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Michael Steele Out as RNC Chairman; New Details Emerge in Arizona Investigation; Bill and Hillary Clinton Remember Richard Holbrooke at Memorial; Tunisian President Flees

Aired January 14, 2011 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And, now, here we go, top of the hour, more on that breaking story here.

Michael Steele has just withdrawn his name -- we just heard from him -- from the RNC chairman's race. And now he is endorsing someone else, Maria Cino. Want to bring in our national correspondent Jessica Yellin, who is there covering all this voting.

And, Jessica, what was it like in the room there when he was speaking just moments ago?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it got very silent and very electric because this has been moving at a glacial pace, with the voting slowly shifting away from Steele. But nobody was certain that he would do this.

When he released his supporters, he made a statement saying, you know, we must win. Barack Obama's agenda is not good for America. We fired Pelosi. That was his campaign for so long. Let's fire Pelosi. He said, we fired Pelosi. Let's make America stronger, unified, et cetera.

So, a momentous development here.

BALDWIN: Absolutely.

YELLIN: It seemed likely that he was not going to prevail, but it was a big development that he saw the writing on the wall and dropped out. This is not decided. Brooke, we are far from a final vote here. As you can hear, it's still ongoing behind me, but it is between now this guy Reince Priebus, who was a member of Steele's own team, and then turned on him basically -- and so Steele's supporters are not likely to go to him -- vs. all the rest of the candidates who are still in this race.

So we will see who gets it. He did as you mentioned turn his votes over to Maria Cino, a woman who has the backing of some very influential people from the George W. Bush era -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: And then there were four.

Jessica Yellin, I knew we would get an update for you in our show. And I appreciate it. Jess, thank you. Now I want to move on to some other news here. We are hearing these eerie new details incrementally here time-wise about what Jared Lee Loughner allegedly did hours before the Tucson shooting. Take a look at this. These are different dates and times. So I want to run through just some of them.

Just before midnight -- this would have been back on Friday -- police say Loughner drops off film, a roll of film at a Walgreens to get developed, a couple hours later, picks up the pictures. Then at 4:00 in the morning Saturday, he posts one of those pictures on his MySpace page and alongside it, a message reads, "Goodbye, friends."

According to the rest of this timeline that we're all looking at here, he was busy running errands, including picking up ammunition.

Next, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' recovery is progressing as well as can be expected. In fact, the head of neurosurgery at University Medical Center there in Tucson says her eye movement suggests glimmers of recognition. Those are his words, glimmers of recognition. Her husband says he believes she recognized President Obama when he visited her.

Next, a Mississippi man has one heck of a survival story to tell. Two weeks ago, seasoned sailor Josiah Hoffman disappeared in this terrible storm in the Gulf waters. This is just off of Galveston, Texas. For nine long days, this man battled freezing temperatures with little food or water. He lost three of his sails, a rudder, and his radio. Finally, he spotted a barge.

Listen to his story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSIAH HOFFMAN, RESCUE AT SEA: -- went bad. That storm came up on me so fast, I hardly had time to do anything. To me, when they arrived, they looked like angels.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, coming up on Monday, Hoffman will be joining me live so he can tell me that whole story about those nine days at sea. Unreal.

Next, AIG is paying us back, we being the taxpayers. The company got nearly $200 billion in bailout money from the government back in 2008. And today it repaid the last of that debt. AIG spent the past year cleaning up its books and raising cash.

Next, former Pope John Paul II is one step closer to sainthood. The current pontiff, Benedict XVI, confirmed a miracle by his predecessor Friday. The beatification ceremony will be held one week after Easter and the next step after that, sainthood.

What does it take to be a saint, you ask? A miracle. Seriously, a miracle. The Vatican must confirm one more. So, he has to have two here by -- before canonizing him. Next, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is accused of having sex with a teenager. The allegation is that he had sex with a 17-year-old nightclub dancer last year. Prosecutors are likening the case to prostitution. Berlusconi's attorneys call the accusations absurd and groundless. The premier has persistently denied past allegations of involvement with prostitution.

