♪ >> huckabee will begin in one moment. a fox news urgent now, i'm harris falkner in new york. the passing of a television icon, mike wallace, the veteran hard hitting news man who forever left his mark on journalism. died at a care facility in connecticut. a lot of reaction coming in at this hour still from fellow correspondents to the chairman and ceo of this very network, you may know in fact the son of mike wallace, chris wallace anchors fox news sunday. known for his interrogation style. phone for 60 minutes over the year, people like jack kevorkian, roger clemens, he retired in 2006 promising to do an occasional report and he did just that. wallace said his job was not a

job, it's what he loved to do. mike wallace dead at 93. mr. wallace you will be be missed. now to huckabee. >> tonight on huckabee. >> when women raise their voices they kind of get higher and they get like this and just shrill and trying to make your point. >> her roll as margaret thatcher in the iron lady earned her her third academy award. i realized as i was stepping into her shoes just a little bit. i didn't have anything close to the stamina and spine that she had. one of the versatile actresses of our time, meryl streep joins us governor. >> an inside look at president obama's headquarters reveals a well oiled machinement are republicans ready to fight this battle? plus-- >> you've just lost the love of your life. >> before her husband died of cancer, he wanted to make sure

that their boys supported their mother. >> i know your mom's values, if she remayors, she's going to remarries. >> his dying wife had a similar message for him. >> she was really in the last hours trying to connect us. >> brought together through grief. they discovered a whole new love. ladies and gentlemen, governor mike huckabee. [applause]. [applause]. >> . >> mike: thank you and happy easter, everybody. welcome to huckabee from the fox news studios in new york city. i think all of you know that this is the weekend that jews observed passover from the jewish people from slavery to the promised land and christians celebrate easter, marks the resurrection of jesus christ. for jews pan christians, mark the high water day to set aside the poor of faith. not everybody is going to be interested in these overtly spiritual holidays.

atheists, for example, probably won't have festivals or parades or observances and i thought that the atheists should have their special day, i suggested april 1st. now, i was kidding. (laughter) >> and most of, but most atheists i know, don't have a great sense of humor. all joking aside. it probably doesn't help convert an atheist by shouting at him. not more likely to go to church if they show their hostility. and that's why in henderson, texas, a local atheist activist threatened to file a lawsuit to prohibit the display of a nativity scene on the local courthouse lawn. and then, he was diagnosed with a detached retina and much to his surprise, the local christians, who had been the target of his wrath, started a collection to help him defray his medical

expenses. he isn't ready to get born and baptized just yet, but it's moved him deeply and made him open up to their message. you see, i think that the henderson texas believers, who drown out patrick green's anger about a nativity scene are on to something. and christians ought to be known for lovovg people, not shoving people. the expected actions of fighting the atheists have been overshadowed treating with a passion. basically here are some christians acting like jesus, he didn't yell and scream at sinners, no, he went to their homes and had dinner with them and wept at their unbelief instead of condemning them for it and healed the sick and sight to the blind instead of poor health habits and taking away the salt shakers and these believers in henderson, texas get a tip out of the back. and showing love and compassion to patrick green,

because their unselfish love is far more likely against mr. green the existence of god than if they're able to beat his brains out with a king james bible. on a weekend where faith is in the the front row for a lot of americans, henderson texas might show us exactly what the weekend is all about. [applause]. well, that's my view, and i'd welcome yours, and contact me at mike huckabee.com and while you're there, sign up for the fair and balanced page you can post on my wall there and follow me on twitter and go to the fox news feedback session and find out how to get a copy, new york times best seller available at book stores everywhere. >> my third guest had academy award for margaret thatcher in iron lady. >> we will stand on principle or we will not stand at all. >> margaret with all due respect, when one has been to war. >> with all due respect, i have battled every single day

of my life and many men have underestimated me before. and about to do the same, but they will rue the day. now, shall-- tea, how do you take your tea, black or white. >> meryl streep stopped by to talk about her role as the british prime minister. >> mike: when i saw the scene in which margaret thatcher was essentially emasculating these men. you scared me. i wasn't sure i was going to introduce you out here (laughter) >> i scared myself. it's a remarkable film. one of the greatest, i think, movies depicting a living person that i've seen an it must have been an incredible challenge to play the role of margaret thatcher with so many people still knowing of her and remembering her. >> yeah. >> were you intimidated before you started this process? >> i was, not the least

