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Joy Behar Page
Mass Revolt; Here Comes the Judd
Aired January 20, 2010 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOY BEHAR, HOST: Tonight on THE JOY BEHAR SHOW, Ted Kennedy`s old Senate seat has been filled by a Republican. How could this happen? Did Massachusetts suddenly run out of Kennedys? Didn`t those people have 600 kids?
Then Jay, Conan and Dave continue to go after each other and I`m up all hours watching it. I don`t know about these guys but I`m exhausted.
And Kevin Bacon is here, fresh off his win at the Golden Globes. Maybe he can tell us what the hell Drew Barrymore was saying.
All that and more starts now.
Losing Senator Ted Kennedy was a blow to the Democrats but losing a seat to a Republican was an absolute shock. What happened? There are a lot of opinions and a lot of questions, but so far very few answers.
With me now to try to find some are Margaret Carlson, a columnist for Bloomberg and Washington editor of my favorite magazine, "The Week"; plus, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the daughter of Robert Kennedy; and Mark Halperin, editor-at-large, and senior political analyst "Time" Magazine and co-author of "Game Change".
Welcome, everyone.
Ok, there is a lot of second guessing going on as to what went wrong. Even the Democratic candidate Martha Coakley herself had a WTF moment. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTH COAKLEY (D), SENATE CANDIDATE, MASSACHUSETTS: I am heart broken at the result and I know that you are also. But I know that we will get up together tomorrow and continue this fight, even with this result tonight, because there will be plenty of Wednesday morning quarterbacking about what happened and what went right, what went wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Ok Mark, let`s start with you. What went wrong?
MARK HALPERIN, CO-AUTHOR, "GAME CHANGE": A lot went wrong. To paraphrase Senator Kennedy`s brother, President Kennedy, "Failure has a lot of fathers and mothers."
A lot went wrong. What`s important for the country, though, is the result is a huge problem for this president. This presidency is transformed. Either it`s going to come crashing down or the president is going to get some consciousness raising and figure out what to do before the "State of the Union".
He`s in a world of hurt. This is not being over-interpreted. If anything it`s being under-interpreted.
BEHAR: Margaret, do you agree with that? Margaret?
Kathleen, let`s talk to you, was it health care that really screwed everything up?
KATHLEEN KENNEDY TOWNSEND, DAUGHTER OF ROBERT KENNEDY: I don`t think it is. Actually, as you know, Massachusetts has health care. And so to say that it`s health care was the problem, people had it in health care they were wondering what was going on in the legislative process in Washington that they couldn`t get health care passed and that they were going to be charged for Nebraska`s expansion of Medicare, which made no sense to them.
I think that really what needs to be done is that the president has to get out on a stump and explain how critical health care is, not calling it health care reform because the fact is, the health care industry has put over $100 million against health care and made it sort of a bogeyman.
But when citizens are actually asked do you want no preexisting conditions, do you want to be able to have affordable health care, do you want to be able to leave your job or be fired and still have health care? Everybody says yes. And the fact is, even Scott Brown voted for health care in Massachusetts.
So I think what the president has to do is make clear to the American people what this bill does and how it actually helps them.
BEHAR: Margaret, let me ask Margaret something. Margaret, you`re there with me now, right?
MARGARET CARLSON, EDITOR, "THE WEEK": A lot of people would like me to be as silent as I`ve been on this show, but I think I`m back.
BEHAR: Ok. Was Martha just a bad candidate? Is that what this really boils down to? Or is there a real issue as Mark said?
CARLSON: Well, you know, it`s -- if bad candidates didn`t get into the senate, it would be emptier than it is. One advantage of living inside the Beltway is that we see these people and we know that cannot be the cause.
But she was an extraordinarily bad candidate. The Curt Schilling moment, saying he was a Yankee fan.
BEHAR: That was a big sin that she didn`t know about Curt Schilling. That`s hardly a reason not to vote for the woman.
(CROSSTALK)
HALPERIN: She hasn`t spent enough time in Boston.
CARLSON: I know. She`s supposed to be a hometown girl and this really disappointed the hometowners. And she thought it was too cold to campaign at Fenway Park. A whole bunch of other things...
BEHAR: But the Democrats seem to have taken the seat for granted. They just said we`re going to be a shoe in because it`s Kennedy`s seat.
CARLSON: There was an arrogance, and also if you look like you`re in, and she looked like the establishment, she looked like she was in. If you`re in, you`re going to be out in this atmosphere.
HALPEREN: With all due respect to Governor Kennedy, the talking points that she was reciting I think are if the Democrats stick with that storyline that health care just needs to be better explained, that Massachusetts has health care, so people weren`t upset about the expansion of federal rule and out there. I think if they stick to those talking points, it will be a disaster for the Democratic Party.
CARLSON: Mark is so right.
TOWNSEND: Hey Mark, I have to say that those talking points is actually not very helpful. I looked at this and the fact is Massachusetts has health care.
HALPERIN: But a lot of people there don`t like it. That`s the reason why didn`t want an expansion.
TOWNSEND: Mark that`s not true. The polls show that 80 percent of the people of Massachusetts like the new reform in health care. I think that`s -- I don`t know, that`s the story that is going out.
What they didn`t like which is similar at the national level, they didn`t like watching the legislative process in health care in Massachusetts. But right now, 80 percent of the people in Massachusetts like the health care and like the health care reform. But what they didn`t like is having to pay for the people of Nebraska to get health care.
