hola empezamos hoy her book is now out and tonight mimi alford speaks for the first time with meredith vieira. >> it was exciting. it was glamorous. it was fun. >> she was a 19-year-old college kid, an intern in the white house press office. he was the 45-year-old leader of the free world. and she was mesmerized. >> i think i was under the aura. >> she says it all began on just her fourth day at the white house when the president gave her a private tour that ended in the first lady's bedroom. >> he then put his hands on my shoulders and sort of guided me down to the edge of the bed and i think he may have even said to me, is this all right? i didn't really know what was about to happen and then what did happen was i lost my virginity right there. >> reporter: what followed, she says, was an affair that lasted more than a year with trysts at the white house, cross country trips and even calls summoning her back from college. you're in a limo. they're taking you to the airport to fly you to d.c. and doing your homework in the car knowing you're being sent to washington. >> yeah. >> repor

the former mimi feinstein, now mimi alford.l tell her story tonight on msnbc's "rock center" and it should be a big show. we'll talk about it in a minute this is "hardball." [ male announcer ] we asked real people if they'd help us with an experiment for febreze fabric refresher. they agreed. [ experimenter 1 ] relax, take some nice deep breaths. [ experimenter 2 ] what do you smell? lilac. clean. there's something that's really fresh. a little bit beach-y. like children's blankets. smells like home. [ experimenter 1 ] okay. take your blindfolds off. ♪ hello? [ male announcer ] and now new and improved febreze fabric refresher with up to two times the odor elimination so you can breathe happy, guaranteed. >>> the republican race for president now moves to maine where a week-long caucus window culminates on saturday night. we'll have live coverage by the way this saturday night beginning at 7:00 eastern. i'll be here. "hardball" back after a minute. >>> we're back. it's been a half century now but the kennedy myth endorsed certa

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now all these years later, mimi alford says her experience in the executive mansion included an 18-month long affair with then president john f. kennedy. she had planned never to speak of it until her story ended up in a prominent historian's biography of jfk a few years back. now she's chosen to talk in a new book out this week called "once upon a secret." meredith vieira has the story in an exclusive interview. >> most mornings when i woke up, i thought, i don't want to get up and write this book. i want to hide under the covers. >> reporter: what made you then get out from under the covers? >> i think when you keep a secret, and when you keep silent about something, you do it because you think it's keeping you safe, but in fact, it's deadly. >> reporter: the secret, claims alford, started in the summer of 1962, when the 19-year-old debutante from a prominent new jersey family began what she says was an 18-month affair with president john f. kennedy. the revelation was first revealed in 2003 when historian robert dallek wrote in his biography of jfk, that a small, slender, beautiful wh

the former mimi feinstein, now mimi alford. on msnbc's "rock center" and it should be a big show. we'll talk about it in a minute this is "hardball." ♪ spread a little something to remember ♪ ♪ ♪ spread a little joy... [ female announcer ] fresh milk and real cream. that's what makes philadelphia. ♪ so spread a little... [ female announcer ] and that's what makes the moment we enjoy it, a little richer. ♪ real belgian chocolate whipped with philadelphia cream cheese. new indulgence. the moment just got a little sweeter. laces? really? slip-on's the way to go. more people do that, security would be like -- there's no charge for the bag. thanks. i know a quiet little place where we can get some work done. there's a three-prong plug. i have club passes. [ male announcer ] now there's a mileage card that offers special perks on united, like a free checked bag, united club passes, and priority boarding. thanks. ♪ okay. what's your secret? ♪ [ male announcer ] the new united mileageplus explorer card. get it and you're in. >>> the re

mimi alford, good morning to you. and welcome. the interviews that meredith vieira did with you last night. you watched it as well -- >> i did. >> i was struck by how you are still sad after 50 years. by all that's happened. what makes you most sad? >> what really makes me most sad is not having been able to talk. not having been able to talk about what i was part of, what had happened to me. and that's what makes me the saddest. >> you write -- >> and also that you know, going back and from hindsight, looking back as that relationship i had with president kennedy was, was so imbalanced. though there were lots of positive things about it for me. it was also imbalanced. so it wasn't, it didn't help me learn how to have a real relationship with a man. >> so you're sad in part for that 19-year-old, happy, joyful, fun-to-be around girl, who suddenly lost her innocence? >> yes. but she also had fun. i also had fun. so i'm sad for that, that she -- but i had a good time. i was there. >> you write that for years afterwards, you were quot

