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Joy Behar Page

Death of an Heiress; Fear of Flying; Jim Moret on Dark Days; Men Behaving Badly; Living Oprah`s Advice

Aired January 07, 2010 - 21:00   ET

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


JOY BEHAR, HLN HOST: Tonight on THE JOY BEHAR SHOW, with the death of heiress Casey Johnson, a lot of people are saying that the price of being born rich is just too high. Others say she just squandered her good fortune.

Then traveling by air hasn`t seemed this dangerous since Icarus flew too close to the sun. Is there anything we can do about it? President Obama weighed in on this subject today.

Plus, a lot of people admire Oprah Winfrey for her wisdom and her advice. But only one person other than Steadman took every single word she said literally. Robyn Okrant, author of "Living Oprah", joins me in the studio.

All this and oh, so much more starting now.

Good evening. Some strange developments in the Casey Johnson story: a battle heats up between her former fiance, Tila Tequila, and another heiress, Nikki Hilton. Meanwhile tons of friends of Johnson continue to attack Tila for using Casey`s death for her own publicity.

Here to sort all of this out for me is Mike Walters from TMZ. Mike, what`s the latest?

MIKE WALTERS, TMZ: Well, Joy, here`s what`s going on.

Basically everybody around Casey that was her friend wants Tila to shut up. I mean that`s really what`s going on.

Tila has been blogging and twittering all kinds of allegations about Casey, her family, her friends; which a lot of them -- number one -- don`t believe. And number two -- think it`s kind of gross that she`s talking about this stuff after her so-called fiance passed away.

And one of them, Jasmine, who is an ex-girlfriend, actually has gone as far as to send a cease and desist letter to Tila and her blog company saying, "Take down the information about me and everybody else that`s defamatory."

BEHAR: Ok. Well, you know TMZ did catch up with Tila. We have a clip. Let`s see that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know why the dogs weren`t allowed to stay at your house?

TILA TEQUILA, CASEY JOHNSON`S FIANCE: They were here last night to stay at my house and they`re totally quiet. Casey left the dogs at my house and that`s how it`s always been.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

(CROSSTALK)

TEQUILA: I just hope that they don`t put the dogs out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You think they`ll put the dogs to sleep.

TEQUILA: Yes. They promised they wouldn`t so hopefully they`re not. That`s why I gave them back the dogs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BEHAR: Ok, what`s all this stuff about the dogs? What is the fuss about the dogs?

WALTERS: Here`s the thing, they lived together, Casey and Tila and Tila had these dogs -- two dogs that were hers. And the family wanted the dogs back so they called Nikki Hilton and Bijou Phillip who are childhood friends of Casey`s to go get the dogs yesterday.

And when they got there, Tila called 911. LAPD had to come over to the house claiming that they were kicking down the back gate. And it was a horrible situation. In the end, LAPD had to get the Johnson family from New York on the phone and mediate and get these dogs in the possession of her childhood friends away from Tila so they can send them back to New York.

Basically, one of the dogs is really old, Joy, like 20 years old and they feel that the dog is going to be in an unhealthy situation. They want to take it to the vet and get those dogs back to New York. So they had this huge dog custody battle at Tila`s house yesterday. It was really, really odd and amazing at the same time.

BEHAR: What is it with rich people and their dogs? Remember Leona Helmsley? Left all her money to her pooch.

WALTERS: That`s the thing. It`s like the dog right now is the most important thing. Who`s getting the dogs? Actually, she had a daughter, remember. And the big deal to me is who`s going to take care of her daughter. And I`m told right now her daughter is with her mother in New York. And that might be where she stays.

But it`s like I haven`t heard much about the daughter but I`m hearing about this dog over and over again and there`s this huge fight over the dog. It was really, really weird and interesting but we`ll see. We`re waiting to hear about her daughter and where she`ll end up permanently here in the next few days.

BEHAR: Ok. So do you think that Tila is using this for publicity for herself? All this?

WALTERS: Well, you know I hope not. But I did see that the day that she passed away, Tila said she`s in a coma, she`s still alive. It was just odd to see.

It`s like, why are you saying these things? You know she`s not here anymore. And then today she did a -- told the paparazzi to come in her house and she did this whole thing where she talked to Casey through a paparazzi camera.

It doesn`t make any sense to me and I think at this point, if you really loved her and it`s your fiance, you should be grieving. You should be doing anything you can to help the family instead of calling the paparazzi to your house and doing one-on-one interviews and arguing over her dogs.

None of that makes sense to me at all.

BEHAR: Yes. Ok.

And there`s a memorial service I hear? When is that?

WALTERS: Yes. Her body is being flown back to New York. The Johnson family is going to have a private, intimate ceremony there in the next few days for just them and I`m told she`ll probably be laid to rest in the family plot that`s back east.

BEHAR: Ok. Thank you Mike.

WALTERS: All right Joy. See you.

BEHAR: Before she died, Casey Johnson told "Vanity Fair" that she was bored with her life of wealth and privilege and that it made her feel awful. Here to help me wrap my head around that one, Fabian Basabe, an entrepreneur who knew Casey Johnson and who also grew up as a rich kid. And also Paula Froehlich, former editor of the "New York Post`s" Page Six.

Nice to see you here. Where did things go wrong, Paula, for this girl? Did you know her?

PAULA FROEHLICH, FORMER EDITOR, "PAGE SIX": I knew her. I`ve known her for ten years.

It went wrong a long time ago. The problem is that when you`re raised by nannies -- do you remember the "The Nanny Diaries?"

BEHAR: Yes.

FROEHLICH: And that book about how they`re raised with nannies with wealth; everything you want and an unlimited American Express.

