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tv   Charlie Rose  PBS  February 15, 2012 11:00pm-12:00am EST

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>> santorum now has an opportunity as a result of two things-- one the kind of collapse, at least for now, of newt gingrich, and second, those three victories that he had a week ago in contests that didn't produce any real delegates for him, but nonetheless a triple header on one night that has put him in the prominence, and he's had a remarkable surge in the polls since then. and now he faces some real tests going forward, particularly in
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michigan on the 28th of the month. >> rose: we continue with a look at fashion week in new york, joining us diane von furstenberg, daphne guinness, and suzy menkes. >> the idea of empowering women came from my mother. my mother during the war was a prisoner of war. she was in the concentration camp at age 20. she came back-- she came-- she survived. she was 49 pounds. and she wasn't supposed to have survived. he did survive. he game weight. she married my farther. she wasn't supposed to have a child, and i was born. so to some degree the day i was born i had already won and i was a miracle. so i think that my mother, the biget lesson she gave me is that fear is not an option. >> rose: we conclude with alley wentworth. >> a lot of very fascinating people came over. my mother was friends with genetic onassis and nixon was around because my step-father
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was covering for the "london sunday times" the kennedy-nixon administration, and i used to swim on the back of henry kissinger. he would come and swim in our pool and i would on to his neck and hold on and he was bombing cambodia at the same time.
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captioning sponsored by rose communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. >> rose: we begin tonight with a political update. rick santorum is back on track after convincing wins in
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minnesota, missouri, and colorado. the next important test is arizona and michigan on february 28. national polls show that romney and santorum are very close with santorum ahead in michigan. receipt polls also show president obama gaining ground in his approval rate chicago may in part be a reaction to some good economic news. joining me from washington al hunt, the editor in charge of bloomberg's election coverage, dan balz, the national political correspondent at the "washington post." i am pleased to have both of them here. dan, you wrote a column in today's "washington post" about rick santorum. tell me where you think he stands. >> well, charlie, i think he stands where others have stood before him, and that is as the current non-romney in the republican field. in some ways we've seen this movie before and we're wondering whether there will be a different ending to it. but a number of people have risen up in the polls to challenge romney, to take a care of the lead or even the lead in the national polls or state polls, only to fall back after
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attacks by the romney campaign most of the time or self-inflicted wounds. santorum now has an opportunity, as a result of two things-- one, the kind of collapse, at least for now, the newt gingrich; and second, those three victories he had a week ago in contests that didn't produce any real delegates for him, but nonetheless, a triple-header on one night that has put him into prominence and he's had a remarkable surge in the the polls since then. and now he faces some real tests going forward, particularly in michigan on the 28th of the month. >> rose: albert, could make the case he's more than just one more example of the "anybody but romney" phenomenon? >> i'm not sure, charlie, but i can make the case i think he's a harder target for romney than newt gingrich was. that doesn't mean they won't succeed where they've succeed before but i think he is a little bit harder. when i was on your show two weeks ago after florida i said that michigan could be the
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gettysburg. and i was really pressing about that, except i had the wrong candidate. i said it would be newt gingrich running against mitt romney. but i still think the point holds, that if santorum were to defeat romney in his native state it might not be a lethal blow but it would also suggest he's in pretty decent shape for a week later in ohio, star away the most important supertuesday states, and, boy, if he wins michigan and ohio, mitt romney is in more than deep trouble. i think the other interesting question, which what dan raised, the romney people will spend millions and millions, 5, 7, 8 million between the campaign and the superpac, going after rick santorum now. i am told they are quite divided internally over exactly how to do that. newt was easy. it was freddie mac, scandal-charged speakership, something that played to republican crowds as well as general crowds. i think it's a little bit harder. they can't go after santorum on the social issues. they're trying the earmarks and
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washington insider. we'll see how that resonates. q. dan, how will they go afterh? what do you think will have some traction to go after him? clearly, they do not want to make angry the conservatives by going at the core of his conservative beliefs, do they? >> no, it the interesting thing as al suggests is they're going to try to go after him, at least initially oearmarks, on a washington insider, on the fact that he's not as conservative as he seems to suggest that he is, that he's been a friend of big labor, as one of their releases said today. i think that speaks to two things, one is their skittish think about doing exactly what you raised, which is going after him as being too conservativearchs being outside the mainstream, as being somebody who, if he got to a general election, if he were the republican nominee would have very little chance of appealing to the middle of the electorate. but that undercuts the idea that
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romney is truly conservative. they can't quite go in that direction so i think they're going to do what they're telegraffagnino and we'll see. i think al is right-- he is a little bit more difficult a target than gingrich. >> rose: what makes up the constituency of michigan? >> well, i mean, if you look at the history of the michigan primary, particularly '08, it sets up reasonably well for santorum, save for the fact that it's romney's home state. men outnumbered women significantly in the '08 primary out there. he is doing very well among men, reasonably well among women, but very well among men against romney in the most recent michigan polls. almost six in 10 of primary voters four years ago were people who did not have a college degree. he has done better with those people in the national polls than romney, and so, that sets up well. 60% of the folks in michigan say they are tea party supporters.
