tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. tonight a conversation with larry king. last year, he steps down from one of the most popular platforms. he is back with his new book on his time behind the microphone. larry king, his book is called "truth be told." we are glad you joined us for a conversation with larry king, coming up right now. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i'm james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference -- >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and answer, nationwide insurance is happy to help tavis improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment one conversation at a time.

nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: always pleased to welcome the king of talks, larry king to this program. i am the one against to ask the questions tonight. there is plenty to ask banks to the release of this terrific new text, "truth be told -- off the record about favorite guests, memorable moments, funniest jokes, and a half century of asking questions." could you make that subtitle any longer? [laughter]

>> subtitles' are big now. i want to make a historic announcement. my first television appearance in 25 years in which i'm not wearing braces. just for tonight, i'm going back after the next appearance. i thought that this was such a special show that people can see that i wear other things. tavis: prove it. i want to see this. oh, my. larry king without suspenders. how did this start, larry? >> my ex-wife, sharon, a lovely lady, i had just gotten heart surgery. we were going out to dinner. we were divorced but you're going out to dinner. she said, you look good. i used to wear have sweaters. have you ever tried braces?

i had been on cnn for about two and a half years. i bought a pair and three or four people called in and said, you look good. that is all i had the year. tavis: because you were on cnn so long, most people don't recall you being on there without them. for a couple of years, you did not wear them. >> if you look at the first night with mario cuomo, june 1st, 1985, i am wearing a jacket. then i wore hats and sweaters. this was such an interesting look and then -- at your tie looks perfect. you made a perct not. i am amazed. i could never do that. how'd you do that? tavis: let me tell you a story. when i would sit in for you on cnn, i was honored to do that. i would go back in the back room to record at the opener.

tonight, on larry king. i liked doing the opener. you have a whole bunch of suspenders. i wanted to steal a pair. i could see my mother looking at me, "you cannot steal larry king's suspenders." >> i will send you some. tavis: i have been anxious to do this. let me jump into this. so much news has been made that i want to get your take on. your take on about what you would say to them if they were across the desk from you. you lost money thanks to bernie madoff. >> i got it back. tavis: if you were interviewing bernie madoff, what would you say? >> logical people would say how do you feel about hurting these

people? i did go a different route which would be when this started, you were a famous person to begin with. you were chairman of the nasdaq. you started the investments. how did this to akin, this idea to if i get from peter and he gives me 20 and you sign up and i give you 10 of his 20, while i hold back 10, this cannot miss. if no one claims money, if no one makes a big hit, a ponzi scheme can go on forever. there are probably successful year it -- policy schemes that have been going on for 30 or 40 years. -- ponzi schemes that have been going on for a lot of time. what made this guy -- then you get into conscience.

so she passed find an excuse. this is pure greed. -- a sociopaths find an excuse. being a client of bernie madoff was a riot. when you look back at it, it was funny. there was a day once when my wife said, why don't we just give him all the money? he never loses. why are we wasting it. give him everything. because, i had never spoken to bernie madoff and i never met him. tavis: you never met him? >> no, i never spoke to him were met him. he turned down my brother. there was a lady in palm beach to chase him for 10 years. millionaires. he was very smart. if you make something harder to get, you wanted more. my accountants in boston would deal with him. i would call it, we need money. he would send a little better. every month, we would get a

statement. 40 shares of sears, we sold. here is what you made. one month he sent a letter, stocks are not doing well this month, we're just buying treasury. tavis: he never body treasury? >> he never bought a stock. one year, we gave him 4 million and we took out most of that. we made money. we got 200 back from the guy who was handling his account and 500 from the u.s. government with the paid taxes on stock we did not have. we paid capital gains. never had a stock. wouldn't you love to do him? we would do three or four specials. i would run down to get him. why didn't he just did a private

plane and fly off to brazil? call the family together, why do you think? you are a good judge of people. why the man say, okay, i can go to brazil or spend the rest of my life in the penitentiary. tavis: i think that his crime was so egregious and he offended so many power players in this country and that is not being naive. there is a divide between the rich and the poor. you cannot ripoff that many powerful people. the government will find you. the powerful people fund this government. they would get him anyway. bernie madoff is the one guy that they would get and drag him back. we would cut off every bit of aid if they did not return him. >> i write about him in the book.

