>> you know, a whole series of difficult kind of conclusions to be drawn from this. all of which end up with the same result. that is, you know, unbelievable numbers of people being killed on an industrial scale. and the question that you asked me was the question that i was asked by the son of a senior member of the service, most senior jew in the service, kenneth cohen. he ran the free french networks. he was a main liaison man, he's very, very senior, and very, very important. his son said to me, do you think my dad knew about this? how did he feel about it? because he, you know, he had -- he was equally mystified by the possibility this he might have known and done nothing, or how he felt about it. he never discussed it with his father. i would give him the same answer

as i give you, i'm afraid at one level that i don't know. but it's quite clear from the documents that it wasn't something that the service was asked to investigate by it's customer departments. there was certainly information coming through that terrible things were happening. and, you know, there was persecution. but the absolute, the true nature and scale of the catastrophe were just not apparent and even the hints of it were just not believed. i'm sorry, that's the answer. >> i think -- >> i would add maybe an explanation for this. the service, even in the war, was quite small. it was focused on it's targets and it's objectives. and you can gather from what we've already said. this was support for invasion of europe. resistance groups in western europe, the weapons. shipping. norway.

the targets. and that's in europe. it wasn't looking in that direction. which would explain why, you know, it wasn't -- it's not there in the documentation. not just because he wasn't being asked to look, it wasn't coming it's way anyway. it was holy focused -- the whole country was -- on winning the war and putting a stop, an end, to nazi germany. which, of course, it did. and that was the best way although it was too late for millions of people to put a stop to the holocaust. your question is very similar to one that i was asked the other day by a russian friend of mine, who was very unhappy because there was no reference to stalin in keith's book. and no detailed reference to the terrible things that happened in the soviet union, particularly in the 1930s when millions and

millions of people died because of the result of what their regime did. of course, the answer is because the service wasn't working on that. it wasn't it's tasked. it wasn't asked to do it. it just did have the resources to do everything. my final point really, one the problems in my service we've always had, and ivan -- i've often had personally, people expected us to know everything. that's the result of the myth. [laughter] >> of course, it can't always be true. >> thank you very much. [applause] [applause] >> this event was hosted by politics and prose bookstore in washington -- c. for me information visit politics-prose.com.

>> this weekend on "in depth" jonah goldberg discussed the election results, the conservative movement, and the next wave of leaders on the right. join our conversation with your calls, e-mails, and tweets sunday noon eastern on c-span2's booktv. >> up next, book tv attended a reception for arianna huffington, editor and chief for the "huffington post" on her book "third world america: how our politicians are abandoning the middle class and destroying the american dream." the program runs just over 30 minutes. >> how are you? >> you don't even -- >> john. >> aisle -- i'm dylan.

>> i have to warn everybody that i'm wired. everything that you say -- >> she was doing all of the stuff for you. you weren't noticing. >> this is a lifestyle. >> yeah, it's a lifestyle thing. it's surrounding her. >> i figure you need to warn people. anything that -- maybe i should be wearing a thing. >> you should wear a sign around your neck, i'm wired, be careful, i'll put it on the front of the "huffington post." >> thank you. >> if you are greek, you are in. [laughter] >> that's great. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> he thought for a second about some of the things that you are going to ask? >> well, i've been around the country. "the huffington post" as the

third world america section. people having sharing stories, stories of struggles, and overcoming obstacles. that encouraging people to show their own story. >> i want to talk to you and get your thoughts on elections. we're less than a month away. there's a lot of talk is the gop is going to take over the house. what is your thoughts? do you see it happening? >> well, everything can change between now and the election. that's the amazing thing about politics. who would have predicted who would be now two years ago; right? it seems incredible. so right now what matters is to try and have a debate that goes beyond demonizing particular groups and immigrants and muslims. because that's extremely un-american. >> also, what are your hopes for this election? >> well, i really -- what is

happening? i feel very great to already start the debate. people are coming together to really look at ways that we can right now at least alleviate some of the pain out there. >> he was saying we can't interrupt you, you gorgeous girl. >> thank you for coming. >> how was your book? >> thank you. so prepared. >> absolutely. we wouldn't miss it. you've gone from one success to the next. it's amazing. >> awe. look at you. >> you have a new acquisition. who was it that just joined you? >> howard. >> i congratulated him. >> we had communications for us. >> hi. how are you? >> my name anna.

