this room and karen and either one of us its coffee, let's not pretend. it's not ascribe some level of sanctimony and is not deserving. we are here tonight though to confront what i believe our arguably the three greatest scourges of our time rape as a war weapon, child soldier recruitment and genocide the tools of war that are so dead. our message though the book we wrote is that most fundamental is a simple one. a message that is positive in its core. if we take a hard look at the last century, our own country's history, politicians and ideas come and go and it has been

essentially people's movements, which have helped change the course of history. the women's movement, the civil rights movement, environmental movement, the labor movement, all these movements, the anti-apartheid movement. people come together, usually start very small through and through and change the course of human history. and now's we gather here tonight across united states people's movement is being born on college campuses, high school, synagogues and churches and in community centers around the country in support of women and girls of the congo. in support of the invisible children, number ugonda, in support of the genocide survivors and an darfur.

we call this point in time the enough movement to become moment. when finally enough to leave people with had enough of the debt the status quo and demand the status quo has to change. the very peculiar thing is i don't think there will be a clear but when we know whether or not we have pish fully succeeded. one day a woman in eastern congo will get it in the morning, her daughter to school, go out, tend to her garden, she will not live in fear of rape, she will not be abandoned by her community, she will not be driven from her home by a militia attack. or contribution in effect did not happen to her. so there's this enough moment of the international and national level in which movements,

people's movements are combined with enlightened policy makers who have a history of involvement, people like the u.s. ambassador right here in new york, susan weiss, president and vice president, these were the three senators two years ago who were the leading advocates of action on darfur, the leading advocates of more action in congo the son of a year in executive branch position. they weathered the first year and a half, two years of the 20 months of their administration unprecedented problems. the president is getting his sea legs reasserting his fundamental priorities, and i saw a man across the table friday when i met with him and at the united nations a president who had fallujah and his allies for the issue of sudan in particular, and it takes some time at the beginning of an administration. this is truly a possible moment

when we can make some real changes, but there's also an enough moment of the individual level where anyone of us in this room who has been watching this stepped up to become an advocate for others who are less fortunate whatever the circumstances might have got that person from. they have had their own the enough moment, and mauney nexium when i was 21-years-old. i injured my ankle playing basketball, couldn't get up, sitting in a lazy boy chair watching whatever came on because at that time i didn't have one of those channel changers back in the day. and we basically had to watch whatever is on because we couldn't get up and walk. but every game i was watching in did and suddenly there was this program focusing on this issue, the story that haven't yet broken, the story of the

ethiopian famine in the 80's, and there were pictures that had been brought back by this famous one armed videographers, fearless guy who perished in the middle of a war zone and he'd gotten the first footage of what was happening in ethiopia that in 1983. as far as the picture that the little tv, my little black-and-white tv could see people were huddled over the fire, no shelter, no food, donning by the thousands in that particular camp and ultimately a million people died in that famine and i had my enough's moment staring into the screen. i had never written a book about africa. it's a country continent put 50/50, and i just said this is unacceptable. we cannot allow in this world of ours this kind of, this level of suffering. and i live in the most powerful country in the world we have got to go do something about it. and so i did.

i went, and that was my enough moment. the enough moment is when you hear the bell tolls for a particular issue or as in the book in the candidate is which goes on but this is a switch for good. and you decide to do something. to no longer be a bystander. to be as care in was saying to be in a standard. this was a term coined by samantha and her book about genocide. in our book we have what we try to raise and use -- and use with stories because people react to those kind things and are inspired so we decided to collect as many stories as we can, and we broken into three categories. the first category is the citizen up standards. we have stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. all over the united states. for people on behalf people, half a world away. these kids in northern ugonda,

genocide survivors in darfur and the women and the girls of the congo. stories of people standing up and doing something when they had their and of moment and they describe and they are all different. it is fascinating to see why people do what they do regardless of africa, but if anybody has a hard for some kind of cause where did it come from, not just why did they pick that cause but what does it roll back into in their childhood and their influence and all that stuff so people talk about that and tell their stories. we have students as young as 12-years-old in the book talking about the things they have done, talking about their activities. not too young or old, never too late or too early to get involved in something that you believe in. these people were all talking about the kind of work that they are doing to fight human-rights crime on behalf of people that they will never meet, on behalf of places they will never visit. it's remarkable. we also have a category in our

