 I don't see it that way, that's the problem. Mr. President, I wanted to open by asking you a question that wants to ask you, but it may require some participation on your part. I mean, you may even have to stand up or something. What's that? You ready? Yeah. How much cash you got on you? How much cash do I have on me? Not a dime. You never carry money? Very rarely, but it just seems no way to do it. It doesn't mean that I travel free. I mean, I get bills for things, but no, there's no opportunity. I can't go shopping or anything like that, so I make up for it because every once in a while people will give me something. We wanted to ask you on the eve of this Liberty Weekend and your trip to New York to celebrate the statue. A couple of questions about that. Do you think it's time for Lady Liberty to put up her hand and say, stop to immigration at the Mexican border? No, I think that, well, at any border. I mean, I just make it specific. I think that something very definite would go out of America. I mean, I don't think it would go out of America. No, I think that, well, at any border, I mean, I just make it specific. I think that something very definite would go out of America if we ever forgot our heritage. That's sort of like all of us, all of us came here from someplace else or by way of our ancestors, our parents, grandparents, and so forth. And that's a little like getting on board and once we're on board, let's pull up the gangplank and not let anyone else on. Does that mean you wouldn't support the immigration bill? Oh, I'm supporting the immigration bill because I think we have to have some rules and regulations. And I think what that bill has meant to correct is some loss of control at our borders where illegal immigration is threatening us now. No, we have to have control and have head. It's been traditional in our country for many years. And I agree with that and I agree with the part of the legislation which says that some people, even if they did illegally enter the country in times past, have established themselves, have been law abiding, raised children and so forth here, that there should be a provision whereby their status can be made legal and permanent. This weekend, which is a celebration of liberty and our 100th anniversary of Our Lady in the Harbor, do you feel that South African Blacks should have that same kind of liberation? Yes, and I've never yielded on that point. I know that it is a difficult situation and we want to remain in contact and be able to help bring about a change. I don't think anyone can support the policy of apartheid morally. And I know that the present government has made taken steps, wants to find a solution to this problem, is opposed by another faction that does not want to change just as sometimes we're opposed here in our own country with political factions. What things do you want to do that they say they want to find a solution? They've arrested 3,000 people, leaders, black leaders, put them in jail. They've got a state of emergency. How does this balance out? We have expressed our displeasure with the state of emergency. What we believe is that there must come a meeting and negotiations between leaders of the various black elements and the present government as to the formation of a government. Now, they've taken such steps as single citizenship already. They've done some things about the onerous past laws and all of that, the right of labor unions and so forth. They've arrested all the labor union leaders themselves. I know, and this was part of, again, this thing that we, this emergency thing that we think should be done away with. But I think the complication that is overlooked too often is that it is not solidly a racial division between the white minority and the black majority. The black majority itself is divided and there are tribal divisions that have a long time heritage there in Africa. And we've seen that in the violence between those groups now. So, what is really needed is bringing together of the leaders of those factions to make sure that they recognize the responsibility that this must be worked out between all divisions. Is there something the United States can do to bring that about? Well, we're continuing to try. And I think that we have a better chance by remaining in contact with that government than following the lead that's been suggested up on the Hill with some legislation in which we would walk totally away and then be on the outside with no contact at all. I think that we have a long history or relationship between the two countries and that this is what has enabled us to keep a hand in so far. Vice President Bush said a couple of weeks ago that the administration was considering use of the military on drug smuggling in light of the recent deaths of some famous athletes. I wonder what thoughts you have, whether you've made a decision? Well, remember right now we have some participation by military. And I don't think that he was talking about making policemen out of soldiers. We had a task force that we set up down when Florida was the great entry point. And it was probably the first most successful working together of levels of law enforcement at local, state, federal and the various agencies of all of those working together, plus help from the military with radar, coast guard, things of that kind. And it was so successful that we now have 12 of those task forces working because of the extensive borders and coastlines that we have. And we're always watching if there are more opportunities for increasing that kind of cooperation to deal with the problem of drugs coming into the country. Again, as I say, we want to draw the line at not saying that we're suddenly going to make our military have a police capability. But might you allow the military to use some of its assets like radar? Well, yes. And as I say, to increase, if increasing that will help, because we already have that at work. I might also add that the military, like every other facet of our society, had its own problem with drugs internally. And they have done a magnificent job. They have virtually reduced it almost to zero in the military. I think what we have to face is there is a limit to what success we can have with simply trying to shut off the inflow of drugs to take the drugs away from the users. I know that what Nancy's been engaged in is, I think, what ultimately must be the answer, and that is to take the user away from the drugs to turn the users off. And I think the terrible tragedy of these two young men and what has happened to them is that maybe their lives would have had and will have a real meaning if we will from them move on to utilize all the resources we have. Now, I know that Nancy has participated in movements all over the country showing remarkable success that just say no movement