connie.

story began at georgetown hospital in the summer of 1946, a year after her parents arrived in the u.s. from, china. she was her parent's 10th child. and the to be born in the u.s. connie lived on decatur street in the 16th street heights neighborhood. then her family moved to a home on warren street in tennessee town. she attended phoebe hurst elementary school, takoma park junior high and montgomery blair high school. every night, connie and her family watched the evening news anchored by walter cronkite. connie's father wanted her carry on, carry on and, carry forth. the family name and in history. those evenings gathered around the television, planted seeds

for achieving that dream. shortly before graduating the university of maryland, connie got a at tv channel as a, quote, newsroom copy. it was there that she developed the foundational skills she'd carry through the rest of her career as a trailblazing journalist trailed blazing journalist for nbc cbs and abc. it was also there that she met, in her words, a young, tall, dark, very handsome sports with rapid fire delivery, a devilish personality that's none other than maury povich, who she'd later marry. and as to who is here tonight to conduct what, i have no doubt will be a very hard hitting interview interview. connie chung made history when. she became the first woman to co-anchor cbs news and the first asian to anchor any news program in the country.

they there are many, many women and asians working in journalism today. some here in the audience tonight who have connie to thank for making paths possible. connie's in pursuit of stories was rivaled only by her resilience. the wake of ongoing sexism and racism. she details this beautifully in her memoir, which we're here to celebrate tonight. so as i mentioned, maury povich here to honor interview connie his wife of 40 years. maury, also up in d.c., his father was the renowned washington sports washington post sportswriter, shirley povich, i understand that you had your bar mitzvahed at synagogue not too far from here. so if you're feeling your total proportion while you're up here, you should just free just belt it out. maury is the longest running talk show host in broadcast television history. he hosted the talk show maury

for over 30 years and he is recipient of the daytime emmys lifetime honor. later in the program, we're looking forward to hearing your questions and you can line up at that time along the microphones and either i'll thank you for joining us and please give a very warm sixth and i welcome to connie chung and maury povich. maury connie. or i may, i you just need to remember thing only one with you

tonight is, not about you. oh. okay. okay. okay. so as was mentioned, my father was the sports writer for the washington post for 75 years. and when i first when i first started out, when i was interviewing people, he said, you know, son, in order to a person, you have to be full of your subject. never has a day gone by that. he hasn't surprised me. really? yeah. well, like how? i don't want to talk about it. cannot contact. vince hua, chung was the 10th of

ten children. the last. and as was said before, the only one born in the united states. so nine of them were born in china. so six girls and three boys. however, five of those children died in infancy, including all three boys. so remaining were the forces. josephine, charlotte jun and mamie. and they all to the united states? no, i'm sorry. no, no, no. i do know you broken. no, you've been 100% accurate so far. i'm very impressed. her a baby daddy. her father. her father. bill chung, was a spook.

yeah, he was a cia for chiang kai shek. and somehow when he knew that the war was going poorly and that the japanese were encircling them in an unbelievable way in book, he got family out and to america. and that's when connie was born on august 20th, 1946. she was the of ten. and as she says in the book, she was the silent. one sila and silent connie chung, silent. i've been praying for that for 40 years. okay. so the first question is, why were you so silent? you had four sisters?

the oldest was 16 years older than you. mm hmm. why so silent? well, they were. they were bossy. so bossy. they. they were mimi. so they told me what to and what to say. and i got, you know, when i tried to get a word in edgewise, they were like, oh, she can't talk, you know she she's not going to answer the questions. doesn't know. and i mean it was just they were suffocate really. and that's way it was in school. well when i when i was very scared to go to school and then when i did go to, though, i began to finally emerge a bit. um but i really emerged, i think when when they got married and had children because they were very traditional, you know, they grew up in a traditional era in which women got married and had

children. and so when they finally moved the heck out of our home, i got, oh, here's my time. i'm i'm going step out and and really find my way. but i think that, you know they were such a strong women that they could have been ceos leaders, companies they could be whatever they wanted to be. but they grew up in an era in which that didn't happen. but you talk about the traditional chinese home and, so therefore you were the dutiful. you were the what else? i was i believed in filial piety because it was drilled me, my sisters, they wanted to be more american because they were born in china, but because i was born in the united states, i wanted to be more chinese.

so i was such a good. yeah, such a good girl. i did the right thing. i never crossed the line. i. whereas my sisters, i think could have that they also very dutiful. so it was. there's a huge dichotomy. anyone in the news business in the last 50 years who understood what was going on in television in the 1960s, 7080s and nineties, connie chung was the most dogged. she she was never to denied she would ask questions of newsmakers that nobody else ask and this was the dutiful good girl at home. how does that happen? well, but i wasn't that good.

