welcome to amanpour. she fought for her country on the front lines, congress and battle for female equality. tonight, we'll explore a woman of many firsts. u.s. democratic senator, teem duckworth. also, what makes a great musical? composer andrew lloyd webber on his new memoir, "unmasked" and huh he transformed evita, phantom and joseph into a global phenomenon.

good evening, everyone, welcome to the program. i am christiane amanpour in london. the united states is willing to go hard either way for negotiations for peace or confrontation over north korean nuclears, u.s. senator tammy duckworth has returned from the assessment, we are closer to war than anybody thinks. duckworth knows all to well the cost of war. her family served the country going back to the american revolution. and she herself fought in iraq, where an insurgent attack caused her to lose both legs, and partial use of one arm. duckworths a woman of many firsts. the first member of congress born in thailand. first asian-american to represent illinois. first female double amputee of the iraq war.

and soon, she'll make history again, as the first sitting senator to give birth. and welcome to the program. >> thank you, it's good to be on. >> really that is some introduction. that's nothing to do with my word and everything to do with, all of your achievements, and accomplishments. it is extraordinary, just before i get into, into your life story, though, i want to ask you about the news of north korea. because as a senator you have just been there. as a veteran, you know a lot about, war, and the, and the drums of war. firstly, what did you make of the recent developments and guz that assuage your concerns some what? >> i wouldn't say it assuaged my concerns, i think it is a hopeful sign. i certainly would support diplomatic talks. north korea has done this before. and, they don't actually cease their research and development

of their nuclear weaponry. even during diplomatic negotiations. i would feel much beltetter as t of negotiations they agreed to freeze any further development into plballistic missile technology and nuclear capabilities. let's make that a starting point. >> they would freeze tests should there be negotiations. you think they should freeze all r & d. what about, when they say we want to dupe tho this, we need security guaranteed. it is never specific. what do you think it means to guarantee their security? >> well, i don't know what they mean by it, to be perfectly honest. north korea is, a nation that, that -- you know, a lot of times you feel look you are reading smoke signals from them. we don't have a lot of channels of communications with them. i don't think there is any danger of, of the south or u.s. forces invading any time soon.

i think they may be referring to our president's -- you know, statements, where he has said he would be in support of, some sort of a first strike capability. that it is why i and some of my colleagues have, actually introduced legislation, to prohibit the president from using first strike option especially with the use of nuclear weapons to unprovoked, you know, unprovoked. so i don't see that we in the united states would do that. but, i am not quite sure what the north are talking about. >> sometimes they say that they want all of the u.s. presence removed from there. do you think thats possibility from a military point of view or political point of view? >> i don't think it is a possibility. i think the keystone south korean security and american interests in the region, is their existence of the, of the joint forces korea, of the, partnership that is an ironclad alliance between the united states and the south korean

forces. also, with our allies in japan, remember, this is more, this is more a. bbout more than the peninsula. the region. american forces are not going anywhere soon. if anything, we are going to be supportive of plussing up the resources, so, that the u.s. forces in their, theater are able to do the job if they're called upon to do so. >> senator duckworth. before you were lieutenant kill kno colonel duckworth you were in i the rack wiraq war. you suffered a terrible accident when the insurgents attacked your helicopter with a grenade. lost both legs and, the partial use of one arm. tell me what that experience did for you as a person and how did it get you into politics? >> well it wasn't an accident. they were aiming. so, listen -- >> i think i said an attack. i know it is not an accident.

it is an attack. >> i went to war as a helicopter pilot with the belief that i would either die in comb battle, or come home okay. i did not expect to come home as the badly wounded as i was. having survived it, having had my buddies saved me carried me out of that dusty field in iraq. i feel like i got a second chance at life. thatat led to this whole new li that i have. because, there i was, you know, a helicopter pilot with no legs, halfway through my military career. and i wanted to keep serving my country. i was looking for a new mission. that new mission became, veterans. being an advocate for veterans. which then led me wanting to be in the united states congress. i remembered what the drums of war sounded like in the run-up to the iraq war which i didn't support. i was proud to serve in it. but i personally did not support it. i didn't want to see senate happen again. that's what i am seeing happening towards north korea, where i see people who have never served, or, folks who have a hollywood understanding of what war is like, are the first

