Transcripts For WHYY Charlie Rose 20140904

The american homeland. It was chilling for all of us beheading of jim foley and steven sotloff. I was reminded of another beheading of danny pearl. That was done by mohamed, the principal operational architect of 9 11. Its the same etiology, just a lot more capability. Ryan and i were reminiscing about being in beirut together 32 years ago during the lebanonese civil war. And one of the things i learned from that experience was watching the marines come into lebanon. One of the conclusions i drew from that experience is when you have no Political Center then everyone is aside. And the minute you intervene in beirut 30 years ago when there was no Political Center, the marines became another side. In fact the lebanonese used to call them the american militia. What ryans suggesting or what i was suggest in my column today is without an iraqi in Effect National Unity Coalition of sunnis, kurds and shiites, that we can be fighting for that to defend iraqi National Unity and pluralistic future, not fighting on behalf of the shiites and let alone the shiites backer ruin. Rose one conclude with the film the cosmopolitans. Hey you think es downstairs. No. They will arrive at any moment and they have paid for the entirety apartment. All i could do was nothing. You had the one place. The secret for me happened to fall into that world with a group of very funny people, main funny. They could have earned their living with jokes but they didnt. These are exception interesting characters, i think. Rose ryan crocker, tom friedman and whit stilliman when we continue. Theres a saying around here you stand behind what you say. Around here, we dont make excuses, we make commitments. And when you cant live up to them, you own up and make it right. Some people think the kind of accountability that thrives on so many streets in this country has gone missing in the places where its needed most. But i know youll still find it, when you know where to look. Rose additional funding provided by and by bloomberg. A provider of multimedia news and Information Services worldwide. Captioning sponsored by Rose Communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. Rose we begin this evening with the president in europe trying to deal with two crises, the threat of russia in ukraine and the threat of isis in iraq. A video emerged of german es steven sotolff being beheaded, the second american hostage to be executed in two weeks. They have increased pressure on president obama to make more decisive action. The president addressed the situation earlier today in alstonia. Whatever these murderers think they will achieve by killing americans like steven, they have already failed. They failed because like people around the World Americans are repulsed by their barberrism. We will not be intimidated. Their acts unite us to stiffen and take the fights against these terrorists. And those who make the mistake of harming americans will learn we will not forget and that our reach is long and that justice will be served. Rose joining me now from tax a and m university is ryan crocker hes the dean of the school of government and Public Service at texas a m. Hes a former United States ambassador to iraq, syria and afghan staw. From washington tom friedman a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the new york times. His ready column is ready, aim, fire, not fire, ready aim. Im pleased to have both of them on this program at this important time. Thank you november coming, tom in washington and ryan in texas. Ryan let me begin with you. You have said that the rise of isis presents the greatest threat to the United States National Security since 9 11. Lets assume thats true for a moment. What should we do . I think we need to take a number of interrelated steps. First we need to step up the tempo of air strikes in iraq, and we need to introduce them into syria as soon as weve got verified targets. Isis embraced the border between iraq and syria. We should take them up on it. Secondly, weve got to have a political sense, if you will. Weve got to be in overdrive with the iraqis to help them form an inclusive government that will bring the sunnis back into coalition with the kurds and the shia and present a common front on the ground to isis. Third, we need to be also in overdrive on forming a regional and International Coalition. Weve got some opportunities coming up with the nato summit tomorrow and friday. Second kerry and hagel will be traveling to the region. This isnt just our problem, this is a problem for the world and the world needs to step up to it. There are some things i think we shouldnt do. I think we really have to be careful about even the perception of an association with iran. That will be highly problematic for our sunni allies and likely to cause the iraqi sunnis to withdraw even further from the process. Similarly weve got to be very clear that we are not intervening in syria in support of the assad regime. We interfere for a grave threat to our own National Security. Rose you seem to correct me if im wrong to a threat to our National Security. How do you see the moment and what should we do . Well, the point i was making this morning was simply that isis today cannot threaten the american homeland. That was simply the point i was making. So that meant for me that we have time to sit back and design the very kind of strategy that ryans talking about. And as he laid out, this is really complicated and has to be done in a thoughtful and delicate way. First of all, it requires a platform in a sense a political platform that we can stand on to launch military operations again. Before you sat down in the chair, charlie, ryan and