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CNN Larry King Weekend

Interviews with Jay McGraw, Nancy Sinatra, Gotham Chopra, and Kathy Ireland

Aired July 13, 2002 - 21:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight, a grab bag of great guests.

Want to learn how to talk to your teen? Jay McGraw, Dr. Phil's son, is here to help.

Wonder what it's like to hopscotch the world from war zone to war zone? Gotham Chopra, Deepak's son, has survived to tell the tales.

Also, Nancy Sinatra, the California girl singing about -- what else -- California.

And Kathy Ireland is here to talk about eight lessons that changed her life, and they might change yours too.

And they're all next on LARRY KING WEEKEND.

We begin tonight's special edition of LARRY KING WEEKEND with Jay McGraw, son of the famous Dr. Phil McGraw, and author of the New York Times best seller "Life's Strategies for Teens." His new book is "Closing the Gap, a Strategy for Bringing Parents and Teens Together." Are you just naturally following in dad's footsteps?

JAY MCGRAW, SON OF DR. PHIL: Well, somewhat. You know it's been real fun having Dr. Phil, I guess he's called now, as a dad. You know I've been given some great opportunities living with him, and you know I have a lot of fun writing books. I have a lot of fun being here tonight talking to you.

KING: You learned a lot from him?

MCGRAW: I have. I've learned a great deal from him, and I'm excited to be able to share that with other teenagers and parents alike.

KING: How old are you?

MCGRAW: Twenty-two.

KING: What age when you wrote the first book?

MCGRAW: I wrote the first book, "Life Strategies for Teens" when I was 19, I guess, in my second year of college.

KING: How did you even come up with the idea to do this?

MCGRAW: Well it's, I guess it's a funny story, but my dad wrote "Life Strategies," and I read it in high school and it made a lot of sense to me. You know there was a lot of good stuff in there, but when I read it, it talked nothing at all about the life that we were living as young people, and I said, "This is such valuable stuff, but no teenager's going to read it and, if they do, they're not going to be able to use it in their life." So, I said let me write "Life Strategies for Teens" you know. Old dad, they had covered wagons when he went to school, I think.

KING: What did old dad say when you told him you wanted to do this?

MCGRAW: He said, "Go for it. If you think you're man enough, just get you a pen and sit down and go after it."

You know, he's always been real supportive, and I'm excited now to be able to support him in the things that he's doing and bring a different perspective. You know, we've got his shows coming up in September.

KING: I know. We've been talking about them every time he comes here. We've been waiting for this.

MCGRAW: I know, I can't wait to see it, and I'm excited to be able to...

KING: Are you going to go on the show?

MCGRAW: I am. You know, I want to support it in whatever way I can.

KING: Are you the only child?

MCGRAW: No. No, I have a younger brother, Jordan.

KING: What does Jordan do?

MCGRAW: Well, he's 15, and so he's...

KING: He's in high school?

MCGRAW: Yes, he's starting basketball soon.

KING: Is your father equal to what he preaches as a father?

MCGRAW: I would have to say, unfortunately at some times, yes. He's very direct.

KING: In other words, you gotta do it now?

MCGRAW: Very direct and he makes you be accountable for the things that you're doing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PHIL MCGRAW, AUTHOR: That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Thanks a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: What's the number one thing teenagers, let's say, would have to address with your book, "Closing the Gap," that they -- what's the biggest gap between today's average -- it's very hard to generalize -- American teenager and parents?

MCGRAW: I think that the difference is, is a difference that's bigger now than it ever has been, you know, I guess, since the Industrial Revolution, because we've got a huge change in the society that we, as young people, are living in, compared to that which our parents lived in.

You think about the things that we do on a daily basis. You got Internet, cable TV, cell phones. Every teenager's got a car almost, and so the world that we live in is much more complex. It's much more fast-paced, and there are so many more temptations for us to deal with and face in the world, and at the same time, we're going out into the world much less prepared to deal with it, because we don't spend any time as a family.

We don't spend any time with our parents, and our parents are the only people in our lives that can appropriately prepare us to go out in the world and deal with the things that we're forced to deal with.

KING: Very logical. Whose job is it? Is it the parents' job to bring the teen in, or the teen job to go to the parent?

MCGRAW: Well, I think it depends on who you're talking to. You know teenagers say, "Why do I want to get my parents more involved in my life," but the fact is if they don't know you, then they can't deal with you appropriately.

And you know teenagers say all the time, "I'm more mature and more responsible than they give me credit for." You've got to prove that to them, and so the way you do that is to bring them into your life, get involved in theirs, spend some time with them.

You know, everybody says, "I want to be treated older." Well, here's an idea, act the age that you want to be treated, and that's the age you will be -- that's the responsibility you will be given.

KING: Doesn't every 17-year-old thinks that events that happen to him or her have never happened to anyone before?

MCGRAW: Oh, sure. I was the same way, I suppose.

KING: And you're not going to -- how do you change? That's part of growing up, correct?

MCGRAW: It is.

