pieces, sometimes multiple like a ton in weight. and she and i had the opportunity back when i worked at cbs to do a mother's day piece on her for cbs sunday morning and i got to turn the cameras on her and talk to her a little bit about what it was like to be a white house wife, a mother three kids and a scum tore and somewhere along the way in the interview, i asked her, what are you first, are you a wife, are you a mother, or railroad -- or are you an artist and she said that's very difficult to answer, because in essence, you're all things at once and i didn't really get what she was saying until later in my career, actually when i was writing this book, because there were many times in her life, especially when my father worked in the white house, where her art was taken away from her. there was just no room for it, but she they have let it go and -- never let it go and as a

result, she is literally working on this massive high sculpture with 14-foot scum tours. she has held on to this identity through thick an thin, and as a result, it is still with her. she considers it equally important and there were times in my career that i held everything too close at the same time, and i didn't pace myself like the she did and in writings book, i finally realized her message, which is to hold on to what you have, even when it's taken away from you and if you really hold it close in your mind, you, you don't expect anyone else to, you will go back to it and i write a little bit about the times where i made the mistake to try to cram too much into short periods of time, do too much at once and then the times that i actually let my career breathe a little bit and as a result it was much better for the family overall, but the title is a quote from my mother during a story that we did together on cbs. >> your mother and your father are interesting people. >> yeah.

>> to say the least. i love when your dad comes on the show. >> no, i don't. that's really not nice. >> mika always warned me not to have her father on the show. don't do it. i can deal with anybody. i was like f.d.r. at yalta, uncle joe stalin, i can handle him so he came on and we had a debate and he looked at me and he said you are stunningly superficial. >> that was love. >> and mika crawled under the desk while her father and i debated. your mother also a very interesting character, she is an artist, and brings with it the baggage of a lot of arists, but this summer, you tell an interesting story about -- well, you told it last night, i remember you calling me at the time it was happening, yelling, saying, my mother just looked at my book.

my mother just -- said, well, that's good, right? no, they don't even know i'm writing a book it's about them, and i said i'm sure your mother is very proud of you, it's dedicated to her, all things at once. she said no, she's going through it and x'ing it out, saying lies, lies, lies. that was my czechoslovakian accent. but there are so many stories about your mother and your family, such a unique family and you've got to tell the story about the night that your mother said road kill to pamela har harriman. >> she did that. dead deer keep showing up in my book, because maybe an image that some might have about my elitist background, might be cracked just a tad. >> though i try to fan those flames, by saying she has a

summer house in the south of france. >> we would like the polish hillbillies came to washington when my dad came to washington. they are hunters, they grow their own food, they don't waste a penny, so there's always like dead deer hanging from the free in front of the house. at one point, my mother, she needed to get to it, because they had shot it, but she didn't have time and it was winter, so she put it in the bathtub in the bathroom off the kitchen, and opened the window and close the door, so it would be like a little refrigerator,nd i was trying to establish myself at the cooper school in mclean, as maybe even slightly hey justed, maybe even slightly known by the cool people, and there was this one girl at school who i really wanted to be friends with, her name was sarah, i had her over, and it happened to be the day the deer was in the tub. and she needed to use the

bathroom. and i said, oh, it's right over there, and i mean, i'm walking and i'm just thinking that something is wrong and then i hear this blood curdling scream, she was gone, never saw her again. but fast forward to the road kill. my mom would come and pick me up in their full art garb, covered with sawdust, that's a norm aday, sweat and sawdust in her hair, filthy, is she here? that's actually her in her essence, very happy when she's in the middle of her work, and she showed up one day covered with blood and i usually knew one of our pets had met its match and was going to be dinner, or another deer had seen its final day, but i did think it was weird that there was a carcass in the back of the car, but not that weird, we didn't even talk about it. turns out, she had seen a deer get hit by a car right in front of her and thought my god that's

fresh, you don't waste that, right? so she got out, sort of hacking it up, and took it home, split it with a farmer even and she now did not have to think about what to serve thursday night when several dignitaries were coming over, including pamela harriman. and what i love about my mother and what i am in awe of my mother today is that she does not let the noise around her bother her. she doesn't let what people think bother her. she has no idea why somebody would think that savegard meat would be wrong. it's practical. makes sense, doesn't it? it's the -- any how far. don't -- so she serves this at this wonderful dinner and you hear people hea eating, oh, this svensson is divine, it's fantastic and who is your caterer and my mom, like she got

a great deal at hack's said oh, i got it off the side of the road and the room went still. pamela spit it out. and i think it ended up in the silent section, but to this day, my mother has no idea why that was funny. she just thought it was good meat that you don't waste. so there you go. road kill. >> what do you think? you think i went to the university of alabama? >> oh, now, that's a good school. >> number one. by the way, "sports illustrated" next week, you know what it says? dynasty. now, if that is not the super gigantic "sports illustrated" jinx, they're going to be like -- there's going to be like 20 alabama guys in a car crash next week in an intersection in the middle of tuscaloosa. i'm not going so -- what's that?