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right now he is doing very, very well with them. so at this point, based on the polling that's come out over the last couple of days in michigan, he's doing quite well. w all of the groups that play a significant role. but we have a long way to go in that primary. >> rose: the autoworker bailout, how does that play, whether you supported it or not, al? >> well, they both opposed it. romney actually has been a little bit all over the lot. in '08 he criticized mccain for not wanting to help the car companies and then when obama did and bush did he blasted it. i think in a general election, if mitt romney were the nominee, this would be a real problem for him in michigan. i don't think it's a problem in the primary. now, dan's been out there and he can correct me. i think the other thing to add to what dan said earlier about that michigan constituency, i believe about one-third of the republican voters may well be catholics. he will play well with that group. and the other thing, charlie, is maybe santorum's greatest
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vulnerability in a way is to look at his '06 race. '0 6 a bad year for republicans. six republican senators lost. but nobody lost the way rick santorum did. he got blown out, 18-point defeat, the worst defeast any republican senate candidate in the modern history of pennsylvania. and there's a of a reason for that. he really did turn pennsylvanians against him. i'm not sure how romney runs on that, however. >> rose: wasn't bob casey a pretty good candidate? >> bob casey was a good candidate but he wasn't a great candidate. he was beat by ed rep dellsome years earlier. he wasn't a barack obama, bill clinton, ronald reagan incarnate and an 18-point rejection is a huge rejection. george allen and conrad burns and chafee, they lost by 1, 2, 7, 8 points. this was a huge rejection. >> rose: let me turn briefly to president obama and the latest polls showing him at 50% approval rating which shows the
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economy beginning to at least show some positive trends. what do you make of where obama is today, dan? >> he's certainly in better they want than he was three or six months ago and it's for a number of reasons. one, there is at least enough of an uptick in the economy and a downward trend in the unemployment rate to give people a little bit of sense of optimism will that things may be getting better and will continue to do so. so that's the first thing. i think the second is that they made a pivot after the debt ceiling debate last summer, and really decided on a different strategy, rather than trying to work out something with republicans on a kind of big bang on the debt, they were going to take them on, on jobs and the economy and economic fairness and justice and they have won a number of those battles, including the current and ongoing battle over payroll tax extension. so those have been helpful. this is a criticag indicator, charlie. if you look back at bill clinton in early '96 or ronald reagan in
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early 1984, what you saw was them crossing that 50% threshold and continuing to creep up a little bit more. if that continues to happen, the president will be in very good shape for reelection. if there is a backward movement in the economy, if there are some other problems that crop up, if, as some people have suggested, the unemployment rate begins to go up as more people come back into the labor force and there's a kind of jarring to confidence in the public's mind, then he could be in some trouble. but that's-- that's a very important movement that's undergoing. he's right at that threshold that gets him across it. but he's not by any means in any safety zone, certainly. >> rose: albert? obama? >> well, i agree with everything dan just said. and i would add that i think a lot of people who i talk to about the economy who are democrats have great fears that this has been-- not a prague spring. it's not something that's likely to. for the next seven or eight months, and it it doesn't, direction really matters.
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if it stalls, i think you'll see that number go down a bit. i think the other thing that has helped obama tremendously is the opposition. the republicans have not acquitted themselves well. their popularity has dipped. i do, however, believe that the obama forcees, the obama campaign is a bit more arrogant than they have a right to be right now. i think this race is going to-- we just look at the last nine weeks, charlie, and there's so much that occurred that none of us anticipated. conventional wisdom has been so stood on its head that there's no reason to think the same won't happen over the next nine months. i think dan would agree, we have a long way to go withn this race. >> rose: go ahead. >> i say i couldn't agree more on that. and i think the obama campaign feels that romney has been damaged through this period. i think they are still preparing for what could be a very, very competitive race. and i think they are beginning to wonder what's really happening inside the republican race, whether their assumption that mitt romney would be the
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nominee is in fact reality. i mean, there is enough confusion about exactly what the course of the republican nomination fight is going to be but i think they're having to take stock, as is everybody. >> rose: therefore, does it loom possible that if santorum did well and wins in michigan, if santorum would win in ohio, rather than getting the nomination, we see a convention that is deadlocked? >> well-- al and i have been waiting for a deadlock convention for most of our adult lives. and i'm not convinced we're going to see one yet. but you-- i mean, your point is right. this fight could very well go on a long time poop i'm not convinced that even if newt gingrich doesn't do well on february 28 or particularly well on march 6 that he's going to go away soon. i think there is every incentive for anybody in this race at this
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point to say we have no idea where it's really going. we're going to keep fighting and see what happens, and they may go all the way to the convention and do that. >> rose: thank you very much, dan. albert, thank you so much. good to see both of you. >> thank you. >> thank you, charlie. >> rose: we'll be right back, stay with us. thank you. >> thank you. that was terrific. we deserve something, don't we? >> rose: all right, thank you. >> all right. >> thanks again, charlie.
