Return to Transcripts main page
Joy Behar Page
Surviving a Tsunami; Japan`s Nuclear Crisis
Aired March 14, 2011 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: Coming up on THE JOY BEHAR SHOW, in the wake of mass destruction in Japan, one remarkable story emerges. A 60-year-old man floats out to sea and survives for two days before being rescued. Joy speaks to survivors of the Indonesia tsunami to see what it`s like to face death and come out alive.
Plus a new spin on mail-order brides. Joy talks to a man who was shopping for his wife online.
That and more starting right now.
JOY BEHAR, HOST: This story in Japan is just so painful. Thousands of people have died, many more missing. But in the midst of the horror, there were actually some miraculous stories of survival.
Here`s one. A 60-year-old man was saved yesterday after rescuers found him on the roof of his house floating nearly ten miles out to sea. He was rescued. We`re going to hear about it.
Let`s talk to Bill Nye, the Science; Yris Bilia (ph), who survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand; and CNN`s Gary Tuchman who`s on the ground in Japan.
Let me start with Gary. Gary, tell me, how did this rescue actually happen?
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yes, Joy, it`s really a wonderful and amazing story. Hiromitsu Shinkawa is his name, 60 years old. What happened was he went back to his house after the earthquake to retrieve some possessions and then he just got washed out to sea.
48 hours later he was found by the Japanese military floating on a piece of his roof. He was holding a red flag that he made, waving it. He says that other people had passed him and never saw him. He was screaming and yelling and he kind of gave hope. Finally, he was rescued.
It`s a wonderful story. The problem is though and it`s very sad that his wife is still missing.
BEHAR: His wife is missing. Didn`t he let go of her hand or something or she slipped out of his hand?
TUCHMAN: He let go of her hand and that`s the tragic part of it. I mean, of course, a wonderful story if she was found. That`s very unlikely. In fact, there are so many people Joy, probably like that who were washed out to sea hoping to be rescued and never were or haven`t been as of yet.
BEHAR: It`s a horrible, horrible thing. I mean what other -- do you have any other stories of survival?
TUCHMAN: Well, today, I spent the day in this town called Ishinomaki and it`s not quite as dramatic but it`s still a wonderful story how there were many people who died in that town but hundreds of people were marooned because the town is underwater.
And today army troops from Japan came in, in rowboats and canoes and started rescuing people. We actually went out on the boats with them. These people were so grateful. Many of them very old, they have no cell service. They weren`t able to tell their loved ones they were alive. They didn`t know if their loved ones were alive.
But they were rescued, brought to land, they`re so deliriously happen. Many of them were brought to the hospital after three days without food, without water. And one of the sad things is, when they were brought to land, you didn`t know what they were going to do next because their hometown is under water.
BEHAR: They are saying there`s another quake on the way. Is that true?
TUCHMAN: Listen, we`ve had -- an aftershock is a quake and we`ve had hundreds of them. We just had one an hour ago Joy. I was sitting here and the ground shook again. You kind of start getting used to it. That`s the sad part.
While we were out on this rescue in Ishinomaki, you know, we were standing on the ground inside the town and some of these elderly people were walking very slowly and the ground started shaking. What is amazing, these are people in some cases they were in their 80s and 90s, they`re kind of used to it.
BEHAR: They`re used to it.
TUCHMAN: No one gets panicked by it. They are just used to experiencing that already after the last three days.
BEHAR: But, you know, they`re saying that this is the worst disaster since World War II for Japan. So, it`s a terrible, terrible thing.
Let me ask you Yris, now, you survived the 2004 tsunami in Phuket, Thailand?
YRIS BILIA, 2004 TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: Yes, Thailand.
BEHAR: In Thailand, which -- that was a devastating tsunami also.
BILIA: Yes.
BEHAR: Tell me what happened to you.
BILIA: Well, we were vacationing in Phuket, myself, my husband, our 5-year-old daughter, and a year and a half-year-old daughter and I was pregnant with my twins. The reason we vacationed because that was before I get grounded with four kids.
And this was our last day and I was reading a book in the morning, my husband walked on the beach with my little daughter. And he came back and told me that the water receded very far away. And then I told him the bench shook like crazy while I was reading the book and it was really strange I didn`t know what to make of it. And then I ignored it.
Five minutes later the same thing happened again.
BEHAR: You had no idea that it could be an earthquake?
BILIA: No idea. It was very strange.
BEHAR: And he said the water receded. So you guys were not familiar with the tsunami. How would you know?
BILIA: No, had no idea what was going on at all.
BEHAR: We`re learning a lot about how it happens now.
BILIA: Right, but usually -- now that I became an expert, it`s -- the water does recede and usually that`s a sign. So -- that a tsunami is about to happen. Even the locals didn`t know, you know, because it`s not something that happens very often there at all.
And so that was the beginning of it. That was at 8:00 a.m. Two hours later the tsunami came because it happened in Sumatra and it takes a while until it travels and got all the way to Thailand.
BEHAR: So in those two hours, were there people alerted to the fact that it was coming?
