Ms. Couric Goes to Washington: The Interview

By: Greg Kandra
Topics: CBS Stuff

(CBS)

What you see to the left is a small group of CBS news journalists coming home with the big story of the day: an exclusive interview with President Bush. (Katie's the one waving, don'cha know...)

How'd it go?

Well, I've finally thrown together the final installment of Nicolla Hewitt's trip to Washington with Katie. Nicolla begins with the President arriving for the interview...

With the weight of the world on his shoulders – President Bush gave us a hearty Texan welcome. He was clearly focused, and clearly ready to tell Katie the advances he's made in the ongoing war on terror.

The interview lasted for about 35 minutes, and at the end I think everyone felt Katie and the President had engaged in a frank discussion about "the news of the day." We'd uncovered some news too – that one of the suspects had talked about a planned anthrax attack on the United States and a plan to fly & crash planes into the United States.

The President took the time to pose for a group photo and to ask Katie, "How's Matt Lauer?" We all got a chuckle from that. Soon he bid us farewell, and soon we were bidding farewell to the White House.

Back into the car to take us to Reagan National Airport, and a flight back to New York in time for Katie to work on the Evening News, and for Susan Zirinsky to finish up the 9/11 special which airs tonight.

Many people forget Katie's new job also includes that of Managing Editor, so in between all of this she made frequent calls to Evening News Executive Producer Rome Hartman about tonight's show, to talk about what stories correspondents would be filing for tonight. They also talked about the right lead-ins to various pieces and what her piece on the show would look like.

During our 35-minute flight back to New York, we read copies of the transcript of her interview with the President so we knew what to pick for the special, and what to pick for the Evening News.

Our team is all here, and we're back at work now on tonight's show…and then the special too.

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by arealpatriot September 8, 2006 2:57 PM EDT: Dear Katie,

I have been a fan of yours for a long, long time, but I must say I am very disappointed with your debut this week. Your started with Bush telling lies and didn't attempt to pin him down. You then followed up with Armitage taking the blame for what was a much higher up conspiracy. He did a great job covering up for his bosses. But what knocked me out of my chair Katie, was Rush (the mouth) Limbaugh spouting out his anti patriot rhetoric. I am really disturbed with the direction your show is going. If I didn't see you sitting there, I would have thought that I had mistakenly tuned in to the Fox republican airwaves. If you are trying to get the Republicans re-elected, you are on the right path. Somehow, I kind of thought that you were a Democrat. Guess maybe I was hoodwinked into believing that. I am going to hang in for a few more days and see if there are equal opportunities for rebuttals to what I have viewed so far. I know that you are being paid a lot of money, but there as some things that money can%u2019t buy, and one of those things is me. If the path keeps leading to the right, I will be signing off.

Mel; Reply to this comment


by hlennon-2009 September 8, 2006 1:22 PM EDT: Katie, Must agree with most postings above. I believe I represent many thinking Americans who are sick and tired of our elected representatives and news anchors always being "politically correct". It is time to offend those who deserve publication of their beliefs and motives for same when the future of our country is at stake.; Reply to this comment


by jackdawson11 September 8, 2006 2:24 AM EDT: Hello CBS and Kate, I sure miss Dan Rather and Bob Schafer. Sorry to see them both go. I will stop watching CBS news now. I did watched the first and second news show with Kate. The First program she had Bush on and Second show she had Rush Limbaugh. Two blowhard liars that were given prime time by Kate and CBS. Bush is the cause of all the probrems that have been going in the world since he has been in office. Bush smirked and had his sheepish grin like the perverbial Cat that ate the pet Bird as he told katie his woppers. Rush Limbaugh did his blowhard act like the New York taxi driver that won't shut up. The head of CBS should come on the show with Katie and tell the viewers why they support this bad president.; Reply to this comment


