they're going to wind up doing what cardinal ratzinger feared most. they're just going to go their own way, believe what they want to believe. in the end, that could be the worst scenario ever. that's the nightmare for joseph ratzinger. and to a degree because of his track record that could come true. tonight, jimmy carter on the white house diary. >> i wanted to be free of responsibility for a while. >> larry: revealing feelings on the late ted kennedy, his take

on barack obama, and the hostage crisis in iran that probably cost him a second term. what's changed in the 30 years since he left office? jimmy carter in his last hour-long interview with me next on "larry king live." good evening, we're in new york with jimmy carter. the 39th president of the united states. the nobel prize laureate and co-founder of the carter center, best selling author, and his new book, "white house diary," an extraordinary collection published by ferau, strauss, and jar awe. you kept the diary and now reveal it? >> i waited 30 years and thought i'd reveal it. >> why wait? >> it was highly personal. when i wrote it, i never thought it i would let it be published. but i reread it a few years ago, and i saw there were so many things that pertinent to today, the same thing that i faced and

obama's having to face today. also, i thought it was good to have somewhere on the historical record just the actual day-by-day thoughts and dreams and idea and failures and successes, and impressions of other people that are still quite fresh in people's minds. so those are the main things that i wanted to point out. >> larry: were you before the presidency a diarykeeper? >> no. i never did. as a matter of fact, the first time i thought about doing a diary of when i was governor -- diary was when i was governor. i met president nixon, standing there with billy graham. and richard nixon kind of ignored me and reached over and shook my wife's hand and said, young lady, are you keeping a diary, and she said, no, i don't. he said you're governor's wife and you ought to keep a diary. we talked about it, and when i became president i thought, well, why don't i keep a diary. it was really richard nixon who kept me into keeping a diary. >> what a great story.

did you write it in pen? >> no, i dictated it. i had a handhelddict phone. so i -- when i finished a tape i -- i put a new tape in. and six or seven times a day would i dictate my latest thoughts about what i was planning, what i had succeeded in doing. and what i -- my impression were of people who left the office. so i tried to put down in my diary things that wouldn't come out if the public print. you know, every friday there was published every word that a president says, every question that he answers, every statement that he makes. >> in public? >> in public. so i tried to put in my diary things that weren't going to be in that public diary. when i got home, i never looked at it again. but when i got home, i had 5,000 pages of diary notes that had been typed up. and i still have those. they don't -- two copies in the world. one in my room at home, my study, and the other at the carter presidential library. so this is about 20% of a

total -- the total word in my original diary. >> larry: if you go to the center, can you read it all? >> after a year, i think when the paperback of this book comes out, i'm going to make it available to scholars and news reporter to go to the presidential library and read the original. >> larry: i am told if you're a diarish, you must write every day -- >> i did. i wrote more the bad days than the good days. that was more memorable, emos emotional for me. i wanted get down what i -- how i felt about the things and people than what i did, the activity. >> we're going to read excerpt. this is from inauguration day, january 20, 1977. we printed it out to make it easier. >> good. i think the inauguration speech itself, perhaps one of the briefest on record for the first inauguration for president, was

quite kpatible with my announcement speech of 1974 and also with my acceptance speech at the democratic convention. it accurately expressed some of the major themes of my administration, even though i had been preparing to be president, i was genuinely surprised when the benediction by the bishop from minnesota, he referred to blessings on president carter. just the phrase "president carter," of startling to me. you know, i had been a peanut farmer. you know, you know who the first president, democratic president i ever met? bill clinton. >> larry: no kidding? >> no, i was out of the peanut field. i met nixon, president nixon after i became governor. so i was new at the presidential level, and it was kind of startling to me to be called president. >> larry: how long did it take to get into the job for you? >> well, i had to get into that first day because i had a lot to do when i came off the reviewing stand, you know, immediately to make -- >> larry: i remember you walked.

