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CNN Larry King Live

Remembering Tim Russert; Joy Behar on Politics

Aired June 18, 2008 - 21:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight, the final goodbye to Tim Russert.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This say is a celebration and we're going to do it Irish style. There will be some tears, some laughs and the occasional truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Friends salute him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, SINGER: We were always flattered and honored to have Tim as a part of our E Street Band community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: His family says farewell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUKE RUSSERT, SON OF TIM RUSSERT: I love you, dad. And in his words, let us all go get 'em.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Plus, Joy Behar. She welcomed a guest host on today's "View" -- and was Michelle Obama ready for her close-ups?

Find out next on LARRY KING LIVE.

It was quite a day in Washington. All of our guests are in the nation's capital.

Joining us are Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn. They are husband and wife. Ben is "The Washington Post" writer and co-moderator -- rather, former executive editor of "The Washington Post," now vice-president- at-large. Sally is "The Washington Post" writer and co-moderator of On Faith religious blog. They were both good friends of Tim's.

As was James Carville, our own political contributor, a good friend of Russert's, a frequent guest on "Meet The Press." He and Mary, his wife, took part in past Sunday's "Meet The Press" tribute.

Dan Rather joins us, the anchor and managing editor of HDNet's "Dan Rather Reports" former CBS new anchor.

And Wolf Blitzer, the anchor of CNN's "THE SITUATION ROOM" and host of the "Late Edition" with Wolf Blitzer.

All of our guests attended the funeral service and the televised memorial. Wolf could not attend the memorial service because he was on the air.

We'll start with Ben Bradlee. What was it like today, Ben?

BEN BRADLEE, V.P. AT LARGE, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Well, it's -- this is a state funeral when nobody's looking. It's perfectly amazing. We've been celebrating it, going to various ceremonies. There have been at least three major ceremonies over a period of three days. I can't remember that happening, certainly over a lowly correspondent, in my life.

KING: A lowly correspondent.

Sally, was it overdone?

SALLY QUINN, WRITER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Oh, no. Not at all.

BRADLEE: Oh, I didn't mean that to say that. No.

QUINN: No. No. Ben meant -- Ben meant lowly journalists, as in we are all lowly journalists.

(LAUGHTER)

QUINN: Not at all. You know, I had people calling me from all over the country saying I feel the way I felt when Jack Kennedy was killed. Tim reached out to people and touched people in a way that I've never seen. And he was absolutely beloved in Washington. And, you know, there were 3,000 people -- more than that -- who turned up for the wake, which was open to the public on the day before -- I guess yesterday. And the place was packed at the memorial service this afternoon. And the mass this morning was smaller. It was private.

But it was absolutely beautifully done. And I can't imagine it being more beautifully done. And people are absolutely -- I mean every one of us who is a friend of Tim's has been getting hundreds of e- mails from people we know who never knew him and saying, you know, we're sorry for your loss.

KING: Yes.

Dan, what did you make of it?

DAN RATHER, ANCHOR, MANAGING EDITOR, HDNET: Well, first of all, I kept thinking during the ceremony -- and it was exceptionally well done -- whoever said character is destiny must have had Tim in mind, because among the many things I liked about this this afternoon -- I didn't like being there.. I didn't like the fact that Tim is gone. But so much of the early coverage, understandably, centered on Tim as a professional. And what a pro he was. But today it was more on his character and Tim Russert as a man and his faith, which anybody who knows Tim knows how deep and abiding his faith was, on how he treated other people. When his son Luke spoke, I found myself just mentally shaking my head and saying this young man, he learned from his father. This is exactly how Tim would have handled a similar situation.

KING: All right...

RATHER: It was moving. But I did like the fact that it placed more emphasis on Tim's inner life, if you will, his life outside the camera, than it did on his life in front of television.

KING: We're going to play a clip and then get Wolf's reaction.

Among those who spoke, of course, was NBC Newsman Tom Brokaw.

Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM BROKAW, NBC NEWS: And as Tim would look out on this gathering, he would say, "It's wild. It's wild."

My family, my closest friends from near and far, the powerful, the ordinary and the largest contingent of all in this room, those who think that they should be his successor on "Meet The Press."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Wolf, quite a day?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: You know, it was amazing in the morning. I went to the wake yesterday and I couldn't believe how long that line -- Sally was talking about the line. Just anybody could go and wait in line at St. Albans Church, right at the corner of Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues near the National Cathedral. People were just waiting in line for an hour, an hour-and-a-half, just to walk by the casket and say hello to Luke, who was standing there almost the whole time, or Maureen, his wife.

