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American Morning
Teenagers Speak Out on MTV to Colin Powell
Aired February 15, 2002 - 08:33 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: On to the issue of Secretary of State Colin Powell. He is at odds with the policy of the Bush administration again. Last month it was the detainees held in Guantanamo, now it's condom use.
Addressing teenagers around the world last night on MTV, Powell strongly urged condom use as a way to protect one's sell against AIDS. The view sets him apart from the president's own view on sex education and is already upsetting some of the president's closest political supporters. If Powell didn't know it already, he learned last night that teens can ask some very tough question.
Here is CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from Moscow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For more than an hour, the MTV generation in seven capitals around the world got their chance to grill the U.S. secretary of state. They were not shy, and their questions ranging from Kashmir to the war on terrorism were not easy. This Afghan teen, now in New Delhi, said his mother was killed by the Taliban.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why before the September attack, the American government didn't pay attention towards Afghanistan?
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We were slow getting off the mark, recognizing the nature of that regime. That regime is now gone, and there is now a new hope in Afghanistan for better future for all the people of Afghanistan.
KOPPEL: This young woman in London pulled no punches.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do you feel about representing a country commonly perceived as the Satan of contemporary politics?
POWELL: Well I reject the characterization, quite the contrary.
KOPPEL: If you're wondering why a man used to hobnobbing with world leaders decided to hang out with Gen-X, the answer is in the numbers. MTV is seen in 164 countries.
POWELL: The United States has to do a better job of presenting our case of who we are, what we are, what our value system is to the Islamic world and to nations around the world.
KOPPEL: Even for MTV, which prides itself on cutting-edge programming, this global forum was a first. And the reason why...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's always important that young people have a dialogue with their leaders, but after September 11, it became even more so.
POWELL: That is a vision I have.
KOPPEL: So how did he do?
MASSOUDA FAFIQU, PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN: I don't think like the people that were from different countries would really understand what he's saying. And some of the words that he was saying was kind of, you know, high, so, I didn't understand that much.
KOPPEL: Then again these kids are used to the fast-paced world of MTV where lyrics in songs are sometimes tough to catch. The challenge is always getting them to want to listen.
Andrea Koppel, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: So I'll tell you one thing, Jack, I certainly would like to be a fly on the wall at the White House this morning when they discussed how far Secretary of State Colin Powell went with his comments about condom use, which of course the administration has made a point of preaching abstinence.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Right, and the Secretary of State, who is very much his own man and probably is loathe to worry about the shrieking and shrillness from the extreme right wing of the Republican Party, said that condoms are a good way to prevent the transmission of HIV, which flies in the face of the right wing of the Republican Party. But you know, Colin Powell is -- I mean his credentials speak for themselves, and I don't think anybody in the White House is going to say word one to him. He is -- he is bailing out the administration, if you will, on more than one occasion, including explaining away much of the criticism that followed the "axis of evil" comments of the president in the State of the Union Address. So he's their point guy on a lot of other stuff, and I would think they'll probably let this one go by, don't you think?
ZAHN: I don't know. Ari Fleischer came out late last night and said hey, wait a minute, the president's, you know, stand on abstinence hasn't changed. And he said let's make the distinction that Secretary of State Powell was talking about people who are already practicing sex and that is who the Secretary of State was referring to.
CAFFERTY: I bet...
ZAHN: So let's see how it plays out.
CAFFERTY: I bet that's the last word we hear about it.
ZAHN: Maybe, you might be right.
CAFFERTY: I don't know. We'll see.
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