>> from our studios in new york city, this is "charlie rose." >> richard cohen is here. he is a nationally syndicated columnist for the "washington post." you sparked a controversy in

2006 when he opened his column with this sentence -- the greatest mistake that congress could make at the moment is to forget that israel is a state. his book is called "israel: is it good for the jews?" i'm proud to have richard cohen here. he's a friend of mine and i'm proud of that. tell me about that 2006 column and what happened after. >> i wrote it in the course -- israel was once again at war, this time with hezbollah in the north and you could see this pattern going back and forth, back and forth. incessant war and incessant terrorism. i used the word "mistake," but i couldn't come up with another word to describe the plight of israel as being a nation of six million jews surrounded by, i don't know, 100 million arabs, whatever the figure may be, and their continuing incessant warfare. the reaction was incredible.

it was vituperative. got my head taken off. a lot of people were very angry at me. >> what did they say and who were they? i don't mean specific names. >> readers and also people who just happened to know me. i remember one guy stopped me on the street and said i heard you wrote this and i you thought you heard it? it was out there kind of in rumorville but others were even more disturbing which were people i thought were sympathetic to israel, who embraced me and said we're going over to the other side. here was a jew who was critical of israel -- >> they said you said what i'm thinking? >> yeah, it made me uncomfortable because it wasn't

what i was thinking. >> because you used the wrong world. >> i don't know to this day what's a better word for saying -- look, if you wanted to find a place in the world that was safe and secure, you picked the wrong place. >> what was there between that time and the response of that column and the beginning of this book? >> you know, time went by and i decided i was going to expand the column and as i started to expand on the column and do reading and look into what the situation was, i came around to exchange my mind. i don't think israel was a mistake. i think it was an inevitability and has great utility and essential. another thing is the history opened itself up and i became enraptured by it and i became very, very impressed not by the holocaust, we all know about that and israel was the creation of it. i found there were two periods that were, i think, as important that gets overlooked.

one is the period before the holocaust in europe and the other is the period after the holocaust in europe. by the time the holocaust started there were already 750,000 european jews living in what became israel. it wasn't created because of the holocaust. it was already in existence. there had been jewish settlers there for hundreds of years and increasingly, in the 1880's from what was then russia. people in between the two wars living in these new nations that had been created by the collapse of the german empire, the hungarian-austrian. there's one i'm missing. doesn't matter. the point is these new democracies became rigidly anti-semitic. they went from a promised democracy to being authoritarian regimes who were by legitimately anti-semitic, many of them and

the jews needed to get out. irrespective of what was going on in germany. >> and it was brought home to you when you went to a small village and traced one person. >> i went to the town where my mother was born. she died two years ago after over 100. she was an immigrant from poland. i went back to her town. this town had been 50% jewish. they were all killed but there was talk about one man who had come back after the war to reclaim his business and he was killed on the spot and i thought that was an anomaly, that this was just a unique event but when i read about this period i learned that there were many jews killed after the holocaust because they went home, tried to reclaim their property, house or whatever and they were killed on the spot in poland, something

like 1,500 jews -- >> after the war. >> after the war. the war was over. the hatred was not. the holocaust was over but the killing of jews persisted and only this time it wasn't done by nazi german but by local people in year european countries, so the jews who survived, the pitiful few who walked out of the autos wits and they went into camps unusually southern germany run by the great general patton and these people could not go home. they were afraid to go home. they had nowhere to go. the united states had raised the barrier for immigration for anybody from eastern or southern europe. most needed a place to go and where they wanted to go was what was then palestinian and they felt not safe because they knew things were dicey from palestinian but they felt at home.

