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American Morning

The Big Question: Why Did Oprah Winfrey Say No to White House?

Aired April 04, 2002 - 09:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Our "Big Question" this morning, why did Oprah Winfrey say no to the White House? President Bush had asked her to go to Afghanistan with a group of prominent American women to visit with school girls who are just now returning to the classroom there after a number of years of being denied the chance to go to school, but she declined.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: It was a combination of reasons why I didn't go to Afghanistan. First of all, I actually did have some other obligations that had been promised for a while. And no, I didn't feel safe, and nor could that guarantee my safety. I was told we cannot guarantee your safety. It's very, very dangerous, even when I said, all right, give me some time to think about it. They said it's very, very dangerous. I thought, well, I'm not willing to put myself in that situation right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAFFERTY: Joining us now from Washington to talk more about Oprah Winfrey's reasons for declining, and the other issues that may be behind the scenes here, Howard Kurtz of "The Washington Post." He's a media critic there, and he host CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES."

Howard, good morning.

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": Good morning, Jack.

CAFFERTY: What's your take on this?

KURTZ: I take Oprah at her word when she says she's worried about her safety. When says she says that she's busy, it's not a like a woman telling a potential suitor that she has to clean out her sock drawer that night. She has her TV show. She has got a movie division. She's got this fabulously successfully "O" magazine, which has her on the cover. This month's lead story, "Get Strong, How to Build yourself Up Emotionally and Physically." And she was just on the cover of "Fortune" as one of the richest women in the world, worth about $1 billion.

So she's really the head of Oprah Inc. Another factor, though, as I'm sure you'll suspect is that Oprah Winfrey may be wary of wanting to associate too closely with a president of one party. She -- you know, when you're as big a megastar as Oprah is, you worry about image maintenance. And if she is seen on President Bush's team, she runs the risk of alienating people who are perhaps not fans of this president.

CAFFERTY: All right, fair enough, but I mean, Bob Hope used to go on these tours to entertain American servicemen, and it didn't matter which party was in the White House at the time. He was asked to go, and he went. Is there an obligation on the part of people that enjoy the stature of a Bob Hope or an Oprah Winfrey to answer the call, and if the country says, hey, we need your help here.

KURTZ: Well, it's certainly not hard to understand why President Bush would have wanted Oprah Winfrey to do this, because he has politically something of a gender gap. This would have helped with women, to associate himself and his administration with such a high- profile successful women. In terms of her obligation, well, I don't want to say that politics is involved, because I think she's been careful not to appear too partisan a figure.

But I did do some checking, and apparently Oprah Winfrey has contributed some money to Democratic candidates over the years. Back in '96, during the presidential campaign, nobody remembers this, but she refused to have Bob Dole on her show, saying I don't do politicians.

But by 2000, she changed her mind. She had both Bush and Gore on during that campaign. It was a good appearance for George Bush. He kissed her on the cheek and talked about her favorite sandwich, which was peanut butter and jelly. But it is certainly possible Oprah might have been a little less receptive to this kind of offer from a Republican president than she might have been from a Democratic one.

CAFFERTY: You mention the fact that George W. Bush has a bit of a gender gap. The media writers and columnist around the country at papers like your own are suggesting that if support for American military action is going to begin to erode, the first signs of that may show up among women. That said, is this an attempt perhaps by the White House to sort of, you know, patch up the damn before it started to leak?

KURTZ: I think they are very conscious in the Bush administration of trying to enhance the president's standing among women voter, who in ordinary wars -- this is not ordinary situation, obviously -- are less likely then men to support military action. It was no accident after 9-11, that suddenly Laura Bush suddenly took much more public role. She addressed the United Nations talking about the plight of women in Afghanistan. She gave one of those Saturday radio addresses instead of the president, talking about women in Afghanistan, and girls now able to return to school since the Taliban had been toppled.

So these things don't happen by accident. They were very conscious of that, and I think would have been a huge publicity coup if they could have recruited Oprah for this kind of effort. It was interesting that this planned trip to Afghanistan was postponed. Who knows if it will come off, after Miss Winfrey declined. CAFFERTY: On a related subject, the buzz is getting louder and louder that come the elections in 2004, we won't see Dick Cheney on the ticket, but rather we might see Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's national security adviser. You're hearing that. I'm hearing that. Everybody's hearing that. What are the chances that might in fact become reality, and it is a job she would consider taking if it was offered?

KURTZ: Well, it's fascinating how this mini-Condee boomlet just started with a couple of conservative Web sites and magazines. And now everybody in D.C. is kind of buzzing about it. It's fantasy baseball league at this point, because Dick Cheney may well run for a second term. I suppose his health will be a factor in that decision. But a lot of conservatives, particularly in the press, are saying, boy, what a dream ticket that would be, would help Bush with women, would help Bush with black voters, who are overwhelmingly Democratic, would add some pizazz to ticket. Cheney's never been accused of excessive pizazz, as you know.

And I think, too, though, that there's absolutely no indication that Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, would want to do this. The only job that she has openly lusted for is that of football commissioner.

CAFFERTY: Vice president, NFL commissioner, host of a talk show on CNN. Hey, there's all kinds of opportunities.

Howard, I've got to run. Thank you.

Good to talk to you. Howard Kurtz, media critic for "The Washington Post" and host of "Reliable Sources," which you can see right here on CNN.

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