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>> rose: where is is fashion today? how does it reflect the world around it? what are people wearing and why? coco chanel said fashion is not something that is in dresses only. it is in the sky, the street, it has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening. we look this evening at new york's fashion week which ends tomorrow. some of the world's tom designers have been on display from diane von furstenberg to mark jacobs. joining me diane von furstenberg, president of the council of fashion of america. suzy menkes, of the "inernational herald tribune." and daphne guinness. i begin with you, susie. what are the most notable things you are seeing this fashion week in new york. what is coming out that captures your attention? >> there's a whole new vibe to american fashion. it's no longer sportswear or not just sportswear. there's prints.
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there's dresses. there's all kinds of clothes that we never associated in past with these striding out american women. >> rose: what about pants? >> pants? they seem to be in decline. >> rose: that's what i read. >> not too many of them around. but i think everyone is wearing leggings now. so it's a change of status. >> rose: are there stars emerging at this fashion week? >> i'm fascinated by the number of asian designers. you know, it's really heartwarming to see these young designers, asian origin, mostly brought up in new york city and the west coast, and they're creating dresses worn by the first lady. and they have imagination but they also have a great work. >> rose: tell me what goes into a collection. >> oh, my god. just look at the way i look. that's what goes into a collection. i mean -- >> you look just fine. >> you look great. >> it's so much work. it's so much work. and in the end, it's 10 minutes. >> rose: 10 minutes on the
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runway. you come out and take your bows. >> 10 minutes on the runway. what you do is you create, you know, an image and a message and that then is being sold and carried and so it's a lot to put in. >> rose: when did you come up with the theme? is it the theme first? >> you start with a theme long ago. i mean, especially, in my case, we design the fabric. so the theme-- i mean, alternate name was on the, i didn't come up with a name until recently. but it was about seduction and it was about a little bit of surrealism, and it was about-- about seduction, really. ( laughter ) >> rose: it rolls right off of your tongue. and you chose this jig saw as part of the idea. >> jig saw, i actually do have print in jig saw, and i have a
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little bag in the shape of a jig saw. so, yes, and the ingiviitation was like that and there was a piece missing. it's a little tongue in teach and a little feeling of surrealism and it's a little naughty. >> rose: we like that. we like naughty. daphne, you were not a designer in terms of designing a whole fashion line, but are you central to fashion. and your fashion is what you design for yourself. what does it mean to uthe act of creating the daphne guinness look? >> well, it's-- it's instinct, really. i'm not a designer. and i don't one by one normally -- >> but do you it for yourself. not to sell. >> i've done a few things to sell. i did a version of one i made for myself. and i-- i do many collaborations
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but because i'm a funny shape, i normally sort of customize things or take off something, and i put on something else and see what might work. >> rose: you became close to somebody who was brilliant and died and caused great grief for you. but he-- alexander maqueen-- was a great friend. what was the relationship between the two of you, because in the beginning, when he wanted to meet you, you didn't want to meet him. >> no. well i was-- i was nervous then because of his reputation. but isabella kept saying, "you must meet him." and i said, "no, i'm not going to." and he saw me wearing one of his jackets and he said, you know, "you don't want to meet me." we hit it off, and i would go over to his studio and we'd sort of chat about life, really.
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and then-- and then-- he was so sort of brilliant. he had that knack. he-- if talked about everything. it's funny. >> rose: how would you define fashion, susan? >> it's very interesting defining fashion today because it used to be something quite exclusive, quite for the elite, but now fashion is for everybody, since the age of the internet and bloggers, everyone can be a fashion critic. you can be a fashion designer. you could put your designs up on the web. so things are changing very fast. i would define a fashion-- i would define a great fashion creator as somebody who invented something that you never knew you wanted to wear until you saw it. >> rose: how is the new york fashion week different than paris fashion week different
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than milan fashion week? >> you should ask that of suzy? >> i suppose new york fashion week is faster and stronger than most of the other kinds, than most of the other countries. i would say france fashion week is very important, not because of the french designers but because it's the kind of meeting place. it's the feeling if you make it, you've really made it. milan, very much based on the companies and they gave birth to the georgia armani. london fashion, which being british, i love, is kind of funky and fun. >> rose: does it define the edges of farction london more than any other place? >> yes, more creative. >> i think when you talk about alexander mcqueen, the exhibition held here in new york that had such a tremendous success, that proved to me what i'd always known. whether weather people say, "they don't really wear that stuff do, they" in a disparaging way about fashion shows.
