-Our next guest has worked in politics and public service
as an aide and advisor to Hillary Rodham Clinton
during her two presidential campaigns, as well as her time
as First Lady, Senator, and Secretary of State.
Her Memoir "Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds" is on sale now.
Please welcome to the show Huma Abedin!
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
-Welcome to the show.
-Thank you for having me, I'm so excited.
-You've been here before in the green room
when Hillary has been a guest on the show.
And now you are on camera, you are on -- in studio.
You've been doing a lot of press for your book tour.
How are you adjusting to being the focus of attention?
-I still walk backstage
and then keep looking behind me for Hillary.
Because assuming that's who you're expecting to talk to,
and then realize I have to go out and say words.
And I wrote many words, and now I'm saying many words,
and I'm having a great time.
-I've got to be honest, you're a natural.
You're a natural with the words.
-Seth, we have been here I think at least five times.
-I think that's right. -Me with Hillary.
And I'm usually a little bit more productive.
Because usually when you guys are out here,
I'm back there ordering Seamless,
figuring out what I'm going to have for dinner,
getting on a conference call. -Sure.
-So I actually have a conference call in my ear
on one side and talking to you.
-While we're having this conversation.
I bet you're probably pretty good at that sorta multitasking.
-Multitasking. There's a lot of multitasking in this book.
-So I have to ask --
you know, this book is about how you grew up,
and it's about your time with Hillary.
It's also about your personal life,
which was incredibly traumatic.
And, you know, it's very raw. The details of this book.
Was it traumatic reliving it?
Or was it cathartic putting it down on paper?
-You know, this ended up being --
I hadn't thought about it in the moment,
but it did end up being a COVID pandemic book.
I really -- it forced me,
being in one place and space, sitting and writing.
And I thought it would be really hard,
but I basically just poured my heart into the story.
And I found it to be incredible therapy.
I loved the writing process.
I rediscovered what it was like to write --
my father always thought I would be a writer when I grew up.
He always told me the greatest power I held
was in the power of my pen, if I used it wisely.
And so I loved it.
And I feel it as I'm out in the world, the sense of liberation.
-Also, you know, you have this very public marriage
to someone, Anthony Weiner.
And you know, we all sort of in real time
are experiencing what's happening.
Has it sort of, writing this book, brought down the walls
in a way that people now feel that they can approach you,
even people that were maybe close to you
that didn't want to have these conversations
or didn't know if you were willing to have them.
Have you been able to talk to people more about it,
having written the book? -You know, Seth, in 2011
when the story first broke about Anthony,
and I was not even 12 weeks pregnant,
I'm working at the State Department --
it was the first time I realized -- I mean, you know,
you and I started this conversation,
that I'm used to being behind the scenes,
used to being the person not talked about, being invisible,
and I really liked that.
And that very first trip I took, I was at an airport,
and a woman comes over and she puts her arm on my arm
in the bathroom while I'm washing my hands and says,
"I know what you're going through, hang in there."
And that was the first of what I would say is hundreds,
thousands, maybe, of moments in the last decade
where people have approached me on the street.
I've been at dinner parties, at restaurants, and somebody will
come over and say, "Can I talk to you for a second?"
And we step outside and it's almost like
these little group mini therapy sessions.
And if that's a service that I can -- if that's one thing...
I try to believe that there's a silver lining
to everything that happens in our lives.
And so if I can share, I'm happy to do it.
And it's been -- it's been a wonderful connection
with strangers. -I'm so glad that you are
getting that from the experience of writing the book.
You talk about giving back and hoping that this, you know,
can provide a service to people.
There's some very funny things that you've had to do
over the course of your career working for Hillary Clinton.
The one that I would not have predicted
is having to fish a dress out of the East River.
-You know, so I have a lot of friends
who now work in the Biden administration.
And the young ones would call me and say,
"How do I train, what do I do, and how did you know...?"
Because I was a 21-year-old
when I walked into the Clinton White House in 1996.
I had no idea.
I mean, it was a total sink-or-swim attitude there.
And I think in part, that was part of the training.
You know, it was, let's just see how she does.
And the very first trip
I took with the President and First Lady
to New York City on Marine One, I did not know
that when a president traveled
there's more than one helicopter.
I'm on the staff helicopter with all the luggage.
The helicopter lands. I take all the luggage off.
My helicopter takes off as Marine One is landing.
And the prop wash lifts the First Lady's clothes,
the hanging bag, off the landing zone
and it flings it into the East River.
So I have to figure out what to do. I run inside.
This guy comes out with a broom,
and he's like, "This has never happened in all my years."
Take this sopping-wet bag, put it in the car,
figure out how to get it dry cleaned.
She walked on stage the next morning to give a speech,
12 hours later, she had no idea
her clothes were floating in the East River.
-Wow, that's amazing. -And I didn't tell --
I didn't tell her that story for a long time.
It was like five years.
-I mean, that -- what an advertisement
for any dry cleaner that can get --
if you can get the East River out of a dress.
-They did well, they did well. -They did well.
You obviously, over the years, gave Hillary a lot of feedback
on things like speeches. -Yeah.
-Did she have any feedback on this?
Did you present it to her?
Did you look to her for guidance in any way?
-She was one of the first people to read the book.
And she gave me -- her notes were hysterical.
Because she sent me back the manuscript,
and in the margins she would write, "This is very funny."
Like when I tell the story of her breaking her elbow
and me fainting in the hospital and peeing in my pants.
And she's -- you know, like --
she's reliving the moments with me.
But she was just really encouraging.
Gave me -- she didn't tell me to cut anything.
Said put whatever was in there.
In fact, I just talked to her before I came on the show,
and I said, "I'm going to see Seth,
do you want me to say anything about you to him?"
She's like, "Oh, just tell him you love me."
I'm like, "Okay!"
I love my boss, Seth.
[ Laughter ]
-Hey, congratulations on the book.
Thank you so much for being here.
You deserve to be out here.
Get out of the green room, Huma. -Thanks, Seth.
Thrilled to be on the show. -Huma Abedin, everyone.
"Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds" is available now.
Be right back.