book of famous of standards. we do interviews or get essays from a number of physicians and athletes and actors and writers and television personalities, all kind of people that we recognize, and they talk about very enough moment. this may be of all the different parts of the book for me the most interesting for the most interesting general public because, you know, we are all so cynical about these celebrities and their work in these causes, and when you hear sheryl crow talk about her spiritual of the and then have like talk about the seven trips he took to africa before anybody knew he was doing because he really wanted to get into the roots of why this stuff is happening and choose an issue not influenced by anyone but his own heart and the talk about the stories of life they are doing this stuff it's remarkable and it gives --

it humanizes these people we see every day on the screens and a way that i didn't certainly done didn't anticipate before we started getting their stories and some of them write their own essays but some of the interviews we go back and forth and try to elicit. a great interview where he talks about why and then there are people who just write their own essay and tell their stories and they are just utterly fascinating. so that is the second category of of standards we talk about. the third category i think not to diminish the first to but they are the most important. the third category are the front line of standards. people who have survived the horrors of the war on the front line, the women and girls from the congo who have themselves survived atrocities, genocide survivors indoor for who have

decided after they have seen some of the most horrific things happen to their families killed and they decide with a minute, i am going instead of being overcome by what i've experienced i'm going to stand up and do something for my community so not just that they made it through and lived, but they are actually recapturing what their humanity and what their compassion and commitment to others in the community to do something about that and i was just in congo three weeks ago and was able to reconnect with someone who had written we write about in this occurs and i want to tell you her story here tonight so we have a sense of what kind of people were talking about when we talk about front line up upstanders. is a leedy that i've known now for quite some time from congo named anarata.

she's an extraordinary woman. she is now in her mid-50s and she was living in a community in eastern congo in a little village she was a teacher and she supplement her income as a teacher because the congo educational system is collapsing largely and so most teachers to other jobs to try to sort of supplement their income so she went off every weekend and would sell salt. that was her side of if you will. she dillinger the mines where much of the economic activities occur and she would sulfa salt and get money in the supplement her family's income so they could diversify other kind of things food for the house. so one day on saturday she went to sell her little bags of salt she put together and a militia

came swooping in to read these ackley the war in the congo is fuelled by the militia who fight over the mines for control over the territory and the wealth that is generated by the minerals that it exported and in the in our cell phones and laptops, the direct story and she was in the middle of this attack and round of all of the women and the girls during the attack and change them up and brought them up and to the army barracks she remembers that when they were walking into the barracks and the outskirts of the barracks she heard a couple of the men at the gates say we are happy now the food has arrived.

all of the girls that were captured that they were held as sex slaves for two years by that particular militia and she was taken and being raped in every location they would be brought to to demonstrate to the local community this is your fate if you resist as we try to take control of the mineral trade area and was used in that way and the women all over the congo and girls all over the congo or used in that way. and anarata told me how ashamed and angry she felt so she said i felt i was a wife and a teacher but now i was being called food. one day there was heavy fighting and she and a member of her friends saw an opportunity to skate so they ran for it and ran right into the sickly forested place. they went into the forest and the state from the militia and they walked for days and days and days and there's all these good samaritans and condo in the

forest who were helping them find their way with codes and passwords. it's an extraordinary story, and her journey, the track to get to the mean city on the order of eastern congo bordering the country of rwanda so she made it to this town and when she got there there were basically penniless and homeless. they couldn't go home, we too dangerous. so they were left, nothing, destitute, no social security system or welfare system to apply for. they are all in the street begging. and the sailors saw them and walked and talked for a while and realize okay, these people need help. so he gave them, literally because he is a sailor out on the high seas all the time about that high there's little leaks out there but he was mostly on the thank you shinseki let them stay in his house while he was gone. so they had a place, a roof over