KING: Rebelliousness is fine. MCGRAW: It is, you know, testing the waters, and at the same time, that's something that we as young people want to do. We want to go and try some things. We want to fail a few times, and enjoy our own success, and parents lovingly doing so, are saying, no, no, no. I've been there. I've done that. It didn't work. Let me save you the time and effort, and you know, that's great and we enjoy it, but at the same time, we want to be able to, you know, try a few things without mom and dad saying, I don't know that I'd do that.

KING: Does today's kid also have a bigger edge with all this knowledge and information?

MCGRAW: I think so. We've got an opportunity that we can take much further than we could have one generation ago. We can gather information. We can learn things.

KING: It's harder to parent now, isn't it?

MCGRAW: It is.

KING: A six-year-old is much smarter than the six-year-old of 30 years go.

MCGRAW: You know, a lot of people say different things are happening with teenagers, and I somewhat disagree. I think the same challenges come up. They just happen much earlier. You know a 12- year-old deals with in this generation the same things that a 20-year- old might not have faced yet 30 years ago. And so, it's a lot of the same challenges. They just hit much, much sooner.

KING: Parenting harder too? Do you agree that parenting is harder?

MCGRAW: Oh, sure. I think it's a very difficult thing to do.

KING: Teenagers are marrying later now, aren't they?

MCGRAW: Yes, I think so.

KING: It used to be 22, and now it's sort of I think 25, 26, before, is that a good idea?

MCGRAW: Well, we're living longer. You know our lifespan is longer and so percentage wise, we're getting married about the same time.

KING: I guess you're...

MCGRAW: But is it a good idea to wait? Yes, I think so. I think you got to wait until you've got a stable position in life before you make a decision that will affect you across all those changes.

KING: You told me you're going to go to law school.

MCGRAW: I am right now, SMU in Dallas. KING: So you don't want to be a writer as a career, or is this a backup?

MCGRAW: You know I do, I think that law school is kind of the responsible choice. You know once you're a lawyer, you're always a lawyer, and so I thought now would be a good time, and it is useful stuff. I mean the things I've learned there I use even this week.

KING: Why not psychology?

MCGRAW: You know I've grown up around law and my dad's a psychologist.

KING: I know.

MCGRAW: But he's got a legal company that -- you know he does trial work and I've grown up around it and it's interesting to me. You know, that's what I enjoy and so, I've followed it into law school.

KING: How has his fame affected you? You're not the normal -- you weren't a normal teenager.

MCGRAW: I wasn't?

KING: Your father was famous.

MCGRAW: Well, not when I was a teenager.

KING: No, late teens.

MCGRAW: Yes, that's true. It really hasn't affected me much.

KING: Your brother faced it more than you?

MCGRAW: Yes, I think so, but around our house you know somebody said, one of my dad's friends said recently, and I firmly believe that the only difference between Dr. McGraw and Dr. Phil is that a camera turned on.

I think he lives the exact same life. He does the exact same things philosophically on a day-to-day basis, and so the only difference now is that more people know about it. And, seeing my dad that way, it hasn't changed. The way we interact at home is just the same.

KING: Do you enjoy writing?

MCGRAW: I do. I think it's a very fun experience.

KING: We'll be right back with more of Jay McGraw. His new one is "Closing the Gap: a Strategy for Bringing Parents and Teens Together." And then, we'll meet Nancy Sinatra, Gotham Chopra, and Kathy Ireland, all ahead on LARRY KING WEEKEND. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KING: We're back with Jay McGraw, his new book "Closing the Gap." What should at teenager -- how should a teenager approach this book? What are they going to take from it?

MCGRAW: I think they can read "Closing the Gap," and they can create the relationship at home and the experience with their parents that they want. I want to give teenagers, and parents, the tools to say, I'm going to go into the den and I'm going to sit down and talk to them and I'm going to leave at the end of this book saying, "OK, I'm now in control of the things that I want to do."

I make the decisions that lead to the freedom that I get, because teenagers have to realize we're very accountable for the lives we lead. If we want to stay out later, then we've got to find some way to prove that we're able to do that. And the difficult thing is finding a way to set up that relationship with our parents.

KING: When you say teen, what age are you talking about?

MCGRAW: You know, that's a good question, because I think it spans from however long you're old enough to say, I want to do other than exactly what my parents say, to whenever you move out of the house, or quit dealing under the umbrella of your parents.

KING: So it's 14, 15 through 20, 21?

MCGRAW: Yes, it can be 12 years old in some house, up through maybe college, you know. It's different, but it's a big range.

KING: Tougher for a boy than a girl or vice versa?

MCGRAW: I don't know. I mean I guess...

KING: You're not a girl so how would you know?

MCGRAW: Yes, I don't have a sister, so I don't know.

KING: Do you think?

MCGRAW: I think that there's more challenges.

KING: For a?

MCGRAW: For a girl. I think that -- I think they mature earlier and so the peer pressure they face from their, obviously peers, happens earlier, so I think it could be more challenging.

KING: What should parents get from this book?

MCGRAW: I hope that parents realize that we're in a screaming dive here. As young people, our generation, we don't know what to do. We're sent out into a difficult terrain without the tools with which to deal with it, and we need our parents to take the time and to plug in and say, "I'm going to lead you through this maze and get you out happy, healthy, and successful," and I hope they get that, and I hope that that comes from "Closing the Gap." That's what I wrote it for. KING: I guess your first book proved it, but the question would be do teens buy books?