(CROSSTALK)
CARLSON: And the president is more in agreement with mark. He today came out and said, listen, he doesn`t want to jam the current bill through before Scott Brown is seated. And he wants to find the pieces of the health care bill to enact and maybe break it up into smaller pieces that people can understand, that the Republicans can`t demonize and there can be some agreement on.
TOWNSEND: That`s I think unfortunate because I think what we need is the president to say, "This is important and I`m going to fight for it." And I think there`s a lot of anger in the country, and it looks like that the president hasn`t been able to capture and show that he`s on the side of people who are angry at what`s going on.
BEHAR: Do you think he`s had enough time, really? I don`t know, from my point of view, the man has been there for one year and he`s not a magician. He has a lot of things to fix from the Bush administration and a lot of people say oh, it`s not the Bush administration anymore. Well, maybe it still is in a way.
HALPERIN: But he`s a year in. Look, I call them talking points because that`s the exact same thing the White House was saying this morning. This is a mindset about change.
The reason that the president pushed health care his first year in opposition to some advice he was getting from senior advisers is he said, "If I don`t get it done my first year, it`s not going to get done. A generation will go without health care again in America, the industrialized democracy without health care."
He pushed it for a year. I actually think they still have a chance to get it.
BEHAR: You do?
HALPERIN: Yes. I think they can...
BEHAR: You and Nancy Pelosi.
HALPERIN: The house is going to have to swallow hard and pass the Senate bill.
But in every other way, he has to move on to jobs. He`s going to have to go to jobs and stop doing health care with our without it.
BEHAR: It`s so confusing to American people. It`s confusing because Obama and his people say that fixing health care will fix the economy. And then on the right wing side they say that health care is going to bankrupt us. We don`t know what to make of all of this.
TOWNSEND: That`s the problem. That`s just where the health care industry, who has spent $100 million against health care reform wants you to believe. It`s too difficult, it`s too confusing. And yet you have here in Massachusetts people who have health care and they`re liking it.
So you`ve got to really fight the messaging of the right wing and the messaging of the health care industry and say, actually people like it once they get it. There`s always a fear of the change.
BEHAR: Margaret, what should Obama do next? What should he do? What is his next move?
CARLSON: Mark, who can quote from the Obama campaign since he wrote a great -- just the best book of the cycle about it, heard him say, "Listen, it`s the end of the status quo. It`s not going to be politics as usual. We`re going to change the way we do business."
Well, the last year and really not so much his fault, it looked like politics as usual, because we watched this awful process of this health care legislation being made. There are good pieces of it, but there`s a lot of stuff in there that stinks.
BEHAR: I mean, he really says that he has a choice it seems to me now. He can either cede a lot of things to the Republicans, sort of go over there. Or he could stay on the left. He`s got to have...
HALPERIN: Joy, he can`t stay on the left. The votes aren`t there. You`re going to see as a reaction to what happened in Massachusetts, Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson, other conservative Democratic senators they`re done going with the Pelosi/Reid strategy of jamming things through on the left.
Kathleen Kennedy is right. There are polls that can show that what he`s pushing is popular, but he`s lost the fight. And the fight is over. They`re going to finish health care, either succeeding or failing. They have to move on to jobs. They have no choice.
TOWNSEND: Hey, Mark, look, I agree with Mark very much that we`ve got to -- that he has to focus on jobs. But I find it very disappointing that when the polls show that people want health care, they want actually a public option that you feel that the Democrats are going to give up.
I mean, what I believe is that it would be much more helpful if Obama was out there fighting hard for it and saying this is what needs to be done and taking on the industries that are blocking health care.
HALPERIN: Why would he be more effective from taking them on now from a position of weakness than he was in all of 2009 when he did just that and made very little progress with conservatives and with Republicans.
TOWNSEND: Because I think what he has to show which has not been his personality, that he understands people`s anger.
HALPERIN: I agree with that.
BEHAR: Oh, well, I`m glad that we have a rapprochement. Thanks, everyone.
Coming up a little later, new pictures surfaced of a scruffy Tiger Woods outside a rehab center in Mississippi. You must see this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: She`s known for playing strong women in films like "Kiss the Girl", "Double Jeopardy" and "Ruby in Paradise" but she`s also an activist who has dedicated her time to numerous humanitarian causes.
I`m pleased to welcome Ashley Judd to the show. Hi Ashley.
ASHLEY JUDD, ACTRESS AND ACTIVIST: Hi Joy.
BEHAR: First of all, we`re going to get to these props in a second. So in case you`re wondering if there`s like some kind of weird thing here, it is. But we`re going to tell you what it is in a minute, all right?
Now, let`s talk a little bit about Haiti and the situation, because I know you`re involved in all these different causes. First of all, President Obama has enlisted Clinton and George Bush to come together over this one horrible, horrible thing that happened.
Are you surprised by all that? And what do you think it means when the three of them are out there?
JUDD: I think it`s powerful when the three of them are out there, because clearly this is a disaster of epic proportions that speaks to our collective humanity and has absolutely nothing to do with politics or ideology.
The people of Haiti need us and they need us desperately. And I think to have those statesmen come together makes a powerful statement about that.
BEHAR: It does, but you know Rush Limbaugh, I don`t know if you`re familiar with his work, he says that this -- that Obama`s response is driven by politics. How could he even think that?
