Return to Transcripts main page
Joy Behar Page
Interview With Caroline Kennedy; Interview with Patty Duke
Aired April 07, 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, Caroline Kennedy talks about her new book of poetry, her mother`s legacy, and the biggest political stories of the day.
Plus, can you be addicted to food just like you can be addicted to drugs or alcohol? A new study says so, and Joy will discuss it with two food addicts. That and more starting right now.
JOY BEHAR, HOST: Caroline Kennedy is not only an accomplished lawyer and an author, but in her family`s tradition, a tireless advocate for the public good, especially in the areas of arts and education. Her new book of poetry is called "She Walks in Beauty: A Woman`s Journey Through Poems." I`m very pleased to be joined by the lovely and talented Caroline Kennedy.
CAROLINE KENNEDY, AUTHOR, "SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY": Thank you.
BEHAR: It really is nice to see you. You know, I`m such a Kennedy- phile.
KENNEDY: Oh. Well, that`s good.
BEHAR: I`m a Kennedy-phile, you know?
KENNEDY: That`s good.
BEHAR: And I was saying to you during the break that when I see you - - and I`m sure that`s true for a lot of people -- we realize how old we are...
KENNEDY: Right.
BEHAR: ... because you`ve been in the...
KENNEDY: I know. When I turned 50, everybody just couldn`t stand it because it made them feel so old.
(LAUGHTER)
KENNEDY: It`s, like, If you`re 50, I must be...
BEHAR: Exactly. Because we all remember everything.
KENNEDY: Right.
BEHAR: OK, so now, this isn`t the first time you`ve put together a poetry book. I mean, this is what, your third book?
KENNEDY: This is my third poetry book.
BEHAR: And they`re lovely.
KENNEDY: Well, thank you. It`s actually been a fun thing, and it started just by chance, in a way. I never thought I`d be doing poetry books. I never really studied poetry. But the first one I did was after my mother died, and I realized that people sort of think and talk about her style and fashion, but in fact, what made her the person she was was really her love of reading and ideas.
BEHAR: Right.
KENNEDY: And raising my own kids and working in education, I really began to think about, you know, what we`re reading and why we`re reading it. And I think poems really have an ability to transform our lives.
BEHAR: Absolutely, if you can figure them out.
KENNEDY: Well, that`s the problem...
(CROSSTALK)
KENNEDY: ... people are so intimidated, though. And they`re really not that complicated. You don`t have to understand the whole thing. You just have to...
BEHAR: No, not all of them. Not this one, for example. "To keep your marriage brimming with love and the loving cup, whenever you`re wrong, admit it. Whenever you`re right, shut up."
KENNEDY: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Ogden Nash!
KENNEDY: That`s good.
BEHAR: But you know, when I think of your mother, you know, I think about beauty in the White House. I think about, you know, Jose Iturbi coming and all of the great artists of the world congregating at the White House, you know. So we always thought of your mother as an artsy person.
KENNEDY: Right. Right. That`s true. But I think maybe that`s because you`re of a certain age.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Thank you, Caroline...
KENNEDY: The younger generation...
BEHAR: ... for reminding me yet again how old I am. You know, you can`t get away with your age anymore because it`s all over the Internet.
KENNEDY: That`s right. That`s right. That`s if you`re looking yourself up on the Internet.
BEHAR: Well, I`m not, but other people are.
KENNEDY: Oh, OK.
BEHAR: OK. So did they give gifts of poetry in your family? Did people -- did your mother used to give you poetry gifts?
KENNEDY: Well, not a book but we -- no, she had to give us presents, and we had to give her a poem so...
BEHAR: You had to write a poem.
KENNEDY: Write or a poem that we`d learned in school or we picked out of a book. And we just copied it over and decorated it and...
BEHAR: That`s a wonderful idea!
KENNEDY: Yes, it`s a great idea and I`ve done it with my kids. I got a poem for Christmas and I got a playlist for my iPod. So I came out way ahead.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: What`s on your playlist?
KENNEDY: Well, on my -- I asked them to put their favorite music on it, my kids, so that it reminds me of them. So it`s good for the gym or when I`m rollerblading or when I see you, when I`m jogging out there in the park.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: It wasn`t you, was it?
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: I`m so embarrassed. I thought it was you. I spoke to the person as if it was you. And this stupid woman acted like she was you.
KENNEDY: Well, now I`ve got to go find her, then.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: So anyway, you know, I was talking to Alec Baldwin earlier this week and I was talking about funding for the arts and how the Republican Party`s basically trying to take all the funding away from the NEA, which I think is just despicable. I mean, here we are talking about poetry and how wonderful it is, and they just want to cut all the funding.
KENNEDY: Well, I think, you know, the arts are really what -- one of the things that make this country strong. We always think it`s our economy or our military power, but in fact, I think it`s our culture, our civilization, our ideas, our creativity.
BEHAR: Right.
KENNEDY: And you`ve got that start that young. You`ve got to start it with kids and give them the chance to, you know, create and express themselves and find their own voice. And I think that`s really an important part of education and it`s the important part of arts funding, too.
BEHAR: Right. It`s the first thing to go.
KENNEDY: Right.
BEHAR: Sarah Palin has said that the NEA funding is frivolous. They would like to cut out $40 million. Sarah Palin said that. Do we want...
KENNEDY: She did? That naughty Sarah Palin!
BEHAR: She is naughty!
KENNEDY: You`re going to have to get her!
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: I`m trying to get her.
KENNEDY: Look at that.
BEHAR: I`ll have to watch reruns of "Sarah Palin`s Alaska" for the rest of my life.
KENNEDY: Really.
