these are the people that really saw the real bill cosby. i know you are going to have lots of questions as writing about cosby i know lots of people have different connections with them. i will end this part by people asked me well what surprised you about cosby that you write about in the book? i will say three things. one is that the answer to the question i sort of started with about bill cosby and his feelings about the impact his work was going to have on society i can say very clearly and i think i show in the book that bill cosby always was as they say in the black community a race man. he may not have always brought racial material into his comedy but he was very aware of first of all what it would mean to actually have an entertainer like him, just being an entertainer. starting in the 60s he was a big supporter privately of civil rights causes and organizations. later it's interesting the cosby show at the time was criticized by some circles and sometimes remembered as being a show where the huxtable's really weren't that black and

please welcome bill cosby. (cheers and applause) mr. cosby, thank you so much. pleasure to be here.really, i-- thank you so much for being here tonight, sir. >> yes. >> stephen: not all of our guests look this nice. not everyone has an insignia on their pocket. i really appreciate you putting some effort in. >> betsy ross asked me if she wanted to-- if she could, do a flag. i aid no. -- i said no. >> stephen: you turned down betsy ross. >> yes. >> stephen: so who did the flag? >> betsy ross did the flag. >> stephen: right. >> because george washington heard that i turned her down. (laughter) >> stephen: okay, okay. >> so-- . >> stephen: he pulled strings. >> she sewed strings. (laughter) >> stephen: potato, potato sir. >> no, not the same. tomato. tomato, tomato, parade. (laughter) >> stephen: are you going to be-- are you going to be in town for the tomato parade? >> yes, sir, pomona. give me these. (laughter) (cheers and applause) >> stephen: now, sir -- >> i want to tell you something. >> stephen: i want to hear it. >> it's frightening. >> stephen: yes, what's frightening. >> it'

what happened to bill cosby's son? he was his only son, cosby has five children, like on the huxtables, and he -- cosby had always want a son. he had a very difficult relationship with his own father, and ennis turned out to be, you know, this incredibly handsome, good natured boy except he struggled in school. and it wasn't until he was in school in atlanta that he was diagnosed with dyslexia. and that sort of turned his life around and he decided he was going to commit himself to becoming an educator and he was in the midst of studying to get his doctorate at columbia, he goes on vacation to los angeles, and he gets a flat tire on the san diego fraeway, pulls over and in the course of changing his tire, he was shot dead by when they finally found him it turned out it was sort of this delinquent immigrant thug sort of character. and, you know, for cosby, you know, of course, losing a child is about the worst thing that can happen to anybody. i show there are a couple things that help explain who bill cosby is today tha

so invariably when i talk about this book, people say bill cosby, he's so funny. are you going to be funny? [laughter] i have got to warn you i'm not a comedian, but i will tell you one of bill cosby's favorite

when cosby was asked about, that interestingly, a lot of white folks think of bill cosby who helped whitecomfortable for black america. cosby takes some responsibility for that, requesting back to "i spy" and the commercials but he's proud of the the sense of affirmation it gave to the black community. as you well know, that show at time -- people said, this isn't an authentically black family. but black viewers heard the jazz in the background, the black art on the walls, they saw those kids go to college and that was ve kids saw the kids go to college and that was empowering about. >> what you're touching on is what is part of what makes the show so important. the original vision in cosby's mind was that he would be limo driver and his wife would be latino and the producers said, no, we'll have this be upper middle class. and when he took to his wife, camille, he said, heck no, you're not going to be limo driver. and that shifting was a critical. >> absolutely. and i have the scene in the book of his long dinner, it went past midnight, and as you say, it was only the next day when he re

bill cosby said, camille and i were wondering, do you think you could use $20 million at spelman? uld not imagine that figure. saying dr. bill, are you $2 million? he said, can't you hear? million -- i said $20 million. in my inauguration as the president of that historically women, dr.ge for cosby announced the biggest gift at any african-american family or individual had ever given. >> why did you do it? why did they do it? >> they have been asked that question. i will repeat the answers that they give. because they believe in education, and because they believe in the importance of educating women. because they believe that those important processes would happen while at spelman. cosby on the board now? >> dr. camille cosby is a member of the national advisory board of the smithsonian national museum of african are. -- art. >> when you think back to your 10 years at spelman college, what is the first moment that you remember, other than the $20 million gift? when you think back through those years, what is the moment that you remember? remember, i have to collapse as moments. yo

cosbys. >> how did you get the money from bill and camille cosby?i would love to tell a lie and say that, you know, i engaged in all of the steps of fundraising. prospect research, cultivation, blah blah blah. and then finally, the big ask. i had been at spelman for only a few months when a call came in. on the other end was a famous voice, dr. bill as i called him. well i will not take you through each step of that conversation, there was a moment where dr. bill cosby said, camille and i were wondering, do you think you could use $20 million at spelman? i could not imagine that figure. i said, dr. bill, are you saying $2 million? he said, can't you hear? i said $20 million. at my inauguration as the president of that historically black college for women, dr. cosby announced the biggest gift that any african-american family or individual had ever given. >> why did you do it? why did they do it? >> they have been asked that question. i will repeat the answers that they give. because they believe in education, and because they believe in the importanc

