Kerry "Today Show" interview transcript

NEW YORK -- October 24, 2004 -- Days away from the Presidential election, NBC News' Katie Couric sat down with Senator John Kerry. The interview will air Monday morning on "Today" (7-10 AM ET) with a preview on the interview airing Sunday evening on "Dateline NBC" (7-8 PM ET).

SOUNDBITES OF THE INTERVIEW FOLLOW - MUST GIVE CREDIT TO NBC NEWS' TODAY AND KATIE COURIC - MUST STATE INTERVIEW AIRS TOMORROW MORNING ON "TODAY."

KERRY: "Now let me just look you and America in the eye and tell you this. Unlike Dick Cheney and George Bush, I put my life on my line for my country when it counted. I fought for this nation and I defended it as a young man. And I will defend America as President of the United States."

COURIC: "Having said that, anecdotally some voters have said, "Hey, the United States has not been attacked since September 11th. George Bush must be doing something right. And we're too nervous to vote for a change at this point in time." You would say to them?"

KERRY: "I would say to them that this administration has told you, George Bush and Dick Cheney have said to you, it is not a matter of if we're gonna be attacked. It is a matter of when...do you know that the-- that the President just the other day in an interview with Hannity and Combs said-- do you know what he said? He said he doesn't know if America will ever be safe. Well, I do know that America will be safe. Under my leadership. Because we're gonna not allow 95 percent of American containers to come in un-inspected."

KERRY: "Katie, let me say this to you. We won World War II. We won the-- the-- the Cold War. We know what we can do when we put our minds to it. We haven't done a-- a third of the things that we need to do to win the war on terror."

COURIC: "Do you ever feel inclined to-- to say to your wife what Archie Bunker used to say in that-- "Stifle yourself, Theresa?"

KERRY: "No. I honestly, absolutely never do. I love her. I think she's outspoken. She speaks the truth. She misspoke, as-- as many of us do in life. And I've misspoken. How many times have I misspoken or the President or somebody else?

My wife did exactly what Laura Bush did. My wife raised her kids, her three boys. My wife stayed at home and-- and cooked and drove and was there for all the kids in the neighborhood and cooked for all of them. And-- she was -- I mean, she knows what it means to be at home raising kids and taking care of them when they're sick and everything else. She was really referring to outside work. And she caught herself instantly. And she knew what she'd said. And she had the-- you know, the-- both, I think, the sense of decency and appropriateness to make the call and say, "Look. You know, this was misinterpreted." I love her for our outspokenness. I think Americans love her. Because she's authentic. She speaks her mind. And she tells the truth. And Americans want the truth."

COURIC: "You-- sported a hunting outfit-- in Ohio and had goose blood on your-- on your fingers. Isn't it a rule of politics 101 not to dress up? It seems to me that every time a candidate goes down this road, whether it's President Bush in a flight suit or Michael Dukakis in a tank, or you at Cape Canaveral or-- or goose hunting, it backfires. It feels-"

KERRY: "Katie, I've hunted since I was 11 or 12 years old. That's me. Long before I was a Presidential candidate, I-- I'd go hunting. I'd go deer hunting with my family. I've been bird hunting through my life. Used to hunt woodchucks as a kid. Started with BB guns, shot with a 22. It's the Republicans who are trying to make it something. They can't stand the idea that a Democrat actually goes out and likes to hunt. They can't stand it....And they're trying to make a big deal."

COURIC: "Wasn't it politically motivated for you to do a photo-op hunting in a camouflage outfit?"

KERRY: "I've hunted all my life. I've done-- I've only done things in this campaign that have been authentic. That's why I suffered an advertisement about windsurfing. Because I told people. I said, "I'm not gonna stop doing what I do. I'm gonna be who I am." And so, people made fun. I don't care. But that's authentic. I've hunted. I own guns. I go out and hunt. And that's who I am.

KERRY: "I like him. He's a likeable fellow. I think he's a great family man. I know he loves Laura and his kids enormously. I respect-- I respect him as a father.

