[Larry King, Host, Larry King Live:] Tonight, Katie Couric 10 years after she lost her husband to colon cancer, she's here to tell us about her work fighting that disease. And we'll talk politics, too. Fighting that disease. And we'll talk politics, too. The latest on the ObamaClinton race and a lot more. And then John Ritter's widow on the huge lawsuit that blamed doctors for the actor's tragic death. All next, all on
[Larry King Live. King:] It's always a great pleasure to welcome Katie Couric to LARRY KING LIVE. We go back, as they say, a long way. She has even hosted this show. And it's been 10 years, of course, since the tragedy of losing her husband. We're going to talk a lot about colon cancer later. But first about the news today. Bill Richardson has endorsed Obama.
[Katie Couric:] I know.
[King:] What do you think what do you think they're saying in the Clinton camp tonight? He appointed him to all these jobs.
[Couric:] That's right. He was a long time steward of the Clinton presidency, of course, and secretary of energy and held an ambassadorship, as well. So I think they're probably disappointed. But I think the longer he waited, the more they probably saw it coming. And at this point, if you listen to Clinton operatives, it's kind of late in the game for him to have a huge impact. But, certainly, it adds to Barack Obama's momentum. And they'd rather he had endorsed Hillary Clinton. John Murtha just endorsed her yesterday, as you know, and that's a big endorsement for her, too. But I think the John Edwards endorsement will be interesting to see, Larry, whether he endorses somebody before the North Carolina primary in May.
[King:] The Richardson thing is big in the Latino community.
[Couric:] Yes. It is big in the Latino community, although she has done very well among Latinos and I'm not sure it's going to have that big an impact. I think we'll have to just wait and see.
[King:] And last night on this program, Obama just about admitted that Pennsylvania is going to go to her.
[Couric:] Yes. That's going to be an interesting primary. I think she's extremely strong in Pennsylvania. She has Governor Rendell's support, as well as the mayor of Philadelphia African-American mayor, his support, as well. And certainly among lower income Democrats, that's been her core constituency. But I think it will be interesting to see how Pennsylvania divides up because, you know, it's a state of many colors, if you will, or many demographics and socioeconomic levels. So it will be interesting to see how it's divided up. And hopefully it won't be on such racial along racial lines, as we've seen in Mississippi.
[King:] What do you make of this passport brouhaha?
[Couric:] Well, I think I guess a lot of things haven't been gleaned about how it happened in the first place and why they were looking into Senator Obama's passport in the first place, if it was any kind of malfeasance. And so I think we're just going to have to wait and see how this unfolds. It's bizarre, isn't it?
[King:] What's in a passport? I mean, what can you find?
[Couric:] Well, obviously the countries you visited and so I guess it...
[King:] Yes, I guess that would be it, right?
[Couric:] It's an effort to maybe get a glimpse of his foreign policy expertise, if you will, in terms of his world travel. I can't quite figure it out. I mean, that's the only thing, it seems to me, they'd be able to obtain.
[King:] As a successful woman yourself, do you identify strongly with Hillary? I mean does a part of you I know you're never going to endorse sort of want her?
[Couric:] Well, no. You know, of course I identify with her, because I think just as she is, on a very much smaller scale, I'm a female in a very high profile position.
[King:] Yes.
[Couric:] So, obviously, I relate to her being a woman. And just as many African-Americans, I think, relate to Barack Obama. But it doesn't necessarily mean that, you know, that I'm not open-minded about all the candidates. I mean, ideally, I think you want it to transcend race, gender and really pick the candidate that you think will do the best job in the White House.. And I think hopefully, that's how people will make their decisions ultimately.
[King:] Are you going to do a debate?
[Couric:] I hope so. You know, we're in the process of trying to obtain one before the North Carolina primary. Of course, I really would love to be involved in a debate. As you know, Larry, I absolutely love politics.
[King:] It's fun. That's it.
[Couric:] And has there ever been a more fascinating, interesting and engaging presidential campaign? Certainly not in my career.
[King:] No.
[Couric:] And I hope that a debate will work out for us, because I'd love to be one-on-one with the candidates. I've interviewed them, of course, many times in the course of this campaign. But to be able to have a concentrated period of time where you can really delve into the issues and ask some provocative questions, of course I'd like a piece of that.
[King:] Frankly, are our campaigns too long?
[Couric:] I think it is pretty long. I think that there is a little...
[King:] It's getting a little wearing?
[Couric:] ...a little campaign fatigue. But I think that we get a distorted perspective being members of the media, because, of course, we've been covering it ad infinitum.. And I think that people were really interested in the campaign, they came a little bit later. There's great interest. I think there was interest early on, but not as early as we've been covering it. But you're right, I think at this point people are starting to teeter on the edge of campaign fatigue. And I think everybody would like the nominees to be decided sooner rather than later. And I think, of course, the Democrats are concerned that the more acrimony within the party, the more difficult it will be in the general election, so.
[King:] Do you think John McCain got a break getting this early or is it not a break?
[Couric:] Well, I think that he got a break in that he's sort of off the front pages and off the headlines, at least for now. He's obviously been traveling overseas trying to kind of show off his foreign policy cred and his ability to talk to world leaders. But, you know, you have to think that it's nice for him to have a period of time where he can focus looking forward on the general election fundraise, you know, build up his campaign war chest while the Democrats are still battling it out. So I would say it's a net gain for him.
[King:] He insisted, at this desk, that it would be a clean campaign no matter who he runs against, that he will be issue-oriented strictly.
[Couric:] I think...
[King:] Do you buy that?
[Couric:] You know, I buy that from John McCain. But I think as we've seen in the course of this campaign, Larry, it's the surrogates, it's the spokespeople, it's the people who have gone off the reservation, who at that time said things that were really inappropriate or unbecoming for their candidate. And, you know, we've seen time and time again already here in the last month that the campaigns or the candidates themselves have had to tell various people to pipe down. So I do believe Senator McCain. I think he feels very strongly that he wants a clean campaign focused on the issues. Whether or not he'll be able to bring that to fruition remains to be seen. I feel like I'm talking a mile a minute. I'm on Sudafed...
[King:] No...
[Couric:] ...because I've got the worst cold and I feel like the Sudafed has made me incredibly hyper.
[King:] I like it.
[Couric:] We're going to get a lot in in this half hour, right? KING Yes.
[King:] It's been 10 years since Katie's husband Jay died of colon cancer. We'll talk about that and her work fighting it. Don't go away.
[Couric:] Colorectal cancer isn't glamorous. It's the second leading cancer killer. But today more people like my friend Carmen are surviving this disease. Regular screening can find early stage cancer when it's highly curable. And you know what, this is one that you can prevent. Just get screened, OK? Trust me. It's OK.
[Announcer:] Talk with your doctor. Get screened. Make sure you are the picture of health.