>> to make official things that i had decided to do. one of the things i did was among the most controversial i ever did, and that was to pardon the so-called draft dodgers who escaped into canada. and i did that before i ever began to walk down toward the oval office. >> larry: withdraw. did that come up in the campaign, that issue? >> no, it never did. no. >> larry: but you knew you were going do it? >> yes, i knew i was going to do it. a lot of families of those men who -- and a few women i think who went to canada, and they were -- they wanted to come back home. so i just issued a blanket pardon. i got some criticism, obviously, because a lot of folks thought the draft dodgers should be executed for treason and so forth. tloir's funy -- not funny, but that you would be here on the opening day of the annual u.n. opening. that your book would be published at the same time. and we'll talk to president ahmadinejad on wednesday.

and now we have this lady held more than a year on spying charges and iran says they want eight arrested iranians released. what do you make of all this? >> well, first of all, i think we ought to keep maximum communication with our leader and their nations with whom we disagree. and i know that president obama promised he was going to do that when he went into office. but i think that's important. and i don't know -- i don't know what charges are against the eight iranians. i understand they violated the sanction against iran somehow or another. but i hope that the two that are still remaining over there, her fiance and her friend, would be released. i just got back from north korea, i went to get one of our young men from boston. he walked across the frozen river from china to north korea and was arrested, sentenced to eight years in prison and fined

a $700,000 u.s. i just got him out. he made a mistake and admitted it. he shouldn't have gone into north korea. she -- they say that they didn't know they were crossing the border. >> we have one woman out. would you go there to try to get the other two? >> if i was asked to go, i would. you know, i'm not the most popular person still in iran. although soon the shah fell, i left iran against my wishes. i immediately established diplomatic relations with the revolutionary government under the ayatollah khomeini. so we had full diplomatic relations and communications. and those were my diplomats over there under the revolutionary government that were captured. >> larry: we could never go a time without president carter making news. and he has harsh words in this book for ted kennedy about health care, surprising. we'll talk about it ahead. [ male announcer ] one look can turn the everyday into romantic.

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and working with people who are changing the face of business in america. after 25 years in the aviation business, i kind of feel like if you're not having fun at what you do, then you've got the wrong job. my landing was better than yours. no, it wasn't. yes, it was. was not. yes, it was. what do you think? take one of the big ones out? nah. i'll never tell a lie. i'll never make a misleading statement. that any of you had in me and i'll never avoid a controversial issue.

>> larry: "white house diary." jimmy carter. great cover. already making news. when's your read on ahmadinejad? we have interviewed him twice. this will be number three. >> well, i think he's deliberately trying to be provocative, say whatever he can to attract attention to himself. i think within certain bounds he stays within -- within the wishes of the religious figures, superior beings sort to speak in iran. he makes obnoxious statements maybe to be controversial. i think he is very doubtful that he actually won the last election. >> larry: do we take his seriously or not? >> i think you have to take him seriously because within as i said within bounds he speaks for the ultimate authorities in iran.

he couldn't get too far removed from what they want him to say. >> larry: all right. do you think iran today more or less a threat? >> i think -- >> larry: are you concerned about them? >> i am. yes, i am. because they feel isolated from the western world. first of all. and we make constant threats that we are going to bomb them as you know if they don't comply with our wishes on the nuclear proposals. i think they -- my own belief is they are planning to make a nuclear weapon. a nuclear explosive. they claim they are not. so that's of great concern to me because it will disturb the status quo in the middle east region. >> larry: so what do we do though? >> i would like to see us have more easy communication with them. to negotiate directly with them, talk to them. that's what obama promised before he was president. so far we haven't been able to do that effectively. i think communicate with them and stop threatening that we're going to attack them because if

they're moderate i would say ultimate leaders and religious circles of iran who are doubtful about whether or not to have a nuclear weapon, the more we threaten them and isolate them from us the more likely they are to go with a nuclear weapon. >> larry: we have a new health care bill. >> yes. >> larry: first one in passed 75 years and in your book ted kennedy is perceived as the creator of this or inspired it. >> of course. >> larry: you say in your book the late senator killed health care reform in 1978 and having an irresponsible and abusive attitude, essentially accusing him of blocking health care out of personal spite. >> well, you know, let me point out once more that that actually was written 31 years ago and kennedy -- >> larry: that was your feelings at that time. >> he was running against me as president. i was holding office, he was trying to take my office away from me and he and five other chairmen of the key