>> anna. designs the exquisite jewelry that all of the most stylish women in washington wear. >> how long are you back here? >> i'm leaveing tomorrow. now i've moved to new york. i'm here a lot. i still have my home in l.a. but i'm here a lot. >> write it with an accent, will you? >> i want you to. >> both of the pictures here. >> can you have us? >> group. >> yes. hugs. >> come on over there. come on. come on. wait a second. i want you to meet someone. seth green. >> it is a pleasure. >> so, seth, two years ago lost

his job at the concierge in portland. >> where? >> portland, oregon. he is who i write about in the book. do we have time to help him? >> we do. bringing unemployed volunteers. we've got them to help. because we're not working. >> so forget the resumé. >> and now -- >> no. they don't. nothing does. >> you know, we take our time. >> i had an idea. which was over productivity. >> right. >> 15 cameramen, you know how many now? robots. nobody can sell. >> that's very true. so we need a new market, rebuild america. catch up to china and catch up to europe in the transportation. which is nothing is greener than a nice railroad. i have one dream.

rebuild the american railroads. no more flying over countries. no more l.a. to new york, you got to go through them. no more plane rides. you got to take the train, stop and say hi st. louis, hi, cleveland, you can't just look down on it. isn't that a great rule. take the train. [laughter] >> thank you. >> arianna. >> you are going to win your buddies. >> yeah. yeah. that's one thing; right? that's one thing they did. >> nobody is going to believe that she couldn't afford to hire somebody legally in the documentary. you have all of the money in the world. >> you said it. >> nine years of never having a conversation about whether she's legal or not. oh, she's like family. you never asked her. is everything all right. the minute she decides to run

for office, we better clear the deck. >> you know what happened. >> i know. i was there. >> you probably came in on the first-class ticket. >> she rode the train. what are you talking about? >> the train in europe. how about a shuttle? shuttle in europe. that'll put half of the people in the country to work. >> what's her name? >> kathleen. that's her nickname. she gets paid for if she's kathleen. >> is it l double en. >> k-a-t-h-l-e-e-n. >> what about them? >> arianna, they live in a block in georgetown. >> how about your kids? how about your actor son? >> we'll talk. [inaudible conversations] >> i was up here. i thought you had the wrong day.

you got here. >> that's fantastic. really. >> when do you start? >> in a couple of weeks. >> are you going to be staying here? >> yeah. in the washington bureau, it's really hard after 29 years in one place. i think it was time to try something new. >> you'll take over the new bureau. >> yeah, that's what i figured. you have been hiring some of the msnbc types as well. >> honestly i think -- >> do you think the balance of power is shifting? >> you and i talked about this five years ago. it's like the future is going to be hybrid. >> right. >> it's not going to be at all. >> right. >> but at the time, remember, when we first launched, it looked like two absolutely unbreechable worlds; right? >> totally. >> the summers and making -- >> and the next thing that goes

is what tv goes that way. broadcast is going to split open. it's inevitable. i think tv is going to -- >> yeah. no, that's exciting. and thank you so much for giving me permission to go to america. >> oh, you know -- of course, i wouldn't have hesitated. it was nice. >> yeah. it was last minute. you know? i'm working the thing. >> i know what people tell you. i'm going to care for you. but any time someone brings up family, of course. >> and it worked. because i saw you today now. >> right. right. that's what i do. glen black beck says go be with your daughter. now your in america. >> exactly. now i'm there. anyway. >> glad to be here. >> arianna huffington, dylan.

dylan, arianna was on the show today. >> yeah. >> how's she's doing on the book? >> she has a standard fair of doing anything that can happen. truly, you are a model for a way to be. not just a way to think or a way to do. i think what the book represents is that. because the book, while it's incredibly critical of certain aspects of the way we are running the country, the book ultimately uses, and compliments to you for using the energy and criticism to try to cart a path towards solution, as opposed using it as a way to foster undeveloped anger or unchanneled anger in the country. >> how did that come about? >> well, i wrote about susie in the book. find your own target.

