morning show co-host's joe scarborough and mika brzezinski talk about obesity. mika brzezinski's book "obsessed" looks at the social, political and economic impact of obesity, the role of processed foods, and reflects what her own body image issues are. this is a little over an hour. [applause] >> i am over here. i like this. it comes every book tour. >> i need to clear up a couple things. i don't play a slob on tv, a ibm a slot. we have this assembly line. we have this assembly line and we are doing very well land very

supportive co-host and passing it over and mika brzezinski was signed it and we were passing it ended brings down federal donuts. and i went to the chicken wings. >> it was all going very well. >> entailed ships, every federal doughnut we toned. >> brought them out. >> not the chips, three of those a month, gone. i used to live in oklahoma city and that is how i lost it. so why don't we -- do we want to do this like charlie rose? why don't you have a seat here? >> i don't really know if i feel like it.

>> i will be charlie rose. >> make sure you have a long winded question. >> are you ready? how do you do what you do? >> i don't know. >> why did you write the book? >> i have been wanting to tell the story for a few years because i have been in this business for a long time, 25 years. i spent most of it trying to look like something i wasn't and be the size i wanted. and after having kids and becoming teenagers you feel called out on everything when you are a teenager. i did feel like i was living a lie and couldn't keep up with it. i realize it was really unhealthy. the inspiration for the book -- >> what you talking about? you look completely healthy

right now. you are doing okay. it is a good time to stop and ask this question. how many women in the audience hate mika brzezinski? this is in your introduction. you hate her can't take that off the list. the same day production. >> there was a risk involved. let's start by talking about the problems you have because you showed me some pictures of yourself in high school and college. >> it is not good. just admit it. >> it is unique. you could see there was a challenge, that you are bully make, you have a lot of eating disorders and what is so

fascinating as you read this book is it seems so easy for you, even for those of us that worked with her and feels there would be these moments when mika brzezinski would be really tired, and orange county moment and we were exhausted and we were being nice to some people that we had to be nice to and i really did think of to that point is that she liked eating leaves and not so in orange county -- i mackenzie play and it is like a rubber chicken, bread. >> it was breaded chicken with cheese in the middle with rosacea on this side. >> and i said to myself, i turned to mika brzezinski and said even i wouldn't eat this. i turned to her and said it, swear to god, the plate is gone

and she is actually making her fingers and i looked at her and said another time we went to bob schieffer event, bob schieffer symposium and this happens every once in awhile and we look in the back of the car and it is like raccoons were getting in the tin foil. like give pretty tamales. and mika brzezinski without telling us all eddie in the mall and we turn on the lights and she has this stuff all over her face. i say all this to say you were really disciplined, but it doesn't come natural to you and it is a battle every day and that is something i didn't realize. >> is funny but it is not. >> the morning shall i do all the talking. >> it is funny but it is not when you look back at it. we have a lot of joking on the show about this which is another reason i wanted to tell this.

we put in the intro, there was the disconnect. the world i had been working in for 25 years, tv, everything is exaggerated. you have to be much thinner than a normal person, you have to be a certain way, have to look a certain way, we have broken all those rules on our show, but 25 years of local news and network news took its toll on my image of myself and i tell stories about how to dress a certain way, everything has to be really tight and i was even told by a network executive they wanted to hire me but i need to lose some weight and come back in six months and try again and i did and i came back in six months and got a job so the messages were very clear and some of them were subliminal. you already have a certain

compulsive this, even addiction to some of these foods we are surrounded with in our environment is a bad mix and i told this story because i discovered after a very uncomfortable, tough conversation with an extremely close friend who was actually obese that even though she had a very different physical results we both had gotten to the point we had gotten to the same way. >> let's set that up in one seconds but to let people know how the obsession continues, on the today show yesterday, talking about being obsessed, working towards being healthy and you explain you were a size 2. >> i was 118 pounds and a size 2. >> since you started doing this book you started eating and you way how much now? >> 133. >> size 6.

>> still looks good. >> we are celebrating this and mika brzezinski is going on look good like she's convincing herself but this abscessed demon inside of you. i call you on the today show and say that today show was great, you kicked, it was amazing because i looked fact, didn't i. you are still upset. you are obsessed, diane, your friend, even though she weighed 255 pounds, she carried the same obsession around with her all the time and talk about how this book started on 8 boats two years ago. >> an addiction is not something you ever get rid of. we will go there and a second the two years ago i am on the boat with our closest friends, our families are there.

