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Joy Behar Page
Tiger Returns to Golf
Aired April 05, 2010 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOY BEHAR, HOST: Tonight on THE JOY BEHAR SHOW, nine teens are facing felony charges related to the death of Massachusetts high school student Phoebe Prince. Is bullying a growing problem in America? And if so, what can be done to stop it.
Then apparently Tiger Woods needs 90 security guards at the Masters tournament; that`s four more than he needs at home.
And a moving van has been spotted outside Sandra Bullock`s house. Is she moving out? Or is Jesse James just packing up his Nazi helmets?
All that and more starts right now.
Well, for the first time since his sex scandal broke, Tiger Woods faced reporters in what was billed as a no-holds-barred press conference just days before his return to golf at the Masters. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I`m here at the Masters to play and compete; and just really excited about doing that. Sitting here, I`m not that nervous, no. I`ve had a lot of support and that`s been the great thing about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Well, is our long national nightmare finally over? Here with me to discuss his performance are Donny Deutsch, chairman of Deutsche Incorporated; and Hannah Storm, host of ESPN`s daytime sports center.
Donny, not one reporter brought up the skanks.
DONNY DEUTSCH, CHAIRMAN, DEUTSCH INCORPORATED: Yes.
BEHAR: Now, what is up with those reporters?
DEUTSCH: You know, I was -- and it certainly was not no-holds-barred. Hannah and I were talking about this. I was a little surprised.
BEHAR: They wanted it to be.
DEUTSCH: There was no -- did you have feelings for any of them? Are there any other ones? The texts themselves. Part of it was just to credentialize media, the media that were there. And if you noticed, he was calling them all "my friends". So it was certainly not a no-holds-barred.
BEHAR: No, it wasn`t, right?
HANNAH STORM, ESPN: No, even the way he entered. There`s two ways to sort of enter the room. He actually entered the room -- well, he might as well have then-- but actually came through the media whereas under normal circumstances he would have just kind of come in and sat behind the podium.
So right there sort of the barriers were down. But this is media that was credentialed, anyway. There was only one media member per outlet. This is a golf crowd. So you`re not going to have your TMZ, you`re not going to have your tabloids at this kind of press conference.
Augusta National controls everything and therefore, it was the perfectly-timed press conference to have on the busiest day on the sports calendar, arguably.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: So it`s just a lot of baloney.
DEUTSCH: Well, I think what the good news was -- I don`t know if you felt this way -- after five minutes, I was bored. On the mea culpa thing, it was riveting. And I think the parade has passed. I think at this point, even if there had been some salacious questions, who cares at this point?
BEHAR: But they never asked him, how did they cut your lip open?
DEUTSCH: Yes, they did. No, they didn`t ask him that. They basically said what was not in the police report as far as you going to the hospital?
BEHAR: And what did he say?
STORM: He`s not going to say.
DEUTSCH: He said I cut my -- no, he did say, "I cut my lip and I had six stitches and my neck hurt and that`s all."
BEHAR: But how, how?
DEUTSCH: Well, supposedly in the car accident.
BEHAR: But did your wife hit you with the 9-iron, they never asked that.
STORM: No, but he`s not going to say that.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: He`s protecting her.
STORM: That`s something that he refused to talk about. Well, it was something --
DEUTSCH: He specifically said my wife -- he went out of his wife, "my wife never touched me." There was -- I mean, whether he`s lying, that`s a different story. I actually believe him. But I mean --
BEHAR: You believe that?
DEUTSCH: I believe that.
STORM: We are not going to ever get any details about what happened that night.
BEHAR: I think you`re naive to believe that. I think he`s protecting her because she could go to jail for domestic abuse.
DEUTSCH: Well, he`s protecting -- it becomes that much more salacious. He`s protecting everything if that`s the case. But the headline here is that there are no headlines and he`s got it out, now go play golf. That`s it.
BEHAR: All right. Let`s talk about his image. He talked about going to rehab right after Christmas and missing his son`s birthday. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOODS: That was a very difficult time because what people probably don`t realize is that because of the time frame of it, I missed my son`s first birthday and that hurts. That hurts a lot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: So Hannah, did he win any sympathy points there?
STORM: I think he came across the best he has really since he became public. I think the first statement was very rehearsed, it was wooden. Some people felt that there was some acting involved in that, that he was somewhat disingenuous.
And then he had such limits on the two interviews that he did with the two reporters. Those were only five, five and a half minute long interviews.
So I do think that he came across the most sincere here. I think he did come across, I agree with you, as very believable. And I think there`s certain things he`s never going say, like, "What did you go to rehab for." He`s never going to say that.
BEHAR: He said it was personal. It`s not personal.
DEUTSCH: Yes.
STORM: Right. And he will never reveal that.
BEHAR: But it`s not personal. It`s on every cover of every tabloid. Now, how was it person? We saw the text messages.
DEUTSCH: But I would -- we are two women here and one guy. So I`m going to play the -- I`m the devil.
BEHAR: What are we -- two to one? Poor Donny.
(CROSSTALK)
DEUTSCH: Ok. I have to say it. Why did we ever think that this was ever going to hurt him? That a billionaire athlete who was caught philandering, who`s on the road all the time, he`s the greatest golfer in the world and that`s why he`s up here, for no other reason. As long as he goes back to being the greatest golfer in the world, that`s it. What planet are we on? Am I crazy?
STORM: I think the message goes back to golf now because what more is there to ask? The only thing I was surprised at that he was not pressed on was he did clearly come out and say that no one in my inner circle knew; that I was the only one who knew. Yet we do have this Vanity Fair report and some subsequent reporting that there are people who may have indeed known something but no one really followed up on that.
