunity, you know, I would
talk about it.
WARD: And you obviously stirred up a lot of reaction
by doing that.
FLYNT: I talked with the BBC in London today and
they’re familiar with it and so is The London Times.
They said that they are not under the same constraints
that we are in the U.S. and they are considering going
with the story. That would be great if they did because
I think it would possibly feed over into the mainstream
American press.
WARD: Have you talked to CNN about the deletion of
things? Has anybody on your staff talked to them and
asked them what that’s all about?
FLYNT: I’m used to this. I told you, and I’ll repeat it.
The mainstream media is scared to death of this story.
They won’t even check out the facts that I already have
much less ask Bush the question. I don’t think they
want the presidency to be determined, you know, on
this issue.
WARD: Do you think that, in fact, if they were to go
with this and ask Bush about it and it came from you
etcetera, don’t you think there is a possibility this could
hurt Gore, it gives Bush a reason to be indignant. In
fact I got a quote from Bush, Matt Drudge allegedly put
your charge, according to the Drudge Report, Bush
responded to Larry Flynt’s charge that he was involved
in an abortion in the 70’s by having a senior Bush
source say that quote CNN standards have hit a new
low if that is even possible. It appears that the liberal
media is becoming desperate as Election Day nears.
Neither Bush nor anyone on the campaign team,
however, was reported as disagreeing with Flynt’s
charges.
Does this give Bush a chance to get up on his high
horse and really make Gore look like he’s being
desperate?
FLYNT: If you’ll notice, he didn’t deny it, though, which
I felt was pretty interesting about that report. I think
this is, you know, a very explosive issue and that you
could very well see it materialize before the election.
WARD: We just had a call from a woman who says
she’s so mad that you and I are talking about this that
she’s made up her mind to vote for Bush instead of
Gore.
FLYNT: (Laughter) Well, you wonder about the
rationale of people like that who are, concerned about
Gore’s credibility but would turn the tables for Bush’s
involvement. I think there’s a lot of people that would
be concerned about it, especially members of the
Christian right, you know. He’s their poster boy. I’d
think they would be very much concerned about it.
WARD: We had a question from someone who called
in saying in your story, is there any proof that Bush
knew about it? Couldn’t she have gotten an abortion
on her own without his knowing?
FLYNT: You know, I honestly cannot attest to that, but
how can you possibly conceive that it would happen in
that manner, that a girl would be pregnant and the
guy’s boss she’s pregnant with would arrange for an
abortion and he would not know anything about it
because Junior was working for his father’s campaign
at the time, you know, and Chandler was his boss.
WARD: Have your investigators asked either his boss’s
girlfriend at the time or any of the other four, have you
asked whether or not they knew whether George W.
Bush knew about this or not?
FLYNT: They have no direct knowledge that he knew
about it, but they knew the women that we interviewed
that lived in the complex all admitted that they had
been told by this girl who was pregnant and that
George Bush was the father.
WARD: What about the man that was Bush’s campaign
manager, Bush Senior, have your investigators talked
to him?
FLYNT: He refuses to talk to us. It’s not been an easy
investigation. It’s been one of the most difficult ones
I’ve ver been involved in because Bush’s spin machine
made Clinton’s look antiquated, you know. Everyone in
Texas covers for this guy.
WARD: You are acquainted with and some would say
friends with Larry King. Larry King is going to have
Bush on his show next week. Is there any way you can
prevail on King to ask the question?
FLYNT: You know, I don’t know, I –
WARD: Will you or will your people contact King and
provide him with the information?
FLYNT: Well, I didn’t know he was going to be on. Now
that you’ve told me, we’ll, you know, definitely contact
him and propose the question. But, you know, it’s so
explosive, I don’t think King will ask, but we’ll see.
That is everything Flynt said on the show. Bernie
thanked him for coming on his program and went on to
invite listeners to call in and share their opinions.
Many callers said they were grateful to finally hear the
whole story, while others were disgusted that Bernie
let Flynt on the show. Many callers, like Bernie, were
mostly upset with CNN and called CNN to complain
about the deletion of the transcript.
11PM
Talk about the Flynt interview continues.
12AM
Bernie talks about public transporation systems.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2000
10PM
Bernie recaps his Larry Flynt interview of Tuesday
night and the reaction to the interview. Some of you
were grateful to get the info on Larry Flynt's
investigation, others called Bernie a mudslinger. Many
of you called CNN to complain about how they edited
and then removed the transcript and got no response
from CNN or the response that it was a CNN
management decision. Out of this whole story, Bernie
says he is most interested in CNN and why they edited
the transcript. Bernie had wanted to find out what was
said in the interview with Larry Flynt on Crossfire, but
when he went to the CNN website to look for it, there
was no transcript. Bernie says now is the time to put
any myths about the liberal media to rest. Bernie asks
why no one is following up on this story, why reporters
are not asking Bush about it. He says the alleged
cocaine abuse was asked about by reporters. Bernie
wants better media coverage. A caller says CNN told
him they have logged over 100,000 calls on this.
11PM
All this talk continues....
kgoam810.com\goout.asp?u=http://www.kgoam810.com/viewentry.asp?ID=73474&PT=programsummaries |