their head. and so one day a group of rwanda soldiers who at the time or occupying the town got wind of some women living in this house, so they went to the door, broke the door down, stormed into the house and they ended up taking turns raping anarata and the other women and the girls so badly that anarata this time ended up in the hospital for severe, traumatic injuries to her sexual organs. and she took a long time to heal. physically, slowly she healed but mentally she was in a very, and spiritually and emotionally, she was in a very big hole of lack of self-worth and a feeling that her life was over and she began to remember what her calling was, what her location

was. and one night she stayed up and she thought about what her role in the world could be and she had her version of what she thinks was heard enough moment basically, and she decided i am going to rededicate myself to teaching other women and girls and i'm going to help other women and girls so she got a job with this wonderful international organization called women for women which many of you have heard of. she became a counselor and a teacher. when i go there, the women who are newly injured in the program, she's the role model, the mentor, she has become a real adviser to so many of the women, real inspiration to the countless women and girls. i asked anarata how did she decide to help others after all that she had endured and she said these women have experienced the same, but i did so i want to use my life and

experience and what happened to me in a way that if i were able to change my life to help them change their lives, so i asked her finally what is her dream for her country for the congo and she said rape, mass rape is a disease that is devastating congo. it can stop only when the war ends. so i dream of peace in congo. and that is why i think we wrote this book. that is why i sure that you are here. all of us in some way, shape or form, probably have had our enough moment. we need to make a moment in time matter for the women of the congo for the survivals of genocide this unique crime against humanity where individual communities are targeted on the basis of their

identity. the survivors of sudan and the kids, we've got to make this moment matter to them. this is a moment when if we say enough, loudly enough, we can help stop some of africa's deadliest human rights crimes. thanks you so much for coming tonight. [applause] >> if you have got a question raise your hand and wait for me to bring you the microphone. i will be right there. yes? >> hello. i have two short questions. the first one is -- [inaudible] my question is related of what

happened sudan [inaudible] and my second question is [inaudible] [laughter] >> i knew it. everywhere i go. anyway, i do carry it back sometimes. i miss that. but first, this is what happens. when the book comes out, you've got to do the same. so he is working. but we did in the event together in los angeles and he is committed to doing as best he can and is an incredible one advocate for the last five years ever since we were on our first trip in africa cities in the game, he's not here tonight. sorry about that. second country for bringing it up, it's an untenable important issue.

for those of you that follow the law, in terms of since world war ii in the nuremberg trials for those that commit a genocide in europe i think the formation of the international court is the most significant legal development of international law since the nuremberg trials. we finally have a standing port that can investigate and in the lead and try and convict and in prison those that are of terrible crimes against humanity like those 13 committed in sudan today. so what his happened of course and sudan which is the most dramatic story of the icc short life that has only been in existence since 2002, the icc indicated were issued an arrest warrant for the president of

sudan, newmar busheir, who is without any question in some ways masterminding some of the terrible crimes that have been committed not just in darfur during the genocide but also during the north-south war that killed more people than those of darfur. so the problem is of course the icc doesn't have a global police force goes out for the warrant. there is no martial law office for the icc that bangs the door down of a cartoon and holds the marches in handcuffs. that's not going to happen unless there is a major change of government. so we have an international community that has to remain united in support of the court and in support of the principal of justice that he can't travel and go places and he's boxed into a corner and has to wear the scarlet letter of the indictment where ever he goes

and isolate him as much as possible and eventually the government doesn't last forever. we will see what happens. i know for the fact when charles taylor, the former president of liberia was indicted by a hybrid u.n. court at the time they stand sierra leone he laughed and two years later he was in the dock, and now today as we know because of ne and campbell he's been charged for crimes against humanity but laughed at the indictment because in the country he is untouchable. we will see. molosovich from the same thing. invited by the tribunal for yugoslavia. he scoffed, didn't laugh, little difference. within two years he was indicted in jail awaiting his trial. so we will see what happens. but the important thing for the united states is even though the united states is not a signatory it is a long complicated story to write books about that.