are you really? >> wow. >> from pensacola, university of alabama. that -- you -- we can be really proud of her, mika. two learn disabilities and she's still succeeding in life. >> that's wrong. >> she looks good. >> they must be able to add 1 plus 1. but we don't have to, because right there, right, number 1. so let me let the rest of you in on this conversation, instead of just this alabama banter. let's talk about one of my faith subjects, mysogny in the tv networks. my mother worked and i always saw the workplace through her eyes, how difficult it was for women workining professional

women, but nothing prepared me, not congress, not working in several law firms, for the misogny that i saw at networks. do we have any network executives here tonight? men executive networks, misognyists. >> they're one and the same, so -- >> synonymous. ok. but you talk about what happened on your 39th birthday, getting fired from cbs news, a network that you absolutely loved. >> yes. still do. >> a network you still love. until the c-span camera has the red light on it. a network you still love. talk about how difficult that was for you, and how 39, for most women is the end of their television career, and yet you refused to go quietly into that dark night. why is that? >> well, a couple of things.

you know, i got a great parenting lesson out of that day, but to the topic that you bought up first, misogny, which again, this book is not a i'm a victim of misogny. if anything, i look at what i could have done every step of the way to transcend those issues or maybe what i could have done better. having said that, it is rampant in television. there are things that you have to put up with and compete with that are ridiculous, and i can't, and i've sort of -- there are times it really depresses me, and there are times when you, you know, realize you kind of have a shelf life, unless you can find a way to transcend it. and there's a -- many, many countless cases of young women getting brought up too soon and getting filled with what i call kool-aid in their brains, where they're told they're the greatest thing since sliced bread and propped up and put number one and then when they fall down, they can never make it back again, because they've

been filled with so much kool-aid, they don't know how to regroup. i mr. say when is -- fired from cbs, i was shocked and i was told it was simply subjective. there was no understanding as to why. new management had come in, because of the dan rather situation and they had just gotten katie for during the week and i was the sunday anchor. >> but you were told though on that subject at this part, you were told that one of the top executives at cbs said he didn't understand your looks and thought you looked "weird." >> right. but they didn't say, i don't understand your looks, you look weird, you're fired, but -- >> they never do. >> oh, ok. i'm just saying, there were a lot of different reasons playing in to how cutthroat this business is. >> but how difficult was that for you realizing that your career, which you had worked -- and your mother told a moving story last night at an event how you were 14 years old, you would

drive your bike to a studio at 4:00 a.m. in the morning, you threw your heart and your soul and your life into this job, and then on your 39thin 39thing bir, you're fired and there is a part of you, you don't talk about this in your book, you say i wonder if this is because one of the top people at cbs said i look weird. how difficult was it for you to -- >> i added that in. >> that's -- that subjective assessment by some man at the top of the food chain there. how difficult was that for you and how did you go on? why didn't you just take a job in p.r.? >> well, i almost did. i will say just first of all, that as a woman in this business, you're a journalist, you're a reporter, you're a story teller, you have talents that you bring to the table, you also a commodity. you're a piece of meat. and it is yes, you definitely are, and it is how you fit into the scheme of things when it

comes to their, you know, their picture, their view, and it's a very subjective view andy got to work on trying to transcend or bring that commodity forward and i did the best i could at cbs. there were times when things played in my favor that were unfair throughout my career. for my last name or what are else, i was brought up too early, a number of times, offered jobs when i wasn't ready. a number of times for the same reason a lot of other young women get offered jobs too early, and so yeah, getting fired hurt because there was a sense of, oh, my time is definitely up. >> you were actually offered "60 minutes" a couple of years before and you refused to take it. >> two years before and i just knew that this was it. i had been through and i write in the book about a few times where i was put in way over my head and fell flat on my face, so you learn to sort of judge yourself along the way and you've got to really be