A lot of people followed up on Dr. Anthony Deleo connection and whether or not he used performance enhancing drugs or HGH.
BEHAR: Right, they did ask him that and the Vicodin and all that.
(CROSSTALK)
STORM: But you know, we followed up on the Vicodin.
BEHAR: Look, a man who cheats like that is also a liar. But we`re also -- besides all of your image thing and playing golf, we`re concerned about his wife and his family also. He was asked whether or not his wife was coming to Augusta. Here`s what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOODS: Elin is not coming this week, no.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Should you be returning to the game (INAUDIBLE) without the time help repair your relationship?
WOODS: Well, I decided to play this week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Cold breeze from Sweden.
DEUTSCH: Yes. And he got -- he stiffened up. I got to tell you -- the one I`m afraid of still is the mother. I think she would be a distraction there. I think it would be unfair to her. Obviously she would be a media event to herself. I don`t think they want to see people watching them and how they`re relating. So I`m not shocked that she`s not there.
STORM: I don`t even think he would have answered that question before. I don`t even thing he would have answered something that personal. The two of them have never sat down and done an interview together before all of this happened.
So the fact that he even is talking about his wife as much as he is, is a departure for him. This is all a huge departure for him. He`s never gotten there on a Sunday to Augusta. He`d never done a Monday press -- I mean everything.
DEUTSCH: Yes. And his whole facial expression, to Hannah`s point -- he was just kind of very genuine. And I think whether that`s calculated or not in and of itself. Whether somebody said to him, hey, you`ve got to go out and just let it hang and just be a guy, he came across as likable there. And, you know, we forgive as a culture.
STORM: Do you think he was relieved because he went out there and played golf (INAUDIBLE) a day in the gallery. Nobody heckled him which they`re not going to. They`re not going to in Augusta. They`re not going to heckle him. It`s all about the golf.
BEHAR: Why does he need 90 bodyguards and people around him?
DEUTSCH: I don`t know if that`s really true, if it`s 90. I think that`s -- maybe to keep some women --
BEHAR: Are you questioning my sources?
(CROSSTALK)
DEUTSCH: One of the skanks running up and grabbing his Winky or something? What`s going to happen to him.
(CROSSTALK)
STORM: At Augusta, they don`t let anybody inside the rope. So they`re not going to get -- there`s just not going to be anybody --
BEHAR: So then, why does he need all these guards?
DEUTSCH: I`m sure he does not have 90 bodyguards, but he does need guards just because he`s Tiger Woods.
STORM: Well, he says he`s upset about the media that`s following him and his family around.
DEUTSCH: That`s what he has to stop complaining about. You can`t --
BEHAR: All right. Let`s talk about one of the skankettes. First she`s is stripping in Georgia, now Joslyn James might show up at the Masters. That`s one of the things they`re afraid and why he has these bodyguards. All right. Is she a kind of a stalker? Give it up already.
And why are these --
DEUTSCH: You know --
BEHAR: All right. Go ahead, answer that one.
DEUTSCH: You know what? The more these women come forward this time, the more he becomes sympathetic. It`s like almost he becomes the victim now. They`re such skanks, they`re such barracudas -- and I don`t know -- (INAUDIBLE) our old friend Gloria Allred. What is she doing?
Gloria, go back to fighting for women rights. I mean, she`s a delightful woman -- I don`t know what the hell she`s doing. But the more they come forward at this point, the more you almost feel bad for him. Or am I just --
(CROSSTALK)
STORM: You know they had the press conference today. Right. And she said she wasn`t going to attend the Masters.
But I think you`re right. I think there`s a certain fatigue factor here. I know -- look, among the sports community, no one even -- people care less about his personal life now than they did before. Everyone wants it to just go away.
They`re so sick of talking about it. Play golf, let`s see what you do on the golf course. That`s really all they care about.
BEHAR: What about his sponsors?
STORM: That`s interesting. DEUTSCH: Sponsors will -- here`s what`s always going to be the case. The male sponsors are not going away first of all. Seventy percent of his business is between Nike and EA. His brand will be fine -- he`s not going to be for everyone. He`s not going to be for kids-oriented product or a product that women buy.
BEHAR: Right.
DEUTSCH: But he can get as many sponsors where in reality, is there one less person who`s buying a Nike golf hat because of what he did. He wasn`t iconic because of him as a person. He was iconic because he`s the greatest golfer in the world and hopefully he still will be.
STORM: That`s a very good point. The sponsors were based on his sports performance. They`re all going to stay and that`s what it`s based on originally anyway.
BEHAR: What if he can`t hit the ball this time.
STORM: Well, you know what -- he`s going to hit the ball. You can never underestimate him.
And I`ll tell you the other times he`s come back, he`s come back from injury. Not this time. He`s healthy, he appears to be very settled and getting some of his personal life -- he`s back to meditating he says. So his level of concentration which was already very high is going to be there.
I think he comes back. I think he wins many majors. Maybe he doesn`t win this weekend. Maybe he doesn`t even make the cut --
DEUTSCH: I think he wins.
STORM: He could still break Jack Nicklaus`s all time record.
BEHAR: Make a prediction. I predict he`s got more girlfriends. Go ahead.
DEUTSCH: At this point who cares? 16, 18, 19, whatever -- nobody cares at this point.
BEHAR: I do. I care.
DEUTSCH: Because you like him. You`re jealous. I know.
BEHAR: I`m not jealous.
DEUTSCH: You like that young stuff, right.
BEHAR: He`s a good story for my show, are you kidding me?
