YouSaid · the spoken record

Jeff Zucker

lines on the record: 104
first: 2018-12-03
most recent: 2018-12-03
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Well, I think there's always been this thing about Hollywood and casting couches. And stars that has had that kind of sentiment as wrong as it is. I mean, I think that there is a long-held, you know, Sentiment that that was okay. It clearly was not okay. Now I think what Donald Trump said on the Access Hollywood thing was even over the line for that kind of thinking. But look, if you look back at the advertising world that was portrayed in the madmen era, and you look back at Old Hollywood and you look back at...”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Know, I mean. Look, I think you can't paint it with a broad brush, and each of these incidents that we've become aware of, I think, are different in and of themselves. Listen, obviously you can't condone any of this behavior. And as I've said, if we had been aware of any of it, we would have dealt with it immediately.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, no, yeah. No, I think there were a lot of people who made jokes about. Matt But that was the nature of a roast, right? It was a Friars Club roast. And so I think you have to understand that everybody gets made fun of.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So you have to remember a couple things. First of all, I've been gone from any daily interaction with Matt for 18 years. I left the Today Show at the end of 2000. So, you know, really what I think most people have talked about with regard to what happened with Matt, I think has pretty much been since I was not there. As I said, I left in 2000. If anything was going on prior to that, I was unaware of it. As I said, he came as the anchor in 97. And in those three or four years that I was there, I saw absolutely no evidence of that, heard nothing of this sort. You know, he got married somewhere in the middle of there, like in 98, and that was what I thought he was focused on.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You know, obviously, we had several cash changes through the years on the Today Show. The first major one that we did was we brought in Katie Curic. Again, remember, the show wasn't doing well, I mentioned. And so Katie and Briant had a pretty magnetic spark that worked incredibly well, and that was part of the turnaround Then eventually Bryant decided to move on himself. I think it was in January of 1997, and we brought in Matt Lauer. And the relationship between Matt Lauer and Katie Curric was also quite dynamic.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Picture eating soggy corn flakes. That's just the reality of the time of day that the show is on and the way they watch the program. So it's a very intimate experience, much more so than any other kind of news program. So they have to want to spend time with these people. And the only time you want to spend time with them is if they want to spend time with each other. So they had to get along.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah. Well, you know, we always thought that that was the most important thing in the show. It wasn't the stories we did or the two-hour interviews with the political candidate. The shows lived and died on the chemistry with the hosts. You know, people are watching morning shows in their boxers and pajamas with toothpaste drooling out of their mouth. Tractors.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Or two hours. And so it was like nobody could believe that this is what the Today Show was doing. But they were talking about us. We were getting notices. We were relevant in a way we hadn't been. And so that is how we changed up the Today Show.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“He was. He was. Okay, but we took advantage of that. And then we'd have Bill Clinton on for two hours. So the entire Today's show was two hours. We'd have Ross Perot on for an hour.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“For these hour long interviews when the history of interviews with candidates was you'd have them on for five minutes. We had them on for an hour.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I'm sorry. When I was supervising for producers, it was the 92 election. The first one was the 92 election when I took over. I'm sorry. Not 92 election. And that was an incredibly exciting election because there were three candidates, right? And Ross Perot was the independent. And we actually had a tremendous inn with Ross Perot. And so we recognized his popularity very early on. And we had Ross Perot on all the time before anybody else did. And the other thing is then we would start having Bill Clinton on.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The OJ Simpson trial in 1995, I think we recognized early on that this was going to be a real cultural touch point. And we covered it intensely and did went all in on coverage of this, which is a theme that I would later reprise at CNN when we would go all in on a big story. But the first time we ever did this was on the OJ Simpson trial. And Charlie Gibson was the anchor of GMA, and he took shots at us in the newspapers by saying, I can't believe how much coverage of O.J. Simpson they're doing. And my response was, well, it's interesting, it's good, and the audience wants it. And then the next thing that happened was the 96 election.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Now everybody does it. But before that, it was heresy to even think about that. We instituted a really hard news half hour. And then we came up with a lot of gimmicks, including where in the world is Matt Lauer, and we today throws a wedding and outdoor concerts at the Today Show. And so we built this whole thing. Now, there were two events that also really helped us change the dynamic of the Today's show.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Was that, you know, look, I'm not going to do anything to embarrass the today's show, but I'm not going to keep doing the same things we've been doing. You know, people would come up to me and they would say, well, we don't do it that way. And I would say, well, the way we've been doing it isn't working. And so, you know, that gave us the ability to just throw out the playbook and try a lot of new things. And so what we did is we introduced a really hard news first half. No ads for 2020.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I digress. But anyway, yeah, look, I always said that I understood the tradition of the Today Show, but I wasn't bound by it. And so what that meant.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, we were thinking about something like that. But anyway, actually, I'll tell you a funny story about that we digress is when I was running the Today Show, I had us do a piece on whatever happened to J. Fred Muggs. And it turned out we found him, we think, at an animal park in somewhere in Florida. Are there D?”