>> they knew they were going into the middle of a land in which they were people not like them? >> they knew that perfectly well. these were educated people for the most part. that i knew what was going on but they also felt that they belonged there, there were people there who would protect them. i can't imagine, nobody can, i guess, what it was like to survive the holocaust and then go home and be afraid of your neighbors. to say when does the killing stop? when do people relent and forgive me for being a jew? >> what's interesting about this and what's interesting about the book for me is this is not about the ebb and flow of newspaper headlines. you went back and read more history. one book led to another, led to another, led to another investigation on your part. you came out of that within a

ability to answer this question or not? >> yeah, yeah. the answer to that question is yes. is israel good for the just? yes. the other thing i came out of this book was a really appreciation of anti-semitism, it is a powerful force that persists. >> today? >> today. i compare it to almost like ebola. it's this pathogen. you beat it back, you think it's gone then it comes up again at you. first of all, the islamic world now is deeply anti-semitic and has been for a long time. the people are writing and talking in the islamic world the way they used to do in germany in the 1930's. >> the islamic world, are you talking about a particular part of the islamic world? >> yeah, i'm not talking indonesia. >> mojave? >> negotiation in general. i'm not talking about radicals. if you read the press inspect

arab countries or talk to people in the arab countries, you will see there's a level of acceptable sent semitism that nobody makes a big deal about. i cite in the book, for instance. i was in jordan for some conference and i opened up the jordan times, which is an english-language newspaper. this was several years ago and i read an account of what happened on september 9, 2001 and you know what that was all about? that was about the ma sad organizing that terrorist attack because no jews were killed in a terrorist attack on the world trade center, which is blatantly untrue. ridiculous and somehow every jew was told to get out of the place before they attacked. this one runs in the jordanian paper. these jordanian papers are censored. whether that piece was literally approved by the palace or not but it was accepted. this is endemic in the arab world. >> i remember having a conversation when i went over to do an interview with the leader

and i was saying which you -- can you believe what ahmadinejad was saying, who was, as we know, did not deny the holocaust but did not want to take it as genocide any different than any other genocide and he was essentially angry about where israel had been created. i said can you believe what he's saying? he said yeah, a lot of people feel that way. >> a lot of people do feel that way. it's not something i talk about in the book because you don't get it from diplomats. in washington, you well remember the madison hotel. i used to call it the madison hotel syndrome. used to go to dinner with arab diplomats.

they never used that kind of language and wouldn't approve of it. back home it was a different story. what a writer called double discourse. >> anti-semitism is not limited to the arab word. >> you see a revival of it now certainly in england and europe but even in germany. i've been to germany a lot and there was a time i thought this would never come back to germany because the german government was doing all the right things. education, memorials, preserving holocaust, all this stuff but it's coming out now. from what i'm reading, a lot of reports about the rise of anti-semitism. i think anti-semitism is the world's greatest conspiracy theory. you can blame just for almost anything that happens to you, to the economy, to society. >> israel today is not a country that you don't find fault with. >> no, i find a lot of fault with israel. i don't like the continued occupation, if that's the right word, of the west bank. i think that's a mistake. i think adding to the

settlements is a mistake. >> you're going to use the word "mistake" again? >> yeah, these are mistakes. >> when you used the word in the first place it seemed like a natural -- >> right. i've always been critical. i felt when israel took the west bank it lost his moral monopoly. all of a sudden it was an occupation power. and even benign occupation powers have to do certain things. this has been tough. >> and the argument goes it does something to your own saiki, too, of the occupier? >> i think it does. i think israelis become calloused. there are reports of troops who won't serve on the west bank. reservists who won't go there. there's a great deal of pushback. some israelis know exactly what they want. that i want the west bank -- >> is that the majority upon?