i were reminiscing about being in beirut together 32 years ago during the lebanonese civil war. And one of the things i learned from that experience was watching the marines come into lebanon and one of the conclusions i drew from that experience is when you have no Political Center then everyone is aside. And the minute you intervene in beirut, 30 years ago when theres no Political Center, the marines became another side. In fact the lebanonese used to call them the american militia. And what ryans suggesting and what i was suggesting in my column today is that without an iraqi in Effect National Unity Coalition of sunnis, kurds and shiites we will be fighting for that, unity and pluralistic future not fighting on beof the shiites or let alone the shiites backer iran. Without that National Unity platform intervening effectively in the isis problem in a way that will create a basis for some kind of political framework to be in place after we would leave, after the intervention would be over, without that platform, you really are going to have a problem. Thats why this is so difficult. The only thing i was reacting to this morning is that isis doesnt pose an immediate strategic threat to the american homeland, therefore not that we have years to deal with this problem but we have time to think this through because this is really complicated. Rose it seems to me that you both articulating the point of view of the president of the United States. Why am i wrong about that, ryan . I hope youre not wrong. What all of this takes, what tom and i have described in slightly different ways is one key thing. American leadership. I hope very much the president when he goes to wales is going to articulate whats at stake here, why theres got to be an International Coalition and again a process of forming it and of leading it. So i hope were in complete sync but so far we havent seen that American Leadership yet. It starts with a vision and its followed by a plan. We need both, we need to know. I would take exception with tom on one thing. I think isis today is stronger, better armed, better funded and more experienced than the alqaeda Osama Bin Laden that brought us 9 11. There are thousands of them who have western passports, including americans. So i certainly wouldnt bet the Capitol Building that they are unable at the present time to carry out an operation against the american homeland. It was chilling for all of us beheading of jim foley and steven sotloff. Its the same etiology, just a lot more capability. Rose tom, where do you think the president is . Well you know, i think ryans point about kind of forceful leadership on this issue is valid. I think that what hes been focused on is that without a, again, a kind of Political Coalition there of sunni shiites and kurds that can form the political backbone and foundation for any American Intervention we not only become either the shiite air force or Iranian Air Force but after we leave, anything we achieve militarily would not be sustainable. There would not be political framework to fill it in a sense. Whatever sweep away of isis. And so i think thats what hes wrestling with, and i could glean myself. Rose as you pointed out, tom, in todays column i think. As for iran, if we defeat isis it will be the third time since 2001 that we defeated a key sunni counter balance to iran, first the taliban then iran and now isis. Its a reason to do in a way that does not detract us from the fact that Irans Nuclear program also needs to be diffused otherwise it could undermine the whole global nonproliferation region regime and thats tricky. Ryan, the interesting thing about this is that the recent advances against isis have included Iraqi Militia that have been funded in the past by iran. Iran seems to have a stake in this and a big time stake. And thats why i think as tom and i have both pointed out, we have got to be extremely careful not to look like an ally of iran or their pretty awful selection of militias. I think we do that as tom and i have both suggested, by ensuring that there is a solid iraqi Political Foundation that includes sunnis, shia and kurds. I think theyre symbiotic. I think when the iraqis see us swing into action against the common enemy its going to help their political process. I would underscore, youre not going to get that Political Foundation by leaving it to the iraqis to do themselves. Were a hard wired into the system, it only works when were fully and heavily engaged, thats why secretary kerrys visit was owe important and its going to take continued engagement. I know the whitehouse has been working the phones. Theyre going to have to keep at that to get that necessary foundation. Rose tom, your column says ready aim fire not fire ready aim. Do i detect and im trying to get at how people can understand what we can do mao now and. Ryan seems to say we cant wait for these foundations to develop. There is a military necessity now and we have to act on that premise. I dont disagree. Thats why i used accompany in conjunction with and the two go together. When people see us put skin in the game and lead, they will respond to that. But it is tricky because there is the point where they will also say well hold your coat. And thats why its got to be really in tandem. Im all for hitting isis targets in iraqi for that matter in syria. I think its, they should have no sanctuary. But i want to make sure we do that always in conjunction with them also doing the political and military equivalent on their side because their ability to have a jury responsibility and not make the hard political choices is expansive and you only need to ask the former u. S. Am bass ambassador to iraqi about that. Rose how do we define our relationship with him in terms of what our policy has been over the last couple years . Ryan. Well, i said from the beginning that simply saying that assad must go isnt a policy. The fact of the matter is assad wasnt going three years ago and hes not going today. That said, it is a pretty horrible regime. Tom and i both know it, i spent three years there. I think we do have to make clear on any decision to intervene militarily in syria that we are in no way supporting the Syrian Regime in this and we can catalog their sins. That would be a good idea. We are defending our own National Interest against a mortal enemy. Now that said, i think if we are able to degrade isis in syria to some significant degree, the primary beneficiary would likely be more moderate elements of the sunni opposition. Isis has done more damage to them frankly than hes done to assad. It could also create a climate in which many who stand with assad not because they like him, they dont. They feel the alternative is worse if they no longer saw isis as that mortal threat to them. You can see a dynamic developing within the regime community that could make change possible, could make negotiation possible and why not be wildly optimistic. Could make a settlement possible, we sure dont have those circumstances now. Rose tom. I dont feel myself, charlie, im going to defer to ryan on that one, that i have a good grasp of the internal dynamics inside syria right now but i know one thing is necessary, surely not sufficient. And that is, you know, if youre going to be in this game, you got to be in to win. And you cannot be recognizing borders against an enemy that doesnt recognize borders itself. And so i think once we do feel we have political allies in the region, to work with us in tandem, you got to take the fight to them. You got to hurt them and you got to hurt them wherever they are. Rose this is what i cant get beyond. When do we have, when are we confident we have political allies in the region. What is the necessary point that we reach before we do everything we can to attack isis without troops on the ground but attacking isis and in conjunction with other forces on the ground. Whats necessary now and what is the danger of waiting . Well bear minimum would be an iraqi captain, an Iraqi Government which i understand theyre still forming. Rose what do you think of the new Prime Minister . Tbd, charlie. He comes from the same party as maliki. Ryan probably knows him, you should ask him. Rose ryan . I do know him, not well. Hes out of the party and i see nothing to suggest he doesnt support their ideology but he doesnt want to repeat the same mistakes maliki made. I would be carbonly all mystic and they have influence is going to be essential to that process. They will not get it done on their own. Again i would argue this is complicated. You really cant have a sequence of events. You have to move on multiple fronts, militarily and politically at the same time. Ive argued that military action is going to foster political process, not hinder it. The sunnis have been in the forefront of begging for active military intervention. I talked to people out in anbar who have been fighting isis since the spring, and theyre afraid theyre going to lose ramadi, the capital of anbar unless we do more and do it quickly. So the one thing that iraqi seems to be able to agree on at this point is American Military action is pretty important. Youve got to galvanize the region. Now King Abdullah had a statement that we should repeat back to him when he says that isis will be in europe this month and the United States the month after. Well, okay, your majesty, lets get on with it together. Rose is this in a broader way a defining moment. I mean, i know secretary kissingers got a new book coming out about sort of the sense of world order, but not so much that point but a finer point about how decisive this as a moment in terms of that will influence the rest of the middle east, history in the same way say that the end of world war ii did. I dont want to stretch this too far but you both know too much not to ask the question. If i could take a shot at that, i think it can be a defining moment and that definition could run either way. What will define the moment in my view is the strength and the capability of American Leadership. Are we going to show the same kind of leadership we did after world war ii and shape a post cold war order. Or are we going to sit back and let the centrifugal forces take over the process. Charlie, one of the reasons this is such a mess is our friends in the region, are all over the place. The saudis and qataris are backing different factions and different fights. The uae is on one page with egypt, turkey is on another page. I think theres a reason for that and the reason is, we have not exercised the kinds of sustained regional diplomacy to get everybody on the same page. I look at what we did in the first floor with george h. W. Bush. A Regional Coalition including of all thing a syrian division. And an International Coalition. That would not have happened without extremely strong and sustained president ial leadership. Thats what we need now. I think the future of the region and our own security pivots on whether thats deployed and how it is managed. I think theres one difference between the 1991 Gulf War Coalition which i got to see assembled from the back of secretary of state bakers airplane. And today. And it is a problem that obama has differed from george h. W. Bush and his predecessors. And that is they were still dealing with hard states, solid states. So much of what obama is dealing with are states that have come unstuck. And so you arent just required to kind of lead them that right direction. Theres an element almost of having to build their coherence. And thats where i think you know, why this is a defining moment, charlie, is that you know, we are basically seeing the end of, it is the real end of world war i and the Ottoman Empire. This is made of Different Community sects, tribes and religious but it is a region that has lacked pluralism. So its pluralistic nature has been managed by the Ottoman Empire and british and french and by ironfisted kings and dictators. Pluralistic nature is handed down with iron fist. Theres no Ottoman Empire, no british and french and fewer and fewer kings and dick dictators. It can only be managed horizontally now by the constituent communities. This is whats playing out in iraq, kinding a way to write their own social contract how to live together in a pluralistic way. Thats the great challenge thats not only true for the middle east, i think its going to be true globally. It makes you a, appreciate our own pluralism and we only need to look at ferguson, missouri to know were still a work in progress. But the fact we have twice elected a black man whose middle name is who seen, his father was a muslim to defeat a woman and run against a mormon that is something so far from so many other countries around the world but its that kind of pluralism thats going to be required to manage this region. Its not going to happen over night or any of our lifetime but it can no longer be managed from the top down. Isis is what happens when you have a pluralistic region without pluralism that cant write a social contract and one group completely goes to the lunatic fringe. We had to pull that back but it can only be done by the other groups coming together and writing that kind of horizontal social contract for how to live together as equal citizens and thats going to be really hard and as ryan said its going to be necessary but not such ingredient is going to be American Leadership. I would just echo that. None of that is going to happen without American Leadership. I would also agree its going to take more than that, its going to take what that leadership brings in terms of buyin from others. And its going to take something that we always have in very short supply, strategic patients because as tom says this is going to be decades and we have to stick with it because you dont get the kind of pluralism that tom talks about and we develop painfully in this country without a lot of engagement and a lot of patience. Rose it seems to me also as you talk about American Leadership and you talk about dealing with nation states versus nonnation states as were dealing with here, that the sunni shia difference is out in the open and is being thought harder than ive ever seen it before. It is so clearly and its also now reflected in two nation states engaged in a battle for influence in the region on the one hand and iran shia and saudi sunni and it becomes more difficult. I also wonder and i ask this as a question. Does president obama who came to end war and conflict in the middle east and in afghanistan, does he have the kind of mind set that wants to exert this kind of leadership even if he recognizes its true because of some sort of essential mind set he has about how america has gotten mired down in the region too often before. Tom . I think the legitimate critique from my point of view of obama on all of this is that he came to office, he ran on getting out of iraq, getting out of afghanistan. He won a mandate in effect to do that. But his mind set was all about getting out. It wasnt about getting out in a certain way, in a certain context that would leave something truly sustainable behind. He made homage to that, he tipped his cap to it but basically he wanted out and i think that you know, historians will debate hard and long about whether we got out in the right way at the right time and now thats one reason we are being sucked back in. Rose reluctantly so. Tom, you argued often in many columns i read that we needed a lot of nation Building Back home and thats probably where the president s head was. Absolutely and mine too. I have sympathy with it. We spent 2 trillion on this project in afghanistan and iraq, not to mention the lives of iraqis, afghans, americans and others. And their schools that arent being built and roads not being built because sunni and shiites are fighting who is the proper heir from the profit mahmoud from the late 17th century. I identify to some degree with that. Its finding the right balance in a world thats now so contacted where what happens there gets feld here. Rose ryan. I agree with much of what tom said. What weve learned all too painfully is that you dont end war simply by leaving the battlefield. Other people take it over. And you know, i think what were looking at in iraq reflects decisions that were made in 2010, and 2011. Those are the consequences we had to date. Look, charlie i was in the middle east, almost four decades. I learned maybe two things worth passing on, theyre real simple. The first is be careful what you get into. If youre talking about a military intervention because it can have all kinds of unintended consequences. 