Clinton to be on PBS tonight

Secretary Clinton won’t be able to attend President Obama’s State of the Union address tonight because she’s in London for a meeting about Yemen (today) and a conference on Afghanistan (tomorrow). She will, however, be featured on PBS tonight on Tavis Smiley Reports. It’s supposed to air at 8 p.m. Eastern time, an hour before the State of the Union, but check local listings.

Here’s what the news release that was emailed to me says (with my emphasis in bold):

A candid and revealing profile of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the focus of the first TAVIS SMILEY REPORTS, a series of four hour-long primetime specials premiering tonight on PBS. For this special program, Smiley leaves his studio chair in Los Angeles and goes on the road with Secretary Clinton. During the report – debuting one hour before the State of the Union in most markets — Smiley and Clinton examine some of the country’s defining moments, analyze the major events in President Obama’s first year in office, and talk frankly about what’s next for her career.

Smiley was granted exceptional access to Secretary Clinton and accompanied her on diplomatic missions abroad, to meetings on Capitol Hill, and within the State Department itself to give the American public an up close and comprehensive view of the inner workings of U.S. diplomacy and international relations. During the episode, Clinton discusses her relationship with the press, her thoughts on the surge in Afghanistan, and her views on how women are essential to improving developing economies.

In particular, Clinton notes a shift in attitude towards the United States since President Obama’s election. She says: "Now, there’s a lot of work to be done; we still face many threats and other issues that we have to deal with, but I think we’ve changed the tone, we’ve changed the attitude, and there’s a great deal more openness to the United States."

Additionally, Clinton points out how reading the press’ criticisms during her presidential campaign shed light on the larger issue of gender equity which needs to be improved across the U.S. She notes: "What I was not prepared for was a lot of the criticism that I thought had less to do with me and more to do with attitudes about women, that was surprising to me.  I mean, it was 2007 and 2008, but you know, that’s something we still have to work on in this country."