CNN LARRY KING LIVE - [Larry King]①

CNN LARRY KING LIVE

Aired May 3, 2007 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR: But when I hear people say that I'm softball, I've never understood what softball means. I try to ask very good questions. My role is to -- not to make a guest uncomfortable. I'm uncomfortable if I make them uncomfortable. You don't learn a lot if you're confrontational.

It's exciting -- why did you do this?

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Well, if someone points a finger at me and says why did you do this, I guarantee you will not learn why he did this. You will not learn it.

So I learned a long time ago that the best way to be is really curious.

Tonight, exclusive, she married Elvis.

Why is Elvis still a magnet?

We're back with Madonna.

With us on the phone is O.J. Simpson.

How did you hear the news of Lady Di's death?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it's all just a little bit of history repeating.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Fifty years, 40,000 interviews.

KING: Who came up with the bunny?

Do you miss it?

Was it embarrassing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, Larry, it's nice to have you here.

KING: Do you know the Dalai Lama well?

What is it like to be shot?

How would you handle tabloids?

The one thing you didn't answer is why.

Was it true that you once thought of taking your own life?

Why do you have one name?

Now hold on there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I second that note.

KING: OK.

COOPER: From Brando to Broncos...

KING: O.J. Simpson is in that car.

COOPER: To Liza with a Z.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.

JOAN RIVERS: He's asking the question after the guy on the couch has just said to his wife, "Gee, I wonder if Liza really is in love with him."

"Yes, I am, Larry."

LIZA MINNELLI: Oh my god.

COOPER (on camera): Liza Minnelli, David Gest...

KING: A train wreck.

COOPER: A train wreck?

I didn't want to say it, but it was.

(voice-over): Behind that mike, those specs, those suspenders beats the heart of pop culture.

KERMIT THE FROG: And the best thing about pop culture icon like Larry and I, well, it's that we get to go to all these pop culture icon club dinners together. At our table there's people like Larry and Mickey Mouse, Mick Jagger and whoever wins "American Idol" this year.

RANDY JACKSON: To me, pop culture is about things that are cool, that everyone is paying attention to. And he so does that.

WENDY WALKER, SENIOR EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, LARRY KING LIVE: I have always thought our show was pop culture.

RIVERS: What's happening at the moment is on his show that night.

Where else in the week can you get Laura Bush on Monday and Little Kim on Tuesday?

WALKER: It is like Forrest Gump. You don't know what you're going to get.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "FORREST GUMP," PARAMOUNT PICTURES)

TOM HANKS: Would you like a chocolate?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: It is a total box of chocolates.

COOPER: Over the course of five decades, he has seen it all.

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: He's been in broadcasting as long as I've been alive, which I find extraordinary, because I always think he's just like 10 minutes older than me. Apparently he's much older than me.

Hmmm, who knew?

COOPER: The stars, the scandals, the music, the moments, the people who shaped our lives.

(on camera): Do you consider the Frank Sinatra interview the best interview that you've done?

FRANK SINATRA: From the minute you step out into that spotlight, you've got to know exactly what you're doing.

COOPER: What comes to mind when you think of Monica Lewinsky?

MONICA LEWINSKY: Oh. Umm.

COOPER: Are there ever times you can't come up with questions with somebody?

AL GORE: They weren't fair.

ROSS PEROT: Well, we agree that we've made lousy choices (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

GORE: Let me finish now.

PEROT: Excuse me.

GORE: I let you talk.

PEROT: Excuse me.

COOPER (voice-over): From political to personal.

(on camera): Heather Mills McCartney takes off her leg.

KING: Well, that -- that's what you call good risk taking. I take risks.

COOPER (voice-over): Who better to weigh in on pop's biggest moments than the man dubbed "The King?"

MIKE WALLACE: What makes Larry King unique?

Well, first of all, he gets everybody. Nobody is afraid of Larry.

KING: Are you saying now that you were fired?

STAR JONES: I don't recall a question that I found to be tough. I recall that the time period was tough.

KING: Your illness, the blackout, every -- all these stories, the nervous breakdown.

What -- what happened?

MARIAH CAREY: I think I was probably more consumed with lightning. (LAUGHTER)

COOPER: So walk with us through 50 years of cool culture and risky business -- a career so rich, so deep, we invited Larry's friend and colleague, "American Idol's" Ryan Seacrest, to help tell part of the story.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi.

How are you?

COOPER (on camera): OK.

KING: I'm starting a new show.

RYAN SEACREST, "AMERICAN IDOL": Yes, we're doing a new show.

COOPER: Tonight, the tale of a pop culture icon in his own right, who's had a front row seat to history.

RIVERS: When someone says Larry King, what comes to mind is always fun in a hotel room.

KING: Should reporters be embedded?

