Transcripts For CSPAN2 Luke 20240704

Go blue luke is an author and an Emmy Award Winning journalist who served as an nbc correspondent from 2008 to 2016, primarily american politics. He was on popular outlets as nbc nightly today, nbc and msnbc. After leaving, russert embarked on a three year, six continent travel expedition that took him to nearly 70 countries. Published by harper horizon, his first book and look for me there is a reflection of his deeply personal journey across many diverse external places. He is the son, the late tim russert of meet the press and vanity fair writer maureen orth. Russert resides in washington d. C. With his pug and going to butcher this, i bet shock of shock imo. You may have to explain that a little bit for. All right thank you. So help me. Welcome. Luke russert, andrea you. Thank you so much leland for a wonderful introduction and its thrill for me to be at cramers because my publisher said we where would you like to speak in washington. And i said, well, itd be disingenuous if i went anywhere else except for cramers, because this literally is my bookstore, a dirty secret. I will admit i always enter when i walk by, because then ill always something so i, i sometimes skip past because the selection here is just so good and its such a wonderful. And where else can get a good book . A glass of wine and a great sandwich . So its really fantastic to be here. Thank you all for coming out on on a school night tuesday. I know its not always easy for everybody. And thank you for. The overwhelming response for look for me there. We did not anticipate how popular this book was going to be. Last week. It actually ran out of stock, which is a good problem to have, but its quite terrifying. And i cant take anybody the world more than you guys for taking the time and the effort to get book and read the book and care about the book. So thank you so much for that. I deeply appreciate it. I did not intend to write a book. I left nbc. July of 2016 and originally thought itd be six months. Maybe nine, maybe a year just to sort of travel and, decompress and start to try to listen. The thoughts that were in my head and i going through a tough time in 2018 and i did not have that aha moment traveling yet. And i say ive gone all these places and, ive pushed myself to the limit, ive tried to see the world, but i dont have that of, okay, this is your purpose, this is, you know, who you are, etc. And i went back and i started to review the journals that i kept, and some of them were sort of a stream of consciousness, and some of them were very particular. Theyre just descriptive episodes of places where i had gone. But when i started to go through the journals, came to realize that i was simultaneous, only searching for something which was a level of acceptance for not being exactly who my father was and simultaneously running away something. And when i was running away from was processing the grief of losing dad. What i realized was that if i was to process that. Then to some degree, i thought he would be gone forever because i didnt want to address it. And i had stored it and ignored it. So it was a very personal journey excuse that is internal that happened over many external places and well, its a story about grief. Its also a story about wanderlust and being able to experience the world which is an incredible privilege and very conscientious and picking up little bits and pieces of the world and carrying them with me and reaching a more fuller understand of myself through that journey. It wasnt always easy. I bear scars from there is a lot in the about the relationship with my mother was not always easy up she was more of the disciplinarian or the good the bad cop to my dads good cop. It was hard to write about her especially shes a very good writer for vanity fair. She did, though, say it was good writing, though she didnt like it originally come along now that her friends say she looks the best of anybody and then i had to write some some tough parts about myself which not easy either when youre when youre writing you come to realize and especially when you work with an editor, that honest really is what the reader wants. And the reader can see through a lot of things. So when you write about yourself, you write to have you have to write about difficult moments in, your life, whether it be grief or whether not maintaining the standards that you want to set for yourself. Thats hard, too, but i feel that by writing it, it was it was very cathartic for me on a number of levels and it made me a much more fulfilled person. And i really enjoyed the writing process. You know, one thing i will say and some my old colleagues might take umbrage with this, but it is far easier bloviate on television than it is to. Write a good book, ill tell you that. So a always. If youre interested in journalism, go write first because anyone can learn how to be on tv. Not everyone can learn how to write a long, arduous, difficult process. So i would like to read a certain section this morning, a sort of wanderlust area. Ive spoken a lot about grief recently, always happy to do that, but i havent really gotten to speak about the