>> no. but the west bank is the israel of the bible. it's not tel aviv. tel aviv is something new under the sun. tel aviv is miami beach. the west bank of the bible is gyorko, hebron. jerusalem. that's the heartland. so orthodox religious people want the west bank. extreme nationalists want the west bank. the rest of the israelis are caught in between. they don't know what to do. if i lived in israel i would say let's get out of the west bank but it's easier to say on a day-to-day basis, let's do nothing. when they got out of gaza, what they got by way of a thank you was rockets. >> do you think the israelis would get out of the west bank

if they believed they were secure within the 1967 boundaries? >> the 1967 boundaries? >> give or take. >> yes, if -- >> if they were confident and convinced of their own security? they don't want to occupy the west bank? >> yes, i firmly -- >> i'm saying the government today, i'm not saying nerve israel. >> oh, the present government? >> yeah. >> i don't know, not the present government. if you say the israeli people, by and large i would say yes. the present government is a little bit of a mystery to me. netanyahu is the son of benzai, who was so far to the right. incredibly intelligent and a scholar but his politics were not mine and he was the private secretary of zeb, who is the

representation of right wing politics in israel. he's been dead since 1940 but he lives on. >> what did you learn looking at the life of herzel? >> he's a fascinating guy. he's the man who sort of created secular zinaism at the end of the 19th century. he's one of these people who comes along in history who is so self-possessed, sure of himself, who has a vision who created something nobody thought was possible. he lived right up the street from sigmund friday in vienna. i thought if he got to sea freud, freud would have said see me every day at the 2:00. you got a problem. hertzle was a secular jew. he was not religious at all. in fact, he didn't want to circumcise his son, which is a sacred commandment. he felt being jewish was so oppressive. growing up in vienna in the 19th century and wanting to be a member of society. he was a talented man, he was a journalist. some journalists are talented

and yet forever -- wherever -- wherever rewent he was confronted by -- he went to cover the dreyfuss trial. dreyfuss, who was a jewish army officer was accused of treason. he was framed and lots of people knew it at the time, he was framed because he was jewish. hertzle lived in paris, the capital of modernity, the most liberal city in -- europe, maybe the world. and you get this eruption of anti-semitists and i think it set him back. if it happens there it can happen anywhere. we have to find a refuge, a safe place for jews. >> what do you want people to get out of this? you've done this prodigious

research, you've read history. you've come to this conclusion that israel is good for the jews, yet at the same time there is throughout this book at the end a little concern in the future. >> of course i'm concerned. >> what is it that concerns you? >> well, it's still this little place many this big world surrounded by a lot of hostility. it's still a place where a lot of people are living. there's anywhere from half a million to 750,000 israelis in the united states. now, some of them will go back, some of them won't. a lot won't so israel is always in a precarious situation. look, they just ended this thing, whatever it is in gaza. before that, there was a thing in lebanon. then it will be back and forth. you never know what's going to be next. >> i often ask this question, who won the gaza war? >> well, i think we won't know for a while. , if in fact -- >> because if the purpose was to destroy hamas, they didn't do it. >> no, they didn't but i think they knew they could not destroy hamas.

but what they could do -- >> destroy tunnels and rockets and materials to build rockets. >> yes, but hamas is a perfect example of what i'm talking about. when israel pulled out of gaza, it wasn't hamas that ruled it. it was fatah. now it's hamas then hamas took over. >> because there was an election. >> they won. they won the election. so if the same thing happens in the west bank where it goes from the palestinian authority to hamas, that's what scares the israelis. there's nine miles between the west bank, that border and the sea and tel aviv. nine miles. >> do you think israel that has taken sufficient risk to reach an agreement, as they almost had with the palestinians back at camp david with bill clintonen and ass sar arafat?

--barak was willing to go a long way. >> yeah, and rabin probably had he not been killed. even that roane pulled out of the gaza -- sharone pulled out of the gaza strip. >> he did. he also worried about the demographics. is that something you worry about? >> yeah, if israel stays in the west bank there's anywhere from 1.le million to 2 million palestinians in the west bank. there are two million palestinians in israel. israel is 22% palestinians. so between the two, you would have a majority in no time of palestinians. the only way you could control them was with force. this was not hertzle's dream. >> there's debate in america among american jews about the power of american jews on american foreign policy. where do you come down on that? >> well, i think it's -- clearly american jews have an influence

on american foreign policy. why not? >> so do american catholics. >> there's a boycott of cuba and it's not because i care about it so much or you care. it's because there are a lot of cubans many -- in america that want it that way. >> that's changing too. >> there are a lot of things that are changing. this is a form of political desire. there's nothing wrong with that. we all recoil when the term "jewish lobby" is used as if it's ill line of scrimmage malt. it's certainly weaker than the n.l. dment n.r.a. >> would be how media covers the subjects we're talking about?

