tv Amanpour Company PBS November 28, 2018 4:00pm-5:01pm PST
4:00 pm
. hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up? is ukraine's president preparing for a war? i'll ask him. after russia escalates a confrontation at sea and seizes sailors and ships. plus general motors slashes jobs and factories. the man who won pennsylvania for trump tells me what it means for blue-collar america. and -- ♪ and a power couple gets real. how they keep normalcy and ballot in their ultra-successful lives.
4:01 pm
uniworld is a proud sponsor. when bea founded hotels, her dreams were on multiple rivers that would one day be home to uniworld river cruises, and the floating boutique hotels. today that dream set sail in europe, asia, india, egypt and more. bookings are available through your travel agent. for more visit uniworld.com. additional support has been provided by. the sheryl and phillip millstein family. judy and josh weston, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. welcome to the program, everyone. i'm christiane amanpour in london.
4:02 pm
after a high-stakes confrontation with the russian navy, ukraine is declaring martial law. boats remain in russian hands after they were seized in the narrow waterways which were annexed by russia. russia says ukraine's navy illegally entered russia's wears. ukraine says it was carrying out a routine transit of those waterways. one of sailors appeared on russian television, supposedly confessing to provoking russia. it's a major port access to the black sea trading route. if we needed any stronger reminder, it's this -- that the four-year war grinds on, mostly out of the spotlight these days. why did the trump administration
4:03 pm
take so long to respond? why is the putin administration taking this drastic step now? why is ukraine taking the drastic counter-measure for the first time in decades? well, let us ask the ukrainian president, who is joining me now. welcome to the program. >> happy to see you again. >> it's good to talk to you, particularly to clear up a few things. this does seem like a dramatic escalation in your region. we did say this is the first time since 1991 that martial law is being declared. you did not declare it when crimea was annexed, nor did you declare it when the war was going on in eastern ukraine. >> thank you for this opportunity to inform your viewers, and during the illegal annexation of the crimea, i was note the president and there
4:04 pm
were so-called green men without any signs of the russian army to make an illegal annexation where we had no presence. during year 2014 during an aggressive operation, we have the special operation, and we mobilized all the resources and do our best to protect our country against russian aggression. but this is the first time. it happened on the 25th of november where putin is simply not hiding anymore that this is his order to use the force and to openly shoot two ukrainian soldiers into their military boat and one tugboat. this is under the international law, this is clear and direct act of aggression, fully meets
4:05 pm
the criteria from the resolution of the united nations. >> okay. >> this is know explanation. i doubt the viewers understand, this is happening in the black sea, in the neutral international waters. this is the -- the commander of the naval forces give the order to our naval boats to return, and after they were attacked by the ten russian military vessels in the three miles from the bridge where we were under the instruction of the total control of authorities, where they wait for three hours for the instructions to stay in line and go to their way. >> all right, mr. president. you pretty much described that
4:06 pm
you consider this a direct aggression by identified and official russian military. so that's why you're taking this step. the kirj bridge is -- >> not totally. >> okay. >> not only. the crimea is a part of the ukrainian territory illegally annexed. we cannot violate those that do not exist, but even after this condition, we do not move any tiny reason for the open to fire, any tiny reason to attack or milita -- our military vesse. so what . >> so what on earth is your declaration of law, going into federal tomorrow, governing ten provinces around the waterways.
