Transcripts For CSPAN2 After Words Kayleigh McEnany The New

You and ive been on several cnn panels throughout the election but you know i really came from a small town in florida and for those of you who eat strawberries its the world strawberry cat to the capitol it was important to me to write a book that just explored my roots but how i see this election through the prism i grew up in, not through the confines of the cnn news are here in washington where i service rnc spokesperson but this prism of a smalltown girl and the movement that i recognized early on when i endorse President Trump to be the president. Three months after he declared his candidacy eyes im on the horizon with a few others and one of my colleagues recognize the movement as well although he recognized the leftwing party. Host lets talk about van jones who are few people in the book to make appearances and in some ways surprising. Van jones was part of the Obama Administration and let people conservative and at one point thought of him as the bogeyman but what was your experience with tennesean and . Guest i was included in that. I was van jones is the radical leftwing czar. A lot of us in this country are partisan. You either identify with the right or the left and easy to sum up your counterpart as identifying with their party but when i came to know van jones is a person and not a political partisan i was taken aback and so surprised. I remember my first night before he took the stage on the cnn panel during the primary right before i had come i had gotten criticism. If youre a pundit or political figure of any sort you get a lot of ink reviewers. One of those angry viewers said i had to take off my because i wasnt deserving of wearing a cross if i supported President Trump. Van jones to know about that comment and i didnt even know van jones at that time and as i rounded the corner nervously before my first cnn panel i heard a voice ring out from the crowd commentator and the voice said kayleigh i love your cross. Those were the first words of van jones said to me and i came to know him both at night and many nights since we have been together through the the election of 2016 as a person a friend and mentor and it shattered this idea of summing up the other side whether it be the bernie voted for hillary voter of the trump owner. Host and ban is the only liberal commentator whos been kind to you in one of the people you write about is alan colmes. What did he mean to you . Guest thats right. I always felt those on the left have helped me throughout my career even though you know me, im a very rightwing strong conservative individual but alan combs when i was an intern on the set of hannity and Colmes Sean Hannity and alan were both wonderful to me that alan combs kept up with me during my time at cnn. I just learned this week and it brings tears thinking about it he was on his radio show and he was put on the tv and watching on cnn and he would send me messages that he watched me. I knew about the messages that i did know we kept me on his radio show and i learned it from the producers this week. Alan reached out to me. He would say to make kayleigh remember dont fight fire with fire, fight fire with water and reminds me in this heated moment to be calm, take a breath and allow people to see your point of view intellectually and not through your emotions are your anger. Host lets talk a little bit about the new American Revolution book. For those who have not read it what is the broad theme of the book . Guest its a great question. I use the word populist concerted play and have had conservatives say to me why do you use this word . Im not a populist. To me it sums up what this book is about and its people. I really wanted to honestly profile the people on the left and on the right. Most of the voters were trump voters selected profile some who were not into me it was capturing a sentiment that drove an electorate to deliver one of the most astonishing electoral pieces we have seen certainly in my lifetime and in modern history. With the profile of the American People from terrorism to poison water. Host i would see it as an explainer. You are somebody who lives inside the beltway and with what was happening across america that would lead people to want to have change and have this revolution why would they vote for this guy . This book and you profile a lot of different americans who were doing a lot of Different Things and this would be a good explainer to help people get why this moment happen. Guest thats right in you and i when we were discussing this book earlier you mentioned the amazon profile for my book. Outside of my own book thats really the only piece of work that i can point to that tried to describe the moment in history and the moment in this election and the people who made that moment happen. Of course j. D. Vans profile that group of voters in West Virginia he didnt profile them as voters that his people and those bluecollar factory workers who are swing voters in this election. I want to take a broader look. You can profile the whole country of course but i sat down on my desk and i wrote what determined the selection and among them were pairing individuals to the interview and then i traveled the country. A mom who lost her son and husband in the terrorist attack and a widow who son was on the weightless and tried to get the part of what made them the people they were. This must have been in terms of the process of writing a book like this i would imagine it seems very simultaneously timeconsuming and emotionally draining. Most of the stories even though some of them have happy endings of people persevering they went through really hard times and almost every Single Person that you interviewed. Talk a few what about the time in the process. Guest matt is a great question because you and i know with all the political punditry and you as a writer you have a million things going on at one time. You are speaking or panel you have to be a part of foreign article that is the deadline for and its easy to get caught up in the monotony of having political discussions with other partisans on the other side of the aisle. For me to leave the confines of new york and leave the confines of d. C. And go out and talk to the people come i didnt know i find. At first it seemed like something you have have to go to come another interview or another piece of writing you have to do. But when i sat in the log cabin with the family that lost their Police Officer son and i saw their tears and i saw their 7yearold daughter about to turn it running around the house with my little puppy in her arms and she sent me a picture that said thank you for writing her dad story who died in a tragic act of criminality by gunman. When i saw her and i saw his daughter and i wrote the story i realized we would come to know her father not just their loved ones but the page. For me it became something deeply personal and emotional. Host theres something really rewarding about being a book author is opposed to even the tv commentator because i mean i guess youtube eclipse can live on but when you write something in a book that you found and put on a bookshelf theres a legacy that and at can be passed down and thats something that is documenting a moment in time. I guess theres a pretty profound responsibility you have when you are writing about people, loved ones. Guest thats right and thats how i saw it too. Thats a good word come responsibility, the responsibility to tell the stories in the legacies of these individuals especially the first four chapters that saw families that lost loved ones. I took it as a personal sacred duty to share who these individuals were. In the terrorist attack we do so much cable was exploring the perpetrators or the gunman but what about the victims . What about the husbands to go forward and put his little son 11yearold roadie out of the way when the truck was barreling toward stem . What about their story and thats the opening chapter of my book telling who Sean Copeland was and who Cody Copeland was. Do we know the stories of people arrested vacation and committed amazing acts of heroism . That was my goal. Host another theme along with that is the police. You have one story about a Police