go! >> safer: this intensive form of no-nonsense job training has generated impressive results. year up trains 2,000 young people a year in financial operations and technology. >> the first person going to goldman sachs: tanisha giddons. ( applause ) >> safer: we will see how they do it. >> you are fired... four years from now! get out in four years! >> kroft: jay leno is talking about the first time he was asked to leave "the tonight show" to make room for a younger comedian. now, it's happening again. >> and now, jay leno! >> kroft: tonight, leno talks about that, his future, and his current state of mind. >> show business pays you a lot of money because, eventually, you are going to get screwed. and when you get screwed, you will have this pile of money off to the side. it's like, "okay, okay, you ready? are you ready? you have the pile of money?" "yeah." "fine." that's the way it works. >> i'm steve kroft. >> i'm lesley stahl. >> i'm morley safer. >> i'm bob simon. >> i'm scott pelley. those stories tonight on 60 minutes. 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>> deeds: if he could have been hospitalized that night, they could have gotten him medicated, and i could have worked to get gus in some sort of long-term care. >> pelley: this is gus deeds when he was 20 years old, a talented musician on the dean's list at the college of william and mary. >> deeds: gus, when he turned 20, i was running for governor. he wanted to come, and so he took the fall of 2009 off to be with me. and those are some of the best memories of my life is having him with me there. >> pelley: but after the campaign, for no reason anyone could see, gus deeds stopped taking care of himself and became paranoid, obsessive, anti-social. he dropped out and couldn't keep a job. in 2011, he was diagnosed as bipolar. his father was so worried that gus would kill himself, deeds told us he got rid of all of the guns in their rural farmhouse, except one hunting rifle that had no ammunition. later, with medication, gus returned to william and mary, until last fall. >> deeds: gus had posted weird things on his facebook page about, you know, how the professors were ganging up against him, and he was going to start boycotting class. it was pretty clear to me that he wasn't taking medicine. i told gus that he and i needed to talk to somebody together. >> pelley: that's when deeds discovered that "talking to somebody"-- getting treatment-- is harder in mental health than any other kind of medicine. in the decades after the 1960s, most large mental institutions were closed. it was thought that patients would get better treatment back in their communities. but adequate local facilities were never built. the number of beds available to psychiatric patients in america dropped from more than half a million to fewer than 100,000. that leaves many kids in crisis today with one option, the emergency room. >> brian geyser: you know, every day, we have ten to 20 kids with psychiatric problems come into our emergency department, kids who want to kill themselves, who've tried to kill themselves, who've tried to kill somebody else. >> pelley: brian geyser is a nurse practitioner we met in the emergency department of yale new haven hospital in connecticut. it's one of the best in the nation in psychiatry. >> geyser: we have 52 psychiatric beds here at yale, and right now, all 52 are full. and so the seven kids that are here in the emergency room are waiting for an open bed. >> pelley: how long will they wait? >> geyser: five of them have been here three days already. >> pelley: most every day, the beds are full of patients in crisis. 17-year-old tyler wrightington was waiting in the e.r. he had just slashed his face with a knife. you hear voices? >> tyler wrightington: yes. a new voice came about a year ago. and he... well, i call it a "he" because it was more of a deeper voice. but he ended up telling me to hurt myself and making me find ways to hurt myself. >> pelley: do the voices ever tell you to hurt someone else? >> tyler wrightington: only once, and that was at school. and they... and that was when i got admitted into the hospital, because i was actually considering hurting the people around me. and i was... i was like, "this ain't me. this is not what i want to do." >> pelley: tyler's dad, ernie wrightington, had called a psychiatrist that week, but couldn't get an appointment for three months. there's a national shortage of psychiatrists. why is there not another option for you? >> ernie wrightington: this has always been our only option. >> pelley: the emergency room. >> ernie wrightington: the emergency room, yeah. because the... we know that when we come here... they take the time to take care of him. they sit and watch him, make sure he's okay. >> pelley: but "okay" usually means "okay for the moment." typically, insurance companies pay for this care only as long as the patients are at "imminent risk" of harming themselves or others. >> geyser: some insurance companies will give us a couple of days, a few days before they ask us to call them back to get reauthorization for the admission. some of them are every single day that we have to call. and so usually, you know, we're talking about, you know, three to four days, and the insurance companies are saying, "all right, you know, it's time. let's get this kid out." >> pelley: because they're not going to kill themselves or someone else right now. >> geyser: right now, yeah. >> pelley: many patients need care for months or years. but there are few facilities of that kind, they're expensive, and often insurance won't cover them. so kids in crisis spin in the emergency room's revolving door. >> i want to go home! >> geyser: we need to be able to set up a system where we follow these kids into the community, we follow the families, we make sure that they have a safety net, and somebody's watching them and monitoring them, because, you know, it could be next month, it could be six months from now, and the child will do something again. but if they are not hooked into a system that is watching them, taking care of them, then we could have problems on our hands. >> pelley: how many of you have had to take your child to the emergency room? everybody. how many times? >> mary jo andrews: i can't count. >> meg clancy: i couldn't count. >> pelley: seven connecticut mothers, including mary jo andrews, meg clancy, and dee orsi, told us about their e.r. crises and battles over insurance. >> dee orsi: my daughter, after spending... she was eight at the time-- spending 12 days in the hospital, they told me she was ready to come home. by friday morning, we were in the psychiatrist's office for her follow-up appointment. she was seeing blood dripping from the walls. there were statues telling her to kill me, and she was ready for discharge three days earlier. >> clancy: we had one with an insurance company. they wanted to discharge my daughter. she needed to stay where she was safe, and the insurance company would not pay for her to stay, and so i was told by our social worker in the hospital that if i gave my daughter up to department of children and families, that then she would have insurance coverage through the state and she would be allowed to stay. >> pelley: wait a minute-- give... give... >> clancy: give her up. >> pelley: give her up to the state? >> clancy: correct. give her up to the state. >> pelley: and you said what? >> clancy: absolutely not. >> pelley: they formed this support group because so few people understand their troubles. for example, they share the names of contractors to repair walls or remove doors. their children punch holes in the dry wall, and can't be allowed to lock themselves in a room. what is the difference between being the mother of a child who has mental illness, and the mother of a child who might have heart disease or cancer? >> clancy: sympathy. >> pelley: being in connecticut, they watched the tragedy at sandy hook elementary with more insight than most. referring to the killer's mother, one of them told us, if nancy lanza had a health care plan for her son, "she couldn't have made it work." >> andrews: there's really no place after the hospital, so the kids end up coming back home, right where the situation started. and you know, the psychiatrists and the hospital will say, "you're right, the system is broken." and i remember at one discharge, i refused to sign the discharge paper because i wasn't going to agree that it was appropriate. >> pelley: they discharged your child anyway? >> andrews: oh, yeah, yes. >> pelley: that is essentially what happened to creigh deeds in virginia last november. but his effort was further complicated by the fact that his son gus was an adult, over 18, and gus didn't want treatment. deeds had to get a court order and sheriff's deputies to take gus to the e.r. a state law, designed to protect patients' rights, meant that the court order would expire in only six hours. that's all they had to find a hospital that would admit him. >> deeds: whole afternoon, gus didn't sit down. he paced the floor. he'd look at me, he'd smile. and i just had this sinking feeling that he wasn't going to be hospitalized. >> pelley: and if you didn't find a hospital bed in six hours, gus was coming home. >> deeds: he was coming home. and i was concerned that if he came home, there would... there was going to be a crisis. >> pelley: a representative of the county agency that manages mental health care told deeds that he couldn't find a hospital with a psychiatric bed appropriate for gus' case. you're concerned that your son is suicidal, the clock has run out on the emergency room, and he comes in and says, "sorry, you've got to leave?" >> deeds: well, the... he said that gus wasn't suicidal. i guess he'd made... >> pelley: based on his evaluation. >> deeds: his evaluation that gus wasn't suicidal. >> pelley: what did you say to him, in leaving the emergency room? >> deeds: i said, "the system failed my son tonight." >> pelley: there was no place to go but home. >> deeds: and he sat at one end of the dining room table. i sat at the other end. i ate my food, and he just was writing furiously in this journal he kept. not much conversation, and i said, "good night, bud." i didn't know what was going to happen. but, the next morning, you know, i felt like there'd be a confrontation, but i didn't... i had no reason to think there'd be violence. and... but, you know, i... i got ready for work, and i went out to the barn to feed the horses, and gus was coming across the yard and he was... i said, "hey, bud, how'd you sleep?" he said, "fine." i turned my back and, you know... i turned my back. had this feed thing in my hands, and... and he was just on me. >> pelley: he attacked you. >> deeds: he... he got me twice, you know, stabbed me twice. >> pelley: with a knife? >> deeds: the state police told me they found a knife. i turned around and