JON BON JOVI: You get into a hotel and you go yes, Larry King is on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (SINGING): And it's just a little bit of history repeating.

DONALD TRUMP: I just love the way he dresses. I wouldn't do it, but man, do those suspenders look good on television.

LIONEL RICHIE: He's so familiar. He's so comfortable.

BARBARA WALTERS: He listens. He gives you a chance to talk yourself.

CAROL BURNETT: He's interested in what you have to say. If he isn't, he's a hell of a good actor. KING: Trust me, I can wing it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (SINGING): And I fear again...

TRUMP: If I could turn the table on Larry, I think the question I'd ask is how have you done it so well for so long?

R. JACKSON: He's like a throwback to what it should all always be about.

RUDY GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Larry has a way of getting things out of you in a nice way that other people can't get out of you in a confrontational way.

KERMIT THE FROG: Why is why we all tell him our deepest, darkest secrets, whether we meant to or not.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (SINGING): Some people (UNINTELLIGIBLE) they don't know singing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You think of the world's greatest interviewer.

KING: Good evening.

We begin with the...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: First of all, his style of talking. That's the Larry style right there, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's got class. He's got humor.

BON JOVI: He is knowledgeable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He makes us very comfortable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People trust Larry King.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (SINGING): That's just a little bit of history repeating.

GOLDBERG: It's effortless with him. I think it's the suspenders.

DOLLY PARTON: Larry King does not need an introduction. He's a big star, bigger than most of us, really.

KING: (LAUGHTER).

COOPER: Coming up, 1957 -- the radio, the rat pack and Larry's first big get.

KING: This is how big he was. This is bigger than big. At about five to nine, this limo pulls up. Two guys get out of the car.

(END VIDEO TAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ELVIS PRESLEY: Rock and roll music, if you like it, if you feel it, you can't help but move to it.

PRISCILLA PRESLEY: I really do believe that he was born to be a star.

E. PRESLEY: I can't help it. I mean I have to move around. I can't stand still.

DOMINCK DUNNE: Marilyn Monroe was one of those people who everyone on the lot loved. She was a fabulous woman.

R. JACKSON: I think the British invasion changed music forever. By god, what an invasion that was.

FRANK SINATRA: I made some pretty good albums here, didn't I?

LIZ SMITH, GOSSIP COLUMNIST: Well, everything Frank Sinatra ever did made headlines. He never did anything in a small way.

KING: Hi. Great having you with us.

COOPER: A stroll down memory lane with "American Idol's" Ryan Seacrest.

SEACREST: What year did you get this star?

KING: 1997. I'll always remember that.

The thing I was most proud of, Ryan, was to be next to --

SEACREST: The legend.

KING: Arthur Godfrey, who was one of my heroes.

SEACREST: Now, this is a guy you really admired, isn't it?

KING: I grew up listening to him. He was the first one in broadcasting to break all the rules.

COOPER: From Hollywood's Walk of Fame to Miami's golden beaches, Larry's 50 years of broadcasting began right here.

KING: It was May 1st, 1957, WHAR, Miami Beach. I always wanted to be in radio.

COOPER: That childhood dream became reality at WHAR, but not until the 23-year-old gave up a bit of himself.

KING: And he calls me in, the general manager, Marshall Simmons, dear Marshall Simmons.

And he says, "Well, are you ready to go, Larry?"

I says, "Yes."

He says, "OK. What name are you going to use?"

I said, "What do you mean?"

He said, "You can't use Zeiger."

SEACREST: Zeiger is your real name?

KING: Yes.

It's too ethnic. He said let's pick another name.

I said shhhh.

So he had the "Miami Herald" open and there was an ad for King's Wholesale Liquors, Washington Avenue.

And he said, "How about Larry King?"

COOPER: Lawrence Harvey Zeiger now had a new job and a new name -- Larry King. All he had to do now was do what he does best -- talk.

KING: I think I fade the music, nothing comes out. Nothing. I fade the music, I bring it up, I bring it down, I bring it up and I said to myself, you're not going to make it. You don't have the guts. You can't get through this. You're scared to death.

Marshall Simmons kicks open the door to the studio and says, "This is a communications business, dammit! Communicate!"

And I turned on the mike: "Good morning, my name is Larry King."

That's the first time I've said that.

COOPER: It was the beginning of a legend -- a broadcasting dynamo who'd talk to anyone.

RICK SHAW, MIAMI RADIO LEGEND: Occasionally somebody would be scheduled for an interview with Larry and for whatever reason didn't show up. And we then went into the emergency mode and we would just literally go out on the street on A1A and grab the next person who was coming down the street, saying, hey, you want to be on the radio?

And they'd look at you, you know, like are you crazy?

COOPER: On the radio, in the newspapers, bylines, headlines, Mr. Miami was everywhere, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Don Rickles.