a new tell-all book from mimi alford now 68 years old who says she is unlocking decades old secrets ofe she shared with jfk. alford goes into this detail about losing her virginity to the commander in chief and how she felt about their relationship in an interview with meredith vieira airing tonight on nbc. >> you wrote that i wouldn't describe it happened that night as making love but i wouldn't call it nonconsensual either. he had maneuvered me swiftly and unexpectedly and with such authority and strength that short of screaming i doubt if i could have done anything to thwart his intentions, with which almost makes it sound like you did feel you were somewhat overpowered. >> well, i think overpowered in the sense that he was the president. he was this unbelievably handsome man, 45 years old, not overpowered physically that someone had grabbed me and made me do something that i wasn't really willing to do. >> richard is a historian and vice president of vote iq. as we listen to part of the interview meredith has with mimi alford, it's no secret we've all heard rumors throughout the de

this new book by mimi alford gives us more detail to the story most of us already knew well. jacqueline, just 34 at the time, told a reporter, all men are a combination of bad and good. she said his mother never loved him. was she trying to explain that cold detachment of his that knows the feelings and motives of others and used them for his own purpose, yet not to be moved by them. the edge that made him a cold steel leader so heedless, too of the people close by. in 1980, long after he was gone, jacqueline kennedy called him that unforgettable elusive man. from those words that i drew the title of my own book. she said after hearing someone say, he made no pretense of being free from sin or imperfection. that was the one true portrait of him that has ever been done. jack kennedy was hard to figure. he prayed at his bed side each end until the night. a ritual his wife thought superstitious. went to mass every sunday. at his boarding school he'd go to mass in town, to another island when he was a naval officer, a confession try to the end of his life. he lived flf so many co

. >>> su nombre es mimi alford, ahora tiene 68 años, pero tenía 19 años cuando tenía una relación cone con el ex presidente john f. kennedy" >>> para este analista, estas revelaciones cuentan que ahora hay más maneras de saber estas relaciones que antes. >>> tenemos casos como el ex presidente clinton, como el gobernador de carolina del sur, que han tenido sus affaires y amoríos que no han podido esconder. >>> mimi dijo que

a woman named mimi alford alleges she had an affair with john f. kennedy 50 years ago. she tells what she said was an 18 month an affair in a new book called "once upon a secret." she met him in the white house swimming pool. >> it did not seem a natural because everybody was friendly. >> she says later she had sex with the president in mrs. kennedy's bedroom sure it she said it continued when she went back to college. the last time she saw him was days before she was -- he was assassinated. >> police are investigating a crash. it happened around 6 across last night. police say an suv struck the other vehicle and the southbound lanes. one woman was killed. three were taken to the hospital. police are looking into if alcohol may have been a factor. prince george's county police officers involved in a shooting have been suspended. police say evidence does not support what the corporal and another officer told them about what happened. taylor told police he fired at ryan outside of a gas station because he thought he was about to take his gun. >> 43 degrees outside. >> com

. >>> plus mimi alford had an 18-month relationship with john f. kennedy. she tells us why telling her stories with u so important. >>> before we get to all of that, let's begin with today's top news stories and for that let's head over to the news desk. that's where nbc's janet shamlian is standing by. >> good morning. this morning shows concussion of the captain and crew of the "costa concordia" an hour after the ship hit a reef and capsized. it appears to show captain francesco ske tenobeing pressured by other officers to evacuate the ship. he reportedly replies, okay, fine. let's let them go to land. at least 17 people died in last month's disaster. 15 are still missing, and the captain is under house arrest. >>> as president assad tries to hold onto power in syria, satellite images released friday appear to show syrian army tanks and other armored vehicles moving into the city of homs, which has been under siege for several days now. fighting in homs has reportedry killed hundreds of people over the past week, and with some of the violence even reachin

this week a new book by mimi alford, the 19-year-old intern saying that jack kennedy seduced her in the white house. does this story and others like it diminish kennedy's place in history? >> i think not at all. the notion of jack kennedy as a horn dog is pretty much priced in the stock. i don't think it changes the picture at all. chris: gloria as a woman? remember think the story is awful and zickable, but i think the question has been asked and answered on kennedy. >> john? you are yuaning. >> that was my reaction. it seems like deja vu once again as far as that aspect of kennedy's character goes. his image is still larger than that. >> i wrote a much more comprehensive book. it is all a part of the picture. you can't defend it. thanks to the round table. that is the show. thanks for watching. we will see you bac