I saw them and I saw the sisters -- you know, two of the sisters who were there from Buffalo and, you know, who were just so, so strong. Unfortunately, Big Russ couldn't make it in from Buffalo. He's getting old, as you know, Larry. And that was a little sad. A lot of it was sad.

I will say this, Larry. This morning at the church there was a Catholic mass, very moving, about an hour-and-a-half. And it was amazing that both presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain, were there. Not only were they there, Larry, but they sat next to each other the whole time. And I said to myself, you know, even in his death, Tim Russert is managing to do some political feats. Here he has these two presidential candidates sitting there in the second row. And they're chatting before the service began. It was just a remarkable sight to see it. KING: As Tim would have said, two good guests.

QUINN: You know, Luke, that (INAUDIBLE)...

KING: We'll be right back. We'll pick up with Sally right after these words.

Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's happened here is our maker has taken our partner and brought him back home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tim, I want to thank you up there in heaven for making room in your heart for me. I will be forever grateful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hear God. There's little Timmy Russert. You're in heaven now, Tim, where everyday is "Meet The Press." Welcome home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Before we get to pick up Sally's remarks and based on what Wolf said, James Carville, what was it like for you today?

JAMES CARVILLE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I mean I think it was a terrible five days. And I think it's been a terrible five days for the country. People around the country loved Tim and they loved that show. And the people identified with him. It wasn't just people in Washington. I mean -- and those of us who were fortunate enough to know and be friendly with him is one thing.

But I think every -- people around the country felt a real kinship with him. And I was not surprised by the outpouring, because people would always ask me about him. You know, they knew were friends.

And I think that we lose some real insight here in this presidential election. And, you know, some questions are not going to get asked that he would have asked.

But, you know, it was a very emotional -- it's been a very, very tough five days. And it was -- I agree with Sally. It was -- that the church today was about as -- it was very -- it was exceedingly well done and everybody -- so was the service. I mean it was all good.

But it's been a -- if I told you it's been a good five days, I'd be lying.

BRADLEE: Amen.

KING: Sally, you were going to say something after Wolf said his remarks. QUINN: Well, when Wolf mentioned that Obama and McCain were seated next to each other, that was apparently Luke's idea, that he wanted them to sit together because he wanted this sort of reconciliation to happen at his father's funeral. And he sort of talked about how he would hope that that would happen in the future.

But the other thing I wanted to say about Tim is that every single person who talks about Tim, in the last four or five days, has mentioned his enthusiasm and how he was the most enthusiastic person they'd ever known. I didn't know this, but the word enthusiasm comes from the Greek and Theos, which means "in God." And Tim, as we've all talked about, was an incredibly religious person. And he actually lived -- he didn't just talk the talk.

KING: Yes, he did?

QUINN: He walked the walk. And particularly for Washington, D.C. , where -- this is a really cynical place. And it can get very ugly at times. And Tim said once -- I asked him about Washington. He said, you know, people come here with idealistic and the idea that they really want to do good. And then somewhere it goes bad and things get very poisonous and very ugly.

And with Tim, it never got poisonous and it never got ugly.

KING: No.

Ben you've been around this town longer than anybody. Have you ever seen anyone...

(LAUGHTER)

KING: Well, that's a safe statement.

Have you ever seen -- they're going to build a statue of you.

Have you ever seen anyone...

(CROSSTALK)

KING: Have you ever seen anyone have the impact of Russert?

BRADLEE: Well, I -- no. I mean I started off by saying that. I can't believe that the -- the sort of the magnitude of this event. I mean we've got some pretty big shots on this -- around this table across from me there. You think you'd -- Dan Rather, if you moved on, would...

(LAUGHTER)

QUINN: Stop right there.

BRADLEE: What kind of a crowd would...

RATHER: Don't rush it.

BRADLEE: What kind of a crowd would you gather?

RATHER: Well, nothing...

KING: You notice, Dan, he said "if."

BRADLEE: Yes. Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

RATHER: Well, nothing like this. But I think Sally's touched on something really important. And it was Mario Cuomo, the former governor of New York, who gave me and gave the audience today the definition of enthusiasm.

