david: let's talk about your show. you ended the show in 2011, which around that time you decided you would build the own. oprah: oprah winfrey network. david: that was a joint venture between you and discovery channel. you are still doing your show in chicago and they say let's do a network, and so you are still finishing the show and the network is starting, so it did not go as well and the beginning, but then you finish your show and it worked out pretty well. oprah: doing very well. we have great, successful shows on there. i partnered this past year to create this drama series called queen sugar. [applause] oprah: another drama series, so i am now, it is the next level for me.

every day on my show for 25 years, i was a storyteller, helping people to let their stories out into the world and such a way that it enhance them or let them see themselves differently, and now i get to use drama, the platform of drama, two great stories that allow people, particularly african american people, to see themselves in a way that shows us as people of value, as people who care about the things everybody else cares about. the one thing i was always trying to do through all my work, particularly all those years on the oprah winfrey show was let people see what my angelou always said, we are more alike than different, and when you get into somebody's home and you are sitting around the kitchen table, i don't care who you are what your kitchen table

looks like, or how many square feet you have, that the feelings are the same, that we find our deepest humanity at the kitchen table, and when i opened the door and look in your house and your house, which i used to do, i loved going to people's houses, dropping in and saying, hey. david: to do own you moved from chicago to the west coast, was that hard to give up chicago? oprah: no, i think everybody, particularly you know this having hit 60, there comes a point, and i am really good at this, not holding on to what was and being able to live in this present moment. i was never one of those women who was afraid to tell your age or trying to be something you're not. i think for everything there is a time and season.

the bible is completely right about that. and you know in your own self when it is time to move from that. i remember last year we were going to the building and i was going through with gayle, who has been through everything with me and said, i feel sad. i said i don't feel sad. i feel a great sense of pride. i think of what we were able to do with that show every day, sitting in the heart of america, allowing people to see the best and sometimes worst of themselves to their neighbors, the dysfunction and ideas, but i am just proud of the work, and then i realized it is time to let that go, so no, i don't feel that at all. the only thing was hard was when the building came down. i sold the building, which was like a campus. there were five buildings. when that building came down and somebody put it on instagram,

that was the only time i had the feeling it was really happening. have you ever gone back to your house where you used to live in the house is gone? david: i went back to my childhood home not too long ago with my mother for a tv show and knocked on the door and said, can i come in? i used to live here a long time ago. they called the police. they thought i was a robber. you mentioned a couple of times gayle. gayle is here. she is your best friend. had he maintained a relationship when you live in different cities over a long time? oprah: i say to the girls in my school, you wish yourself can you wish to have a friend like autnie gayle, who once the most, the best, and highest for you. i have never seen a person like gayle.

everybody, especially if you are on the rise in your career and have had certain friends, and they all act like they are happy for you, but not everybody is happy for you. you can hear jealousy, sense it. i have never had a moment of jealousy from gayle, except the one-timer was on stage dancing with tina turner. that is the only time i had gayle go, i wish that was me. david: people call you all the time and ask you money for this and for that. oprah: helping girls, because i was a poor girl and know what that feels like, it resonates in my spirit. ♪ ♪

david: you have been very public over the years about your weight issues, and now you are a big shareholder in weight watchers, so how do you deal with the weight issues over the years? oprah: i try to let that work for me. i don't do anything that does not feel too full or organic or right. they were asking me to be a spokesperson and i said i have never been on the program. i thought people had to count points. i don't know about those people. the fact that weight watchers was calling me, that is how bad it got. that is a sign, when weight watchers says, let us help you. david: right. oprah: you go look in the mirror and go, i see what you are talking about.