which is what mother used to tell the volunteer. we have been talking about her and about seth green. he has time to help out. he loves his job. it's great that dylan brought the two of them together. >> i don't care. whatever it takes for him to get there. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. [applause] >> so i'm actually not here to confront -- [microphone buzz] >> i am here to deal with reality. i'm going to give you a little bit of reality before we begin. i'll start with my own reality. then we'll talk about yours. [laughter] >> based on most of the polling, myself and where's chris matthews, i saw him out there somewhere. [applause] >> we're all about to get fired. they don't like the media. so, the unemployment problem is about to get worse in the media. it's not just us though.

they don't like the politicians, in fact, they don't care for much anybody in the backyard, last i checked. [laughter] >> so our objective tonight is to keep our jobs. [laughter] >> starting with my own. but how do we do that? well, i got my job by yelling at everybody. maybe people in this room. but i don't think i'm going to be able to keep my job by yelling at anybody this point forward. in fact, yelling at anybody about anything seems to be a lousy way to solve a problem. and in the context of arianna being here, and what her book represents to me, and i think if you've had a chance to look at it, and arianna is very gracious in that she doesn't ask everybody to read her book. she just asks everybody to read the last 30 pages of her book. there's a reason for that. it's because while a lot of this book goes to a lot of problems that are in this country and the problems that we have

structural, and the problems we have cultural, arianna's point, i agree with her, the last 30 pages really speak to the solutions that need to be pursued as a group in this country. again, i'll start with myself. instead of looking at those that i view as the problem, i've -- i look in the mirror and look at myself as the problem. and what i mean when i say that is the way that i choose to relate to the people in my life, specifically in the context of my profession, and specifically in the context of the way that i relate to the people that i disagree with the most goes directly to my ability to actually be beneficial in the way that i spend those days. and that has been an incredible process for me as i've navigated my way to my new role as political pain in the ass that i

am, or cable pain in the ass that i am. and to try to do it in a way with the new phrase that we've been using on our staff and show with the culture of building bridges and not motes. and one the things that i think goes most to that is an ability to both have resolve, and understand the need and the necessity for resolution in our own life and in the decisions that i make in my own life, and we make in our own lives. we know where the lighthouse is. we understand the necessity of roaming in that direction through whatever the weather maybe. and at the same time, have the awareness that a) none of us are right all of the time. most of us are not right most of the time. even when we are right, being right doesn't necessarily solve the problem. and i think that last one is the biggest one. because a lot of people, myself

included, will frequently reside back on their -- the fact that they are correct. and they know that their assessment, whatever it is, and you may well know it, you are correct. but to in -- to take that pause which i think is really, like i said, represented in the solution chapter that arianna has presented, not only in this book, but in the solution mission that arianna is currently leading recruiting people like myself, susie buffett, mike reams, everybody else in the backyard. she's the one that drags you out on the field even if we don't want to do this. the most critical point from all of it though, from this book, from my own navigation from what i wanted to share with you in this evening in my regard, is the imperative for all of us,

regardless of who we are and where we are in the all of the rest of us to give us the concept of us and them, and to adopt the concept of us as a way to be. as opposed as a thing to do. nothing captured that more than earlier today when we had arianna on the show, along with susie buffett, who's warren's daughter, and seth reams, who's the operator of we've got time to help. seth is here. we'll hear from him in a second. i said do you feel like you have a lot in common with the world's richest man. i don't feel like i have a lot in common in my mind with the daughter of the world's richest man. i think seth to speak to this, and i'll speak to it, spending time with the daughter of the

world's richest man, you are not spending time with the daughter of the world's richest man, you are spending time with someone who has a value system to spread out of their domain. because they know it must be done. the other point that arianna has been so em -- emphatic, the concept and having that mote that you are protected from whatever is happening is no longer adequate unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, for what we are going to have to navigate as a group in the country one way or another over the next decade or so. with that said, i would like to bring you up here, arianna, that, i'd like to get seth up here as well. to talk about not only your efforts here, but how many more people can be dragged on to the room to help. without further ado, arianna