4:07 pm
what does that mean? are you on a war footing? is this a preparation for a major outburst of hostilities? what is the reason and the effect of martial law? >> the introduction of the martial law is clearly defined in our country's constitution and help us to move troops more easily to mobilize the necessary resources to defend our sovereignty, simply to defend our country. based on our intelligence information, including those we received from our native sources, russia concentrates alongside our border a big amount of troops. we have all the evidence of that, and we should be simply not to repeat the situation from 2014, and to build up a stronger army, and we undertake all our
4:08 pm
efforts to defend and protect our sovereignty. so from that perspective, dimitri peskov said the ukrainian vessels entered without responding to any queries from our border guard, in no way responded to offers to make use of piloted service, so on and so forth. >> this is a lie, because the ukrainian vessels contact with the tower control and received instructions to stay in the designated area, where they stayed more than three hours. that's why we have a firm evidence that under the bilateral agreement between ukraine and russia, using the black sea, using the channel, we have absolutely freedom of movement through the channel. we even don't need that, and we
4:09 pm
just waiting for the navy gait -- our boats were waiting for the navigation services. that's why russia usually lie and make misinformation to cover the act of aggression to try to avoid the responsibility. this is not happen again. what do you make of the international reaction? the eu and nato and other european leaders were very swift to condemn this. they also have called for restrai restraint, and for in the not to escalate. the u.s. administration took slightly more time. it was a full 24 hours or so before we really heard from the u.s. administration. this is what president trump said, seeming to put the onus on both sides. this is what he said. >> we've let our position be known and we're not happy about it. we do not like what's happening. either way we don't like what's happening. hopefully it will get straightened out.
4:10 pm
i know europe is not thrilled. we're working on it. we're all working on it together. so are you satisfied with that reaction from your u.s. allies? >> first of all, we have a very intensive negotiation yesterday and today. i launched my morning with a consultation with the secretary-general of nato, and we initiated the commission and have a very strong statement from nato. then it was the negotiation from our polish -- my polish colleague, because poland is represented, together with the united states, the position of power that lies in the security council of the united nations. if you hear the words of nikki haley, a very strong and reliable, and i'm fully satisfied with the presentation of their position of security council of the united nations. then i speak with chancellor
4:11 pm
merkel and ask her to undertake the urgent steps to release nigh sailors and my ships that are imprisoned, illegally imprisoned without any charges in occupied crimea. i speak to chancellor merkel, because pughen is avoiding to speak directly with me. in the late -- i speak with the secretary pompeo, and during this speech we have the full support, full assistance including military assistance, full coordination of what is necessary to protect the ukrainian sovereignty. by the way, president trump also supports the territorial integrity and on our side.
4:12 pm
the department of state, signed by mr. pompeo, was absolutely cleared, demonstrated the position of the united states, mentioning also the crimean declaration presented by president trump. >> okay. >> definitely we need this unity of the world. the only thing is that they tried to blame ukraine, that we abuse the martial law, because we tried to avoid the presidential election. i just want to state that the only person who is considered to move the presidential election or postpone it is mr. putin. because from one hand we defend our borders, and from order hand we defend our democracy. that's why yesterday parliament vote on the 31st of the march,
4:13 pm
2019, and me as president and commander of the forces of ukraine and the constitution, will not only protect or sovereignty, but our freedom and democracy. just to clarify, you're saying martial law so your presidential election campaign can go ahead as under the constitution, and also can you assure ukrainance that martial law will not be used to, you know, to crush civil liberties, or in any way reduce people's abilities to operate freely. >> definitely, and thank you for the question. i make a statement today in ukraine. we can introduce the steps such as mobilization, such as undertake the measures to protect our country, but leave a
4:14 pm
certain freedom, only if it's aggress of russian federation against my country. now we are making the preparation if it happens. if aggress does not happen because of the steps we undertake and because of the international solidarity with ukraine, no limits of ukraine democracy is happen. we are hearing from kiev and news reports from your capital, that ukrainian officials are stopping en masse russians from traveling to ukraine, at the airport and potentially other borders. can you explain this to me? is this an order you have given? is this part of martial law, to prevent russian from coming to