Next, you need to take a close look at this surveillance video. Dan, let's roll this. You see these two, one in the skirt, the other in the boots and pants here, they're actually men. They're not ladies, though they're dressed as though they are. Florida authorities say the cross-dressing pair tried to sneak out of a Home Depot in Boynton Beach with some stolen items.

Look what happens when a security employee, you see, he tries to stop them. Police say -- there they go. Police say the suspects doused an employee and several customers with pepper spray, sending four of them to the hospital. The men were arrested and charged with aggravated assault and battery.

Next, today, Camelot embraces the digital age. The John F. Kennedy Library is now online. This is the largest presidential archives in the nation. I'm talking some 200,000 digitized documents. Visitors can view the former president's most famous speeches, even click through telegrams and international and civil rights leaders.

This month marks the 50th anniversary of JFK's inauguration.

Next, Martha Stewart. Martha Stewart is recovering from a run-in with an accidental assailant, AKA her little French bulldog. Stewart went to the hospital actually after startling her sleeping dog and getting an inadvertent head-butt. Stewart says it felt like getting hit with a boxing glove. She got nine stitches to her lip. Ouch.

Next, the show will not go on, at least for now. The official opening of "Spider-Man" the musical now delayed a fifth time, delaying until March. The most expensive Broadway show in history has had its fair share of problems, including accidents on the set, as we have been reporting here. But the reason for this latest delay? They want to fine-tune the ending.

Next, teens in Canada are going to look a little bit more pale. Leaders in Victoria banning kids younger than age 18 from using commercial tanning beds. Those leaders point out the World Health Organization considers tanning bed rays as dangerous as tobacco and asbestos.

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

BALDWIN: There is word here of two disturbing security breaches at the airport. One of them involves a ticket agent actually taking a bribery, 100 bucks, the other, a pilot's gun bag ends up in the hands of a passenger. So what is going on? And how could both of these incidents involve the same airline? That is up ahead.

Also, "Elle" magazine at the center of a bit of a controversy here. Did editors lighten the skin of an actress on its cover? Take a look. You're going to hear this story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: She is one of the most beautiful women in the world and also this international megastar. Her name is Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan.

And today she is at the center of this huge controversy in India all because of this "Elle" magazine cover. Allegations are being made that "Elle" magazine India altered this photo to make the Bollywood's complexion appeared lighter. "Elle" magazine and the actress are denying the reports, but in a country where apparently skin-lightening is a common practice, is it really out of the question?

Sara Sidner in New Delhi, she talked to both "Elle" and this young woman.

SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we talked to the editor-in-chief of "Elle" magazine here in India, and she said it is absolutely not true. She said this is all based on rumors drummed up by a tabloid publication in Mumbai, and that basically the two groups, both Aishwarya's people and her people, were laughing about this, until the story got picked up and ended up in the blogosphere.

And then you're seeing some of the results of that now. Let me give you the quote that she gave us. Nonita Kalra, the editor in chief of "Elle India" said -- and I'm quoting here -- "There is no need for me to alter the appearance of the most beautiful woman in the world."

She said that it was flash photography that created that lighter appearance. And indeed we have looked at a lot of pictures of Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan, and she is on the face of so many magazines. She is the face of so many products. You see her all the time. And really her skin tone differs from picture to picture.

Sometimes, she looks pinkish white. Sometimes she looks very, very dark-skinned, very, very brown. You just -- depending on the picture and where it's shot and the lighting, it's a different skin tone, so the magazine saying they absolutely did not digitally enhance her skin tone -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: So, Aishwarya saying, no, she is not furious, the magazine saying no. But I think there is a bigger conversation here, Sara, because here in the United States, the idea of having skin- whitening creamer would be an outrage, yet it is huge business in India.

SIDNER: Yes, it's expanding. The market is expanding here. Skin-whitening products are being sold all over the place.

They're saying it's about an 18 percent increase year in and year out. That's a huge increase when you consider the number of consumers in this country who could afford some of these whitening creams.

