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Peter Johnson USA TODAY. Wed Oct 9, 7:39 AM ET
What exactly was said during the negotiations will probably remain murky, as
these things often do, but this much is clear: ABC's Barbara Walters appears to
have an exclusive with Cuban President Fidel Castro. Because of it, NBC's Today
might cancel Friday's trip to the island.
The last time Walters interviewed Castro was in 1977, when she was 46 and he
was 50. It became a historic event and made headlines worldwide.
Now, on the 40th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis and with talk of
renewed relations between Cuba and the USA, the two sit down on Friday's 20/20.
Walters was traveling back from Cuba Tuesday. As of last week, Cuban
officials apparently had promised CBS' Dan Rather an exclusive with Castro.
Meanwhile, NBC was touting that an interview with Castro, probably by Andrea
Mitchell, was expected to be part of Matt Lauer's one-day stay in Cuba.
Then on Friday, Walters told the New York Post that she had the scoop: ''The
Cuban government made the decision two days ago that Castro would do one major
interview and that he would do it with me.''
By that time, Rather had pulled out. ''It had become increasingly difficult
to get a response that we trusted, so we decided to walk away,'' CBS spokeswoman
Sandy Genelius said.
NBC is threatening to cancel its trip unless Castro makes himself available.
But there's a chance that even if he doesn't, the trip might still happen. | 