we have shared so much together. >> you had a baby together. >> my husband was out of town for the birth of our second child and she came to the hospital with me and in the middle of intense labor, taking a long time to arrive the doctor went to order a pizza and diane, my baby so literally, what she hasn't seen. i tell you it was amazing to me two years ago, we had known each other so long, we hadn't talked about this one thing that really needed to be addressed and divided us. i was really skinny, skinny, and diane had become obese, she gained 100 lbs. and i told her on that boat ride and you can imagine how thin i was and how

she must have felt, but i told her i was worried about her and that she was fast. i used the word of the sand found my heart beating and sweat beginning to run down my back because i could tell this conversation could get really bad. >> i don't usually call my friends fact that you decided to do this because you loved her and you knew that she was literally killing herself as much as somebody that smoked a couple packs of cigarettes. >> here's the question i have. women claim to be able to tell everything but do we? do we? if you have a friend who is so clearly obese and struggling and can't even get into a boat, if your friend had cancer wouldn't you support her and talk about it and helper through it. of your friend at another lessor condition, wouldn't you go there and walk her through it and yet if a friend is obese, we

subconsciously judge them and the data shows we don't hire them, we think they are slobs, we think there and disciplines, we don't think they are as good as us and yet we don't say anything to help them. i knew the words were not coming out right but if i was really a friend i should be able to address this. >> you talked to her and said you are obese and i'm worried. what did she say? >> she looked like she had been hit by a truck. the most important thing she will say is she was surprised because no one had said it. she went to the doctor to get prescriptions, she had a hip replacement because of her problems and they didn't address the number one problem. we talked more and then i told her about my relationship with food because the conversation started with her say never know what to cook for you because you

are the food police. i kind of lost it at that moment. i do look like it and i am so ruled by this sort of tyranny of trying to say i don't like being this fin. i sort of poured out the past two decades of straw and it was like my god, you should write a book on this. we discussed her problem and i thought to myself actually i would like to write a book about this because i feel -- i must be touching something here. i look one way on television and i am another way in real life and i am destroying myself to look a certain way and pretending on television like it looks so easy and i don't think that is fair because i wasn't getting to my place on television honestly. diane thought was a good thing to work through and why don't you bring something to this -- to the table too.

why don't you work with me but the deal is you have to lose 75 pounds in the process? i will pay you to get there because it will cost a lot to figure out how to do this. the woman today has lost 75 lbs. literally, today, and she is going to go for 100 more, she looks beautiful, she is more healthy -- >> you said 100 more. >> she would be gone. >> sorry. >> like an auschwitz survivor. >> the funny thing is i thought i was doing her such a favor, i realize -- >> can i have one of those doughnuts? i actually noticed other than the worst place that she was, so the book ended up with a good outcome for both of us. >> it is amazing how much you changed since he started to

write this book. she used to be that person you would go out and have lunch with and she would have a solid and talk about it for a week. she would have a little bite of cake and she wouldn't suffer, everybody around her would suffer because we would hear about that cake that she and and i would be would you please shut the heck up. about that cake. it was that much. now, this is the truth, since she has changed and gotten close to the set point, herbert d. a. was a second, we have a lot of birthdays, she has had four pieces of birthday cake since her own birthday but she eats normally and the rest of us don't pay for it and most importantly, you talked about this, your daughters, most importantly your daughters now,

you have a slice of pizza with them every once in awhile. but you will let them see you eat like a normal human being. >> each person comes to their problem. i have a problematic relationship with food, but i think from 9 it is to relax a little bit and not weigh myself all the time. >> what do you mean? he is running one of the biggest states in the world and when he is in the middle of a crisis he is thinking about what he is eating that night. >> i understand it completely. you wouldn't believe the fascinating conversations we have had and i have been thinking only about food. >> i knew she wasn't listening to me. she sits there and rolls her eyes.

>> anyway. tell us, diane helps with the book, 75 lbs. what did you learn about yourself that you want to teach your daughters? >> most mothers have tough relationships with their daughters and a challenge by them and one of the things that is the biggest mystery is what do we say or not say about what's to eat or what not to eat and the impact of whatever they are eating so we do a whole chapter on how to talk to your kids about this especially in this society where we have such a growing number of eating disorders among young women especially. i was especially interested in that. my daughters and i had an open dialogue about this. i feel they should know my story and they should have the opportunity to make their own decisions. i need to be -- come clean about the problems i have had in the

past. for most women, when you read this book the biggest take away is you find your set point, whether it is an obese woman trying to work her way back toward health or a woman who struggles with trying to keep her weight on for whatever reason, a lot of an upstairs, you have to discover with your set point. it is not what you think it is, it is not what you want it to be after looking at magazines and television shows and being told by a network vice president to lose ten pounds, it is the weight that you have and can retain without working too hard. >> your set point, let's be honest. if i were not on tv, i would weigh 140 pounds. you talked about you have to, even at 133, you still have to

battle every day because you have to be on tv every day. you talk about in high school you would go to mcdonald's, you'd have two big macs, and unfortunately for you, i would love to have it, you had a 711 across the street from you, and a lot of small trees in the state of florida if i had a 711 across the street but you 8 really badly nonstop, and look at pictures of your first two years in college and you say you look -- you looked like you had an eating disorder so you had to lose weight. but why did you -- and you said yesterday -- tell us about the emotional side. >> i want that baby.

