Country star Tim McGraw "arrives" at Madame Tussauds at The Venetian.
A new book on the assassination of President Kennedy points to a Mafia revenge hit and sheds light on the Las Vegas connections. In "Ultimate Sacrifice," published by Carroll & Graf, co-authors Lamar Waldron and Thom Hartmann contend their "groundbreaking" research links the assassination 42 years ago today to three mob chieftains, including Johnny Rosselli, the Chicago Mafia's point man in Las Vegas.
At the time, JFK's brother, U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, was "pressuring and prosecuting" Rosselli and his boss, Sam Giancana, head of the Chicago mob.
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With Fidel Castro's 1959 takeover of Cuba, including the mob's Havana casinos, the Mafia-controlled Las Vegas skimming operation was more important than ever. Robert Kennedy was preparing a major assault in Las Vegas to deny the mobsters the cash revenue stream.
Fearful they might be jailed or deported, the mobsters decided to kill JFK as a message to his brother, the book says. Rosselli got together with mob bosses Santo Trafficante, godfather of Tampa, Fla., and Carlos Marcello of New Orleans, whose racketeering empire included Dallas. Assassination attempts were planned in November 1963 for Chicago, Tampa and Dallas.
The bombshell in the book is documentary evidence that the Kennedys planned to overthrow Castro on Dec. 1, 1963, and invade Cuba.
When the mob learned -- Rosselli was a CIA operative -- about the coup, they were convinced they could move against JFK because his brother and the U.S. government would be hamstrung with national security issues, coming so soon after the 1962 U.S-Soviet missile crisis in Cuba.
After JFK was killed and Chicago mob-linked Jack Ruby gunned down Lee Harvey Oswald, whom the authors call a Mafia patsy, a Las Vegas mob rep contacted the office of defense attorney Marvin Belli to take Ruby's case, the book says.
Ruby had made trips to New Orleans, Miami and Las Vegas less than a month before the assassination, according to the book.
THE SCENE AND HEARD
It's a good thing that James Gandolfini of "The Sopranos" only plays a mobster. I hear he's livid that his goombas were tossed out of a popular nightclub on Friday after he temporarily went to his room. Some executives wanted to sit where Gandolfini's pals were waiting, words were exchanged, and his friends were tossed by security.
SIGHTINGS
Tommy Lasorda, politely asked to leave Saturday for cheering in the press box -- a no-no in any press box -- during the UNLV-Colorado State game at Sam Boyd Stadium. He left without any fuss. He was cheering for CSU and his buddy Sonny Lubick, the Rams head coach. ... At Light in the Bellagio on Saturday night: Michael Jordan, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Charles Oakley, Luis Gonzalez and Criss Angel. ...In the audience at Chapelle's The Comedy Festival show at The Colosseum: Mick Jagger, Chris Rock, Dane Cook, Steve Bing, Jeremy Piven and syndicated talk-show host Tom Leykis. ... The Killers, having steaks and martinis at Hank's Fine Steaks at Green Valley Ranch. ... At Body English in the Hard Rock Hotel: David Spade, Johnny Knoxville, Sophia Bush, Seth McFarland of the "Family Guy," Jared Leto, members of Audioslave, Staind, Nickelback, Seether, Fuel, Pantera and 30 Seconds to Mars. ... Tim McGraw's wax likeness goes on display Wednesday at Madame Tussauds Las Vegas at The Venetian.
THE PUNCH LINE
"The Saddam trial is under way, and 11,000 lawyers for Saddam have withdrawn from the case in fears of being killed off. Now they're all working on the Tom Cruise prenup." -- David Letterman