realistic about where you are and what your value is and you didn't know what your value is. which is a self-knowledge that ultimately has really paid of off for me. but for a while there, i write about not knowing it, and why that really did not help in terms of having awe things at once. and actually, made all things quite bad. back to the p.r. job and i'll wrap it up in terms of this part of the story, the search for a job after i got fired was horrible. nobody would hire me. i had the worst job interviews on the face of the earth. i may as well have been wearing a sign that said i was fired, i'm a loser, don't bother, because people -- the first thing they would ask me is what happened to cbs, why did you leave, and i'd have no answer, which then led them to think something terrible happened and then there's the whole commodity thing, piece of meat thing and you are either the shiny penny that you're stealing from another network or you're

someone who was dumped and they don't want someone that the other network didn't want. it's mean. that's the bottom line, and i literally had the worst slew of i want views over the course of a year that a human being could have. >> how badly was your confidence shaken? >> well, that, it was terrible. >> and i ask that question, because this is a really timely book in that, there are a lot of people out there, that -- i remember my father getting fired when he was 41 years old, having a job since he was 15, and it took him a couple of years to find another job. there are a lot of people unemployed right now that never thought they would be unemployed. and have to get themselves out of bed, have to go and have to try to find a job. how did you get past that? :

>> they were blended beautifully into my work world, and i thought i really struck that's really cool balance of being a working mom. but what happened is, when i got fired, so today. and that's a lot to put on little kids. and i remember going home i know the not going to like this but let me think what i can do here. so i started to spin. to spin the story. and i'm like, girls, i've got great news. mom is going to spend more time with you. no. life next emac they were liked what? and a million who was 11 and. the selfish was like you can't do that. you can't do that. you can't leave cbs. that's the only reason the library late like me. you can't do that. and finally was kind of quiet. and i thought okay i'm going to

be at home, i'm going to be available. the next day the school called, and they said karmic need you to come and. and i thought okay. a stay-at-home mom, available at all times. so i tried and. i am running down the hall. and i'm ready to start the problem. the teacher is sitting with carly on the floor. and i get town to talk to her. the teacher is there him and i'm like good lord, what happened? the teacher goes, carly told me that you are going to be leaving cbs. and i said, i still didn't really get it. i said yes, that's right. carly, that's good, right? more time together. and the teacher goes that's actually the problem. [laughter] >> and i look at the teacher like because you always think they are judging you anyway. then i look at carly and she looks up, to beautiful blue eyes filled with tears, and she said

mommy, i don't want you to leave cbs because you love it so much. and that was the first time i really realize we had lost something. and i cry. of course, totally inappropriate. great parent. >> the teacher having to put one arm round her daughter and one around you in the hall on the floor. [laughter] >> i really did. i was upset because i realized i had lied to my children about a fundamental life lesson. so from then on, i told them, this is bad. i'm really bummed out, and we went through all the job interviews together. and the ups and downs of mouth or your and my lack of success. and they are better for it. but children today want their parent at all times but they want appears to be happy. and i'm happy working. so this is our balance of. >> and they're happy with you working. nika has in the book some christmas cards. her family. she and jim sent of the finest

was discarded every year. and the you that she was out of work, had the girls holding up signs and drinking vodka like this. they're holding up signs, please higher our mommy. [laughter] >> mika, you made a decision after one horrible interview after another. and you talked about in this book, in fact, you a rigidly -- was the original title of this book? >> sometimes you have to take a step back, or something like that. >> something like that. but the lesson was that sometimes you have to take a big step back to take a step forward. explain what that means and how that changed your life in such a wonderful way. >> please. [laughter] >> you know, i couldn't have job to save my life so start looking at other industries. and i got very close to a very high-paying pr job. we're about to negotiate an

offer. when i literally just blurted out, i know someone better for the job that it was another friend of mine who had been fired from cbs who would have been perfect for. they called her in today's later. she called me. i am in my pickup truck which is about to break their that i can hit make this bad sound and i don't know how i'm going to pay for this. and she tells me she got the job. this job paid really well, and i just remember being like charlie brown would lucy pull the football and hitting the steering wheel with my head going, what was i thinking? to give up that opportunity to work. because i really need a job at that point. we were getting worried. and i decided i've got to get back in television. i love television. and i don't care, you know, if it's not angry. just get back in. let's do something. i need to work and i need to work close to the industry that i love very much and that i have given 25 years of my life to. so i called msnbc, and i said,