4:15 pm
ukraine at this time? >> the final decision has not happened yet, but one of the proposals to our chief of general staff and chief of border control is there would be some limits for russian to enter during this special period, and the final decision will probably happen tomorrow, and you will know what would be the exact condition for russians to enter into ukraine. >> that seems to be a pretty drastic step to take, but let me ask you, how do you work this out going forward? because the 2003 treaty between ukraine and russia says that that area in dispute right now, where the confrontation happened is shared territorial waters, guarantees freedom of navigation, but, of course, the background context is that both sides of you have different interpretations on who controls those waters around the crimean
4:16 pm
peninsula, particularly since the annexation. your foreign minister has been calling for, you know, for some potential joint presence, including ukraine, and some of your western allies in the black sea region. what do you propose as a measure going forward to present this kind of tension? >> look, we have a clear bilateral agreement on the black sea and the strait of kirsch. this is impossible to make a different interpretation we have freedom of movement through the kerch strait, including for the military ships, which is mentioned in this bilateral agreement. it's completely illegal and
4:17 pm
violates the law about freedom of navigation. this is crystal clear. this position was clearly supported not only by ukraine, not only by international community and the global -- many countries, but also for the sea navigation act, but also in russia itself. there is no any evidence that russia can limit, russia can stop, can check any ukrainian vessel, and another one, they cannot do anything like that with a foreign vessel to go to the ukrainian port. >> let me ask you again -- >> this is a very dangerous -- >> what's that? >> this is a very dangerous precedent, and we need the international reaction. tomorrow in the black sea, any vessel could be attacked by the russian fleet.
4:18 pm
this we cannot accept anymore. that's what i was going to ask you, some were trying to speculate why president putin would have taken this act at this time. there's obviously a g-20 meeting coming up where he will meet president trump and the world leaders. those who study pewent say this is very much in his playbook. you probe, you push, you wait to see how the west or the international community responds, and you take your action depending on how they respond. so again i want to ask you about the international response, given what tony blair told me about the preoccupation of america and britain right now, not looking potentially at what's going on in your region. just listen to this. >> with less opposition from america, was trump and putin, there's something weird going on there, and also with cunning like britain, actually too busy
4:19 pm
on this to focus on anything else. government bandwidth is a limited thing and at the moment is doing nothing but trying to deliver brexit. >> so, again, mr. president, britain is occupied with brexit, president trump has a particular relationship with president putin. what do you make of that in terms of the response that you're looking for to this action? >> look, it is impossible to explain any steps of president putin. i cannot explain why he illegally annexed crimea, why putin makes an aggression against my country, why putin kills thousands of ukrainians and other steps. this is unexplainable and
4:20 pm
unpredictable. i am confident the only action to putin is unity, and the should be demonstrated in the g-20 meeting, and it has no excuse. when he opened the fire against ukrainian vessel moving into their territorial water and fulfilling all the necessary rules, and not give any tiny provocation. in this or coordinated efforts should be undertaken to make th the black sea significantly more secure. nobody knows what will happen again. with this situation, i'm absolutely confident that we should be united to protect the global peace and security, and ukraine is a reliable partner in that. >> president poroshenko, thank
4:21 pm
you for joining us. and just a note, we have asked the russian government for their reaction, and we will continue to do so. turning to the united states now, it is an ever more dangerous and different world, but for president trump the scene at home is not necessarily any rosier. he is indignant after general motors announced after they will close plants and slack jobs. this is what he said about his call with gm president mary barra. >> i spoke with her when i heard they were closing, and i said this country has done a lot for general motors, you better get back there soon. so we have a lot of pressure on them. >> so this is where the rubber meets the road for the president and his campaign promise to revitalize american industries. the plant closures come in the
4:22 pm
