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American Morning

'Time's' Persons of the Year

Aired December 23, 2002 - 08:13   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: Now to "Time's" Person of the Year, which turns out to be Persons of the Year. It was a tough call and "Time" editors and reporters threw out a lot of ideas before deciding.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who should or shouldn't be Person of the Year this year. What do you think, Bill?

BILL: Well, I think there's two stories, probably. One is the economy and one is terrorism. So on the economy side, we don't really have a strong face.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There seems to be so much venom for the greedy CEO and his fall from grace.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think terrorism is a bigger story. If you think of the year as the terrorist, that was my suggestion. My feeling is that the terrorist has defined basically every priority of this country and the Western world over the last year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dave, do you have anything thoughts?

DAVE: We talked about the whistleblower the other day and that's kind of growing on me, with Sherron Watkins possibly as the face, but then also including the woman from the FBI, the one from WorldCom. And it gives us some breadth. It gets, you know, it gets to people's concerns about their money. It gets to people's concerns about their security.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sounds a little bit as if we're trying to come up with a reason not to pick the president. Especially after the result of the election, it's hard to make a case that the president isn't the most important Person of the Year, the biggest news maker.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not real excited about reading another profile on Bush, personally.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John?

JOHN: Well, I think we can solve that problem by having a really good profile. I mean I think...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Steve, what do you think?

STEVE: I think it's totally legit to do the power behind the power because more than in most administrations, Bush is like a chairman of the board and there's a really powerful crew behind him that's not only carrying out his ideas, but giving him the ideas and it's their world view that's propelling what he's doing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like a circle of advisers, especially probably Rice and Colin Powell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You would even do the war council, basically?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four or five people?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Nice try, gentlemen.

But guess who landed the cover? Three women, Sherron Watkins of Enron, Cynthia Cooper of WorldCom and Coleen Rowley of the FBI. They are "Time" magazine's choice for Persons of the Year, three whistleblowers being recognized because they shed light on corporate misconduct and government mismanagement.

Joining me now to discuss why the trio were chosen is Stephen Koepp, deputy managing editor for "Time" magazine.

Good morning.

STEPHEN KOEPP, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good morning.

ZAHN: Bet you're glad to have that process behind you. It's hard, isn't it?

KOEPP: I think it's always a tough call, yes. Yes. But this year there were some really intriguing possibilities. We had Eliot Spitzer, the New York State attorney general, who's cracking down on Wall Street. Bush had a new doctrine for the world that was kind of a work in progress, but certainly historic. And then you had the whole, this pattern of whistleblowers, which started emerging toward the middle part of the year and we started reporting on it.

But the hard thing was getting them to talk, because they weren't in it for the fame.

ZAHN: Sure. Did you have a hard time convincing them that they should pose for the cover of this issue of "Time" magazine?

KOEPP: It was a long process and I think none of them individually wanted to, but what finally lured them was the prospect of getting to meet one another, I think, because they were all aware of one another. Being a whistleblower is a very lonely road and I think they were watching one another's progress in the media, even though they weren't talking. And when we proposed that we bring them together in Minneapolis, where Cynthia Rowley lives, then -- Coleen Rowley, pardon me -- that was very, very attractive. ZAHN: It's interesting to note what Sherron Watkins had to say upon meeting all these other women.

We're going to play a small part of that interview now about the common bonds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERRON WATKINS, ENRON WHISTLEBLOWER: It is unusual. I think psychologists are going to have a field day. The three of us are all first borns, Christian women, from small towns. So there's a lot of similarities that I think will be interesting to pursue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Talk about some of the other similarities. None of them want to be called heroines, right?

KOEPP: Right.

ZAHN: They were just doing their jobs?

KOEPP: Right. They bristle at the idea that they were heroes. Coleen Rowley said well, maybe if I jump in an icy river and pull someone out and survive, then you can call me a hero. But they all loved their jobs and I think that was part of the disillusionment that drove them to want to say hey, something's wrong here.

They all were from very frugal backgrounds, which meant that they really knew the value of the money, in the case of the people involved in the finances. They were first borns, as she mentioned, which I think gives an over developed sense of responsibility, wanting to set things right.

ZAHN: Remember that first borns out there.

KOEPP: Right. And they have religious streaks. I think that -- they're also, they also have kids and they're also the chief breadwinners in their families, which really speaks to how much courage they had to bring to this, that they would risk their livelihoods and their paychecks to go ahead and do this.

ZAHN: They didn't even like talking about that concept of courage, did they?

KOEPP: No, because it really was about...

ZAHN: This is sort of installed in them.

KOEPP: Right. They just take that for granted. They think of it as professionalism, that they have just as much responsibility as the leader of a company to see that the right thing is done. And what I think that the hardest thing for them was that they were treated like that they were, they were crazy or wacko or something.

ZAHN: Finally in closing, help our audience in a very broad sense understand the impact of these three women's choices and actions.

KOEPP: I think that they show people that even in their ordinary regular jobs as cogs in the giant enterprises of private industry and in government agencies, that everybody's got their role and it's not just world leaders who count, but regular folks. And in a way there's some analogies to the firefighters of last year, who were just doing their jobs. They didn't want to be called heroes, either.

ZAHN: Stephen Koepp, we're delighted to have you with us.

KOEPP: Well, thank you.

ZAHN: And I actually got to attend one of your little editorial sessions and it was hard. I mean I know that someone pitched terrorist as a broad concept...

KOEPP: Right.

ZAHN: ... and the war council and all of that.

KOEPP: Yes. Doing a group is a challenge because it's hard to get into the personal stories. But in this case the three of them, their stories are remarkable.

ZAHN: Yes. They are three women who are very easy to salute, even though they don't want us to do that.

KOEPP: Right.