Want to mention this. A.C. Nielsen, which is the largest research agency here in this country, said that they expect this skin- lightening sort of products to go up 25 percent this year. And that means that the business would be worth around $432 million.

That's a lot of money, and there's a lot of money to be made. And if you saw some of the ads that existed here -- and we're not just talking about ads for women. We're talking about ads for lightening men's skin as well. It's becoming very popular with men, more and more people having disposable income in this country, and deciding that they want to do this.

So there's big business to be made. And if you saw some of these ads in the U.S., I think there would be a lot of pushback and there probably would be quite a few boycotts, or at least there would be a lot of talk on the Internet and online about this, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes. I mean, I think part of the conversation here in the United States, they'd be throwing around the world -- throwing around the word racist.

Are there any groups, Sara, within India who recognize this practice which has been going on for years and years as at all racist?

SIDNER: Yes, there's a particular minister actually who really takes offense to this and really believes this is racist, because, in her mind, she says that, you know, all of these ads are showing this lighter skin and a better life, as if you are a better person or a more respectable person or a more desired person, a desired woman particularly, if your skin is lighter.

And so she takes offense. She says this is simply racist. There are people in this country who don't think anything of it. They think having lighter skin is better for them and they want to be able to take part in that. So you do have a lot of different trains of thought here in India.

BALDWIN: Sara Sidner, in India. Sara, thank you so much.

Have you ever noticed how Republicans and Democrats behave during the State of the Union speeches? One side stands and cheers, the other side sits and doesn't cheer. Pouts maybe a little bit. So what happens if the seating chart puts them together? We're also on that story.

Also First Lady Michelle Obama has some advice for parents. She has written this letter to get the word out.

Joe Johns all over both of those stories for us on this Friday on "Political Pop." That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Time now for "Political Pop."

We're following up on this story today, Senator Mark Udall's idea, he wrote this letter, he wants to have Republicans and Democrats sitting side by side for this year's State of the Union.

Joe Johns, we put him on it yesterday. He has been making some phone calls for us and we wanted to follow up today.

Joe, how is it looking? Is this proposal -- you think it'll actually adopted this year?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes and no. Pardon the pun, this is one of those things you don't need an act of Congress to do. Right?

Several members have said they do like the idea and frankly, I haven't heard from anyone who is opposed to it, though there is some snickering around town because this is purely symbolic. And come on, do you actually think the wrestling match between Democrats and Republicans is going to stop because they all sat together at the State of the Union address? Probably not.

Still, this is a good idea. And the guy who started this, Senator Mark Udall, probably had it about right when he said he is just going to do it. Let's listen to what he said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARK UDALL (D), NEW YORK: I will already do so, even if nobody joins me. When I come down the aisle of the House, I served in the house for 10 years, I will make a right turn and go sit where the Republican senators sit.

I would tell you Senators Shaheen and Wyden and Senator Murkowski and Senator McCain have expressed a lot of interest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: All right, Joe, so are we following up? Do we know so far if they are interested and if anyone else is interested in signing on?

JOHNS: Well, yes. I mean, there is some response out there. We have a great Senate producer, Ted Barret (ph), he put together a partial list. We're counting something like 18 or 19 people who have voiced support. Obviously, haven't heard from everybody, of course.

The important thing to say is that this idea probably originated in the Senate and so a lot more Senate officers are responding. But here are the names -- Ron Wyden, Heath Shuler, Joe Lieberman, Mike Ross, Mark Begich, Jim Matheson, Barbara Boxer, Claire McCaskill, Sanford Bishop, Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, Murkowski, McCain, Snowe, Collins and McCarthy.

So, that's quite a list.

BALDWIN: That is quite a list. Thank you, Ted Barret, for putting that together.

But what are those people actually saying about this idea, this seating idea?

JOHNS: It's a sampling, you know. There's rhetorical flourishes and so on. Jeanne Shaheen said there is really no reason for members of Congress to sit like opposing fans at a Super Bowl game.

John McCain said the differences between the parties are smaller than people imagine them to be, which is often true.

And Murkowski talked about rekindling the common spirit that brought all the members to Washington in the first place.