But you know what, at the end of the day, an unlimited American Express doesn`t keep you warm at night. And doesn`t kiss you and say "I love you".

And this is a lot of the problems that a lot of these people have is they`re raised with too much money and not enough contact and actual parenting.

BEHAR: I know. But you know what? There are many children who are poor who are neglected just the same way.

FROEHLICH: The problem with that Joy is that...

BEHAR: You would think that these kids would use the money to get some therapy. At least they`ve got some money there.

FROEHLICH: The thing about the poor kids is they have to work because they have to have rent (ph) over their heads.

BEHAR: Right.

FROEHLICH: And the thing about working is, it actually teaches you things. You have to show up. You earn a paycheck. You earn the value of a dollar.

BEHAR: That`s true. It gives you something that you`ve done yourself.

FROEHLICH: It gives you self-pride. And you get a lot of these kids; the Upper East Side crowd -- for lack of a better term -- is just kind of - - they`re bored with life when they`re 18.

BEHAR: Yes.

Fabian, you knew Casey, right?

FABIAN BASABE, FORMER FRIEND OF CASEY JOHNSON: Sure, I did. It`s a really big tragedy?

BEHAR: Were you surprised by her death, Casey -- I mean, Fabian?

BASABE: Of course, it`s not something that you would expect. She was a really nice girl. I just moved back to Florida from Los Angeles and I can`t believe the news that I got a couple of days ago from friends calling me and telling me, oh, my God, Casey died. And it was like, who is able to tell everyone first?

And it`s like -- you guys this isn`t news. This is a tragedy. This is a family that`s mourning now. This is a horrible, horrible event. And just people are kind of trying to get their piece out of it and their publicity out of it. It`s really disgusting.

BEHAR: What did you think of what Paula just said because you grew up as a very wealthy kid, right?

BASABE: You know, I`ve had hands on parents in my life. And one thing -- you know, my father is an entrepreneur, so I`ve gone through the highs and lows of business. And I`ve kind of been exposed to having money, not having money, appreciating money and understanding what`s important in life.

And family is important. And that presence is something that a lot of people are not fortunate enough to have. So with all the fortune in the world, not having contact with your mom every day, talking and -- my mom is a very, very good woman and simple lady that wants to know that her kids are eating right.

I`m 30 today and my mother still calls me and makes sure that I wear a sweater when it`s cold. And that I`m eating healthily and that, you know...

BEHAR: Most kids hate that. Most kids hate that when their mothers call them, are you warm enough? They hate that.

BASABE: I`m in a new chapter in my life now because I`ve had that decade of excess and I lived in New York and I lived in L.A. and I`ve been traveling. And I`ve had my taste of the high life.

Now I`m here, I`m starting a business and what Paula said is exactly right. I`ve learned a new meaning of life. I have responsibilities. I have people that depend on me. I have -- I deal with things like a bad economy and payrolls and responsibility that have made me understand how important, you know, the examples that we`ve had before us are.

BEHAR: Ok.

BASABE: And I`m glad I was paying attention to that with my parents, that they were so involved in my life.

BEHAR: It sounds as if he actually had good parenting as a kid.

FROEHLICH: He did. You know, Fabian as I go way back as well. And I remember a couple of years ago Fabian was going through his phase as he was just talking about. And he was really upset and he goes, what do I do? I said gee, get a job, Fabian, do something.

But what is more annoying to me is you look at people like Tila Tequila and people call her, her fiance and they lived together. They knew each other for a month. Ok.

BEHAR: Oh, is that so.

FROEHLICH: One month.

BEHAR: I didn`t know that.

FROEHLICH: That`s 30 days they knew each other.

BEHAR: Then what -- why do expect Tila Tequila to act as if she`s the greatest ...

FROEHLICH: Not only that, but the video where they announced their engagement, Casey is clearly drugged out of her wits.

What bothers me is that if my mother saw that video, she would have been on the first flight out with armed guards storming the house and saying, something is clearly wrong, no way.

And you look at somebody like Jamie Spears. Jamie Spears had a similar situation with Britney Spears. Britney is out of control, she`s nuts, she`s this, all this stuff. And he goes in and puts her under mental guard and takes conservatorship. Somebody should have done that with Casey.

BEHAR: Right. But nobody did.

FROEHLICH: No. It`s the same neglect that she had growing up.

BEHAR: Do you think that there are any legitimate reasons to complain about being rich?

FROEHLICH: Considering I`m not rich...

BASABE: No, ridiculous.

BEHAR: What do you think Fabian? Is there a legitimate reason?

BASABE: You know, this whole thing of everybody with money being bored about having money and everything like that...

BEHAR: Yes it breaks our heart...

BASABE: ... you know, there are positive and negative sides to everything. And there is, you know, there`s a sense of belonging, there`s a -- it can be at times very lonely for a lot of people and not knowing who your friends are and who you can trust.

BEHAR: Right.

BASABE: ... you know it does take a toll. It does take a toll.

FROEHLICH: Right.

BEHAR: Are they jealous -- did you find that kids -- other kids were jealous of you? I`ve never met a rich kid who would trade places with a poor kid except maybe for a TV documentary.

FROEHLICH: I think some of them do. Some of them pretend to be poor.

BASABE: You know what?

BEHAR: They pretend, yes well, they could -- they know the trust fund is down the block.

FROEHLICH: Yes.

BASABE: It`s not so much the...

BEHAR: Yes, go ahead, Fabian, I`m listening.

BASABE: It`s not so much that they`re jealous and envious. It`s almost like they take it to another level where they actually have a right to compete. And it`s like who gets -- who gets to talk about more and who has -- and the people lose sight of what reality is, you know? Who are your friends?