Officer who was killed and not even in the line of duty protecting others while he was off duty. Seems like there were several examples of Law Enforcement in this book is that something that was important to you and do you think that was going back to the larger theme of these trends that were happening that led to donald trump selection . Guest absolutely. I to quote in the book and i believe it was from the Boston Herald that the boston globe. One of the biggest reasons for donalds trumps election were the men in blue who showed up and absolutely the Police Officers were driving force an election. Law enforcement is have a special place in my heart because i see them largely as domestic heroes who dont get the credit they deserve and its why it was important to me to talk about Justin Winebrenner and his loss of life off duty. He rose to the occasion and left behind a daughter and a fiancee. Its important to tell their stories but i have another chapter about my time at Harvard Law School and in it i talk about having the importance of being aware of justice in our criminal Justice System and ultimately solving the policing issue in the grievances we have seen in black lives matter for instance if having a conversation and realizing most Police Officers are good people and heroes who rise to the occasion by Justin Winebrenner but also the other side that there are issues that need to be resolved and looked out. I became aware of those issues at Harvard Law School . Host also at Harvard Law School you discovered a number theme that would be a liberal bias in academia that i think also helped drive donald trump selection along with other stories like the va scandal that you mentioned. I really do think if you were to read this book especially if you have the polling kale problem allegedly said she didnt know anybody who voted for nixon. If you were in that camp is donald trump this book would definitely help you understand. What was happening that would make people frustrated or angry around america that you may be insulated if youve had a fairly prosperous life. One of them is health care which is the story that is personally touched you. Guest thats right. I opened up about my story a little bit in the book. Host what you tell us of that about it. Guest i plan those words carefully. Its hard to tell your own story and to tell the stories of others but my own story. Puts me in an 84 chance of Breast Cancer for lifetime. I was just 22 years old and i talk about how scared and the loss of innocence it feels like when i should be worrying about voice and im worrying about getting Breast Cancer. I think you have some words there. Host let me read a little bit from your book. Ill start out by saying i think this dovetails a larger story. You tell a story about someone else who was really struggling with navigating obamacare. Guest thats right. Host a Small Business owner knows poor person per se but their child was going through major Health Problems and this person was spending hours trying to get it straightened out and then you tell your story and i will read it here. An unexpected waterfall of tears pour down my face as i try to comprehend the magnitude of the news. I have an 84 chance of getting Breast Cancer in my lifetime. I casually and somewhat cavalierly had taken brca to genetic mutation tests not expecting to hear positive result just days later not prepared for the swarm of the motions that would accompany it and as they move forward i face a permanent fearful and final step in my journey a devil not a double mastectomy. You know its got to be difficult to write about this and talk about it. Was it tough and you hope that maybe you can help others out there . Guest differently and to me was important a person is health care because when i talk about it is often in a political context. There are so many competing factors that need to be looked at and for me i told my story because one i wanted to create Awareness Among women. Support to know that you can find that you have this gene and you can take a measure like a preventative message to me which i decided to do and i make no qualms about that but its a decision i knew i needed to make. Beyond creating awareness when we talk about conditions one of the great things obamacare did do despite wreaking havoc on a large part of the population wasnt provided protections that werent there for people with preexisting conditions like myself and many other americans. Was important to tell my story because as a republican i feel like you are demonized for not caring about this group of people but republicans do care. Im one of them that does care about the population of people. Closer use a donald trump was different than a lot of conservatives because he pretty much always said we have to keep the preexisting conditions and we are going to repeal and replace you wanted to do but keep the preexisting conditions clause in there. Guest thats exactly right and i recall one of his republican opponents saying that to him. Im on the democratic debate stage right now because they were so taken aback by what was not republican doctrine and thats was one of many the reasons. Puts a you go on to say brave women who have come to this before like your mom who have the courage to get a double mastectomy before was popular as a preventive measure and strong women like Angelina Jolie who openly announced her decision to have mastectomy. Guest thats right in their member my mom getting the preventative mastic to me. She never did have rest cancer but she did have removed which forewoman is a very tough process. She did it before Angelina Jolie came out i remember my mom called me and said hey get a copy of the news york times you have to get this. I opened it up and saw Angelina Jolie had gone public that she made this choice. For women across the country knowing Breast Cancer is a problem in health care for women it was an empowering moment because she made something mainstream that many women like my mom included felt ostracized for doing. She made it mainstream and i thanked her for having the courage to do that. Host one of the common themes about the book is obviously donald trump. Not everybody profiled in the book voted for donald trump but i think its safe to say most of them dead and reading this book would definitely give insight into the rise of the populist movement for donald trump a allowed to win the presidency. Even for people who didnt vote for trump, people who are whether its a terrorist attack or dying because the va didnt give them proper treatment or whatever it seems like every person or most of the people here, what really comforted them and gave them meaning was the ability to persevere with their faith. Guest absolutely and i want to be clear i didnt cite the interest in wearing a cross. I set out to find men and women who embodied the issues of our time but what i found and i say this in the book is god not government and there may be temporary hope in a leader and ultimate hope in a savior. I think it was important to profile this community which i found unwittingly and not by my own but i stumbled upon men and women who as i said where the darkest hour of life losing a child or losing a husband that was faith that was faith that got them through in god that got them through. They had Amazing Stories of how there was to find outreach at a time when they felt that their lowest. Really interesting one of them was brody copeland, the 11yearold boy who lost his life in the knees terrace attack he was in the bathroom Tom Macarthur before it happened about an hour and and a half before it happened and his mom didnt want him to go and she noticed armed guards walking on the streets in east france and she snapped the picture and then went to the bathroom and noticed a guard standing there and said, brody, i will go in with you you. He said no mom and get going. He went in his 11yearold boy comes out and says, mommy, what does isis look like . He spent the next hour and and a half asking what isis look like works because he had seen there is somebody in the mens bathroom like with a backpack open looking suspicious digging through his belongings. As i say in the book, the terrace has a picture to his brother that day from the best