Transcripts For CSPAN2 Amy Knight Orders To Kill 20171112

Outside and hes great about signing the books so he will be here so if you have a book come on up and if you need to get one go outside these doors. Thank you for coming. [inaudible conversations] tv is on twitter and facebook and we want to hear from you. Does or post a comment on her face page. Again, im joan, the holder of the bookstore and i hope you avoid enjoyed the video about a bookstore. We bring office to the store and i also want to mention the second part of our mission. My wife helen and i have two children in our younger child, daniel, has autism. We opened bookstores as a place to have a the conditional Printing Program for young people with autism and we had about 90 young people with autism work in our Stores Opened in 2009. That is one of our meetings we do here. Then again, as you saw the video, we begin great authors and were very excited to have amy knight here for a host of reasons. First, we believe this is the first time that weve had a mother, daughter author team. We were pledged to have Molly Knight Raskin here a few years ago for her book and we are super pleased to have her mom here with us for orders to kill. This is your 25th book, six. Six book and it tells the story about what is going on currently in moscow. Amy is one of the leader leading experts on the kgb and now the fsb and rights for the new yorkers and the details and some of the plots by bottom up and that involve tying russian leaders et cetera and its a spellbinding tale and were thrilled to president amy to you and thanks a lot so much. [applause] connect thank you for coming. I am going to start off traditionally and just tell you a little bit about myself and why i got involved in writing this book. I majored in russian studies at the university of michigan in the 60s and was a very new field but the cold war had started and michigan was putting their all into this program. I was able to learn the language and history and the politics and so on in support. Then i traveled and i mentioned this in the introduction to my book. I traveled to the socalled soviet union with some professors and students in the summer of 67 and we almost did not go because there was no crisis in the middle east and relations were not good with the soviets. We went and, of course, the Young Students did not heed what we were told by the professors to be very careful. I went off with some of the girls and we were in kiev and we started meeting these dissiden dissidents. Anyway, ended up being in someones apartment and we ended up the kgb came and knocked on the door and i spent the night being interrogated by myself by the kgb. It all ended happily because it turns out they were more interested in what my father did and what kind of car we had and they were really happy to get my marble cigarettes. I was released the next morning just in time to get my plane out of the soviet union but i never and i was always fascinated with what these people are really like. Having met them face to face. I went on and i worked at Radio Liberty in munich for two years as an editor translator and i went ahead and got my masters and phd at the London School of economics. At the lse i got my phd in russian politics and that included history as politics because the view is or was that to understand what was happening at the time you had to know the history and so i called myself actually more a historian than a political scientist but im sort of both. Anyway, i ended up moving to washington with my husband and i worked for almost 20 years at the library of congress as a soviet Russian Affairs analyst and that is when i started writing books. My first book called the kgb, police and politics of the soviet union came out in 1988 and i got this niche writing about the Security Services and i wrote then some other books including a biography of stalins police, police chief area, a book called who killed [inaudible], the kremlins greatest ministry and about the murder of Leningrad Party chief sergei in 1934. Anyway, i had a couple of other books, as well. Now we get to this book and i actually have been writing and noticing for a long time these political murders. In fact, i was thinking today that it is been almost two years since book, she was a deputy to parliament and she was gunned down brutally in st. Petersburg. At the time, i wrote a piece for the Washington Post and i said they will probably never find who killed her and sadly, i was actually right. Vladimir putin had just then become the head of the fsb which is the kjv successor and it looked very much to be when i did some research into it that at the very least the fsb had given a wink and a nod to go ahead and get rid of [inaudible]. One of the things that she did was she educated and she was a real democrat. She educated [inaudible] which meant that people who worked for the kgb and the communist party will not be allowed to serve in the government but this is not very popular and she also was quite outspoken about all the corruption that was going on in st. Petersburg and st. Petersburg, as you know, was flattered to his hometown. I think it is pretty clear that you read my chapter and see what you think about my theory is that the fsb and fundamental were involved in her murder. I talk about other political murders and i also talked into my chapters about acts of terrorism. So, when i say political murder i say it broadly to include terrorism because that has been another feature of the russian regime under bottom up. I talk about the terrorist bombings that happened in russia in september 