Something very important here. Tim Russert was never cynical. And it's really hard in Washington, D.C. , whatever you do -- and a lot of journalists believe in order to be a good journalist you have to be cynical. Now, Tim was skeptical.

KING: Right.

RATHER: And it's one of the reasons he was such a strong questioner, but never cynical. And he had this passion for what he was doing and this bubbly enthusiasm. He was that way as a person, not just as a professional. He had this bubbly enthusiasm, but skeptical, yes; cynical, never.

KING: Well said.

RATHER: When he...

KING: Another speaker at today's memorial, Tim Russert's good friend, Mike Barnicle.

Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE BARNICLE, FRIEND OF TIM RUSSERT: Timothy J. Russert -- noble, honorable, intensely loyal. He loved and was loved by his wife, his son, his family, his friends and a huge slice of this great country of ours.

He was a boy of summer. He met his wife on a summer day. His son was born in summer. And so it is that we blow him a kiss goodbye on a soft summer evening, this sweetheart of a man who always, always, left us smiling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Wolf Blitzer, Tim Russert's on the cover of the new issue of "People" magazine. The cover line is, "A Family's Heartbreak." but the article itself is titled "A Good Life."

Is that a fair summation? BLITZER: Yes. You know, it's amazing, Larry, how many people have told stories -- to me and a lot of others -- over these past few days of how Tim was directly involved in very emotional, sad, moving parts of their lives. If a kid was sick or whatever, he was there. If somebody had a baby, he was there. If somebody lost a parent or a sibling, he was there. Whenever there was someone who needed a little help to raise some money for a good cause, especially for young kids in need, he was there.

It seemed -- and I was saying, you know, this guy must have had so much time on his hands, because he was always doing incredible things just for people. And I think it was part of his life. It's part of the goodness that he had and the roots that he had, the upbringing that he had, that he was always available to do good deeds. And I just can't believe how many people have been telling us these stories.

KING: Jim Carville, his widow, Maureen Orth -- a great writer, by the way -- is quoted in "People" magazine as saying that she -- apparently she hugged Tim the last time she saw him -- that would have been in Rome -- and said, "I want to give you a hug. Maybe I'll never see you again."

Do you read anything into that or just the typical parting wish?

CARVILLE: No. I don't -- I mean I think it's a parting wish. I don't -- you know, every -- I think he was -- I know he went over there to see Luke and Maureen and he came back. It was kind of a quick trip. And she writes -- she is an enormously talented person. She was one of the first people in the Peace Corps, I believe.

KING: Yes.

CARVILLE: And she's a -- you know, they were quite remarkable. And Luke, I do a sports radio show with him. And he is a remarkable young man.

KING: Did you know...

CARVILLE: And (INAUDIBLE)...

KING: Jim, did you know that he had heart disease?

CARVILLE: I knew that he, you know, had to watch himself. I wouldn't get into what I knew or didn't know about Tim. But he knew that he had to watch himself. And it was, you know, it's just been a big shock to the country and a big shock here and -- but you're right, he had a -- he's done a -- Luke is a fabulous young guy. He's a real talent among radio. And he's got -- his daddy raised him well and his mother did, too. And we saw that on display here.

KING: "Meet The Press" needs a new moderator.

Who might that be?

We'll ask our guests after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPRINGSTEEN: Luke, this is for your pop.

(singing): The screen door slams, Mary's dress waves. Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays. Roy Orbison singing for the lonely, that's me and I want you only...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: All right, Sally Quinn, who has that tough job?

Who's the next host of "Meet The Press?"

QUINN: Tom Brokaw until the end of the election. Tom will fill in. And I think he's the only person who really does have the stature and the gravitas that people could accept. That would be my guess. And...

KING: Ben Bradlee, who do you think?

BRADLEE: I don't know. I heard the same thing Sally did and it sounds logical to me. But that's just putting it off. I don't know who the next one -- the permanent one will be. I don't -- I doubt that Tom will do it for six months. Maybe...

KING: Dan Rather, he has retired, in essence, except doing fill- ins.

What do you think?

RATHER: I think he'll do it. And I have no inside information. But I would think that Tom Brokaw, to take it between now and the end of the election night, makes a lot of sense for NBC. Tom would be a great choice to go on forward from that, but whether he would want to do that or not, I don't know.