i was i? was i had. i went to the millicent busybody school journalism, which was just outside of london and i majored in having a potty. and so i for some reason, unbeknownst to me actually, it just when i looked around and saw all the men in the business and i think we have a photo of it. yeah. take a take a look at this photo. this is 1974. connie's working at cbs. this is the house judiciary watergate committee hearings involving richard nixon and his impeachment hearings. and here is connie. among a sea i call it the sea of men. because i look a little you know, bushwhacked i look just like i've through the wars.

but it's it was i looked around me. and all i saw were men. men in the newsroom, men i, i covered men i competed with and other news organizations as just zillions of men. you know, there were men on capitol hill at the white house, and i got at the state department and so i thought i am going to be a guy, too, because i looked around the room, i can't see my and so i thought, well, i'll just be i'll be as brave as are. i will command respect like they do. i will stand and speak. i will have that their bravado because they could respect so i thought i had so convinced myself that i was just another

white guy that when i walk past the mirror, i'd go. who is that chinese woman staring back at me? and. i tell her how it all started in the business. she's working at channel five and i happen to be working there, and nobody took any notice of her. he was a big star and so i was just she was hired by eric marvelous, loveliest man in the world and they buchanan who can up being maybe the best police crime reporter the city of washington over the years but that time he was the news director of dtg and he taught me a lot you pay any attention to me so. i wasn't there at time but the story goes through the newsroom carnage. the secretary for mike and the

copy girl, whatever all they will, you know, hire a woman for the first and the first job that comes up as a writing assignment. and connie wants it so mike says, no, no no, no, no, no, no. you to do this. you're, you know, my assistant you do the copy now. i want the connie walks out of the newsroom up the stairs across the street and the american security bank looks at the first woman teller and says you want to be in tv come with me and walter said, you want to be a star as well? yeah. yeah. and how connie got her first job in television news. yes. and then we kind of took notice of her because nobody had gotten a job that way. but then when was at channel five. and then i kept nudging them to let me go on the air and and they finally did. and i was covering a story at

about on senator kerry conditions at a tony french called la provence. is it still around, nancy? is it still around? no. okay. and, hmm, i you know what? i can't hear anymore. why mario is we watched television together, you know, and i'm always going, what do you say? and he says, would you would you please get some hearing? i will. what did you say? forget it. okay. so tell the story. okay so i'm sitting so i barge into this tony french restaurant and demand to see the and confront him about the fact that his restaurant was declared unsanitary. and it just happens to be that the president of i mean the wash

the washington bureau chief cbs news which was the creme de la creme of bureaus of they were the backup for walter you know walter cronkite was just the king of the hill. yeah no that's okay. yeah. cronkite and he so i. he looks at me, he says boy, you know, she barges in here demands this and demands that with the cameras rolling like, mike wallace and he gave me his card and he said, call me. i called a. right. got a job. it was remarkable. well, the the job there's reason she got the job and it was bigger than that. yes. what was the reason? well, the in 1964, the rights i mean, the civil rights was passed, became law and created the equal employment opportunities commission that

caused maury sister lynn povich, who was working at newsweek and and the other researchers, were relegated to being in research jobs. we had a lot of miserable hire here, you know, a lot povich is a lot of churns and it's just wonderful. hi. thank you for coming. get on track. okay. sorry. it was. i took it, you know, the television realized when they looked around and. lynn lynn lynn povich joined the research and file researchers and filed a class action lawsuit. the result was they want and they were court reporters. they were called they were called editors. and they were promoted. yeah. before they couldn't even be

promoted those jobs because, it was so sordid. and the television were all lily. they were men just, you know, there's wrong with white men. i mean, i am married to one. there's nothing wrong when i look in the mirror i am not impressed. oh, yeah. you commanded respect. okay. you just by virtue. and you're tall. and now i have. but it wasn't you that bill small at cbs hired. so who did he hire all at once? yes, in one fell swoop. he hired a michelle clark i mean, me chinese. michelle clark. oh, didn't know chinese, huh? um, michelle clark, who is. who is black? and sylvia chase, uh, leslie stahl, a nice jewish girl, blond

hair. and sylvia chase, a shiksa with blond hair. but i shouldn't say she's agoi that's okay. you think she was okay in this crowd? yeah. okay. and so they were trying to make for all the years of discrimination. but, you know, we we were hazed a lot. we a lot of hazing. you were in a back room. yeah, we to sit. they didn't even give us desks they didn't give us, you know, phones to use typewriters. they didn't give us typewriters. we had to around in the newsroom and lesley stahl and i remain friends today and we we we go to lunch at least once a year. wasn't there a wasn't there an african american guide to. oh, yeah, a bernie bernie shaw. thank yeah. and and then ed bradley came

from after covering and he was he had some kind of swagger and when he would say no to the assignment editor they would believe him you know. but when i would try and say no to the assignment editor, i really a hard time. yeah that's why you relegated to cover tricia nixon's wedding the worst. you know how bad it was. were all standing on these platforms and she getting married in the rose garden. we couldn't see the rose garden from. we were. and they give us the white house being even, you know, very controlling would give us handouts which are jiang, who works for and m.j., they're white house correspondents, honey. mj lee at cnn and judge yang, if i pronounce your name correctly, okay.

