oh, my god. oh, my god. >> that's it for us. "larry king live," coming up right now. tonight, he is here, late notice, but he is here. all the news of the day and more, bill maher and he is next on "larry king live."all the ne more, bill maher and he is next on "larry king live." >> larry: good evening. before i start the show tonight, i want to share some personal news with you. 25 years ago, i sat across this table from new york governor mario cuomo for the first broadcast ever of "larry king live." and now, decades later, i talked to the guys here at cnn and i

told them aid like to end "larry king live", the nightly show that -- this fall and cnn has graciously agreed to, giving me and my wife time to get to the kids' little league games. i will be hosting larry king specials on major national and international subjects and we will be here until a replacement is found, here in the fall. tomorrow night, elizabeth edwards will be our special guest. i'm incredibly proud that we with recently made the guinness book of world records for having the longest-running show earthquake the same host in the same time slot on the same network. with that chapter closing, i'm looking forward to the future what my next chapter will bring. but for now, for here, it's time to hang up the nightly suspenders. until then, we have got more shows to do and who knows what the future's going to bring. bill maher is the emmy-nominated host of "real time with bill

maher" on had hbo, standup comic, best-selling author. we called him today in view of this announcement tonight and asked him if he would come as an old friend. bill will be performing at the orleans show room in las vegas on the 17th and 18th of july and at the ameri star casino in kansas city on july 30th. thank you, bill. >> i'm honored you would ask me to take over the desk, larry, thank you so much. i'm ready to step in at a moment's notice. >> larry: what a -- so you're making an announcement tonight. >> do you want to finish the hour or would you like me to take over right now, larry? >> larry: well, this was tough, bill. it was -- it was time. i was are ready to do it. cnn folks agreed to it. we sat down. we are going to do specials and more time with the family and i want to expand, i want to do other things that i haven't been able to do. >> i am reminded of what my father, who was a broadcaster the day miquel mantle retired, stay isn't some he began the broadcast. >> larry: put me in that class?

>> mickey mantle? you are the mickey mantle of broadcasters. mantle played 18 seasons. you played more than that so i know some people out there will say it is maybe inappropriate to say too soon for a man who is in his 70s, but it is too soon. i hope you're -- i hope you're doing this of your own volition and not because of what the media says. >> larry: nothing to do with it no pressure from cnn. i don't pay attention to that i love what i do. but it was time, bill. it was time. it was just time. i will tell you -- >> as long as it is coming from and you not dictated by the "new york times" or anybody else. >> larry: not at all. >> okay. >> larry: i did the 25th anniversary week. we had lady gaga, we had bill gates, we had president obama, and lebron james. and i'm flying home from that week and i'm thinking to myself, i have a done 50,000 interviews. i'm never nah top this i want to go on, i want new horizons, i want to try other things.

i would like to stay in some way with cnn this whole thing was put together in four or five days and i'm here, ready to carry on. i will be on tomorrow night and -- >> i did hear people say well, larry didn't really understand lady gaga who understands lady gaga? please. >> larry: i liked her. >> i was think hog else gets lady gaga to come on their show? i never saw lady gaga anywhere else. talk. >> larry: we got you a lot. >> i saw her wearing an aquarium on her head i never saw her actually speak to another human being. i have no idea what she was like before she talked to you. >> larry: this is a mixed emotion. a staff, i want to see them all, but more time with the wife, more time with the kids, more time to spend and more time to do other things. in other words, i can do things now that i wasn't able to do before. it is nice, there's a freedom. everybody is talking at me. remember that song, bill? >> we were just singing it, larry. >> larry: echoes in my mind. >> i think i speak for a lot of

people in america who say i will miss you terribly at this hour. i mean, this -- there's nobody who does what you do because you, you know exhad a style, a minimalist style that is gone from television and you are taking it with you, larry. >> larry: the specials. >> when they called me today, they said, well, i have been on vacation the last two weeks my show is down, haven't read the paper, i'm not that prepared. larry-style, he wasn't overprepared because he wanted with to be in the mind of the viewer who needed enlightenment. i said, well if larry is not prepared, i'm not prepared, two schmucks sitting around staring at each other. >> larry: first time, bill used to come on my night tame radio show. >> oh, yes. >> larry: those were the days back in arlington, virginia. we go become a long, long way. i don't want to get moribund here, i will be here every night for quite a while yet and then i will be free aged be doing the great specials, which we will be telling the public b. >> oh, good. >> larry: this great staff, too. >> i'm glad you're not being