But it also gives NBC News a time -- a chance to make a transition. You know, Ben makes a good point, it just delays the decision. That's if Tom Brokaw doesn't want to continue doing it for years in the future, which I have no way of knowing whether he would or not.

But my guess would be that they'll go to Tom between now and election night. Between now and then, they have a long list of people inside NBC who deserve a look at this. And there are some people on the outside, at least two of whom, maybe three, are sitting around this table tonight that, looking forward in -- if I'm right about Tom taking it between now and the end of the election or the end of the year, there are a lot of candidates out there. They won't have any trouble finding people who will apply for the job, I'll tell you that.

KING: Wolf?

BLITZER: I have no idea. I think Tom Brokaw is a fabulous, you know, journalist and he'd do fine. I don't know if he wants to work that hard. People don't realize how hard it is to prepare for a one hour interview program every Sunday. You know you're going to have major guests. You're going to have presidential candidates, major senators, foreign ministers, prime ministers. And you really have to work and gear up.

It's not just, as you well know, Larry, and all of us know, the questions -- the questions, people can help us write the questions. But it's listening, following up and then making sure that, you know, we ask the right follow-up questions and we press.

And Tim was so good at that. That's not easy to do, as you know.

KING: Tough shoes to fill.

Do you have a thought, James?

CARVILLE: Yes, I just -- I want to make a point, isn't it -- and I understand that Bruce Springsteen and Senator Obama and Senator McCain. One thing about Tim's life is that he touched a lot of people and a lot of the non-famous people. I mean I know all of the people at NBC and the people that work on the MSNBC show and the people that -- the cameramen there.

We'll go to the guy that did -- the coach who used to sit us at the baseball game. And, you know, he had a real touch. Yes, he knew a lot of famous people. He was a big guy. He was a powerful guy. He had a real touch with ordinary people.

And I think that, I would think, if anything, as a friend of his, that I'd want people out there knowing that Tim was a really kind of sunk down, spit up kind of guy. If you were a powerful guy, he'd sort of come at you pretty hard. But if you were somebody in need of something, he was kind of right there for you.

KING: Yes.

CARVILLE: And I think people -- I really want people to know that about him. He just wasn't about powerful people and influential people. He had real, real connection. And the people that worked for him loved him. And they are -- my heart goes out to all of those.

KING: Do...

CARVILLE: I know all of those guys well over there. My heart goes out to everybody there.

KING: Do you have a thought on his replacement, James?

CARVILLE: No, sir, I don't. But Tom Brokaw, obviously, would be an outstanding choice and would be a place holder. But I would suspect -- and they have to replace -- you remember, he was head of the Washington bureau. They have to do that.

KING: Yes.

CARVILLE: Then he had a show...

KING: A couple of shows.

CARVILLE: ...on MSNBC, which was one of the best cable shows. And then he was on the -- he was there go to guy for the "The Today Show," the "Nightly News." I saw Steve Capus, who's the president of NBC News, Sunday morning at "Meet The Press" and I didn't -- I said, Steve, of all the jobs in the world right now, the one I'd probably least want is yours.

RATHER: But, Larry, if I may...

KING: Hold one second, Dan.

RATHER: Sure.

KING: Hold on one second.

Twenty-two-year-old Luke Russert also spoke today, the son -- the only child of the Russerts.

Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

L. RUSSERT: So I ask you this Sunday, in your hearts and in your minds, to imagine a "Meet The Press," live from inside St. Peter's Gate. Maybe Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr will be on for the whole hour debating.

(LAUGHTER)

RUSSERT: Perhaps JFK and Barry Goldwater will give their two cents about the 2008 election. And we could even have Teddy Roosevelt for the full hour talking about the need for a third party.

Well, my dad was a force of nature and now his own cycle in nature is complete. But his spirit lives on in everybody who loves their country, loves their family, loves their faith and loves those Buffalo Bills.

I love you, dad. And in his words, let us all go get 'em.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: You cannot top that.

We thank all of our guests.

We're out of time.

Sorry, Dan.

RATHER: No problem. KING: The service ended with the playing of "Over the Rainbow." and as everybody left the Kennedy Center, guess what?

There was a rainbow. Look.

Up next, Joy Behar is here with her view on Michelle Obama.

Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: The always delightful Joy Behar joins us from New York, co-host of ABC's "The View," author of "When You Need a Lift, But Don't Want to Eat Chocolate, Pay a Shrink or Drink a Bottle of Gin." Read the title, you've been through the book.

Before we ask Joy the first question, here's Michelle Obama today on "The View," could be the next first lady of the United States. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHOOPI GOLDBERG, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": Please welcome our very special guest co-host, who actually could be the next first lady of the United States of America, Michelle Obama!

MICHELLE OBAMA, WIFE OF BARACK OBAMA: I have to be greeted properly. Fist bump, please.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: All right, what were your impressions, Joy?

JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": You know, I went into the whole thing thinking that I would like her. So I have to say that it wasn't such a big turn-around for me. I really did like her before. I liked her on the show. I like her today. I'm going to like her tomorrow. I just like her.

She was warm. She was charming. She's very approachable. The woman doesn't have a very -- she's very charismatic. She doesn't seem defensive. That's what I was going for. She's not defensive in any way. You know, psychologically healthy, mentally healthy. That's what I picked up.

KING: All right. The "New York Times" today has a front page article, headlined after attacks, Michelle Obama looks for a new introduction. Why do you think she's become such a lightning rod?

BEHAR: Well, I really don't know what that means exactly, a lightning rod. Do people --

KING: She makes a statement and immediately other people are commenting on it, and they have major discussions on it on talk shows, right wing radio attacks her.

BEHAR: They're looking for something on right wing radio, aren't they, to go her after for?

KING: They need something.

BEHAR: She's beautiful. She's smart. She's highly educated. She gets along with her husband. There's really not much to go after. so you're looking and parsing things to go after the woman for. And I think that's what they're trying to do.

KING: The article also asserts that Michelle Obama came on your program, "The View," with an eye towards softening her reputation. How do you feel about the show being part of a campaign strategy?

BEHAR: I think if it's a strategy, it's working because "The View" softens everybody up. We had Cindy McCain on, and we softened her up and we can soften anybody up. We can soften, you know, Hitler up if he comes on "The View". But I mean --

KING: If he came back, that would be the first place he'd go.

BEHAR: Exactly, Hitler on "The View" tonight! But, you know, she came into the makeup room, and she, you know, talked to us and we did our little meeting with her. And then she sat down and had a long chat with me. And we talked about how very similar our backgrounds are. We both come from working class families. My father, my mother, where everybody was there, just like her family. We struggled and then we went to college.

I was the first person in my family actually to go to college. I don't know that she was. She went way beyond me. She's Princeton and Harvard Law School. But I think that people look at her now and they say gee, she's magnificent now, but she did struggle and it was not easy for her.

KING: On "The View" she talked about her controversial, for the first time in my adult life I'm really proud of my country remark. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

M. OBAMA: I tell people, just imagine the pride that my parents, who didn't go to college, felt that they could, through their own hard work and sacrifice, have us achieve things that they could never imagine. So I am proud of my country, without a doubt. I think when I talked about it in my speech, what I was talking about was having a pride in the political process. People are just engaged in this election in a way that we haven't seen in a long time, and I think everybody has agreed with that, that people are focused.

BEHAR: They're coming out.

M. OBAMA: They're coming out.

BEHAR: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now in a rare --

BEHAR: Larry, that --

KING: Hold it, Mrs. McCain challenged the Obama remark.

BEHAR: Oh, yes.

KING: Saying today, I'm proud of my country and I don't know if you heard those words earlier, I'm very proud of my country. Challenging --

BEHAR: She's really, really, really proud. Which one is really, really, really proud? They're both really proud.

KING: Who is prouder?

BEHAR: I don't know, we're all proud of it, you know. Here's a woman who should have -- first of all, Cindy McCain was not born to working class people. I understand that she was very wealthy as a child. Is that correct?

KING: Yes.

BEHAR: And she's still very wealthy as an adult.

KING: Still, yes, very.

BEHAR: They're completely different. They come from different backgrounds and different, you know -- I want to say something about Obama himself. He was also very charming when he was on "The View". I just think they're a wonderful couple. Am I just gushing now or what?

KING: No, you're entitled. Has John McCain been on yet?