DON RICKLES: He was doing a -- a disk jockey show and two waiters and one Cuban were listening.

COOPER: Joan Rivers.

RIVERS: Every Brooklyn Jew likes every Brooklyn Jew. We just got lucky.

COOPER: Larry befriended rising movie stars like Ann-Margret.

ANN-MARGRET: I met Larry in 1963. I was doing a publicity tour for "Bye Bye Birdie."

COOPER: Alan Alda.

ALAN ALDA: Oh, the first time Larry interviewed me, we were both starting out.

COOPER: And legends like the great honeymooner himself, Jackie Gleason.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE HONEYMOONERS")

JACKIE GLEASON: One of these days (UNINTELLIGIBLE) one of these days, pow, right in the kisser!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Gleason had a nose for bright young talent like Larry and promised him his first big get -- Frank Sinatra.

JACKSON: Sinatra, the chairman of the board.

I mean what can you say?

The way he carried himself, the movies, the friends that he hung around with.

COOPER: Frank Sinatra -- there was nobody bigger. And for a young, local radio talk show host, an almost impossible booking.

Could Gleason really deliver?

KING: Now, the radio station is going to run an ad in the "Miami Herald." And they called me in.

You know, they said, "We've called the Fadabu 10 times. He hasn't returned any calls. We're about to spend a lot of money on this ad."

I said, "Jackie says he's coming."

"OK."

Now it's that night. The whole station stayed in. The secretaries didn't go home. This is how big he was. This is bigger than big. At about five to nine this limo pulls in. Two guys get out of the car, Frank Sinatra and another guy.

SINATRA: Hi, this is Frank Sinatra.

I'm talking to you from WIOD, which has got to be the swingingest radio station in Miami. MARTIN ZEIGER, LARRY'S BROTHER: And Larry leaned over and said why are you doing this?

And Sinatra said many years ago Jackie Gleason did me a very good turn. At that time I told him, "I owe you one."

On your request, Jackie wrote this is the one. He was picking up a chip for Larry.

Isn't that something?

COOPER: Sinatra was just the beginning. Soon there was Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr. and President Richard Nixon.

SEACREST: Did he offer you a job?

KING: Yes, he offered me a job in the White House when -- after -- after he was elected. He asked me if I wanted to be an assistant press secretary. And I -- I couldn't take the cut in pay.

COOPER: Larry interviewed them all -- heady times in a turbulent decade that started with a bang but ended in a bust for Miami's king of talk.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): Miami Beach -- sun, surf and the soothing radio sounds of...

KING: Larry King helps you do your thing.

RIVERS: Larry was a huge deal in Miami. When you went to Miami, you went on Larry King. That was very important.

JERRY LEWIS: I met Larry in Florida.

ROBERT WAGNER: I was on radio, I think, with him in Florida.

ANN-MARGRET: He just was unique. He was different.

COOPER: And then, after years behind the radio mike, Larry took his talk show to local Miami television and almost immediately started getting the big gets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY WTJV)

KING: I'm Larry King and my special guest this weekend is the editor and publisher of "Playboy" magazine, Mr. Hugh Hefner.

It's a great pleasure having you, Hugh.

HUGH HEFNER: It's a pleasure to be here. KING: Well, how does one start a magazine without a dime?

HEFNER: Well, "Playboy" literally started from nothing.

SEACREST: Hugh Hefner was a guest on one of those shows.

KING: He sure was.

COOPER: Larry discussed those days with "American Idol's" Ryan Seacrest.

SEACREST: Talk about Hef and why he's so vital to pop culture.

KING: Because "Playboy" is now part of the mainstream.

SEACREST: Did people think it was dirty back then?

KING: Oh, yes.

SEACREST: He was making a huge mistake?

KING: First of all, you hid "Playboy." You hid it in your...

SEACREST: You were embarrassed to have it.

KING: You hid it in your "New York Times." I always said, "I love the interview."

COOPER: Larry also loved the Miami Dolphins.

SEACREST: You got the job as the Dolphins' color guard.

Was that the job of a lifetime?

KING: A big thrill, man.

SEACREST: Give me some play by play. Come on.

KING: Good afternoon. The National Football League is on the air.

COOPER: The late '60s -- the graduate meets Mrs. Robinson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE GRADUATE," COURTESY MGM)

DUSTIN HOFFMAN: Oh my god. Oh, no, Mrs. Robinson. Oh, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD ROEPER, FILM CRITIC: But it had a huge impact on pop culture. I was the music. It was the attitude.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE GRADUATE," COURTESY MGM)

HOFFMAN: Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lift-off. We have a lift-off.

COOPER: Man meets moon.

JOHN GLENN: One giant leap for mankind.

WALLACE: Can you imagine, man on the moon?