ones to say, we'll launch missiles and, who don't understand the true cost. so i feel like, it's my, my mission in life to be here, to, to talk about what the costs of war are. and if that is, justifiable and in my nation's interest. then of course i will support it. but i am not going to lot this nation blunder into a war like we did in iraq. >> on ttnote, you say, hollywood ideas of wha war is. i have to, at thisointay that you have a nickname for the president, i believe you call him cadet bone spurs. >> i do. i feel look he is somewhat something of a bully. he makes up these nicknames for other people. i thought he should have a little taste of his own medicine. he was a cadet in a prep school. and his bonespurs, that kept hem out of service in vietnam. he doesn't remember what foot it was in. think cadet bonespurs is an apt moniker for our president. >> moving swiftly along. as i lifted all your

achievements and firsts. you are also -- senator, first senator to have a baby while in office the okay, that's great. after all that you have done are you surprised by the incredible reaction this has received? >> i am absolutely flabbergasted by the reaction. i thought that -- that the announcement. we told one reporter was going to be quiet. okay, she is going to have a baby. take some time off for maternity leave. the feedback is quite amazing. then for me to find out there are issues with united states senate rules i may not be able to vote or bring my child on to the floor of the senate when i need to vote because we ban children from the floor. i thought, wow, i feel like i am living in the 19th century instead of the 21st the weave need to make changes. >> what are you going to do? you are trying to achieve the changes. you do not want to be absent from key votes. your party doesn't want a

prominent democratic party to be absent from key game changing votes? . whaurt y what what are you going to do, face a decision? >> working with leadership. leadershipf the democratic party have been very supportive. we are going to request a rules change so that during the first year, of the kwhield's life, whether you are a woman or day man, you know whether you are breast-feeding or not, adopted or something, you should be able to bring that child on to the floor. continue to do your job. this is ridiculous. we are, we are, you know, in 2018. and we are still dealing with this. and, and in the united states of america. we are better than that. certainly this, speaks to, to the problems we have in this country with the need for family leave. and, certainly more family friendly legislation in the country. >> you are fortunate because of your job that you will get, paid maternity leave. i believe 12 weeks. but you know, obviously because you lobby against it, that the united states is one of only two countries in the world, that doesn't offer general paid

maternity leave. and it is very troubling to a lot of women. as you must know. how are you going to be able to change that? the president campaigned on maternity leave. his daughter is very prominent about maternity leave. she is now working with the republican senator, marco rubio on this issue. do you believe that it will -- achieve a change? >> well, i am still waiting for the president, and his daughter, to actually come through with something. in the meantime, i am co-sponsoring legislation for paid family leave, not just maternity, but family leave. i myself have those 12 weeks of maternity leave i offer tight my office. one of the few offices that offers 12 weeks faucof family b men or women. that's why i have it. not everybody does. it is an economic issue, not just, a family issue. as the far as i'm concerned. >> when you say an economic issue, what do you mean? talking about if women are kept out of the work force. harmful not just to them but

society? >> i think our nation suffers when women or men are kept out of the work force. we lose some of the best talents who could remain at their jobs if they were supported. it's not just for, for young children, you know the birth of a child. to take care of your family members as well. you know, with the birth of a child. that child has better health outcomes and lower medical bills, if they actually get the full support of their parents. and those first months of life. and so, it is crazy that in our, in the united states of america, that we don't have paid family leave. >> we see time and again from our, fortune 500 companies that have generous family leave policies that they do much better at retention of employees. they do much better at competitiveness. we need to think of this as national economic issue here. >> well, senator duckworth. talking about voting. we are understanding, you have to rush from here. we thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me on.