committees keeling with health care worked with me preparing the people i put forward. and so the the other five leaders stayed with me but at the last minute ted kennedy withdrew his support for what he had helped to draft and killed it in effect because he was a powerful and time, and he had two motivations i'm guessing now. he didn't want to give me a great success as he wanted to knock me off as president, and secondly i think he saw if he could kill my bill then maybe later on when he became president which he hoped to do in 1981 then he could put his own bill forward as a much more complete bill. >> larry: actually, that was written as you said 31 years ago but his former chief of staff called the criticism that you did in the book sad, classless, clearly embittered. you could have chosen to leave that out. >> well, you know, i didn't leave out anything that i thought was pertinent. even though it was very frank

and although i had great admiration for senator kennedy as one of the most wonderful and successful senators we ever had and i would say that after i left office we became adequately reconciled. he worked closely with my wife on mental health legislation and that sort of thing. so we were basically friends after i left office. >> larry: it's an honest, that's what it was? >> that's what it was and i quote the laws that i put forward that would have given catastrophic coverage to everybody in america, add 16 million people that would have complete health insurance and in four years it would have given comprehensive health coverage to every person in america and it was killed. >> larry: our guest, former president jimmy carter. we have a lot to talk about. tea party, sarah palin, current state of politics and this incredible book. don't go away. i'm a hot babe out jogging.

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>> larry: back with president jimmy carter. "the white house diary" just published. opening day in a sense. obama signed the health care bill six months ago. what did you think of it and why are you -- are you surprised more americans oppose it than favor it? >> well, i was delighted when it passed. it thought it possibly could have been much more aggressive with a single payer simple system. that's what i personally preferred and he did the best he could under extremely difficult circumstances with no republicans helping him. and i think the negative aspect to it is because of a total distortion of the news that fox broadcasting has perpetrated on the american people when they hammer away day after day after day that his health program will kill old people and things of that kind.

a lot of gullible folks in the united states actually believe what fox puts forward as facts when most of it is just complete distortions and attempted to twist around what his religious faith is and whether or not he's an american and so forth so i think that's the new version of cable news that was not there thank goodness when i was there. but i would attribute most of the negative attitude, not to the facts, but to the distorted facts that comes out of the fox. >> larry: what do make of all this? tea party, fox, glenn becks, the phenomenon in a sense. >> i'm disturbed about it. i can't criticize the tea party people because i came into the white house pretty much on a same basis that they have become popular. that is, dissatisfaction with the way things are going in washington and discouragement about the government, but that's what happened before i ran for president. had it not been for that feeling in the country, i would not have been elected. for instance, we were just out of the embarrassment of watergate and the defeat in

vietnam and the fact that a lot of people lied about what was going on in vietnam. the assassination of martin luther king jr. and most of the kennedy brothers. and the revelation by frank church committee that the american government and cia and some presidents perpetrated murder in other countries. all of that had brought about a feeling among the people that something was wrong in our government. and i think that's what's being utilized by the tea party people to arouses animosity. >> larry: are you saying all's fair? >> well, it is fair. my guess is that the tea party will be very influential in the upcoming election, in the midterm election, this coming november. my guess is that they'll soon be absorbed in each other will absorb the republican party and the tea party movement so a couple of years from now maybe in 2012 when the president's elections come on i think the tea party will be not a unique, startling newcomer on the

political scene but all hat stuff. >> larry: bill clinton called it -- said the tea party movement have good impulses and called it a general revolt against bigness. >> i think it is a general revolt against something that many of them don't like, yes. >> larry: how much of it do you think is racist? we have a black president. >> i don't think the tea party people are racist. except maybe a tiny portion of them but there's been a deliberate effort, again, referring to fox broadcasting to inject the race issue into it. they have called obama a racist on television. and when they say, like, some of the leaders of the republican party have said that he's epitomizing the tribal influence of his father from kenya, you know, that obviously has political connotations so i think -- i mean, racist connotations so i think some of it is racist but i don't blame