important swing states of ohio, as you just heard, and of course michigan, which were crucial to trump's 2016 victory. what does it mean for the american worker and the president himself? david urban was a senior divorce f -- adviser for the 2016 campaign. and he's joins me from washington. mr. urban, welcome to the program. could i just ask before we get to gm, what you make of the president's actually quite delayed response to what's happening in ukraine? you just heard the president of ukraine calling for a robust and united western response to president putin's actions just now. >> look, obviously it's an incredibly dangerous part of the world, very difficult to get under control at this point in time. this collision and subsequent
4:23 pm
dollar ace of marti declaration of martial law is problematic. i'm sure the president wanted to consult with everyone on his team and made sure they were headed in the right direction. i'm sure the u.s. will stand wrong with the rest of on you allies against this action. >> what would you say to putin when he meet in the next couple days? >> i think from the annexation of crimea on forward, i think this administration has been very strong about its response in crimea, and i would encourage the president to continue to be strong. let's get to the heart of this announcement of quite massive closures and accountbacks by gm. i mean, you know, lots and lots, thousands and thousands of
4:24 pm
workers in ohio and michigan, are you worried about the political fallout? >> look, i'm worried about the fallout for individual americans. this is obviously a huge impact to good working folks across america and all these different factories spread across america that contribute parts to these cars. what has happened here, what's been announced by gm is part of a global lemming by gm. they spun off their productive system to peugot. the kreismt off every -- ceo ta
4:25 pm
the lordstown plant. there still could be room for that plant to come back, but the fact of the matter is, cars and trucks are being sold and purchased less and less across the world as folks shift to autonomous vehicles and ridesharing. applications for driver's licenses are way down. this is not just a trend in america, but a global trend. >> you're absolutely right, but it does go to the heart of the president's promises and claims about manufacturing, and the ability to bring back this kind of manufacturing back to the u.s. i wonder what he thinking. >> just on win point on that, this is 2017, since being in office, added about 500,000 manufacturing jobs to the economy. the economy continues to grow despite closures like this. there are roughly 7 million unfilled jobs in america right now, that are trying to match up skill sets with openings and workers. the unemployment is at all-time record lows.
4:26 pm
the economy is booming here, unfortunately not for those workers in the valley. >> you're right, the economy is doing well, but it goes to the heart of the president's promise, specifically on car plants, saying they should be opening in michigan, ohio and the speech he made when he t was campaigning in mississippi yesterday, as this runoff was taking place for the senate candidate. this is what he said. >> the previous administration, they said manufacturing is never coming back, it's gone, you need a magic wand. well, we found the magic wand, and that's actually -- that's actually going to be increasing by a lot in the next short while. we have a lot of companies moving in. i mean, again, it's important to get to the bottom of this. i mean, one would have thought that gm would have been pretty grateful for pocketing something like $157 million in a tax
4:27 pm
windfall, i believe, because of the president's corporate tax cuts. on the other hand, all of these tariffs on steel and the rest are also jacking up prices for these manufacturers. as one said, it's like, you know, you take half a dozen with one hand and put six in with the other hand. >> back in 2008, gm -- when the auto crisis was looming large, they received a $50 billion s subsidy by the u.s. to prop up the company. and they sold shares back at about a $10 billion loss. overall the government has really subsidized gm, so the president's outrage is well placed. this company haus -- has
4:28 pm
benefited well. so cars is one thing, but you're talking about the president's tariffs. the president is trying to level the playing field. cars being produced overseas and shipped to the united states are not competing on the same playing field. the president is trying to level the playing field on the importation of cars. >> but isn't that actually the tariffs, though, doesn't it harm the car industry? the domestic industry? >> look, i would push back on that narrative, christiane. i don't know how many people you know that drive a chevy cruze -- >> i don't think anybody in europe does. >> so this plant was doomed, because it produced a product that nobody wanted. that's underlies and belies the product here. if gm moves into autonomous vehicles, things that people are
4:29 pm
actually purchases, this plant may start up again. it has -- the saving grace here is the gm isn't say they're shuttering the plant, they're shuttering the line, and i expect her measured language is for a reason. can we move to the issue the migrants? it was a big, big deal, the idea of sending troops down to the border, and then of course over t the weekend, we see some try to storm the border, and the u.s. responded with tear gas. i believe that that's not an established procedure to use tear gas over an international border, but i wonder what you make of it. this is particularly what the president said whether asked about it.