fired about your comments about 9/11. oh, no, that was me. >> larry: wrong host. okay, let's get into the news of the day, which you in ever leave, right? petraeus. petraeus is, what, the new eisenhower, right? >> well, he has that kind of reputation, yeah. i mean, these are very impressive guys. so is mcchrystal, by the way. i mean, i know that his comments, i guess in "rolling stone," are inappropriate and whatever. listen, i'm not a fan of our policy in afghanistan. it kind of bothered me that a guy like mcchrystal, who literally does more before 9:00 than i do all day. that's just -- when they say that thing, that slogan that actually pertains to me. he probably does more before 9 a.m. than i do all month, but he has to go because he was just, i guess he thought off the record. maybe he doesn't have time to follow, as we do what goes on in the culture, in the civilian culture that when you talk to a

reporter. what i read was that part of the reason why they got so much access was because the volcano and they were stuck in the airport and they couldn't leave. so, they had nothing to do but talk to each other for a week. >> larry: they knew a reporter was there. >> yeah, but, okay, here is a guy, and as i said, i don't really agree with the poll shake is not his job, he's soldier, he is doing incredible things before 9 a.m. and he has to leave that job because of, really, some bitchy, gossipy, tmz-level "u.s." magazine bs. >> larry: he and the president agree on the policy you disagree with. >> everybody off the record talks about everybody else. you know? when -- >> larry: you're not doing it in front of the "rolling stone" guy. >> right. within we get off t when we get off the air, we will probably gossip. >> larry: yeah. >> but there is not a reporter around and you're already

leaving. >> larry: and we will take a break on that note. about bill maher, lots to talk b yes thinks that afghanistan is wrong, after this. >> "larry king live" is sponsored by -- [droplets] don't fix the leak. or anything in the house... without blueprint from chase. create a plan to pay off large purchases... and save money on interest. does your credit card have blueprint? design your plan at 866 blueprint. it's laughs over a coastal soup and grilled shrimp salad. catching up over wood-grilled shrimp and chicken. and with lunches starting at just $6.99... it's an hour you wouldn't trade for anything. and with lunches starting at just $6.99... i'm ashaky! shaky!torm. and if you named your own price on car insurance, you could be picking up this tab yourself. so get allstate. [ dennis ] dollar for dollar

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>> larry: as we come back from

break, here is our control room here in los angeles. there are the folks that get me on the air every night. and i am indebted to them, always will be. okay. what do you see our job in afghanistan being? >> could be any control room, larry. could have been "american idol." they all look the same. i'm sorry r yet? afghanistan? what about it? we are -- i don't think we should be there there, i've said t >> larry: but, okay. but obama said in the camp pain he favored it right? getting the taliban out. >> this is part of the problem that i keep saying, i have said it probably many times on your show is that it's funny, people talk a lot about how polarized this country s no actually, the problem is the opposite. we are not polarized, we are homogeni homogenized, we have two parties, but one policy. we don't have enough difference between the two parties.

>> larry: fight over health care. we were fighting over the supreme court nominee. we will get to that. >> both parties were for drilling, oil drilling. obama came out for that, okay? okay, both parties don't fight gun control, don't fight for gun control. could i name a number of issues. and afghanistan, both parties believe that terrorism has a solution from our military. we don't have a party that stands up for the other point of view. >> larry: which is? >> i think at this point they would be saying to themselves, are we creating more terrorists than we are killing, than we just had the times square bomber -- what's his name? i call him fashizzle. the guy who locked himself out of his car bomb. i mean, al qaeda is not exactly playing the a-team here. remember the christmas day bomber, couldn't blow up his pants. this guy couldn't make gasoline explode. you know, let's spend, you know,

