Couric & Co.
September 22, 2006 4:30 PM

Katie on Condi

By
Katie Couric
Topics
Field Notes
(CBS)
Hi, everyone.

I've been working this week on a profile of Condoleezza Rice for Sunday's 60 Minutes.

This is a woman who is "scary smart" – so intelligent, it's scary. She seems to have a photographic memory. She can tick off events and dates in a way that made my head spin. She's also an astute, passionate student of history--and history is what is giving her enormous confidence and comfort in the crafting of the Bush Administration's foreign policy.

During our interview, she cited the Civil War, the Cold War, and other dark days in international history to demonstrate that very trying times are often worth the end result.

I think I have a better understanding of her "foreign policy psyche" from hearing about her childhood experiences. She grew up in the heart of the segregated south in Birmingham, Alabama, and literally felt the repercussions of the church bombing in September 1963. Two miles away, she felt her house shake from the blast. Four young girls were killed, including one who had been a playmate of hers. You get the distinct sense that she understands and appreciates the philosophy of terror -- and feels for the unwitting victims of a twisted political agenda that targets the innocent.

Condi Rice is an eternal optimist. She believes that good will triumph over evil, and feels strongly that other countries deserve the same rights that we have. And she believes it's the role of the United States to stand beside them and support them.

In one of our most intense exchanges, she compared people who say that certain countries and peoples were not equipped to handle democracy to those who discounted and dismissed African Americans before the Civil Rights movement fully took hold.

She's much warmer, more "girly" and fun than the disciplined, controlled stateswoman you see on the world stage. She doesn't have a lot of free time, but she preserves Sunday afternoons as "her time." She likes to play tennis, and is learning how to play golf – she says she likes it and is getting good at "reading the greens."

And then there's her music. She loves playing the piano -- it really is "instrumental" in her life. She describes playing music as "transporting" – it's the only time her brain isn't focused on world events, because it requires so much to focus on music. If you take your eye off the notes, you can muck it up.

And Condi Rice doesn't like to muck anything up.





Add a Comment See all 26 Comments
by jmehrlich September 25, 2006 8:08 PM EDT
I'm sorry Ms. Couric, but this piece above is pure cotton candy: fluff, spin and sugar coated.

You begin by talking about her great memory, but fail to note that she repeatedly testified to not remembering key conversations when she was before the September 11 Commission. In fact it was a photograph of a previous presidential advisor on national security Adm. William D. Leahy testifying regarding the attack on Pearl Harbor that forced Ms. Rice to give up the line that no presidential advisor ever testified before a committee before (this was before the position of National Security Advisor was formalized).
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by bellal-2009 September 25, 2006 6:46 PM EDT
Katie, Great interview with Madam Secty. Rice. She is an inspiration.
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by jcorbin1958 September 25, 2006 6:27 PM EDT
I'll believe Bush anyday over the likes of John Kerry, and the liberal democrats! I back our Republican Party 100%, and would vote for Mr. Bush again, if he was able to run!
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by jcorbin1958 September 25, 2006 5:31 PM EDT
Condoleeza Rice would make a great President. She has my vote if she ever decides to run for the office!
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by hhanzel September 25, 2006 4:59 PM EDT
I was not able to watch on T.V. (two kids - husband on travel) but I caught up online (thanks for that feature.) Thank you for talking about things others in your field would label as 'fluffy' - because I think of them as heartful, purposeful and daily life. Things like cooking, dating and marriage. And thank you for using the word 'girly' to describe Condi. Both of you are strong smart women who aren't afraid to be women. I LOVE THAT! I can relate. Was fabulous to watch. Thank you.
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by jmotta2 September 25, 2006 1:41 PM EDT
Hi Katie,
Congratulations!! I loved when you said to Condi, in a very direct way, "that's not the question".

I am so tired of reporters asking questions of politicians and the response not answering the question! You are brave enough to say it how it is. keep up the great work.
Jill
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by mh4cbs1 September 25, 2006 5:26 AM EDT
Seapearle:
Seems you are one of the few who still believe the Bush lies about WMDs. Read Scott Ritter's books - he's a Republican, ex-Marine, and as in Iraq heading the UN inspection team throughout the 1990s.
Saddam was under our thumb, there WERE NO WMDs, this was OBVIOUS to people who bothered to look into the Bush/Condi/Rumsfeld flase claims of aluminum tubes, Niger yellow cake uranium, the fake 'ties to Al Quaeda' (Saddam hated Isalmic fundamnentalists, duh), the 'mushroom clouds'. And considering the motives outlined in PNAC papers, whats to figure out? Wake Up! Your Republican Party has been hijacked by a bunch of very dangerous people, who exploit 9-11 for their politics or fear, hate and WAR. They have you so afraid, I guess you will believe anything.
So who is sacrificing for this War OF Terror? One Trillion in tax cuts for the super-wealthy, massive deficits, trade deficits, jobs outsourced, attempts to dismantle Social Security, Haliburton record profits.... This Bush-Cheney regime is a complete and total DISASTER (unless you are one of the very rich, of course - then Bush is your man!)
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by rozzman53 September 25, 2006 3:20 AM EDT
"And Condi Rice doesn%u2019t like to muck anything up." Please. Everybody seems to have forgotten that this woman is part of an administration that on September 10, 2001, was being widely written off as a failure. His poll numbers were falling faster than Enron stock, he was a national joke for the number of days he spent vacationing, and Ms Rice was a major part of it. Then, on the next day, she, and the rest of this administration were suddenly being hailed as our "saviours". And the "All Fear All The Time" strategy began. This woman was one of the ones who spoon-fed this country the lies that got us into another Vietnam. Where were you guys with your probing questions? Why didn't, and haven't, you gone after this President for lieing like you did Clinton? It seems Bush's lies are the worse since our troops are being butchered in Iraq and Afganistan. "And Condi Rice doesn%u2019t like to muck anything up." Right. Where the hell is Edward R. Murrow when you really need him?
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by robertscom1 September 25, 2006 12:52 AM EDT
Ms. Couric:

Tonight, I watched 60 Minutes; and the first thing on this excellent show was your interview with Ms. Rice.......it was a glowing moment in republican propaganda; and helped me to understand why I dispise and hate this administration's policies and the republican party so well.

Ms. Rice is the epidemy of the country's ignorance and blindness of what must be considered a "lemming mentality" of the president's failed "war on terror"; blindly following whatever this administration tells her is true, she espouts all of the retoric and republican dogma that she can, in order to give the impression of a "good" american. And what's more she also tried to compare the present conditions to the Civil Rights clash of the 60's......I was highly insulted by that one! And, how many times can you shift blame to a new Middle-Eastern country or individual to justify your need for conquest? This woman spouts the praises of her boss.....I can't subscribe to her ignominious comments nor her view of the world at large.
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by jopocop September 25, 2006 12:41 AM EDT
I have no quarrel with Condi as to her personal aspects and professionalism, etc., however, common on now, her politics is destructive because she cannot or will not face the true facts that the Iraq war has been lost and cannot be won. She is pipe-dreaming to think that our enemies will ever let up on what still will always be an American created govt. Lets be realistic, our enemies have stated that they will never accept this American instituted govt, because it is regarded as an unholy and Western poisoned govt. Remember, we never allowed the people of Iraq a threshold vote on whether they wanted America to leave. We have them only one choice---to set up an American puppet govt. Now, are we really going to prop up that puppet govt indefinitely? No way. We leave and declare our task done and let the people truly decide how to establish their own final govt without our dictating to them.
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