4:30 pm
[ inaudible ] >> as you know, they're not. they had to use, but they were being rushed by some very tough people and here's the bottom line -- nobody is coming into our country unless they come in legally. >> basically they did use tear gas, and it is kids were affected. so were the others. but are you comfortable with the use of tear gas and the way this is escalating there? >> obviously nobody wants to see kids, women or children exposed to tear gas. as you know, christiane, i know you've been in the field lots. tear gas, once deployed is carried by the wind a long, long way. it's unfortunate that the act of a few, who decided to not way in line, but to kind of charge the federal police in mexico, go around, breach their line, get
4:31 pm
up to the border, throw rocks and other projectiles across the border to the border police, who then spoked with tear gas back. i wasn't on the ground. i don't know what type of threat the folks felt on the ground. i know the men and women who serve look the u.s. border are some of the best trained folks in the american government. i take that they did affectly what was called for at the time. it's terrible to have kids and women exposed to tear gas. that's not something that anyone should have to endure. it's my understanding the folks were going to try to go through a checkpoint legally and peacefully and try to do something that would have been pro-immigrant, they ended up making a commercial for the folks here in the united states who say build a wall. it goes to further reinforce the point for those who want to see
4:32 pm
stronger enforcement take place. i said you're on the advisory board for the 2020 campaign. clearly this is a massive issue. clearly it's got to be resolved in the united states. do you have a plan for some kind of sensible immigration reform? >> christiane, as you know, the president previously offered a plan, which is unprecedented by any democratic or republican president, with a past for citizenship. it was a plan that was really bold and aggressive in which he took a lot of heat from his own party for even offering. "the washington post" at the time, which is no friend of this president, said you should take the plan. i think the president has been
4:33 pm
very aggressive in trying to get a resolution. hive in this town for quite some time. comprehensive immigration reform has failed under both leadership. i would love to see the house and senate get together with the president for a plan that provides for u.s. industrial growth and solve the issue. it needs to be addressed. >> the plan you mentioned before, democrats couldn't pass it. they do control the house. i wonder whether that's a plan or an opportunity as you had just pointed out for some kind of bipartisanship. >> it's an election year, and that's the tough part. in washington, you know, what's good to one party is not great to the other, and finding common ground is incredibly difficult.
4:34 pm
immigration lines up, you know, with large swaths of great big industries that really need workers. they want workers to come here, where unions sometimes oppose workers coming here, because they're afraid it will devalue and deflate wages. it doesn't cut red and blue. it's really a very, very complex issue that needs to be dealt with. so, as we speak, some 39 democrats picked up seats. in other words, they have that under their belt now. perhaps another one is going their way. apparently it's the largest gap between the two parties in the history of the mid determine elections. dems received over 9 million more votes across the country. are you surprised at the scale of democratic victory in the mid terms? >> not necessarily. as you know, historically the president in power does pretty
4:35 pm
poorly in the mid terms. pundits, pollsters, politicians were all guessing that number would be somewhere between 35 and 45. it ends up falling pretty much right in the middle, where people expected. what i think is important to note, which gives republicans lots of hope and i think rightfully so is the bold-faced races, beto o'rourke, an degree gillum, and the governor in georgia, had high-profile races. the democrats were banking on them and they lost those races. and the democrats fail to make any gains in the senate, which is important to confirming federal judges and other appointments that the president puts forth. the president is right to really
4:36 pm
being abuoyed by theyis, with a good map going into 2020. it will be a rush to the far left to get that base energized. of course, we know the seven democratic governors picked up seats in this election. if i have time, i want to ask you one more question about that, but i need to ask about paul manafort. we learned last night that the special prosecutor is ending his cooperation with manafort, because he says manafort lied to prosecutors. today we learned from "the guardian" that manafort had a secret meeting from julian assange from wikileaks several times, right around the time he joined the campaign. as we know, the wikileaks is the
4:37 pm
source of the democratic e-mail leaks. your analysis of all this, and are you beginning to think with all that smoke, there is some fire? interesting thing to note, paul manafort was prosecuted for things that had nothing to do with the campaign. as you recall, the federal government, the special prosecutor filed a motion in federal court saying we are not alleges any type of collusion or any issue of collusion in the case we are bringing against paul manafort. that's important to know. what paul manafort pled guilty to were things that happened long, long before he was involved in the campaign. tax evasion, tax fraud, things that should have been prosecuted years before. what is being alleged, nobody knows what the lies are, right? the special prosecutor here in this case has said there are lies.