a trillion dollars and two-thirds of our military fighting these people. i don't understand that view of it. i think john kerry said it well in the 2004 election when he ran on this idea that terrorism is best fought with law enforcement, with the spy agencies. that's how you fight this you don't fight it with an army. and you know, they have been very disappointing that this president -- >> why do you think he does support it so much? >> because i think he can't lose the right-wing that much, because i think he feels like he is pulling out of iraq and the democrats are already seen as a party that's soft on war, soft to on the macho stuff. so he has to have some war going. he can't just pull out. but i think it is kind of sin knackle to say, okay, we are going to double-down on this but we are pulling out in a year, because these people over there in afghanistan, they have outlasted invaders for hundreds

of years, thousands of years. they kicked alexander the great's ass out of there they defeated the british. you think the idea we are staying there just one more year is instilling fear in them? >> larry: told me it was russia's biggest mistake? >> yeah, of course. >> larry: to ever get involved there you're fighting rocks, right, caves? >> bob herbert had a great lighten other day. he said, the people that stormed the beaches at normandy weren't trying to win anybody's hearts and minds. you know? i mean, either we are in it to win it or we are not. >> larry: longer than vietnam now. >> yeah. >> larry: why does it go, do you think? what does happen? . >> we have already said what happens, we are pulling out in a year. so what is the point of the people who are going to die between now and a year later? that's, i think, yet. that's sort of the john kerry question, how do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake? >> larry: what -- was the president right to fire mcchrystal?

>> as i said, you know, i think here's a guy who's trying his hardest to implement a policy that may not be his. i hate to see a guy taken down for gossip. you know, i think the way to fight this is not the way they are doing this. you know, i mean, i look at all these terrorists that we've -- these terrorist plots that we've stopped in recent years. they are kind of home-grown. you know, obama's policy is really not that different than bush's policy. bush used to say we are fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here. we go, okay, redneck idiot. but really, obama is just the tan other two of evils. it's the same policy. he may enunciate it better, but it is the same thing. but memo to you guys, they are already here. we don't have to fight them over there, they are already here. the times square bomber, he was an accountant who lived in -- >> larry: you think something else big is going to happen? >> i'm just saying they are already here and they are incited to violence. >> larry: giving up?

>> why? >> larry: how are you doing going defeat terrorism? >> you don't ever defeat it. that is part of the problem. we couch it in terms of this is a war. we think a war has an end. it doesn't have an end anymore than a police problem has an end, murder doesn't ever end, robbery doesn't ever end, you just contain it and fit it as best you can. >> larry: there is no victory day? >> no. you know, once -- once -- you listen to what these terrorists who have tried to attack us say, they are pissed off that we are in afghanistan that we are in iraq that israel -- you know it is american foreign policy. we have let -- i mean to make an analogy to the oil, which is the only thing ever ever think of these days, you know, the terrorist genie is out of the bolt, the oil is gushing already. now the problem is how do we stop it from getting to the shore? how do we stop the terrorists from launching their attacks? because they are trying to. luckily, they are idiots. >> luckily. they can't all be idiots. >> that's right. >> we will talk about the supreme court nominee and get bill's opinions about bp. don't go away.

>> larry: by the way, you have until july 7th to bid on some great auction items. proceeds will help people and wildlife in the gulf. drew brees, brett michaels, "american idol" and others have donated terrific stuff go to cnn.com/larry king and click on the charity buzz auction link. bill maher, to our special guest on what i guess is our special night. okay. the confirmation hearing. last night, the panel, when they weren't overtalking on top of each other all said it's baloney. i mean they go through the motions, senators make speeches and she is going to be confirmed. do you share that view? >> yeah, i think she will. i mean, it's especially baloney with this nominee because she is

such a blank slate. >> larry: she supported a president, she was solicitor general. >> but compared to other nominees in the past who had, you know, something to go off of, i mean, how could anyone be against this person? she is completely qualified. and she has done nothing controversial. it just shows we are at a state, and i guess i'm contradicting myself here there is a level of partisanship that is just ridiculous that whatever the blue team does, the red team will be against. >> larry: a conservative was nominated, the blue team was mad. it is all the same? >> this was started by the democrats, by the way, before they opposed, i think it was -- was it bork who was the -- that was like the first one where -- before that, supreme court nominees, it was like, hey, the president, he won the election, it's his -- >> larry: confirmation hearings on supreme court nominees. it was approved. >> you see it in the bp thing, again with the bp.