>> if senator duckworth hadn't had to rush off, we were going to play her the following sound bite. it is om, the new prime minister of new zealand. it turns out, she t will be the first new zealand prime minister to have a baby while in office. only she was recently asked about that in a joint interview with her husband. the reaction from the interviewer, caused a massive backlash on social media. take a look and see what you think. >> there its one really important political question. i want to ask you. and that is -- what exactlily -- >> it is interesting. how much people have been counting back -- to the conception as it were. >> what about having produced six children. it has amazed me that people can have children. why shouldn't a child be conceived during an election

campaign? >> well, i mean. >> i'm not why shouldn't it? >> the election was done. yeah, yeah, yeah. >> it was over. >> it was over. >> the child is -- >> not that we need to get into the details. >> indeed. not that they needed to get into those details. many women were highly offended about that loon ine of question wonder what senator duckworthth may have thought. we will leave behind political theater to meet a man who made real theater his home for decades. from broadway, to the west end, to countless countries all over the world. somehow, there always seems to be an andrew lloyd webber musical, fan toms, to dream coats. how did he conquer this world? this latest school of rock, is yet another hit for the man who has found inspiration in everything from the argentina first lady, eva peron to the cat

poems of t.s. eliot. ♪ memory turn your face to the moonlight ♪ ♪ let your memory lead you ♪ open up and enter in >> so, with that he has known the heights of suck scess. depths of despair as well. all recounted in his memoir "unmasked." it tells half of his story. i've got the rest of it when he came here off to the studio recently. andrew lloyd webber welcome to the program. >> thank you very much. >> so you have done umpteen musicals. in fact, you made history earlier this year, by having four on at the same time on broadway. >> yeah. i mean, unbelievable thing for me. i was always a huge fan of

rogers and hammerstein. it is overwhelming really. >> which is your favorite ever musical. ever? >> completely impossible to answer that. i mean, i was lucky, when i was a kid. i saw four great musicals. my fair lady, drury lane, gigi on film. west side story, her majesty's theater. remember the theaters. i saw south pacific as a film. i have to admit. some where, deep inside me. south pacific is the thing that i still would most return to. >> not one of your own? certainly not, let me ask you, what is the difference between doing all the musicals and writing your book. your first book is unmasked. it is, your memoir. it goes up to phantom of the opera. which was in the 80s. >> long enough. as the the book is in my view.

>> already 500 pages. >> more than that. i enjoyed writing it up to a point. i didn't enjoy, i did enjoy looking back at my career. because i look to move forward. but -- any way. >> was that the difficult part of it. the difficult part the bits i dent want to write about. i will never write a second book. my career had a bit of a dip. when you have a dip you find out who your true friends are or not. when i do another one. volume three, not volume two. >> at this point it calls for a clip. a clip out from phantom of the opera. then we will talk about it. ♪ in all your fantasies you always knew ♪ ♪ what man and mystery ♪ were both in you ♪ and in this

♪ where night is light ♪ the phantom of the opera is there ♪ how do you know songs like that will become anthemic, and for the ages? >> you don't. truth is with the musical. you have to have a great story. a great story can carry an okay score or musical score. which is, average. one thing i leaed to my cost and gain. the story in the musical has got to be everything. >> what inspired you to get into the musical business, i know your father, parents were a musician. >> my father was a classical

musician. a composer. he was the director of the london cleollege of music in lo con. that was a great kind of family background for me to have in one sense. an aunt who was, deliciously politically incorrect. >> auntie vie. >> very, very naughty person in many, many ways, wonderful, wonderful. theatrical person. in many ways kind of taught me the other side of me, which is a little bit of sense of humor. so, any way. i had a very mixed background. the one thing about my background. all kinds of music were acceptable. >> what inspired you about joseph, and jesus christ superstar? joseph was written for and of term school concert. we had to think what we would do for kids. a story that would appeal to them. the preef was that every child in the school had to somehow

take part. but the story of joseph is, is a great one. because, it is about -- redemption. at the end. it has got a real heart. joseph, his brothers. they, reject him. he then, finds them again. and, it, it is a very simple primal story. >> let's see jesus christ superstar. ♪ ♪ i don't know how to him ♪ ♪ what to do how to move him ♪ i have been changed ♪ yes, really changed ♪ in these past few days when i've seen myself ♪ ♪ i seem like someone else >> how do you manage to get a relr