COOPER: Kids meet Kermit.

KERMIT THE FROG: I was on the very first episode of "Sesame Street."

Gordon has asked me to say a word or two in behalf of the letter W.

COOPER: And, as John married Yoko...

SMITH: Some people could accept that and the wiggy things they did, like posing in bed together. And some people couldn't.

COOPER: Larry marries a "Playboy" beauty.

KING: Not a Playmate, a "Playboy Bunny.

SEACREST: A Playboy Bunny.

Different?

At this point, is she your -- I'm trying to do the math -- she's your fourth?

KING: She's the third.

SEACREST: The third.

You were with her twice?

KING: Yes. Later. She was third and fifth.

COOPER: Life in Miami was good for Larry, for a while maybe too good.

MARTIN ZEIGER, LARRY'S BROTHER: Larry became a little reckless. If Larry had $100, he spent $200. He went to the race track a lot.

SEACREST: Were you arrested?

KING: Yes, but they threw that out. They said I wrote a bad check, but I didn't.

COOPER: The charges were dropped, but in 1972, life in the fast lane caught up with him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He feel from grace in a jumble of nearly $300,000 in bad debts.

KING: I owed a guy a lot of money and he took court action and I lost my job.

COOPER: It was a tumultuous time for King...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Race riots broke out...

COOPER: And for the country as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... in Cleveland, St. Louis and Atlanta.

COOPER: Assassinations.

WALLACE: Martin Luther King was the greatest American to live during my lifetime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Kennedy's death in 1963, then his brother gets killed.

COOPER: Vietnam.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Marine casualties mount when a U.S. Marine platoon is ambushed by the Viet Cong.

WALTER CRONKITE: We were beginning to say wait a minute.

What are we doing here?

COOPER: Scandal.

RICHARD NIXON: I'm not a crook.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nixon was a savvy man.

COOPER: Manson.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Five people, including actress Sharon Tate, were stabbed to death. Police arrested Charles Manson.

DUNNE: It used to be kind of an open era in Beverly Hills, where people walked a thing and there -- you'd say, oh, there's Katherine Hepburn. Oh, there's so and so. After this happened, gates went up, alarms came in, people began to have guards.

COOPER: And disgrace.

NIXON: I shall resign the presidency, effective at noon tomorrow.

COOPER: But it was also the beginning of a new era for Larry King. 1974 -- now living in Louisiana, he found work doing public relations for a race track. But Larry wasn't doing what he loved.

SEACREST: How down were you?

KING: Oh, really...

SEACREST: How depressed were you? How worried that you weren't going to be on the air ever again, were you?

KING: Oh, really worried, because I missed it so much, you know?

And I had trouble listening to other shows.

COOPER: Later that year, however, he got a second chance.

KING: And it was the general manager of WILD Radio. And he says, "You want to go work there?"

And now, Larry King helps you do your thing. If you have a problem, a question, has something been really bothering you, lay it on me. Let me take the burden, dear friend. Slip it off your shoulders and onto mine, because, what hell?

I don't care anyway.

COOPER: "The King" was back on air in Miami, interviewing everyone, including his old pal, Jackie Gleason.

KING: And we never know how we're going to go when we talk to each other. I guess we've done about seven...

GLEASON: Three hundred and fifty two hours.

KING: ... 52 hours, yes.

What's happened to the variety show?

We have, what, Carol Burnett and Howard Cosell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "CAROL BURNETT SHOW," COURTESY CBS)

BURNETT: You give me hope to carry on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: There are no variety shows like that anymore, like Cesar and Gleason and us.

COOPER: The '70s brought in a new kind of music that Americans either loved or loved to hate. It was the era of "Saturday Night Fever."

JACKSON: Welcome to the hustle. That's right, baby, disco was in the house.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER," PARAMOUNT)

BEE GEES (SINGING): You should be dancing...

COOPER: Disco -- one of the biggest things to hit the charts since Elvis. Coming up, the king of rock and roll and his shocking good night.

P. PRESLEY: I locked myself up in my room trying to figure out what went wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cause of death is cardiac arrhythmia due to undetermined causes.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: We'll get back to Larry King: 50 Years of Pop Culture in just a moment.

But first, a look at the headlines.

The first GOP debate is over. It ended just moments ago. The 10 Republican presidential candidates squared off at the Reagan Library tonight. As expected, the war took center stage.

It wasn't the only issue, however, they clashed over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: When the majority leader of the U.S. Senate says we've lost the war, the men and women that are serving in Iraq reject that notion.

And if we lost, then who won? Did al Qaeda win?

When on the floor of the House of Representatives, they cheered. They cheered when they passed a withdrawal motion that is a certain date for surrender.

What were they cheering? Surrender? Defeat?