>> larry: we will get to that. >> but when that republican congressman, was it barton, came out defending bp. >> larry: barton of texas. >> this is astounding. it just shows that they are so insane about barack obama and whatever he is for, they will be against, even if it matters -- if it means their own political destruction. i mean, who would defend bp? if obama came out tomorrow and said, i have the cure for cancer, i swear they would call a press conference and say, hold on, we are not sure this is the right thing to do. we got a lot of money from the cancer people. this could affect jobs, this could affect growth what about the people who cure cancer? what about the people who operate on the people who cure cancer? >> larry: if she is confirmed, all nine supreme court justices will be graduates of ivy league law schools. any concern over that? like they are all supposedly brilliant?

>> right. well, they should all be from pace college? >> larry: remember that guy who said maybe we should have mediocrity? >> that doesn't bother me. we want people from our -- you know, elite institutions of higher learning. i know elite is a bad word in america, but i happen to like elite people who are elite in their fields. if i, you know, have heart trouble, i want an elite doctor. you there go. what worries me, of course is that there are now, as always have in the past, no atheists on the court. if you want -- >> larry: protestants no buddhists new york agnostics new york atheists. the justices will either be catholic or jewish. >> right. doesn't really mat her to me catholic, jew, protestant. they are all believers. went issue of separation of church and state comes up, the issue is slightly loaded for them. >> larry: most of the country is believers. >> so what? 15% is not.

>> larry: so you are calling for an atheist on the court? >> yes, somebody, a rationalist. let's call them that. somebody who doesn't believe in magic. someone who doesn't -- >> larry: tom payne-type? >> tom payne, when glenn beck dresses up as tom payne, i obviously never read tom payne's book. >> larry: i don't think tom payne we gray? >> not a little bit. they think founding fathers, the founding fathers were elitists. they were intellectuals. they were europe-thinking. everything the tea baggers were no the founding fathers wouldn't have lunch with glenn beck. >> larry: try to draw bill out again in the next segment. every time it is so hard with this, riding the easy road. you are watching "larry king live." we will be right back. [ male announcer ] when we built our first hybrid,

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on twitter. i thank you all for your kind words. you will see some of them on your screen. i don't want to tote -- to the -- is it tote or tweet? >> you don't want to tweet your own term. >> larry: is that the term? >> i checked my tweet and they are asking me to ask you some questions. >> larry: what are they saying? . >> they say this is your night. we were talk income the break there about your love -- i had no idea, i knew you loved sport bus tell them what you just told me about why it is great too get up in the morning. >> larry: if you're not a sports fan, most of your day is predictable. most of your day you know what you're going to do if you're a sports fan, if you are a baseball fan, when i got up this morning, my god, this 14 games and ucla -- >> to me that is predictable. >> larry: no, it's not. who's gonna win? >> 50 guys got out on a grass field and did something boring. that is predictable to me. >> larry: not borg. . >> aid writer who once said if baseball was any slower, it

would be farming. >> larry: but baseball is athletic chess. no one ever hit .500, the most difficult game to play, but when you're into baseball, those pauses are part of it. >> i can't imagine you being happy. i know you, larry, our creature of roux teen. you have breakfast at the same place every day. you get up, you come here. without that -- >> larry: other things to do i need diversity. >> what is the first thing you want to do? i mean professionally? >> larry: i will see what comes along. i don't know. now i can do anything i want. i like making speeches. i like doing comedy. you saw me do comedy. >> you're very funny. lair like making people laugh. >> you are not going to be standing in the gulf with hip wards, like anderson cooper, not scrubbing off an egret?

