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Joy Behar Page
Is David Letterman Turning Into Late-Night Punchline?; "Jon & Kate plus 8 minus 1"
Aired October 05, 2009 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOY BEHAR, HLN ANCHOR: Tonight, the David Letterman scandal. Are his interoffice activities turning him into a late-night punch line?
Then, Barack bashing: President Obama has extended the olive branch to the right wing over and over again and they just keep chopping it off.
Joining me in the studio, a man who was like (INAUDIBLE); nobody doesn`t liked him, the fabulous Regis Philbin.
All that and more from the Time Warner Center in New York City tonight.
Sex, money, extortion: is this an episode of "Law and Order?" No, it`s the real life goings-on of "The Late Show with David Letterman." And now, new details are coming to light including an alleged love nest above the Ed Sullivan Theater. It makes sense: who was a bigger babe magnet than Ed Sullivan?
Joining me to discuss this ongoing scandal are comedian Sandra Bernhard, Judith Regan of Sirius/XM Radio host, Jeanine Pirro, host of the "Judge Jeanine Pirro Show" and the fabulous Lloyd Grove, from the "Daily Beast." Welcome to the show.
JEANINE PIRRO, HOST, "JUDGE JEANINE PIRRO SHOW": Thank you.
BEHAR: Let`s just start -- I want to show a picture of this girlfriend of his first. Ok. There she is, very nice looking, a sweet girl. Do you think there were others, Lloyd, or is this it?
LLOYD GROVE, EDITOR AT LARGE, "THE DAILY BEAST": No, there may have been others. But I have to say, I hung out on that show for about three days running for hours and hours on end...
BEHAR: Yes.
GROVE: ...and maybe I`m not the best judge but I didn`t get a vibe that there was a sexual harassment vibe there. In fact, three of his top producers are women and all of them have worked for him for, like, 30 years. So they`re very loyal...
BEHAR: Well, I`ve heard that, I`ve heard that but Jeanine, you`re a lawyer. I mean, sexual harassment means a lot of different things.
PIRRO: Well, it`s essentially is two things. There are two standards under Title 7 and that is a quid pro quo. Do you in exchange for sex get a promotion or get to keep your job?
BEHAR: Right.
PIRRO: Or is there a hostile work environment which means is it raunchy, is it people patting me on the butt, that kind of thing. And it doesn`t appear based upon the promotion of so many women, a strong women show in terms of the executives, that that seemed to be the case.
The issue is consent. Was it voluntary consensual sex and if it was, there`s no sexual harassment.
BEHAR: Ok, before we move on it seems everybody`s talking about the admission from Thursday. Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "LATE NIGHT SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN: The creepy stuff was that I have had sex with women who work for me on this show. Now, my response to that is, yes, I have. I`ve had sex with women who work on this show.
And would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would. Perhaps it would, especially for the women.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Ok. So a couple of things. First of all, he said it was creepy, which really struck me because creepy to me -- I don`t think what he did was that creepy because creepy is consensual incest. We heard about that last week.
And Roman Polanski was creepy. I don`t think that this is creepy, they`re both adults. But what about the fact that other people at the show, other women at the show might feel what you call the hostile environment. Rather, not a welcoming environment.
If one girl is sleeping with the boss and getting promotions or getting going on the air, what do you think?
JUDITH REGAN, TALK SHOW HOST, SIRIUS/XM RADIO: You know Joy, I thought when he said creepy, that was the thing that resonated with me.
BEHAR: Yes.
REGAN: And I thought we don`t know details of what went on. Maybe it was creepy. Maybe he was doing creepy things. Maybe the guy who extorted him has a lot of details about the kind of sexual behavior he engaged in. We don`t know, we don`t really know anything. Was it sexual harassment? We don`t even know that.
But certainly if it was sexual harassment, wouldn`t these women have come forward before? Wouldn`t they have said something before?
BEHAR: You would think so.
PIRRO: There`s such a thing as...
BEHAR: Yes.
REGAN: ...as consenting adults here. And you know are we so shocked to discover that gambling is going on in Casa Blanca I mean, come on. Where do you go where there are powerful, rich, successful men who are not having sex with the women around them?
BEHAR: I know that...
REGAN: I don`t know. I lived in New York City. This is not an alarming situation as far as I can see.
BEHAR: Well.
REGAN: The only alarming thing is the extortion if it`s true.
BEHAR: Really? Well, you used to flirt with Dave.
SANDRA BERNHARD, COMEDIAN, ACTRESS, SINGER: I did. And you know I always found David incredibly attractive.
BEHAR: You did?
BERNHARD: And I still do to this day.
BEHAR: You do.
BERNHARD: I don`t know it`s just because of his self-effacement and his sort of mock embarrassment of his whole being. I find that very attractive in a man.
GROVE: I don`t think it`s mock. I think he really does have a lot of issues.
BERNHARD: Well, you know we all have issues. But you know, he makes that where he draws his humor and it`s very funny and it works and even his confession I found -- I laughed out loud.
BEHAR: Well, it was a PR crew, I mean...
BERNHARD: I mean, it was genius.
BEHAR: Yes.
BERNHARD: I mean, the show is doing so well. I don`t know. I think once you hit 21 and no matter what the workplace is -- unless he`s twisting their arm, which I doubt is happening because he is very appealing. He`s an appealing guy. And I`m not surprised that women wanted to sleep with him.
BEHAR: But if I was a girl working on the show and some other girl is getting on-air time because she`s sleeping with the head of the company, I wouldn`t like it.
BERNHARD: You know what? You would hone your five minutes. Come on, Joy. You would be in there writing and you`d sharpen your tools and you`d be ready to roll.
BEHAR: Yes, yes, yes but I mean, Jeanine, come on, don`t you think that this is a little bit -- not hostile -- but not a welcoming environment for other people?
PIRRO: The question is a very fair question. How do you compete with someone who is sleeping with the boss?
BEHAR: Yes.
PIRRO: And but the problem is that the cases and the statutes don`t contemplate that. They contemplate to two grounds, hostile work environment and you want to then, extrapolate from that that it`s hostile because you can`t get in there and sleep with him too. Or you can`t move up because someone else is -- the cases do not support that.
And what`s curious is that no one has ever complained and one of the interns or one of the young women said, "Hey, I love this guy. He was hilarious. I would have married him if he asked me."
BEHAR: Well, sure. He`s rich.
REGAN: Of course she would have married him, duh. Just because you sleep with the boss doesn`t mean you`re going to get ahead. Sometimes it can be detrimental to your career.
BEHAR: Only if you break up.
BERNHARD: Yes, the other thing that I`m not sure of where were they trying to get to? I mean, I don`t think most of these women were trying to be performers otherwise they`d be guests on the show like we`ve been.
So I don`t really understand ultimately what they were trying to achieve through their sexual relations themselves.
BEHAR: Well, she does get an extra check on the air. You get an after check if you go on the air.
PIRRO: So there was a wonderful insurance.
GROVE: Someone`s also paying for her law school.
BEHAR: That`s right, he paid for her law school. Hello.
REGAN: And of course, she was at the Olympics reporting.
BERNHARD: Ok, but she can`t but not every woman -- he doesn`t want to sleep with every woman and every woman doesn`t want to sleep with him and not every woman is going to get those treats. If you`re not dating somebody, you`re not going to send them a diamond bracelet.
I mean, it doesn`t make any sense. So I don`t really find this to be that scandalous or that off the charts. BEHAR: Well, we don`t know everything...
GROVE: Well, he`s not dating Rupert at the Hello Deli and he`s on the air a lot...
BERNHARD: I guess that is true. Over the years he`s had a lot of interesting characters.
REGAN: I think the interesting thing though is extortionist...
BEHAR: Yes.
REGAN: ...and what potentially...
BEHAR: Yes.
REGAN: ...could have happened there. Gerry Shargel is one of the best criminal defense attorneys in the world.
BEHAR: Gotti, didn`t he defend Gotti?
REGAN: He defended Gotti, he defended Mark Dryer (ph) and I was there at Mark Dryer`s sentencing and his performance in the courtroom was truly impressive.
BEHAR: Yes.
REGAN: I think that the way they`re going to spin the story is he was trying to sell his book or his screen play and giving David Letterman the opportunity to buy it first which happens by the way all the time in the book business.
BEHAR: But then why did he...
REGAN: People used to come to me -- people used to come to me all the time and by the way...
BEHAR: Really that`s quite an advance...
BERNHARD: No, why not...
PIRRO: Not a chance. You`ve got the Manhattan D.A.`s office in the middle of this thing. You`ve got a wiretap. You`ve got to transfer under their auspices. You had an extortion clear and simple.
Now, Gerry, I agree with you Judith, is a phenomenal attorney -- Gerry Shargel. At the end of the day, this case is one that was supervised by the D.A.`s office from start to finish.
BERNHARD: I`m going start dating Gerry Shargel.
He sounds like the man to go after here.
REGAN: He is the one.
BERNHARD: ...for crying out loud.
BEHAR: And here`s what the attorney for the accused extortionist has said today on "GOOD MORNING AMERICA." Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GERALD SHARGEL, ROBERT HALDERMAN`S ATTORNEY: I look forward to cross examining David Letterman because don`t think that the full story is before the public. I think that every day, every hour of every day, I`ve been gathering new facts and there`s much more to this story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Ok, Lloyd, who is this guy, Halderman? Who is he?
GROVE: He is a long-time CBS News producer, he`s a field producer.
BEHAR: Yes.
GROVE: Which means, he has a huge ego.
BEHAR: What do you mean? A field producer has a huge ego?
GROVE: Well, you have to and you have to...
REGAN: What do you mean he goes out on the streets and...
GROVE: Well, this is somebody who goes around the world. And he`s a war correspondent.
REGAN: Oh really?
GROVE: And you have to have a lot of self-confidence. You have to get the story. You have to be brash. And he was somebody who liked to have fun. And he had a reputation for being a bit of a womanizer.
BEHAR: Well he`s sounds bitter. He sounds angry...
BERNHARD: I haven`t seen one picture of this man that looks like it connotes fun.
BEHAR: Me either.
BERNHARD: There`s something that`s so (INAUDIBLE) about this guy. I`m like -- what fun? Get it going. Wow. I mean, fun.
GROVE: Well, he`s going through a bad past.
BERNHARD: Honey, very bad and just worked the hair over.
PIRRO: He has a motivation to convicted crime. His motivation is that he had problems with child support, foreclosure issues, maintenance issues.
BERNHARD: So what? Who doesn`t? I mean, what does that mean? That`s half of America.
BEHAR: What about the Gosselins. Do you think this is bad?
REGAN: I just want to say one thing about Gerry Shargel and what he said.
BEHAR: Yes.
REGAN: Because he`s not going to involve...
BERNHARD: Yes, let`s go back to Gerry Shargel. My man.
REGAN: You`re man, Sandra and I`m going after him, too. He`s an incredible guy.
BERNHARD: You`ve had enough problems.
REGAN: It`s true with men. When he said I`m looking forward to taking David Letterman`s deposition, in a sense, that`s kind of a veiled threat. He wants David Letterman to know he`s going to sit in the deposition. He`s going to ask him every sordid detail about his sex life from day one. Everything this man has ever done is going to be made public.
