My Monday Morning: Gayle King

Gayle King (0:08)

Hello to you, I'm Gayle King, and this is My Monday Morning.

Lane Florsheim (0:18)

For decades, Gayle 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, Gayle told me about her 3:24 AM alarm, her very specific Starbucks order, and why she's done being quiet about menopause.

I'm Lane Florsheim, and that's coming up after the break.

SPEAKER_3 (0:52)

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SPEAKER_4 (1:23)

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Lane Florsheim (2:22)

This is of course a series about morning routines 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.

Gayle King (2:37)

324 Three snoozes.

Lane Florsheim (2:40)

Three snoozes. How long did it take you to get used to that early wake up?

Gayle King (2:45)

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 and 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 I'm not healthy, Lane. I'm not healthy.

Lane Florsheim (3:11)

How many hours are you averaging a night?

Gayle King (3:14)

I don't even want to tell you. It's so embarrassing. Because when I say this to doctors, they go, Oh my God, Gayle, 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 freaking 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.

Lane Florsheim (3:55)

You also don't drink caffeine, right?

Gayle King (3:59)

I don't drink caffeine, I don't drink alcohol.

Lane Florsheim (4:02)

What's the secret to your energy and how you just keep going?

Gayle King (4:07)

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.