My Monday Morning: Gayle King

(upbeat music) - Hello to you on "Heel King," and this is "My Monday Morning." - For decades, Gail King has appeared on TV's "Across America," and is currently the co-host of CBS mornings. She's anchored breaking news moments, conducted groundbreaking interviews, and made us laugh while we're getting ready in the morning. For her Monday morning, Gail told me about her 324 AM alarm, her very specific Starbucks order, and why she's done being quiet about menopause. I'm Lane Floreshine, and that's coming up after the break. (upbeat music) - This is, of course, a series about morning routines, and so I'm so excited to talk to you because as the co-host of CBS mornings, my understanding is that you have your very early morning down to an art. Your alarm is pretty famously set to 324 AM. - 324. - How long? - Three snoozes. - Three snoozes. How long did it take you to get used to that early wake up? - I'm still not used to it, but I've just accepted that it's my reality. It's the job that I have. I still love the job. So it doesn't do any good to moan in bitch about it because it's not going to change as long as I have this job. But it really is brutal. I wear this watch. I love the Apple Watch because it gives you so much data. And I keep it because it shows me all the sleep I'm not getting. So it's not, I'm not healthy Lane. - I'm not healthy. - How many hours are you averaging a night? - I don't even want to tell you it's so embarrassing. Because when I say this to doctors, they go, "Oh my God, Gail," and then you get a whole big lecture about how it affects your brain, Alzheimer's, your heart. But I would say four to five. If I sleep six hours, I'm doing the frickin' hula. And that just very seldom happens. But I saw a story on Sunday mornings years ago, and it was a story about short sleepers. And they were talking about how people can function on four hours of sleep a night. I thought, "I wonder if I'm that person." Whatever that is, it's not good. If there's one thing I need to do better, it's sleep. And I haven't figured out a way to master that yet. - You also don't drink caffeine. - No, I don't drink caffeine, I don't drink alcohol. - What's the secret to your energy and how you just keep going? - You know, it sounds very cliche, but it really is true. I so love being on the planet. I so love being able to do what I'm doing at this stage of my life, at this speed. And I say that I want to live my life in full gallop and I want to soak it all in for as long as I'm here. Like last night, I went to the opening of a play. School girls also known as the African Mean Girls. It was so good. I went to the play, this is my favorite kind of play. No intermission, seven to eight, 30, no intermission. And then you're done and done. And you'll be proud of me. I did not go to the after party. There was an after party. But I did get to soak it in. So I figure out a way to do the things that I like to do. - Well, and speaking of that, so, okay, 3.24 am, three snoozes, and then every day you take a bath, right? - Yeah, 3.24, I love bathing. People always say to me, "You like a bath over shower?" Definitely, definitely. When I go to a hotel, if they ask what's on your, I don't have a rider, but I do ask, could I please have a room with a tub? - Yeah. - I just like sitting and soaking in the tub with bubbles. Picture it, Lane, go ahead. You're surrounded by the bubbles, it's lovely. I like that. - And do you eat breakfast in the morning? - No, no, because I start so early. I have no appetite at the hours that I arrive at work. So they have fruit and they have water. The thought of sitting and having a proper breakfast that early in the morning, I cannot do it. But I don't really like to eat before I go on the air in the morning. I don't want to do that. I read somewhere that instead of coffee or go-to drink is at least during the colder months a white chocolate. - Starbucks White Hot Chocolate, yes. I just had that the other day. And it's White Hot Chocolate with skim milk. And they'll say, "Do you want whipped cream?" And I'll go, "No, I'm watching my weight." (laughing) But give me the White Hot Chocolate, which is nothing but pure sugar, by the way. I am aware of that. I have a terrible, terrible, terrible sweet tooth, but I love that White Hot Chocolate. And you have to make sure, Lane, when you ordered, 'cause I know you will, because I know you're intrigued, that it is a White Hot Chocolate. Not just Hot Chocolate or a White Mocha, which is coffee. I don't like coffee. You have to make sure that it's White Hot Chocolate. There is a difference, and it is delicious. - Well, I really admire your routine for a lot of reasons, but one of them is that I think normally, when we hear a 330 or 4AM wake up or thinking like, cold plunges and optimization and protein vaccine. - But you look-- - Stop talking crazy person. Stop, stop. Nope, nope, nope. - But you fill your mornings with things that you love and that sound relaxing. - It is, it is, you know. And