WEBVTT - Gretchen Carlson Takes Her Power Back 0:00:05.559 --> 0:00:07.960 Hi, Brian, Hi Katie. Well, you know, we had a 0:00:08.039 --> 0:00:10.920 whole other episode planned for this week and then breaking 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:15.480 news interrupted, and so we're shifting gears today, that's right, 0:00:15.560 --> 0:00:19.000 and we're talking, of course, about the bombshell reports surrounding 0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:24.520 Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. He allegedly sexually harassed and assaulted 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:27.880 dozens and dozens of women over the course of decades. 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:31.680 The New York Times first broke that story, and it's 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:35.640 really made waves, especially as more details have emerged and 0:00:36.080 --> 0:00:39.199 more women have come forward. The drip, drip, drip has 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:42.440 become a day luge of sorts, and it's opened up 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:47.519 a much broader cultural conversation about sexual misconduct in general, 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:51.560 what so many women continue to face in the workplace. 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:54.600 And you know, I've been talking about this, Brian, by 0:00:54.640 --> 0:00:56.680 the way, for a long time, because one of my 0:00:56.800 --> 0:01:00.520 first big stories as a national reporter was covering the 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:03.960 Clarence Thomas hearings. And I did the first interview with 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:07.800 Anita Hill, and you think, wow, that was in the 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:11.839 early nineties, and now here we are in two thousand seventeen, 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:16.520 it's still happening. So we decided to continue the conversation 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:20.080 and dive a little deeper with today's guest Gretchen Carlson 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:23.720 and you. You may remember that in sixteen, Gretchen filed 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:28.640 a sexual harassment lawsuit against the then all powerful chairman 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:32.360 of Fox News, Roger Ales, and she alleged that while 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:36.000 she was an anger at Fox, Ales made sexual advances 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:39.039 toward her and then fired her. After she brought it 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:41.920 to the network's attention, he was forced to resign. Gretchen 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:45.080 got a report at twenty million dollars settlement, and since 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:49.440 leaving Fox, she has decided to focus on advocacy rather 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:51.760 than journalism, and she's out this week with a new 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:56.200 book called b Fierce, Stop Harassment and Take Your Power Back. So, 0:01:56.280 --> 0:01:58.960 because of her legal settlement, there's a lot that Gretchen 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:01.520 wasn't able to discussed in terms of the specifics of 0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:06.160 her case, But we spoke to her about sexual harassment 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:08.640 and assault as a problem that's getting worse, not better 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:11.320 in this society, about the advice that she'd give to women, 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:15.000 as well as her own story her earliest days in 0:02:15.040 --> 0:02:18.720 the spotlight as Miss America. In fact, I think that's 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:23.680 where Gretchen got the grace and grit required to really 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:27.440 do something about her situation at Fox News. So we're 0:02:27.440 --> 0:02:30.800 having this conversation during a time when the hashtag me 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:34.600 too has been flooding social media. You tweeted me to 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:38.040 the night before we're taping this, Katie, and there's some 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:41.600 disagreement about what that actually means. Right to me, I 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:46.680 think it it's basically an all encompassing hashtag that signifies 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:50.560 that you've experienced sexual harassment or even worse, sexual assault. 0:02:51.240 --> 0:02:56.320 And for me, obviously working for thirty five years, I've 0:02:56.320 --> 0:03:00.480 had incidents of sexual harassment and the work place. I 0:03:00.520 --> 0:03:02.760 don't have to get into details. You're gonna have to 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:07.079 wait and buy the book. I'm glad we could do 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:10.120 a little commerce in our intro here. We also, by 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:12.560 the way, heard from many of you, so thank you 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:15.119 so much to those who called in with your own 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:18.000 stories of sexual harassment at work. We're gonna be sharing 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:20.360 some of those calls during the break, so stay tuned 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:27.680 for that. But first, here's Gretchen Carlson. Gretchen Carlson, I'm 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:30.200 so excited to have you here in the studio. Brian 0:03:30.320 --> 0:03:35.760 is in Los Angeles and you're here on Gosh during 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:41.200 a crazy period of time. I think for the subject 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:44.120 that you're talking about in your book, it seems to 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:49.440 be a really pivotal moment in the national discourse when 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:52.680 it comes to this topic. When you saw this Harvey 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:58.520 Weinstein stuff unfold, what were your thoughts. I wasn't surprised, 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:03.280 but I actually, in spite of the horrific allegations and revelations, 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:06.960 I actually was optimistic because it said to me that 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:10.560 more and more women felt secure and coming forward. And 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:13.320 that's the name of this game. You know. Unless we 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:16.920 can encourage more and more women to have that kind 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:19.440 of bravery, we're not going to get anywhere with this topic. 