>> that's all for us. thanks for joining us. "larry king live" starts right now. tonight a prime time exclusive michelle obama is here. on the day america's first lady con fronts a crisis that could be killing our kids. obesity. >> we've got to provide parents with the information and the tools that they need to make better decisions, but we also need to significantly change the quality of food that kids are getting at school. >> larry: she'll let us in on what the cameras don't see. >> i try to make our home sort

of a stress-free, work-free zone. >> larry: the toll the presidency is taking on her husband and how she feels privately with criticism of him. >> democracy is about critique, and the president is not immune to criticism. >> larry: and why she worries about their two daughters. and then big cosby has got a message about life and maybe his own death. and turning our children from food addicts into fitness fanatics. next on "larry king live." it is a delight to welcome back to "larry king live" a return visit. now she is the first lady of the united states, michelle obama. last time she was -- you weren't even a candidate. >> i wasn't. i was just hanging out. >> larry: do you like the job?

>> i do. >> it doesn't pay you. >> it doesn't, but it pays in so many other ways than money. when you like people, having a job where you get to interact with folks on a day-to-day basis and you get to do things that make a difference, i still control my own schedule to some extent. so it's not a bad gig. >> larry: the childhood obesity thing. why is this your priority? >> well, you know, in the first year, i focused on a number of things that i will continue to focus on. support for military spouses, national service, which is something i always cared about, but as you know, this year i planted this wonderful garden, the first ever white house garden, and that was to begin the conversation about nutrition. and we engaged local kids in the d.c. area in that effort. and got a feel for how they would react to a more substantive conversation. but on a personal note, you

know, i come to this issue as a mother. before coming to the white house, especially when my husband was on the campaign trail, we were living the lives of average families. way too busy, rushing . >> larry: fast food. >> -- fast food, probably watching too much tv. i worked with a pastor in the african-american community, and he was tracking bmi. he saw a little up tick in the kids' bmi, and he kind of pulled me aside. >> larry: bmi meaning? >> body mass index, which is a measure of where people fall on the weight scale. it's one of the first indicators. >> larry: it was getting alarming? >> it was getting to the point where he raised a red flag, and he probably was more cautious than most people because of what he had been seeing in his own practice. >> larry: how did you react? >> i was shocked at first because i thought i was doing

what i was supposed to do. and i hadn't noticed any changes in my kids, so it was a little bit shocking and a little disorienting because i wasn't sure what to do. but i went home, and it was kind of a wake-up call, and we made some changes, even with busy schedules. they were minor changes, but i thought we have to do something. >> larry: did the kids go for it? they went to broccoli from french fries? >> well, it was portion sizes. it was a few more cooked meals. you know, we had no absolutes except no desserts during the week. took sugary drinks out of the lunch boxes and put in water, had more milk, had more fresh-squeezed juices, things like that. we talked about processed foods, so they caught on pretty quickly once they understood the point of it all. and they became stricter monitors in our household than either me or their father. >> larry: so you put the kids in the army.

>> that's right. >> larry: there are some -- not many -- who criticize you for personalizing it, discussing it about your children. >> that's the only way i can describe it because that's how i relate to it. and i know if i struggled with it in that way, you know, a person with means and information and access to, you know, everything that i needed, then what on earth is going on in families and communities around the nation where people don't have the information? so i thought it was important to share not just my story but the success. and the point is that small changes made a difference. it wasn't a whole scale upheaval of our lives to see the outcomes. >> i don't want to get too statistical. we're going to cover other bases. but according to the new england journal of medicine, the number of overweight children ages 6 to 16 has tripled in the last 40

years. 25 million kids are considered obese or overweight. that is a crisis. >> one in three kids and it's one in two for african-american and hispanic communities. >> larry: does that lead to heart disease, diabetes? >> we're already talking to the american community of pediatrics, and they're seeing high cholesterol in young kids, high blood pressure, asthma that is preventable and type ii diabetes, which is the most sort of troubling because type ii diabetes was only an adult disease. and now it's becoming more prevalent among kids. so, you know, one thing that i try to emphasize is that this isn't about weight and it's not about looks. it's not a physical issue, it's really about the quality of life of our kids. because, you know, teachers are seeing, you know, the challenges