1999, killing almost in four different Apartment Buildings killing 300 people. I think this wasnt what i said but other people and i agreed this was the russians version of 911 because it was such a terrible shock. A lot of research after that has shown that the fsb actually was involved in these bombings. Its pretty complicated story. P had just been made Prime Minister by [inaudible] and this is the 1999 and he had just and he had been head of the fsb and no one really knew who he was. Yeltsin and his supporters, the family, around him wanted mr. Putin to be a successor to yelton because he had worked for the fsb and they were concerned about what would happen to yelton and his family and some of the allies after yeltsin step down so i think most people agree that vitamin putin promised that nothing would happen to them. But in order to give him some name recognition yelton nominated him as Prime Minister and then these bombings occurred. Well the chechens were blamed and there had already been one war in chechnya and this was an excuse to launch another war in chechnya and this is what brought a huge amount of same and adoration towards bottom because he was seen as a hero who was going to get to the bottom of this and as he said he was going to wipe down those chechens and their outhouses or some other race. Anyway, i dont have time to go into all the evidence and it isnt my evidence particularly that has been gathered but other people including western scholars and investigative russian investigative journalist that pretty conclusively demonstrates i dont think theres much doubt anymore that the fsb and vitamin putin who were actually the ones were behind the bombings. While, then in my book i go on to discuss some of the individual cases of journalist and a russian opposition politician who were murdered after Vladimir Putin came to power. I talk about [inaudible] some of you may have heard of he was an american of russian descent who was in moscow as the editor of Forbes Russia when he was gunned down 2003 or 2004, excuse me and then there was sergei [inaudible], a member was a real democrat and was very outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin. He was shot to death in april 2003. There were numerous other examples of journalists and politicians who were viewed has a threat by the kremlin and who died tragic deaths. Now, one of them you probably heard of them is [inaudible], she was a brilliant crusading journalist and she made 50 trips to chechnya during the Second Church in an war and she was very courageous and she worked for a journalist, an independent newspaper and she was extremely outspoken and critical of mr. Putin. She knew that she was courting danger. Several people really advised her to leave the country. She kept saying i am not leaving and i am staying here and her granddaughter, daughter was about to give birth and to her granddaughter and well, she was shot down in the stairwell of her Apartment Building and 2006. In october 2006. They have never, even though they rounded up, the people who actually shot her they never found the person who organized the murder. This is another case of an enemy of letter to who gets killed and no one finds out who actually gave the orders. Now, i have two chapters in my book about alexander who you have probably heard of. He was a defector from russia and worked for the fsb or the kgb first and then the fsb and he was still living in russia and in 1998 he was asked to assassinate and oligarch. Instead of curing out the assassination and following the orders of the fsb, his employers, he held a press conference with some of his colleagues and announced that they had been asked to do this. Well, as you might well understand, this did not make him very popular and was put in prison and finally he knew that he was risking his life staying in russia as he defected to london with his family, with his wife marina and his son anatoly. Rena, by the way, becomes friends with and the book is dedicated to her widow because shes been helpful with me and i have two chapters of my book about this case. I will fastforward and i will say i went over to london several times when they had the hearings in the high court in london and it was an inquiry into the murder in 2015 and i went over there in 2016 and attended the hearings and did some interviews so just to give you a little background why what happened and it seems as though these two men were hired by the fsb to murder [inaudible]. One of them, andrzej made friends with him and started coming to london and was trying to get consulting work with [inaudible] and apparently he didnt really have any concern or didnt have knowing that he was employed by the fsb so in the meantime he had devoted himself to writing scathing criticisms of bottom. Boris the oligarch i mentioned earlier had moved to london and the two of them had this campaign and it was financed by him bite because he was wealthy and they publicize everything they could about the corruption and the authoritarianism and Everything Else about what americans regime. He was not very wellliked and in november 2006 he and another gentleman came to london and they brought with him polonium 210 which is a lethal, radioactive substance and we now know that they tried to poison him with polonium two weeks earlier and it did not work. He got sick for nothing happened. This time in the pine bar of the Millennium Hotel in london they put polonium 210 in this teapot and he came in and sat down with them and he drank some of the tea. He got very ill and at first they thought it was Food Poisoning and it took him