because i'm from new jersey, i'm, you know, not british, so i was walking into a cast of over 250 actors, all of whom were really beautiful, well prepared actors playing very specific roles and i was scared about that, scared about playing a real person and also, somewhat, that people have such vehement opinions about. >> mike: people love her other hate her, little ground about margaret thatcher. >> that's exactly right. and so, we wanted to make a film that wasn't really a traditional bio-pic. i mean, there are lots of films that can be made about margaret thatcher and everything that she achieved and tried to do in her life. but what we did was we were interested in hearing a human story from the point of view from the end of life and that sort of reckoning that people make as time goes by. >> there have been some critics, because the picture starts with her in the

contemporary setting. >> yes. >> we know that she's going through some issues of dementia and that's very really. >> uh-huh. and then it looks back on her remarkable career and some of the critics thought it was unfair. i personally thought that it made me appreciate her more because this remarkable figure, iconic, historic person, is also very real and very human. >> that's right. i think we send to, especially with political figures, reduce them to either villains or saints. you know? and people are people. we're all many fast setted. and we have lots of different, different sides to us, and the truth is always so much more interesting, nuanced and complicated and that's what we were after. >> did you have some maybe preconceptions of margaret thatcher before the role preparation started and what were they, what were they that surprised you as you got into the role? >> there were so many

surprises, and i mean, so many surprises, she, she really is held up as a conservative icon, in many, and to many people, and together with president reagan, credited with bringing down the berlin wall and all of that, and also making an approach to the soviet union, to talk. to just make, try to figure out how to talk to people. and so one of the surprises that i had about her was that she never-- she was a scientist. she was a chemist by training, she went to oxford and chemistry, and she was an early proponent of the idea of early global warming, early warning about it, was very-- that surprised me, and she also never touched the national health in britton since 1948 every person is afforded health care from the

time they're born, till they die and she never attempted to dismantle that, and she thought that that was a birth riot. in conservative circles here that she would be drummed out of the party for that, but it's just a different-- you know, and yet, she adhered to a very, very strict financial agenda, but there were just certain things that people thought of her as very hard and cold at that were surprising to me. >> you know, i think that's one of the ways in which the film helps really give us a picture of margaret thatcher that we never had. she was the iron lady, this tough person who could just dress down a men and have the tears and yet, it was also a ve ve very poignant scene in the film after she's just destroyed the ego of every man

in her cabinet and sum mayorly dismisses themmen they walk out and see her hand trembling. i know dramatic license, but to me showed beneath the crust of the iron lady there's a-- >> i think as an actor, to explore what it means to be a leader. you take so much hatred and venom on yourself. how do people live. how do they remain strong when they still have to go to work and still the work of a nation has to depend on them. how do you not affect you, physically affect you to take all of that responsibility on your shoulders? i think that everybody that stands up for public office should be applauded, because there are many sacrifices you're bound to make with your family in many ways. and i just applaud people because i realized, as i was stepping into her shoes just a

little bit. i didn't have any, anywhere close to the stamina and mind that she had. >> mike: i'm not sure about that. when i read about you, i find not only you're incredibly well educated person, vasser, valedictorian of your high school. >> no, that's a lie. >> that's true. >> and everybody at the high school knows that, that's a lie. >> and from yale-- >> yes, that's right. >> and you're also known as a person who's very self-efacing and a person to take yourself so seriously. truly with all of that, with your humility. you have no thing to run for office and-- >> i won't do that. >> mike: you don't have that self-agran diezment. i want to talk more about the role and meryl streep and your remarkable career when we come back, stay with us. [ johan ] a cup of joe is a sedan.

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>> mike: we (applause) >> we're back with meryl streep and the remarkable resemblance you had to margaret thatcher. those of us who have seen you in so many different roles. there was a time i had to remind myself. you're meryl streep portraying margaret thatcher. the transformation, physical transformation was stunning. what did they do in terms of the makeup and the things that you had to prepare for just to look toe remarkably like mar combret thatcher. >> well, thank you very much. and on behalf of my makeup man and my team, really, i've been working with the same makeup and hair dresser for 35 years. >> mike: wow. >> we started in the public theater in new york city. and he bleached my hair for sophie's choice and did my

hair today. >> boy, did he ever hitch himself to the right wagon. >> well, he's also just a master at what, and he knows what i like to do. i like to transform, the physical because it makes you, it makes it easier to get into the interior after character. so, the more believable you are physically, the more we'll go into who -- i mean, we'll believe who you are. and in england, we met a british prosthetics designer who is maybe the genius at this, i've ever met. i've done this a lot. and played old ladies in out of africa, but this guy was so together. roy and mark, the british guy, made these four decades very, very believable and the way they did it was by doing less and less. we did four different sessions

