Katie Couric's Notebook: Ahmadinejad

Two men who are not high on the White House holiday card list: Moumar Qaddafi and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed the UN General Assembly.

There's a temptation to dismiss these two as characters one who pitched a Bedouin tent out in the New York suburbs - the other who is single-handedly reviving the Miami Vice look.

But they are not quirky relatives U.S. diplomats need to see once a year at family gatherings. They are world leaders. In Mr. Ahmadinejad's case, leading a nation seeking a nuclear program - one that has suppressed the freedom of its citizens.

I interviewed him today. We talked about his denial of the Holocaust, and his statements that Israel should be blown off the map.

When you sit face to face with someone, it somehow humanizes him. He's no longer a late night comedy punch line. He's real, which makes the statements and views - all the more frightening.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.