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:21.840 And it made me realize that the fifteen months of 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:25.520 work that I've been doing was possibly paying off, and 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:29.960 that was incredibly um encouraging for me personally. Why weren't 0:04:29.960 --> 0:04:33.440 you surprised, Oh, because you know you've listen, you and 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:35.040 I were. We've been in the television business for a 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:36.840 long time, and then we've always heard the same things 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:40.839 about Hollywood and the casting couch and that kind of behavior. 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:44.040 But what I was surprised at when I first started 0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:47.720 putting together my book, or actually right after my story exploded, 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:50.360 was all these women reaching out to me and what 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:53.240 was surprising was that most of them, almost all of them, 0:04:53.240 --> 0:04:56.359 were not in television or Hollywood, and it made me 0:04:56.400 --> 0:05:00.760 realize that this is a pervasive epidemic in every profession, 0:05:01.160 --> 0:05:05.960 even female oriented professions like retail or flight attendants. So 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:09.960 that's why I say the Hollywood stories not shocking. What 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:13.400 was shocking is how pervasive this issue has penetrated our 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:18.760 culture and we've done nothing about it until no. So, Gretchen, 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:22.400 your new book, Your Fierce opens I love that title, 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:26.200 by the way, opens on the day after Labor Day 0:05:26.360 --> 0:05:31.240 of you had sued your old boss, the former chairman 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:36.479 of Fox News, Roger Ales, for harassment and retaliation. Um, 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:39.440 and this was the day that the news broke about 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:42.320 your settlement with Fox. That's the opening of the book. 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:45.480 You're sitting in a nail salon and the news coverage 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:49.320 starts rolling in. Can you describe that moment and what 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:54.640 you were feeling. Yeah, So first day of school happened 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:56.479 to be that same day. My husband and I have 0:05:56.480 --> 0:05:58.960 a tradition with our two children, twelve and fourteen, that 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:02.640 we drive them to school, dropped them off, and then 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:05.000 he and I would go into the city together because 0:06:05.160 --> 0:06:07.839 we both worked in the city for years, except this year. 0:06:07.880 --> 0:06:11.080 I had been fired, so I wasn't working, so that 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:14.839 in and of itself was a change. And I knew 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:17.160 that this that this news was going to be coming out. 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:19.640 I wasn't supposed to come out until I believe maybe 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:22.760 ten or eleven am, but I got to the city early. 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:26.000 I was actually had a haircut appointment of all crazy things, 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:28.479 and so I thought, well, what should I do with 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:32.600 this extra hour? So there was a nail salon nearby, 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:34.440 and one of the person in New York Cities getting 0:06:34.440 --> 0:06:37.039 their nails done at nine am nobody. So there I 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:40.599 was in the nail salon all by myself and happened 0:06:40.640 --> 0:06:43.359 to be getting a pedicure, and the news started coming 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:47.119 out on my phone and on Twitter and other social media, 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:51.320 and tears were streaming down my face, not because I 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:56.920 was sad, but because I was reading that the media 0:06:57.040 --> 0:07:01.360 was picking up on the apology and that meant so 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:04.480 much to me. And I'm sure this woman who was 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:07.880 helping me out was thinking I was nuts, you know, like, 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:09.760 why is this woman crying on nine am on a 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:12.320 Tuesday morning or whatever it was. But it was just 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:16.360 so overwhelming, because it really was emblematic of my entire 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:20.760 fight because there I was by myself, and that's how 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:25.800 I started the fight, was by myself, which was really scary. 