BILIA: No.
BEHAR: Nobody had a clue?
BILIA: No, nothing.
BEHAR: In the whole area?
BILIA: Nothing.
BEHAR: Even the experts didn`t say, my God, this is going to happen?
BILIA: I think that`s the reason why the devastation was so great. I think the later reports were 230,000 people around the area where the tsunami happened, not just in Phuket. But that`s the reason why the devastation was so vast.
BEHAR: So then two hours go by and the thing happened --
BILIA: And then I`m packing because we`re supposed to leave that day. My husband goes to eat in the restaurant with my two girls and then he comes back running and he goes, you can`t believe this. You have to look outside. I opened the door to the terrace. We`re on the first floor, not the ground, first floor.
I see like the big, huge, heavy wooden umbrellas from the beach which is really far away in the middle of the swimming pool and sand in the middle of the swimming pool. And it seems like the ground floor underneath is flooded but not the first floor yet. And then he says that they were saying that more waves might be coming and they are saying it`s like this unusual high tide.
BEHAR: Did you go upstairs? A few stories --
BILIA: No at that point I was just -- I joked and I said, that I`m just like Israeli Lieutenant in the air force, very level-headed, don`t get crazy about any crisis. I just told him, take the girls, I`m going to finish packing.
BEHAR: Oh, boy.
BILIA: So he walked with the girls, took the camcorder to film what was going on and then at that point they said we are evacuating everybody and he said my wife is in the room. They said, you can`t go back to get her. We will send someone to get her. This guy came and knocked on my door and said, madam, you have to leave. I looked outside and I saw the second wave coming. At that -- but still did not reach our level.
BEHAR: Were you scared yet? Were you nervous at that point?
BILIA: You know what, that`s the ironic thing is that we found out hours later, the severity of the situation would happened in this whole area but up until that point, we didn`t know anything.
BEHAR: I see.
BILIA: So, no, I wasn`t. I packed and then -- I looked and I said, you know, this is pretty bad. It might reach this floor. I should better get like quick. So I packed like diapers and some fruits and I realized I`m probably not going to get to the suitcases for who knows how long and I just walked out of our room.
BEHAR: You left the suitcases?
BILIA: Of course. I just took a bag with just a few things and stuff from the safe and walked out and then the whole hotel was totally vacant. And I saw on the sixth floor some people filming that later I found on CNN, their footage. And then I walked by the front desk and I asked what happened. And then the guy told me that there was an earthquake in Sumatra. Of course, your head goes Sumatra. We`re in Thailand, where is that exactly?
And then at that point I started walking and the whole hotel became like an island. It was surrounded by water. I was wading in water and walking to look for my husband and the girls. Found people with pajamas not knowing what to do.
BEHAR: How did you find them?
BILIA: Well, I walked outside the grounds of the hotel and everybody did the same thing, whomever was ok, started walking away. And at that point we were discussing what are we going to do. Where are we going to go? And we ended up on a hill in a family`s grounds, you know, like they live like they are primitive.
BEHAR: But you survived it and you`re lucky that you`re sitting here telling me this story.
BILIA: Yes.
I mean, Bill when it comes to surviving something like this, isn`t it really all about luck? There`s no such thing as, we knew what -- listen to this story. She just was lucky. They didn`t have a clue what was going on. Bill?
BILL NYE, SCIENCE GUY: Yes. I agree. Most of it is luck. That`s an old saying that earthquakes don`t kill people, buildings kill people. So you want to get away from buildings. There`s an old idea to stand in the doorway. That`s generally regarded as not very effective anymore.
BEHAR: Really? Where should you go? Where should you go? Let`s say you`re in Los Angeles.
NYE: Outside to an open are. Outside in an open street
BEHAR: Yes, but I saw the earth crack. One of the shocks in Japan, the earth actually opened up.
NYE: You said it yourself. It`s luck. But in the case of a tsunami, no, if you`re standing where there is a crack and you fall in, that`s very bad.
But most places it doesn`t crack. The thing is if you are in building especially in an old building, you`re asking about what to do. Do what you can to get out of that old building.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: But what if you`re in a new building?
NYE: Yes. Modern buildings are designed to tolerate earthquakes, required by law to tolerate earthquakes. And there are many reports from your own people being in Tokyo and northern cities where the buildings swayed but did not fall down.
And so the buildings are built to be flexible. They bend without breaking. But when you got a tsunami, and you`re down low see you`re in a -- that`s a tough situation and this is the old the expression, head for the hills.
BEHAR: Head for the hills.
NYE: That`s -- that`s a reasonable -- that`s a reasonable expression.
BEHAR: Because that water is coming at what -- how fast is that water shooting out at you?
NYE: Well, shooting out at you, when it gets to be to the beach, things generally slow down. But it travels across the Pacific Ocean at upwards of 300 kilometers an hour -- sometimes 400. It`s very fast, 200 miles an hour. But this -- look how fast this water is coming.
BEHAR: Very fast.