>> there was a lot of criticism in the last go flound gaza about imbalance. that it was so sympathetic to the palestinians in gaza and too harsh on israel. you can't get around this in the day and age when the picture is everything. video. video of kids being killed, video of schools being blown up. accidentally or not. this is gripping stanley cup -- stuff. on the other hand you don't have anything comparable. the media coverage is just like local media. if it bleeds it leads and this becomes the story so israel i think was not treated fairly but it was understandable to me the way it came out.

>> it's interesting when you talk about the obama administration to me. netanyahu or the american ambassador, whether the present or previous ones always will say that the obama administration, whatever the conflict with is between prime minister and president that america has been very sensitive to the military needs of israel. >> yes, absolutely. that not only hasn't changed. it's greater. >> the book is called "israel: is it good for the jews? ," richard cohen. it's good to have you here. thank you. >> good to be here. >> ron water is here, an heir to the cosmetics fortune. >> everyone says you have one of

the great eyes. and what do you think they mean? >> it's more than taste. it's something you learn but also something i think you're born with. they showed me 10 pieces of art and i'll pick usually the best

one. just by challenges. i may not even know the artist. it's a gift. >> yeah. but you started very early. >> i started at a teenager. very young. directing at 14. and i must tell you it's the most exciting thing i did and when people look and i'm talk -- walking to a gallery, they look over my shoulder, look for my parents, i'd be walking and asking about certain pictures and for example, when i started collecting some-his drawers, they were 300, 400, $500 and his water colors were $1,000, $2,000 $3,000. today the same things are $150,000, the drawings are up to $10 million for the water colors. but egon scheel was one of the great artists, i believe in the 209 century and unfortunately he died at 28, as you said. and between 1910 and 1918, those eight years, he produced a body of work that was phenomenal and he's one of the three major ace terren artists we have in our gallery. clint -- and scheel and he is unique. we have opened a show of portraits. his portraits have so much power. his self-portraits even full of sex, fantastic.

>> what was his genius? >> his genius was to look into a person and feel what that person felt. >> and be able to express it with his hands? >> and express with it his hands and with a certain power. he also had no inhibitions to show people as they were. >> we was under the influence of gustav? >> some of the early paintings you could see very much influenced and then by 1910 he started to do his own thing and it was amazing. with the red bodies and people with con torted arms, truly amazing. >> and care rate is alexandra komini? >> yes, and she has been working

with an shiela for 50 years and she's spectacular. but the whole staff of the neua gallery is very special, particularly its director rae they price and they put together this show where the first night we opened i think there was like a three-hour wait to get in. because he's such a unique artist. >> i asked what his gene with us was. he's unique because of what? first of all, the islamic world first of all, when he did this work in 1910, no one had done this type of work and he showed people in a crude, strong way, at the same time you can show women in a soft way but it's the juxtaposition of the two different things. >> he grew up as photography was just becoming widely used.