BEHAR: Yes.

BASABE: Where are your family? Where are you spending Christmas? These are the important things.

BEHAR: Well, that can happen to the famous people too, I think.

BASABE: Connections that you...

BEHAR: You never know who the hangers-on are and who you`re real friends and...

FROEHLICH: There are people who did it right. Like say what you will about Donald and Ivana Trump...

BEHAR: Yes.

FROEHLICH: ... but their three kids turned out amazing.

BEHAR: That`s true.

FROEHLICH: They all work and they were all expected to have responsibilities at a young age. And you know I think the problem is sometimes people are like I want to give my kids the world.

BEHAR: Yes.

FROEHLICH: But that doesn`t mean just handing everything on a silver platter.

BEHAR: Right.

FROEHLICH: You have to learn how to be an adult.

BEHAR: Good parenting crosses all economic lines, though.

FROEHLICH: Absolutely.

BEHAR: Paula, Fabian, thanks.

Up next, the airline security debate: (INAUDIBLE) that might scare me into becoming a (INAUDIBLE).

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BEHAR: Airline safety got you down? Thinking of taking a car trip next fall instead? Think again.

An electronic show in Las Vegas, it was announced that Audi and Ford, to name two, are going to install computer screens with Internet access on the dash board of some of their new cars.

We`re not talking about the passenger side, we`re talking the driver`s side. First, the cell phone, now this, driving with one hand is bad enough, but what if the driver is surfing for porn?

It happens, trust me. Look Ma, no hands. And then look, Ma, no head. Ok.

I`m a big fan of safety. My apartment is still child proofed and my daughter is 35. Call me kooky but I think that putting a computer screen on the dash board is really crazy.

How am I supposed to drive, talk on the phone, Google and curl my eyelashes at the same time? You tell me.

Here`s the deal, planes are scary, cars are dangerous, trains collide and buses can flip over. I`d rather stay home and do the show from my bathroom where it`s safe. My luck, I`ll slip and break a hip.

Anyway, President Obama took the hit today for the security lapses which led to the failed underwear bomber. With me now to discuss are Peter Greenberg, travel editor for CBS News and Mike Boyd, aviation consultant.

Welcome to the show, you guys.

PETER GREENBERG, TRAVEL EDITOR, CBS NEWS: Thanks Joy.

MIKE BOYD, AVIATION CONSULTANT: Thank you.

BEHAR: Ok, now, the Feds wanted to talk to him when he landed, this guy. Why not before the flight? That`s the report.

GREENBERG: Well, one of the problems right now is you know that airlines are required to submit their manifest, their passenger manifests to the TSA and Homeland Security at least two to three hours before a flight leaves. They didn`t get around to it. BEHAR: They didn`t get around to it? So what are we supposed to make of that?

BOYD: Well, I mean, why do you want...

BEHAR: Go ahead, Mike.

BOYD: ... why do you want to interview a terrorist after he arrives?

BEHAR: Yes.

BOYD: I mean, it`s a little bit late. It`s kind of like calling Emperor Hirohito and saying this Arizona thing we got to discuss. I mean, it`s just one of those issues I think where someone screwed up.

BEHAR: Now, Nigeria says the suspect was properly screened. How do we know...

GREENBERG: Not at all.

BEHAR: .. why, what standards are they using here?

GREENBERG: He was properly screened on technology that`s about 20 years too old.

I think, Mike would agree with me that the model that most airline screeners are using is based on weapons that were metal, with guys trying to hijack planes to Cuba. So under those protocols, he was officially properly screened, but he wasn`t.

BEHAR: Cuba is so not today. I mean, what are they doing?

How can we make sure a foreign security is up to snuff then? What do you say Mike?

BOYD: Well, what we have to do is you know, we have a Transportation Security Administration we spent billions on and they have to look at these things. If a U.S. carrier doesn`t have security that we need, we have to take action to make sure the carrier does. The carrier will do it.

The problem is all the stuff about body scanners and all that stuff, even there we don`t know if that would have worked. The guy could have mixed this stuff on the airplane before he got -- after he got on. So we need better intelligence as well, not only screening bodies.

BEHAR: What do you mean, wait, wait, wait, say that again, what do you mean by that? He could have mixed -- say it again.

BOYD: Well, there`s some indication -- there are some indication that he went -- when he went through security both on Lagos and in Amsterdam it may not have been strapped to his leg or whatever part it was strapped to. He could have done that after he got on the airplane. It could have been in his carryon luggage. We don`t know that.

So when we start to worry about technology, fixing everything, we have all the technology in the world and we almost lost an airplane over Ontario.

BEHAR: That`s right, that`s right.

GREENBERG: But Joy there`s another thing here too, it`s called basic intuition. Here`s a guy flying on a one-way ticket that he paid for in cash. He wasn`t even wearing an overcoat on a flight from Lagos to Detroit in the winter and he had no checked bags. Hello.

BEHAR: Hello. And haven`t we seen this movie before with the last time 9/11? I mean, really, but you know what, you said something that really drives me crazy.

I really believe that those checked bags is going to be the next attack, the next attempt, because I was reading something about Slovakia, I believe and they put through like let`s say eight bad bags and they only caught -- it explosives in all of them -- they only caught seven of them, or eight and nine whatever the number.

So one of them got through...

GREENBERG: Joy, there`s...

BEHAR: I don`t believe in those check bags, I don`t think people should be allowed to check bags anymore.