MCGRAW: You know, I didn't think they would. I wrote "Life's...

KING: You think of them as totally MTV?

MCGRAW: Yes, I wrote "Life Strategies for Teens" thinking, I'm going to write this to the teenagers, but with the idea that parents will read it and kind of get a behind-the-scenes look at what's going on.

KING: Here, mom, read this?

MCGRAW: Yes, exactly, and I get more e-mails from teenagers 10 times over that say, "I read the book. It helped me. I enjoyed," you know this, that, and the other, and it's a pleasant surprise.

KING: You list 10, we're not going to be able to elaborate on all of them, specific ideas of reconnecting or connecting. What are some?

MCGRAW: You know I think the idea behind all ten of them is just that you understand the lifestyle that each other leads. Like, for example, I said "Watch a movie with each other," but have the teenagers pick a movie that's representative of their generation and the parents do the same thing, and you see the world that they live in. You see the challenges that they face. You get something to talk about.

You know, I went to a concert here in L.A. recently, and there were a bunch of parents and teenagers there together, and that is the perfect thing to do because for the next two months, they'll have something to talk about.

KING: And something to talk about is important, right?

MCGRAW: It is very important because parents always ask me, "I really want to make sure that my teenagers know the door is open. If they ever have a question that is important, you know drugs, sex, alcohol, anything like that that they want to talk to me about, I want them to know the door is open."

But the fact is you expect them to come out of the blue one day and say, "OK, they were pressuring me at school today and I really want to talk about it." That's never going to be the first conversation you have. It's got to be normal and natural to just sit down and talk about nothing before they'll ever come and talk about anything important.

KING: Are you involved with someone?

MCGRAW: Involved with someone?

KING: Opposite sex someone?

MCGRAW: Oh, yes, I have a girlfriend.

KING: OK, serious?

MCGRAW: Yes.

KING: Do you look forward to marriage, children? Is that something awing, awe-inspiring to you?

MCGRAW: I very much admire the relationship and the lifestyle that my parents have. I think it looks -- I think that's the way to do it, and so absolutely.

KING: So, you're going to try to do it the way they did it?

MCGRAW: That's what I'd hope to do.

KING: What's the best thing they did with you growing up?

MCGRAW: They were -- the best thing they did with me and my brother at the same time is they always let us know they were supporting what we did and they always let us know that they loved us. And, if you don't feel loved at home, you're not going to feel loved out in the world, and it just puts a value that you put on yourself that says, you know I'm not going to settle. I'm not going to do those things.

KING: So you knew you were loved even when you were critiqued?

MCGRAW: Absolutely. You know, my dad was my basketball coach from as soon as a dribble a basketball up to whenever I started playing in school, and he was the hardest on me about my skills, but I always knew it was because he just wanted me to be the best player I could be. So, he was very critical, but you know we've always done things together.

KING: You knew you were loved?

MCGRAW: I did.

KING: Sex and drugs, those are two things that teenagers, we would guess, talk to each other more about.

MCGRAW: It is, and the problem there is that they get misinformation. You know that's one of the things -- my dad and I are doing an event in Los Angeles August 22 at the Universal Amphitheater and that's what I want to talk to parents about there.

KING: What are you going to do? Are you going to come and the both of you take questions and talk?

MCGRAW: Somewhat. You know my dad does these workshops all over the country and people come and he gives, he talks about the things that he usually talks about on the Oprah show, but in much more depth and much more detail.

And I love the opportunity to support him in doing it by saying, you know, "I'm going to come out with a younger perspective," because it's a bunch of parents that are out there and I'm going to tell them, you know, "this is how you sit down and talk to your teenagers. This is what you've got to do to plug into their lives, and it's a great time." You know there's lot of parents, lots of teenagers. It's exciting. I really enjoy it.

KING: Communication is the key word there?

MCGRAW: It is. It is but you know parents -- people say quality time, right? You know we're going to go watch a movie and that's quality time. Quality time is face-to-face. It's not shoulder-to- shoulder, and you really got to define it appropriately.

KING: Thanks, Jay. Good luck.

MCGRAW: Thanks for having me, appreciate it.

KING: Jay McGraw, the son of Dr. Phil, author of a New York Times best seller, "Life Strategies for Teens," and now the new one, "Closing the Gap: a Strategy for Bringing Parents and Teens Together."

Nancy Sinatra has a new CD. We'll talk about it right after this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

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KING: It's always a great pleasure to welcome her to LARRY KING LIVE, an old friend, dear lady, Nancy Sinatra, and she's back in the recording scene with the printing of the new CD "California Girl."

There you see its cover. All the songs relate to her adopted state, because you were born in New Jersey, right?

NANCY SINATRA, "CALIFORNIA GIRL": Right.

KING: When did you move?

SINATRA: There aren't many songs about New Jersey, though.

KING: That's right, how many? "Hoboken, here I come," right?

SINATRA: I don't know.

KING: "Newark in the spring." SINATRA: Or wait, here's one, "When it's Cherry Picking Time in Orange, New Jersey."

KING: "We'll be a peach of a pair."

SINATRA: Right.

KING: I know that. Did you come out with your dad?