that kids with weight issues are having. not being able to participate in gym, feeling a little more sluggish. this is a quality of life issue. and it's not about weight and diet, it's about fitness and it's about overall nutrition that we really have to be emphasizing here. >> do you really think you can make headway? you've got a task force formed today, right? >> absolutely. the president signed the first ever federal memorandum that establishes a federal task force on childhood obesity. so do i think i can make some inroads? i think that working with the rest of the country, with parents and business leaders and industry leaders and entertainment and sports leagues and parents and doctors and everyone, yeah, i think that we can make a difference. >> larry: how do you handle it -- kids don't want to be

told, you're overweight, certainly not told that they're fat. >> absolutely. >> larry: isn't that a delicate balance? >> with my kids again, all i have is my story, i never talked about weight. i never skugdiscussed what the doctor said. i said, you know what, we need to change the way that we eat. let's discuss how we can do it. so you can have these conversation without having the conversation, and i think it's very important that we don't unintentionally make kids more paranoid or more self-conscious. at the same time, i think it's not useful to point fingers at anyone, at kids or parents. >> larry: do you still drop in to burger king or mcdonald's? >> we don't do as much fast food, but we do burgers and fries. >> larry: you can't eliminate it. >> and you don't have to. that's the point here. it's really balanced. what i tell my kids is, if they're eating right 70% of the time, then when they go to a birthday party or it's saturday

and they're out, they can stop for ice cream, and somebody wants to grab pizza, or they have pancakes with chocolate chips in it, it's not a big deal. that's how kids live. they wouldn't go for it if it were absolutes, and i think that's one of the messages for parents. >> larry: but not daily. >> not daily and not every meal every day, you know. >> larry: according to cnn fat check, the cost of obesity is as high as $147 billion annually. we'll be back with the first lady right after this. a guy named his own price, wants a room tonight for 65 dollars. we don't go lower than 130. big deal, persuade him. is it wise to allow a perishable item to spoil? he asked, why leave a room empty? the additional revenue easily covers operating costs. 65 dollars is better than no dollars. okay. $65 for tonight.

you can't argue with a big deal.

>> by the way, i want to acknowledge our first lady, michelle obama, who this year is creating a national movement to tackle the epidemic of childhood obesity and make kids healthier. thank you, michelle. [ applause ] >> larry: nice. >> it's a nice shout-out. >> larry: we have an ireport question for you sent in by a viewer. let's watch. >> how could a healthy life be provided by just food cost? >> that's one of the components of the let's move initiative, which is the nationwide initiative that we kicked off today. we got to provide parents with the information and tools they need to make better decisions, but we also need to

significantly change the quality of food that kids are getting at school. because more than 30 million kids get half of their daily calories from the foods that they eat in school, and we don't want to set up a situation where we've got parents doing all the right things at home and all that stuff gets undone. so the child nutrition reauthorization act is in line for discussion this year. we're proposing a $10 billion increase, that's $1 billion a year for ten years, to really implement this legislation. and we need to focus on the quality of schools in the lunches. i mean, it's one thing when you pack your own lunch, but so many families rely on what they're being served in schools. >> larry: you would think schools would be hip to things. >> and many are. the department of agriculture has an initiative called the u.s. healthy schools challenge where it recognizes schools that are already making these

differences. and there are hundreds of them. >> larry: i want to touch some other bases and come back to this. the loss of ted kennedy. you went to the funeral, didn't you? >> yes, yes. >> larry: then the loss of the senancy. how has that affected your husband and the whole question of this health bill. >> we were all sad ddenned by t loss of ted kennedy. he was the grandfather of so much important legislation, and sitting in the funeral reminded us of the extent of the impact he's had on the lives of all of us, not just here in this country but around the world. so it was a deep loss, but, you know, we have an opportunity to continue that legacy, and we have to. >> larry: you think you will? you think you'll get a health bill? >> i don't think we have a choice. when we look at these statistics, we're spending billions of dollars on p

preventable diseases, and new health care legislation could go a long way toward prevention, first and foremost. people have to have a pediatrician in order to get good information from their pediatricians. people have to be able to take their kids to well doctor visits to have all this information tracked. so we have to get this done. and i'm hopeful that congress will come together, that the american people will recognize that doing nothing is absolutely not an option and that we'll fulfill this less agencgacy. so we have to stay vigilant and get something done. >> larry: does he get down easily, your husband? >> he doesn't get down easily, he gets very focused, very serious when he's facing a challenge. but the thing about barack is he stays humble and keeps things in perspective. the challenges that he faces or has faced over this year are not what irk him.