We must win in Iraq. If we withdraw, there will be chaos. There will be genocide and they will follow us home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: With regards to Iraq, there are a lot of people that say let's just get out. I want to get our troops home as soon as I possibly can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The reality is the use of military force against Iran would be very dangerous. It would be very provocative. The only thing worse would be Iran being a nuclear power. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: We'll have complete coverage and analysis of the debate coming up on a special edition of "360" at 11:00 p.m. Eastern tonight.

In other political news, Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama has been placed under the protection of the Secret Service. A law enforcement source tells CNN the government is not aware of any specific credible threats against Obama, but the campaign has received hate mail, calls and other threatening materials.

Senate sources tell CNN that it was Obama's fellow Illinois senator, Dick Durbin, who relayed his concerns to the Senate majority leader, who then alerted Homeland Security.

That's just one of the stories we'll have in our All Politics segment tonight in a special edition of "360" at 11:00 p.m. Eastern. We'll also have complete coverage and analysis of tonight's Republican presidential debate, coming up in about 90 minutes on "360."

You can also check out the Political Ticker at cnn.com/ticker. The Political Ticker is your destination for the latest political news any time.

Now back to LARRY KING.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The king is dead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People with tears in their eyes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) carrying the body of Elvis Presley. He leaves Graceland...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Elvis dead of heart failure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't get to see Elvis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY NBC)

BRINKLEY: Elvis Presley died today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER (voice-over): August 16th, 1977. It was the shocking announcement heard around the world.

BRINKLEY: He was found at his home in Memphis not breathing.

COOPER: Larry King, who was holding down three jobs -- radio, TV and print -- talked about that day with Ryan Seacrest.

KING: I was at the "Miami News" where I was doing a column. My daughter was with me. And those were the days -- this may shock you, Ryan, you weren't there for those days -- where bells rang on a news machine. And there was actual sounds in the newsroom. Five bells meant biggie.

SEACREST: Big news?

KING: Big, big, big, big. Bigger than big. Bigger than big. Big, big, big. Big, big.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.

And everybody runs to the teletype machine, you know, watching it type in. A.P. 4:13, Memphis, Elvis Presley found dead today. I went back to the radio station and did a whole show on Elvis that night.

P. PRESLEY: I locked myself up in my room -- I -- trying to figure out what went wrong and how it could have possibly happened. It was devastating and the grief that the world felt was even not to be believed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Elvis.

P. PRESLEY: I still remember the people lined on the streets for miles -- hundreds of thousands of people. It's a sight I'll never forget.

COOPER: The king was gone and several years later, another pop icon would follow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Chapman shot John Lennon.

KING: That was one of the most emotional nights in my life. That's when I started appreciating The Beatles, because we started playing Beatles music during that show. And I had no idea of the impact he had on people.

COOPER: On July 29th, 1981, the world got a glimpse of a pop icon in the making. Lady Diana would become Princess Diana and a fractured fairy tale quickly ensued.

PRINCE CHARLES: With this ring...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thee wed.

PRINCE CHARLES: I thee wed.

DUNNE: The royal family didn't like her, the aristocracy didn't like her, but the people liked her. She was vulnerable. She was not a perfect person and I guess she could be difficult. But she was good and she cared.

COOPER (on camera): Did you ever interview Princess Diana?

KING: No. I would have liked to. I met her once at a big charity benefit in Washington, in which -- she was a very tall -- I was surprised how tall she was.

"It's Lawrence of the telly." That's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THRILLER," EPIC RECORDS)

MICHAEL JACKSON: Cause this is thriller...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: If Diana was pop culture's princess, Michael Jackson was its king.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THRILLER")

M. JACKSON: ... from the beast about to strike. You know it's thriller...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEACREST: '82 -- Michael Jackson, "Thriller" -- Michael takes over the world. People are fainting, passing out to see this guy.

KING: I went to see him.

SEACREST: You went to the Michael concert?

KING: Correct, at RFK Stadium in Washington.

R. JACKSON: Michael Jackson was gynormous. You still see people wearing the jackets. You go to Europe right now, people are still wearing those "Thriller" jackets. I mean he was just unbelievable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THRILLER," EPIC RECORDS)

M. JACKSON: You're fighting for your life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

R. JACKSON: The records sold unbelievable. There was nothing like him ever.

Let me not forget another true icon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY WARNER BROTHERS)

MADONNA: Oh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Madonna, the material girl.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY WARNER BROTHERS)

MADONNA: Material...

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: Living in a material world.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SMITH: The greatest story about Madonna in the early years was when she was making "Desperately Seeking Susan."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN," COURTESY ORION PICTURES)

MADONNA: Good going, stranger.

ROSANNA ARQUETTE: Susan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: So she says to Rosanna Arquette, who's she making the movie with, "Wouldn't you give anything just to be me for a minute?"