huffington and seth reams. >> thank you so much, dylan, thank you seth for being here. thank you all for coming. thank you for our wonderful hall. thank you to the tommy hadad. i just feel so incredible that we got her out of her shell finally to host a party. [laughter] >> and ted, of course, thank you so much, ted. you know, tommy, and ted, and hillary for getting ready up in the bedroom. i actually fell asleep on their bed while everything was going on around. this is part of the "huffington post" dedication to sleep. we can do it anybody. it's such a family feeling that tommy and hillary and i have had for a long time now. thank you so much for opening up our backyard. we are having our own obama backyard party. [laughter] >> thank you to all of the other wonderful co-host, john, greta, anita, franco, and sally, thank

you so much. thank you for coming here. dylan, thank you for what you said. you and i have been through the journey together. we first bonded over our anger. i channeled my anger into writing. the title shows how angry i am about what's happened to the country, what's happened to the middle class, and what's happened to the 26 million people out of work or underemployed, what's happened to the 26 million people losing their homes this year. et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. at some point in our different way, dylan and i reached the same conclusion. that's not going to get us anywhere. and that right now, this country is in deep crisis. much deeper than we fully realize. and we really have a moment of choice. we can channel that anger into dividing and demonizing and scapegoating. that's happening already all around us. that will destroy us.

or we are take that anger and claw at it, because it's legitimate, and channel it into rebuilding our communities, our lives, building bridges not motes. i discovered we have timetohelp.org. seth lost his job as a concierge in portland. after failing many job applications and not getting job, and after feeling depressed and feeling like a victim, he decided he had time. he created literally wehavetimetohelp.org a place for people who are out of work. although you didn't have to be, come together to help people with needs. the needs could be i'm pregnant and i need to move from my apartment. i don't have a truck. and i need somebody to help me.

it could be as basic as that. or it could be i need child care for the night. anything. and seth and the network that he put together and the way he used social media made it possible to help. and seth will talk for himself. but in the process, he didn't just help, he transformed the way he saw himself from being a victim to being somebody who was contributing to the world. and one the big problems of unemployment, it's not just a financial issue, it's a deeply psychological issue. so at the other end, i wrote about seth in my book. at the other end, i wrote about susie buffett in my book. she and i have had a deep conversation over a dinner in des moines, iowa of all places, when she says omaha is her backyard. all of the money is being spent in omaha. the library is closing, a child

-- teenage girl is getting pregnant. she's there to help. >> how does she help in that way? >> actually her idea -- >> after she's pregnant? >> her idea is to try to give it beforehand to give her money to go to the mall so she doesn't get pregnant. which is not likely to produce a congressional earmark; right? >> not without a lobbyist. >> so seth -- from seth to susie, the idea that whatever we are in life, whether we are out of work, or billions of dollars, it's the time right now in our nation's history, despite the plane going overhead, to step it up. to step up to the plate and do our part. so i want seth to say something. i want to thank dylan for putting seth on the show a couple of weeks ago. then i talked about seth being on the book tour. jon stewart, now he's been

inundated with requests to actually help them start branches there. and the bottom line about that, instead of us focusing on the deficits and shortages, we can stop focusing our on helplessness and what we have in time and skills we are not using. we started a not for profit right here to raise money for seth to help him build an infrastructure, to help him help others start what he started in portland. and the idea that little by little, while we are fighting the political battles about the role of government, about what we need to do to create jobs, to build the infrastructure, we can also be channeling our energy and frustration into building. that will change what's happening. because as we have seen in seth,

america can be counted to do the right thing when and only when it has exhausted all other possibilities. and now we have exhausted all other possibilities. it's time to do the right thing andset -- and seth is part of that right thing. [applause] [applause] >> thank you. i'm not nearly as eloquent as my cohorts up here. >> but we are your cohorts. >> you are my cohorts. [laughter] >> yes, we all -- every single person standing here tonight -- has something -- has something to offer to the rest of the country. everyone. whether it be mowing somebody's yard or lending a hand moving, or just an ear. we get so many e-mails and calls from people that just need to

tell their story. they need somebody to hear the pain in their lives. that we all have that to offer. every single one of us. i don't care who you are or what you do, how much time you have. yes, we have time to help. but we all have time to help. and there is as arianna and dylan spoke earlier, there is a surplus in this country. we must need to harvest it. there's a surplus of skills, a time of money, of everything. there is a surplus, and yet we have millions withering. and that's not okay. we need to change that. we can change that. so we harvest this time, these skills, of mostly unemployed people. but we have everything from ceos to unemployed people writing us saying i've got time. because everybody realizes that