give me the baby. >> bring the baby out here. come on. >> so cute. >> she loves babies come out. there is good news and bad news. the good news is she loves babies and will be wonderful to your job. the bad news is he's not going to give it back. we have a nursery now on the show. >> come on out. come on. are you crying? look how pretty you are. look at the baby. >> i love my mom. latka angela.

i'm going to use you as a shameless crop. i didn't worry about such things. how old is angela? >> i love that age. she is perfect. >> you love every age. so as you know i have three boys, girl, i never really thought about things like this until the pressures that are on women, i had a girl, that is all it takes answer what was revealing for me, she respects -- she is talking to me. i found my new co-hosted. she actually make eye contact with me when i talk. [applause] >> i would see her take oliver barbie's and if you take a bath take it.

and i looked at this, it is just freakish as far as perfect body, slender legs, perfect shape, perfect curve is and i sat there thinking this is what my 4-year-old daughter, 5-year-old daughter, 6-year-old daughter is thinking in her head is the idealized -- >> absolutely. we heard all the messages young girls get to from birth. i got to tell you, when i was really thin people told me i looked good. isn't she? you are beautiful and you are just -- you talked about that. when you are in your most pain, when you are hungry, lightheaded, 118, everybody says -- it was amazing. >> starting the show i got lean

and people say you have two kids, you are amazing, people threw clothes at me. you wouldn't believe the design is that through close at me because i looked like a model in them. >> and you started writing this book, and this summer at the convention when you weigh 135 -- and you would wear a sweater, first-time you have been on tv where you would wear jeans, a sweater, you said it was the most comfortable you have ever been but what happens when you weigh 135 versus 118? when you are at a weight that is unhealthy, and a healthy weight of 135, 56, 35, really healthy weight, suddenly they stopped throwing clothes at you. >> it is confusing. i am at this stage when i am

merely done with it and writing this book was a way and we should go but up to questions, a way of coming clean and putting that behind me because i am really tired of trying to the size i am not. i don't think it is healthy, i don't think it is honest and the science behind when you are talking about, junk food that i started eating when i was very young and very compulsive about it feeds into this process of developing eating disorders in young women, leading to problems like what my friend diane at and that is the addictive quality of salt, sugar and fat and it played into a lot of problems. >> been obsessed with this unrealistic body at image, and horrifying your husband. does that tell us? >> i fell off of the wagon a little bit. is my family here? from pennsylvania?

i thought i did. >> all eating the donuts. >> i think it is like a truth serum, and walked downstairs, a large it is in my hands, it was really funny but it is not. >> so you woke up the next morning with stuff all over your hand and you didn't remember what you did. >> i'd barely remembered it. >> what the heck was that? it is a little bit embarrassing but it actually is more common than you might think because, fat and sugar is processed in these foods do as we show in the book through research we did through yale and the university of michigan, they have a brain scans and shows that the pleasure centers of your brain when you eat these foods in

large quantity would light up the same way the brain would light up to cocaine and there is a science that points to the fact that some of these ingredients are addictive and we do need to change our food environment so that these foods are less than healthy so we don't create problems we are dealing with. >> on the forehead and let a mother -- she did stop crying. >> look at her. she is perfect. like a football. look at her legs. >> thank you so much. thank you for sharing. watch your step. >> we are going to open up to questions and you don't have to ask about food. i will be glad to talk about all

of them more football. we could talk about blocking background checks. what about chris christie, that is news today too. it is in the book. ask any thing. talk a little bit about the dividing line between government dictates about what we eat or drink, diets, personal responsibility of free choice and free will. >> how many like what mayor bloomberg tried to do? thank you. this is what i'm talking about. don't you think it is fantastic? >> how many republicans in the room? >> how many democrats? >> i actually don't want to live

in a nanny state. i talk about this and the book. mayor bloomberg comes up in the book but somebody give me a better idea because right now our environment is laced with poison. sugar is being proven to be a toxin. why would you serve soda to your kids at this point, liquid sugar worse than a candy bar and they're drinking it every day. soft food lot of people really busy given the message that it is a good option, four times a week. our population is dealing with an epidemic of obesity and we don't think these foods are a reason for us? we actually think these people are undisciplined and can't figure it out themselves? i don't think so. it is a problem. >> fast food is not a good option, it is a great option. the worst part of living in connecticut and new york is they don't have the drive throughs. in the deep south we have a drive through for everything. ever have a water burger?