(LAUGHTER)
KENNEDY: Your long life. Your long, long life.
BEHAR: I mean, yes, really, it`s, like...
KENNEDY: No, the arts is a serious thing and it`s serious in the city, in schools because you can`t quantify it. And we want to quantify everything now. And -- but in fact, if you talk about what makes life worth living, it`s, you know, the human spirit.
BEHAR: Right.
KENNEDY: It`s friendship. It`s, you know, love. It`s all the things that the arts are about.
BEHAR: All the good things.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: And I don`t think you find too many terrorists who are poetry freaks, you know what I`m saying. Or murderers and bad people do not -- you know, they need the arts to create a good person, in a way.
KENNEDY: Right. No, that`s what it`s really about, the most important things in life. And there`s a great quote, actually -- you know, people say, Well, why poetry? That`s so -- you know, nobody talks about -- nobody cares about poetry. It`s true, nobody on TV maybe but you is talking about it. But there`s a good quote that says, It`s hard to find the news in poems, but men die every day for lack of what is found there.
BEHAR: Oh!
KENNEDY: And I think you`ve got revolutions of ideas all over the world right now, and America is what all countries want to be. So we really should celebrate the arts.
BEHAR: That`s right. That`s right. Now, Obama. Let`s talk about President Obama. Let`s talk about a little politics, what`s going on. I mean, I know that -- I have a quote here from you about him. In 2008, you publicly endorsed Obama and you said, "I have never had a president who inspired me the way that people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president not just for me but for a new generation of Americans."
It`s a powerful statement you made there, you know? And do you still feel that way?
KENNEDY: I really admire the -- you know, his character and his courage. And I think it`s incredibly difficult times to be president, and I think he`s made a lot of tough decisions that haven`t always been in his own political interest but I think that have been good for the country. And I think, you know, he -- we all need to step up now. And it`s really hard when times are tough for people to get involved...
BEHAR: I know.
KENNEDY: ... because they don`t see the political process as a way of solving problems because our...
BEHAR: No, people don`t see that politics is personal.
KENNEDY: Right. It`s personal. It doesn`t really seem to affect our lives. And it`s so divisive that a lot of people are just turned off by the whole thing. But I think those are the people who need to get involved because right now, we have kind of an argument that`s very divisive going on...
BEHAR: Very divisive.
KENNEDY: ... between the extremes. But I think most people are really kind of -- share a belief in this country and the sense of what we stand for. And people really need to get involved. You can`t just sit out and then say, Well, you know, politics is useless and I`m not getting involved...
BEHAR: Right.
KENNEDY: ... because it`s not a spectator sport.
BEHAR: You know, your uncle Teddy -- we miss Teddy so much.
KENNEDY: I know. He was really great.
BEHAR: We miss all the Kennedys because we`re just -- I can get so verklempt just thinking about the Kennedy family because it meant so much to America to have them there, you know? Anyway, Teddy -- his seat was traditionally Democratic in Massachusetts. Scott Brown comes in and takes the seat. Now, did that disappoint you when a Republican took that seat?
KENNEDY: Well, I didn`t think it was, like, a Kennedy seat, which a lot of people tried to make it...
BEHAR: Well, I did.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: I did.
KENNEDY: And well, you never know what`ll happen next. But you know, I think -- I mean, I miss Teddy, so I was really preoccupied with that. And obviously, you know, Scott Brown has done -- you know, we`d like it to be a Democratic seat and I hope it will be again, though.
BEHAR: He`s not terrible, though.
KENNEDY: No.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: He`s not -- he`s not -- he`s not terrible.
KENNEDY: As Republicans go, no, he...
BEHAR: I mean, I like him because I think he`s pro-choice. And he -- what was the other thing that he recently did that was good? But -- Planned Parenthood. He supports Planned Parenthood.
KENNEDY: Right. Right.
BEHAR: But...
KENNEDY: Well, he`s from Massachusetts, so he couldn`t be that bad.
BEHAR: Right. That`s right. But he didn`t support extending unemployment insurance.
KENNEDY: Right.
BEHAR: And I took issue with that because, after all, this guy, if you read his book, he had a terrible childhood. They were poverty- stricken. He should know better. So you know, you need a little empathy from these Republicans...
KENNEDY: Right.
BEHAR: ... I think, and they`re not giving it. They`re not giving it.
KENNEDY: Right.
BEHAR: It`s terrible. People are suffering.
KENNEDY: Right. No, people really are suffering. And you know, hopefully -- I mean, the economy is, hopefully, improving, and hopefully, you know, better days will be ahead.
BEHAR: I know.
KENNEDY: I mean, we`ve made it through tough times before. But it`s really awful, what`s going on in this country.
BEHAR: You know, I asked a friend of mine who is an Italian-American, rich, rich guy. He runs an ad agency. And he`s a Republican. And I said, Why are you a Republican? He said, When I was a kid, I asked my father, What`s the difference between a Republican and a Democrat, he said, The Republicans are for the rich, the Democrats are for the poor. So I became a Republican.
(LAUGHTER)
KENNEDY: He wants to be rich?
BEHAR: He wants to be rich. And he is. And he is. It`s hard to argue with that.
KENNEDY: Right. Right. Well, that goes back, you know, to the beginning of this country. I mean -- but I think we all need, as I said, to get involved. And the more people who participate need to make this government responsive to what`s -- people`s suffering and people`s hardship because that`s, you know, what government`s there for.
BEHAR: But besides the vote, people feel powerless about what to do, how to control these people who are not voting in their interests.
KENNEDY: Right. Right.
BEHAR: You know?
KENNEDY: Well, the role of money in politics is pretty corrupting right now.