they've got time. and together without the government, without the states and the cities, and the panels, and the committees we can change everything with our time and our skills. and that's what we want to do with we've got time. >> thank you. [applause] [applause] >> thank you. congratulations. i think your actually -- when i get fired, there will be an opening. >> you'll have time. >> i'll have time to help. you can have my job. one the things that was done this evening, as you surely know, was the solicitation for ideas. and things that can be done with time. here have that microphone. and airian -- arianna and i went through some of the ideas. should we reveal the intended use? so the intention of the selected ideas is to create a custom page

on "the huffington post" and launch the adopted ideas program. where the ideas from this gathering, and others can be submitted, will be posted on "the huffington post" we will use our joint flashlights, the tv show and at the "huffington post" to solicit people to look at the list of ideas. maybe they don't have time to help. maybe they have time to work in the library. maybe they don't have time to help, but they have time to cook or listen. we are going to ask people to adopt these ideas and push more ideas in so that we can get out of the business of feeling like we are powerless to deal with the problems and empowered to address the problems. can i ask you one question? because one thing that has struck me, not in just watching

and getting to know you, seth, so many others that have made the decision to live outside of their own bubble have made the choice. those who do that tend to become happier. those who make the decision to live outside of the bubble feel bubble or can lord it over their friends because they help. the personal satisfaction for anyone that breaks the effort to breakthrough the inertia of the mote. have you found that to be the case yourself? >> oh completely. completely. i mean we have -- obviously any time you do something for anyone else, it's a boost to your esteem, to your well being, to your, you know, -- we have people writing us that 3/4 of the way through their 15 paragraph e-mail we think what are they going to ask for?

because it is i've lost this. i've lost this. i've lost this. i've lost this. and at the end of the e-mail, they say, but you know what, i want to help. they don't ask us for anything. they want to help. even though they've lost their house. or their car, or job, or whatever -- they have lost everything. yet they still want to help. they realize how much helping somebody else, recognizing that somebody else is in trouble, how much that does for you. i mean, you know, i told you before on the show, it's better than a job. it's better than winning the lottery. it's -- you -- there are no words to describe mow -- how it feels to step out of yourself, your problems, and go help something else. >> i if think susie buffett fees

the same way. >> right. >> with that said, do you want to do some cards here. you can raise some hands if you really like your idea. >> we have prizes. >> we do have prizes if arianna likes your idea. that's a different thing. teaching a marketable skill. >> love it. >> does it get a prize? >> even if it wasn't your idea. if you want to do that. >> i have and -- hand stand. >> ann hand. where are you? ann, where you are? this is yours. it's your pillow. come and claim it. >> now i like this idea, but i just worry about the -- >> run a library? >> what about the internet? >> oh no.

libraries are still useful during the time of internet. in >> -- >> what do you do with it? >> you get people to come and use it as a gathering place. >> as a community center. yeah. >> good. that's why i have you. [laughter] >> i would volunteer to young boys who do not have day. males raised by young mothers are extremely susceptible. >> susana queen. thank you. [applause] >> whenever you get here, the pillow awaits you. [laughter] >> no. [laughter] >> it's the last card. it's the last card that i got. we are going to leave it at that. >> we are going to leave it at that. >> enjoy your evening. >> we have one surprise.

we didn't tell arianna about it. it's not the hep corporate. -- helicopter. the president is not done. someone is celebrating a big birthday. let's all sing happy birthday to arianna. ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ happy birthday, dear, arianna ♪ happy birthday to you [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] >> dylan. seth. get in there. >> thanks for coming. plenty of food and drink, guys. and cake. >> okay. blow that. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> thank you so much. thank you for coming. >> happy you are here. >> happy for the wonderful

interview. thank you. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> i'm leaveing tomorrow. >> take a bow. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> arianna huffington is the co-founder and editor and chief of "the huffington post." for more information visit huffingtonpost.com. >> every weekend booktv brings you 48 hours of public affairs and history. here's one of our programs. >> thomas, what do you think about hip hop now? >> sunk to new lows. the inspiration for this book -- >> sunk to low news he said.

