[Bolduan:] No, thank you very much. Shirley Sherrod's not coming back to the Agriculture Department any time soon. You'll remember Sherrod was forced out last month after video of a speech she gave was edited to make her appear racist and Sherrod still insists the White House pushed for her resignation. Shirley Sherrod is joining me this morning from our Washington, D.C. bureau. Thank you so much for joining me this early in the morning, Shirley. So, Shirley, why not take the job? Why decide against it?
[Shirley Sherrod, Fmr. Georgia Dir. Of Rural Development, Usda:] Well, if Secretary Vilsack was the only person I had to deal with in the new position, maybe everything would have been OK. But everyone else and everything else is still in place. I'm not sure I would have been free to do the job the way it should have been done. And, you know, when you've been bitten once, it's hard to go back and put yourself out there for more punishment.
[Bolduan:] So hurt feelings or do you think there is still a problem within the Agriculture Department that you don't think you could work within?
[Sherrod:] Well, I'm you know, what did anything change? I don't think so. The secretary said he put some of the methods in place so that what happened to me won't happen again. I certainly don't want to be the one to test that. Hopefully, things have changed in that sense and people won't be so quick to judge and act on that.
[Bolduan:] So what is next for you? I know you've mentioned you have a lot of letters to answer and then some Facebooking to get to. But what job opportunities what are you looking for coming up?
[Sherrod:] Well, I don't have any job opportunities at this point. I have to just look at what's possible. I do need to take a little time to think and look at the future. I do plan to be busy. I would like to explore locating others who think like I do, who are working on issues in their community dealing with race to see if there is any way I can begin to help highlight some of the good that is happening.
[Bolduan:] Making it through this experience that you went through gives you although it's clearly nothing you would ever have asked for gives you a unique opportunity to have a bigger impact, a stronger voice on this issue of race and discrimination than you could have ever asked for before. How do you want to utilize that? Some would say being within the government would give you a better opportunity than being outside of the government.
[Sherrod:] I don't think being within the government would give me a better opportunity to speak out on this issue than being outside. What I would like to do and I have lots of friends throughout the country, people I've worked with through the years. I'd just like to get a few of them together to help me think through how we can work together at trying to make a difference in this area.
[Bolduan:] Do you see although I know I said that this clearly was nothing you could have would ever ask for, do you see a silver lining in this situation in the attention, in the in all the interviews that you've that you've had to do and have done, do you think something has come out of it?
[Sherrod:] You know, I certainly think so. Just from hearing from people, from running into people, it's amazing how many individuals who are not even working in the government feel that they have gained something from this whole situation that I've been in. You know, I've always trusted in God to help lead me where I need to be, to help guide me. I did that many, many years ago when my father died and I've actually allowed him to help guide me to the future and that's what I'm looking for now. And I'm looking to have friends and others give me suggestions on how we can best capitalize on something that happened to me that was so hurtful.
[Bolduan:] Shirley, where do you think the country stands on race relations today? Are you optimistic or pessimistic the direction the country is going? Do you think more dialogue needs to be had, more action needs to be taken, or do you think your experience has pushed it at least in a step a step in the right direction?
[Sherrod:] You know you know, this is a great country and we have a lot of great people living here. We are not where we need to be in terms of race relations in this country. You know, what happened to me I think helped us to look at the fact that we do need to pull the covers back again and come out of the chute running on trying to make this place a better place for all ethnic groups to live and strive. We can do this. We can make this a better place for all of us. We don't need to keep fighting each other. We can make this a better place for everyone to live and to work and have a good life.
[Bolduan:] Shirley Sherrod, thank you so much. Good luck with whichever endeavors you decide to take on in the future. Thank you so much.
[Sherrod:] OK. Thank you.
[Bolduan:] Jim.
[Acosta:] Wish we could have Shirley on every day. That's just me. Love Shirley. It is 6:45. Still to come on the Most News in the Morning, Jacqui Jeras is in for Rob today. She will have this morning's travel forecast right after the break. And a little later, the nationwide egg recall expands. We'll tell you what you can make sure you can do to see that those eggs you're buying at the supermarket are safe. It is 46 minutes past the hour.