deal Day Festivities in that area from the promenade. Whether he was actually there that day before the attack whether that two brody saw we dont know. I asked him and shes not sure whether that was the attacker who took her sons life but brody certainly had a premonition that something was coming and so did sabine jordan whose son died when an illegal immigrant left him a little lefthander and someone who had been deported and committed a felony previously but they took that illegal love term took ab sabine said she had her body collapsed inexplicably in a parking lot in Atlanta Georgia at the very time her son lost his life she said my body knew but my mind didnt at that time. There is definitely an overwhelming theme of people who knew there was something coming or something approaching. Speaking of religion, i want to read this, this is about the va story. Its a veteran, im going to read this part about religion but tell us about burial and coach a little bit before i do. His struggle with a Carolyn Coates is an amazing american and one who became the face of the va scandal. But cnn broke the scandal and the face of that was burial in coates, President Trump<\/a> to be the president. Three months after he declared his candidacy eyes im on the horizon with a few others and one of my colleagues recognize the movement as well although he recognized the leftwing party. Host lets talk about van jones who are few people in the book to make appearances and in some ways surprising. Van jones was part of the Obama Administration<\/a> and let people conservative and at one point thought of him as the bogeyman but what was your experience with tennesean and . Guest i was included in that. I was van jones is the radical leftwing czar. A lot of us in this country are partisan. You either identify with the right or the left and easy to sum up your counterpart as identifying with their party but when i came to know van jones is a person and not a political partisan i was taken aback and so surprised. I remember my first night before he took the stage on the cnn panel during the primary right before i had come i had gotten criticism. If youre a pundit or political figure of any sort you get a lot of ink reviewers. One of those angry viewers said i had to take off my because i wasnt deserving of wearing a cross if i supported President Trump<\/a>. Van jones to know about that comment and i didnt even know van jones at that time and as i rounded the corner nervously before my first cnn panel i heard a voice ring out from the crowd commentator and the voice said kayleigh i love your cross. Those were the first words of van jones said to me and i came to know him both at night and many nights since we have been together through the the election of 2016 as a person a friend and mentor and it shattered this idea of summing up the other side whether it be the bernie voted for hillary voter of the trump owner. Host and ban is the only liberal commentator whos been kind to you in one of the people you write about is alan colmes. What did he mean to you . Guest thats right. I always felt those on the left have helped me throughout my career even though you know me, im a very rightwing strong conservative individual but alan combs when i was an intern on the set of hannity and Colmes Sean Hannity<\/a> and alan were both wonderful to me that alan combs kept up with me during my time at cnn. I just learned this week and it brings tears thinking about it he was on his radio show and he was put on the tv and watching on cnn and he would send me messages that he watched me. I knew about the messages that i did know we kept me on his radio show and i learned it from the producers this week. Alan reached out to me. He would say to make kayleigh remember dont fight fire with fire, fight fire with water and reminds me in this heated moment to be calm, take a breath and allow people to see your point of view intellectually and not through your emotions are your anger. Host lets talk a little bit about the new American Revolution<\/a> book. For those who have not read it what is the broad theme of the book . Guest its a great question. I use the word populist concerted play and have had conservatives say to me why do you use this word . Im not a populist. To me it sums up what this book is about and its people. I really wanted to honestly profile the people on the left and on the right. Most of the voters were trump voters selected profile some who were not into me it was capturing a sentiment that drove an electorate to deliver one of the most astonishing electoral pieces we have seen certainly in my lifetime and in modern history. With the profile of the American People<\/a> from terrorism to poison water. Host i would see it as an explainer. You are somebody who lives inside the beltway and with what was happening across america that would lead people to want to have change and have this revolution why would they vote for this guy . This book and you profile a lot of different americans who were doing a lot of Different Things<\/a> and this would be a good explainer to help people get why this moment happen. Guest thats right in you and i when we were discussing this book earlier you mentioned the amazon profile for my book. Outside of my own book thats really the only piece of work that i can point to that tried to describe the moment in history and the moment in this election and the people who made that moment happen. Of course j. D. Vans profile that group of voters in West Virginia<\/a> he didnt profile them as voters that his people and those bluecollar factory workers who are swing voters in this election. I want to take a broader look. You can profile the whole country of course but i sat down on my desk and i wrote what determined the selection and among them were pairing individuals to the interview and then i traveled the country. A mom who lost her son and husband in the terrorist attack and a widow who son was on the weightless and tried to get the part of what made them the people they were. This must have been in terms of the process of writing a book like this i would imagine it seems very simultaneously timeconsuming and emotionally draining. Most of the stories even though some of them have happy endings of people persevering they went through really hard times and almost every Single Person<\/a> that you interviewed. Talk a few what about the time in the process. Guest matt is a great question because you and i know with all the political punditry and you as a writer you have a million things going on at one time. You are speaking or panel you have to be a part of foreign article that is the deadline for and its easy to get caught up in the monotony of having political discussions with other partisans on the other side of the aisle. For me to leave the confines of new york and leave the confines of d. C. And go out and talk to the people come i didnt know i find. At first it seemed like something you have have to go to come another interview or another piece of writing you have to do. But when i sat in the log cabin with the family that lost their Police Officer<\/a> son and i saw their tears and i saw their 7yearold daughter about to turn it running around the house with my little puppy in her arms and she sent me a picture that said thank you for writing her dad story who died in a tragic act of criminality by gunman. When i saw her and i saw his daughter and i wrote the story i realized we would come to know her father not just their loved ones but the page. For me it became something deeply personal and emotional. Host theres something really rewarding about being a book author is opposed to even the tv commentator because i mean i guess youtube eclipse can live on but when you write something in a book that you found and put on a bookshelf theres a legacy that and at can be passed down and thats something that is documenting a moment in time. I guess theres a pretty profound responsibility you have when you are writing about people, loved ones. Guest thats right and thats how i saw it too. Thats a good word come responsibility, the responsibility to tell the stories in the legacies of these individuals especially the first four chapters that saw families that lost loved ones. I took it