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but those were clothes that absolutely inspired people. look at the hundreds of thousands of people who went to that exhibition. there's something about fashion that gets under the skin, into the soul of people. >> rose: and it's more than clothes. >> it's more than clothes. it's a whole expression. it's-- it can be art. it can be an expression of self. but it's much more than just seeing people walking up and down the runway. >> and, also, fashion is the air, the air of the time, you know. and sometimes it's like history. you can't really judge it on the moment. you have to take a certain look. it comes from the street. it's designers but also designers inspired by the street. why all of a sudden do all young girls wear combat boots or why do they wear their hair one way rather than the other way? it's mystery. >> rose: you have written there's a military kind of-- didn't you see some military themes coming out of this? >> i find it quite scary how fashion so often doesn't just reflect what's going on but it's a bellwether.
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it tells you in advance. when i first saw those big shoulders back in the 1980s, i thought what is this? and then, of course, i realized it was a product of feminism. it was women wanting to work shoulder to shoulder with men. but the shoulder pads came first, and women breaking the glass ceiling came afterwards. q. they did an exhibition atf.it was that about? >> my exhibition? >> rose: yes. >> that was an exhibition that valerie steele suggested to me. and i spent 24 months with her putting it together. and it was just really-- she said do what is you. so that's what i did. >> rose: what did we see there? >> i don't-- i just-- i styled it all. so i mean i don't know. it's difficult to be objective about yourself. it was-- it was-- it was-- it was how i used clothes as props and other things because i-- i approach it from the slightly
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different itang pel upon i use them in the films that i make or the shoots that i do with different photographers. so depending on what-- what-- what i'm -- >> this was sort of an exhibition devoted to the-- where fashion came together. >> an expression. >> i suppose so. but you know, it was-- it was-- it was such a fascinating process being-- being there. because i discovered so much about what's going on in the heads of the students because i was there so much. the whole process of doing it was really quite extraordinary. >> rose: we think of your writing, we think of fashion magazines that cover the industry and cover fashion, "vogue" and "harper's bazaar" and other magazines. now there's social media. what's the impact of social media? >> oh, my god, it's just unbelievable.
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but this is the revolution that affects everything. and so it's like you do a fashion show, people blog you. i mean, it's all over the world before you know. everybody is an ed, to as suzy was saying. it's just had a major impact. i mean, a major, major impact. i mean, the twitters. it's-- but it has affected everything and everyone in every industry. so it is just there to stay. nothing will ever be the same. >> rose: do less people-- are less people arbiters of fashion today? in other words, are there more people rather than fewer people who determine, you know, what the becomes fashion? >> everybody is a fashion arbiter now. and we comment. but i myself feel so excited about this revolution because i think way beyond whether people like things or whether they talk about shows, there's the opportunity, the possibility of people all over the world, and i mean all over the world, who
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really love fashion. to be able to link in to this world. and that is amazing. it means that you can be in a little place in the turkey or hungry, and you can make something you can join the world club. >> when you can sell something. >> yes. >> rose: yes. >> i think it's most exciting revolution we would live through. i'm glad to be part of it. >> rose: that's what social media has done. enabled people who craft something-- >> everybody is able to show something. i mean, that's pretty amazing. >> rose: the capacity to reach an audience on the internet. >> >> that's right. >> rose: it's like music, if you have something there's a chance it will be heard by somebody. >> that's right, that's right. or a movie. it's like it exists. it's there, out there in the universe. you can reach for it. you could search it. >> i'm going to put together now a show of my friends' clothes who died, and i'm going to do that online so that people in new zealand can see it because
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they might not be able to get there to be able to see that. to have the internet will be a really -- >> so if you did not know the clothes of alexander mcqueen you do no. >> no, it's not alexander. it's isabella zo, who discovered alexander. i'm making a foundation alcohol hopefully help mental health for-- get to the bottom of all of this. and also tatick it back where it all began. but not everybody is going to be able to see it. so to have-- to do a sort of online museum would be an ideal thing. the same fanatics that want to see her things poots going to be real-- >> there's no frontier with the internet. >> no. >> there's nothing that you cannot reach, that you cannot find. and that is at the end-- i mean,
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i think it's the bigger the revolution than anything, than anything. >> rose: this is the show here in new york, fashion week, called-- i call it rend view. she has a much more french pronunciation of diane's show. here it is.