travel aspect as much, so im going to do a reading about because i about khilafat day, patagonia and argentina because it captures a little bit of where my mind was in really the first real solo trip that i ever took abroad. I was in my thirties before i ever took a real trip. The first one actually happened to be driving around in maine with my pug at the chamberlain and a truck. There is very travels with charley, john steinbeck. But this was the first time i ever measured myself against the world and did it on my own. So ill do that and ill do some q a with you. All right. So the chapter is patagonia and it is chapter four. And im going to the part called color fatty. The desert soil looks cut up, so we start that again. Excuse the desert soil looks cut up moon rock in the distance make out snow capped mountains reflection of the sky blue largo argentina makes the skies extra blue the man im riding with drives respectfully through the hills rather carefully, as if to make the point that the terrain isnt his. He is a custodian in slowly more spanish. He if this is my first time. Yes, he nods accordingly. I wonder what tipped him off and realize its everything in this Mountain Valley with a large fresh water source and Lago Argentino color is the perfect spot to live in otherwise inhospitable desert. When the argentine government created, the nearby los casares National Park in 1937, the town became a hub for visiting southern patagonia in recent years, largely due to social, the town has risen into a tourist fueled powerhouse. Thanks to some of the worlds most gorgeous glaciers. I take a walk down color photos main drag avenue liberator liberator green space divides the avenue well on both sides of the street. Boutiques, cafes, restaurants travel agencies, bars, Grocery Stores and hotels. I see the route to 40 logo everywhere. The highway that runs the length of the country, the south atlantic, all the way to bolivia. I see too many motorists attempting to traverse the entire route and even some bicyclists. I long to have their courage. And my opposer for not doing something more bad in patagonia. Should i have rented in an rv . Hell, maybe even learn to ride a motorcycle. Im honest enough to know though im not capable. At least not at this first leg of the trip. I signed up for a four by four tour of a surrounding mountain. Soon, a white land rover with massive tires and a hood stack drives up a short man rolls down from the drivers seat, hurriedly shakes my hand and, lifts me into the passenger side for no other purpose than to appear like hes operating at a fast. Behind me is a japanese man and a spanish couple. The drivers name is george. He begins to speak in a spanish broken by coughs and cackling laughter with. Bravado. George explains that we will drive the top of hu lychee hill there roughly 3500 feet up. Well have a view of Lago Argentino khalifah day, the entirety of the valley in the mountains in the distance the four by four winds through the terrain. George gets out to show fossils rock by the side of the trail and the era. This was either under or near the waters edge. Some of these fossils trace back a cousin of the shark species. Theres a beauty in the barrenness and in the remnants. Life on turn around the hill. We encounter a group of what looks like wild horses. Their speckled coats stand out in the dry desert grass not ridden or. They roam the land at will. Theyre used to visitors. And when one approaches. George encourages me to petted. The horse obliges. But when it sees have nothing in my hand to feed him, it reacts angrily. I jump back and tear this elicits a squealing cackle from george. The spaniards and the japanese man, george has conveniently to hand me the bag of carrots he keeps in his glove compartment. After retrieving them, i offer my apologies and the carrots to the horse. George yells, good job, gaucho. Its a humbling feeling, being the of a joke that cuts across three languages. We arrive at a plateau that extends from the steep base of the hill in this hill would be a mountain, but because the andes tower nearby in argentina is simply a hill. I walk toward edge. George cautions that winds often pick up without warning. Dont get too close, he says. I veer slightly off course. Climbs some ensconced, and find my own Little Summit away from the group. The baby blue of Lago Argentino matches the sky. Its made even more radiant by the brown desert, which acts like a natural frame. Gratitude sweeps over me just as im about to offer thanks in prayer i notice a bird high above its the andean condor so large it can have a ten foot wingspan. From my outpost i see more condors, some dip and descend toward the lake. Taking on the appearance of landing aircraft. Others in altitude into the naked eye look like planes disappearing into the horizon. Ill later learn that the condor occupies a special place in andean culture. Ancient people saw it as a deity ruler of an upper world. For me, the condor symbolizes freedom, literally. Above it all descending into society only for the sex, food, water, sleep. Jorge sees, how infatuated i am with the birds. Reaching for his phone. You scrolls through