SINATRA: Yes, we moved when I was a little kid so, like four years old, so. Of course I came out with my dad and my mom too.

KING: The (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

SINATRA: The (UNINTELLIGIBLE) yes.

KING: Everyone came to California.

SINATRA: Sure, on the train.

KING: So you have very little memories of Jersey?

SINATRA: Except for the, you know, all the years that I've been going back and forth, yes. My daughter A.J. lives in Hoboken right now.

KING: Hoboken's in.

SINATRA: It's fabulous.

KING: I hear that it's the swinger people, a lot of people renting and buying there.

SINATRA: You've got to go.

KING: It's right across the water.

SINATRA: The greatest view of Manhattan in the whole country is from Hoboken.

KING: Have they named anything after your father yet there?

SINATRA: Yes. There's Frank Sinatra Park. There's Frank Sinatra Drive. They're looking to name a post office for him, I understand, from the Internet.

KING: That's great, and they're going to build that statue in Times Square we hope.

SINATRA: We hope. That's a tough sell, Larry.

KING: Really?

SINATRA: A very tough sell.

KING: Boy is that logical, opposite where the Paramount used to be. Where else would you...

SINATRA: Yes, that's where it belongs. That's where the Columbus Day riots happened, you know?

KING: What's the concept of -- all the songs deal with California?

SINATRA: Yes. We started it about 30 years ago and then my masters went into a garage somewhere and we pulled them all out when Disney opened their California Adventure Theme Park, and so they would start playing the songs in the park, and then...

KING: Oh, really?

SINATRA: They were interested in putting out a CD, so I went in and finished the collection just the end of last year with some really great musicians like Clem Burk, who is the drummer from Blondie. He's on there. So I have Hal Blaine from the '60s and Clem Burk from this century.

KING: Some of the cuts are old then?

SINATRA: Some are old. Some are new, and my wonderful audio engineer, Keith Barrows (ph), was able to smooth it all out so it sounds like it was recorded all at one time, but you won't tell anybody?

KING: No.

SINATRA: It really wasn't.

KING: There are songs that were recorded here in the '60s?

SINATRA: Yes.

KING: The voice would be the same?

SINATRA: It sounds the same tone, but on two songs it's not, because we used a different microphone and it's very boring technically, so.

KING: To yourself, are you singing better now?

SINATRA: Yes, much.

KING: Are you going out and singing? Are you doing Vegas? Are you doing concerts, clubs?

SINATRA: Yes. We're touring and we rock. We're definitely rock and roll so I better do it now before I end up on a walker and I can't do it anymore, you know, so.

KING: With the kids grown, you have a full -- you're back to a full singing career, right mom?

SINATRA: Yes. Yes, my one daughter is married. Amanda is married and my daughter A.J. is getting married in September.

KING: And then how did they come up with -- you do fifteen songs here.

SINATRA: Uh huh.

KING: And some I've heard of, "San Fernando Valley," "Ninety- Nine Miles from L.A." What's "Hello L.A., Bye-bye Birmingham?"

SINATRA: That's a Mac Davis song, Mac who wrote "In the Ghetto" for Elvis.

KING: Yes.

SINATRA: Great songs. It's a fun kind of swampy Billy Joel kind of song.

KING: "California Dreamin'."

SINATRA: "California Dreamin'" is the Mommas and Poppas.

KING: Great song.

SINATRA: "California Girls," Brian Wilson sings on that.

KING: Really?

SINATRA: He was gracious enough to come into the studio and put six voices on there for me. I felt like I was singing with the Beach Boys. It was great.

KING: You sing "Hooray for Hollywood." I love that song. "Do You Know the Way to San Jose," "San Francisco," "Saturday in the Park."

SINATRA: That's the Chicago song with the great horns on it. (SINGING) Saturday in the park...

KING: Oh, yes (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

SINATRA: ...it was the Fourth of July. Yes.

KING: "California Man."

SINATRA: That's the Moog (ph).

KING: The Moog (ph)?

SINATRA: It's a song that was sung by a guy and my guitar player, Gilby Clark, who was with Guns and Roses, he came up with that idea. He said, "You got to do California Man" so we worked on it, changed the lyrics around to make it for a woman to sing, you know. He's my California Man instead of I'm a California Man.

KING: "Quando Caliente del Sol," great song.

SINATRA: (SINGING). Yes, it's a beautiful song. We couldn't do California without including a Spanish song.

KING: "Hotel California."

SINATRA: The Eagles.

KING: Oh.

SINATRA: (SINGING) Welcome to the Hotel California.

KING: You see, when you sing it, I know it.

SINATRA: Yes.

KING: I don't know. There's one, "There's no Place Like Home."

SINATRA: That's...

KING: Is that "Be It Ever So Humble?"

SINATRA: There's no place like home.

KING: You sing that song?

SINATRA: We sing that song.

KING: (SINGING) Be it ever...

SINATRA: Yes. See, you should sing. Sing some more (SINGING) be it ever so humble.

KING: (SINGING) there's no...

SINATRA: ...(SINGING) place like home.

KING: That's the whole song, isn't it?