DEUTSCH: No. I think he wins. Because I actually think if anything he`d be more focused because that`s the safest place for him at this point.
If he gets on there now, that`s really where he can go back to being Tiger, if you will. So if you look as a behaviorist, I think it`s a great opportunity.
STORM: He says he`s going to tone it down a little bit, so all the anger. And he says on the other side, some of the emotional fist thumping. He`s able to keep the emotion, stop the cursing, stop the club throwing and all of that and stay intense and win. I think he will.
(CROSSTALK)
DEUTSCH: He can keep all that because if he loses that, that`s were - -
STORM: He should -- He needs to lose the cursing and all that anger. And also he was so disconnected from the fans.
(CROSSTALK)
DEUTSCH: That`s what he said was interesting where he said, you know what, I kind of not paid the right attention to the fans. And I think he genuinely -- I think he was so relieved that the fans were behind him today that I think he had a little bit of a kind of -- you know, a --
STORM: Revelation?
DEUTSCH: -- a revelation.
STORM: Yes.
BEHAR: Epiphany.
DEUTSCH: And say, you know what? I owe these people something.
BEHAR: Yes. He owes his wife something too. Why doesn`t he worry about that?
DEUTSCH: A couple of hundred million? I don`t know.
BEHAR: Yes, she should get a nice payday out of this.
DEUTSCH: You know what? Let`s -- something tells me she`s not --
BEHAR: What about this other thing I want to bring up about "Vanity Fair" is showing pictures of all of these so-called victims. They are all victims you know, "he cheated on me" --
DEUTSCH: They all have the same stylist. Do you notice that also?
BEHAR: They all look exactly alike. Which is -- why do they need bodyguards?
DEUTSCH: They go to finishing school. They go to like, -- they go to skank finishing school, they have the same haircut, they have the same outfit. It`s amazing like somebody is styling these skanks. It`s amazing.
BEHAR: Well, I --
DEUTSCH: There`s a skank stylist back there.
BEHAR: -- I think that the story is --
DEUTSCH: I`m sorry, Hannah, I`ll take it to the --
BEHAR: -- continue --
STORM: No, no, I`m letting you do it.
DEUTSCH: I will just bring it down.
STORM: You just take it there and --
DEUTSCH: I will just bring it down.
BEHAR: And don`t tell me that you don`t like the story, because this story is keeping my show alive.
DEUTSCH: It`s a great story.
BEHAR: And thank you so much.
DEUTSCH: Thank you Joy.
BEHAR: -- for joining me in it.
Up next, Rush Limbaugh accuses the President of character assassination.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming up a little later on THE JOY BEHAR SHOW, with moving vans spotted outside Sandra Bullock`s home, could the end be near for her marriage to Jesse James?
And more on Tiger`s return to the ranks (ph). Will 90 bodyguards be enough to keep his former mistresses at bay?
Now back to Joy.
BEHAR: Rush Limbaugh is on the attack again. And this time he`s attacking the President for attacking him. Quote "I know that a majority of Americans are angry at the regime`s (and the Democrats`) constant attempts at character assassination of their opposition. They want no part of engaging in the arena of ideas."
What majority is he referring to, his pharmacist? So let`s see what kind of vitriol, what mean-spirited language the President used.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you aware of the level of enmity that crosses the air waves?
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I mean, I think that when you listen to Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck it`s --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s beyond that.
OBAMA: It`s pretty apparent and it`s troublesome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Oh, inflammatory diatribe.
Joining me now is Randi Rhodes, radio talk show host and Ana Marie Cox, Washington correspondent for "GQ" magazine.
Ok, Limbaugh accused the White House of character assassination. Now, isn`t that the pot calling the kettle, because Limbaugh has called Democrats retards, bastards and liars. He called Kucinich a mental midget --
ANA MARIE COX, GQ: To be fair the -- right.
BEHAR: Go ahead.
COX: -- to be fair, the White House sometimes calls Democrats those words, too. But especially when they`re working at health care but troublesome is not --
BEHAR: Oh I remember that yes.
COX: -- troublesome is not a very sharp thing to call somebody. It`s like getting a check next to your name.
BEHAR: And vitriolic -- he didn`t -- he didn`t say they were vitriolic, like he said their words were vitriolic. So it`s not really against the character.
COX: No, I don`t think its character assassination at all. What I do think is, is a conscious elevation of Rush Limbaugh by the White House. Because they would much rather I think its Rush Limbaugh than Mitt Romney.
BEHAR: Why?
COX: Because more people like Mitt Romney --
BEHAR: They do?
COX: Rush Limbaugh gets a bigger audience and for heaven`s sake he`s certainly more entertaining than Romney.
BEHAR: Yes.
COX: -- by three thousand. But he is -- he always was very divisive and people don`t trust him necessarily as a political raconteur (ph), they trust him as someone who maybe gets them riled up or something but he`s not someone who they really follow to the polls. I mean, look at the Republican primaries.
BEHAR: Yes.
COX: He didn`t have much an effect there.
BEHAR: Right. But he has three million listeners a day.
COX: Yes. He`s very --
BEHAR: This country has 200 million or 300 million people on this country, so what is it, it`s a drop in the bucket and this guy gets a lot of press.
You know, Randi, talk to me about this upsurge in victimhood that I`m noticing. Tiger Woods` mistresses are all upset and they feel like the victims. The Catholic Church is the victim all of a sudden. I mean, and now Rush Limbaugh is the victim. What is that about?
RANDI RHONES, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, you know, I don`t understand how he could accuse anybody of character assassination, because Rush doesn`t have any character.
So I`m lost here to understand, you know, what this argument is, unless you actually realize that this is all projection.