the tea party movement for -- >> larry: what about gingrich -- >> i was talking about gingrich. i think that gingrich five years ago would be embarrassed of what gingrich is saying and doing today. >> larry: why isn't it embarrassing today? >> i think he has ambitions to be a presidential candidate and he thinks that to go hard right and to appeal to the extreme even tea party movement members may be beneficial to him politically. >> larry: all right. what is your read on obama? >> i think he's a good, solid, intelligent man who is suffering from perhaps the worst washington environment of any president in history and i would even include abraham lincoln as we led up to the woverton estates. no other president has faced such a polarized congress where he can hardly get one or two

votes, you know, out of hundreds who are republicans in the house and the senate. so he has had to overcome that and i think he's had remarkable success in light of that handicap. >> larry: president jimmy carter's our guest. the book is "white house diary." we'll be right back. gecko: gd news sir, i jugot ae anople really love our claimservice. gecko:speciallthe auto repair xpress. repairs are fast and they're guaranteed for as long as you is thisyyourcphone?ey, th! gecko: yeah, 'course. sswhere do you po you...carry... for as long as you is thisyyourcphone?ey, th!

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based not on weapons of war but on international policies which reflect our own most precious values. >> larry: back with former president jimmy carter. the occasion -- this is book number what? >> 26. >> larry: 26th book, "white house diary." an extraordinary account of his years in the presidency in which he kept a daily diary dictating every day, sometimes three, four times a day. all right. you write extensively, of course, about the mideast. i remember great interviews we did about -- >> i remember. >> larry: -- the summit of camp david and everything but most particularly about camp david and your reference then. you got a peace treaty that still exists. >> that's right. not a word has been violated in 31 years. >> larry: what are your

expectations of this next go around? >> i think if anybody can be successful, hillary clinton is a right one to be a chief negotiator. she's competent. she knows her background. she's -- i think, very forceful. and she is determined to prevail and if she can get any sort of glimmer of accommodation by both sides at the same time i think she'll be successful but i wouldn't bet on it because i know that it's intransigence involved there. >> larry: how frustrating is it to be a deal maker there? >> well, it's very frustrating. as i wrote in my diary every day, i mean, i had probably 50 entries, what israel has wanted is to keep the west bank. and that's a main thing they haven't yielded on in 30 years. they gave up the sinai. didn't want gaza strip ever. but they've always wanted to keep the west bank.

so they've got now control over probably more than 50% of the west bank. including all of the jordan river valley and multiple settlements, as you know, between jerusalem and the jordan river so i think that's basically the cause of the problem. and if they would -- >> larry: israel's the cause by keeping it? >> well, there's faults on both sides but that's the thing that has not changed. of course, the palestinian issue has changed a lot. they've had three elections. the carter center and i have been there for every election but obviously the unwillingness of the palestinians to make concessions and to agree to accept israel's existence and right to live in peace is a major factor as well and violence on both sides has been a major factor, but the unchanging issue is israel's desire to keep the west bank. >> larry: when prime minister netanyahu was here a little while ago, he said he was open to anything, just let's sit and talk. >> i pray that that's the case. >> larry: you don't believe it? >> i don't know. we'll have to see. i don't know. but i think hillary will give

them every chance to make the right concessions to move forward. >> larry: you're impressed with her? >> yes, i am. i met with her the other day when i came back from north korea with messages from them leading toward denuclearization of the peninsula and peace. i enjoyed meeting with her. she was very open minded, inquisitive, knowledgeable. i know that she is a competent person who would do the best she can, and i think that she sees the chance to do something that others haven't been able to do. >> larry: what about those on the far left of the extremists on both sides who hinder this process? >> that's -- >> larry: bombers, you know, the suicides. >> i know. that's a case on both sides as you say. i would say that begin, when he

left camp david, had made a decision much courageous decision than either sadat or i. and that was a major step forward. and, of course, it led to a complete treaty of peace between israel and the other arab countries that threaten them, you know, militarily with whom they had been at war four times in 25 years before i became president, biisrael didn't carry out the commitments -- but israel didn't carry out the commitments that they made to me and president sadat and no more settlements and the west bank turned over to the palestinians but i have always admired begin because of that. >> larry: do you think you get a bad rap over the israeli/palestinian issue from the israeli side? >> well, i lost a major portion of the israeli political support in 1980. not all of it. i mean, but compared to what i had done in 1976 and what other democratic presidents have done