unbelievable. chick fil-a. okay. it if you think kissel is great, follows that. doesn't matter. jesus invented the man they are great. >> what is the burger place we went to that made good burgers? >> like the burger joint. it is on the back -- it is in new york. are you talking about -- at the back of the park where it existed, next time you go to new york -- >> go to the back -- losing control of the crowd because i'm talking burgers, stay with me. >> it doesn't even remember. i want to tell from 56, between 6 and seventh. go to the back of the park, the burger joint, it is only -- it

is great stuff. when the show started, i took mika brzezinski and chris to the burger joint. it is sort of a take charge type of guy and we have free fries or shakes. and mika brzezinski is staring at the hamburger. i can't remember the last time i had a hamburger. she calculated ten years. she lost an entire decade, like the red van winkle, seriously, of burgers. >> i had it. >> but the thing is here is my

deal. you all are sitting there thinking it there are republicans out there. and just from the other side of it because you might be one of the only republicans because you use the word personal responsibility. .. and the fried chicken you had at five or six, you burn it all off. i was so skinny people thought of was unhealthy because all i

did was ran, ran for. kids now, my boys, i have older boys. videogames. to : employee ball. you know, it is a generational thing. here is the thing about personal responsibility. sounds great and i believe that the first response ability, but the two biggest drivers of our debt over the next the years, medicare and medicaid. and if you look at what drives cost for medicare and medicaid, it is obesity, diabetes, a lot of health and hard issues. circulation issues. so unfortunately i think for those of us who are small government conservatives, the government every single day is having a more compelling reason to get involved in this because of course it is a health issue,

but i am a big believer in personal responsibility. by bad health habits it is going to bankrupt us all. it is costing us all trillions and trillions of dollars. >> the food industry is trying to corrupt, and if they don't it will end up in the of boards in the wake. >> by the mcdonald's, they get a good corporate neighbor is. but their iced mocha is great. with whipped cream. yes, sir. >> hey, joe. >> a. >> you can remember me. >> idea. >> i am very guess again. this time i came with a package deal for joe and mika this time. can i bring it up? >> sure. what is it? >> i didn't get one this time.

>> not this time. >> oh, no. >> this is a key chain. >> so, thank you. let's get this. >> oh, that is so nice. >> that is so sweet. >> a little while ago. happy birthday. >> so, right. >> thank you very much. a very sweet of you. it's done my name on it. >> this is wonderful. >> thank you very much. thank you. >> that's a great picture of my dad. my dad passed away actually two years ago to days ago. >> i wanted to bring it -- you are in a purely the last time soon. i had that premeditated a couple of years ago. i just got the keys in done. >> well, thank you so much. >> sent you. thank you. [applause] >> yes, sir. >> that is so great. and really appreciate that. so great.

so, mika. >> yes. >> what you doing? >> i had indian -- ambient and found myself eating three pinniped a jelly sandwiches every night until it became a tape to diabetic as well. and subsequently it cost my employer at the time -- it was from a very low cost to a huge cost as it progressed. now is under control and costing a lot less, but the motivation for me obviously, my kids. i wanted to be a round. >> did you gain a lot of weight? >> i and probably 30 pounds. close to other co morbidities', etc. now have it under control, but everybody needs a different kind of motivation. >> exactly. >> so an individual. maybe you can talk about what motivates one person that

doesn't motivate another. by the way, joe, you are looking great. >> looking pretty good. >> boss like 58 pounds. okay. [laughter] oh, good lord. [laughter] >> that's all you can do, hot? all right. >> too many push-ups' will hurt my shoulders. >> the perfect complement. we came out. completely different ends of the spectrum. i was talking about a set weight. people who deal with obesity. trying to lose weight. you have to find the right area where you can say and it is very hard and people who are to then have to figure out how to get to where they can maintain it without losing their mind. the kitchen to certain foods and

certain ingredients and the science that is now proving that these foods actually cause you to not have anyone ever hear, by the way, have just one potato chip. >> one back. >> right. me, too. >> there is allowed pulling on your that i think has dispelled the myth and some stigmas in a very important way about people who struggle with their weight, but the book talks to a lot of other people, experts, researchers, as well as other famous people and their struggle or lack thereof. chris christie is a great example of someone who has no other choice, it tried everything. the surgery that he got i actually advocate for people who are that obese because there are very few ways back to health when you become that size. i am proud of him for taking the leap. to answer your question, everybody has a specific path.