You know, this is what they did to him, or this is what Bush did. And so now all of a sudden he`s noticing that we have an unconstitutional president, we had a guy who outed CIA operatives, we had a guy who wire- tapped his own people.
We had a guy who -- and so now they`re saying oh, you know, we`re going to accuse them of doing everything we did. And that`s how people become these victims.
You know, it`s like -- an idea that, you know, people listen to him. They listened to him because Joy, they have no choice. He`s on every radio station.
BEHAR: I know, I know.
RHODES: He`s on -- they have no choice. So --
BEHAR: I mean, somebody -- somebody, something like Air America which both of you are on.
COX: Yes.
BEHAR: -- couldn`t make it, and yet this vitriol does make it.
COX: I think Air America could --
BEHAR: Well --
COX: -- I`m sure Randi would agree with me. I think there is an audience for the kind of stuff that Air America did. In fact, I think if you look at something like "The Daily Show" which is hugely popular, I mean, that`s the same kind of stuff that liberals --
BEHAR: That`s television.
COX: That`s television but I think that people are entertained by stuff that, Randi does and certainly, obviously she`s still doing to it.
BEHAR: Yes, that`s right, Randi, you do have that show.
RHODES: Yes.
BEHAR: But it`s not -- you -- you`re far between these cyber shows. Yes.
RHODES: Well, I don`t want to be sour or negative or anything about that, but Air America was run really badly. It wasn`t run by radio people. So --
BEHAR: All right.
RHODES: -- you had to sell it, market it, you know. Look at the people who came out of Air America. Ana Marie is at GQ. Rachel Maddow is on TV her own show.
BEHAR: All right, that ship has sailed. Let`s talk about Rush.
RHODES: I just don`t want him to be able to say that we failed in anyway.
BEHAR: No, you didn`t fail. You didn`t fail.
COX: No.
RHODES: No.
BEHAR: Now, what about the idea of using the word "regime". There`s something -- isn`t a regime -- the word "regal" is in regime.
COX: Right.
BEHAR: The word root --
COX: Yes.
BEHAR: Which is -- meaning like, you know, kings and queens are running the government.
COX: Well, it`s one of those words that somehow has a -- like a bad connotation, that somehow over the years has gotten mean something like Nazi regime, the Saddam Hussein regime overturn --
BEHAR: Yes, yes.
COX: -- in Iraq.
BEHAR: Ho Chi Minh.
COX: -- and Iran -- Ho chi Minh, I think it`s a word that other people have used, I mean, the Republicans have sent out several different e-mails I`ve gotten about Democrats using the word regime to describe Bush.
That`s not the problem there. The problem is when you use words like that to distract from debate, I think. I`m sure a famous one is also when people have called the social security scheme.
BEHAR: Oh yes.
COX: The scheme sounds much -- and maybe something ends on eme there`s some --
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Well, I mean, you can play with words. I know Chris Matthews always called Dick Cheney `Cheeney.`
RHODES: Well, Joy, Joy.
BEHAR: Cheeney, which always sounds more evil. How about Boner -- Senator -- Representative Boner, there`s a good one. Go ahead, Randi.
RHODES: Well, I was just -- I mean, I don`t understand, you know, why people don`t get that Bush always talked about regime change in Iraq. And this is, again, the projection where exactly what the Republicans did. It`s now being laid at the foot of the Democratic Party that didn`t do it.
It`s all projection. They know what to say because they knew they were doing it for eight years. They tanked the economy, they raised the deficit, they tortured people, they outed CIA operatives, they lied to the American people about war and peace issues. And they called for regime change, axis of evil.
Every day on the radio, Joy -- you know, I drive now because I live in D.C. In New York I didn`t. Now I drive and I listen to nothing but talk radio and it`s all conservative.
It`s like they`re the best at name calling. You talk about bullying. I know how that story hits you, it hit me hard. They must have been bullied as children.
BEHAR: Oh yes. It is very much --
RHODES: Every time they have this long laundry list: sadist, Marxist, Maoist, Solonist, you know --
BEHAR: All right, Randi, hang on there for a second. We have much more when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: I`m back with my panel.
Let`s talk about Michael Steele. In spite of public gaffes and weak fund raising efforts, he`s hung on to his job as chairman of the RNC. But it seems that spending thousands of dollars at a bondage club may be the whip that broke the camel`s back.
Now, Randi -- Randi, what do you think? Should he -- should Michael Steele resign.
RHODES: You know, yes, but he won`t because he`s addicted to the money and the partying and the lifestyle it gives him. But you know Joy, thank God this was on at night.
This morning it was on Good Morning America. He was on there saying it was about his race. And I was like, you know, bondage before coffee is too much and even I can`t take it. And I`m pretty open-minded. But you got -- $2,000 for a lap dance, you got to love those girls. I`d like applaud them -- it`s great.
BEHAR: You`ll love it.
RHODES: Yes, of course, he should resign.
BEHAR: He did use the race card in this, but didn`t he use the race card against Obama at one point? He doesn`t like his policies.
COX: He did. And the funny thing about Michael Steele is I think sometimes he tells the truth but it`s never at a convenient time. I think there`s something to what he said about that narrower margin that he might be judged by this and Obama is also judged by a narrow margin. Because our country has changed so much, they`re -- those two men are both in positions of power where we`re not used to seeing people of color -- let`s face it.
RHODES: Right.
COX: So people think differently about that. However, this scandal, I kind of don`t want it to go away.
BEHAR: Yes. That was the question. I mean isn`t this good for the Democrats?
