When you are interviewing someone, you have a chance to follow up, to press, to dig in. In a debate there's 30 seconds for the other guy, too. And the goal is to get them to engage with each other, not to engage you necessarily.

People are always surprised when they see me speak live that I have a sense of humor. And I say, Well, you know, there's not much opportunity to laugh when you're reporting the dread news of the day.

One of the things that Africa needs, everybody seems to agree, is some measure of debt relief.

It's funny, everywhere I go some people ask me whether it's going to be a Latino breakthrough, some people ask me whether it's going to be a female breakthrough, and then I'm reminded that five years ago we didn't even know Barack Obama's name.

I spent my career trying to speak to the broadest possible audience whether it's in print or whether it's in television.

Even marginal progress could be affected by investigations in Little Rock and in Washington.

Hope springs eternal, even in politics.