CNN national correspondent Kelly Wallace
doesn’t exactly have the easiest career. It
calls for her to be everywhere at once,
covering politics for different shows, such as
On the Story and Newsnight with
Aaron Brown. But if there is any pressure
involved in her job, it is impossible to
tell. When speaking with her, she is as
cheerful and optimistic as someone would be on
the first day at work.
“I think the variety and the
opportunity to always be close to what’s
happening…makes it very exciting,” she said in
a telephone interview.
Wallace was born and raised in Brooklyn,
something she says people are usually
surprised to learn. She graduated from
the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton
School with a degree in economics and
“basically was on the business side of
television until I decided, ‘I absolutely need
to report.’ So, I went to Washington,
and I was a producer for a number of years at
CNN,” she says.
But there was something she still wanted to
accomplish: being in front of the camera. In
1996, she decided to take a chance at her
dream by working for KRQE, an Albuquerque CBS
affiliate.
“That, I would consider the toughest step I
have taken and the step I’m proudest of,”
Wallace remembers. “Getting in my Honda Civic
and driving to New Mexico, taking a 60 percent
pay cut, going to cover crime, courts, and
everything.”
She spoke about her family, which just gained
a new member earlier this month.
“I have three nephews. My newest one was just
born on May 11, on my side. On my husband’s
side, I have three nephews and one niece,”
Wallace says. “I was just married in October,
so that’s sort of a new thing for me. In one
year, I’ve moved to a new city, gotten a new
job, gotten married, and moved into a new
apartment.”
Now that she has what she calls her “dream
job,” the greatest reward for her is free
time, which Wallace believes she doesn’t have
enough of “for seeing friends and all that. I
love to go to movies, but I’m horrified to
tell you the last movie that I saw.
“My favorite thing to do is not having to
work, a day off, going and sitting at a
Starbucks with my grande skim latte and
reading The New York Times and reading
every story I want to read, not feeling like I
have to only focus on the political or
international news stories. I can actually
read in the ‘Arts and Leisure’ section. What
a concept!”
Q: In my interview with him, Sen.
Kerry said that the most important issue was
“leadership to make America stronger - on all
the issues.” You have been following the
Kerry campaign. Does that reflect what his
supporters think is most important?
A: The sense you get from John Kerry’s
supporters is that what they find most
important is defeating President Bush.
There’s tremendous anger towards the Bush
administration out there in parts of the
country, and that is what sense is really
uniting the Democratic Party and many
Democrats right now. John Kerry’s platform,
as you say, better leadership in difficult
times – people respond to that.
The main thing that people are responding to
is they want a new person in the White House,
and John Kerry appears to have won during the
primaries, because most Democrats feel that
he’s the one who has the experience, both
domestic and international experience, to take
on a war time president.
Q: What issues are they concerned with?
A: The way you can sense this is just
anecdotally talking to people, as we were
certainly traveling the country a lot in
January and February. A general feeling is
the country’s not going in the right
direction, a concern on the part of Democrats
and others who are supporting John Kerry.
They worry about the standing of the United
States in the world based on the War in Iraq,
not feeling that the war is going well,
concerned that potentially the Bush
administration could be alienating other
countries around the world, concerns about the
economy and job loss, concerns about
healthcare. The general feeling – these are
again, the feelings of those solidly behind
John Kerry – is that it’s time for someone new
in the White House.
The most interesting thing is the people who
haven’t really made up their minds. People
are looking at John Kerry or looking at
President Bush and might feel some angst out
there. Anxiety is what people feel. There
are a lot of people who haven’t made up their
minds. They’re not so sure that, even though
they feel anxious, that it’s time to make a
big change in the White House.
Q: Many people were so divided with
the different Democratic candidates earlier.
Is he able to pull them more together now to
unite the party, or is it still kind of
divided?
A: That’s an interesting point you raise,
because much has been written about this very
issue during the primaries: whether Democrats,
so sharply divided, would be able to kind of
rally together in any way to defeat President
Bush. Were they going to go ahead and hurt
themselves before the primary season ended and
damage the nominee before he or she could take
on President Bush?
There was a strong feeling after John Kerry
won Iowa and New Hampshire. Democrats, in
those later contests, decided he was the guy,
and then, you had Democrats throughout the
party sort of rallying behind him. You will
pick up, because Democrats are so anxious, a
lot of talking, publicly and privately,
concerns about his campaign.
“Is he running a strong campaign? Is he doing
the right thing? Is he aggressive enough?”
That continues, but you do find a united party
in terms of behind John Kerry and defeating
President Bush. That has definitely changed
after the primary season wrapped up.
Q: Everyone has a unique reason why
they were inspired to go into journalism.
What made you want to become a journalist?
