. >> peter thompson's "the wars of afghanistan" is an epic book, and that's because peter thompson's knowledge of afghanistan goes very far back. he was very involved both through the soviet period, in between, the american involvement. he has had roles in, um, in afghanistan on the diplomatic level. he speaks russian and pashtun, he has a gift for languages, so he was able to read sometimes documents in the language which not many people are able b to master including archives from the soviet period that no one had ever used before in their research or work. and he brings a passion and a level of both detail and scope to this story that we think is unique. and it was, it's quite, it's quite an effort getting a book like this together, but absolutely worthwhile, and we're thrilled that it's going to see its reading public in july. >> two books on the media that are out or coming out, "the deal from hell" and "inside "the new york times." ". >> the deal from hell by james o'shea is a story about "the chicago tribune" and sam zell and what has happened to media businesses from an insid

. >> three more books we want to preview from publicaffairs starting with peter thompson. >> the war in afghanistan is an epic book. his knowledge of afghanistan goes very far back. he was very involved through the soviet period, in between the american involvement. he has had roles in afghanistan on the diplomatic level. he speaks russian and past 10. psht pshtun. he had some archives from the soviet period no one used in their research or their work. he brings a passion and a level of detail and spoke to this story that we think is unique. it is quite an effort getting the book like this together but absolutely worth while and we are thrilled it is going to the reading public in july. >> two books in the media that are coming out. deals from hell and inside the new york times. >> the deal from hell is a story about the chicago tribune and what has happened to media businesses from an insider. he was a longtime reporter at the chicago tribune. he became editor of the new york times so we had groundwork as a reporter and management experience -- in the decisionmaking meetings. it is

peter. this straw poll has a history of bringing candidates down. tommy thompson did not do well. he stepped out of the race a few days later. we may have that again with candidates. t.j., back to you. >> stay with cnn for the coverage of the iowa straw poll for results later today. you can join don lemon and candy crowley. one playing a big role in iowa is texas governor rick perry. he is done playing the waiting game. some hoping he would get into the race. he is going to make it official today. he will have an appearance in south carolina a little later. you have been hearing this name. texas governor rick perry. who is this guy? he has been governor of texas for longer than anyone in history. he took office in 2000 when then governor george bush became president. he won three things since then. he wasn't always a conservative. he was elected to the texas house of representatives in 1984 as a democrat. he campaigned for al gore in 1988. the next year, he switched parties and became a republican. he will announce his bid for the white house at 1:00 eastern. cnn will bring you li

thompson. brooke? >> he has to finish top four, top five to want to finish in this thing. petering with you. other than sarah palin you have this other elephant in the room, an elephant that wears cowboy boots each and every day. rick perry, texas governor, set to enter the race tomorrow, we know, down in charleston, south carolina. what are folks out there saying about the texas governor and how will he shake up this race? >> well, what folks here in iowa interestingly are saying is they're kind of, some republican insiders out here are offended by the fact that governor perry is announcing his campaign on saturday on the same day as the ames straw poll which is a huge fund-raiser for the republican party. it's a big day for them. they think it's kind of a swaggering sort of texas move to just kind of big foot what they're doing and they're saying he's going to come out here and actually lay some groundwork. i can tell you, brooke, the perry campaign, the future perry campaign is doing their due diligence. they lind up money and planning a big two weeks ahead and perry will com