applause] >> and now, to present the medal for distinguished contribution to american letters is martin amismartin is the author of 13 novels. he is the author of the memoir, experience, two collections of short stories and six books nonfiction, including the second plane. he was literary editor of the new statesman and served as the prefer of creative writing at the center for new writing at the university of manchester until 2011. please help me welcome, martin amis. [music] >> good evening. elmore leonard. let us attempt to narrow it down. elmore leonard is the literary genius who writes, re-readable thrillers. he belongs there not in the main stream but to the general on -- fiction on the whole relies on plot, has only a dozen plots to read. boy meets girl, good meets bad and so on. but mr. leonard has only one movement all his thrillers or re-workers of tales, in which death roams the land, usually miami or detroit, disguised as money. nevertheless, mr. leonard possesses gifts, timing and phrasing, ear and eye, that even the most snobbish masters of the main stream must earnestly covet.

[break] amy goodman: the morehouse college glee club performing "we shall overcome." morehouse college was the alma mater of dr. martin luther king jr. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman, as i continue with my interview with democratic congressmember john lewis of georgia, leader of the civil rights movement, risked his life numerous times marching for the right of all americans to vote. during the civil rights movement, he marched side by side with dr. king. he served as chair of the student nonviolent coordinating committee, helped organize the freedom rides, spoke at the 1963 march on washington. congressmember lewis was also a leader of the now-famous voting rights march from selma to montgomery. on july 6, 1964, he led 50 african americans to the courthouse in selma, alabama, on voter registration day, but sheriff jim clark arrested them rather than allow them to apply to vote. i played for congressman lewis a clip of his close friend and ally, martin luther king jr., speaking in 1965 about jim clark. rev. martin luther king jr.: i am here to tell you tonight that

like i said, dean martin, frank sinatra, there's some amy winehouse in there. fresh and personal show. so it's kind of -- this is a brand new show for me. it's the basis of what i did at carnegie hall last year and this one is almost sold out, which i can't even believe. there's like a few hundred seats left, really good once. >> you're a popular dude, man, believe it. >> i'm believing it but i'm humbled and grateful to be here. >> great way to help us kick off the new year. >> thanks, man. >> good luck and happy new year. >> thank you, you, too. >> check it out at the kennedy center. some tickets are still available starting at $55. >>> time is 11:40. >>> still ahead, the iphone, ipad and now iwatch? apple may be getting into the time-keeping business. >>> and we have alarming news about counterfeit botox! >>> rumor has it that apple is looking to get into the watch business. word is they are looking to develop a watch reportedly featuring an a one and a half inch screen and be blue tooth enabled, the speculation that apple could introduce the so-called, "smar

martin had given him as a gift. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amyodman with juan gonzalez. our guest is goldie taylor, managing editor of the goldie taylor project where she writes about contemporary, social and political issues. can you tell us your own story about the linkage of domestic violence and guns? >> sure. here in atlanta, i guess i have lived here 27 years now, during our first year here in atlanta, i met him i thought was the most charming man in the world. we moved in to gather, started college, a started to build a life within. not long after that is when the abuse began. he began to isolate me from my friends and family. he began to be little every single thing i did. then it became physically abusive. i felt trapped, even though my mother lived less than 10 miles away. i was afraid to tell her what was happening because for so many young women, there is an unfortunate culture of silence that sort of places they don't around what is happening in some of these homes. i remember a relative telling us when we were younger that what happ