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I am very pleased today to be joined by my very good friend Maria Shriver, who is an

exceptional person in more ways than one.

I always tell people when they ask me, who are the most exceptional people you've met

in your career. Maria is always at the top of

my list. One of the, I always say, 10 smartest people, hands down I've ever met, a brilliant person,

kind person, and someone who has a very optimistic and unique perspective, I think, in a very troubled time.

And your Sunday paper, which is read by me and hundreds of thousands each Sunday, you had a

column which really struck me because you used a phrase that I use a lot and I'm very aware of people using

around me all the time and it was not a phrase that I have any consciousness really of living with,

thinking about even five years ago or 10 years ago, and it's not

colloquial to my childhood, to my region.

And the phrase is, it's a lot.

And the notion of your piece is that there are all over America people dealing with a multitude

of difficult issues and that there's this consensus in so many people around it's a lot.

What does that mean? It's a lot.

Okay, well, before I answer that, Steve,

let me just say first, I'm happy to be here,

but I want to know who the other nine people are on the 10

that you said, I'm one of the 10 smartest people.

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