what this book does is give you a lot of very real, very raw information about the challenge and the science behind it. >> fascinating over two years. listed a question from this side of the room. over two years she would talk about addiction as it was related to food. a she would get hammered by one expert after another expert after another. >> just laughed at. >> over the past six months that has changed radically. the new book that came out. the investigating reporter. really connects the dots. >> it does not look so crazy anymore. >> it is not so crazy anymore. that is why yesterday you were asked whether women are fighting this battle and whether the odds are stacked against them. you said, clearly yes because these foods are addictive, purposely addictive.

these companies, food companies, they spend millions and millions of dollars to a trigger your brain. >> and the food to make it so that you have to have super sized amounts and all you can do is think about more. when you smell it you can practically taste it. at think the food companies are correcting. there really changing the menus and this is going to end up in the courts in one way, shape, or form. >> hi, there. i grew up during that john kennedy era when we had the president's council on physical fitness. we had a physical education every single day in my growing up years. we have lost that. we have lost -- our educational system is concentrating so much on so many other kinds of things

, you know, giving your kids to the points where they can take and pass exams that we have lost the educational part of our physical bodies. we need to get that back. our schools need to do a better job and put physical education back and. >> it is so critical. it is so critical, what you're talking about. i alluded to it before. take the presidential fitness award contest. >> i got that. >> i came up short on the pushups. but that was -- it is so critical for our kids. and our kids are not pulling out running. they're not exercising, and you are so right. we worked up at harlem village academy in awful lot. for the first two or three years we were so impressed. what they're doing in harlem at that school, a charter school,

it's remarkable. but after about two years she said, you know, i no there are so many of the kids that i and teetering and that joe and nighter seeing in that my kids are helping and the weekend. morbidly obese. not doing anything for these kids, if you're teaching them how in harlem to deal to add as well as somebody that is in scarsdale. they call it the harlem scarsdale gap. this school and a lot of other schools. and yet you're not doing exactly what you're saying, keeping them healthy, have in the exercise, focusing on them being a complete person. >> not exercising at school. we are not cooking dinner anymore because we're working. computers that have been just mesmerized. talk about all of the chips being stacked against their kids . really we're going to have to make huge changes at every

level, but including the food we eat, the lunches reserve in the school. adult understand why every child is entitled to a proper education, but not a proper meal . i don't understand it. [applause] since -- >> up until about a year ago i was perfectly healthy. i became disabled. i was able to do everything that i wanted. i was very thin. i have always been that my entire life. i was never on any kind of madness, i never it was on any insurance, never had to worry about a colder anything and not one every kind of medication. i go to pt every week. d'agata massage. i have every kind of pay knocker there is. it just seems like i am getting progressively worse and worse.

it seemed like it was, nonetheless say it -- it seemed like there is no answer. my doctors never had any answers, and it all started because no one ever really had an answer. it all started because no one ever had any answers. and it all started because no one was ever really trained properly. it started because i was at a hospital and had this one little pain and this p. t. was not trained properly. because she was not trained properly i became this help the person. and now i am disabled. so my question is their responsibility with people with the doctors. they're people the healthy and that they have gone from healthy people that are now money that

goes from vote which when it -- >> let me try and answer. >> to this back to -- you talk about diane would go to the doctor and it was it just be treated for any. my dad like eating a lot and my mom would say, what the doctors say? she would always go, you're not find. you have to lose 40 pounds. he didn't. he broke down over time. it is like this conversation. even doctors are free to have this conversation sometimes with their patients. >> that is like the conversation diane and i had. do have to look at the whole situation and talk about the truth. doctors often treat your need for your head or your arm sometimes in the case of people who are struggling with obesity it is the obesity is causing the problem.

we're becoming more and more aware. it is the doctor's response ability to try to get to the root of the problem and look at the holistic problem. that has to beat something to talk about immediately. >> hi. we are huge fans of the show and let you both very much. >> thank you. i was walking in here with mika and this happens. as of now. somebody does, we love you. i turned and they're like, no, not you. they love mika. thank you. the city of brotherly love. i finally feel you are warm embrace. go ahead. [applause] >> i wonder if you could talk about what is going through your to pregnancies and how you felt because i think that is a time

in your life for your body can just go lax. six. >> i have to say, i have four kids and all four were very tough. >> yes. you know, i jogged through my pregnancies. overall, having children made me bell back on some of my compulsions. to be honest, i used to be proud that i put my jeans on after i had my first child to love but i actually think that i was too obsessive that and should have given myself a break. after having my first child was out jogging again. it was so important to me. and to be honest. >> that is not right. >> it's not. and i used to say, looking back at this experience of writing this book, i spent a lot of my life worrying about being fit and being thin and thinking

about my next meal, and you read kind of a funny thing, but i think it is a big waste of time. time that i could have been enjoying my life and enjoying my babies and enjoy my job instead of sort of obsessing over something that could happen but does not have to happen right now and can happen in a more healthy way. so,. >> says the real rite of passage. talk about what -- you think you were too excessive. stop and enjoy your baby's without continuing to obsess. talk about a friendly to that has ten at the right way. >> i talked to suzie in the book. she is fantastic. does anyone here watch curb your enthusiasm?