>> exotic, yes. >> did it influence him? >> i don't know how much it influenced him. he did all his pictures with a nude or the person standing right in front of him but photography in austria at that time was just starting and it was the whole movement. interesting enough, he did not necessarily have that much money initially. he would get different models or at least he'd find them. unfortunately in 1912 because he'd used models of younger girls, 15 and younger, he was put into jail. >> put in prison for a sort period of time >> and one of the rooms in this exhibit is dedicated to that time. >> what is interesting is the work he did in prison was again, very, very powerful. he also was in world war i and you could see some of the drawings he had of different russian soldiers who he captured and the basic things of the war. of just pictures. again, of a certain -- these are not in the show. this show is only on portraits but his portraits were the most important thing he did. >> how was he influenced by the following things? vienna. >> vienna at the turn of the

century had an explosion of architecture, art, music. everything happening and artists were able to express themselves in a strong way. climt one side, kukush. schiele and artist after artist. a less well known one because he committed suicide very early. but there was an explosion and color was something interesting because they were very much influenced i think by the french, these reds and greens and blues. he was able to take a person's face and bring out all the colors. it was unbelievable feel the angst, the emotion they feel. >> the cities of mala and freud. did they influence him? >> i'm sure they did. it was all together and in the case of vienna at the time you had the writers writing about sex. you had sex -- sex played a critical role, obviously in freud. mahler less so but the whole musician question of what's going on is amazing.

>> one of the rooms is about his erotic works. where'd that come from? >> he wanted to break all the barriers. for example, he did self-portraits of himself naked. and very often he showed important people naked from the waist up. and you could see them with their hands like this and amazing. >> when did you buy your first piece? >> when i was 14. >> is that right? >> yes. >> it just attracted to you the idea of -- >> when i was 13 1/2, i went into a bookstore on lexington avenue and i was looking for toulouse la trek, who i was

interested in at that time and all of a sudden i saw egon schiele and i took the book out and started looking at it and i realized this person was very special but at the same time nobody had schiller. most of them were in private collections or -- and all of a sudden i found finally one schiele drawing and i purchased it. i paid $600 for it. years later i sold it. i traded it. it ended up in the leopold collection, when which is one of the great collections in vienna. >> wow. >> but my family looked at me and said you must be crazy. what are you buying these pictures for? >> have you ever wanted to paint? >> i did paint. >> you did the? did you stop or do you still paint? >> i stopped. >> why did you stop? >> frankly i knew too much, right, and also in order to paint, i believe in almost any art, you have to have a certain fire in your stomach.

and i had more fire in my stomach to buy great art -- >> yeah, and you were consumed by politics and business and are you by politics and business and other things as well. >> business came later. >> business came later. in a politics came sooner. are you >> let me look at these -- we have some to show you. in and in and in -- we have some to show you. this one is -- the first imagine is a portrait of gerte. schiele. them inschiele. this is 1909. heavily influenced by adele aheavily influenced by adele bauer. tell me about it. >> you can see the influence particularly on the bottom there but yet at the same time schiller was starting to become his own person and the use of the hand, you can just see a little bit of it there.

hima and a and him and him him him shows his own him influence and using the black on the back to stand out. you can see how special it was. >> ok, the next one is a portrait of dr. erwin von graff, 1910. >> this is a picture of dr. von graff -- he was a gynecologist and frankly this picture usually hangs in my home, in the sense that it's a powerful picture. you can see his hand, his red face almost and the angst there. >> it is said that he painted this in return for an abortion for one of his many mistresses. in >> whoever gave the him information was very well-informed. him and this is a picture, again. we're not sure of the story if in it's to you but it sound good. and >> this 11910.

you and >> this is a more or to self-portrait. go in and you could see he was very inhibited, very shy. didn't want to really get out you are there and be in society. but here he is. a whole will gobut here he is. he's naked and with his hand behind his head and look at the pose. the pose is so unique. especially for that time. and you and people didn't do are portraits like that. you are you >> he was breaking new ground. >> breaking new ground. in a>> breaking new ground. >> even one of masturbation, didn't he? >> yes, he did all kind of things and one of the things we have in our gallery is a limit to who can come in. it's one of the few museums where you have to be over a you certain age. >> ah. a a a a a next is wally in a red blouse. 1913, a portrait of one of his

