rockefeller, who, by the way, you write about. you really like that? i did because he understood the relations between politicians and reporters. and what do you mean? will didn't hit it? there were to me, there were three types of politicians the ones who try to use. reporter the way kissinger to you know leak info and and that he wanted yeah that he he would we all knew that he was a senior state department or a senior national security official and we all knew as kissinger you know and that he would try and get information out his view. and then there were ones who hated us who thought we were trying to. that doesn't happen anymore, does it? ha ha ha ha ha. oh, boy.

who thought we were, you know, after them and nixon felt that way when i was in california. jerry brown, that we were out to get him. okay. so rockefeller. rockefeller. understood that if reporter asked a tough question, he would give back a tough answer. and i love that. and he was also unfilled. he one time he gave the crowd the finger and and i thought, oh, what a good story. you know, he he was a a we called it the salute. and and he just he was a lot of fun. and he when he finally stepped down as a running mate for, gerald ford, he said, i won't have anybody to argue with anymore. yeah. and then do you remember how he died all of a sudden having a heart attack in and i thought at

his office and i when i saw the wire story, i went, oh, my god, because i really sad because i really liked him. but then realized he he died at like with his boots on. yeah it was a very soft story that he died in his office and he was supposedly working in his office at midnight and i knew him very pretty. he doesn't work at his office and i. well, you could read about you could draw your conclusion conclusion he is bad boy. so here you are. you're on the rise you know, you're not a third rate reporter anymore anymore, by the way, who told that one time that you were a third rate reporter? i think the current

presidential. in one particular party, you're not the person who ever said that to you. no. no, no. i know you're talking about. uh, he we do have one thing in common. i'm. i'm balding, too, and i to do the comb over. but i'll tell you one other thing about him. i know makeup, because you should see me without makeup. very scary. i always say tomorrow before i come out of the bathroom, after i take it off my makeup. but i say, what is this something scary, you know, like this, you know, like. so. so with he he uses this tone and

that's a good color because it makes you look orange all right. honey, i know makeup, okay? yeah, i really. no makeup. so it's he's got to get a different foundation tone so you're on the rise you're on the rise. this is i never should have asked i never should have. i we were not going to go there tonight. know, i you you county council be a body tries to get you to wipe about the election don't do it and he brings it up if you're on rise if you're on the rise everybody's looking at you as maybe a future anchor person somewhere. yeah you leave your desert you left town. yeah, you desert your home town. well, i'll tell you, i was still

in a home when i was 29 years old. you know it was not cool. and really i was. you were that you at that time the breadwinner for farm responsibility for your parents my father retired he had a minor heart attack he retired and i became their parents and so in order to get away from them you went 3000 miles away. well you know it. i was feeling very suffocated because i was a balls. the woman at work. but then i was a little girl at and i. i thought i really should try to get out dodge to grow up. so they offer you a big time local anchor job in los angeles. yeah. at the cbs owned station. maury, we're going to have to move faster than this. see? see, i know.

you know. yeah. tick, tick. but i thought those were the glory years. tick, tick, tick. i thought those were the glory years. well, anyway, you moved to los angeles. you've become a big star in los angeles. and guess who shows up you know? oh, you. that's later no. guess who showed when you moved my parents. yeah, they called me and they were so that we're going to come out live near you, with you. i said well. yeah. why why why didn't just say no? i couldn't. i'm a i'm a good chinese starter, you know, it's just like you were never the good jewish son.

no, connie povich. there's actually one. and i'm connie two or t oh and connie one is here. married maurice, older brother. he was the good jewish son. you were. and my sister, my youngest, she was. she was adoring one. uh huh. she was the youngest. and i was a piece of --. yep, he was. he was the monkey. the middle. right in the middle. child. and he i told my one time when i was on television and i did a show on and sons and so he was with me and i said, you know, dad, i'm the middle child. and i suffered from the middle child. i know you don't know anything about that. he says he's this is on television he says, oh, i know all about that and quite

frankly, you exploited it. his his father isn't about you, not about me. i know what i you know. i've had self therapy for the last 85 years. okay? he's gone to therapy. you mean self-therapy? that's what i said. yeah i understand. because you wouldn't do anything like that. right? but you know what? so you can come up in therapy, become a big star. he plays golf all morning, noon and night. and if he doesn't play golf well, forget about it. he is is about to, you know, commit harry carey. i'm trying to move this along. okay okay. so but you've become a big star. she becomes a huge star to the point somehow because i'm in and i got problems management and my agent gets me a job and i go to

los believe it or not and i'm second banana to this person and yes how good didn't last long it lasted like six months he he was the the who hired you was last hired first fired right. mhm. so then i was gone. that was just a disaster. very sad but he this big career for seven years in los angeles and then you want to come back. i did it to the networks. yeah and so i went to nbc back in new york. you bet. and you ended up back in washington. right. but this is seven years later. yes, seven years. we had a commuter and it was perfect fit because. right.