BEHAR: It is pretty corrupting. Anyway, this book is beautiful.
KENNEDY: Well, thank you so much.
BEHAR: And I really love it. And I wish you would sign it for me.
KENNEDY: Oh, I would love to sign it for you.
BEHAR: OK. And thank you so much for doing this.
KENNEDY: OK. Sure.
BEHAR: OK. Her book is called "She Walks in Beauty." Pick it up. We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: The lady won an Oscar at 16 for her portrayal of Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker," and she became the youngest person to have a television show named after her when she starred in "The Patty Duke Show." Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TROY DONAHUE, ACTOR: Aside from your throat, have you had any other symptoms?
PATTY DUKE, ACTRESS: Hot and cold. And a little dizzy.
DONAHUE: Well, when did that start?
DUKE: A couple of minutes ago.
(LAUGHTER)
DONAHUE: You can sit back and relax. All right. Open up and say "Ah."
DUKE: Ah.
DONAHUE: Well, I`m not crazy about what I see.
DUKE: I am.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: But through all of her many career successes, there was a lot of personal struggle, too. Here with me now to talk about it all is actress Patty Duke, who`s also a spokesperson for Social Security. Welcome.
DUKE: How about that!
BEHAR: Welcome, Patty.
DUKE: Oh, I`m so glad to see you! It`s been far too long.
BEHAR: Yes, I know.
DUKE: I mean, I see you on TV, but I mean...
BEHAR: Yes, but not in person. But that was Troy Donahue in that clip?
DUKE: That was Troy Donahue!
BEHAR: Wow.
DUKE: And I mean, I got mail from that show, people wanting to trade places with me.
BEHAR: Yes. Is he still alive? We don`t know.
DUKE: I think so.
BEHAR: We`ll find out. We`ll Google it.
DUKE: I don`t usually miss -- from my mother, I learned to look at the obituaries. That is what my mother did for fun.
BEHAR: Oh, yes, we all do that, though, don`t we? Since I turned 45, I started looking at obituaries. Last year, you know.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: But anyway...
DUKE: I noticed you said about Caroline being 54.
BEHAR: Yes.
DUKE: Which shocked me because I`m 64, and I remember being much older than her. But I guess it was because she didn`t come into the public`s eye until he was president.
BEHAR: Well, she was -- when her father was assassinated, I believe she was about 5 years old.
DUKE: Five years old!
BEHAR: So you were only 10 years older, you were still a kid yourself.
DUKE: Yes. But now the difference between 54 and 64 is a whole other story!
BEHAR: I know. I know. It`s true. Let`s not talk about that.
DUKE: Let`s not talk about age.
BEHAR: But you are representing Social Security, but...
DUKE: I am. I`m having the best time. I got a call a couple years ago from the Social Security office, and I thought, What did I do now? And it turned out they were wondering if I would be interested in doing this. So I am now known among people in the airport, at least, as the Social Security lady. And my job is to let people know that you can register on line, which saves going out. And you don`t have to put on makeup. You don`t have to do your hair.
BEHAR: Right.
DUKE: You sit in your pajamas and you do the -- or you get your granddaughter to help you do it...
BEHAR: Right. Right.
DUKE: ... which is what I do.
BEHAR: Now, you and George Takei have a PSA about it. Let`s listen to...
DUKE: We have a new one, yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE TAKEI, ACTOR: Patty, let me be honest with you. Won`t filing for Social Security benefits on line be confusing?
DUKE: George, it`s simple and easy. And you can do it in your pajamas from the comfort of your own home.
TAKEI: Oh, my!
DUKE: You`ve navigated through asteroid belts, right?
TAKEI: Oh, sure. Plenty of times.
DUKE: Well, compared to that, navigating SocialSecurity.gov is a snap.
TAKEI: Really?
DUKE: It`s so easy even Kirk could do it.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: That`s cute, very cute.
DUKE: Isn`t he delightful?
BEHAR: He`s funny. Isn`t he always on Howard Stern now?
DUKE: So I hear! Somehow, I don`t manage to get Howard Stern in Idaho.
BEHAR: Really? No kidding. Why do you live in Idaho?
DUKE: I married into it. I met my husband while I was...
(LAUGHTER)
DUKE: I met my husband while I was making a movie. He was a drill sergeant, an actual real drill sergeant. And we got together, and then when he left the Army and I was wanting to get out of LA, it seemed a logical place to go because his folks were there.
BEHAR: I see.
DUKE: So we went there.
BEHAR: Do you like it there?
DUKE: I love it there. I must say, the winters are beginning to get to me.
BEHAR: Really?
DUKE: Yes.
BEHAR: Well, so you become a snow bird like other people and you fly down to...
DUKE: Exactly.
BEHAR: ... Palm Springs or something, right?
DUKE: Sure. Well, only if I get a series.
BEHAR: Are you looking to get another job?
DUKE: I`m looking to get another job.
BEHAR: Yes?
DUKE: The recession hits everybody. And I also -- there`s a part of me that knows that I function better all around if I`m working.
BEHAR: Of course. We all do in this business. What, we`re going to stay home and do nothing all day? We can`t function like that.
DUKE: No.
BEHAR: I`m a little worried about Social Security, though, right now because the federal government could shut down tomorrow. Today`s Thursday. Tomorrow, they might shut down. What does that mean for older people?
DUKE: I`ve been hanging out with the commissioner of Social Security the last couple of days, and he has been reassuring people that the checks will still go out.
BEHAR: All right.
DUKE: There will be some upheaval, a little bit of upheaval in the administration area, people wanting to sign on now at the age of, let`s say, 62. On the other hand, if they do it on line...