BALDWIN: Yes. That was a funny little quote. This is not the Super Bowl, this is the State of the Union, though, so we'll have to wait and see how it goes.

But finally, ending with the Arizona shootings and obviously President Obama and the first lady very much so touched by what has happened this past week. In fact, the first lady has put out this open letter to parents.

JOHNS: That's right. Thoughtful letter, too, cause a personal experience.

BALDWIN: Right.

JOHNS: I don't always do this, but last Saturday I was driving around with my 5-year-old and my 7-year-old, we heard about what happened in Arizona and they just totally didn't get it. Why would somebody shoot a member of Congress? Why would somebody shoot a kid?

So this is the reason why the first lady put went ahead and put out this letter. It's up on the White House blog, you can read the whole thing if you want to. Sort of suggesting ways to talk to kids about this awful story. I'm just going to read a little bit of it. I was going to try to read it off of the teleprompter. Here we go.

"Here in America we embrace each other and support each other in times of crisis and we can help our kids do that in their own small way, whether it's by sending a letter or saying a prayer or just keeping the victims and their families in their thoughts. We can teach them the value of tolerance, the practice of assuming the best rather than the worst. We can also teach our children about the tremendous sacrifices made by the men and women who serve our country and by their families."

So good, thoughtful advice on what you say to your children when they start asking you about this terrible thing that happened in Arizona.

BALDWIN: Absolutely. She is the first lady and she is also a mom.

Joe Johns, thank you so much for sharing that with us. I appreciate it. Have a good weekend.

Just days before the Golden Globes here, the awards show is accused of fraud and these allegations come from two former publicists. Are the nominations up for sale? That is next.

Plus, angry protesters taking to the streets. The chaos has now completely disrupted the government in one African country. So who is in charge now? Folks, it's not the president. Michael Holmes joining me with "Globe Trekking." He is in the studio.

Hello, sir.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I am.

BALDWIN: We'll be right back.

HOLMES: Right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Are you watching the Golden Globes this weekend? Well, two guys say this whole thing is one big fraud, that's what they're alleging. This is definitely trending at this hour, and here is the story.

You have these two former publicists for this awards show they are accusing the group that owns the Golden Globes of selling these nominations. That group is the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and you have no doubt heard the name in many of those acceptance speeches if you watch the show.

Two publicists say the Globes fired them after they told members to stop accepting money and gifts in exchange for supporting certain movies. Well, these allegations are all part of the huge multimillion dollar lawsuit. The Globes say the whole thing is without merit.

Also trending, are you a Gleek? Are you a Gleek? You know what I'm talking about? You know what I'm talking about? I'm a Gleek.

Michael Holmes is looking at me like what is a Gleek? We'll get to that in a moment, sir.

You know the TV show about a high school glee club? Well, this could be your big moment. The show's producers are heading up a new reality TV competition called "The Glee Project." So the winner actually gets a guest role on seven episodes -- seven? Seven episodes of this hit show. Stop laughing.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: The loser gets the whole season.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: Sorry.

BALDWIN: Keep it together. We're told the new series airs this summer on Oxygen.

Really, I don't need to introduce this guy anymore. This is Michael Holmes. This is the part of the show we love so much -- wink. This is Michael Holmes of CNN international.

HOLMES: Hi, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Hey, Holmes. So let's begin with this story. What do we want to begin with?

HOLMES: This is huge.

BALDWIN: Tunisia.

HOLMES: Tunisia. Yes, big, big story. Small country, big story in a very hot part of the world.

Over the last few weeks -- it's been building up for a long time actually, there's been a lot of protests on the street. We've got pictures of it there.

BALDWIN: Riots.

HOLMES: This is under an authoritarian rule in a part of the world where there is no shortage of that, but this was a popular uprising by people angry over a bunch of things -- the economy, joblessness, all sorts of issues.

Now what's interesting here is that this is in a pretty rough neck of the woods. The president has actually fled the country.

BALDWIN: He's gone.

HOLMES: He's gone.