many serious lovers. >> and now he's changing slightly. you he's getting away from the 1910 sort of powerful pictures but he's much more subtle now but yet it has the same sexual part of it and we're not sure. him and him and we think she was literally lying on the floor in and i with her legs up like this -- >> yes. >> yes. a a me and him >> he used this and him piece more and more but it's a very -- you can just feel the slight eroticism in the face. >> the next one is portrait of the artist's wife. this is a masterpiece. it's 1915. >> here is a painting that was never shown in the united states you never shown in the united you and really leaves where he was in europe and you a you and where he was in europe and you can see the use of a colors but lings, here's a and you a warm and her and her portrait where he's gotten

softer yet the way the portrait and i will hold him softer yet the way the portrait done is so unique because of the way the dress looks. in that is fantastic. >> then the family, in 1918. a whole this was the year he die. and die. this was of his wife and their unborn child. >> his wife was, i think 6 months pregnant and she died and all you a you he died i think two days later. >> all of spanish flu? >> all of spanish flu. the shame was this is the time she was just starting to be recognized. >> 28 years old? >> 28 years old. again, he's changing his style a little bit. he's become more sensitive in a different way, yet it still has the eroticism of his wife naked in front of him. >> you paid $135 million for adele bauer. >> to us to our gallery it's our mona lisa and people come from all over to see it. it's our most special painting we have in the gallery. >> the most personal painting you had ever? >> in the neue gallery. that is a landmark piece at the height of his time and there's almost nothing like it.

>> what sit you think you say when you say this one is the best? >> again, look at his work. gustav klimt. you look at his work and you say -- i always tell people i have three categories. oh, oh, my and oh, my god this is an oh, my god-plus and you feel that he had a relationship with bauer and it took him four years to do the picture. they must have had a four-year relationship, but the fact is that it's probably one of the most powerful pieces. interestingly enough, when the nazis came in they seized it and it stood in the belvedere for i guess almost 50 year, 60 years. maria almman, who is the neice of the bloch-bauer family finally got it out and went pictures to california then came to the neue gallery. >> you had something to do with that, didn't you? >> yes, i was way in the back. >> where do we stand today? one of your concerns has been the restitution of art plundered and stored by the nazis. >> i call that the last prisons of world war ii. the germans when they took art, especially great art, kept very good records and then the art sort of disappeared into museums and different places and museums, when they have these paintings are very reluctant to open their files and programs lose their key pieces. what happens is a fight. we were pretty much stalemated in germany until a couple of

years ago. the gurlitt case. he was an art dealer for jewish stolen property. >> for jewish stolen property? >> yes. he did other things but this was mainly his thing and for some reason at the end of the war he was stuck with whatever was left. and then his son took over and when his son -- because of tax evasion somehow they found this whole cache of paintings, drawings, and prints and became worldwide -- people have estimated as much as $1 billion-plus. >> all in one location? >> all in one location. really two locations. >> and not on the walls. >> not on the walls. hidden away. really two locations but the major one was in munich and there's a whole commission now going through piece by piece to see which were stolen, which were not. but then at the same time, the a you couple years ago, the case, there was an art dealer and of jewish stolen

property. he did other things, but this was namely his thing. by the end of the war he was stuck with whatever was left. over, and whenok his son -- because of tax evasion somehow they found this whole cache of paintings, drawings, and prints and became worldwide -- people have estimated as much as $1 billion-plus. >> all in one location? >> all in one location. really two locations. >> and not on the walls. >> not on the walls. hidden away. really two locations but the major one was in munich and there's a whole commission now going through piece by piece to see which were stolen, which were not. but then at the same time, the german government reacted and

they're cut putting together a commission to go into the various museums and look and see what was purchased during the 1938 to 1945, and the fact is that we don't know what's in german yew move seems. we have a good idea that there's enough art in there but many of the museums, particularly the smaller ones, don't want anyone to come in and this commission is going to investigate each one. we have all the records. very often some of these paintings were put not in museums but on various walls of different agencies feeling that no one is going to walk into there and see it. it's a pains stake task but i believe we'll accomplish it.