BEHAR: That`s right. Go do it. Go do it. OK, another cause that you`re an advocate for is mental illness...
DUKE: Yes.
BEHAR: because I was reading about you and I read your book "Call Me Anna." Remember that book?
DUKE: Bless your heart.
BEHAR: And you have...
(CROSSTALK)
DUKE: I was diagnosed almost 30 years ago as bipolar or manic- depressive. It means the same thing. They just brought up bipolar to make it more user-friendly.
BEHAR: I see.
DUKE: So for 30 years, diagnosis and treatment with medication. And I am religious about taking my medication, and I`ve been able to live a balanced life. When I -- I mean, that doesn`t mean I can`t feel ecstatic or deeply sad. But there are people that I`m noticing who are being seen on the news a lot that I -- I`m not a doctor. I don`t pretend to be a doctor...
BEHAR: You mean celebrities?
DUKE: Yes.
BEHAR: Like who?
DUKE: You know who.
BEHAR: Lindsay Lohan? Charlie Sheen?
DUKE: I don`t know about Lindsay. And again, I`m not a doctor. Charlie`s behavior, as one who walked similar steps, it`s reminiscent to me of when I was very manic. I don`t know this. I adore him! I`ve never met him in my life. But he occupies a good part of my heart, as does his dad, whom I`ve worked with.
BEHAR: Yes. I`ve got to take a break.
DUKE: Sure thing.
BEHAR: When we come back, we`ll talk a little bit more about this. OK. Stay there. We`ll be right back with more from Patty Duke.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: I`m back with Patty Duke. You know, Patty, you were saying you had bipolar disorder and that Charlie Sheen...
DUKE: Still do.
BEHAR: You still have it...
DUKE: It`s not curable, but it is treatable and you can live with it.
BEHAR: Do you think it`s genetic, since your mother was a depressive, right?
DUKE: I believe that it`s genetic. Science tells us it`s genetic. My mother didn`t show the up side quite as much, so she was diagnosed not until her 60s, with unipolar disease.
BEHAR: Oh.
DUKE: And one day she said to me -- she was from New York City -- Anna, how come you`re bipolar and I`m unipolar?
(LAUGHTER)
DUKE: And I said, Because I`m sexier than you, Ma. And she went for it!
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Really? Oh, God. That must have been rough on you, to grow up with a depressed mother. Then you were managed by some other people and they tortured you.
DUKE: Oh, yes. My mom was talked out of me, is how I put it. I lived with people who were not my parents, who were my managers.
BEHAR: Yes.
DUKE: And unfortunately, as things -- as we got more and more successful, they became more and more frightened and their behavior became twisted.
BEHAR: Frightened by what?
DUKE: Frightened by losing the...
BEHAR: The money.
DUKE: Exactly.
(CROSSTALK)
DUKE: There was physical molestation. There was introduction to alcohol.
BEHAR: And nobody there to protect you from them.
DUKE: No.
BEHAR: Where was your father?
DUKE: They were supposed to be the protectors. My dad died at the age of 50 from alcoholism.
BEHAR: Oh, boy!
DUKE: Yes.
BEHAR: You had a rough time.
DUKE: You know, we all do.
BEHAR: But you`re so cheerful and perky now. Look at you.
DUKE: Well, I`m married...
BEHAR: Living in Idaho.
DUKE: ... to the best guy in the whole world.
BEHAR: That`s nice.
DUKE: I`m spoiled rotten, as my children would tell you.
BEHAR: Is he number three or two?
DUKE: Well, it depends on how you count. He could be number four.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Why, was the first one negligible?
DUKE: No. That was legit. It was the second one that I married somebody I didn`t know for 13 days.
BEHAR: Oh, really?
DUKE: Yes. I told you about that manic behavior.
BEHAR: You were on a kind of a manic bender.
DUKE: Yes. Exactly. I have to tell you -- I have to crow about this. My son, Sean (ph), who is an actor...
BEHAR: Sean Astin, yes.
DUKE: ... as we all know.
BEHAR: "Lord of the Rings."
DUKE: "Lord of the Rings" and "Rudy" and you name it -- he is now a campaign manager for a congressional candidate. I mean, it`s for real!
BEHAR: Wow.
DUKE: It`s not just some computer game we`re playing.
BEHAR: So it`s not acting. He gave up acting?
DUKE: No, he won`t ever give up acting.
BEHAR: Oh.
DUKE: But right next to acting is politics for him. And I thought he would have come and said that he would be the candidate. But no, he`s the campaign manager.
BEHAR: Well, that`s nice.
DUKE: Yes, for Dan Adler (ph), and it`s district 36 in California.
BEHAR: Well, that`s nice. Very good.
DUKE: Thank you.
BEHAR: So but I mean, with the terrible childhood that you sound like you had, would you encourage -- did you encourage your kids to go into show business?
DUKE: No! It was the last thing I ever wanted my children to do. And then I had a conversation with their father, and he suggested that we would still be their parents. We would still be raising them in the way that we had planned to anyway. So I folded like a cheap tent. And Sean was the first one to go at the age of 10. And we did a thing called, "Please Don`t Hit Me, Mom." It was an after-school special. And he was living what was going on in that story because when you`re manic, you`ve very -- you can be very abusive.
BEHAR: You were?
DUKE: I was.
BEHAR: Oh! Poor kid.
DUKE: Yes.
BEHAR: It`s been a rough road.
DUKE: He`s fine now, though.
BEHAR: But it...
DUKE: He even likes me!
BEHAR: He likes you. Oh, he likes you! He likes you!
DUKE: He likes me!
BEHAR: Thank you, Patty, for coming on today.
DUKE: Bless you for having me.
BEHAR: You`re adorable.