among children is having a great effect. The way parents have suddenly moved forward to enter into this battle. But that's going to be the only way eventually that we'll resolve it, is when we, the people, and as individuals and as groups, say, we've had enough of this and we're going to stop feeding the monsters money so they can continue their living in style at the cost of health and the life of our young people. I would think that these two athletes also, this could be a great example to the athletes in our country, the professionals, who are such heroes to our young people and to children for them to recognize their responsibility and for them to organize and take a position in this fight. A new subject. Soviet dancing of late seems that you are a madly in love suitor courting this coy woman over in the Kremlin sometimes. You two seem to be in your own little dance. What are you planning to write to him soon? Yes, we have an answer in which he has made additional proposals with regard to not only the subject of arms control but the other things we discussed at Geneva, which have to do with the regional conflicts going on in the world, have to do with human rights and immigration and so forth. And we have that letter in our possession and we're putting together our own reply because again I think it opened additional doors that makes me optimistic that we're not only going to have a summit but that we're going to have a summit where we can reach agreement and some of the things that we obviously, or the goals that we share, we have said from the very beginning that we would like a reduction of nuclear weapons leading to the ultimate elimination of such weapons. Well, now they have said the same thing and if we both want the same thing we ought to be able to find a way to reach that goal. What will you tell him in this new letter? Well, as I say, this was quite an extensive letter that he said. When you just got back, how long was it? I can't remember the exact number of pages but it was quite a packet and worthwhile and so we're studying that and our own reply and as I say, I hope that this will all become part of the agenda of the summit meeting. You don't have a Sholchevronazi meeting date, do you? No, that, as you know, they had called off earlier on when we thought it was going to be held in July. We believe that there was some reason for that because this is a new administration there and maybe we had been overly optimistic as to how quickly they could get together and move forward but now we have reason to believe that such a meeting is possible. This year? Yes. November, you think? It could begin then as far as we're concerned but no dates have been set. It's not your good lady, Mr. President. Who's a good friend of yours? Why don't you call up to talk about those deep nights of the soul when you have those kind of questions or do you ever have those? What? When you have questions or when you feel introspective or perhaps you never do feel introspective. Who do you talk to beside Mrs. Reagan? Well, first of all, I'm surrounded here by some very remarkable people who made great sacrifices in order to come into government. Yes, but I'm your best friend and one always has a best friend. Well, I have to say I'm very blessed with a number of friends and I'm in frequent contact with many of them and I don't know that I should go... If I start throwing names around then I have to miss one but I have a circle of... I've been very blessed with a circle of friends that are very dear to me and as I say, we stay in contact. On that line, how frequently do you talk to President Nixon, to Mr. Nixon? Well, as you know, we try to keep all former presidents informed of things that are going on, check with them, get their thinking and so forth and he is one of those and particularly has he been helpful in foreign affairs? Do you mean to suggest that you talk to President Carter as well? Yes, and I have personally but mainly this is carried on by others in our NSC group who keep them informed. But our impression was that your relationship with Nixon was more in the manner of picking up the phone? Well, I have done that because he and I had a long friendship with fellow Californians that went back many years long before either one of us I think ever thought we would be in a present position and so there is I think a closer bond. My acquaintanceship with the most recent is very slight and I knew him slightly or for a short time when we were governors together and then my relationship with President Ford was much more recent than that. Have you given you any advice during this recent Soviet dancing? No, no, there haven't been any. Mr. President, we had good news this morning in the release of an American in Beirut. You're not usually counted among the Americans held there. Wondered what your view is about whether that will improve the chances of the others? Well, I hope so. I didn't know about this. I've been in meetings all morning so I haven't been informed of that. You're giving me the news now for the first time. But yes, the only problem is there is such a variety of groups. That what one group may do may not have an effect on the other. Now, we know with those hostages that we've been working so long and so hard at, the four or five that are still there, we know that that particular group is the one known as the Hezbollah. And there has never been a minute contrary to what some people think that we have not been working and following every lead we can that could lead to their release. And we've had some sharp disappointments when we thought maybe we were making some progress. But those disappointments don't stop us from continuing to try. So I'll have to wait until I find out who this individual is and what group held him. He was not a hostage because he was not politically held. He was something to do with drugs. I got involved there with a faction or something. He'd been held since the fall. We hadn't been directly involved in it except to pass along the message to wherever we could. Well, that doesn't sound... Do you have any news or hope on the other five? As I say, there isn't anything I can talk about except that we continue following every lead, every channel that seems to offer an opening. I wanted to ask you about Mr. Waldheim and whether you think he did anything wrong during World War II. Well, the evidence certainly has been inconclusive and we know that he was a member of the military but then there were a great many people. But so far there seems to be great controversy over to what extent he might have participated in the terrible deeds that made up the Holocaust. And until we do know, I think that we should hold our fire. So you would have no objection to meeting with them either here or abroad? Well, I have no plans for such a