Nightly News   |  September 23, 2010

Clinton defends Carter’s superiority

Talking up former President Carter’s legitimate claim to a superior presidential legacy, a notably thinner President Clinton says he's switched to a "plant-based," non-dairy diet to keep his heart healthy. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

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This content comes from a Full-Text Transcript of the program.

BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor: It was on this broadcast, in this very studio earlier this week, former President Jimmy Carter said, in our interview with him, quote, "I feel that my role as a former president is probably superior to that of other presidents." He amended those remarks later that day, but everybody wondered how that would go over with his fellow ex-presidents. Well, this morning on " Morning Joe " on MSNBC , they asked former President Bill Clinton what he thought.

Former President BILL CLINTON: I don't know that I ever met anybody who did more to develop himself and the abilities God gave him and at 86 who's still out there hitting it every day.

Unidentified Man: Right.

Pres. CLINTON: And as far as I'm concerned, he's entitled to whatever opinion he wants. It's not going to affect me. I still admire him very much.

WILLIAMS: President Clinton from this morning. Joe Scarborough having a chuckle in the background. By the way, if you noticed, a noticeably thinner former president. He's down 24 pounds. He says he switched to a plant-based, meatless, nondairy diet to keep his heart healthy. When we