ok. i was just doing what i always do, and that is not just trying to be a spokesperson, but listen, how can i own a piece of it, because since the days of the oprah winfrey show, the biggest, greatest decision i made with the oprah show was own it myself. because my bosses at abc had given me a really hard time when i was doing the color purple. they said you only have two weeks vacation, and i wanted to do that more than anything i want to do in my life. i said i will give up my entire contract if you would just let me do the movie, so i had a smart attorney at the time who said, you never want to be in that position again where you have to give up yourself, your life, so when the contract negotiations came around the second time, i said, what if i own the show and you don't pay

me unless the show makes money? and we make money together, so let's split it. i approach everything that way. if i am going to be of value to you, it should also be of value to myself. david: you are now the ceo of your company, the owner and ceo, and you have a thousand people working for you, and as a ceo, you have to say no to people all the time? oprah: you get other people to say no. saying no is hard. that is one of life's big lessons. i grew up raised in the south, wanting to please everybody, so it took me a long time to get that lesson of only saying yes to what you intend to say yes to, and so i tried to do all of my business decisions and personal decisions based on my intention. david: when you develop this a success, what comes along with

it in our society is money. when you make the money you have been fortunate to make him you can't spend it all. oprah: you can try. david: it's tough. oprah: you can have a really good time trying. david: how many things can you really buy? can you talk about your philanthropy, how you decide to give away money. you just recently became the biggest donor to the african-american history museum in washington. oprah: 13 years ago, i believe you are nowhere and life in you know where you come from, and that understanding the true root of what has been paved for you is necessary for a people to move forward, so i wanted to leave the legacy of that for

generations to come, particularly for african-american children, but also for people of all races, to understand who we are as a people and a culture and what that has meant to america. david: so now you decide how to give away money by virtue of a foundation and staff. oprah: i don't have the staff. i do have a foundation and people working there, but nobody tells me -- david: people say give me money for this, give me money for that. oprah: i don't pay any attention to that. in the beginning, i used to. i was so overwhelmed by it because i could not figure out when your salary is published in the paper and you can no longer say i don't have it, i could not figure it out. people were leaving their husbands, boarding trains, coming to see me. i had people standing outside my door in chicago and i was overwhelmed by it, then i, i got

lots of advice from a lot of people about what to do. i now only do what i intend that comes from what is important to me, so helping girls, because i was a poor girl and know what that feels like, it resonates in my spirit. you change not only her, but the entire community because they get back to the family, so saving girls around the world is important to me. educating growth and power in women feels like a natural thing. david: have you ever thought that given the popularity you have that you could run for president and be elected? oprah: i thought, oh, gee, i don't have enough experience. now i'm thinking, oh. ♪

♪ david: that me ask you a question about politics. you avoided politics throughout your career, and you have had no politicians on your show. then somebody named barack obama was running for president in 2008 and you said, i am going to violate my principal and endorse him, and it seemed to work out. it helped him a great deal i might say. oprah: interestingly enough, it was not the kind of thing, again, i operate from what feels like the right thing to do. you would be stunned about how little i thought about it. i felt compelled to do it. from the time i saw him in 2004 at the convention, and i was in chicago and had seen him as a senator around, i saw him at

that convention in 2004 and i was alone in my house and i thought, he is going to be president some day and i hope i am around to help him do it, so i started telling him in 2004-2 005, when you run for president, let me know. i had a group of african-americans at my house who had all been really major legends. i like having parties, so i had this big party and i had diana ross, sisley tyson, maya angelou, and all these wonderful legendary women to thank them for paving the way for me, then i had a bunch of young women like mariah carey, janet jackson to help me thank them, and i have barack obama come to my house and speak in 2005, where i have all these people there, and i said to that group in 2005, this man is going to be president of the united states some day and i hope i am a life when it happens, and if i am, i

will do whatever i can in my power. i will quit my job, canvas for him, and they said, what is his name again? that was in 2005, so i felt like this is something i can do. david: did some of your viewers criticize you? oprah: i was surprised by that because i never thought about it. it did not occur to me that people did not know that i've voted one way or the other. david: he was inaugurated in 2009, january 20, so upstairs in the white house, you are invited. oprah: how did you know? david: i know. african-americans are in the white house, the president is an african-american, and this is a house built by slaves. what was the emotion that night?