three weeks to die and it was only on the last day, november 203rd that they actually figured out what was the cause of death. It was not supposed to be discovered and thats why polonium was chosen. Meanwhile he and the two killers lead and the British Government had tried to have them expedited that hadnt happened and he got a medal of honor from resident putin and he is now a member or has been a member a member of parliament for years now. I think the interesting thing is is that he was viewed as a traitor because he worked for the fsb and then he moved and affected and wrote all these things and oddly enough i think a lot of the russians know that he was killed by these two gentlemen and they were ordered by the fsb and mr. Putin to do it but people feel that he got what he deserved. Then i have other examples that i cant go into detail about right now but i would say one of the most devastating killings was that of boris in februar february 2015. If you recall, he was talking with his girlfriend across a bridge very close to the kremlin and people went by and someone got out of the car and shot him five or six nights. Anyway, its very interesting that the killers they arrested almost immediately the killers of him but again, if the same pattern. They dont find what we say in russian the [inaudible]. In fact, his family has now requested the russian government to extend the period or the statute of limitations because they still havent found the person who ordered this. Many people think that it was again, something that was ordered by mr. Putin. He was not only a handsome, charismatic, brilliant politician but he also and use to work, by the way is to be a minister and he knew but can personally but he had started writing these devastating reports about the corruption and the massive corruption in mr. Putins regime and right before he died he was finishing up and when i say report they are like little books. He was writing about the russians in ukraine and showing that despite their denials Russian Military was in full force in eastern ukraine. He had been warned that he said that would never kill me because i was a minister and this and that and unfortunately it happened. If youre going to talk about the view of the kremlin and their motivation to the United States and testified and lobbied in the u. S. Congress to increase the economic sanctions against russian officials. Of course, as you can imagine, putins entourage hated him. By the way, his colleague latimer was also came to the United States actually live parttime in washington but outspoken about and getting the sanctions and more officials on the sanctions list. He was poisoned price and almost died. So, this is how dangerous it is if you happen to go up against the common. Now, i also someone asked me if i thought that there had been any example of someone being murdered by the russians on us soil. We know what happened in the uk. I would have said no but interestingly enough and oligarch named [inaudible] died in Washington Dc Hotel in november 2015. He had been the head of gastro media and there was some discussion about the fact that he had gotten enemies in the government and the kremlin and in any case he was also a very heavy drinker. They found him dead and in this hotel room in washington and the initial cause of death was that he had fallen and had an accident. Recently, apparently and this is just rumor but the anonymous source from the fbi have started saying that in fact they have realized that this was not an accident and their they are still looking into. I dont know what the results of that are going to be. I didnt get a chance because of time but i should also say that one of the people who has been involved with some of these murderers is the president of chechnya. He is really a terrible, terrible dictator in chechnya and the human rights violation that he committed are absolutely appalling and in the case of a boris it looks like his henchmen were hired to camp and kill him but the kremlin doesnt seem to be able to control this man and they rely on him to keep chechnya from exploding with any unrest and rules with an iron hand and he has carried out quite a few murders on his own initiative but i just wanted to mention because i talk about him in my book. Now, someone has said and has asked me who i think would be mr. Putins next victim. Well, its a horrible thing to think about but i should put out a month ago a very wellknown journalist named [inaudible] who wrote for echo in the newspaper and she was an outspoken critic of mr. And she actually had to flee russia because her car was set on fire and earlier she had had Death Threats and she basically was terrified and i should add they funneled poisonous gas into her house and that was the final straw and she fled russia and is now living abroad. That is how bad it has gotten. The one person who i write about quite a bit now when i write for the press and for the new york review of books is alexander. Hes a very courageous anticorruption crusader and he has declared himself a candidate for the presidency and in march theyre having the elections in 2018. He is technically barred from the ballot because he has two felony charges against him. The charges stem from bogus cases. The kremlin has arrested him and in fact hes in jail right now. Pay much theyve done everything they can except kill him but to keep him from his campaign. He was really incredible. Ive seen his speeches and he has them on his plate and also he gives rousing speeches in his gun all over the country and he also has produced a series of documentaries that are