GREENBERG: Well, it`s even worse than that; 65 percent of all the cargo that`s carried on a flight that I was on yesterday and that you might be on tomorrow isn`t even inspected. How about that? And yet they`re strip-searching for nuns, looking for tweezers. Hello.

BEHAR: Hello, tweezers. I don`t think you can do much with tweezers, besides pluck your brows. Go ahead.

BOYD: Let`s really bring this down or everybody`s attitude down here.

Remember those machines they do use to screen luggage for explosives don`t work very well. And as a matter of fact, a lot of that stuff, they have so many false positives and sometimes they even turn them off, they don`t tell you that. So when you think some of that stuff is screened, it isn`t screened at all in many cases.

BEHAR: Wow, that really scares me. Doesn`t that scare you, Peter? You`re always flying around. This is your work? Doesn`t it frighten you?

GREENBERG: You know, obviously, actually I haven`t checked a bag in eight years. I actually FedEx my bags for other reasons like saving time. But you`re right, we have an issue here where you`re going to see an increased show of force is a direct reaction to what happened on December 25th but an increase show of force doesn`t mean an elevated show of intelligence. That`s what we need.

We talk about profiling. I`m in favor of profiling everyone, not anyone.

BEHAR: Yes. That`s interesting. But Obama wants to put more marshals on the plane. I don`t see what a marshal could have done that that Dutch guy didn`t do. I mean, what is -- why don`t they use the marshals somewhere else? Do some profiling around the airport?

(CROSSTALK)

GREENBERG: Here`s my problem with the marshals -- I`m sorry, Mike, go ahead.

BOYD: Well, I was just going to say a marshal is one person on a 300 seat airplane. This guy`s in 19F, the marshal`s in 32D. Guess what? He can`t do anything. Is it a deterrent? Maybe. But the marshal`s program up until now has been a mess.

BEHAR: Absolutely. Thanks very much. Very interesting.

We`ll be back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BEHAR: He`s covered all the big stories from the O.J. trial to the death of Michael Jackson. The one story he never thought he would have to consider, however, were the suicidal thoughts he entertained during dark days in his own life.

He never took action on them but they did lead to a new book. That`s the good news. "The Last Day of My Life" is the name of the book.

Joining me now is chief correspondent for "Inside Edition" Jim Moret. Welcome Jim.

JIM MORET, CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, "INSIDE EDITION": I`m so glad to be here.

BEHAR: I`m so looking forward to talking to you because the book is sort of sad. I mean you had a rough time. You`re still having somewhat of a rough time financially.

MORET: I am. The beginning is sad. I`m really looking at the book as hopeful and empowering and inspirational.

BEHAR: Most sad stories should lead there. Otherwise it`s not worth the book.

MORET: I`ll make a note of that.

BEHAR: Make a note. But you write about your financial problems...

MORET: Yes.

BEHAR: How did you get into such financial straits?

MORET: You know, like a lot of people in this country...

BEHAR: And are you still in them?

MORET: Still challenged, yes. Still in them. I got into a bad mortgage. I left CNN and there was a period of time before I landed another gig, you know, entertainment, show business. Reporting is the same thing.

BEHAR: Yes. Takes a while.

MORET: Takes a while. And I relied on my house to keep us afloat. Then the market tumbled. I got upside down on the house.

BEHAR: What do you mean you relied on the house?

MORET: I drew money from a new loan ...

BEHAR: You took money out of the house.

MORET: Yes, to stay afloat.

BEHAR: And then the house is not worth as much as the money that put in.

MORET: And then the loan is set to balloon to an amount that -- even now that I`m at "Inside Edition" doing well, there`s no way to hang on. I got to a point where I was really thinking I`m worth more dead than alive.

And one day I was driving after a story, and I`m going on a hilly road in Malibu in the canyons above Pacific Coast highway. And it was a very treacherous road. And I was struck by the darkest thought because I thought, "This is the perfect place to go over."

BEHAR: Oh, my gosh.

MORET: And my family will get the multimillion dollar insurance policy. But the reality is, nothing would have been final. It wouldn`t have been final.

I stopped the car. And it was -- it was like that Jimmy Stewart moment, "It`s a Wonderful Life". Instead of saying what if I had never been born, I asked myself this question, what if this was the last day of my life, what would I really value? I went home and I started writing.

My wife read the chapter where I talk about these suicidal thoughts and she started to cry. She said, is this true? I said yes. She said, "Jim, I love you. Our kids love you."

And my family saved me that day on that hill. The thought of them and seeing my three kids` faces and my wife. That stopped me but it prompted me to write. And what I write about is friendship and love and forgiveness and apology and redemption; nothing to do with money because the value isn`t based on my bank account. It`s based on other things.

BEHAR: Of course. Well, that`s the point of that movie, too.

MORET: Right. And it`s true.

BEHAR: So you got turned around and that was good.

MORET: Yes.

BEHAR: I know you also that you have a famous father from the `50s. He was a big star in the 50s, the Gidget movies, right?

MORET: Sure.

BEHAR: James Darren is your father. How is he?

MORET: He`s great. And I`m sure you had a crush on him. BEHAR: We all did, are you kidding?

MORET: The most difficult aspect of having James Darren as your father is every girl I liked had a crush on him.

BEHAR: Oh. You`re competing with your father. It`s a little weird.

MORET: It`s very upsetting, I`ll tell you.

BEHAR: But it`s so interesting. It`s so great. I hope that people pick up your book.

But I want you to sit here ...

MORET: Sure.

BEHAR: And I want you to -- I want you to stay right there because Charlie Sheen and Tiger Woods are going to be discussed in the next segment and Jim is staying with me.

MORET: Yes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, HANES ADVERTISEMENT)

CHARLIE SHEEN, ACTOR: Hey, M.J.