4:38 pm
they will be presented for a judge to determine what happened, if they're lies or not. the judge will have to determine whether or not he's in violation of the agreement. the alleged meetings with assange, you know "the guardian" the sort frurce from wikileaks asang, they'll bet a million dollars that it never happened. they throw a lot of shade on that allegation. >> if it turns out to be true, it does bring it very close to trump's doorstep, and the campaign's doorstep. >> again the allegations are meetings in 2013, 2014, and i believe they said a meeting right before manafort began on the campaign. none of them still allege that he -- look, again, at this point they're mere allegations.
4:39 pm
we'll have to wait and see. one more minute, to go back to the politics for 2020. you talked about some of what'sing going on and what we should learn from the mid terms. president trump won those key states of wisconsin, michigan and pennsylvania, by a very, very slim margin. you know, if this midterm election is any indication, he might not be able to count on them. here's an incredible fact. he won michigan by 11,000 votes. that's fewer than the people who may lose their jobs. that's a lot of needles to be threaded there. >> i do not dispute that fact one 3wi9. i think the economy again will be the number one issue going into 2020. i think the president is well positioned to address those facts. i think he needs to talk more about his accomplishments. despite these plant closures, which are horrific, and we need to try to find new jobs for
4:40 pm
these people, try to get them caught up with the workforce that's out there looking for jobs right now. we need to try to retrain those fox, and th folks, but you're absolutely correct. those states are very important. the only thing i would submit is this president right now, it's the president versus a question mark. >> all right. >> as soon as you put in a candidate, they'll have their own baggage and set of issues. i like our chances. >> okay. good. you have to say that. you won pennsylvania, you're on the advisory board -- >> the president won pennsylvania. i was along for the ride. i was with him, he won it. david, thank you so much indeed. we break away from all of this hard news, to talk a little
4:41 pm
love and basketball and music with our next guests, tamia and grant hill. she is is an emmy-awarded singer and he's a basketball player. they sat down and talked about how their 20-year marriage has survived the test of time, injury and illness. >> thank you for joining us. two long careers, in separate fields where often successful careers are very short. and a long marriage, which is difficult for a lot of people who aren't celebrities. i'm just hoping we can learn some things about how to clef that kind of longevity.
