desk? >> behind the anchor desk was maybe the least of it. walter cronkite was one of the few news guys that i worked with who could get anybody on the phone that he wanted to. people took calls from walter cronkite that they never took from anyone else. so that walter would check out things by going to the source. >> all right, don hewitt joining us tonight. don, thank you so much. again, walter cronkite has died. "larry king live" taking over our coverage right now. john king sitting in for larry. john? >> campbell, a sad night for the country and a sad night for the news industry. good evening, everyone, identify am john king filling in for larry king tonight. the sad news, we give you the breaking news, walter cronkite, the legendary anchorman within the voice of cbs news, the most trusted man in america passed away tonight. walter cronkite was 92 years old. he leaves a legacy. he was for many the voice of the

man on the moon. he was for others the first voice to tell them president kennedy had been shot and killed. he also was the voice who frustrated president johnson by coming back from vietnam and saying to the american people, the war there was mired in a stalemate. president johnson believed it dramatically helped change public opinion here ithe united sta as ill for larry kin toto go to my friendcoll is standing by on the phone. quite simply, walter cronkite, what did he do for the about is? what is his legacy? >> what can you say, john. i wish i could be there tonight. i am with my boys on a prior commitment that i could not change. walter cronkite was not only a great broadcaster, he was a dear friend with other broadcasters. he would aid you and help you, in very -- he would always build you up, if you were young in the field, if you were on your way up, he was right there, and, of course, i don't think, john, i think you'll agree, there will never be a newsman again, ever, who will have that clout.

the -- it's too diffuse now, there's too many channels, too many areas, too many broadca broadcasters. he could change public opinion, no one broadcaster could do that. no one could touch it. cronkite came back from vietnam and he changed it. one of the things in my life, i got the walter cronkite award. he presented it to a different broadcaster every year. it was the greatest night of my life, to be up on the podium and hear the voice give something to me, a man who gave so much to this country. i prb when he started on -- you weren't born, john. i remember when he started on the radio. he did the business report on every night for cbs radio network, and from there he went on meteoric fame. we'll never see his likes again. >> he was the anchor of the cbs evening news from 1962 to 1981. signing off each broadcast with "and that's the way it is."

larry, that was his trademark. you mentioned the trust factor. because there is cable now. there are so many options out there. there are the internet and the blogs. the trust factor that walter cronkite had with the american people, wasn't only borne of the fact that there were fewer platforms in those days, it was because he was a reporter first, anchorman second, right? >> correct. and you remember the time, there were many times, when he was rumored to run for president. i forget the year. in one of the years, there was a strong group of people around america who was twittering out there, there wasn't a twitter there, but i'll use that word, they were sending the message out, to draft walter cronkite. he had that great an image. there's no broadcaster today who could even touch that and here was the man ankering the news every night -- i'll also tell you, john, he was bitter when he left cbs. he didn't want to retire. that was a forced retirement. i don't think he ever really got over that feeling toward a network that he thought let him down, that he felt he had done

so much for. i'm sure at the end he got over that. he was in very failing health. he was deaf. this was probably a peaceful going -- if you're going to go, you're going to go the way walter went. but that voice, isn't it in your head, john? >> i grew up listening to him at home. my mother tells me i was a baby on her lap when he learned from walter cronkite that president kennedy had been killed, and, of course, i didn't know him in the business. he was gone by the time i made it to cnn. i had the honor to meet him in a few times in my life, including watching president clinton and him sail. he loved the boat and the sea. i want to share with our viewers some of larry king sitting down on "larry king live" with his friend, one of our colleagues in this business, and a man who will be very much missed, walter cronkite. let's listen. >> larry: when you watch it, walter, do you miss it? >> yes, of course. every day. every minute of the day, i miss it, because as things develop, i hear them on the radio. i see them on the internet. i wish i could get my hands on

that story, you know? >> larry: you want to go in and do it? >> it's the old -- it's the old fire, fire horse, you know, when the bell rings, you want to go. >> a well-dressed young whiteman seen running from the scene. >> larry, it is 40 that a man walked on the moon and walter cronkite was, of course, the voice of that, the space movement. sometimes we try to be profound in what we say. walter cronkite said this watching men walk on the moon. oh, boy, ooh, wow, and geez, remember that day 40 years ago? >> oh, do i remember it. and what's that show? i'm trying to think of the name. "you are there." you are there. a show he hosted sundays on cbs, kind of a documentary in which he would take you to july 4th, 1776, and "you are there." with the wonderful tonal qualities that he had. that was another wonderful program in the '50s that walter cronkite put his own stamp on

it. he also continued to do a daily commentary on radio throughout his entire career on cbs tv, he did a daily commentary on radio. and there's that one moment, john, which nobody in america will never forget, if you were there and watching it. when he announced kennedy's death, he takes that -- i'm sure we'll be showing it. he takes that pause, you have to watch this, and takes the glasses off. and gives you the time he died. with a lump in his throat. that was great broadcasting. >> and as we listen to larry king reflect, we're watching pictures of walter cronkite. you saw him with eisenhower, with president kennedy, a man, larry, who was there for the "apollo" landing as we said. helped turn public opinion on vietnam. the civil rights movement. he was a man in a powerful position, the cbs anchor chair, at a time of remarkable change in the united states of america. >> the '60s. correct, the '60s. and he told me once he really didn't like being anchor.

he didn't like being famous particularly. in fact, he thought there ought to be a time when the anchor is not seen. that everything ought to be on camera. it's a visual media. we ought to see things visually. the anchor ought to be a voiceover. >> larry, i want to ask you, if you can, to stand by as long as you can. i know you're with your boys. and please tell us when you need to go. >> i got about another -- i've got another ten minutes, if you want, in there. >> thanks, larry. stand by. >> sure. >> i want to interact in the conversation. don, you were standing by with us on the television. he is, of course, the legendary producer of cbs "60 minutes." don, i want you first, that program is the gold standard in news "60 minutes," in part i believe, tell me if you think i'm right, because walter cronkite in his day made cbs the gold standard of the business. >> walter cronkite was the gold standard of -- i produced cronkite for years before we ever even decided on "60 minutes." walter wax the consummate

newsman. could reach anybody. no -- everybody took his phone calls. walter was, as far as i can recall, the best-known newsman, print or broadcast, of his time. >> and, don, what made him the trustworthy figure? >> his knowledge of the story he was doing. walter read assiduously. he talked to everybody who could possibly know something more about a story than he did. he was the newsman's newsman. as we watch some of these -- we're watching some of the classic pictures, the "apollo" landing, we see walter cronkite holding a model of some of the spaceships designed. he was -- >> i know. i produced that thing with him.

>> you produced that thing? reflect on that moment, "man on the moon" 40 years ago. >> one of the singular moments in television. was walter's "man on the moon." i think deep down he wishes it was him, he, who was landing on the moon. >> yeah, he would have gone. >> he would have gone. >> you know, don, i'm sure you also agree, walter used to tell me, john, you'll agree with this, or i hope you will, the fact that he had a print background, that he started in newspapers was very important to him. he thought he brought that newspaper knowledge of who, what, where, when, why. >> all of the best broadcasters that i know had a print background. they came from print. that's where we all learned our trade. >> and, gentlemen, let me share a number with you. we spend too much time in our business reading polls.

but here's a fascinating one from 1972. a public opinion poll gives waltzer cronkite a 73% approval rating. the most trusted public figure in the united states, outranking president richard nixon who at the time had a 57%, not so bad, approval rating. and the vice president, spiro t. agnew, a news anchor who had more credibility at his moment than the president of the united states. >> and that was the thing, john -- urging -- >> he was more popular than richard nixon. >> it was '72 when they were urging him to try to get the democratic party nomination for president. i bet he would give nixon a run for his money, don. >> i remember getting a call from a democrat politician in albany, very high up in the democratic party, who asked me if i would ask walter cronkite if he would consider running for a senate seat from new york. and i did. and walter said, tell him thank you very much, but no thank you.

>> and, don, you would reflect on larry's point earlier, that walter, his legacy is remarkable. at the end he was not happy. he felt he was being forced out. did he not? >> i know why he was unhappy. he agreed to step down from the anchor chair of the "evening news." he assumed that that did not mean he was stepping down as the anchor of all the big special events. and when he found out that he was not doing the conventions and the election nights and all the things that he thought he was going to inherit, even though he stepped down as the anchor of the "evening news" was a very big disappointment to him. >> and i don't think he ever got over that. he never got over that, don. >> never got over that. we're watching walter cronkite with our wolf blitzer on the coast. he loved the coastline.

he loved the sea. we need to take a quick break. we ask our viewers to stay with us. it's a sad night for our business. walt walt walter cronkite, who held our hand when we went through the civil rights movement, the death of a president, and his brother, a presidential candidate, died. walter cronkite, dead at the age of 92. "larry king live" will be back in just a moment. my doctor told me something i never knew.

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tonight. a legend in our business and to many, a part of your life. growing up in a tumultuous time. walter cronkite, you see him there with president bill clinton in the white house, dead at the age of 92. walter cronkite, of course, the legendary cbs news anchor. with us on the phone is mike wallace, a man who worked so closely with him. and, mike, on a sad night for our business and a sad night for the nation, reflect on the legacy of your friend, walter cronkite. >> well, i'll tell you something, it's -- it's -- it's hard to imagine a man whom i had more admiration than cronkite. cronkite is just -- he was a

superb reporter, an honorable man, a fine friend, and i have nothing but admiration for cronkite. >> he was the steady, reassuring, son of the midwest through so manitou multous, big news stories, vietnam, the civil rights movement, man on the moon, the kennedy assassination, the robert kennedy assassination. mike wallace, did he ever say this is my favorite story, this is the one i got into, i enjoyed reporting the most? >> no, he never did that with me. we were close. we were good friends. he didn't have to do that, because we -- i admired him so damn much. he had -- he had done such a wonderful job at "60 minutes,"

at cbs. he just -- he was a first-rate reporter. >> a first-rate reporter. >> they don't come any better. >> a first-rate reporter. they don't come any better. and, of course, he made cnbc in his tenure the gold standard. i want to bring into the conversation my friend, katie couric. you are the current anchor of the cbs "evening news," you sit, not quite exactly, but you sit in walter cronkite's chair, how do you do that every night? >> well, john, it is a huge responsibility and i have to say slightly intimidating. you know, when i took this job and for a number of days we've known at cbs news that walter was in failing health, and we were all worried about when this day would come. and he was so revered and so beloved here. and i've read so much, john, in recent days, and really, throughout my career about

walter. but i've been reminded, really only recently, what an incredible man and journalist he was. i mean, he was the personification of integrity and decency and humanity. i think that's one thing that truck me as i watched some of the earlier broadcasts from the past, you know, when he announced that president kennedy had died, it was so moving to see his body language and his facial expressions. and, similarly, the glee he exhibited when, you know, he was anchoring a space launch. he had sort of an adolescent enthusiasm, it's been said, about the space program, this unbridled joy in terms of reporting that story, and a huge interest in science as well. but i think he -- he really connected to the audience. you know, sometimes you think about television as being this sort of stiff, stilted profession, particularly when walter was at the helm.

but what struck me is how natural he was, in his early days apparently before the era of teleprompters, john, he would write a few notes on file cards, just glance at them. know what the story was. and speak extemporaneously to the audience. and you can't find many anchors who are really capable of pulling that off in this day and age. >> speaking with the country, i think not at the country, might have been part of his gift. i want to take you back in time. walter cronkite goes on the air in february 1968, and he says on the air, that the united states is mired in a stalemate. and president johnson, we would later learn in the history books, told his aides, if i've lost cronkite, i've lost middle america. will any television anchor in today's age, when the business is so different, ever have that power? >> i don't think so. you know, it was a very different period of time. there was no cnn, no 24-hour news cycle. in fact, he often talked a bit

disparagingly about 24-hour news. they get a little pill, 24 hours a day. no offense to you, john, or cnn. but i think he did wield incredible influence because he was so trusted. so, when he did say, you know, the vietnam war is not working and we need to negotiate and the whole, you know, speech really he made during that special back in 1968, it had such a profound impact. but i was talking to douglas brinkley, john, earlier today, and he's writing a biography about walter, and the university of texas is the repository of all his papers. apparently he was a pack rat. he has boxes and boxes, and he has the reporters' notebooks from when he was in vietnam. and very early on, in fact, as early as 1965, he was growing disillusioned with this war, and his reporters' notebooks indicate that. but i think he waited and went there numerous times. he was on the front lines. he showed tremendous courage in

putting himself in harm's way. and, of course, i think there was that moment after the tet offensive where he felt he could be silent no longer. >> as you mentioned that, he felt he could be silent no longer. our business has changed so much. walter cronkite worked in the days of film and black and white. now came tape. now we work in the 24-hour, high-definition, digital environment. there is cable television. as his era passed, what is the lesson katie couric takes sitting in the chair? of course, so much changes. but the key is to take the things that matter most, the values that matter most, and carry them with us. what are they? >> well, i think, john, you know, that's increasingly challenging in this new environment, in this ever-changing landscape that is television or news in general. and i think what i take away from everything i know about walter cronkite is that good journalism matters. seeking the truth is really important. and, you know, you have to source material. you have to be certain of

material. he was an incredible stickler about getting it right. and, you know, things are done kind of fast and furiously, and, john, you're a former wire service guy, you know, that's where, you know, walter really honed his craft, working for united press, back in the day. and i think those same values, you know, getting to the truth and being accurate and fair. you know, i wanted to mention, john, before i took on this job, he was nice enough to take me out to dinner here in new york. and he was so wonderful. and he said, you know, he used to get in trouble from both sides of the aisle. people were angry at him, you know, whether they were liberals or conservatives, and he said, i thought i was doing something right, because i would hear it from everybody. so, you know, i think also he -- he didn't necessarily care about his popularity. and i guess he really didn't need to, because he was so trusted. but i think he was a real fact finder and truth teller.

and i think all journalists today, you know, could use a reminder of the values that he held so dear and that he imparted on all his colleagues here at cbs news. >> very, very well put. i'm going to ask katie couric, my find and the cbs "evening news" anchor, to stand by with us as we go to a break. as we do, of course, you're watching pictures of the legendary walter cronkite, the cbs "evening news" anchor, who held the nation's hand through so many troubles times during the 1960s and the 1970s. walter cronkite, dead today at the age of 92. our thoughts and prayers go out to his three children and, of course, our thoughts and prayers are with his colleagues, former colleagues and current colleagues at cbs "evening news." walter cronkite, dead at the age of 92. 750,000 wish they weren't. - ( phones chirping ) - construction workers are making 244,000 nextel direct connect calls. 1 million people are responding to an email. - 151 accidentally hit "reply all." - ( foghorn blows )

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as you see there, america has lost a legend tonight. the news industry has lost a legend. walter cronkite, the longtime cbs news anchor, dead at the age of 92. katie couric is still with us. and, katie, you were talking before the break about his talent, his ability to communicate, to work without a teleprompter. to talk and communicate and just have a conversation with the american people. i want to read you something that walter once said of today's news business, including the woman who sits in his chair, katie couric. i don't think if i were competing today with the anchor people out there i'd get a chance of getting on the air. minimizing his own talents. we both know that's far from true, right? >> well, you know, it's funny, john, because i was talking to doug brinkley, as i mentioned earlier, his story and he's writing a biography of walter, and going through stacks and stacks of papers. i asked doug, do you think that walter really understood the impression and the -- and the impact he's had on american life or had for so many people growing up, and as you said, i

know repeatedly during this broadcast, really shared so many of the momentous events in the latter -- the second half of the 20th century through and with walter cronkite? he said he was incredibly humble. he said he liked being walter cronkite, don't get him wrong, he said. there was, of course, a little vanity in him, because there is in everyone. he really enjoyed when people recognized him and wanted his autograph. and he connected, he said, to everyone, from the taxi driver to the cashier at the drugstore, to, of course, heads of state. but he was so humble throughout his life. and, you know, he didn't want to be a celebrity. and i thought when doug told me that, i thought, of course, because he transcended celebrity. he was much more than a celebrity in our celebrity culture. but had so much humility. and, you know, he would say, oh, i'm not that much. because i think he really saw himself as a reporter, a journalist, as somebody who had to just do his best to impart

accurate information to all these people in the country, who were depending on him so every night. when you think about it, john, 90% of the american people were watching the three newscasts, when walter was at his, you know, in his heyday, so it was a very, very different environment. but i was just struck by how -- how humble he was, really, until the end of his life. >> katie couric, the anchor of the cnbc "evening news." we want to thank you for spending some time with us, reflecting on a great man in our business and a great legend in our country. katie, thank you so much. and our thoughts and our prayers are with the men and women of cbs news on this very difficult night. i want to bring into the conversation another one of the great voices and faces of cnbc. bob schieffer, he's the host on sunday morning of "face the nation." he's a longtime correspondent. bob, you worked with walter during all the times we talked about. the civil rights era, the vietnam war, the kennedy assassination. help us understand, help the country understand tonet, what

we've lost. >> well, i did work for walter for a long time. and i'll tell you, john, walter was who i wanted to be when i was a young reporter. and a lot of young reporters did. he really set the standard. and the thing i always tried to stress to people about walter is that walter was off camera exactly the way he was on camera. he was exactly the same person. and so many times we meet people, you know, that movie stars or tv people we see, and we're always so disappointed because they turn out to be totally different when you meet them in person than when you see them in the role they play on television. walter was a reporter. he was a reporter's reporter. he loved the news. and he had -- he had the kind of curiosity and enthusiasm for the news that i don't think anyone could match. i told somebody the other day, we were talking about walter, and i said, you know, if -- if there was a car wreck outside

and walter heard the noise out the window, it would be like it was the first car wreck he'd ever seen in his life. he'd want to run down there. he'd want to get the names of everybody involved. he just never lost this great fascination for the news. and he never let anything get in the way of the news. for walter, it was find out what happened, and as an old wire service guy, that's -- that's how you were trained, and you'll know where i'm coming from when i say that. but he was -- he was my mentor. and he was my friend. and he really -- we'll never see his like again, john. we'll never see his like again. >> and as you say that, bob, you have been, of course, a correspondent who has covered some lemgary stories. you've also been in the anchor chair. tell me the difference of anchor -- reporters who become anchors, sometimes they love it. sometimes they don't like parts of it and sometimes they want to get out from behind the desk and go cover a story. what was walter like in that regard? >> walter loved to get out and

cover stories. and, of course, after he became such a well-known person. he was the most well-known journalist in america, he couldn't really get out and cover a story himself. because he created such a commotion when he showed up. i remember once during the '76 campaign and gerald ford was campaigning on a whistle stop tour through michigan, walter came out to join the campaign for a day. well, the train would pull into a town. it would stop. president ford would come out on the back platform of the train, but then walter would step out of the car where all the press people were, and every eye in the crowd would turn to walter. and, you know, people wanted -- wanted to see walter and talk to walter. so, when walter got to go on overseas trips with the president, where was not quite so well known, he loved that. and the other part, john, he loved the other reporters. he loved the news, and lee lohe people who covered the news. nobody enjoyed sitting around in the bar after the end of a long

day on the campaign trail or when you're covering a big event and just sort of kicking it around and telling war stories with the other -- the other reporters. walter -- walter loved them, and, of course, they loved him, too. >> you mentioned -- you used the word "mentor," bob, as you know, this is a competitive business. there are a lot of egos in the business and especially some would say in the tv reporting business. how was walter cronkite a mentor? i say it in the context of everyone we've spoken to tonight, from everything they say about walter, he's a great reporter and a great communicator. everybody also describes him as a gentleman and a good man. >> well, he was. and it was this -- it was this love of the news, john, that it just transcended all the other stuff. was walter competitive? yes, he was competitive. and he was competitive with people within the organization. he loved to get a scoop himself. nobody liked it better than walter. but i'll tell you, when you were out there on the beat -- and i covered my first beat in washington was the pentagon, and then i became the white house correspondent, and then went on

to cover the state department, all while walter was in the anchor chair, and later i covered capitol hill. but most of that was when dan rather was there. when you did a good job, walter would call you, and he'd say, i thought you did a good job on that one, my friend. and, you know, he always leapt you know. and i'll tell you, when you got a compliment from walter cronkite, for me, it didn't get much better than that. but he would call the reporters on the beat. what's going on over there? why are they doing this? why are they doing that? and, you know, he could come up with the question that you never thought to ask or something. and that's what made him such a good editor. i mean, he -- he just had a great curiosity about things. and i just loved to work for him. and i mean, you know, when he told me to do something, i found a way to do it. yeah. >> bob schieffer, we want to thank you for your thoughts and reflections on this sad night in america. sad night for our business. thank you for taking -- >> well, we won't see his like

again, john. >> very well put. i'm with you 1,000% on that one. take care, my friend. >> thank you, john. >> you're seeing pictures of walter cronkite with presidents and world leaders. walter cronkite has left us tonight at the age of 92. we'll be back with "larry king live" in jut a moment. please stay with us. >> from dallas, texas, the flash apparently official, the president kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. central standard time, 2:00 eastern standard time, some 38 minutes ago. vice president lyndon johnson has left the hospital in dallas, but we do not know to where he has proceeded. >> larry: is that your toughest moment? >> emotionally, certainly, yeah. it was the only time i really was caught up and thought i was

going to lose it, and i did for a brief second. managed to come back. you know, we -- i'm not ashamed of that in any way. what a su

think will be the most important that you take to the white house? if the communist intention was to take and seize the cities, they came closer here at quay than anywhere else. >> for 65 years, betsy cronkite was at walter's side. she died in march of 2005 at the age of 89. and tonight at the age of 92, walter cronkite, the legendary anchor of the cbs "evening news," has left us. again, walter cronkite was 92. with us now on the phone is one of the men who comes to work every day. i would believe, and i hate to put words in his mouth, hoping

that the american people trust him at least somewhere close to where they trusted the great legendary, walter cronkite, brian williams is, of course, the nbc "nightly news" anchor and the 2009 winner of the walter cronkite journalism award. brian, thank you for being with us. and simply, your thoughts and reflections on this sad evening. >> well, thank you, john, you're very kind. but i'm with you and bb schieffer, that we'll never see his kind again. i'm sitting here thinking that this is a man who broke tradition once as an impartial journalist, and he came back from vietnam and determined with all he could muster that we couldn't win the war. that's when lbj unwittingly wrote walter's epitaph, if i'm lost walter, i've lost middle america, because walter was us. he was a part of us, and he got us, speaking for so-called middle americans. these days you can wake up and there's already a cable network

that agrees with you and you can watch it all day in total agreement with its -- its political bent, and it's hard to conjure up the past, where there were just three choices on television. and at his height, he addressed the nation. he didn't just anchor the "evening news," he addressed the nation. he had a tear in his eye, twice in his career. and, again, fast-forward to today, we've got some hosts on television who cry twice a day easily. and it's just times have changed so, so much. and we -- we loved him as a country, the model was quite different, anchorman talks, americans listen. we turn off the set. that was the end of the conversation. today in e-mail and the internet, the conversation goes on 24/7. he in these later pictures, you know, he's wearing suits that he had handmade in london, and we kind of knew that about him as viewers, and he was broadcasting to a decidedly off-the-rack

nation. but that was okay. he deserved it, because he was uncle walter. >> to watch the pictures, brian, is to go through so many remarkable moments in history, you see him with kissinger and with president kennedy and with senator edward kennedy in a previous photo. right there you see him with brian williams. tell us about your personal relationship with this man. >> i'm talking to you from a house where walter one night walked through the door and -- and came in and had dinner with us. and my daughter at that point was very young, and i said, honey, try to remember this -- this great man was in your home, because he means the world to your dad. walter always said he was 12 years old reading "boys life" when he read about a foreign correspondent and set his mind to becoming one. i was 8 watching him on black-and-white television every night in elmira, new york, and my home, my mother refused to serve dinner until the cnbc

"evening news" was over. and i announced my intention to my family, apparently, at the age of 8, that he was the man i wanted to be. and this was the profession i wanted. and i have lived such a charmed life that i got the chance to explain that to walter and tell him that and make it clear. and just was able to breathe the air he exhaled and know him a little bit, as friends. i went on a pilgrimage as a young man. i wanted to see that newsroom and that studio in new york where the cbs "evening news" originated. and you get close to some of your icons, they can tarnish. walter never did. but i did discover the globe behind him was just kind of a lime green and a wood model of the -- of the earth, and he sat at a mundane white formica wrap-around desk. but to me as a little kid, as a viewer who watched him narrate the cold war, the space program, the vietnam war, it was the

center of the universe from small-town america. >> well, as the little kid who admired him to the big kid who is now an esteemed anchor in his own right, what does it mean to brian williams to be the recipient of the walter cronkite award? >> well, i can't believe it. just as i can't believe earlier tonight i gave an interview to a friend who's writing a college textbook on journalism. i must have talked about walter for 30 minutes. and i hung up that phone and got the call that walter was gone. i'm so fortunate to be the recipient of the last walter cronkite award to which he contributed as a member of the board of arizona state. it's a huge honor. it will be an emotional night this fall when it happens. again, just to have known him, to occupy this same space just means the world. and, of course, for the rest of us now it means upholding what he meant. he hated seeing the pressure

against the ramparts. he hated the encroachment of entertainment on journalism values. and he hated to see opinion seep its way into modern-day journalism, as katie noted. and so his -- his retirement years, he didn't always like what he saw, but he was as curious as a terrier. he read everything he could get his hands on, every day of his life. watched television news constantly. he was quite a guy. >> quite a guy. a plainspoken way to say the remarkable -- say quite the remarkable. that's who see is. brian williams of "nbc nightly news" thank you very much for your insights tonight. you're watching "larry king live," we'll take a quick night. as we thank you brian williams. we have lost a great man, a legend in the country, walter cronkite, dead at the age of 92. more on his life and his legacy, when we continue. >> larry: when you did a broadcast, were you able, can

you honestly say all those years, that you were able to leave you out of it? >> i think so, yes. yes. i really do. i believe that in -- in reporting the news, the personal opinion -- this is something that journeymen reporters, i'm talking about people who have had some time at it, who have been to journalism school, studied the ethics of journalism, so forth, live with. they understand that. they understand that you -- we all have prejudices. but we also understand how to set them aside when we do the job. this would be the same as a doctor who perhaps didn't like a particular patient's attitude and perhaps his looks or his religion or whatnot, but when he opens him up, he does precisely what the profession requires him to do.

began the firing still goes on. >> the man you see there on your screen, the legendary walter cronkite, left us tonight at the age of 92. president barack obama has just issued a statement on the passing of walter cronkite. the president says this -- for decades walter cronkite was the most trusted voice in america. his rich baritone reached millions of living rooms every night. in an industry of icons, walter set the standard by which all others have been judged. he's been there through marches and milestones calmly tell us what we needed to know. but walter was always more than just an anchor. he was someone we could trust to guide us through the most important issues of the day, a

voice of certainty in an uncertain world. he was family. he invited us to believe in him and he never let us down. the country has lost an icon and a dear friend. and he will be truly and he will be truly that's tme pr ted ba it m joininus nows my fr le house correspondent, sam donaldson. sam, just reflect for us on what we have lost tonight. >> well, you know, john, i think walter cronkite's greatest strength was he was a reporter who had the background, d-day coverage, all the war, the second world war, and -- but he was unpretentious. he led the country, as he was the anchor, with the largest television news audience we've ever had in our history, but he didn't act as if he was leading the country. he didn't sit there and say, i am the anchorman, i will tell you how to do it. please follow me. he did it by just being himself and bringing that authenticity

of which you've spoken and your other guests have spoken. and i think that was his greatest, greatest achievement. >> and when you were a young man in the business, sam, is walter cronkite somebody you modeled after? is he someone who even though he was at a competing network was friendly? >> well, there were two people, there was walter cronkite and david brinkley. and there were others, of course, i don't want to minimize the other people. but when i got into the business in the early '60s, 1961, walter cronkite, i worked for a cbs station, the cbs anchor who took over for douglas edwards, began to build the broadcast. huntley/brinkley was still the number one broadcast through, oh, most of the '60s, but cronkite with his great team of reporters, roger mudd at the capitol, later dan rather at the white house, marvin kalb at the state department, daniel shore who covered watergate, they were the horse men that he led in the sense you watched that broadcast because of walter cronkite and because of the people that he

was surrounded with. and into the '70s, of course, no one could touch him. >> and sam, stay with us. we just read president barack obama's statement. i want to read you a statement now from senator john mccain who, of course, was president obama's opponent in the last election, but a man who has a personal history with walter cronkite. here's senator mccain's statement. i'm saddened to learn of the passing of walter cronkite, one of the most influential newsmen of our time. i will never forget or memorable visit together to hanoi on the tenth anniversary of the fall of saigon. sam donaldson, help us understand how important the voice of walter cronkite was at the turning point of american public opinion in that war? >> well, i know that you've already talked about the fact that he went to vietnam, came back, and did a memorable broadcast in which he concluded that he didn't see how we could win. and the great quote from lyndon johnson, if i've lost walter cronkite, i've lost middle america. he was -- however impartial in the sense of having made that conclusion, he continued to report on the cbs "evening news"

on a daily basis about the war, reflecting the johnson policy and then the nixon policy. but he came to hate those kinds of wars. i talked to talked to him in 20 fall shortly before that election. he was for john kerry, no question about it. he made no hiding of it. he was so against the war in iraq. he thought it was a foolish war. he thought it was something we shouldn't fight. in the days he was anchor you would not know that except for the exception with vietnam. by the way, john, we at abc were pleased competitively that the rule at cbs was established that at 65 you had to go. i mean, that was bill paily's rule. frank staten, his great president, let go at 65. walter cronkite had to leave. he was at the height of his

power. if he had stayed and not had that rule, he wanted to stay, for another ten years he would have been number one clearly. >> my friend, i want you to help a generation of americans who might not understand what we are talking about. walter cronkite was the "cbs evening news" anchor from 1962 to 1981. i had the good luck and high honor to meet him simply because of what i do now. i met him when he was in retirement. someone my age or younger might not quite understand. help them. >> the business has changed. in the days when walter cronkite came to prominence, journalism was about bringing information we believed to be factual to the people who were watching hoping they would act on it. there were columnist and editorialist. and that is fine. most people in the business were

not in the business of giving their opinions. walter cronkite and his team of reporters would present factual information. today it is all different there are reporters and anchors who try to present factual information. i think you are one. i watch you on sunday, john. now the whole business has trended toward opinion. i indulge in that myself sometimes. the point is without the facts, without information that's based on checking it, checking your sources, going to the scene, trying to find out what's act l actually correct and not, how could you have an opinion? how could you voice about what you think about the health care plan if you don't know what's in the various proposals of the health care plan. today that is what you hear, people shooting off their mouth. walter cronkite never shot off his life. >> see the pictures, sam

donaldson, my friend, is on the phone. sam, will we ever live in an age where people trust those of us giving the news on television? i have worked alongside you, competed against you, worked alongside you. will people ever trust us as they did in the days of cronkite and your former colleague peter as well? >> i hope they will. all we have to sell is our credibility. certainly in my case you may be, i think you are an exception, we don't sell our handsomeness. we don't sell anything else. when we say something we want people to understand we think we are telling you what is actually there. we may be wrong. we have to correct it tomorrow if we find out we didn't have enough information. or didn't know how to process the informs that is so important in the business. the fear is, i believe in all flowers blooming, the internet,

the bloggers, let everyone have a say, but the fear is that if you watch or listen to people who don't care about the facts, they simply care about their opinions and political agenda and take that as factual, we come on with something that sounds different, how are you going to make the distinction? i think people will sort it out. they will find the websites that will bring you information and not just opinion. they will listen to people who have something to say, they may say it with great passion, but it is based on factual material. at the moment we are going through a transition period. >> sam donaldson, thank you for your thoughts and reflections. walter cronkite a great man we lost as the age of 92. "larry king live" will be back in a moment. to plaque buildup in my arteries. that's why my doctor prescribed crestor.

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♪ healing pain and this life was made easier... ♪ making smiles appear again because of this life. nursing. at johnson & johnson, we salute all those who choose the life... that makes a difference. ♪ you're a nurse ♪ you make a difference a few minutes left on our conversation on "larry king" reflecting on walter cronkite. i want to bring into the kvrngs marlene adler. your boss and your friend. we have heard tributes to walter cronkite the newsman. tell me about walter cronkite the man. >> walter cronkite the man was probably the greatest man who ever lived. i can say that with impunity.

what people didn't know about him was his enormous, his great and joyful sense of humor. he was enormously witty and funny. and i often called him walter mitty because of his love of life, his curiosity about everything and his interest in people and in things that he didn't know. >> joining us is john klein, my boss, the president of cnn. john, your reflections this evening. >> my favorite memory of walter happened after i left cbs and started my own internet company. he said what are you up to these days. in 1999, the internet was a brand new idea more or less. i explained well, we are going to do video newscasts on the internet. he lit up.

marlene talking about his enthusiasm. he said that is wonderful. he said it means a fellow in ghana can get the latest news and talk to someone half the world away. it is such an exciting time. i thought this man lives and breathes news, communication and connecting people. >> marlene, we saw the pictures "man on the moon." that was a moment we marked 40 years ago. what did that moment mean to walter? >> it meant everything to walter. as a matter of fact, i heard you ask before what the greatest story, you asked about walter opining on the greatest story he ever covered. he often said it was that, man's landing on the moon because it was our escape from our environment. and an opportunity to discover a new world. >> marlene, unfortunately, i need to stop right there. we are out of time. i thank you so