religious rock musical? everyone thought it was the w e worst in history. we had a single, superstar. jesus christ superstar. it came out in a come of countries around the world. obscure ones. in those days for singles like brazil, holland. it was a big hit. bomb in britain and america. and then, record companies said, we would be interested in recording the whole thing. and, and -- it was that, that led to -- the, the stage show. because nobody was interested in the stage show. but we made the album, first. >> i also read that -- there were moments in your childhood where, i mean, you bought a whole lot of aspirins, some what depressed at some point. >> there were times i guess when i was, at boarding school. i did get depressed, yes. not something that i particularly want to dwell on. but i did have moments where -- where i thought everything was crashing in. i suppose like kind of a lot of adolescents do. and the one thing that, that kept me afleoat really was my

love of architecture. and the beauty of a particular place that i want to when i was feeling very low. and, the other thing, i, i guess, was, was -- the end, in then, i was so frustrated. and kind of hemmed in. and it just seemed to me, ludicrously now, ludicrously now. and everything was falling in on me. and, it wasn't. but you know, like a lot of kids feel that way some times >> not a lot of kids are able to talk about it. actually empowering for young boys, maybe, or people to listen to you. somebody who achieved so much. >> yes, i think, depression, and, and, it is something that i think every artist has the. i mean certainly wlen i stahen out. nobody was interested in musicals of my generation. if you said you looked musical theater. u were considered to be a sc complete moron when i was a kid.

if you mentioned rogers and hammerstein, people laughed. >> what gave you the strength to keep pushing forward. >> fact of the matter is if you know what you want to do in life. you are incredibly lucky. if you are lucky enough few be mabl able to do it. you are doubly lucky. if you have a career to the extent that i have. the own thing you can dupe o ise it back. i have to really, really. one thing i really want to dupe is make sure that, my views as musical, passes on to another generation in every way that i know how. may sound silly, but that's what i really believe. >> aren't you doing it, you feel so incredibly, justified. when you see that, that, one of the biggest things on stage right now is hamilton. i know it is not yours. it is musical. >> i was lucky enough to see it second preview when it was downtown in new york. and i said at that time. i think, the rare occasion that i tweet. i mean, very, very unusual for me. because the i can't understand how to do it.

but i did tweet that i thought it was a most extraordinary thing i have seen. we have hamilton. sound like an unlikely idea. the idea of american founder father in hip-hop, doesn't sound immediately like the greatest idea for a musical. just a good one. then you have, dear evan hanson. sound like not a good idea. social media. rejection. therefore, a good idea. then you have come from away. planes coming into uganda. not a good idea. therefore a good idea. even worse idea, idea of an egyptian military band turning of in tel aviv. >> the band's visit. >> great idea! yes, fantastic music. the moment where the band plays is one of the moments you got up out of your seat. you say this is what musicals are all about. >> i will go back in time to evita. you did win an oscar for the song in evita. but i am probably not going to play the clip. i will play the film version of evita. let's have a little clip. ♪ don't cry for me argentina

the truth is i never left you all through my wild days my mad existence i kept my promise don't keep your distance ♪ >> i mean that really was remark but. madonna did the, did the film. patty lupone on broadway. >> patty lupone on broadway. also did the performance at grammys which was, extraordinary. i mean, breathtaking. >> what is your text big project? what its the next big musical you would look to do? >> i know what i would like to do. i wish i could till you. i can't. >> in, on the drawing board? >> it is on the drawing board. it involves talking to one or two people who i need to as it were get their permission. the musical, takes, three years, minimum. to, to get on stage. i mean hamilton was six years. you know,owaday wit the,

cost of getting something on broadway, which is where i would look to wo again. after school of rock. you have got to be absolutely sure. because the it is so expensive to get a musical on now. i need to -- be absolutely sure that anything i write now is not going to be in any way uncomfortable for, for the people i think it might be about. and they're actually around. but i, so i, i might not do it. i have done so many shows over the last, few years, or idea i have pursued where i haven't in the end, gone on with them. >> well it sound intriguing. andrew lloyd webber, thank you very much indeed. >> of thank you. >> that's it for our program tonight. we had two incredible guests with amazing stories. of perseverance, despite all odds. thanks for watching "amanpour" on pbs. join us again tomorrow night.

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