dozens. Pictures hes taken of the condors over years. He jokes he more pictures of condors and of his wife. They are their own special spirit. They are now my true love as well. I text mom a picture of myself standing on the edge just below where the condors hang out. Youve made it, kid. She texts back. So that is a very personal part of the journey for me. Because its where i first in my own mind, truly appreciated nature, the beauty of nature and being disconnected from the world on my own. And it was something i wanted to share because that condor bird is, oddly enough something that i aspire to but never really had the courage to be, which is sort of seemingly above it all and coming down for the necessities. So when i saw it like that, it was sort of, okay, thats a good place to be a little bit to get your get your thoughts right and do appreciate things and notice things. So its one of my own personal favorite in the book. Not anybody i dont think anyone knows that yet. So you are the first to know that. And thank you for letting me read it to you. And with that i will happily take some questions. Do we have any or orioles . There you go. Yes. Oh, sorry. Oh, yeah. I will repeat the question. Absolutely. So. Hey, luke, you know, i really appreciate opportunity to come see you. That my son gave me the book, big russ in me. Yeah. Which are really enjoyed. And, you know, i became familiar with your dad back the nineties with meet the press and even at time when i was approximately about your age, when you lost your dad. I lost my dad well, too. So i really kind of spoke to me. Kind of what . Your journey is. But one of the things that i remember about your dad rather than meet the press was more his appearance. He was on a show, the homicide life on the streets. Yeah. Remember day, too . Yes. Yeah, i was written, megan, to this gentleman up a show that was on nbc called is written by a guy named tom fontana who is from buffalo. And one of the characters in the story was a woman named megan russert. Detective megan russert, who is written cast as my fathers cousin. Yeah. Yeah. So it was one of those things is that, you know, my wife and i would watch it. You know, we loved the show that my parents were originally from baltimore. So that kind of attracted us to it. But then all of a sudden, you know, it was her to make it. Russert and, you know, and at that time, 30 years ago, you look it up on the internet to find out if, you know, there was a relationship, but then, you know, they were related. But then all of a sudden, dad appeared. It was like, oh, no, that now i know who you know, that that. So it was just really kind of an interesting thing back 30 plus years ago. So funny thing about that in homicide, life on the street is a wonderful show and everybody will watch it. I think its streaming now. And it was kind of almost a precursor to the wire to a degree but the funniest about that is my father to go tape that episode and. Nbc was very stingy about allowing newspeople to do cameos on shows because it felt that it cheapened the brand. And he went, asked permission and they finally gave it to him. And when he went there, he just showed up. And the directors like, oh, mr. Russert youve already been towards job. And hes like, no this is what i wear. And they go oh, great. And so he actually did it with what the clothes that he had on his back, which is the trenchcoat and the and the blazer and everything is what he wore. So that was funny. Thank you for coming. Appreciate it. Yes, maam. 70 countries on this journey. Yeah, sure. Your favorite like your top three . Oh, thats a good question. Yes. Learn from your favorite people. Oh. Oh, thats good. So favorite people and favorite countries kind of differentiate it. But ill start with favorite countries. So the ones made the greatest impact on me. First is a place called Easter Island because the most remote inhabited place on earth and the flight that takes you there, its about a five hour, five and a half hour plane ride from chile. It lands and the island so small and then it goes back usually. And the whole island shakes. And thats one of those places where you look down at your phone and you see the blinking blue dot and its just ocean as far as the eye can see. And when i went and traveled there in 2017, it was not as developed as it is. Thing has developed a little bit more, but that was the oh my gosh, im really trapped out here. Theres nowhere to go and escape. And even though there is a Grocery Store on island. You still get into that very primitive, primordial. And of course they had the beautiful stone heads there, which no one necessarily knows exactly how created them. Their schools of thought that it was ufos. I dont believe that i think i think humans could do but it was an incredible undertaking so that place was one of those truly far out ones. Another place that had a great effect on me was vietnam. And i grew up in a household where vietnam was talked about consistently because it was really something that the baby boomer generation and my parents would always relate everything back. So it was the vietnam war, it was the vietnam generation. So i had heard