as a personal sacred duty to share who these individuals were. In the terrorist attack we do so much cable was exploring the perpetrators or the gunman but what about the victims . What about the husbands to go forward and put his little son 11yearold roadie out of the way when the truck was barreling toward stem . What about their story and thats the opening chapter of my book telling who Sean Copeland<\/a> was and who Cody Copeland<\/a> was. Do we know the stories of people arrested vacation and committed amazing acts of heroism . That was my goal. Host another theme along with that is the police. You have one story about a Police Officer<\/a> who was killed and not even in the line of duty protecting others while he was off duty. Seems like there were several examples of Law Enforcement<\/a> in this book is that something that was important to you and do you think that was going back to the larger theme of these trends that were happening that led to donald trump selection . Guest absolutely. I to quote in the book and i believe it was from the Boston Herald<\/a> that the boston globe. One of the biggest reasons for donalds trumps election were the men in blue who showed up and absolutely the Police Officer<\/a>s were driving force an election. Law enforcement is have a special place in my heart because i see them largely as domestic heroes who dont get the credit they deserve and its why it was important to me to talk about Justin Winebrenner<\/a> and his loss of life off duty. He rose to the occasion and left behind a daughter and a fiancee. Its important to tell their stories but i have another chapter about my time at Harvard Law School<\/a> and in it i talk about having the importance of being aware of justice in our criminal Justice System<\/a> and ultimately solving the policing issue in the grievances we have seen in black lives matter for instance if having a conversation and realizing most Police Officer<\/a>s are good people and heroes who rise to the occasion by Justin Winebrenner<\/a> but also the other side that there are issues that need to be resolved and looked out. I became aware of those issues at Harvard Law School<\/a> . Host also at Harvard Law School<\/a> you discovered a number theme that would be a liberal bias in academia that i think also helped drive donald trump selection along with other stories like the va scandal that you mentioned. I really do think if you were to read this book especially if you have the polling kale problem allegedly said she didnt know anybody who voted for nixon. If you were in that camp is donald trump this book would definitely help you understand. What was happening that would make people frustrated or angry around america that you may be insulated if youve had a fairly prosperous life. One of them is health care which is the story that is personally touched you. Guest thats right. I opened up about my story a little bit in the book. Host what you tell us of that about it. Guest i plan those words carefully. Its hard to tell your own story and to tell the stories of others but my own story. Puts me in an 84 chance of Breast Cancer<\/a> for lifetime. I was just 22 years old and i talk about how scared and the loss of innocence it feels like when i should be worrying about voice and im worrying about getting Breast Cancer<\/a>. I think you have some words there. Host let me read a little bit from your book. Ill start out by saying i think this dovetails a larger story. You tell a story about someone else who was really struggling with navigating obamacare. Guest thats right. Host a Small Business<\/a> owner knows poor person per se but their child was going through major Health Problems<\/a> and this person was spending hours trying to get it straightened out and then you tell your story and i will read it here. An unexpected waterfall of tears pour down my face as i try to comprehend the magnitude of the news. I have an 84 chance of getting Breast Cancer<\/a> in my lifetime. I casually and somewhat cavalierly had taken brca to genetic mutation tests not expecting to hear positive result just days later not prepared for the swarm of the motions that would accompany it and as they move forward i face a permanent fearful and final step in my journey a devil not a double mastectomy. You know its got to be difficult to write about this and talk about it. Was it tough and you hope that maybe you can help others out there . Guest differently and to me was important a person is health care because when i talk about it is often in a political context. There are so many competing factors that need to be looked at and for me i told my story because one i wanted to create Awareness Among<\/a> women. Support to know that you can find that you have this gene and you can take a measure like a preventative message to me which i decided to do and i make no qualms about that but its a decision i knew i needed to make. Beyond creating awareness when we talk about conditions one of the great things obamacare did do despite wreaking havoc on a large part of the population wasnt provided protections that werent there for people with preexisting conditions like myself and many other americans. Was important to tell my story because as a republican i feel like you are demonized for not caring about this group of people but republicans do care. Im one of them that does care about the population of people. Closer use a donald trump was different than a lot of conservatives because he pretty much always said we have to keep the preexisting conditions and we are going to repeal and replace you wanted to do but keep the preexisting conditions clause in there. Guest thats exactly right and i recall one of his republican opponents saying that to him. Im on the democratic debate stage right now because they were so taken aback by what was not republican doctrine and thats was one of many the reasons. Puts a you go on to say brave women who have come to this before like your mom who have the courage to get a double mastectomy before was popular as a preventive measure and strong women like Angelina Jolie<\/a> who openly announced her decision to have mastectomy. Guest thats right in their member my mom getting the preventative mastic to me. She never did have rest cancer but she did have removed which forewoman is a very tough process. She did it before Angelina Jolie<\/a> came out i remember my mom called me and said hey get a copy of the news york times you have to get this. I opened it up and saw Angelina Jolie<\/a> had gone public that she made this choice. For women across the country knowing Breast Cancer<\/a> is a problem in health care for women it was an empowering moment because she made something mainstream that many women like my mom included felt ostracized for doing. She made it mainstream and i thanked her for having the courage to do that. Host one of the common themes about the book is obviously donald trump. Not everybody profiled in the book voted for donald trump but i think its safe to say most of them dead and reading this book would definitely give insight into the rise of the populist movement for donald trump a allowed to win the presidency. Even for people who didnt vote for trump, people who are whether its a terrorist attack or dying because the va didnt give them proper treatment or whatever it seems like every person or most of the people here, what really comforted them and gave them meaning was the ability to persevere with their faith. Guest absolutely and i want to be clear i didnt cite the interest in wearing a cross. I set out to find men and women who embodied the issues of our time but what i found and i say this in the book is god not government and there may be temporary hope in a leader and ultimate hope in a savior. I think it was important to profile this community which i found unwittingly and not by my own but i stumbled upon men and women who as i said where the darkest hour of life losing a child or losing a husband that was faith that was faith that got them through in god that got them through. They had Amazing Stories<\/a> of how there was to find outreach at a time when they felt that their lowest. Really interesting one of them was brody copeland, the 11yearold boy who lost his life in the knees terrace