she did not drop any f bonds and we talked. and i tried. you know, she is just really comfortable with yourself. another person who has great stories about overeating, but she is okay with herself and her size. and a lot of women that i spoke to -- >> kathleen turner was amazing. >> kathleen turner. i mean, she obviously, you guys know her movies and the place that she is done and certainly some of the scenes as she has done and the way she looks. she just gave up. to you want to live on that journey any more? and i thought to myself, no, i really don't. and she said, well, i don't. >> she would interview all these people. it was like a confession. do you want to live under the tyranny any more? >> and mike, i don't. i don't. >> crying on the phone. but it's serious.

>> it's holder what gate and did not be because of being on air and having to fit into these dresses. she was like, god, you have a bad light. and i thought, that's really -- this is really -- i should be so proud of where i am at. honestly, my friend, diane, in talking to me and working on the concept of the book, she is like, you really need to talk to someone. you really do. and i was skeptical at first. >> you brought up suzie asman. i thought this was so amazing, seeing mika write this book in seeing her change in her attitude toward food and weight change. of all the women she spoke with, the one that just really was eye opening for was suzie asman who is not in by any stretch of the imagination. blown away. she eats really healthy. and she is really comfortable with herself and her body image. that seems like that was a real

game changer for you, talking to her and going, she's amazing. you know what, she's not skinny and she does not care. she is healthy, and that's what i want to beat. >> ended the interview thinking, i'll have what she's having, whenever it is. >> you have to bring up north because that is obviously a great one. god bless nora. see as -- >> a really good friend of ours. she loves food. but the funniest interview was wind poured diane who at this point so probably weighed 240 pounds calls. >> we did at 3-way talks. >> i think it was like three weeks before she passed away. nobody knew. not even her closest family members. but dan explained it. she was overweight and weighed 240 pounds and was eating a lot. what did she say to her?

>> why. >> why? i don't understand. what you just top? i don't get it. you just have to stop beating. i am struggling with that. and 250 pounds. and she's like, why. >> nwe. everyone has a different way to find that balance. >> ready you want to go. we need to get to left side. i know you would be comfortable going left. >> exactly. [laughter] >> i am a huge fan.

i drove here from scranton. >> cool. >> yes. >> i actually work at the -- as a nurse practitioner in pediatric weight management. my question is -- i work with kids that are already very -- they come in for treatment. my question -- baena hope you can speak to this. we spend so much money on health care every year and so little of it goes to president madison. so i've wonder if in your riding of the book, you know, you spoke to people about that or did research on the specific topic? >> i will let you talk on this in just a second, actually said something really smart on our show once. >> wait. wait. wait. >> i know. >> where was i? i mean, this is -- this happens. if i'm in europe you call me up in the middle of the night. this is news.

>> to set, can you imagine if we could solve obesity, how many health problems would not have because it is preventative. think about it. what what you do even exist? i don't know. three decades ago, four decades ago. i don't think so. all remember obese children being in my class. i remember there being one child who was believed. now it is in many schools. a good chunk of the classroom. so preventative medicine is sort of a deep-seated question because for what you deal with is an extremely expensive task that i think if we don't accomplish and solve their going to actually devolve as a nation. he will not be able to fight, learn, and we are going to be so unhealthy that our health care costs are going to explode. >> the guy from pennsylvania that said an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of care.

benjamin franklin. right? to the i get that right? not bad for a university of alabama guy. don't even ask me about math. chair bloodbath. i will have to be that good at math. every year we only have to a count to one. i have a son who has diabetes. he's a type one diabetic. there are so many things that insurance won't pay for. education, a lot of treatment cooperative treatments. things is so bad that he has to amputate a foot or leg, to pay for that, it is so short-sighted it really is. a great example. we can save so much money if we

did what your talking about and focus more on the upfront costs, prevented if. he talked about our health care problems. a talk about entitlement crisis all the time. we have a healthcare crisis. by way of chicago. we talk about it all the time. you get a place like the cleveland clinic. the reward outcomes. they don't reward surgery. their reward great doctors and preventative is part of that. >> go to the right. >> no, you're going to go to the left. >> are we still subsidizing the growth of corn to make corn syrup? >> this is ridiculous.