Now, what's happening is that it's flanked by Algeria and Libya, in North Africa, all the Arab nations are watching this I promise you are watching this and seeing how this unfolds because they are worried about their own populations.

BALDWIN: Well who is coming in and acting as president? Isn't it the prime minister?

HOLMES: The prime minister. Yes, he stepped in. Now the problem is, is this is going to lead to reform in Tunisia? Well, there isn't much opposition because of the authoritarian nature of the government. So will it lead to any political change? That's hard to tell at the moment.

BALDWIN: Well President Obama, our own president, is weighing in on this. I want to read you this, this from the White House. He says, "I urge all parties to maintain calm, avoid violence." He is calling on the Tunisian government to respect human rights and hold free and fair elections in the near future. So that is in there from the White House.

HOLMES: The president in the last reelections, he won 99 percent of the vote. So that's why they're calling for free and fair ones.

BALDWIN: Yes.

Story number two, we have been all over this and I can't believe the death toll now above 500.

HOLMES: It is.

BALDWIN: We're talking Brazil. I talked to Helena de Moura from (INAUDIBLE) a second ago and mudslides.

HOLMES: Yes. Helena is normally working here, she's down there and working as a producer for us there.

Five hundred dead. This, of course, we've been talking about. Brisbane, there's floods. In Sri Lanka, there's floods. All over the place. These are particularly bad.

And one of the things that is most interesting and most disgusting in a way about this is a lot of these deaths have been caused because people have been building in places they shouldn't have been building. You know, flood plains, sides of mountains, this sort of thing, and that has absolutely added to the devastation that's gone on there.

One of the other things, the Brazilian government hasn't been all that good at getting out there and helping in the aftermath either.

But this is the thing, poor people will build where they can. And the government even in Brazil is saying that that has been a mess and it shouldn't have happened.

BALDWIN: We're watching that and we're also watching the story, the Titanic. I was begging my team to put this on the show today. It's wrecked what, near Newfoundland and they're worried about this bacteria that's going to --

HOLMES: Yes, been down there all these years and they reckon this bacteria that they found down there is eating the Titanic and could have it reduced to a -- what was it described as, a rust stain on the bottom of the ocean within 20 years.

I mean, that's some hungry bacteria right there. It's a new strain by the way. The other, the flip side, it would be a real shame if the wreck is gone and is no more.

BALDWIN: Yes.

HOLMES: But the flip side is that this bacteria could actually be handy when it comes to recycling or getting rid of iron waste or ships that are in the wrong place under sea.

BALDWIN: So it's a good thing for getting rid of iron waste but not so much great for the Titanic.

HOLMES: Yes, not good for the Titanic. I mean, that's a bit rough. But yes, a little bacteria. I'm no bacteria expert you'll be relieved to know.

BALDWIN: You're not? You're an expert in everything.

HOLMES: Well, not bacteria. Not glee clubs either, obviously.

BALDWIN: Apparently you are not a Gleek either.

HOLMES: Sorry.

BALDWIN: Michael Holmes, thanks for coming on.

HOLMES: Good to see you.

BALDWIN: Good to see you. Enjoy your weekend, sir.

Moving along here, enemies of the U.S., they better watch out, because women may soon have a new role in the warzone. That is ahead.

Plus, do you check your horoscope? This is causing a lot of fuss. We'll have more on that. They are lining up now. "Reporter Roulette" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: And take a look at your world leaders including president bill Clinton taking to the stage at the Kennedy Center honoring Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. He said it takes this many talkers to do Holbrooke justice.

Let's listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

WILLIAM J. CLINTON, 42cd PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So that he could interview me to determine whether I could suitably run for the Democratic nomination for president. And somehow or another I passed the test.

By the end of the night he was so aggressive I thought he was going to finish with his hands on my throat.

(LAUGHTER)

But I liked that. A lot of people haven't talked about this tonight but if you were in a professional relationship with Holbrooke as I was as well as being friendly there basically were three kinds of meetings you could have with other people looking. There were the meetings where you were arguing about policy. Those are the ones where he made all the enemies. People didn't get to talk here tonight or this afternoon, where he would scream and claw and scratch and make you feel like you had a double digit IQ if you didn't agree with him.