30th and 40th order consequences that you cant plan for if you do any planning at all. And the second thing i learned is, be just as careful over what you propose to get out of. The process of disengagement can have consequences as grave as those with intervention. And i would suggest to you we didnt do very well in iraq in either case. Charlie let me just add, these are ryans and very good ones, what hes learned in his four decades there. And ive been in and out of his offices out there for four decades, so ive learned two things too. The thing ive learned is that the middle east only puts a smile on your face when it starts with them. When it starts with them. That is when they want it. Camp david started between israels and it was called oslo because palestinians got together a year before we found about it and anbar had to start with iraqi sunni tribes men wanting a different future. When it starts with them, when they have ownership we can amphi and we need to and must amplify. The other things i learned in 40 years there is that hugh mill information is a powerful force. Theres just enormous sense of being left behind. And frustration that leads to that is aberrant like isis and to create a context where they can feel successful where young people can feel they can realize their whole potential which to me what was the arabing spring, where they lived in context they cant realize their full potential and thats central to our policy there. Those are the two things ive learned. Rose tom friedman. Tom makes a great point on humiliation for a lot of good historical reasons, a sense of humiliation is deeply rooted in the middle eastern psyche. The outburst of that of course is respect, and as we move forward, i hope we move forward, we need to keep that up front and central. To be aware of the legacy of humiliation and of the importance of dealing with middle easterners on the problems with respect. Rose what i hear coming out of this conversation are three words one, respect, humiliation and leadership. Four words. And ownership. Rose and ownership. They need owners too. Rose respect, ownership, leadership and humiliation. Often on this program at this table people write me and say i wish thats the conversation that could be heard at the whitehouse. I dont know what the president s hearing, but i thank you for allowing the American Public to hear this conversation at this time. Both of you have my deepest thank you. Thank you, charlie. Thank you, charlie. It was a pleasure. Rose whit stilliman is here, hes a writer and director. Hes been described as the wasp woody allen in the dickens of too much inner life. In our four films hes focused on the manners of the young privileged class. His latest project is a pilot for amazon. It is called the cosmopolitans. It follows a group of Young American expatriates as they search for love and friendship in a foreign city. Here is a look. First this is the because he has trouble concentrating. Not able to work. I cant work either. Its getting the rabbits. No. Ill consider it. Youre just killing time until he finishes. Not, not exactly. When you say it was wonderful with frederic, when was that. No, she said she had been one. When was that, the wonderful part. In miami. He immediately wanted me to move to paris to live with him. I think thats true. Its a serious break up in the Atlantic Ocean can be very helpful. What about the i dont know, i havent tried it. Rose i am pleased to have whit stilliman back at this table. Welcome. Thank you. Rose tell me about this. Whats the idea here and how did you come to do it for amazon rather than someone else . Well amazon, i had a relationship with them since one of the first things they did. They were using that as a template for other film makers to do. They called me up and wanted a story set in paris. I had the material and i told them the experiences i had. The first three films i made were like the only interesting experiences i had before i moved to paris. And then moving to paris because suddenly i was among amazing interesting people and this is a of that. Rose you kept pitching films to be made as paris with setting and you kept saying nobody wants to see a story in paris. I was cut off before that. My agent said no network, no tv company will set a story abroad. And i came back around 2008 and needed a job. I needed work and i had some good stories and i pitched one to one of the big tv production companies. And the idea was we said wed take those past characters and put them in a nightclub. Rose nobody told this to woody allen have they. No. Hes done a great job. I still had the experience trying to make films over there, wherever i went woody allen had already spent their money. They had all this money for cinema and they changed the rules. An american can no longer be the director. Rose if they give the money to a Film Production company an american cannot be the director. Woodys ruined it for people. Hes, hes ruined it for people. Rose thats how he got the movies made. Its fantastic. I admire the way hes been able to do that. And hes been productive. Rose woody has a business now. Every which way. Rose so what is it about paris for you . Other than its so conducive to a lifestyle that you find so comfortable. Well, i was brought there, i was brought there by someone else, and once i was there, its very good writers town. Its not an accident, become when hemingway and fitzgerald and other people liked being there. I guess the prime time for those expatriates was before the 29 crash. Fitzgerald and hemingway in the 20s. And still to this day, for instance different writer directors will be over there, tom mccarthy, wes anderson. Its just a really good place to write. The life is conducive to working several times a day to keep plugging at your writing. And then you can take off and be with friends in cafes in the evening. Rose you say this film has no agenda. Yes. I thought my other films each had a little bit of an agenda. People resisted them its understandable because theyre trying to convince people of something. So barcelona was trying to convince people to go easier on americans abroad. And metropolitan was trying to sort of humanize a class that normally people would