SINATRA: Sort of. We couldn't find the -- I know it was a poet who wrote that, whose name escapes me now, but we couldn't find the publisher or the composer, so we had to list traditional there.

KING: And, if we go to Disney and we go to the California Theme, which is a great park by the way at Disney.

SINATRA: Do you take your boys there?

KING: Sure took them there last year, taking them there in August.

SINATRA: They're grown now, I imagine. They're big.

KING: They're three and two.

SINATRA: Well, I mean compared to being infants.

KING: They know Disney, yes, they're not infants. So, I'm going to hear these songs when I walk through there? SINATRA: Well, I hope so. I haven't gone since the CD came out, so I don't know.

KING: I'll insist.

SINATRA: OK.

KING: We'll be right back with Nancy Sinatra, and still to come, Gotham Chopra, and Kathy Ireland. Don't go away.

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(SINGING)

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KING: Back with Nancy Sinatra who certainly had an enduring music career, and her new CD is "California Girl." You've been called like the First Lady of Rock and Roll. Were you one of the first? Was "My Boots Are Made for Walking" one of the first like rock girl hits?

SINATRA: First white girl perhaps, but not the first one, surely.

KING: Give me the history of that song.

SINATRA: Written by Lee Hazelwood, arranged by Billy Strange. I personally felt they could have put out the track and they would have had a hit with that, because the track is what sells the song.

KING: Did you like it right away?

SINATRA: Right away, and he only had two verses for it, so I asked Lee to write another verse. He said, "But you can't sing that. It's a guy's song." I said, "No, it's more of a girl's song, and you shouldn't sing it," because he was singing it in local clubs.

KING: Were you shocked at how big it was?

SINATRA: Yes, I was shocked at how fast it took off. It was just a matter of a few weeks and it was, you know.

KING: What did your father think of it?

SINATRA: He loved it. He was there when I -- when it was auditioned for me, because Lee did a few songs for me one night at my mom's house, and my dad was over there.

And Lee and Billy came over and Lee was picking some things on the guitar, and I said, "I like the one about the boots," and my dad, when he was leaving, he said, "you're right. It's the one about the boots." A hit song is a hit song. The only other time I felt that feeling was with "Something Stupid," and it also went to number one.

KING: How did that come about, the recording that you did with him?

SINATRA: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

KING: Did he call you? Did he get "Something Stupid" and say...

SINATRA: Yes. He got it. A guy in his office found it, written by Carson Parks, brother of Van Dyke Parks, and they had recorded it. Carson and his wife, I guess, or maybe his sister. I don't know. Anyway, so my dad loved the song. He said, "Sarge, send that to Nancy," Sarge Weiss (ph). "Send that to Nancy and see if she wants to do it," and of course, I fell all over myself, you know, saying "What time? Let's go." And, we stuck it on the end of the session he was doing with Antonio Carlos Jobim.

KING: One of the great albums ever made.

SINATRA: Wasn't that a brilliant album?

KING: Sinatra sings Jobim was one of the great, great...

SINATRA: Still is.

KING: Up there near the top of my favorite Frank albums.

SINATRA: Yes.

KING: Just loved every song in it.

SINATRA: Absolutely. So, I felt fortunate just to meet the man.

KING: So, that was at the end of that?

SINATRA: It was at the end of one of those sessions, and their rhythm section walked out and our rhythm section walked in.

KING: Were you shocked at "Something Stupid's" success?

SINATRA: No.

KING: It was fun, silly?

SINATRA: It was fabulous, and with my dad attached to it, it just had to be, and Moe Austin (ph), who was then (UNINTELLIGIBLE), he was shocked. He was stunned, because he...

KING: Still around, Moe, still kicking (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

SINATRA: Yes, he's great.

KING: Were you nervous singing with your dad? SINATRA: Very. Yes, very. I was nervous 20 years later, when we did the song live on stage, you know. I never get over those kind of nerves.

KING: Yes, well.

SINATRA: Do you? I was going to ask you that a long time ago, do you get nervous just before you go on the air?

KING: No, too used to it.

SINATRA: Really?

KING: But your father told me he got nervous before he went on stage.

SINATRA: Yes. Yes.

KING: Do you miss him, I guess, huh?

SINATRA: Very, very much.

KING: Someone that impacting?

SINATRA: Profoundly. Profoundly.

KING: It's been what, three years now, huh?

SINATRA: Four.

KING: Four years?

SINATRA: Uh huh. We did a show here with you.

KING: A few nights after he died.

SINATRA: I think it was a year later.

KING: I'll never forget that funeral. We'll never forget that.

SINATRA: I know.

KING: All right, tell me about the Nancy Sinatra career now. What are you going to be doing?

SINATRA: We're going...

KING: You got a CD. Are you going to do another one?

SINATRA: Working hard. You know what it's about, Larry. I think you do. It's about survival, don't you think? It's not exactly reinventing myself, but it is maybe reshaping to continue on and move forward and not...

KING: Still love singing?

SINATRA: I love it. I just love it.

KING: Want to get married again?

SINATRA: Are you proposing?

KING: I'm married.

SINATRA: I know. I love Shawn.

KING: She loves you. Do you want to get married again? Would you?

SINATRA: I'm not sure. I kind of agree with Paula Poundstone, who says, "I want a man in my life, not in my house." I'm not sure. I think I would love to share.

