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American Morning

Interview With Alma Powell

Aired April 16, 2003 - 09:40   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.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Alma Powell, wife of Secretary of State Colin Powell is also the co-chairwoman of a children's foundation started by her husband called America's Promise. Now she has written a pair of books. "America's Promise" tells children that they can achieve their dreams through hard work, but there's a message for adults too, that they can make a difference in a young person's life as well. She's also written a book called "My Little Wagon" which carries the same message to toddlers.
And Alma Powell is here with us this morning -- congratulations.

ALMA POWELL, CO-CHAIR, AMERICA'S PROMISE: Thank you very much.

ZAHN: Now for the all important critics -- what do your grandchildren think of the books?

POWELL: Well, my oldest grandson, I gave him a little token. We have got some little things that you can hang on your jacket that have a picture of the book, and he looked at it, and he said, You wrote a book?

I said, Yes. He said, I had no idea. I had no idea.

But, they think it's pretty cool. They're a little too old to be concerned about the pictures. They wouldn't be caught dead reading such things, but they're proud of it.

ZAHN: I'm sure. Tell us a little bit about the message that comes through in the smaller book called "My Little Wagon," and the messages that I think are probably even more potent in the book for older children.

(CROSSTALK)

POWELL: They are more potent in the book for older children. In fact, the book illustrates each one of the five promises. The children, who are the little characters in the story, it is unlikely that a child would meet all five promises in one day, but these children do meet, and have the influence of all five of the promises that America's Promise says children need in their lives.

ZAHN: Can tick those off for us this morning?

POWELL: Without any trouble at all. There -- a caring adult in every child's life; a healthy start; safe places to learn and grow after school; and a marketable skill; and most important, an opportunity to give back. We want children to know that through all of the things that they experience, they, too, have an obligation to give back to the community that supports them. So we want to develop that early.

ZAHN: That's a message that comes through pretty loud and clear when you see -- an imaginary mayor comes to town, and he gets the kids involved in cleaning up a park that probably no one has even walked through in years.

POWELL: It is just an empty lot. Now, yesterday we had some children doing just that same thing. Children at Harbor Art and Science Charter School (ph) read the book, their teacher read the book and had a discussion with them, and they decided that they would clean up a section of Central Park. And so they did that a few days ago.

ZAHN: This is a project that your husband also was intimately involved with...

POWELL: Yes.

ZAHN: ... I know, before he went back to the second Bush administration, this is basically what he was doing full time.

POWELL: This is what he did, he was the chair of America's Promise, he was the voice of America's Promise.

ZAHN: What are you most proud of when you think of individual lives that have been impacted by the program? You've got this mentoring program -- you have got a number of different programs that touch lives.

(CROSSTALK)

POWELL: It goes across the board with all kinds of corporations and individuals involved in providing these five promises. People recognize the need for change in the way we do our children. There are too many children who fall through the cracks.

Just recently I was in Kansas City -- Kansas City -- Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri is an entire community of promise. Every organization that works with children and then business and corporations have joined hands in that community to deliver all five of these promises. It was so moving to see the young people who have been affected, and to see the dedication of those adults who work with that. And that's just one community across the United States. The message caught on, and it is really growing.

ZAHN: Let's talk about another community now. That is your home community. The war is, we're told, all but over, militarily. Of course, we know there's some very hard work to be done.

What was the most painful part of this process for you as you watched your husband make some very difficult decisions, along with other members of the Bush administration?

POWELL: The most painful part for me was seeing the young people shipping out. I've been through this too many times, and I know exactly the emotions that people feel, and the young wives and children who are left behind. And so that brought back to me all of the times in my -- course of my life, and I knew the pain that they felt, and it brought me great pain.

ZAHN: Did you ever get used to those long separations?

POWELL: No, you never get used to that. You learn to adapt. And military wives are very adaptable, and very self-sufficient, and so I think that the long separation served me well. I wish that I had not learned my self-sufficiency that way, but the fact is I did.

ZAHN: Just a final though on some of the challenges, military families are facing during these long deployments. We've heard military wives -- we've seen their strength in abundance as they try to figure out the finances of the families, and try to make up for the huge void in their lives. Just a final word to them?

POWELL: Well, I always say to them that you are strong, you have great support -- the military is a great family. And, always, you're surrounded with support, but in times like this, the support system is unbelievable. The -- it is truly a family that takes care of its own.

ZAHN: Well, Alma Powell, you have taken care of a lot of people today with these books, with the "America Promises" books. Congratulations. I don't know if people got a chance to see the cover. Here they are.

POWELL: There they are.

ZAHN: For the little guys and gals and for the other ones.

POWELL: Four to 8, and for 2-year-olds.

ZAHN: Again, congratulations, and all the proceeds for these books go back to America's Promise.

POWELL: All proceeds from the books go to America's Promise to continue that work of mobilizing communities.

ZAHN: Good luck to you.