it's really, you know, our inability to solve basic fundamental problems facing the american people, improving the jobless rate, getting people back to work, ensuring that our kids are getting the absolute best education in the world that prepares them for the future, that we have health care, that we're really pushing to fix our environment so that we have a world to live in. when he doesn't get those problems solved, that's what irks him. >> larry: more with the first lady of the united states -- you like hearing that, huh? >> it's okay. >> larry: sarah palin is one of the president's biggest critics. we'll ask michelle obama about that next.

raets>> larry: what's your read on the former governor of alaska? >> i don't have a read. i try not to set or make opinions about people i haven't had any substantive interactions with. i know what you see on tv. >> larry: does it hurt you when she criticizes your husband on tv? >> democracy is about critique, and the president is not immune to criticism. i think he's doing a phenomenal job. we have to think of where we were when he took office. we were on the brink of a depression, worse than anyone really ever imagined and i don't think the country really knew how bad things were. and because of some important steps, quick thinking, smart strategic thinking, we're not even talking about that. we've got to do more on jobs, we need to get health care done. there is a lot of work to be done, and we need to do more to

improve the civility in washington, and i think if there is a disappointment, barack wishes we had come further in that effort. >> larry: is he a phenomena to you? >> again, i think it's wonderful to have strong female voices out there, but i don't know her. >> larry: what do you make of the tea party? >> you know, i'm focused on what's in front of me. and right now that's ending childhood obesity in a generation. getting this done. and i think when you're staying focused on solutions, trying to bring folks together, governors, mayors and doctors and educators and athletes together around an issue that has no political party, you know, has no base in liberalism or conservatism but

it's about our kids and making sure they have the best life possible, then it's hard for me to get distracted. >> larry: but you have to think about other things. you read the papers, you watch the television, you're very smart and very aware. >> i'm very smart but i try to limit my intake to things that i can control. because in this position, you know, it is my responsibility to work with all americans, and i want to stay focused on the work rather than, you know. >> larry: other things. >> other things. >> larry: does he counsel with you? >> we talk all the time. we talk like we've done our entire marriage. but it's more everyday talk. i try to make my home a stress-free, work-free zone for him because it's necessary when he works above the store. it's important that when he or i or our kids walk in the door,

the residence, that there is a release. so our attention and conversations still focus mainly around our girls and our family, our plans for the future. we do talk about health care. i want to know how his day is going. i'm a citizen concerned about this country, too, so checking the temperature is important for me. we talked about this initiative, and that's one of the reasons why he signed this memorandum, because he knows the importance of tackling childhood obesity. >> larry: how does haiti strike you? what about these ten americans that may have taken children? we don't know, of course, what the answer is. do you expect america to be involved in this? >> i think, first of all, the crisis in haiti is devastating. for a country -- for any country, for that matter, to experience an earthquake of that magnitude, it's going to take

decades for them to recover. with regard to kids, the kids there, i think that as the state department and the u.n. have said and expert agencies on the ground have said, you know, we want to make sure that we keep families together. and in a crisis like that, kids get separated, families wind up putting their kids in orphanages with the thought that it's temporary until they can get back on their feet, and one of the things that we don't want to do is unintentionally separate families from their kids. none of us wants that. so i think, you know, as folks here said, you know, we've got to take it slow, get the kids out who we know have homes to go to and make sure that we're very careful about getting the kids who we don't have clear status on out. >> larry: do you have a sense that haiti will handle this well? >> i think haiti as well as the non-profit organizations on the

ground. right now the haitian government needs support from all sectors. there will come a point when they will get settled and things will start building but right now haiti needs our help on all these issues. >> larry: we'll be back with michelle obama after this.

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>> larry: we're back with michelle obama, the first lady of the united states. do poll numbers bother you? you're in that interesting influx of yours are up and your husband's are down. does that affect dinner? >> no, it doesn't. that was a good one. good one. no, i mean, when you've been on this path in a campaign, i mean, you see how poll numbers, they go up, they go down. sometimes you can pinpoint why, sometimes you can't. i am very flattered that the american people today feel like i'm doing a good job in representing them, and my husband is proud of that as well, so it doesn't cause any tension at the dinner table. >> larry: does looking at him and observing him over these few years, does he ever get mad-mad, angry-angry? >> oh, absolutely.

