Aired November 29, 2003 - 09:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE
UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: What do Angela Bassett, Isabella Rossellini, Liv
Tyler, and Alyssa Milano all have in common? No, the actresses are not starring
together in a new movie. They are all national ambassadors for the U.S. Fund for
UNICEF, a decades-long effort to help save and protect children around the
world.
And now joining us from Los Angeles to talk about this appointment, Alyssa
Milano, well known to everyone who has a television across the world.
ALYSSA MILANO, UNICEF NATIONAL AMBASSADOR: Good morning.
CALLEBS: Alyssa, thanks very much for joining us.
MILANO: Thank you.
CALLEBS: Tell me how this came about.
MILANO: Well, about two years ago, three years ago, I went to South Africa, and
I lived there for three months while doing a miniseries. And I was so struck
with the dichotomy of the country. The -- when I'd sit in my car and look out
the window, and I'd see the beauty of the landscape, and I'd look down and see
the little street kids sniffing glue.
And there was one day that I witnessed two little boys on the street, and I
assume they were brothers, one was 4 and the other was 7, and it was raining.
And the 7-year-old took off his jacket and put it over the little boy. And...
CALLEBS: Oh, wow, really tugs at your heart, huh?
MILANO: ... I just started weeping.
And I began researching some places to volunteer, and I volunteered in a
children's hospital in a township. And when I got home, I was so almost
depressed, because I didn't know how to assimilate what I learned about myself
in South Africa with the person that I have to be here.
And I basically just decided that I was going to make it my mission to help
children around the world and contacted UNICEF myself.
CALLEBS: Well, that's great. Certainly heart-wrenching. Let's talk about some
of the positive steps out of this, what UNICEF does. Quite the advocacy
organization, it has been for years and years and years, and it has successfully
used celebrities like yourself over the years to promote its cause.
MILANO: Yes, 50 years of celebrity advocacy. They have really -- you know, Danny
Kaye was the first celebrity to actually marry himself to any charity. He was
the first goodwill ambassador in 1954. And he -- there's a great quote from him
that says, "I believe that children are more powerful than oil, more beautiful
than rivers, and more precious than any natural resource a country can have."
And I'm just honored to be carrying on that legacy. And, you know, UNICEF is
something that I feel comfortable knowing that they are protecting the rights of
children around the world.
CALLEBS: Well, tell me what you think, as a celebrity, as a well-known
individual, you think you can bring to enable the causes of children?
MILANO: Well, I think that -- I think that the celebrity is a really important
thing, because we have the voice that's recognizable, that can educate people to
make a difference and empower them to make a difference, and to also get things
in motion with the people in charge that can effect change.
You know, so, I take it very seriously, and I'm really excited.
CALLEBS: Indeed, a noble cause. You're also a photographer. And we have some
pictures that you've taken we would -- we'd like to go to now. We'll start with
the ones in Iraq. You just came back- -- Well, actually, we're going to start
(UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
MILANO: Those are South Africa. Oh, that's Iraq.
CALLEBS: Oh, there's the one in Iraq? Now, that is you underneath all that,
correct?
MILANO: No, that was not me. There should be a self-portrait. That's actually a
pilot from a Chinook.
CALLEBS: That's strange, you look like a 30-year-old man from here. No, I'm just
joking. Let's move on to some of these others. Now, hear a cache of bullets.
MILANO: Yes, that was just on the seat when we got onto the helicopter. I
thought that I needed to document that.
The thing I love about photography is, it really captures a moment in time. And
I'm able to take these pictures back and relate to people what different
traditions and culture is all about. This being obviously the American tradition
and culture of the military.
CALLEBS: Right. And some of the troops. Now, what do they ask about more,
"Who's the Boss," or "Charmed"?
MILANO: Actually, Ava Savalot (ph), believe it or not, my MCI commercials.
CALLEBS: Right, right, I remember that.
MILANO: Because maybe they're calling collect back home. I don't know.
CALLEBS: I'm sure they are. Now we have some from South Africa. And these,
I'm sure, just as emotional to you for many different reasons.
MILANO: Yes. I mean, to me, the camera became my best friend when I was in South
Africa, because it was my way to bring home what I went through there and
express it to my family, who had no idea what I was going through there. So this
became really my weapon to empower my family, and I sort of...
CALLEBS: Look at this little guy here. Very cute picture.
MILANO: She had a little cold.
CALLEBS: Oh, poor thing.
MILANO: She was a little snotty. I have a little cold too, so that's how I feel
like I look right now.
CALLEBS: And this, just some of the squalor people have to live with day in
and day out that you were talking about.
MILANO: Yes, that's the Mandela Park Township. And, you know, you can see the
little boy's bare feet. And...
CALLEBS: And you're black and white, very artsy as well.
MILANO: Sleeping Beauty, yes.
CALLEBS: Well, what do you plan to do with these? Do you, what, what, do you
ever want to expand and have an exhibit and maybe marry the two?
MILANO: My pictures from South Africa, actually, when I got back, I had an
exhibit and auctioned off my photography and raised $50,000 in four hours for
the Mucosi's (ph) Haven Project, which, you know, is something that I felt
really strongly about, which is basically a save haven for women with HIV and
their children that are also HIV-positive.
So I think it's a great way to actually show people different cultures and
traditions, and also, you know, marry the charity aspect of it, and give them a
piece of what I experienced there through raising money for different charities.
CALLEBS: Alyssa Milano, thanks very much for joining us.
MILANO: Thank you so much.
CALLEBS: We certainly appreciate it. And from now on...
MILANO: Thank you. I appreciate it.
CALLEBS: ... Ava Savalot, that's how I'll toss it out there. Thanks very much
for joining us.
MILANO: Thank you, have a great day.
CALLEBS: And best of luck. OK, thanks a lot.
MILANO: Thank you.