BEHAR: And there are a lot of other women apparently.
REGAN: It`s going to be made public.
BERNHARD: What do you do in bed? Are you into choking women?
BEHAR: There`s something about Letterman. He comes nerdy and he goes out and he`s just finding girls at the office.
PIRRO: But you know what`s telling. What`s telling is that no one has complained about Letterman up to this point. No one has said a word.
BEHAR: Right. Not yet.
PIRRO: Not yet.
BEHAR: These other girls may come out now.
(CROSS TALK)
REGAN: It`s an opportunity for them. I think the problem with this guy was that he was rejected by Letterman. Letterman didn`t invite him to any of the parties. He was apparently...
(CROSS TALK)
BERNHARD: The guy had a lot of -- I know you have to go to break.
BEHAR: We`re going to come back. We`re going to have more on the Letterman scandal when we come back but we`re out of time right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, NBC HOST, "THE JAY LENO SHOW": If you came here tonight for sex with the talk show host, you`ve got the wrong studio.
What is going on? First Conan hit his head and then somebody tries to extort money from Letterman. I`m so glad I`m out of late night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Ok. Letterman`s rival Jay Leno took his shot on Friday. I`m back with my panel. Sandra, you and Jay did have an affair at one time, I think.
BERNHARD: He took me for a ride on his motorcycle back in the day.
BEHAR: That was it or you had sex on the motorcycle? I don`t get it.
BERNHARD: I was, like, 19 years old. I was just starting on the comedy scene and I was all impressed. I wish I had been more impressed by Letterman.
BEHAR: Why?
BERNHARD: Because I find Letterman to be a much sexier man. Just in general.
BEHAR: Do you think that women are going to stop watching Letterman because of ...
BERNHARD: No, I think they`re going to watch more than ever.
BEHAR: You know that he has a 58 percent female audience. This is something that`s interesting. They always tell women comedians, us, that late night is for the boys because only men watch it. P.S., 58 percent of his viewers are female.
BERNHARD: I think women, you know, ultimately have a better sense of humor than a lot of men do. Women have learned to have a laugh at themselves and laugh at their lives and all the problems that we have to deal with day-to-day. I think that we`re ultimately much funnier than men and want to laugh more than men.
BEHAR: Then how come late night dominated by men?
BERNHARD: Because it`s a misogynistic, sexist world, Joy, in case you didn`t notice.
PIRRO: You know why? Because women are exhausted from cooking and cleaning and everything else.
BERNHARD: I`m not. I love to stay up late. I like to be in that block.
58 percent are women. And I don`t think it`s going to affect him one bit other than I think the ratings will go up.
LLOYD: 38 percent spike last Thursday.
(CROSS TALK)
BERNHARD: I mean people are going to continue to be more and more interested.
REGAN: Scandal sells.
BEHAR: Scandal sells but that doesn`t mean it`s going to hold.
PIRRO: That`s right, for long term.
BERNHARD: He has been doing better than Conan in the past couple weeks any way. I think this will just kind of take it to another level.
BEHAR: Do you think that Sarah Palin thing -- that little problem where he made a joke about Sarah`s daughter has something to do with the spike in his ratings?
REGAN: I think it all helps. I think that everything he does that`s outrageous which is like everything else in the culture, the screamers and yellers and the one who are more outrageous, whenever there`s a scandal, you sell more books, you get higher ratings.
BERNHARD: I think David surprised people by getting a little political. Because you know, he never really was.
BEHAR: We didn`t know he was such a liberal. Now we know. He`s an Obama fan.
BERNHARD: I always knew he was a liberal from way back. That`s who he is.
BEHAR: How come you never hear about powerful women sleeping with underlings? You noticed that? You never hear that.
BERNHARD: Good question.
BEHAR: What is the reason?
REGAN: Because powerful women want to sleep with men who are more powerful than they are. They can`t be boxed...
BERNHARD: I don`t necessarily agree with that at all.
BEHAR: I don`t agree with that at all.
BERNHARD: I think so many women want to sleep with grips and electricians.
BEHAR: Especially the grips.
BERNHARD: They`re notorious.
(CROSS TALK)
BERNHARD: Are there any grips in the house? Let me see the grips.
BEHAR: Where is my best boy?
BERNHARD: They carry the -- you know, they lift the bails of hay and wires.
(CROSS TALK)
BERNHARD: They`re built and they shut up. They`re not interested in political conversation. They get down. They want to get into it.
BEHAR: But as a comedian, you know how awkward is it going to be for him to make fun of other people who are committing adultery or whatever it is they`re doing?
BERNHARD: He`ll just bring it back to himself again.
BEHAR: You think so?
BERNHARD: Yes. He`ll have to if he wants to stay on and keep doing it.
PIRRO: And given that fact that he is so self-deprecating I think understands he has to. He`s in a position where he`s being seen as hypocritical and if he was going after other people.
But I think in answer to your other question, I think a lot of times you don`t hear about sexual harassment as it relates to men is because number one women are not in as many positions of power as men are. But also, I think there`s a certain embarrassment factor, what`s socially more acceptable or reportable?
It`s kind of like domestic violence. In the beginning, it was all women reporting now men are coming forward and reporting.
BEHAR: Have you been harassed by a female...
PIRRO: A woman in a position of power?
BEHAR: A boss, a woman in a position of power.
GROVE: No, Joy, I have not.
BEHAR: Would you like to start tonight, Lloyd?
BERNHARD: You`re scaring us, Lloyd.
BEHAR: Letterman`s show used to have some comments they`ve been dealing that they`ve been quick to latch onto this scandal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY FALLON, NBC HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON": There`s a new book out called "Why Women Have Sex" that has a list of 237 reasons why women have sex. Letterman knows the top ten.
SETH MYERS, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: A producer for "48 Hours" was arrested for attempting a stupid human trick.
It is reported that the blackmailer Joe Halderman was threatening to reveal embarrassing details of Letterman`s personal life. For example, after sex he would always say, "Stay tuned for Craig Ferguson."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Now, Craig Ferguson stayed away from it. But that`s because he`s on CBS and Letterman is his boss. Right? But Conan hasn`t said a word and Jimmy Kimmel but these have.
BERNHARD: First of all, it`s hard to make it funny as we just saw.
BEHAR: Well, they go for the easy laugh.
BERNHARD: There`s nothing complicated about it or layered. It is what it is. It`s really hard to like come up with something that`s really going to knock people`s socks off comedically with this story.
REGAN: I think they should make fun of it. He makes fun of other people, why shouldn`t they? That`s their game. I think they should do it. I think it`s cowardly not to.
BEHAR: Exactly.
Comedians are getting a bad rap now for not making fun of Obama. That`s another thing. We have to really step up a little bit and start making fun of the people whose side we`re on, I think.
REGAN: Exactly. Let`s make fun of everything -- equal opportunity.
BERNHARD: When there`s something to say, you know, it can be made funny, then we`ll make fun of it. Until now there hasn`t really been anything to mine from Obama or David Letterman.
REGAN: There`s plenty of stuff. I think there`s plenty of stuff to mine.
BEHAR: Well, there`s plenty of stuff to mine with you, Sandra because I hear you have a new album out.
BERNHARD: Yes I do. It`s a world music album. Great guest stars from Africa, from the Middle East that I co-wrote with Ted Mason.
BEHAR: What`s it called.
BERNHARD: It`s called "Whatever It Takes."
BEHAR: "Whatever It Takes."
BERNHARD: Also I`ll be in San Francisco at the Raz Room (ph) starting next Tuesday for two weeks.
BEHAR: Very good.
Anybody else want to plug anything?
REGAN: I think you should go on the Letterman Show.
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: "The Daily Beast," Sirius Radio, "The Jeanine Pirro Show." Jeanine, Sandra, thanks.
Lloyd, you`re going to stay there. We`re talking about Jon and Kate when we come back.
GROVE: Oh, Lord.
BEHAR: Oh Lord.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATE GOSSELIN, "JON & KATE PLUS 8": Literally buying erratic purchases, randomly purchasing things. I`m sorry. The last thing I wanted was to do this show and end up not being able to pay my bills. And he took $230,000 of the $231,000 that we have liquid and I have a stack of bills in my purse that I can`t drop in the mail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: That was Kate Gosselin on the "Today Show" this morning. Kate says his soon-to-be ex-husband, Jon, took over $200,000 from a joint bank account but he left her with a thousand bucks. What a prince.
Lloyd Grove, Judith Regan and Sandra Bernhard have stuck with me for this one.
Ok. He also said he`s more famous than Paris Hilton. This guy is a character out of I don`t know what, a Dickens novel, what?
Lloyd, how do you feel about this couple?
GROVE: I hate them.
BEHAR: You hate them?
GROVE: Pretty much.
BEHAR: Why? What did they do to you?
GROVE: We`re talking about them. They`re just inflicting themselves on me. There`s no way that I can -- or most people can go anywhere without hearing about them.
BEHAR: I know. But they`ve really have made a lot of money for the network -- for that network that they`re on because it`s a top rated thing. It`s like the biggest thing.
REGAN: And people are interested. First of all, they love children. They love all of the antics. They love marriages that fall apart and people who fight and the utter stupidity of all of reality television and tabloidism. And these are stories that are as old as the hills and people endlessly are fascinated by it.
(CROSS TALK)
BEHAR: Well, she has a new show. It`s going to be her show.
GROVE: "Kate plus 8."
BEHAR: It used to be "Jon & Kate plus 8" now it`s "Jon & Kate plus 8 minus 1." Because he`s not on it anymore; is it going to be boring without him?
BERNHARD: I don`t know how boring it`s going to be or not. I just think that at this point -- I`m not quite sure what motivates her at this point. Whether she`s really trying to do something for society and to really talk about the experience of having eight children or whether she`s really gotten into just dining out at Noboo (ph) which I hear she likes to do.
GROVE: I think she`s addicted to fame.
BEHAR: Where did you hear that?
BERNHARD: I heard from reliable sources.
(CROSS TALK)
BERNHARD: She`s like she`s a man`s Noboo (ph) when she`s on the set.
REGAN: This is what happens with reality stars. They become very full of themselves and very grandiose and they think they`re Elizabeth Taylor. They really do.
BEHAR: He took all the money.
(CROSS TALK)
REGAN: We don`t know what the truth is.
GROVE: He says that there`s a lot of other bank accounts floating around...
BEHAR: Really?
GROVE: And that there is over $2 million that they received...
BEHAR: They have that much? I didn`t know that.
GROVE: That was what they were paid. Yes.
BEHAR: So what is she crying -- what`s the crying about then?
(CROSS TALK)
REGAN: Ratings, it`s about ratings.
BEHAR: She has to take care of these kids by herself while he`s off carrying on over there. The kids are upset I hear which I don`t -- I believe that because they probably miss the crew. With parents like this, I rather my crew take care of me than Jon and Kate.
BERNHARD: Exactly. That`s right.
GROVE: The crew are the only people they know who have a job.
BEHAR: Exactly.
REGAN: That is their surrogate family.
BERNHARD: Or the responsibility toward the kids.
BEHAR: So what do you think is going to happen now? How is this whole thing going to play out?
REGAN: You know what I think is going to happen? They`re going to do whatever they can do to get everybody interested, to stir the controversy so people watch whenever the show comes back.
And that`s really what it`s all about. It`s about creating drama and stirring controversy so that everybody watches.
BEHAR: She needs a job, though, don`t you think? I wouldn`t want to raise those kids without a job.
REGAN: She does need a job even if they have money in the bank.
BERNHARD: She`s hoping that she can parlay this into an endorsement deal or talk show so watch your back because she`ll be over here.
REGAN: In fact, there she is over there.
Seriously. She`s hiding in the Chrysler building.
BERNHARD: She`s on the terrace.
BEHAR: Thanks to my panel.
The latest outburst from Rush Limbaugh when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: When President Obama took office almost 10 months ago, a lot of us hoped for change in tone in Washington, a little more civil, a little less nasty. Oh well, so much for that idea. Listen to what Rush Limbaugh said Friday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Barack Hussein Obama, trying his best to bring hope and change to Chicago with the Olympics and what did we do? We let him down. Barack Hussein Obama was trying to make Chicago a bright shining cesspool on a hill and now look at what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Does he need another intervention? I`m joined now by Ari Melber, correspondent for "The Nation," Megan McCain, a "Daily Beast" columnist, plus Susan Molinari, former congresswoman. OK Megan, what do you think of that?
MEGAN MCCAIN, COLUMNIST, DAILY BEAST: You know, I`m not a fan of Rush Limbaugh, but I`m also not a fan of Keith Olbermann.
BEHAR: Why?
MCCAIN: Because I don`t like extremism in any form when it comes to politics. I find me and my generation, I don`t know how old you are, but we look around the same age, really tune out.
BEHAR: Thank you.
MCCAIN: I just start tuning out when people start yelling. And I don`t think it`s good for America. I don`t think it`s good for politics and I really think it`s bad for this generation and the image they`re getting of what it takes to be a success in politics.
BEHAR: Well, it`s interesting, Ari, because David Brooks actually agrees with Megan. He was saying that the rise of Beck, Hannity and O`Reilly has really correlated almost perfectly with the decline of the GOP. What do you think of that and then we`ll ask Susan, our resident Republican, the question.
ARI MELBER, THE NATION: I think that`s right.
MCCAIN: I`m not a resident Republican?
BEHAR: Yes, you too, another resident Republican.
MELBER: There`s a young Republican. I thought we just went over that.
BEHAR: Well, don`t say that.
MELBER: Look, I think that David Brooks is in competition with these guys. You`ve got to take a grain of salt, right, because they`re all in the conservative movement. But there is this debate going on. There was also a long piece in "The Washington Post" saying we`ve got to get back to ideas for conservatives, not just these attacks.
But I think the big problem is there`s a false -- basically a false comparison. We keep hearing about the left and the right. The left gets mad about certain things and you have some voices. But you don`t see the kind of overt appeals to racism and these other personal attacks as much on the left as you`re seeing right now on the right, the Barack Hussein Obama clip you just showed, that`s wrong.
BEHAR: It`s rude. Susan, do you see the decline of the Republican Party right now?
SUSAN MOLINARI, FORMER CONGRESSWOMAN: No, I see a party that lost an election and just like other political parties, when you`re out of power for a while, it takes a while until you get your footing again and you decide who your spokespeople are going to be in terms of the elected officials are the people who are going to run for office.
So I don`t see us in decline. As a matter of fact, some of our numbers are starting to come back up again. Unfortunately for President Obama, some of his numbers are starting to go down which means that Republicans and Democrats can now compete for the Independents and the people in the middle. And I think we`re going to start to see now that President Obama has -- Superman has fallen to Earth and now he is sort of on level playing field, I think you`re going to start to see the conversation become more about ideas as both political parties try and move towards the center.
BEHAR: But the question is do conservatives care more about Obama losing than what`s good for America? Look at the Drudge Report after Chicago lost the Olympics. It said "Weekly Standard" employee wrote in a blog that the staff cheered when Chicago was eliminated. That`s pretty obnoxious. Why did we cheer for something like that? Aren`t we all Americans? Don`t we want the Olympics to be in the country?
MOLINARI: If you went back and saw what people did when George Bush was president of the United States, it was pretty fair in terms of the way some of the more liberal media dealt with President Bush and his success and his failures. And everything that went wrong in this country was because of President Bush. I think there`s a balance here.
BEHAR: I heard that, Ari, that rap a lot, that argument. Do you agree with that? That we were just rough with Bush as the right wing is now with Obama?
MELBER: No, I don`t think that argument is born out. If you go back to say about a year into Bush`s term, he had very high approval ratings. There was not skepticism in the media, the so-called liberal media. His arguments on taxes and economic policies that didn`t work out were not scrutinized at the time. Many people feel that`s part of how we got into these messes. And obviously everyone understands the media`s role in Iraq. I don`t remember a lot of people saying it was a liberal media on the march to war. So again, I think it`s weird that talking point keeps surfacing. It`s just not what happened.
BEHAR: What do you think about that, Megan? Do you think that we were rougher -- just as rough on Bush?
MCCAIN: I know what it`s like to be a Republican and just recently I had someone -- I`ve had people scream Republican at me. It`s not a joke. It`s very hard in some places. I`ve had people literally scream Republican to me on the streets, like it`s a bad thing.
And I think obviously with President Obama for me the frustration was that he spent so much money going over there, coming back right now, when we have everything that`s going on in this country. I mean, look at the income rate. Look at what`s going on. It`s a very scary time right now. And I think for him to fly over and then come back, that was what bothered me more than anything.