said, "bud, what's going on?" i said... and he just kept coming at me. i said, "gus, i love you so much." i said, "don't make this any worse than it is." he just kept coming at me. and he just kept... i mean, you know, i... i was... i was bleeding a good bit but, you know, he turned around and he started walking toward the house. >> pelley: deeds staggered away. a neighbor found him. a helicopter ambulance was called. >> deeds: when i was in the rescue squad or in the helicopter somewhere, i'd heard about some... you know, some call came over the scanner that there'd been somebody with a gunshot wound to the head. >> pelley: the gunshot victim was gus. >> deeds: oh, yeah. >> pelley: gus had killed himself. he had found or bought ammunition for that last rifle, the unloaded rifle, that deeds had kept in the house. you were describing the last night in which he was writing feverishly in this notebook before you said good night. did you go back and look at that? >> deeds: i did. >> pelley: what was he writing? >> deeds: he had determined that i... i had to die, that i was an evil man, that he was going to execute me and then he was going to go straight to heaven. >> pelley: creigh deeds has now returned to the virginia senate. he's introduced bills to, among other things, extend emergency custody in an e.r. from six to 24 hours, and to create a computer database to list all the open psychiatric beds statewide. >> deeds: there's just a lack of equity in the way we as a society, and certainly as a government and insurance industry, medical industry, with the way we look at mental health issues. >> pelley: don't want to fund it. don't want to talk about it. don't want to see it. >> deeds: absolutely. that... that's exactly right. but... but the reality is, it's everywhere. >> pelley: you've told us in this interview again and again that you don't want gus to be defined by what happened in those few seconds on that day. >> deeds: i want people to remember the brilliant, friendly, loving kid that was gus deeds. we'll use gus, i hope, to address mental health, and to make sure that other people don't have to suffer through this. >> pelley: the state of virginia is investigating why there was no hospital bed for gus deeds that night. nationwide, since 2008, states have cut $4.5 billion from mental health care funding. >> cbs money watch update sponsored by: >> glor: good evening. the price of a stamp went up 3 cents today to 49 cents. car dealers are predicting nearly a 6% rise in new car sales this year. and carl slim, the head of india's largest automaker tata died after falling from his bangkok hotel overnight. i'm jeff glor, cbs news. [ female announcer ] we'll cook all day today, but we're not staying in the kitchen. just start the slow cooker, add meat and pour in campbell's slow cooker sauce. by the time you get home, dinner is practically done. and absolutely delicious. everyone is cooking with new campbell's slow cooker sauces. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] elevate your style. introducing the all-new corolla. ♪ introducing the all-new corolla. >> safer: it may surprise you to learn that even in this time of stubbornly high unemployment, there are hundreds of thousands of good jobs available that companies are finding hard to fill. it may surprise you to learn that even in this time of stubbornly high unemployment, but one wall street veteran believes he's found an overlooked source of talent that could be the answer. he started something called "year up," a year-long jobs training boot camp for some of the country's most disadvantaged young people. and so far, thousands of graduates are now working at companies like j.p. morgan, american express, and facebook. the result is that many of the country's most powerful ceos are finding that they can do well by also doing good. >> one, two, three! >> opportunity starts with me! >> safer: for these students, it's day one of corporate boot camp... >> so let's make sure these are up and running. >> put your papers down. >> safer: ...crash courses on everything from building and maintaining computers to the basics of accounting and balance sheets. >> 18 minutes-- go! >> safer: they will learn to work together, and try to overcome generations of endemic poverty. >> your success here is yours. >> now, you go to the interview- - what do you need to use? >> safer: they must learn not just business and technical skills, but social skills... >> why is that a good handshake? >> strong. >> safer: ...and work hard enough to build the foundation of a career. >> what is a better way to make a connection with someone? >> safer: don't let all the suits and ties fool you. almost everyone at year up has faced almost unimaginable hardship in getting here-- poverty, drugs, foster care, men's and women's shelters, you name it. >> gerald chertavian: we are going into a professional skills course. >> safer: this all-out corporate training blitz is the brainchild of gerald chertavian, a wall street veteran who believes that he's discovered an untapped source of talent among the poorest in the country. >> chertavian: a majority of the young adults growing up in isolated poverty in our inner cities want opportunity, want to be challenged, want to be held to high expectations, and are motivated to actually get a good job. they haven't had any exposure as to how do you do that. >> safer: yet, to a good part of the population, those people are invisible. >> chertavian: absolutely invisible. it so saddens me, if someone would see our young adult on the street, and rather than think, "that's my next best employee," they clutch their wallet. and that happens. and part of this perception change is, if enough young people see our students working for the best companies, they'll change perception. >> safer: changing perception started with this kid, david heredia. the two met in 1988 through the big brothers program as chertavian was just beginning his wall street career. heredia lived in one of the most dangerous housing projects in new york. >> chertavian: i saw that he had all the potential, but didn't have the access and the opportunity. and having seen that for three years close up, i realized this was wrong. >> safer: chertavian helped heredia through college, but he wanted to do more. so when he sold his tech company, he finally got the chance. using his own seed money, chertavian began year up with just 22 students and a mission... >> insider trading >> safer: ...create a year-long job boot camp that provides a pathway to good careers for young people who would otherwise never get the chance. >> china is having, like, a shrinkage as far as their bonds are going down. >> safer: these are fairly complex subject they're dealing with. >> chertavian: yes, absolutely. >> safer: he says the formula is simple. for six months, students choose to concentrate their training in financial operations or, more often, computer technology. >> you may see your bios coming up >> safer: why these two specific concentrations? >> chertavian: so, we look for areas that pay livable wages, places where you can really earn a career. >> safer: god. ( laughs ) i don't think... i don't think i would last an hour at this. >> chertavian: i'm sure you'd be great at it. >> barack obama: so this is what my hard drive looks like if i took it all apart? >> safer: chertavian's approach caught the attention of president obama, who visited the washington site. >> obama: what we wanted to do was highlight the fact that there are all kinds of people who succeed, despite the obstacles. >> safer: and the white house is looking for ways of duplicating year up's results. at first, chertavian says he had to beg companies to offer internships. now, firms like j.p. morgan are actually paying year up $23,000 per intern. ceo jamie dimon says the 300 they have taken on in their operations, retail, and technology divisions provide the firm with a well trained pool of talent. >> jamie dimon: year up gives them six months of intensive training to teach them basics. so, by the time they come here, they kind of know what a job's going to be like, they know what an internship is going to be like, and they can kind of just keep on growing in the job. >> safer: has that investment paid off for you? >> dimon: it has. one of the biggest expenses for a company is hiring people, or particularly... in particular, hiring the wrong people. so if you end up with great, talented people who end up being permanent, full-time here, it pays off as an investment. we... i think it's important that programs like this have an end goal that's not... it's... it's enlightened, it's not just philanthropy. if it's just philanthropy, they tend to fall apart over time. >> we are asking you to acquire a skill so you can go work in corporate america. >> safer: a key to year up's success, chertavian, says is a relentless focus on networking and understanding office culture. beyond the technical training, how important is the social skills part of this? >> chertavian: we know you hire for skills and fire for behavior in the work world. and so, we have to make sure our young adults know the social codes, the social norms of working in an organization like a state street, or a bank of america, or a j.p. morgan. >> safer: each candidate is put through a rigorous application process, where their backgrounds, and more importantly, their determination are carefully examined. the only requirement is a high school diploma or g.e.d. >> you said he was in foster care. will he be stable for a year? >> safer: social workers are on staff to help with the inevitable problems, like unstable living conditions. >> year up is a tool. >> safer: during orientation, everyone is encouraged to share their stories... >> since i was 12, i have been in group homes and foster homes. >> my mom and my dad spent all their time working and never got to talk to me, so basically, i was kind of raised by myself. >> what does this tell us about resilience? >> safer: ...and tap into the adversity and resilience that got them through the door in the first place. >> we offer you the opportunity to do something for yourself, and it's going to be you the whole way. >> safer: jonathan garcia is a graduate. raised in harlem by a single mother who died when he was 14, garcia is now doing computer technical support for the top executives at american express, including the ceo, ken chenault. jonathan says getting accepted into year up saved his life. >> jonathan garcia: back then, i had no ambition. my ambition was just to make money now, so i can eat tonight and tomorrow. >> safer: how far away did wall street seem to you back then? >> garcia: oh, it was nowhere near new york. ( laughter ) >> safer: when a relative told him about year up, he says, at first, he was skeptical. >> garcia: where i was born and raised, if it's too good to be true, it's most likely a scam. but after noticing