despise. I cant remember the end was but im trying to tell stories about characters. Rose talking about the casting you got adam brody who was in dam sells in distress. He plays a fellow over there trying to write and do it projects. Rose who else. Kerry was in damsels. Shes the girl in that scene. I was able to get khloe to be in it. At first she was unavailable because she had another tv show of which she was the star but we kept asking and she found a way to come over even though shes doing this other show. And now i think that theres a strong possibility shell be a regular on our show. One foreign actor from sweden who plays this mysterious host of the party in the pilot. Freddy who plays fritz and an italian actor on this scene who is john carlos son. Hes interesting because he went in another career path. He was a camera man doing special effects and things like that and scale to acting late but hes really great to have onset. Rose the deal with amazon is they will test this 20 minute pilot you gave them. Yes. Rose if in fact it tests well or whatever theyre looking for, then theyll give you a commitment to make ten episodes or Something Like that. Yes. I think its the situation now where they cut it back to maybe six episodes of the first season and six episodes would be really manageable for us. I wouldnt have to hire lots of writers to work on that. I think its a combination of how they really neal kneels about the shows themselves how the public reacts. Were hoping to get enough attention so they feel obliged to go with it. Rose what stories do you want to tell about us . Well theyre asking me. Im supposed to turn in a bin for a bible for this series and im reluctant because i have no bright ideas of characters and scenes and talking to each other. In film and tv theres a tendency. They always want a summary what youre going to do before youve done it and i feel that leads to clicheed formulaic ideas at least for me it does. I dont know what the stories will be. I know this group of people and theyre really an Interesting Group of people. Ive been fortunate twice making films about g people that i know well who are very funny. So the secret for me metropolitan was happened to fall into that world, the dead party world with a group of very funny people, major funny. They could have earned their living with jokes but they didnt. And i was able to kind of have those characters. And this is true too with the cosmopolitan, these are exception interesting characters i think. Rose from things i have read, the cosmopolitan has a mood rather than other qualities of a film. Rather than the character, it has more a mood. It does have that. I think it has characters too but it definitely has a mood. Rose whats the mood . Well, i think its something that is through what i like to call the nostalgia presence. Looking at our daily lives particularly at nighttime, its more romantic at nighttime. Looking at a way so that okay its not a fitzgerald novel but there is something about the fairy dust magic of those romantic visions that we can have today. So its contemporary but it has that sort of mood of romanticism. Rose people think of you when they think of ivy league and they think of the leaders, and you strongly reject that. Well i think some of that is the accident of the first film being about that very rarefied world. Even those characters are only in that world for seven days and then they go on and do more normal things. But yet i guess im kind of within a fish bowl so im not seeing a fish bowl exactly so maybe the people outside are more accurate than i am. Rose just to go back to cosmopolitan for a second. Heres a clip. Some people kill to have this. You didnt even see it in front of you. It is truly amazing. Hey, you think its no. The details, they are to write it any moment and they have paid for the use of the entire capital. All i could do was nothing. But you had the one place. The theme of the mopolitans is essentially romantic heart break. In this First Episode we have two heart broken characters. Theres hal whose been dumped e claims 17 times his friends claim 30 times by the girl hes in love with. This girl moved to paris and the guy on the cliff doesnt feel comfortable having her in the apartment. Hes going to take a job and rented the apartment out from under her. And so shes really sad and in addition to that theres also the thing people go through. They think that theyre no longer going away to summer camp and feeling lonely and crying and writing parents letter. They think theyll never encountered loneliness. August comes along and everyone knows youre out and you really confront the thing of total loneliness because theres no one around. And its the kind of thing of snow balls like not bad no ones around for two days but if youre stuck in complex people lose their bearings. Rose its about love and love lost. Theres a vawng song thats a theme seem the broken hearted which is one of my favorite songs. Its a great theme for movies. Rose why do you call it broken hearted. I like having things with a different name. You change the name. Rose who sang the broken hearted. I think it was jimmy two brothers one was from the tellations. I think its jimmy who did the broken hearted. We have a wonderful version that joan osborne sang for us. She did a live version for the documentary standing in the shadow of motown about the funk brother, the instrumentalists, studio musicians. Its a live version but its not available. She sang it for us and did part of it in french. We have this cool bilingual version sung by joan osborne. Trying to get amazon to release it as a single. Rose will they . You dont know. Take a look. This is another clip. This is when