just incredibly damning to the regime just showing their terrible corruption and he uses drones to fly over there mansions and he has a meticulous staff and research which will tell and show conclusively that these kremlin figures are hugely, vastly wealthy. Of course, then when he goes out and he reminds people of this so he is gaining quite a following which is why i think he was put in jail two weeks ago. I think it is a matter of concern gets out with what will happen to him because someone was saying to me they wouldnt be so stupid as to kill him but that would be going too far but then someone else said well, you know, it could be someone who does it to please mr. Putin or who knows. I hope very much that this does not happen but i thought i should bring that up. Well, quickly before i stop i will mention that here in the west there hasnt been very much reaction to all of these political murders. Weve got problems in syria. Weve got problems in ukraine, problems with north korea. And i think there is a general reluctance to face up to the fact that when youre dealing with mr. Putin, youre dealing with somebody who is a murderer. You probably are familiar with what donald trump has said about this. He has been asked on more than one occasion about the killings that putin has ordered and he has said, well, to quote him once, he said, there is no proof. There is no proof that he has done it. And another time i think it was after karza was poisoned, well he said everybody, everybody kills. So i, people have asked me why donald trump is bending over backwards it seems to gain favor with the kremlin . I, i could go out on a limb and say that i sometimes wonder whether these allegations of collusion between the russians and the trump campaign, if they are true, then, then it would mean that, that the kremlin has what we call compromising material on donald trump, and, this is, this might be one explanation as to why he literally will not criticize mr. Putin. And also, why he has done things like, his, trying to weaken the nato alliance. We know that when he went over and met with all these nato leaders he was very lukewarm and, it was quite disheartening to other nato members. So, i cant, i cant begin to really understand what mr. Trumps motivations are but, why, why is it important anyway that we know about these murders . Well first of all, i think it is important that governments know who theyre dealing with. Thats one thing. If there was more acknowledgement, at least at lower levels, more said about this to the kremlin, it would certainly be a good thing for the families of the victims of these crimes and also for the human Rights Groups and the independent journalists that are Still Critical of mr. Putin. Might make mr. Putin think twice before he does this again. I also think the economic sanctions that are in place right now have been extremely effective. I think they should be strengthened. I think there should be no discussion about lessening these sanctions. Because they really do, they really do hit the kremlin and remind them they shouldnt go too far. My point to go away with, is basically that, leaders stay in power by violence and intimidation are not strong rulers. So no matter what the opinion polls say about mr. Putin, his ratings are now about 86 , i think that this is a very thin support and underneath there is economic, there is discontent caused by a stagnating economy, and a stagnating economic infrastructure, combined with all of the corruption that most people know about is happening at the top. I think that this is a dangerous combination for mr. Putin. And as we know last spring, there were some pretty serious street demonstrations in several cities. Now there were demonstrations again last weekend, and attorneyout, these were in protest against novltny, being told that he cant be on the president ial ballot. Unfortunately the turnout was disappointing in the different cities but i think it was largely because navlny wasnt there. People are also nervous because the authorities have been arresting lots of demonstrators, putting them in prison, giving them hefty fines. So, there is a lot of intimidation but i would just say, i dont expect novlny to get on the ballot. That would be, i just dont think thats possible. I expect that mr. Putin will win the election as president , unless something changes drastically but as somebody said, one commentator i said which i thought was very interesting, the protests are going to continue. If you see this motorcade on march 19th, the day after the president ial election with putin, youre also going to probably see what we saw in 2012 with the president ial elections. Very, very massive protests. And so at some point, i dont know when, and i dont know how i think well see some change in russia but it could take a long time. [applause] thanks so much. So we i will, thanks, well take questions from the audience, and i will bring around the microphone if any of you has a question. With the gentleman killed in dupont circle, i understand that the coroner was silenced and the police did indicate that the van had massive, man had been beaten very badly and had massive injuries, and the explanation that this happened because he fell down, when he was drunk is ludicrous. Have you heard that as well . Oh, yeah. I have heard it. Im just, you know, im cautious because initially they, the authorities, the u. S. Police, the fbi, said that it was a clearcut case of an accident. Given, mr. Lessen was known to be a very, very heavy drinker, it wasnt beyond, it was a credible argument but as i said, i have seen quite a