please tell me what you have. i need to work. and they said we don't have anything you would want. you worked at 60 minutes. we have nothing you would want. and i said i don't care about what you think i would want. what do you have? just tell me what you have. poll it up on human resources, job postings. what do you have? and they're like, well, you wouldn't want this but there is this freelance day rate as needed job where you can come in and work overnights, or the evening shift doing 30-second news updates. but we'll just call you when you need you. you will make a couple hundred dollars a day, and you won't be full-time. maybe you will work two or three days a week. and i said i will take it. and i will tell you that nothing felt better than walking into a building and going, with an id, and having something to do. and there was nothing more liberating than being able to do a job with your hands tied

behind your back to have done everything in the industry, and this is just incredibly easy for you. it was new. everything at 60 minutes and cbs at that point had been so challenging and cutthroat and relentless. this was actually really fun. i was never more happy. >> did you cut a lot of great insight into sugar. you talk about how your former friends and associates mocked and ridiculed you for taking a position, and it was a pretty public -- >> fall from grace. >> a pr firm would've been quite. but you took it as usual, unusual difficult course. >> and i'm proud that because i think a lot of women in this business, they do get put us ohio, and then when they do lose it all, that kind of have a hard time regrouping. this is starting at the bottom all over again. and it taught me what i was made of and it showed my kids a little something, too. and so i sounded all to be for

the paul's tent, in terms of my family. >> i will let you tell that story. i will say this. the show that we do know, that is all joe's creation, is an added completely unexpected bonus in my life. at an age where i thought i would totally be done with. and instead, i feel like everything i've ever done is exactly what i bring to the table to help the show be a success, and i couldn't be more pleased to be sort of in the middle of the national conversation every morning. it's a so much fun and the thing that i am most surprised about it, is that when i went back to do cut into and trying to get what i would do in this business, i had done everything. and it was all getting a little predictable. do a news package, you know how that goes. you know how the soundbite, you know how to wrap it. you anchor a show.

you know exactly the format. you do a morning show. you know you will be talking about bras for spring. come on, all this is very predictable. when we started doing this show together i realized for the first time ever, i have now found something to do in this industry that involves what i love to do, which is tell stories in tee mccabe and be in the middle of all the political stories. i can't predict what's going to happen next. and it's not boring. and i don't know how else i would get up at 3:30 a.m. at this age if i didn't really like what i do. so it's turned out quite well, and it's all a great big surprise. because those countries were just fine, you know. why don't you see how it started since you put the show together? you brought together the whole concept in light of the old debacle. >> i won't talk about how the sjostrom. i will to you about mika though. we had a very -- very well thought out, very plan.

as you know everything that we do is. calculated. i am really more of an engineer. that a former politician. so i had to show at msnbc in primetime, scarborough country. my wife always gave me hell for the title of that. scarborough country. you don't hear overman world or bad news land. scarborough country? how presumptuous. i said i know. so anyway, that aside we did our best to do a good show and for about four years was the great american scam because i got to do in pensacola, florida. and i told him that. i would to shove but it's got to be out of pensacola, florida. five minutes from my house. thank god we were in effective

in defining them in 1995. so i would go on my boat and at about 8:30 at night i would get off my boat and have my swimsuit on and then i would dress and go inside, wave my arms around like a cure but after 30 minutes, let's go to new york for news, the news you need to know. and we would pop up there and there would be mika, and "all things at once" would give 30-second newscast. this is what she had been reduced to after 60 minutes. and mika would tell the news that 30 seconds. and at the end she would say now, back to. >> "scarborough country." [laughter] >> and so after she did this the first night i went on the boat the next day, and my buddy said, dude, that woman is making fun of you. [laughter] >> i said, what are you talking

about? he said she's making fun of you. wake up, brother. wake up. and so the next night i would say now mika, the news you need to know. and she would say now back to -- >> "scarborough country." >> and so i figure it out she had made fun of me. after five months later, after don imus decided he was going to comment on women's basketball. [laughter] >> the call came, joe, would you like to try out for the morning show? i said your. they kept trying to push these women on me. that were more girls than brains. i said no know. this is going to be a different show. were going to talk foreign policy and politics. will go into three hours. there will be no teleprompter. this will be where america's leaders. i said, you know, with the bob words will come and the white house officials will come. i need somebody, i need a

grown-up sitting next to me who can also give it back to me. and they said, that doesn't exist. so i go up -- i go up to msnbc and i see the newsroom. and i think okay, i'm going to get even with her. i'm going to let her know i may be from the university of alabama, but i'm not dumb. [laughter] >> well, not that dumb. and so i go up to her and i say, hey, mika, joe scarborough, great to meet you. she said very nice to meet you, too. by the way, i just want you to know i know you're making fun of my show. to which mika presents to respond without missing a beat, how can i make fun of the show that i have never even seen? [laughter]

