very important to mark twain, to have someone there reacting to what he says, "laughing, i presume at what he says or at least extolling it in some way." >> reporter: in one revelatory passage, twain describes how he overcame writer's block while working on "tom sawyer." >> "i knew quite well the tale was not finished and i could not understand why i was not able to go on with it. but the reason was very simple. my tank had run dry. it was empty. the manuscript was laying in pigeon hole two years; i took it out one day and it was then that i made the great discovery that when the tank runs dry, you're only to leave it alone and it will fill up again in the time while you are asleep, also while you are at work on other things and are quite unaware of this unconscious and profitable cerebration is going on." there was plenty of material now and the book went on and finished itself without any trouble. that is a method he goes on to apply to every book that he writes. the autobiography, along with nearly a million pages of other material penned by twain, including letters and notebooks,

mark twain heated food in europe he detested if but he loved the food of america that sounds oppositehat we think of america is always live up to french cuisine. we learned from twain's feast searching for americans lost food to andrew went on a journey across america to find the food of america. >> the moment i stepped saw the minute i wanted to explore its annual she to hear about an american complaining about a european food. they have to remember he was restricted to a market in hotel food. he felt homesick near the end of the tour. >> he puts together an imaginary menu of what he misses in america. >> a fantasy menu. it was things he had experienced across america during previous years things like a lake trout from tahoe, oysters and mussels from san francisco, fish from new orleans and one on and on. >> you go out and try to find the food that he loves so much. some of the disallowed their but much of it is not. oarfish's it's rare. >> cranberries maple syrup familiar. terracing soup we want experience. >> that is turtles. >> a used to be common up and down the eastern shore lin

and finally, we have this web culture now, you know, where mark twain said a century ago, a lie can make its way halfway around the world before the truth has its shoes on. that's just been intensified, both in terms of the viral nature of these stories, but also the potential to edit them and distort them before they get out there. >> savannah, it strikes me, we're also seeing in this new era, the tricky business of damage control. and to the story you covered, is it going to be seen in the rearview mirror as, perhaps, damage control done too quickly? >> a lot of people will look at the actions of the agricultural department, wondering if they pulled the trigger too fast. if they had the opportunity to do the due diligence, considering the full remarks. the woman at the center of this, the farmer she talked about supports her. some folks are looking at that and saying, maybe the agriculture department moved so quickly because it is so sensitive to these allegations. this has just become part of our politics recently. just last week the naacp put out a statement saying, elements of the t

i will have to paraphrase mark twain. the reports about the demise of the special u.s.-israel relationship are not just premature, they are flat wrong. there is a depth and richness of this relationship that is our teams talk. day. we don't make it public. the only thing that is public is that you can have differences on occasion in the best of families and the closest of friends and that comes out publicly. what is not true is the fact that we have an enduring bond of the values, nterests beginning with security in the way that we share both information and other things to help the, the fans of our common interestt and many other is in the region who do not often admit to the beneficial effect of this cooperation. i think the president said the best in his speech in cairo. he said the bond between israel and the united states is unbreakable. i can affirm that to you. today. >> thank you very much, -peverybody. stay cool out there. hydrate. >> thank you for exiting. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp

not only the byrd may but a reverence for god almighty, a love of learning, that was nurtured in mark twain's school. and there he met erma, his sweetheart for over 70 years, by whose side he will now rest for eternity. unable to afford college, he did what he could to get by, finding work as a gas station attendant, a producer husband, and meat cutter, and a world in the shipyards of baltimore and tampa during world war ii. returning home to west virginia after the war, he ran for the state house of delegates, using his fiddle case as a briefcase. better to stand out on the stump. before long he ran for congress, serving in the house before jumping over to the senate where he was elected nine times, held almost every leadership role imaginable, and proved capable of slaying others, as standing alone. marking a role of milestones along the way. longest-serving member of congress, for nearly 19,000 votes cast. not a single loss at the polls. a record that speaks to the bond that he had with you, the people of his state. transplant to washington, his heart remained here in west virginia. in the

to paraphrase mark twain. i think the reports of our demise are premature. >> the naacp had a convention. and they passed a resolution saying that elements of the tea party are racist. do you think elements of the tea party are racist? >> well, the truth is. at least elements involved with some of the tea party folks expressed racist views. we saw it on television. i wouldn't characterize the tea party adds racist. members, people on the periphery of their things have expressed unfortunate comments. again, it was all over tv, your network. black congressman walking up the stairs of the capitol. i don't believe, the president doesn't believe that the tea party is a racist organization. we don't believe that. very conservative. very different views on government and a whole lot of things. but it is not a racist organization. >> one of the big issues in this election, this midterm election is the economy. >> yep. >> nonfinancial institutions are sitting on $1.8 trillion in cash that could be spent expanding, crea

i will paraphrase mark twain. "talks abouu the demise of the special u.s.-israel relations are not just premature. they are flat wrong." there is a debt -- depth and a richness in this relationship that is expresseddevery day. the only thing that is public is you can have differences on occasion in the closest of families. that comes out. sometimes we disagree. what is not true is it -- what is true is we have an enduring bond with values, beginning with security and the way we share information and other things to help in the common defense of our common interests, and many others in the region who do not often admit to the beneficial effects of this cooperation. i think there is -- the president said that best in cairo. he said the bond between israel and the united states is unbreakable. and i can affirm that to you. >> thank you very much, everybody. >> thank you. >> stay cool out there. >> thank you. [capttoning performed by nationaa captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> president obama and prime minister net

