and i said mike mccurry, thank you.and i sent a note -- >> host: sent a note to finish. >> guest: sent a note to mike mccurry to tell the president thank you. and the president wrote me back on white house letterhead, and that's all she wrote. [laughter] >> host: that's a good one writing a thank you note to the president for getting a question in and getting a letter back. >> guest: just common humanity. >> host: how -- in news conferences you talk about that first question when you called yourself or considered yourself media slime. was it the content of your question, or what was it that you felt and were reporters hostile to you? >> guest: i don't think, i don't think it's content of the question. i just think immediate cra slime, a friendly adversarial relationship in that building, and the american public, to some extempt, they don't like us -- extent, they don't like us, and others do. so when we get classified negatives, i say we're media slime. but it might have been for others that they didn't like that questi

so he said -- we started scratching her head and ultimately started talking to mike mccurry. and so bill douglas and his wife wonderful reporter he opened up his beautiful home to allow us to have our dinner. and at the time the pres. wanted to president wanted to talk about race as well because he wanted more information about our thoughts. the race initiative on the table at that time was kind of floundering. he wanted to get our thoughts. apparently the president like us and wanted to hear what we had to say. we initially started the process. he liked it so much he brought his own pepper sauce. cornbread, collard greens, chairman and you know, he really talk and it. and the black committee food brings you together, the sunday dinners at the church just the anniversaries. food is a very common sort of item to perpetuate free-flowing conversation, and we had a beautiful time. all black reporters and producers at the white house at the time. he said, look let's bring the president here. not only that he has not had an otr with any of us command that's not fair. we thought wha

guest: one of the more effective people behind-the-scenes, clinton had a good staff but i think mike mccurryan exceptionally good choice to take over from dede myers as the press secretary. mike did two things. mike mccurry i accused him of being able to see around political corners. he would stand at the podium and say something when he worried that three weeks or three months or three years down the road he would have to eat those words that he was always very cautious and always thought out policy beyond just the day or the week. mike also knew the president of the united states needed to have an identity separate from the scandal that was now beginning to really become red-hot trade so we have the white house counsel's office appoint someone from its ranks, a lawyer at the white house who became a spokesman for the scandal. that way mike could continue to be the president's press secretary and let the nitty-gritty of those questions be handled by a separate chain of command and abc had a separate reporter assigned outside the white house, jackie judd who took over ownership of and the ho

and i told mike mccurry thank you and sent him a note to say thank you. and he will be you will me back. he wrote a note back on white house letterhead. that is all she wrote. >> host: that is a good one. writing a thank you note for the president breeding a question in. and news conferences you talk about that 1st question when you called yourself media slime. was it the content of your question? and were reporters hostile? >> i don't think it was the content of the question. as a friendly adversarial relationship in the building the american public the american public to some extent don't like us and others do. when we get classified with negatives but it might have been for others. it may not have. but that was not for them to say. we are they are focusing on one thing and you maybe focusing on another command that is the greatness of having a group of people in that room that ask different questions. but you stay on the same subject. >> host: daily briefings. >> guest: and the press conferences. >> host: let me ask you about george w. bush, a news con