and a lot of them felt that i took an even-handed stance between israel and the palestinians and even-handed is not acceptable to many people. and also, i have had severe criticisms from netanyahu and a few others because i gave away the sinai desert from israel back to egypt. so, that's comprehensible. i can see how people who are completely committed to israel won't have israel prevail on every issue. >> larry: we're talking about islamic center and ground zero next. (announcer) everything you need to stretch out on long trips. residence inn. i'm ahmed mady and i'm a homebuilder. my father brought me up to give back to society... felicia jackson promised her late sister that she would take care of her children. but she needed help. i used my american express open card to get half a million points to buy building materials

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>> larry: we're back with former president jimmy carter. the book is "white house diary." the obamas went to church yesterday. some said only because he's not basically a churchgoer and he was back in chicago and since -- because he's being tagged as non-christian. what do you make of that? >> well, i'm glad he went to church. and i don't think it was just that. i think he is a deeply religious person and obviously a christian and many presidents have not been to church. reagan didn't go to church. while he was president or before or after as a regular thing although i don't doubt his christianity. but different people have different approaches. i went to the first baptist church every sunday if i was at camp david we had church -- >> larry: still a lay preacher? >> i teach the bible every sunday i'm home. >> larry: you've always gone? >> yes, i have.

>> larry: what do you make of obama going at this particular time? >> i'm glad he went. i don't know his motivation. maybe he wanted to worship or let people be reminded accurately he is a devout christian and a prerogative of any human being including presidents. >> larry: what keeps your faith? with all you see around you. >> it's a -- it's a basic premise of my moral and practical life. i've been a christian all my life since i was 3 years old and was going to church. my father was a sunday schoolteacher like i am now. and it's been a great solace to me in times of trial and disappointment or sorrow or failure. or disillusionment. i pray more when -- the last year i was in office than i ever have before or since while the hostages were being held. my prayer was never that i would prevail or win or anything but

every hostage would come home safe and free, and my prayers were answered, as you know. and so i've been basically at ease with my faith. and i enjoy each sunday that i'm home about 35 times a year teaching the bible. i teach half the time in hebrew text, old testament and half the time in the new testament. >> larry: what do you make of the islamic center controversy here a couple miles from where we are? >> they ought to build it. they have a right to build it. this is a part of our nation's premis freedom of religion and not only freedom of religion, equality among religions as far as the preference of worshippers is concerned. i think it's gotten a little bit false to say they have a constitutional right to do it and they can't do it. i think they ought to go ahead and build it. >> larry: you understand the unrest, though? >> i do. let them -- let there be some unrest.

it's two complete blocks away from so-called holy ground of the disaster in 9/11. and it's not an intrusion on any other beliefs. and also, it's surrounded by i understand strip joints and commercial establishments and so forth. it's just a contrivance by people that want to arouse anti-islamic feelings. >> larry: what do you make of the president's handling so far of afghanistan? >> well, he inherited afghanistan problem. i was involved in the afghan problem from the beginning. on christmas day of 1979, the soviets began to haul in about 12,000 troops and they invaded afghanistan. that was a beginning of the problem. they stayed there about eight years until gorbachev decided to bring them out, and if that time -- in that time,

i gave the afghan freedom fighters we called them every possible support i could in a clandestine or secret ways. in fact, all the weapons gave them soviet weapons that we got from egypt and from saudi arabia and from pakistan. we didn't use american weapons. and eventually the freedom fighters prevailed. when the soviets did withdraw, gorbachev did it, i think if we had gone in there and spent a tenth as much as we're spending now on weapons and fighting and rebuilt afghanistan it never would have been an opening for al qaeda to go in so i hope we'll get out of afghanistan as soon as is possible and maybe work with a moderate member of a taliban and there are many of them and try to have some accommodations with them. >> larry: all right. back with president carter after this. of one financial company that grew stronger through the crisis. when some lost their way, this company led the way. by protecting clients and turning uncertainty into confidence. what if that story were true?