>> larry: ticked off. >> yeah, he's human. >> larry: he never shows it. >> i think that his view is maintaining a constructive approach. you know, he's always about finding the solution. and he knows if you go too far emotionally, if you get too angry or if you become too complacent, sometimes you miss the answer in between. and that's, i think, one of the strengths of him as a leader. you know, we talked about wanting a stable, consistent leader. we have that in him. that doesn't mean he doesn't show emotion, it's just that he shows it at appropriate times. he'll come home, he'll talk to his cabinet, he'll -- you know, he'll converse with his advisers. there are appropriate times to show anger and frustration, but the american people don't care about the president's anger or frustration, they want to know he's solving some problems.

>> larry: well, we know how important fatherhood is to him and motherhood is to you. i remember him telling me taking the kids to school was important to him. he hated campaigning when he was away from it. he can't take the kids to school right now, right? >> it's a big hassle. >> larry: raising kids in the white house is hard, isn't it? >> there are some things he can't do but there are many things he can do. he gets up every morning, he sees his kids before they leave, and that's something he did two years ago, could do two, three years ago. he comes home at a certain time. he can have dinner, he can read to the kids at night, tuck them into bed. we have much more quality time. we can't go out, necessarily, but he still goes to parent-teacher conferences. >> larry: he goes to the school? >> absolutely. he goes to every performance and play. he goes to basketball games and soccer games.

he can't go to every one of them because on saturdays oftentimes he's working. but he is as involved as he's been, it's just, for example, he can't take the kids to school every day. quite frankly, they don't want him to. they think his motorcade is a complete embarrassment. >> larry: what's it like for them? one of the rosevilosevelt kids me years ago that at best it's strange growing up in that house. >> yeah. but i think you know what you know. i'll be interested to see what they say when they're 20 and 30. but right now they take it in stride. i mean, the white house is a strange place to live, but it's surprisingly pleasant because of the people who work there. they really care about every single family that comes through. they're good with kids and they try to adapt to their i had y

idiosyncracies. it's like living in a big hotel. >> larry: do they have playdates? >> they have playdates. >> larry: friends come over? >> a friend just left the house because it's a snow day. we were all snowed in, so they're stir crazy, driving us nuts. a friend slept overnig night bee last. they go to other kids' houses. >> larry: that's a problem for secret service, isn't it? >> the secret service is great. the kids lead normal lives and it's because of the secret service that they can. >> larry: more talk with the first lady about childhood obesity after this. [ female announcer ] enjoy a complete seafood dinner for two

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>> larry: we're back with michelle obama. by the way, tomorrow night the vice president of the united states, joe biden, will be here. and still later tone, biight, b cosby. >> two of my favorite people. joe and bill, absolutely. >> larry: probably the single biggest problem with health care is the lack of jobs. >> until the unemployment numbers are down, i don't think my husband is satisfied, and more is coming. a lot was saved with the stimulus, and again, you know, it's hard to tell people who are hurting that things could have been worse if we hadn't done what we've done. but there is no point in pointing back. there is a lot more to be done and he's not going to be satisfied until he sees those

unemployment figures go down. >> larry: it was so bitter in the campaign, rather bitter, with hillary. how are they doing now together? >> great. she is an amazing secretary of state. she would have been an amazing president. she is an amazing attorney. she is a phenomenal professional, and she has proven to be a tremendous asset in so many ways. so the relationship is strong. they share the same views in terms of international policy and approach. and we're seeing the outcome of that on the international stage. i think, you know, we can say pretty clearly that the united states, the view of this nation around the world has changed. people are enthusiastic about the potential.

things aren't perfect. we're still a nation fighting two wars, but when we travel around the country, the excitement and the possibility are palpable, and i think that's because of the president, but i think it's also because of our secretary of state. >> larry: how tough is it for you when a man or a woman is lost in battle? >> it's the hardest thing. i think one of the hardest things that the president said he had to do this year was to greet the caskets of fallen soldiers that evening to, you know, sit down with parents who buried their child. when we went to ft. hood, meeting with the families of the survivors of that tragedy. >> larry: how do you train for that? >> you don't. what helps me is that i see how strong they are, you know, just

how --. >> larry: they help you. >> they help me. maybe it's silly, but they give me strength. the same is true for the president. we look around and see the minor irritations that goes along with being president, you think of the real sacrifice of our troops, and you want to make sure they have the resources they need when they're in the battlefield and that they have the resources and support when they come home and that their families are well taken care of. and we have to work hard for that. that's not just a given. >> larry: we'll be back with the first lady right after this. for over 25 years... in test after test, advil has been shown to be safe and effective when taken as directed. get the facts... go to advil.com reliable, high-quality vehicles has been our first priority. ♪ in recent days, our company hasn't been living up