and and they they know how controlling you know, how controlling white house as well. they gave us handouts so that we could describe tricia trysts, wedding. but i was, you know, had to cover the here's the problem you were the good girl. yes. and when the assignment editor and the bureau chief says, connie, you will do this, there wasn't any not really. i it was hard, you know, to push back, not only because i was a woman, but so under the chinese the w's subdued, awful. so the only way you could be bold and brave was on assignment. yes. and and that i did. so when these piggy men would look at me as if i were an ice cream cone, a lollipop. but you know, like a little lotus plus i was i, i had, you

know, i kind of just i did slap x which which is i got them before they could me if and that's where i was such a sassy bad mouth i was a bad -- what can i tell you. so so just to set the landscape correctly during these days this is the early 1970s late 1960s. and i look up today i could not believe it the abc evening news world news tonight is the highest rated network news program daily and there are 6.75 million people watching that last week when connie out with walter cronkite walter cronkite,

not huntley-brinkley not the abc news. walter cronkite alone, 30 million people a night. hmm. so that's that's how television news was back then. it was the golden age of television news in the sixties, seventies and and because cable, because of all the fractured ways people get their news today. there's there's never going to be anything like it again. no, i mean, everybody went nuts the other night when there were 67 million people watching a debate i mean those debates back would be unbelievable. it came to viewership. i really was working during the glory days glory days of television.

so how did the guys at the bureau treat you? not not the management not the work not the management. oh. how did you get along with your correspondents how is it going? how is it going? you in the george mcgovern campaign, you were the third, third string. yeah. i mean, you you were reduced to radio think. yeah, i, i that was my to cover radio basically. and every i tried to suggest a the, the, the correspondent who was the mail the guy was very offended that that i had audacity to call new and say i have a story and so he told his name was david shoemaker and he told roger mudd who was writing

his memoir that i was trying to call new york behind his back and suggest stories. and and that was big. no, no. we had to get a if you got a story, you had, give it to them. turn it over to them. and and that's what we always had to do when we were second bananas. i didn't, i didn't abide that a lot. and that, that that made the men very angry at me because they thought i was, you know, i had too hotspur it's a very funny story you want to tell it in front of this crowd. i know it's a racy, but i think i. she's on the campaign and this this was in another book. it wasn't even an herb it's not even an herb. oh maybe i would put it in here. the tom oliphant story. did you put it in your book. oh, yeah.

hmm. okay. i didn't read the book. he you know what? i writers i read the book. yeah. and i wrote a chapter. right. so got to read this. okay, tell me. tell me what you think you know. and he said, i read already. i said, no, i changed it. okay, you got it. he grows moon and moon and i tom oliphant was a boston globe reporter and he was covering the campaign a lot. mcgovern i guess a mcgovern campaign with connie. yeah. and he so set it up about how they got stories and you didn't okay they had a timothy crouse who wrote the boys on the bus was a very well-known book after mcgovern campaign and was one of the boys on the bus. he said, i was always in my room at, you know, late in the evening like 11 p.m. or 12 at

midnight, and i'd reciting my last radio spot, sending it in to cbs new york and and going to bed early. and then i'd be up and out of early in the morning sticking a in mcgovern's face and asking him the first relevant question of the day. then i would i when i would find out about scoops that the new york times and the washington post had, how do they get these stories suddenly realize that all the guys were down at the bar and they were drinking with the campaign aides, getting them sloshed, and then they would spill the beans. so i said, okay, no more saying you in bed. i mean, going to sleep early, i'm going to the bar. so i went to the bar and i'd be drinking with with the guys and i learned how to drink in college. you know?

i was no wimp. i could drink and yeah, you know, i could drink drink. not anymore. i, i don't do well anymore. you don't want to be around after two after 202 drinks. i thought you quit after 2:00 in the afternoon. no. yeah. two, yeah, two drinks actually i was such a cheap drunk. i can even i can't even go with just one drink and i'm, you know, maureen says you're slurring so. anyway, i was down at the bar and this inebriated keeps trying to hit on me and tom elephant's said he recounted this story to me because he remembered it vividly he was he came this this inebriated kept coming around and coming around and trying to make plays with me. and finally i said you don't

want to sleep with me. hour later you'll be hung --. i couldn't tell you the. boys on the bus loved that one. and that's when they found out you don't screw around with carnage on. yes, of course. she was just another guy with body with the body attitude. the potty mouth and the potty mouth. okay, let's move on. okay. where the hell is he going? you know. you're cbs from 1971 until 1976. you covered all those glory days, the antiwar movement

watergate. mm. mcgovern. mcgovern. and now you're. you're covering vice president 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