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:28.320 And I know in the early days, Gretchen, I remember 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:32.080 when all this happened. It seems to me that, you know, 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:36.440 one of the things I heard almost immediately was her 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:40.400 show was canceled, you know, uh and and and it 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:47.280 was almost as if the victim blaming began instantaneously. Tell 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:49.760 me about hearing things like that, and what that was 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:52.720 like and how galling that must have been. Well, I 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:55.400 was prepared for it because my attorneys had said that 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:57.680 the you know, that they would come at me with 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:02.040 a vengeance meaning a lot to people. Not that that 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:06.560 makes it right, but um, I think I was prepared 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:08.440 to take that on. I mean that was part of 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:11.480 the courage building. This is not a process where you 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:14.000 just decide one day, I think I'll do this. This 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:18.640 is something that takes immense courage and it's an excruciating 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:21.320 decision for women because of exactly what you're talking about 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:25.640 that you know you're going to be labeled a troublemaker. 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:29.720 Not believed, he said, She said, culture called, you know, worse, 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:33.400 the v word and and worse than that, and and 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:36.000 that your Christian will be destroyed. And it was so 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:40.960 orchestrated by your former employer, right, I mean, it seems 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:44.040 to me it was not just a comment here or there. 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:47.800 It seemed to be almost like a political campaign in 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:50.680 a way, kind of like, uh, what are you you know, 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:55.319 opposition research? Right, Well, I can't comment on how they 0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:58.640 put their plan together, but I can just say that 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:02.760 overwhelmly on social media. You know, there were some people 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:06.680 who were critical of me, but the hashtag stand for 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:11.440 Gretchen went viral and actually that was really heartening to 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:14.800 me and buoyed my spirits because there were some dark 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:17.360 days and dark moments in the beginning there, with no 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:20.680 sleep and a lot of restless nights. In fact, Brian, 0:09:20.960 --> 0:09:24.280 as the lawyer in the group, you can ask Gretchen 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:27.080 about just so we make it clear for our listeners 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:30.160 what you can and cannot talk about when it comes 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:33.640 to this situation, because I think we should be transparent 0:09:33.679 --> 0:09:37.520 about that. So take it away, counselor Well, there's actually 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:41.360 an interesting topic to explore because as part of your settlement, 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:44.520 it's been publicly reported you got paid twenty million dollars, 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:47.480 and in exchange for that, you agreed not to talk 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:51.679 about aspects of your case. And so I wondered whether 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:54.640 you considered not signing a settlement so that you could 0:09:54.640 --> 0:09:57.720 in fact share all aspects of this case or was 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:00.280 that just never even on the table. Oh no, sure, 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:02.800 I mean, and I got asked that question a lot. 0:10:02.840 --> 0:10:05.920 But here's the reality that people don't know about. We 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:09.200 as a society have decided that we solve sexual harassment 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:13.480 cases usually in settlements or in forced arbitration, if that's 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:15.960 in your employment contract. And here's the problem with both 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:20.680 their secret and nobody ever knows any of the details, 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:23.960 and the women cannot talk about what happened to them. 0:10:24.040 --> 0:10:27.760 And so for me, if I hadn't gone down that path, 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:32.200 I would have been forced into secrecy anyway, and nobody 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:35.240 would have really ever then known about about my case. 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:39.880 So the way I answer that is my complaint is public. 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:42.280 You can google it if you want to find out 0:10:42.320 --> 0:10:44.680 all the details. I don't really need to talk about 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:49.320 the details because I have been afforded the opportunity within 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:51.960 that settlement to be able to talk about this issue. 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:54.559 And that's the way that I've been thinking for the 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:56.920 last fifteen months is how do we move this forward. 0:10:56.960 --> 0:10:59.560 That's why I wrote the book Be Fierce, because how 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:03.200 do I help people and move forward? And look, it's working. 0:11:04.600 --> 0:11:07.200 So that's why going back to the Weinstein revelations, I 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:10.600 see that as a positive. I mean, they're horrific, but 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:15.800 the reality is women and men are feeling more comfortable 0:11:15.840 --> 0:11:19.240 about coming forward. It really does feel like a watershed 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:22.679 moment to me in many ways. You know, Unfortunately, there 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:24.760 have been other things in the past that have felt 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:27.160 like watershed moments. And I want to talk to you 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:31.839 in a bit, Gretchen, about what sort of safeguards or 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:36.920 structural changes can be put in place that will really 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:39.280 make a difference once and for all. But we want 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:42.240 to talk a little bit about sort of you and 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:47.199 how you got here. You grew up in Minnesota, Minnesota, 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:51.679 did I say, right? Yeah? Sure, and you've had You've 0:11:51.800 --> 0:11:54.920 had such an interesting journey from there. To hear it 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:59.160 sounds like your parents were both pretty strict um by 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:02.240 the book, and someone described your mom as a Swedish 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:04.800 tiger mom, oh yeah, which I thought was so cute. 