The Interviews

As CBS News Sunday Morning marks its silver anniversary, Correspondent Rita Braver looks back on some of the interviews that have been broadcast on the program.

And when Braver interviewed Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, she asked the former president's daughter, "So do you ever think you'll go into politics?"

The reply: "You know, I must not be giving the right answer to this question, because people keep asking it. And the answer is, I just don't know.

Scores of memorable personalities have been profiled, from politicians to musicians, including singer-songwriter James Taylor, who said, "When I'm stuck for a lyric, I just go to sleep, and it's like a bucket going down into a well, and when I wake up, I just lift the bucket and, it's there."

We've walked through history with heroes, like Congressman John Lewis, who talked about leading the famous civil rights march in Selma, Alabama: "I was struck on the head with a night stick by a police officer, and after all these years, I still believe I really did see death. I thought I was gonna die."

We asked former Attorney General Janet Reno about the siege at Waco. Specifically, one of Braver's questions was: "Do you worry that you may have made the wrong decision to send the FBI in with tear gas?"

Reno's response: "I wish I knew what the answer was to that question, because I struggle with it on a regular basis."

But a Sunday Morning interview is not about playing "GOTCHA." It's about learning something. For example, Braver asked first lady Laura Bush if it is true that she considered herself a Democrat before she met George W. Bush. And Mrs. Bush replied, "Well, that's right. I mean…and of course, just about everyone in Texas was a Democrat back in 1977."

There's always the unexpected:

Joanne Woodward: "You know, I'm 67 years old, and I finally realized I am not going to learn to speak French fluently."

Bernadette Peters: "I brought a teapot home to my father and he said, 'You stole it?' and I said, 'Yes," and he said, 'Well, couldn't you have taken one that wasn't chipped?'"

Where else but on Sunday Morning would Paul McCartney talk about composing classical music? Said he, "I love to listen to choir competitions on TV. Whereas somebody else may say, 'Turn the channel,' I say. 'No, let's listen.' I just like the humanity of it."

Sunday Morning has discovered budding new talents, like sports hero Tiger Woods, who said of his golf game, "Oh, it's lots of fun, except for in a tournament."

And we've had conversations with legends who have since passed on, including Sammy Davis, Jr. and Rosemary Clooney. Davis told Braver, "I never got a formal education. I got the education of show business." And Clooney admitted she had not wanted to record "Come On A My House," one of her biggest hits, "because it was just the dumbest song. All you had to say was 'come on a my house' and it didn't matter what else."

There are even times when interviews intersect, as when Sally Field told Braver that James Garner gave her "the best kiss I ever had in my life, which was on camera, believe it or not" (in a scene from "Murphy's Romance").

Presented with this information in a separate interview with Braver, Garner said, "She's such a dear. Poor thing. She must not get out very much. But that's nice for her to say. I've had a couple of them say that. I might not be a bad kisser after all."

And no matter whom we talk with, no matter what they've done in life, there's always something new to find out…under the Sunday Morning sun.

Originally aired Jan. 25, 2004