KING: You've been single a while now, right?

SINATRA: Yes, a long time.

KING: Your husband died when?

SINATRA: '85.

KING: He was a great guy.

SINATRA: I almost got married since then, but it didn't work out. He was a great guy and I miss him deeply too, but marriage is a very serious thing.

KING: Do you feel like a grandmother?

SINATRA: No, I'm not quite a grandmother yet.

KING: You don't look like a grandmother.

SINATRA: Thank you. Not quite yet, you know. I'd like them to settle into their married lives first, hopefully.

KING: So, we'll be seeing you at dates around the country?

SINATRA: You'll be seeing me around, yes, please.

KING: And "California Girl" is available everywhere...

SINATRA: Yes.

KING: ...that CDs and records are sold.

SINATRA: Yes, sir.

KING: And if you go to the California, what do they call that thing at Disney?

SINATRA: California Adventure.

KING: California Adventure, that's right.

SINATRA: But come to nancysinatra.com and...

KING: Oh, you can do it that way, too?

SINATRA: They're linked from there, yes.

KING: Nancysinatra.com and order it that way.

SINATRA: Sure.

KING: Or all the ordering places, wherever they are?

SINATRA: Exactly.

KING: Thank you, Nancy.

SINATRA: Thank you, Larry.

KING: When we come back, Gotham Chopra is with us, and then the lovely and talented and mogulish (ph) Kathy Ireland. Don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOTHAM CHOPRA, AUTHOR, "FAMILIAR STRANGERS": You know, I was just counting that I've been to four war zones in the last year, six hostile terrirories, and every you go do something like this, you kind of get a little rush, because you know it might be one of the last things you ever do.

This is what election day looks like in Chechnya.

We're just going to go up a little while and see what they're doing. I mean, they are armed. There's a guy back there with a rocket launcher, so it's no joke.

KING: Speaking of chip off the old block, our next guest is Gotham Chopra, and his book is "Familiar Strangers: Uncommon Wisdom in Unlikely Places." This is the book. He is the son, of course, of Deepak Chopra, correspondent for Channel One, the in-classroom TV channel. This book familiar -- what do you mean by familiar strangers?

CHOPRA: Well, you know, Larry, for spirituality to be really relevant, it has to have some actual utility. It has to be applied to the real world.

As a journalist, I've traveled, you know, for the last few years to places like Chechnya, Colombia, Pakistan, and have sat down with people like the Islamic terrorists, with drug lords in Colombia, and for me, I always wanted to know, you know, does this spirituality, this legacy that I inherited, does it have any real application in the real world?

So, as part of my traveling, you know, I married it and that's what really what the book is about, to see, you know, rather than self improvement, you know, trying to gain self-esteem, trying to lose some weight, trying to make some more money, does spirituality really have application in the world?

KING: Is this an aligned profession with your father?

CHOPRA: You know, in some ways. I mean, I inherited...

KING: You're more a journalist, though?

CHOPRA: I'm more a journalist, you know, but I'm 27 years old. I grew up in a household where spirituality was a strong part of my upbringing. You know, it's a natural fit for me, but going out, you know going to these places, going to Colombia and sitting down with terrorists, or a rebel, I wanted to see does this have any resonance?

KING: Why would they talk to you?

CHOPRA: You know, I think they talked to us for a variety of reasons, because people around the world, even in these obscure places, have learned the power of the media, and they want to have their stories told, and what I've discovered is, you know, they have so many of the same concerns that you and I have.

KING: Can you empathize with a terrorist?

CHOPRA: You know, I was very close to the events on September 11th. I was in the sky and...

KING: You write about it.

CHOPRA: Yes, and I wrote about my experience on September 11th, and I had friends who were in that area. It's hard for me to feel compassionate, to forgive. Maybe those are steps further down the spiritual path. But for now, I think we need, all of us need, a broader understanding of why the events of September 11th happened. I mean, they happened within a certain context.

KING: Is this your first book?

CHOPRA: It's actually my second book. My first book was a novel several years ago called "Child of the Dawn." But this is a book that, you know, I've been really working on for the last three years, almost.

KING: Are you named after the city in New York?

CHOPRA: Not really. I mean I guess in some ways I am, but actually Gotham, Gotama Buddha. It's the original name of the Buddha, and it means the enlightened one, so I have a lot to live up to.

KING: Boy, you have a lot. Is it a -- is it a burden to be the son of Deepak Chopra, in a sense?

CHOPRA: It comes with pluses and minuses.

KING: The territory.

CHOPRA: And you've had other guests, you know, who have inherited legacies, and it brings, you know, a lot of privileges. Yes, it brings some drawbacks, but I choose, you know, to walk the middle path, so to speak, where you stay detached from either one, because ultimately you have to do what motivates you, what makes you...

KING: You have brothers and sisters?

CHOPRA: I have one older sister and one brand new niece.

KING: Your sister is married then?

CHOPRA: Yes.

KING: Where were you flying to on 9/11?

CHOPRA: It's an amazing story, actually. I was -- I boarded a plane at around 8:00 a.m. at JFK.

KING: Where? JFK.