tavis: you mentioned one of your friends, the owner of the mets. he has gotten a lot of public push back about what he knew. it sounded like watergate. what do you make of what is happening? >> well, i am a dodgers fan. tavis: [laughter] that is another problem. >> madoff made a statement and a brilliant piece in the new yorker that freddie would not have known anything. freddie is not an investor, he is a brilliant real estate guy and a baseball freak but he is not an investor and he is not a sophisticated investor. he has this guy, he is his friend. come with me. i can understand that. i have great accountants and boston. not one but did they ever say to

me other than this guy is really good. the guy at my regular investment firm, morgan stanley, all they would say to me is, i tell you, he is a great stock analyst. tavis: since you are doing these four specials every year for cnn, why not ask bernie madoff? >> we have been trying. tavis: so, you do want to talk to him. >> i had lunch with his lawyer. we have permission from the prison. this is ok. if he says okay, we can bring a camera. tavis: another question that i have been dying to know is what you would say to him. you would be the guy to get the interview. what do you ask anthony wiener? >> i never thought about an interview when i went in to do it. people don't believe it, i would turn to the camera and say, my

guest is tavis smiley, i don't know what i'm going to ask. abaco on the premise that i now know that there are high school pictures of him. -- i now know on the premise that there are high school pictures of him. when you are leading a kind of double life, let's say that your not having a physical affair, what is that like every day? you are on my show, congressman, and you were talking about relief for the victims of 9/11. he led the fight to get them financial aid when a lot of people did not give them financial aid. at the same time that you have done this, you have gone into the green room, what was going

through your mind? did you ever think was wrong? did you ever think, why am i doing this? tavis: what the questions i would ask and i am not into these conversations, as you know, but i would ask how is it that he thought that he was not crossing the line. i grant you that you have freakish behavior and that is how you want to live your life. i want to know why he did not think that he was taking pictures when they were in the house gym. you cannot even control yourself to not go beyond his mind. what you do it in your private time and your own private life, i grant you that. there is a line which you cannot cross the to the other thing is, if you are not smart enough to decipher where that is, why should we have you run in the country? >> another thing that fascinates

me. i'm told by psychologists that this is not uncommon among powerful people who either make a lot of money or who have positions of power to influence money. they need constant reaffirmation. this is not uncommon. my question would be, do you think there is a bus driver in the morning -- a bus driver in des moines who is sending his nude picture to women on twitter. many people think that there are but out of think so. this is a proclivity of the powerful. >> all this leads me to ask what you miss being in the chair every night. >> what i miss his big stories. the night that osama bin laden was killed, i just wanted to run in. i don't miss the paris hiltons. this is like a joke i do.

on the one hand, you really want to do something, on the other hand it is mixed emotions. tavis: when i last saw you, you were headed to start your tour. how's it going? >> we have done boston, atlantic city, indianapolis, vegas, phoenix, you have cities throughout florida, new york, australia, kankan -- hong kong. tavis: do you enjoy it? >> well, i don't like travel. i have been to some major digital conferences. i went to the dmz. there is a surreal experience.

i love standing on a stage and i like making people laugh. in fact, that is the biggest high. i don't like traveling but once you get out there, that audiences in your grass and you know you are coming to a line that is finally there. if you deliver your line well, that is a high. i did not get a chance to write about that. i was at the 30th parallel. i am in the window. i'm in the room. there is still an armistice. this is under a truce. standing on this line of south korea, north korea. in the middle of this room where they negotiate every three or four years, standing right behind the window is a north vietnamese staring at me.

i am in a room that is really both sides. tavis: you mentioned vegas. i happen to know that your wife open for you when you did vegas. you have been in the media for so many years, television, radio, and print for that matter. what did you make of the media's treatment of you and your wife when you were going through your marriage problems? >> one thing that was despicable was paparazzi. i know that they have a job but we're only a part really two weeks. the one next to me there was playing in at the little league and his little brother is a great athlete. they were watching. shawn was there and her mother and father were there. this was a night game in beverly hills. there must have been 30

