moment. but as somebody who broke the story of the watergate scandal with bob woodward, just how worried are you right now about the state of american democracy? >> well, we have an authoritarian ex-president, a seditious ex-president who attempted a coup. a president of the united states, unlike any other in our history. and he has a huge following that is an anti-democratic force in this country, such as we've never seen since the civil war. so, the worries are real. and also, truth has been the casualty of this war against democracy conducted by a president of the united states and that's a lot to talk about in the coming days. >> certainly is, very strong words. let's talk about your really excellent, new book, which i have gone through. it focuses in on a part of your career that many of us aren't familiar with, the beginning. what was -- what was the most important lesson, carl, that you learned as a 16-year-old copy boy at the washington evening