 days so there was a 3:30, a 5:30 and a 7:30 and if you pulled that 3:30 show, who is available in the audience at a 3:30. It was bums and old ladies that they pulled in from Hollywood Boulevard, they were right up here, right near your studio and, you know, if you got the 3:30 crowd and you're 25 years old. I'm trying to do my hip material, I got the skinny tie and I got the sleeves pushed up.
KING: But he supported you.
MAHER: He would say in the break and he would say, ah, the crowd was stinky today, don't worry about that. He was like that. He was really a sweet guy.
KING: Imus and CBS have reached a settlement and apparently he's negotiating reportedly maybe to come back to a local station in New York. What do you think?
MAHER: I thought it was overblown to begin with, so I'm not surprised. You know, America has a way of just going crazy, out of control, buck wild, bat nuts about everything.   We've got to get rid of that guy, made me uncomfortable for two seconds. Of course what he said was wrong, yadda, yadda. Let it go.
MAHER: You know, I was offended.  You know what I do. I turn the page and I move on with my life.
KING: An e-mail question which leads us into the next subject from Mike in Richmond, Virginia. "I know you love animals and Playboy Bunnies -" a little line there.
MAHER: I get it.
KING: "Only kidding, Mr. Maher, but seriously do you think the media has made too much of the Michael Vick dog fighting case?" He may have to cop a plea here.
MAHER: You kind of are talking to the wrong guy about that because my big cause is animals, you know. It's the soft spot in my heart.
KING: Is that reprehensible what he's accused of doing?
MAHER: To me it's very reprehensible, and there is no excusing it, but that's me. Again, I'm a crazy animal nut, you know. I think...
KING: What about those...
MAHER: America -- I was actually amazed that America was so up in arms about that. America really loves its dogs.  To me, that makes sense. Like I say, I'm a PETA board member. You just can't do that to... KING: How about those who have umbrage against the breed, the pit bull. There are people who feel...
MAHER: Baloney. You know what? Every dog is a great dog. I just got a Doberman recently, OK. Dobermans have the reputation as fierce, mean killers. Are you kidding? 
This dog that I have, it has its tail, it has its ears and I -- I don't think I could count on this dog to be a watchdog. This dog would lick an intruder to death.
KING: Let's take a call. Florence, South Carolina, for Bill Maher. Hello.
CALLER: Mr. Maher, you made a great living barbing the Bush administration and that's all great and good, but how would you have handled the situation after 9/11? It's easy to armchair quarterback the Bush administration, but be a real man, be a big man and tell us how you would have handled it, no jokes, details.
KING: I think he said already he would have gone into Afghanistan, right?
MAHER: Of course, yes.
KING: Anything else?
MAHER: Well, let me reiterate the analogy I made. Yes, there was a cancer. Operating made it worse so treat it as a number of candidates have said, John Kerry was the first, but he's not the last. It is a law enforcement problem. It is a law enforcement operation, not every problem can be solved with the United States Army. This idea -- you know, the Republicans love to keep it simple. That's why Rudy Giuliani is so popular. He's a keep it simple kind of guy. We're fighting them over here so we don't have to fight them over here.
Well, it sounds good, but it means nothing.  It's not the kind of an army -- first of all, there is no army. We're not pinning them down in Iraq so that they won't be able to fight them over here. There is no pinning down an army that is, A, amorphous, and, B, suicidal, so you have to treat it like a law enforcement operation.
You have to -- I say get Israeli about it, you know. The Israelis fight terrorism the smart way. They have brilliant secret service, special services. They have a great operation that, you know, profiles, excuse the term, but they do profile people before they get to an airport, before they even get to a country. This is how you fight this war. You don't fight it with an army.
KING: We go to Boston. Hello. CALLER: Hello.
KING: Yeah. Go ahead.
CALLER: Hi, Bill. How are you?
CALLER: Good. I realize you spoke of the draft. My question is now that half of Bush's brains has resigned, Rove, do you feel that Cheney before he is impeached is planning on starting a war with Iran?
MAHER: I would say dreaming.
KING: You think he would like to start a war.
MAHER: I think he would like to start a war with almost anyone but I think time is kind of running out on that. First of all, start a war with what? You know, what army do we have?
KING: Who are you going to use?
MAHER: Exactly, so do I think Vice President Cheney would like to start a war? Probably, but I don't think he can and I don't think it's feasible at this point.
KING: Bill Maher has a documentary coming shortly. Everyone is looking forward to it. He's going to be in the movies. It's about religion. We're going to ask him about it right after this.
MAHER: The 12 million people here illegally, they are going to have to go back home to their home countries, touch base, pay a $5,000 fine and then reapply. Also, you have to prove you've never broken the law here or you can't get back in. So Alberto Gonzales is really screwed.
KING: He's funny. Bill Maher, he returns to HBO on Friday, august the 24th. By the way, "The Decider" I think is still being shown on HBO.
MAHER: I think it is. I noticed the billboard is still up on Sunset. That's my clue.
KING: Not bad. OK. Tell us about the upcoming documentary on religion.  That's not the title, is it? MAHER: No, no, I was kidding. I think the title is requesting to be "Religulous."
MAHER: That's ridiculous.
KING: We'll get a break and be right back with more of Bill Maher. Let's check in with Anderson Cooper. He will host AC 360 at top of the hour. What's up, Anderson?
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Hey, Larry. Coming up at the top of the hour, Don Imus rides again. Today he reached a settlement with CBS, he is getting a very healthy bank roll and he may be about to get a new on-air job. All of this, of course, after setting off a firestorm of controversy of what he said about the Rutgers women's basketball team. There's also late word that a member of that team is now suing Don Imus. We'll talk exclusively to the attorney bringing the case. We'll tell you exactly how much Imus is getting and we'll take your calls.
We're also going to take a look at massive recall of toys made in China because of lead paint and other dangers. Scary stuff. We're going to talk to Dr. Sanjay Gupta about lead poisoning and other symptoms to look for in your child. All that and more, Larry, at top of hours.
KING: Thanks, Anderson. AC 360, 10:00 Eastern and 7:00 Pacific. Tomorrow night we're live from Graceland with Priscilla Presley as co- host on the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley and then back here Thursday night with Senator John McCain. Don't go away.
MAHER: It's not really about Al Gore, you know what? It's not. It's about losing the polar ice caps and then the seas rising and then losing Venice and losing Holland and losing Manhattan and losing New Orleans and losing Florida, and that's why I believe Al Gore because if there's one thing he knows it's losing Florida.
KING: Funny stuff. That's from his special "The Decider" still on on HBO. Our guest is Bill Maher. I mentioned the fact that Senator McCain is our guest on Thursday. What happened with John McCain?
MAHER: Well, here's a guy who hated George Bush, for good reason after what he did to him in the 2000 election, the primaries, especially in South Carolina, and then he hitches his wagon to George Bush, you know.  He got what he deserved but, you know, I don't think it would have mattered anyway because I think he's too old.