4:42 pm
does it feel that way to you? >> i think when you have a goal, a vision for what you want, and that's a collective goal, and you are willing to saw wood, work at it every day, adapt and adjust, and you concerned of look up for air and realize, wow, it's been almost 20 years. so i think we're fortunate in that regard. i think we also can combine that with a level of sort of normalcy in our lives. we enjoy the simple things, i think, in life, in a relationship, in a family, in our children, and our children's lives consume us. we don't live this -- i don't feel like we live this in a super star, celebrity fantasy lifestyle. we are certainly fortunate, are
4:43 pm
able to do certainly thing and live in a way, but i feel like we have a lot of normalcy and balance in our life. >> we seek balance. the goal is to try to maintain balance. >> what about you? when you look at all you have accomplished individually and together, does something stand out for you as a team? >> the first thing that stands out is that time flies. when you start putting numbers on things, like a certain song was 19 years ago. grand and i almost celebrating 20 years. we have a 16-year-old, an 11-year-old, you realize how time flies. you both have struggled through health challenges. you started having ankle injuries that were so severe. and in fact there were doctors telling you you wouldn't play
4:44 pm
again. >> i miss the a good portion of four years. i had a nasty situation with a staph infection. i almost died. it was a really bad situation. so those were tough years. for me right sort of at that point professionally where you're supposed to be in your prime years. so, it was tough mentally, physically, emotionally. that kind of stress and that kind of strain with a young married couple could put a lot of -- you know, can bring you together or take you apart. so i think, you know, we just got close. >> do you agree? >> i agree, actually. i think the same for me. i was going along with my career and seeing -- i was having a few little symptoms, and we were talking about it, and initially
4:45 pm
getting the diagnosis of m.s. -- >> for people don't know, you were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis some years ago, and were quite public about it. >> i was. >> why, though? >> i didn't even think about it, but it's something that i'm super grateful for today. i get so many people who have never told anyone that they have m.s., and they say it to me. the first person in 2018, they still feel a stigma attached with, you know, having a disease like m.s. so, you know, but i think for us, dealing with something like medical issues early on, we stood by each other, and we had a little one a bit after that. we were in -- we were just in go mode. we were in protective mode. that's how we've been dealing with issues that we've had.
4:46 pm
weren't you scared? >> both were certainly very scared. i didn't know what was going to happen. >> once we found out and learned a little bit about it, and you learn there are actually people who have it and have normal lives, or deal with it, and you're surprised that a lot of people do have it. >> yes. >> i thought of, like, rich ar pryor. in a weird way, you're conditioned to think you're always going to win. you alternates feel like you have a chance. >> you felt the same way with your ankle. he always felt like -- >> and i kept saying i'm going to get through this and make up for it on the back end. when i got to 40, my body shut down. i should have said 45. >> was that hard for you to watch? >> yes and no.
4:47 pm
no, because i knew this is something that he wanted, that he was fighting for and he had fought for to get back on the court. he did it. he was playing at a high level, which was something that no one knew would happen. yes, that i just saw how hard it was to maintain that level of success on the court, what he put his body through to maintain that level. that kind of was hard to watch. you're now working on -- about to promote your seventh album, about to go on tour. is it hard for you watching her? >> the touring can be stressful, but she's not going to push herself to tier. that's who she is. >> i'm controlling my own calendar. deciding to put out albums on my own label, and controlling my own calendar. being able to say yes to things, no to things, and yes, i want to tour, but this is how i want to
4:48 pm
do it. that was huge. >> but with tamia, with m.s., it's not something you visibly see. i have scars on my ankle. i limp. she sees me filly dealing with whatever i deal with. with her, it's more how she feels. and unless she shares that t. yt., you kind of forget. i'm ashamed to say it, but sometimes you forget about it. sort of watching, you know, from the sidelines, you know, it's impressive. >> this is the supportive thing we're talking about. knowing that you have a partner that supports you in your growth. i want to talk about politics. we're in a moment in which athletes as well as artists are
4:49 pm
expected to speak about things. they are expected to stalk about t -- talk about the moment. i wonder if there's any part of that that regrets not really being a part of that. >> for me growing up in d.c., i felt like politics was the main sport. the topic of the conversation in our house at dinner was always about what was happening, local politics, national politics. when you think of players and athletes and celebrities today versus maybe back in the '90s when i was more in my heyday, i think they do speak out more. i think there's a couple reasons for that. first, technology. now you have more access to information. i lived in detroit and you only really heard what you -- only
4:50 pm
knew what you heard or read either in the detroit news, or on tv, local television, but now you have the ability to see or read or find out or investigate things that are happening around the country. social media also allows for you to exchange, share and get a sense of what's happening. i think this generation of young athletes, and just this generation period, they have a come of age with that. >> now you're a part owner, and you have a foot in both worlds. how dow feel about their outspokenness? >> i love it. i love that my partners with the hawks love it. >> do you wish you had been more outspoken about politics or issues? you still have a platform, but -- >> yes and no. it was weird.