attack he was in the bathroom Tom Macarthur<\/a> before it happened about an hour and and a half before it happened and his mom didnt want him to go and she noticed armed guards walking on the streets in east france and she snapped the picture and then went to the bathroom and noticed a guard standing there and said, brody, i will go in with you you. He said no mom and get going. He went in his 11yearold boy comes out and says, mommy, what does isis look like . He spent the next hour and and a half asking what isis look like works because he had seen there is somebody in the mens bathroom like with a backpack open looking suspicious digging through his belongings. As i say in the book, the terrace has a picture to his brother that day from the best deal Day Festivities<\/a> in that area from the promenade. Whether he was actually there that day before the attack whether that two brody saw we dont know. I asked him and shes not sure whether that was the attacker who took her sons life but brody certainly had a premonition that something was coming and so did sabine jordan whose son died when an illegal immigrant left him a little lefthander and someone who had been deported and committed a felony previously but they took that illegal love term took ab sabine said she had her body collapsed inexplicably in a parking lot in Atlanta Georgia<\/a> at the very time her son lost his life she said my body knew but my mind didnt at that time. There is definitely an overwhelming theme of people who knew there was something coming or something approaching. Speaking of religion, i want to read this, this is about the va story. Its a veteran, im going to read this part about religion but tell us about burial and coach a little bit before i do. His struggle with a Carolyn Coates<\/a> is an amazing american and one who became the face of the va scandal. But cnn broke the scandal and the face of that was burial in coates, Barry Lynn Coates<\/a> testified before congress about his struggles, he begged for colonoscopy for more than a year, wasnt able to get one. He had egregious symptoms not to get too indepth on this but his stool coming out flat, symptoms that were telltale size of colon cancer. Still unable to get colonoscopy as he language on the va waitlist. During his hardest times as he was approaching death he took it upon herself to be a man of faith and share his faith with others in his prayer was, god let you are well done and not mine. Which is an incredible way to approach that. That the part of the read. In the months before her husband was bedridden, donna would wake up each morning to find barry lynn roaming around the backyard praying the word in donnas words, lord, if this burden is meant for me to carry you let me carry it, he would say, but you set my peak the path which youve chosen for me to walk and dont you let me stray from that path. It was reminiscent of the exquisite unpaid prayer of jesus christ and that gethsemane the night before his crucifixion. My father, if its possible may this cup be taken from me yet not as i will but as you will. Thats exactly right. Thats the kind of faith that inspired me. To sit across from a wife who describes her husbands final moments in life as being a person of faith when most people would be cursing god and upset with god that they been handed death sentence and angry government. He had this faith that said, this is the path god gave me and to have that face and see it and hear about it it reinvigorated my faith in this country that it doesnt matter who our leader is we have amazing individuals and in their darkest hour a they may not have the ability financially that this is the system they are in it could cost them their lives. Thats exactly right. Donna coates told me about the struggle financially when her husband died. He didnt have a supply of cash just waiting in a pile. Her mom said we are just good country people who dont have those resources to go to provide for her daughter in the wake of her soninlaws death. Some people dont have the resources and hits living in a bubble in manhattan dc. Not to say everyone has those resources but in the bubble of political commentary many of them have the resources i opened to see americans who dont have that. Am a father like to imagine your wife or your child needing treatment or surgery and then the person the doctor saying make an appointment for a year from now. Barry lynn coates wasnt protected. That angst was a motivating factor for donna as she was actually had an opportunity kit to confront president obama about it. While she held her husbands folded flag and that was an emotional moment most men and women dont get an opportunity to confront leaders and she did. I want to ask you about this. I completely think if you look at the book and the context of this is an explainer for the phenomenon the grassroots popular phenomenon led to donald trump and very clearly you go through all these issues and heart wrenching examples that makes the case. This is why trump won. There was an immigrant in this country for 30 years good lawabiding upstanding citizen has kids, married, not being deported. You could have written a book about that too and drawn some different implications. Ill put it in the form of a question. How would you answer for people what youve done is cherry picking some examples that buttress your political point . I would argue that there are several that dont for instance noah patton in flint michigan and another amazing american he was disenchanted with all governments and very honest with me and said i didnt vote trump, i didnt vote sanders i didnt vote clinton i didnt vote for anyone because i lost faith entirely in our leaders. I would argue i think the most emblematic chapter of why the selection happens was really my chapter on carrier workers where i had one carrier workers who was a Bernie Sanders<\/a> supporter one a donald trump supporter carrier is of course the factory donald trump help to bring the jobs back from mexico. To me it was so emblematic of this abi would talk onset about how there was angst in both party on the left and the right. In the left they found there answer and Bernie Sanders<\/a> in the right the answer was a donald trump. A common problem this idea of the forgotten man and woman. Very Different Solutions<\/a>. The carrier chapter is emblematic of that. These two factory workers who had very Different Solutions<\/a> to the problem they were united in the trial is what i say. I would answer the charge with there are examples in the book that dont adhere to my political viewpoint. I think the factory chapter in particular gets to the heart of this election and what was at play. And remember him reading that chapter one of the people say, i dont know, i know people who voted for Bernie Sanders<\/a>, i dont know a Single Person<\/a> in this factory thats a hillary clinton, maybe union bosses but in terms of the actual rankandfile workers i dont know a Single Person<\/a> that supports hillary. In the primary, exactly. It was in the primary they didnt know a single hillary supporter and the leadership of most of the nations unions endorsed hillary clinton. They said similar Bernie Sanders<\/a> factory workers reluctantly showed up and cast a ballot in the general not the primary and then some stayed home. That was a big motivating factor for the selection the disenchanted democrats who just stayed home as much as it was Trump Supporters<\/a> within the unions and rankandfile. We talked about kind of spiritual premonition people had before the terrorist attack before a loved one died, theres also this interesting theme of what i would call may be divine outreach where after somebody lost a loved one there would be something kind of miraculous that would come to them to bring them comfort and remind them of that person. That to me i think is the most important theme in the book because it can be very sad at times Pat Robertsons<\/a> daughter Abigail Robertson<\/a> sent a picture of her book with little tears on the pages. Theres a lot of sad moments but i want to share with everyone its uplifting. I would drive into the situations to meet these families burdened and was saddened thinking about their loss of loved ones but i would drive away with a