lair would do a comedy special like you. >> i will see what i can do. >> larry: let's get to day 70 of the oil disaster. >> that what it is, 70? my lord. >> larry: what do you make of this? >> i was at a bp station today and when i finished filling my tank, i left the pump running. and i think everyone should do that until this ends. after you fill up, leave the pump running. >> larry: that's your call. poetic justice, larry. i mean, honestly, i have never been as depressed about a story. i haven't been at this quite as long as you. >> larry: animal lover. >> a television show for 18 years, yes i'm an animal lover and i'm an earth lover. i know lot of people like senator inhoff think the earth is a hose, i happen to think it's real and i like to keep it. but it just depresses the hell out of me. i think what depresses me more than anything else, as of yet it doesn't look like, even with this level of catastrophe, it's

changing anybody's behavior. they are still calling for more drilling. people like senator david vitter of louisiana said if the president stops drilling, this could potentially be devastating for louisiana. >> larry: it could, couldn't it? >> as opposed to what it is, which is actually devastating for louisiana? are you kidding? i mean, what -- what has to happen before people change? >> larry: gobbles up oil. >> we should stop. >> larry: stop? >> we -- >> larry: get people to stop driving? >> no but they can drive -- i have an electric car. i'm getting a tesla. i have been driving hybrids for years. we could change, if we had started to change when we should have in the '70s, we would with all be driving electric cars now. >> larry: bp didn't do this deliberately. >> no of course not. >> larry: this was a major accident. >> well -- >> larry: would you stop airplane flying in if a plane crash? >> first of all they should have had a contingency plan if it did happen. you can't excuse them for that

can you? >> larry: no. >> should have spent as much money -- >> larry: criticized the president on the moratorium, you can say because something bad happens one place, you stop it everywhere? >> we shouldn't be drilling offshore at all and certainly, the president i voted for shouldn't be for that i mean, even before the well gushed, i thought that that was a horrible decision he made. >> larry: when he increased it? >> he said, you know what, we should be drilling much again, where is the other party? where is the person who represents me and the millions of people like me? if he is for drilling and he is for afghanistan, where do i go? i don't have a tea party on the left. >> larry: you were surprised that he wasn't angry at them. when i interviewed them, he said he was very angry, of course, it was a little later in the game, but he said what do you want him to do? you want him to jump up and down? >> i'm not one of those people who complains he is not being emotional about it. i don't want to see him gradeling an egret going why,

why? that's silly. people, they don't want the law professor, they want mr. t. they want him to -- i pity the fool who's soiled this beach. i like it that he's calm, that's good thing. i can't fault him terribly on how he handled this, but the fact that he came out for drilling before this, i mean, do you have to look at the big picture. the environment as an issue consistently ranks dead last in polls when they ask the american people what's important to you. >> larry: you know like -- >> how old are your kids? >> larry: 11 and 10, the little ones. >> what do you think the world is going to be like in 30 years when they are only middle abled? they are a part of the cleanup committee. >> larry: phillip wylie wrote "generation of vipers" ininvestigated the term momism, i had the honor of interviewing him years ago.

he said when you talk to man about generations not yet born, don't mean a thing. >> right. except those generations are born. they say in 50 years there will be no fish in the ocean, that we will have completely fished it out. i don't know if you saw there was a magazine, times magazine story this sunday about the end of the bluefin -- >> larry: bluefin. >> yeah, bluefin tuna. and you know, we were talking about this today on this show i was telling you about i'm producing this science pilot that you know, it's in mankind's nature not to change to forestall disaster, but to just let it happen and adapt. i think that's what people will do. >> larry: we are react. >> 50 years there is no fish and we killed all the animals, the only thing that will be left are cockroaches and jelly fish and people eat that they will be like, yeah, not really as good as the hamburgers and chicken i used to have and the tuna was delicious but bring it on. i have the jelly fish and the cockroach and we shot it up with msg and now i'm eating it it's

how people adapt in prison, you know? some house, i think if i went to prison, i'd kill myself, but people don't. you know, they are like, well, i'm not homosexual, but i'm here. i'm queer now, let's get used to it. >> larry: someone not prepared tonight, you are on a roll i guess this bill maher -- jerry weintraub is here friday night, we pretaped it. it's a riot a great book out. and this is his -- what stories. weintraub, friday night. >> yep. >> larry: and the whaling guys, you are going to like them thursday. >> hot? >> larry: stop the people who kill whales. >> i do like them. >> larry: whale wahl wars, go out and stop the japanese killing whales. they are thursday. and we will be right back with bill mafrm don't hemaher. don't go away. when you've been broadsided by an suv, who do you call? not the name of the company, but the name of the person.

