In his newest book "After: How America Confronted the September 12 Era," writer and publisher Steven Brill tells the real life stories of individuals responding to the 2001 terrorist attacks -- from Tom Ridge and John Ashcroft to a shoe repair shop owner trying to rebuild his store.

Brill was online Friday, May 2 at 1 p.m. ET, to discuss his new book and the aftermath of Sept. 11.

Brill, a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School, is the author of the bestselling "The Teamsters" and is the founder of "The American Lawyer," "Brill's Content" and Court TV.

A transcript follows.

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New York, N.Y.: Where were you on Sept. 11? What did you do the day after?

Steven Brill: In my office in midtown New York. My family and I went to a weekend house we have and stayed there until the afternoon of the 12th

Virginia: Mr. Brill, I am a huge fan of your late/great magazine.

You talked to a number of non-glamorous government officials and citizens to gain a different look at the reaction to September 11. Have you kept in touch with some of them? How did you go about finding these people and did you interview others who did not make it into the book for one reason or another?

Thank you.

Steven Brill: Yes, I have kept in touch with most of them. Indeed, theb ook was only finnished about three months ago, si i was talking to them regularly until then, and hav spoken with most since.

I interviewed about 350 people for the book. I chose as the main characters people whose stories I thought would allow me to discuss -- in a narrative style rather than a heavy essay style -- the basic issues I wanted to cover; security vs freedom, lobbying, law, the charities, the pain and recovery of the victims's families, the ramp up of homeland security, etc.

Washington, D.C.: Why did you decide to write this book -- a story of the events after the event?

Steven Brill: Because this book is not really about 9-11. It's a book about how and why our country works -- and I used the shock of 9-11 to describe all the facets -- law, politics, business, charity, civic involvemen -- of America in one narrative in which all of these characters cross paths in a series of surprising alliances and confrontations.

Washington, D.C.: Steven:

Are you contributing the a portion of the proceeds from the book to the families of the victims?

Steven Brill: No, I'm not. I give money to lots of charities. But the truth is that in terms of money -- and I mean just money - the 9-11 victims are among our least needy charities, because they have already been the beneficiaries of amazing genorsity (which is a good thing for a lot of reasons). For example, as the book points out the families of the hero-firemen are entitled to about $6 million each, whereas a firefighter who dies tonight saving someone in a fire will be entitled to about $250,000 in NYC.

Harrisburg, Pa.: Having seen Tom Ridge in the hallways just hours before he was named to direct Homeland Security, it was definitely a surprise and one of the few times a story did not leak out ahead of time. What can you tell us about Tom Ridge's day?

Steven Brill: There is a scene in the book that recounts Ridge deciding in the space of just 21 hours to leave his goernorship -- and his family -- to take that ill-defined job. He and his wife even talked about how she would now have to become a working mom rather than the first lady of a state because they would have the additional expense of renting a house in Harrisburg while the kids finished out hte school year, while he also had to rent an apartment in D.C. I admire that commitment to public service at a time of national emergency -- a lot.

Somewhere, USA: So do you think we have gone in the right direction after the terrorist attacks? Has the pendulum swung to much to the other side -- preferring a government that abuses basic rights in an effort to protect us to a system that was too vulnerable and not prepared for such violence?

Steven Brill: Well, in some ways -- such as jailing an American citizen (Jose Padilla, the alleged "dirty bomber") with no right to a hearing or a lawyer -- we have swung too far. But by and large we have gotten it about right. But keeping the balance depends on Congress, the Courts and groups like the ACLU (its director is a major character in the book) pushing back when the Attorney General tries to push to hard in the other direction.

Alexandria, Va.: What do you see as the greatest security problem for the U.S. right now?

Steven Brill: Mass transit, shopping malls, office buildings and other so-called soft targets, which are places where large numbers of people congregate in small areas and no one checks anyone before entering.

Arlington, Tex.: Thanks for chatting with us.

Was the length of your book (over 700 pages) ever a factor with your publisher? When did you start writing it and when did you finish?

Steven Brill: Actually, it wasn't a factor. I told them I was trying to do a sweeping look at our country, so they knew that going in. And the reviews and sales so far seem to suggest that we were right to do it this way.

Washington, D.C.: Mr. Brill,

Big fan. I wanted to ask you a question, but it's not related to "After."

