he's great.ha i actually do some work with the barbara bush literacy foundation. it's amazing. they have, like, a 98% success rate for the work that they do. and i recently saw him at one of those events, and we're buddiesf >> ms. perino, prior to the invasion of iraq for many months i remember george bush on television talking about we don't want the smoking gun to be in the form of a mushroom cloud and weapons of mass destruction. that turned out to be false information. do you think that information is the product of an intelligence community that doesn't know what it's doing, or do you think the dissemination of false information prior to the invasion, the unprovoked invasion of a foreign country, was, was part of some conspirace

to, you know, invade iraq, and were you aware of it at the time? if you weren't, can you share with us what it's like to be with a group of people who are disseminating false information either -- >> okay, i get it. >> -- sincerely or not? >> got it. thank you. this has been a debate that's been ongoing. i would say that the information was not false, the information was wrong. and if you look at intelligence agencies all across the worldhe had the same information, andd that is what it was, and the decision was made after u.n. security council -- i was actually not there at time. i was at the white house council on environmental quality, so would not have had access to that anyway. >> and a follow-up question. after the war had started, everyone seems to agree that the occupation of iraq was not handled efficiently. you were around president bush during the occupation after the war. did you feel like president busf was focused on the administration of post-invasion iraq? >> you know what?en thank you. i would encourage you to read

his book, "decision points." there's an swire two chapter -- entire two chapters that deal with this, and i was also there and was a spokesperson for him when we did the surge which was to turn it around in which he did. >> just one question but in front of that, kevin sullivan's a good friend of might be -- >> oh, yeah. sully. >> he told me you were one of the nicest and smart best people -- smartest people he had the -- >> oh, i feel the same about him. o >> as a presidential spokesperson, what do you think of the relationship that donald trump has with the media, and what advice would you give him? hello, jackie. >> well, he didn't take any of my advice. [laughter] it's -- the relationship between a president and the press corps is always adversarial. it's is et up that way. that doesn't mean it isn'tia always mutually beneficial, right? donald trump certainly benefited from a lot of media attention. there's one thing he knows how

to do very, very well, is to get the media to cover his stories and then also he even gets themo to cover -- when he is saying that they're biased, they cover that. [laughter] it's like he can't lose. this is also a lot of different tactics now in terms of how you can communicate with people. so twitter is a way that donald trump has been able to communicate directly with people. every time he sends a tweet, guess what happens? the media covers it. so i think that it will be interesting to see how the media tries to get its footing and decides how they're going to cover. i would urge the trump white house, as i did the obama white house, allow that access fromm the reporters to the government. it is one of the things our founding fathers set up. they were right to do so. and the media is critical for us to keep our democracy going. plus, who's to say that the story's going to be bad? some of the things i was saying

to jackie earlier is i remember back when president obama first took office, one of the first things he did was to keep the white house photographers that worked for the wire services, ap, a afp, reuters, he wouldn't met them in to some of the basic things we used to let them in for. and i said he never takes a bad picture, so why not just let hem this? -- let them in? it's a way to make sure that relationship keeps going. places that don't have a free media turn out like venezuela or russia or places that you wouldn't necessarily want to live. so the media might frustrate them, as it does the other sidee as well, but it's a necessary -- and not even an evil, it's just a necessary thing in our society. >> i think we probably have time for one more question, maybe two. so let's go -- >> dana, rubin mendiola. i love you on "the five," thank

you for the great job you did for george w. bush who was one of our best presidents and your love for our country.. i have been asked to serve on the barbara bush literacy foundation, and i'm going to be getting a call from you tomorrow. >> yes, at 3:00. i'll be there. >> and i was wondering if you would like to tell this great group of people what exactly what does the foundation do and how we can help improve the literacy of so many unprivileged kids, because i don't know myself what we do, and i think that this would be a great group to get involved -- >> well, thank you, i'll answer quickly. so barbara bush, after she left the white house, continued to work on the issue that she cared about the most which was literacy. it was actually quite surprising to me, because in my circle of friends and family, everybody knows how to read, okay? not even a question. they learn to read sometimes now when they're 3 or 4 years old.

the thing that's frustrating and a little sad is i think -- i might be wrong on the number, but let's just say it's 30 million americans either are illiterate or, i think it's called underliterate. there's a description for it. can't read or function well in society. that number has been the same for several decades. partly that is due tonc immigration flows and things like that.am but what's amazing is that one of the things the barbara bush foundation has done is they've teamed up with high school students, and you know how high school students sometimes have to do volunteer work to get credits before they graduate? so one of the programs that they have in several states, and i believe florida's one of them, is they match up a high school student with, like, a third grader, let's say a thirdie grader.a and they have benchmarks they g have to meet. okay? there's a curriculum that they have to follow. and they will not be able to get their credit if they don't actually succeed with this child. and that's why i say they've had