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>> rose: why don't you tell me, the puzzle, that motif. what was that about? >> diane hated me last season because i said the show was not so good, that she was getting too far away from the female body. this show i thought was terrific because it had that feeling that the lines followed the body, and yet it was broken up by this jig saw idea. very original, worked so well, and prints being very much in fashion. but it wasn't covered in diane's typical prints. it was a different way as if piece were cut out but joined up. it was a very strong collection. >> rose: you never got angry? >> i never hate you. because she's always right. >> rose: you actually learned something from that. >> also i have a new creative director, a very talented man, and he has joined me and joined
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forces with me about a year-- just a little bit over a year ago. and so i think that with this show, it's actually not just called rendezvous, but it's our own little rendezvous, where he found the right kind of-- you know, i guess that i have been around for a while, and a certain-- it's really very-- a strong woman, a woman who is sensual and who is happy to be a woman. and who likes to be a woman. and who is the woman she wants to be. so it is seductive -- >> all of that defines you. >> i don't know. and so-- so yvonne came and now i think we kind of found the right path. and so in a certain way it is our rendezvous. >> rose: so, you are-- you have shops all over the world now. is what they want in china different than what they want in
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russia? >> brazil. >> rose: oh, brazil? >> i think a woman is a woman, and i don't think so. i think that a woman is a woman. and at least the language that i speak to the women, are the same one. i am not trending to tell them what to do. all i want to give is i want to give them the confidence and the tools so that they can be the woman they want to be. that's my mission. >> rose: tell me about what you have watched in the evolution of this woman. >> i think that-- i don't think a great designer ever really changes course. it's a little bit like a river going on. this may be little side tributaries but there is one long river of invention and creation. and that is the essence of a good designer, to follow that. you know, starting with that little dress we saw there, diana at 22, and she doesn't look so different now. >> well-- >> this is the story. knowing what you want to do. of course, there are moments when things change but it's
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extraordinary to me how early all great designers have defined what they want to show and how-- what their attitude is to clothing. it could be men's clothing as well as women's. i think it's the same as an artist-- >> your first book. >> yes, the first book the first painting, the first fashion show. if you've really got it-- the sign of a good fashion designer is one who waves with the wind and follows other people. but know. >> rose: the great ones stick to the course. >> exactly. >> the first is usually the truth, isn't it? >> what i really want to know what was it with the little giggling on the soundtrack at your show? was that you? >> what? oh, no, that was-- at the beginning was it from a movie, and in the middle of it was marlenea dietrich.
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>> but it could be you. >> it could, but it wasn't. >> rose: tell me about her influence in fashion. >> marlene dietrich? for me there is no more glamorous woman in the world. she had a way-- i love marlene dietrich. for me. >> rose: you? do you have anybody like her who represents the epitome of a look for you? >> i love that period. i mean, i like jean tierney actually. and aheady lammar. >> rose: did you see the film with marlene dietrich where she was in the other room and didn't want to be seen did you sigh this. >> oh, yes. >> i liked her so much because she represented for me, before the time, women who-- she was a woman who stood out in her pants
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and flat shoes. she was a woman who was not going to be kicked into a situation where she couldn't run, she couldn't walk. so definitely shoes-- i'm too much of a feminist. >> rose: if there was a-- nobody showing at new york fashion week, if you had to choose your own hall of fame for the great designer-- let's assumeula iran would be on that list. i don't know if he would or not, but who would you want on your list, even as a designer or someone like marlene dietrich? >> i think you have to put coco chanel up there because she was somebody who was able to understand the times she was living in and she had a pretty free life, and shy took these clothing meant for men and turned them into things that we're still wearing today. she's high up there for it me. i would put calvin klein for that purity and simplicity which is tremendously strong. i have quite a few, really.
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>> rose: what comes to mind? >> i suppose you could put in christian diker because he brought back romance after the war period but perhaps not as inventive as some. you know, you can say ralph lauren for another reason, for the fact that he invent the lifestyle look. nobody had thought of a fashion designer being part of a whole aura and a whole world. so i would say-- and i without put planac for the shoes. there are a lot of people for a lot of different reasons. they're not all the same. >> rose: you were on the forefront, on the edge, in the sense of promoting the idea around the world of the empowerment of women. >> yes. >> rose: just tell me what it means to you. >> well, i was-- i think that the idea of empowering women came from my mother. my mother during the war was a prisoner of war. she was in the concentration
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camp at age 20. she came back-- she came-- she survived. she was 49 pounds. and she wasn't supposed to have survived. she did survive. she gained weight. she married my farther. she wasn't supposed to have a child, and i was born. so to some degree the day i was born i had already won, and i was a miracle. so i think that my mother, the biggest lesson she dave me gave me is fear is not an option. she would never allow me to be arb frayed. so she taught me how to empower and to be the woman i wanted to be. >> rose: thank you. diane von furstenberg, daphne guinness, suzy menkes. thank you all. alleyuentworth is here, the daughter of a political journalist and president reagan's white house social secretary. after college she committed the ultimate act of rebellion for a daughter from a prominent washington family. she ran away to hollywood.
