Norah O'Donnell

the big picture. Charlie is the best reporter and
interviewer on television, so the fact that I get
to sit next to him is incredible. My mom says all
the time, “Do you believe the people you work
with!”
Gayle asks the question which everyone at home
is really thinking. She’s very direct, very real. I
think that’s a constant reminder that sometimes
we have to remember that our viewers at home
are thinking ‘God, I wish I could ask that person
this question’ and Gayle always seems to have
her finger on what America is thinking or people
are thinking.
Your interview with President Ahmadinejad
of Iran that you did with Charlie was quite a
fascinating and revealing interview. What were you thinking while you
were listening to his answers
It was quite an interview and I give Charlie a lot for credit because
he’s regularly had interviews with Ahmadinejad for the past two or three
years. Charlie asked me, “Would like you to do the interview with me this
time” And I said, “That’s great, thank you.” In our field most big anchors
don’t choose to share those big gets. Those are so exclusive and hard
fought, so it was incredibly gracious and generous for Charlie to ask me
to do the interview with him. I said, “Well that’s great, but the Iranians will
never let it happen. They’ll never let a woman interview Ahmadinejad.”
Our executive producer said, “I’m sure Charlie worked it out.”
Lo and behold, I walk into this room with incredibly tight security and
Ahmadinejad’s press person comes forwards to say hello and I reach out
my hand and of course he said, “I’m sorry. I cant shake your hand.” So
that was an immediate reminder of where I was. Then I sat down and I
was told I cant cross my legs. And of course he never addressed me by
my name even though Charlie introduced me; “This is Norah O’Donnell,
she is my co-host, I brought her because she is the smarter of us two.”
He (Ahmadinejad) frequently called me “the lady.”
But Charlie was called by his name.
Yes. But if you watch it, I asked him some
pretty tough questions. I said “You say you’re
not interfering in Syria. With all do respect,
you are interfering with Syria.” And he would
turn and look at Charlie and say, “The lady
says I’m doing this….”
It was an incredible experience. That’s why
journalism is incredibly thrilling but also why
I take it so seriously. We get the opportunity
to ask world leaders with enormous financial
and military power what they’re doing, when
most of the time most of these leaders don’t
face very tough questions from most of their
followers.
He had an agenda to deliver regardless of
what the question was.
Most people in power will answer the question the way they want
regardless of what you ask them. A lot of them are very much on message.
You debuted on 60 Minutes with Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and it made
a lot of headlines. Did you expect that kind of reaction to the interview
Yes, I did. I knew this was going to be a big book and I knew it was
going to create a lot of buzz. I knew it was going to generate a new
discussion of what I call feminism 2.0 – which is about why there aren’t
more women in leadership positions. But I didn’t realize how fierce both
sides of the opinions were on this debate from women. I think its because
women generally feel under fire. Women in the workplace feel like they’re
being questioned about how much time they’re spending at home and
whether they’re doing a good job. Women at home are questioned about
whether they should be in the workplace or what they’re doing at home
or how they could be doing more. Because its really tough to be a stay
at home mom and have all those responsibilities and not have any help.
I think that’s why it has provoked so much of a discussion and I think
there’s a real question out there which is a genuinely good question to
ask, which is; Why there aren’t more women in leadership
When I was trying to make a decision whether to stay with NBC or go
My mom says all
the time, “Do you
believe the people
you work with!”
20June 2013
To advertise: