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Piers Morgan Live
Interview with Sean Penn; Interview with Corey Feldman
Aired October 28, 2013 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PIERS MORGAN, PIERS MORGAN LIVE HOST: This is Piers Morgan Live. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. On the eve of the anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, and six months since the terror in Boston, all eyes this weekend will be on New York City marathon. More than 40,000 competing in the race. There could be five Haitian runners, sponsored by Sean Penn. The actor and activist joins me tonight to talk live about the emotional event. He'll also talk about the NSA leaks, Obamacare, the Tea Party and I'm sure a lot more. That's what you get when you book Sean Penn. Also, what if the biggest problem in Hollywood isn't drugs or alcohol, but something that's plagued schools and churches across America. Corey Feldman is here to shed light on this dark side of fame with stunning allegations on the abuse of young actors. He says it's beyond your wildest imaginations or nightmares and he would tell you all about it in a live, prime time exclusive.
We begin here as we would do with the Big Story tonight, Sean Penn, a Hollywood star with a passion that goes far beyond the silver screen. He is an American original, fighting to make the world a better place. He's got the battle scars to prove it. Sean Penn is an ambassador at large for Haiti and the founder of J/P Haitian Relief Organization.
Sean, welcome back.
SEAN PENN, ACTOR, ACTIVIST: Thank you.
MORGAN: Always good to see you.
PENN: You too.
MORGAN: You're looking very trim. You're not running this marathon yourself are you?
PENN: No, I'm not running the marathon. I've got to be there to observe properly.
MORGAN: Of course. You're going to be there at the finishing line. I'm referring poignant in many ways this New York Marathon. Obviously on a big scale is a first major American marathon since Boston and we all know how that ended in such disaster.
It's also a chance for you to bring these five Haitian runners. All from very different backgrounds to come and run and you're sponsoring them, you're going to be there at the finishing line. Tell me why you're doing this?
PENN: Well, you know, I think for one thing. You brought up Hurricane Sandy and so and it did does occur to me that when Hurricane Sandy happened and having gone through what the Haitian's had gone through and through all the hurricanes they go through in addition to the earthquake.
There was this incredible feeling of solidarity. And I think that the runners themselves are, you know, there's none -- none of the runners from the Haitian team will have ever entered weather below 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
MORGAN: Right.
PENN: But -- and I think that that's one of things that they take, you know, a lot of pride in coming to New York. Also because I think that they have a great feeling of gratitude for the support that the United States and the people of United States have given their country following that earthquake.
And but also there's a -- it is a chance to bring Haiti back on to the world stage and then each of them have their own, you know, very personal stories and those are finally the things that any broader mission is, you know, find its value in this when you find that the pride of the individuals in that country that within which you work right.
MORGAN: I mean the extraordinary thing it seems to me having only witnessed the New York situation after Hurricane Sandy because I was there when it happened. I'm trying to imagine what it was like in Haiti and you know that so much better than most, you spend so much time there since it occurred four years ago now.
But the resilience and the spirit of people when these things happen is absolutely extraordinary isn't it? I saw it New York, you saw it first hand in Haiti. What is it about the human spirit you think that reacts in such a remarkable way to terrible natural disasters?
PENN: Well I think, you know, I don't if I like using the word reduces but it brings us to our most commonality of spirit. I think that, you know, when it comes down to it, you know, so much of the things that are acts of strength are circumstantial or they come out of a unity of spirit that has been created in our weaknesses. We recognize the frail, the weak position we are in against nature. And the weak position that we are put in against violence so that -- and it all ends so there's kind of immediate commonality that only has one direction to go and it's forward. And I think that's one of the symbolic aspects of this, you know, long run for Haiti team that's coming in.
MORGAN: Well let's take a look at some of them. This is three of the five runners who you've talking about why they're doing this and the motivation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CARLINE LAMOUR, HAITI'S SECOND-RANKED FEMALE RUNNER: Right after the earthquake I stopped running because most of the things were destroyed in my country. I have lost all hope. I've decided to start running again and running reduces sadness, stress.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After January 12th, I began taking sports and running more seriously. The day of the earthquake, I was in a house and I've ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: And they're amazing stories, all very, very different. All come together the oldest competitor is 43 years old ...
PENN: Yes.
MORGAN: ... he's only five years younger than me, I mean I couldn't even run to the end of his block. You must be very proud of him?
PENN: Yes.
MORGAN: I mean it make you -- it must be a big adventure for them to come and do this?
PENN: Yes, I went up and watch them train and it was beyond -- you asked me earlier was I going to run in the marathon, all you had to do is be there and watch them train and let them do it.
MORGAN: There is a rumor that Pamela Anderson might be running with them, is that true?
PENN: Pamela Anderson's a force of nature. She has been so supportive of our organization as well as many others. She's one of those people that seems to pop up not, you know, not that typical thing of looking for -- she's looking for organizations that she can go visit, see firsthand to go along and she comes and just offers her help and everywhere now, she's -- yeah ,she's running in the New York City marathon.
PIERS: I mean that could get lead -- (inaudible) I must say she if she was in my team. I can run after Pamela Anderson that might be the best motivating factor I've ever had.
PENN: There'll be a lot of people running after Pam Anderson.
PIERS: As obviously, as I said, coming so soon after Boston, or what happened there, there'd be an added poignant to see that that is well -- as well as the anniversary of Hurricane Sandy and what you were doing with that -- the Haitians?
Where were you when the Boston attack happened? And what was your reactions with all that?
PENN: I was in Port Prince and my first reaction was that I assumed that it had been something that would be called a terrorist attack. And I guess, I guessed based -- in the same way people did, it seemed that this was probably more of lone wolf kind of thing because it was not the size of explosion, one would, you know, typically quite -- would a bigger organized action, but almost more frightening for that reason because it's that lone wolf thing that is the hardest for agencies to track and to intervene on ahead of time.
So the next thing well I was, you know, all I'm musing is about all of this going on, was the very thing, again, that you were talking about was that with everything that goes wrong, when you see the strength of people bonding together, when you, you know, hear the stories of courage, of love in the families that were devastated, you do have a reminder that we've, you know, that we still -- there was a thing that poet laureate of India Tagore had written, "Every new child born is proof that God is not yet discouraged of man."
And there's -- and sometimes god, man, we need to find out that we don't have to just totally discouraged because -- and sadly, it's too often out of tragedy that -- that we get that reminder.
PIERS: When you see what happened in Boston, of course, it raises this whole issue of how far a government should go to bunk people as pretty -- as simply as that to try and track people, to read e-mails, listen to phone calls, et cetera, et cetera. The whole NSA scandal, really, boils down to how far you go with this. I want to play you a clip from Dick Cheney first before I'll get your reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
DICK CHENEY, AMERICAN POLITICIAN AND BUSINESSMAN: Well the -- the problem I have with Snowden is he had access to classified information. He violated the conditions under which he got those. He's a traitor, pure and simple. And I don't think -- I don't think you can judge him any other way. There's some people who want to say, "Well, he's a whistle-blower. He's no whistle-blower. He has done enormous damage in the United States like talking about sources and methods on the way we collect intelligence. And that's a violation of the law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIERS: What do you think of Edward Snowden, is he a genuinely virtuous whistle-blower? Is he a traitor? Is he a bit of both?
PENN: In effect, I think that a legitimate whistleblower is one who is the curator of the information that they're distributing. I didn't feel that that was the case of Manning and I don't feel that that's the case with Snowden. I did feel that was the case with Daniel Ellsberg.
I think that we will find forgiveness in our justice system and in our part of our hearts when somebody has called foul on crimes by our government against our people or against other governments of people.
And -- but this -- what's become a kind of -- whistleblower terms is being associated with a blitz of information... PIERS: Right.
PENN: ...based on the kind of -- the narcissism of the so called whistle-blower. Has there been -- did a lot of good stuff come out of the WikiLeaks? Yes, it did. Did -- do we know that many peoples' lives were put in jeopardy by that, people who fight very hard for this country? Yes, we do. So -- and certainly diplomacy has -- has gone under enormous attack.
So I encourage the whistle-blower who sees that the constitution of our country is being violated and who takes the risk to sacrifice and so, I think, I'd be very careful.
PIERS: They must have been indiscriminate. I mean, that's all would be my issue with as you say, with Manning and with Snowden to a degree. It's the indiscriminate apparent nature of what they're putting out there. And not thinking through perhaps a potential damage it can cause.
PENN: Yeah.
PIERS: Where does the line get drawn? In terms of the government's ability when we see this week that the American administrators have been accused of bugging Angela Merkel, the leader in Germany. And I'm sure many of the foreign countries apparently 16 million Spaniards a month have been listened to have the information tracked by the NSA
PENN: Yeah, we've been pretty nosy.
MORGAN: Very nosy?
PENN: Yeah.
MORGAN: Do you feel like comfortable about that as an American citizen or do you understand that if you want to try and prevent more of the Boston style terror attacks, they have to be very nosy, the NSA.
PENN: I supposed again what it does with me and why it makes me very nervous is because I think that we are fragile in so many other ways now. And that we are not standing on the sure footing that the United States has gotten used to. And yet, we convince ourselves that we are.
And at the same time, we are losing friends very -- at rapid pace. So that does -- yes, I think we're in a pretty precarious situation now.
MORGAN: I've been thinking about you a lot recently Sean for all the rights reasons. Every time the government shutdown story reemerged on a daily basis. I wonder what Sean Penn makes of Washington just shuddering to a halt. A well paid halt for the politicians and not for the American people. So we'll get your reaction to that after the break. And also you're supply contributor Julia Roberts. What's about the movie with you. I mean you're pretty lucky working with people like Julia Roberts. Wish I can do that for a living. See I finally get you to smile.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PENN: And the words of William Saroyan, she is that what shines and is beyond corruption. One of a select group of actresses who can make on screen eating sexy or make us weep with a heart felt glass. I, I won't even go into the arsenal of her laughter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: Sean Penn honoring Julia Roberts at their Hollywood Film Awards and that was shown there, that's got to be pretty nice and I think people like Julia Roberts to work with in the same industry.
PENN: She's a, she's a shining light, she, I just saw this August the Osage County that she and Meryl Streep and many other great actors are in.
And it's, it's, it's kind of heartens back to see in the films because then made of Tennessee Williams and so it was excited I was really glad to be part of that, that night for...
MORGAN: If your were casting a movie, and you could choose the single greatest male and female actors you personally ever seen in action opposite each other, who would you have? For pure acting ability because it's something you said...
PENN: You know, our actors are and actresses since if I say anything whoever I don't say is got them what you would it call from. But ...
MORGAN: What would you have got to say?
PENN: I don't it. - I mean, you know, I can say this right off the top. I don't if there such thing is a better actor or actress than Meryl Streep that has ever been on film.
MORGAN: Really, really ever been on film?
PENN: I don't think so, not that I've ever seen.
MORGAN: That's amazing tribute.
PENN: At that I think it's kind of under (inaudible).
MORGAN: Have you ever actually worked with her?
PENN: I haven't worked with her, no.
MORGAN: Would you like to? PENN: I know and I think she's lovely but I haven't.
MORGAN: This is the best job application I think I'll ever heard, I'd love to see to a movie with you two.
PENN: Well, yeah. I would too.
MORGAN: So what makes her so special?
PENN: If I knew, I'd be doing it.
MORGAN: What you look at her and think, "Oh, that's, that's an amazing."
PENN: No I think she's entirely unfair. You -- we come in to do a garage band and music at Mozart shows up and I'd be, nothing to said.
MORGAN: Seriously?
PENN: That's not right.
MORGAN: Do you and then what about on the men, then men side. Who are the ones that actually feel slightly in awe?
PENN: Where has been all of this, you know, you know, from - Nicholson and De Niro and Marlin and yeah. There's a whole - you know they get in to the Daniel (ph) day, you know, there's look there's great actors, there's some great actors in there. And they, you know, they all make you want to go off become an accountant (inaudible) start and as you know the (inaudible).
MORGAN: I would ask to give you the worst actor, you know, some of the mysterious and so we'll leave that one. What I love about having you on the show, and - this is your fourth appearance. Is that we get such divisive reaction.
PENN: Like that.
MORGAN: And so many people love you and then you get somewhat this lady (Cathy Norris) whose twitted, "Having Sean Penn on Piers Morgan doesn't make sense in that neither on of them knows what they're talking about."
PENN: (Inaudible).
MORGAN: What do you feel about your polarizing reputation? You didn't have to do any of this political stuff, you didn't have to be an activist in any way but you did. But when you do that and I've known many actors who they will not talk about politics at all. Because they don't want to be polarizing.
PENN: It is funny. Because what you were talking about before we went to the break, you know, I, I was in Port-au-Prince when the shutdown happened. And, and I said to people -- they need, I had stuff that it was demanding on me in Port-au-Prince but I, I had to come home, listen I, I have to leave Haiti now because I have to travel to the third world county that I come from.
You have been, you know, this I think, you know, on the forefront of this gun thing. All of these things and this is also where you get in people of - who think these things. I think for let's, let's go to the tea party at influence on Congress on this thing.
I think they have -- there's a mental health problem in Congress. This would be solved by committing them by executive order, I think. Because these our American brothers and sisters, we shouldn't be criticizing them attacking that we should take their -- this is a cry for help.
MORGAN: You literally commit what ...
PENN: I think ...
MORGAN: ... people like Ted Cruz?
PENN: He is, he is my American brother. I won't - I think we should take care of him, he is in, he's the trouble.
MORGAN: Well, actually have him committed.
PENN: Yeah, I thinks it's a good idea. But then you look at, you know, the -- look, there's a lot of reason to take a shot at me and I'm giving people a lot reason to over the years. But the thing you're talking about and, and the way peoples perception of political positions are, is a direct reaction to their lack of, of their education which is a huge problem that we're dealing with in the country.
And between of an uneducated people and the solipsism of people like Ted Cruz and their party. It's a poisonous thing and these things with what we talked about with, you know, this is why this period of time, this is one of the things that's so fascinating to me in Haiti. Here's this country with -- where we have it all, we have it all to make it great and we find ways from self-destructing and by, you know, saying nasty things about each other and being crazy and yet here's Haiti. This country never had anything. You know, I started a little NGO. The Haitians that came in and took it over have removed half a million cubic meters of rubble. We've got 150 homes fully built and constructed. We have 58,000 people that with this -- the Haitians that I get credit for that run my organization have taken 58,000 of their own country people out of the tent camp and put them in sustainable housing situation...
MORGAN: It's amazing what you've done.
PENN: ... livelihood programs, you know. So it's 9 million people in Haiti which is like an American city. And I used -- we used to think we were working to build a model that would be replicable in Haiti. But when you see the unification that comes, when you have, you know, we happen to have currently a very, very inspired president -- prime minister in Haiti, and that leadership with the people with their incredible unity of spirit. And I don't mean that it doesn't have incredible, you know, problems also. It's now becoming kind of a model in my head when I look at our country.
MORGAN: Right.
PENN: And I guess that's the cycle of things that you will find among the weakest the strongest and among the strongest the weakest.
MORGAN: Could you -- you just made me think of Simon. Another guy who's polarizing deliberately saw and spoke his mind, it was Lou Reed who very sadly died yesterday, have you ever meet Lou Reed? Did you not?
PENN: I met him on several occasions with -- I didn't know him well. We don't have -- I'd drink and we've talked about martial arts. He was very into martial arts for almost his life I think. You know, it's -- I don't know that the loss of somebody has in the artists and musicians, the actors that I know have probably gotten more messages of people just really being impacted by his loss. He was very -- a big inspiration to, I guess everybody.
MORGAN: What I loved about him was on Twitter and social media and there's a huge outpouring of tributes. All of them are starting R.I.P Lou Reed. He famously once said that the last thing he ever wanted when he die was people saying R.I.P. 'cause he feels such a cliched of a sentimental, overused phrase and of course he was a guy that walked on the wild side, the dark side of life, you know, and the last thing he wants is to rest in piece.
PENN: You know, that may be.
MORGAN: I'm about to interview another guy who grew up in Hollywood and had a lot trouble as a child star, Corey Feldman. You've seen lots of young actors go off the rails. You've had your moments yourself because you've always been very honest about. What do you say to young people who want to get in to the Hollywood business and may be even their parents who are going to put their kids into this cauldron?
PENN: My opinion is that we notice them because they're in that business. I know a lot that don't go off the rails and mostly I know people that go off the rails -- I think it's exactly the same as people who aren't in the business. You know, money. Some people, you know, you're focusing on people who have -- you could focus on people in other -- young people in other businesses that they have money to make the same mistakes and to, you know, the same thing. I don't think it's particularly the movie business is really my field. I mean, you know, if it gives Dr. Drew a job, it is. But I don't think it is.
MORGAN: Would you mind if your kids said "Dad, we want to be movie stars."
PENN: Well, I don't -- neither of them would use that word, I don't think. But, I would mind at all, no. You know, I think it's a -- it was one of the things that I thought again when I saw this Osage County movie. I was just like, it was just a reminder when you see a movie or "Gravity" if you saw that. And you think, you know, movies are that matter. They can be big medicine. And this is what I said in the speech, you know, for Julia the other night. You know, being reminded that it can matter. Not all movies matter and I think that we really should work very hard. We should be more responsible about the movies that we make and how -- what we're talking about in the times that we're living and it was something that Dr. House (ph) said about the responsibility of the artist being to know the times and then which they live and to apply themselves to whether through period film stylized films or naturalistic modern films, but yeah I think it is a profession that it's a big reason to get off the rails and then others because it's an incredible opportunity to speak to people.
MORGAN: Well said Sean Penn. As always fascinating talking to you, please come back again soon the great event on Sunday the New York Marathon. Your runners if you want to help them out there and you're watching www.crowdrise.com/TheLongRunForHaiti you can get on there and you can help support them in this remarkable effort.
Sean you did a great job out there, there's no other way to describe it. If I was a movie star and your kind of money I'll be in my Hollywood mansion enjoying the high life and you go in little tents and help the Haitians and it's an amazing sacrifice. You do I'm sure I know that they're incredibly grateful. It's great to see you.
PENN: Thanks.
MORGAN: And best and luck on Sunday.
PENN: Thanks a lot.
MORGAN: Sean Penn. Coming next on the chair. AT (ph) teen idol as I said, Corey Feldman opens up in a primetime exclusive about drugs, the other Corey and the dark twisted secrets of young Hollywood should be fascinating interview coming after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just like the (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on man, come on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on man.
(inaudible)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just you know if you put a stop as a vamp out in anyway then I'll stick you without even thinking twice about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chill out Edgar (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, come on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you OK (inaudible). Andrew (ph) are you all right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my god.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh wow...
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: Corey Feldman, every child of the '80s grow up with the star of The Goonies, Gremlins, and Stand by Me and which spiraled downwards into one of the brat pack's true " Lost Boys.
If you memoir his "Coreyography" as a disturbing look on the very darkest side of Hollywood. And he's in the chair tonight for a prime time exclusive interview.
Corey welcome to you.
COREY FELDMAN, ACTOR: Hello Piers. Thank you for having me and thank you for recent support.
MORGAN: Well, listen it's a pleasure, because anyone let me remember the '80s at all for that reason.
FELDMAN: Exactly.
MORGAN: (inaudible) "The Lost Boys, remembers you of the two Coreys. Well, you know, very famous and both had a lot of problems dealing against with the fame and the money and everything that comes with that.
Sean Penn I thought was very interesting that it may just be that you would have had these problems and people that have these problems in Hollywood might have them real life.
FELDMAN: That's just...
MORGAN: What would you think about?
FELDMAN: That's -- he's exactly right. I say that all the time in interviews. As, you know, people always want to focus on Hollywood because well we're famous.
So, yeah if you're famous you're going to talk about it on the news. What about the millions of kids across the world that still deal with drugs and alcohol problems? They still end up in rehab. They still end up loosing everything or destroying their lives? It happens in all walks of life, in all races, but of course those aren't on the spotlight, you know.
MORGAN: It's a searingly (ph) honest book, I've got to say. I mean some of it is very difficult to read it's so honest.
And you talked about the really dark sleazy side of Hollywood focusing a lot on a piece that you suffered and Corey Haim suffered. And now, there's, you know, physical and sexual abuse as well as mental abuse. Tell me about that.
FELDMAN: Well, yeah, my story in and of itself is fairly tragic. And I did have a very, very rough up bringing. I endured a lot of abuse, I endured a lot of pain in my childhood. I did not choose this life. It was chosen for me.
I wasn't a guy who, you know, came to Hollywood with big dreams and decided he wanted to be a star and all that kind of stuff. It wasn't like that for me.
For me it was more like I guess what you would compare to child's slavery or being born into royalty. You could look at it whichever way you choose, either way it's a forced life. It's not a freedom of choice, like most human beings on this earth have the right to choose.
For me it was this is what you're going to be and before I was old enough to internalize what that choice was it was there and there was no taking it back.
So, the struggle became how will you move forward from this point. Will you embrace it? Will you continue to use this as your strategy as your guide as your goal? Or will you move back from it and try to create a different path?
Well, by the time I was old enough to even know what that decision was, it was far too late. I had to go forward. So, here I am today.
MORGAN: I mean, what's extraordinary as you say, when you were seven years old when you effectively became a star, as a commercial actor. You were the prime bread winner in the family. To make it worst with this money coming in, both the parents suffered all the problems with drugs and you moved on to cocaine after finding your own mother's stash.
I mean, as you say this is not a normal upbringing. It's a very abusive scenario for a young boy to be growing up in. And yet you also said a few things that it was only really two years of your life, the hard drug partying time. And yet, you still, known even now as the cokehead Corey which much be quite drawing (ph) how do you try and shrug that off? How do you get over the partying side? But it's just a small part of your life.
FELDMAN: You know, Piers I think I tried to shrug it off for the last 20 years, but that didn't work.
So, instead I've written a book, you know, if you can't kind of side step it or imagine the people who get passed it then you have to really start internalizing and investigating why. Why is it that people want so much to put this branding on me? What is the purpose? What's the driving force?
And then, I started to realize, as I became older wiser maybe, little more mature maybe. I started to realize that the driving force is people are ashamed. People have their own secrets. People have their own things that may have done to me through a course of action that they were hoping would kind of get covered up and go away.
And, you know, I became inspired with all of these notion really when I saw what happened with my dear friend Corey after he passed and was snubbed (ph) at the Oscars. That was it. That was a final straw for me.
I then realized that that very moment I get it. We are being asked to be erased from history. They're basically trying to erase our legacy, everything that we achieved. This guy earned over a billion dollars. I mean literally his films, if you go back and do the math his films alone not including mine, earned a billion dollars at the Hollywood Box Office. And yet, what is he? Where is he? Why would he be ignored at the Oscars? That to me made no sense.
And so, I started looking at the bigger picture. What's the real demon? The real demon is, that things happen to this kid that was straight masochistic, awful, terrible, I mean torturous. And he was literally demonized and not just in the sense that the things that were done to him but it's more about the sense of the things that were done as a result of the things that were done to him.
So basically instead of , you know, allowing him the ability to recover from the things that happened to him which he wasn't unfortunately able to, I had the same type of things done to me not to a severe measure as him but I still had very, you know, difficult things that I dealt with. I was able to get pass them to the point that I'm still here today. I'm still alive and luckily sober and able to deal with it.
He unfortunately is not here today. He did get himself together. He was in much better shape before he passed. He did not die of drugs as I said when I was on Larry King. I said when the toxicology reports come out, we will find that he was not in fact on drugs and it was not because of drugs but it was because of a lifelong of abusing himself as a result of the things...
MORGAN: Right.
FELDMAN: ... that happen to him as a kid. And that's really the moral of the story. Things happen to us as kids -- somebody felt bad about it so instead of taking the blame they took the shame and they tried to sweep us into the carpet, now its like our legacy didn't exist. Well, it did.
MORGAN: One of the extraordinary relationships that you've cultivated was with somebody who would know that better than almost anybody else in Hollywood -- Michael Jackson. When we come back after the break, I want to talk to you about your relationship with Michael. And obviously he's not here to tell the story. He died at 50 -- another tragic, the early victim of the Hollywood system many would say.
FELDMAN: Yes, indeed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
I'm sure most of you are aware that we lost the world's greatest entertainer this week. And I want to not only dedicate this show to him because without Michael Jackson, I won't be performing on stage tonight.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: Corey Feldman the performing with his band, The Truth Movement, shortly after Michael Jackson's death and I'm back with my prime time exclusive now with Corey talking about revealing the memoir Coreyography. You relationship with Michael Jackson was clearly a very important one to you. Had its ups and downs you fell out within briefly and he was a mentor in other moments and obviously then he died age 50. What is your overview of that relationship?
FELDMAN: Well, he was the big brother I never had quite honestly. He was everything to me as a kid. He taught me so many things. He's taught me about loving animals, vegetarianism, animal rights, environmental issues, caring about your fans, how to treat your fans, the fact that the moment that you meet your fans may just be a fleeting moment to you and something that you're in the middle of things that you got to take time for. But to them they're going to remember this moment for the rest of their lives. So how important it is with that exchange and how you treat them a lot.
MORGAN: He also, obviously had a difficult relationship with his father. And you had obviously similar difficult relationship with both your parents.
FELDMAN: Yeah.
MORGAN: Did you discuss that together? Was he helpful in that sense?
FELDMAN: We discussed everything, you know what I mean, and it was literally like a big brother, little brother relationship where we've talked about everything, I would talk about the abuse that I endured in school which is also in the book, the abuse with my parents and also the difficulties of having to go to work everyday instead of being able to play. You know both of us shared that similarity. We were robbed of our childhoods. We weren't able to just have sleepovers or go play at the arcade with other kids or take your bike down the street and do what you want. That didn't exist for us. That wasn't a reality. So instead we ought to, you know, go for meeting to meeting and, you know, sit in a room full of people all day and be judged and have people question you about everything that you do, again, life under the microscope, totally different, a very different perspective than most people ever have the experience of having.
MORGAN: Your first marijuana joint was apparently with River Phoenix.
FELDMAN: Yeah.
MORGAN: Obviously we talked about the other Corey before the break there and Michael now three people who are no longer with us. I mean does part of you Corey feel, fortunate to still be alive?
FELDMAN: Thank God. God bless. I feel so fortunate, so fortunate, you know, I saw you talking on the talk the other day you were appearing on that show and you had said that, you know, is it possible for Corey to have a comeback and the things that he has to overcome. And I thank you for that because it's always good to out those thoughts in people's mind. So let's see how he's going to do it. But quite honestly I don't feel like I've ever gone anywhere, and one of the few people that I know that has consistently worked for almost 40 years now and I've never stopped. I do three films a year generally. Of course they haven't been the big hundred million dollar smash films like they used to be but that's OK. I'm all right with it because I'm still working and I'm being creative and I'm doing what I love to do.
I have my first theatrical release coming in over a decade this January which is called the M Words and directed by the legendary art house director Henry Jaglom and its being mainstream theatrically released. So I'm very excited to even be in the game to be honest and I'm very humbled by it. That said, I'm also very grateful just to be on earth. I have a beautiful son. I have a beautiful life today. I've overcome a great many things both professionally and personally. So, I think more than anything, this book is more of a testament to the fact that not only have I survived it but I've learned how to survive it and be happy and that's the big thing. I am happy. I love my life. I love life itself. I love helping people and I love spending time with my child. So the rest is just gravy really.
MORGAN: Well Corey it's a fascinating book. It's searing like I said and anyone who wants to know what the dark side of Hollywood is like and the upside as well when it happens...
FELDMAN: Yes. I mean that's a lot of good stuff they do right I mean there's a lot of happy moments...
MORGAN: No, certainly, it's not completely upsetting, but the upsetting stuff is very upsetting and I applaud you for being so candid about it. It's a great lesson for people, who want to know why guys let you perhaps got off the rails as well. This is why ...
FELDMAN: But you did bring up a good point, you did bring up a good point Piers which is that, I did go off the rails but it was only for two years, you know ...
MORGAN: Right.
FELDMAN: ... a lot of people want to keep you in that hole, and I wanted this truth to come out. There are people that really open up their eyes and examine it and go wait a minute, let's think back. When did he have his problems again? Oh yeah, that was like history ago, and yeah ...
MORGAN: Yeah. Well, Corey, it's great to see you back, great to see you talking to so eloquently about all this. Thanks for coming and the books called Coreyography, it's a great -- a great-memoirs of a fascinating life. Corey thanks very much indeed. FELDMAN: Thank you Piers, I appreciate it.
MORGAN: Coming next. Tips for the even most hopeless of cooks which is me basically from Jerry Seinfeld's better half, not necessarily in the kitchen but she is also very funny. Jessica Seinfeld after the break.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: SMART.
BILL MAHER: It is astounding to me that we're actually having an argument of whether America to pay his bill.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ANGRY.
MAHER: We have to treat our government like a family does. Well, that's stupid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: FUNNY.
MAHER: There's lots of people who never miss a million dollars, I will miss it, I'll miss it definitely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Piers Morgan spend some real time with Bill Maher, live tomorrow night at 9.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN original series Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown, Tokyo.
In the land of the rising sun, it's the nights that get hot.
ANTHONY BOURDAIN: I totally don't understand a (inaudible) here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anthony Bourdain, Parts Unknown, Tokyo, Sunday night, 9 eastern and pacific on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BRAK)
MORGAN: Jessica Seinfeld is a three-time best selling cookbook author, a mother of three children, and somehow managed to endure 14 years of being married to some comedian guy. Her latest book is "The Can't Cook Book". A dream book for people like me who literally can't cook.
Jessica Seinfeld, welcome to you.
SEINFELD: Thank you. Happy to be here.
MORGAN: So, here's my technique with cooking. It's the same as my technique with music. I can play one song on the piano, Let It Be by Beatles but I play it so well that I'd convinced everybody on the next Liberace, with cooking, I can cook one meal, spaghetti bolognaise, which is similar to --
SEINFELD: That's a good one, yeah.
MORGAN: -- someone, which is you have here. I do it brilliantly but I can't cook anything else so this is like a little God send that's arrived because it's packed full of simple recipes for idiots like me, right?
SEINFELD: Yes, it is. It's a perfect word. So, if you can cook spaghetti bolognaise, I feel like you're not afraid of the kitchen.
MORGAN: No, no I'm aggressive in the kitchen.
SEINFELD: What I believe anything about you as being aggressive.
But I feel like, you know, this book is great for you too because you can get in and out of the kitchen really quickly. The recipe's are for everyone but I took four years writing this book for people like, you used the word "idiot".
MORGAN: Yes.
SEINFELD: I use the word "genius".
Genius is like my husband who are incredible in everything else.
MORGAN: I mean for someone who's hopeless like me, what is the simple way to be a good cook?
SEINFELD: I don't believe you're hopeless. I just think you are very busy person, like I feel like this is what people do, they judge themselves, they have so much shame about it and it's really like food.
It's not -- we're just going to eat again in a few hours.
MORGAN: And look at these dishes, they look amazingly complicated.
SEINFELD: No they're very simple and that's the point. I, you know, I'm committed to cooking for my family, almost every night of the week and I don't want to spend a lot of time doing it and I don't want to run around shopping all day long. I mean, I can, I have a job, I have three kids, I have a husband who's on the road all the time. I don't have the time and I don't really want to spend the time doing it. I just wanted to figure out like everyone thinks of this is like a big problem.
So, let's just break it down, not be afraid of it, not judge ourselves for it. Let's just solve the problem.
MORGAN: Does your other half cook for you?
SEINFELD: No, he doesn't.
MORGAN: Never? SEINFELD: But he's actually so obsessed with this book and the fact that you can take something and problem solve. You can take it apart and you can figure out how to style it for someone.
And so now, he's really motivated and I'm just waiting for -- like I always say, he's used to be at the kitchen table. And now, he sort of closer and closer and closer and now, he's kind at the counter while I'm cooking.
MORGAN: Well, let's look at some of these dishes.
SEINFELD: Yes.
MORGAN: So talk me through what we have here?
SEINFELD: We have chicken wings, which I'm very, very excited about for you.
Do you like chicken wings?
MORGAN: I do like chicken wings.
SEINFELD: I'm a wing freak.
MORGAN: I love wings.
SEINFELD: I love wings where I'm ...
MORGAN: Wings and beer, watching the old super bowl
SEINFELD: I love it. I m doing a wing crumb next Tuesday with my friends. You can come with us if you like.
MORGAN: Thank you. Thank you very much.
SEINFELD: Yes, sure. I mean, it wasn't a real invitation but...
MORGAN: No, I will be there then.
SEINFELD: OK. (inaudible).
MORGAN: Where I come from invitation extended (inaudible).
SEINFELD: Yes. So...
MORGAN: So, I will be there and I will eat your chicken wings.
SIENFELD: I never should have mentioned it.
This is chili. I call this "Your First Chili" like this is the first chili you ever have to make or ever will need to make I because all you do is just throw stuff in a pot.
You don't -- there is -- it's just the simplest thing and there's no reason to be afraid of it. MORGAN: Well, I actually got my associate producer Lizzy (ph). We baked and she tried several of these dishes. She's not a great culinary expert it's fair to say.
So, there we have on the right your effort and there's Lizzy's (ph) on the left. I mean, not bad.
SEINFELD: Beautiful. What do you mean not bad?
MORGAN: It's the First Chili and secondly...
SEINFELD: I love the chili.
MORGAN: We got the pizza as well. Where's the -- there we are.
SEINFELD: Hello. What? Beautiful.
MORGAN: And can we move to the chocolate, cake, with the ...
SEINFELD: Yes, the flowerless chocolate cake.
MORGAN: With the vast tub of creamer.
SEINFELD: Of creamer. I'm going to get into the really soon. You and I, right?
MORGAN: Yes.
SEINFELD: We're going to hit that hard.
MORGAN: I love cream.
SEINFELD: I love cream too.
MORGAN: The whole thing about it.
SEINFELD: I love it. Cream is the best any type of...
MORGAN: Do you crack jokes as you're cooking?
SEINFELD: I drink wine when I cook. So, that usually leads to...
MORGAN: Who's funny, you or Jerry?
SEINFELD: I think Jerry is funnier than me.
MORGAN: I think you're very funny. You've been making me laugh ever since you got here.
SEINFELD: Wow, that's nice. Wow that's...
MORGAN: Who makes you laugh more?
SEINFELD: That was good for you. You probably could use that, right? MORGAN: Who makes you laugh more?
SEINFELD: I definitely make him laugh, which is really nice and you have that experience when we run into each other in Los Angeles and you made him laugh.
MORGAN: Yes.
SEINFELD: And you felt really great.
MORGAN: Well, I have my special moment. I made Jerry Seinfeld laugh...
SEINFELD: I know, it's hard.
MORGAN: ... but I still going it.
SEINFELD: And hard, yes.
MORGAN: All right, lets' have a final meal, right? Who would you guest be? Anyone from history, from modern times?
SEINFELD: Yeah.
MORGAN: Who would your dream dinner party be?
SEINFELD: I would love Eleanor Roosevelt, the Beatles, -- little Edie and big Edie. They're my kind of people. Who else? Somebody who can me make us laugh.
MORGAN: Who would that be?
SEINFELD: My husband.
MORGAN: He'd be good.
SEINFELD: Yeah, he'd be really funny.
MORGAN: He's had his moments.
SEINFELD: Yeah, yea, yeah.
MORGAN: Jessica Seinfeld, it's been a pleasure meeting you. Thank you for the book. It will actually help enhance my life. Become a Cook book, a hundred plus recipe's, the absolutely terrified has I already hit the real-time best sellers, this obviously and available now.
SEINFELD: Thank you. Obviously, really?
MORGAN: (Inaudible), of course.
SEINFELD: I had a good laugh.
MORGAN: You're, Seinfeld, everything is a best seller.
SEINFELD: Right, exactly. Have a good (inaudible).
MORGAN: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MORGAN: Tomorrow night, live out with Bill Maher on politics punch line his serving view. It is about everything Maher takes on the Tea Party, Ted Cruz, and would you believe, even liberals as Bill Maher for a surprising and what will be definitely be an entertaining hour, tomorrow night.
That's all for us tonight though.
Wolf Blitzer's in for Anderson Cooper and that starts right now.