But he did that because he knew the purpose of diplomacy was to end wars or avoid them or minimize conflict or save lives. It's worth ruffling a few feathers for diplomacy to save lives.

Then there were the meetings where the policy had been adopted and he didn't exactly agree with all of it, but there it was and he either had to leave or wave the flag. He was good at that. You would have thought it was his idea. (LAUGHTER)

Then there were the policies he was charged with implementing that he deeply agreed with. Then he was a hurricane of eloquence and energy and force. He was a great diplomat because he was smart and he could learn and he could think. He could write. He could speak. And most importantly, he could do.

He never was in a meeting in his life when he wasn't thinking about, OK, what are we going to do? And he loved the doers. One of the saddest days of my presidency was August 19th, 1995, when we had begun the negotiations to end the Bosnian war or at least end the siege of Srebrenica and the shelling in Sarajevo.

And Dick called me with Wes Clark to tell me they'd had a terrible accident on Mount Igmund (ph) road. We'd lost a vehicle and Bob Frasure, Joe Kruzel, and Nelson Drew had all been killed, three of the best public servants he'd ever worked with, part of our team, because Milosovich would not let them fly, knowing the roads were unsafe.

So we had a memorial service. We tried to promise to remember them. I still have three Christmas ornaments Hillary and I put on our tree every year for those three men.

But Holbrooke was determined to honor them by ending the violence. By the end of August, the siege had been lifted. The talks began at Dayton in November. Three weeks later we had an agreement. Dick Holbrooke did many great things in his life and he would be the first to say he did not do that alone. But ending the worst killing in Europe since World War II and giving Europe the chance to be united, whole, and free was a very big deal.

He could do. And he could do in matters big and small. Now, some people will say that President Obama and Hillary gave him a much harder job working in Afghanistan and Pakistan. I agree with that. But I gave him a harder one, still. I made him United States ambassador to the United Nations when Kofi was secretary general and he had to talk Jesse Helms into paying our U.N. dues. And he did that, too. How in the living daylights he got Jesse Helms to do that I'll never know.

(LAUGHTER)

But he did. There's lots to laugh about, a lot to be grateful for.

After I left the White House, I learned that Holbrooke's unerring sense of protocol had shifted again and he realized he no longer worked for me, and maybe on occasion I would work for him.

(LAUGHTER)

And the one thing he was no good at, there was only one thing he was no good at. He would overdo all this flattery when you knew he basically didn't mean a word of it. (LAUGHTER)

So I remember two things in particular. He would -- he called me one time. He wanted me to give a speech to the Asian Society. And he kept saying what a great thing it would be for them, and what he was really also saying was, you know, you ought to do this. You need to keep your hand in the game. Otherwise people think you don't know anything anymore.

(LAUGHTER)

So when I said I would do it he proceeded to tell me exactly what I should talk about and how I should say it.

(LAUGHTER)

And then he headed this business group to fight aids around the world which was really a noble thing. When we started there was nowhere near as much money going into it as there is now. And we still had then and we still have now about 80 percent of the people in the world who are HIV positive who didn't know their status.

Within a month -- I'd been working on this for years, but within a month Holbrooke knew as much as I did about all this stuff and he relentlessly, relentlessly drove this agenda. And he got me to appear at all these things always saying this group or that business person or the other would help me, but it was always basically I work for you. I did all this stuff. Now you work for me. Go do this. So I did it.

I loved the guy because he could do. Doing in diplomacy saves lives. Everything everybody says about him here is true. But in the end what matters is there are a lot of people walking around on the face of the earth today or their children or their grandchildren because of the way he lived his life.

And I never did understand how people would let the little rough edges, which to me was so obvious what he was doing, it was so obvious why he felt the way he did. I could never understand people that didn't appreciate him. Most of the people who didn't were not nearly as good at doing.