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>> larry: we're back with president carter. the book "white house diary." colin powell says that obama has lost some of his ability to connect with the public, he needs to be like a razor blade and go after the employment issue. be more forceful. >> yeah. well, i don't think there's any doubt that he sapped away a lot of his political popularity concentrating so heavily on getting the health bill passed and i think a lot of people feel, maybe legitimately, that if he had concentrated more on jobs, jobs, jobs instead of anything else he would be more politically popular now. but that was a great achievement

for health care and i think in the long run it is very good for our country, but i believe that what colin the accurate. i don't blame president obama for making that choice. >> larry: it is still a ways away but is he in political trouble? 2012. >> i think the situation politically is going to be quite different in 2012 from what it is this time. i think 2010 midterm elections, the democrats are going to be faced with some pretty heavy defeats. i think that he's got plenty of time to repair any political damage. my hope is that we'll see some improvement made in employment and in the economy and so i believe he's got a good chance not only to be the nominee which i had to fight for which i don't think he'll have to fight for but to be re-elected. >> larry: you don't think any democrat would challenge him? >> i can't imagine that again. >> larry: is there any republican on the horizon you as a democrat worry about? >> well, i worry about whichever one they might choose because it's obviously going to be a

tough campaign. and i would hate to see the republicans take over the white house and the house and maybe even the senate. i think our country would be put back there if that should happen economically and in every other way. so, i can't pick out one republican to concern me more than others. >> larry: what do you make of former governor palin? >> i think she's a vivid, political person that has made a major impact on the consciousness of america, both whether you like her or don't like her. i think she's extremely eloquent. she knows how to appeal to whatever audience is front of her and she has tremendous influence as she demonstrated for instance just recently in delaware endorsing a woman that prevailed in the republican primary. i think that even the republicans from what polls i have seen don't see her as a potential president.

but they look on her with admiration. >> larry: do you see her as a potential president? >> i hope not, no. i don't see her as a potential president. >> larry: do you see her as a candidate? >> i think she'll be very shrewd in making a decision to run for president depending on the polls showing her as being acceptable among republicans. if she sees she can get the republican nomination she'll go for it but so far according to the polls i'm completely outside of it. >> larry: have you ever seen this country as divided as it is? >> no, it's never been this divided. i don't think it was this divided even in the time of abraham lincoln. during the civil war, war between the states it was divided severely but no, it's not been this divided. you know, i had superb bipartisan support when i was president. as the years went by of my own presidency, and clinton -- i mean, excuse me, senator kennedy made more and more strong

challenge to me, he accepted away the liberal democrats of the party and i turned to the moderate democrats and also to republicans but i had congressman michael in the house and baker in the senate. howard baker who really helped me in -- on key votes so i got support of republicans and democrats. >> larry: no one like that around. >> no. there's no one like that around and now they have a solemn oath they take. if you're a republican, don't vote for obama no matter what he proposes. even if it's good stuff. >> larry: "white house diary." we'll be right back. ll...suddeny it looks like i'm being charged a $35 annual fee. yes? tell me it's a mistake. yes? are you saying yes or are you asking yes? yes? peggy? peggy? anncr: want better customer service? switch to discover. ranked #1 in customer loyalty. it pays to discover.

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>> the threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways, it is a crisis of confidence. it is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. we can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation. lou piniella going to have the read another excerpt from "white house diary." this is the day he leaves office, the inauguration of president reagan. >> this is exactly four years after the one first. on the inaugural platform my feelings were of regret that i had lost the election, but a sense of relief to be free of the responsibility for a while. persistent, though, of my concern that at the last minute the hostages might not be

released. i watched the ceremony as a somewhat detached spectator, without any emotional feelings. i felt the speech was nothing new, just a check of campaign material. -- a collection of the campaign material. i was looking at the security agent when they asked for the president and first lady to come forward. i had the inclination to stop up with rosalyn but realized he was talking about the reagans. two minute later i was informed that the hostage plane had taken off. they had been sitting in the plane since that morning, free and ready to be released. >> you're critical this book from the washington press corps, does that still stand? >> i think they're much better now than they were when i was president. yeah, i was critical of them because i thought there of a great disoregon to of what i was trying to do -- distortion of what i was trying to do. >> couldn't george bush say the same thing? >> i think any president might want to say the same thing except maybe a few.