CHOPRA: I was flying to Los Angeles. I remember very clearly looking out the window and looking at the World Trade Center and then looking at Columbia University, my alma mater, and thinking, oh my God, what a gorgeous day. I wish I wasn't leaving. I fell asleep and about an hour later was alerted that we were making an emergency landing in Cincinnati.

But the really interesting part about that story is what I was carrying in my bags. I was carrying some videotapes of a story I had just shot in August in the northwest frontier part of Pakistan. You know, this is the area where now so many people allege Osama bin Laden, if he's alive, is hiding.

And, we had been up there to do a story on terrorism, and I had sat down with an associate of Osama bin Laden. The first thing when I was interviewing him, he said "Oh, I want you to look at this picture," you know, and it was a picture of him and Osama bin Laden. And, I said "How do you know this guy" and he said, "Well, he was -- he's a close associate of mine. He's a friend of mine. He's a very good man." And, you know, the whole world was upside down a month later.

KING: What did you learn from doing this? What did you learn from meeting with these people? You said "uncommon wisdom." What did you learn? CHOPRA: You know, not too long ago, I was in the Middle East. I was in the West Bank and I talked to a young kid there, and he says, you know "You don't realize that we have the same concerns as you. We want to put food on the table for our families. We want to walk to school or go to work without the threat of getting shot or a tank impeding our way, and we want to have some acknowledgement from the rest of the world that they respect us, and these are simple things, but why can't we do them?"

And, that's the same thing I heard in Colombia, the same thing I heard in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but instead, you know, it's us versus them. It's we're good, they're evil. We're going to smoke them out of their holes. You know, we have to find -- history has shown us that that doesn't work.

KING: Nobody is born evil?

CHOPRA: Nobody is born evil.

KING: And people are much more alike than different?

CHOPRA: Very much so. They want the same things, and you know, when you deprive people of their basic needs, what do they do? They strike out. They become hostile. They become angry. You know, we can't go, and I think that's really kind of what the book is about. It's trying to find new, creative -- you know, my dad uses the term "visionary solutions." We have to come up.

KING: Are you able to lead the kind of peaceful life your dad leads?

CHOPRA: You know, I know you're a big Orioles fan. I'm the biggest Red Sox fan, and nothing stresses me out when the Sox go on.

KING: You see, so Deepak wouldn't understand that, right?

CHOPRA: He doesn't understand, but you know he started playing golf, and he's become obsessed with golf, and that's got him a little bit. But you know I try to integrate everything that I've learned into my life, and I think I do a pretty good job. But you know, at the same time, I'm a 27-year-old guy, and you know, I'm trying to just live my life.

KING: What's Channel One like?

CHOPRA: Channel One is great. I mean Channel One, I think we practice a unique style of journalism, and for the journalist it's great because it makes you feel like Indiana Jones, because the stories are always centered around, you know, the reporter.

We found with young people, I can't make you care about Sri Lanka or Chechnya or all these places I go, but if the audience cares about me, then they'll start to care about that place.

KING: I want to spend more time with you.

CHOPRA: I'd love to come back.

KING: I want to do more time with you. You will come back. This is fascinating.

CHOPRA: Thank you very much.

KING: Thank you, Gotham. Gotham Chopra. The book, "Familiar Strangers: Uncommon Wisdom in Unlikely Places." I'm going to read it this weekend. When we come back, the lovely and very talented Kathy Ireland. Don't go away.

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CHOPRA: If the CIA came to try to abduct Osama bin Laden, which has been rumored, or you know, in the wars against Kashmir, for Kashmir, would people from this school, would students from this school become militant?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This is exactly what jihad, the holy war is. If anyone comes and treads upon your freedom, all young people will come together and challenge them, even our young people, God willing, will resist.

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KING: We now welcome to LARRY KING WEEKEND Kathy Ireland, who Liz Smith has described her career as supermodel to super mogul. She is CEO and Chief Designer of Kathy Ireland WorldWide, that's a billion dollar company, author of a new book "Powerful Inspirations: Eight Lessons That Will Change Your Life."

Do you still model?

KATHY IRELAND, AUTHOR "POWERFUL INSPIRATIONS": No. It's been several years since I did any modeling, and it was not a career that I aspired to do, but I'm very grateful for the education it gave me.

KING: And therefore you don't miss it?

IRELAND: No, I don't.

KING: You didn't aspire to it. I mean you were beautiful and someone said you ought to model?

IRELAND: It was presented to me as an opportunity, and I felt like if I didn't explore it, I might regret it someday, and it exposed me to the best designers in the world. It exposed me to people of all different cultures, and also alerted me to images and prices that are not realistic. And so, I always knew that some day, when I had my own brand, I wanted it to be for real women.

KING: You were always, then, business oriented?

IRELAND: My first job, I was four years old, and I sold painted rocks from my wagon with my sister Mary.

KING: Where did you grow up?

IRELAND: Santa Barbara, California.

KING: Painted rocks?

IRELAND: Painted rocks.

KING: And you're still selling things. So, in other words, you'd be back stage at a show and say $14,000 he gets for this?

IRELAND: Well, you know, I would have girlfriends of mine and they would say, "I'm not going to spend money on a magazine to look at pictures of skinny women in clothes that I can't afford."

