Tonight ABC news will be airing a new special, an exclusive interview with Hillary Clinton, former United States Secretary of State, U.S. Senator, and First Lady of the United States. On this evening’s special, Diane Sawyer will sit down with Hillary Clinton and have a one on one interview with her. The interview is being held in advance of the release of her new memoir, “Hard Choices.”
On tonight’s ABC news special Diane Sawyer gets an exclusive one-on-one conversation with Hillary Clinton, there will be no questions off limit; there can be questions about her health, career and her current age, anything is allowed. Hillary Clinton is expected to travel across the country this month promoting her book — and surely stoking speculation about her future political plans; I am sure we will hear something about this in the interview as well.
The buzz is that Hillary and her team are gearing up for a run at the Democratic Presidential ticket in 2016. Questions surrounding her health have been making news especially the last couple of weeks and in response to doubts about her mental competency she has stated that all of her medical records will made public before any run at the Presidency.
Naturally her husband Bill Clinton’s infamous affair with Monica Lewinsky and Hillary’s decision to remain married to him will be brought up during the interview. Hillary will also be asked for her opinion on certain controversial decisions and policies of the Obama administration.
Tonight’s special airs at 9 PM EST on ABC and it’s bound to be interesting, we’ll get to learn more about Hillary Clinton. We’ll be recapping it right here for you but in the meantime feel free to hit up the comments now and tell us your thoughts or expectations for this one on one session.
RECAP:
Diane Sawyer welcomes us to an interview with the most talked about woman in American and likely front-runner for the 2016 Presidential election. She says she knows she’s clearly a polarizing figure. She talks about Hillary’s new book – Hard Choices. Hillary says losing the democratic nomination was very hard. She says it’s tough not being able to shatter the ultimate glass ceiling. She says she feels like she let down a lot of women and girls.
Diane asks if she had regret and Hillary says no. She asks why she lost and Hillary says lack of strategy and planning it the right way. She says she should have approached it from the stance of earning support even though she was already known. She says she worked hard in New Hampshire but it was too late after the flop in Iowa.
She asks about her first meeting and talk with Obama. Hillary says the campaign was so intense and their staff was at odds with each other but she never felt that way between her and Obama. We see a clip of her and Obama arguing at a debate. The book shares that they discussed lingering resentment and how her husband’s anger was at the scrutiny she was enduring.
Hillary says there is a double standard that women live with and that the comments on her outfit at debates were ridiculous. We see her on SNL making jokes about this. Hillary says she’s living on her own terms after two decades on public life. Hillary says she hasn’t decided about a 2016 run and says she’s helping with mid-term elections and doing other things before she will sit down and decide.
Diane asks her what the biggest reason to say no is. Hillary says she likes her life as-is and is excited about becoming a grandmother in the Fall. Diane asks can’t she be President and do that. Hillary says you have one life to live and has to think about all of that. We see the Hillary Super PAC ad that plays Katy Perry’s roar.
Diane asks if she’s holding the Democratic party hostage while she thinks it over. Hillary says it’s a really personal decision. Hillary says the party isn’t frozen by her decision making. Diane mentions Barbara Bush saying enough of the Clintons and Bushs. Diane asks what she would do about the focus on her appearance that was so big in the last election.
Hillary says as a woman in the spotlight, you’re being judged constantly and it does worry you. She says she is just over it and says she has changed and isn’t so worried about what others think about her. Hillary says she has a blessed life and many experiences. Diane asks if she’s using radical candor and Hillary laughs and says she likes that phrase and may use it.
Diane says Karl Rove is already launching salvos against her about her concussion-causing fall last year. Hillary says she’s okay but did have double vision for a short period and some dizziness. She says it was just a couple of weeks of bed rest. Then she got an MRI and says that was scary. She says Bill and Chelsea were there when they told her the concussion was fine but they found a blood clot behind her ear that had to be treated immediately. She says she has to take blood thinners every day but says she’s fine.
Diane asks about lingering effects and Hillary says no and she would release her medical records if she runs. Hillary makes a joke about Rove being called Bush’s brain and wishes him luck. (This last seems to be a sort of lame joke implying he’s dumb. I guess…) We see Hillary traveling and speaking. She has traveled extensively and spoken on human rights.
Hillary says that most of the comments on her travel as Secretary of State was about her looks and wardrobe. She says she was so tired of having her hair done every day so she grew it out and used scrunchies. Hillary became a global bulldog in pantsuits (according to Diane). There was a photo of her texting and memes on what she was saying.
There is more about her and Obama and their relationship. There is something on them party crashing a Chinese meeting on global warming. We see them trying to get in and security trying to keep them out. They did end up getting a far from perfect deal with the Chinese. She says her finest moment was going in to get Osama Bin-Laden. She says she told Obama to go do it.
We see a photo of her watching the raid in real time. She says she saw the chopper that had its tail clipped and that they had to burn it. Diane asks if she told Bill about it before it was made secret. Hillary says she takes secrecy very seriously. She says that Obama called Bill to tell him and even said he assumed she told him but Bill made it clear she didn’t.
Diane talks about the recent deaths of troops overseas and talks about Syria. She mentioned Al Qaeda. Hillary says she hopes we get an agreement in Syria and it’s better than what we inherited. Hillary says there are still terrible things going on in the world and that it’s a constant effort we are all engaged in. Diane brings up Putin and shows Hillary giving him a reset button. The Russian word on the button was wrong and was “overcharged.”
Diane asks her if Putin will ever give Crimea back. Hillary says we can’t make Putin give it back through military actions but could implement tough sanctions to make it tough on him and his cronies. Putin recently spoke out against Hillary and said it’s better not to argue with women and says that weakness is not the worst trait in a woman.