i think president reagan was a darling of the press a lot of his term. and probably john kennedy of another who enjoyed favorable reaction from -- >> personality counts, doesn't it? >> it does count a lot. and to be part of their environment, of course, you're part of that environment, too. i i think lyndon johnson had a really hard time with the white house press corps. >> what do you make of the jon stewart and stephen -- i know you're a jon stewart fan. >> i am. >> you'll be on his show later tonight. >> that's true. >> what do you make of his rally? >> i think it's quite a courageous -- >>eraly to restore sanity. >> and to preserve fear, i think is what colbert says. i think it will be an interesting event. i believe there will be a pretty large turnout. i think there will be a lot of humor in it. and it's going to be interesting to watch how they avoid any alignment toward a liberal or conservative philosophy, and make sure they stay kind of out of politics and still retain their role as humorous.

>> and obviously in retaliation to the tea party and the glenn beck rally. >> that's what i surmise because jon stewart hadn't told me that, i don't think he's told his viewers yet exactly what his motivations are. except, you know, just to bring rationality back to the political debate or discussion. >> jimmy carter's going to be 86 in less than two weeks. what's he got planned next? the next decade or two? [ technician ] are you busy? management just sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese. by tomorrow. [ male announcer ] ducati knows it's better for xerox to manage their global publications. so they can focus on building amazing bikes. with xerox, you're ready for real business.

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>> larry: we're back with president carter. the book "white house diary." all right. what's next? going to go solve a war some place, some peace, settle an election? you're not going to stop. >> we just go the back from north korea and china. we stay in touch with 7 0 countries so i'll continue to do that work. most of our effort at carter center is in diseases, curing and preventing and eradicating terrible diseases that still afflict the poorest and most hopeless and needy people on earth so i'll stay in the carter center as long as i'm physically and mentally able. i'm still a professor at emory university. this is my 29th year as a professor, and i'll still write a book every now and then. >> larry: i know that. many people you write about, hamilton jordan, jody powell, ted kennedy, ronald reagan, jerry ford, anwar sadat, itzhak rabin, robert byrd, they are all gone. >> menachem begin. >> larry: does that give you pause?

>> the book was dedicated to jody powell, like my own sons, who helped me be and become president so it was a great deal of emotion that i dedicated this book to them, but, yes, times change and people go on, and i think -- one thing i would like to remind the readers of this book, although it's very controversial and critical comments in there by me and them, the book was written 30 years ago, and times have changed, and i changed my opinion about a lot of people. >> larry: read it with that. >> it's an absolutely frank, honest, undisturbed, unmodified, i didn't change a single sentence meaning in the book about what it means to be president and to point out 30 or 40 things in the book, really, that i had to address that were very serious to me that obama is having to address today. >> larry: frank sinatra told me the sad thing about aging is

your friends are gone. >> that's exactly right, yeah. that's true. >> larry: is it the same with you? >> it's sad, of course, and every year it seems like more and more of them, you know, pass away. some of those much earlier than they should have, like jody and hamilton, you know, who were a generation behind me. >> larry: and your brother. >> and my brother billy who was 13 years younger than i was. so we have to be prepared for that. >> larry: how is your health? >> my health is good, thank goodness. >> larry: you're an amazing guy. >> thank you, larry, for letting me come. >> larry: and a regular viewer which we count on. >> i certainly am and have been for a long time. >> larry: president jimmy carter, the book "white house diary." this is going to be a major best-seller.

this hour, everything you need to know for your week ahead, including developing weather news. it's bad in much of the country, and there will be travel delays at this hour in the midwest. swollen rivers are pushing levees to the brink. one is in imminent danger of collapsing. new horrifying video to show you of a crash landing last night of a delta airlines flight. if you're flying any time soon, you should definitely see this. passenger reaction as it unfolded. before you eat another bite, have you to see our in-depth reporting on food. it can change your life. it will definitely change the way you think about eating. tonight we kick off a week of special programming. it's called eatocracy. hello, everyone. i'm don lemon. thanks for joining us. we start with this developing story. bishop eddie long went before his congregation this morning to address for the first time allegations of sexual misconduct with young men in his congregation. [ applause ] never before has long faced such salacious and disturbing charges