POWELL: Thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired April 16, 2003 - 09:40   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Alma Powell, wife of Secretary of State Colin Powell is also the co-chairwoman of a children's foundation started by her husband called America's Promise. Now she has written a pair of books. "America's Promise" tells children that they can achieve their dreams through hard work, but there's a message for adults too, that they can make a difference in a young person's life as well. She's also written a book called "My Little Wagon" which carries the same message to toddlers.
And Alma Powell is here with us this morning -- congratulations.

ALMA POWELL, CO-CHAIR, AMERICA'S PROMISE: Thank you very much.

ZAHN: Now for the all important critics -- what do your grandchildren think of the books?

POWELL: Well, my oldest grandson, I gave him a little token. We have got some little things that you can hang on your jacket that have a picture of the book, and he looked at it, and he said, You wrote a book?

I said, Yes. He said, I had no idea. I had no idea.

But, they think it's pretty cool. They're a little too old to be concerned about the pictures. They wouldn't be caught dead reading such things, but they're proud of it.

ZAHN: I'm sure. Tell us a little bit about the message that comes through in the smaller book called "My Little Wagon," and the messages that I think are probably even more potent in the book for older children.

(CROSSTALK)

POWELL: They are more potent in the book for older children. In fact, the book illustrates each one of the five promises. The children, who are the little characters in the story, it is unlikely that a child would meet all five promises in one day, but these children do meet, and have the influence of all five of the promises that America's Promise says children need in their lives.

ZAHN: Can tick those off for us this morning?

POWELL: Without any trouble at all. There -- a caring adult in every child's life; a healthy start; safe places to learn and grow after school; and a marketable skill; and most important, an opportunity to give back. We want children to know that through all of the things that they experience, they, too, have an obligation to give back to the community that supports them. So we want to develop that early.

ZAHN: That's a message that comes through pretty loud and clear when you see -- an imaginary mayor comes to town, and he gets the kids involved in cleaning up a park that probably no one has even walked through in years.

POWELL: It is just an empty lot. Now, yesterday we had some children doing just that same thing. Children at Harbor Art and Science Charter School (ph) read the book, their teacher read the book and had a discussion with them, and they decided that they would clean up a section of Central Park. And so they did that a few days ago.

ZAHN: This is a project that your husband also was intimately involved with...

POWELL: Yes.

ZAHN: ... I know, before he went back to the second Bush administration, this is basically what he was doing full time.

POWELL: This is what he did, he was the chair of America's Promise, he was the voice of America's Promise.

ZAHN: What are you most proud of when you think of individual lives that have been impacted by the program? You've got this mentoring program -- you have got a number of different programs that touch lives.

(CROSSTALK)

POWELL: It goes across the board with all kinds of corporations and individuals involved in providing these five promises. People recognize the need for change in the way we do our children. There are too many children who fall through the cracks.

Just recently I was in Kansas City -- Kansas City -- Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri is an entire community of promise. Every organization that works with children and then business and corporations have joined hands in that community to deliver all five of these promises. It was so moving to see the young people who have been affected, and to see the dedication of those adults who work with that. And that's just one community across the United States. The message caught on, and it is really growing.

ZAHN: Let's talk about another community now. That is your home community. The war is, we're told, all but over, militarily. Of course, we know there's some very hard work to be done.

What was the most painful part of this process for you as you watched your husband make some very difficult decisions, along with other members of the Bush administration?

POWELL: The most painful part for me was seeing the young people shipping out. I've been through this too many times, and I know exactly the emotions that people feel, and the young wives and children who are left behind. And so that brought back to me all of the times in my -- course of my life, and I knew the pain that they felt, and it brought me great pain.

ZAHN: Did you ever get used to those long separations?

POWELL: No, you never get used to that. You learn to adapt. And military wives are very adaptable, and very self-sufficient, and so I think that the long separation served me well. I wish that I had not learned my self-sufficiency that way, but the fact is I did.

ZAHN: Just a final though on some of the challenges, military families are facing during these long deployments. We've heard military wives -- we've seen their strength in abundance as they try to figure out the finances of the families, and try to make up for the huge void in their lives. Just a final word to them?

POWELL: Well, I always say to them that you are strong, you have great support -- the military is a great family. And, always, you're surrounded with support, but in times like this, the support system is unbelievable. The -- it is truly a family that takes care of its own.

ZAHN: Well, Alma Powell, you have taken care of a lot of people today with these books, with the "America Promises" books. Congratulations. I don't know if people got a chance to see the cover. Here they are.

POWELL: There they are.

ZAHN: For the little guys and gals and for the other ones.

POWELL: Four to 8, and for 2-year-olds.

ZAHN: Again, congratulations, and all the proceeds for these books go back to America's Promise.

POWELL: All proceeds from the books go to America's Promise to continue that work of mobilizing communities.

ZAHN: Good luck to you.

POWELL: Thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com