And I think this says everything.

R. JACKSON: I think she was probably the boldest one of our time. And, once again, she's kind of a throwback to the '70s, which I think really, really helped her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't have this happen like every day, do you?

MADONNA: Thank god, no.

R. JACKSON: Culture, being pop music, being fashion, being religion, being politics, being everything all as a one.

COOPER (on camera): Is there anyone like Madonna?

KING: She's a great promoter. She's fun to be around. She's smart. But she sure knows herself.

COOPER: She's in control of it all?

KING: Whoo. And she knows what she wants and she knows how to get it.

Welcome back to hour number two of the "Larry King Show" for this Monday night.

COOPER: January, 1978 -- after 20 years in local broadcasting, the 45-year-old King was about to hit the big time.

KING: The Mutual Radio Network came to me and said how would you like to do a national radio talk show?

SEACREST: A dream of yours.

KING: Yes. And I said the only problem is can it work? If I have a guest on here, would Phoenix be interested in that?

And they said we think it can work. It could work especially as an all night show. And we started with 28 stations and it just took off. SEACREST: Could you feel it?

KING: Oh, yes. The "Wall Street Journal" did a big story like six months later -- you know, who is this guy?

COOPER (voice-over): That guy was becoming a household name for insomniacs and the graveyard shift.

KING: Welcome back to more of "The Larry King Show," coast to coast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People who are physicians, you know, would tell me that Larry got them through the night shift. Truck drivers used to write to him and say you kept me awake.

COOPER: As Larry's audience grew, so did his guest list.

Desi Arnez...

DESI ARNEZ: By this time, "I Love Lucy" was number one.

KING: Desi was fun and Desi was like you, a very hip business guy.

COOPER: Johnny Unitas.

KING: Your hair, is it worn the high crew cut style because it's smarter for the helmet and the game you play?

JOHNNY UNITAS: I wear it like this because I like it this way.

COOPER: It was all night long for Larry's guests.

LIONEL RICHIE: At the end of the evening, I'd turn on and Larry King is on all night long.

SINGING: All night long...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "ALL NIGHT LONG," MOTOWN RECORDS)

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: All night.

RICHIE: Oh, all night long.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: And a hit for '80s icon Lionel Richie.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "ALL NIGHT LONG," MOTOWN RECORDS)

RICHIE (SINGING): All night long.

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: All night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RICHIE: When "All Night Long" came along, you know, it was the launching of my solo career.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stand by. Ready three. Take three, Mike Hewitt.

COOPER: And on TV, the debut of an upstart cable news network.

DAVID WALKER: Good evening.

I'm David Walker.

LOIS HART: And I'm Lois Hart.

Now here's the news.

COOPER: Coming up, Larry catches the eye of a media maverick.

TED TURNER: We didn't have e-mail in those days. So I think I said to my assistant, "Would you please get Larry King on the phone?"

(END VIDEO TAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): The '80s -- Michael moonwalked, Reagan ruled.

RONALD REAGAN: Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.

COOPER: And the cold war cooled.

It was a time of terror.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The United States strongly condemns the hijacking.

COOPER: And a time of tragedy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously, a major malfunction. The vehicle has exploded.

COOPER: It was a time of fear...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: AIDS is a killer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, America. You did it.

COOPER: But also a time of hope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY OF WORLDWIDE SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Live AID to our brothers and sisters all around the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been a long time since I took me a stroll.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: On the big screen, Tom Cruise.

"Batman" began.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY WARNER BROTHERS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Batman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: And Hanks made a splash.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: But it was big hair and big hits that truly defined the decade.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY POLYGRAM RECORDS)

BON JOVI (SINGING): Living on a prayer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BON JOVI: We put our fingerprint on pop culture with that record.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY POLYGRAM RECORDS)

BON JOVI (SINGING): Oh, oh...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BON JOVI: We looked like the garage band next door that you could be, too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY POLYGRAM RECORDS)

BON JOVI (SINGING): You give love a bad name.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY ELEKTRA RECORDS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's got the looks that kill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: To Madonna.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY WARNER BROTHERS)

MADONNA: Like a virgin, hey...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: And everything in between.

Sweeping anthems...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY COLUMBIA RECORDS)

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: We are the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: And surprising crossovers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PARTON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PARTON: I think probably if I had a favorite decade, that would probably be the '80s.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY ANCHOR BAY PRODUCTIONS)

PARTON (SINGING): Working nine to five...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PARTON: I had gotten into the movies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "9 TO 5," 20TH CENTURY FOX)

PARTON: No, I don't want you to call Ramp (UNINTELLIGIBLE). You won't listen, but you'll shut up and stay there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PARTON: As I was beginning to be like popular all over the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY ANCHOR BAY PRODUCTIONS)

PARTON (SINGING): Nine to five, for service and...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: The queen of country wasn't the only one making a big crossover in the '80s. By 1985, CNN's maverick owner, Ted Turner, had set his sights on the king of talk radio.

