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Interview of the First Lady by Robin Roberts, Good Morning America
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For Immediate Release Office of the First Lady November 26, 2008

Interview of the First Lady by Robin Roberts, Good Morning America Green
Room



7:42 A.M. EST

Q And now we go inside the most private rooms of the White House, with one
of our favorite guests, First Lady Laura Bush, and footage from a new
History Channel documentary. It's called "The White House: Behind Closed
Doors," and these rooms are rarely seen by anyone but Presidents and their
families, and we're getting an all access pass. That woman right there, the
First Lady, is in the Green Room at the White House. Mrs. Bush, it is
always a pleasure to spend time with you. Thank you so much for joining us
this morning.

MRS. BUSH: Thank you so much, Robin; appreciate it.

Q Yes, any time. Before we talk about the documentary, of course our heart
goes out to your mother-in-law, the former First Lady, Barbara Bush. We
understand that she was hospitalized overnight; she seems to be doing okay.
Please tell us the latest on her condition.

MRS. BUSH: Well, she's doing great. George and I talked to both President
Bush and Barbara Bush last night while they were in the hospital and they
were both doing very well then. And then this morning we didn't call them
because we were afraid we got up too early and we'd wake them up too early.
But the White House doctor did talk to Barbara Bush's doctor and she's
doing very well and so we're really, really thankful.

Q Oh, yes, indeed. Well, give her our best and thank you for sharing that
with us.

MRS. BUSH: I sure will.

Q This documentary is something else. You know, the public, we only see
what we're allowed to see at the White House. But on the second floor -
that's where the family has to have a little, you know, some private time,
and that's where you have the living room and the dining room and such. Is
that where the family really spends the most time, private time?

MRS. BUSH: That is really where we sit, in front of that beautiful
Palladian window down at the end of the cross hall with the west sun coming
in, in the late afternoon - especially in the winter, it's such a warm
place to sit. And that's the dining room where we have all three meals,
breakfast, lunch and dinner. We host a lot of family dinner parties in
there, and also a lot of our friends come and we have friends' dinner
parties there.

Just this week we had Prime Minister Olmert and his wife, Aliza, there for
a dinner, for our farewell dinner with them. So we use it both for
entertaining heads of state and for all of our - just cereal and milk for
breakfast.

Q And how do you go about selecting the menu? And do you get to write out a
grocery list or anything like that?

MRS. BUSH: Yes, of course, if there's anything I want, I'll make a list. A
lot of times when the girls are here they'll ask for special juices or teas
or things that they like. And the White House chefs, who are all excellent,
make up the menus for the week and then give me a paper with the menus on
them -- and then I think if we're not in the mood for some dish or
something, I'll check with them and we'll change it. But their food is
always great.

Q Oh, I can imagine so. This is a time of course of transition there at the
White House. And you and your husband graciously invited the Obamas, and
they said how wonderful and gracious you both were in showing them around.
We kind of -- Diane and I kind of laughed a little bit when you said that
Michelle Obama wanted to know about the closet space there.

MRS. BUSH: Well, she didn't ask me as much about them as I told her about
them, because I think people are always interested. I remember sitting with
Ann Richards once, Governor Richards -- we had moved into the Governor's
Mansion after she lived there. And she and I were sitting on the stage at
some event together, and she got her program and drew on it and drew a
diagram of the dressing room and said, "I think you can put closets here,"
and "I think you can put closets there." I think it's just something that
women like to be sure they know about before they move somewhere.

Q Yes. Well, let's show a bit of the documentary, because there are some
secret closets there at the White House. Let's take a look:

MRS. BUSH: There are a number of what look like secret doors everywhere
here. Because of the oval shape that's so common in the White House we end
up with these extra spaces in what would be the corner. And so that's what
these are used for, these are storage, and this is the china closet.

Q The configuration I would imagine is quite challenging there at the White
House. What have you been able to share with Mrs. Obama about making the
White House, as you have, home?

MRS. BUSH: Well, we've told her that, you know, it is a home, and I know
that's what she wants to do and that's her first priority, is to make sure
her little girls have a home. That's what it was when we moved here. The
very first rooms I did were the two rooms that were for our girls, who were
freshmen in college. I wanted them to be able to have these rooms to move
home and come home for holidays and have their own space.

So those are the rooms that Barbara and Jenna showed little Malia and Sasha
when they came over to visit. And that was really fun. It was fun for the
girls to get to show them not only that room, but the way the big cross
hall can be an obstacle course for little kids to run up and down, and the
solarium ramp that you can slide down on your bottom. So they showed them
all the special tricks.

Q Now, is it true that Sasha and Malia, they were jumping up and down on
the bed in the Lincoln Bedroom?

MRS. BUSH: We did a little bed jumping, the girls sort of showed them -- it
wasn't the Lincoln Bedroom, it was another bedroom with a very tall bed
that we usually put a step out for people to step into when they stay in
that room. But instead the little girls did the running jump, and Barbara
and Jenna of course aided and abetted that jumping.

Q No - (laughter) - I can't believe that they would have done that.
(Laughter.)

What is your favorite place there in the White House on the second floor,
what's your little sanctuary?

MRS. BUSH: Well, I usually do sit in the cross hall with the light coming
in. That is an interior hall, it's a very long hall with no windows, except
the beautiful, two Palladian windows at either end. I like to sit there in
the afternoon with the sun coming in. My cat loves to sit on one of those
chairs in the afternoon because she can sit in a sunny spot.

Also, the beautiful Monet that the White House owns is right across from a
chair there, and I think all First Ladies have loved to sit there and look
at that beautiful painting.

Q Well, Mrs. Bush, one of my fondest memories is having tea with you there
when you invited me last year to Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, on the breast
cancer mission that you had. I remember having tea there with you and it's
something that I will always remember, very thankful for.

MRS. BUSH: Oh, great. Thank you so much, Robin.

Q It's good to see you. Have a wonderful, wonderful Thanksgiving with your
family. Thank you.

MRS. BUSH: Thanks. Happy Thanksgiving.

END 7:49 A.M. EST

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