BEHAR: John McCain's been on. He's great. I like John McCain as a person. I hate his politics but I like him. I mean I said to him, does it worry you, are you upset when they make jokes about you being old? This was off camera. He said no. I thought that was great. He has a great sense of humor.

KING: He does.

BEHAR: Everybody's talking about what's going to happen with Hillary's women, are they going to vote for John McCain? I think that's absolutely ridiculous, if you want my opinion, which I know you do, Larry.

KING: I do. Let me get a break and come back with more.

BEHAR: All right I'll tell you why when we come back.

KING: You tell me why, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEHAR: Do you feel a little bit inhibited now to speak? Do you feel, you know, you got to watch what you say now?

M. OBAMA: You know, I think in this media age, I have to be cognizant, just like I think all of us do.

BARBARA WALTERS, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": Not on this program.

BEHAR: Well, we do.

M. OBAMA: Barack might be like, hmm.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did he give any advice, Michelle? Because he was on the show.

M. OBAMA: He said be good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Should political candidates or their spouses guest host television shows?

That's our Quick Vote question. Go to CNN.com/LarryKing and have your say.

Joy Behar, I interrupted you. You were saying?

BEHAR: I was going to say that there's a lot of talk about how Hillary's women over a certain age are very ticked off and they're going to vote for McCain. I really think that once these women realize, and once it comes to them and they focus on the fact that this guy, McCain, doesn't want to get out of Iraq any time soon, and he wants to appoint Supreme Court justices who are interested in overturning Roe v. Wade, I think all these women will say, excuse me, we're voting for Obama. I don't really think that's going to happen. I really don't.

KING: We have an e-mail question from Milton in Miami Beach, Florida: "Were you nervous about having Mrs. Obama on the show? I thought you seemed unusually restrained, guarded today. Were you?"

BEHAR: Really, Milton? You think I was restrained? I'm not really in awe of anybody who comes on the show until they prove they're fantastic. I didn't go into it nervous until I met her, and then, when I saw how terrific she was, I sort of backed off and I wanted to let her shine. So restraint is the wrong word. I was just being -- I was just letting her have the spotlight more, I think.

KING: Also, on "The View" today, Michelle talked about her initial reaction to the idea of her husband running for president. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALTERS: When you husband first said, I want to be president, did you want him to be president?

M. OBAMA: No. I was like, please, don't do this.

WALTERS: When did you come around?

M. OBAMA: For this race, and always for others, it's me taking that selfish hat off. It's a reasonable selfishness, because I think of the sacrifice that I have to make, that our girls have to make. Once I step outside of that and I stop thinking like Michelle, Barack's wife, and I start thinking like a mom and a citizen, I start thinking about the kind of leader that I would want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Michelle and her husband are on the cover of the new "US Weekly," and the headline is why Barack loves her. What do you think of political leaders being treated like celebrities.

BEHAR: Well, it's all over the place at this point. They look good. Look at the two of them. Why Barack loves her, that's charming. I don't have any real issue with it, do you? I don't care. It's like, put them on "Vanity Fair," "US Weekly." It appeals to the masses of people in the country who read those magazines. It's more accessible to them. Not everybody wants to read the "New York Times" or watch CNN.

KING: What?

BEHAR: So they get "US Magazine" and they get to know Barack and Michelle that way. It's kind of nice.

KING: OK, another hot topic on "The View" today, Hillary Clinton and the vice presidential pick. Here's some of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALTERS: Do you think that Hillary Clinton should be your husband's running mate?

M. OBAMA: I know. I know. My answer to this -- and people have asked me this before -- I think the one thing that a nominee earns is the right to pick the vice president that they think will best reflect their vision of the country. I'm just glad I will have nothing to do with it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have no say so whatsoever?

M. OBAMA: And I don't want it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Did you believe that answer, Joy?

BEHAR: There's such a thing as pillow talk, you know. I think she'll probably have some influence on him. I don't think that he's going to pick Hillary though. I just don't. I think he needs somebody else on that ticket that's going to bring the white male to the voting booth for him. He's already got Hillary's women, believe me, Larry. Not withstanding everything that everybody says on every channel, I just don't believe. I really believe that the women will eventually go to Obama. So he needs to find somebody who is going to bring the white male, these swing voters and all of those people.

I think Jim Webb, maybe Rendell from Pennsylvania. I'm not the first to say this. I think those might be better choices for him than her.