about it consistently and ironically, my mom or dad had never gone. My father avoided going. He went got student deferment at school and part of what he used to say was that he fail because if you failed out, you had you were going to vietnam. So that was something. And i had some family members went most who did not my mom protested the war so it was one of those places i really wanted to see for myself. And when i went there, it was a wonderful i would say it was a wonderful sort of reminder of of my american identity. I wasnt expecting people not to be very hospitable that there would some residual anger left from napalm ing and all the terrific things that occurred. But people were so warm and so and just full of of love and so welcoming and was it was eye opening and really wonderful way. And it really made me of wow, not only there a major human cost. You can still see the after effects of there, but was this really necessary . These these were so kind and lovely so that was another one. And then the third one is actually not in the book. And its a country that i felt was very interesting, which the country of georgia, specifically the city of tbilisi and is the birthplace of wine, it has a very acrimonious relationship with, russia, which is interesting and, visa free travel for iranians. Its this very interesting melting pot of people and it hasnt been hit by mass consumerism. All the maintain their identity. So that was one of the few places on my travels where i was like, man, maybe kind of cool to get a loft here and just write for a while and do you own your own lost generation style so those are it as far as characters, those are in the book, umar, whos a guy who showed me around senegal, i had the opportunity to go to gori with him, which is the door of no return is in. Its a door which slaves pass through on their way to Cross Atlantic over to the americas. And it was very it was very impactful was a very difficult place to visit. You feel the ghosts very much and whats weird that my entire life i had always associated water with serenity but there through this door is beautiful water but you hear the stories about how people would jump off the boat to drown themselves instead of making the passage. And he talked to me all about that and. That was something that i we spent the whole day together and it was hard to shake those those ghosts. But he was simultaneously very uplifting, too. And i found a lot of hope in what he said. Another character who made a great impact on me was actually kids in new zealand. So the characters one is a young named maggie and maggie was a frenchwoman who is a member of an audio tech union and would work eight months until she made enough money and then travel around the rest of the year. Those four months on the money she had from her union and then she would pick up a job the way. So she actually followed the potato harvest in new zealand and she worked in the fields picking potatoes when she needed money and then would travel round and she was very and very small and im this, you know, big american full of bravado. And i realized in talking with her that she was way than i ever was and had much better head on her shoulders and me, that there really are no limits options is just sort of how you want to go about achieved. Tavi she she sort of got around new zealand hitchhiking which is wild and then that parlays into i picked up a hitchhiker who was a kid, felix in new zealand and he was a young kid. He was a young surfer and he had a tattoo of fresh tattoo on his arm. And he told me the story about how he had hitchhiked with the girl who inspired the tattoo to, the airport. She had to go back home and we had this deep philosophical conversation after i picked him up, hitchhiking back to his van, where he was surfing with a german kid and he kind of just my eyes to that idea its cliche, but get busy living. And he graduated from college with honors. He didnt want to go. Theres no surfing in germany. He likes surfing. His grandma gave him some money, so he bought van and lived in new zealand and fell in love with this girl. And for me, what write in the book is that in washington theres so much put on, you know, are you in the right circles . Are you in the right places . Are you marrying the right person you know is every how is everything appear to the outside world and this kid just he he was all about real love. Its again i write in the book its kind of silly that it took me many to realize that, but i found a lot of inspiration from these two young kids in new zealand and to this day im trying to track them down, i want to give them the book. I think i have one of their contacts, but its been its been harder than i thought. Yes. Yes. I know you went to lot of people that are not in the book. Yeah are there any stories that you really wanted hear that your publisher, the editor . Yes, thats a very question. So the question was theres countries that didnt make the final. And are there any stories that you wish were in the book . And the answer is yes. One of the things you learn as a writer is that the editors do kill your baby. Its not fun, but theyre usually almost always