The Larry Kane Report

Nancy Pelosi is 1. Out to hurt the Democratic Party. 2. Wants to damage national security. 3. Seeks more power. 4. All of the above.

The Speaker of the House is playing what could be a devastating and potentially dangerous political game. In an age of terror, the Speaker is going head-to-head with the Commander in Chief.

What’s the big fuss? Pelosi is pushing legislation that would require the CIA to give EVERY member of the House and Senate intelligence committees advance knowledge of covert activities. She also wants the power to audit these activities. Only committee chairmen currently get the top-secret briefings.The President threatens to veto the Pelosi power grab. The showdown is coming up soon.

Talk about political selfishness? Why damage your own party in an election year?

Both key Republicans and Democrats oppose the Pelosi move. One thing is certain –Washington is a city of leakers. That kind of sensitive information in the wrong hands could be dangerous to the nation’s well being.

Pelosi Vs. Obama. Watch this one.

SLICK OILERS-

The national oil lobby is filling the airwaves with messages about the safety of oil drilling.

Save your money you big-pocketed gusher-kings. We need oil, but we also need common sense in the aftermath of the mess in the Gulf. You can’t fool all of the people all of the time!

SEPTA AT THE BALL PARKS

So one of the mobile phone companies is buying the name to the Septa subway stop at the Sports Complex. Pretty cool? Not so fast. It’s good for Septa to get the bucks, but will the phone company guarantee that our cell phones will work in the stadium areas?

LIKE A ROLLING STONE

The McChrystal public relations disaster may turn out to become an investigative study by some major journalism schools. It is hard for most journalists to comprehend that any official of his rank would make the comments he made, anthat his top aides would mouth—off like that. Rolling Stone denies that any rules of engagement were violated. It would be interesting to discover what the rules were for any off-the-record remarks. The entire affair reminds me of rule one for people in power: if you want to protect your backside, always think there’s an open microphone in the room, even if there isn’t.

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Will someone tell the big BP Oil Company how to manage a disaster? This company may have the worst public relations outlook on the planet. BP should be the company that preempted government action by offering to compensate each person whose earnings and future earnings have been affected by the slimy mess and the mismanagement surrounding it. The company has huge current and future earnings, despite the liability now pouring out of the bottom of the ocean. It is time for BP to cut the BS and come to the table with plenty of cash and a plan to save the Gulf. Government should have been more involved from the beginning, but the company must put its money where its pr mouth is – in the hands of the victims.

HUGO CHAVEZ – THE MOUTH THAT ROARED- OR A NUKE BLACKMAILER

Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez has developed, in recent weeks, more intimate ties with the killer regime in Iran. This is dangerous business for Chavez who is scaring the heck out of his own citizens by playing with their rights of free speech, and even threatening to break up families, by sending children away to special indoctrination schools. That move would probably force the military to take him out. So the madman has backed off on those threats. But there are reports that Chavez is using his power to supply a route for uranium to arrive in Tehran. If that is true, it’s time for the United Stated to affect a serious blockade of Chavez’s empire. This man is much more dangerous than Fidel Castro was at the bloody height of his powers. The United States must start focusing on the madman of Caracas. He is not just a pompous orator. Chavez is dangerous and must understand that there will be some consequences to his alliance with the extremist regime in Iran.

FLYERS – ONE LAST NOTE-

Minute to minute, every thrilling minute, the Flyers gave us a spring to remember. Any sports writer or fan who considers this past season a “lost cause”, should find a new city or a new team. I mean, that was enough nail-biting suspense to last a long time, or at least until a World Series, or the beginning of Eagles season. I’m tired of the glass half empty crowd. This is Philadelphia, best sports community in America. No apologies for the Flyers!

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In the news business, seeing what I see, there’s not much that brings me to moments of awe, inspiration, and sheer excitement. But this week, in the people’s house on Pennsylvania Avenue, I witnessed a most amazing event. It was also an opportunity to take a real break from the torrent of news that we all face.

I was in Washington for a series of assignments for the Comcast Network and an interview on Fox News. At 2 o clock on this past Wednesday, I received a call from the White House, advising me that there would be a ticket for me to attend the East Room award ceremony and concert honoring Paul McCartney with the Gershwin Lifetime Achievement award for popular music.

It was an event that I really wanted to see. After all, Paul and the Beatles were a very important piece of my career, early and late career. I was the only American to travel with them to every stop on the 1964 and 1965 American tours. I’ve written two books, and I’m working on a very unusual third book.

