Jake Tapper

“The Lead” Interview

with Kam Willi

Jake on Tap!

In his capacity as CNN’s chief Washington correspondent, Jake Tapper hosts “The Lead.” The one-hour weekday program examines and advances stories from around the globe that reflect his curiosities and interests, ranging from politics to money, and from sports to pop culture.

Jake has been a widely-respected reporter in the nation’s capital for more than 14 years, and his most recent book, “The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor,” debuted in the Top Ten on The New York Times’ best-seller list. Prior to CNN, he was employed by ABC News, where he had served as senior White House correspondent since the 2008 presidential election.

In that role, Jake contributed regularly to Good Morning America, Nightline and World News Tonight, in addition to serving as substitute host of This Week. He also had a blog, Political Punch, on ABCNews.com. In terms of accolades, he has earned the coveted Merriman Smith Award for presidential coverage from the White House Correspondents’ Association an unprecedented three consecutive times. And he played a key role in ABC’s Emmy Award-winning coverage of the 2009 inauguration of President Barack Obama, and its Murrow-Award-winning coverage of the death of Osama bin Laden.

Over the course of almost a decade at ABC News, he covered a wide range of stories, visiting remote corners of Afghanistan, covering the war in Iraq from Baghdad, and spending time in New Orleans during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In 2008, he served as the lead political reporter for the coverage of the presidential election.

Jake began his journalism career at the Washington City Paper before being published in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and The Weekly Standard, among others. He has drawn caricatures and illustrations for the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, and his comic strip, “Capitol Hell,” appeared in Roll Call from 1994 to 2003.

Jake is the author of a trio of books, including “The Outpost,” “Down and Dirty: The Plot to Steal the Presidency,” and “Body Slam: The Jesse Ventura Story.” A

Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude graduate of Dartmouth College, Jake currently lives in Washington, DC with his wife Jennifer, their young son and daughter, and a dog and two cats.

Kam Williams: Hi Jake, thanks for the interview.

Jake Tapper: Sure, my pleasure, Kam.

KW: How did you end up in journalism, as the son of a pediatrician and a psychiatric nurse?

JT: Well, I don’t have their gifts for science and math, so going into medicine was never going to be a path for me. But we were a family of news junkies, and I was born in ’69, so awareness of my parents’ progressive politics was always very much in the forefront of our dinner table discussions, whether about Watergate, Vietnam, the Black Panthers, or Philadelphia’s Mayor, Frank Rizzo. So, from a very early age, my brother and I watched the news every night and were very aware of the political issues of the day. And ultimately, after a few false starts that included going to film school after I finished college, and serving as press secretary for a family friend running for Congress, I finally figured out what I wanted to do. Telling stories about what’s going on, and reporting the news became a very natural fit. Actually, it’s kind of surprising that it took so long to figure it out.

KW: Did you write for The Dartmouth Review while you were there? It might be the most famous college student paper in the country. But I would guess that you didn’t, since it only promotes conservative points-of-view.

JT: No, I didn’t write for the Review, but I did do a daily comic strip for the regular school newspaper, The Dartmouth, where I would comment on the events of the day in comic form. My strip would make fun of everyone: The Dartmouth Review, and liberal campus protestors, frat boys and sorority girls, the football team, and administrators and professors. 

KW: You also did a cartoon strip called “Capitol Hell,” after you moved to D.C.

JT: Yeah, that was a weekly comic strip published by Roll Call.

KW: Did you write and draw the strip?

JT: Yes, I was hoping to be a cartoonist, but I succeeded in journalism first, so I just stuck with it.

KW: How do you decide what stories you’re going to cover?

JT: That’s a great question. We devote a great deal of time debating what we think is the most important issue of the day with the goal of providing as much breaking new information as possible while also providing a mix and a balance of stories, so that we’re covering business and international affairs, as well as politics and international news, and some sports and pop culture, if there’s something we think rises to the level.

KW: And how do you decide whether a story’s important enough to cover it on location?

JT: That’s one of those things where, like Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once said famously about obscenity: “I don’t know how to define it, but I know it when I see it.” One of the great journalistic thrills of this job has been to be able to anchor shows from Boston, Oklahoma, Paris or wherever a story is breaking and seems big enough. Sometimes, it’s really just a need to get there to talk to people who are already there on the scene. 

KW: Have you ever had a fear for your own safety while covering a story in a hot spot like Ferguson or Paris where there was a palpable possibility of danger in the air? 