Diane asks what her signature doctrine was as Secretary of State. She demurs and doesn’t really answer and then Diane brings up Benghazi. She says Hillary pushed to oust Libyan dictator Gaddafi but perhaps missed what would come out of this. Diane says that they talked to experts and this could be the difference in her Presidential hopes.
There have been 13 hearings and 25,000 documents released. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others died. Dozens of men armed with guns and rocket propelled grenades were attacked. Stevens and the others were locked into a bunker-type area. Stevens was known for working toward a better future for Libyans. He was suffocated from the smoke when the bunker was set fire and soldiers died as well.
Diane shows Hillary a photo of Stevens. Hillary says it breaks her heart to think about them suffocating like that. Diane says the big question is whether she did what she could have to protect them. Hillary says Stevens chose to be there and says there were security threats there and in many countries. Diane says these were the biggest but Hillary says not in the top ten.
Diane says the criticism is that it was a huge red flag and whether she missed a moment to prevent this from happening. #HillaryonABC says there was a lack of appreciation and response to the level of threat and denies seeing the cable asking for more help. Hillary says she gave direct instructions that people with expertise in security should handle this. Hillary says she’s not equipped to look at blueprints and decide how to build things.
Diane mentions critiques on security cameras being out and fences being incomplete. Hillary counters by saying the CIA facility was much more secure but that two people died there as well. Joint Chief Chairman said he never knew about the August cable asking for more help. Diane asks if there is a statement she could make like I should have… or I would give anything if I…
Hillary says she would certainly wish they had made changes that were suggested from the hearings but she is clear in her mind that she wasn’t making security decisions. She says it’s a mistake for a Secretary of State to decide what should be done at each of the 270 locations. Diane asks what about the top ten and then asks if this is just a cost of doing business with inadequate security.
Hillary says we have to be thoughtful about where we send people and why. Diane says the statements from the Obama administration about protestors and critics say those were distractions to keep Obama clean in the election. Diane says it sounds like politics but Hillary says this was the fog of war and trying to figure out what happened.
She plays the clip of Hillary testifying and shouting what difference did it make what happened. Hillary says her point was that you can’t fixate on talking points and if you do are missing the bigger picture. Republicans have recently announced a new investigation on Benghazi and Clinton. She says she doesn’t appreciate politicizing this at the expense of four dead Americans.
Hillary mentions dead Americans in Beirut at the embassies. Diane asks if this is a reason not to run and Hillary says it’s a reason to run to address the problems of the world and how we handle it. Basically, it sounds like she’s trying to make political lemonade out of terrorist lemons. It seems like this could quickly become the focus of any future political run she makes.
We see shots of Hillary Clinton’s house – they don’t mention that Bill lives there BTWs… They talk about her being the wife of the Governor and then the President. She says her mother had a hard life and has been her inspiration. Diane mentions Monica Lewinsky’s essay in Vanity Fair. Hillary says she’s free to do that and is an American who gets to express herself as she chooses, but she chooses not to think about it a lot.
Hillary says she wrote about it in her book Living History and has moved on. Hillary says she knew Diane was going to ask her about it. Diane asks if it was true that she called Monica a narcissistic Looney Tune and Hillary says she won’t comment on something she may or may not have said back in the 90s.
Monica said her life has been a punchline and asks if Hillary has something to say to her. Hillary says she wishes her well and that she can find a life of meaning and satisfaction. Hillary says she learned a lot from eight years in the White House and eight in the Senate. Diane asks about the phrase vast right wing conspiracy and Hillary says she probably wouldn’t use that phrase because it turned into a concerted political effort against the Clinton administration and the Obama administration.
Hillary advises that you need to be resilient because life is fill of disappointments and she respects people that get up when they are knocked down. She talks about her mom’s hard life and how she always fought back. Diane asks her about how she met Bill because she saw him in the library and introduced herself. Then we see her and Bill talk about their relationship and him being there when she was sworn in as Secretary of State.
Hillary says forgiveness is mostly about the forgiver and says many people are unable to get over things. We see a photo of her and Bill on their wedding day. Hillary says they were poor college professors that got married in their house. Diane asks if this was their happiest moment and Hillary says her marriage is a blessing and they have had many happy moments.
Rand Paul has made it clear that her marriage is fair game if she runs for President and that he will talk about Bill and Monica. Hillary says Paul would be fair game too. Diane asks about her making $5 million making speeches and Bill making $100 million. Hillary says they went into the White House broke and came out in debt as well. She says they had to sacrifice for Chelsea’s education and says that Bill has worked hard to pay off their debts and buy houses and take care of family members.
Diane asks if it’s fair to make five times the average salary on a single speech. Hillary says it’s better than aligning herself with one set cause or business. Hillary plays the religion card (Methodist) and says she feels like she should be other there doing something for others. Diane shows her some dresses on exhibit at the Smithsonian she has worn. Hillary laughs.
Hillary says she likes to swim but doesn’t have a lot of discipline about it. Hillary says she knows how hard the job of being President is and has no illusions. Diane brings up age and Hillary says isn’t it great to be our age. Diane mentions that Hillary would be the second oldest President if she was elected and would be 69 when the campaign begins. She would be just eight months younger than Ronald Reagan.
Hillary talks about her mother being active until her death at 92. She says it’s an individual thing. Diane says Mitch McConnell said if she runs, it will be the return of the Golden Girl. Hillary laughs and says that was a popular and long-running show.
Diane says she and Hillary are from the same generation and even went to the same college although a few years apart. She says she chose Hard Choices for her book title because it captions her life. The book comes out tomorrow, but if it has no more truths in it than this interview, then meh on that…