few reports now that the fbi is saying that they think there was foul play. I dont know whats going to happen with that. What do you think is putins sure can. What do you think is putins endgame, and even medium game toward this . There is a lot of talk about him disrupting a lot of things, capitalism, and a lot of western civilization, but truly to bring back the soviet union who, or he said, anyone who wants the soviet union back has no brain but anyone who doesnt miss it has no heart. But, does, he really want to bring it back or does he want another form from there . I dont think mr. Putin wants to have the Russian Military march football ticks or even march into the baltics, or even take over ukraine. The indgame of the kremlin is to sow, to undermine the demock is . These countries and undermine their economic situation. They want influence but dont want actual jurisdiction. You know, so i know youre probably referring to mr. Putin saying very early on that the biggest tragedy that ever happened was the collapse of the soviet union but i dont think russia, you know, wants to take over any of these countries, but there is certainly, we talk about whats happened here, during our president ial elections, and the huge propaganda, effort that they made on facebook and twitter, and, and then you know, with the hacking of the Democratic National committee. They also do that kind of thing in european countries, and in the baltics. I was in latvia quite a few years ago. I cant remember the exact time, the, their entire internet had been taken down. And, they found out that the russians had done it. So, that is a new form, by the way of aggression is cyber warfare around and it is something that the russians are very, very good at. Hi, you said, you said that youre a historian and i would be interested in knowing about other oligarchies and autocrats, how they were taken down . What is the most prevalent form of taking those kind of leaders down in history . Is that too broad a question . If youre talking about russian history, the, the monarchy was brought down by basically world war i and a very, very ineffectual leader and growing discontent among the working and peasant classes. That is how the bolsheviks managed to take over. Stalin had to die before they got rid of him. And, and then, you know, if we look at 1991, in fact people are beginning to draw some parallels with what is happening now. What really brought down the soviet union, the government in moscow was widespread economic discontent. Right. And that, you know, look at their pocketbooks. It is the same for russians as it is for most people. When they feel like things that the government is, you know, screwing them, then, that is what they take to the streets. This is kind of a related question. Im just, im really curious about what you think about, why the population, like there is that sort of massive 86 approval rating, i mean the russians smart. Do they know about these murders . I mean why are they so compliant or or why isnt there more, you know, rebellion and upset, disruptions . Well, thats, thats a really good question and, it has been explained in different ways. Some people say that, that, and weve got russian, one russian or more in the audience. Some people say that, russian people, are kind of habitually, they, they venerate their leads leaders. In other words, if you got somebody who is your leader, you kind of have to say he is good and he is there and they dont have a tradition of saying horrible things. Im not talking about the independent journalists and so forth, but just the average person. So i think there is a little bit, when they do these opinion polls. Also people say what they think they should say. And im probably not the person to really answer this question too well, because i havent been to moscow. Ive been to russia, but not moscow since 2008 but my feeling is that a lot of people are just kind of apolitical and they compartmentalize their thinking. They cant really get, accept now with mr. Nalvony, he is gaining a following among the young people but, you know, the older generation is just i think passive and, you know, theyre so used to being fed oh, i should also mention, television is still controlled by the state, so, russians are fed a constant stream of nationalistic proputin prop fanned today. That is changing a little bit because the Younger Generation is getting their news from the internet. Weve seen turnout of young people seeing nolvanys videos, showing medvedevs vineyards and chalets and the audience is increasingly shifting to the internet so that might ching in terms of mr. Putins popularity. If coy add a comment, im from europe but ive been posted last four years in st. Petersburg, i think commenting on the 86 thats, that is nationally, but it is much lower in moscow and st. Petersburg where people still have access to internet. Right. That is under threat by the way, but ive seen figures down to about 50 and, you have to understand that russians all agree you need a very strong leader for russia. You always have done that. Nobody can control such a big country, biggest in the World Without a strong leader but theres a difference between Foreign Policy where there is still a dream of being the worlds bilge of the country which they still are, they could be much bigger and they have a claim to ukraine, really, a lot of intellectual friend still believe that ukraine and other parts should really, really belong to russia. So, one thing is Foreign Policy another thing is domestic policy because of sanctions and oil prices, the state, the standard of living has