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she made a name for herself as an actor and comedian and much more. she appeared in the comedy series "in living colors" and films like "jerry maguire" and "office space." in 2001 her life came full circle when she found herself on a blind date with george stephanopoulos in a new york restaurant. within the year the two were married and living in washington, d.c. her new book "alley in wonderland" chronicles her circuitous life with candor. >> wow, i just listed everything. >> rose: this is the famous architectural digest "celebrities at home." we get to look inside your apartment. this is the new york apartment? >> this is the new york apartment. >> rose: the martha's vineyard apartment? >> i wish. i wish. it's the apartment in new york. and you know they do a great job. you don't see that my dog actually pees over the carpet and the kids leave their clothes everywhere. >> rose: they talk about going to the basement with former
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secretary rumsfeld to see his-- >> yes, i was at a christmas party, at rumsfeld's christmas party, and as you know in washington, when you go to a party, it's just a funny mix. it can be anybody from salmon rush dee to britney spears, you don't know who ising if to show up. it and he found out we had dachunds. when a politician tells me to go to the basement, i go. and there were these dachunds and he told me e.b. white had a great essay so the next day i was in my sweats and uggs and driving the volvo and my whole food marketing stuff and starbucks cups all over the floor and i said i should stop and get rumsfeld that book because we talked about it. stopped at barnes and noble, put it in the barnes and noble bag, twisted it up, went to his house. business to ring the buzzer, and i thought, you know what, i
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don't want to bother them. threw the package over the fence, and sent guy that was doing the trees turned around, freeze. and the first thing i said was, "i'm george stephanopoulos' wife" like that was a "get out of jail free" pass. the package got whisked into some black mercedes -- >> you don't throw things over fences. >> you don't not in war time. >> rose: you became great friends-- yeah. i wouldn't say great friends. >> rose: let's go back to the beginning. >> yes, tell me everything. >> rose: so you're growing up in this political atmosphere, which was great. i mean, everybody was coming to dinner. you met everybody. >> di. i was so young that i didn't know i was meeting everybody. but a lot of very fascinating people came over. my mother was friends with jackie othat is-- onassis, and nixon was around because my farther was covering for the
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"sunday london times" the nixon administration. and i used to swim on the back of henry kissinger. he come over and i'd swim and he was bombing cambodia at the same time but who knew. >> rose: but he had a broad back. >> he did. he had a fantastic back to hold on to, and if you're going to do a turtle with an older man-- for me, i didn't know any different. this was the world i grew up in. if somebody was late for tennis practice, a parent, it's because they were signing a salt treaty-- you know, everything was -- >> you knew about the salt treaty, didn't you? >> of course. >> rose: i thought so. >> of course! >> rose: you fled that scene to go out to hollywood because you wanted to be an actor. >> i did. always from the get-go. even-- you know, we would be grilled on current events at the dinner table, and i would always be funny and imitate people. so i graduated from n.y.companied, and went to hollywood. and was on my first big job was "in living color."
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>> rose: tell me how you auditioned for that job because if you had gone in with your little muffy stuff, they would not have bought your stuff. >> are you kidding? i was as trashy as i could possibly be. >> rose: who was muffy? >> muffy was my mom. let all the cliches begin. >> rose: we'll get back to her in a moment. >> my agent said, "look, they're hiring somebody at "in living color." they're looking for a black man. and i said,"get me an audition." >> rose: they're looking for a black man. >> that's who they were looking for. damien williams was leaving and they wanted to replace him with a black man. that's what the casting thing said-- black man, early 20s. >> rose: and your agent said this fits you exactly? >> she said no. and i said get me in, and i came in with my boom box and wigs and i was the black man that replaced damien williams. q. and you had 100 appearanceso? >> i did. di. i had a great time with him.