I arrived at the East entrance to the White House before 6 p.m. and traveled through the security to a sunlit room just a few feet from the East Room. There was a short reception, and the time came.

The East Room was pretty tight –cameras being readied, technicians everywhere, only enough seats for about 195 people, and as the President would say later, “The smallest club that Paul would play since the days at the Cavern in Liverpool.”

There were the usual luminaries, Nancy Pelosi, some other members of Congress, but many others not in the public limelight who were invited to the hottest ticket in town.

Shortly before 7:30, the first kids walked in with their grandmother. The President, First Lady and Paul McCartney were announced. Nancy Shevell, Paul’s steady, was already seated with the First Family. Rumors were that the Jonas Brothers were there, which had the Obama  girls waiting with excitement. In truth, suspense was building but I had no idea what was coming.

It happened fast. Paul shook the President’s hand and stepped up to the stage. The first song was “Got To Get You Into My Life.” He was beyond great, a man who sounded like 1964 , moved his body like 1964. He looked great. Paul and I are 4 months apart. Everybody should look that good at almost 68. In a few seconds, Stevie Wonder joined him for a duet as he did later in the show on their classic “Ebony and Ivory” later in the show.

This show will be broadcast in late July by PBS. So, there were short interruptions. But what came next was a spectacle of talent and artistry, and some comedy that may never be collected on the same stage again.

The lineup, all performing McCartney music, was as all -star as you can get. And believe me when I say that is an understatement.

Stevie Wonder was sensational on the keyboard and in the duet with Paul. Jerry Seinfeld had the crowd roaring, especially when he joked about Paul’s lyrics. He said, “Paul, you wrote (I saw her standing there), ‘She was just seventeen, you know what I mean.’ What did you mean Paul?”

The musical artists were a treasure. Lang Lang, who opened the Olympics two years ago; British vocalist and worldwide sensation Corinne Bailey Rae, rocker Dave Grohl, whose rendition of “Band On the Run” had the chandeliers shaking in the East Room; the Jonas Brothers (the first daughters seemed thrilled to see them) ; the legendary Herbie Hancock; Faith Hill and Emmylou Harris; Jack White, and my favorite among the guests, Elvis Costello’s rendition of “Penny Lane.”

But most of all it was McCartney. Beneath a portrait of President Washington (SEE BELOW), Paul sat at the piano and sang “Let It Be,” and a sensational finale (with the ensemble cast) of “Hey Jude.”

Paul was gracious, but seemed in awe at the setting. The First Lady sat in awe as Paul sang “Michelle.” The President, facing the oil spill crisis and other challenges, held his wife’s hand during Paul’s serenade, and seemed happy to have an hour and a half away from the business of governing.

After the award presentation and the goodbye, I walked up to Paul in front of the stage. We shared a big and long hug, and some personal thoughts. But it was definitely a moment of memory, and a lot of fun, sort of Facebook without the Facebook. I told him how much I enjoyed his presentation, and he said, “Look at you, let’s talk.” And we did.

Although it was a small room, the mood was electric. Paul looks terrific. He has energy. And his voice is even better now than in the Beatle days: resonant with extraordinary range. We both of course are a lot older, but when you listen to the voice of a great artist, the time element fades away, and yesterday becomes today, with even more emotion and a greater appreciation of the talent involved.

I witnessed 67 concerts while traveling with the Beatles. They were chaotic, fever-pitched and near=perfect performances, despite the overwhelming pitch of the frenetic crows. This  performance, at the White House, was a once in a lifetime experience. I was really happy to be there, as friend, because of my history, but inevitable, as a fan, which I am and always will be.

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In the post below, I report that Sestak said “yes” when I followed up with the question, “Was it a high ranking job?” He did not.

He actually didn’t answer the question. When I asked him a few seconds later, “Was it big?, he answered the question with these  words:

“It was -never – let me not comment on that.. we had a closed comm”..

Also, from my perspective, sitting there with him,  his refusal to answer the question , “Was it Navy Secretary?”, lent more mystery to the actual job that was involved. In any event, all the other answers were not answered, except for the resounding YES when I asked him whether he was offered a job by the White House to pull out of the Senate race.

Incidentally, Sestak joins me at 9:30 on the Comcast Network Sunday.