whoa. >> i do. i started writing this book, and while i wrote in 2007. i believe that the dominant artist of the time, not the sole artist, but the artists that were really driving the media coverage of the genera and settling the tone were soulja boy, if you compare that to the early '90s, it's such a decline in artistic quality, let alone even in the message. >> so you are cool with biggie? >> i'm not cool. i think he had a lot more complexity. i'm interested in watching a guy like brake. -- drake. i don't think one artist guides an entire culture. >> you say it sunk to new lows.

explain to me why i feel that way. these are street poets, okay? why do you feel they have sunk to new lows if they are expressing their reality? >> it's debatable if they are expresser their reality. a lot of them are propagating some of the worst stereotypes about black people that have every existed. >> okay. [applause] >> but if that's their reality, should they be silent? >> it's not many of their realities. some of them have realities. >> there's been a movie about biggie, we can see he rapped about his reality in the streets. >> no, he was a guy that observed some other people's realities. than he rapped about his own. i've lived in the brooklyn for a few years. the part where biggie comes to

is much nicer than what james baldwin and ralph grew up in. >> i mean the guy was a drug dealer. >> yeah, he made choices. i chew up in the suburbs who choice to deal drugs too. his mother was a school teacher. he didn't have to deal drugs. >> right. that was his choice. >> it was. exactly. >> so let me ask you this, what is good hip hop to you? >> well, i want to make, i want to be clear, my book is not about music. it's not a critique of the artistic merit of hip-hop. >> let me repeat your title. "losing my cool: how a fathers love and 15,000 books beat hip-hop culture." >> it's a values that the music doesn't create, but it magnifies, and glorifies, and

romanticize these things. a lot of them have a problem on the hip-hop level and find it inferior to jazz. that's not my argument. i'm trying o -- trying to attack ideas and cultural values. i see the secular religion of hip-hop. it's a way of living, reaching for a cup of water, dismisses certain ideas as not real. i'm not talking about whether an artist like andre 3,000 as ability. because clearly he does. i think the music -- i wouldn't even need to critique the culture if the music was trash. because one the reasons the culture is so powerful is because the music -- the culture is aestheticly pleasing. >> yes. that's the history of african-american music in a sense. >> not really.

listen to "love supreme" by john culture. like gucci main, the ber print. >> right. [applause] [applause] >> so -- and i'm a john culture fan. >> me too. >> i am. i am. i want to go back to my question. which i want you to answer directly. what would be good hip-hop? >> well, i can list -- we could spend the rest of the panel with me listening. >> no, we're not going to spend the rest of the panel. what would be good hip-hop? >> it's like "reasonable doubt" jay-z, is the content and message poison? yes, it is. if you try to live your life the way that jay-z instructs you, it will end disastrously. you will not fly in a private

yet, most likely. [laughter] >> too watch this program in it's entirety, go to booktv.org. simply type the title or the author's name at the top left of the screen and click search. >> and now we are pleased to be joined by the founder of the national book festival, and former first lady, laura bush. it was september 8th, 2001 that the first national book festival was held on the capitol grounds. it was founded by laura bush. it is now grown so large they have to hold in the national mall with all sorts of tents. >> that's right. i've thrilled to see somebody who have come out for the first reading. gordon wood behind us in the history tent. just very, very happy to see how many people love the national book festival. >> we continue to mere about the demice of the publicking and the demise of books in general. you hold the book festival like

that. >> and 100,000 people show up. it's great. >> the texas book festival as well. what does that say to you? >> people love to read. now we are -- part of the demise of the publicking industry, which is not a demise, i think they are going to figure out a way around it. now you can get all of those books on your kindle, and ipad. rather than buying the hard copy, a lot of people are downloading them. you can do that in 35 seconds. just as soon as someone recommends a book, you can rush home and download it on your ipad. i think because of that, people will continue to read. they will continue to buy hard backs and hard copies, they will want to have them. there are certain books, like our beautiful children's book, so many that we are fortunate in america to have so many.

people will want to look at. because the illustrations are so lovely in a book, and so much fun to look at with a child. >> well, it was september 8th, 2001, that you opened the first national book festival. now you are returning as an author. this was published in may. "spoken from the heart." i want to get your reaction to one thing. i know when you speak in the tent, you are going to be talking about 9/11. >> that's right. >> but you write that on friday night in september 7th, 2001, we held a gala for the festival at the library of congress before the official day of author events. dr. billington, the library of congress introduced me. i walked out, the crowd gasped, i felt that was my official debut, not nine months after george took office, i was doing what i love. finding my place in the world of washington and beyond. >> that's right. when i looked back -- when i wrote the book and leading up tr