A: I was always incredibly curious and
fascinated by the news, and I don’t totally
know why that was. It was just something that
I found very, very interesting, always
following it – so much so that I would not
just listen to what was said and read what was
written and focus on that, but I’d also kind
of focus on how it was presented and how it
was written.
It was about, I guess, in high school, that I
decided my dream job would be being a local TV
reporter in New York City. I laughed, because
not many people can say they have the job
they’ve always dreamed to have. I am in New
York, and I am a reporter. I guess I’ve
surpassed my own assessment of my dream job!
The job is something I’ve always wanted to do,
and I can’t tell you exactly why.
Q: It’s always changing. You never
know what’s going to happen today, like with
Sept. 11 – even though it was a terrible
event, all of a sudden, it created this new
way of looking at things.
A: I think September 11 was, obviously, a
moment in time and a moment for a journalist,
as someone who was obviously fascinated by
world, national, and local events, the human
drama, and stories that can be told. But
also, there’s an aspect that I’ve always
enjoyed about it. You don’t always feel it
every day, but there’s a public service aspect
to it.
If you were telling a story that might open
someone’s eyes to something, that might expose
attention on an issue, that might inspire
someone – I don’t know if it gets any better
than that. I definitely felt, after Sept. 11,
that in some of the stories we were able to
do, perhaps in some way, we might be
contributing in some small way in the public
service of something so horrific like Sept.
11.
Q: You have covered news from all over
the world. Which of the locations you’ve
traveled to is your favorite, and what did you
report about?
A: No competition there: the Middle East,
Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, by far, my
favorite location to work from and report in.
There, I covered everything: the fledgling
Middle East peace process; the bombings in
Israel; Israeli military action in the West
Bank and Gaza; also, the build up and the
environment in the pre-Iraq War days; being
there during the war; and how Israelis and
Palestinians were reacting after the war
began.
Q: The Middle East couldn’t be more
different from the United States. How long
did it take you to adjust to living there?
A: No time
at all, and I find that surprising, even as I
was thinking about it. I don’t know why that
is. English is spoken throughout Israel, the
West Bank, and Gaza. Israelis and
Palestinians are very friendly and welcoming
when it comes to Americans. America’s very
familiar to Israelis and Palestinians…With
people being so open, engaging, and having so
much energy, it took no time at all to adjust
to being there.
Q: What was it like experiencing a new
culture? Did you ever find it difficult to
report, having to witness the violence and
terrorism firsthand?
A: I never felt I was in danger. That is
something I always tell people. The first
question people will ask is, “Were you
afraid?” Sometimes, I think that for people
who are not there, it seems scarier than when
you’re there.
There were tough times. I had never been in a
location immediately after a suicide bombing,
but I had gotten there maybe an hour or two
after, and there’s still blood and glass you
can see exactly. You get right up there.
They allow you to stand, literally, right up
there, where this bombing took place, and you
can see the damage all around you.
You can’t help but be affected by the horror.
I can’t even imagine the impact on people who
were there and families and friends who lost
loved ones. In those kinds of situations, I
think what I would always try to do is
remember the human story, tell the human side
of the story, because that is something
people, who might not agree on a lot of
political aspects of this issue, certainly can
relate to.
The same thing in the Palestinian areas – I
would get to a place shortly after Israeli
helicopters had shot missiles down at a car,
killing a member of Hamas, the radical
Palestinian group. Some innocent people were
killed in some of those attacks, and you would
get right there and see it all firsthand.
Again, I think that was the main thing: trying
to tell the human story and the human aspect
to this people reacting to it, neighbors
worrying that maybe one of their family
members might’ve been killed.
You have to tell the story in a big picture
way, just always tell it thinking of the human
side. I think that’s what would affect me
after I would be on a scene after something
like that happened so quickly. I was just
sort of struck by the tragedy of it all.
Q: Have you worked on any stories
recently or seen any of your colleagues’
reports that have made you rethink your
original view on an issue?
A: I think the Middle East, and this is now a
little more close to a year ago, is a place,
where I wouldn’t say it changed my original
view, I just think that exposure to a place
where I had never been before, seeing the
situation firsthand, looking at the
perspective from Israelis, the perspective
from Palestinians, and traveling throughout
the country – I just had a deeper feeling that
this is not a black or white issue.
It is very much a gray issue, very
complicated, very confusing, and very
difficult. I did not have that same sense of
the complexities of this situation until I’d
been there. I think it didn’t necessarily
change my views, it exposed me in a way that
made me see that this is a much more deeper
problem than I could have ever imagined.