paparazzi there. they have their lights on. there lights were on the cameras. they were blinding the players. the umpire and the park managers camera out and asked them if they would leave. they cannot literally throw them out. a number of them would not shut their lights off. tavis: do you know who was sitting in for you? >> you? tavis: yes. >> little boy was trying. i talked to one in new york. i've been to new york city and i was talking to this paparazzi and i said, what was this? they pay more for pictures of children. if you can get a child crying, they pay triple. in britain, you cannot take a picture of a child. you are fined or you can lose a

license if you have a picture of a child in a study of distress. that is the lowest of the low. tavis: let me switch gears dramatically here. back to your talk show. i suspect that the interview you did ask the most about is the brando interview. >> the whole thing leading up to that, i get it. they told me, marlon brando has agreed to do one interview. he likes you. he will call you. the interview was set for friday. this was like monday or tuesday. i get a call with that voice that i've known for my life, this is marlon. i actually said, marlin to -- marlon who? he said, brando. he said, i will send a car and

we will have lunch. the car pulls up and he is driving. the doorman says, i am seen this but i don't believe it. we get in the car and we are driving around beverly hills singing songs. he would sing the first line and i would sing the second line. he came to new york as a dancer from overhaul -- from omaha. we went to his house. nothing in the house said he was an actor. no books on architecture, no academy awards, nothing. two big dogs. it was a surreal life. now he goes on the show and i had a wonderful interview with him. he did not want to talk about acting. i said, i want to talk about acting. he said, acting is easy. he said, all you have to do is pretend. he made a lot of other actors angry. in fact, he taught a class once

called line for a living. -- lying for a living. [laughter] he says, i will show you that you can act. heat picks up a phone -- he picks up a fund. but, your brother died? anyway, we finished the interview and he kisses me on the lips. i was a little taken aback. we were singing a song. he came back later and went on the other show. i was so taken aback. in my act, the first and ask is, what i'm asking is what was that like to be kissed by marlon brando. i have to tell you the truth, i cannot stop thinking about it.

the second time became one is when he said the jews from hollywood. they were unforgiving with that. they had to meet with the rabbi. so many of his friends are jewish. tavis: he is talking to a jewish coast. >> he said it because he really felt that the jews were in a position of power and he never saw native americans get good parts or the latinos get good parts. that is where he took the blame. instead of saying studio heads, he singled out juice. lou wasserman did not speak to him again. tavis: i want to ask how you assess the way that it ended. i am asking that because lebron james is catching helrathenau. he is not catching hell because he lost. this goes back to the way he

left cleveland. >> i spent a day at his house. we did a wonderful interview. i like meeting him and we're walking along this beautiful house. he said he could not believe that larry king came to see him. he had the france that he grew up with. the boys' club that he endorses. -- he had the friends that he grew up with. he was a great interview. he was spotted well -- he responded well. he took me through his the little while. he wants to whewin. then he makes the most stupid decision of all time, to buy the hour. the, jim gray -- i may friend of his.

he should not have agreed to that. tavis: they stretch this out for an hour. >> what did you do last summer? what did you have for breakfast? come on. the first thing he should have done was to call the owner of the cavaliers and tell him, i made my decision, i'm going to leave. he made in not a monetary decision. cleveland could have paid him more than anyone offered. they could have paid him 80 million. it did not matter. they could go above any offer. he wanted to win. then he says, i am taking my talents to south beach. most people watching don't have talents in that regard. he is taking them to miami.

the team plays in miami. south beach is the equivalent of a bathing suits, women, night life, music, fun, frolicke. everything we don't have. that is why he is going. south beach. the public did not forgive him. ohio was unforgiving. the gino that they were calling the cavaliers the mavaliers because they were rooting for the mavericks'? -- begin know that they're recalling the cavaliers? tavis: i will ask this question out and you the answer to our night. i will spend half of this show tomorrow night talking to larry king. i really appreciate the assessment of what he did wrong that has led to all of the heat

-- hate. i want to know what larry king learned relative to the exit that he did relative to your exit from cnn. the new book is called, larry king, "truth be told -- off the record about favorite guests, memorable moments, funniest jokes, and a half century of asking questions." larry king, i will see you here tomorrow night. >> i will return. tavis: that is our show for tonight. . next time, keep the faith. -- until next time, keep the faith, tavis: hello, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for part two of our conversation with larry king, also actress lucy punch.

>> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i'm james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference -- >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment one conversation at a time. nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television]