The Hanes man himself. Speaking of which...

MICHAEL JORDAN, NBA BASKETBALL STAR: OK.

SHEEN: My agent turned me on to these shirts. The collar doesn`t stretch out. You should look into it.

JORDAN: Looks good, man but I got to go.

SHEEN: We should do dinner. You like Korean barbecue?

JORDAN: No.

SHEEN: We could just trade info, maybe you and I could...

JORDAN: Take care, man.

SHEEN: My number is in there. Call me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BEHAR: Well you can say goodbye to that commercial. Hanes is taking the undershirt right off of Charlie Sheen`s back. The company announced they are dropping Sheen as their spokesperson. Here to discuss this latest development is Jim Moret, Chief Correspondent for "Inside Edition" and author of "The Last Day Of My Life" and comedian Charlie Murphy, author of the Making of a Stand Up Guy.

Welcome to the show. You know you guys have something in common with Charlie Sheen, both of you.

MORET: What`s that?

CHARLIE MURPHY, COMEDIAN AND AUTHOR: We`re both men.

BEHAR: You`re both guys. Can you guess what else it could be?

MURPHY: What else could it be?

BEHAR: It could be you both come from famous families.

MURPHY: Obviously.

BEHAR: Do you think that plays a role in his bad behavior at all?

MURPHY: No

MORET: No. I don`t think so at all. No, there are good guys who are celebrities and there are bad guys who are celebrities. I don`t think it has anything to do with it at all. I think the attention we pay to it is because he`s a celebrity. But you know what`s interesting about that commercial being pulled, Tiger Woods` commercial was pulled immediately, all of them, right on thanksgiving.

BEHAR: A lot of them.

MORET: Right away, you did not see him on the air.

BEHAR: That`s true.

MORET: That was the Thanksgiving weekend. This commercial has been on the air for what, two weeks since Christmas? Interesting, different.

BEHAR: Yes. Is that somebody`s blackberry? It`s mine. I can`t believe it`s on. Oh my God, OK.

MURPHY: Well nobody is going to get into trouble.

(LAUGHTER)

BEHAR: Wait, it`s Tiger. Look, I`m busy, OK? Stop calling me. OK.

MURPHY: We have to admit that it`s not been proven that he actually did what he is alleged to have done.

BEHAR: Who Charlie? Charlie Sheen?

MURPHY: Exactly. For all we know, the name is probably one of his one he sends from Pirate Caribbean swords that he got from Disney Land, Charlie was just playing. It got blown out of proportion.

BEHAR: Well, he has a history - he has a history with other women, he`s been abusive to other women.

(CROSSTALK)

BEHAR: No, I he never did that I don`t think.

(CROSSTALK)

MURPHY: That`s why I don`t believe he did it this time.

MORET: And in a case of domestic violence, I think you have to be really careful because when you make an allegation like this, it can damage your career, even if you`re innocent and even if you`re proven innocent. He hasn`t been charged yet. He`s been arrested but not charged

BEHAR: No, as a matter of fact, his wife is not pressing charges.

MURPHY: Exactly. Which makes me think it didn`t happen. She could have been just scared and I want the cops to be here as fast as possible. I don`t want to say this and this.

MORET: She was also drunk.

BEHAR: They were drinking, I think, yes.

MURPHY: Exactly.

BEHAR: I know, that`s true.

MURPHY: That`s why it could have been the Pirates of the Caribbean story. That`s the kind of stuff you do when you`re drunk, see.

BEHAR: I think...

MURPHY: See the story makes sense.

(CROSSTALK)

BEHAR: You know he`s got his job, he`s not losing his job.

MORET: That`s correct.

MURPHY: He shouldn`t lose his job.

MORET: He shouldn`t lose his job, exactly.

MURPHY: He shouldn`t lose his job, he`s not convicted of a crime or anything. He shouldn`t lose his job.

BEHAR: Well if she pressed charges and he was convicted, do you think he should lose his job?

MURPHY: Then that`s different. That`s different.

BEHAR: You do.

MURPHY: Yes.

BEHAR: How about the fact that his uncle is calling her, the alleged victim in this attack, a drama queen. That`s not very supportive.

MORET: I think he should bow out and let this run its course.

BEHAR: Who the uncle?

MURPHY: Yes.

BEHAR: Yes, what is he sticking his two cents in there? Do you know does Hollywood really care when one of their own gets in trouble? It seems like they protect them a little bit.

MORET: I think it depends on what they`ve done.

BEHAR: Uh huh.

MURPHY: Yes, and who it is, too.

BEHAR: Yes, well in this case, he`s a big star. He`s the highest paid sitcom star on television. He makes supposedly $800,000 per episode. That`s a nice piece of change.

MURPHY: That`s...

MORET: That`s because the show is successful.

MURPHY: Exactly.

BEHAR: And a lot of it is because of him. So they`re not going to punish him.

MORET: Well they shouldn`t if he hasn`t done anything.

MURPHY: Exactly. If the sword was a Pirates of the Caribbean sword then -

(LAUGHTER)

BEHAR: Again with that. OK, let`s talk about Tiger Woods, another bad boy. There are a lot of rumors about where he is. He`s either with this guy, Jim Dolan, who owns the jets.

MORET: Right.

BEHAR: Supposedly he`s out there on Long Island and Jim owns a big house. Oh, the Knicks, not the Jets, the Knicks. And all day yesterday we were told he was across the street in the Trump building hotel, I mean come on, you know. If he`s in a hotel - nobody could find him.

MURPHY: Everybody is looking in the wrong place.