KING: We'll have more with Joy in a moment. Some feisty exchanges have made their way onto "The View." We'll get into that when LARRY KING LIVE returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Cindy McCain co-hosted "The View" in April. Here's a bit of her appearance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALTERS: What's the biggest misconception about you?

CINDY MCCAIN, WIFE OF JOHN MCCAIN: Oh, I think that maybe that I didn't want to be in this race or perhaps I don't like politics. That's not true. I'm reserved about my place in all of this. I do enjoy it. I love what my husband does. And what an opportunity. Here I am from Phoenix Arizona and I'm part of American history. I mean what else -- what could be any better than that? It's a wonderful life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: We'll get the panel's thoughts -- we'll get joy's thoughts on that.

(NEWS BREAK)

KING: Joy, how do you compare Cindy McCain's appearance to Mrs. Obama's or is it apples and oranges?

BEHAR: I think they were pretty different. I mean, Cindy McCain is a lovely person, too. She's very nice. But she's much more reserved, not quite as approachable, I think, but she's lovely. You know, lovely person. I liked her just as much, in a different way, though.

Michelle is the kind of person that you sit down and you have a few laughs with, you can talk about your husbands, you know, in a sort of a raucous manner. She's fun. And Cindy is a little more conservative, so to speak.

KING: E-mail question from Joyce in Winstead, Connecticut: "Did you get a chance to ask questions of Michelle Obama or Cindy McCain off camera? Did they hang out with the co-hosts at all? Or were they whisked away by security?" BEHAR: No, see that was my point. I was just making that exact point, that Michelle is a hangout kind of girl. And after the show was over, she was basically mobbed by producers and interns and everybody else, and even the right wingers on the show wanted to take a picture with Michelle. And she was quite gracious. She took a picture with everybody, and she smiled. She posed. I mean, she was taller than everybody except Bill Getty, who is the executive producer. She's very tall. So we all sort of felt short next to her. But everybody was charmed by her, I must say.

KING: What do you make of cookie-gate, that is Cindy McCain did, for "Family Circle Magazine," did an oatmeal butterscotch cookie recipe virtually identical to a Hershey's recipe. What do you make of this possible scandal, which will reap talk radio, where they have nothing else to do, tomorrow?

BEHAR: Larry, is this a slow news day or what with the recipe gate? Who cares really? Everybody sends recipes around. I would not go after her on that one at all. Leave it alone.

KING: All right, another -- the co-hosts of "The View" have been out spoken, but the 2008 election have sparked some especially intense exchanges. Here an example.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOLDBERG: We now have a choice.

(CROSS TALK)

GOLDBERG: Well, we haven't found out yet. We don't know what he's about because he hasn't -- That's what I'm saying. But we don't know what any of them are about.

ELIZABETH HASSELBECK, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": We know what John McCain is about.

GOLDBERG: No, we don't know what John McCain is about.

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Is all this part of the scene, Joy? It goes with the territory now?

BEHAR: Listen, "The View" is where you come to hear us fighting with each other sometimes. We have arguments. That's the way it is over there. As you can see my face in the middle of it was oh, no, not this again.

KING: There you are, swinging the neck.

BEHAR: Yes, you know, but we do disagree with each other. Elizabeth and I get into hassles and obviously she gets into them with Whoopi here and there. We disagree with each other, but Elizabeth and I are still friends afterwards. We hang out.

KING: It's called life.

BEHAR: We have a decent friendship, the two of us, a very good one, yes.

KING: When we come back in our remaining moments, Joan Rivers got booted off a live daytime talk show in Britain by using two expletives.

BEHAR: What are they? Tell me when we're off camera, whisper it to me, Larry.

KING: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALTERS: We've had a big discussion about pantyhose or not pantyhose and if you don't have pantyhose you look younger and so forth. So yesterday, I came on the show and I wasn't wearing pantyhose.

HASSELBECK: You looked great.

WALTERS: So today, out of respect for you, I put on pantyhose. And you --

M. OBAMA: And I didn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: OK, there's a show in Britain.

BEHAR: Barbara is obsessed with her pantyhose. She rinses them out herself, did you know that, Larry? Barbara rinses, while she's wearing them. That's what's fabulous about Barbara.