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>> larry: catching up on thing swith bill mafrm he will be at the orleans show room in las vegas july 17th and 18th, ameri star casino in kansas city on the 30th. and of course, he is the host of "real time" on hbo an got a new science show hbo picks up. what's the title? >> talk nerdy to me. now, hbo is going to think i put you up to that. >> larry: they are our sister network. before we get to the ruling of the court on gun control, your reaction to the new "vanity

fair"/"60 minutes" poll. 24% of americans don't believe obama was born in the united states. 24%. >> well, i've read higher. but 24%, that number resonates with me, because i have seen that statistic other times before, 24% is also the number i saw of people who think jesus will return in their lifetime. in their lifetime. before they cancel "gossip girl", jesus will come back. which i find very egotistical. he is going to want to come back while i'm around. >> larry: just for me. >> just for me. it is also the number, 24%, that i saw in a poll recently about obama who said he might be the anti-christ. might be. so i think that 24%, i think -- i think one with out of four americans is just a total nut case, larry. i mean, i just think no hope for these people, but when you look at some of these numbers, especially within the republican party, like i think 67% in the

poll i saw recently of republicans think he is a socialist, even though his top tax rate is 51 points bow low what eisenhower's was. eisenhower, that commie. >> larry: john birch thought eisenhower was an act of the communist party. >> but see, there's the interesting thing, you mentioned john birchers. john birchers were the equivalent of -- >> larry: tea party. >> but back in the day, they got thrown out of the party. wiliam f. buckley said, john birchers, we don't have a place for them in the republican party. now it is the reverse, now it is the tea baggers who take over the republican party and if you don't agree with the tea bearing an rush limbaughs of the world, you get purged, for a party who talks about how the opposition resembles fascist.

l >> larry: is rush a tea bagger, i haven't heard him? >> rush is the guy who said about the oil spishll, the ocea will take care of this. >> larry: you are kidding. >> no he did. that is what he said. think it is natural. oil is natural. so is mercury, you don't put it on your cheerios. >> larry: okay. what about the ruling of the court the other day throwing out the chicago law about guns? you can hold -- you can have a gun in chicago. >> well, i mean, again, the republican party some times seem these he do nothing but think of new places where you can have a gun, churches, bars. in arizona -- arizona, my favorite state, should rename itself whiteyville. in arizona, you know, guns in a bar, i can't even begin to formulate a comedic routine, too easy. >> larry: the second amendment.

the right to bear -- >> the second amendment talks about militias, doesn't say anything about individuals. but okay, we have sort of lost that battle a long time ago. and ever since al gore they say lost the 2000 election because of his stance on gun control, lost his home state of tennessee, no democrat has had the guts to come out. again, another issue, larry, where we do not have two policies, we have two parties and one policy. we love guns, we can't get enough guns. lart question is why do we love guns? >> yes, having said that i have a gun and i'm not going to give up my gun. >> larry: why do we love guns? >> because there is too many other nuts out there with guns, larry. that is the thing. people out there are very understandable, sort of a case of no going back. we are such a gun culture and so many people already have guns that you don't want to be in your home if somebody breaks in and they have guns. >> larry: i interviewed an inspector from scotland yard once with and he couldn't believe that anybody could have a gun. >> right.