but the important thing is that the united states can be very supportive of the court even though we are not a signatory we can offer to share information with the court that they don't have access to intelligence to help build cases. we can work with other countries to develop coalitions to ensure that we are isolating people who have been indicted and all of the kind of activities that as if we were a signatory we just can't because of a political reason of our military being very worried that we would the u.s. military personnel might be the next one indicted. so that is about that. in a communique just one minute in a week to answer your question. it's a communique of 30 heads of state or government including the sudanese government. the sudanese government isn't going to say in a communique we think of our government should be hauled off. so, you know, when you do these

international negotiations if you are often willing to get at the lowest common denominator the common denominator that we wouldn't want to see as the justice etiquettes and peace advocates, but rest assured the president is working on it and we have been very critical of president obama on his lack of engagement of until now and going to be as supportive as i was critical but he has jumped in head first on sudan and directly involving itself in this issue, and so very interesting. why did it happen? because he was hearing it all over the country. it's not in the headlines every day it's not going to be every night on the nightly news also next week it will be on the nightly news. but then when he goes away it won't be. and then, so i think that there is still remains -- that's why i've written the book to read and incredible growth activists all over the country again as because they care and the organized a more group who can influence change. wherever you go you hear why aren't you doing what you said

you were going to become president obama? you're the three injured 30,000 times eventually you react. so that is the exciting part of seeing the fruits of the movement of a real movement, again, even though we may not know about it, we are not going to read about it in the media, and the reality of it is the underground grouping of people who care, connections between people who care. constituencies of conscience as my friend calls them who are working in places all of the united states to try to force our government to do the right thing in these kind of circumstances. i will try to be shorter on my non-answer next time. >> hi, i was also over there a month ago today. i was in kenya and the head in the constitution and it was a wonderful day for everybody there, but busheir came and there was a lot of stuff in the

paper about it. he was criticized in his government was criticized. i'd like to know your opinion on that. and then i have a question -- i also read something about south sudan and secession and i don't understand it. can you explain it please? >> great. this is fun. it's like a class. to get it at columbia in why you, it'll be fun. the second one again? blight, i'm getting old. secession. good, thank you. have to write it down or it doesn't exist. bushehr to kenya. i just finished saying we've got to work to isolate these guys for the scarlet letter. boom, sometimes there is a hold on the line, there are many holds on our line. probably in an appropriate analogy. but anyways, in this case, kenya did not fulfill its obligations as a signatory to the international criminal court, which would have left them had he entered the country, the aerospace, whatever, they would

have had to arrest him. kenya has a reason that they articulated during the -- which we don't have to dignify here, but it was a very deeply political reason for their geopolitical interests. the repercussions now, so they did it. so now the question is what cost will there be for doing it. and that is where we have worked very hard to get some of the staunch supporters, the signatories particularly the european countries who are all about the international criminal court to go to the canyons and maybe spend some of the programs quietly, maybe make some statements very critical of that kind of action. so they are not going to -- you know, they are not going to shut down the programs for kenya because it's a criminal moment for ten years before the space transformation, but there are things that can be done to demonstrate the severe

disapproval of such a flavor of act, callous act of defiance of international law. in think that president obama made a fairly strong statement as well. so i think that it was very unfortunate in its not helpful and we are going to see steps back at times before we see steps forward on this international. the wheels of international justice grind terribly slowly, and the -- actually, the preceding view if you watch these court cases, they are worse than any of the most sort of arcane courtrooms in the west because it was a compromise of a lot of different governments coming up with a law for the international criminal courts. so many procedures and checks and balances, and so it's really a slow process. but it's what we got, and so and

add the ansel for having nothing. before that, there was nobody. there was no international body. it filled with crimes against humanity were genocide is standing by, so now we've got to make this work even with all of its worth. and so part of making it work is when there is a full -- fopau if it happens again we address that so we just keep pushing and eventually i believe -- i am sure at some point president bushehr is going to face justice. you had to questions and thank god i wrote it down. ..