And I just, personally I never felt comfortable earning my living off how someone else perceived that I looked, and I really believe that failure is an education, and in that respect I'm very well educated. There were several businesses that I attempted that failed before starting my own company in 1993.

KING: And K. Ireland WorldWide, was it successful from the get- go?

IRELAND: We grew it slowly, and it's been -- it's a wonderful journey. It's still a baby brand, but we...

KING: What does it make?

IRELAND: We started with socks.

KING: Socks.

IRELAND: I believe in starting from the ground up, and we found the best sock partners. I believe the keys to success for me are first of all keeping your priorities in order, and for me, it's my faith and my family.

KING: You have two children.

IRELAND: I've got two children.

KING: Happily married?

IRELAND: Yes.

KING: What does your husband do?

IRELAND: He's an emergency room doctor.

KING: Really? One of the toughest jobs in medicine.

IRELAND: Excuse me?

KING: One of the toughest jobs in medicine. IRELAND: Absolutely. I don't know how he does it.

KING: And one of the lowest paid.

IRELAND: He does it because he loves it, and he loves being able to be of service, and it's great.

KING: Boy. So you know your value system and that's the first thing you teach, right? What did you go, from socks to what?

IRELAND: To apparel, sportswear, swimsuits, active wear, sleepwear.

KING: You now hire models?

IRELAND: We do. My favorite model is my mom. She's the best, and I love being able to do that, and we now, the brand includes everything for the home, flooring, furniture, lighting, sewing patterns.

KING: Going to beat Martha Stewart?

IRELAND: Martha Stewart is -- I have such respect for her. She's an American icon, and there will never be another Martha Stewart, and what we do is very different.

KING: Tell me about the book, "Powerful Inspirations," meaning?

IRELAND: "Powerful Inspirations," eight lessons that will change your life, and the reason that I can be so bold as to say that these lessons will change your life is because the inspirations don't come from me. They come from God, and no matter what a person's faith is, because they come from God, they're meant for everyone, and if you apply them to your life, your life will change.

KING: Example?

IRELAND: For example, Powerful Changes is one of the chapters. Change is the one thing that we can count on. It's inevitable for everyone.

KING: Constant?

IRELAND: And it's a constant and we can use that to our benefit. So oftentimes we're going through changes, we're going through challenges that seem so daunting, but they can be turned into wonderful opportunities, wonderful opportunities for growth and change doesn't just have to be something that happens to us. It can be something that we can create. We can create positive change.

KING: So you're saying people can read this book and really use it, because some how-to books don't...

IRELAND: Right.

KING: They're nice reading but you put them down and forget them.

IRELAND: It's attainable. The information is attainable for everyone. I feel I've been blessed in my life to have been able to have worked with such incredible people and to be able to have a chance to share information.

My co-author is a woman named Laura Morton, who's responsible for several best sellers, and it is a labor of love. The mission statement at our company, Kathy Ireland WorldWide, is to find solutions for families, especially busy moms. And I'm reaching busy moms simply because that's what I am and that's...

KING: Do you have to, Kathy, have faith to get something out of the book?

IRELAND: I think you need some faith. You -- I think it takes faith to pick up a book in the first place.

KING: Faith the book is going to help you?

IRELAND: Right, and I think...

KING: I was talking about belief in a god.

IRELAND: No. I don't think that -- I think that a person who knows nothing of God or does not have that belief will benefit from these inspirations because the principles come from God, and because I believe He created everyone and in his image, they will help everyone.

KING: Because inspiration usually comes from somewhere we don't know. You're saying it does come from somewhere, right? Because I think of inspiration, I was inspired to do this. What inspired you? I don't know.

IRELAND: Right. Right. Well, sometimes inspirations are vague and sometimes they're very clear where we get them from.

KING: You believe you've been inspired in your life?

IRELAND: I have.

KING: All these things, eight things that happened to you?

IRELAND: These are -- they're lessons and a lot of these lessons are from my journey from my failures. I've made a tremendous amount of mistakes along the way, and if this information can help someone else in their journey to maybe not have the same mistakes as I have, it would be wonderful.

KING: Do you ever doubt your faith?

IRELAND: You know what, I have to say there are things that I don't always understand, but my faith is very strong. I never doubt -- I've never not believed in God, ever since I was a child. I didn't know Him very well. I didn't have a close relationship with Him. I haven't always been obedient to His word. I didn't become a Christian until I was 18 years old, and that had a tremendous impact on my life and continues to, and it was a time when I was just starting out in the world and being a young woman in a world that felt so dominated by men.

And oftentimes I would be in countries where women were treated not even like second-class citizens, and that was very difficult to comprehend. And, what I learned from reading the Bible and about Jesus is how much he loves women and respects them and honors them, and that's been very encouraging to me.

KING: Thank you, Kathy.

IRELAND: Thank you.

KING: I look forward to this. The book is "Powerful Inspirations: Eight Lessons That Will Change Your Life." The author is the beautiful Kathy Ireland, CEO and Chief Designer of Kathy Ireland WorldWide.

I don't have to tell you she's beautiful. Look.

Thanks for joining us. Have a great rest of the weekend. Good night.

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