because it was an open relationship believe me, it was what we were not exclusive. no. she dating hollywood stars. you were dating people you couldn't remember their first name, let alone their names. stop, stop, stop. it's the old. do you remember the coyote thing? you know, you wake up and you go, connie okay, are you all right to chew off your to get out of there? so we were dating we were dating from afar off and on. and all of a sudden you tell me that you out with an eagle. and i said to philadelphia eagle and she the band the band eagles eagles. so he thinks it the book she mentions that but she doesn't say which eagle so now which

eagle eagle. wasn't was it the drummer flag on the play. all right, that's enough. all right, it's enough. i'm not going there. you come back, i, i, i you know him, actually used to play golf with him. they had me come back east. you come back east. but i have to tell them. well, you know, cause i ran. these guys at a restaurant, another with my girlfriend, and and one of them that i was the appealing says, you come back to my place. i sure and we we guess i don't

need to hear this. so he's and i said he had told me he plays in a and so he's got this piano at home and i said, what did you play one of your songs? and he plays hotel california and. and i went, oh, molly. so. you know, the new york times it reviewing your book that it's breeze and irreverently and now you know why. so you come back east mary can i ask something? what did i do to. no, no piece of lint. no, i know. i i'm like a monkey, you know i

pick lint off other monkey and now i just want to know, am i always tells me i don't sit up straight. am i sitting up straight? yeah. because he got a nice back of a chair so nobody can notice. i could actually. okay, fine okay. so he also tells me to smile more because he doesn't say this, but i know i have arresting -- face. i don't know. so you come back to nbc, you start. you start this new program right before the today show called sunrise and the salespeople at nbc come to you said, boy, this is great, connie except for one thing there are all these stations who aren't taking maury. they didn't come to me that i was wondering. our ratings were so low, the onus was on me to raise the ratings.

so i asked of the salespeople or, the ratings people, why? i asked the ratings people, why the ratings were so low. and they said because it's not carried in a lot of major. and you had told me that the affiliate cuts are the most important. true. because are affiliated with the network if if they don't carry the programs the network is not going thrive they're not going to make the money they want to make. and the bottom line was getting to be so important to these networks. so i, i said, give me a list. the cities that aren't carrying nbc news sunrise and so you did the salesman's job. you call up all the general managers. they all come on board and end up being the number one show in the time period. yes yes.

but balls, you strikes again so you're there six years and then 1989, six. yeah and you're very good that honey you decide i'm going back to cbs. i cbs you know they to say the the stains on the carpet at nbc are just but the stains on the carpet at cbs. blood is blood. there so brutal and go back and start this show face to face and it's a big it's it's doing really well and then oh boy here we go we have enough time for this all of a sudden cbs has this brilliant idea the cbs

evening news ratings are down dan rather's been there for some time. we're going to be about a really jump start the ratings. we're going give dan a co-anchor. her name is connie. how'd that work out. i was so thrilled to. get my dream job. i always wanted be walter cronkite. good evening. and i you know, the fact that i suddenly was sitting in half of uncle walter's chair was utterly thrilling and i couldn't believe that i was making it to the top of heap. look, i think dan saw it that. how did he see it? well i think an intrusion. well, i can understand that he

you know, he'd been doing it by himself all these years, so he had to move a few inches to make room for. i don't believe that if i were a man or a woman or, a plant or an animal, he would have wanted to share the sea. either that or his mama never told him how to. share? no, i don't know. i still don't know if. they held a gun to his head or, uh, he willingly accepted. you say some pretty. you some pretty severe things in this book about how he treated you. well well, do you think i threw him under the bus? there ain't bus big enough. for instance, what did he tell

about covering stories? i? the first thing he said to me lot right after? i was named co-anchor. i'm not crying. just have. why should i cry? there's nothing to cry about right now. it's just that there's no and news. no, you're right. you know, tom hanks was so right there was no crying in baseball. and i always felt there was crying in news. you know, how people run to the ladies room. i don't do that. heck of a guy. so he said to me the first day. he said let's go have a cup of coffee and said, now you're going have to start reading the newspaper. and i, i, you know, then later on he because i wanted to cover stories to burnish my reputation as a reporter reporter, he said,

you you should stay in the studio and read the teleprompter and go out and cover the stories. it was, i thought, oh, this is not working out. and then you do what morrie was president of national academy of television's arts and sciences. so after i was fired and they offered me another job in york. i was the chapter president in new york, chapter. and morrie said, you know what? you should present him with an he's getting a big award and. you should present not a chance. and he said, no, you ought to do it. so i did it. and he he was so happy. so he picked me up off the floor and held me up there, you know, my feet were dangling like this