JUDD: Well, I`ve stopped to consider what it is that Rush Limbaugh is driven by.
BEHAR: What is he driven by, rage and hatred and just bad things, like the water here. Can you see the water? Dirty.
Now, your mom, you`re on "The View" a lot and your mom`s been on and Wynonna has been on. And you have a great family. She doesn`t agree with you politically, does she -- Naomi? I was reading some of the things -- is she a Republican?
JUDD: My mother actually is a registered independent.
BEHAR: Oh, she is.
JUDD: And if you would like the opportunity to know the finer workings of her mind, I invite you to have her on the show and she can share with you exactly how all that works because I myself get a little bit confused.
We have great conversations at home and in fact at the moment I have this fun tote bag that says, I don`t know, I`m a little nervous right now, I can`t remember what my own tote bag says. But I went to the Syracuse cultural workers Web site and I got all these fun buttons that have political statements and social justice slogans. I thought if I can`t carry that around Harvard, where can I carry it?
So I was showing my mom all of my buttons and she actually was of the same thinking as I on every single one.
BEHAR: Which surprised you a little?
JUDD: Which did surprise me some. She`s a great advocate for women`s health, she`s adamantly pro choice. But again we do seem to have some different alignments in terms of the candidates that we support. So it gets a little confusing.
BEHAR: That`s ok. So what?
You mentioned Harvard. Are you going back to school?
JUDD: I`m currently studying for a master`s degree.
BEHAR: Why?
JUDD: Because I can. I always wanted to go to graduate school, even when I was at the University of Kentucky from `86 to `90, I was really excited about the possibility of graduate school. I really looked up to and admired some very empowered women, in particular in the Anthropology Department. And my life plan, such as I had at the age of 19 or 20 was to join the Peace Corps, preferably doing service in Africa. And then come back and go to graduate school in Anthropology.
Of course, I chucked that and went to a different jungle, Hollywood. But I`m just picking up where I left off in terms of my dreams as a younger woman.
BEHAR: What are you getting the masters in?
JUDD: It`s called the Masters in Public Administration and it`s at the Harvard-Kennedy School of Government. And it is great fun.
BEHAR: You want to run for office? Maybe you`ll be a politician at the end of that.
JUDD: They do have a reputation for training public servants.
BEHAR: Yes, Harvard, Kennedy. Does the name ring a bell?
What kind of an office would you run for, do you think, if you were going to do it? Senator? Why not? Senator Ashley Judd. I like that.
You`re so pretty. It would be unusual to see a Senator this pretty. Well, we have Nancy Pelosi, she`s pretty. Barbara Boxer is pretty. They`re all pretty.
JUDD: I like Senator Feinstein`s hair.
BEHAR: You love Feinstein`s hair?
JUDD: I think she goes to the beauty shop once a week or so. She`s got that kind of set look which reminds me of my grandparents` generation. I`ve always liked her hair. I like what she stands for, too.
BEHAR: Yes. All right.
Let`s talk about this water. What do we have here? Tell me what this is.
JUDD: As people generally know, I`m on the board of an incredible international health NGO called Population Services International. We have grassroots programs in 65 countries worldwide, including Haiti.
PSI has been on the ground helping to protect and empower the health of the most poor and vulnerable in Haiti, which is the majority of the population unfortunately, for 20 years. And amongst the things that we do at PSI is safe drinking water.
Something that`s not really known is that half of the hospital beds in developing countries are filled with people with water-born disease. And of the 11 million children that will die this year before their fifth birthday, the majority of those deaths are caused by diarrheal disease.
So what PSI in particular is focusing on in Haiti as part of the earthquake disaster relief is providing safe drinking water. And in a crisis like this, there is a significant chance for outbreak of cholera, of typhoid, and potable water is a really urgent need.
So this is an extraordinary sachet that can literally make safe for drinking the most contaminated water imaginable.
BEHAR: Wow. That`s incredible.
JUDD: I was suggesting that for the show we get water from the East River or literally a New York City gutter and show how it works. You pour -- and PSI socially markets this product, which is donated to us. So it`s a very cost-effective thing. This sachet literally costs pennies.
BEHAR: What`s that? One little packet with all this water?
JUDD: So what one does is stir the contaminated water which can have microbes, it can have fecal matter, it can have parasites, for about 30 minutes. And the process of the water purification solution deflocks -- which is kind of a scary word to say on television -- the contaminated matter and what emerges is water that is safe for drinking.
What one does is strains with a t-shirt or God forbid their long- lasting, insecticide treated mosquito nets. You go like this and strain it and the water becomes safe for drinking.
Now the remarkable...
BEHAR: So that`s the end result.
JUDD: This is the end result.
BEHAR: So this is -- the sediment has gone to the bottom and it`s in the process of getting perfect.
JUDD: Exactly. All of these particulate matters that are both visible and the microbes that are invisible are separated from the water, which is now safe for drinking.
And part of what`s so wonderful about this is the container in which it`s mixed it doesn`t even have to be clean.
BEHAR: Really?
JUDD: And the water can be stored safely.
BEHAR: Wow. That is a miraculous product.
JUDD: But what gets even more miraculous is the cost. A family of four for a month can have safe drinking water at the cost of 50 cents.
BEHAR: Wow.
JUDD: This would cost 50 cents for a month.
BEHAR: So I presume that UNICEF is on this?