paying farmers not to plant crops and to -- it is unbelievable. >> i'm very hungry. yes, ma'am. >> you should have a problem with the whole system. >> inky both for being here tonight. i'm a college athlete at temple. i'm curious where you think exercise factors into this. i am worried when exercise becomes not just an outlet but where you draw the line between an outlet and an obsession. >> have crusted a few times in my life. and points in my journey to my exercise to each, exercise to

eat or exercise did not eat. it is pretty easy to identify. it is amazing what you want a mix yourself. not feel good about myself unless a run of number of miles a day. part of the deal is that you'd lose the weight, gain some weight. i would be okay with that. and a good day is run a couple of miles. it's called exercise bulimia. >> this is not healthy. and another thing. mika said there was days she

would exercise and not eat. the rollout of days i eat and not exercise. >> every day. >> everyday is a good day. >> that was kind of an ugly secret. i love running. i love feeling fit. it should not onion. nothing should onion. i wrote a book called knowing your value and you cannot know your value and let -- and tell nothing loans you and you own it all and have some sense of balance enjoy in everything you do.

we need a microphone. >> i what she does every morning. a friend of mine asked to bring star rex over and we set the together. our guards i named koko starbucks and mr. montae starbucks. [laughter] now, i have had a few people and their female dog mika. that is a two-story in them that you have not done it. >> our environments are. i go and drive and drive and drive. kids drive, get driven everywhere. i don't think that -- we have towns where they're walking. i remembered. you were either -- i can't ride my bicycle anywhere because there was safety. we don't have that either. i think that is a big component.

>> such a huge difference. >> nobody is moving. >> it makes such a huge difference. you know, when we lived in the city we are up in connecticut now, but we lived in the city. we walked everywhere. you know, we head julia reed on this morning. she talked about, she went to, one of the things is -- >> it is a long day. >> i don't remember five minutes ago. >> i am sleep deprived. >> i have to turn it and sometimes. >> good lord. i did not even have my munchkins this morning. what do you expect? so, talking about beating and talked about that when she went to europe she came back later that summer. she lost by 25 pounds. she was not on diet. she just walked everywhere. you know, we went -- i finally,

actually going on vacation for about ten years. we went to italy last year. and, you know, i ate normally and came back and lost like five, six, 7 pounds because i walked everywhere. and you're exactly right, especially in the suburbs, it is so tough in the suburbs. i grew up in pensacola, which is ones i a suburb. you did in the car. you go drive through mcdonald's. we have drive through starbucks. i miss that. you drive through everywhere. drive through heart surgery. you drive home. you just -- nobody walks. it is sort of the same way. and in connecticut now. i absolutely love connecticut. you know what -- >> more and more towns are trying to make rails to trails and different ways of making people walk more, but it has to become a part of our national conversation because it is unbelievable how disconnected we are physically from each other and do everything by computer

now. >> which means we do about 12 more of these. >> no. >> i can't choose. you're going to have to choose. >> we will see rapid fire. right in the middle. yes. stand-up. both of you stood up, so you both have to ask questions. shouted out. lightning round. [inaudible question] >> that is me. i am the one that calls the socialist. mika six the other side of this. >> writing this book is where i'm at. >> well. [laughter] >> with bloomberg i think mike is a friend of ours. i think there is always a balance between how much the federal government, as the state

government, how much the local government steps and and how much is dialed back to personal responsibility. i do give mayor bloomberg a lot of questions 35 credit. he has pushed the envelope, and a lot of things that he's done that people are outraged by. being embraced by a cigarette ban. he was there about ten years ago. a lot of things now seem pretty insightful, and i think you will see other people following. where are we? we are in a state of confusion. >> yes, ma'am. [inaudible question] [applause] [laughter] >> while. >> they shirts are too tight. >> the buttons popped right at the belly. >> right at the belly.

>> sometimes to sox. >> you never know what somebody is like intel, you know, it is one of the last lines, attica's finch says in to kill the mockingbird, until you walk a mile and somebody's shoes, i was driving around boston with mike one day. he has seven kids. you know, he is such a catholic, such an eye rick -- irish catholic guy. and he is father of the year. he is grandfather of the year. >> get a vasectomy and then he had another kid. [laughter] that is all you need to know. >> the date. he is on the phone with his kids and other people's kids all day. you know, he does this story, but he is a wonderful father. he is a father first. he really is. remarkable back. his seventh child came after he got a vasectomy.

and it one day they were having sunday brunch. timmy jumps out and points at mike's best friend who is on tv and because, daddy. [laughter] i'm just saying. yes, ma'am. in the back. >> one of the causes of the increase in our medical bills. you have not mentioned that one of the causes of obesity is poverty. to someone as a dollar to buy food there will not buy this a pound of something. it will buy a snickers bar. it's more filling. >> so, i would buy a snickers bar before i had a tail. talk about food, if you will, because this is critical.

