The media's decades-long love for all things Kennedy continued on Monday's CBS This Morning. Co-host Norah O'Donnell reported from Japan to fawn over U.S. ambassador Caroline Kennedy. Previewing an upcoming 60 Minutes story, O'Donnell enthused, "She's almost greeted like a head of state here in Japan. Incredibly popular."
The reporter went back in time and reminded that John F. Kennedy's PT 109 boat was struck by the Japanese during World War II. O'Donnell narrated, "He had famously sought, you know, to reconcile relations with Japan, had even planned be the first sitting U.S. president to come to Japan in 1964, but was assassinated before that could be done." She then connected the two: "A half a century later, his daughter Caroline Kennedy is the ambassador..."
It's easy to see why CBS scored the exclusive interview. On March 28, 2013, This Morning co-host Gayle King offered softballs such as "Madame Ambassador, does that have a ring to it for you?" and "Do you like Japan or Canada better?" Charlie Rose wondered if Kennedy might run for president in 2016.
Not to be outdone, on April 23, 2014, NBC's Peter Alexander insisted that JFK's daughter is "more dignitary than diplomat" as she travels through Japan.
A partial transcript of the March 9 segment is below:
8:32
CHARLIE ROSE: We told you earlier that Norah is on assignment in Tokyo. She spoke with America's ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy for an upcoming 60 Minutes story. She is with us now from Tokyo. Good morning.
NORAH O'DONNELL: Well, Konnichiwa, as they say here in Japan. It's really kind of a very historic moment because, as you know, this summer we're going to be marking the 70th anniversary of Japan's surrender that brought the end to World War II. And JFK's PT 109 boat was sunk by a Japanese destroyer. He had famously sought, you know, to reconcile relations with Japan, had even planned be the first sitting U.S. president to come to Japan in 1964, but was assassinated before that could be done. And now, a half a century later, his daughter Caroline Kennedy is the ambassador here at a very critical time in U.S. relations and, certainly, as our security pivots towards Asia. So we spent time with her all day today, the last couple of days. She's almost greeted like a head of state here in Japan. Incredibly popular.
GAYLE KING: And how is she doing, Norah? From everything I hear, she really likes the job very much.
O'DONNELL: She does. I mean, this is, I would say, the most comfortable I've ever seen her. You know, really in a job that suits her skills, her diplomacy. She's working very closely with the conservative prime minister, Prime Minister Abe who's really undertaking some incredible reforms. They call it Abenomics because, as you know, Japan's been facing stagflation and deflation, stagnation, rather, and deflation for the last two decades. And so he's trying to change things around. And one of the ways he's trying to change Japan's economy – remember Japan's economy the third largest economy in the world – is by womenomics. So, trying to get more women involved in the work force. And that's an incredibly unusual thing that they're doing. Japan has some of the most educated women in the work force. So, the prime minister wants more women in the workforce. How's he going to do that? He's saying he wants 30 percent of the women in managerial positions and he's going to provide more day care. And there's a lot of data out there that says if they can do that, they can boost Japan's GDP.