it's for all countries in europe. >> this is the book for the exhibit on at the gallery. how long will it be there? >> until somewhere in january, i think, early january. i think it's going to be one of the most popular shows. on the back you see another port rate of him. again, it's the power of what he's talking about. >> what's interesting is that you have the world jewish council -- >> congress. >> congress, i mean and you've had a long association with eastern europe with investigates investments and other things and also in israel.

there's a lot to talk about on another visit. i wanted to catch up on this arm so thank you. >> thank you and please, see the show as soon as you can. >> i'll be there. >> we'll put you at the front of the line. >> tory burch is here.

she is the c.e.o., chairman and designer of tory burch. a fashion and lifestyle company valued at more than $3 billion. president obama named her an ambassador for a global entrepreneurship earlier in year. the initiative to increase the number of small businesses in

the united states and globally. tory burch, working mother, c.e.o. designer, philanthropist. here is the trailer for the book. >> living, you said, it's my guiding principal from the way i raise my children so the -- to the way i approach my work. explain what that means. >> i started to think about color in general. our company has so much color

all around and my parents always taught me to embrace new, creative thinking and that's something we did, accept all kind of people, use our imagination and that ties into our use of color. the visual use of it. >> you have 11 colors here. any reason for those colors or colors that you submitted that was a runner-up? >> some definitely were a given and i worked with our feng shui master to help pick the best colors and we put them in his order as well. >> what's the reason for the success of your company, do you think? >> i think in the beginning we entered the market and there was a white space and it was a simple idea for me, just designing beautiful things i loved that didn't cost a fortune and i think whether we realized

the impact that had, we saw that the space was quite large. this area between contemporary and designer that was open. >> you say contemporary and designer? what area? >> it's contemporary -- what we are considered contemporary but designer is much more expensive. hopefully a designer feel and not cost a designer price point. >> what do we need to empower more women? >> starting with men. we need to make men part of the conversation. i have three boys. i do, i know you are support women's issue. i think it's super important pay inequity shouldn't exist. it should be about the quality of work, not about the gender. >> what's been the hardest thing in terms of your journey? >> i think gang confidence was a big one. a great article written by a friend that you shied away from the word "ambition." i thought about it, she was

right. i was kind of mad at myself because i was raised with three brothers not knowing there was a difference in what we could do. when i looked at the article and then looked at myself i realized i was a little timid when facing that world. >> ana writes about, who wouldn't want to be tory? she's empathetic, humble, a sensational businesswoman. does that part of you surprise you? >> no, it surprises me. the whole company surprises me. i set out to do a little store in downtown new york. but i had big homes and aspirations. when i hear myself talking about when i was trying to raise money you said i wanted to start a global lifestyle brand. i had no idea of what that was. >> you think ralph lauren. >> but it wasn't. and then i thought global

because women inspire me, not just american women. >> was there a moment when you thought this is not going to work? >> we were on a great trajectory of growth in the first few years and that was exciting and the pace was fast. i had three little boys. there were a lot of balls up in the air and there was a lot of figuring out. clearly i've had obstacles in the last few years. many times. conflicts, many things. >> is that behind you? >> it's totally behind me and everyone. what i learned about myself is when i face complexities i get more focused and i don't shy away from it. i get more focused. i had to be a pillar for my company and family. >> does it leave scars, take a toll? >> i don't think so. i think i'm an optimist at the end of the day. that said it was a very tough journey going through it.

it was in the papers. i was worried about protecting my three sons and step daughters and everything around us. it was tough. >> has the dream changed? >> not at all. not at all. i was at an entrepreneur event last week and i said if you're not dreaming and dreaming big enough and fit doesn't scare you, you're not dreaming big enough. i do feel i have big dreams. >> i guess your reach should exceed your grasp. >> yes, i guess that's true. i want to have an impact with women and helping women. i always wanted to help people. i thought it would be women and children. if we can help women help themselves it's not a charity. >> how do you do that globally? >> starting with our foundation here in the u.s. and expanding at some point. >> what do you do on the ground at pick your place, asia? >> nothing from our foundation standpoint but we are building our business over there. >> is there a taste difference than the taste in the united states or is exciting, exciting, is pretty, pretty?

