The Bravest Girl in the World
JON STEWART, COMEDY CENTRAL: I know your father is backstage and he's very proud of you, but would he be mad if I adopted you? Because you sure are swell.</s>BALDWIN: Did you see that interview this Tuesday night, Jon Stewart in awe frankly as we all are of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager who you might remember was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman one year ago this week, and on Monday, Malala became the youngest person ever to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. And as her week in New York is wrapped up, but she didn't win, but she did sit down to talk with our very own Christiane Amanpour.</s>MALALA YOUSAFZAI, ACTIVIST: The thing is, they can kill me, they can only kill mala. But it does not mean that they can kill my cause as well. My cause of education, my cause of peace, and my cause of human rights, my cause of equality will still be surviving. They cannot kill my cause.</s>BALDWIN: Joining me now from New York is our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour. And, Christiane, this young woman, she is now 16 years of age. She is passionate. She has conviction. Where does it come from?</s>CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think she's a prodigy. Every time I see her, I'm just absolutely stunned by how un-girl-like she is and how incredibly womanlike she is. She's able to articulate her passion, her dreams, her desires, even after being shot in the head only a year ago. She was so lucky that the bullet didn't pierce her bones, her brain, rather, some bone fragments did, but she's made a remarkable recovery and she consistently keeps up that spirit of really revolutionary zeal and that is to bring education to all Pakistan but most especially to girls. And you wonder where does she get this from?</s>BALDWIN: Right.</s>AMANPOUR: She comes from a small village.</s>BALDWIN: She comes from a small village. This is all about education, and the world, Christiane, knows so much of her story, but there's so much that we don't because we know she went to this Pakistani hospital. She was then flown to Birmingham. And I know there was this British doctor, Dr. Fiona Reynolds, who happened in be in Pakistan and was instrumental in her care. Not many people know about this woman, Christiane. What's the story there?</s>AMANPOUR: Well, I think it's really important to state that the Pakistani doctors, the medical surgeons, the military surgeons, rather, did save her life initially. For instance, they stabilized her and they saved her life with very, very rapid operations after she was wounded. But then, the aftercare was not satisfactory. And quickly her vital signs started to get weaker. And it just so happened that this doctor. Fiona Reynolds, from the specialized hospital in Birmingham, along with Dr. Javid, who was also Pakistani British, were in Pakistan on a different mission and they were asked to come and look at her. And Dr. Reynolds is very shy of the spotlight. She says, look, I'm a doctor, patient/doctor conversation is confidential and privileged, but Malala insisted on telling the whole story, on telling the truth, and therefore that is how I became part of the story. But her role was absolutely instrumental.</s>BALDWIN: So, here we have with mala this outer circle, if you will, of support, right, the doctors and the staff and then you have her family and specifically, Christiane, her father. Tell me about their relationship.</s>AMANPOUR: Oh, my goodness, it is remarkable. You know, I know because I grew up in Iran, which even then was a male-dominated society, and I remember my mother telling me that when her friends, you know, had girls, you know, the dads were just distraught. Some even wept at the bedside. My mother had four girls and my father luckily was very evolved and, obviously, so is Ziauddin Yousafzai, because when he had his little girl, he also had two boys. He said he was thrilled. He looked at the face of this little girl and thought she was miraculous. And he from somewhere deep in his upbringing and situation is a rare commodity in the villages of Pakistan. He's a free and progressive thinker. And he wanted to bring education, not just to all the children, but specifically to girls. And he knew that that is what he wanted to do with his life. He set up a school and that is where Malala went to school. But I think we also understand that she's taken an incredible burden on her shoulders. She and her family are carrying a very heavy cross. The Taliban has continued to say they want to kill her, and if she continues to fight this fight, she's also recognizing that she's doing it at the possible cost of her life.</s>BALDWIN: Revolutionary zeal, I like how you put that. Christiane Amanpour, thank you so much. And you can catch and watch the premiere of "The Bravest Girl in the World" this Sunday night at 7:00 Eastern right here on CNN. Christiane, thank you. Coming up next, relationship advice you probably never heard before. Wait for this. Controversial sex columnist Dan Savage has some savage love for you right after this.