war were resume in southern sudan a man remember in door for at at the height of all the death and destruction in darfur and the genocide i think the high range estimate we don't really know how many people died in the sahara over the last few years but 400,000 maybe. in southern sudan it was two and a quarter million so the second deadliest war after congo, so all hands on deck to try to prevent this war from having -- happening. two trains on the same track rushing on each other and you can see it from far away. we know that it is coming. we actually know that there are side rails that can be taken so

that we can never dead train wreck through diplomacy through real pressure, and through united international action, through often u.s. leadership and diplomatic circles and that his wife was so heartening when president obama was so committed leslie during the united nations general assembly and the meeting dedicated specifically to sudan amongst all the world leaders. i am on the one hand very concerned as anyone be as all sudanese are that this could end very badly and on the other hand this is an opportunity to finally end the terrible saga that southerners have gone through during the slave raiding century and the 19th century to the wars of the 20th century for the southern sudanese. we have the chance really to end this cycle with this process if the referendum can be held on time, fairly and the results can

be respected. they are only going to be -- the referendum will occur and the results will be respected only if the international community is united in support of the respect in that process in united in creating severe consequences for anyone who would undermine the peace that these people have fought for for so long. [inaudible] i do not have an opinion. i want the southern sudanese people to decide and chorus to support whatever they decide. the sudanese have agreed to that they are going to have this referendum and we should respect that and do all that we can to ensure that it is held with integrity and no one backslide and -- a quarter-inch of backsliding, war will happen so it is really the stakes are just enormous right now. >> john, we actually only have time for one more question. over here. >> thank you. so, sorry. i tend to think of the u.s.

government as being the most aggressive in latin america historically with fixes and in the middle east with the oil wars but how do you characterize our approach in these african countries where there is a slew of, i don't know, genocide rape etc. and do you think it can never transcend the current approach because i hear you saying i believe, and i would agree with you i believe people make the difference and not necessarily the government that if people put pressure on the government. the first question to reiterate has to do with how do you characterize our present approach in these african countries and do you believe we can never transcend that approach? >> that is a great question. i think there are two ingredients in the transaction if there is such a word. on the one hand, i must echo what is inherent in your question because, and less and until there is a permanent constituency of people who care

enough about human rights to act, you know when that is what it is all about, it is just developing constituency of people. unless they are organized politically -- why would this issue be different than health care or social security or israel-palestine? like, political constituencies are what drive our process so you need to have constituencies pushing for change and pushing for progressive policies in these areas, so i think the development of what we call permit constituency for these issues is half of the story. the other half then is for the government, our government, to organize in a way that prevents, that maximizes, that rewards prevention rather than just the sort of wait until things

explode and then when the flames are high enough for everyone to see, then they rush in with a fire engine. the prevention effort requires a radical sort of restructuring of of -- clinton in a white house and madeleine albright in the state department during that administration watch that system only respond, the interagency american government system respond only to the fires once they blew up instead of working maximally, it diplomatically for almost nothing. by the way everyone knows that the united states has the biggest military in the world that we probably less, less of us know that we also have the biggest diplomatic corps in the world. we have some of the most experienced diplomats in the entire world, working in peace process is all over the world so deploying people, deploying our development assistance, deploying our humanitarian assistance in ways that can prevent the next rwanda or the

next door for is what i think is part and parcel to what we want to see an secretary, madeleine albright and former senator cowen were co-chairs of a process, of a commission on genocide prevention that created a set of recommendations at the end of last year and a year before last that are now being operationalized within the obama administration. the administration named first director in the national security council against war crimes and crimes against humanity, a guy called david presson and he hopes and catalyzing efforts within the united states government to organize the system around how do we prevent these things from happening? so building the constituency of people who hold our government see to the fire and then push for more involvement and then

having our government better organized to do the work necessary diplomatically to prevent -- and it turns out this isn't some radical agenda. it is an agenda to save american taxpayers billions of dollars because what we normally do when we try to put out the fire is we send humanitarian assistance by the billions of dollars per year, waiting until the thing blows up and we send peacekeeping forces, usually other countries but we were usually we pay for them. we pay for one third that you see in different peacekeeping missions. billions and billions of dollars a year. it sends nothing to send one of our diplomats in our foreign service or redeploy some of our existing development systems who are already obligated into a particular situation in which our assistance for our personnel, our creative diplomacy can help find solutions before things erupt or in the early stages of when they are arresting. i have the incredible opportunity when i did work for