11th, this the book festival and on the morning of september 11th, which i will be reading about in a minute, i was on the way to capitol hill to brief a senate committee on early childhood education. i think i was just sort of finding my way of first lady right before the weekend before. we had just hosted the mexican president, president fox and marta fox. when i left for the capitol that morning of september 11th, the white house grounds were covered with picnic tables. we were hosting the congressional -- the whole congress and their families for the congressional picnic that night. i think in many ways, i was just finding my way and figuring out really what i wanted to do. and, of course, i knew what i wanted to work on. it was education and reading because that had been my whole life. and that's what happened that weekend before september 11th. >> well, you also write quite

extensively about 9/11. you also write about the iraq war, katrina. how personally did you feel as first lady, the politics and the -- what was going on in the world. how did you feel? >> of course, i felt very personally to politics and the criticism about george. you know, every one does that lives there. but i also knew it was the fact of life. i knew when he ran for president that's what happens to the american president. remember we'd been the child of a president ourselves, the children of the president. and we had been so distraught when president bush, george's dad was criticized in 1992 when he lost the election. we knew what we were getting into. i think you really know to expect that. it's nothing new. we feel like it's new as we look around now and see the criticism of our current president. if you visit the leadership -- the lincoln library in

springfield, and see the terrible things that was written about lincoln. it was not 24 hour news, but pamphlets that were published about him. it's just a fact of life. it's also a function of our democracy. that we can criticize our president. that we do have the freedom to say whatever we want to say. and so as much as i heard the terrible things about george, that's part of life in the united states. really, it's a part we should be grateful for. >> at what point do you grow the skin thick enough to withstand some of the criticism? >> i think maybe we'd be growing that skin when george's dad was vice president. i also think, you know, i knew more than the critics. i mean i lived with george. i knew what the threats were. i didn't know every one of them. he didn't -- thank heavens didn't tell me every one. he didn't want to add to my worry. i felt like i knew a lot more

than a lot of the issues than the people who were criticizing him. >> in "spoken from the heart" you write about those. you are an only child. you write about the private trips. one of them is a visit with mary ann pearl in paris. >> that's right. i knew about danny pearl's kidnapping. he was a wall street reporter. we all at the time assumed he was dead. he didn't know that. when i was in paris, i knew mary ann lived there. she was pregnant with their first child. i had a chance to visit with her privately. my daughter jenna was with me. we had a chance to talk to her and bring encouragement and comfort to you. shortly after that visit, we found out that danny pearl had been beheaded.

we found out the tragic and brutal way he killed. i kept up with her when i went to paris last year, a year ago after george was president for international literacy date. i vine -- i invited her out to launch with the ambassadors the united states and the wife of our ambassador to unesco. she told me then and she was, she came an american citizen. so she's a citizen of the united states now. >> again, the privacy thing, you discuss this, you talk about some of your yosemite trips and hiking trips, how you were able to get away on those. is it possible? we've seen the articles about carla book, the first lady of france and what michelle obama

said. is it possible to have a private conversation? >> of course. who knows, i think that was made up. but it is possible to have friendships and to have a very, very normal life. i know people don't believe that. because you are living in such a magnificent mansion with every short of help. including the pastry chef. i knew it could be home. we stayed there with george's dad and mom. and barbara made it a home. i knew i could do that for barbara and jenna and george. the other thing, we have lots of long time friends that came up and visited us and stayed with us. >> mrs. bush, there's another bush family book coming out in two months. >> that's right. >> have you read "decision points" >> i've read it. i think it's very good. i think people are going to like

it. it publishes in november. "decision points." it's very george bush in his voice. >> any suggestions? >> not really. we were both writing our books at the same time. we shared researchers. we each had our own who would go to the archives where everything is documented to -- for instance when i wrote about september 11th. a look at the secret service log of the timeline to look at our advanced people timeline, to look at the other -- everything else that on our schedule around that day so i could write about it. very straightforward and honest way. but -- so we did share researchers, we did talk to each other about what we were writing. george did ask me to take a couple of stories out of my book that he thought were his stories. and they were. >> did he put them in "decision points"?