JUDD: Well, PSI itself is not a disaster relief organization, but we do have tremendous international experience procuring life-saving supplies and distributing them on a large scale. So that is our contribution to what`s happening in Haiti. It`s a safe drinking water and I brought my little (INAUDIBLE) so I wanted to make sure...
BEHAR: Ok, wait, hold it because we have another segment but as we go, we`re going to come back with Ashley. As we go out, I want to see you drink that.
JUDD: Oh, absolutely.
BEHAR: Ok I`ll just watch her drink it.
JUDD: One sachet, ten liters.
BEHAR: Because I believe you, go ahead. We`ll be back with Ashley and see if she`s still alive.
JUDD: Now we`re both going to take it.
BEHAR: Ok.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DWAYNE JOHNSON, ACTOR: To have amazing stuff.
JUDD: Really.
JOHNSON: Yes.
JUDD: Ok.
JOHNSON: All right, close your eyes.
JUDD: Ok.
JOHNSON: All right, I`ll be right back.
JUDD: I love surprises.
JOHNSON: Get ready.
JUDD: Oh, I know you`re right in front of me.
JOHNSON: Just keep your eyes closed.
JUDD: Ok.
JOHNSON: Don`t move. Everything is ok. Don`t peek.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: That was a scene from the new movie "Tooth Fairy" with Ashley Judd with Dwayne Johnson and Julie Andrews.
You`re back with me, Ashley. I have a question for you. You always make sort of like you know, serious, heavy movies with like, you know, some real gutsy things in them. This movie is different. Why the change? Just for fun?
JUDD: For fun. For fun. I enjoyed making this movie so much and I saw it the other night and I`m actually looking forward to seeing it again. I laughed, I actually cried a little bit at the end.
BEHAR: Oh really?
JUDD: I enjoyed it so much and my agent was familiar with Dwayne`s work. And she really felt like he was someone whose company I would enjoy and that we would have great chemistry and so I made the movie.
BEHAR: Dwayne Johnson...
JUDD: Johnson, yes.
BEHAR: ...he used to be The Rock.
JUDD: Precisely.
BEHAR: Right. And he plays a hockey player who turned into the tooth fairy.
JUDD: Yes, he is charged ...
BEHAR: These parts that they come up with...
JUDD: Well, he`s charged with -- as a destroyer of dreams. And so the fairies are very angry at him because he`s quite vicious to children who have wonderful fantastic aspirations and he`s constantly telling them to lower their expectations and that these things can`t possibly happen. And so the fairies -- they organize.
BEHAR: Yes, wow. Julie Andrews is in this movie.
JUDD: She is.
BEHAR: The legendary.
JUDD: Yes.
BEHAR: So how is that? Did you -- were you intimidated by her at all?
JUDD: Well, we didn`t work together. So I didn`t really have the chance to spend much time with her. But she`s wonderful in the movie and she plays the overall fairy Godmother, tooth fairy ruler and she`s very good in her part.
BEHAR: Ok, for a minute -- let`s talk about the gorgeous husband, the Italian husband, Dario Franchitti.
JUDD: He`s actually Scottish with Italian extraction.
BEHAR: Ok, yes, yes well, there`s Italian in that name.
JUDD: Definitely.
BEHAR: ...unless I`m just losing my mind.
JUDD: Yes, no, he`s got a cool combination of the passionate Italian and a canny Scot; he`s working it on both sides.
BEHAR: And so he`s a professional racecar driver?
JUDD: Yes, he is.
BEHAR: And how long are you married to him now?
JUDD: We will celebrate 11 years of togetherness in May and we just celebrated 8 years of marriage.
BEHAR: Well, congratulations.
JUDD: That is not nothing.
BEHAR: That is not nothing. I mean, I`m thinking of Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman. He was a racecar driver.
JUDD: Oh yes he was.
BEHAR: And they were together for many, many years. They were a great couple. And so I presume that you`ll be -- do you hang out with him at the track?
JUDD: I sure do.
BEHAR: Do you get scared? I would be scared for my loved ones going in those cars, they tip over, they burn. They`re crazy.
JUDD: They`re fast.
BEHAR: Well, you don`t mind that? It doesn`t bother you?
JUDD: I made a decision early on not to let fear play a role in that, because then it would be a terrible way to live. Weekend in and weekend out...
BEHAR: Yes.
JUDD: ...track after track would be a terrible way to live.
BEHAR: What scares you in life, anything?
JUDD: That there won`t be real peace. That social justice isn`t happening fast enough. That we`re still engaging in mountain top removal coal mining in eastern Kentucky and southern West Virginia. That crap scares me.
BEHAR: Ok, thank you for doing the show, Ashley. The "Tooth Fairy" hits theaters on January 22 and we`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O`BRIEN, NBC HOST: Some papers are reporting that I`m legally prohibited from saying anything bad about NBC. Yeah, for example, I am not allowed to say things like NBC is headed downhill faster than a fat guy chasing a runaway cheese wheel.
Nearly 17 million people watched the Golden Globes five nights a week at 10:00.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: NBC is still the late night whipping boy and we`ll probably stay in that position until this whole Conan Leno mess is settled. And let`s hope that isn`t for awhile because these guys are on fire.
Joining me to discuss the latest details and TV`s answer to the Hatfields and McCoys is "New York Times" TV reporter Bill Carter. Hi, Bill.
BILL CARTER, NEW YORK TIMES TV REPORTER: Hi, how are you?