BEHAR: Really? Look at the way you say that in such a very - conspiratorial manner.

MORET: You know where he is?

MURPHY: He`s under the bed.

BEHAR: He`s under the bed, where?

(CROSSTALK)

MURPHY: He`s under the bed.

BEHAR: He`s under the bed at the hotel across the street?

MURPHY: It`s somewhere under the bed.

BEHAR: Maybe he`s doing one of the chamber maids. OK, is there any place that this guy can go where he will not be recognized?

MURPHY: No.

MORET: He doesn`t need to go anywhere, where does he need to go?

BEHAR: What do you mean? He needs to get out - either come and fess up.

MORET: Yes.

BEHAR: Or just disappear for a while.

MORET: But he`s clearly not ready to do that. We won`t, as a public, forgive him I think until he fesses up.

BEHAR: Yes.

MORET: And apologizes. But you know, he couldn`t come out initially I think because there was a question about his injuries, whether they were consistent with a car accident. If they weren`t, they could go after Elin his wife, and charge her with domestic violence.

BEHAR: I guess they could, yes.

MURPHY: There`s no where he could go in the world and not be recognized because he`s the only cablasian in the world.

BEHAR: He`s the only cablasian. That`s true, he is...

MURPHY: Only one in the world so where ever he goes, people will recognize that he`s the only cablasian in the world.

BEHAR: How about his kids, they`re sort of cablasianesc?

MURPHY: You see that`s not cablasian, that`s something different. They`re looking for a cablasian, so...

BEHAR: You know, while we`re on the subject, the black community has not really - like they`re not really rallying to his side exactly.

MURPHY: You said black community, he`s in the cablasian community.

BEHAR: He`s in the cablasian community.

MURPHY: There`s only one cablasian so he has to...

(CROSSTALK)

BEHAR: So who is going to rally...

MURPHY: The generation...

BEHAR: But I mean it`s like when Kobe Bryant got in trouble, the black community pretty backed him up.

MORET: But I don`t think that Tiger Woods has identified with them, the black community.

BEHAR: Is that what you think too?

MORET: I agree 100 percent.

MURPHY: He`s identified with the cablasian community. I`m not saying who he has -- I accept he is a cablasian.

BEHAR: You know, you interviewed Jamiee Grubbs, one of his alleged been beds. So, tell me what she was like. Did she know he was married when she was doing him?

MORET: I didn`t ask it quite that way.

BEHAR: Did she know?

MORET: She claims that initially she didn`t. I said, come on. You didn`t know?

BEHAR: Oh come on, grow up. Who is going to believe she didn`t know?

MORET: I don`t think anybody did. But she then said that after she did find out, it was too late. Why? Because...

BEHAR: She was in love.

MORET: Well, you know.

BEHAR: And so was the other one and the other one. They`re all in love.

MURPHY: I think that`s what`s fueling the entire Tiger Woods thing, the fact that there`s a number that we can look at and that entire number has the same endorsement that this guy is incredible. So that creates jealousy in everyone else when you hear, wait a minute, we live in America and this man has 13 women saying that he`s the king.

BEHAR: Are you jealous?

MURPHY: I`m not jealous of that. The general public is.

MORET: Oh, no, no. I think the women are jealous of each other.

BEHAR: The women are jealous of each other? Why?

MORET: I think that each thought they were the only one. That`s what I think.

MURPHY: How do you look at it -- the reason we can`t hate on Tiger is because in the rules of golf, there`s 18 holes and he`s still under par.

BEHAR: What does that mean? I hate golf and all conversations about it. I don`t even understand what you`re talking about, what you just said. He`s on the back nine, what does that mean?

MORET: Never mind.

(LAUGHTER)

BEHAR: What was the other part?

MORET: You`re getting me in trouble. I should never have come on your show.

MURPHY: We`re speaking in metaphors.

BEHAR: I do feel like the guy he screwed around and he did what he did, but we`re treating him like a criminal in a certain way. You know, I mean everybody is on his case...

MORET: Wait a minute.

BEHAR: I`m starting to feel sorry for Tiger.

MORET: Why? He`s selling an image. We`re not ragging on him for his --

BEHAR: Wait a minute. Hold on, Tiger. I`m going to take care of it.

MORET: He`s selling an image and that image is worth $100 million a year. Well, you know what, the image was false. If he wanted to be a playboy, then get divorced and be a playboy. Nobody cares.

BEHAR: Why was the image false?

MURPHY: Well, just never get married in the first place. That`s probably really the solution. If you`re young, and you have things in doubt, that`s the advice, don`t get married. Because if you do, and you and that person happen to not keep liking one another, then you owe them money.

BEHAR: But he didn`t create the image for himself, the image was created for him.

MORET: What, so he`s a victim of $100 million a year fraud.

BEHAR: It`s hard to say no to that kind of money. I`ll do what you want me to do. I know, it`s tough. It`s so tough. All these rich people with problems.

MURPHY: I am going to tell you something. When we stop being honest and plain people want to cover it, I have to say that`s what America is really becoming and people like Tiger Woods must be persecuted. You put him on the back of the granola box, that`s right.

BEHAR: Thank you very much, guys. What happens when you try to live like Oprah for a year? My next guest will tell us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: I spent my whole career talking to women about living their best lives. You don`t have the right to tell other people what to do if you`re not going to do it yourself. One of the things I had to learn to do is to embrace this body that I have, for everybody who is watching right now, who`s fallen off the wagon, that`s where you have to begin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BEHAR: Well, not many people take advice like that literally, but my next guest did, spending an entire year redesigning her life according to Oprah. Here to tell us all about it is the author of the new book "Living Oprah: My One Year Experiment." to walk the walk of the queen of talk.