JT: I wasn’t scared about my safety in Paris, but I will say that while I’ve reported from there, and from Israel, the West Bank, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, the place that seemed the most likely that I might be injured or worse in some sort of accident was Ferguson. That was both in the protests in August, and then much more starkly in October when there was the announcement that there would not be an indictment against Officer Wilson, which was followed by much more violent protests. That was the most hairy situation.

KW: What was the energy like in Ferguson?   

JT: I think that a lot of people parachuting in, like me, were coming into a situation that had been tense for decades. It seemed to me that the idea that this was all about one incident was incorrect. People were upset about their own personal experiences, as much, if not more so, as they were about what had happened to Michael Brown. 

KW: Why do you think President Obama decided not to attend the unity rally in Paris following the terrorist attacks there?

JT: I was never able to get a straight answer as to what happened, and why they made the glaring decision not to send even a high-ranking official from the administration. Why the White House didn’t remains a mystery to me. It’s likely that they thought of it was a European affair which didn’t necessitate the participation of the U.S. or, frankly, any leader from the Western Hemisphere. To me, when you’re in the last two years of an administration, and you don’t always have the best people giving the best advice at any given moment. But I honestly don’t know what happened. I’m still kind of confused by it. The White House basically said something to the effect of, “We should’ve sent somebody but we’re never going to tell you why we didn’t.”

KW: Did you really go on a date with Monica Lewinsky in 1998?

JT: Yes, about a month before she became a household name. We met at a party, and went on a very innocent date. I didn’t really think anything of it at the time. Then I went on a vacation with my dad, picked up a newspaper on our way back, and was stunned by what I was reading. And I wrote a story about for the Washington City Paper which is where I landed next. That was my first full-time job in journalism. 

KW: Have you remained in touch with her or tried to interview her?

JT: We exchange email on occasion. I think she knows that I’m here, if she wanted to do an interview, but I haven’t really been pressing for it.

KW: What do you think of her recent resurfacing?

JT: The truth is, I feel sorry for her. We all do stupid things when we’re 20 or 21. It would be horrible to have for a poor decision you made at that age to haunt you for the rest of your life. But it does happen. She’s a smart and good person who made a bad mistake with somebody who should’ve known a lot better. And it makes me sad as a friend of hers that it still haunts her.

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

JT: No, not really, because I think of myself as an interviewer, not as the subject, as I’d guess you think of yourself, too.

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

JT: I started Wally Lamb’s third book, “The Hour I First Believed,” but I haven’t finished that yet. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060988436/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

The last book I finished was “American Sniper” by Chris Kyle, which I read before interviewing his widow, Taya, and Bradley Cooper. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062238868/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

I also just finished reading the first Harry Potter book with my 7 year-old. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/059035342X/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

JT: That’s a question I’ve never been asked. I remember my parents dropping me off at my friend Eric Dudley’s house on their way to the hospital for my mom to have my brother. So, I was 4. And I also remember my brother being brought home. He and I are very close to this day.

KW: Was there a meaningful spiritual component to your childhood?

JT: I was brought up in a Conservative Jewish household. I went to a Hebrew school and to a Jewish sleep away camp. But I wouldn’t describe my childhood as particularly spiritual. My parents divorced when I was 7, which was almost trendy at the time. All my friends’ parents were getting divorced. I identified as a Jew, but much more so as a kid growing up in Philadelphia in the Seventies. It was an era of change.  

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

JT: I see someone a lot older than I expect to see. I feel like I’m about 27, so I’m surprised to see the gray and the bags under my eyes. But, I still have my hair, so I can’t complain. Let’s just say I did okay, follicly-speaking, with the genes I was handed. People don’t necessarily think I’m 46.

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

JT: You really have to stand out to be remembered in this field. I don’t think very many journalists do get remembered. In terms of this profession, I would like to be remembered as a journalist who told the truth, who confronted people in power making questionable decisions, and who tried to do some good. But the truth of the matter is I only expect to be remembered by my kids, and I hope they think of me as a good dad.   

KW: Lastly, what’s in your wallet?

JT: My wallet’s a lot more exciting than its contents. I have a great wallet that everybody remarks about because it looks like one of those Aerogram letters. I got it at a toy store, and every year my wife buys me a new one because I’m one of those guys whose wallet looks like a corned beef sandwich after awhile. I’d be carrying around things like club cards for bookstores that don’t exist anymore. But right now, mine is pretty bareboned. It’s got credit cards, driver’s license, health insurance information, car information and a $50 traveler’s check that I never got around to cashing.