a 98% success rate in helping not just the children, but also the adults. sir, when you join the board -- which i hope you will do -- you will see something that will amaze you. it's not just that they work with children's literacy, because a lot of people are doing that, it's adult literacy. it's so important. and every time they have an event, which is about three or four times a year, they invite somebody whose life has beennt changed because now they can read, and now they have books io the home, and they are reading to their children and how it changes their life. and these people, who have never been able to read before, get up in front of a crowd of 500 people, and they give a speech. and it will just give you chills. it's one of the most amazing, wonderful things i've ever been involved in, so i'm happy to be a part of that, and i guess i'll talk to you on the phone tomorrow at three. we're doing a conference call. >> i'm so sorry, but we've come to the end of our time for questions. we have to stay on schedule not only for your interests, but also for c-span who is recording

this. i want to thank our author, dana perino, jackie for her interview -- which thank you. [applause]k >> you've done a fabulous job. and before you go -- [applause]and be before you go, i'd like to remind you that books are being sold right outside here, and i can't think of a better holiday book than one with dog picturesk for all of your -- >> indeed.is [laughter] >> and the books are beingfr signed. ms. perino will be signing them past the elevators and around the corner. and she will need to nip off there very quickly so she's there to sign your books for you. so we appreciate all of you coming, and we look forward to seeing you at another session. thank you very much. [applause]ot >> thank you. [applause]

>> here's a look at some of the staff picks from the prairie lights bookstore in iowa city, iowa. in notes from no man's land, national book critics award winner e, la biss provides a series of essays. you know when the men are gone. psychiatrist and university of southern california professor ellen saks recounts her life with schizophrenia in "the center cannot hold." in "dreaming in french," alice kaplan examines the influence of women's rights.

another staff pick from iowa city's prairie lights bookstore is "consumed," in which benjamin barber argues that capitalism has gone awry in an overproducing global economy. military historian max hastings provides a history of world war i in catastrophe 1914. in spies and commissars, historian robert service profiles some of the major players in the early days of the russian revolution. and former british ambassador to moscow, roderick bathe wait, recalls the soviet war in afghanistan. that's some of the staff picks from prairie lights bookstore in iowa city, iowa. many of these authors have appeared on booktv. you can watch them on our web site, booktv.org. >> it's surprisingly hard for the media to debunk some of mr. trump's statements in ways

which the people who believe those statements will find convincing. one of the things i talk about in the book is, is about a movement which is essentially a reaction to enlightenment nationalism. focused on the use of reason and is most happy where arguments are being based on evidence and facts. a reaction to that, which is part of broader, romantic reactions to the enlightenment, which says no. when we talk in public to each other, what matters most is identity and solidarity with a community. and what matters is my relationship to you. which very quickly becomes -- [inaudible] is key in this in association

with authentic language with nation and with the national community. so we talking honestly. and awe innocent schism, i think being authentic is, you know, that's something, you know, to me the eye of the beholder. but people who struggle to appear authentic and who want to, if you like, leverage or exploit the idea of authenticity, this really begins in the 19th century. and, of course, famously in the 1930s the european fascists across europe, most famously across germany and italy, authenticism becomes absolutely potential to their appeal -- essential to their appeal, and they try very hard to distinguish themselves in the way they speak from traditional, rational politicians. and so they focus much more on stories and particularly stories about us and them. we're together.

i'm like you, i'm not like a politician. i'm like you, i speak like you, i understand what you're going through. together we can, we can ward off the threat from them, whoever them might be. today them might be the elites. >> i'm a greek immigrant. [laughter] >> i'm an economic migrant myself. but day-to-day might be the elite, technocrats, foreigners, immigrants and us are in the context of the election, are true americans, that we are the honest, hard working, the middle classes who have been left behind by globalization, whose contribution to this country is not properly, not properly rewarded or accepted or understood and whose values are being undermined by multiculturalism or undermined

by political correctness. you see donald trump only has to mention the phrase political correctness and the respond spos cheer. there's a sense of a culture and a set of values being stolen. so in that context, what matters i think to audiences, does the story ring true. does what the speaker is saying, does it feel emotionally true? and if it feels emotionally true, it's kind of factuality. whether it's literally true or not may not matter so much. and i think the job of the media is debunking, fact checking and debunking individual statements by donald trump may well absolutely convince the readers of your newspaper p or the -- newspaper or the viewers of c-span, but they never believed him in the first place probably. people who do believe him, they think it's the elite media trying to, trying to shut donald

trump up or to damage him because he's telling the truth. >> you can watch this and other programs online at booktv.org. >> c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. >> sebastian mallaby discusses the life of former federal reserve chair alan greenspan in his book, "the man who i knew." he's interviewed by alice rivlin, senior fellow of economic studies at the brookings institution, and former vice chair of the federal reserve from 1996-999 -- 1999. >> host: sebastian, welcome. i'm delighted to be to doing this, and i think it's a