I just disagree with him in the choices he's made. Losing five million people's health insurance is not acceptable to me. It's been acceptable to him. Seeing people's income go down in middle class is not acceptable to me. It's been acceptable to him.

So-- you know I admire the way he stood up after 9/11 and brought the country together. But I disagree with the way he's divided the nation since then. It's been ideological. It's been excessively partisan and political. And we need a president to bring America together. We really do."

COURIC: "Wasn't it politically motivated for you to do a photo-op hunting in a camouflage outfit?"

KERRY: "I've hunted all my life. I've done-- I've only done things in this campaign that have been authentic. That's why I suffered an advertisement about windsurfing. Because I told people. I said, "I'm not gonna stop doing what I do. I'm gonna be who I am." And so, people made fun. I don't care. But that's authentic. I've hunted. I own guns. I go out and hunt. And that's who I am.

Ok, JFK, where's another photo showing you in camo, and/or hunting prior to this year's election?

Oh, here's one, hunting the good times with JFK.

And, oh, here's another, as Nexteling with his pro-Hanoi buds:

And, oops, another one during Halloween w/ some of his buds (you have to look hard, but it's him):

Or here, Kerry seeking auditions for a new career...

Or, here, J Kerry trying to find himself ... he just has never seen his siamese twin:

Or maybe this is the real you, a singer looking for a big break:

John Kerry: the fake who loved the fake named JFK, who loved the mob among other things ...

Only one last item from this dude and his story: his connections to the mob. Haven't heard a word about that ... yet.

Oops again, this from ABC NEWS:

B O S T O N, July 28, 2004 — As Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards arrived in Boston today for the Democratic National Convention, so did the California man who is their single biggest contributor.

He is Stephen Bing, a wealthy film producer who, with little fanfare, has managed to steer a total of more than $16 million of his money to Democratic candidates and the supposedly independent groups that support them.

"To most of the people who track money and politics, they're like, who the hell is Steve Bing?" said Chuck Lewis, founder of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan watchdog organization.

Bing is perhaps best known for sparking a tabloid frenzy when he publicly expressed doubt that he was the father of actress Elizabeth Hurley's baby. (A paternity test proved he was indeed the father.) He repeatedly has refused to say why he is funneling millions of dollars to the Democrats.

Lewis thinks it is cause for concern.

"We can identify who the big donors are, but how much do we really know about any of them?" he said.

In fact, Democratic Party officials said they knew nothing about the man who law enforcement officials tell ABC News is Bing's friend and business partner — Dominic Montemarano, a New York Mafia figure currently in federal prison on racketeering charges.

Montemarano has a long criminal record and is known to organized crime investigators by his street name, Donnie Shacks.

"Donnie Shacks' main activity was murder. No question about it. That was his main function for the Colombo family and for organized crime in general. He was one of the top hit men in the New York area," said Joe Coffey, a former NYPD investigator.

According to The Los Angeles Times, Bing paid Montemarano's legal fees after his most recent scrape with the law. Montemerano's lawyer said his client was an employee of Bing's.

After a recent private lunch with Democratic vice-presidential candidate Edwards, Bing also declined to answer questions about his relationship with Montemarano.

"The American people have a right to know who's funding their presidential candidates and their parties," Lewis said. "The Bing situation shows us how little we really know."

From Mother Jones: " Stephen L. Bing

March 5, 2001

Stephen Bing made his money the old-fashioned way: He inherited it. The millionaire grandson of New York real estate magnate Leo Bing, he stands to inherit an estimated $600 million from his father, Peter, who serves on the board of Stanford University.

Much of his money goes to support his lifestyle. A notorious playboy, Bing reportedly keeps a permanent room at the swank Bel Air Hotel in Los Angeles and has been linked romantically in the media to actresses Farrah Fawcett, Uma Thurman, Sharon Stone, and, most recently, Elizabeth Hurley.

Now, it's only a matter of time before photos of JFK hunting uma, and farrah, and sharon, and Elizabeth show up....

He has to stick to the script .... right?

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