BEHAR: Yes, but if he didn`t go, he would have caught a lot of flak.
MCCAIN: Do you really think?
BEHAR: Yes, I think if he hadn`t gone, people would have said he didn`t give it the old college try. What do you think, Ari?
MELBER: Yes, people love having the Olympics here. And it`s something America gets more often than other countries. There`s a lot of good reasons for that. It`s a boost.
MCCAIN: But a 16-year-old boy in Chicago was beat to death and the video is on YouTube and a lot of people are frustrated that "Chicago loses" was on the front page of the "Chicago Sun Times" and all these Chicago newspapers and that we`re possibly putting our emphasis and our everything on the wrong thing, on the Olympics instead of hate crimes and all that things that are going on in Chicago right now.
BEHAR: But that`s not Obama`s fault. It`s what the newspapers write. If he had control over that --
MCCAIN: It`s not Obama`s fault, but I think we`re emphasizing the wrong things in general in the media and within politics.
MELBER: Well, and the media loves sports. We know that. Olympics is about sports. Sports get a lot of coverage.
MCCAIN: For somebody like me that doesn`t care about sports at all, you know, I care about violence in Chicago and I care about violence in teens and violence on the street. I have a little sister that is a lot more important to me than the Olympics.
MELBER: But I do think it`s the personal attacks that people are getting frustrated with. It`s not just Rush Limbaugh. We have a big controversy right now because Senator McCain really called into question whether General Jones is trying to make decisions for the national security interest of the country or as McCain put it, for personal political maneuvering.
I was surprised by that attack. It`s wrong. I don`t think there`s any evidence. No one is pointing evidence that General Jones is trying to play politics. They`re trying to do a review of Afghanistan strategy. And that`s not again, Rush Limbaugh, people say we focus on him too much, that`s probably true.
BEHAR: So you`re saying Senator McCain is playing politics, is that what you`re saying?
MELBER: I`m saying Senator McCain made a personal charge attack against General Jones and he hasn`t pointed to evidence that General Jones is playing politics and they`re trying to figure out what to do in the region.
MCCAIN: I would like to say that 10 soldiers died in what was the biggest assault in Afghanistan yesterday. I have a brother, two brothers currently serving in the military. It`s scary for me. It`s scary for me when Obama has only met with the head general once during his administration. People are scared, people are worried and for me, especially, it`s very personal. I`m worried about what`s going on in Afghanistan. I was recently asked what the media hasn`t emphasized the most. I said Afghanistan. It`s sad that I have to call my brothers on the phone to understand what`s going on. And lot of people are really frustrated.
BEHAR: Ari?
MCCAIN: And you can hear me getting emotional about it because it`s very, very personal.
MELBER: It`s emotional for a lot of people. But I think in this case, President Obama is working through the chain of command. He has meetings with field commanders and he also has meetings every week with the secretary of defense.
MCCAIN: It`s not what some of us are hearing. And it`s not what obviously the general thinks.
MELBER: Do you think General Jones is playing politics when he`s trying to conduct this review?
MCCAIN: I agree with my father on this one.
MELBER: And is their evidence? What is the evidence that General Jones is playing politics? This man served this country for 25 years in both administrations, from both parties. Senator McCain said that on the Senate floor but he didn`t provide evidence. And this is what I`d call a personal attack without evidence.
MCCAIN: So let`s agree to disagree.
BEHAR: Susan, do you want to jump in here with this?
MOLINARI: Well listen, there`s nobody I think who has more equity in terms of questioning the military status and what we need to do in the U.S. military and our armed forces than Senator McCain. And so I would certainly yield to him and his opinion and his right to stand on the floor, somebody who really has never crossed the line and has been perhaps one of the more bipartisan and apolitical members of the United States House of Representatives. So I think he has earned the right to call into question of the motives of our leaders in the way that he just did. I don`t think he crossed the line at all.
BEHAR: All that being said, Obama is a little bit in trouble right now. But it worries me that Dick Cheney will be next. Next time the election comes up, it will be Dick Cheney because people will say let`s go back to that again.
MCCAIN: I don`t think it will be Dick Cheney.
BEHAR: Somebody like him.
MCCAIN: I think it could be very right.
BEHAR: You know how the pendulum swings, it scares me. Thanks to my panel. Thank you very much.
TV kid Regis Philbin will be joining us a little later in the show. But first, this is a potpourri of a show. First, I`ll be back in a moment with a few choice words on the whole Letterman affair.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: You know, I have to be honest here. I never thought of David Letterman as a sexual being. He was always a kind of a witty Mr. Rogers to me. So when he married his longtime girlfriend, it seemed sweet really. Not only had they been dating for 23 years but the kid was almost in high school by the time he married her. So you can imagine my surprise to find out that Dave turns out to be Hugh Hefner without the pajamas.
Now I wasn`t born yesterday and I know that powerful men like to screw around. Clinton had Lewinsky, JFK had Marilyn, Thomas Jefferson had sex with a slave. There`s even talk -- listen to this -- there`s even talk that the great emancipator Abe Lincoln may have found sexual freedom outside of marriage in the arms of a man, to which I say it`s so long ago, so what, who cares and good for her.
I don`t think this Letterman thing would be such a course for laugh if the women involved weren`t Dave`s employees but rather his peers like Oprah. Although I don`t see that happening, truthfully. Or Ellen. I don`t see that happening at all.
Women shouldn`t have to sleep with the boss to get ahead in the company. They should have the right to advance their careers like everyone else in showbiz by stabbing other people in the back. So I say if you`re going to canoodle with someone in the office, then don`t do it with a subordinate. Do it with an equal, OK?