gone down dramatically and there has been cuts all over in social and health, in education, in culture. The only sector thats increased is military. And a lot of people in the big cities know that. But in the country, they dont have access to internet. And that is also under threat. Linkedin has been blocked by russia. Facebook is a dispute because russia wants to have the registration and that means fsb, of all the members. And vpn, which gives access for foreigners in russia to Foreign Television is being discussed to be closed down this autumn. So, that is a threat to publication from abroad some. Well i just read in, i think it was a commentary on the independent radio station, someone said that the viewer, the average viewership for brania, the main nightly news program in russia is now about five million and the average age of the viewers is 65. The 25 Million People viewed novlnys Youtube Documentary about president medvedev. So i dont know, im just quoting what i read. I dont know how accurate that is, but it is kind of interesting because again, its the, the kremlin would have good reason to be nervous about the internet because it has become a huge form of communication. I have a question before we wrap up. Seems like the kgb went pretty smoothly into the fsb. Is that a fair statement . There wasnt much reform or throwing out the bad guys . [inaudible] okay. Sorry. Sorry, guys. I said, that it seems that there has been a fairly smooth transition from the kgb to the fsb. Is that correct . That they didnt really clean house . And if so, i wanted to contrast that with the criticism that the u. S. Took for cleaning house with the Republican Guard in iraq. I was wondering if you would comment on the Lessons Learned about two approaches . Im sorry what did you mean by iraq . Well, in iraq there was a big movement to get rid of the Republican Guard and clean house and u. S. Had a lot of criticism by removing the top level of infrastructure. It sounds like, in russia, was the opposite approach. Im not sure that either one worked but i wanted to hear your it is really interesting. The number of people who worked in the, often with putin in the leningrad kgb, now st. Petersburg, if you look at a lot of the top positions even now in the kremlin and in their investigative organs and the judiciary and the regular police, a lot of them began their careers in the kgb and, you know, about the other thing there is kind of a phenomenon. They might have gone into business or taken over other key positions in the government but a lot of them originally started in the Security Services. It is sort of an old boy network. Thank you so much. Before we, we leave and go upstairs where amy will be signing books, i wanted to tell all of you out there that were proud to be presenting Professor William taubman, writing a book on gorbachev on november 21st. I hope many will come back and join us. And i want to give, we have a little present, i want to give a big maplewood round of applause to our amy knight. Thank you. [applause] thank you. And, amy will be signing books upstairs. Thank you all for coming tonight. Did you say if anybody want as another little bit of wine or cheese back there . Wine, cheese, and get your book signed. Thank you. [laughter] booktv has covered many books over the years on russia and its relationship with the United States, including those by guerra kasparov and more. To watch any of these programs online, visit booktv. Org and type, russia book, in the search bar. Here is a look at authors recently featured on booktvs after words, our weekly Author Interview program. Former face the nation host bob schiefer, examines the role of media today. Former fox news anchor Gretchen Carlson talks about the challenges of women sexually harass inned first place. In coming weeks on after words, Daily Caller News Foundation editorinchief Christopher Bedford will explore the leadership skills of president trump. Christopher scalia, son of Late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will share selections from his fathers speeches. New york times, bestselling author janet koenig, will report work on her father. James bryant kanet. And tamer elnoury detail is his experiences fighting terrorism as a muslimamerican. He was or is a brilliant scientist. I. Q. Off the charts on precipice of curing infectious diseases. He goes from that, to being able to be such a gift to humanity. In two years time, in less than go years time, and once step removed from alzawahiri, the leader of al qaeda. That story fascinates me because of the fact im a counterterrorism operative but i think the world should understand why he did what he did. How he did what he did. And, i think that is, again part of the deep dive into that terrorist mind set. It is a first step for all of us to really understand our enemy. After words airs on booktv every saturday at 10 00 p. M. Eastern. And sunday 9 00 p. M. Eastern and pacific. Heres one that, there are two sort of similar. What advice would you give to a young woman who wants to go into politics . Here is another one that is similar, would you encourage your daughter to enter politics if she were interested but you knew she would experience the same level of sexism you have encountered during your political career . Let me answer this question in general, because i would say the same thing to any young woman who were to ask. I would say look, even though i write at length about the challenges that women in politics face and, point out it is not just me and it is not just democratic women, it is unfortunately still a very, very tough double