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i'm going to hopefully do his show in the next week or two. i originally came on as a "funny" actress. and then they started sending me on crazy things-- have me drive a $12 car across the country and go live from every city. so i became this kind of "tonight show" correspondent which is great. >> rose: just let me understand this. on surrender i'm watching "this week with george stephanopoulos." >> that was not my fault. i did not tell him to do that. >> rose: that was embarrassing. >> charlie, charlie -- >> this is a man who was a senior adviser to president clinton. this is a man who wrote a very good book. this is a man who has great gravitas as a political journalist, and on his show, his wife makes him-- >> his wife was as surprised as everybody else. >> rose. >> rose: he's holding it up. what did you say say to him? what did you threaten him with? >> i e-mailed him right airfare
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saw it on tv i said you're crazy. you're going to get killed for this. >> mary: do you think itm going to believe that? he was selling your book. >> look, the money i earn is for both of us. i guess he's just madly in love. >> rose: look me in the eyes. >> yes. >> rose: you were surprised by that? >> yes. >> rose: you did not know he was going to do that? >> i did not know he was going to do that. i'm pretty savvy about the tv world and i would have told him, that is just-- you can't do that. it will be the reverse effect. >> rose: what do you say about his great love for you? >> that he promotes my book on television. >> rose: it says everything. the famous lunch you had with george here at fred's, barney's. >> uh-huh. >> rose: madison avenue. you go to lunch there. it's a blind date. somebody set you up. who set you up? >> his ex-girlfriend. i had set her up with my brother-- no, it was a complete nightmare. and they said well, in turn, you have to set alley up with somebody, and she said how about george stephanopoulos.
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>> rose: my former beau. >> my former beau. and i said, no, i know who it is. i'm not interest good why weren't you interested? >> it was my child-- i had nothing in common with him. i knew who he was. i said do you know hugh grant? >> rose: you thought he was just one more goodlooking greek. >> yes, one more, after arto thele onassis, i don't know any others. finally a few weeks later i was in new york and i called him and he said how about dinner? and i said how about coffee? and he said how about lunch? and i said okay. >> rose: he had a file on you by then, i promise you. >> do you know he dated the whole island of manhattan before i came along and i had never just been on a date so this was all new to me. >> rose: he was a hot ticket. >> who knew? i know. he was a hot ticket. and i say this in the book, too. i did not have high expectations for this date. i didn't-- i may have showered. i know i didn't shave my legs. i save that for special occasions.
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q. but you did take a sure thel. >> i think i took a shower eye mean, i'm good with hygiene. and i met him. and -- >> he's relieved by that. >> yeah. and we ate our crab salad and by the end of lunch, i was done. >> rose: you said-- you said in the book you were prepared to take the subway down to city hall. >> i would have. >> rose: and get the license right there. it would not have been unusual to do that. >> no. >> rose: plays tell us what happened because it is the idea of somebody saying id in the room and i saw hir and i knew she was the one for me. i mean whenever anybody says that to me i want them to explain why that is. >> it wasn't when i saw him. it wasn't that. >> rose: no. >> it was love at first site. it was love at first lunch. >> the lunch was fabulous. that crab salad-- no, it wasn't love at first sight. i sat with him and there was this amazing comfort. it really felt like being home. >> rose: did you talk about politics? >> no. >> rose: or did you talk about
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living? >> the first thing we talked about was zoloft versus prozac. >> rose: really, prozac? >> ya, the pros and cons. >> rose: you were talking about drugs? we were, we were. i had read in his book where there was a moment he went on it because he was so stressed out in the white house. >> and i had been on it. that i had been beaten up in hollywood. so we were talking men. and, you know, it sort of led to all kinds of things, what we were reading. and i just felt so comfortable with him. and like i say in the book, it was like a good -- >> you say there was a moment in which the gossip tress presssaid there are strains and tensions in the stephanopoulos marriage. and you said. >> george was embedded with troops in north korea, and i was not savvy about the press. i was not-- never been talked about my personal life. no one cared. and i -- >> you were not savvy about the press? >> in terms of for one's self. i had been written up because of a project i was in. a movie or a show.
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but no one ever cared who i went out with or anything. so when i opened the "new york post" and saw we were on the brink of two, that was-- that was how i fought back. i fought back with humor and with -- >> that was a perfect line. >> with a whiff of anger. and george was very, very angry at me. and so i -- >> because you said that? >> because he doesn't want me to talk about sex. but i felt-- i said -- >> he doesn't want you to talk about sex? >> just not to use that when it came to us. >> rose: he likes to do it and not talk about it. >> i guess not talk about it in the press. i said, listen, nobody else on the sunday morning slows doing it twice a day. >> rose: those who talk and those who don't talk. >> exactly. but i always say, when it comes to those kind of statements now george has pushed my face in the urine in the carpet enough they know. i'm house broken. >> rose: rubbed your nose itn it. >> yes, i'm house broken. >> rose: you see this print? >> yeah, i got it. that was my reaction.