Welcome, Robyn Okrant. Hi, Robyn. How are you?

ROBYN OKRANT, AUTHOR, LIVING OPRAH: Good. Great. Thanks.

BEHAR: OK. First of all, it`s an interesting experiment, I thought, and it was time consuming.

OKRANT: Oh, yes. Absolutely.

BEHAR: Why pick Oprah, why not pick say Jerry Springer?

OKRANT: Well, it would have been a more fun year probably. But, I would have been able to smash chairs over people`s head. You know what, Oprah is so holistic in her advice. She gives advice from women`s relationships to their bodies to spirituality, to finances. And I don`t think there`s any other figure out there -

BEHAR: There isn`t. Cause I was thinking, who could take her place now that she said she`s leaving her show?

OKRANT: I don`t think anyone will take her place, personally. I think we`re going to have to get more creative with who we put on air now.

BEHAR: I mean, there are a lot of women who have good talk shows in the daytime, even my show is an interesting show "The View."

OKRANT: I`ve heard about that.

BEHAR: I`m thinking, I mean, she was sexually abused as a kid. She has been poor.

OKRANT: Right.

BEHAR: She`s come up through the ranks, she has an incredible intelligence and a commitment to what she wants to do. I don`t know if you can find all those factors in one person again.

OKRANT: No, no. I totally agree with you. I absolutely agree. I think her rags to riches story lends to her credibility.

BEHAR: Right. So, explain to the audience who is watching us what you did.

OKRANT: Well, you know, from January 1st, 2008 until December 31st, I did everything Oprah tells women to do, to live our best lives. So from buying a fire pit to, to, you know, joining a --

BEHAR: A fire pit?

OKRANT: A fire pit, this is you know, a big steel drum you burn things in.

BEHAR: Why did you need that?

OKRANT: I didn`t. I don`t have a backyard but she likes them.

BEHAR: If you have a backyard, it`s good.

OKRANT: Well, yes. Exactly. It is good. But it was again, it was not for me I decided to interpret her advice. If she told women to do something, I went out and did it, just to show a picture of what it looks like, to be the idealized Oprah`s audience member.

BEHAR: That must have cost quite a bit of money.

OKRANT: It cost under $5,000 dollars, about $4,700 for the year. But I`m a bargain shopper too, so imagine it could have been more expensive.

BEHAR: So the fire pit, something like that, you went out and actually bought it?

OKRANT: Yes, she told us to buy that one specifically at Lowe`s hardware store. So I went in to that. Crisp, white shirts, ten things you`re supposed to have in your closet, et cetera, et cetera.

BEHAR: I see. And another thing that you talked about in the book how Oprah changed your sex life. How did she do that?

OKRANT: Well, I followed a program online on how to spice it up in the bedroom with my husband. So we had to start by making dates to have sex. We decided on Friday nights.

BEHAR: She recommends that?

OKRANT: She recommends it. Yes, right. She advocates that. So, once a week on Friday nights we decided to have sex and Friday nights also became the boring night for us --

BEHAR: Why?

OKRANT: You know, it`s just the calendar, having sex according to the calendar wasn`t that exciting for us. We would even -- I clipped my cat`s nails once after sex on Friday night and declogged the bathtub afterwards. That`s how romantic it was for us.

BEHAR: Maybe you should clip your husband`s nails. Hopefully, that would turn you on. But she told you to take the TV out of the bedroom. Did you do that?

OKRANT: Yes, oh it`s gone.

BEHAR: So it`s not back in?

OKRANT: No, no, no.

BEHAR: OK, so she helped you there. And so has your sex life improved since you took the TV out?

OKRANT: I think our sex life improved after I stopped imagining Oprah was standing at the foot of my bed.

BEHAR: Let`s talk about some of the other things. She says to live with your cellulite and be happy. Did you do that?

OKRANT: Well, I have no other choice but to live with it. When I got that piece of advice, I literally stood in the mirror and looked at my butt and said --

BEHAR: I love myself.

OKRANT: I love my cellulite, I`m happy, welcome. You know, that kind of thing.

BEHAR: The key to that is to get a boyfriend or husband who is losing his eyesight. Seriously. The older they are, they can`t see anymore. That`s when the cellulite, you start to love yourself. She says to get rid of toxic friends.

OKRANT: Right, right.

BEHAR: Now, who were your toxic friends?

OKRANT: Well, I can`t give you a precise list, but the people should know who they are if they didn`t get their phone calls returned.

BEHAR: So you learned something from that?

OKRANT: Oh, yes.

BEHAR: What would define toxicity to her about a person?

OKRANT: Oh, that is a good question. Well, I think I got to define my own toxicity there, you know, just because I just followed the assignment as I heard it. So for me it was people who constantly needed things from me, who expected so much but gave nothing in return, that kind of thing.

BEHAR: How about people who were hostile or jealous of you?

OKRANT: Exactly.

BEHAR: Jealousy, that could be fun. I`ll keep those around. She says, don`t waste another second of your life on a job that you hate. Now that gives me -- with that, I have a problem with that, even though I agree with that in theory. We`re in a very tough economy now. How do you follow your bliss when there are no jobs and you nearly have to put food on the family.

OKRANT: Food on the --

BEHAR: I sound like George Bush. Put food on your family. I think he said that. So what do you say about that?

OKRANT: Well, you know what? I actually wrote on my blog when I got that piece of advice that I was really, really lucky that I love my job, that I love teaching yoga. Because otherwise, I would have been stuck. It`s an impossible time to do that. So again, I got lucky there. I did not have to leave anything.