oprah: it was indescribable. i don't think there are words that, i heard dave chapelle on saturday night live talking about looking over and -- it wasn't the same as inaugural night. it felt surreal, and obviously you are looking at all the paintings on the walls of past presidents and leaders who were all white. it was surreal. i remember walking out afterward with gayle and her kids and we were like, did that just happened? it felt surreal. david: barack obama was the first african-american to be elected president, now we have had somebody who is a media figure, you might argue. now we have never had a woman elected president of the united states, so have you ever thought given the popularity you have

come we haven't broken the glass ceiling yet for women, that you could run for president and be elected? oprah: i -- i never considered the question, even a possibility. i just thought, oh, oh. david: it is clear you don't need government experience to be elected president of the united states. oprah: i thought i don't have the experience, i don't know enough, now i'm thinking, oh. david: right. all right. now speaking of "oh" that is the name of your magazine. a couple of questions as we wrap up and you consider whether you

will run for president of the united states. oprah: no, that will not happen. i thought there was so much you had to know, but anyway. david: today, if you look at what you are doing, your highest priorities are developing own, acting, executive producing. oprah: i just finished the immortal life -- david: the polio vaccine and other things, and your role and that is -- oprah: her daughter. david: we you continue acting? oprah: i will continue acting, developing shows that speak to the humanity of people in a way that makes them want to live better and do better, that exalts their victories and let them know that they are important. i would have to say that every

day, david, that show was such a, it was like therapy for me, kind of like now. every day the show was, i paid attention. i have never been to a therapist, but i have paid attention all those days on the show, and i made therapy acceptable for a lot of people who thought not me. one of the things that started to get around mid-to-late 1990's was that everybody i had on the show, at the end of the show they would say something to me like, with that ok? with that ok? how was that? at the end of the interview. i started to then track it. it did not matter, i had gone and done a show where i was in a prison and interviewing a father who was in jail for life for

murdering his twin daughters. even behind bars he said to me, is that ok? how did i do? barack obama said if the first time he sat in the chair the first time. george bush said it. beyonce said it. david: so that is an acquired skill? oprah: yes, but this is what i learned sitting in that chair for 25 years, that at the end of the day, whether you are interviewing me or i get to interview you come what ever your profession is, wherever you are in your life and your relationships, every person that you encounter, every experience, a person wants to know, was that ok? was that ok? and what i started to hear was that what people are really saying is, did you hear me? did you hear me? and did what i say mean anything to you?

and so i started to listen with that mind, that intention, that validation, use baking to me, taking the time to do this, is important because you matter, and that is true for everybody watching or listening, that every argument or encounter, a person just wants to know, did you hear me? did you see me? david: how do you relax? oprah: the word for me now is i am content. i'm not just relaxed. i am content. i know a lot of rich people who are not happy, but i am not one of them. i am one of the happiest rich people you are ever going to see. david: when you are trying to get away from it all and get away from everything, you relax at one of your homes? oprah: yes. it does not take a lot for me to be happy.

gayle will say to me, are you sitting in the trees with your thoughts? i can be happy with my dogs. david: thank you for doing this. i rely one of the great pleasures in life is not being interviewed by me, so thank you for this. oprah: it has been a pleasure though. david: it has been my pleasure completely. this is a low-budget show, and so were going to give a car out, smaller than the cars you usually get out. it is a car -- oprah: really? this is great. david: we can't afford a big car, but thank you. oprah: that is so cute. david: all right, well, that was great. thank you. thank you. ♪

jonathan: from new york city to our viewers worldwide. with 30 minutes dedicated to fixed income, this is "bloomberg real yield." ♪ coming up, the final word belongs to chairman yellen. after a week of fed speech shakes of the treasury market. french presidential candidate emmanuel macron gains ground in the polls. and in issuance of deutsche bank is said to be reviewing options to raise capital. what he is gettinou