>> good question. >> that's a good question. >> i am a journalist. >> and then i responded, without skipping a beat, how would you like to do a morning show? and that's how it started. and we always had these people always say, how long did you guys work together? you've got this great chemistry. it was very simple. we just -- i recognize in her somebody who frankly, my dear, just didn't give a damn. she had been through enough. she wasn't freaked out about how she could get on the today show to talk about cooking or lingerie for the spring. she knew who she was. and that's really at the center of this book. no women who you are. and don't put up with this stuff. so it really is, it's remarkable. i will tell you before we open it up for questions, that we had

some -- how may of you watch the show in the morning? morning? >> oh, my goodness gracious. >> i don't have to name any names. there are so many women whom we love and respect, and when people come on our show, whether it's katrina vanden hoople, or peggy noonan, or gene robinson, or you know, the most conservative columnist. regardless of ideology, who really are like a family. we sit around, we talk, we laugh. and this war, bob woodward was talking, and said wait a second, are we on? and i said no, not yet. does it is just a conversation. we have a great time. so many women took mika to the side and said, we love you, honey. we really do. don't release this book. it will finish your career.

and mika politely asked why? and they said it was too modest. and to mika's credit, great credit, she said, this story needs to be told. so it is a book, i don't know how many of you have read the first couple of pages even, but from the first couple of pages it pulls you in. and it is not a happy memoir. my five steps on how to make your life easy. you know, how to improve your backswing and have to get you back in that high school dress. and there's not a happy bubble at the end. it is really, really a great book. so with that, -- >> you can be over now. >> i am very excited that i am going to be over. lma just start by saying, women, check under your chairs. [laughter] >> no. >> check. over may have stopped that, but i haven't. we are giving things away today. i am crazy eddie. so let's open it up for questions. yes, ma'am.

will go back to you first. >> can you believe she was that rude to me? "scarborough country." >> bravo, bravo. by the way, thank you for staying up past your bedtime. how you do it, i'm not sure. how do you possibly prepare for -- habit, you would have to read five books a night in order to really stay up rest of the conversation that you create. and the second one may be more of a joke question if you don't mind, is how did you possibly sell the networks on a show that had conversation? >> such a good question. the person to have you guys read game change yet? that's what we're reading right now. it's interesting. we are reading a round-the-clock dig our blackberries are going off all the time. twitter, people send its articles. which is constantly immersed. and where on the air for five hours of that reading and that a minute, whether it's with the white house or members of congress or people sending us information, happens on the air in real-time. so there is no preparation.

the only thing there's preparation for me is hair and makeup, and let me tell you it takes a village. i am 42, and i get up at 3:30 a.m. every day so that's the only thing that is problematic for me. and the second question was more for joe -- joe, you sold us to the network that they were busy with other things. but you have to break down some doors to make this happen. >> we did. they -- that other people. i missed out until the. that other people. everybody was playing imus or trying. and so i went to an actor gave them a one page sort of kinko's poster saying this is what the show is going to be. and were going to start a national dialogue. and people are going to be saying in things from politicians office. we're going to be between a blackberries and e-mails and online.

and they, of course, kept me off as much as they could. and then i think everybody else tried out and didn't work. and so they put us on. and five minutes after we were on, mika were on five minutes into, that first morning, tom brokaw walk in the fields of office and fill is the president of msnbc. and he said, scarborough? who knew? and walked out. [laughter] >> shrugged his shoulders, and we had the job that it was that -- that happened literally. and at the same time, too, just to put this in context. we were being told that everybody was being told, the news hole a shrinking. you have less time for news. it's got to be more stories about paris hilton. it's got to be more stories about news you can use, which is why we make fun of news you can't use. less hard news, more fluff.

and we said, you know what, we're going to plant the flag at the top of the hill. and guess what? shoot at us all you want. we're not going to back down. and for the first six months, they try to get us to do fluff, and finally, they just gave up because we just didn't listen. >> and it worked. there were many layers of dissension that we had to cut through. there was that. and the fact that nobody really wanted us. i mean, in some ways they didn't want to hire me. and joe had to fight for the. and joe, being a conservative republican and a media world that is not, a lot of people were saying to me, do you really want to work -- you know, why don't you come over to nightly news are come unto the today show. do you really want to do that? and i will tell you that for the first time ever in 20 years, in this business, working with all these big egos, and going up

