Katie Couric to Senator Hillary Clinton: "Do You Pop Vitamins?"

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By Felix Gillette

February 11, 2008 | 1:12 p.m

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There have been more than 25 presidential debates already this political season, hosted by FOX, CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, and Univision. But to date, CBS News has yet to sponsor a single showdown.

Last night, however, viewers who would like to see Katie Couric questioning the leading presidential candidates on a big stage, got the next best thing: Katie Couric questioning Hillary Clinton on 60 Minutes.

What did Ms. Couric ask?

Over the course of a lengthy back-and-forth, among other questions, Ms. Couric asked if Ms. Clinton popped vitamins, whether she liked Barack Obama, if she felt responsible for a deficit "caused largely by a war" she had authorized, what she was like in high school, and did her teenage classmates really call her Miss Frigidaire?

Herewith, a transcript of the interchange, courtesy of CBS:

KATIE COURIC: How do you do it? I mean, the satellite interviews, the speeches, the travel, the debates, the schmoozing, the picture taking, 24 7.

HILLARY CLINTON: I do it because I really believe in what I'm doing.

KATIE COURIC: I knew you were going to say that.

HILLARY CLINTON: Well, but it's true.

KATIE COURIC: But I'm talking about pure stamina.

HILLARY CLINTON: Pure stamina. I have a lot of stamina and I have a lot of resilience.

KATIE COURIC: Having said that, do you pop vitamins? Do you mainline coffee?

HILLARY CLINTON: I take-- I take vitamins. I-- I drink tea, not coffee anymore. I have really stopped drinking diet drinks. Because I found that they gave you a jolt, but they weren’t good over the long run. I used to drink a lot of them. I drink tons of water. Just as much water as I can possibly drink.

HILLARY CLINTON: My two secrets to staying healthy-- wash your hands all the time. And, if you can't, use Purell or one of the sanitizers. And the other is hot peppers. I eat a lot of hot peppers. I-- for some reason started doing that in 1992 and I swear by it.