C.J.: Fox's Harris Faulkner salutes military upbringing, Minnesota

Fox News Channel's Harris Faulkner is a player in the media world, having gone from correspondent to hosting two weekday shows.

In Part 2 of our interview, she told me she has no hard feelings toward KSTP-TV, where she was an anchor. She's also cool with Hasbro, the toymaker she sued after it produced a hamster toy named "Harris," which bore a striking resemblance to the TV personality — especially about the fluffy eyelashes.

Harris said she'll let me know first if there's a Twin Cities stop on her national tour for "9 Rules of Engagement," her latest book.

"I had a book 15 years ago now that was born out of me wanting to [tell] what really happened as a stalking victim and to talk about my faith," she said. "This book came from a motivational speech that is one of my most popular, called '9 Rules of Engagement.' It's my military upbringing that brought forth '9 Rules' that I live my life by. It explains a lot for some people [who have said], 'I totally get this. Now I know why you're so annoying.' "

Q: You have special title for your daughters?

A: I call them my "Young Women Under Construction." They are fierce, like you and me 2.0. We are bold; you and I like to laugh. I think it's so important, so healing. I was always tenacious. I'm all of those things that I was brought up to really value: honesty, stick with it, don't quit, don't cut and run, stay in there. When you think things might fall apart, believe that you have enough for victory. That's the stuff I have in me. I impart this to my kids and it's like, they are on another level with it. My 8-year-old is competing in gymnastics; some of the things I've seen her do just blow me away; the way she can gather herself. I'm not saying she doesn't have fear, she handles her fear. I'm like, am I raising this child? Well, I had some help obviously from that boy, who you know.

Q: Who on Fox is working more hours than you?

A: [Laughter] Have you talked to [my husband] Tony, recently? He has the same question. I tell you what, if somebody gives you the opportunity to live your dream, wouldn't you want to do it for a lot of hours? I'm OK. He does not age and I'm drinking the same water he is, so it's not in the water. He still goes up [to northern Minnesota] and visits friends, and they do golf trips. Our Minnesota connection is strong.

Q: You're big time at a national TV network. Do you ever think: KSTP, how do you like me now?

A: No. They are part of my journey. I got six Emmys while at KSTP! I worked with some great people. Randy Meier, [now of Fox 9] he's so talented. How many children does he have, 99? [She also "called out" photographers Jason Hanson, of KSTP, and Mark Anderson, now chief storyteller and CEO of Creative Soul Video.] These are people who made me a better storyteller. That whole newsroom is just crazy talented.

Q: When are you having comedian Leslie Jones on "Outnumbered Overtime," since she had such great fun parodying you on "Saturday Night Live"?

A: Leslie Jones in my powder blue dress! She stole my dress! She even had my blue nail polish. Full disclosure: I'm a fan. I liked the remake of "Ghostbusters." Who's not complimented by the fact that they took what I consider to be my game and broke some fake news? I had to laugh out loud. I don't watch much of anything every week, I just don't have time. But to see a woman of color, as part of the "cold open," parody another woman of color. You don't see that every day.

Q: You weren't just a little flattered by Hasbro appropriating your name and likeness?

A: Flattered, question mark. In the sense that it's something that [my children] would joke about someday. I can't say much about it. We settled it, we moved on; the big thing was I hadn't sanctioned it. Nobody talked to me about it.

Q: When I talked about your Hasbro lawsuit, I theorized that you were upset about the toy being a hamster. Bunny is better than hamster, and hamster is not as bad as rat.

A: You always see the silver lining, C.J. [Laughter.] Oh, my daughters would have loved that [a bunny version of their mom].

C.J. can be reached at cj@startribune.com and seen on Fox 9's "Buzz." E-mailers, please state a subject; "Hello" does not count.