By the way, is Regis Philbin still around? I saw him in the green room. He`s looking really hot. But that`s just me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REGIS PHILBIN, TALK SHOW HOST: Joy and I forgot the words to a song. One of the songs on the album. How about you? I like New York in June.
KELLY RIPA, TALK SHOW HOST: How about you?
PHILBIN: I like a Gershwin tune.
RIPA: How about you? How can you forget that part?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILBIN: One line to sing. You have one line to sing, how can you forget it?
BEHAR: Whether daytime or prime time, my next guest is a television icon. He`s also in the Guinness Book of World Records for spending the most hours on the air. Here`s a rare clip from his first show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: You know, they package things. They wrap things today like -- it infuriates me to open anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: What do you think when you see that, Reg? How many years ago was that?
PHILBIN: I think that was one of my best shows. You know, I started a talk show in 1961. It ran three years. Then they brought me up to Hollywood to follow Steve Allen on the Westinghouse evening show. And of course I just wasn`t ready for that because on my show in San Diego, I produced it myself. I flew the people in from Los Angeles.
BEHAR: You had power.
PHILBIN: I put them up at the hotel. I did everything I wanted to do. I got to Hollywood and I found out I got a producer, I got associate producers, I got writers and I wasn`t prepared for that. And I blew that wonderful opportunity.
BEHAR: But look at you now. How many opportunities have you had since then?
PHILBIN: But it took me a long time to accomplish where I am now.
BEHAR: And so many co-hosts.
PHILBIN: Yes, over the years so many is right.
BEHAR: You`ve had -- what was the first one?
PHILBIN: Well first one years and years ago was Mary Hart.
BEHAR: Oh Mary Hart, with the legs.
PHILBIN: Yeah. She had legs then, too.
BEHAR: Was she sexually harassed in her job?
PHILBIN: Not by me. I saw her -- I was doing a local show in -- I was going to start a local talk show on television. I was doing the news on KABC in Los Angeles. And I knew that this show was coming and I needed. They wanted me to have a co-host. And so I asked Mary Hart. And she was one of the first. Before that it was Sara Purcell, then Cindy Garvey, then Mary Hart, then Cindy Garvey again here in New York, then Ann Abernathy, and then Kathie Lee who stayed 15 years and now Kelly has been there eight.
BEHAR: It`s been eight years since Kelly?
PHILBIN: Yes.
BEHAR: Because I used to sit in with you a few times.
PHILBIN: I know, I enjoyed that.
BEHAR: And they never offered me the gig.
PHILBIN: Who denied you that?
BEHAR: I had a job already.
PHILBIN: Of course you did.
BEHAR: Now you know, but you`re a character in a certain way in the business, too. And "Saturday Night Live" has captured it. Let`s look at that.
PHILBIN: God.
BEHAR: I love all these.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look who`s back?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look who`s back?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look who`s back?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never felt better.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, come here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILBIN: Very funny.
BEHAR: Do you find that flattering when you see that?
PHILBIN: I kind of enjoyed it. I don`t know, I thought he was very good. The guy who started this whole thing was Dana Carvey though when he appeared on "Saturday Night Live." "I`m out of control," he would say. Honest to god I never said that.
BEHAR: Yes, do you act like that.
PHILBIN: I can`t believe you re-caught it.
BEHAR: You really scared me.
PHILBIN: With what you went through every morning on that panel of women, I scare you?
BEHAR: You scared me. Well, I`m on this new show now and I`m all by myself here, it`s weird.
PHILBIN: Let me ask you something. It`s strange to be without four co-hosts.
BEHAR: It does feel a little bit different. I don`t have people interrupting me.
PHILBIN: But how do you think they feel about you getting a prime time slot?
BEHAR: Well, I think they`re happy for me.
PHILBIN: You think so?
BEHAR: What, you don`t think so?
PHILBIN: When are four women ever happy about another woman getting something they would love to have? Tell me that.
BEHAR: You`re assuming that they would love to have another show. I mean, I have to work hard.
PHILBIN: They want to sit right here. Don`t kid yourself.
BEHAR: Well Sherri Shepherd has a new show.
PHILBIN: I`m on her show tomorrow night.
BEHAR: You`re really making the old rounds.
PHILBIN: I`m not making the rounds. People invite me.
BEHAR: But how many hours a week do you work?
PHILBIN: Four. I`m on four days a week except when we go to sweeps.
BEHAR: And what about the millionaire show? You`re on that also. Then you`re doing --
PHILBIN: No, I`m not on the millionaire show. It went off about six years ago. Can somebody help me here?
BEHAR: What do you mean? Aren`t you back hosting again? I saw you hosting recently.
PHILBIN: It was for 10 nights. Thank you for staying in touch.
BEHAR: Do you think that you actually saved the network like they say?
PHILBIN: I absolutely did. For the years that that millionaire show came on, ABC was desperate, more desperate than they are today. And that`s saying a lot. And so anyway, yes, I went on there and bang, the show was an enormous hit.
BEHAR: Kathie always said or was it Kelly?
PHILBIN: It was Kathie Lee and then Kelly.
BEHAR: So now you like Kelly the best?
PHILBIN: Do I like the best?
BEHAR: Yes, you like Kelly the best?
PHILBIN: I love them all. They`re all my girls, you know.
BEHAR: How do you feel about the fact that Barbara Walters is considered a living legend and you`re not?
PHILBIN: Maybe because she`s lived longer than me. Hey, hey. Don`t ever tell Barbara that.
BEHAR: No, no, she`s not watching.
PHILBIN: Barbara Walters is a true icon if you want to call anybody an icon. No, honest to god, she blazed a lot of trails for women.