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Obviously, it was one of the oldest shows in the history of television began in 1952. And so I told everybody, look, I understand the truth.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, what happened was that today's show was just not doing very well. And, you know, and I was put into this position of trying to turn it around. And I think that what I did is I was not afraid to try new things and to change things up. And what I said to everybody was that I understood the tradition of the Today Show.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Correct. Exactly. What would be better than that? Exactly. No, and it's actually quite a charmed life. You know, he's the page one editor of the Wall Street Journal, runs NBC News, wins a Pulitzer, and then runs the Des Moines Register and then moves into baseball. Great life.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And so he had no compunction about asking a 26 year old punk to take over the Today Show. And he said something that always stayed with me, which was that he thought good things happen to young people because they're good. And it doesn't matter how old they are. And if you're good, you're good. And he had the good fortune of having run the Wall Street Journal page one at a very young age. And so he didn't hold my age against me. Yeah. The way others did And he gave me that opportunity.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Former print guy. Well, it's your prize winner. In fact, Pulitzer Prize winner, in fact, was the page one editor of the Wall Street Journal when he was twenty six.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And so they decided, well, let's just take a chance on this young guy. Now, I was very fortunate that the president of NBC News was a gentleman named Michael Gardner.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Look, I was incredibly lucky and fortunate. I had worked incredibly hard. The Today show was not doing very well at the time. Yes.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And you just learn how it works and you figure it out. And I think I did have a real. I think I had a real sense of how to conduct that orchestra. And it turned out to be good. And I got really noticed at that young age.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, and now I'm in the control room. And so by the age of 24, 25, I'm basically running the control room at the Today Show, which is absurd if you think about it. And it's not like anybody ever taught me how to run a control room. I just figured it out.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You're still calling the shots. I do, and a lot of people don't understand why someone who's running CNN would want to also go into the control room on the big election nights or big event nights and sit in the seat. And the reason is because I think there's nothing more exciting in television than live television on a big night. And, you know, I think for many years it's what I did. And I loved it. I think that I am very good under pressure in a control room. And I think I understand story pretty well. And so I think that you have to figure out what the story is at a moment's notice. And I think all of those things are why I love being in a control room.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“He was calling the shots and it was like an orchestra, a control room that works in a live television aspect is like an orchestra. And the executive producer is the conductor. And you're calling out the shots and you're talking to the anchors. And it's an incredible thing to see. And eventually that's what I ended up doing and I loved it. And there's nowhere I love being more than in a control room for a big live event.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“In that vein as a print reporter. My first experience with television was I worked as an intern at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles for ABC Sports, and that's how I eventually ended up at NBC in 88. But I didn't really know much about television or how it worked, but I do remember in 84 at the Olympics in LA of sneaking a look into the control room and watching Rune Arlge at work. And I thought, okay, that's pretty cool. And so I was attracted to television, even though I had always thought of myself as a print guy.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, I'd worked for the Miami Herald and had written for my high school newspaper, written for my college newspaper. So again, if I didn't get the job, if I didn't get into law school and I didn't get the job at NBC, I wanted to go home and write for the Miami Herald. So I had always thought of myself.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Today's show helped her through the whole Olympics. At the end of the Olympics, she says, What are you going to do now? And I said, I have no idea. Because my two year deferment from the University of Virginia Law School had already passed, and I didn't know what I was going to do. And she goes, well, I'd like you to come work on the Today Show with me. And I said, okay. And I had never seen the Today Show at this time, right? When you're in high school, you basically are gone before the Today Show comes up. In college, you sleep through the Today Show. And in this job at the Olympics, I had been traveling the world and not paying attention to the Today Show. But it was a job and it was Jane Paulie.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, so what happened was I was the Olympic researcher and I was assigned to work on two shows, the late night show with Bob And the morning show, with among other people, Jane Pauley. And Jane had come, obviously, from the Today Show and was asked to do the Olympics, and she was scared to death because she knew nothing about sports, nothing about the Olympics. And I was there with her the whole time.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The Yale Daily News. Well, I totally agree with that, and I feel that's what I did when I first went to the Today Show after the Olympics job, I ended up at the Today Show, and I was low man on the totem pole, and I did everything, and I did everything that nobody else wanted to do, and I pulled all nighters all the time. And this was in an era when the Berlin Wall was falling and the tanks were rolling into Moscow and Noriega was captured. And so I was the one there overnight, the only one there doing all the work. And that put me in good position, got me noticed, and left me with a true understanding of all the jobs that needed to be done.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You know, listen, I always have felt that being in charge of those organizations but having grown up in them gave me the perspective so that I understood what everybody's job was and that I thought I was a better leader because I knew what their jobs were.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Dinner table at my rival high school, by the way. So I always liked the writing and reporting. But, you know, I did always tend to want to then run the organization or be in charge of the crimson or NBC, wherever it ended up.