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>> larry: we're back with michelle obama fighting obesity. how about image problem of children? >> uh-huh. >> larry: they have a certain self-image. this could hurt them to hear things like this, couldn't it? again, we discussed delicate balance. you tread water here. >> and you have to continue to tread water. approaching this, we have to look at it from a whole range of

pillars as we get information to parents, improving school lunches, improving accessibility and affordability, which means eliminating food deserts, areas in this country where there are no supermarket so families do have access to food. and the last important pillar is really physical education. that tends to be one of the more important ones for me, because if kids are able to raise their level of activity, it frees them up to not have to worry about every little thing that they eat because their activity level tends to be that of a normal kid. the president's fitness challenge is going to play an important role, really modernizing that challenge to make sure it doesn't vjust focu on athleticism as it has in the past, how many sit-ups or push-ups you can do. not every kid san athlete, but you don't have to be an athlete to lose weight, you just have to

move. >> larry: what are you asking joe and martha average to do? >> first of all, be cognizant. be honest. look around and say, are things where they should be? are my kids good? are they getting the level of physical activity, are they eating right, do they have the energy level? if the answers are no, talk to your pediatrician. get a real assessment of what's going on and then work with them to structure some solutions and they can be pretty small, you know. i'd say turn off the tv, eat dinner together as a family. there was a study that showed that structure in children's lives, whether they're eating meals as a family on a regular basis, they have a regular bedtime, all that structure really decreases the likelihood that a child will be obese. >> larry: we can make changes. >> cut down portion sizes, and

even if you're not in a safe neighborhood, find more ways to be more active with your kids. it could be turning on the radio and dancing until you sweat for half an hour. if you live on the top floor, walk up and down the stairs. walk to school if you can. find those small ways as a family to -- >> simple. >> that's what i would tell the average viewer, simple. it's not a wide scale change. >> larry: it's just a few days until valentine's. what do you expect, roses? chocolates? >> i expect the moon, the stars and the sun. >> larry: what do you usually get? >> i usually get dinner and a gift of some sort. >> larry: are you going out to dinner? >> i don't know. we might spend time at camp david. i'm not sure, though. we haven't finalized the plan. >> larry: does he get a gift? >> a nice card. >> larry: thank you. >> thank you. >> larry: first lady michelle

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hey, i'm anderson cooper live in port-au-prince. tonight we'll bring you to the streets of port-au-prince where the race against time is on to save haiti's orphans. we'll go to child protection workers as they search for orphans, trying to get a sense of how many there are in this country and maybe try to reunite them with their parents. we'll see a dramatic reunion

with parents who thought their 5-year-old was dead. he's not. we'll be live in port-au-prince in a few moments on 360. >> the words overweight and obese, those words don't tell the full story. because this isn't about inches and pounds. and it's not about how our kids look. it has nothing to do with that. it's about how our kids feel. and it's about how they feel about themselves. it's about the impact we're seeing that this issue is having on every aspect of their lives. >> larry: bill cosby is now with us, the co-author of "come on, people." he's here, as he says, rebutting internet rumors that he died in a car accident over the weekend. he's here. we also welcome back dr. albert

p uu sr pous sarks ant. he co-authored "come on, people." you are indeed alive, bill? >> yes, i am. >> larry: bill, how serious a topic is this for you? >> it's very, very serious because there's things happening with the school system that i don't understand and i don't like. whatever happened to recess? so you put the teachers' cars in the yard so the kids can't run around anymore. what else is left? if you have a three-story school, then all you have to do is pretend that you have a track team. take time out, you walk the children down three flights, you walk thecm up three flights, yo walk them up three flights, you do that three times and then let's go back into the classroom.

twice a day. >> larry: doctor, you can get in on this, too. why would schools have the food programs that seems contradictory to the purpose of being in school? >> that's one of the problems. they serve poor food sometimes. some are doing better. but they're not serving the right food, and often they give big portions. that's one of the big proposals in this initiative that michelle obama is proposing, to go after the food in the schools, but also they have vending machines in the school that frequently are filled with candy and sugary sodas, and something has to be done about that as well. i think one of the biggest problems in my mind is the intense marketing of food, high-fat food, to children from a ve a very early age before one, they're watching television and seeing these ads and they're fixated toward toys.