BEHAR: She`s a pioneer. We wanted to get her a stage coach recently.
PHILBIN: I don`t consider myself in her league to tell you the truth.
BEHAR: Why not? You`re an icon on television.
PHILBIN: No, I`m not.
BEHAR: Well she interviewed Fidel Castro. And you interviewed who?
PHILBIN: I interviewed...
BEHAR: Newt Gingrich maybe?
PHILBIN: No, I never interviewed him. No, we don`t go into politics.
BEHAR: You don`t like politics?
PHILBIN: As a matter of fact, I don`t like politics.
BEHAR: Really?
PHILBIN: I think it`s so jaded now and everybody has to follow the party line.
BEHAR: But what about when FDR was in office?
PHILBIN: Then, I interviewed him.
BEHAR: All right, we`re going to take a break.
PHILBIN: Another break?
BEHAR: Another break.
PHILBIN: I`m just warming up.
BEHAR: And then when we come back, we`ll have more with Regis. Yes, you`re warmed up now, you`ll come back with more. We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILBIN: What is day and night?
ALEC TREBEK, TELEVISION HOST: No.
PHILBIN: Night and day?
TREBEK: Day and night, night and day. All right, we`ll give it to you.
PHILBIN: Couldn`t wait to say no, could you? No, Regis, no.
TREBEK: Select again, Regis.
PHILBIN: Thank you, judge, for overruling Mr. Big Shot here.
TREBEK: All right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: See, you were doing a Dana Carvey.
PHILBIN: I guess I was, yeah.
BEHAR: But Regis, let me ask you something. What do you think about Leno`s show? Let`s talk show biz for a second. Do you think he made a good move or what?
PHILBIN: Well, the first week he did, the ratings went through the roof and all of that.
BEHAR: Curiosity.
PHILBIN: But it`s a tough thing, isn`t it, to do a variety show with all of the best that the networks have got to put up right now, he may survive. He will survive this few weeks until people either make up their minds about what they`re watching on the other networks and come back to him or maybe they don`t.
BEHAR: Why did he give up his desk? The desk, all comedians need notes in front of them, need a desk. That was a big mistake. I want to call him.
PHILBIN: You`re exactly right. I -- I was almost going to call him and say, Jay, don`t give up the desk. The desk is everything.
BEHAR: Get the desk back. Exactly.
PHILBIN: But he wanted a different look. He wanted to have more of a variety show than what he had. But why not do what they were doing before which was a big success?
BEHAR: I know.
PHILBIN: It`s a tough slot.
BEHAR: Now Anderson Cooper has been sitting in for you.
PHILBIN: He wants my job so bad.
BEHAR: Does he have your mojo?
PHILBIN: Anderson Cooper every night dreams about getting my job permanently really.
BEHAR: Really?
PHILBIN: He doesn`t want to grow up like the Wolf, he wants his own job.
BEHAR: I think he has grown up like the Wolf already. Now, what about this Halloween show you have coming up? I`ve heard you`re doing -- what costumes are you doing?
PHILBIN: Well, I don`t know this year. It`s yet to be decided by my producer, Gelman.
BEHAR: Oh, Gelman.
PHILBIN: Yes, he makes all the decisions.
BEHAR: Doesn`t he listen to you?
PHILBIN: We all --
BEHAR: Isn`t he really your bitch instead of you being his bitch?
PHILBIN: You know, I heard Kathy Griffin say that. How dare her say that about Gelman? But it was funny. But anyway, I think we started that whole thing about the host getting dressed up for Halloween. Do you girls do it?
BEHAR: Yes, we`re going to get dressed up. I hate it.
PHILBIN: Do you do it every year?
BEHAR: Every year. And it just ruins my makeup and my hair. I despise it.
PHILBIN: Something changes. It drives you crazy. But we always come up with a pretty good show. And you know, I think it`s a lot of fun. But I just hate going through it.
BEHAR: Well one year you came out as a woman and Kelly came out as a guy, right?
PHILBIN: Exactly. I did that I think with Kathie Lee and then with Kelly as well. She does a funny Regis, Kelly.
BEHAR: She does?
PHILBIN: Oh, yeah.
BEHAR: OK, before we go I have to ask you...
PHILBIN: Where are we going? We`re done? I want to hang around a little while longer.
BEHAR: Now you want do stay? Before you were -- you know what, I know you don`t do politics. But how about pop culture? Are you shocked and upset that Jon and Kate Gosselin are getting a divorce?
PHILBIN: You know, she was on the show. They made a big mistake, but I want to tell you something. I have a thing against reality shows.
BEHAR: Why?
PHILBIN: I think they are so fake. I think they`re overproduced before they begin. I think people know where they`re going, what they`re going to say, what the situation is. These things just don`t happen. You know that. You`ve got to get cameras and set up, so these guys, the producers tell them, hey, this is -- I thought it was a setup, the divorce. Now, I think it`s headlines like a divorce, especially when a woman who has got eight kids.
BEHAR: Exactly. I don`t care for him at all.
PHILBIN: Well, I didn`t say I loved him either. I`m talking about what reality shows can do.
BEHAR: I know.
PHILBIN: Is this the big rush? You`re a very attractive woman.
BEHAR: Thank you, Regis.
PHILBIN: Honest to god. And with this lighting, you could go all the way.
BEHAR: I know, the lighting is fantastic. My thanks to Regis Philbin. It made him look gorgeous, too, staying up past his bedtime.
PHILBIN: Yes, I am.
BEHAR: Good night, everybody.
PHILBIN: Good night, everybody.
BEHAR: Come back tomorrow.
PHILBIN: Good night, Joy.
BEHAR: Good night, John boy.
END