meredith, the clip we just heard, mimi alford described her secret as deadly. what sense did you get from her in terms of any guilt she may have felt over her allegation and did she talk about jackie kennedy? >> is interesting you ask that, she got very emotional one point in the interview, she said, you know, i wasn't a bad person. she wanted to make it clear that she wasn't some bad girl, she wasn't out to get anything. she wasn't looking for a job. she got caught up in what she refers to as a web, caught up in the aura of the president, just the charisma of the man. and regret? no. i don't think she regrets, when i asked her that specifically, it wasn't the affair she regretted, it was what it was. what she regretted was holding onto that secret for so long because it never allowed her to be herself and to truly deal with that relationship, which she understands in retrospect was very unhealthy and because of the fact she couldn't deal with it, she felt she went on to have a series of relationships with men that were equally unhealthy. so unburdening herself

this is a story that mimi alford kept secret for 50 years. she didn't talk about it publically. was outed in a historian's book in 1953 and admitted she was indeed the mimi who had the affair with jfk. then she basically disappeared until now. >> most mornings when i woke up i thought, i don't want to get up and write this book. i want to hide under the covers. >> what made you get out from under the covers? >> i think when you keep a secret and keep silent about something you do it because you think it's keeping you safe, but in fact it's deadly. >> reporter: the secret, claims alford, started in the summer of 1962 when the 19-year-old debutante from a prominent new jersey family began what she says was an 18-month affair with president john f. kennedy. >> i was sort of swept into this web. the handsome president, his charisma, magnetism. >> reporter: mimi said it began on the fourth day of her new job as a white house summer intern when she received a phone call from dave powers, the president's close aide. >> he said, a group of us are going to have a swim at lunchtime. would

in her book, mimi alford describes being seduced into four days into her internship. said the first time she had sex in mrs. kennedy's bedroom and thereafter in various white house rooms. but alford said the president never kissed her on the lips. >>> well, security was tight both inside and outside the super bowl last night, but apparently, all of it pretty successful. behind the scenes there were hundreds of police and federal agents. on top of that, bomb-sniffing dogs, remote-controlled robots and all sorts of high-tech gear. the air force had fighter jets ready to scramble. time for the highlights from the victory last night. we turn to the best in the business our friends at espn news. >>> good morning, i'm max bretos, this is your espn news update. superbow bowbowl xlvi. top brady and the pats taking on the giants. first quarter, giants up 2-0. eli manning to victor cruz. do you want salsa for those chips. manning 9 for 9 to start the game. second quarter it's tom brady after a slow start finds woodhead. just like that. patriots lead it 10-9. that would be your

mimi alford was just 19 years old when she went to work as an intern in the white house press office. a summer job that would change her life. she has written a book about her experiences there, including an 18-month secret affair with president john f. kennedy. >> i had to write this book. >> reporter: why did you have to? >> why did i have to? it started out feeling that i couldn't leave this story as a paragraph, this experience i had as a paragraph in somebody else's book. so i really wanted to take one control of it myself. >> reporter: alford says her secret began in the summer of 1962, when she started what she says was an 18-month affair with president john f. kennedy. >> i was sort of swept into this web, the handsome president, his charisma, his magnetism. >> reporter: after losing her virginity to president kennedy on her fourth day on the job, she says they began an affair, spending evenings together in the private residence as often as twice a week. >> reporter: you're 19, he's 45. what did you talk about? >> we didn't have a lot of time to talk. he was president. what we

the book is called once upon icy grip, mimi alford says she was an 19 year- old virgin when the affair began in 1962. she has been working at the white house for less than a week when president kennedy invited her on a personal tour of the residence. she is now 69 grandmother and retired new york city church administrator. >> queen elisabeth is celebrating 60 years on the throne... and later half of all of you west pets are overweight and coming up how to keep your four legged friends weight in check. that was me trying to be discreet with my vial and syringe. me, drawing my insulin dose. and me the day i discovered novolog flexpen. flexpen is pre-filled with your mealtime insulin. dial the exact dose, inject by pushing a button. no vials, syringes or coolers to carry. flexpen is insulin delivery my way. novolog is a fast-acting insulin used to control high blood sugar in adults and children with diabetes. do not inject if you do not plan to eat within five to ten minutes after injection to avoid low blood sugar. tell your healthcare provider about all medicines you take and all of you

