In a testy exchange on CNN on Friday morning, New York Times correspondent Jodi Kantor came under fire once again over how she depicts the tensions between Michelle Obama and White House staff in her new book, "The Obamas."
CNN morning show anchor Soledad O'Brien questioned whether the book itself is an uninformed account of the couple and their relationship with the staff, saying that Kantor interviewed the first couple only once, in 2009.
Kantor countered that she spent time with the "two parties involved" and that she did what journalists do—talk to sources close to the couple.
"Soledad, your argument is that the first lady shouldn't be covered in a serious way by journalists," Kantor said.
"I do think you should cover her as a journalist," O'Brien responded. "I'm just saying you can understand how someone would feel having their relationship taken apart in a book, deconstructed in the book from someone who hasn't really done an interview with the two parties involved."
"I think she has some valid complaints about it," O'Brien added. "They knew exactly what they were getting into," Kantor retorted.
O'Brien went onto say that "clearly the first lady did not cooperate with the book."
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