vicky and obrey talk about their fellow. Youre not dating them. Why. Its kind of an ugly word but arent they old enough to start putting things together which is their life. Did they really come all the way to paris to meet albuquerque. Isnt from somewhere like that, san diego or phoenix. Theyre so local. People have roots. What is sad about the civil war. Do you have any answers . Youre here now. I say its all about to end. I dont know, never. Rose your dad was a lawyer. Yes. But he was mostly a politician. Rose exactly, he certainly is and was at princeton. He was at harvard. He wanted to go to princeton but his father wouldnt let him because princeton wouldnt play harvard when there was a black man on the team. He told me if i went to princeton my father wouldnt pay the tuition and thats why he went to harvard. Rose how did he become a politician. Hes political at harvard. The last communist president at the harvard union. Rose the last yes. He was in Jack Kennedys class and he was very strongly for kennedy and organized his campaign in new york state. And then he went to work for franklin deleanor roosevelt, jr. In the commerce department. Fdr, jr. Was, he understood commerce. My father worked for him. And prior to that when i was born in washington he was working as fdr, jr. s legislative aide as a congressman. Rose fdr, jr. Helped jack kennedy get elected in west virginia, played a powerful role because Hubert Humphrey was a powerful opponent. Very powerful. Quite dirty. Rose being a lawyer never appealed to you. I was going to do exactly that but i was failing in my harvard interview, my First Harvard interview and the guy was totally bored with what he was saying. And i was saying i dont really want to do this. I dont want to just do exactly what my father did. I would like to try to write a novel or write novels. So that failed, and so i thought rose falling upward. Failing upward. That was a great period of tv comedies in my book, mary tyler moore, sanford and son, bob new heart show, bob reiner, he became my teacher in film. I thought that was great. If you dont have the courage to be a novelist you could write for tv comedies and finally i have a tv comedy out. Rose some have said i dont remember friends you see the world through the prism of the great gatsby. I think its through paradise because its sort of juvenile and rose so all the characters in your novel not simply romantic. I mean i think you can wear those glasses and its glasses i prefer to have on which looks through the world at kind of a romantic lens. I think that the best model for a lot of us were working in this area because i think there are other film makers doing something parallel is salinger because salinger brought comedy into the equation. So theres sort of romanticism in comedy. In fitzgerald its purely i think salinger is more the person we want to sort of steal from. And of course the master is woody allen. Rose what do you learn from watching and reading woody allen. Its just so enormous his influence. Hes created a whole space a whole atmosphere we all exist in so were not really aware of all the influence because he kind of created a whole sense. Rose so tell me about your future. How do you see the future. Lets assume this series works well which looks like it does. I want to do the next six episodes of this and i have a project to do with sandra miller. Rose are you writing something about love and friendship. Its called love and friendship. Weve taken the material from her unpublished in her lifetime manuscript lady susan. And adapted it for film. And hoped to be shooting that in beautiful locations in ireland. Rose you think jane austins the greatest writer you know . From my point of view shes the writer i most admire. Rose because . Characters . I think her humorous humanity, her way of portraying different character types and the action between the character types in a moral, shes very extremely moral. And enlightening way and funny way. Rose take a look at this. This is something called inside look. This is a teaser to attract people to your project. Just to show you behind the scenes as well as a clip thats come out of the film. Thats your girlfriends come home. Why wouldnt be. We live there, were parisian. On the film called the last days of diskiwi kept in touch over the years. Well i have some thing im working on in the future would you like to Work Together again. Of course. This i chicago is one of the more glamorous characters ive gotten a chance to play. My gosh. Shes french. Here i am in paris shooting with whit. And funny american kids. Terrible. Really just a play boy. I play aubrey lee from alabama. Whats your name. Aubrey. I like it. And they take her under their wing. A serious break up in the Atlantic Ocean can be very helpful. I dont know i havent tried it. I play the character jimmy. Hopeless romantic. Definitely romantic. What an angel. I have an italian straight boy. Go, get out. And do it. How do you know youre bringing so many people. The moment we are shooting a scene in the apartment every day apartment or house or whatever. You have to continue. Youre not dating any of them. No, we just met. Well the skys an ugly bird but. Watching it on your television if you cant watch it on your television you watch it on your computer. Its crazy that they also put crazy out of love. You can find me and the other characters and actors in the cosmopolitans on amazon. Rose you want to see the cosmopolitans you go to amazon. Com. Yes. Rose good luck. Thank you for having me. Rose for early episodes sit us online at cbs. Org and charlierose. Com. Captioning sponsored by Rose Communications captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org