>> i think the fundamental problem in our society, that's what i was talking about, children getting educated. in the food, it is so expensive to get to the grocery store and try and get a healthy meal. read this book. and try and walk to the kershaw restore and find something that does not have a few of the toxins and poisons and addictive ingredients that we address. you won't unless you spend a lot of money. so it is going to have to be a national effort, and i do think that we are going to have to address how the next generation of children, all children, including children who might be living in party eat because they will end up obese. others to have more money and more education and understand this problem more fully, as we are, with this growing amount, they won't be. >> can i end with a political, quick political statement about somebody.

okay. i just want to say, i am sure given the crowd that this is, you guys did not vote for him and i don't really care if you vote for him next time are not. i hope you do. but i hope you all will write a letter or an e-mail or call pat to mes office and think that guy [applause] think that guy for having the guts to stand up to the survivalist caucus in the nra that is driving the nra off the cliff, that is driving the republican party off the cliff, that is driving the conservative movement off the cliff. when it becomes dangerous to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists, and it week @booktv a becomes dangerous politically to actually make criminals have background checks before they get guns, something is wrong

with my party . please thank pat to me for having the courage to do what is right. do what's right. [applause] >> ladies and gentleman, mika brzezinski. [applause] >> thank you. very much. >> thank you. thank you. [inaudible conversations] >> is there a nonfiction author a book you would like to see featured on book tv? send us an e-mail. or tweet us. >> here is a look at some books being published this week.

>> what would the world be like if this other in confederacy was on the southern border of the data sets of america? think for a minute of the united states from baltimore all the way down through the gulf coast, the end of texas that would be a foreign territory, would not be part of the united states? in fact, the united states would have no real access to either the atlantic or the caribbean, except for baltimore north as

far as boston. not very good harbors anyway, so all of this stuff, that atlantic coast of the united states could easily be blockaded. everything has to be funneled through there. does not mean the united states would collapse in its own weight. means that the united states would no longer have anywhere near the presence in the western hemisphere in terms of dealing with prevention. >> more this weekend as book tv and american history tv look at the history and literary life. today at noon eastern on a c-span2 book tv and sunday at 5:00 on c-span three american history tv. >> what are you reading this summer? book tv wants to know. >> hi. the washington editor of the national review. a lot of books i want to read this summer, but i am looking

ahead to the 2016 presidential race, looking at the candidates are probably going to run, especially on the republican side. one of the people looking at is chris christie. i picked up this new book called chris christie, the inside story of his rise to power. it is a fine read so far, and it really takes you back into his political ascent in new jersey before he became u.s. attorney. he was a freeholder involved in a lot of county politics. takes us behind the politician we have seen on the magazine covers with president obama in new jersey it is told by people who really know new jersey politics. i think it -- you have to know where he came from and what is politics mean ahead of the election. second book on my list, kevin d. williamson wrote a new book called the end is near, and it is going to be awesome. how going broke will leave america richer, happier, and

more secure. one reason i think this book is a lot of fun is because the fiscal cliff earlier in 2013, the big story recovered, but later this year you have the debt limit be the story that consumes congress. can roy hinson looks at the debt from a political perspective, historical perspective, talks about the consequences of the debt, how it is taking a lot of congress's time. hellish could potentially run the country, make the country go broke. and he does it with some white, some fine. and so i think the end is near is a great book by kevin williamson. this town. as a journalist here in washington, there's always talk about what is really happening behind the scene, how stores really get written, who is weakening, the power struggles, not only within politics, but the media. in so he really has the ear of the beltway crowd and is coming out with a book in july that is all about the inside seen in washington, dupont circle and the georgetown salons, the famous georgetown salons.

that book really gives us a story and the color of washington and the political media establishment is all about for find about drama can afford to reading, the mantle, the parallel lives of baseball's golden age. one of my favorite sports writers. i was just down in spring training in arizona watching my cleveland indians, chicago cubs play baseball. i ran into willie mays to is giving up there in age. this book is great because it looks set to menu came of age at the same time and formed a lifelong. something i never knew. that is a great book. so that is my list. looking for to reading the mall. >> let us know what you're reading it. tweet as @booktv. posted on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail. >> here is a look at some upcoming book fairs and festivals happening around the country.

>> next, from the 2013 book festival in maryland, a panel discussion on independent bookselling. about an hour and ten minutes. >> i have been in the industrynd for over 20 years and is seen as for some r oeason or other it it an industry that is constantlys. under assault and perceived to be on the edge ofle ruin. the people on this panel todayia will show you the book industry is alive and well. the this is not to say that things p have not changed of the past 20. years. many things have, but also verya pleased to say that one constans of the past couple decades is a media presence of our moderator. the co-founder and editor in edi chief of the brilliant daily newsletter self awareness. lim also the longtime executive a editor of bookselling of publishers weey