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, you know, look, I think I liked both aspects of it, right? You know, I always loved writing, and I think I'm a pretty good writer. And so I liked writing. I liked reporting.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And so it was great. And by the way, what's interesting is again the way in for me like it had been at the Crimson where I did sports and then moved and became the president, I started my career in sports. Eventually moved to news.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Right. So the day that I graduated from college, I got the call from NVC Sports offering me the job as the Olympic researcher, which was really at the time in 1986, one probably the best entry-level job in television. What I did was I was able to travel the world at NBC's expense doing all the background reporting on all the athletes and sports for the Seoul Olympics. And, you know, it was two and a half years, an incredible experience. And then at the Olympics, I worked with this guy who was the brand new first-time announcer at the Olympics, host of the Olympics, a guy who was new to it named Bob Costas. And that turned out to be a lifelong friendship that was just fortuitous for both of us.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Thank God I say it all the time. And if I'd gotten in, I probably would have gone. And so I thank God all the time. I also say that I'd like to apply now and see what happens and see if I could get in. But no, listen, thank God I didn't get in. I took a two-year deferral. I did get into several other law schools. I took a two-year deferral from the University of Virginia. And the reason I did that from the University of Virginia Law School was because they were the only ones who offered a two-year deferral. And needless to say, I never went.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“But so I go to Harvard and I do incredibly well. I become the president of the Harvard Crimson. You know, like anybody who isn't sure what they want to do with their life at that point, you apply to law school. And so I applied to several law schools and I applied to Harvard Law School. And I thought, you know, listen, I'm at Harvard. I've done well, and I'm president of the Crimson. I'm going to get in. And I didn't get in. And I was stunned. And I remember crying on my bed at Harvard senior year. I couldn't believe it. It was the first time that I really didn't get something I wanted. And I couldn't believe it. And as I say now, I thank God every day. I didn't get into Harvard. Yeah, it was probably the biggest.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“She did well, and she was a really good athlete, but I do think that I cast a long shadow in high school, and that was a little tough for her in all candor.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You For you, I think it was. You know, look, I led a very charmed life. We talked about, I had been president of my sophomore class, junior class, senior class in high school, played number one in the class. You have siblings, by the way.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You don't really want to press charges against Gonan O'Brien. And I responded, no, I do. I actually do. Now, of course, and I'm sure we'll probably get to it, Conan O'Brien comes back in my life at a later point. Exactly. But it's a very rich story, yes.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Conan O'Brien, and they did. They took him down to central booking. And I remember I got a call from the Dean of Students at the time at Harvard, Archie Epps, who has since passed away. And he said to me, Jeff.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, you know, I mean, that was the next step. That was the next step if they didn't come quickly enough. But I called the Cambridge Police, told him I wanted to press charges. You know, listen, they want to play games with us. It's a competitive thing, right? We're going to play right back. And so I asked them to”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Campus police are too genteel for you. No, no, I did not call the Harvard police. I called the Cambridge police. And I told them that I wanted to press charges.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, look, you know. There was always a rivalry between the Crimson and the Lampoon, and the lampoon was picking on us at this time, and they stole all our newspapers. And we caught them. And I called the Cambridge police. And I asked.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I did. So, yeah, listen, I went to Harvard after high school in Miami. I went up to Harvard, and I played freshman tennis, so I was still interested in tennis, but I realized I wasn't going to be able to play real college tennis. So I let that go. And I threw myself into the college newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, and I covered sports my freshman year, which was not a common route to get to leadership at the Crimson. Most people went through the news area. I started in sports, but I worked my way up and I became the president of the Crimson. As some people have said, it's been downhill ever since. That was the highlight of my life. But I've had other good highlights. But being the President of Crimson was pretty exciting.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's much better to win. Oh, no, no, no, totally. I mean, listen, I think the thing you learn over time is that it is also important how you play the game, but it's still better to win. It's still better to win.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, listen, you know, I think the important thing actually has been about. Learning to lose with grace. Because when I was young playing tennis, I had a pretty bad temper on the court. And it was really, it was not very becoming. And I have plenty of broken tennis rackets to prove it. And so it's one of the things that I think as you mature, you learn, you know, it's great to win, but you also have to learn how to lose. And I think that took some time in my life. But listen, I'm as competitive today as I was when I was six years old playing tennis.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, so it is true. It is totally fair. I have been competitive my whole life. I played competitive tennis. I ran for student government office every year. I always wanted to win. And where did that come from? You know, I mean, listen, I've lied down on the couch before and tried to analyze that and figure it out. You know, it's not like my parents put pressure on me or anything like that. It was just, I think that was the DNA I was born with. We played touch football on my block growing up. I wanted to win. We played a tennis match. I wanted to win. I ran for student government president. I wanted to win. And that has stayed with me my whole life. I acknowledge.”
2018-12-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 291 — Jeff Zucker · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source