right. I was very to have a good editor who would kind of allow me to reach the conclusion, the right conclusion by myself, kind of that parenting style, which is you can do it, but you read it, see how it works. And i would do it and i think it works. And then i would switch something around to try and make it work more and i would switch around and make it work more than i switched it around. So much that it would completely fall apart and be like, yeah, youre right, sorry. The country that i desperately wanted to put in there was nicaragua and i went to nicaragua. I was so interested in its history, mainly because of, you know, the United States involvement there, the irancontra and all that. But it was one of the places early on in my travels, i really had this like i can handle moment in. I got this island called ometepe, which has volcanoes on it in, the middle of this lake and i didnt realize that it was like a nicaragua when holiday weekend. So there is no place to stay there at all. So i was like, oh gosh, what am i going to do . Im in kind of in dire straits here. And i see this boarding house sign and this guys like, oh, well, i got a i got a room. Its just, its in my, its in the back with the pigs, the pig farms out. Okay, thats fine. So this little room that this guy had on his farm, that his his, his, his farmhands used and it was very barren. It was literally a garden on dirt. So sort of like a mattress with the pigs snorting in your ear right there. And i stayed there for night and i loved it. And it was one of those things where after that i was like, all right, you know, you sleep with you can sleep anywhere. Can you can handle a lot. And in the course of that trip, i met a lot of interesting travelers, but. One who actually was a young and i was so upset i couldnt this in the book and i almost i almost tried to write it in somewhere else but it was too disingenuous. But she actually rode a bus to nicaragua or busses me from portland, oregon and she went by the name a subaru blue i never heard knew her real name very eclectic, very free spirit. But again, it was one of those people that youre like, well, im i think im very cool because i slept in the pig farm school here, took a bus from portland all the down through the u. S. , all the way down through mexico, all the way down through central america. And is now in nicaragua and plan keep on going all the way down to to patagonia. So you meet characters like that you get a lot of inspiration from you meet some people you know theres some couples that were in their early twenties that had babies. You had kids, they would travel with them, you know ill im im german or im french i dont want to be in europe. I come here im you know, im on vacation for six weeks with my three year old and they carry them in the bike. Its just that its wild stuff that i think sometimes as americans we dont we dont think about much this what country did you not get to that you wanted to. Oh, thats a good, good question. So the easiest answer for that is greenland, because i really want see the effects of Climate Change in greenland and. I we were planning to do that. The country that would not allow me see her was lebanon. I tried twice to go to lebanon and both times was they were proto s on the ground that closed the airport different years. And so i just sort of chalked it up to the universe is like you cant go to lebanon right now, which was a bummer because ive heard about beirut is that its just absolutely incredible. The paris of the middle east. I was especially bummed because i had this tour plan about where the hezbollah, the terrorist organization actually take you on a tour around some their sites for propaganda. And i was like, oh, this would be great. And then theres a wine tour there. So really wanted to do lebanon, but it in the cards. So i hope that the situation there comes down where its okay, but thats the one that just fell through every time im still about is the food is so good. Food is so good, buddy. Als. Yep. So could you talk about sorry how this travel made you look at dc or contextualize dc question so i occupied. 2d sees the city the dc that i grew up in which was my parents try to make as normal as possible in the sense of like you know playing sports played age with kids. You go go and Rock Creek Park and just sort of free range parenting like it was. I grew up with come back at dark, you know get out of the house, do your homework and get out of the house. We dont around the house. Go outside. Dont, dont in front of a screen wiffle ball and street hockey and all. So i never really saw dc as like the political power center, the swamp until i off to college. And i came back and worked in that space that dc is one that i sort of have a love hate relationship with. I think dc is such an intellectual strong city which people dont get enough for. Theres so much brainpower here. Theres also a lot of transactional ships. And one of the things that i liked a lot about traveling is around the world. You can go to a lot of cities and a lot of places where people are very honest and they want to help you just because its the right thing to do and theres nothing