NYE: It`s about as fast as a person can sprint -- maybe a little faster than this it`s probably going in U.S. units, like 20 miles an hour.
BEHAR: Uh-huh.
NYE: Let`s put it right here, in that video you have right there. So it`s much faster than you can swim or get out of the way, much faster than even the most skilled people can surf. It`s deadly. And if you`re in a train car --
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: Yes.
NYE: -- as many of these people apparently were, you`re in very bad shape.
BEHAR: Yes.
NYE: There`s just nothing you can do. As you said it`s luck.
BEHAR: It`s luck.
NYE: With that said --
BILIA: Sort of luck.
BEHAR: I mean --
NYE: -- but with that said, it`s up to our societies to make our infrastructure apparently -- especially near the coastlines, to make it as robust and safe as possible.
BEHAR: Well, the Japanese have these reactors which we`ll talk about in the next segment the -- and -- and the water there because they -- somebody told me, I don`t know if this is true, but they said that they need the water to cool down the reactor in case of an accident and that`s why they are near the water. Is that true?
NYE: Yes. You -- you cool the reactor with water and you get the heat out of the reactor with water or some other material that`s even crazier --
BEHAR: But it`s a conundrum. I mean, you --
NYE: -- or harder to handle.
BEHAR: -- you need to be near the water for the water to cool down but that`s where the tsunami could hit. The whole thing is very ironic.
NYE: Oh yes.
BEHAR: And -- and tragic.
NYE: Well Joy, well, what happened here, well, what happened here is apparently they -- well, they designed it for this big earthquake. But people didn`t quite take into account how powerful or sudden or dramatic a tsunami could be when you`re there.
BEHAR: Ok.
NYE: And so it survived the earthquake but not the wave.
BEHAR: Ok. Well, thank you to you three people.
I mean, Bill, you stay there. Because in the segment I really want to hear about the -- the possibility of a meltdown and what it means to all of us to hear such a horrific information.
Stay right there everybody.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: Is it possible that the aftermath of the tsunami will be worse than the tsunami itself? There is now a nuclear emergency in Japan as several power plants are down and radiation levels are up.
Back with me now to talk about that is Bill Nye the Science Guy and joining us actor Ed Begley Junior, an outspoken critic of nuclear power.
Bill, we keep hearing worse and worse news all day. I mean, we keep hearing about meltdowns and -- and steam in the air atmosphere. How big is this going to get?
NYE: Well, it looks to me like it`s going to get a lot worse before it gets better. That -- apparently the nuclear fuel has gotten very, very hot. They`ve released a bunch of gas that`s carrying a little bit of that fuel material; some cesium is being carried into the air. And that`s -- that got to indicate that if not big breaches, big holes, there are leaks someplace and certainly they`re venting things.
And so as soon as you start pouring seawater on the thing to cool it off --
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: Yes.
NYE: -- then it indicates you kind of -- as a engineer, you`ve kind of given up. You`re never going to get that plant running again.
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: It should be -- it should be clear water --
NYE: You`re just trying to get it under control.
BEHAR: -- but it should be clear water right? To use but they -- they don`t have access to clear water?
(CROSS TALK)
NYE: Oh well --
BEHAR: Yes.
NYE: By long tradition, they use very pure water for taking the heat out of the reactor and using it to make steam and make electricity.
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: So were there --
NYE: But that clear water --
BEHAR: Yes.
NYE: -- or pure water got overwhelmed really early on.
BEHAR: I see. So -- so you know, when the Chernobyl catastrophe occurred, things happened like first of all cancer rates are soaring in that vicinity. The atmosphere is polluted and they are saying for months, maybe years, maybe even millennia and of course the water is also polluted. Could that happen in this -- in Japan?
NYE: Well, these -- these -- these reactors are much younger technology, they are much newer -- they are not like the thing in Chernobyl. Nevertheless, intuitively, when you have people getting reports of getting radioactive material on their clothing, there is something going on. Whereas if those reports are accurate, there is something going on where this stuff is being thrown into the air; it`s just so much energy in such a small place that you get into these crazy, new problems.
You know if you`re burning coal or in the good old days, firewood or something, you don`t have these sort of --
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: Yes.
NYE: -- extra special scientific problems.
Now let me say, we got going on seven billion people in the world, and everybody wants electricity. Everybody wants to live the way people in the developed world live, the way they live in Japan.
BEHAR: Yes.
NYE: So where are you going to get all that energy? So this is how the decisions get made to have nuclear power plants.
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: I know but it`s --
NYE: Are they good decisions? It`s a tough one.
BEHAR: -- you know, as my friend, one of my friends likes to say, is the juice worth the squeeze? And I go to Ed, do you -- what do you think about nuclear power stations? They are being built like crazy all over the world. Are they safe?
(CROSS TALK)
ED BEGLEY JR., ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST: I`m a big --
BEHAR: I mean -- go ahead.
BEGLEY JR.: I`m a big fan of nuclear power, Joy. There`s a wonderfully safe reactor sited in a very safe locations 93 million miles away from us. It`s called the sun, and that`s the kind of nuclear power I`m most interested in.