COX: It`s great for the Democrats. It`s bad for Republicans on the level of just spending, because they`re trying to portray themselves as the guardians of our treasury and of course they`re showing more outrage about this kind of bondage than they ever did about Abu Ghraib.
So I love this story. I love Michael Steele. And the good news for us is I do not think he`s going to go away. Randi is right. He has survived so much at this point. To get rid of him requires a procedural vote that`s really complicated and it would attract more attention to him. And for another thing, it would attract yet more attention to him. And I think he`s probably just -- there`s a natural segue in November that we`ll see Michael Steele be taken out.
BEHAR: Randi, do you think he`s good for the Democrats?
RHODES: He`s better for the Republicans. He`s great for them, because don`t they believe women should be submissive? They could turn this whole thing around and make it work. They could.
No, seriously. All kidding aside. This is so right for jokes it`s incredible.
But look Michael Steele -- there is an incredibly 37 states have to vote, to get rid -- they`ll never have to do it. I love him because he spends more than he takes in. So yes, it`s great for Democrats. You know, but the bondage club girls --
BEHAR: That`s what really bothered them. Isn`t that what really bothered the RNC is the money rather than the bondage part?
COX: It`s true. The RNC tried to release some figures that showed the DNC spending the same kind of money, although not at bondage clubs. And the problem is that the Democrats are getting great return on investment for those kinds of things whereas the Republicans are spending outlandishly on outlandish things and they`re still way behind the Democrats.
BEHAR: Ok. Just before we go, I just want to mention that Justice John Paul Stevens is going to retire. I think he`s 90 years old.
Do you think that they`re going to have a lot of trouble getting a liberal judge in there when he retires? Look what they did so Sonia Sotomayor.
COX: (INAUDIBLE) that means you consider her liberal. She`s actually not incredibly liberal.
BEHAR: I don`t. I don`t consider -- you want to know something? I don`t President Obama liberal at all.
COX: I don`t John Paul Stevens would also be shocked to be considered a liberal.
BEHAR: Yes. But I mean, they sort of twist the word "liberal" to suit their needs.
COX: Right. I think the short answer to this is like we`ve already seen the Republicans have said they`re going to take their toys and go home. They don`t have very many toys, but they have some and that`s what they`re going to do on the Supreme Court.
BEHAR: Right. Ok. Thanks very much, ladies.
Up next, he`s back. More on Tiger Woods in just a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: Tiger Woods arrived in Augusta this week with 90 security guards. If you are doing the math, that`s five security guards to each skankette. Here to talk round two of Tiger and other pressing pop culture items are Lizzy Grubman, owner of Grubman Public Relations, Janice Minn former editor-in-chief of "US Weekly" and culture anthropologist Mark LaMont Hill. OK, Janice.
JANICE MINN, FORMER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, US WEEKLY: Yes.
BEHAR: Ninety bodyguards will be given photos of every Tiger mistress.
MINN: Uh huh.
BEHAR: Wouldn`t it be easier to just look for girls to look like strippers?
MINN: Well definitely, but you know, you have to think, one of these women are not shy. This is their moment. This is like the highlight, the gravy train is over for them, Tiger is not buying the fuel or paying them money anyone. So what do they have to lose? You can come out in a bikini, pull the sign, I slept with Tiger, it`s a great opportunity for these women.
BEYAR: He`s going to be surrounded by eight bodyguards at all times. I mean, what`s the worst that can happen to the guy?
LIZZIE GRUBMAN, OWNER, GRUBMAN PUBLIC RELATIONS: I mean he can be laughed at. I mean --
BEHAR: He could be laughed at? OK.
(LAUGHTER)
GRUBMAN: I mean honestly, what`s the worse that can happen? Absolutely nothing, really. Absolutely nothing.
BEHAR: Yes, let me ask Mark. The tabloids are looking for all sorts of evidence of him being of him being on the prowl. I mean so he`s got to be careful not to be photographed with any women in the vicinity. Like let`s say he`s doing a shot and there`s a good-looking skankette behind him, then they`ll put the picture out there.
MARK LAMONT HILL, PROFESSOR, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Exactly.
MINN: And then put the pictures headlines ready, you know.
HILL: That`s exactly right, he needs to scowl at all times. If he even smirks or something gets in his eye and he winks it`s going to look like he`s picking up another hooter`s waitress. So he needs to just keep his head down and play golf. That`s what those bodyguards are all about. It`s about protecting him from candid shots that will misrepresent him and make him look even worse than he already does.
BEHAR: But how could they golfer on a golf course with all these other people around watching him play golf? Doesn`t make sense.
GRUBMAN: I think honestly, his eyes are on the game right now. I don`t think that he`s looking to have any girls around him. I think he`s really out there to play golf. Play a really good game and to really be focused.
BEHAR: Yes but Janice why are these mistresses threatening to go to the game? It`s so boring, golf.
MINN: Yes, but, it`s so true. What else do they have going for them? Like they`re going to go back to serving cocktails. Or you know, like serving pancakes? Like this is their moment. It`s amazing to me they got a "Vanity Fair" spread.
BEHAR: Oh my god, I know.
MINN: I mean you know, they`ve been rewarded, their behavior has been awarded time and again scandal (inaudible). This would just be like their coronation if they got attention at the Masters.
BEHAR: Coronation -- isn`t it interesting how these girls think of themselves as the victims? I mean, he hurt my feelings. That is the definition of hoopsta. Or in this case, hoopspa.
HILL: I like that, there`s a lot of blame to go around. There`s another disgust to go around for everybody. Yes, they were victims to some extent, Tiger Woods played them. He exploited them. He used his power and his celebrity. But they also used him. I think both people did something wrong here. They had their eyes wide open. Everyone knows Tiger is married. It`s not like he lied about it. Everyone knows who he is. You know and they played into it. So everybody has something to be blamed for here.