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:07.640 What was life like you like for you as a child? Actually, 0:12:07.640 --> 0:12:09.559 I described her that way in my memoir, and she 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:13.720 didn't really like it, but it was true. She sounds 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:16.360 like quite the little powerhouse. And by the way, I 0:12:16.400 --> 0:12:19.319 shouldn't say little, she sounds like quite the powerhouse. Ye. Well, 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:21.559 that's where I learned how to be fierce. Uh. And 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:23.520 I actually talked about this a lot in the book. 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:26.560 That's why I dedicated a chapter to parenting, because I 0:12:26.600 --> 0:12:29.319 really believe that, you know, gaining courage in your life 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:33.000 and and having perseverance and tenacity starts at a young age, 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:35.280 and it's it depends on how you're reared. And so 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:37.120 first and foremost, she told me every day I could 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:39.200 be anything I wanted to be. I thought every kid 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:41.839 heard that, and I believed her. You know, she did 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:43.920 have the caveat You're gonna have to work incredibly hard 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:47.200 to get there. But that was a message that was 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:50.559 ingrained in me. And so from an early age I 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:53.640 built a lot of courage. Plus I was a really 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:56.880 serious violinists, so I built incredible self confidence and courage 0:12:56.920 --> 0:12:59.880 from going out on stage and competing and performing and 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:02.920 believing in myself. Because of that talent, nobody could take 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:05.640 it away from me. Self disciplined to this is a 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:08.760 ridiculous amount. Starting at age six, you did an hour 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:10.640 a day, and then when you got a little bit older, 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:12.600 it was three hours a day, something like three or 0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:16.760 four hours. Yeah, I know. It was something that I 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:20.720 obviously loved until I got to be a teenager, and 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:23.199 then I realized that to really succeed at the level 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:24.959 that I wanted to succeed, and I'd have to give 0:13:25.000 --> 0:13:28.240 up everything else in my life. So that's when I quit, 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:31.240 which was pretty devastating news to my parents at age seventeen. 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:34.760 But it's it's disciplined that I still carry with me 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:36.360 every single day, and it's the way in which I 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:39.720 approach life that when you put time into something, you 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:41.840 see that you get better at it. Well, and you 0:13:41.920 --> 0:13:44.320 quit that, but you you went on to Stanford and 0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:47.600 then you decided to compete to become Miss America. What 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:49.720 what inspired you to do that? Yeah? Well I didn't 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:52.840 actually decide to to try that. My mom actually tried 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:54.920 to encourage me to do that. She got a rosure 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:57.959 in the mail on the pageant ironically, and it said 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:01.360 in the fine print fifty per of a contestant's points 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:03.480 are based on talent, and she called me up I 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:05.800 was actually studying at Oxford at the time, and she said, 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:07.400 oh my gosh, I found something that I think you 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:10.320 should try. She said, it's half your points are talent, 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:12.439 you have that, you know, this is something you should do. 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:14.600 And I'm like, mom, are you nuts? This is not 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:17.439 on my radar screen at all? And I really had 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:20.920 not watched pageants at all. It was a tomboy um 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:24.440 so as I said, she's a very convincing person. Half 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:26.880 your half your points or talent, but half your points 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:29.680 or other things, you know, how you have baby suits 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:32.440 and they had that part. I mean, so for me, 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:35.320 as somebody who is ten years older than you are, 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:38.400 it didn't take me long as a girl to realize 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:42.880 pageants were just bullshit, honestly, and that they objectified women. 