[captioning made possible by kcet public television] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- tavis: good evening, from los angeles. tonight a conversation with larry king. "larry king live" has been on cnn for 25 years and is seen across the world, details of his life are in "my remarkable journey." we are glad you have joined us. >> there are so many things wal- mart is looking forward to doing, helping people bill stronger communities and relationships.

>> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. tavis and nationwide insurance. working to improve financial literacy and the economic power that comes with it. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. tavis: welcome larry king back to the program. for 25 years he has had one of the most unique jobs in television, as the host of "larry king live" and he is the founder of the larry king cardiac foundation. he has provided life-saving treatment. he has a new memoir, "m y

remarkable journey." >> i may have been everywhere but this is my home. tavis: when you are in my audience or not near me, you are my favorite person in broadcasting. we need more people like you. -- tavis: it is my dream to sit in for larry king. >> you are terrific and this is a great spot for you to be. tavis: i enjoy being here on pbs. i was reading an article and in the article you said that you thought that charlie rose had one of the best jobs on television, and you explain why you felt this way. you think that he has a good on

public broadcasting. >> t. has one hour. -- he has one hour. you can choose any guessed that you want, you can do any subject, and there are no commercials. if you interview someone and the basic thing that you like is asking questions, what is the worst thing that can happen? we will be back in 60 seconds. do not forget to watch tomorrow, i will have the wing ding person who jumped off of the alladin corporation -- alladin corporation. you may envy the salary we get. there is a quid pro quo. and you have a tremendous job. i would like to do, i would like

to do your guest tomorrow, chairman of the federal reserve. we would have yim on -- him on cnn if he would lead into the financial crisis and this would have to relate to the news. i would like to have them when there is no financial crisis. tavis: to your point, how did you develop such a curiosity as a child, where did this come from? >> i do not know if there was an answer. i was a nutty kid. i wanted to ask the bus driver why he wanted to drive, i would listen to the radio and i wondered if they were sitting down or standing up. why do you want to fly the plane?

i am a sports fan. i would go to add this field -- at its field -- ebbots field. i never asked for an autograph, and i would ask the coach, why did you bunt? why did you want a run on the second inning? why is my life thing. i am the kind of guy you did not want to be next to on the airplane. i would love to ask you qustions now-- questions now. i do not know where this came from. my younger brother is a lawyer, he is very intelligent and i would not call him an overly curious person. my father died, that is my

brother in the middle. that is me on the left, that is my aunt sylvia. the little boy on the left just got those glasses and they were given to me by the city of new york. we were on relief, the city bought me glasses. they took me to coney island. tavis: being on relief, what do you make of this being such a story. i have to envy your salary. what do you make of the life you've crafted. >> i never forget about this, many people who had depression childhood, they want to be buried with their money. this has never happened. if you need a dollar, my shirt

-- tavis: can i have the suspenders? >> sell them on e0bay. it always stayed with me. my friends are with me every day. being poor taught me a lot about things, when the nominee for the supreme court says that her background was helping her decide things, people criticize this. but everyone's background has something to do with how they came out. if i was the son of a banker, and i had a house in farmingdale and horses, i think that i would be doing something else, so we carry with us these things that we carry with us. there is no joke about welfare.

99% of the people on this do not want to be there, this is making you feel gratitude but you also feel sad because you have to be in the circumstance to get to that place. i was in that circumstance. my father died, i said he was leaving me. i thought death was a betrayal. tavis: how does a child navigate the journey when he feels that he has been betrayed. >> i never really got over it until this minute, i have never been over this. i am and over indulgent parent. i am wacko. we did this early so i could be at chance's play to see him play babe ruth. they are my life.

my father was good to me, but he left me. he lost a son before i was born. one day he was gone. i am nine years old and one day he is not there anymore. relatives say, larry, you are the man of the family, you have to take care of your brother and mother, you have to deliver groceries. why am i in this position? he left. i didn't go to his funeral. i went to his grave. i think about him. my brother has no memory. i remember him. i took this as betrayal. the thing i look for is loyalty. that is the highest degree. that is what i like about frank

sinatra. there is no greater trait than to be loyal to his job and fellow people. i felt disloyalty. he wasn't, he died. it was a myth. [captioning made possible by kcet public tetavis: frank sinae funniest stories in the book is funny but informative. the story of sinatra and jackie gleason. i will let you tell the story. >> it is a great story. jackie befriended me. i am at a dinner, honoring jackie gleason. he was on my show and i would go see the scriptwriting, when they

put this together for the honeymooners. he was a very -- he was an insomniac. he didn't read fiction, but people and science. i was there with a doctor, and he said, what is impossible. he pointed at the doctor. the doctor said, they will never make blood in a laboratory. blood will not be in a lab. you may get gransu-- transfusions. he said it to me. i said i do a local show from 9:00-12:00.

frank sinatra to do my show for three hours. nobody is bigger. he says, when is he dark. he is not working next monday. you got him. i said, how? [laughter] i said i am going back on the air, to promote sinatra. the phones are ringing. management calls. have you lost your mind. jackie said it. management calls. we have an ad in the miami herald. we call the hotel wehre he is per-- where he is performing. are you sure he's coming. jackie says he's coming. i go on five after 9:00. nobody went home.

