Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
>>> PRESIDENT OBAMA'S
HALF-BROTHER COMING OUT WITH A
NEW AUTOBIOGRAPHY THAT DETAILS
DOMESTIC ABUSE BY THEIR FATHER.
MARK OBAMA'S BOOK WILL CORRECT
FACTUAL ERRORS IN THE
PRESIDENT'S 1995 MEMOIR "DREAMS
FROM MY FATHER".
BRIAN TODD HAS BEEN LOOKING INTO
THE STORY FOR US.
IT'S NOT THE FIRST BOOK BY THE
PRESIDENT'S HALF-BROTHER.
WHAT'S DIFFERENT?
>> IT'S DIFFERENT, WOLF.
THIS IS MORE OF A FACTUAL
ACCOUNT.
THIS IS NOT A NOVEL.
THIS IS A JOURNEY INTO HIS PAST,
HOW HE MADE HIS WAY TO CHINA AND
SOME OF THAT.
THE PART THAT MOST OF US ARE
MORE INTERESTED IN IS THE FAMILY
DYNAMIC.
AND WHAT MARK WRITES IS ABOUT
THE ABUSE THAT HE AND HIS MOTHER
SUFFERED AT HANDS OF THEIR
FATHER.
THEIR FATHER WAS BARACK OBAMA
SR., THE SAME FATHER THAT BARACK
OBAMA HAS BUT HAD DIFFERENT
MOTHERS.
RUTH IS AN AMERICAN, LIKE BARACK
OBAMA'S MOTHER, SHE WAS BARACK
OBAMA SR.'S THIRD WIFE.
MARK, IN THIS BOOK, RECALLS AN
INCIDENT WHERE THE FATHER HELD A
KNIFE TO HIS MOTHER'S THROAT
BECAUSE SHE HAD TAKEN OUT A
RESTRAINING ORDER ON HIM.
BARACK OBAMA HIMSELF WAS NOT
THERE AT THE TIME, DIDN'T
WITNESS THE INCIDENT.
HAD LITTLING KA WITH HIS FATHER,
ONLY WITH HIM ONE TIME IN HIS
LIFE FOR A PERIOD OF A COUPLE OF
WEEKS IN THE EARLY '70s.
BUT MARK FEELS THAT THE
PRESIDENT DOESN'T REALLY
ACKNOWLEDGE OR EMBRACE THE
DOMESTIC ABUSE AT THE HANDS OF
THEIR FATHER.
THIS IS AN EXCERPT OF OUR
INTERVIEW.
>> BARACK, I DON'T THINK ACCEPTS
OR AT LEAST DOES NOT WANT TO
KNOW DETAILS OF BEATINGS THAT
OCCURRED IN OUR FAMILY.
AND I CAN UNDERSTAND THAT,
PERHAPS.
BUT I THINK, TO A CERTAIN
EXTENT, THAT'S COLORED A LOT OF
RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THE FAMILY
BETWEEN FAMILY MEMBERS,
INCLUDING MYSELF AND HIM.
>> WE'RE REACHING OUT TO THE
WHITE HOUSE FOR SOME RESPONSE TO
THIS, IF THEY CARE TO GIVE IT.
WE'VE NOT HEARD BACK INTEREST
THEM YET, WOLF.
BUT AGAIN, THIS IS -- THESE ARE
SENSITIVE FAMILY MATTERS.
SOME OF THIS HAS AIRED BEFORE IN
BOOKS AND OTHER VENUES, AND
BARACK OBAMA, IN HIS OWN BOOK,
DID WRITE ABOUT HIS FATHER'S
PROBLEMS WITH ALCOHOLISM AND HE
DIDN'T TREAT HIS FAMILIES WELL
BUT MAYBE HE HASN'T GOT NOON THE
DETAILS OF THE ABUSE.
AGAIN, ABUSE, ACCORDING TO MARK,
HAPPENED WITH HIS OWN MOTHER AND
NOT WITH BARACK OBAMA'S PART OF
THE FAMILY.
>> TWO HALF-BROTHERS, WHAT KIND
OF RELATIONSHIP DO THEY HAVE IN.
>> MARK SAYS, IT'S PRETTY COLD
RIGHT NOW AND HE THINKS HE HAS
ALIENATED HIS BROTHER BY SOME OF
HIS WRITINGS.
HE DID SAY I THINK HE'S A GREAT
PRESIDENT BUT SOMETIMES A LOUSY
BROTHER.
AGAIN, HE THINKS IT'S BECAUSE
MAYBE BARACK OBAMA HASN'T
EMBRACED SOME OF THE VIOLENCE
AND SOME OF THE REALLY GRITTY
DETAILS.
>> DO THEY HAVE ANY CONTACT AT
ALL?
>> NOT MUCH.
THEY MET A FEW TIMES, FIRST IN
1988, A FEW TIMES WHILE BARACK
OBAMA WAS PRESIDENT BUT NOT MUCH
AT ALL OVER THE YEARS.