But there’s something else, a more recent
story. I was covering the September 11
hearings in Washington. I was sort of doing
the side bar story: families in the room who
had lost loved ones and their reaction, kind
of just a feeling, the atmosphere of the
room. Henry Hughes’ son was killed in the
south tower. I was interviewing him, and he
said that no one in the government had ever
apologized for what happened.
It struck me. I never quite thought of that,
that no one in the government kind of said,
“Sorry. I wish we could have done better.”
Of course, saying that is a complicated thing
for an administration when it comes to the
issues of blame and responsibility. Then, the
next day, the controversial former
counter-terrorism advisor in the Bush White
House, Richard Clark, comes to the room and
apologizes.
I just thought that experience was an
interesting one, because here’s the sense of
seeing a story through the eyes of others.
That experience with covering that story with
that family – these are things that you never
think about. You never think about the issues
or concerns, what it feels like to walk in
their shoes, and I was just struck that they
had been feeling that no one apologized.
Then, the apology happened. There was a lot
of controversy attached to that. It opened my
eyes, in a way, to that story and that
controversy of an apology that I don’t think I
ever would’ve had, had I not been in the room
and done that interview.
Q: Most Americans dream of working
with the president, and you were able to be
around him on a daily basis as a White House
correspondent. Was it as exciting as it
sounds, or did it turn out to be much harder
than you expected?
A: It was as
exciting as it sounds, because I will tell
people I never lost that feeling of, “Wow.
This is the White House,” when I entered 1600
Pennsylvania Ave. every day. I always said to
myself if it ever started to feel like a real
chore and a real hardship that it would be
time to move on. I think most of the press
corps feels the same way. Even with seeing
the President, covering him, and asking
questions of a president, it is a very
exciting and challenging experience.
It’s not to
say that it’s not difficult. It doesn’t mean
there are not long hours, frustrations, it’s
tough to get information, you really can’t
roam the White House, or that you sort of have
a limited area where you can work and try to
access people who might be coming into the
White House. A White House wants to be on its
own message and doesn’t always want to expand
or help you break news. It’s a difficult job.
Wolf
Blitzer, then a long time senior White House
correspondent for CNN, said, “You’re gonna
need to know a lot about a lot of things.”
And he’s right. You need to know or be
exposed to almost everything, because at any
moment, something could happen, a local,
national, or international issue, and
especially being on CNN, you might be called
to get in front of that camera and start
talking about it. You really need to make
sure you’re up to speed on almost everything,
because you just never know what will happen.
Undoubtedly, it will somehow come back and be
connected to the White House.
Q: Were there moments when you
realized that politicians are just as human as
everyone else?
A: I think I got to see that a bit covering
President Bush, because first of all, he likes
to have fun, he has nicknames for the
reporters, and is the first one, sometimes,
who wants to seem to crack a joke…They have
their good days and bad days. You can sense,
when you cover someone, when they seem like
they’re hitting their stride or they’re not
quite in the groove.
Emotionally, we saw this more with President
Bush, definitely after September 11 – moments
where he could be talking or meeting with
someone who lost a loved one, and he would be
very close to tears filling up in his eyes.
You could see the weight of this moment on
this man, and it makes you think that he’s a
human being, like any of us, because some of
these situations are sort of impossible to
deal with without feeling such sadness. In
those kinds of situations, you see that this
is an every day person who could have good
days, bad days, and tough days.
You just don’t really get that close to talk
to the person, to talk to the President, to
really, really know what is going on in his
mind. There is a distance. Unfortunately,
you don’t get as much access as you do at the
beginning of a campaign, when the person’s not
anyone people are really talking about. Once
they become the nominee, or once they’re a
sitting president, it’s difficult to know
what’s going on and what the President’s
feeling.
Q: So many people hate what they do
for a living. What are the things that stand
out to you about journalism that make you go
to work every day knowing that you love your
job?
A: First of all, we’re so lucky, because so
many people, as you said, don’t enjoy their
jobs. So to really, really enjoy what you do
– I think every day’s different, and that
makes it an exciting job. Every day is filled
with a possible opportunity to interview new
people and get exposed to new things. Every
day at our job, we might be learning a new
issue or a new way of thinking about an issue,
and that makes it really exciting. I think
the variety and the opportunity to always be
close to what’s happening, nationally or
internationally, especially at a place like
CNN, makes it very exciting.
Not to say, like the President, that we don’t
have our good days, bad days, and days where
we wonder why we didn’t decide to open up a
coffee shop in Vermont. Most of the days are
more of a sense of how lucky we are to have
the job we have and take it seriously, knowing
that people are responding to what you’re
doing. We need to do it well, responsibly,
and in a fair way, since people are going to
be listening, reacting, and essentially,
learning from what stories we put out there.
Politics
Today 
Politics
Today:
Kelly Wallace- CNN National
Correspondent