BY FRANCES ROBLES

 WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Janet Reno took her defense of the government's seizure of Elian Gonzalez to an unconventional forum Tuesday -- a live-via-satellite interview on the daytime talk show Oprah.

 Far from a dry news program, Reno appeared before Oprah Winfrey's heavily female audience and nearly cried. She talked, teary-eyed, about her angry Cuban-American friends in Miami. The audience applauded often.

 Justice Department officials acknowledged that Reno's appearance on a ``softer'' show not usually identified with news developments was part of a concerted effort to soothe any doubts lingering about the raid. It immediately triggered rebukes from Senate Republicans who accused the Justice Deparment of spending more time on its image than on meeting congressional requests for documents.

 ``She didn't say anything new -- she just said it to a different audience,'' Justice Department spokeswoman Carole Florman said of the Oprah appearance. ``It was exactly the right opportunity to reach people who are not up watching Nightline. It's just a different slice of America.''

 The Chicago-based show, watched in nine million households daily, is most popular among women. The talk show is No. 1 among women 18 to 54 -- the same group polls show do not approve of Reno's raid.

 National surveys show that while 55 percent of men support the government's decision to send an armed force to take Elian from his relatives' Little Havana home, only 40 percent of women agreed with the forceful tactics.

 ``She doesn't watch the polls -- I do,'' Florman said. ``I've never seen her go in a different direction than the one she thinks is right because of worrying over public perception.''

 Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, issued a statement condemnning the Oprah appearance, although he did not mention the show by name. Hatch, chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, has asked the Justice Department to release all raid-related documents in time for possible Senate hearings. The department answered by saying it lacked time to fill the request.

 Hatch sent Reno a letter Tuesday asking for a status report on the document production ``so that we can schedule a timely hearing.''

 ``We were going to send her over to the file cabinets,'' Florman joked, ``but now I am going to cancel her appearance on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.''

 INS spokeswoman Maria Cardona said the agency felt it important to answer questions Americans have about the operation.

 ``There was a concerted effort to put out the facts,'' Cardona said. ``I think people are understanding better what exactly went into the agency's thinking. We had concrete reasons and solid facts as to how and why.''

 Jim Goldman, assistant district director for investigations for INS' Florida region, appeared Thursday and Friday on CNN and every network's nightly news program. He was a guest on ABC's Nightline on Thursday, a show that featured the associate attorney general Friday.

 ``It's contributed to a sense of understanding by the American public,'' Cardona said. ``Most of the American public agrees with what we did.''

 Gonzalez family spokesman Armando Gutierrez said the public relations campaign would not be necessary if the government hadn't erred.

 ``They have all the time in the world to go on these TV shows: they are paid by the American taxpayers and need to justify a horrible thing,'' Gutierrez said. ``If they did the right thing, they don't need to be justifying it. That's why they are going on TV.''

 Reno's Oprah interview mirrored her earlier statements, but with more emotion.

 ``We tried so hard,'' Reno said. ``After consulting with law enforcement, we felt the show of force, not use of force, was the best way to take charge. I have been over and over it, and I don't know any other way we could have done it.''

 Winfrey asked Reno how she was holding up with her Parkinson's disease, and asked whether she'd get to take a break soon.

 ``All it does is make me shake,'' Reno said to a delighted audience. ``I can still think.''

 When Winfrey asked Reno whether Waco entered her mind while she debated the armed assault, Reno choked up.

 ``No, the situation is different than Waco. What did enter into my mind was the community I love, people I love,'' Reno answered. ``My Cuban friends are furious at me. They feel betrayed and hurt. . . . I think it is time for us all, father and son, community, people who care about each other, to make democracy work.''

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald