♪ hold me in your arms >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn. new york. thanks for joining us tonight, everybody. we'll see you back here on monday. among my guests, suze orman with some great money advice for the new year. "larry king live" starts right now. >> larry: tonight, rudy giuliani. he saw new york through a terror attack that brought america's biggest city to its knees. how does he think president obama is handling the crisis that confronts america today? he's here to tell us. and then, their bodies are their prisons. confined by morbid obesity that could kill them. carnie wilson is still battling. so is the biggest loser winner and a family that weighs almost a ton. telling us how they're fighting the war against weight. next on "larry king live."

>> larry: we begin with the former mayor of new york, rudy giuliani, who sought the republican nomination for the presidency in 2008. lots to talk about. what about -- you're not going to run for governor? you're not going to run for senate. what's next for you? >> what's next for me is continuing to to build my two businesses, giuliani partners and bracewell giuliani. i'm involved with a security consulting company. we're doing security in various parts of the world and a worldwide law firm, bracewell giuliani. i'm very busy, having a great time, and not the time to -- not the time to leave. too many things going on. >> larry: might you consider at some time down the road? >> yeah, sure. you never know. life is -- what i've found is that life changes and politics changes and who knows what's going to happen. but right now i'm involved in so many things. we're getting involved in doing security for the olympics and the world cup in brazil. a bunch of other projects like

that in other parts of the world. i'm involved with my firm in a lot of cases. so i'm very active, and i'm enjoying myself, which is the most important thing in life, right? >> larry: you're not kidding. all right. let's get to things current. the detroit terror suspect indicted today. liz cheney and some other republicans say he should be classified an enemy combatant before a military tribunal. you were a prosecutor. what do you think of trying him in the criminal courts? >> well, i donate thi't think i really a question of trying him so much as the opportunity that was lost. i think the president made a very big mistake in not making him an enemy combatant because the minute you make him a criminal justice defendant you cut off the ability to really question him. in fact, as far as i know -- i don't know the inside story here. he was talking until we went out and got him a lawyer. cut him off from talking. you want to talk to this guy for about a month. you want to keep him an enemy combatant for about a month or two to get all the intelligence he's willing to give you because

that intelligence could be about other possible attacks on the united states. and i really believe the president and attorney general holder really should rethink this. they should really rethink this rigid commitment to the criminal justice system. after all, this guy came from outside the country. what he was planning was an attack on america. this is a is war-like act. he should not be treated like a domestic criminal. >> larry: can you treat someone as a military combatant and then later try them criminally? >> you can do anything you want. the justice department could move him around in all different ways. the reality is in this particular case he should have been treated as an enemy combatant. after all, the president and the attorney general have authorized military tribunals. now, if you're going to have military tribunals and you're going to try some people in a military tribunal, somebody who comes to the united states with a bomb to blow up an airplane in one of our cities should be treated as a wartime criminal, not like a domestic criminal.

and that may be an academic dispute for some people, but here's the difference. if you treat him as a criminal justice defendant, you cannot question him in the same way as you can question if he's an enemy combatant. and we want to know -- i'd like to know everything he knows. i'd like us to have the -- he sounds like somebody that you could crack pretty easily. sounded like he wanted to talk. and we cut it off. >> what did you make of the president's strong statement yesterday about security measures and the title tightening them up? >> i think the president has to make a major correction in the way he's handling terrorism. because i think he's mishandle the situation. first of all, it was ten days too late. this is something you react to immediately, not ten days later, after your vacation. the president of the united states, when there is a potential massive attack on this country, which is what this guy was going to do, should have been on top of this immediately. not ten days later, 11 days

later, 12 days later. we should have had our response ready. after all, this is not an unexpected act. we're in the age of terrorism. we don't need ten days to respond or figure out our response. all that does, i believe, is convince our enemies that we're not ready, that we're pondering too much and thinking too much. so you know, there is -- you want to take some time, but this has been an extraordinarily long time, given the magnitude of this kind of attack. >> larry: president bush, though, took six days once. >> well, first of all -- >> larry: similar incident. >> well, six days is less than ten. and the reality is that president bush was criticized for taking what was it, like 20 or 30 minutes in delaying his response to september 11. and i believe that six days was before the september 11 attack. i think one of the things that i note about the administration, that i believe there's time for them to change this. i mean, president kennedy

famously by his own admission mishandled the bay of pigs early on in his presidency and learned from it. i hope the president has the -- whatever. leadership qualities or whatever to learn from the mistakes that he's made in the way that he's handled this. >> larry: bush -- >> he delayed too long in responding to it. his response has been too tentative. the reality is the very first descriptions by the administration were entirely inaccurate, including the suggestion that everything worked. which doesn't give people a lot of confidence. so maybe from now on there will be a quicker response and a more accurate one. >> larry: bush waited six days on the shoe bomber. >> that's correct. >> larry: yeah. do you think heads should roll here, rudy, or is it too soon to -- >> that's up to the president to decide. i don't know enough of the internal situation here to tell you that people, you know,

deliberately miss things or they mishandle things. it looks like they did. but i can't tell you which ones. and i think the president's got to take the responsibility for his own response, which has been very much delayed and extremely tentative. you know, there's enough time for anybody in yemen who might think that we're going to respond to this to go somewhere else by now. i mean, this has been a very long time to deal with this. >> larry: all right. how about since 9/11 we've been talking about, both administrations, connecting the dots? we still haven't really put it all together in all honesty, right, rudy? >> well, we haven't, no. i mean, it's clear from both the ft. hood attack and this attack that there's something seriously wrong here. and here i would say this is not in any way a criticism of just this administration. this is an enormously complex thing to do. and we haven't gotten it right yet. i mean, we haven't given it

enough priority to the correct situations. now, it may seem easier in retrospect to pick them out. you know, it's easier once somebody is caught with one of these bombs or somebody runs into ft. hood and starts killing people to figure it out. but when you see what was available on both of these people, the guy in ft. hood clearly should have been somebody that should have been thrown out of the army a long time before he ever had access to the base. and this guy should have never been allowed on the airplane. and you wonder what the heck's going on that we can't -- that we can't spot these things. >> larry: former mayor of new york rudy giuliani. we'll talk about sarah palin, the future of his party, and more, ahead. fueling an exhilarating adventure... each entree is bursting with high-quality protein... plus wholesome grain and garden greens. specially formulated to promote hairball control... and healthy weight. friskies indoor wet cat food. feed the senses. now turn treat time into party time...

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>> larry: our guest is mayor rudy giuliani. mayor, a study out of duke university released today says that the threat posed by radicalized muslim americans has been exaggerated. do you favor profiling? >> it depends on how you define profiling. you profile when you make a logical deduction about who the suspect is. if somebody calls me up and tells me that the person who just committed the crime is a 6'2" blond guy, well, then you look for 6'2" blond guys. and if you get 1,000 reports like that, those are the people that you look for. so, of course, you have to profile in the sense that you have to have some criteria for what you're looking for. if, in fact, the major threat

that is occurring comes from misguided, perverted muslims, meaning people who are perverting the religion, then there's nothing wrong with putting more attention on that area than some other area. otherwise, you're wasting a lot of resources and a lot of time. so it depends on whether the profiling is rationally based or it's based on some kind of unfair prejudice. >> larry: could that be a delicate line, though? >> it is a delicate line. but if you take away the ability to use rational analysis for determining where the threats are coming from, you're putting yourself in grave danger. i mean, the reality is if in fact the threat is 90% coming from one area then roughly 90% of your attention should be in that area. that isn't prejudice. that's rational, sensible reaction to a set of facts that leads you in that direction. you couldn't solve any crimes unless you do that. >> larry: the justice department has decided to try the accused

9/11 mastermind khalid shaikh mohammed in new york city. >> terrible -- >> larry: let's listen to what the president said. let's listen to what he said, and then i'll have you comment. >> all right. >> i'm absolutely convinced that khalid shaikh mohammed will be subject to the most exacting demands of justice. the american people insist on it, and my administration will insist on it. >> larry: now, rudy, that's your city. you've tried cases there. they know how to do it in new york. >> they sure do. >> larry: what are you concerned about? >> i think this could be one of the worst mistakes that any president's ever made. >> larry: why? >> well, first of all, he has military tribunals for other terrorists. if you're going to have military tribunals, then they obviously also can provide justice. and if he was -- >> larry: but the crime was committed there. wouldn't you feel that all those people who lost relatives want

that man tried in their city at their territory? >> well, actually, larry, most of those people -- not all. you never have all. most of those people would rather see him tried in a military court. so the president didn't take their wishes into consideration. there's no question it adds a level of threat to new york. not the only kind of threat new york has. a tremendous burden. the mayor is asking for a significant amount of money to have to deal with this. i had to close down new york when we had similar trials when i was the mayor, and it cost me a lot of time, a lot of attention. and the reality is you're also, by using this method, cutting yourself off from getting intelligence like he has done with this situation in detroit. so i think this is one of the big mistakes that he's made. and the reality is, you know, both he and the attorney general have already announced that this guy is guilty, and i think one of them has said he's probably going to get executed. so i mean, i don't know what they're talking about in terms of a fair trial. so -- and i don't know what happens if he gets acquitted. the president of the united states can't be saying to the

world we're going to give him a fair trial but he's going to get convicted. so if we're doing this for public relations and creating these burdens on ourselves, i don't see why we want to do that. this man organized an attack from outside the united states on the united states. it was an attack very much like pearl harbor, and nobody would have ever thought of prosecuting the people who attacked pearl harbor in a civilian court. president lincoln didn't do that, president roosevelt didn't do that, president bush didn't do that. i don't know why president obama wants to do that. >> larry: back with rudy giuliani in 60 seconds. fedex to ship globally, i have to learn all the countries again, so i brought in kyle as a consultant. did you know that we have customers in czechoslovakia? actually, it's called the czech republic. yes, kyle, you're a lifesaver. without kyle, i never would have heard of that new country called buttheadistan. shh. [ male announcer ] we understand.

you want to grow internationally. fedex serves over 220 countries and territories. you want to grow internationally. host: could switching to geico 15% or more on car insurance? host: does charlie daniels play a mean fiddle? ♪ fiddle music charlie:hat's how you do it son. vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. >> larry: back with rudy giuliani. the president is fighting two wars, trying to keep the country safe at home. what kind of message does it send when the former vice president openly says that he is not seriously fighting the war? do you think it's a good idea what dick cheney did? >> you know, larry, nobody was really concerned about that when

everyone criticized president bush day in and day out, including democrats calling him all kinds of names when he was trying to prosecute the war in iraq. and the reality is that's just part of the first amendment, part of debate. president cheney -- vice president cheney is entitled to his view. i share some of them. i don't share all of them. my hope is -- and i really mean this. i hope that this administration does a midcourse correction much like president clinton did, which i always thought showed essentially president clinton's practicality in terms of being president. i think he's gone way too far to the left, president obama. president clinton had some of those problems early in his administration, he made a midcourse correction and then accomplished a lot of good things. welfare reform, other things like that, criminal justice reform. i hope president obama is in a learning process and we see a change for the good of the

country. forget partisan politics. i'd like to see him reverse his decision on the trial in new york. and i'd like to see him treat these people who are trying to attack this country as enemy combatants so that we can get the maximum amount of information out of them. if he made corrections like that, i think that would be -- would show great leadership. >> larry: you're in the security business. what do you make of the newark airport, right next door to you? the breach last sunday. we now learn the cameras were running but they weren't recording. the tsa takes full responsibility. how do they let that happen? >> you know, these things happen, and they shouldn't happen. and we need a lot more concentration on it. and you know, i think maybe that one of the good things that can come out of the situation that just happened in detroit, which thank god didn't involve the loss of life, is this can act as a wake-up call for us. we've become too lackadaisical since september 11th. the threat to this country is just as great now as it was then. september 11 is not part of our history yet.

it's still part of our present. the same forces that wanted to attack us then, ideological misperceptions that were present then are present now. and we have got to invest a lot of our time and effort in making ourselves secure. and i think maybe we've become a little too lackadaisical, which may account for not connecting some of the dots, some of these mistakes that are occurring. >> larry: when we come back, we'll ask rudy giuliani about, guess what? politics. don't be shocked. don't go away. we'll be right back.

>> larry: let's get into some politics with rudy giuliani, the former mayor of new york. what do you make of chris dodd bowing out today?

>> well, i guess he's -- it sounds to me like he's doing that probably for the good of the party since they think they have a stronger candidate. of course, i hope that this gives us an opportunity, meaning the republicans, to pick up a seat in connecticut. i think the opportunity's out there for republicans in this election year are pretty darn good. you see all these democrats resigning, opening up seats. an open seat is always easier to take than an incumbent seat. so who knows what it's going to be like in november, but right now, as a republican, i'm feeling pretty good about the pickups that we can make this year. >> larry: and byron dorgan also will not run. >> yeah, there's another one. i think that may be an example of the president having pushed the agenda a little too far to the left, which is what i was saying before. and we'll have to see if the president makes a correction or not. because he's putting a lot of these seats -- it seems to me he's putting them in jeopardy, particularly in the house, where you have a lot of democrats sitting in districts that were

republican districts up until, you know, the last election or the one before that. >> larry: all right. now your own party. is sarah palin viable? >> sure. >> larry: is she the face of your party now? >> well, gosh, who knows three years before a presidential election who the face of our party is? sarah palin is extremely popular, she's extremely articulate, she's somebody who has run for vice president and she has the right to make her case to the republican party, which will all happen after 2010. but she certainly generates an enormous amount of enthusiasm. larry, i took her to a baseball game last year. now it's last year. judith and i took her to a baseball game at yankee stadium in the bronx, which you know is democratic territory, and she got an absolutely great response. everybody wanted to take a -- >> larry: really? >> everybody, even the democrats wanted to take pictures with her. >> larry: that's a good sign. >> yeah. >> larry: there's a "new york times" report today that democrat harold ford, who has

moved to new york, is maybe going to run in the primary against the senator who replaced hillary clinton. we know that you can come into new york and win. hillary clinton, robert kennedy and others. can harold ford be a viable new york candidate? >> i know harold. and see him quite a bit, different things. yeah, you know, new york is a place where we have a history like that. if we were talking about some other state, i would say that's a tough -- that's a tough thing to do. that's a tough thing to come in and at least immediately run for the senate. you can't run for governor in new york. you have to have a five-year residency. i guess in new york anything in possible. >> larry: why didn't you run for governor? >> i wasn't -- i didn't want to leave my business and law firm right now. i took a lot of time off to run for president, and a lot of things got disorganized. i've put them back together. we're in the middle of and on the verge of doing a lot of exciting things like that thing in brazil.

my firm has grown. i started the new york office of bracewell giuliani, you know, four years ago. it's gone from three lawyers to 70. we're continuing to grow. so this wasn't the right time to do it. it creates a tremendous amount of disruption in your business life. and i guess, you know, i was enthusiastic about what i was doing. but that doesn't mean i'm not tremendously interested, i'm not going to help republicans to the extent that they want my help, and that i'm not going to be involved in all these issues because they're part of me. >> larry: republicans are constantly accused by the other side of being only negative. so tell me something you like about the president. >> well, i like the fact that he dealt with afghanistan in the right way. i think that he had a tough choice to make. i did think he took a little too long in making it, but that may be his decision style. but i support his realization and his acting on his campaign promise to make afghanistan a priority. i respect him as a leader.

i think he's got an enormous ability to communicate. i wish he would use it for purposes that i agree with more. i hope -- and this i don't know about him because i don't know barack obama personally. i don't know the balance between ideology and practicality. i worked for ronald reagan, and ronald reagan is often described as highly ideological, very right wing. ronald reagan was one of the most practical people i ever met and had an understanding that if you can get half a loaf it's better than getting nothing. if you can get 60% or 70%, you probably won. you rarely get 100%. i hope barack obama has that same -- that same capacity to readjust himself in having gone what i regard as too far to the left. >> larry: one other thing, rudy, how do you regard your old foe senator clinton as secretary of state? >> well, i admire the job she's

doing. it's a very difficult job. secretary -- particularly for somebody who's been -- who's run for president, run against barack obama. i think she's doing a, from what i can tell -- now, i don't know the internals of what goes on there. i think she's doing a good job. and i've disagreed with hillary clinton quite often, but i have tremendous respect for her. >> larry: always good to see you, rudy. we'll see you in new york. >> thank you. thank you, larry. >> larry: mayor rudy giuliani, the former mayor of new york city.

hello, i'm randi kaye. here's what's happening right now. a lot of rattled nerves but no serious injuries or damage reported from a 6.5 quake off the coast of northern california. it struck just about three hours ago. residents in eureka and ferndale say they felt a rolling motion that knocked down pictures and cracked walls. most of the damage appears to be power outages and broken water and gas pipes. senate majority leader harry reid is apologizing for comments he made during the 2008 presidential campaign. a new book called "game change" quotes reid as saying "then senator barack obama could win the white house because he was light-skinned and had no negro

dialect unless he wanted to have one." president obama says he accepts reid's apology. cnn's dana bash reports reid is reaching out to civil rights leaders and african-american members of congress, including julian bond and representatives jim clyburn and barbara lee. in vermont three snowmobiles crashed through thin ice, killing three people -- a man, his 24-year-old daughter, and his 3-year-old granddaughter. the snowmobiles were carrying a total of six people on lake dunmore when the ice gave way just before noon. they were about 100 yards from shore. everyone went into the water except for a 4-year-old child, who was pushed to safety. he reportedly ran for help. two of the five people pulled out from the frigid lake did survive. those are the headlines at this hour. keeping you informed, cnn, the most trusted name in news. >> larry: welcome back. carnie wilson's here, singer, entertainer, and host of "the newlywed game" on gsn and star of the new reality series, "carnie wilson unstapled."

which by the way premieres january 14th on gsn. she underwent gastric bypass surgery in 1999. jillian mike slz gak. she's a health and wellness expert and trainer on nbc's "the biggest loser." she's the author, by the way, of "master your metabolism." let's begin by taking aa look at a clip from arnie's new reality show, "carnie unstapled." >> i don't know about this one. with my very pale calves. >> let me try something. >> holy [ bleep ]. i can't breathe. >> this will help give you -- >> the waist i don't have? >> the waist. >> do i feel like i'm going to lift off the ground? >> no, no. we can tweak the sleeves a little. >> god. >> let me give you something else. >> do you like it? because i've lost perspective. whoa! i feel like i'm about to go to the prom. look at these veins coming out. oh, my god, i hate mirrors. >> larry: carnie, why has weight been such a problem for you? >> oh, gosh.

>> larry: looking back, why? >> you know, it's been my achilles heel for my -- it's my whole life story. >> larry: as a kid? >> oh, yeah. 4 years old, yeah. you know, i think that it will probably always be a struggle. i think that i've been up, i've been down, and it might be that way forever. i crave and strive for balance. >> larry: how up have you been? >> i have been up to over 300 pounds. >> larry: how down? >> i've been low as 148. 146. >> larry: don't you miss the 148? >> yeah. i mean, i miss maybe wearing a size 6. but you know, what i don't miss is having, you know, many co-morbidities that are associated with obesity. i was very, very sick at 300 pound. i had sleep apnea. i had high blood pressure, high cholesterol. i was pre di bet diabetic. my liver was inflamed.

i was in really, really bad -- poor health at 31. i have none of those co-morbidities now. i'm grateful. >> larry: jillian, 2/3 of adults, 67% are overweight or obese. with all the emphasis on the show, your show, the rest, why? >> i actually believe it's a matter of economics. and of course people that are prone to that type of self-destruction. you know, we all have dysfunction, and i think it manifests in different ways for many people. some of us -- >> larry: 67%? he. >> i really do believe that's a matter of economics. i think it is because americans don't realize what they're eating. now with the dollar menu. everybody is struggling to make ends meet and when you can get a burger and fries for a buck, i think it's difficult. i think that's a huge part of the problem. >> i agree. i don't think -- i wouldn't say that obesity is a disfunction. obesity is a disease. and there's definitely people who are predisposed to becoming -- >> larry: childhood obesity. is that a disease if a kid wants french fries?

>> i think there's a huge genetic component here. and that if there's a child that has the obesity gene, they have discovered that there is, that if they eat that stuff by the time they're 12, 13, 14 they will be more obese than other people. >> larry: what was gastric bypass surgery like? >> it was life-saving. it was life-saving. >> larry: how many pounds did it take off? >> it took off 150 and i've maintained -- >> larry: in one operation? >> well no, no, no, no. it was over the course of a year and a half with, you know, obviously much less calories taken in mixed with exercise and a definite change of lifestyle. i've changed my lifestyle. i don't eat fried foods anymore. sugar is hard. but i could snack all day long and the weight can creep up. it's not an answer or a cure for morbid obesity. but it's definitely a cure for type 2 diabetes. and it took away all my co-morbidities. but i strive for health. i'm not perfect. my message is that i'm not perfect. i strive for balance and to be in good health. >> larry: exercise is just one of the instruments.

right? >> absolutely. >> larry: i mean, it's your baby, but it's one of the instruments. >> you can eat your way through any amount of exercise. a piece of pizza is 500 calories, and so is an hour on the treadmill. >> right. that's true. calories in, calories out. >> without a doubt. exercise accelerates weight loss. it in my opinion is number one form of preventative medicine. you can't -- you shouldn't skip exercise. but it is not the sole solution. it is a combination of diet, exercise and i think doing the emotional work, taking care of yourself internally as well. >> larry: a man who lost more than half his body weight and gained a brand new life is here. the latest "biggest loser" winner is next. choose any car? you cannot be serious! okay. seriously, you choose. go national. go like a pro.

>> larry: carnie and jillian remain. and danny cahill joins us. the winner of the eighth season of nbc's "the biggest loser." now, get this. danny lost 239 pounds. more than half his body weight. he lost 56% of the body weight. let's take a look at how he did it. >> danny, your starting weight is 430 pounds. >> this thing has stolen my life. but i want my life back. >> look at that word, believe, okay? right there. >> do it! press. one more. >> let's go. pop it. >> what?

>> danny c. is a machine. >> i'm not afraid to believe that i can do what i need to do. >> you did it! >> larry: maybe the greatest "biggest loser" ever. when you look at that now and you look at your 460-pound self, what do you think? >> i remember what it felt like, and it hurt. it did hurt. i was terribly unhealthy. i had high blood pressure, and it -- >> larry: how did it get to that? >> you know, it was a combination of not being mentally right. you know, i'd put away my dreams, my aspirations for something else. so i stopped making myself a priority. and then it was also, you know, just eating the wrong things and not exercising. it was exactly the opposite of what jillian said. you know, it's a combination of diet and exercise, and mine was neither. >> larry: do you fear a reversal of form? >> you know, it's -- >> larry: when you see carnie's

talked about up and downs all her life -- >> i've been there too. this season was called "second chance." i was overweight and obese until i was 15. and then i lost about 80 -- 75 to 8 0 pounds over a summer because i just put my mind to it and said i'm tired of this. and i kept it off for eight, almost nine years. >> larry: then what happened? >> then it started when i got engaged and i got comfortable. you know how you get comfortable and you just kind of -- you know, i got engaged. so i'm going to quit running now. i don't have time to run right now. you know, i started putting away the exercise and i got comfortable and it didn't stop from there. it just escalated. >> larry: jillian, are you comfortable he's set now? >> i'm actually very comfortable. danny had a psychological shift really early on in the show and we had a moment about it and i realize that he grasped -- he was capable of more. and he believed he was worth it. >> larry: carnie, when you look at something like that, what do you think? you look fantastic. >> i relate. it's touching, it's moving, it's inspiring.

and you know, i've been there. and i know what it feels like to be completely depleted of all of yourself and your spirit just at -- just crashing. going to feeling that inspiration and that deserving of being in better health. >> larry: what about the show did it for you? >> you know, what the show was i think was my accountability. you know, i had reached a point where i was going to do something about it, but -- and i had done things about it a few years before, but i would always retract and stop. and it was lack of accountability. i think the show, what the show gave me was the accountability. hey, you're out there. you know, you've got to do it now. you need to be accountable to someone. i was accountable for the whole country. >> larry: what do you do for a living? >> i was a land surveyor and musician. >> larry: now? >> now i'm doing music and i'm going to do inspirational, motivational speaking.

some other things. >> larry: do you win money on that show? do i what? >> larry: do you win money on that show? >> yes, i won $250,000. >> wow. >> larry: that's a good incentive. >> that was very good incentive. that's not why i went though. i went to get my life back. when she's talking about i had the switch, that's when i pictured myself, i can be the biggest loser. >> larry: we're going to meet a family in a minute in north carolina. everybody in the family is over 300 pounds. can you fathom that? that could happen? >> oh, absolutely. >> it's genetic. >> it's the reality -- >> it is -- people are genetically predisposed but you can control your genetics. i mean, he -- >> larry: was your father overweight? >> genetics are dynamic. they're not static. >> my father was not overweight. my mother was overweight and, you know, it does tend to run in the family. you can do something about it. you can do something about it. you've got to get this right. >> larry: the show proves it. all right. we'll take a break. and a family that's packed on the pounds, wants to put aw stop to it all. they want to end eating and stop doing the wrong things.

mom, dad, brother and sister in 60 seconds.

we're joined by a family now in indian trail, north carolina that loves each other and losing weight together. norris coles, the dad, stars in tlc's "one big happy family." along with his daughter, amber, his son, shayne and mom, tameka. each weighs more than 300 pounds. they've decided to get fit as a family without the help of trainers or nutritionists. here is a clip from "one big happy family." >> that does kind of make me feel guilty that these are habits they learned early on. norris and i, i think we both were to blame. we got to make some changes. >> i think we should all try together. i need the family's help. >> did you hear that? >> i heard it. >> okay.

thank you, doctor. >> no problem, i'll see you in october. >> without his family's cooperation, shayne will fail. shayne will develop diabetes within two years unless this entire family works together. but as you look at shayne's mom and look at shayne's dad, it's pretty clear to me that the entire family's at risk. >> larry: tameka coles. how did this start? you weigh -- you're 36 years old. you weigh 380 pounds. how did this start? >> well, you mean as far as the weight gain? >> larry: yeah. >> basically, larry, food is really good. i mean, food is our comfort. it has been forever. and we've always just loved to eat and never really exercise. so the pounds just started adding up and packing on. >> larry: didn't you realize, though, how it would affect your

children? >> you know, i've never -- i never really looked at it as me hurting them. i never really looked it as them really being at risk until really we went to the doctor's office that day and god basically spoke to my husband, me, and my kids through the doctors and that's when the red light went off and said, okay. there's a problem here and we need to do something about it. >> larry: we're going to take a break and find out what you're doing and get the thoughts of our panel here in los angeles as well. don't go away.

back to the coles family in north carolina. norris, as the father you weigh

340 pounds. as a family what do you try to do together to get rid of this problem? >> well, as a family, larry, what we try to do is we try to stay focused on basically losing weight. and the way that we're doing it is through a buddy system. we're going to the gym. we're watching what we eat. we're eating good food. i mean, we're eating food that's organic. all this stuff is new to us. but it's working. i mean, we're losing drastic weight. our confidence is up. shane's diabetes is down. my high blood pressure is down. my cholesterol is down. it's working. >> amber, did you want to go -- >> keep to what i'm doing. >> larry: amber, did you want to go on "the biggest loser"? >> no. i never wanted to go on "the biggest loser." >> who could blame her?

>> larry: could they have gone on as a family, jillian? >> on "the biggest loser" the most we've had are couples so far. parents and kids, brothers and sisters. i'm going to be dealing with families on my new show, "losing it." so hopefully, you know, i could work with a family like that. but it doesn't seem like they need me. they seem like they're doing amazing on their own. and that's really inspirational. >> shane, you're only 14. have you -- is it hard for you not to eat those oreo cookies? >> actually, at first it was hard for me not to eat oreo cookies. but i realized that it was something that i had to do, something i had to change so i could better myself. i mean, i don't want to die early just for oreos. >> larry: what do you make -- what do you make of this, carnie? >> you know, i feel for them. i wish them all the best of luck. i think the buddy system is incredible. they can really inspire each

other. i think the main thing they should be concerned with is their health, like he was saying. that was a brilliant comment. because it is a realization. and they have to do it for themselves individually. they can't do it for everybody else. especially because they're on a tv show. and i know whahat that's like t be under a microscope and have the world watch you lose weight or gain weight. >> larry: danny, what do you make as you look at this family? >> you know, it brings back a lot of memories because what inspired me to even get sxwup get moving and get on "the biggest loser" was my daughter. you know, my wife became overweight, my daughter came in and said daddy, i want a belly just like yours, and i caught her closet eating like i used to when i was young. and so the fact that they're all going to be accountable to each other using the buddy system, i mean, it works because my wife lost 70 pounds while i was on the show. >> larry: tameka, the mother of all of this, are you confident that you and the family are going to lick this? >> oh, absolutely. i'm very confident. and they are very confident. and it's going to happen. whether we're on a show or not,

it's going to happen. >> larry: all right. we'll take a break. it's time for home inspection. we're going to look at what's in the coles' refrigerator. after the break. it's calcium citrate, so it can be absorbed with or without food. also available in small, easy-to-swallow petites. citracal. sfx: can shaking op when you own a business, nothing beats the sound of saving time and money. and it's never been simpler to save - with regions lifegreen checkg and savings for business. you'll enjoy free online and mobile banking. and with regions quick deposit, you can deposit checks right from your desk. drop by and get started with a business financial review through a regions cashcor analysis. it's how business gets into the rhym of saving.

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>> larry: carnie wilson, jillian michaels and danny cahill are with us in l.a., and in indian trail, north carolina the coles family. norris, tameka, amber, and shayne. and tameka is now at the family refrigerator. what's in there? what are you going to show us? >> okay, larry. i'm glad you want to look and see what's in here. well, now we have a lot of fruits and vegetables. especially like cucumbers. we really like cucumbers. so we eat a lot of these. we have fresh green beans.

i like to cook fresh foods. and everybody knows norris's favorite, spinach. so now we have spinach in here as well. and we don't use regular cheese anymore. everything is kind of fat-free or low-fat. and apples. and we don't use regular like miracle whip. it's like we use mayo with olive oil now. that's what we have in here. >> larry: wow. >> pineapples, of course. >> larry: what's in the freezer? >> if you -- in the freezer we've got a lot of veggies, whole bunch of veggies. we do have -- we have cheat days. we don't like to go out because people are always stalking us. but we do have things when we cheat. these little hot dog things. they're the bomb. >> larry: but no ice cream? >> ground turkey. no ice cream. we had to give up ice cream because they love ice cream too much. can't have ice cream. >> larry: well, that's

impressive, is it not, carnie? >> it is. it is. i think that they're on the right track. i mean, i know for me that when i have brown rice, lots of veggies, fresh organic food that i make taste really great that i'm happy to be eating that food. if it doesn't taste great, then i'm not happy. and i don't like to feel deprived. i don't have to be deprived. so that's great. >> larry: what did you do, danny, when you were hungry? you're on this big diet, but you're hungry. >> you know, when i was hungry -- you know, i tended -- what i did was i started to eat more meals throughout the day and a little less calories. >> larry: smaller meals. >> yeah, smaller meals. >> larry: what do you do, norris, when you're hungry? >> when i'm hungry, what i do, i just eat a boca burger or i might eat something fresh like a grapefruit or papaya. but you know, it's a whole different transition in my brain. so it's working good and i'm sticking with it, and i'm getting good results. that's what i do when i'm hungry. >> larry: amber, are you all under doctor's care?

>> yes, we're all under doctor's care, and it's very important. before we started any of this, we all consulted a doctor. >> larry: shayne, do your classmates make fun of you? >> no. my classmates do not make fun of me. my classmates love me as far as i know. and they're proud of me for making this lifestyle change. >> larry: well, you're very lovable. >> i love him. >> larry: what about exercise, jillian? should they be exercising? >> it seems like you guys are exercising. i mean, the trick with exercise is that it's going to accelerate your weight loss. so danny lost 100 pounds in what, eight -- seven weeks? >> nine weeks. >> that's exercise. that's totally unrealistic. but the reason it was so fast is because he was exercising so much. i have to advocate exercise without a doubt. >> larry: well, there they are exercising. now, carnie, they put a lot of pressure on themselves by going on television. don't they? because it could be embarrassing. >> right. >> larry: if they gain weight. >> if they don't lose it or they gain.

all i can say is they've just got to keep in mind that they're doing it for themselves. they're doing it as a family. and they're going to inspire people. you know, that's why i had a gastric bypass on the internet. i wanted people to know that that is an option. medical intervention is an option. it works for some people. >> larry: should they think of gastric bypass? >> you know, i have to say a very staggering statistic, and that is that only 1% of people that lose over 100 pounds will keep that weight off. and medical intervention is sometimes necessary. >> larry: that's hardly encouraging. >> you know what? i encourage -- i applaud them. i encourage them for doing it the right way, which is exercise and diet. however, i did that along with a gastric bypass. that worked for me. >> larry: hey, guys, the best of luck to you. norris coles, tameka coles, amber coles, shayne coles. we're going to follow you. in six months i'm going into to refrigerator again. there better not be frozen pizza. thank you, carnie wilson