(CNN) --   On Friday afternoon, Robin Meade, HLN anchor of "Morning Express with Robin Meade," sky-dived just before former President George Herbert Walker Bush, who was commemorating his 85th birthday.



HLN Anchor Robin Meade chats with former president George H.W. Bush on his 85th birthday.



In recent years, Bush's jumps have been about fun and celebration, but he first parachuted out of a plane when he was a naval aviator shot down over the Pacific Ocean during World War II.



On Friday, Meade and Bush were each strapped to a member of the Army's Golden Knights parachute team. They made their jumps over Kennebunkport, Maine.



Before the jumps, Meade sat down with Bush to learn more about why he sky-dives. Plus, the former president weighed in on his and his son's legacies, Supreme Court justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor, and his view on the country's most pressing problems. This is an edited transcript of the interview.



Robin Meade: Thank you for making time for us to talk to you today.



George H.W. Bush: Oh, no, listen, I'm so glad you're here.



Meade: Happy birthday -- 85.



Bush: I thought you didn't know.



Meade: Everybody knows, right?



Bush: I know. It's exciting. It really is wonderful.



Meade: What's with your penchant for jumping still?



Bush: Well, two reasons. One, it still feels good. You still get a charge out of it. Not easy to do at 85, but ...



Meade: I don't think it's easy to do at any age.  Watch Bush talk about why he still sky-dives »



Bush: And secondly, just because you're old, that doesn't mean you can't do fun stuff. And you don't want to sit around drooling in the corner. And so it's a wonderful release.



And you know, because I was president, it sends a message all around. You can go out and get something going. Old guys can still have fun and still do stuff. And so, those are the two reasons. ...



Meade: You know, I'm thinking about, too, last Saturday we had the 65th anniversary of D-Day, and that was the first time, in World War II, that you jumped, because you had to ditch your plane.



Bush: Yes.



Meade: Being back with service members up in a plane and getting ready to jump, does that kind of rekindle your feelings of connection?



Bush: A little bit of deja vu. A little bit, but not that much anymore.



But yes, that's one of the reasons I made the first controlled jump, is because I did the first jump -- or had to get out of the plane. And that was kind of ugly. I pulled the ripcord too early and hit my head on the tail of the plane going by. I was just lucky I'm still alive.



And the parachute hung up for a minute on the tail of the plane.



It's all kind of war stories. If I start telling you that, then you'll tell me about your father's war stories or something, or grandfather's. And so it wouldn't be fair.



But I wanted to do it right. And I did it wrong then. It did save my life, but I did it wrong. So then I've been out with the Golden Knights and I made several solo jumps. And now it's tandem. I think they hope the old boy will remember to push.



Meade: Did I read somewhere that you asked President Clinton to jump once? And he hasn't jumped with you.



Bush: I may have asked him. I can't remember. Maybe I did, but I have a good relationship with him, a very good one.  Watch Bush leave plane, land »



Meade: Now that you're 85, are you
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