>> yes, we design different things for different markets. that said, the bestsellers are the bestsellers across the board and similar. >> whether it's asia, africa, europe, or latin america or the northern hemisphere, the bestsellers will sell everywhere? >> they will. the end is about the product. >> tell me what your role is today? is it to be the c.e.o. and run the company or do you have, because it's who you are, a closeness to design? >> so i for the last 10 years have been a designer and c.e.o. and that's been very different for our industry. it's usual one or the other. i do have that left-right 150eud of the brain but i love both and i learned on the job. i surrounded myself with excellent people who had a lot of skills. i really love the design but i

also love the business. about a month ago i made an announcement and hired a co-c.e.o. -- >> because you want to focus on what? >> it wasn't because i was looking to fill that role. it was because of the person. this gentleman roger ferra, who i have followed and admired from afar. as it turned out 4ed just told the place he'd been for the last 10 years that he was leaving. >> what i love about that story, until you call you never know. you're still very, very young. will there be a time in which you want to say, i created this company, this company growls of its own? >> it's hard, my passion is tied into this company. beyond that it's my family, curiosity, learning things around the world. helping different kinds of people, whether it's

entrepreneurs or women. just getting involved, trying to make a difference but the company is such a passion, i can't really see beyond that. >> when are you going to design things for men? >> soon. >> soon? >> no, not soon. one day. we were talking about you being a great model for me. we never got to that thing when we talked about designing. just the bathing suit. >> right, but when you think about the life you have, is there something missing at all? >> i work very hard but that cascade i also enjoy vacation a lot. for me it's finding that balance and i don't have a set plan. for me it's more of the same until we find new ways of doing it. always evolving. learning myself and pushing in new directions, unexpected ones. to me there's not a set plan in

place. >> when the idea of the design comes together, is it tory or is it tory overseeing people and selecting the best kids from them? >> i would say it's both. for sure i'm involved in setting the kids and definitely i'm involved -- sadly at every single thing that we make i see and approve but we have such a talented team so i feel very fortunate to be working with such great, great thinkers. >> did you once say i want to create a non-bitchy fashion company? >> i still do. >> what is that? >> for me it's about being straightforward, supporting people. having an environment that respects great work but also is a great place to be. >> culture is important. >> culture is everything. >> creating a place that maximizes the contributions that people can make. >> if you have happy people they do their best work. it's pretty simplistic. >> and how do you do that? >> it's a lot of work.

a transcribe trickle-down effect. we talk about it a lot. we do culture surveys. we listen to what people are writing or saying. it's not easy. we have work to do. that said we have 80% participation in heels culture surveys. we have 2,500 employees. 80% of them participate in the survey. >> harris schmidt saved about you from google, there are always limitations when you have an iconic founder. limitations of time and other things. and he said there's only one tory. i'm sure the idea as you expand of making sure you have key people, it becomes almost a necessity and an imperative. >> it is, and we do have key people before we hired roger. that's the thing. we have an incredible team and we are also growing. when you become a different size company, different complexities happen so we want to be prepared. >> great to have you here. >> thank you. >> the book by tory burch, "in color." you'll see a lot of it here.

>> live from pier three in san francisco, welcome to "bloomberg west," where we cover the global technology and the future of business read first a check of your headlines. the world health organization says that nigeria is a model for how to stop the ebola virus. they were just declared free of the disease were no new cases were reported. the who says that an aggressive government response and effective contact program help stop ebola. new concerns about the chinese economy.