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that's how i dealt with it. >> rose: it's a great marriage, isn't it? >> it is. it's a great marriage. we're very, very different people but it works. >> rose: you're a lucky girl. >> thank you. >> rose: here is this. here is your husband-- is his farther-- >> he's a priest. >> rose: that's what i thought. high up in the greek orthodox church, like? he's like the pope? >> he's like the bon jovi of the greek orthodox church. he's a big deal. he married us. >> rose: did you convert. >> uhmish. >> rose: from what might be the question? >> we take our girls to the greek church every sunday. >> rose: we. you go every sunday? >> well, george goes. i go occasionally. but that's mommy time. >> rose: when was the last time you went giwent a few weeks ago. >> rose: a few weeks ago. you can't remember when. >> i don't want to put a date on it. i don't want your research people to fact check. it could have been a few years ago. >> rose: before we talk more about george and how busy he is.
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what about your mother? >> she is -- >> there's nobody that doesn't love her. >> there isn't. or there isn't anybody that doesn't know of her. i could be anywhere in the world and somebody says you're muffy's mother? send her my love. >> rose: you said it could be a lobster fisherman. >> you can't believe the people that said that to me. obviously, when i married george, for a long time i was muffy's daughter and then george's wife and now a mom. >> rose: me, me, me! >> me, for one second! but she's--un, she's a force of nature. she's an incredible-- you know, she's intelligent and thoughtful and beautiful and i learned i think all my best traits from her. yeah. did you know her? >> rose: no. >> oh, you're the first. oh, my-- i feel like i should
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give you some keeks. you're the first one that's ever-- you did? >> rose, i did. >> i know, surprising, yes. >> rose: so now george, who is the-- made a great name for himself and put the show on the rise and it was a powerful part of the washington sunday talk. and then he comes comes to new o be the anchor of "good morning america" and in training to be the anchor for the abc-- whatever they call it. >> "world news." >> rose: "world news." she's he's in training. >> it wasn't "private practice" or some other show. it's for the news. >> rose: he's punching in. he decides it's a political year, he can handle "good morning america" with his right hand and with his left hand go down to washington and take over again his show. what do you think about that? >> listen, if anyone should know, you know what this life is. but, you know, listen -- >> i think he's an
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over-achiever. do you think that? >> i don't think so. rhodes scholar. one hour street. works out with an israeli militant trainer. >> rose: he does? >> he works out -- >> with commando joy. >> for an hour, hard-core covered in sweat. he does it around 10:00. listen, it's an election year. his passion is politics. so although he loves doing "g.m.a.," this is really his wheelhouse as they say. >> rose: politics? >> yes. and i feel like it's energized him all around. i thought he wouldn't walking dead doing all this work but he feels empowered. he's energized. he's excited. every time there's a primary she's -- >> you know what they say, if you have a tough job give it to a busy woman. if she's not available, give it to a busy man. "alley in wonderland and other tall tales." you were doing what for yahoo!? >> i am doing -- >> i don't want people to call
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me up and say how come you spent half an interview talking about george stephanopoulos? >> because you couldn't book him, right. >> rose: no, i could. >> oh, yeah. he's jellos i'm here. he's eating spaghetti and meat balls with the and i said he's not happy. >> rose: and you can tell him how much fun you had. >> what did you ask me? >> rose: yahoo! >> we're-- i'm on the-- i'm on a roller coaster of fun. i do this daily talk show -- >> twice a day and a roller coaster of fun. >> imagine. talk about an over-achiever. i do a daily show every day on yahoo! -- >> called the daily show? >> daily shot! daily shot! which is a 10-minute show where i basically-- it's for moms, for working women and moms where i tell you everything you need ton about what's going on in the world in five minutes in a funny way. >> rose: you comment on the news or tell them what the news is? >> i comment on the news. i'll say, "look, this is what happened. romney won this, zsa zsa gabor bedridden -- >> here is what i think about
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you. >> oh, my god. my shrink is right in the green room. should i bring her in. >> rose: do you have a shrink? i can't imagine you need a shrink. >> rose: your mouth is so fast. you have such a gift for language and of seeing a funny moment. how do you best apply that, is my question? >> it's hard to say. i mean i like -- >> you can write like a breezy. this is funny. it resident funny. >> it was a joy to right. i'm taking a serious moment with charlie rose. it was-- it was fun and easy to write that. which makes me think, wow, maybe this is something i should do more often. i love doing it. i didn't have writer's block. you know, it came out --33 >> just flowed right out. >> flowed out. >> rose: you were born funny or you just became a performer. >> i was born fun i. i think it's instinctual. i dont think you can be taught. i love being unscripted. this kind of thing is one of my favorite things to do. you don't think you're going to be on "law & order s.v.u." any
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time soon. >> rose: will you be back on this program? >> i booked myself for the next month and a half. >> rose: you're welcome. come any time. we'll have a regular feature of this program. >> i'll be your correspondent. >> rose: the pay is not very good here. >> the pay is not good anywhere.
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