And it`s running my house and charging my electric car, so before I have any further discussion, though, my heart goes out to the people in Japan, the survivors, the people we`ve lost already, the families. And I hope everybody opens their hearts and their wallets and goes to -- you know, one of the many Web sites that can help, you know, Red Cross, et cetera, or 808-88 and you know, text them some money. It`s very easy to do. So do something.
But yes, I think there are other alternatives, Joy. I know they work because I`ve had a wind turbine since 1985 that`s put out many homes worth of power. I bought it as part of an investment at a wind farm in the California desert.
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: I know.
BEGLEY JR.: I`m still getting checks and many homes worth of power --
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: You know --
BEGLEY JR.: -- I know that wind power works.
BEHAR: Can I say something? I was reading in the "New York Times" this weekend, an article about progressives like yourself and like me. And a lot of people who consider themselves progressives do not want these things in their vicinity, they don`t want bike lanes, they don`t want turbine. I mean, if you can`t get that from progressives how are you going to get it from conservative, people who believe in nuclear energy no matter the risks?
BEGLEY: It`s a real challenge, Joy, you`re right. And Bill, my dear friend Bill said it correctly. A lot of people want a lot of energy, where are you going to get it from. And that`s the challenge. I think the first place to get before you even start talking about wind turbines or solar panels, you should put every dollar you can. Every minute you can into energy efficiency.
I just had a full home energy audit in my home just a few scant years ago. I cut my very low bills in half. If we all did that, everybody had a home energy audit, did everything they could to conserve power, we wouldn`t need so many nuclear plants or coal plants or any kind of plant. And then as you go forward, instead of putting up more nuclear plants, what we have is what we have that is going on today.
BEHAR: But there`s never any thought ahead for what to do in the future. As Bill says, we have seven billion people on this planet. It`s too many people
BEGLEY: Wind power and solar power work I think are two big answers and I know they work. I`ve been using them since the mid-`80s.
BEHAR: Ok. We`re going to take a break. We have a little bit more.
NYE: Hey Begley, I`m coming after you.
BEHAR: We`ll have a little.
NYE: I have four kilowatts and a leaf. I`m coming after you.
BEHAR: Hold that thought, you two.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: I`m back with Bill Nye the Science Guy and actor, Ed Begley, Jr. Bill let me ask you this. You know Germany has halted their nuclear extension plan and Senator Joe Lieberman, he says that we should put the brakes on nuclear power plants. Do you think Obama will reconsider nuclear power because they are all over it right now? This might even be a wake-up call. What is your opinion, Ed, on that?
BEGLEY: I think we should certainly put the brakes on new nuclear plants. We can find the energy to compensate for those new plants we wanted to build through energy efficiency, through smart controls, Lutron controls in our house and smart strips, turning of power strips with things at night. There`s many inexpensive ways. Energy-saving thermostats, weather stripping, energy-efficient light bulbs that people on the lowest budgets can do.
Many utilities have the wisdom to give people free home energy audits. Talk to your local utility. You get a free home energy audit in many locations and you will save many, many kilowatt hours a month. So do that right away. Save that energy and prevent them from having to build new plants.
And then as you go forward, more wind and solar which we know works very well.
BEHAR: And how about writing to your congressman and telling them that you don`t want any nuclear power plants built?
I mean let me ask you something, Bill, this is just from my point of view being in New York. Is there any danger of any of this radiation coming over here?
NYE: I don`t think so. It`s shooting from the hip, or actually I haven`t thought about it for a few hours I would say no. This isn`t the problem.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Where does it all go? Doesn`t it stay -- it stays in the atmosphere. I remember those movies about these above-ground testing of a- bombs. It`s in the atmosphere. Isn`t this the same thing?
NYE: This is not above-ground testing of a nuclear weapon.
BEHAR: So it`s a different thing.
NYE: This is a use from a modern dual containment vessel power plant. But on -- to Ed`s point, if we were -- people do studies of this. If you were to invest using let us say, government money, to create programs for conservation, you could have, by reasonable estimates, about 30 percent of your energy conserved, electricity conserved. This would be electricity for air conditioning, heating and other household appliances.
If we were to subsidize that, oh heavens --
BEHAR: They`ll start yelling "socialism".
NYE: I know, if we were to provide those means to people, then you would not have to build let`s say by now or by extension 30 percent of the power plants that are planned. That`s an enormous amount of power.
BEGLEY: Enormous.
NEY: 30 percent. And then as -- if we were to invest in innovation and so on, the way people want to, we could probably get to 50 percent without much trouble. For example, my watch is solar-powered. These solar panels are 15 percent efficient. What if they were 50 percent or 60 percent? We would change the world. Thank you.
BEHAR: Ok. Very good. I think you guys should be lobbying President Obama and telling him all this stuff. He needs to listen to some of this.
Thank you very much, you guys.
NYE: We will.
BEHAR: We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: You know, tickets for Charlie Sheen`s upcoming live act sold out in a record-breaking 18 minutes. The name of the show? "My Violent Torpedo of Truth." Isn`t that what Hugh Hefner calls Mr. Happy?