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:47.040 You know, it's nice at is talent, and obviously you're 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:50.640 enormously talented, you know, much more talented than like people 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:52.800 who play things with spoons or whatever, some of the 0:14:52.840 --> 0:14:56.800 other frenriloquist or whatever. And I'm just curious, like, was 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:59.640 there something inside of you, Gretchen that said, you know what, honestly, 0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:02.280 this is not this is not for me, This is 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:05.040 really not who I am, And this is not what 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:07.960 I want to convey to other women. Yeah, I mean 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:10.440 I felt that way. I guess more after the fact, 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:13.560 I went back to Stanford and took some feminism classes. UM, 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:16.160 and I've always been a huge advocate for women. So 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:17.960 you know, I guess you could argue that those two 0:15:18.040 --> 0:15:21.480 things didn't ALIGNE but you know, you have to also 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:23.440 remember that it is a scholarship program. I want a 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:25.800 lot of scholarship money. I paid for my entire last 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:29.000 year of Stanford by myself based on my winnings from 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:31.560 Miss America. UM. I have been an advocate for a 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:34.120 long time of getting rid of the swimsuit portion and 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:36.720 for me, that was the toughest part because I'm short 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:41.040 and uh, I really had to struggle to get myself 0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:43.360 into decent shape. So that was actually the most challenging 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:45.160 part for me. And I don't necessarily see that as 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:47.200 a negative, that you set a goal in front of 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:49.400 yourself and and you go for it and you feel 0:15:49.440 --> 0:15:52.360 good about the end result. Would you want your daughter 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:55.360 to compete in a beauty count totally her decision. I 0:15:55.400 --> 0:15:57.960 don't believe at all in pageants for young kids. I mean, 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:00.040 I shuddered to think these parents that are dress and 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:02.560 their kids up and three and four and five and 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:05.520 six and ten and twelve year olds. My daughter's fourteen. Now, 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:09.600 she happens to be an exceptional pianist. If she wants 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:11.520 to do it, I have no idea if she does 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:14.280 or not. I'll have a conversation with her about it. 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:15.840 But you also have to remember, I'm the mom who 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:17.680 never even told my kids that I was Miss America. 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:20.440 And one day I was waiting for this day to come. 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:22.560 And she came home from school when she was about 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:25.080 eight years old, maybe nine. She said, mom, She said, 0:16:25.080 --> 0:16:27.520 somebody at school told me you were some America thing. 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:31.560 And I said, ah, I've been waiting for this day. 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:34.640 She said, well, Mommy, could I see you know the crown? 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:36.520 And I said, well, yeah, let me see if I 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:39.119 can find it in my closet. So we went upstairs 0:16:39.560 --> 0:16:41.520 and I showed her the crown and she put it on. 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:43.840 And then I had my gown in a shoe box 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:48.160 and um and and I showed her that, and she 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:51.480 she put it onto and we took pictures, and then 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:54.520 that was that. I said, Mommy did this because mommy 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:58.000 played the violin and you played the piano. And you 0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:00.320 know this is something mommy accomplished and it was the 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:02.560 end of the story. And I don't even know if 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:04.600 I've ever had the conversation with my son, to be 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:07.720 honest with you. Um So, it's not like I display 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:10.800 my Miss American life at home or talk about it 0:17:10.920 --> 0:17:13.800 or I think my daughter should be a pageant person 0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:16.919 in any stretch of the imagination. Do they really use 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:21.520 like preparation? H somewhere did that stuff? I'm from, Katie. 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:25.639 Are there some tricks like preparation or isn't there something 0:17:25.640 --> 0:17:29.160 that you put on like a spray? I still wont 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:32.640 without doing any of that craft. Um so. And yeah, 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:36.960 I never believed in in doing that. Here's here's what 0:17:37.000 --> 0:17:41.360 I learned from it, though. Uh. I learned guts from 0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:45.280 being Miss America and also how to speak publicly without 0:17:45.320 --> 0:17:48.399 any apprehension or nerves. I mean, I'll never forget. In 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:50.760 the first week, I was at some huge event in Atlanta. 0:17:50.840 --> 0:17:52.800 Two thousand people thought I was just there to have dinner. 