DUKE: Thank you, darling.
BEHAR: And we`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: The face of TV news is changing. It appears that four anchors will be departing soon. Katie Couric could be leaving the Evening News. Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira could be leaving Today. And for my money, Glenn Beck can`t leave fast enough.
With me now to discuss this and other stories in the news are Sarah Bernard, host of The Thread on Yahoo. Colin Mochrie, star of Drew Carey`s Improv-a-ganza, which premieres Monday on the GSN channel, the Game Show Network. And Leah Black, entrepreneur and star of "The Real Housewives of Miami."
OK, guys. What`s going on? It`s not just them. There`s also Alec Baldwin, Steve Carrell, Regis Philbin. That`s nine openings for me.
(LAUGHTER)
SARAH BERNARD, HOST, THE THREAD ON YAHOO!: I was going to say, can you handle a third show?
BEHAR: What`s going on, Sarah?
BERNARD: Well, I have to feel bad for Matt Lauer. He has not had a normal morning, weekday morning, and it will have been 15 years by the time his contract ends. So I totally understand that. I don`t understand Alec Baldwin, because remember he gave Charlie Sheen advice, don`t quit your show, just stay on this incredibly successful show and cash your paycheck. Why isn`t he doing that himself? I don`t understand.
BEHAR: I don`t know. What do you think about any of it?
COLIN MOCHRIE, "DREW CAREY IMPROV-A-GANZA": I think it`s pretty obvious. Everybody knows the Mayan TV Guide ends in 2012.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Oh, those Mayans.
MOCHRIE: After that there`s no television, so they`re just getting out soon looking for other avenues.
BEHAR: Leah, do you think the "Today" show can survive without the two biggest stars leaving at once?
LEAH BLACK, ENTREPRENEUR: I do. Because first of all, it`s an American -- it`s been there forever. It`s a tradition. Larry King`s show survived. Johnny Carson`s show survived. They`ll all survive. Having said that, you know, it will be different. It will be different. But I`m with you on Glenn Beck. I mean, he just can`t leave -- he`s -- between the message board and him scribbling and the world coming to an end and the antics and all of that --
BERNARD: Just because he`s leaving that doesn`t mean he`s leaving television. I mean, he wants to start his own network.
BEHAR: He does? Like Oprah Winfrey?
BERNARD: Exactly.
BEHAR: But he just lost a million viewers or something on his show. What makes him think they`re going to come back to him on another channel?
BERNARD: Well, I mean, his books sell like crazy. His radio show`s successful. He has a ton of fans, even though I don`t think necessarily we`re one of them. But I mean, 2 million viewers is still not that bad.
BEHAR: That`s right, so why did they fire him?
BERNARD: I`m not sure if they fired him, although we should point out that over 400 advertisers declined to advertise on his show.
BLACK: Why would you advertise when the world`s coming to an end? What are you going to sell?
BEHAR: Exactly. And he`s creating it. But when he announced he was leaving the show, he compared himself to Paul Revere. Take a look at this.
BERNARD: That`s hilarious.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLENN BECK, FOX NEWS: When I took this job, I didn`t take it because it was going to be a career for me. Paul Revere did not get up on the horse and say, I`m going to do this for the rest of my life. He didn`t do it. He got off the horse at some point and fought in the revolution. And then he went back to silversmithing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: What a horse`s ass.
BERNARD: If he were actually on a horse when he said that--
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: Who is he kidding? He`s not -- Paul Revere was the real thing.
MOCHRIE: (inaudible) get off that horse. That brought a tear to my eye.
BEHAR: So what is he going to do now? Is he going to --
(CROSSTALK)
MOCHRIE: He`s going to be a silversmith and sell stuff on --
BLACK: He should have compared himself to Jeremiah Wright. I mean, he`s really not Paul Revere. He`s never taken a bullet.
BEHAR: Didn`t he used to hit the bottle, Sarah? I believe he--
BERNARD: I believe other things too. Maybe smoking some things possibly.
BEHAR: So maybe he`ll go back to that.
BERNARD: I think so.
MOCHRIE: I heard he`s going to actually be the new icon for Betty Crocker. I don`t know why.
BEHAR: Betty Crocker?
MOCHRIE: Yes.
BEHAR: Where did you come up with that one?
MOCHRIE: I heard the -- it`s on the streets. You go out in the streets, that`s all anyone`s talking about.
BEHAR: Really? The new Betty Crocker?
MOCHRIE: The (inaudible), Glenn Beck. You heard it here.
BLACK: He`ll be the new Tea Party spokesperson.
BEHAR: OK, now, Tina Fey is in the news also, because first of all she`s pregnant, and we`re happy for her. She`s having a second child. But she`s claiming in her new book that her impression of Sarah Palin on "Saturday Night Live" hurt her ratings on "30 Rock." What do you think about that?
BERNARD: That doesn`t make any sense. First of all, when she did that impersonation, the ratings for "SNL" completely spiked.
BEHAR: Right.
BERNARD: So that can`t be true. I think "30 Rock" is almost like a show like "Arrested Development," where it won tons of Emmys, everyone loved it, but the ratings were never astronomical. They just weren`t.
BEHAR: Because?
BERNARD: Because this was sort of an inside show. A show about a show. You know, in six years, it will have had, is not -- that`s pretty successful.
BEHAR: She even -- I agree with that. She even says that Alec Baldwin`s politics, which are decidedly on the left of center, hurt the ratings too. She`s making the case that it`s politics that`s killing the show, as opposed to ratings.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People getting tired of it.