that everyone was very comfortable and very willing to help you succeed, as long as you have the drive, then, yeah, i made it my business to be the top of my class. >> beta and zeta are both optical. >> safer: students earn college credit and a stipend of a few hundred dollars a week. show up even a minute late to class or forget to turn in your homework, and your pay is docked. more than seven infractions and you're out. >> how are you? nice to meet you? >> safer: a quarter of each class doesn't make it. >> chertavian: so, just teaching that no one cares why you're late, no one cares the bus was slow or the subway was delayed, no one. they only care that you show up on time every day and you're reliable. and if you are, companies will teach you what they... what you don't know. >> good afternoon. >> good afternoon! >> safer: the program culminates in a six-month internship at a fortune 500 company. >> the first person going to goldman sachs: tanisha giddons. ( applause ) >> safer: chertavian's formula has generated impressive results. year up now has 12 sites across the country, training 2,000 young people a year in financial operations and i.t. jobs. ( cheers and applause ) after graduation, 85% go to college or are hired full-time. average starting salaries are $30,000, but with computer expertise, can hit $50,000 a year or more. >> jay hammonds: we take those reports... >> safer: for the past two years, jay hammonds has worked at facebook's i.t. department. born to a drug-addicted mother, he was adopted as a baby by a family friend. >> hammonds: it was rough. but at the same time, i knew nothing different. for example, i had a cousin who, you know, grew up in the same neighborhood as me. and he went down the wrong path. and a few years later, he was killed and... sorry. >> safer: it's okay. >> hammonds: at the time, it was just normal, so i knew nothing different. >> safer: after high school, he tried college but quickly ran out of money. he says, before year up, he couldn't even get a job at a grocery store. >> hammonds: i thought that would be, like, a great position for me coming out of high school. and i applied three times and never got the job. >> safer: doing what? >> hammonds: a bagger. >> safer: and that was the best you could...? >> hammonds: it was the best i thought of at the time. >> safer: when he saw a year up flyer, he jumped at the chance. >> hammonds: you know "you earn money? you get college credits? and, you know, i get an internship?" that was the... the biggest moment for me, because i realized i've had potential, and that taking this chance, and them taking a chance on me, is going to change my life. and it has. >> safer: it's no secret that wall street's image has been tarnished over the last couple of years. >> dimon: i... i noticed, yeah. ( laughter ) >> safer: but, so to what extent is... is this-- not just for j.p. morgan but a lot of the firms-- kind of window dressing, showing that, "we're philanthropic, we want to show civic responsibility." >> dimon: i don't think we just want to show it. i think we are civically responsible. we don't want to drive successful people down. you want to get people who don't have the opportunity, you want to give them the opportunity, and hopefully they become more successful. >> safer: american express ceo ken chenault says chertavian is filling a gap in the economy. there is a shortage of well trained people in the fields of technology and financial operations. >> ken chenault: it's a win for the urban communities, it's a win for the students, and it's a win for our company. we would not be doing this unless these students were active contributors as employees. and they more than pull their weight. >> safer: can this be expanded on a kind of scale that would have a real effect nationally? >> chenault: this is a template that i think has demonstrated real success, measurable success. and what needs to happen is the business community need to become more aware of the success that a range of companies have had. >> safer: so, in order to duplicate that success nationally, year up has begun offering its program to community colleges like the nation's largest, miami dade. the goal-- to eventually train 100,000 a year across the country. to jonathan garcia, his current job at american express, he says, is just the beginning. >> garcia: college is definitely important for me because i don't want to be the... the technician that keeps on supporting the executives. one day, i want to be the executive that's being supported. >> safer: so you want to be chairman of the board or what? >> garcia: ( laughs ) maybe one day. but what i'm thinking about for now, it's the next position up, and then we'll go from there. 