. >>> then mimi alford says she had an 18-month affair with the president. say she should have kept it a secret. first these messages from your local news. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] offering four distinct driving modes and lexus' dynamic handling, the next generation of lexus will not be contained. the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. ♪ >>> good saturday morning to you. looking live at the golden gate bridge it's a slick roadway, we expect heavier rain for tomorrow. i'm kris sanchez aamong with meteorologist rob mayeda. >> san francisco toward oakland a little light showers or heavy drizzle and more as you move down the peninsula into the south bay. the weather system is crossing over the central coast, adding extra lift to the low cloud cover so we veeom s areas of light rain for the morning and as we go towards the afternoon notice temperaturesom today staying kind of in the name range we saw yesterday. upper 50s and low 60s around the trivalley. cooler in the south bay where the low clouds linger into the afternoon. 58 san francisco, 63 in santa

mimi alford details her experience in "once upon a secr secret." tonight's "rock center" with brian williams. >> reporter: mimi said it began on the fourth day of her new job as a white house summer intern when she received a phone call from dave powers, the president's close aide. >> he said, a group of us are going to have a swim at lunchtime. would you like to join us? i thought, well, it was a little bit odd to be swimming in the middle of the day at work. where's the pool? i didn't know the white house had a pool. of course i didn't have a bathing suit either. he said, don't worry, there are bathing suits. >> reporter: in this heated pool, mimi found herself with two other young white house staffers. >> they were in the water and dave escorted me in. shortly thereafter the president arrived. no one said the president was going to join us. he put on his trunks and came into the water. >> reporter: hours later she was invited back to the white house residence and then she was taken on a private tour of some of the rooms of the residence by her pr

. >>> former intern, mimi alford talks about john robert kennedy.oins us as critics say she should have kept that relationship a secret. who's that girl? the first look at blue ivy carter, the apple of her parents' eye. more on that story. back to you. >> we heard they're trying to copyright blue eye'd name already. >> that's right. because other people were trying to call her fragrances, et cetera her name and trying to put a stop to it. >> thanks. if virginia is for lovers, reston is for romantics. >> the social networking site foursquare came up with a list of the nation's most romantic cities. reston ranked second as to flower shops and restaurants and wine bars and the most romantic is lake buena vista, florida, home to disney world. >>> valentine's day is coming up. a lot of men and women dread february 14th. we want to know why with the hashtag stupid cupid. we will share the best with you. >> i already ordered my roses. i would like to ask you. you spent time in reston. would you agree it's the most romantic. >> i do. you can find the wine b

. >> mimi alford broke her silence on nbc last night. >> i felt the president getting closer and closer on my shoulders, and sort of guided me down to the enl of the bed. -- edge of the bed. >> joining us to talk about this new book is kennedy biographer, thank you for joining us this morning. >> thanks for having me. >> so it's hard to corroborate a lot of mimi alford's account. many people she mentioned are dead. do you believe her story? >> i certainly do. >> why? >> well the detail of it. it's painful to haear it, that woman would tell almost in pornographic detail her relationships with the late president but i think the detail is not that unusual, half a dozen other women's could have written other books. >> why are we hearing about this now in descriptive details, pornographic as you call them? >> one woman in my book was a student at wellsley, kennedy had her get a job in the white house, she realized how she was being used, how pathetic this was and she left. ms. alford even now says she doesn't regret this and she thinks it was a romance. it wasn't a romance. a womanizer at th

. >> mimi alford coming forward after 50 years to reveal she had an 18-month affair with former president john f. kennedy. do you think it's okay she came out and told the story? >> i believe it's okay. i had a wonderful long conversation with her this morning. i did tell her we would be talking about her in the 9:00 hour and from my position, she was raped. and i say this because he was the president. she was an intern. he was 45, she was 19. he took her to a bedroom, put his hands on her shoulders and guided her to a room. i think we remind ourselves you don't have to say no to be in a position where you have no power. however, i believe she wrote this book because she wanted to have her own narrative and to that, i say kudos to her. >> wait a minute, you told her in your opinion you said it was rape and what did she say? >> she understood why i said that and she said she has had other people tell her that. she understands the context of that. but that she never saw it okay and she found the entire atmosphere in which she was pulled up into the white house, intoxicating. she was in this

former white house intern mimi alford details the allegations in an explosive new book and she sat downexclusive interview with nbc's meredith vieira. here is a preview. >> when you keep a secret and when you keep silent about something, you do it because you think it is keeping you safe, but in fact it is deadly. >> reporter: the secret started in the summer 1962, when the 19-year-old debutante from a program nent new jersey family began what she says was an 18-month affair with president john f. kennedy. the revelation was first revealed in 2003, when historian robert dow lick wrote in biography of jfk that a tall, slender, beautiful white house intern was rumored to be among the president's many paramores. at the time, mimi declined to offer details. now, she is talking and says that her first close encounter with the president took place in this indoor heated pool at the white house. the invitation came from the president's aide, dave powers, who asked her and two other staffers to join us for a swim, never mentioning that the u.s. included jfk. >> it really didn't seem unnatural ju