BEHAR: Right. I think they were claiming that they didn`t know he had other mistresses. In other words, you`re cheating on your mistress with another mistress.
HILL: Right, right, it`s like that old song, your wife is cheating on us. You know like you know -
BEHAR: Yes.
HILL: I`m not the only one.
BEHAR: Who wrote that, Colt Porter? Lizzy, what about the press conference, did you see it?
GRUBMAN: I thought he did an excellent job. It was much, much better than the first time. Yes I did see it. It was really good.
BEHAR: He didn`t say - the reporters hardly asked him any important question.
GRUBMAN: Well I don`t - I disagree on this one -
BEHAR: Tell me -
GRUBMAN: I think that the first press conference was awful. I mean this time -
HILL: Yes.
GRUBMAN: He addressed a lot more questions, he explained a lot more things down to actually what happened and where he was immediately following the injury, what happened to his lip, what happened to his neck, where he went, what drugs he was taking, you know, what - in regards to the Ambien.
BEHAR: Yes.
GRUBMAN: And the pain killers. He explained that he did hurt his Achilles tendon, you know, about his parents, about his guilt. He was much more open. He was not reading from a script. I mean he was much, much better.
HILL: Or he memorized -- or he memorized the script. I mean I think the issue with Tiger is that he never seemed sincere the first press conference was like an infomercial. This time around he seemed much more prepared, much more candid, but there`s still not a sense that Tiger is contrite about this. There is still a sense that he is just trying to take a paying poll to figure out what the people want to know so he can go back to being America`s golden boy. And that`s just never going to happen.
BEHAR: I know but if he wins the Master, is this history?
GRUBMAN: Yes, absolutely.
HILL: Yes, yes.
GRUBMAN: If he wins it, he`s back to being a superstar. He`ll be like Kobe Bryant. Come on.
HILL: Yes but it`s a Kobe a little bit. I agree he`s a performance brand and he needs to perform well for this to go away, but it`s going to take more than one tournament to happen. It is going to take a year or two to forget all those strippers and Perkin`s waitresses who came up.
(LAUGHTER)
MINN: I agree with you. Absolutely agree with you, there is many more will come out.
BEHAR: You think so?
HILL: Oh, yes.
BEHAR: There is more?
GRUBMAN: I mean whether or not it`s true or not -- you know --
MINN: I think at this point --
BEHAR: We`re up to the population of Brazil at this point.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Go ahead Janice.
MINN: I mean at this point it is white noise. These women like, well you kind of know too much already, you know like his creepiest sexual thoughts. To me at the press conference, like what you know I think reporters did go pretty soft on him. But what could you ask that you don`t already know.
BEHAR: Yes.
MINN: I mean you know -
BEHAR: Well they didn`t ask about all the sexting that he did and how absolutely heinously obscene it was.
MINN: Yes but I mean I guess you know how reporters are -
BEHAR: They didn`t ask about that. And what - is he self destructive to put all that in writing -
MINN: Right.
BEHAR: I mean I would have asked him that.
HILL: That`s a good question.
GRUBMAN: They could have. No one was stopping them.
BEHAR: I know.
MINN: But he`s Tiger Woods. He`s still a god to a lot of these reporters.
GRUBMAN: And but the way he`s still a god to a lot of people. Let`s not forget that. He`s an excellent golfer.
BEHAR: I mean how do you become a god because you can hit a ball in a hole?
HILL: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: All right let`s talk about Sandra Bullock, OK. Radaronline is reporting she`s drawing up divorce papers and while Nazi salute Jesse James wants Sandra to give him another shot. So will she give him a second shot or has that u-boat sailed?
Janice, never wear a Nazi hat or uniform when I`m watching because I will go after you on that forever on that one. I`m just a dog with a wiener schnitzel. So James just left sex rehab. Why do they all go in sex rehab? Let me ask Mark because you`re the culture anthropologist.
HILL: Oh good, I was wondering what your motivation for asking me about sex rehab, OK.
BEHAR: Why do they go into sex rehab, sit PR or they actually think something is going to come of it or what?
HILL: Well I think there`s two things. I think at a moment where you hit rock bottom, you`re looking for simple answers. And then at the same moment, the world is telling you your sex habits are something that are abnormal and require medical intervention. I don`t know whether he can`t keep his penis in his pants or whether or not he`s actually an addict. But either way it is good to have time away, to reflect, and talk to someone. But sometimes this is an excuse. I mean there is racism rehab, there`s porn rehab, there`s sex rehab. There`s so much rehab, you know.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: I know, it`s true. But you know Janice, he just left sex rehab I was about to tell you.
MINN: Right.
BEHAR: And he got upset apparently it was reported that because Sandra did not return his phone call. He`s so sensitive.
MINN: Yes, she`s so mean that way.
(LAUGHTER)
HILL: The nerve.
MINN: Yes. Like Tiger Woods, these are narcissists. They think that they fixed a problem and the world should be forgiving them.
BEHAR: Yes.
MINN: And you know, I mean Jesse James, he was clearly leading some kind of double life or Sandra Bullock is the biggest fool of all time. I mean --
BEHAR: I know, I know.
MINN: It`s really sad.
GRUBMAN: It`s very sad.
MINN: Really sad.
BEHAR: She really looks like she didn`t get it at all.
MINN: I think you kind of forget that these actresses go off on set for a long, long time. They call home every night and someone answers the phone and they think it`s ok. You know.