president clinton to be part of a couple of peace processes, which were costing the american taxpayers billions of dollars. they didn't know it because it was all part of the crises in africa but he decided no, let's invest in peacemaking. got nothing for it, nobody ever really been that the stories of nameless bureaucrats and faceless bureaucrats, like myself going out to these countries and working 18 hours, 20 hours a day shuttling back and forth between countries. and wars were resolved because the united states got involved, made a commitment and worked with african countries, worked with people in those countries to develop a constituency for peace to support the constituencies for peace and we were able to save hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of dollars in taxpayers money. this is the kind of investment we are talking about and with that constituency here in the united states who care about these problems working in making

their little e-mails and doing their facebook stuff and all the other things 21st things 21st century activism is all about now and plugging in to an administration that says it that cares and we can help intensify the political reward for caring, we can save money and save lives. it is an extraordinary combination that i think this particular administration understands they just need to hear more and more from us that it does make a difference to us and we are our brothers and sisters keepers it turns out and we do want to see the united states play a role, a positive role around the world in support of human rights and human dignity. thank you very much. [applause] >> to find out more about this book in in the mote work mr. prendergast and his colleagues are doing this enough

projects.org. >> here's a look at "the new york times" top 10 fiction books for this week. eet scene

here at the book fair and booktv is now joined bytwo ars. >> we are now joined by two authors. the book, "seagullk, one" the amazing true story of brothers to the rescue. lily prellezo in collaboration with jose basulto. they both join us here in miami. lily prellezo, what is brothers to the rescue? >> brothers to the rescue is an organization formed by joseo is basulto and a friend and many pirates of many nationalities that rescued the cubans escaping communist cuba in the 1990s. >> why did have to be.oesn't >> when government does notand u provide, then you have immunityd

or necessity. you have to take an option on their own and this is something, it is called self-help so i organized a group of pirates to go through the straits of florida and flyfl missions in te tandem so that we would locateua their rafters coming out from cuba seeking freedom in the united states and fleeing the>>s disaster that i've been.policy t >> what was the government reue in policy that sent brothers to the ere was rescue in motion? >> well the government, there in was no government that set them in motion.>> >> what happened that set this w all in motion? >> well if it was all a result d of cuban failed government policies probably and people were leading by any means that they could possibly come up with, and there was all of a sudden a surge of rafters leaving cuba and one day one young raptor 15 years old the coast guard found the rescue and he died in the arms of the coast guard agent and he called themgh

and said we have tois do somethr about this.s that is how brothers to the rescue got started.d. >> >> as i say when government doesn't provide or doesn't suffice with what they provider, because the coast guard by the way was extremely helpful to ust without them we would have been able to do our job is to find the raptors, that was our job. that was our community's interest and we implementedlemet brothers to the reedscue as prof to provide for that be. did >> how did you train the pilotsa where did you find them and what is "seagull one"? >> "seagull one," i'm going tons start, it is my sign is a seague private. t i was siegel once when i made the the radio calls to the other pilots in the formations that th fe flu to locate the raptors. the other pilots were pilots from 19 nationalities that joined us and their interest too help others. it is a matter of human otlidarity what was simple. they came for brothers. some of them may be came to gain

hours.u flew on pilotse, believe me after you we flew one or maybe two missions there, either you were hooked with the idea of saving lives or you simply left. and we are fortunate to have three brothers from argentina,a, which were to meet the original brothers to the rescue, alberto- guillermo and jorge. they were the first pilots to organize the group and locate the other pilots, like were themselves, who were young men and part of the community and were pilots already. so what we did was recruit pilots and recruit in the rear ca seats of the planes.ess, wheeze to carry members of the press and there was no mission they didn't carry because wet ws wanted to document what was happening there, too you know

the reasons they were leaving the island. no better image to say that then flting in the image of a raptor, personn floating in the middle of nowhere and enter to. more eloquent than that? couldn't be. that is what we were doing.cl >> lily prellezo what about thet clinton administration?>> did they not assist brothers to the rescue? >> brothers to the rescue never asked theke u.s. government fore help, monetary or otherwise. gud of course u.s. coast guard was rstrumental because they were the ones who would actually lift the people out of the rafts and save their lives but the clintot administration what happened after the exodus of 1994 was the publicity change and than that was no longer viable to ben rescuing, to be flying missions to rescue people that were just going to be returned to guantánamo or returned to cuba of.