BEHAR: Tell me, can anybody come out a winner this fight, do you think?
CARTER: Well, I guess you could argue that maybe Letterman could, but in the short term he isn`t doing that well against Conan either. Because Conan is doing so well in the ratings now, it`s like, this has been the missing ingredient for his show all this time.
BEHAR: Yes but that`s temporary. It`s because of this whole thing going on now, right?
CARTER: Yes, that`s right. I think in the long run, it will be very interesting to see if Jay can reestablish the dominance he used to have at 11:30. Obviously NBC is betting a lot of money that he`s going to be able to do that and for their sake it better work out because otherwise all of their decisions look like they were wrong hood.
BEHAR: I think he`ll be just fine, don`t you?
CARTER: I do.
BEHAR: Yes.
CARTER: I think basically, you know, if you look at the audience he has at 10:00, if it shifted to late night it`ll be a very strong audience still.
BEHAR: That`s right, now the contracts talks are being held up over staff severance. What do you know about that?
CARTER: Well apparently, this issue came up late sort of late in the talks, at least the additional money for some of the staff severance came up. The Conan people wanted to make sort of a better arrangement for some people who don`t have ongoing contracts. NBC seems to feel that it`s a PR ploy as they put it in their statement.
BEHAR: Uh huh.
CARTER: It`s just one more, I guess, sign of just how contentious this has been, that they`re sort of haggling over this even at the end. Although there are other issues I`m told today that are, you know, sort of loose ends like when certain things will kick in, what the timing of certain agreements. I think that`s -- that also has to be resolved.
BEHAR: I mean I really think that`s baloney, that it`s a PR ploy. I mean he`s talking about a staff of people who have years of unemployment ahead of them possibly. Who have uprooted their families, taken their kids out of school, so please. And you know --
CARTER: I personally think, of course it`s important for them to be taken care of. I mean, I don`t, I can`t say yet which - who is telling the truth about whether this was originally in the plan for Conan when he went to the negotiations coincide or whether or not it came up late which is what NBC is arguing, I don`t know. I do think that it`s possible, I guess, if Conan lands on his feet with another job that these people won`t be out of work for more than eight months.
BEHAR: That`s true, we hope so. Because I have a lot of people I know over there.
CARTER: Exactly.
BEHAR: It`s been a hassle. Now, Jeff Zucker said it`s terrible, quote unquote, "that Conan is leaving." This is about money and ratings he said. Does he care about Conan at this point?
CARTER: Well you know it`s very interesting with Jeff because he and Conan go way back, they were in college together. And they did have a very good relationship until this. So, I don`t think they don`t care about it. I honestly think and it`s strange to say this, but that this proposal that NBC came up with to move Conan to midnight, which seemed like an invitation for him to leave, I think they wanted that to work.
I think they wanted to try to keep him. One of the things NBC has done throughout this process is try to keep both guys, even though there`s only one job. And I keep saying they don`t understand math, two doesn`t go into one and eventually you have to pick. And it`s been one more decision after another about not picking, not choosing. Let`s move Conan in five years, let`s move Jay to 10:00. Now move Jay back and keep Conan at midnight. One decision after another, none of which satisfies either guy.
BEHAR: That`s true but Jay might retire in a few years and then Conan could have gotten the tonight show back.
CARTER: That`s NBC`s point. But I don`t blame Conan though for thinking well Jay isn`t the kind of guy to ever retire because we know Jay, he works more than any guy imaginable and he`s going to want to continue to do television in some form. But yes, that was NBC`s idea that somehow this would still keep Conan in line to go back to 11:30.
BEHAR: And when is this deal done just quickly?
CARTER: Well I think it will be done within the next 24 hours but they keep saying that. And I think, you know, until this gets done, I`m afraid that there are last-minute snags in it. Everybody tells me that`s not the case but today they have been awfully quiet about it like they may be really trying to iron it out and finish it up maybe late tonight or early tomorrow.
BEHAR: Okay, well thanks you very much, Bill.
CARTER: Nice to talk to you, Joy.
BEHAR: Joining me now to continue this discussion are actor and comedian Hal Sparks, editor-at-large for mediaite.com is Rachel Sklar, and actress and co-star of Living With Ed, Rachel or Rachelle Carson Begley. Okay now here`s what David Letterman had to say on his show last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST: I thought this was fascinating. Last night on the Jay Leno 10:00 p.m. NBC Variety Show, Jay Leno -
(LAUGHTER)
LETTERMAN: Jay Leno said that this NBC "Tonight" Show mess is not his fault. It`s not his fault. I said, I know. I know it`s not his fault. But isn`t it funny that he always turns up at the scene of the crime?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Now, what is that, Rachel? Is that hate speak or is that fear speak or --
RACHEL SKLAR, EDITOR-AT-LARGE MEDIAITE.COM: it might have been the voice of experience.
HAL SPARKS, ACTOR/COMEDIAN: I think so.
BEHAR: But he didn`t have to say it.
SKLAR: Oh well it`s not like Leno hasn`t taken potshots at Letterman. When Letterman`s troubles came out, Leno was the first to mock him. So payback is a word I can`t say on TV.
SPARKS: Everybody needs to go back and rent "Late Shift" a movie that was about this whole kerfuffel whole between the two of them years ago.