of testing. and each time i said, take away, take away, take away. because, the key to, i think, aging makeup is that you see the person, not the stuff. you know what i mean? so, we found certain things that really signify, like, jowls in the neck that they're just mineral, but when you apply that and with the tissue, the fine hand that mark had, and roy's the iconic hair, it worked really well and i owe everything, everything to these men. >> do you think roy could make me look like george clooney? (laughter) >> it wasn't supposed to be that funny. (laughter) >> why are you guys laughing? let's talk about margaret thatcher, she was historic not only because of the views that she had. she was historic because she was the first female prime

minister in a very man's british world. >> yes. >> so how did you find that she was able to overcome the natural prejudices that people had toward a woman cannot just in the government, but being the prime minister? >> you know, the weird thing is, the biggest leap for british people, i think, was that a grocer's daughter made this. >> more so than-- >> or it was class more than even being a woman. i mean, yes, they were very, they had very specific ideas of what each gender's job should be in the world. and politics really didn't -- i think there were 635 members of parliament and there were 17 women, when she entered as a 24 year-- >> we have another clip from this. i want to ask merrill about it as we watch. >> me thinks the lady does scream too much. >> and if she wanted us to

take her seriously, she must learn to calm down. >> it's if the gentleman could perhaps pay attention more closely to what i am saying, rather than how i am saying it. >> and he has a valuable education in spite of itself. >> one of the things that i think we all have to love about margaret thatcher, she was fatherless, in the face of opposition. >> she was, she is. she is. and she's fearless and it's a great quality. it's a quality you really want, in a leader, isn't it? >> it is quality that you want. someone who just doesn't care what everyone thinks about him or her, frankly. there's always going to be a number of people who don't like you. >> well, but she did care about going to her message across and she realized. she was very canny, that in order to be elected and to be seen she had to kind of transform herself because when women raise their voices they

kind of get higher and it gets like this and it gets shrill and you're trying to make your point. especially in a big room. i'm very familiar with this. (laughter) >> but she realized if she could have more authority and she could kind of cut through the argument if she lowered her voice and she spoke like this, and it sounded more authoritative and that was something that she very he designedly worked on. >> mike: she did that in order to have a more effective role in government. >> yes. >> mike: not that she was play acting. >> no. >> mike: but she understood the need to play her role as effectively as possible. >> yes. >> mike: we've got a lot more to talk about, so i want to keep you here, today, tomorrow, and-- meryl streep stays with us, we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] this is lawn ranger -- eden prairie, minnesota.

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>> mike: back >> we're back with meryl streep. you have played a number of roles where the person is still alive or maybe is a person who is a real person. and karen silkwood passed away by the time you played the role and one of my favorites, "music of the heart" remarkable movie about a teacher who teaches a violin program in harlem. music is close to my heart and i'm an advocate for music heart and education. when you play the role of someone who is a real person, and people know. is it more difficult or easier because there's a model to go by? >> well, it's a different job. in some ways, it's easier because you do have, sort of all the back story is done, you don't have to invent that. but on the other hand, for an actor, that's the fun part is to make, make that up.

and, but in terms of playing roberta, teaching in harlem yesterday until the bell rang, she is an amazing woman and she started a program that really has grown exponentially, and i'm so glad that you raise your voice about music education. >> it's so important. >> because they're cutting everything now. >> it's wrong and the biggest sin we've done to our kids and taken music and art from them. it's the heart of education for so many children. we're not here to talk about you you actually learned to play the violin to learn to be roberta, did you not. >> i learned to play bach's double concerto and that's the only thing, and nobody wants to hear it at my house. >> and we have a violin-- that would be neat if i brought one out. >> no, i can't play it well

anymore at all because you have to practice and you have to do it every day and my life doesn't afford that kind of time, but i did love it. >> you do love music. >> i do love music. mamma mia, the biggest grossing film of your career. >> yeah. >> and your daughters, were they reluctant and maybe not too sure about you doing that role? >> no, they were thrilled. >> why they thrilled? okay. >> mike: but. >> yes, they were thrilled. you know, that movie really went around the world. i mean-- >> it's just a fun movie. >> mike: it's a fun movie, and it's exuberant, translates around the world into any language and one of the great nights of my life was sitting next to the empress of japan and we watched it. i'm not kidding you, and everyone was, i mean, she is a god, i mean, related to the deity in some way in japan. and so, people will not look at her. you're not allowed to really