the secretaries stayed home. three minutess to 9:00, frank gets out. he is still living, jim, nice guy. sinatra says, "who is larry king?" i say, "me." he says, let's go. i walk along and jim says to me, i don't know how you got him, but he pays me not to do this. we sit down, and i did something i do today. teh best thing -- the best thing is to be yourself and honest with your audience. i could have begun in that place by saying, frank sinatra, a

great legend i admire my life, that's what they would do, i. i said, my guest is frank sinatra. why are you here? why would he come to my show? he was taken by that. he said, well, i was working at a country club, closing night, saturday night. i called jackie, and said i couldn't make it up. could you do the show? gleason came and did a good show. i said, jackie, i owe you won. four years later, i get a message, and i call him. i say, jackie, it's frank. he says, this is the one. tavis: that is why that story is

informative. it goes back to that principle, loyalty. >> frank held him to it, and he would use that chip, if you have a chip from sinatra for a kid on a radio show. >tavis: what do you make of jackie doing that for you? >> he was larger than life, and he knew that he had a friend. how could i ever not be nice to him. i don't know if it was selfish. it was a glorious thing to do. the night before jackie died, i got a call from his publicist, and there was a list of people to say goodbye to, and i was on the list. there is something to say for

being liked. there is a scene in "fiddler on the roof," he is in russia with five daughters. jewish and very orthodox. his first daughter marries a christian. they come to him, how could you permit this. he says, stop. i like him. i like him. what are you going to do? tavis: we know you are jewish, speaking of jews and christians. >> really? big story, colin powell and me and nobodwere at a party, nobods dancing.

three years in a row, we'd do the dance. i said, this is unbelievable. a jew iand a black in the house of the "washington post," and he said, you're jewish? tavis: i will always remember when you celebrated a major anniversary on cnn, bryant gumble was interviewing you on your set and he was asking you the one person you would be that you would want to interview, your answer was, god, and i would ask him, did he have a son. that is a powerful -- >> think of it. i t could be -- it could be

funny or serious. you have him next tuesday. i have god on tuesday, booked for tuesday, for th we could pre him. tavis: for the hour. >> then paris hilton is there, you have to bump god to thursday. he can wait. then you have him. first question, did you have a child? now, from that answer, we can move society, think of all that. supposing he said yes, and he says chrsit is the beg-- christ in the beginning. then he says no, ethical chaos. then he says a woman. aye.

madonna was her name. what would the average person think of? i would ask, did you have a child. i would ask lincoln today, what do you make of what's happened? look at society and the president, tell me, president lincoln, did you bet on that? i can't think of the answer. it would be incredible. jefferson. what is that in the sky? an airplane. a what? an airplane. explain that. those things go through my mind. if you could send me back 200 years, what could i show them to do? what could i teach them?

nothing. could you build a tv? airplane? tavis: no. >> we're dumb. we couldn't show them a thing. tavis: what are some of the things that have most surprised you in your lifetime? >> the first major surprie as a -- surprise as a broadcaster was sputnik. a psychologist would say this changed america. we were always first, nobody beat us in changing the world. the vaccine where we cured polio, and he says, when russia did something before us, going into space, this threw us and

forced us to change course and recognize the other people. the rise of the civil rights movement, the death of kennedy. that was unbelievable. to live, i try to imagine the modern news world as we know it with that story. we see the murderer captured, the alleged murderer, we see him shot on live television, no trial, we witness a three day funeral, every world leader walking our streets. it was -- tavis: what would cnn have done with that? >> boy oh boy. in 1963 we would do this for a

year, this was continuing. this was big. i look for surprises all the time. if i had to pick one biggest surprise, it was 9/11. what do you say about this? tavis: many people were not surprised by this, because we had been so fortunate or lucky, blessed to never have been hit by this terrorist attack, some people said that this was coming. >> a nuclear bomb comes from iran or something. and then they take over the airplanes, and they kill themselves in the process, of taking down buildings. to plan -- to plan this, we

should not have been surprised. we had been very lucky. but the method of this, unbelievable. tavis: i want to go back to something that you spoke about in the beginning, the concept of loyalty in your life. these friends you have breakfast with, every day, what is this like when you get together every day? >> a woody allen movie. [laughter] you have to see it with larry david. tavis: i haven't seen it. >> "whatever works" is better than "annie hall." we sit down, four of us, and sometimes other people. and barbara walters, madeline

albright. people talk about it. joe torre. we solve every problem known to mankind. today we took care of iran. folks, iran is over. [laughter] sid and -- they voted against me. basically it is sports and the worst thing about getting older is health. how are you doing, got a pain in the shoulder. mike wallace said it to me, you'll get older. you will not feel better tomorrow than you did today. [laughter] tavis: great advice from mike wallace. it is always a delight and a joy

to be in your company, to have you here is a pleasure. your book is "my remarkable journey." thank you. >> any time. tavis: that is the show for tonight. catch me on pri, and i will see you next time on pbs. i will see you next time. and, as always, keep the faith. >> for more information, visit g harbor" and actress and singer della reese. >> there are so many things wal-

mart is looking forward to, helping people and building stronger communities and relationships. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. tavis and nationwide insurance, working to improve financial literacy and the net -- the economic power that comes with that. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. >> we are pbs. >> we are pbs.