thing but we continue to, again, listen and I think some investigation is going forward in our own justice department to see if we can find out, because we do have some laws that are based on war crimes and so we are trying to find out for ourselves, legally, what this position is. May I just top that with one thing though? We must remember our relationship with Austria is a relationship between two nations and Austria and the United States have had a friendly relationship and one which we hope will be maintained. The shuttle, have you made a decision on whether to replace the shuttle and build a fourth orbiter? Well, my own personal desire would be that we can go forward with what had been a tremendously successful program. No decision has been made. We've turned over the Rogers report to NASA and to Jim Fletcher there and bring him to take action on the things that are called for in that. One of our problems is that this tragedy has brought about a backlog of satellites for transport into space. And this may call, in an effort to reduce that backlog, may call for some immediate emphasis on unmanned launchers. And all of this is in the mill right now and no final decision has been made. Do you worry that the recent space disasters could impact the SDI program? Does it trouble you that there are articles being written in America that can't get anything into the sky? How could we possibly have a defense yield? Well, I think before we get around to anything of that kind, we are still in such a state of research, although great progress is being made. I am amazed, but we still have some years of research ahead of us on this before. And I think the other problem will be taken care of long before there's any need for testing. We also want to ask you some personal questions. You've been an actor and a president. Is there anything that you wished you had been that you haven't been? Well, maybe better at all of them. Are there any other professions that you would like to ask? No, I'll tell you again. The Lord has been very, very good to me. When I was a sports announcer, I loved that and I believed that that would probably be my career on out and I was very happy with it. And then the opportunity came to switch to what originally had been a love of mine acting. And I enjoyed that very much. I was a reluctant entrant into public life. I never believed for one minute that I would ever be tempted to want to serve in public office. As I say, I was so happy in what I was doing. And I was really kind of dragged kicking and screaming into seeking the governorship and thought that what I was doing was kind of a very temporary thing because it was put to me on the basis that with our party very divided after the 64 campaign and that odds that I might be able to help bring the party together and that I offered a chance for victory in that gubernatorial race. And I've often said that I think when I finally grudgingly said yes that I really thought no farther than the election. They kept stressing that so much that it wasn't until after I said yes that I said, hey, if I win this it goes on beyond November. But again, we were blessed because it was only after a few months of the governorship that Nancy and I, one night, sitting in the living room in Sacramento, looked at each other and decided that what we were doing made everything else we'd been doing look dull as dishwater. Now you're in the White House. How does that, you know, with the whir of choppers, the ruffles and flourishes, how does that make the governorship look and all the things in the past? Well, I tell you I'm very grateful for that period there because I think the closest thing to the presidency in line of a job is being a governor. There you sit at a desk in which the buck does stop when it gets there and there's a great similarity. We are a federation of sovereign states and so the governor sits closest to the salt in his state, above anyone except the president. Karen mentioned the whir of helicopters. I've often wondered how you feel when you come back from Camp David and the helicopter lands and the noise is horrendous and reporters are shouting questions at you. What goes through your mind when that happened? Well, of course there is a difference in size and opulence and so forth in this office but as I say, you're prepared for some of the things. It wasn't the great surprise that it must be to some other people who had not previously sat there and known that every day someone was going to put a schedule in front of them of what they were going to be doing every 15 minutes. I will say this, however. It took me quite a while to not turn around and look behind me when they played ruffles and flourishes. I was still wondering who they were doing that for and I guess I can only tell you that the way I accept this is that maybe some people become president, I don't know. I think that the presidency is an institution over which you have temporary custody. Speaking of temporary custody, how would you like to be assessed, say in 2050? How would I like to be assessed? I don't let myself think about that much. I just hope they spell my name right. How do you feel about your son going around in underwear? Well, now you have to remember his earlier training as a dancer, he was pretty fully dressed to his viewpoint, but he also was doing a take-off on a current movie. That was show business. Yes, and I thought he did quite well. I was, as a matter of fact, a little surprised. At that particular, the way he carried off that take-off on the movie. Mrs. Reagan said when I was with her in the Far East that she travels with a photograph of you always. Do you travel with a photograph of her when you're away? No, because I don't carry a billfold. She does carry a purse. But I'll tell you, anytime I travel, I wear a particular pair of cufflinks. They were cufflinks given to me by Nancy, and they are made in the image of a page of a calendar in the month of March with a little stone on the 4th of March, which is our wedding anniversary. What is the stone? Amethyst, which is my birthstone. So, anytime that I'm getting aboard Air Force One now, and before, long before that, ever since I received them, my travels, I have always worn those. Did she give them to you? Mm-hmm. Well, I hear you bought a house in LA. Is it near the old one? No, we're still looking. Oh, you are? Yeah. That's real weird, huh? Oh, I found him in here. He has to walk away without unbuttoning. Is that one a property? Well, you need anything in the transcript when you're dating or you're dating the other one. There it is. I didn't bring the red gloves today. I thought maybe the hat would do. Not bad. Did you notice the hat? Didn't notice? Yes, I looked down right away for a bit. Pleasure. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, sir.