ZAHN: Thanks, Steve.

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 December 23, 2002 - 08:13   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now to "Time's" Person of the Year, which turns out to be Persons of the Year. It was a tough call and "Time" editors and reporters threw out a lot of ideas before deciding.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who should or shouldn't be Person of the Year this year. What do you think, Bill?

BILL: Well, I think there's two stories, probably. One is the economy and one is terrorism. So on the economy side, we don't really have a strong face.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There seems to be so much venom for the greedy CEO and his fall from grace.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think terrorism is a bigger story. If you think of the year as the terrorist, that was my suggestion. My feeling is that the terrorist has defined basically every priority of this country and the Western world over the last year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dave, do you have anything thoughts?

DAVE: We talked about the whistleblower the other day and that's kind of growing on me, with Sherron Watkins possibly as the face, but then also including the woman from the FBI, the one from WorldCom. And it gives us some breadth. It gets, you know, it gets to people's concerns about their money. It gets to people's concerns about their security.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sounds a little bit as if we're trying to come up with a reason not to pick the president. Especially after the result of the election, it's hard to make a case that the president isn't the most important Person of the Year, the biggest news maker.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not real excited about reading another profile on Bush, personally.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John?

JOHN: Well, I think we can solve that problem by having a really good profile. I mean I think...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Steve, what do you think?

STEVE: I think it's totally legit to do the power behind the power because more than in most administrations, Bush is like a chairman of the board and there's a really powerful crew behind him that's not only carrying out his ideas, but giving him the ideas and it's their world view that's propelling what he's doing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like a circle of advisers, especially probably Rice and Colin Powell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You would even do the war council, basically?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four or five people?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Nice try, gentlemen.

But guess who landed the cover? Three women, Sherron Watkins of Enron, Cynthia Cooper of WorldCom and Coleen Rowley of the FBI. They are "Time" magazine's choice for Persons of the Year, three whistleblowers being recognized because they shed light on corporate misconduct and government mismanagement.

Joining me now to discuss why the trio were chosen is Stephen Koepp, deputy managing editor for "Time" magazine.

Good morning.

STEPHEN KOEPP, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good morning.

ZAHN: Bet you're glad to have that process behind you. It's hard, isn't it?

KOEPP: I think it's always a tough call, yes. Yes. But this year there were some really intriguing possibilities. We had Eliot Spitzer, the New York State attorney general, who's cracking down on Wall Street. Bush had a new doctrine for the world that was kind of a work in progress, but certainly historic. And then you had the whole, this pattern of whistleblowers, which started emerging toward the middle part of the year and we started reporting on it.

But the hard thing was getting them to talk, because they weren't in it for the fame.

ZAHN: Sure. Did you have a hard time convincing them that they should pose for the cover of this issue of "Time" magazine?

KOEPP: It was a long process and I think none of them individually wanted to, but what finally lured them was the prospect of getting to meet one another, I think, because they were all aware of one another. Being a whistleblower is a very lonely road and I think they were watching one another's progress in the media, even though they weren't talking. And when we proposed that we bring them together in Minneapolis, where Cynthia Rowley lives, then -- Coleen Rowley, pardon me -- that was very, very attractive. ZAHN: It's interesting to note what Sherron Watkins had to say upon meeting all these other women.

We're going to play a small part of that interview now about the common bonds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERRON WATKINS, ENRON WHISTLEBLOWER: It is unusual. I think psychologists are going to have a field day. The three of us are all first borns, Christian women, from small towns. So there's a lot of similarities that I think will be interesting to pursue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Talk about some of the other similarities. None of them want to be called heroines, right?

KOEPP: Right.

ZAHN: They were just doing their jobs?

KOEPP: Right. They bristle at the idea that they were heroes. Coleen Rowley said well, maybe if I jump in an icy river and pull someone out and survive, then you can call me a hero. But they all loved their jobs and I think that was part of the disillusionment that drove them to want to say hey, something's wrong here.

They all were from very frugal backgrounds, which meant that they really knew the value of the money, in the case of the people involved in the finances. They were first borns, as she mentioned, which I think gives an over developed sense of responsibility, wanting to set things right.

ZAHN: Remember that first borns out there.

KOEPP: Right. And they have religious streaks. I think that -- they're also, they also have kids and they're also the chief breadwinners in their families, which really speaks to how much courage they had to bring to this, that they would risk their livelihoods and their paychecks to go ahead and do this.

ZAHN: They didn't even like talking about that concept of courage, did they?

KOEPP: No, because it really was about...

ZAHN: This is sort of installed in them.

KOEPP: Right. They just take that for granted. They think of it as professionalism, that they have just as much responsibility as the leader of a company to see that the right thing is done. And what I think that the hardest thing for them was that they were treated like that they were, they were crazy or wacko or something.

ZAHN: Finally in closing, help our audience in a very broad sense understand the impact of these three women's choices and actions.

KOEPP: I think that they show people that even in their ordinary regular jobs as cogs in the giant enterprises of private industry and in government agencies, that everybody's got their role and it's not just world leaders who count, but regular folks. And in a way there's some analogies to the firefighters of last year, who were just doing their jobs. They didn't want to be called heroes, either.

ZAHN: Stephen Koepp, we're delighted to have you with us.

KOEPP: Well, thank you.

ZAHN: And I actually got to attend one of your little editorial sessions and it was hard. I mean I know that someone pitched terrorist as a broad concept...

KOEPP: Right.

ZAHN: ... and the war council and all of that.

KOEPP: Yes. Doing a group is a challenge because it's hard to get into the personal stories. But in this case the three of them, their stories are remarkable.

ZAHN: Yes. They are three women who are very easy to salute, even though they don't want us to do that.

KOEPP: Right.

ZAHN: Thanks, Steve.

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