(CROSSTALK)
SPARKS: Yes, exactly. RACHELLE BEGLEY, CO-STAR LIVING WITH ED: My husband`s in it.
SPARKS: Yeah, exactly. And you know this is just you know another kind of a replay. And it does seem to be that they`re on the Leno side of things and on the NBC side of things a little more complication, the same thing happening again.
BEHAR: Yes if they put Jay back where he was, which they probably will, he`s going to go against Letterman. For many years Leno kicked Letterman`s butt in that spot. So maybe Letterman is a little nervous.
BEGLEY: Oh totally nervous. You know, I`m just over this. I`m just sort of over this. I love Jay. Jay`s a nice guy. They`re all great guys. I you know, I see it, I want some women. I just want to see some women. I`m tired -
BEHAR: Forget it.
SPARKS: One of the things I brought up, this is a whole -
SKLAR: That`s a whole other -
BEGLEY: Yes, I know.
SPARKS: This is a whole new mechanics. That since the Late Shift kind of years is you`ve got Wanda Sykes now with a show. You`ve got George Lopez with a show. And it use to be --
BEHAR: Chelsea Handler -
SPARKS: Yes, Chelsea -
BEHAR: Chelsea Handler was on her show the other late night last night saying that I keep saying there are no women in late night, that`s not true. She is in late night and so is Wanda I was specifically talking about -
SPARKS: It`s different mechanics though, yes.
BEHAR: The networks and the fight between the "Tonight" Show and --
SPARKS: And broadcast.
BEHAR: that`s right-
SPARKS: It was the big -
BEHAR: which is the real - enchilada.
SPARKS: Calling it the Tonight Show is -
SKLAR: It`s 11:35 that is the time, period. That is the big sticking point here.
SPARKS: But ironically, which meant so much even just five years ago. But now with Tivo, Hulu, Youtube, with everybody buying clips, you don`t need to watch any of these shows in the actuality to see them --
BEHAR: That is a problem right now.
SKLAR: And that`s going to hurt Leno, a lot.
BEHAR: How is Conan going to come out in all this, Conan?
SPARKS: He`s going to be great. He`s got a niche audience that will follow him.
BEHAR: What do you think Rachel?
SKLAR: Well there`s I mean, it`s like what Hal said, there`s an audience on the internet. And things are evolving very rapidly. And it`s funny, you know, on mediaite we had a column that speculate the column feature could be on the internet. Then we had a column from "the New York Times" and we had a column from all over the place, like everybody is talking about Conan being on the internet, the head of revision three sent him an open offer to have a spot -
SPARKS: Right.
SKLAR: On their platform. So I think that --
SPARKS: It`s a new mechanic that nobody is kind of dealing with. And the networks are stuck in this 1950s idea that this time of the night actually means something on a regular basis.
SKLAR: It does still.
SPARKS: Right.
SKLAR: It certainly did in reference to the 2004 -
SPARKS: Not like it -
SKLAR: Contract that Conan signed and -
SPARKS: Sure.
SKLAR: And it means something to Conan clearly. And it means something to Leno because he was the one that was happy to go into the 11:30 spot and bump Conan. But Conan going forward, Conan has got the audience that will be online and will follow him online.
SPARKS: Right, exactly.
BEHAR: You know Jay, Rachelle.
BEGLEY: Jay`s a lovely man.
BEHAR: He is. I like him
BEGLEY: And he`s going to land on his feet. I know he`s going to come back. You know but I think this is -- you know the big brass at NBC screwed up. They screw up long time ago.
BEHAR: They sure did.
BEGLEY: They think that you know, oh, Jay is 60, he`s going to be obsolete, he`s going to be irrelevant.
SPARKS: Right.
BEGLEY: Let`s put some young guy - this is all about youth. I`m tired of the ageism.
BEHAR: Yes, young boys.
SPARKS: Yes, I think you`re right. That was the biggest move, like moving Conan to that spot is like moving "Space Ghost" to that spot. There`s an audience for "Space Ghost" that will live and die by how funny and smart, and witty and kind of counterculture that it is.
BEHAR: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
BEGLEY: Well Conan is not like your 20 year old.
BEHAR: Okay, okay -
(CROSSTALK)
BEGLEY: Okay.
BEHAR: We`re changing the subject. One more thing, before we wrap it all up here, pictures have surfaced from the National Inquirer allegedly of Tiger Woods.
SPARKS: Oh, okay, I thought it was me.
BEHAR: In Mississippi and as a serious journalist I feel a responsibility to bring them to you. Okay, there they are. Can you see them?
SKLAR: That looks just like him.
SPARKS: What`s the name of that place?
SKLAR: Gentle Path.
BEHAR: Gentle Path.
SPARKS: That`s the name of the sex rehab? Gentle Path. It sounds like a lube, quite frankly.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: That would be really be cause for promotion. Do you really think that`s Tiger?
SKLAR: No. The experts have decreed that yes, it is, who am I to challenge the Inquirer.
SPARKS: Absolutely and these are photographs from our own NSA photographs from our own spy satellites. We should know. We should be able to trust them I think.
BEHAR: You know you`re supposed to - you`re suppose to not be allowed not to have any kind of sex with anyone including yourself when you are there at this clinic. How do they police something like that?
SPARKS: Uh why is everyone looking at me all of a sudden? Did you notice - how do they --
BEHAR: And also Dr. Drew Pinsky, he`s been on the show a few times, he said that in order for sexual rehab, sex rehab to work, the spouse has to be there. Elin is not there.