KW: thanks again for the time and keep up the great work, Jake. I think you have good energy and you exude a certain calmness and confidence that makes for a pleasant experience watching you.

JT: That’s really nice of you to say, Kam. Thanks.

To see Jake Tapper’s coverage of the unity rally in Paris, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FJME4bD6jQ    

Kung Fu Elliot
Film Review by Kam Williams

Elliot “White Lightning” Scott supposedly won 7 different kickboxing titles in Canada before deciding it was time to parlay his success into an acting career. That’s a little hard to believe given the aspiring thespian’s flabby physique and underwhelming fight and acting skills.

Nevertheless, the Halifax, Nova Scotia native’s goal was to become his country’s first, homegrown, screen action hero. Unable to interest a Hollywood studio in underwriting his assault on showbiz, he turned to his gainfully-employed fiancée, Linda Lum, to bankroll his self-made kung fu films on a modest day care center salary.

Elliot not only performed in but wrote and directed the micro-budget action adventures. He also did his own stunts and added the pictures’ special effects. Besides paying for the projects, Linda served as cameraman, editor and scored the soundtracks. She even had to chauffeur the cast and crew around since her flaky beau didn’t have a car (or a job).

If all of the above sounds like a recipe for disaster, that’s only because it was. The struggling couple’s ill-fated endeavor is humorously recounted in Kung Fu Elliot, a documentary which contrasts impatient Linda’s increasing frustrations with her delusional hubby-to-be’s selfish ambition for superstardom.

Co-directed by Matthew Bauckman and Jaret Belliveau, this spellbinding biopic revolves more around whether their strained relationship will last than whether their latest martial arts production, “Blood Fight,” has a ghost of a chance of being completed and released in theaters. For, besides exploiting Linda financially, questions eventually surface about Elliot both in terms of fidelity and the legitimacy of his kickboxing record.

A cautionary tale about how love might blind you to the actual agenda of a very slippery character.

Excellent (4 stars)

Unrated

Running time: 89 minutes

Distributor: The Orchard

To see a trailer for Kung Fu Elliot, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWN_IMZ1vvI        

Craig Robinson
The “Hot Tub Time Machine 2” Interview
with Kam Williams

Craig Robinson is arguably best known for his role as acerbic Dunder-Mifflin employee Darryl Philbin on NBC’s Emmy-winning The Office. Regardless of what role you know him from, he is definitely a world away from his original career intentions.

Before deciding to pursue his comedy career full time, Craig was a K-8 teacher in the Chicago Public School System. He earned his undergraduate degree from Illinois State University and his Masters of Education from St. Xavier University.

It was while he was studying Education that he also discovered his love of acting and comedy when he joined the famed Second City Theatre.

As a stand-up comic, Craig first made a splash at the 1998 “Just for Laughs” Festival in Montreal. That year, he also won the Miller Genuine Draft Comedy Search.

He soon went on to perform on The Jimmy Kimmel Show and on Real Time with Bill Maher. Now, headlining venues and festivals across the country, he does both solo acts as well as sets with his seven-piece band, The Nasty Delicious, thereby tying together his lyrical comedy with his finesse at the piano.

Success on The Office and his stand-up prowess quickly brought Craig to the attention of Judd Apatow who cast him as the sensitive bouncer in Knocked Up. He subsequently kept audiences glued to their seats as one of the henchman hunting Seth Rogen and James Franco’s bumbling stoner characters in Pineapple Express, and made fans squirm when he co-starred with Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks in Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

More recently, Craig has starred in Escape from Planet Earth, Peeples and This Is the End. And later this year, look for the premiere of Mr. Robinson, a TV show loosely based on his life as a teacher in Chicago.

Here, he talks about reprising the role of Nick in Hot Tub Time Machine 2, a sci-fi comedy co-starring Rob Corddry, Clark Duke and Adam Scott.

Kam Williams: Hey Craig, thanks for another interview.

Craig Robinson: My pleasure, Kam. How’re you doing?

KW: I’m doing great. How about yourself?

CR: I’m good. Thanks for getting the word out.

KW: Of course. As usual, I’ll be mixing in my questions with some from readers. Let me start with: What was the primary challenge you faced in getting back into the hot tub?

CR: With the addition of Adam Scott to the principal cast, the primary challenge was whether there would be chemistry. But that worry quickly changed to “Oh, it’s on!” So, the initial concern was about what was going to happen. Besides that, the heat was an issue at times, since we shot in New Orleans for a couple months.