with a lot of them, too, i will tell you this is the smartest guy in terms of television production. and i look people straight in the eye and i said yes, i do. i'm not going -- you'll need to go do another prepackaged, already thought out, we know what it's going to sound like beasley network again? or let's do something different and innovative and risky. that's what this was about. >> and we are, believe you me, we wake up at 3:30 a.m. and are exhausted by the time we get on the site, five minutes into it we go we are the luckiest people in news. can you believe? and you can take any morning, the people that come and sit down at the table, we really do. we feel extraordinarily lucky. >> as long as the coffee comes. >> and i got to say this. we joke around chris and willie and all those joke around mika being a diva. no eagle at all. no ego. no diva fits. there is a service ago rule. she gets the coffee first. [laughter]

>> and one time when it poor intern they came and did not rule. they gave me the coffee first. and she said sweet, sweet, i get the coffee first. and the girl sort of getting nervous laugh and said, i'm not joking. [laughter] >> give me -- her coffee first, and she is so easy to work with, but second or third, it gets really ugly. >> joe, regardless of your politics are i love your choice and cohost. now here's a question, series. i really want to know the answer to this. over at nbc, it seemed like russert and matthews were hammering hillary clinton on mercifully. and i wonder have you felt about that what was happening. >> well, i will take at first because that's a timely question.

i didn't -- tim, i can tell you can and i actually had discussions about his concern. that he didn't think hillary was getting a fair shake in some corners. but i actually just wrote something today about hillary clinton. and what a remarkable campaign she ran last year. and somebody, somebody, one of her aides said in game change that they didn't think she had the character to be president of the united states. i can tell you, after seeing her fight back time and time again and pulled herself off the mat time and time again, i have never seen a major national candidate with more character and more fight and more determination than hillary clinton. if she doesn't have the character to be president of the united states, i don't know who does. and i can say this, and i know mika agrees with me, she is a grown up.

and after coming to washington, d.c., in 1994 and dividing people based on ideology, i can tell you i am at a stage now where i divide them between grown-ups and punks. and sadly, there are far fewer grown-ups in washington, d.c.. >> remember we matter and new hampshire? go ahead. we went to interview her on a freezing cold night, our day started as early as for speakers probably started earlier. and she was losing. and she should have looked different. she should have been different, but at 9:30 p.m., who was a? waiting in line behind us, john roberts or someone. someone else was doing an interview with her as will. and she was unbelievable. >> she was 19 points behind in some polls. i think the average was 12. it was the night before the primary. everybody said this was her last night that she was going to lose. we sat in the back of the room

pic and i hadn't fallen in love with hillary, nor had i proclaimed her my new girlfriend at the time. [laughter] >> but even i, as i said watching her up on stage, and the night before bill clinton had apologized for his performs to the group of college students. sang, i can't make are taller or younger or more articulate or better looking. it was horrific. and i turn to mika and i said, you know what? she deserves better than this. but we went up and we interviewed her. holy cow. nerves of steel that she is like, -- >> energetics. i'm going to keep fighting until a stop fighting. but let me tell you something. she was treated horrifically. as a guy that always complains about media bias, i can tell you they were two elections. where i thought democrats were treated horrifically. one, i think ironically al gore in 2000.

i thought the media was biased against al gore in 2000 that gave george w. bush far too many breaks. and then this past year with hillary. i thought -- i agree with you. i think the press was just absolutely terrible to her. >> thank you. my name is john didn't. my question is somewhat self-serving. first of all, we sat back and trying to figure out some caching for you all as tom hanks. and do appreciate that you're opening up all kinds of voices to be heard that are not necessarily heard it through news. so i want to thank you for the. my question is, when would you bring on native american voices that are not just left and right but may also be vertical? >> yeah, mika. i was asking you that this would. >> i have been saying no, i'm not ready. no, we bring on all voices.

but the only thing that we don't bring on our people who bs. you know, we kind of have a meter for that. >> we don't do well with the talking points. >> we just laugh people office at when they do the. i'm trying to think, you are off that day. who was the lady i interviewed, chris, and i was just like bye-bye. that's just not going to work. >> not going to say her name. by the way, this is chris over here. [applause] >> when you send e-mails saying terrible things about me, he is the one who reads them on the air. put a smile on his face pics. we are wide open to people who really bring it to the table in terms of the conversation. >> the one guy though that is always on that line and we don't know if we're going to have to cut him off, we love him, harold ford junior. he always has three talking was. >> but at least he allows us to tell him that he is full of the. >> how of you would like. to run for senate in new york?