some days are more hectic than others. I get that, it's not always smooth sailing, because you know what the biggest stress for me is picking out what you want to wear. I know I should do it the night before, I just, I never do that. I get up, I want to see what the weather's gonna be like in particular, sometimes, you know, depending who the guest is on the show. Like, for having a particular designer on, I try to wear something that I know that they would like or preferably something from their own line. Or if it's a more serious interview than I would wear a darker color. So my biggest stress in the morning is deciding what to wear. I know I could make it much easier on myself and pick it out the night before, but I don't do that. - And do you ever exercise in the mornings or-- - Laine, do you know what time I'd have to get up to do that? - No, I'd have to get up at like 230, I'm just not doing that. I'm not that dedicated. What I do, I used to work out at the end of the day, but now I find I'm even too tired to do that. I go super hard, super hard on the weekends. - I wanted to ask you about your routines around, like research and prep for your interviews. I heard you say that you always, ahead of interviewing someone, you always read their book or watch their TV show to find that like little nugget that no one else is going to find. Do you block out a certain amount of time for research every day, or you know what does that look like for you? - I do it as catch as catch can. Like right before I came to join you, I was looking at East of Eden because a producer of East of Eden is coming on Thursday. There are seven episodes. I normally like to do, get, watch one or two to get a feel of it, but then I find myself, if it's really good, I watch the whole damn thing. Just because I want to know how something ended. This morning, as we're sitting here taping, I had John Grisham on his new book, The French Illusion is coming out and it's so good. And so I read the whole book, but I pride myself on preparation. - Well, and one of the reasons that we're talking today is because of the book of menopause that you and the other editors-- - I'm very prepared about menopause. But it's true when it says, real talk, real science, real strategies for your next chapter. And if we're lucky, if we're lucky, I can tell you haven't gone, you haven't experienced the joy of this yet. I have all of the chapters. If we're lucky, we'll all get to this. This is really what we all want to get to. And so I don't run away from it. I don't shy away from it. I think it's great that we're talking about it. When I was coming up, we never talked about it. And now I think I can't get enough of the conversation to be honest with you. But I grew up in a time where you said, "Menopause, you couldn't even say the word." I didn't even know the word because people think it's just a drive of a genus. And it's not. There's so many things that go into menopause. You should see Josh behind the camera. A guy going, "Oh, God." We're trying to educate the men, too. Say it with me, Josh, three times, drive of a genie, drive of a genie, drive of a genie, drive of a genie. - Starting right from Oprah's introduction, I learned a lot reading the book where she wrote that menopause affects every single cell in your body. I didn't know that. I didn't know about some of these symptoms, like foot pain or sensory overload. Did you learn anything that was surprising to you all working on it? - You know, it isn't a one-size-fits-all. Everybody has a different experience. So don't get hung up about that either. You don't have to have hot-flat. Not everybody has hot flashes. I do. I still, to this day, have wicked hot flashes that just come out of nowhere. But not everybody has to experience that. Not everybody has to experience the foggy brain. But there are just so many things that you can experience. It's just good to know about it ahead of time. So you don't feel that something is really out of whack with your body. - I love this essay by Kira Von Eichel. It has this ending that I really liked about the unexpected upsides of menopause and getting older, like being less distracted and caring less about what other people think in a deeper contentment. Have you found any of those upsides in your own life? - All of that is true. And I don't need menopause for that. I don't need menopause to feel grateful for living longer than a lot of people have. I've outlived both of my parents. My dad died when he was 47. My mom died at 60, 10 days before her 61st birthday. I sit here at 71 and I went through, when I was turning 60 to 61, I was very nervous. whole year, is this going to be it? I didn't think I was going to die of 46, 47, but I did worry about it at 60, 61. And now I've outlived both of them, but I don't need menopause to make me feel grateful for the appreciation of a life, living life and feeling more experienced and more wise. I don't feel, I make no apologies about that. Yeah. I'm just, I tell you, I'm grateful to be