ridiculous me down around so it was very awkward. i mean, but i did it right. you did it, huh? you did it. i did it. so anyway. but but the the unbelief a whole thing is after i was dumped two days later, two days later, we get the call that our adoption that we'd been working on for two years was coming through. yeah. and the so our son is named as matthew was less a day old when he was born and he was in my arms and maury is the baby daddy and he he was good really good daddy. but i suddenly had this wonderful little baby in my arms and i thought, you can take this

job and shove. you know, i was so happy to have a new life for my my my sister waited to get married till you were 38. yet you tried into your forties even late forties, to have child too. and lot of miscarriages. so it was first i forgot to get married. then i forgot to have a baby. and then all of a sudden i lost my just at the worst moment of your career. mm hmm. serendipity, baby. serendipity, baby. uh huh. and it's wonderful. i mean, i. i treasure that moment, and it happened the right way. me can women have it all well for me? had a career first and then a son. and it worked beautifully. me i don't know if it will work for other women, but i find it's

very hard for women and i have have it all at the same time, although women are doing that today. do you all have children? you you have to make to choose. how do you do that? see, they're rock stars, honey, i couldn't do that. they were just bigger thinkers than. thanks. but i couldn't have done it, you know. now, after our son is born and. you're and you raise him. you go back to work five years later. i know about two or three years later at abc. mm hmm. and there you are, a big triumvirate at abc. barbara walters, diane sawyer connie chung. screw those guys. got it. we got it right now, boy, the

three of us that didn't go well, either they. honey, you are so running out of time, are you sure? yes, i am okay. no. when we started, no. when will end? i know you know he's. got this in his head. he's really good at it. what was the problem what was it? because barbara and, diane had been there first and that came later or they got the stories. well, were they were battling each other for the same interviews and. i was told i, i can't if barbara, diane are going those interviews i have to stand. oh, why what? wait a minute. let me get this straight. they're they're you know, they can they can go after interviews and compete with each other.

the way reporters do. and i can't be in on the action. and they said no. so i thought i never would have gone there had. i known that. but there was a competition comes compensation there because you decided i'll get my own stories. i won't get the big i won't go after the big gets the way are going after. and actually i didn't like going after. well, you had enough cbs you got magic. we had hiv. holy jesus. oh, god, i got buddies. mark malfoy, the former of editor in chief of sports illustrated. okay. yeah. all right. so you just got a hit on c-span booktv. look it this weekend.

anyway. he has so many girlfriends, you know, you went after your own stories. yeah. and that was gratifying. it was great. it was great. i had really i think it if i look at my career i the washington days cbs and the significant important stories and it sounds old fashioned but i really like stories in which i correct social ill that society has perpetrated or or. find out what the government is doing is wrong. it's it's it's so gratifying to uncover something that nobody else knows and is significant and important it has impact. so now that ended and you really

unfulfilled in terms of the scope of your career how many times did i tell you how many times have i told you in the last years you're the jackie robinson of asian-americans television news. how many times have told you that? so many times. in fact, you told nina my my niece, nina, when she came to visit us in montana and you picked her up, you had. so how many times did you ever say? you're right. never. never. but then. in 2019, this woman gets in touch with you. her name is connie wong, and she she cold emails and says, uh, i was named after you and i can't really. that's that's amazing. and she so we talked on the

phone and she tells me that she was born in china that. she came here when she was three. and there. uh, her parents looked her and said, we need to give you an american name. and she only knew what she saw on television. so she's they said, what name would you like? and she said, connie or, elmo. thank. they chose the human instead of the muppet. and so she goes to university of california, berkeley, and she knows, you know, half the population there is asian. she's in the cafeteria and somebody says and half the room around. so says, this is weird. and then she tried to get her email address and there were so

many colonies she was flabbergasted. so she sh she became a journalist and she worked refinery29 and she. she was sh she actually looked into it. she was so smart and dogged. she found a sister her hood of carnies named after untold numbers that i could never imagined. and it was their parents who said, uh, to themselves you know we we see her on television. we'd like our, our to have sort of follow in her footsteps. so connie wang, a piece in the new york times sunday opinion section, which was a beautiful piece, if you can google it, it's called generation and the new times for sunday

photographer, the head of the photo editor said she wanted to get as many connie's as she could into a new york times studio. asked me to come and put them in three cheers. shall we show them the the table right now you get a chance to watch what happened? uh huh. and see how my wife, the jackie robinson of asian television news people. roll it. i. okay. yeah. so good to see you, my connie. hi. nice to meet you. yeah, yeah. what your last name are markie? are markie. okay, think chung actually. get out to me. connie chung, are them. so i really feel like you hear

connie wang. wang and you pronounce it wang. i actually named myself after you. you tell my parents i did you tonight in your crib. you know. how did you do that? because you're iconic person but no i female oh, oh, sorry. i know. me too really? yeah. who do you would you name you have an american name and i don't want have esther sarah. yeah, i like the word so. oh i got no room in my makeup break when everybody laughs. oh, oh, oh my god. oh, my god. oh,