BEHAR: Yes, all right let`s talk about the Nazi photo, which we happen to have. OK, can we see, there it is. According to his lawyer, the hat was given to him as a gag gift by his Jewish god father.
MINN: Yes, so funny.
BEHAR: Makes me gag, I tell you that.
GRUBMAN: I have to second that one. I`m Jewish. It makes me sick.
BEHAR: And why would someone want to dress like a Nazi? Remember prince William, was it William or Harry.
GRUBMAN: Harry.
BEHAR: Harry was at a costume party with the Nazi regalia. I mean really his country fought the Nazi`s, what was he thinking? Why am I talking about him?
MINN: I can almost understand the explanation, if not for the fact that that Michelle "Bombshell" -
BEHAR: On yes, Bombshell, love that.
MINN: Magee, she also seems to really enjoy Nazi paraphernalia. I mean it`s you know --
BEHAR: What is it about, cultural anthropologist, what is that about?
HILL: Some people are Nazi sympathizers. I wish I had a complex, deep answer.
(LAUGHTER)
HILL: Some people are just nuts you know. And I think the person I`m saddest for is Sandra Bullock because it seems to be that there`s a side of this person who she just didn`t recognize. He seems to like to live on the edge, to play with social norms, whether it`s around relationships, whether it`s around sex, or whether it`s around, you know, Jews and other ethnic minorities.
BEHAR: Yes.
HILL: That`s his thing and to kind of play with those things and play on the edge. It is a very sad thing. I hope he gets some help.
BEHAR: Then why would he go with Sandra Bullock? She`s the girl next door, she`s as safe as they come.
MINN: It`s like Tiger and Elin.
HILL: That`s the fun. Yes, that`s the fun, Tiger the golden boy ends up with a stripper. You know he`s the guy on the edge, he wants America`s sweetheart, that`s what happens sometimes.
BEHAR: There`s something about mommy in there, too. I`m going to go out and stick it to mommy. Thanks, everybody.
Coming up, cops say a 15-year-old girl was bullied to death. This story aggravates me by classmate. We`ll be back in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: Tomorrow, three high school kids will be arraigned in Massachusetts in connection with a suicide death of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince. Prosecutors say that nine teenagers in total were so relentless in their bullying of this poor girl that she took her own life. It`s a horrifying story. So just how bad is the bullying problem in our schools? And is it worse now than a generation ago?
Here now to discuss further are Jodee Blanco, author of "The New York Times" best seller book, "Please Stop Laughing At Me." Tina Meier, whose daughter Megan was bullied online and committed suicide. And "Boston Globe" reporter Kevin Cullen.
Kevin, let me start with you. You`ve been covering the Phoebe Prince story for a while now. What type of bullying did this girl have to endure, explain it.
KEVIN CULLEN, BOSTON GLOBE: Well first of all, she was from Ireland, she arrived in this country in August and September -
BEHAR: Right.
CULLEN: And started high school. It quickly became a problem because she dated a football player, one of the senior. And I think there was some young girls there who thought this girl didn`t know her place. So I mean it was typical in your face bullying. Very -- a lot of name calling. They knocked books out of her hands in the corridors. And when she went home at night, she would get text messages from these people calling her a shut, calling her this calling her that. Part of it was your classic old fashioned in your face bullying. The difference now with kids being online, with kids having cell phones, there`s no respite. And this went on for three months before she killed herself.
BEHAR: Right so they were jealous basically of her, it sounds like.
CULLEN: That was a lot of it, yes.
BEHAR: Now nine teens are facing charges related to Phoebe`s death. Two boys and seven girls. Tell us what the charges are.
CULLEN: Well it`s a host -- if you look at it in terms of the scope of the charges, it includes stalking and the case of the two boys they are actually charged with statutory rape. But it includes stalking and one of the more serious charges is the civil rights violation. In Massachusetts, you have the civil right of being able to have an education and go to school.
BEHAR: Oh.
CULLEN: And the prosecution is charging these students with violating her civil rights by denying her that, by trying to drive her from the school.
BEHAR: Oh I see so they do have a case. Yes, Tina, let me talk to you about your daughter. Your daughter Megan committed suicide in 2006 three weeks before she turned 14. Everybody knows about this case, I think, because it involved the mother of the bully. She was a victim of cyber bullying and an internet hoax. Can you explain the hoax to the people who are watching?
TINA MEIER, DAUGHTER COMMITTED SUICIDE: Well, the hoax was the mom -- Megan had been friends with the girl down the street. Their friendship failed and the mom heard that Megan was calling her a daughter a bad name. So what they decided to create a fake Myspace profile of a boy, Josh Evens and they befriended Megan and talked to her for five weeks acting as this boy.
And unfortunately for the five weeks, everything was friendly, nice, and sweet. The last day, two-hour period Megan was cyber bullied to the point that she unfortunately was so devastated she took her own life and we later found out five weeks later that it was never a boy, it was actually Lory Drew who lived down the street.
BEHAR: So they set her up to make her think the boy was interested in her and shot her down.
MEIER: Right.
BEHAR: And the mother was - what`s her name, Lory Drew, she was indicted on charges relating to your daughter`s death.
MEIER: Right.
BEHAR: But she was later acquitted. I mean, that must have been just a terrible thing for you to have to deal with, that she got off.
MEIER: Oh, absolutely. I mean, you know, the thing was I wanted to make sure that justice was served so that there you know another case in place that if this ever happened to another family again that they could look at this law and use it. Unfortunately, Lory Drew was only found guilty of three misdemeanors and then the judge threw it out and dismissed it. His statement was that if anybody would be unconstitutional to convict Lory Drew because many people lie on social networking sites, so he would have to convict everybody. To me, that`s completely off bases.