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[ bell dings ] [ bell dings ] ♪ [ buzzer ] [ buzzer ] [ female announcer ] start the year right at subway [ bell dings ] with meals that earn the american heart association's heart check mark. subway. eat fresh. the american heart association's heart check mark. with an innovative showerhead plus wireless speaker, kohler is the proud sponsor of singing in the shower. >> kroft: every now and then, there are milestones and transitions worth noting, and one of them is about to take place-- the departure of jay leno from "the tonight show." according to a recent poll, leno is one of the five most popular people on television, and soon he will no longer be on it. it's a part of a demographic shift that is beginning to affect millions of baby boomers being pushed aside to make way for a younger generation, the inevitable changing of the guard that also reflects a change in tastes, sensibilities and values. as one of the country's most influential comedians, leno has been part of the national conversation during four presidencies, and a central figure in one of the most bizarre television debacles of the past 20 years. in 1992, we did our first interview with him when he was about to take over "the tonight show." last month, we sat down again with jay and mavis leno, his wife of 33 years, to talk about everything that's happened, what jay wants to do next, and his current state of mind. >> jay leno: i always tell new people in show business, i say, "look, show business pays you a lot of money, because eventually you're going to get screwed. and when you get screwed, you will have this pile of money off to the side already." and they go, "okay, okay. okay, you ready? you ready?" "i got screwed." "you got the pile of money?" "yeah, i'm fine." i mean, that's the way it works. i mean, you know, that's... that's the way these things are. that's the way it happens. >> kroft: and no one knows it better than jay leno. >> and now, here's jay leno! >> kroft: he's been in show business for more than 40 years, earned hundreds of millions of dollars, and is more than familiar with getting screwed. he almost never complains about it, unless it's in the form of a joke. >> leno: in fact, a couple of weeks ago, president obama called me, told me personally, if i like my current job, i can keep my current job. and i believed it. i believed it. >> kroft: in 11 days, jay leno will surrender the "tonight show" he inherited from johnny carson 22 years ago. like carson, he goes out on top, though not under circumstances of his choosing. but he's survived in a cutthroat business largely on his own wits and talent. it's just you, right? you don't have an agent? you don't have a manager? >> jay leno: no, i don't have an agent or a manager, but the nice thing is i get the unfiltered truth this way. no one says, "look, leno sucks. he stinks. we want him out of here." "jay, they're very happy with you, but they want you to change..." well... well, i get it right from the horse's mouth, you know? and that's... that's what i prefer. did you paint that? wow. >> kroft: he has never been the critics' favorite, particularly in new york and los angeles, where some find him bland and unadventurous. >> leno: there's a controversy that won't go away-- this "duck dynasty" thing. gays are very upset with "duck dynasty." you know who is even more upset? gay ducks. they are furious. >> kroft: but neither has leno gotten his due. he's always had a feel for the audience in the middle of the country and outside the major urban areas. how did you do it? >> leno: well, i... i think it's... you're trying to appeal to the whole spectrum. if you look at the monologue, for every smart, insightful joke, there's a goofy joke and a silly joke and a fun joke, then a clever joke. that's the trick, you try to have something for everybody. >> kroft: and it's worked for you? >> leno: seems to. >> kroft: but there's been plenty of turbulence along the way. it began in 2004, when conan o'brien, leno's young heir apparent, threatened to leave and go to fox if nbc didn't promise to give him "the tonight show." the network agreed to what it hoped would be an orderly succession plan in which conan would replace leno in 2009. leno was one of the last people to find out. >> leno: first time, i got blindsided. >> kroft: what did they tell you? >> leno: oh, "you're out. you got... you know, going to go with this and ba, ba, ba." "oh, okay." and i went, "okay." >> kroft: "you're out. you're fired. you got four more years." >> leno: yeah, that was basically it, sure. >> kroft: did you ask them why they had decided to do this? >> leno: no. >> kroft: you didn't? >> leno: no. i mean, "why?" no. ( laughs ) >> kroft: no, i don't mean like..." >> leno: "why?" >> kroft: no, i mean-- >> leno: "why are you doing this?" >> kroft: no, i mean, kind of like, "okay, so why? what's the..." >> leno: you know, you have a girl says... >> kroft: "...logic behind this?" >> leno: "...i don't want to see you anymore." "why?" you know? she doesn't want to see you anymore, okay? >> kroft: they didn't say that. they said, "we... we don't want to see you after four more years." >> leno: "you're fired four years from right now." ( laughs ) i mean, isn't that hilarious? i mean, it's... it's got... what's more show bizzy than that? what's the funny... "you're fired four years from now. get out in four years." ( laughs ) >> kroft: but it wasn't funny for nbc four years later when it was time for leno to go. he was still a strong number one, and very much in demand. desperate to keep him from going to another network, and saddled with disastrous primetime ratings, the network offered him a 10:00 time slot on its schedule. >> leno: people asking, "oh, what are you going to do after the last show? are you going to go on vacation?" that kind of stuff. actually, i'm going to go to a secluded spot where no one can find me-- nbc primetime. ( laughter ) of course, we're not really leaving; we're coming back at 10:00 in september. i'll admit it's a gamble, it's a gamble. i'm betting everything that nbc will still be around in three months. that is not a given. >> it's the "jay leno show" >> kroft: leno's 10:00 show tanked, and so did the ratings of "the tonight show" with conan o'brien, which dropped out of first place. nbc panicked when the network's affiliates began clamoring for leno's return to his 11:30 time slot, and nbc agreed. >> leno: i said, "sure." i said at the time i was going to do a half hour. and i believe conan was going to follow later. he didn't want to do that. he quit. and so they gave me the show back. >> kroft: were you surprised? >> leno: stunned. ( laughs ) "oh, all right. all right, fine. yes." i... i said, "really?" >> kroft: what was supposed to be an orderly transition instead turned into an unscripted reality show that played out every night on late night television >> conan o'brien: hosting "the tonight show" has been the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for me. and i just want to say to the kids out there watching-- you can do anything you want in life... unless jay leno wants to do it, too. ( laughter ) >> kroft: you were the bad guy. you were portrayed as being the bad guy. >> leno: yeah, i... i didn't quite understand that. but i never chose to answer any of those things or make fun of any of the other people involved. it's... it's not my way, and you just go and you be a comedian and you do what you do. >> mavis leno: i'm sorry. this is a subject i'm very, very angry about to this day. >> kroft: jay's wife mavis was much more upset than her husband. >> mavis leno: it made me angry because there was this perception that, for some reason, jay had decided to give up the show. it was like he gave the show to conan and then he took it back. that was not what happened, okay? that was not what happened. >> kroft: there were a lot of people that felt you should have just... a lot of people, including conan... >> leno: yeah. >> kroft: ...felt that you just sort of said... should have gone off to... to abc or to fox or to someplace else and not... >> leno: well, you know something? nbc is my home. don't forget, back in 2004, i went into work one day and, "hey, you lost your show." what? so, suddenly, it was taken from me, and then they said, "we want to give it back to you." i said, "fine." >> kroft: did you try and talk nbc into getting rid of conan so you could come back? >> leno: no, never. i never in my wildest dreams thought that would happen, never. it never occurred to me that they asked me to come back. i thought he would do fine. there's no place like home... >> kroft: on march 1, 2010, jay leno was back behind the desk at "the tonight show," and almost immediately back in first place. >> leno: well, health officials are now warning that pot smoking can cause apathy. in fact, a recent poll shows that most pot smokers couldn't care less. >> kroft: today, four years later, "the tonight show" is still number one in a crowded, highly competitive field that includes his chief rival, david letterman, jimmy kimmel, conan, and stephen colbert. and once again, nbc is pushing leno out in favor of a younger talent, this time jimmy fallon. you would have liked to have stayed? >> leno: it's not my decision. and i think i probably would have stayed if we didn't have an extremely qualified young guy ready to jump in. if they said, "look, you're fired. we don't know who we're going to get. we don't know what we're going to put in there. but anybody but you, we just want you out of..." i would be hurt and offended. but this makes perfect sense to me. i understand this. >> kroft: you would have preferred to stay? >> leno: well, it's always nice to keep working. sure, it is. sure, it is. but am i extremely grateful? yeah. do i understand the circumstance? yes, of course. >> kroft: this is the part i don't understand. i mean, you're still number one. >> leno: well, i think, because you have talented people will only wait so long before they get other opportunities. and you don't want to lose that opportunity. that makes sense to me. and i thought jimmy's been extremely gracious and polite. >> kroft: you said all of the same things, exactly, about conan. >> leno: huh? did i say the same things? yeah... well, maybe i did, yeah. well, we'll see what happens. ( laughs ) >> kroft: you think you might get a call two years from now and say... >> leno: no. >> kroft: ...you come back? >> leno: no, this is a lot different situation. boring auction and dinner set for tuesday, maybe. >> kroft: this time, leno says he sees the handwriting on the wall. there is a generational and technological shift afoot with twitter and social media that he is finding harder to relate to. >> leno: i get it, you know? johnny was 66 when he left. i would be 64 when i leave. and that's about right, you know? i really like jimmy fallon. i think he's terrific. you know, when i see him do a dance number with, you know, justin timberlake or somebody, i go, "i can't do that." ♪ ♪ i think, after a while, you know, i'm... i'm not going to be that up on the latest justin bieber record when you're 64. you know, whatever it might be, so... >> kroft: do you know what justin bieber's latest song is? >> leno: no, i know you do, but i... no, i don't. ( laughs ) >> kroft: do you get the sense, or do you have a feeling now, that things are starting to wind down? has it kind of like sunk in? >> leno: oh, yeah. i knew a couple of years ago things where winding down. sure, but this is my second time doing this, so this is my second time winding down, so you get quite used to it. yeah. how about that