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Rice in 'Vogue': Interview of Writer Julia Reed on National Security Adviser's Photo Spread

Aired October 31, 2001 - 09:32   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: "Vogue" is more known for its fashion than its coverage of interest in national security. But it is interested in President Bush's national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. The October issue of "Vogue" issues photos of her by award- winning photographer Annie Liebowitz.

Julia Reed is a senior writer at "Vogue," and she wrote the article that accompanied those photos.

Welcome. Good to have you with us this morning.

JULIA REED, "VOGUE": Thank you.

ZAHN: When did Annie take the pictures, and when did you do the interview with Condoleezza?

REED: I traveled with her a lot during the summer with her, and my last interview was probably a few weeks before the world changed, on September 11, and the photographs were taken literally maybe a week before September 11. She, obviously, had a little bit more time then.

ZAHN: Let me ask you this. You said the last interview was taken a week before the September 11 tragedies. Was there any concern on the White House's part that these elegant photos were going to appear at such a twisted time of our country's history.

REED: We certainly didn't hear anything from them. It would have been too late to stop the presses anyway, but there was never a peep out of the White House. I don't think there should have been, because it was a long, serious profile of this woman who is now more front and center than ever. She's in charge of our national security. And I think that they were happy to have 5,000 or 6,000 words out there showing her in a strong, positive light.

And I'm surprised that the pictures have become even remotely an issue. Because in addition to having the nation's national security on her mind, she's an accomplished concert pianist, so we have posing by her piano, in a dress that she wears during recitals, which she, obviously, doesn't have much time for any more. And then she's showing her literal strength working out, which is also really important to her.

I think they were happy, and we were certainly happy to have had, accidentally, such a timely piece, even though she wasn't addressing what's on our plate right now.

ZAHN: Julia, you and I both know that the rules have changed somewhat over the last 10 years, but women in the public light have often been resistant to do these kinds of profiles because they don't want to have their work demeaned in any way or delegitimatized by being too sexy or too feminine or what not. Was the White house concerned about any of those issues?

REED: No, not at all. I don't think they should have been, because we didn't write a piece about the frivolous side of Condi Rice and where she likes to shop. But to show in a light that's real in the photographs is, I think, a sign of how far we've gotten. Madeline Albright was famously interested in fashion, even though she wasn't quite as young and sexy and Condi Rice may be. But because she got where she got, because she was at the top of her field, first you think how is Madeline Albright, and then you think, Gosh, that collection of broaches that she has is kind of interesting, or I wish she would quit wearing those silly hats.

The same thing is true of Condi Rice. How is she handling the current crisis? What's her Russian expertise? Then you think, Well, she's a good looking women, and you can tell she works out, or whatever. But that's not the first thing that you think. The first lady still bears the brunt of being the fashion icon or fashion victim of America because there's nothing else for her to do. What causes is she championing and what did she wear to the state dinner? These other high-profile women who are there not because they married but because they are at top of their fields, I don't think people think about their clothes except as secondary.

We like for them to look nice, and I think people are glad that Condi Rice is attractive and well presented and that kind of thing.

ZAHN: There is a great deal of substance to this article. She has talked with a great deal of candor over the years about what it meant to grow up in segregated Birmingham and how that, in many ways, shaped her future.

What was the most surprising thing you learned about her from traveling with her? I think everybody knows she is smart, and everybody knows she has the president's ear. What is more surprising that you learned from traveling with her?

REED: Her childhood was quite amazing. She did grow up in a place where there were terrorist attacks in her hometown, just down the street. She knew those little girls who were killed in the church bombing in Birmingham, which must have been totally devastating. Yet her family was really tight knit. They stressed education more than anything in the world. She was extraordinarily disciplined. We should all be so lucky to have this kind of focus that she had. She's a figure skater, a concert pianist, she's a Soviet specialist. I think she graduate from college when she was 18, as an undergraduate.

I think the nation is lucky to have a woman that's together and also is secure enough not really to think so much about what she wears in "Vogue." That is beside the point, almost. Last night, I was at a party with people of substance in Washington, and men and women were talking about how great Tom Ridge looks when he gives those briefings, and how well-dressed he is. People think about that. We can't help it, even in such a horrible time in the nation. It's like we're glad Tom Ridge is presenting himself so well when he tells the current status of what's going on today. So it's something we think about whether we make a big deal about it or not.

ZAHN: I'm glad we're going up. And the scrutiny goes both not only towards the women, but the men as well.

REED: Yes, I was relieved.

ZAHN: Julia Reed, it really was a fascinating article. Thanks so much for dropping by.

REED: Thank you so much.

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