How is your quest going in getting Hilary Clinton to release you from your pledge to keep your conversation with her, in regard to 9/11 victims and her allegedely meeting with victims families, off the record? I find it astonishing that she would actually say she met with victims families after the tragedy just to make herself look good and Chuck Schumer look bad.

Steven Brill: She hasn't released me. Too bad. But not surprising.

Montclair, N.J.: In the President's speech last night, he repeatedly referred to the Iraq war as an episode in the War on Terrorism. Does that characterization make sense? How did 9-11 pave the way to the Iraq war?

Steven Brill: Assuming that Iraq really did have weapons of mass destruction -- and on that score it seems that intelligence and national security officials from both the Bush and Clinton administrations agree -- then he was right. I also think the war was part of a mindset that I capture in the book at home: which is that we are no longer going to rely on our luck or on the kindness of terrorists to protect ourselves.

Somewhere, USA: Why did the Chubb CEO decide not to invoke the "act of war" exclusion? Was it good natured or a business decision?

Steven Brill: As I explain, it happens that it was both. It was good business for Chubb to take this position, because of their reputation in the marketplace as the insurer that doesn't hassle clients over claims.
Indeed, the whole point of the book, for which the Chubb situation is a kind of metaphor, is that what makes the country work is a combination in times of crisis of selfishness and public-spiritedness, and trying to guage the mix of each is kind of pointless, not to mention impossible unless you can read minds.

Maryland: Is there anyone who doesn't come off well in your book? Just wondering…

Steven Brill: I can tell you that the Attorney General isn't particularly happy with it, nor is Larry SIlverstein, the real estate mogul who owns all the leases at the Trade Center and who sued to collect twice on his $3.5 billion in insurance by claiming that the attack was "two" events. Which is riduculous because the policy that he negotiated defined occurrence as "one or more related events occuring over a period of 72 hours."

And I'm sure no one at the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is happy, since I describe it in detail as the world's most incompetent government agency. I'm sure there are others.

Arlington, Va.: Two questions --

You say the sales number of positive, but how has the book been received critically?

Anything that you learned shock you?

Steven Brill: I think even an objective observer, which I'm not, would agree that the reviews have been really good. For example, the usually-tough Jonathan Yardly of the Post (whom I was terrified of when I heard he was doing the review) was extremely complimentary.

A lot of what I learned shocked me -- particularly how naked we are on the Northern Border. Or how we had a "no-fly list" with at least two of the terrorist names on it sitting at the FAA weks before the attacks, and it was faxed to the airlines on the NIGHT of 9-11.

Northern Virginia: Since you are the founder of Brill's Content… how do you think the media did after Sept. 11th? Who has done the best post-Sept. 11th reporting in your mind? Who has done the worst?

Steven Brill: The Post and NY Tims were the best, along with the LA Times and Wall Street Journal. Can't think of the worst right now.

Montclair, N.J.: Even if no WMD are found in Iraq, does such a forceful American presence in the Middle East do anything to deter terrorist networks from growing up there? Or is the opposite outcome more likely? Personally, do you think the war was justified if WMD aren't found?

Steven Brill: I think there is a difference between whether we actually find the WMD's and whether they were there.

Arlington, Va.: How did our top government officials react after Sept. 11th? Did they panic? Feel helpless? Thanks.

Steven Brill: The whole point of the book is to answer that question about top officials and the rest of us. And my answer is generall positive.

New York, N.Y.: I think one of the biggest post-9/11 stories has to be the generous giving on the part of the American people to widows and families. Do you cover this?

Steven Brill: In great detail through the lives of the people involved. And I also cover the abuses associated with that flood of money.

Vienna, Va.: Could I get your read on the H1-B and L-1 programs that bring in foreign labor, and how the people who come in under these programs are tracked? Should this be a national security concern?

Steven Brill: Sorry, but I don't know the details of how those programs work.

Bowie, Md.: One frequently complaint from the right wing since 9/11 is that the American government and media have not paid enough attention to the fact that much of terrorism is routed in the culture of a particular part of the world, that political correctness is partly responsible for 9/11 and that not enough is being done about the "who" as opposed to "what" of preventing future acts.

Do you think the press has been too sensitive about not linking certain demographic groups with terrorism?

Steven Brill: No, I don't.

Steven Brill: Thank you all for an interesting chat.

Steve Brill

washingtonpost.com:

That wraps up today's show. Thanks to everyone who joined the discussion.

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