look at her. and she came into the audience and ile realized that the empty seat next to me was going to be the empress of japan. and she is so beautiful and she sat next to me and it was very quiet. this is a movie about a girl who has slept with three different men and she didn't know, i mean, her mother slept with three different men and he she didn't know which is her father on the day she is married, doesn't know which one to walk down the aisle with. and i'm thinking, oh, my gosh, how is this going to go over. and the first strains of the first song came up and she said, oh, i have this dilemma, i don't know which one is the dad. and she leaned over to me and she said very naughty. (laughter) >> that's going to be a memory for sure. you've also talked about how difficult it is, as an actress

that as one ages, sometimes the roles just disappear, but they haven't for you. yet, there is a challenge, isn't there, to find roles that are suitable and ones that people will respect you for and not just say, okay, we'll put her in some type of role that there's no longer going to be valid for someone over the age of 40. >> yeah, i think that's true. but you know, i think if you're -- the cards you played in the early years, mostly your sexuality or of being cute in a way that doesn't transform into the rest of life, then you run a risk of that, it's hard to be cute and really sexy. i mean, i don't think it really is hard to be sexy, but it's just the business perceives you differently and so, that never was my thing early on. and even though i wanted those

parts, i just didn't get them. and so, you know. >> mike: thank you for sharing your wonderful artistry with us and so many roles, but most recently the powerful portrayal of a true historic icon margaret thatcher and i hope everybody sees "iron lady", you were and are iron lady. thank you so much. [applause] >> coming up, a insidn inside at the presidential's reelection campaign that puts her up at the wakeup call of the g.o.p. i take insulin,

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comment on tonight's show email us at (applause) >> before the republicans get overconfident about beating president obama. they might need to realize they'll confront the most formidable thing. my next guest has. andrew, you've been inside

this incredible obama machine and i want to ask you, what did you see that was amazing to you in terms of the organization, and just how prepared they are? >> sure, you in, i've went back in early december and their headquarters there in chicago and it struck me the contrast between my visit of april of 2007 and now it's a start-up and now it's a behemoth. there's 50,000 square feet of office space. >> are they using most of it. >> most of it, but there's room for expansion there. at the time they had more than 200 staffers in the headquarters, for comparison at the time. romney's campaign, the biggest republican campaign had about 98 and you go back to bill clinton in '96 or george h.w. bush. and about ten or fewer at this point. so they're ramped up early and so, the scope of it is impressive and also, impressive is the intensity of it. they're really, really focused on one day. that's election day, 2012.

they don't have to worry about primaries and caucuses like republicans, they are focused on winning that, you know, the election on election day. >> let's talk about the comparison. four years ago it was an insurgent campaign and most people weren't taking barack obama that seriously, it look like hillary clinton was the default candidate. and it was only later that it really became a race. so, this time what you're saying is this is maybe the difference between the short-termup of just a group of kids in fair and balancceboo full-blown-- >> and the technology, they're focused on technology as an away to turn out voters and get voters on election day, we saw some it in 2008. a quote, we'll make 2008 look pre he historic. >> the technology. >> in terms of the technology, yeah, just to talk a little about that. they're going to plug

everything they do into facebook, they have an internal social network and it was all internal and now what you do is sign in with facebook and they get access to the information you have from your social network there and then use that to target their messages, so, instead of sending out and sending a mental to all of your friends, they say send it to your five friends in the swing district in pennsylvania and they're concerned about taxes because they can know that information. >> in politics, by the way. just so the audience knows, it's called microtarget where you just don't send a generic letter, vote for me and you say a guy is like a gun owner and pro-life and obviously, that's not obama, but, you would send to him and say, i hope you've renewed your membership to the n.r.a. and give another contribution to the right to life. that's what i'm going to try to do when i'm elected. so you're saying that they're cleaning information out of everyone's facebook and google

search so when they send a message to you, andrew, they're going to note a lot of stuff about you and target specifically to your interests. >> and know my friends, as well, the power of the social network will do and they turned this year, actually. talking about it as microtargeting, and where they can really look at, for example, if there's a feature on the site they say share your story and tell us about yourself and they're able to use all of those and complicated algorithms to kind of look for patterns and to find exactly what you're concerned about, exactly what you want and who you are. >> andrew romano, and i hope a the lot of people recognize something, a lot of people thinking this is going to be an easy election, and no, it isn't. and i want you to understand from our conversation today. not only the amount of money, but it is the strategic way in which this money is being used and unprecedented ways, that will make this one of the most toughest and difficult challenges that any candidate has ever faced.

so, whoever that republican is, he's going to be walking into a, an amazing extraordinary decline and we're going to see a pretty amazing election. thank you, andrew and we'll keep up with the story. [applause] >> they were brought together through the tragic deaths of their loved ones, but they leaned on each other and discovered a whole new love. a heart warming story of the real life brady butch when we return. (applause). [ artis brown ] america is facing some tough challenges right now.