MOCHRIE: That`s always -- when Ed Asner was doing Lou Grant, they were saying that his politics caused the early Lou Grant cancellation. Because he was -- you know, I love "30 Rock," and I love all the low-rated shows, like "Arrested Development," "Mad Men." More people have to get hit in the crotch, because that appeals to the American public. That`s how you get people in. And then you slip the message and the funny in. But first, hit them in the crotch.
BEHAR: Well, it`s interesting, for example, that "South Park" is popular and there`s nothing more subversive than "South Park," and it`s basically left of center. "South Park," right?
BLACK: But she`s brilliant.
BEHAR: Who?
BLACK: Tina Fey.
BEHAR: Oh, Tina, yes.
BLACK: She`s absolutely brilliant. And just really to me, it just shows you that the "Saturday Night Live" audience is just smarter and more evolved than the "Rock" audience, because truly she was so brilliant. For every person that didn`t like what she had to say, 20 loved her. So I don`t get that.
BEHAR: But the "Saturday Night Live" crowd couldn`t stand Sarah Palin.
(CROSSTALK)
BERNARD: We should also point out that it is pretty successful to portray Sarah Palin. I mean, Julianne Moore was just cast as Sarah Palin in this new HBO movie, "Game Change." So obviously, some people think it`s worth having Sarah Palin involved in your show.
BEHAR: Oh, yes. And we love to talk about her on the talk shows. She`s fun to talk about.
BERNARD: She`s a great reality star.
BEHAR: She is a reality star. She`s not going to be president.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly.
BEHAR: We have to watch out for Michele Bachmann, who`s breathing down her neck.
MOCHRIE: Who Glenn Beck is playing in a TV movie.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: That`s right. Now, who`s going to play Donald Trump in the movie? Because Donald Trump, you know the whole story with him, he wants to see Obama`s birth certificate. He doesn`t believe that he was born in Hawaii, in this United States of America. But now he`s hired an investigator to go to Hawaii to find out. Watch this video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP: He may not have been born in this country. And I`ll tell you what, three weeks ago I thought he was born in this country. Right now, I have some real doubts.
I have people that actually have been studying it and they cannot believe what they`re finding.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have people now down there searching --
TRUMP: Absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, in Hawaii?
TRUMP: Absolutely. And they cannot believe what they`re finding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Oh, my God. Maybe they`ll find Jimmy Hoffa.
(LAUGHTER)
BERNARD: He sounds like the new Glenn Beck. I think he might be auditioning for his time slot.
BEHAR: He seems to be amping up the cuckoo now. What`s going on with him?
MOCHRIE: Well, I think it`s great that a multimillionaire can use all of the resources and money that he has to answer a question that has plagued some people for a little bit of time. As opposed to maybe, I don`t know, helping the poor or keeping food banks stocked.
BEHAR: Is he serious, though? Come on.
BLACK: I don`t think you can underestimate him. I think he`s got some kind of a strategy going there. He knows he`s got to play to the right if he is at all going to be taken seriously as a candidate. Who knows if he is?
BEHAR: Listen, a new poll is saying that he`s tied for second place among 2012 GOP candidates.
BERNARD: But apparently in first place if you just count the Tea Party voters. So that`s really--
BEHAR: Oh, the Tea Party -- but that`s not enough people to --
(CROSSTALK)
BERNARD: I know. And it`s too early. But it says a lot that he did an interview with Bill O`Reilly, who -- and even Bill O`Reilly was like, you don`t really believe this, do you?
BEHAR: Right. Even Mike Huckabee was on "The View" today and he said that if they were going to find anything, Hillary`s people would have found it in the primaries. Even Huckabee is saying it.
(CROSSTALK)
MOCHRIE: A birth certificate?
BEHAR: I know. And also he`s the first president of the United States who has ever been asked to produce his birth certificate. It`s so insulting. And why should he? Why should he?
MOCHRIE: Well, Calvin Coolidge was asked too. But they thought he was dead. So they just wanted to --
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: OK. Now, finally, Lindsay Lohan is reportedly up for a role in the new biopic about John Gotti. You know, finally she`ll be passed out in the trunk of the car instead of in the back seat of the car. Now, this sounds like a legitimate thing, because John Travolta is going to play -- they have a budget of $75 million -- and John Travolta is going to be playing John Gotti. Wow.
BERNARD: That`s great casting right there.
BEHAR: I love it.
BERNARD: But this is actually -- it`s a bit of a trashy role, but it`s an upgrade considering she was going to play Linda Lovelace. Remember? The porn star.
BEHAR: Oh, yes.
BERNARD: So now actually, you know, this is far more reputable.
BEHAR: Can I just say, she should play Mother Theresa. That would help her now. Because these other parts do not help her image at all.
BLACK: But it`s perfect casting because if you go through the trial for grand theft, you go to prison, you`re going to be kind of trained for what it was like to be in the mob, right?
(CROSSTALK)
MOCHRIE: She`s a really good actress. And people always kind of root for a comeback story, hope she`ll come back.
BLACK: She`s a good actress.
MOCHRIE: And she`s going to lose her last name, apparently. Just go as Lindsay.
BEHAR: Yes. She`s just going to be Lindsay.
MOCHRIE: Well, it worked for --
BEHAR: Like Cher.
MOCHRIE: Cher and Hitler.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t think -- Cher and Hitler?
(LAUGHTER)
MOCHRIE: She changed it, and it just worked for her.
BEHAR: Do you think she stole the necklace?
BLACK: I don`t think she did. I think she wanted to start a reality show about stars with jewelry. You know--
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Look at the bling on this woman. And you too.
BERNARD: Yes. But mine`s from H&M (ph).
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: How much was that?
BERNARD: Probably $8. Did I say $8? I mean $8,000.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: She`s so pretty.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Because she`s Canadian. That`s why.