Sometime in my second term Kati and Dick started hosting a holiday dinner in the season -- in Hillary's honor. And they'd ask me to come, which made me know I was kind of a lame duck. And once Holbrooke and I were talking about all the stuff we'd done together and all the stuff that happened since that first night when we were having a drink and he was interviewing me for my suitability to become president.

It was after Hillary was at least running for the Senate. I don't know whether she had been elected or not. He looked at me and he said, you know, "She's better than you are." And I said, yes, I knew that before you did.

(LAUGHTER) And I said I know one other thing. You're still my ambassador and you have to keep that a secret for one more year.

(LAUGHTER)

If you knew him, you had to love him. And if you understand that the business of diplomacy is saving lives, you have to appreciate every single stratagem he deployed to try to do it, including when he said or did things that exhausted the rest of us.

The great thing about him was even when he lost his last battle he was fighting. And the fight kept him forever young. And for that, I will be forever grateful.

(APPLAUSE)

President Bill Clinton exiting the stage, part of the remembrance part of this memorial service. And now comes his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, remembering their friend, Richard Holbrooke.

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, I am last because my office is on the seventh floor, which is as close to heaven as you can get. So I end the program by being and bringing you with me to be as close to Richard as we can be.

I am very, very moved by the outpouring of love and admiration and respect that has been sent to me on behalf of our country from so many places across the world. And in this audience this afternoon are so many who have worked with Richard in the past and were working with him today.

If we had time each and every one of you would have your own stories. I want to start with Richard on an airplane. Those of us who flew with Richard never forgot the experience. Imagine being confined in a small space for many hours with Richard determined to make his point and convince you to agree with it.

It was a combination of a big personality and a small space that led everyone who traveled with him to be able to say at the end of our flight, I, too, now have a story about Richard Holbrooke.

Richard would begin by assessing every seat to find the one he deemed most comfortable. And then he would use every one of his diplomatic skills to persuade the person who had the seat to give it up to him.

(LAUGHTER)

He would roam the cabin, insert himself into conversations, tell stories, and provoke arguments. Sometimes those arguments snowballed.

On one flight, years ago, when Richard was a younger diplomat, he and a staffer from the White House ended up in a mutual headlock over who got to see transcripts of a conversation with Deng Xiaoping. That presaged the kind of headlock experiences Richard would have with White Houses through the years, and so even more people had their story.

But what was most memorable is that on many flights, he would disappear into the restroom and then emerge, having changed out of his sober business suit into what he called his sleeping suit. It was bright yellow.

(LAUGHTER)

He would brief the press in it. And the rest of us would shrug and say, "That's Richard being Richard." There simply was no one like him anywhere else in the world.

For 20 years, I had a front row seat to Richard being Richard. He was my trusted colleague.

Occasionally, he was my biggest headache. Often, he was an inspiration. And always, he was my friend. And Richard was a genius at friendship.

As Bill has said, we were so delighted to attend annual holiday parties that Richard and Kati would throw. And apparently, one year, some months before, I had said something complimentary about the work done by the Salvation Army. It was a completely offhand comment. Anyone else would have forgotten it. Not Richard.

So in the middle of dinner, he gave a signal, the doors swung open, and in marched the Salvation Army Band, trumpets blaring, carols being sung, and Richard beaming from ear to ear. Once again, Richard being Richard.

Richard was brilliant, blunt, and he did fight until the final bell for what he believed in.

Now, Richard, upon hearing Winston Churchill's famous motto, "Never, never, never, never give up," said that Churchill was half- hearted. There are many of us in this audience who have had the experience of Richard calling 10 times a day if he had to say something urgent. And, of course, he believed everything he had to say was urgent.

And if he couldn't reach you, he would call your staff. He'd wait outside your office. He'd walk into meetings to which he was not invited, act like he was meant to be there, and just start talking.

I personally received the Richard Holbrooke treatment many times. He would give me homework. He would declare that I had to take one more meeting, make one more stop. There was no escaping him.

He would follow me on to a stage as I was about to give a speech, or into my hotel room, or on at least one occasion into a ladies room in Pakistan.