>> briefly the wet foot, dry foot policy. foot >> it means a cuban leaving cuba or to make it on a raft andaving touch dry land, he would be allowed to be processed through immigration that but if he was intercepted at sea, and first ty aid would return to guantánamo and now if they are found they will be returned to cuba. >> i want to say in the clinton administration what is instrumental, in 19962 of our w airplanases and i was flying onr flu and a search-and-rescuemissn mission and cuba came after usot ind shut down two of of the planes and i survived in thee third plane.on that was known to the cube -- clinton administration. they were perfectly aware that the attack from cuba was going to take place. they would document the attack and what they could have done which was given us they'll notice that this was impendingon

to us. all they did was document it and not only that, they interrupted a regular feature of the defenses of south florida in which aircraft from homestead airbase would take to interceptd from cuba and that was automatit procedure.have it had to have been from the white house. they were told to stand down at the precise moment. those airplanes were to prevent the shootdown. so, i am pointing my finger both that castro for the shootdown. he is our natural enemy and toaf the clinton administration for having aided and abetted theesce shootdown of the brothers to th> rescue planes. >> were you in international airspace or cuban internationale airspace? been, >> we were in cuban fo international airspace and noo matter where we would have been there was no reason for an tre.

airplane, and airplane wasnotifh cadivilian pilots especially whn they have been notified that we had our search-and-rescue and mission. we had contacted them by radio.h they knew what we were doingt f there. years, they knew it for years and theyt chose to kill us at that time io the u.s. government having previous knowledge. fli >> now, there was a flight overr cuba. is that correct?there habeen -- >> we took flights over cuba th probably on three or four. occasions. one time, the previous year i flew over havana. over a flotilla, a demonstration for solitary for the human -- cuban people. but that day, nothing. and we of course we had droppede leaflets from internationalterno airspace tona cuba.ard

meis may be hard to comprehend o otr somebody who is not an n engineer or a pilot, but when favora they air is an favorable conditions and you identify those conditions you can put l leaflets on the other side of cuba if you want fromspe. international airspace on the side of the island.rellezo?>> >> lily prellezo how did you st find a story? it's how >> the story was always there. i it is how the story found me is how it happened. a mutual friend introduced me to jose basulto and i found out he had been looking for someone toe neite the story but he never felt comfortable with anyone so i feel really honored that i was chosen to write the story and i interviewed over 100 people to try to tell their version of hob it was like to be a brother or e sister to the rescue. how many l >> how many people weree lost io this rescue operation? >> wow, you mean? >> brothers to the rescue. >> four people were murdered t when thheeir planes were shot d. so for men lost their lives.>> y

>> what about the rafters? help? how many raptors do you estimate that you helped?ready >> by 1994 we had already rescued 4200 rafters running our missions and then after that we helped in the rescue of 30 some thousand more by assisting the coast guard when the boat, the 1994 exodus from cuba came abous in our own efforts, i would sayy 4200 were saved by the efforts b of those who rescue.those >> where they returned to cuba?0 200, no and the 31,000 we assisted later, most of them weren't. on but then from then on the police changed, and the government started repopulating them back to cuba, they were refugeesbecae

actually.onin conditions in cuba made them refugees but it was convenien ct it and it was handled with semantics as usual and migrants they became and migrants they went back. that was very sad because the maited states had been involved in many of the circumstancesnes that made it necessary for those people to come back, to come to the united states. o in 1962 i think it was, 63,esidt lyndon johnson the president then, proclaimed -- i'm forgetting, which made it ssible possible for the cubans to stay here as they arrived to the united states and the law has not been repealed or anything. it was just a mandate by the clintonh administration to retun them which has made so far the return of the cuban refugees

possible, back to the island. >> now mr. basulto tell us your history. when were you born in cuba and how did you get to this stage in what has been your involvementmi and essentially fighting for the ndban government?, a >> i was born in cuba and as a m youngan man, i was recruited by the cia, because we were working at the time with an internal organization in cuba and the cis promised to us that they were going to give us all the help we needed to chase -- change the ose wer government of cuba into a demographic -- democratic pigs. government. were it was known later as the bay of pigs.yeah. i was number 22 in the bay of a pigs invasion if you will. i was sent to cuba as a radioin.