4:51 pm
it was just a different time. so the beauty -- >> now with social media there's a direct line of communication. >> you can talk to the audience. there's obviously a lot to put out, but nowadays, bam, if something happens i can post it on twitter and talk directly to an audience. i can talk to a couple hundred thousand people and express hue i feel. you didn't necessarily have that luxury in the '90s. i'm proud of throws athletes and those who choose to stand up and stand out. you're not necessarily obligated to do it, about you if you do it, make sure you're informed. you were able to develop your relationship in relative privacy. now you're raising two girls. what are you talking to them
4:52 pm
about? how are you teaching them to navigate there? >> it's an everyday sort of conversation. you know, we kind of -- and social media is evolving as well. there was twitter, now instagram and snapchat. as a parent, to try to keep track of these new apps and the ways they're communicating with people. when i was younger and someone would call, my mom would know all my friends. she would answer the phone, who are you? how do you know tamia? now your kids can have conversations with people you don't know. so we're trying to teach self-awareness, but also teach them that they are loved at home. >> do they know you're famous? >> they think we're their chauffeurs pretty much. and then he plays basketball,
4:53 pm
but he doesn't know what he's doing right flow. >> it's all about them. >> our kids are very humbling. you also have an amazing art collection, i'm told. >> weave fortunate to collect and support some amazing artists. and in the genre of art, african-american art has been 5 underestimated, but my wife is an artist. i appreciate beauty and artistic expression. we've been fortunate through the years to acquire good pieces, museum quality works, share it with the public. i think the purpose of sharing it was to expose young people, young people of color, but really all people, to amazing art from people of color. we had a tour, we had it in
4:54 pm
eight cities, in very well-established museums. the feedback was positive. we made sure that inner city kids had a chance to field trip to a museum. hopefully that experience did enrich their lives, bud also the platfo platform, the celebrity we bring will hopefully introduce people to some amazing art. >> so when people think of the two of you, what do you want them to think about? >> i leave that to you. >> when people ask about marriage and how do you do it, the other day we were leaving from an event, and we looked at each other, and we're like, we're just taking it one day at a time. there's zero formula. we have no idea what we're doing. we're just doing it together. >> wingingit. >> it's like when you have a
4:55 pm
baby and you're taking the baby home from the hospital, you're like, so now what? you're taking it day by day, trying to do your best. that's how we are looking at being together, but i think with my career, and probably with yours as well, we're trying to do our best. i'm trying to make sure that whatever i do, i'm doing it with passion, and that i'm proud of the work that i left behind. tamia hill, grant hill, thank you both for talking with us. >> no, thank you. some refreshingly real conversation there from the couple at the top of their game. that's it for our program tonight. that's for watching "amanpour & company" on pbs. please join us again tomorrow night. uniworld is a proud sponsor of "amanpour & company."
4:56 pm
she had big dreams and those dreams were on the water. >> a river specifically. >> multiple rivers that would one day be home to uniworld river cruises and their floating boutique hotels. today that dream sets sail in europe, india, asia, egypt and more. bookings are available through your travel agent. additional support has been provided by ross lynn p. waller. the schwartzs, the cheryl and phillip millstein family. seton melvin, judy and josh wes continue, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> announcer: this is "nightly
5:00 pm
business report" with bill griffeth and sue herera. interest rates are still low by historical standards and remain just below the range of estimates of that level that would be neutral for the economy. >> the fed chief seems to signal a significant significant in the central bank thinking resulting in a powerful rally on wall street. battle of the blue chips. microsoft is close to overtaking apple as the world's most valuable company. all the result of a remarkable reinvention. and pushing into pickups. jeep adds fuel to the already hot brand with a truck design today look like no other. those stores and much more tonight on nightly business
57 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
KQED (PBS) Television Archive Television Archive News Search ServiceUploaded by TV Archive on