SKLAR: Well of course - she doesn`t seem to be all participant -
BEGLEY: It takes two to tango, it`s a co-dependency. You know, she didn`t end up there by accident with the sex addict.
SPARKS: Well the other thing too, is that, again, where is the sex addict part? I believe there is probably a psychological, you know, disease known as nymphomania, or real sex addiction where you emotionally, you know, are not connected to the sex at all. You do it mechanically.
BEHAR: Right.
SPARKS: It doesn`t matter, that I think is real - what this is is PR.
SKLAR: My opinion is the guy is in rehab.
BEHAR: The guy`s got issue -
SPARKS: Yes, exactly.
BEHAR: And he needs to be adored, it`s not necessarily about sex.
SPARKS: Everyone wants to be adored.
(CROSSTALK)
SKLAR: I love sex.
SPARKS: The root of all evil is attention.
BEHAR: Well really - I adore you.
SPARKS: Thank you.
BEHAR: Thanks, guys. Hal will be performing stand up, February 18th to the 21st at the Stress Factory, now there`s a title.
SPARKS: Yes.
BEHAR: In New Bruins wick, New Jersey. Kevin Bacon joins me next. For those keeping score at home, that`s one degree of separation. I can`t get these words out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: One of the busiest and most versatile actors in Hollywood, he`s played everything from a man haunted by visions to a sadistic prison guard. Just the kind of man I dated in my 20s, by the way. They were all fabulous. This past weekend, he snagged his very first Golden Globe for his performance in HVL film "Taking Chance."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN BACON, ACTOR: Thank you so much to the Hollywood Foreign Press. I appreciate it. Thank you. It`s an honor to be on the same list with some of the most incredible actors here tonight. To my beautiful family, Kiko, Trav, Saucy, I love you guys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Here with me is one of the most talented men in show business, Kevin Bacon. Hey Kevin.
KEVIN BACON, ACTOR: Hey.
BEHAR: How are you? Good to see you again. I can`t believe that`s the first Golden Globe you`ve won. How could that be?
BACON: I haven`t deserved one until now.
BEHAR: No, no, you deserved, you deserved. I saw you in "The Woodsman." you were fantastic in that film.
BACON: Thank you.
BEHAR: But you did play a pedophile, right?
BACON: That`s true.
BEHAR: Yes, I don`t know how to call it; you didn`t kill anybody, though.
BACON: I didn`t kill anybody, no, believe it or not, that was my second child molester.
BEHAR: Oh really, do you specialize in this?
BACON: No. I don`t.
BEHAR: Well you know, Stanley Tucci, I was talking to Stanley about the lovely bones and he really -- he`s like, I really want to play that part because of the -- he kills a child.
BACON: Yes, it`s a terrible place to go every day when you go to work, there`s no doubt about it.
BEHAR: But I think he should have gotten an award and I wonder if you didn`t get it because of the part.
BACON: I don`t know, you know. I was just so thrilled to get it and it`s been a long time coming. You know, when I choose the parts and when I act in the parts, I`m really not thinking about statues - you know, I mean --
BEHAR: No, you can`t.
BACON: You can`t. You just have to say this is a part that I believe in, and I`m going to try to do my best work and let`s see what shakes down.
BEHAR: That`s right. Just think of the statue of liberty. Let`s take a look at the clip from "Taking Chance" your new movie.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "TAKING CHANCE")
BEHAR: That`s the movie you won the Golden Globe for.
BACON: Yeah.
BEHAR: I mean it must -- did it give you a different perspective on the Iraq war during the movie?
BACON: It`s interesting. The movie is about the process of returning the remains of military killed overseas to their final resting place. And I didn`t know anything about it. I think a lot of people have reacted in the movie that way, just really didn`t know what that process was like. It`s a very simple telling of that story. By the time the film came out, you know, 2008, I guess, I think if you didn`t have an opinion about the Iraq War at that point.
BEHAR: Right.
BACON: You probably lived under a rock. So I don`t think that the film really changed my opinion necessarily of the Iraq war, but it certainly did give me a new perspective on this particular process. And interestingly enough, it actually had an impact on our policy in terms of the press being able to photograph the coffins coming home.
BEHAR: The coffins, yes, because during the Bush administration, we never saw it. It was a scandal really.
BACON: It actually started during Bush`s father.
BEHAR: They stopped showing --
BACON: Yeah.
BEHAR: Oh yes?
BACON: And so it had been in place since then. And you know, it was about two months after the movie aired that the policy changed. And I thought to myself, I can`t imagine that we had any impact on that. But apparently --
BEHAR: You probably did, yeah. But the other award that you received for your charity work was given to you by Meryl Streep was the Joel Siegel award. What was that award for?
BACON: That was the broadcast film critics association gives the Joel Siegel award and I think maybe it`s the third or fourth one that they`ve given, and it`s named after Joel because of a lot of kind of humanitarian and charitable stuff that he was involved in.
BEHAR: I see, so you do a lot of that stuff?
BACON: Well I started this club called sixdegrees.org.
BEHAR: Oh yes.
BACON: A few years ago and I was trying to kind of figure out a way that I could give back and all in one kind of place. I was really -- it really came from opening the refrigerator and looking at a picture of Paul Newman grinning at me, from his tomato sauce.
BEHAR: A great guy.