sense of hope in one of the stories was kim copeland who when her husband sean dove forward and pushed brody out of the way as the refrigerator truck was coming brodys broken body was picked up by her stepson austin and they were running back to the hotel and at that point sean didnt know whether his son had lived or died in sean was struggling to keep up behind him he was ultimately transported to the hospital with his daughter ed the whole way there for the next hour and and a half he asked his brody okay . Unaware he had saved his son life or if his son had passed from this world to the next and his last words on this earth were, brody is dead because kim is convinced in the last moment he saw his son and baby boys said come be with me daddy and he went to be with him and said i wouldve done the same. Just to be clear, the son and the father were both injured during this terrorist attack somebody rammed the truck into a corral but they were separate the father didnt know if the sun was okay the sun actually had died on impact i think if i read it right. He died but the father sean did not know that at the time. The father had no way of knowing the sun was dead and he had been saying is brody okay but right before he died he actually said brody is dead he was a mile and and a half away in a hospital brodys body was back at the hotel and he had no way of knowing that brody had passed to stop the only way he knew is because he is convinced he saw his son and have it and it gave me chills when she said that. Immediate chills down my body because as a christian i read about accounts of people who have been in that last moment passing from life into death and those who have survived and brought back to life of said i saw my family members i so my loved ones at the top of the room i saw a light and i saw my loved ones and his account matched all the accounts i had read and 90 minutes in heaven several other nonfiction accounts. For me that was one of many stories everyone in my family has had similar stories of this divine outreach. Was not written by like a scientist or doctor . Thats right. So not just joe blow. Noca an actual medical doctor. I wanted to ask you about the other example its worth spending a little time here from the super interesting. One of them is the one burner, this is the Police Officer<\/a> who basically died at the hand i guess of the drunk, somebody at a bar, he was off duty and is his daughter who had this experience . His sister. His daughter he left behind a daughter who was four when he passed. She was about to turn eight years old stop his sister kelly said her brother promised to take her to her first son. He passed before she had the opportunity. She was about to go on a police retreat and in her log cabin in wadsworth ohio and she looked out on her back porch and saw this beautiful blue and black butterfly and took a picture and said, thats awesome this is blue is Police Officer<\/a> the color for officers and took a picture and went on with their day. A few weeks later she was in missouri several states away and about to shoot her first gun and someone said to her, stop and look down on your foot and she said, it was a blue and black butterfly like the same blue and black butterfly ive seen back in ohio. She proceeded to shoot the gun and it stayed on her foot and after she shot the gun it stayed there and flew up to her finger and sat and rested on her finger and she has pictures of this butterfly and all these different locations and she said, its as if justin was there and found his way to stay with me in the first moment of shooting my first gun. Her father saw in a different state several states away also at the police retreat which ive never seen a blue and black butterfly. They see it often. You recount the story your friend megan carpenter, do you dedicate come shes one of the people i believe you dedicate the book to . Yes. I dedicated to rachel joyce got the, the first victim of the columbine shooting who said she believes in god and lost her life and then megan carpenter, a girl in my community who was diagnosed with cancer at a very young age and past in high school and i watched her battle cancel dominic cancer for several years and the day she passed she was in the bathroom and said a prayer and said, jesus, let me know my daughter will be okay and as she prayed that prayer a feather floated from the ceiling and the whole community had spent years collecting feathers for megan because thats what was special and important to her. The father we dont know where it came from the hospital but she found it. She said to me. You know its crazy, when i tell people that story i always feel stories and return about coins and feathers. All the men and women who lost loved ones they were spoken to its all these odd i would not call them coincidences. God instances. Divine outreach. It wasnt just the one time with the feather there was a couple times. She was on an airplane gets up and comes back. When i told her the father stories she said i cant believe you just said that. She said she was on the plane and has a pillow thats dominic shirt and they made a pillow out of it and she would hug it and keep it with her like i went to the bathroom i was feeling really upset about losing my son dominic. All these men and women in separate states in separate places separate stories but Common Thread<\/a> had outreach in very similar ways which was astonishing to me. Before we move on from the faith part, i want to bring up a theological question that this book raises. One time obviously its a subtext. That is the question of whether or not god causes sickness or whatever, death tragedies. There is a bible verse the thief comes but the steel kim kill industry i have come that you could have life and have it more abundantly. Some people believe god could take a bad situation and make it good but is not the author of that. Other people comfort themselves by saying, this is all part of gods plan we may not understand it but this happened for a reason. Talk if you want about how people in this book struggle with that and id love to know where you come down on it . Its a great theological question. One thats tough to grapple with. Each of the men and women in my book are honest and say they were angry at god in the wake of the loss. One individual said he would curse god. Its a common question they asked themselves and kim copeland in particular got over her anger with god is when her pastor said to her, god did not do well this for your life he did not want this to happen to you and that moment was a moment of comfort to her and its a great question. Does god allow this to happen or cause something to happen and the conclusion ive come to his he doesnt want it for your life he doesnt want it for you he doesnt want kim to lose her son and husband but its something that he allows to happen. He allowed it to happen but it was not his will. Its a byproduct of free choice. We would never have this discussion on a normal cable news when youre doing political commentary. Is that one of the things you like about writing the book . I love getting to explore these issues and putting a heart on a page. Seeing someones emotion sitting across the table sitting hours with them getting a 4 to discuss it. Some of these big important issues and questions that every human being grapples with and getting to explore to the book format and long format and some chapters in the book some stories you tell people there were four examples of that but there were other examples that are happening out in the heartland that people are getting fed up with not quite as serious but still very very serious one of the issues with the issue of religious liberty which is like the first freedom thing and a lot of americans feel like they are losing their ability to talk about their faith and there was one example that kind of its got a military aspect as well tell us about that one. That was interesting. You hear a lot about in faith communities, faith being under attack in the school or workplace i wasnt allowed to keep my bible on my desk. In one case i talked about a synagogue that was not allowed to openly worship their own home and had a lawsuit by a neighbor. One of the places you dont think