look at an example eyelet get the most successful television person of all time oprah winfrey or bill cosby he does not look in terms of a the poverty. the looking at the trailblazer with extraordinary ways. that the color prevented them from doing anything. more about poverty overall but it would be natural. but i assessed the breakthroughs or the non breakthroughs with a fascinating book out right now, of book about basically about money. [laughter] is a fascinating study looking at the generation and the eighth generation of wealth probably around the late 17 hundreds and you talk about competing with eight generations. i go up in a working-class environment. even applying for the lunch program they would wrap the envelope with so much paper there were so secretive then we would pass away as we'll do i remember the policies that you will get $25,000. they're not getting anything but i'm getting $25,000. this seems so selfish but where is it? [laughter] there is no money there. >> so what about culturally? talk about that. >> guest: i can one up you when my dad passed away there was not e

they heard bill cosby make comments like this in the past.terms of this conversation. they're aware he's a savvy media maven. the nash season just began and charles barkley will be on tv an awful lot. he may have had a do. he's created some bust and maybe that worked out for him. >> not all your listeners agree with barkley but some did. >> some say he could have been more politically correct and some about airing dirty laundry say this is one that african-american should have like family business being aired out and some have sensitivity to that and say it's hurtful to hear the criticism from one of their own. that's the kind of thing that has some people upset about it. again, some people, like, he's spot on and others don't like the fact this conversation is being had out in the public square. >> all right. troy johnson sharing the dialogue from your listeners today with us. we appreciate it. thanks for coming in. pat, back over to you. >>> after the recall of millions of airbag, i'll tell you the auto retail giant in our area that's stopp

bill cosby is one individual. >> barack obama is one individual.all have good jobs. >> these numbers are at large that comparison doesn't hold up. and you know it that's why white privilege exists. >> when my friends in left town hear the word white privilege and that we in left town had privilege being raised there. they laugh. they openly laugh at that because it was such a hard scrabble existence and the blacks who lived a couple miles away they had a hard existence too. it wasn't a big difference in the 50s and 60's between the two neighborhoods. but, look, theoretically i know what you are talking about. >> it's not thee rhetorics though, not theoretically. actually. politically, socially, economically, the numbers bear out of the fact that if you happen to have less mel alan in your skin the chances are you would do better. >> the odds are you will do better. it isn't because of white privilege. >> is it because you are smarter work harder? >> you just asked me, do you want me to answer? >> tell me why. >> the collapse of the black family. th

we're also going toe talk about this new biography about bill cosby.on in america. for more, stay tuned to the show. >> adam sandler revolution? i'm so confused. i'll watch "the cycle." [ hoof beats ] i wish... please, please, please, please, please. [ male announcer ] the wish we wish above all...is health. so we quit selling cigarettes in our cvs pharmacies. expanded minuteclinic, for walk-in medical care. and created programs that encourage people to take their medications regularly. introducing cvs health. a new purpose. a new promise... to help all those wishes come true. cvs health. because health is everything. cvs health. oats go! wow! go power oats! go! go power! yayyyy! i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. then i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare suppl

i listen to that, it sounded a little like bill cosby to me making that remark. >> yeah, it did. >> ifld happen? >> you'd be called a racist. you'd be given every name. they'd try to denigrate you. >> i would even argue that it really transcends race, though. i think there are enough kids of all racial backgrounds that could take the advice it's not cool to be smart. it's not cool to be successful. >> it is. but there's a problem within the black community where literally you're denigrated as being not black enough. and it is something that goes if you're successful -- if you're the smart kid like charles payne who carried his suitcase -- his briefcase to class, he wasn't black enough so he was picked on. if you're the kid who comes from a mixed race marriage at one time, you're not cool enough -- you're not black enough. >> do you take heat because of your success? >> yeah, i do. and whether you're on tv or not, if you're a businessman who's successful, unfortunately and it's not a monolithic application of this term, you're not black enough. but there are too many people who treat yo

at eight, mark whitaker reports on comedian bill cosby's political activism and education philanthropy. at 9 p.m., retired four-star general wesley clark weighs in on america's superpower status. linda taratto remembers living paycheck to paycheck and argues for the need to assist america's poor on "after words" at 10 p.m. eastern. and wrapping up our prime time programming at 11, jack cashill takes a critical look at president obama. that all happens tonight on c-span2's booktv. >> so the package is this one piece of debt that i follow through the book, and it's, i think, helpful to understand that when i talk about debt that's being bought and sold here, we're really just talking about an excel spread sheet. so you have the big banks or creditors, and they try for, say, six months to collect on a debt that's not been paid, and when they can't, they'll typically sell it off for pennies on the dollar to debt buyers, and they will collect whatever they can and sell to the next and the next and the next. and what they're selling is, just as they said, a spread sheet with bare bones infor