TURNER: And we really needed a new prime time talk show host. And I knew Larry. I had been on his radio show.

KING: Because we are live from Washington.

TURNER: He was good. He was -- he was the best interviewer available and I thought he'd be interested in a proposition that put him in -- put him in prime time.

COOPER: Ted got his man. Larry was ready for CNN.

But was CNN ready for Larry?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roll five (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on it.

RANDY DOUTHIT, FORMER EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, LARRY KING LIVE: We actually got that show on, LARRY KING LIVE, on in about two weeks. From the time that he signed his contract to the time that we actually went on with our first guest, Mario Cuomo, we had two weeks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quiet on the (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

COOPER: In June of 1985, LARRY KING LIVE debuted.

KING: Good evening.

My name is Larry King and this is the premier edition of LARRY KING LIVE.

COOPER (on camera): Your first broadcast.

Were you nervous?

KING: I -- I -- I didn't know whether I was going to like it or not and I didn't know CNN. But five minutes in, I said it's going to make it. There was an electricity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN?

That's my favorite.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love CNN.

KING: Our first guest tonight is Oprah Winfrey. And she's nominated for best supporting actress for "The Color Purple."

Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE COLOR PURPLE," COURTESY WARNER BROTHERS)

OPRAH WINFREY: Like I said, fine with me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Did she hit you? WINFREY: Yes, you know, the thing about it is, Steven let her hit me, but I wasn't allowed to hit her.

COOPER: In 1986, you had a young talk show host on your program, Oprah Winfrey.

Did you know that she would become Oprah?

KING: Did I know she'd get this enormous?

No one could have predicted that.

Did I know she would be successful?

Absolutely.

COOPER (voice-over): LARRY KING LIVE was quickly embraced for its fascinating guests.

ANN-MARGRET: I feel a burn.

RICKLES: Larry's investigative and he probes and he does it pretty good.

KING: I've had a fantasy wish about you.

RICKLES: And he has fun and he's great with entertainers, because he knows the business so well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I deny that.

GOLDBERG: Well, honey, he is Larry King. I mean, you know, he's been around since the year one.

COOPER: The must stop spot on TV -- where viewers could talk directly to some of the world's most famous pop culture icons.

KING: Do you ever get sick?

GEORGE BURNS: Well, once in a while. Every three months I cough a little.

COOPER: Laughs.

Leaders.

TIP O'NEILL: We don't want anymore Vietnams.

COOPER: Larger than life personalities.

KING: Have you ever had a facelift?

BOB HOPE: God, no.

Are you kidding?

If I had a facelift, would I be stuck with this?

COOPER: LARRY KING LIVE covered it all.

WALTERS: When Larry King comes into your home, you feel he's a friend. He's part of the family, almost. And even though his questions are very probing, he doesn't attack.

COOPER: Within two years of its debut, LARRY KING was on top, breaking records, redefining the television talk show. Everything, it seemed, was coming up King.

And that's when the bottom fell out.

KING: I was smoking all the way over to the hospital.

COOPER (on camera): You were smoking on your way to the hospital?

KING: Correct.

He came right over to me and said, "Mr. King, you're having a heart attack."

(END VIDEO TAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): By the late 1980s, Larry was king of the hill.

KING: Our guest is the vice president of the United States, the Honorable George Bush.

COOPER: Top of the heap.

WINFREY: Hi, Larry, by the way. Hey.

KING: Hello.

COOPER: The little boy from Brooklyn sitting across from the biggest names...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

COOPER: ... and the hardest guests.

SINATRA: A good question can open up doors in my mind that I would never think of discussing with anybody.

COOPER (on camera): You had Frank Sinatra on on CNN?

KING: I had him on on CNN. It probably was his last interview.

COOPER: Do you consider the Frank Sinatra interview the best interview that you've done?

KING: I'd say best if you consider difficult to get.

COOPER (voice-over): From the chairman of the board to the candy man himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMMY DAVIS, JR. (SINGING): Once in a lifetime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Once in a lifetime performers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIS (SINGING): Pray dear (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Legendary and emotional final interviews.

DAVIS: Someday if you have a bad day, you know, and -- up here you have a bad day.

KING: Sammy was a tragic figure. He had, arguably, the most talent ever produced in America in one individual, and he couldn't stop smoking.

COOPER: For decades, smoking was also Larry's trademark.

LARRY KING, JR. LARRY KING'S SON: He smoked three packs of cigarettes, sometimes four packs of cigarettes a day.