about losing your religious freedom is the military. I talked to attorneys at first liberty that do this for a living and they say if you can map out instances of religious persecution the military its an arch like this. We are increasingly seeing religious freedom under attack in that setting which is surprising. One of them Master Sergeant<\/a> rodriguez basically gives a flag folding speech and tons of tub sometimes and what makes a speech different from the uniform flag folding speech is that he mentions god and has had no issues with it congressman actually wrote him congratulatory letters and i love your speech i love to hear it but at one base in particular he went to give the speech and he was physically removed from the room by fellow members of the military because he maintains he was about to say the word god in the name of god and its interesting to see its a sad thing to see because they say its a difference between the rankandfile of our military who by and large are christian men and women and the gap between leadership and those being appointed the top ranks who are the ones taking away the rights. Another issue that maybe isnt life or death issue but is very serious is we mentioned this briefly but liberal bias on College Campuses<\/a> and academia and really its not just about bias its also about free speech and stifling you very recently graduated from harvard law and you have some personal experience with this as well that you talk about in the book. Thats right. I left a small strawberry town and got to go to georgetown and oxford and harvard law because i did encounter a definite liberal vent on this campuses i did think it was advantageous to engage another side another argument. You talk about one of your professors at oxford im sorry to ask you a second question but it reminds me of the way that van jones and alan colmes were very kind to you the experience of meeting a liberal professor that pushed you but made you a better arguer or commentator. Thats absolutely true. Definitely one of my favorite moments in the book an important moment in my life was going to oxford and basically you have to read your argument or 10 page paper allowed one on one with a tutor thats their name for professor and you have your argument systematically dismantled and the idea is to make you stronger and is supposed to be confrontational, aggressive and tense and my first tutorial lived up to that. I remember drafting my paper on u. S. Foreignpolicy walking into this graveyard turn the library it was a church set in a graveyard turn library and walking up this stairwell and getting to the top and encountering my professor who was a farmer and a member of the Liberation Organization<\/a> the plo and israel minded western loving republican i had my views dismantled and not because he wasnt fair to me because she had presented views that i earnestly never considered and i remember walking away with tears in my eyes going back each time i getting stronger and tougher because of it and that to me in a nutshell is what academia is about. Having that exchange of different viewpoints. Some students never have to confront opposing viewpoints. Right. They dont have a conservative professor dismantling their arguments and forcing them to become better arguers. Exactly thats way safe your conservative student you really advantaged by the set up in the structure but several of my liberal peers he mentioned harvard law never had that opportunity of being confronted by a conservative professor and i think its led to some of the far left tactics weve seen on americans campus like tearing down bill barlow science. Put up conservative signs in our liberal peers couldnt take it and tore down the signs and had to be worn by the administration that free speech is important. Imagine harvard lawyers avenue warned about the important of free speech by a liberal administration. He led Randall Kennedy<\/a> who is a civil rights icon harvard law professor to write in the New York Times<\/a> that sometimes he thinks that my liberal classmates have their tactics overtake their message and sometimes they overstate the problems they see on campus so that even being warned by liberal elders that perhaps their tactics are stifling their message. What happens to them . When they get out in the real world, they still probably im sure may be voted democrat but do they change . Or do we have to be afraid that theres gonna be 10 years from now a bunch of 35yearold harvard educated lawyers who dont believe in free speech its one that i grapple with in back to the days of the Weather Underground<\/a> and some of the violent tactics used by radical young leftists. Over time those have gone away and its a rude wakeup call for some individuals when they get to the workplace where you can no longer ask for exam extension because if your emotional status because of the given current event which is what happens in the wake of the ferguson grand jury decision there was a wave of Ivy League Students<\/a> asking for exam exemptions and some schools like columbia others like harvard law did not. You actually should have had an extension because he went to bill oreilly. I think i read that you spent like eight hours in a hotel room taking an exam before going on bill oreilly to talk about the problem i needed the grand jury exemption but did not get it before that oreilly appearance. Want to read this. This is about noah patton and the flint michigan story. Theres one thing that noah wants people to know about flint. We been survivors since day one. While flint might be down there not out as a city full of fighters and despite its troubles a wellspring of faith poison liquid flow from the faucets of flint cleansing internal waters of change transform the heart of one man noah patton who is in turn changing the hearts and minds of those around him. Just as the story of noahs ark theres always a rainbow just beyond the unforeseen waters that flood our lives. Obviously this is symbolism, interesting with a guy named noah having to do with the story about water but how did going through this transform noah . Am so glad you brought this up, the flint water crisis so important and i think it was a sad moment in our political history in both parties either ignored what happened in flint michigan or harped on it as a part of the Moment Initiative<\/a> in a moment we came together and it wasnt. He was frustrated as a republican in that moment for sure. To meet noah and another example of government failing this community but this individual and several others rising to the occasion when government failed this community it was empowering because noah had dealt with a lot of hurt in his life he witnesses mom commit suicide in front of him he lived in a home without any siblings. His young adolescent years he literally was in a vacant home. Had several stints in jail had standoff with the police and very honest about that. Hes very honest about how hes grappled with this since hes committed with his hands and said theres this moment is pastor look at him and said, noah, you can overcome this and took the poison water of flint michigan and literally wash noahs hands clean and know it is now amazing man in the community he is a pastor in the community he wants to tell our government, do not give up on flint michigan. Do not give up on some broken communities and country because there are people who are fighters like noah who want to overcome if given a helping hand and given the opportunity. Noah is someone remaking flint Michigan City<\/a> that has been devastated not just by poison water. I know most of these people you interviewed facetoface, some were via the phone, did you go out there and meet with them . I couldnt because he came at the last moment i asked him in the early spring to interview with me at the last moment before i turned in my manuscript he got back to me and said can i still do this we quickly got on the phone. And at one point he was dealing with possibly going to jail because i think he felt like telling his story was so important he mighty risk violating some sort of probation the story of noah, he did not vote for trump. He did not. Or hilary. He lost faith in everyone. You dont make this point in the book but it did