in return. And that was a neat thing to see, but i develop a really healthy appreciation for the diversity of washington as well as how so many Different International whether theyre diplomats or immigrant communities come together here and create very what i would say is a rather cosmopolitan city more than people give credit for. Like i went around the world, i saw a lot of the cosmopolitan cities and im like, well, you know, dc does pretty well. Were not were not that that far off. One thing, though, i would say was very interesting, as thought, american politics be more talked about and they really werent it is more about sports in hollywood and which was nice i didnt want to talk about it, but yeah, its usually oh washington. Oh, you know, do you see the president and i was like, no, hes not like walking dogs down the street too much. But we can see him from a distance every now and then. But yeah, its nice man in the back. And really enjoy your life. Thank you. I was just wondering how im wondering where you are right now is easier for you right now. Tim. This time whether. Ooh, thats a good jesuit question. I like that. So the question is easier be tim russert son or to be luke russert. Well i yeah think i write in the book that more likely than not. No matter what i do, the first line of my obit tim russert son. So im very much at peace with that. I think what you see in the book is the struggle to find your own identity with this weight of expert tation from others, then also yourself and where you you fit in there and i didnt really do that until i was in my early thirties. And part of that was i saw that, okay good working at nbc. That has actually helped a lot of people, kept the flame of tim alive. And people would look at me and they would see and that would be comforting and. For a long time i would have moments. Remember, i was having lunch with somebody on, capitol hill and this very sweet old lady. She noticed me at the cafe was walking by and she just start crying and comes over and gives me a big hug. You know, i miss your dad. I love your dad and. I get up and i console her and i talk to her and the person i was eating lunch with, she says, isnt that weird for . You and i didnt. I said, what you mean what do you whats weird . Because thats that was very strange. She just like immediately went into that mode of helping someone grieve and know, preserving the legacy, etc. , etc. So i didnt really process that for a while until i turned about turn 30 and go, wait, who am i . Independent that and finding myself independent of that was a difficult process at first because it was sometimes there was a lot of there were a lot of questions that wouldnt have answers, which was hard and one of the things i try to write in the book i think is really resonated with some people is that its not all figured out right away. Theres a lot of nuance, you know, talking about washington. I think one of the problems that we have in washington, one of the problems that we have in the media is we like nuance. Nuance is hard the gray area is hard. Its so much when things are black and white, right. You can have, you know, good guy, bad guy or person said that this was a dad or like like this figured out or you have no life, right. And its much more a winding path. But i reached a place where i recognized im a work in progress, but as it pertained to losing my father, i to a place of peace with that that, you know, hes around me. He wanted to it best for me. The last thing he would ever want is me to White Knuckle life, trying to preserve legacy or have hes trying to preserve legacy. So i would say today its its easier to be myself. The book selling will help that out to so far because the last thing you want to spend four years of your life doing something there is an okay so that helped out but i think thats the biggest reward more than anything was the journey of writing and being able to process these things with on my own time. I mean, theres many, many many late nights sitting at the Kitchen Table just writing things out and having revelations that were scary, but ultimately i was better for it. Bill bills are so you might think about this a lot, but how do you think your dad would fit the modern Political Landscape . Obviously he died before like this intense polarization. And whats happening . Do you think he would have adjusted his somewhat for our former president . Because in fact this its a good question. I mean, the first thing that i will say is i didnt about it like this until someone presented it to me and i actually agree with it, which is that when father died, it really was the end, an era. And what i mean by that, the era of broadcast news was trusted. There was the morning newscast, newscast, cable news during the day. Cable cable news during the day was not partizan that time. It was more in the evenings, and newspapers really had a lot of clout. And twitter was in its infancy. Facebook was slowly getting into the news space, was mostly like, oh, theres my third cousin with his seventh wife let go. Its funny, right . And it was still kind of the same that had been around for a while, for as long as my