>> larry: it was beyond his sense of belief. >> but england, which with used to be completely a nongun culture is becoming more americanized in every way. >> larry: people feel the need. this guy in chicago, who is a street guy, who he did stuff that obama used to do he raised interest in various subjects, wanted a gun because he lives in a neighborhood where he is scared. that is the case that won. >> i can see it in the house, this idea that you can take it in public, this seems insane to me that we should have it wherever we go, because in case there's a criminal who has a gun and he starts firing, you want to have a gun to protect yourself or maybe your children, because what protects children better than crossfire when you think about it? remember "crossfire"? lart show or -- >> yes, talk become the show to. >> larry: you miss "crossfire"? >> no but i miss you already. >> larry: first of all, i will be here for a while w. >> how long? >> larry: well, maximum,

november. but then, i will be doing specials and you will see me in other places. remember, i'm free. >> who do you -- who do you want to sit there after you go , if you had your druters? >> larry: can't be objective. i can't be objective. i can't be objective because i don't know his feelings, his interest in politics, but ryan seacrest, on his way to paris right now. >> i like ryan. >> larry: he is curious, he is interesting, he is likable. >> but i never knew -- maybe he suspectst interested in politics. >> larry: see that i don't know. >> isn't that a key part of the job? what i mean, if he has a great interest in politics, i would recommend him. >> that seems like it would be -- >> larry: i'm sure there's a ton of people who could do t come on it's q & a. >> it is deceptively easy, if i may make another baseball analogy. joe dimaggio made it look easy, but it's not easy. but it's not easy. that's the trick. >> larry: we will be right back with bill maher.

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>> larry: very thankfully surprised phone advice sore in a month but first, anderson cooper at the top of the hour with "ac 360." >> i get to what's up in a moment i just heard the news you are scaling back at cnn and hanging up the suspenders, as you said. i'm stunned and i'm sad. >> larry: well, we will be around a while and want to do other things and move on. there will always be -- your question for anderson? what? >> i said i know your kids and your wife are going to be happy to have you around more and go to ball games a lot more. >> larry: that's true. do you have a question, bill, for anderson cooper? >> anderson, did you engineer this coup?

>> larry: ha ha ha. >> listen, i'm here in the gulf, been here six weeks, i don't even know what's going on beyond here. >> larry: what's your lead -- thanks for the comments, anderson. what's your lead? >> tonight, we are at the audubon aquatic center outside new orleans where they have a dolphin, they have got sea turtles that have been rescued from the oil, that is the dolphin they have. the sea turtles here have been rescued from the oil, show you how the sea turtles are being treated and saved. tropical storm alex may soon become hurricane alex, certainly bad news for cleanup efforts in the gulf. skim is temporarily stopped. the coast guard says boats will remain in port until the weather comes. live updates of the storms throughout the hour a tropical storm is not the only thing slowing skimming efforts. local paper down here reporting that for every boat out there skimming oil, there are another four available in the united states that are not being used by bp. we have a guest tonight alleging that bp is slow-make the cleanup on purpose to save money. we are keeping them honest on that those stories and a lot

more live from the gulf on "'360" with. >> larry: anderson cooper, 10 eastern, 7 pacific much joining us on the phone, maybe the most beloved lady in america, the former first lady, nancy you, l. well, i couldn't let you do this without my calling you. you didn't call me and ask my permission. >> larry: you know, that's the way she was. if i was in office, i wouldn't have been allowed to do this. nancy said, bang, and you don't do it. you check with nancy, don't you? >> i asked her to read the charts. >> larry: nancy, you're awfully sweet. we'll get the whole gang together, the wife and everybody and we'll do lunch. >> okay. >> larry: nothing is forever. but it's -- there's new things ahead. >> yeah. you're -- you haven't planned anything else, have you? or if you did, you wouldn't tell me. >> larry: what did you say? >> she said you haven't planned

anything else. >> larry: no, but i feel open to so many things. >> yeah. >> larry: life will be better. >> well, good. as long as it's better. that's fine. >> larry: thank you, nancy. >> but lots of luck, larry. >> larry: thank you. you're a doll. >> i'll miss you. >> larry: i'll miss you, too. well, i'll see you. nancy, she's a super lady. thanks, nancy. >> i think it's great that you're so forward-looking. this country is so youth oriented and we forget that even people over 30 have lives and can continue to have lives. and that you don't get stuck in one thing. >> larry: speaking of older, you know who's on the phone? regis philbin is on the phone. >> what an intro for regis. speaking of senility, regis is on the phone. >> larry, i'm totally surprised by this. for some reason, i feel very badly about it. >> larry: no, don't. >> there's always been a larry king. all of a sudden, i can't believe that we're not going to see you on during the week at night in