>> interest that i would love to know the political. how many democrats? , and republicans? i love it. independents? this is so great. it's so great that i like it. one more question? >> five were questioned. i see you in the back, sir. i will get to. >> i think i watched the show almost every day that i may have missed it but i don't never you've ever interviewing sarah palin. >> you'll have to call sarah palin's press office and asked him why does. >> she is on fox now. in fact, tonight she is on fox. >> we might take a look at that for our show tomorrow morning to see how she does, but she is so polarizing. >> is very interesting about that, that right now the people, if we have trouble, we get everyone on the show that we asked for, but right now we are simply more of the reluctance

for some republican party leaders. the rank-and-file will come on. republican centers, congressman will come on. leadership the right now is having trouble. michael steele comes on. and it's fascinating every time he comes on. you just never know what he's going to say. [laughter] >> i know. it's exciting, isn't? >> but you know, we had -- a friend told me we sort of, some of the republican presidential candidates got concern after template became on twice. the first one i asked him five times if he really believed that there was a death panel contained in this bill. and if so, and he wouldn't say no. i said okay, and then the second time he came on, we asked him five times if he was glad that olympia snowe was a republican. and i asked him politely, five times. yes or no. and he would answer the question.

and it we had haley barbour on next. and i said governor barbour, are you glad that olympia snowe is a republican? hell yeah. i wish jim jeffords was still ever boatman up in vermont. [laughter] >> because even if he is the most liberal senator in congress, he is the most conservative to in vermont. sir, you had a question. >> i am a veteran of the trenches of 4001 nebraska, so love your program. i've watched it, yours, "scarborough country," wash your homepage got started in again. i have a question, and then three follow-ups. >> all my, no. >> that's scary. >> how much of a role do you all have in putting the rundown. putting together packages and think that there was a cnn program that has lower thirds that id the songs, would you consider doing that for your show?

would you be, sherman, and give us an opinion whether nike retired from the hustle and and i guess that's pretty much it. >> okay. >> chris? >> well, would we put the salt of is -- i've got to do, we get tons of e-mails about the songs we play. we don't plan them out, but now, i can remember it does sound more like -- it's awfully early. seriously. the second question spirit how to put the show together. i think is canada's how he stacks up the rundown and a weak kerry to shreds. >> chris why don't you briefly tell them how this magic occurs. smack he is so brilliant that he is ours and executive producer. [applause] >> isn't he cute?

>> it's very simple. we put together and everything am i possibly talk about, put it in a sheet, we put in a very nice order. it's as we will do this, go to the sound bite, do this. joe puts it in his hand, put it down next to him, and then just talk. when we are in the control room we try to follow along, and hopefully we pick something that they have talked about. >> okay. what about -- all right. okay. >> sometimes we change things around and make you crazy. you're not going to tell that part of the story? good. thank you, chris. the other question was politics. you and politics that they want to know. are you going to go into politics? i say no. unless it is a bipartisan ticket. >> yes, exactly. i don't think that would work out very well. spent are you sure are? >> i don't know. my wife says no. she is the leader. she of the speaker of our house. yes or?

>> someone who major in 94, when you first came here, and worked some issues with defense and you. you always have a lot of energy and always a lot of passion. but what made you grow -- your a lot different than what you were in 1994. on the good side. you were never bad. i want to say this right. but what change? was a mika are what? [applause] >> well, what changed? like i said, when i -- all things at once. also available in kindle. you know, i don't know. i can tell you ideologically i haven't changed it and i get that a lot from conservatives saying, why -- when did you become a liberal? and i issued what i call the bill o'reilly chat a couple of years ago, if you could name one issue that i changed on,

significantly since i first came to washington in 1994 when everybody called me a right wing crackpot i will give you $1000. i've always been a small government guy. i've always believed in personal freedoms. i've always believed that washington should stay out of peoples personal lives. whether you are talking about abortion or your talking about gainers, let the states worried about it. i think the main thing though is i figured out that no party has all the answers. i came here in 1980 for thinking the democrats were the problem. the republicans were the solution, because for years of democratic rule on the. and i found out that we screwed washington up more in five years than democrats did in 40. we started with -- we started -- well, actually we did a lot of good things. when i lived down in 2001, we had a $155 billion surplus. but after republicans took control, and owned washington for eight years, now they left with a $1.1 trillion deficit.