father. In it he started nbc in 84. Behind the scenes and on air is 91. What he would have done in this new era its hard like i bring up a sports its like trying to compare players from eras right say well played with that when there was no three point shot like what would you be like today . Well, we dont know. I will say, though, i think that what my father valued more than anything was real connection with so many people hiding behind keyboards would have been difficult. I also think that what you see now and i dont like to play media critic but i think this is a pretty general obvious is weve gotten to a place not only polarization but where the news is so fragmented. Its so fast, boom, boom, boom, boom. Its almost made for like 80 to the 80 generation. Can you hone in on this and one of the reasons why my father was successful, meet the press at that time had 24 minute segments. You know, some segments be 30 minutes uninterrupted. Any can filibuster an eight minute interview. Its so easy to do. Im so happy to be back here in dupont circle. Its the greatest people, blah, blah, blah, blah blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. The weather is fantastic. And im going to go, you know, kill the terrorists, be for america. God love you. Bye bye. Right. And its like, what . Where is my father . Would hone in on an issue and it was a very basic premise, which is if you cant answer tough questions, how are you to make tough decisions . Politicians are egotistical by nature because you are self as a politician you believe that you can make a decision for hundreds of, thousands, thousands, hundreds, millions of people. Right. So my dad would get in ring prove it today you know the policy that you know the issues very hard to do that in a small amount of time if you have 24 minutes 30 minutes be able to do that then you can get to a place where. People, they better know their stuff. And if they dont, the public can pick up on that right away. And i think something which has been a lost art in the Younger Generation is that youre starting to see it though, now in podcast which is nice. But the is not the same as the guy on sunday morning walking into ring and on national tv in front of 4 Million People like can you hold your own . So i have people say, well, what would you do with these shows . Go back to the old format and just own it. And if the ratings tank, just write it out, see what happens and. I actually think some politicians, especially ones who are on the up will kind of welcome it because that was one of the things it was very interesting about meet the press is that some people who want to make a name for themselves would try and go on there and if they did a good job they would use it to their advantage and you dont see that as much anymore. Its interesting interesting. And even. Yes, maam. Sorry, sorry. Im going do no, go ahead. All right. I keep crediting you with bush in washington, world series baseball was your fathers speech. Thank you. Gets me. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, shes made a good point. There is a Washington Nationals world series baseball put in my fathers celtic cross. I put that there this nice. I was the last that i ever went to my dad was the nationals opening game in 2008. Cold night. Wonderful. And actually someone just sent me a picture of that, which is nice, but yeah, it is. People sometimes knock on sports. I get that. But it keeps memories for a lot of folks and its wonderful. I figured perhaps wasnt big for me, but get there is you say anywhere else, you know youre just talking about your dads interviews that you know, theres a youtube clip where hes said b. S. Yeah. And hes being interviewed. He talks about a couple of his interviews with david duke and ross perot, which were fantastic. And so do you have a favorite interview that your dad did that youve watched . And thats really destroyed . Yeah. Well, lets talk about the david duke one for a second. Is there some good history there . So david duke who . A nazi kkk was running for governor of louisiana and actually won the republican nomination and my father was its the interview he says where he lost his cool was the only time he lost, you know, civility. And essentially he starts out the interview by saying, you know, what was . What did you hate so much about the united . Why did you become a nazi and i was like, oh, i made some mistakes in my past and really trying to get away from that. Im here running for governor because i want to bring louisiana into the in the future and my dad goes, all right, what are the three Biggest Industries in the state of louisiana . And do cant name one right. So then hes like youre a nazi that doesnt want to just you want to disavow your nazi past be an economic job creator but you dont know any of the industries in louisiana are these two types of things a governor should know, like who the largest employer, how many people are at the poverty line, etc. And that one i like a lot and it it cayo duke and to day actually i when i go down to new orleans and if someone recognizes me theyll oh your dad got killed. David duke us in an election thank you so much. I