And with me now to discus this and other stories in the news are comedian Jeffrey Ross. The lovely Sarah Bernard, host of "The Thread" on Yahoo! And the lovely Dina Martin, singer, entertainer, and who happens to be the daughter of the fabulous Dean Martin.
JEFFREY ROSS, COMEDIAN: Yeah, how cool.
BEHAR: Oh, my fave. Oh my God. I can`t even tell you how they used to go crazy in my house when I was a kid and he would come on television. My aunt Julie, if she`s watching this, she`s probably (inaudible) right now.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Oh my God, don`t even ask. Now, this Charlie Sheen show, is this going to be a bigger train wreck than "Spider-Man?" That`s what I want to know.
ROSS: Oh God, that`s interesting.
BEHAR: Yeah.
ROSS: Charlie Sheen, it`s interesting. He`s finally funny.
BEHAR: What do you mean finally?
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
SANDRA BERNARD, THE THREAD ON YAHOO!: You`re not laughing with him, you`re laughing at him.
ROSS: Did you ever watch his show? Did you ever care before?
BEHAR: No, the "Two and a Half Men," I never--
ROSS: Now he`s my favorite comedian of all time.
BERNARD: Jeff, does that mean you`re going to fly to Detroit and Chicago and buy a ticket?
ROSS: I want to open for him.
(CROSSTALK)
BERNARD: I think the strangest thing about this is that, like, you know, it used to be if you were just going to go be a celebrity and have a meltdown, maybe you get to do a morning show or a talk show. But now, he doesn`t need that. He has his own channel on Youstream. He basically got 3 million viewers--
(CROSSTALK)
BERNARD: Well, it`s totally unpredictable. It`s his own unedited rants. Three million viewers. He doesn`t even need TV. He`s got his own show.
BEHAR: Deana, why do you think people are so eager to like, enable this guy? What is with that?
DEANA MARTIN, ENTERTAINER: I don`t know. He`s just a spoiled brat.
BEHAR: He`s a spoiled brat.
MARTIN: He`s a spoiled brat. It`s all, you know, and we let him do it. We let him do it, and they`re just, you know, pay him more money. And you know, it`s just -- the only thing I`m worried about is his kids.
BERNARD: Yes, I know, that`s not funny.
MARTIN: He`s going way down, you know, the wrong way.
ROSS: They`re babysat by a porn star.
MARTIN: I know.
(CROSSTALK)
ROSS: Imagine he comes home.
BEHAR: I thought you would have liked that.
ROSS: Yeah, you know, I woke up a little cranky. Baby sitter, will you sit on my face so I can go--
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
BERNARD: Don`t you think it is interesting that -- I`m going to change the subject. Don`t you think it was interesting that Alec Baldwin is giving him advice?
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Alec Baldwin said, "you can`t win. Really. You can`t. Sober up, Charlie, and get back on TV if it`s not too late." Why? "This is America. You want to really piss off Chuck and Warner Brothers and CBS? Beg for America`s forgiveness. They will give it to you, and then go back."
Do you think it`s going to work? Sober up, the guy can`t even stand up.
ROSS: Charlie Sheen heard "30 Rock," he`s like, let`s smoke them.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: What do you think about Alec Baldwin giving advice?
MARTIN: No. He`s the last person I`m going to take advice from. Although, if Charlie Sheen did that, we would take him back. I know that--
BEHAR: We would?
MARTIN: Absolutely.
BEHAR: Yes, we love all of that.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Michael Vick.
ROSS: Take him back? He`s bigger than he`s ever been. The guy is (ph) 100.
BEHAR: Well, that`s true.
ROSS: Winning.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: But shouldn`t the guy capitalize on his own celebrity? Why shouldn`t he go out there and make more money?
BERNARD: Well, I don`t think--
(CROSSTALK)
BERNARD: -- putting it in his retirement fund or anything. I mean, I think it`s kind of a disaster, and we`re just going to all laugh while he completely self-destructs.
BEHAR: Well, you know what, maybe he`s afraid to stop because he knows that he`ll go back on his evil drugs. Maybe that`s it.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Now, listen to this one. I read that Jon Stewart, the show, wants to hire Larry King as a roving reporter. You think he`s roving or wandering?
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: We love Larry. I`m kidding. Would be a great roast joke, right?
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don`t you think Larry would be good?
ROSS: Oh, it`s such a good thing.
(LAUGHTER)
MARTIN: It`s funny. It`s funny but I think -- well, you know, we want to see Larry. You know, because he`s comforting.
BEHAR: He`s the best.
MARTIN: You know, and so it`s -- I think it`s a good thing. We have to keep him, keep him around.
BEHAR: He`s very funny. Wasn`t he funny at the roast?
ROSS: He was such a good sport, and Larry King was on this Donald Trump roast and he was hilarious. And by the way, the first time Larry King covered an uprising in Egypt, he interviewed Moses.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: This is what you have to look forward to tomorrow night.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: But what about you? I heard that you were pretty funny too. Let`s watch you. This is a roast against -- I say it`s against because they are horrific -- against Donald Trump, and this is Jeffrey speaking. Go ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSS: The Donald`s ego is so big, he videotapes himself masturbating and then masturbates to that video.
(LAUGHTER)
ROSS: Donald Trump is such an ego maniac, he makes Hitler seem like he wasn`t completely sure how he felt about Jewish people.
(LAUGHTER)
ROSS: Donald Trump`s ego is so big, he thinks he should have been the first black president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: That`s a good line. I mean, aren`t you afraid of pissing off Donald Trump?
ROSS: You know what, Donald Trump was a good sport. And I felt like by letting us roast him for charity, he showed voters in America that he has not only orange skin, but thick skin.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: But you know what, I saw an interview about this roast, and he said he expects a lot of hair jokes.
ROSS: Right.
BEHAR: Did you do a lot of hair jokes?
ROSS: I did. Because, you know, I said, I said I want -- if he becomes president, I asked him if I could have a ride in Hair Force One.
BEHAR: He didn`t mind?
ROSS: He loved it, by the way.
BERNARD: Hair is a little safe. I mean, you know, he expects it. Yeah, he expects it, right? I feel like it`s the other things that are more stinging. And we were talking about this before, I do not understand why anyone would let themselves be the subject of something like this.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Exactly. Which is why they never do women, hardly ever.
BERNARD: Well, remember, in the Joan Rivers documentary, she was talking about it, and it was obviously because she got paid a lot of money. But that`s not the case here. He didn`t need to do it. He gave it away anyway. I have no idea why he did this.
ROSS: The only jokes he was sensitive about were jokes about going bankrupt in the past.
BEHAR: That ticks him off.
ROSS: I made one joke about how his memoir had four Chapter 11`s.
(LAUGHTER)
ROSS: That was the one joke he didn`t want in there. He doesn`t mind the hair jokes.
BEHAR: I know, that happened on my show where he got ticked off about something like that.
(CROSSTALK)
ROSS: In the end at the roast, Trump, he roasted his own hair. So he`s a very good sport.
BEHAR: Good for him, good for him. But you know, they are very filthy, these roasts. You know, Deana, when your father had his roast, Dean Martin, the great Dean Martin used to have his roast, and we`d seen clips of them on television.
MARTIN: Dean Martin`s celebrity roast.
BEHAR: They were nothing like these roasts now.
MARTIN: No. And they were funny. They were funny. They were good, clean joke -- well, I mean, they were good -- good comedians. Everybody was on that show.
BEHAR: Yes.
MARTIN: Everybody.
BEHAR: They`ve deteriorated into filth.
ROSS: How dare you?
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
ROSS: How dare you?
BERNARD: Can you explain why the situation was involved?
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
ROSS: We needed somebody to make fun of. What are you talking about?
BEHAR: Was he any good?
ROSS: He was hilarious. He started to sort of slip and he started getting booed, and I ran up and I put my arm around him, and he pulled up his shirt, you know, he says I`m The Situation and I said, I`m The Saturation.
He was cute. We need somebody, you know, that is a good sport. You know, once you`re up there, everybody`s fair game.
BEHAR: But weren`t you merciless to Larry King, also? Doing old jokes like crazy?
ROSS: Yeah, but he loved the attention.
BEHAR: He doesn`t mind.
ROSS: I said, Larry King Live, even the name of his show is an oxymoron.
(LAUGHTER)
ROSS: I love you, Larry. Love you.
BEHAR: Give me another, one more joke before I change the subject.
ROSS: You know, he is going to do "The Daily Show," which I was surprised because I thought Larry was going to spend his entire retirement trying to open a jar.
(LAUGHTER)
ROSS: Larry King!
BEHAR: OK, listen to this story. Al Qaeda, OK, they have a magazine. Did you even know that they read? No. But any way, it combines tips on how to get glowing skin with advice on marrying a suicide bomber. It`s like a cross between "Cosmo" and "Guns and Ammo."
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Now, what are they going to do? Are they going to tell you what lip gloss to wear during a stoning? What are they going to do?
BERNARD: There are fashion rules, right, obviously. No, I mean, this is absolutely absurd. It`s scary.
ROSS: I read an article in there, how to make your husband more (inaudible).
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: But I thought -- wouldn`t the fact that they teach you about moisturizers and all this, the beauty tips, aren`t they supposed to be, these women, invisible behind the burka?
BERNARD: Yes, but they are also supposed to please their husbands, right, when they take the burka off.
(CROSSTALK)
BERNARD: -- perfect, and your skin glowing and like you -- like you have a wonderful time under there.
MARTIN: Once that`s off, they`re in Gucci and Prada. Yeah, fabulous.
BEHAR: But how can you tell a woman how to marry a suicide bomber? This is part of the magazine. They give them tips on how to marry a suicide bomber.
ROSS: Get a prenup.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Exactly. And have a short honeymoon.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: They actually have this magazine now. It`s unbelievable to me.