BACON: And you know I was so amazed at the kind of money Paul was able to raise with that very, very simple idea. So we started sixdegrees.org and it`s kind of a place where we just -- it`s a portal forgiving back. We can steer you in the right direction. I mean right now on our home page, we have a very easy point and click way to donate to Haitian Relief. It`s kind of as simple as, you know, buying something on amazon.com or ordering Itunes.
BEHAR: Oh that`s good, we can go right there.
BACON: Yes.
BEHAR: I love the game of six degrees because we were working on something, as a matter of fact. BACON: Okay.
BEHAR: First of all, I can link you to Sarah Palin.
BACON: Okay. That`s silly.
BEHAR: Okay. The game the people has been under a rock all these years -- it`s about everyone is connected to Kevin Bacon by "six degrees" in some way. Whoever figured this out I don`t know, they probably in a mental hospital.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: But this is how I linked you to Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin was on "Saturday Night Live" with Alec Baldwin. Alec Baldwin was in "Its Complicated" with Meryl Streep. Meryl Streep was in the River Wild with Kevin Bacon.
BACON: There you go.
BEHAR: Okay, you want to hear another one? How I link you to my aunt Rose?
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Kevin Bacon was in JFK with Joe Pesci.
BACON: True.
BEHAR: Joe Pesci was in "GoodFellas" with Robert De Niro. Robert De Niro was in "New York, New York" with Liza Minnelli, someone once was taking video footage of Liza Minnelli and my aunt Rose accidentally walked in front of the camera. How about that, huh, pretty good.
BACON: That`s a thrill, I`m happy to hear that.
BEHAR: Isn`t that exciting - okay, don`t go away. We`ll be right back with Kevin Bacon for more interesting conversation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: I`m back for more with Kevin Bacon. All right Kevin you know, we love your wife, Kyra Sedgwick, she comes on the View all the times, and she`s just a doll. I really do like her, you`ve been married to her for 21 years.
BACON: True.
BEHAR: Okay in Hollywood years that`s like 200 years really.
BACON: That`s a Hollywood platinum.
BEHAR: You know what I mean, how do you do it? I know that she`s now in L.A. and you`re here mostly, right?
BACON: She shoots - she`s actually here now, she does shoot six months a year in L.A., yeah. And I stay here. We live in New York.
BEHAR: Yes.
BACON: You know, we really don`t have a secret. I mean, my standard quote is to keep the fights clean and the sex dirty. But I`ve gotten in trouble for that. I mean I don`t think --
BEHAR: With her?
BACON: No, not with her. On the contrary. On the contrary. I don`t think there`s a secret. I mean I just kind of feel like we like each other. We like each other`s company. You know and when I`m not away from her, I think about her and I think we respect each other, we respect each other`s work.
BEHAR: You`re not competitive with each other?
BACON: You know, I really -- that`s one of the most important things about each other. We`re really not competitive. For many, many years, even though she had a career and was working and doing really well, she was still Kevin Bacon`s wife and never once did I feel like when good things would happen, for me that she was -- that she looked at it as her loss. And, frankly, if it -- if the tables were turned and the first 15 years of our marriage she was a bigger star, I think I would have had a hard time with that.
BEHAR: Well, you know, m-a-n. You`re a man.
BACON: I thought that stood for something. Macho. (EXPLECATIVE DELETED) It is. BEHAR: It`s the way we`ve been programmed all these years.
BACON: That`s true but even so I really admired the fact that she`s always been you know, really, really happy for-- when things are going well for me because I think she sees it as a partnership and now for the last six years I`ve been unemployable.
BEHAR: No you haven`t.
BACON: And she`s been the star of a major television show. We were talking earlier about who picks up the check at dinner. She`s been picking up the check for quite a few years now.
BEHAR: Who does - yes, yes, well she`s got the wonderful series on TNT, Closer, is it "The Closer."
BACON: The Closer, yes.
BEHAR: Not the closer.
BACON: Yes, The Closer I get to you -
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: And also the other thing I want to talk about before we go is your band, your band with your brothers.
BACON: We`ve had a band for 15 years, my brother and I, The Bacon Brothers. We have six CDs. We have done a lot of touring last year with our latest one, New Year`s Day. And it`s been really a lot of fun. And then also I think it`s a great -- it`s a great sort of counterpoint to having this amazing film career and acting career. I feel so lucky to be able to play rock and --
BEHAR: Yes, it`s great to have one thing so you never have to rely on one other the other.
BACON: Well you have two shows.
BEHAR: I know, I like to spread it out. I do stand up too.
BACON: Yes, it`s great.
BEHAR: I juggle on the side a little.
BACON: Do you?
BEHAR: I read tarot cards. I do it all.
BACON: Do you? Do you cook, knit, no?
BEHAR: I do cook. I do cook. I don`t knit. No, I don`t knit.
BACON: I don`t see you as a knitter.
BEHAR: I don`t knit, I can`t. No, knitting is a form of masturbation any way.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: You know, what was I going to tell you? Oh yes, I know what I was going to say, you had a wonderful time and I know you`ve been in the press with the Madoff thing and I didn`t even ask you about it. Isn`t that nice? Aren`t you so happy?
BACON: That`s so nice that you didn`t bring it up.
BEHAR: Thanks for coming on the show.
BACON: Thank you Joy.
BEHAR: Thanks Kevin for joining me tonight and thank you for watching. Good night, everybody.
END