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:55.200 Guy comes up to me after dinner before jissert. He goes, 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:56.920 I just wanted to give you a five minute before 0:17:56.960 --> 0:18:00.720 your keynote. I said, excuse me, He said, yeah, you're keynote, 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:03.040 I said, okay, I said, in how long would you 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:04.760 like me to speak? He goes, just forty five minutes. 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:07.280 So I went in the bathroom with a cocktail napkin 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:09.639 and a pencil that I borrowed from somebody else at 0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:11.920 the table, and I wrote down a couple of bullet points, 0:18:12.000 --> 0:18:14.000 and I went out and I gave a speech for 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:17.320 forty five minutes. So you know, Lesson number one, always 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:19.960 have three speeches in your back pocket. Lessen number two, 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:22.960 My gosh, look at what I gained from that year 0:18:23.440 --> 0:18:27.640 of being put in those unbelievably adult situations at age two. 0:18:28.320 --> 0:18:31.199 So it's not Pageants are not all bad, Katie. No, 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:34.280 I know, I know. I think I'm just like I 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:37.160 could never have entered one. Maybe I have pageant envy 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:40.280 or something. But you know, you played the violin in 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:44.280 the Miss America competition. So let's listen for a second, 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:49.400 uh to Gretchen playing what were you playing? Gretchen Yan 0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:54.240 Gypsy airs, God Bless you, Zagunavis and a violin performance 0:18:54.280 --> 0:19:26.320 by Gretchen. Elizabeth Carl said, Miss Minnesota, you're a sucker 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:29.720 for that vibrato, aren't you. Yeah, it feels like it 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:32.240 was yesterday, not really. By the way, you have a 0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:35.119 beautiful green bow in your hair, which I understand you 0:19:35.200 --> 0:19:37.480 made from the bottom of your dress. Is that true 0:19:37.640 --> 0:19:41.800 resourceful to ladies and gentlemen are frugal in Minnesota? I did, 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:43.720 and the bow actually was falling out of my hair 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:46.560 while I was performing before millions of people. And I 0:19:46.600 --> 0:19:49.639 also a secret fact I had a hairpiece in and 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:51.879 so I've been thinking to myself while I'm performing in 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:54.360 front of millions of people and trying to win this thing, 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:56.679 I'm thinking, Okay, this will be really awful if this 0:19:56.760 --> 0:19:59.399 green piece falls out and the hairpiece falls out, but 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:02.680 will look like a whirl on the stage. So that's 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:05.320 what was actually going through my mind as I was. 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:07.960 Oh and before I went out to do the swimsuit competition, 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:12.560 I got my period. Oh lord yeah, Bryan Mosuh well sorry, 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:15.760 it's more than more than I knew. Yeah, So I 0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:19.080 was like, anyone have any emergency help please. I had 0:20:19.080 --> 0:20:21.800 about two seconds to do the clothing change anyway, So 0:20:22.240 --> 0:20:24.840 these are all the things that make you a stronger person. Well, 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:27.200 I have to say, you know, that kind of poise 0:20:27.320 --> 0:20:30.199 is unusual, because shortly after that they did play a 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:34.159 funny joke on you. Gary Collins and Marianne Mobley, Uh 0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:38.080 where you were on some NBC blooper show. They left, 0:20:38.440 --> 0:20:41.639 I guess the set of their talk show, and you 0:20:41.680 --> 0:20:44.800 were told you had to to stall and kind of 0:20:45.520 --> 0:20:48.280 talk about a satellite system I knew nothing about. I mean, 0:20:48.400 --> 0:20:53.280 the fact that you kept your act together was really 0:20:53.480 --> 0:20:56.679 I noticed. I wanted to say something else, right, Trust me, 0:20:56.720 --> 0:20:58.159 I wanted to say all those words while I was 0:20:58.200 --> 0:20:59.960 standing up there. It was just I mean, I think 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:03.880 gets worth anyone watching how I was so pitted out 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:06.800 just watching you because I guess I'm thinking about all 0:21:06.800 --> 0:21:10.720 these really stressful moments. Yeah, this is what builds courage, 0:21:11.160 --> 0:21:13.360 um and and character. But yeah, that was a week 0:21:13.440 --> 0:21:15.119 into being Miss America, and all I could think of 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:17.159 is they're going to fire me from this job because 0:21:17.480 --> 0:21:19.320 I thought I was talking about its satellite system I 0:21:19.359 --> 0:21:21.320 knew nothing about in front of five thousand engineers in 0:21:21.400 --> 0:21:23.760 d C. And they probably knew everything about it, right, 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:27.040 And Gary and Marianne got called off the set for emergencies, 0:21:27.040 --> 0:21:28.400 and then they said we're coming to you in five 0:21:28.480 --> 0:21:34.040 four three two. Remember who knows absolutely nothing about the system, 0:21:34.200 --> 0:21:36.240 and you and I can appreciate this from live TV. 0:21:36.840 --> 0:21:39.560 And they go just just start talking, and I was like, 0:21:39.640 --> 0:21:44.440 about what, you know what? So I introduced myself. Hi, 0:21:44.480 --> 0:21:46.119 I'm glad to be back with you this morning. I'm 0:21:46.160 --> 0:21:49.159 Gretchen Carlson, the new Miss America and this is my 0:21:49.200 --> 0:21:52.680 second appearance here in Denver and it's been wonderful so far. 0:21:52.720 --> 0:21:54.960 And I gave my little Miss America speel and then 0:21:55.000 --> 0:21:56.640 I stopped, and he goes, oh no, no, keep going, 0:21:56.760 --> 0:21:59.720 keep keeping. If you want to talk talk about the 0:21:59.720 --> 0:22:01.399 machine a little bit, whatever you can remember about it, 0:22:01.400 --> 0:22:03.080 just it doesn't matter, even if you don't know I 0:22:03.200 --> 0:22:07.320