mimi alford was an intern. she said the president started hitting on her as soon as she started. the affair carried on after she returned to school and never felt guilty about it. the book is due out wednesday. >>> three people who survived a plane crash have an amazing story to tell. take a look at this video. the small plane they were riding in crashed upside down through the home in montana. the plane hit a few trees before the crash. the pilot and his daughter managed to get out of the plane and walk out of the house through the front door unharmed. another passenger and a dog on board managed to walk away without any injuries. the owner of the home was not injured earth. the cause remains under investigation. >>> it is just about 5:21 and our meteorologist tom kierein is telling us about the stretch of winter weather we're having. certainly felt like it this weekend. >> going to stay cold and get colder by the weekend. and it's about time winter lovers, going to be feeling like winter but not looking like it. all the notice we had north of town lay it on saturday into sunday

. >> in an exclusive interview with nbc, mimi alford says she was 19 years old when she had sex with jfk in first lady jack lip kennedy's bedroom. alford is releasing details in her memoir, which is out this wednesday. she says she wrote the book not to expose herself but to unburden herself with the secret which she has been keeping 15 years. you can see the exclusive interview this wednesday night on nbc's "rock center" with brian williams. >> janelle, we will be tuning in, thank you very much. >>> the catholic church objects to a white house directive requiring religious groups to give women the same health care benefits private companies do, including access to birth control. the outcry has been so lourkd the white house spokesman jay carney hinted the administration might compromise on the issue.th e policy requires religious groups to pay fine it is they fail to comply, starting in 2013. san jose's bishop put a letter in church bulletins sunday saying in part, we cannot comply with this unjust law. people of faith cannot be made second class citizens. we are already joined by o

mimi alford was a white house intern in the 1960s.n her new book, she says she was 19 when she had and fair with president kennedy. her story was first revealed in a 2003 biography of jfk but alford said she wanted to tell the story from her perspective. >>> still ahead, every parent knows getting your kid out the door in time for school can be a challenge. one mom and dad are facing legal trouble to too many late arrivals. >> also ahead, big check could be coming to thousands of home owners who went the painful process of foreclosure and mortgage payments could be cut a million people. we'll have detail on a major settlement in the works. stay with us.  brad and jill in accounting? crazy! coffee and chocolate. mocha. ooh! who's mocha? for the perfect blend of coffee and chocolate, try a mocha coffee or latte today. i'm drinkin' dunkin'. definitelyly dunkin'. you know, i need to get that jolt in the morning, but i want something good to do that. you can't mistake the flavor. i run on dunkin'. tell us what you're drin

mimi alford has written a book called "once upon a secret" and claims she had an affair that lasted 18 months and started in the summer of 1962 when she was 19 years old. alford told her story to nbc's meredith vieira. >> well, i think over powered in the sense that he was the president, this unbelievably handsome man, 45 years old, not over power edifice c-- powered physically that someone grabbed me and made me do something i wasn't willing to do because i think i was willing to do it. >> several people linked to the kennedy administration confirm alford was an intern with special access to the president. you can hear more of the story on nightly news at 7:00 here on nbc 4. >>> doug is here with a check on the weather forecast. i saw something over the weekend that was very troubling. >> cherry blossoms all the way out. is this going to affect our whole cherry blossom season? >> they'll probably come out a little earlier than they did last year but the ones you saw are a different breed of cherry blossoms. >> yes. >> really? >> i know that because it happened last year, doreen and i

mimi alford says after losing her virginity to president kennedy on her fourth day on the job they beganending evenings together in the private residence as often as twice a week. europe 19. he's 45. what did you talk about? >> well, we didn't have a lot of time to talk. he was the president. what we talked about was certainly not world affairs. the president was very boyish and playful with me. >> well, one of your friends, i believe, commented on it after the fact you didn't have an affair with the president. you had a play date. >> it did seem a little bit like that. i think maybe i reminded him of a wrung er time in his life. >> and as implausible as it seems today sometimes she actually spent the night with him it at the white house. did you start to get the sense that people within the white house knew what was going on? >> secret service might have known, but nobody ever talked to me about it. >> did you feel at any point guilty about the relationship? >> i should have felt guilty. he was married to mrs. kennedy, but i didn't at the time feel guilty because i think i felt this clo