on the planet. When I was younger, I remember laying when my mom turned 50, and that just seemed so old. And I look at the pictures, 50 is, is a piece of cake. I can tell you're not 50 yet, but 50 is no longer old. No. But I used to say when she turned 50, I thought, God, if I could live till 80, that's good. That's good if I could live till 80. Now that I'm sitting here on the 71st line, I'm thinking, let's go for 90, at least. Yeah, let's go for 90. You're right, at least. As long as you're healthy and in good shape, as long as you're healthy and in good shape. Coming up, Gale talks about why everyone needs a best friend like Oprah. You're one half of one of the world's most famous friendships. What is something that most people don't know about your relationship with Oprah? I don't know if there's too much people don't know, because we're both chatty cafes, and it's not like we have secrets about it. I think women in particular understand what it's like to have a really good friend. And I'm not saying you have to have a lot of friends, but most women I know have somebody who is their closest confidant. We can know a lot of people, but it's a very different thing when you say this is my best friend. And so for me, that's somebody who doesn't judge you, who tells you the truth, very important, who tells you the truth, and you know has your back. And we are both extremely loyal to each other, both, you know, I admire everything she does. I always say this, there's nobody like her. And I always say, I can't wait for you to meet Oprah because she doesn't disappoint. That's how I feel about her. I don't think that's a surprise to anybody. But women in particular understand what this is like. People, lame people, stop me on the street all the time and say, "Gail, this is my Oprah. Gail, this is my Gail." People say that to me all of the time. And I know exactly what they mean when they say it. Michelle Obama said on her podcast that one of her favorite things about you is how supportive you are and how you're always hyping her up. So I was wondering as someone who gives a lot, what do you need from your friends? You just need to know that they're there if you need them for anything. That's all. You just need to know that they're there if you need them. Like, you know, I think girls trips are a lot of fun. And I always think that's always a good time. But you just need to know that there's somebody that you can count on, that you could call it any hour of the day or night if something is out of whack or out of kilter. That's really the only thing I need. Just know that you're there. Just know that you're there and and and that you care. You've been a journalist for over four decades and you're often at the center of, you know, history and the making, breaking news. You've moderated a presidential debate. And you also, you interview a lot of people who don't normally sit down for interviews. What's an interview or just a moment that you're especially proud of? One of the stories that affected me most was shooting in Newtown because I had anchored the news there for 18 years. And so that one hit really hard. Those little children killed in the the school shooting was 26 people, 20 of them were kids. They're, you know, six years old at the time. You know, they still had their little baby teeth. I think about that, you know, because school should be a safe place. But I'm really proud of the coverage we did there and that I I've since become friends with some of the parents and still remain friends with them today. But that's the story that deeply affected me most. But I've had some wonderful times with people that are famous and people that are not so famous. I just like talking to people. And I really believe everybody has a story. I believe any question can be asked. It's just a matter of the right tone, the right setting and the right time. Yeah. Well, I've heard you talk about how you've been just naturally curious about people since you were a little kid. And so yeah, they used to call it nosy. I prefer to say inquisitive. Yes. You are correct. Are there ways that you've really like honed that curiosity or, you know, into the, you know, how successful your career has been and the way that you talk to people or does that kind of like curiosity just come really instinctually and intuitively to you? I think it does come instinctually to me. You know, Lane, I will go places. Believe it or not. And I go, I'm not going to say anything. I'm just going to sit here and listen. I'm just going to take it all. And then somebody will say something that I either think is bad crazy or that I'm fascinated that I want to know more about. And before I know it, I'm all involved in a stranger's conversation. I just, I really am just naturally curious about about people, about what they're doing and about how they're doing. Happened to me the other day on a plane that people weren't even talking to me. And the next thing I know, I just had a couple of questions about how they were navigating things. What were they talking about? Relationships on my favorite things. It's rich subject matter. Yes. I don't know. Is there any one thing that comes to mind as like the most important thing you've learned about communicating and connecting with people? I don't know. You know, my angel said something once and I know this is true. People may not remember what you did, what you said, but they will always remember how you make them feel. They will always remember that. I'm always very cognizant of that whenever I'm talking to anybody. I never want anybody to feel embarrassed or angry or blindsided when they're talking to me. I never want people to feel bad when they're talking to me. Ever. And I've had a couple of times when we got off there and the people were mad and I go, what are you mad about? Well, I didn't know you were going to ask about that. But it's all in the news. It's all in the news. I mean, it's not like I'm unveiling a top secret. And is there anyone you haven't interviewed yet who's a dream interview for you? I am trying desperately, desperately. I begged, I pleaded, I groveled. She's not there yet. But I really want to talk to Ella Langley. You know, that song, "Choose in Texas." I love that song. It's now number one. It's Beat Mariah Carey's record. I went to see her at concert. I just I'm fascinated by her. She's young. She's just shooting out of a cannon. And I also want to talk to the whole doubt juror in the Lindsay Clancy case. You know, because we've talked to some of the jurors, we know the vote was 11 to one. You know, there are conflicting things about that. You know, he says that he was standing as ground because he believed what he believed. The other jurors are saying, well, he told us in the deliberation room that he had reasonable doubt. But even with reasonable doubt, he wasn't going to vote. Anyway, I'm very fascinated by that story too. We need you to get to the bottom of that. But this is the thing, Lane, this is the beauty of what I like about the news business. News business. There's always something happening. There's always somebody you want to talk to. There's always something going on. There's always another dream interview. Yeah. You know, I begged Bruce Springsteen for a long time before he finally sat down because I begged Jay Z for over five years. He finally said, yes, I begged Michael Jordan because these are all people that don't have to do interviews. Right. With those ones, is there, do you have a sense of like what finally got each of them to a yes? Or, you know, I think they wanted me to stop bothering them. The very polite bother, but it is still a bother. Well, it is still a bother. And I know that. But they can also see I'm very sincere, you know? Yeah. It comes from like a place of like we've been talking about genuine curiosity. Yes. Yes. Do you have any hobbies or habits most of your fans don't know about? I wish I had a hobby. I just said to somebody the other day, what kind of hobby could I have? I don't know. My hobby, I enjoy eating. I enjoy a good meal, whether it's fine dining or whether it's a great burger. I like them both, but I wish I had a bonafide hobby where you collect things or I don't have a hobby. I do love one of my favorite things to do is checking into a hotel and ordering room service. I love that. You know, it's one of those things where you don't pay it. If you look at the prices on the room service menu, you would never do it, because they are outrageous and redunculus. So you can't look at the prices. You just have to say, I'm going to go. I'm going to splurge and I'm going to do it. And there've been a couple times where I ordered so much that the person said, for how many? And I went to because I was so thrown by the question, never occurred to me to ask for how many. And she said, for how many? I went to, and it was really only one. And when they brought up the food, I'd gone and turned the shower on in the bathroom. And I went, honey, the food is here. Now, why should I care what somebody, stranger, doesn't even know me thanks, but I was thrown by, for how many when it was really just one, because you said, sound like this little piggy went to market. And I don't want to, I don't want to leave that impression either. Well, thank you so much for your interview. It was so great chatting with you and learning more about the book of Menopause. Yes. You're morning. All right, Lane. Thank you. So nice to meet you. Bye-bye. My Monday morning is part of the journal, which is a co-production of Spotify Studios and the Wall Street Journal. I'm Lane Florsheim and thank you so much for joining us for my Monday morning. This is our last episode of the series, but you can follow the journal podcast for more. And follow me on Instagram @LaneFlorsheim to stay in touch and let me know what you've thought of the show. This episode was produced by Jiveka Verma and edited by Catherine Brewer and Sarah Platt. Video production by Nathan Singapak. Original music by Nathan Singapak. Have a great Monday.