snowstorm back east? new england whiter than a paula deen christmas. >> kroft: the staff is already working on his latest farewell show, february 6. but what everyone wants to know is what is jay leno going to do with himself when all of this is over. he says he expects to spend more time with mavis and puttering around his garages, which occupy two large hangers at the burbank airport and house one of the country's best collections of classic cars and motorcycles. most of them have been restored by leno and a small staff, and each car and motorcycle has its own unique story. do you drive any of these cars? >> leno: no, they're all... every car here is on the road. every car here is licensed, and you can hop in and go for a ride in any one of them. >> kroft: this battery-powered car goes back to the turn of the last century. wow, like a tesla >> leno: there were charging stations all over new york, 1907, 1908, 1909... >> kroft: leno does a weekly webcast out of the garage, and the day we were there, tim allen, another car-obsessed comedian, dropped by for the taping and a tour. i'd been there 22 years ago. it's still leno's only known outside interest. it's much... much bigger now. it's a much bigger garage. but are you doing anything else? i mean, have you... in the last 22 years, have you, like, branched out? >> leno: you mean, like the symphony or something...? >> kroft: there's been no emotional growth? is that your... what you're telling me? >> leno: no emotional growth? how do you mean? in what terms? ( laughter ) >> kroft: i mean... >> tim allen: ooh, look at the time. maybe i'll step over here. ( laughter ) >> kroft: you haven't branched out. you haven't, like, wanted to do new things with your time, with your life? >> leno: well, i... each... each project is a new thing. i mean, it depends... >> allen: this is getting uncomfortable. >> leno: i'm not sure what that means. >> kroft: grand as all of this is, no one really believes its going to fill the void left by "the tonight show." and leno acknowledges that there are no shortage of opportunities for him. you're a workaholic. what are you going to do? >> leno: i don't know what i'll do. will i do another late night show to go against any of these people? no. no, that... no. you can't recreate what we had at "the tonight show." that was a 22-year moment in time. it was fantastic. and i loved it. would i like to do things with... oh, i don't know, history channel? yeah, i think that would be fun to do. >> kroft: so you're going to the history channel? can we go with that? >> leno: no, no, no, i'm not going to the history channel. ( laughs ) but i really like being a comedian. i mean, i like going on the road. it's really fun making people laugh, you know? >> kroft: his first gig is february 7 in florida, the day after his swan song. last year, leno says he did more than 100 stand-up performances, in addition to his "tonight show" duties, and that doesn't include his regular gig at the hermosa beach comedy and magic club. >> leno: i've been here every sunday night since 1978. so it's probably safe to assume this will continue. you know, this club is good because... >> kroft: do you have a contract? >> leno: no, no, there's no contract. it's a real audience to test what works and in... in a real situation. oh, i'm on right now. what's more fun? and when it's successful, it's very rewarding. there really is no greater satisfaction than the adulation and respect of other human beings. how's the crowd? >> good crowd. >> leno: i get that every day. every day, someone goes ( applause ) "well, thank you very much. well, thank you, thank you." most people don't get that in their jobs, you know? every day, i walk out and i get that on my job, and it's... it's very rewarding. and i don't take it for granted and it's a lot of fun. >> here he is right now. mr. jay leno, everybody. jay leno! leno... hi, i'm terry and i have diabetic nerve pain. it's hard to describe, because you have a numbness, but yet you have the pain like thousands of needles sticking in your foot. it was progressively getting worse, and at that point i knew i had to do something. once i started taking the lyrica the pain started subsiding. [ male announcer ] it's known that diabetes damages nerves. lyrica is fda approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, changes in eyesight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. ask your doctor about lyrica today. it's specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain. ♪ you can start with the syrup, pour it on top, maybe not ♪ ♪ apple chunks and cinnamon and honey if you got ♪ ♪ bring on the chocolate spread ♪ ♪ somethin' green, somethin' blue, somethin' orange, somethin' red ♪ ♪ ham and egg, tomato sandwich ♪ cut it nice and do some damage ♪ ♪ cream cheese, pomegranate ♪ make it look like jack or janet ♪ ♪ x's and o's and a tic tac toe ♪ ♪ you can fill in the holes, let the syrup flow, yeah ♪ ♪ stack it, snack it, maybe you can bend it ♪ ♪ you can slice it up and dice it up ♪ ♪ and big it up and friend it [ female announcer ] there are millions of ways to eggo! try one of our fun recipes on facebook... and eggo your way! ♪ just l'eggo my eggo and eggo your way! >> kroft: i'm steve kroft. we will be back next week with another edition of "60 minutes." captioning funded by cbs and ford captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org heart healthy. 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