BERNARD: Me?
BEHAR: Oh, you`re not Canadian.
BERNARD: Oh, my goodness.
BEHAR: No, you`re not. Thought you were Canadian.
BERNARD: That`s an insult. I`m a New Yorker.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: You`re Canadian. I love Canadians.
BLACK: But do you have a birth certificate? That`s what--
(CROSSTALK)
MOCHRIE: Yes, I do.
BEHAR: I was just in Toronto.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: OK. Thank you, guys.
And when we come back, the next segment we`re going to talk about compulsive overeaters, being addicted to food, these people. It`s very sad. Don`t go anywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am 150 pounds overweight. I`ve struggled with food, I`d say, the last ten years. At this point my relationship with food is really out of balance. So I`m back up to 340. This is the first time I feel like I`ve really been either shocked or scared and realizing I have to change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Poor guy.
Overweight people often get the blame for being fat, as if their addiction to food is due to lack of character, but studies are now showing that brain activity in compulsive overeaters is similar to those addicted to drugs or alcohol. Here now from the OWN`s network "Addicted to Food" show are Tennie McCarty, food addiction specialist and founder of "Shades of Hope" treatment center. Also, Dejuaii, a compulsive eater, and Robby, another compulsive overeater, whom you just saw in that clip. Welcome to the show, you guys.
TENNIE MCCARTY, FOOD ADDICTION SPECIALIST: Thank you.
BEHAR: Robbie, you`re in a cheerful mood, I see.
ROBBY, COMPULSIVE OVEREATER: Yes. How are you, Joy?
BEHAR: I`m good. How are you?
ROBBY: This is the peak of my day. This is the peak of my year, Joy, being with you. I`m so excited to be with you here today.
BEHAR: Thank you.
ROBBY: And all the peeps -- Cammo (ph), all the other folks that are on the show, they said hi, Joy. So I just want to let you know, I`m saying hi for the crew, Cammo and Landon (ph) and (inaudible).
BEHAR: Wait a second. He was just crying. He`s not crying. What did you do? What did you to get him out ...
MCCARTY: But he cried a lot for six weeks. Oh, he cried. He cried.
BEHAR: What were you crying about, Robby?
ROBBY: You know what? I was such a mess emotionally back eight months ago, Joy. I mean food had taken over my entire life.
BEHAR: Yes.
ROBBY: And there wasn`t a thing -- everything just got to me. It didn`t matter whether it was work. I mean, first of all, I wasn`t working as much. And every -- I just couldn`t have a handle on any aspect of my life. It was just terrible.
BEHAR: Right. Why do you think you became addicted to food, Robby?
ROBBY: You know what -- I thought it was only I had problems in the last ten years, but after I went through the program with Tennie over at "Shades," I realized I had problems with food as far back as first grade. And that blew me away. And then one of the first questions that they asked me, they said, so Robby, are you addicted to food? I said, I`m not addicted to broccoli.
BEHAR: Oh, my goodness. And now Dejuaii, you were eating 5,000 calories every meal?
DEJUAII, COMPULSIVE OVEREATER: Yes, ma`am.
BEHAR: How do you even do that? That`s an enormous number of calories.
DEJUAII: My situation, I was not aware of my eating, just wasn`t -- you know, Tennie teaches -- they taught us that you have to be aware of your emotions, why you`re eating, when you`re eating. And I was absent. I was absent from life, just existing, waking up to eat. I mean, eating consistently all day long.
BEHAR: You must have been ...
DEJUAII: Food was on my mind all the time.
BEHAR: All the time. Now, I understand that you had some kind of a secret that you were harboring and that caused you to overeat. What was your secret?
DEJUAII: I -- I can -- me not being true to myself about my lifestyle coming from the religious family that I am in, it was just an embarrassing thing. It was a thing that you would be condemned for. And I just refused to yield to it, and I ate over it. I would eat and eat and eat. And I got tired of that pain. So I thought I would get rid of that pain and stop eating over it. So I acknowledged that I was attracted to the same sex. I`m still a virgin. I`m not going into it. But the temptations has been there.
BEHAR: OK.
DEJUAII: And having fear that I would die and go to hell, I just said, you know what, I can`t do it, I can`t do it.
BEHAR: Now, why -- Tennie, I can`t see her body. Does she -- she looks like she lost a lot of weight.
MCCARTY: Both of them have lost a lot of weight.
BEHAR: Yes.
MCCARTY: And they both came in very morbidly obese, and both of them have lost a lot of weight. Yes.
BEHAR: Now, is there really an addiction? Is it an addiction just like alcohol and drugs?
MCCARTY: Absolutely. There`s no difference. It affects the same part of the brain as food -- I mean as alcohol and drugs. Absolutely. And you know, there`s three different types of eating disorders. The compulsive overeating, anorexia is going the other way. The under-eating. And then somewhere in between is the bulimia. And each one, it`s the same disease. We just do it at different ends of the spectrum.
BEHAR: Really?
MCCARTY: And sometimes in most people`s eating disorder career, they will tap into all three of the eating disorders to some level, but most of us have a primary.
BEHAR: So it`s a similar disorder?
MCCARTY: Absolutely.
BEHAR: And it`s -- it`s a chemical disorder? A brain disorder? What is it?
MCCARTY: What eating disorders is, it`s about the loss of self. We absolutely hate our own guts. And because we do have -- I say we because I`m recovering 25 years.
BEHAR: Uh-huh.
MCCARTY: And we have a brain chemistry that food does for folks like us what it doesn`t do for normies.
BEHAR: I see.