ROSS: Is Oprah still going to be on the cover of that one, too?
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: OK. Thank you, guys. And you can catch this very funny man, Jeffrey Ross, on the Comedy Central`s roast of Trump, tomorrow night. And pick up Deana Martin`s new album, "Volare," in stores now. We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: Do you feel like it would be easier to find Amelia Earhart than a new wife? My next guest thought so. So he decided to try something different. He went online and overseas to find the Senorita Right. Take a look at his first date.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you feeling about this date?
DAVID: Quite nervous, actually. I wasn`t until I saw her. And now, now I`m nervous.
Glad to meet you.
Glad to meet you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. You are beautiful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She thinks you have a great smile.
DAVID: Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: So did it work? You know, half the women in America come from other countries, so I`m not sure why he had to shlep. But so be it. Here now to discuss it, our Lisa Ling, my old pal and host of "Our America With Lisa Ling" on Own, and David, who allowed Lisa and her cameras to follow him to Colombia on his quest and has featured in her series. Welcome you guys to this show.
LISA LING, HOST, "OUR AMERICA WITH LISA LING": Thanks, Joy.
BEHAR: Good to see you again, Lisa. Now, Lisa.
DAVID: Hello.
BEHAR: Hi, how are you, David? Lisa, tell me about your show and these online brides. Give me an idea of what you`re doing over there.
LING: Well, larger and larger numbers of people are seeking out women from other countries. For many different reasons, but there`s a certain segment of that population that is, in earnest, going and looking for love. And David is one of them and, by the way, I have to say David looks very handsome without glasses, I was trying to get him to take off those glasses throughout the shoot, and ...
BEHAR: Watch, someone has been successful, it seems.
LING: David, glasses are not for you. Try contacts.
DAVID: I tried.
LING: So -- so, we followed a group of men over to Colombia to see how the process worked, and these men initially would seek out the AFA, or A Foreign Affair Web site, and there they could find a plethora of profiles of women, and they could actually write to these women and ask them out on dates in advance of their trip. So they get to Colombia and they can go on dates with these women, but what the organization does is they orchestrate the social events, so an American man will be introduced to about 300 or more women throughout the course of their trip. So it would be ten men on this trip, introduced to about 300 women, and they go, and they sit in the room, with 100 women, and the men would rotate from table to table, and each table would have about ten Colombian women and they would have translators.
BEHAR: So this is really like speed dating? That`s what it sounds like.
LING: It`s kind of like speed dating. I actually felt like I had been transported back to my high school days ...
BEHAR: Right.
LING: Because the men were a little nervous about talking to these women. They had to use these translators, and the women just looked stunning, they were dressed to the nines, some of them were dressed down considerably. But I was actually very surprised in the end by what I experienced. I went there thinking that a lot of these men might be going over to find these young hot chicks ...
BEHAR: And they didn`t?
LING: ... and some of them -- well, some of them may have been looking for that, but I actually, surprisingly found, some incredibly strong Colombian women who were not going to compromise their values or the things that they wanted out of life and a spouse just because they were going out on a date with an affluent American.
BEHAR: I see. So, David, let me talk to you. Now, how many times have you been married to American women?
DAVID: Twice.
BEHAR: OK.
DAVID: One time for about 19 years and one for a short period of time.
BEHAR: So, have you sworn off American women?
DAVID: No, I didn`t swear them off, but I did -- I just got tired of doing the match.com type dating. I wasn`t getting anywhere with it, so I thought I would try a different avenue. It`s just a different avenue.
BEHAR: I see. Lisa, how is this different from mail order brides? Is it different or is it similar?
DAVID: Well, to me there is no such thing as mail order bride.
BEHAR: There is no such thing as mail order bride, what?
DAVID: No, there is no such thing as mail order bride. You know, you just can`t pick somebody out of the catalog and say come here, I mean that`s just -- it doesn`t happen anymore.
BEHAR: Oh, you mean it`s not for you. It`s not for you. It does exist. Does it not, Lisa? It does exist.
DAVID: No.
LING: It definitely exists.
BEHAR: Yes.
LING: You could certainly seek that out. But this organization actually invites men to go on these trips and they -- the premise for the most part is to actually engage in these big social events so men in some ways are kind of spoon-fed these hundreds of beautiful Colombian women from whom they can or they might not choose one or a number of them to go on dates.
BEHAR: All right, David, how much did this cost you?
DAVID: It cost me about $2,500.
BEHAR: For the whole thing?
DAVID: Maybe -- for the whole thing.
BEHAR: Well, that`s--
DAVID: I stayed nine -- I stayed nine days. The tour cost $1,500. I paid airfare and then my expenses for food and obviously the money for the dates and stuff, and -- about 2500 bucks.
BEHAR: And that`s pretty inexpensive, considering the airfare is included in that and the whole expense of it. Lisa, that`s really a little too cheap to find a woman, in my opinion. He needs to spend more money. I mean, come on.