operator to send back information.rds, in other words, intelligence to the u.s. as to what was going on before the invasion and everything that they have do promised they said was going to be done on our behalf was simply betrayed. that included the invasion and. >> now what did your family do in cuba prior to your comingto k over to the state's? companfather used to work for a company, a u.s. company in cuba, that you know was in the sugar industry. the irony was fidel castro came into power was something that we didn't like at all. >> lily prellezo tell us yourrnn telestra background.ame >> i was also born in cuba and i came to the united states when i was four years old and it is an interesting story because my father was involved in thelder counterrevolution so my brothers and sisters had already come,

here but my mother wanted to ge me and my little sister sisterps out, so she actually put us on a i plane by ourselves. i was four years old and she was to. that >> is that the peter pan? >> this was before peter pan. s this was in 1960 but it was so urgent, the need to get us out of there that she found that she had to do that and she put us on the plane plane, of course, it's only a 90 minute flight, but you know. when's the next time you saw your mother? >> i think a few months after that. >> she managed to get over? >> yeah, they came back and forth my father and her. >> how strong is the cuban community now in southern florida? is it still loyal to the overthrow or have enough generations succeeded that it's less? >> it's less hard line in let's go to invade them. perhaps that sentiment is that strong, but there are people who would rather go and just, you know, invade physically, but i

think there are more people open to speaking, opening relations, perhaps lifting the embargo. i know there's a lot of people that feel that way because they feel the only way to change things is to change it from within, and you can't if they don't have any information from outside, and that's the most important thing is to get information from the rest of the world inside of cuba. >> part of what bricks rescue, and that what made us a tart was to promote single disobedience to promote nonviolent approach and reclaim human and civil rights of the cuban people. we started sending literature to the island and slogans like i am the change and that meant you assumed respondent for your circumstances, and if you want to change, we have to have it ourselves and not expect the

u.s. to do it for us, and other messages like establishing our relationship to one another look the one that says let congress know brothers to not break that communication in cuba that the government had a footing to them to call each other and to us that was a bad word. we wanted to call each other brothers, and in the mission of brothers to the rescue, i say the second object after the saving of lives was the first. in reaching the cuban communities with a message of we care about you. there is such thing as human solidarity. we are willing to risk our lives to save yours, and we will be there for you to assist you in the land that you decide to not take in anymore and come to the u.s. by whatever means. >> now, in the book, "seagull

one," you identify the god mother. >> yes, i interviewed the congresswoman who clos and she is very close friends with jose basulto. she was always there to take she was there needs to a higher place in the government and that is kindd of what godparents do. they know someone, they can gett something for you that you yours probably can't get yourself andd iliana works tirelessly for brothers to the rescue. >> iliana was instrumental in getting the coast guard to creo. >> now jose basulto fidel castrd has stepped down the name. raul is now leading cuba. m has policy change? travel is there more trade and travel between cuba? lily, could you go back? >> i don't think i could go back to cuba. i think they would shoot me on

site. they missed the first time, but i don't know that they would the second time. i don't think there's been changed or fidel castro as seized to be the ultimate voice on the io land and his brother consults with him and managing on a higher level the country for his brother, but nevertheless, it's still his brother. >> i would love to go back and have a book signing there. i would love to get this story inside of cuba. it would be great. >> some are going back and forth. can you fly from miami? >> yes, you can. i don't have family there, and i would love the see the country where i was born because i don't remember anything and just the natural beauty there, i would love to see that, but i wouldn't feel comfortable at this time to go to cuba. >> we have been talking with l lily prellezo and jose, the mog

true store -- every week and booktv brings you 48 hours of history biography and public affairs. here's a portion of one of their programs. >> why when we hear the president and others talking about the fact that we must make government efficient for the people, did our founding fathers actually designed the governments to be inefficient? ask yourself that question. because this is a model for inefficiency. but, it was done deliberately. why? because, in order to have basic liberties, you have to have the government with very little power.