KW: What was it like getting back together with director Steve Pink and your co-stars Rob and Clark?

CR: There’s nothing but love and trust there, so it was great. It was like being with friends, with people you already know. So, you have a sense of what makes each other tick and what makes each other laugh. Plus you bring along what you’ve learned since last time. The familiarity was wonderful!

KW: Larry Greenberg says: You mentioned sharing a special moment with Jessica Paré while shooting the original Hot Tub Time Machine, and that you enjoyed watching that scene over and over again. Did you have another memorable moment like that in Hot Tub Time Machine 2?

CR: Yes, except this time it was with Rob Corddry.

KW: Sangeetha Subramanian says: Craig, sequels can be great for reviving themes and running jokes from an original movie. Was that the case with Hot Tub Time Machine 2, or does the sequel focus more on breaking new ground?

CR: That’s a great question, Sangeetha. We definitely tip our hat to the original, but we also break new ground. It’s a marvelous mixture!

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: Did you worry about running the risk of being typecast by agreeing to do the sequel? 

CR: Not at all. I’ve been typecast already. [Chuckles] I was first typecast after playing a bouncer in Knocked Up. Right away, I had four or five offers to play another bouncer. People kept saying, “Hey man, I got this role for you as a bouncer.” But in my mind, I was thinking, “Well, I’ve done that.” Then, when I was playing Darryl on The Office, some people started hating on me, saying I was best in small doses after a publication announced that I had landed a lead in a movie. So, I’m not going to worry about being typecast, I’m just going to continue doing what I do. 

KW: Eleanor Welski asks: What is your upcoming film Zeroville about? I see that it has a lot of the same cast as This Is the End.

CR:  Yeah, well Franco [James Franco] is directing that, so he called us in, and we were like, “Yeah, yeah, of course!” Once you’re familiar with someone’s track record, you know immediately whether or not you want to work with them. He has that kind of juice. I’m not aware of everyone else who’s in Zeroville, since I only had a couple of scenes. 

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

CR:  Just today, flying on a plane to New Orleans with Steve [director Steve Pink], Josh, [scriptwriter Josh Heald] and Clark and Rob, we were all laughing really heard listening to Josh pitch some ideas he has for Hot Tub 3.

KW: Yeah? I’d love to hear them.

CR: Sorry, we don’t want to put the cart before the horse, so I can’t talk about that.

KW: You made a pilot for a TV series called Mr. Robinson. When’s the show coming on?

CR: We don’t have an air date yet, but we’ve already taped the premiere and the second episode in front of a live studio audience. We’re having a blast! It’s about me as a substitute music teacher whose first love is playing with my band. We use my actual band, The Nasty Delicious. And you get introduced to my childhood sweetheart from many, many, many years ago. She’s now a teacher at our old high school. I start subbing there just to be near her, but I fall in love with the school and I’m so good with the kids that I’m offered a permanent position. I take the job, and hijinks ensue.

KW: Sounds good!

CR: Speaking of good, Meagan Good’s my co-star. We’re very excited about that.

KW: Speaking of jobs, what was your first job?

CR: After high school, the summer before I started college, I worked as a gofer at an attorney’s office in downtown Chicago. I would make copies, buy bagels, go pick up checks, and do whatever they needed. My godfather, Eddie Jackson, rest his soul, got me that job. Sometimes, I’d have to deliver a million-dollar check and I’d hold it right up against my chest like it was going to blow away or something. [Laughs]

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

CR: I’m a Scorpio. I’m very quiet. In real life, I’m usually observing the situation. But the red carpet’s a circus where you’re expected to be talkative, work the room and be larger than life. I’d be perfectly comfortable to just sit there and observe, and pick my moments, which is what makes improvising with ensembles so much fun for me. I prefer to be able to soak the scene all in before launching on you.   

KW: Lastly, what’s in your wallet?

CR: [Chuckles] I don’t really carry cash. Let’s see… my license… a valet ticket…a business card… and a credit card for incidentals.

KW: Thanks again for the time, Craig, and best of luck with the film.

CR: Hey, I appreciate it, Kam, and we’ll be in touch, man.  

To see a trailer for Hot Tub Time Machine 2, visit:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojuLwwASMaU

The Envelope Please:   Oscar Predictions 2015

Who Will Win, Who Deserves to Win, Who Was Snubbed

by Kam Williams          

While Selma’s Academy Awards stock plummeted in the wake of allegations of historical inaccuracies, that of American Sniper simultaneously skyrocketed, thanks to both booming box-office returns and very positive word of mouth. However, Sniper probably had too much ground to make up to catch Birdman, the early favorite in the Best Picture sweepstakes.