LING: Well, it seems like a small amount, but what the head of the organization AFA says is, because there are some who might think that this is a sex tour, and what he would say is if this were a sex tour, we`d actually probably --you could probably do it for far less than what we charged.
BEHAR: Uh-huh. So you`re saying that the women are not really that young? What`s the average age of these women that are in this speed dating? How old are they?
LING: Well, there certainly are some who are young and in their 20s, but David I think had certain standards for himself, and the women that he was dating or the women that he seemed to be interested in were well over 40.
BEHAR: I see. So they can`t -- just one more question before we take a break. But I mean, are they going there to find love or to find a housewife? Just a ...
DAVID: I would tell you ...
(CROSSTALK)
DAVID: Yeah, I`ll speak because for me personally, I was looking for a life partner. Not for a housewife. I want somebody I can share my life with.
BEHAR: But I want ...
DAVID: And I know a lot of the guys that I was with were the same way that I was.
BEHAR: But how long did you actually spend with the woman in Colombia then before you would bring her home?
DAVID: Well, it depends. I mean, if you found somebody you connected with, you might go back down and ...
BEHAR: Go back again, another 2,500? Yes?
DAVID: Well, you wouldn`t use the -- you wouldn`t use the agency at that time. You would just go down, get a hotel, and then just spend a week just getting to know that person. You might do that. I don`t know how long. It just depends on how long until you felt it was right.
BEHAR: OK. All right. When we come back, we`re going to ask David what he says to people who think this is a little creepy. OK? Stay there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: I`m back with my guests talking about online brides. David, I sort of asked you this before. But what do you say to these people who think it`s a little bit creepy what you` doing? I mean these girls, they -- they don`t speak the language, they have to come to a foreign country. They don`t really know you because you`re only spending a short amount of time with them. People think it`s a little creepy.
DAVID: Well, you`re not spending a short amount of time with them. I mean you might short -- spend a short time on the first tour with them, but you`re going to come back, you`re going to know them one-on-one, you`re going to communicate in different forms, by e-mail, by Skype. And so, if you keep communicating each day, you`re getting to learn that person more and more. And it may be, you know, it depends on the two people when you`re going to connect and when you decide you want to be together as partners.
BEHAR: What if the girl wants to come back, wants to go back to Colombia, wants to dump you? Is it easy to do?
DAVID: Just as easy as it is here.
BEHAR: I see. So there`s no like -- you know, it`s not like there`s any hold on the girl, and -- How does the -- how does the woman know, Lisa, that the guy is on the up and up? Is it because of the agency? I mean, he could turn out to be a perv. They don`t know.
LING: This is true. And what we try to do with this series, "Our America," is really explore all different aspects of a story. And so we met a woman who fell madly in love with an American man. She bore a child of his, and she later learned that he was married in America and he was like a serial online dater. So certainly that kind of person exists. And I met a couple of men on that tour that David was on who seemed to be interested not in love but in other things. But then I met someone like David who truly in his heart of hearts was looking for his life partner.
BEHAR: Yeah, I see. I can see where ...
LING: And it was kind of inspiring.
BEHAR: But it`s like any kind of, as you pointed out, David, it`s like any kind of dating where you know, you go out to lunch with a guy, you date him for a few times and then you find out he`s married. But in this case, they have to now fly back, who pays their fare back? You know, I mean, how do they get back home if they don`t like what`s going on here?
DAVID: Well, hopefully the guy would do that. But that is a good question. I mean, I`ve never encountered that, so I really can`t answer that. But think about it, I mean, there is hidden agendas not just international dating, but also domestic dating. You don`t know who -- you`re dating, either the girl or the guy.
BEHAR: Right.
DAVID: So, it`s always a risk you`re taking.
BEHAR: Well, sometimes in this country, you know, if you`re fixed up by somebody that knows both people or you meet them at a social function that you`re familiar with, I mean, it`s a little bit different from going to another country. It`s a little bit less anxiety ridden, I think, for the female. For the woman. Not necessarily ...
LING: And certainly that -- that could absolutely happen ...
BEHAR: Yes.
LING: ... women who have been brought over. And the relationship, just frankly, doesn`t work, and then what? She`s stuck, especially if she`s a woman that doesn`t have a lot of resources. So certainly ...
BEHAR: Maybe the agency ...
LING: ... that aspect of this.
BEHAR: But maybe the agency, David, should build that into your fee, like a return trip ticket in case it doesn`t work out for her. Just a suggestion.
DAVID: Well, you know, people have to take responsibilities for themselves, too, a little bit. And, you know, you do have to keep your eyes open, look for red flags on both ends because what if the woman is crazy? What if she`s violent when she gets here?
BEHAR: Well, that could happen.
DAVID: Was nice and sweet. So, you know, it`s a two-way street. You really got to -- you really got to keep your eyes open ...
BEHAR: Yes.
DAVID: ... and really use common sense.
BEHAR: OK. Hey, this is interesting, Lisa. I got to go. Thank you guys very much for sharing this. "Our America With Lisa Ling" airs Tuesday nights on OWN. Thanks for watching. Good night, everybody.
END