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So how did it happen? How did a straightforward question and blunt answer bring anxiety to the White House? I’ll tell you the story.For over three months now, friends and others have asked me to recount the events of February 18^th of this year, when a single question from me to Congressman Joe Sestak unleashed a controversy that remains to this day. Is it a political issue? Is it illegal? I can’t answer those questions, but I can tell you how casually it all happened, and what basis I had for asking the question. Here’s the transcript:

“Larry Kane: I have a question for you. I don’t know how accurate this is but a lot of reports are that the party has tried very hard to get you out of this race.

Joe Sestak: Haha, yes.

LK: Were you ever offered a federal job to get out of this race?

JS: Yes.

LK: Was it the Navy Secretary?

JS: No comment. I – let me –

LK: Was it high-ranking?

JS: Let me just say that both here in Pennsylvania and down there, I was called quite a few times and all I’ve said is, look, I felt when a deal was made that it was hurting the democratic process, I got into this because I think that deal started getting us off the track of where the Democratic party should go. I would never get out for a deal. I’m in this for the Democratic principles and working families.

LK: Okay, but, was there a job offered to you by the White House?

JS: Ye-

LK: That’s what I want –

JS: Yes. Someone offered — yeah.

LK: It was big, right?

JS: It was — never — let me not comment on it. We had a closed comm–
LK: Yeah, but you’re going all the way.

JS: I’m in this all the way for the working family. Look, I love the Navy. It’s the best thing I ever did in my life except get married. It took me 8 years, I proposed to my wife, 8 years later she said yes. And have my beautiful daughter. But this is the next best job — to pay back this nation for having had those wonderful years in the Navy–

LK: Well, we’ve run out of time with the best question I had.”

And that was true. But why was I the first. There was buzz about this story since last summer. A few days before the February 18^th taping of Voice Of Reason for The Comcast Network, I was advised by two reliable sources that  someone in or close to the White House had dangled a high level job offer to Sestak, to give a clear path to Senator Specter for the nomination. I thought it would be a good thing to pose the question to Sestak in the upcoming interview.

The Sestak interview was the second in this contest. I interviewed Specter a week before.

I prepared for the program with an outline of questions. But on that Thursday I was having a very hectic day. I was a little overwhelmed with work. I forgot to put the question in my outline. Suddenly, with 90 seconds left, I remembered!

The news business can have moments that are so unpredictable. I knew the questionwas a good one, based on some really good sources, but I was flabbergasted when Sestak said “Yes.” There was no hesitation. No delay. He just said, “Yes.”

As the Congressman left the building, there was an obvious dilemma. The show wouldn’t air till Sunday the 21^st. The story could be big. I called Comcast executives. With their blessing, I broke the story with an audio interview on KYW Newsradio. But first there was work to do. I needed a White House response.

I called the White House Press Office. I played the interview for the individual who answered the phone. She said someone would call me back. A few minutes later, another individual called. She said the White House would call back with a reaction “shortly.” That was 3:45 in the afternoon.

The report aired all night without a White House response.

At 6:45 the next morning, 15 hours later, a Deputy Press Secretary called. She said, “You can say the White House says it’s not true.”

A similar call was placed to the Inquirer’s Tom Fitzgerald. Tom was in the studio during the show taping. He was following Sestak around, working on a feature story. He took the story to page one of the Friday Inquirer.

A few days ago, both of us were still wondering why it took the White House 15 hours to issue a simple denial.

The rest is history, peculiar history. The “job offer” story never became an issue in the campaign although some would suggest the story played well to Sestak’s argument that he was a real Democratic independent.

But on May 19^th, a day after his upset victory over Specter, the February interview became an internet hit. Republcans, arguing that it may have been a crime to offer a job in return for a withdrawal from a political contest.  Democrats, only recently, called for the truth on this story. The President, saying nothing was improper, promised a White House statement “shortly.”

The entire episode, now broadcast and printed around the nation, is also a popular item on the web.

There are several things I want you to know. I’m surprised that Washington reporters never asked the question in the first place, I’m surprised that Sestak answered so quickly when I posed the question.

But most of all, I’m stunned that a rather simple question, turned into a political firestorm. You never really know where the pursuit of news will take you.

The story may not be over. Republicans will want more than just a White House counsel’s report.

But the beginning to this saga may be more interesting than the end.

One thing I do know is that, as the question was being asked, Joe Sestak never hesitated. In a split second, he just said, “yes.”

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