so what i found was absolute power and should do in d.c. is i think, the ultimate evil. i think is a very bad thing when any one party owns washington. i think that's the reason why barack obama who was at 71% last year, and he is sitting at, according to a cbs poll tonight, 46%. i think that's what george w. bush came in with the best of intentions, and left in the low '30s. i have found that james madison was a pretty smart guy. the balance of power and certainly that we need more give-and-take in washington. >> eye of the wind time for one more. >> very good. one more question. and really susa, was i that bad in 1994? [laughter] >> just out of curiosity, what

is willies and mike barnicle's book going to come out? >> willie is working on one. and reality, he is. he is on deadline right now. >> mic is just work at staying out of jail. >> barnicle usually -- seriously, with sunglasses on,. >> those big black once. >> i was walking home a couple weeks ago and there was this guy on the bench with sunglasses. hey, and i look. and it's mike barnicle. and any other questions? in the back. hold on. i will run back to you. >> i really enjoyed you on belmar and i thought it was pretty getting of you to come on. very impressed by what you said that and i want to know when you will be on against? >> i don't know. i don't -- >> i think you're going to be on

the colbert report. which will be a lot of fun. >> i am nervous. let's have a vote. should mika go on the colbert report? [applause] >> okay. >> thank you, everybody. we have to quick question. anybody else? yes, ma'am. >> what do you think of george george stephanopoulos' decision to move to morning katie? >> mika, from hard news the fluffiness, but george said he's going to try to make it a little harder, but that's just difficult to do in that format. what do you think of that? >> i hope he is happy. i think it will be great. [laughter] >> can you tell her father was a diplomat? >> fabulous. >> that is a rough format. it really is. i can't watch the shows for more than like 15 minutes. we will see how it works out. >> maybe it will be a huge hit.

>> it could be a huge hit. you seem so happy about it. okay, final question. this will be the final question. it is so hard. the guy in the red vest. [inaudible] >> isn't that fascinating? because i've a lot people ask me that. a lot of democrats last year went to the priest, mika, and asked -- [laughter] >> asked for forgiveness because they actually found themselves liking pat begin. >> pat buchanan is likable. and i think it's because of the show you put together that has great a format in which pat can be seen from more than one dimension. and you get to see that he has got a charming personality. is got a great sense of humor. he has a deep love of history. and he has some very interesting views as well. >> he does.

and pat said he was after coming on the show for about six months, he said, for the first time i walked through the airport where they're not yelling at me. [laughter] >> it's true. >> he said, if i had you guys in 1992, i would have been elected president. [laughter] >> thank you all so much. >> thank you. >> greatly appreciate it. but let's see some of the sights and sounds as we get ready for the festival today. >> here is a look at some upcoming book fairs and festivals over the next few

months. [inaudible]

>> brian ross is the head of the investigative unit for abc news. mr. ross, in "the madoff chronicles," what is new in your? >> i think there's a lot between relationship of the burning and with. what drove him to do, when it started. and his total lack of remorse. also take a look at who else was likely involved. he didn't do this alone, despite his claims that he did. >> did mrs. madoff have a role speak as she deftly had a role. she kept the books when they started in the early 1960s. on a folding card table in. she was the keeping he was arrested she was serving along for the ride.

i liken her to bonnie and clyde. maybe bonnie didn't fire any of the guns but was certainly a part of the schemed. >> do you see the story will continue with more trials, et cetera? >> there are more people, sort of the layers of the onion are being until. one of the significant question i think though is the fate of the federal government here. the sec investors were after madoff i again and again from 1992 on. they always missed it. why was that? their defense is they were inexpensive and incompetent. but i don't know that is really a satisfying answer. >> as head of the investigative unit for abc, when is the first time you heard of bernie madoff? >> denied he was arrested that i was sitting in new york next to my colleague, we just is reporting on blagojevich, the governor in illinois. and my friend got an e-mail from the fbi saint bernard madoff arrested, $50 billion can. i said i don't know who that is, but it can't be 50 done because

that would be the biggest in history. i soon found out. >> what kind resources did you and your unit turned over to this investigation? >> we had the entire abc news investigative unit immediately launch into action. much of it for broadcast. but there were so many great details and facts that just could not fit into the world is or not live, 2020. so we ended up doing this book. the first book i have written. >> it is your first look? >> i am a rookie at this. but i enjoyed it. and here i had as much as i wanted. >> so how did you fit right into this book into your work a? >> 4:30 a.m. was a good time to write. and they gave me a few days off over the july 4 weekend, so right out of the stands at the end of june i really swung into action. i was in pretty good shape to get out as quickly. >> did you have a chance to talk to any of the madoff so anybody close to? >> wel