BEHAR: So, she also says, and she`s right, do what you love and the money will follow. A lot of times that does work. She tells people how to feel, doesn`t she. Tell me like, what does she tell you to feel?

OKRANT: I had to feel love for Cher, so I downloaded a Gypsy`s piece, played it in front of my mirror and --

BEHAR: Why do you have to feel love for Cher?

OKRANT: Because she told us we loved her. So, I did my best --

BEHAR: What do you mean? I don`t get that. She said love Cher?

OKRANT: If she said we love Cher or we love shoes, I did my best to conjure up that emotion.

BEHAR: So, in other words, when Cher was on the show, we love Cher. Like that?

OKRANT: Right.

BEHAR: Well, you don`t have to take that literally. Even Sonny Bono didn`t. OK, if it`s -- this is my favorite. Pay attention to how happy women get that way. Now, what did you observe?

OKRANT: I -- well, I ended up, embarrassing, but I ended up kind of getting jealous and thinking, oh, I want that, or they look happy because, you know, they are so skinny or they look happy because they have kids and I don`t have kids. And so it actually made me feel lacking.

BEHAR: Really?

OKRANT: So it backfired a little bit for me.

BEHAR: That`s interesting. So have you come to any conclusions about what makes women happy?

OKRANT: Well, I know what makes me happy, I`ve learned, is actually letting go of this idea of best life this whole best life idea kept me from living in my real life, I guess.

BEHAR: So, you mean the best life that Oprah sort of espouses?

OKRANT: Well, Oprah and every magazine that`s on the rack that promises me, like, flat abs in four weeks and --

BEHAR: I see. Perfectionism?

OKRANT: Yes.

BEHAR: Is a drag?

OKRANT: Yes.

BEHAR: That would really make you miserable?

OKRANT: Absolutely.

BEHAR: But a lot of times these magazines like "Real Simple", is the most complicated magazine I have ever read. It just gets you doing more things.

OKRANT: I agree.

BEHAR: OK, we will be back with more in just a minute. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BEHAR: Back with me is Robin Okrants, the author of "Living Oprah." OK, Robin, she says some really interesting things like on page 214. She says "the next time you are walking down the street and you see someone who looks different, like somebody who is extremely tall or I guess extremely short or something that`s out of the norm, don`t stare and don`t talk and whisper, oh, my god. Go up and say hello to that person." Now, in New York City that is considered a very dangerous thing to do.

OKRANT: Right. Right. Right.

BEHAR: So, what did you do about that?

OKRANT: I did it. I did it. This was specifically for people who looked physically different than the quote unquote "norm." So I said hello to people in wheelchairs and, you know, that kind of thing. But I will tell you --

BEHAR: How did they respond?

OKRANT: They thought I was a freak.

BEHAR: They thought you were a freak?

OKRANT: Oh, yes, absolutely. Absolutely. And I have -- I have a pretty major scoliosis and sometimes I wear a back brace. And I`m telling if you someone came up to me on the street and said hello because I have a back brace on, I would want to probably punch them in the mouth.

BEHAR: So you don`t think that`s great advice? Then she says, accept your past life regressions. Who, am I, Shirley MacLaine? Why do I have to accept something that is a complete nonsensical thing that they are pushing? I had a so-called past life regression on my other show and I did not believe it at all I wasn`t hypnotized. He said you`re hypnotized. I said I`m not hypnotized. He said you`re hypnotized.

OKRANT: You didn`t know.

BEHAR: I was relaxed. But anyway, why do we have to accept this type of thing?

OKRANT: Right. I don`t think we have to. That is one of the things, I think I`m trying to make the point of, too, while doing this. The year - - I know it looks ridiculous. It was really extreme. And the point is doesn`t it look extreme and we just give our power blindly away to someone else.

BEHAR: Yes, so sometimes -- the thing about Oprah is that sometimes she`s really right on.

OKRANT: Absolutely.

BEHAR: But like this, this I think, is off, the past life regression. Now, would you do it again this whole experiment?

OKRANT: If I knew how much time this was going to take and how much energy and how much division it was going to put between my friends, my husband, me, I don`t know if I would have done it, but I actually think I learned a lot about myself and I learned that I`m totally addicted to like, language, like live your best life. I`m like a moth to the flame. So I`m glad I learned that about myself, because I have some work to do I think, too.

BEHAR: So it did open your mind a bit?

OKRANT: I think so.

BEHAR: So, would you follow, like, let`s say Martha Stewart and just make pies all day?

OKRANT: I would love to decoupage.

BEHAR: Oh, decoupage.

OKRANT: I think with all her assignments, I might be dead within --

BEHAR: You would be exhausted.

OKRANT: Yes. Yes.

BEHAR: Do you think that Oprah follows the things she says -- she said in the clip. She should.

OKRANT: That is a good question. I don`t know. I know that she tells us not to waste and to be careful of consumption and that kind of thing and she has got a private jet, which of course, she is a really busy woman. However, you know, I don`t know. I don`t know.

BEHAR: You mean, she says that we should bring bags with us to go shopping with and not use plastic anymore.

OKRANT: I think she brings her recyclable bags on her private jet.

BEHAR: So, it`s do as I say, not as I do to some extent?

OKRANT: Maybe. Maybe. But, is that bad? That is the other thing I kind of struggled with, is it OK if the message is OK, regardless of the messenger?

BEHAR: Well, she is one person and she is talking to millions.

OKRANT: Yes.

BEHAR: So maybe it is OK. I don`t know. Thank you very much. A very interesting book.

OKRANT: Thank you.

BEHAR: The book is called "Living Oprah." Thanks very much. And good night, everybody.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END