BEHAR: Right.
MEIER: There`s no possible way that that`s right. But unfortunately that was his decision.
BEHAR: Yes. Jodee, you were bullied as a child and wrote and it.
JODEE BLANCO, AUTHOR, "PLEASE STOP LAUGHING AT ME": Yes.
BEHAR: And you were also quite - you were suicidal also I understand.
BLANCO: Oh, it was a terrible thing in high school.
BEHAR: Do you think that bullying is worse than it was when we were kids? Or when you were kids?
BLANCO: No. Bullying is no worse today than it was 30 years ago. The only difference is that the weapons to do with it are far more sophisticated and they cut a deeper and wider swath. Thirty years ago you could start a rumor about anybody but you would put it on paper and pass it around and that was it. Today that rumor can be uploaded on YouTube, it could be e-mail blasted to thousands of kids, it could be posted on a wall on Facebook.
BEHAR: Right.
BLANCO: So the bullying itself, the impulse for cruelty is the same, but the weaponry is much more sophisticated.
BEHAR: Much more dangerous, the incident and everything.
BLANCO: Yes.
BEHAR: Now, let`s talk about the adults for a second. The case of Phoebe Prince, the D.A. said a lot of the faculty members were aware of the bullying. The school denies that. Should they face charges, the school?
BLANCO: Yes, the school should face charges. In my mind there`s two kinds of popular kids. The elite leader is caring and loving. The elite tormenters are the mean popular kids and sometimes they have the stronger pull over the teachers and the administrators and the adults in the community as they do the kids.
BEHAR: Why, why?
BLANCO: Because these are the kids who are good looking, they get good grades, they participate in all the extracurricular activities. So when they`re performing acts of bullying, the administration and the teachers and the adults are in a state of self-inflicted denial. So I want to say, too, that it`s also the exclusion that they do as well.
BEHAR: I see. That`s very interesting. OK, stay right there, everybody. We`ll have more when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: I`m back with my panel talking about bullying. Kevin, what do you think will end up happening in the Phoebe Prince case?
CULLEN: Well obviously there will be a trial. I think it will get a lot of attention to it. I`d frankly be surprised if these kids if convicted got heavy jail time. Because this is something of a test case. This is in terms the number of defendants and the scope of charges, it`s the biggest teen bullying case in U.S. history.
BEHAR: Yes.
CULLEN: And there`s not a lot of case law, not a lot of precedent on this.
BEHAR: I hope it`s a warning to others kids.
CULLEN: I think that`s why the D.A. did it. Betsy Shybu (ph) was very serious about setting this, saying that this is to send a message. This thing -- it will not be tolerated.
BEHAR: Tina, let me ask you, what should the parents do in these cases do you think? How much of the blame should they have?
MEIER: I absolutely think that unfortunately children learn from their parents. They learn from their home life. I think that the parents who obviously have these children need to realize that if the children have to face consequences for what they did -- these kids knew what they were doing. We`re not talking about a 5-year-old child that didn`t understand they were calling somebody a name. They knew what they were doing. They kept repeating it and I think that parents have to understand their kids are going to have to face consequences. I hope this teaches a lesson to other parents out there to know what`s going on with your kids and their friends and to talk to them about these situations.
BEHAR: Right. Now, you were saying to me on the break about what people should be looking out for in bullies. It`s not just what they do. It`s what they don`t do.
BLANCO: Exactly.
BEHAR: Yes.
BLANCO: Bullying isn`t the mean things you do. It`s all the nice things you never do. Letting someone sit alone at lunch. Never going out of your way to include that person because the isolation and the exclusion makes the victim say to themselves, there must be something wrong with me.
BEHAR: Right.
BLANCO: And they will carry that their whole lives if they survive it.
BEHAR: Maybe we should start teaching the good kids to look out for these kids who are sort of left by the side. You know?
BLANCO: Well it`s interesting you should say that because I travel around the country and I share this story of my own youth in schools across America. And my message to kids is the elite leaders, those caring, loving, popular kids, reach out, reach out in friendship to the kids who are lonely sitting alone at lunch. Ask them to join your table because the chronic exclusion is just as damaging as the overt bullying. And in the case of phoebe, she had nowhere to turn. Even her teachers were bystanders. There`s no way that school didn`t know what was going on. They are culpable.
BEHAR: Wow, I think you might be right. Do you think bullying will ever disappear from - you know kids are kids. Some are mean just like adults. Some animals are nasty. Some animals are sweet. I mean that`s human nature, that`s animal behavior.
BLANCO: Bullying will never go away but I think how we address it as adults needs to change radically. Adults don`t get it. And when adults tell kids, ignore the bullies and walk away.
BEHAR: Right.
BLANCO: It does nothing because those victims don`t want to ignore the bullies. They`re yearning for acceptance.
BEHAR: But you tried to commit suicide a few times. Am I right?
BLANCO: Multiple times.
BEHAR: Because you were bullied multiple times I take it right?
BLANCO: I was bullied in many ways like Phoebe. In that I was ambushed at sleepovers, I was burnt with lit cigarettes. People chased me in the hall and say I should have been an abortion so people wouldn`t have to look at me.
BEHAR: But you are here, how did you survive it, what did you do?
BLANCO: My parents did something smart. And it`s the advice I give to parents across America. Interim social life. Joy if you`re a parent, find your kid a different social life in the park district one neighborhood away so they can have new friends while you the parent deals with the larger issue of the school. That`s what that means.
BEHAR: Thank you very much, very much for this interesting conversation. And thank you all for watching. Watch your kids. Good night.
END