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>> died of cancer weeks apart and met at one of the funerals and realized they shared a common grief. they turned to ooch other for support, and their remarkable book is told in "the color of rain", welcome, michael and gina. [applause] >> gina, your husband knew he was sick and he started making videos for your kids. >> he did, yeah. >> mike: he knew he was not going to make it, didn't he? >> that's true. he was diagnosed with cancer in 2002 and formed an outline

and said i'm going to think of all the things i ever want to tell my boys if i'm not here, but the cancer journey was a three-year journey. he had a hard time pushing that record button, but near the end of his life, he said it's time to do this and he did. >> and listen to one, this is where he's telling his boys about faith. >> pray nor no other thing, pray god will tell you what he wants you to do and that you'll hear his voice and you'll be surprised that that will happen time time and time again. you'll say god what do you want me to do about this thing at school, do you want me to do this or that, and then you just listen and you're quiet and the answer will come to you and it will come to you from god. the trick is then, once you hear him, is to do what he tells you to do because sometimes it's not going to to with you watch. >> mike: gina, when you watch these now, is it still tough

to watch it. >> yeah, every time i see it, hearing his voice is what startles me more than anything. s visual not so much, but hearing him and the way he wants-- it's impossible to teach your children everything you wanted to teach them in a dvd set. parent something not meant to be done that way and here he is, trying to say all the things that he wants them to know about their faith, about respect, about how to live and balance your work and your life and how to respect women and all of those things, and it was, you know, it's never enough, but it was, it's been a wonderful gift to have those. >> your husband, matt, passed away on christmas day. >> yes. >> mike: tell me about that day. >> it was interesting, because he got up this morning. now, granted he was very fragile and frail and oxygen at this point, but he got out of bed and he went downstairs with our boys and he sat on the couch very quietly and watched them open their gifts and even called them over and

said a prayer with them. and so, he had this little time with them that day, and he went back upstairs and he laid down and it wasn't until later this evening when everything kind of took a turn and i knew that, this was going be to be it. >> mike: we have a video from that christmas, this is matt christmas day. >> and we thank you, thank you very much for the gifts that you gave us this year. and i ask that you be with us until next year and even better, boys, and i ask even more-- >> that was christmas day. and he died that day. >> he did. he died about, probably about 12 hours after that was taken. >> mike: you know, it's tough for me to watch that. i don't know how you do it. >> yeah. >> mike: it's such a powerful-- >> that was a little shocking, actually, i haven't seen that one in a while. >> mike: michael, shortly after matt passed away, then

your life kathy was diagnosed with a brain tumor. >> she was. you have to remember that matt and kathy knew each other from childhood they grew up together. >> you guys didn't know each other, but matt and kathy-- >> we never met. i didn't have the pleasure of meeting matt either. but my wife kathy through up in a small town in michigan and knew matt and went to cool with him. grade school through college and when he passed away on christmas night. she of course attended his funeral and only three weeks after the funeral that she developed a headache and it got worse, and eventually we took her into the e.r. not knowing what else to do about a headache, and it was there they diagnosed her with inoperable brain cancer and we had intended to try, clinical trials and whatever it was that could buy her more time, god had different plans and it was only 17 days later that she passed away. then, the two of you met, as a

result of the memorial service? >> yeah, kathy, you know, she was such an extraordinary woman and had such an extreme capacity for love and more faith. on her last day, as she and i were essentially saying goodbye to each other, we knew the end was near, out of the blue, she said to me, call gina, and i tried to dismiss that and say, well, you know, we're not talking about anything like that right now and she grasped my hand just a little tighter. she said call, gina, she'll help you. i know she had none of this in mind that we would ultimately be married and anything else. but kathy was the kind of person who connecting people was important. she had such a heart for gina, just living across town from us, and with two boys about the same age as our children, and she knew that being a stubborn man that i would probably hunker down, try to