I see Birdman garnering 4 awards overall, followed by The Grand Budapest Hotel, with 3. The only other multiple winners will likely be Boyhood, Whiplash and The Theory of Everything, at 2 each.     

Faithful readers will remember that a year ago, yours truly accurately predicted the results in 21 of 21 categories (I skipped the short films), so anyone who used my picks in their office pool fared pretty well. However, past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Besides forecasting the winners below, I also suggest which nominees are the most deserving. Furthermore, because some great performances are invariably overlooked by the Academy entirely, I also point out those who should’ve been nominated.

The 87th Academy Awards will air live on ABC this Sunday, February 22nd at 8:30 PM ET/5:30 PM PT, and will be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris.   

Best Picture    

Will Win: Birdman

Deserves to Win: Selma

Overlooked: Nightcrawler

Best Director

Will Win: Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman)

Deserves to Win: Ava Duvernay (Selma)

Overlooked: Damien Chazelle (Whiplash)

Best Actor

Will Win: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)

Deserves to Win: Michael Keaton (Birdman)

Overlooked: Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)

Best Actress

Will Win: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Deserves to Win: Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night)

Overlooked: Jennifer Aniston (Cake)

Best Supporting Actor

Will Win: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Deserves to Win: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Overlooked: Rick Garcia (Nightcrawler)

Best Supporting Actress

Will Win: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Deserves to Win: Emma Stone (Birdman)

Overlooked: Jessica Chastain (A Most Violent Year)  

Best Original Screenplay

Will Win: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. and Armando Bo (Birdman)

Deserves to Win: Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler)

Overlooked: Paul Webb (Selma)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Will Win: Graham Moore (The Imitation Game)

Deserves to Win: Damien Chazelle (Whiplash)

Overlooked: Peter Landesman, Gary Webb and Nick Schou (Kill the Messenger)

Predictions for Secondary Categories

Animated Feature: How to Train Your Dragon 2

Foreign Language Film: Ida

Documentary Feature: Citizenfour

Cinematography: Birdman

Costume Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Production Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Film Editing: Boyhood

Makeup and Hairstyling: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Original Score: The Theory of Everything

Best Song: Glory (Selma)

Sound Editing: American Sniper

Sound Mixing: Whiplash

Visual Effects: Interstellar

The Business of Disease
Film Review by Kam Williams

The healthcare industrial complex spends billions of dollars on packaging and branding brainwash us into believing that there are no viable alternatives to Western medicine’s approach to curing this or that illness. In fact, doctors and pharmaceuticals have been so successful in this endeavor that it is now mandatory that every citizen purchase insurance to cover conventional types of medical treatment.

But it is the contention of advocates of holistic healing that we’re being manipulated to resort reflexively to drugs and/or surgery when a less drastic or invasive path to wellness might be readily available. As Dr. Bradley Nelson, author and chiropractor, asserts, “Most people have no idea how to be healthy, or what the underlying cause of a symptom is.” Nevertheless, like lemmings, most of us simply follow whatever regimen a physician prescribes for the condition we’re presenting.

If you are concerned about your health and are at all inclined to question authority, you might want to check out The Business of Disease, a damning documentary written, directed, produced and narrated by Sonia Barrett. With the assistance of a number of New Age luminaries, Ms. Barrett makes the case for naturopathic medicine.

Among the experts she interviewed for this project, is Dr. Jacob Liberman, Ph.D. who claims that the medical profession is based on a very limited model in terms of remedies. “The misperception that most people have is that there’s a drug that can help them,” he says. “And if a drug can’t help them, then maybe surgery can.”

Also weighing-in is Dr. John Virapen, Ph.D., a pharmaceutical executive-turned-whistleblower. He believes if there were truth in advertising, “Life Insurance” would be called “Death Insurance” and “Health Care” would be referred to as “Disease Care.”

The Business of Disease doesn’t just criticize The Establishment, but suggests that such offbeat therapies as yoga, music, art and even light might be all you need to reverse a malady. Low production values aside, this iconoclastic expose’ has a wealth of information to offer the very open-minded.

Excellent (4 stars)

Unrated

Running time: 88 minutes

Distributor: Dreamspell Productions

To see a trailer for The Business of Disease, visit: http://www.thebusinessofdisease.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=51&Itemid=176