(LAUGHTER)

When he had an idea, he would pitch it to me. If I said no, "Richard, no," He would wait a few days and then he would try again. Finally, I would say, "Richard, I've said no. Why do you keep asking me?" And he would look at me so innocently and he would reply, "I just assumed at some point you would recognize that you were wrong and I was right." And, you know, sometimes that did happen.

Richard and I were a team, starting in Bosnia, when I was first lady, through his years at the U.N., his work on AIDS and global health, and our work together on Afghanistan and Pakistan. It was not always being easy on Richard's team.

We went through a lot of tough times in those years, but we went through them together. He stood by me through my battles, and I stood by him through his.

So I feel his absence keenly, and I know so many people here do as well. This is a loss personally and it is a loss for our country. We face huge tasks ahead of us, and it would be better if Richard were here driving us all crazy about what we needed to be doing.

He had, as we've heard from others, secured his place in history. I am confident that the work he had done and was doing in Afghanistan and Pakistan will also stand the test of time. And I greatly appreciate President Zardari coming all the way to be with us today.

(APPLAUSE)

He was, as Mike Mullen said, passionate about restoring the balance between our military and civilian operations. He was determined to bring that balance back through sheer force of will if necessary.

Shortly after Richard was named to be the special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, I decided that I needed to bring Richard and General Petraeus together, so I invited them both over to our home here in Washington, and I set up two chairs with the third, and I just watched them interact. Now, those are two men with a lot of energy. I was exhausted by the time they had finished going through everything that they were thinking and what needed to be done in the years ahead. As they were leaving, they both said, "Let's do this again tomorrow night."

But Richard got results. The High Peace Council that he helped launch in Afghanistan is working and just sent a delegation to Pakistan. His work on water, energy, agriculture, and trade is paying off in significant improvements to people's lives.

He had a vision where we needed to be going. And despite all the challenges which he knew very well, he remained optimistic and positive about what we could do together.

Richard did this work with the help of a phenomenal team that he assembled with great gusto and pride over the past two years. They represent some of the best minds and biggest talents from inside and outside government. And many of them are here today.

So let me say to Richard's team, you meant the world to Richard, and all of us at the State Department are proud of your work.

He also created an International Contact Group with now more than 40 countries represented and increasing numbers of Muslim majority countries as part of that international contact group. I met with some of them who traveled so far to come here for this celebration of Richard's life.

And you, too, meant a great deal to Richard, because he saw that we must have a political solution and that we must work to build regional and international support.

Many of Richard's staffers are young, but then he was young when he started. And he wanted to give young people a chance to learn and serve and work on behalf of the country that he felt such a commitment to.

There are few people in any time, but certainly in our time, who can say, "I stopped a war. I made peace. I saved lives. I helped countries heal."

Richard Holbrooke did these things. He believed that great men and women could change history. And he did -- he wanted to be a great man so he could change history. He was and he did.

His time with us ended far too soon, and yet he lived enough for 10 lives. So while we mourn, we have reason for joy, joy for the life that Richard lived, joy that we were able to be part of it, that we went along for the ride.

And his partners in that endeavor were his family, his sons, David and Anthony, and their families, Lizzie (ph) and Chris (ph), his grandchildren and, most of all, Kati, a friend to us all and someone who understood and loved Richard so well. The family they built together casts light on so many people.

There is a book of early Jewish wisdom, the book of Ben Sira, which includes this passage: "With three things I am delighted, for they are pleasing to the Lord and to men, harmony among brethren, friendship among neighbors, and the mutual love of husband and wife."

With his life and legacy, Richard Holbrooke was three for three.

God bless you, my friend.

(APPLAUSE)

BALDWIN: The final moments of this memorial. As Hillary Clinton put it, a celebration of the life of Richard Holbrooke, most recently the U.S. envoy to both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

We heard from Bill Clinton, President Clinton, prior to that. And he said, "If you knew him, you loved him."

Richard Holbrooke did and doing for diplomacy saves lives. Richard Holbrooke died last month. He was 69.

We'll be right back.

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