“[Madam] Speaker is the proper way to address Nancy Pelosi”, CBS host Jane Pauley instructed viewers as she led into her gooey puff piece interview with the California Democrat featured on the network’s Sunday Morning. How gushy was the interview with the new Speaker? Well, it could be argued that the toughest question Pauley asked was about whether or not Pelosi could work with President Trump.
The video began with Pauley hyping how “Nancy Pelosi capped her comeback this past week surrounded by children”, (a.k.a political props). If that didn’t set the tone for what was to come, then the first soundbite of the interview did:
PAULEY: You've become the most powerful woman in American history.
SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI: That's funny, isn't it? Sadly, I was hoping that we would have an American woman president, just two years ago.
PAULEY: Well, that didn’t happen. But, Speaker Pelosi is the most powerful woman in American history, and the most powerful woman in American politics.
After noting Pelosi’s troubles in negotiating with the President, Pauley wondered: “Are you recalibrating your assessment of-- of how you can work with this president?” It was just the CBS host teeing up Pelosi to spout talking points.
Pauley fawned over Pelosi’s upbringing in a politically entrench family, her early career politics, and her reputation as a shrewd political strategist. “Three decades later, she once again has the top job in Congress, and the best view in Washington, a Capitol on edge,” Pauley touted as they played a clip of the two of them standing on the balcony of Pelosi’s new office in the Capitol overlooking the National Mall.
Again teeing up Pelosi to push Democratic Party election talking points about their agenda, Pauley asked about if “the next Congress [would] be remembered for impeachment, or will they be remembered for something else?” Pelosi answered by saying they were going to focus on doing work “for the people”.
Pelosi didn’t seem at all interested, but Pauley was intent on figuring out why President Trump hadn’t given the Speaker one of his infamous nicknames:
PAULEY: President Trump hasn't given you a nickname, [Pelosi shrugs] that I know of.
PELOSI: That I know of, no.
PAULEY: And to me, it means one of two things. Either he doesn't regard you that seriously, that you need a "Got to cut her down" nickname, or that he has some respect for you.
PELOSI: Well, in either case, it doesn't matter to me.
As Pauley was nearing the end of the segment, she reiterated how special Pelosi was, saying: “As the first woman elected speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi's place in history was already secure. But, her defining role in history may lie ahead.”
The segment ended with Pelosi describing how she wanted to leave Congress. “Yeah, I see my role as more of a mission-- than job tenure. And when the mission is accomplished, then I can have that satisfaction that when I was needed to get the job done, I was there to do it,” she told Pauley.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CBS’s Sunday Morning
January 6, 2019
9:08:37 a.m. EasternJANE PAULEY: Speaker is the proper way to address Nancy Pelosi since she took command of the House of Representatives this past Thursday. Just one day later, she took time to chat with us about the past and the future.
[Cuts to video]
(…)
PAULEY: Nancy Pelosi capped her comeback this past week surrounded by children. The California Democrat elected, once again, the speaker of the United States House of Representatives. You've become the most powerful woman in American history.
SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI: That's funny, isn't it? Sadly, I was hoping that we would have an American woman president, just two years ago.
PAULEY: Well, that didn’t happen. But, Speaker Pelosi is the most powerful woman in American history, and the most powerful woman in American politics. But you can’t make the government open.
PELOSI: Well, the speaker has awesome powers. But if the president of the United States is against governance and doesn't care whether peoples’ needs are met or that public employees are paid or that we can have a legitimate discussion, then we have a problem, and we have to take it to the American people.
(…)
PAULEY: Are you recalibrating your assessment of-- of how you can work with this president?
PELOSI: Well, let me first say that our purpose in the meeting at the White House was to open up government. The impression you get from the president, that he would like to not only close government, build a wall, but also abolish Congress, so the only voice that mattered was his own.
(…)
PAULEY: Three decades later, she once again has the top job in Congress, and the best view in Washington, a Capitol on edge. Will the next Congress be remembered for impeachment, or will they be remembered for something else?
PELOSI: Well, I-- we-- we will-- talk about what we talked about in the campaign: For the people. Lower healthcare costs by reducing the cost of prescription drugs and preserving preexisting condition benefit, building bigger paychecks by building the infrastructure of America.
PAULEY: So, not – impeachment is not high on your agenda.
(…)
PAULEY: President Trump hasn't given you a nickname, [Pelosi shrugs] that I know of.
PELOSI: That I know of, no.
PAULEY: And to, me it means one of two things. Either he doesn't regard you that seriously, that you need a "Got to cut her down" nickname, or that he has some respect for you.
PELOSI: Well, in either case, it doesn't matter to me.
(…)
PAULEY: As the first woman elected speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi's place in history was already secure. But, her defining role in history may lie ahead.
PELOSI: If Hillary Clinton had won and the Affordable Care Act would be safe, I would've been happy to go home. I have options.
PAULEY: You would have retired?
PELOSI: Yeah, well, I don't know if I would retire. I-- I would've gone home. Yeah, I see my role as more of a mission-- than job tenure. And when the mission is accomplished, then I can have that satisfaction that when I was needed to get the job done, I was there to do it.