standard. I would still say that if you are willing to enter politics, either as a candidate, as a campaign staffer, as a, you know, person in governmentable public service, because that show i view the bigger definition of politics, you just have to be prepared and try to try to have the confidence without being walled off, without being too defensive and it is easy for me to say. Ive been all of those things at various points in my public career but its a really great experience and it is important to have more women in politics and it is important that [cheers and applause] that we all support each other in the political arena. You know, one of the great quotes that i have loved for years is, Eleanor Roosevelt saying, for any woman who enters the public arena she needs to grow skin as thick as hide of rhinoceros because you will be judged by everything from your hair, to your voice, to whether you are married or not married. Whether you have children or dont have children. So it is a a constant gotcha game. You have to be clear why youre going into politics and what you hope to achieve through your efforts. But i say in the book, by pulling the curtain back, talking about how hard it is, i dont want to discourage anybody, i want people to be more aware of it. So we can call it out for what it is. I, you know, this is common across every walk of life. And there is a fascinating article in the New York Times sports section today about women in sports and grieve they take because of their grieve they take because of their voice. Somebody who has been called everything when it comes to everything, im speaking particularly about voice but it really struck home with me. You just have to be prepared. You have to have at least a sense of humor, to get through some of youre going to face. If youre prepared. If you educate yourself. If you are surrounded by good, you know, good supporters, friend, family, people who can tell you the truth, you know, like, liz started off told me it was terrible idea to write this book. I am grateful for that, because she is a friend and you need friends who tell you when things are so good and arent so good. I think it is really important. I have this new Organization Called onward together that i have started. [applause] really the primary purpose is to support groups that are recruiting young people, especially young women, training them, funding them. We also highlight and lift up wonderful groups like indivisible, which is leading the charge to [applause] keep our attention where it needs to be, like weve got to stop latest attempt to repeal the Affordable Care act, that is going on. [applause] so think there is a lot of good work to be done. And onward together is really interesting because that was you and howard dean, you met with howard dean earlier. Your friend judith mchail, were instrumental thinking about outside the box, thinking about young people, get them involved, engage them, support them, because they know a lot more people like what is so great, after the election, one of the things that kind of got me, out of bed and moving again, were the stories i would hear. People would call to say, there is this new young group, one of our Campaign Staffers has started, called run for something. [applause] aiming a recruiting more young people. There is a group, a group called swing left. They will try to flip the house. [applause] a group that i have worked with before, emerge america, which has a great record of electing women. Color of change, which focuses on you know, africanamerican young people. Getting them into politics and doing some of that work. So i felt, like there is so much we can do because, at the end of the day, and, i just have to say this, and hope you help me figure out how were going to make it happen, everything we do we can write books. We can speak out, we can go to protests, we can recruit people to run for office. But if we dont get people to vote, starting in virginia, and new jersey, and then in 2018, were not going to turn this around [applause] yep. You can watch this and other programs online at booktv. Org. Nye maim is liz set menendez, i am director of miami book fair. It takes place at downtown miami, at miamidade college. We have over 525 authors representing every genre. Everything that you can think of were representing at miami book fair. Join booktv for the miami book fair, from miamidade college, sunday november 18th and 19th, on cspan2. Here is a look at books being published this week. Former Vice President joe biden reflects how he balanced his proprofessional duties and tended to his ailing son, in promise my dad. Ed bannon, White House Reporter explores the life of steve bannon and future in american politics. Kevin young, director of the New York Public Library i schaumburg center, provides history of forgeries and falsehoods in the United States, from pt bar numb to fake news. In award nominated bunk. We look at the relationship and political careers of president s george h. W. Bush and george w. Bush, in the last republicans. The vanity fair diaries shares experiences of tina brown at her time of editorinchief the publication. 22 teenagers in Denver High School in, new commerce. Brian deere, explores the creation and legacy of the plato programing system, a precursor to todays online communities. Look for these titles in bookstores this coming week. And watch for many of the authors in the near future on booktv on cspan2. Next own book tvs aft words, muslimamerican agent, tamer elnoury. Discusses his experience on fighting domestic terrorism in america. He is interviewed by michael