remind me a little bit of donald trump because theres a part where it talks about despite the things hes done in his life he can still have a purpose now. He can still do good things now and thats something ive heard Christian Conservative<\/a> voters defending donald trump despite his checkered path they said the same thing. Its an interesting parallel i do think of but it sure one. You can hear when you talk to him his optimism and hope and great positive outlook despite things that have happened to him. He left on the phone he was like i literally went from prisoner to preacher and is laughing to me at the thought of it but we both talked about how its really not that far off of a thought and especially when you look at biblical heroes like king david who literally committed adultery and killed the man of the woman he committed adultery with the husband of that woman and looked at moses and very imperfect people like paul who killed christians these people with grave sinful pasts are necessarily moral individuals that we would look to in the early stages of their life became these great heroes. I definitely see that with noah that no path is too dire to overcome. Someone what side you are messes your message. If you gonna serve the community in flint michigan and maybe this background provides you a unique foray into reaching people who need help. Noah said he was basically running a scrapyard scrapping facility in his backyard stolen cars come through and he said the aggregated a ton of money from that in the med in his community would look at him and say i want to be like that guy because he was rich and welloff but no i said, now its incumbent upon me to show them theres a better way and hes awesome he started a Lawn Care Service<\/a> hes cleaning up the yard and flesh flint michig. He was showing it every day of his life. One of the themes ive talked about a lot here you write about a lot in the book is that a lot of chatter talking heads, didnt see these stories developing or at least didnt fully appreciate these stories and you were kind of in the middle of these things so you are visiting back home florida where you are from your going around at certain points you are going around the country. You are writing this. Not during the election. But you are going back to florida. Every weekend you would see trump signs you dont see trump signs in manhattan. But you do mention after the guests on election day at cnn you had a couple people come up to you and give you some interesting kudos and congratulation. It was so interesting because we talked a lot, jeffrey lord and i would talk about the hidden trump loader. The one he would see in pennsylvania that i would see in florida not in the urban communities but on the back roads of our states. It manifested itself on that night in the green room at cnn. I had just gotten offset after talking about the president becoming president , which caught pretty much everyone by surprise and as i sat alone in the green room a guy look both ways and says dont tell anyone but i voted for trump he was followed up by a makeup artist. It was interesting because it was a small example anecdote of this hidden trump loader. He voted silently made the difference in the election. I know you got married recently what you tell us. Tell us about your new husband. We got married this november it was an awesome moment, waking up sick that day and sick throughout our first book was me getting an iv then he took me to Emergency Care<\/a> but despite that, hes an awesome man particularly when i talk about my bracket struggles and having to get the procedure done and removing my breast tissue to have a husband and companion who says commuter to be beautiful no matter what and make the decision thats right for you, its an awesome thing to have a partner in life. And what is the future for Kayleigh Mcenany<\/a> . You could definitely be an author i know you want to write another book ive heard that. Certainly the political commentary world. You are terrific at that. Where might this lead . I hope to write another book in the next book i hope to be entirely apolitical and i want to look at some National Tragedies<\/a> and find the heroes within them. And reach out to individuals in las vegas who had pretty Amazing Stories<\/a> that happened on that horrific night and their loved ones pass but passed as heroes. For me i want to read another book all about the American People<\/a>. All right. Thank you for taking the time. Thank you matt. This program is available as a podcast, all afterwards programs can be viewed on our website and book tv. Org. In 2000 on cspan book notes Program Science<\/a> journalist gina collado talked about the history of influenza specifically the 1918 outbreak. Heres a portion of the interview. There some people who say every major epidemic every pandemic swept around the world in the century has begun in southern china. Theres a reason why they think this is the hotspot for flutes and thats in order to really sweep the world you have to get a flu that is so different from anything you seen that virtually everybody in the world is susceptible to it. One way of doing that is to get a flu that seemed to have not been seen by human beings before. Birds get infected with flu all the time they going to get sick. He lives in their intestines and bird foods are generally really different than the ones that affect people and pigs can be infected birds and human fluids and become a mixing bowl and come up with a new flu that has bird characteristics and human characteristics and infect people. To watch the rest of this program and to find other books on pandemics visit our website booktv. Org, type pandemic and the wordbook into the search box at the top of the page. As the coronavirus continues to impact the country heres a look at the Publishing Industry<\/a> is doing to address ongoing pandemic. Bestselling author James Patterson<\/a> announced he will donate 500,000 to aid independent bookstores across the country, hes partnered with actress reese witherspoon, the American Booksellers Association<\/a> and the Book Industry Charitable Foundation<\/a> to watch the hashtag phase in the bookstore bookstores around the country continue to provide Remote Services<\/a> for their customers through online sales and virtual author events. Sourcebooks in detroit has closed its doors but selling online while powells books in Portland Oregon<\/a> recently announced the rehiring of 49 of their Staff Members<\/a> to assist with the rise in online sales. Bay area booksellers partnered together to provide a series of author events that hashtag would love bookstores. Also, according to npd bookscan book sales dipped 13 percent last week of march compared to the year prior. Publishers continue to make changes to their publication schedules and many have announced layoffs in the closing of their distribution centers. Spring book festivals and conferences have been canceled with book fairs in san antonio and annapolis maryland opting not to reschedule. The American Library<\/a> association also notes the cancellation of their annual conference this june in chicago. While the Los Angeles Times<\/a> festival of books originally set to take place in april has decided to hold their 25th annual festival in october. Book tv will continue to bring you new programs you can watch all archive programs any time at booktv. Org. Booktv in prime time starts now, first up Ella Baker Center<\/a> for human rights executive director zach morris offers his thoughts on how to build inclusive communities. And then the National Institutes<\/a> of Health Doctor<\/a> jerry brown looks at 1918 influenza pandemic and the current challenges we face with the coronavirus. Also tonight, npr Steve Inskeep<\/a> recounts the lives of 19th Century Power<\/a> political power couple jesse and john Freeman Netflix<\/a> director of inclusion and former un official Michelle King<\/a> examines what she calls the invisible barriers that prevent women from succeeding in workplace. Later tonight from our archives, look at books about pandemics. It all starts now on book tv. First zach norris discussing his book we keep us safe. Good evening everyone. 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