>> they were. i was reporting on them second hand. he wanted to include them in his book. >> in your acknowledgment, you thank you andy card and josh. as first lady, who was your relationship with the chiefs of staff? >> george had two unbelievably great chiefs of staff. really, really fine men, andy card and josh bolton. i was close to both of them. both of them made an effort to have lunch with me once or twice a month just so we could have a chance to visit. so i could talk about what bothered me or what i was interested in. and they could tell me what things they saw coming up on the schedule that they thought would involve me. so that was great to have that kind of relationship with them. andy card's wife is a minister, a methodist minister. on the day after 9/11, when i went up to visit with my staff, who were young women, many of them straight out of college, who never expected to be told to run from the white house, you know, they thought they were coming to a very glamorous white

house job. and, in fact, had to kick off their high heels and run on september 11th. i asked andy card's wife, kathleen to come with me. she's a methodist minister. she was able to counsel with my young staff members who were getting used to an idea of having a job that was a lot more dangerous than they ever expected. >> three final questions. who's lyric winnick? >> she's one of my very good friends. she helped me with my book. she lives here in washington. she lives here the entire time we did. which was helpful. because she knew what it was like to live in washington during the clears -- during the years that i was writing about. her husband is an historian. i hope a national book festival writers. >> jay. >> about the last week of the month of the civil war. george read it early on in his

presidency. we both were very found of it. the other one "the great upheaval." it's a history of what was going on in the world during the time of the founding the united states. i found it so interesting because we think of our founding sort of in a vacuum. we don't -- we don't know. did you know that kathleen was czar of russia when the united states was founded? i think it's really a great way to put our revolution, the american revolution into perspective. >> and for viewers who were interested in jay winnick we have covered him. go to booktv.org. we have the search function. type in the name and you can watch it online free of charge. second question, in "spoken from the heart" you write in 2004, the social question that animated the campaign was gay marriage. before the election season had unfold would, i had talked to george about not making gay marriage a significant issue. we have, i reminded him, a number of close friends who are

gay or who's children are gay. have you talked to ken melmen since he came out? >> i haven't since. but i talked to him right before. he was in dallas. we had a fly in with a lot of administration people to talk about the bush institute that we have building as part of the bush library. and ken was there, he was my dinner partner that night. you know, i know ken melmen very well. i respect very much his decision to go public. because i know it's difficult. it's very, very difficult for many people to be able to admit they are -- their feelings. especially, i think, in the republican party. but i'm proud that many, many republicans and many other people have accepted and always accepted ken as, you know, a great friend. and accepted his choices. >> and finally, mrs. bush, what are you reading? what's the president currently reading? >> well, i'm reading books that

book sellers gave me on my book tour. one the great things about a book tour is visiting the book sellers all over the united states when you are there for book signings. they would give me the books that they had just read that they highly recommended. one of them is my name is mary souter. it's historical fiction art the war. excellent. another is "cutting for stone" by abram geese. i'm not sure if he's a national book festival writer or not. it's historical fiction also about ethiopia during the time of holly scilas and a fascinating story about twins. my twins, barbara and jenna are reading it right now. barbara went on a trip there. she wanted to read that around his trip. >> do you know what the president is reading? >> she's reading an excellent

biography of bonhoper. i'm anxious to get my hands on it. >> we just got it at booktv. we will be covering that. laura bush, the founder of the book festival and author of "spoken from the heart." by the way she was first lady for eight years. >> thank you so much. thank you for covering the national book festival. >> every weekend everytv brings you 48 hours of history, biography, and public affairs. here's a portion of one of our programs. >> i'm in charge of globalization. i was born at a time when large numbers of african countries had just gotten their independence, were getting their independence, or were independent for a while. and that entailed in africa in the context that i was born in, and later i found out, places in

asia, there was the people that took over power very quickly. and people in the -- i don't want to use the white class. because we hadn't reached in africa the level where we could call ourself class, but we'll say clans, groups of people, were prosecuted or prosecuting others. those of us who felt prosecuted by those in power started to move around. we left our countries of origin and moved elsewhere. that was easy to do. :