isolate myself and she was really in her last hours, trying to connect us. so, ultimately we did, gina was kind enough to show up at kathy's funeral and she sat with me for a while and i asked her about her children of course, how they were doing. and at some point i looked at her and i said you know, you and i only just met, but i think you're the only one i know her tonight. >> mike: the interesting thing while your wife kathy was telling you to talk to gina, matt was giving yet another video that i think sort of helps to understand how this story got together. >> mom respected somebody and loved somebody enough to marry them after i've passed away, i want you to expect that i love and respect that guy, too. i know your mom's values and if she remarries, she's going to remarry somebody that i, too, love. so, i want you to respect that

man like he was me. >> mike: more of this remarkable story when we return. stay with us. (applause). [ tom ] we invented the turbine business right here in schenectady. without the stuff that we make here, you wouldn't be able to walk in your house and flip on your lights. they go into power plants which take some form of energy, harness it, and turn it into more efficient electricity. [ ron ] when i was a kid i wanted to work with my hands, that was my thing. i really enjoy building turbines. it's nice to know that what you're building is gonna do something for the world. when people think of ge, they typically don't think about beer. a lot of people may not realize that the power needed to keep their budweiser cold and even to make their beer comes from turbines made right here. wait, so you guys make the beer? no, we make the power that makes the beer. so without you there'd be no bud? that's right. well, we like you. [ laughter ] ♪

>> (applause) >> we're back with michael and gina, the authors of the book "the color of rain" it's just a phenomenal story. when they left. a pretty sad moment. you'd lost your spouses within days of each other and now you meet. how does that meeting turn into a romance, gina? >> well, it takes a little time, obviously, when you met under those conditions, the last thing on your mind is love, romance, in fact, falling in love again is high risk territory. you've just lost the love of

your life. so the thought of having that kind of exposure to risk -- to loss again isn't something you can think of, but over many, many months we got to know each other, we spent a lot of time, time with our kids and our families together. we had very little time one-on-one, in fact, we, the two years that we got to know each other we had exactly one date so it wasn't like we dated or anything. >> it was a great date. >> mike: it must have been. (laughter) >> must have been a great date. it started as a friendship and sort of mutual support for the common grief you'd had and then sparks flew i guess maybe over time. >> oh, yeah, he's so cute. (laughter) >> no, but, i mean, yeah, it felt very natural and easy and comfortable, we weren't trying to force anything, there was no need to have each other in our lives and i think a lot of people have that misconception, you're both

widowed and your kids need and mom and dad and it was genuinely out of love. i had been loved so well in those videos with matt and michael was, too, having understood love that way, it was ease toy know this was the real thing. >> how did your kids say talking and friends and saying, hey, we're going to get married. >> we have to take a few steps back, a few months after our wife died, and i was butchering another dinner. and after dinner they handed me a contract, i daddy, spehn promise to never ever, forever marry another woman or else face screaming and crying and worse. and i happily-- >> no pressure. >> it's nice they put the consequences on there, but, i happily signed it because as gina said in those moments

you're not thinking anything like that. about two years later as we had grown very close as families, and it was clear, really, what was coming, we sat down for a family meeting to essentially get our children's blessing and say, what would you guys think if we were to become married and make a family out of it and my three kids, he they were so excited and happy they ran to try and retrieve the contract and i said, no, no, i want to keep that forever and my daughter looked at me only 11 at the time and she said dad, we have to tear it up, otherwise you have to go to jail. (laughter) >> that was a pretty good indication that they were on board. >> mike: i felt pretty good that they wanted to tear it up, too. >> mike: you had to hope. >> thanks god, right? >> what's the hardest part of blending the family. you guys are the real brady bunch. >> there's no alice, no trips to hawaii, got news for you about that. no, it's actually become pretty seamless, i think we took our time and involved the

kids in the process and weren't real affectionate with one another, became friends as a unit. there were seven people falling in love, there weren't just two and we were cognizant of that and played close attention to our children and their needs in the process and the blending part was pretty easy. >> two things helped us, first of all, our spouses are still very present tense, matt and kathy are still very much a part of this family. there is he' nine people in the family and two have already been called home and the other thing our fate provided an incredible foundation for us so that not only these incredible valleys that we've talked about, the sad parts of life, but also, the joyful dancing parts of life are easier to understand for our kids because of their faith. >> mike: you know, it's a great story. the book is called "the color of rain", i want to thank michael and gina for sharing this story. thanks for watching tonight.

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