they say, buymy hamburger at my place and you can get a free toy. go to the supermarket and there are children's cartoon characters to attract them to eating high-fatinitiative. and i think industry leaders in the food industry have to get together to really talk about turning that around in some way. and not just worrying about the bottom line. >> larry: you write in the book, come on, people, it's simple advice, don't eat fast food all the time, have a healthy breakfast. isn't, though, it hard to convince people truly to make a change? isn't change the hardest thing? >> yeah. but you know, if you love your child -- if you understand and i think albert will agree that basic illnesses, colds, things wrong with different organs in the body, these things can be attributed to what you're

eating. and if you're eating the wrong food, if your diet is off. if your kid is having a soda and a bag of something salty, that all turns into a carb and sugar. your pancreas can't handle it. >> larry: don't overlook the family dinner. you know, you kind of forget that when running out. you do this, you do that. families, they don't have dinner together anymore. >> well, that's true because you have couples each with a job. if there are jobs available. but you also have many more single mothers than ever before who are rushing around trying to keep things in order. and frequently the best or quickest thing for them to do is to get fast food or takeout and junk food and not prepare dinner and not have a sit-down dinner

because they're so very busy. but it is true if you have dinner and it's cooking going on, you prepare meals, less calorie loaded and children are less likely to be obese. so i think it's important that the parents still are role models. >> larry: the book is "come on people." we'll be right back. learn more about obesity and kids, go to our blog at cnn.com/larryking. by the way, "american idol's" ryan seacrest has written an exclusive for us and you won't see it anywhere else. right back with the cos and dr. poussaint. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. yeah. would you like a pony ? yeah ! ( cluck, cluck, cluck ) oh, wowww !

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we're back with the co-authors of "come on, people." bill cosby and dr. alvin poussaint. do you think you can work, bill. do you think the first lady and people like yourself? do you think we can change society? >> yes. if we fire the nutritionists that put the food out for the kids in the public schools. and if we get honest nutritionists, if we get honest people who get the contracts to put the food in the cafeteria so

that they are not skimming money off just getting cheap food. we need food that's nutritional. we need food that's just not for the mouth. you need food that children will like the taste of but there's nutrition coming into the body. >> larry: they're not going to change overnight. dr. poussaint, frankly, are you optimistic about this? >> well, i -- i think it's going to take a lot. and pulled together a number of institutions and people to work on this. so it has the best chance of anything i've ever seen. but it's not likely to just take a generation. i think it's very hard to change people's food habits, what they eat, what they like to eat and that's going to be a stumbling block. but i think the fact of the effort is being made that, yes, maybe we'll all be very surprised and the epidemic will really diminish in a very

serious way. and children and the country will be much better off because of it. >> larry: bill, do kids in lower income neighborhoods have access to healthy, fresh foods? >> i don't know. i know they used to be a fedco, that was deliberately put in the lower economic neighborhoods to serve the people. maybe not, i don't know. >> no, they don't have many much fresh food in low economic neighborhoods at all. that's one of the problems. and so people are trying to push fresh food markets in those neighborhoods as well as more supermarkets and grocery stores that sell produce because many of those neighborhoods don't have supermarkets, not to mention farm markets.

>> larry: what's a simple thing, bill? what would you tell someone watching right now? what can you do today with regard to making your family healthy? >> larry, what i would say -- >> larry: well, if you can't -- >> one at a time. bill, you go first. >> go ahead. >> well, what i would say is, first of all, your children and their health. what you put in their mouth sooner or later is going to show up whether or not they're healthy or not. so if you're going to have things that just taste good and that people just put things fries and no balance and nutrition, then you're not helping your child. think about how much you love your child, how healthy you want your child to be. so on your way to work, you may stop off and pick up something. and teach your kid, negotiate with the kid. they love to be negotiated. >> larry: dr. poussaint, what would you say? one thing to do? >> well, one thing to do that i

think every parent can do is serve smaller portions to their children and have them have smaller portions if they go out to eat anywhere. that will make an enormous difference. because we have a phenomenon in america called the "clean plate club." we tell children, finish everything on your plate. children are starving in africa and asia and so on. and so sometimes -- >> larry: good idea. >> sometimes kids are pushed to eat a lot because their parents are pushing them to eat a lot because they think it's wrong to waste food. >> larry: the book is "come on, people." bill, how did you learn you were dead? >> i read about it on the internet. and i was very, very surprised. and so that's why i said to my wife, am i dead? and she said, yes. >> larry: thanks, guys. >> i was surprised too, bill, because your wife didn't call me. i think she would've called me if you were dead.