by ltmac1957 September 8, 2006 12:18 AM EDT: WHY ARE YOU FOLKS DELEATING NEGATIVE COMMENTS ABOUT THE NEW SHOW? I PUT SOME TIME IN TO LET YOU KNOW HOW WER FEEL AS VIEWERS. FREE SPEECH!!!
GET REAL:(; Reply to this comment


by sder10 September 7, 2006 10:07 PM EDT: Katie,

Have you figured out yet that you have been duped? As a professional woman, I was excited to see a woman get the potition that you did. But instead of insisting on asking the real quesitons, you allowed someone else (maybe the administration, themselves)to write the questions. This was just a planned show to give the president free press before the elections. Its a good thing that the American people can finally see through the ***. Too bad you have been dragged into this and made to look like a cute cheerleader rather than a serious reporter.

I am ebarrased for you and think that what you did leaves you and all women open for criticism. Too bad you did not take steps to show that you could do the job. Tsk, tsk.

S; Reply to this comment


by unit2kdc September 7, 2006 5:29 PM EDT: To cbs and katie,,i just wanted to say that i really am impressed with the evening news.I personally have been waiting for this and was actually talking about katie making a move last year in a conversation with my wife and some friends.Good move cbs,,and even better job to katie.As far as her sign off,this is a no-brainer,she should just sign off like she did wednesday night(9-6-06),keep it simple,with a smile,just stop sayin "see you tomm. night"!lets face it,it is us the public that will see her,not the other way around.Anyway,keep up the great job and do not worry or care what the other net-works may say about this,it only means they are jelous that cbs news is about to be a threat,and why not,cbs already has most of the number 1 shows on tv,so why not the #1 news cast.Thank you cbs for finally getting it right,and thank you katie for making the move,welcome to what this viewer considers the #1 network on tv.
JEFF
CHICAGO; Reply to this comment


by vargasl1 September 7, 2006 4:44 PM EDT: The way the interview was edited was not listener friendly. I found Katie's VO over herself and The President sitting and talking quite distracting. The note cards reminded me of the morning show. The interview was not powerful with dynamic questions.

With that said, I fell into the hype and will monitor the show and site before I make presumptions.

Communicators Anonymous
http://12commanonymous.typepad.com/; Reply to this comment


by wrusho September 7, 2006 3:59 PM EDT: I am a great fan of Katie's, but the Face the Nation show on Sept 6, must be one of her worst. I agree with previous comments that she seemed fawning over W--except for the one question she posed relative to the 9/11 disaster, "They were mostly Saudis, weren't they?" But she allowed W to skip out of the answer, without really answering it. And she allowed Bush to continue his conflation of the war in Iraq with the war on terrorists.
Katie, as interviewer, needs to become much more aggressive in her questions. Her body language may have looked aggressive, but her questions were mostly cotton candy.
Why didn't Katie interview Rep. Murtaugh or even a few Democrats? In other words, this was NOT an even program approach to dreadful options of how to get out of Iraq with dignity.; Reply to this comment


by sammarshall1 September 7, 2006 3:09 PM EDT: I hope Ms Couric realizes that most Americans cannot stand Bush. If that interview indicates CBS is Bush oriented count me out. I have been lied to enough by this fraternity boy. Look at the mess we are in. In every way our wonderful country is falling behind in world respect and power. Welcome to the 19th century.; Reply to this comment


by bpfefferkorn September 7, 2006 2:43 PM EDT: Hello, Ms. Couric,
I've been a fan of yours since your interviews during the tragic Columbine events. Your compassionate sincerity came right through the television screen into my living room.

Please follow your own instincts again in this new endeavor of evening news anchor. Don't let the "handlers" sugar coat the raw news and it's implications for 299,673,357 of us residing in the US.

Suggest watching & learning Laura Logan's delivery methodology. Just the facts, ma'am.

One last thought - PLEASE No More Bush! Fortunately, the majority of 299,673,357 Americans are not buying his (Rove's) spin of reality anymore.; Reply to this comment