MCCARTY: We get a hit out of it. It does something. We`re not a bunch of idiots. We wouldn`t stay with it if we didn`t get something out of it.
BEHAR: Right. And we`re not talking about just people who are just, you know, either sort of obese or overweight. You`re not talking about that. Are you?
MCCARTY: It could be. It`s not about the weight. It`s not about the food. It`s about what`s going on on the inside.
BEHAR: Yes.
MCCARTY: But it is about the food until it isn`t. It`s a double- edged sword. It`s about the food. As long as people are eating over feelings, you know, what we have to do is look at what`s going on on the inside.
BEHAR: OK. Robby, now, you were eating, splurging at casino buffets, and you were very ashamed of your behavior, weren`t you? There`s a lot of shame involved in it, I think, right?
ROBBY: Yeah, you know, there was a huge amount of shame, Joy. The thing that would happen -- like for instance, I was playing at Lake Las Vegas. And I`d have a meal after my gig. Then I`d -- after that -- then I`d go to McDonald`s. And then, then after I was through at McDonald`s, I`d stop by a Burger King. And before I would stop at home I`d stop in a 7-eleven and sweep through the candy aisle. I`d come home, and my honey Vicki, she say hey, you want to go to dinner? And I`d say yes, let`s go have a little bit -- a little bite. But the fact is I was cruising for calories all day long. And it got totally out of control.
BEHAR: Yes.
ROBBY: And it was like, you know, you know, you talked about feelings. You know, Tennie was talking about feelings. When somebody used to say how do you feel, I`d say I feel good or I feel bad. But at Shades, we learned we`d have to identify that we felt anger, fear, pain or joy ...
BEHAR: OK. Right. It`s true.
ROBBY: And it`s going (ph) to change it.
BEHAR: Already. We`ll be right back. I want to continue the conversation when we come back. So stay right there. Yes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: We`re talking about a new study that says food addiction affects the brain the same way as drug and alcohol addictions. And with me are Tennie McCarty, food addiction specialist, and two compulsive overeaters. Dejuaii -- Dejuaii and Robby.
DEJUAII: Hello.
BEHAR: Hello, Dejuaii.
DEJUAII: Hi.
BEHAR: That`s a cute name.
DEJUAII: Thank you.
BEHAR: All right. Tennie, how do you know, if you have a food addiction? What`s the tip-off?
MCCARTY: Just a simple down-to-earth tipoff is if you can take it or leave it.
BEHAR: Yes.
MCCARTY: If you can take the food -- or if you can -- there was some food back there in the green room.
BEHAR: Yes.
MCCARTY: You know, and if I could take one and walk off and lay the other tray, I probably wouldn`t be a food addict. But if I ever ate one of them, I`d want to stay there, I`d want to be in there eating that food instead of being out here with you.
BEHAR: Well, we kid about it, that we`re on the see food diet, we see food and we eat it.
MCCARTY: Now, some people can do that. Some -- food addicts and not (ph).
BEHAR: Yeah, yeah, I see. But you know, two-thirds of Americans are either obese or overweight. Are they all food -- are they all addicted to food?
MCCARTY: I can`t say that. Each person has to diagnose themselves. It`s the only disease that says you don`t have this. Or you don`t have it that bad. You are not as bad as they are.
BEHAR: I know, but it`s a tricky disease because ...
MCCARTY: Tricky.
BEHAR: ... alcohol and drugs are not essential for life. But food is. So, it`s a harder one to deal with, is it not?
MCCARTY: Yes, and my husband is -- and I can say this, he gave me permission, is a recovering alcoholic long term and he just feels sorry for me. Well, bless your heart that you just have to eat three balanced meals a day. No one needs to feel sorry for recovering food addicts. I have lots of choices for healthy food that ...
BEHAR: Once you know how to control it.
MCCARTY: Absolutely.
BEHAR: Yes.
MCCARTY: Well, it`s not about controlling it. It`s about surrendering it.
BEHAR: Surrendering? But -- meaning what?
MCCARTY: Well, this is a spiritual problem. We lose ourselves in the disease. And recovery is about finding a power outside ourselves. Greater -- it`s the spiritual problem.
BEHAR: Oh, it`s like the 12-step program.
MCCARTY: Absolutely.
BEHAR: Let -- let go and let God? Like that?
MCCARTY: Absolutely. It works.
BEHAR: Now, both of you, guys, do you think seeking help saved you from death?
DEJUAII: I do. Totally. Yes, yes. Hi, Tennie.
MCCARTY: Hi, Dejuaii. I love you.
DEJUAII: I love you.
(CROSSTALK)
MCCARTY: I love you too.
ROBBY: Yes. Hi, boo. Hi, Tennie.
MCCARTY: Hi, sweetie.
ROBBY: You know, Joy, for me -- for me, Joy, it absolutely saved my life.
MCCARTY: Yes.
ROBBY: I mean literally, seven months ago I could not walk from my office in my house to my car 30 steps without sucking air. And this past, you know, December I did 13 miles and a half marathon. I mean I`m alive, I`m grateful every day.
BEHAR: Was there one thing that Tennie said to you that really got you going on the path of recovery? Any one thing before I go?
ROBBY: Yes. Yes.
BEHAR: What was it?
ROBBY: Trust in the process.
DEJUAII: Yes.
ROBBY: She said trust in the process.
DEJUAII: You`re as sick as your secret.
TENNIE: You`re as sick as your secret.
BEHAR: And that-- that -- you`re as sick as your secret is also for abuse victims and all sorts of people with a lot of issues.
TENNIE: I see.
BEHAR: OK, thank you very much, you guys. "Addicted to Food" airs Tuesday nights on OWN. Thank you for watching, good night everybody.
END