t only the byrd may but a reverence for god almighty, a love of learning, that was nurtured in mark twain'set erma, his sweetheart for over 70 years, by whose side he will now rest for eternity. unable to afford college, he did what he could to get by, finding work as a gas station attendant, a producer husband, and meat cutter, and a world in the shipyards of baltimore and tampa during world war ii. returning home to west virginia after the war, he ran for the state house of delegates, using his fiddle casas a briefcase. better to stand out on the stump. befo long he ran for congress, serving in the house before jumping over to the senate where he was elected nine times, held almost every ladership role imaginable, and proved capable of slaying others, as standing alone. marking a role of milestones along the way. longest-serving member of congress, for nearly 19,000 votes cast. not a single loss at the polls. a record that speaks to the bond that he had with you, the people of his state. transplant to washington, his heart remained here in west virginia. in the place that shaped him with

i will have to paraphrase mark twain. the reports of the demise of the special u.s.-israel relationship are not just premature. they are flat wrong. there is a death and richness in this relationship that is expressed every day. the only thing that is public is that you can have differences on occasion in the best of families and in the closest the families. we have an enduring bond in the values and interests, beginning with security, and the way that we share both information and other things to help the common defense of our common interests and many others in the region who do not often admit to the beneficial effect of this cooperation. i think the president said it invested in his speech at cairo. he said it to the entire islamic world. the bond between the united states and israel is unworkable -- unbreakable. >> thank you very much, everybody. >> as part of the recurring bbsiness to new york city, queen elisabeth spoke at the un, the first time since 1957. she talks about efforts to curb terrorism and address climate change. this is 20 minutes. delegates, dis

and here i'll have to paraphrase mark twain, that the reports about he demise of the special u.s.-israel relations -- relationship are not just premature, they're just flat wrong. there's a depth and richness of this relationship that is expressed every day. our teams talk. we do not make it public. the only thing that's public is that you can have differences on occasion in the best of families and the closest of families, that comes out public -- and sometimes in a twisted way, too. what is not told is the fact that we have an enduring bond of values, interests, beginning with security and the way that other things to help the common defense of our common interests -- and any others in the region who do not often admit to the beneficial effect of this cooperation. so i think there's -- the president said it best in his speech in cairo. he said in front of the entire islamic worldd he said, the bond between israel and the united states is unbreakable. and i can affirm that to you today. >> thank you very much, everybody. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [ca

there have always been those in the united states -- mark twain, when he opposed the spanish-americanger and the company then as more and more commitments around road, and the effort to preserve this part of liberty inside united states. if that leads to higher taxation or constriction of people or violations of our civil liberties. that is always a tension. the american urge to become more powerful of all the world, of an imperial power and our desire to remain a democratic republic with liberty and home. host: now to tennessee. this is bill on the air. caller: good morning. thanks, c-span. i want to point out when you ask him to evaluate president obama's position on the palestinian-israeli conflict, he said that palestinian leadership was weak and divided, with the characterization. also, that the israeli leadership was led by a man whose entire career has been spent opposing the palestinian state. i want to point out that that is historically inaccurate. i have hours of benjamin netanyahu speeches within the last two or three years where he has advocated in his official position o

there have always been those in the united states -- mark twain, when he opposed the spanish-american war, abraham lincoln when he opposedo the mexican-american war, who said it will become an empire, then our democratic nature at home may suffer. there's a contradiction between a military that keeps growing bigger and the company then as more and more commitments around road, and the effort to preserve this part of liberty inside united states. if that leads to higher taxation or constriction of people or violations of our civil liberties. that is always a tension. the american urge to become more powerful of all the world, of an imperial power and our desire to remain a democratic republic with liberty and home. host: now to tennessee. this is bill on the air. caller: good morning. thanks, c-span. i want to point out wh you ask him to evaluate president obama's position on the palestinian-israeli conflict, he said that palestinian leadership was weak and divided, with the characterization. also, that the israeli leadership was led by a man whose entire career has been spent opposing

not only the byrd may but a reverence for god almighty, a love of learning, that was nurtured in mark twain'st erma, his sweetheart for over 70 years, by whose side he will now rest for eternity. unable to afford college, hedid what he could to get by, finding work as a gas station attendant, a producer husband, and meat cutter, and a world in the shipyards of baltimore and tampa during world war ii. returning home to west vrginia after the war, he ran for the state house of delegates, using his fiddle case as a briefcase. better to stand out on the stump. before long he ran for congress, serving in the house before jumping over to the senate where he was elected nine times, held almost every leadership role imaginable, and proved capable of slaying others, as standing alone. marking a role of milestones along the way. longest-serving member of congress, for nearly 19,000 votes cast. not a single loss at the polls. a record that speaks to the bond that he had with you, the people of his state. transplant to washington, his heart remained here in west virginia. in the place that shaped him wit