KING: There's a show in Britain that's a takeoff of "The View" and they had Joan Rivers on and she made a quote about Russell Crowe, and she said bleep this and then she used two words you don't use on television and they couldn't bleep it because it' live show. So they took her out of the next segment.

BEHAR: Really?

KING: What do you make -- as a comment, have you had people curse on "The View?"

BEHAR: Oh yes, Melanie Griffith said something that she shouldn't have, and Susan Sarandon also. They forgot they were on television, those girls. I'm surprise at Joan. But Joan thought they were going to bleep her, right? That's why she said it and they didn't.

KING: Yes, they didn't. Do they bleep on "The View"?

BEHAR: Yes, we bleep. We have a seven-second delay ever since Janet Jackson showed her boob. You know that gasoline in London is 10 dollars a gallon? Did you know that?

KING: Yes. All of Europe is high.

BEHAR: That's ridiculous.

KING: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, we get a call for Joy Behar.

CALLER: Larry and Joy, I was wondering, how much influence do you think the two spouse, Michelle and Cindy, would have over the vice presidential picks?

BEHAR: Well, I think that they do -- you know, whether they say it or not, I think that they do have some influence. I think that both of them are talking to their husbands about it. Why wouldn't they? Don't you talk to your wife, Larry, about all of your major decisions?

KING: Sure.

BEHAR: Everybody does that. What other reason is there to be married than to talk things over with your spouse?

KING: In 95 of the marriages, the woman would select the vice president.

BEHAR: Yes, exactly. But I think that they're going to be definitely chatting about that, yes. She's the kind of woman that would -- Michelle is the kind of person that Obama would consult. She's a Princeton graduate and a Harvard Law School graduate. She's not some dopey thing that he can't talk to. He talks to the woman because she has a brain in her head, and they have a relationship like that. And why wouldn't he consult with her? Even though she said on "The View" today she's not going to have any influence, but I didn't totally buy that.

KING: How close is this race going to be?

BEHAR: How close? I think that Obama is going to have a landslide, but I don't want to say it, because I want --

KING: You just said him.

BEHAR: But I do believe that, I do believe it. I think that people are going to really come to their senses, and realize that John McCain -- and I'm just repeating what everybody else says, but I believe it. That he is just more and more of George Bush, and people have had it. I mean, how many more times do we have to get smacked in the face by the Bush administration before we say enough?

KING: All right, the Daytime Emmys are nominate the -- the Daytime Emmys take place Friday. "The View" is nominated. What's your feeling? BEHAR: My feeling is that we're not going to win. You know what my theory is about "The View"? There's always one of us to hate. So you're sitting and voting for five different women. How can you possibly like all of us? There are people watching the show right now who can not stand the fact that I just dissed the Bush administration. Therefore, if they were on the Emmy panel, they are not going to vote for me. They may not like Elizabeth because she disagrees with that. So you see my point?

Regis Philbin never won an Emmy until he was completely alone in the show. The minute people have to vote for two people, they don't like it and won't give the award.

KING: So you feel you won't win. Who will win?

BEHAR: Probably -- isn't Ellen DeGeneres the one who always wins. I don't even know who is nominated. I'm not going this year because I have other plans.

KING: You're not?

BEHAR: No, I have to work that night. I have an actual gig. So I'm not going. But Barbara's going and Sherri Shepherd is hosting, one of "The View" girls, is hasting with Cameron Matheson (ph). That will be nice.

KING: Maybe she'll open the envelope and declare you anyway.

BEHAR: That would be nice. If that happens, Barbara is there to go and collect the awards for us.

KING: Joy, you're always a delight. Stay tough.

BEHAR: I miss you, Larry. I'd like you to be right in the room with me. I'm like all 6's and 7's here without you.

KING: Joy Behar of "The View," thanks dear.

BEHAR: OK.

KING: Go to CNN's number one show page, CNN.com/larryking, for our upcoming guest lists, ring tones, quick votes, picture galleries and a podcast. This week, it's Kathy Griffin.

Friday, it's Motley Crew. We have great behind the scenes video of Tommy and Vince and Nick and Nikki. Plus, Louis Black all here, taking your calls.

Tomorrow, is she a black widow killer, or an innocent grandmother, whose five husbands suddenly died. We'll explore that sensational case on Thursday's LARRY KING LIVE.

And guess who is back? My man, Anderson.

"A.C. 360" -- Anderson Cooper next -- Anderson.