E had the late 60s movement the unrest and taken their own laws into their own hands and silencing the debate and all of that shaped him in ways that made him a better judge and a better justice. You could not understand how we got to be Justice Scalia without understanding the elements of his career. James rosen with his books scalia sunday night on q a. You can listen to q a and all of our podcast on our free cspan atat. Lucas and author in the journalist who served from 2008, 2016. Nightly today, nbc and msn. 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 w