so i thought like oh, johnny cash knows bill cosby and he walked right by bill cosby and he came andked at me and stood in the door way and at that time john filled up the door way. he said i would like to meet your grandmother. so we had a conversation about -- and he was telling me about his grandmother. barbra streisand, if you were going to make a triangle, you could make a good triangle out of me, johnny cash and barbra streisand over here. tavis: it seems so disconnected. >> she recorded that song and said it reminded her of her grandmother. so i think that universal thing, that figure, you know, ernie barnes, who passed away. tavis: great artist. >> we were having a conversation and we were talking about that and we were talking about what a valuable role those people played in our development because grandmothers tend to gravitate towards the weak kids. i was this kid, i had asthma and i stuttered and sometimes i do now. she picked me, you see? and i remember one of the phrases, it's on film. i was talking with ernie when he did those two paintings for me. i said ernie, i won

and then big cosby has got a message about life and maybe his own death. and turning our children from food addicts into fitness fanatics. next on "larry king live." it is a delight to welcome back to "larry king live" a return visit. now she is the first lady of the united states, michelle obama. last time she was -- you weren't even a candidate. >> i wasn't. i was just hanging out. >> larry: do you like the job? >> i do. >> it doesn't pay you. >> it doesn't, but it pays in so many other ways than money. when you like people, having a job where you get to interact with folks on a day-to-day basis and you get to do things that make a difference, i still control my own schedule to some extent. so it's not a bad gig. >> larry: the childhood obesity thing. why is this your priority? >> well, you know, in the first year, i focused on a number of things that i will continue to focus on. support for military spouses, national service, which is something i always cared about, but as you know, this year i planted this wonderful garden, the first ever white house g

still to come some moments tonight with bill cosby.ot bad so far. >> one of my favorite people. >> larry: boets of them, right? don't want to leave joe out. >> joe and bill. >> larry: it is biggest problem is jobs. so many people out of work. his critics say your husband should be doing more, he promised more. how do you react? >> yes. until the unemployment numbers go down, i don't think my husband is satisfied. more is coming. a lot was saved with the stimulus, and again, it's hard to tell people who are hurting that things could have been worse if we hadn't done what we'd done. so, you know, there's no points in pointing back. there's a lot more to be done and he's not satisfied until the unemployment figures go down. >> larry: it was so bitter, rather bitter in the campaign with hillary when they were going at each other. >> yeah. it seems so long ago. >> larry: how are they doing now together? >> they're great. hillary clinton is an amazing secretary of state. i mean, she would have been an amazing president. she was an amazing at

but, you know to a certain extent i understood where because -- cosby was coming from. americans are not ready to vote for somebody named dukakis because it is too ethnic. that may or may not have been relevant tall and dukakis's campaign but i had the same reactions william dustin where he's coming from, but obviously we are evolving beyond that particular hang out. >> it's amazing so many rules were broken. well, now i will say thank you so much for coming and for sharing the stage with me. [applause] jabari asim is the editor-in-chief of the naacp magazine the crisis and contributor to the washington post. he's also the author of the book the n word. for more information on the author, go to "washington post" about, and naacp .org. >>> craig shirley author of riggins revelation recounts rall freakin' 1988 presidential campaign. he follows president reagan from his defeat for the presidency of 1976 to his election four years later over incumbent president jimmy carter. ronald reagan presidential library in simi valley california is the host of this hour-long event. >>

so bill cosby made a comment and set in the same breath that you can make it by changing her name tounny african names. think of obama. i was wondering if you can comment on that. >> yeah, i think obama dramatically put the lives of atomicity to argument. but to a certain extent, you know, i understood where cosby was coming from because i had a very anti-intellectual response to when michael dukakis ran. you know, i said, americans aren't ready to vote for somebody named dukakis because it's too ethnic. you know, and i may or may not have been relevant at all in dukakis' campaign. but i had that same reaction. so i understand where you're coming from. it obviously, we are evolving beyond that particular hangout. >> is amazing. so many rules were broken. well, now i will say, thank you so much for coming and thank you for sharing the stage with me. wonderful book. got back on track on turn [applause] been a >> thank you. got to be here. on this rather crisp january day. there's an old saying that no matter how popular you are, the size of your funeral is going to depend on the weathe

cosby or 6% or less in maine? >> the dr. cosby very high and at relative bases covered other parts of the country it's one of the most high speed is isn't 16% like california? i am looking for your drivers and maine. you have your drivers in california which is doctors, hospitals, and made, what is at there? >> off the top of my head i don't know disaster into an. the driver in maine is that is guaranteed issue. and there is no requirement for people. >> guaranteed issue -- >> people wait until their second telling purchase cover and it drives up care. >> guaranteed issue is you're guaranteed to present the policy and then it's up to consumers whether or not they can't afford. we call a purging. >> only people know they will incur healthcare cost more than a premium by policy. and that's not a sustainable business model. that's what all the other insurers left the state because they were forced to lose money in that business. that's not what the last i'll say that they don't take inches because they expect again more than wh

african-americans on television because now there is a lack of good positive all black class dramas since the cosby's so what do you think about that? >> i don't think obama will have any direct responsibility in that regard but i think it is probably not far-fetched to expect to see some characters that reflects some aspect of obama in our portrayals. i have written about the failure of the african-american dramas on television and one of the things that has to be addressed is that african-americans themselves have never substantially supported african-american dramas, so that is something we would have to step up and do more of. another aspect of the portrayal of the african-american men on television, i'd like to point to shonda rhymes it does grey's anatomy and private practice. one of the most successful black producers ever. if you looked at her shows and so the two other medical shows, what is the of the one? er. you would be under the impression that african-american doctors were 30 or 40% of the medical profession when in reality they are only 3% so there's certain shows that they are beginn