appreciate it. There you go. And so that was good. I would say. I actually really liked cnbc show which was an hour interview format that kind of was like the original larry king, charlie rose. They would just sort of sit and chat and. I liked that because he would interview sports and interview musicians and interview politicians and whatnot and that one i liked is he had a really interesting interview with like yogi berra on that, which i liked. And its just its very wholesome, wholesome stuff. Yes, maam. Thank you. Over on spike in the most bizarre places. Its a very good question. So i actually was only recognized one time in the entire journey in it was in the airport in portugal. And that was a and i was know that was made me very happy and it was a very nice it was a very nice older guy and he clearly was like a junkie and he sort of put into you there. But i think he was he was i had really long beard at the time and im pretty confident he was staring at my luggage tag, but was there and it yes. Man, when you were a child, you travel as a family. Do people recognize dad and did they leave like . Did they leave him alone or or how did it come . So its a good question. The question is, when i was a child and traveled with my father, did people leave him alone . Do they recognize him . I think i was about nine or ten years old, when i first noticed that people were noticing him in the way i noticed as we would by a table and would whisper like guys tim russert, right . And that they know you and say, oh, hes in that Little Scream thing. Its in a little plastic box. Okay, i get that. I would say eventually, originally people were very respectful and my dad always liked to interact people. So he was very, very happy, talk to anybody. His only rules were just like, dont come up while he is eating dinner with family. And that was pretty much it when his came out and he on the cover of that book and it sold a lot things sort of cranked up. And i remember, i went with him to i drove i was a bk and i drove up and met him at a debate at dartmouth that he was moderating a democratic debate in 1607 at about eight. So about oh, only six months before he passed away and he walked through this big crowd of people who are there for the debate. And i mean, it was was like being with a member of the beatles one. I was like, that weirded me out was like, oh my, gosh. But most of the time it was it was pretty even cool. And i think thats one of the neat things about washington is, you see a lot of politicians and journalists around people are you know, theyre normal whatever. Well, maybe theyre not normal. Its normal to see them. Anybody else . Yes, man whats next . Oh, thats good question. Whats next . Next . Well, i want to see, you know. How long this this and i think it has legs through fathers day, god willing. But i like storytelling. What exactly the medium will be . Im not necessarily sure of. I dont think. I want to go back to the the difficult days and the trials and tribulations it is correspond and work its a lot especially this day and age. I know, you know, people never want to feel for the folks on tv but they just work to the bone. Now more than ever before because it used to be, you know, morning show, evening show, maybe a cable hitting, thats it. And now its cable or social morning night and theres you know, its average now 16, 17 hour days. Its no let up and youre also having to deal the audience which wants more your action and wants to disagree with you how two times. So i like this storytelling space. What it will take. Well see. I will say, though, having worked in news where its so it there is a of value in the slower drawn out. Okay collect your thoughts make them them flow and then make something worthwhile. I used to make fun of my artist friends who would take a long time to paint something or write something. And then after i did it myself. Yeah. You can take all the years. You mean. So id be very hypocritical if i said otherwise anybody else. Yes. Years ago i heard an interview a radio interview with you and this prior to your dads passing and, people wondering when you were going to go into direction. You remember this by memory. This is you were interested in sports. Is that still something you so the answer to that is its something ive always had my sort of back pocket because it is a passion problem. I have with that though is it . It is a passion and i see the bills jersey right here. Like i cant be objective half time. And one of the things ive i and i may that i might go in that direction someday i dont know. But one of the things im scared of with that is that sports is such a for me that if it were to become work, what would that look like and what would that be . And havent had the courage to take that step mainly because im like, oh gosh, like i can totally see myself in it, you know, covering an nfl playoff game. And then in my head id much rather be on my couch right . And being able cheer and whatnot. But well see. I mean, its very much a passion. Anybody else is is a good one to all. Well, then i will sign anything you guys have. And thank you so much for coming out to. I really appreciate