the fall. >> larry: well, it will be some time in the fall. i'll be doing specials. i'll pop up elsewhere. when are you going to leave the daily grind? >> well, i feel like leaving the same time you do at this point. but i think the -- i think bill maher is totally responsible for this. >> no, no. not at all. >> larry: in what way, regis? >> just by being there. bill maher has cast his spell on you. >> no. i -- i would do anything to keep larry in this chair. >> so would i, bill. i'm only kidding. >> i know. >> it's like i said, larry king has always been there, always been there. i'm going to miss you terribly, larry, because, frankly, you're one of a kind. >> larry: well, so are you, reg. >> i'll miss your suspenders, i'll misyour voice, i'll miss everything. >> larry: i'm not going away. >> okay. that's what i want to hear. that's why i called. i want to make sure you're not going away. >> larry: you're a doll, regis. i'll see you in new york. >> good night, bill. take care, guys. >> good night. >> that was not regis.

that was an impressionistimpres he did a fran taantastic regis. >> larry: did you see the guy at the mirage in vegas? >> what guy? fred ganz? >> larry: no, the impressionist. not the -- the ventriloquist. the ventriloquist. i'm going to -- never mind. >> edgar bergen. that's the last ventriloquist i can remember. is anyone in the age of the internet and wifistyle doing ventriloquism? >> larry: the guy at the mirage in vegas. terry fater. have you seen him? >> i've never heard of him. >> larry: he has a ten-year contract at $10 million a year from the mirage. i saw him once at this cancer event they do that i emcee every year. jay leno was the comic and jay brought him on. he appears in the room.

he's the greatest ventriloquist ever. he has 132 puppets. >> sort of like saying he's the tallest midget, but okay. i'm not a big fan of ventriloquism, but okay. i'll go, larry. let's get tickets. we'll get nancy reagan and we'll go out there together. you, me, anderson cooper and nancy reagan will all be out there to see the tallest midget. whatever. we have time to do it now. >> larry: i'll be back. we're losing control. we're losing control. we'll be right back. stopping. it's not that hard.

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>> larry: in our final moments, don't forget elizabeth edwards tonight. on the phone, one of my favorite people. diane sawyer. >> hello, hello. i cannot believe you and bill and nancy reagan would go out and hear ventriloquists without me. no way. >> absolutely. she'll be our -- she'll be our surely mclain in our rat pack. >> nancy and i will be out with you two. definitely will. i just want to say, larry, what

a monument of vitality you have built for all of us. and i cannot wait to see your specials because everybody in the world wants to talk to you, and to see you do them in a concentrated way when you choose to do them is going to be a thrill. >> larry: thank you, diane. when we do the last week of "larry king live," we hope you'll come on as one of the guests that week. >> i will definitely be there. put me down in ink. >> larry: congratulations on the anchoring. that's a great gig for you. >> thank you. thank you. and, again, we -- we love and honor you. >> larry: thank you. nice lady. >> yeah. she does a great job anchoring the news. >> larry: terrific talent. >> she's really easy to take. that's what that job is, someone that's really smart, credible, easy on the eyes, like you, larry. >> larry: okay, bill. we've got about a minute left. >> apparently a minute too much. >> larry: give me a forecast on the elections. >> you know what? >> larry: how many republicans pick up how many house seats? >> i don't know.

you know, it looks tough for obama right now, but when you look at -- of course they haven't really made their case yet, but he probably did stave off a depression. you know, when he came into office, the economy was heading right over a cliff. they'll make that case. he got health care, which no president has been able to accomplish and all have tried in the last 60 years. he got this financial reform package. i mean, it's not perfect. none of it is perfect, but politics is the art of the possible. look, i climb up on his ass every time i can because that's my job too, keep him honest and push him more to the left. but you know what? objectively, it's a pretty successful first term. and it's only half over. i think they could run on that. if the democrats do what they don't usually, do which is make their case, i think they can do a lot better than people think. >> thanks, bill. thanks for doing this. >> thanks, larry. >> larry: stop. the last night do this. bill, i'm here.