PAT PIPER, LARRY'S FORMER RADIO PRODUCER: He would smoke all through the radio show. When you see the pictures of old interviews, there's always a pack of cigarettes or there's a cigarette in his hand.

COOPER: Larry smoked right up to the very day it almost killed him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good evening.

Larry King is off for a while.

COOPER (on camera): 1987 was, in many ways, a new beginning for you, a tough year.

KING: A bad year. I had a heart attack in February. I was smoking all the way over to the hospital.

COOPER: You were smoking on your way to the hospital?

KING: Correct.

COOPER: Did you know you were having a heart attack?

KING: No.

COOPER (voice-over): But his doctor left no doubt.

KING: And they -- he came right over to me and said, "Mr. King, you're having a heart attack."

And I said, "Am I going to die?"

And he said, "Good question."

COOPER: He laughs now, but Larry's heart attack was a life changing event.

ZEIGER: He's changed the way he lived. He stopped smoking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to LARRY KING LIVE.

COOPER: In late March, 1987, Larry was back on the air.

His first guest?

The Reverend Jimmy Swaggart.

REV. JIMMY SWAGGART: Larry, incidentally, it's good to see you.

How are you getting along nowadays?

KING: Feeling better.

COOPER: The topic?

Scandal. The scandal that would bring down the empire of televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.

SWAGGART: This cancer has been excised

KING: That was an incredible story, because Jim Bakker was one of those guys -- you know, he was the forerunner. All these that have come along of all these that have come along who preach one thing and practice another.

COOPER (on camera): What do you think it was about them that caught the public's fascination?

KING: They were just one of those unusual couples.

TAMMY FAYE BAKKER: I wanted to be there to support Jim. I knew he was going through hell.

KING: Tammy Faye is a good interview. She's herself.

T.F. BAKKER: I could not stop crying for three days and finally they brought someone in to help me through that period.

KING: She's emotional.

T.F. BAKKER: They paraded him across the yard in shackles.

KING: She cries.

T.F. BAKKER: And they drug him into a car half alive.

KING: Ducks it. If you can't interview Tammy Faye, get out of the business.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please, don't do this to me.

COOPER (voice-over): Breakdowns and hypocrisy.

SWAGGART: I have sinned against you, my lord.

COOPER: Less than a year after condemning Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart fell from grace in his own sex scandal.

(on camera): Swaggart would come on to criticize Jim Bakker. But when Swaggart got in trouble...

KING: He wouldn't come on.

COOPER: He wouldn't come on.

KING: They don't want to face the music.

COOPER (voice-over): Scandals and the crimes that captivated the nation. Larry covered them all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've heard of very few murders that were more savage than this one was.

COOPER: Beginning...

MARK GERAGOS, ATTORNEY: Who can possibly shotgun their parents to death?

COOPER: ... middle...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why did you kill your parents?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because we were afraid.

COOPER: ... and end.

KING: And joining us now from prison, where he is allowed occasional calls -- he has to call collect -- is Erik Menendez, convicted along with his brother Lyle.

How long have you been in prison now, Erik?

ERIK MENENDEZ: I've been in prison for over 15 years.

COOPER (on camera): When you're talking to someone who's been convicted of a murder, is it strange.

KING: Very. Someone convicted of a murder is always strange. And I have talked to the John Lennon killer, the Son of Sam. Sure, it's strange.

COOPER (voice-over): Strange?

That word doesn't even come close to describing what lay ahead for Larry in the '90s.

PEROT: What are you talking about?

GORE: Lobbying the Congress...

PEROT: Well, I mean spell it out...

GORE: You know a lot about it.

PEROT: Spell it out.

COOPER: High political drama and the murder trial that left America speechless.

WALKER: And all of a sudden in one of the matters I saw this white Bronco.

KING: They busted in my ear and said, "O.J.'s on the road in a Bronco being followed by police"

(END VIDEO TAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

KING: Tonight, exclusive -- she married Elvis Presley.

Why is Elvis still a magnet?

We're back with Madonna.

With us on the phone now is O.J. Simpson.

How did you hear the news of Lady Di's death?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it's all just a little bit of history repeating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The skies over Baghdad have been illuminated.

PRES. GEORGE H.W. BUSH: We are not in the Middle East to protect oil. We are there to stand up against aggression.

RODNEY KING: Can we -- can we all get along?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The possibility exists that the explosion which occurred at the World Trade Center was a terrorist bombing.

JANET RENO: I made the decision. I am accountable.

GERAGOS: Before there was Hannibal Lecter...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't fly! (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

SEACREST: Jeffrey Dahmer.

KING: The strangest story of all time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do.

CLARENCE THOMAS: It is a high tech lynching for uppity blacks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the summer blockbuster became such an event film in the '90s.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY UNIVERSAL PICTURES)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look out!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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