Return to Transcripts main page
Joy Behar Page
Week in Review Stories; Tea Party Time; Interview With Jerry Springer
Aired April 16, 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, my producers told me they were booking a guy with the initials B.B. for tonight`s show, so I thought it was probably going to be Ben Bernanke, but it wasn`t. It`s Benjamin Bratt. Hey, he`s better than me.
Then, speaking of a brat, Jon Gosselin sues for custody of his eight kids. What`s he planning to do with them? Another reality show? "Jon plus 8" doesn`t even rhyme.
And Ashley Dupre, the call girl who ended Eliot Spitzer`s career is now posing for "Playboy" while Eliot Spitzer is posing as a faithful husband.
That and more right now.
Well, their reality show may have been gone off the air, but the air still isn`t cleared between Kate and Jon Gosselin. This week Jon sued Kate for primary custody of their eight kids and called Kate an absentee mother. So does Jon really want the eight kids or just eight more minutes of fame?
Joining me to talk all things Gosselin and more week in review stories are comedian Loni Love; actor and comedian, Sal Richards; and "Self" magazine editor-in-chief and author of the "Nine Rooms of Happiness", Lucy Danziger.
Hello, everyone.
SAL RICHARDS, ACTOR AND COMEDIAN: Hello.
LONI LOVE, COMEDIAN: Hello.
LUCY DANZIGER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "SELF" MAGAZINE: Hi Joy.
BEHAR: So do we think Jon really wants custody of the kids? Sal, what do you think?
RICHARDS: I really don`t care. I mean these people got a reality show because they had eight kids. Right?
My uncle Angelo and my aunt Camilla had 18 kids, they didn`t get a reality show. You know what they got -- welfare. That`s what they got.
BEHAR: Well, maybe he will too.
RICHARDS: I think he should go on welfare very soon because that`s what`s going to happen to him.
BEHAR: But would you want custody of eight children?
RICHARDS: If they were mine?
BEHAR: Yes.
RICHARDS: There`s a possibility because you know, because I`m an Italian guy from Brooklyn and we love kids. We love children. I might have eight kids now I don`t know about.
BEHAR: Not all Italians love children. Does the name Mussolini come up at all?
RICHARDS: Yes, but he didn`t have any kids.
BEHAR: He did not.
RICHARDS: No. Mussolini had no kids.
BEHAR: Go ahead, Loni.
LOVE: Can we get rids of the parents and just keep the kids. Just have like, "Plus 8", that`s it.
RICHARDS: Good idea.
LOVE: That`s all I want to see.
RICHARDS: You`re absolutely right, Loni.
BEHAR: But you know, he calls her an absentee mother, which I thought was chutzpah, because she`s working to support the kids. Right?
DANZIGER: Right
BEHAR: So isn`t that -- she`s not a bad mother, just a bad dancer.
LOVE: A bad dancing mother.
BEHAR: That`s the problem.
RICHARDS: I want to know who`s calling the show.
DANZIGER: At least she`s moving forward.
He`s stuck in the old fight. He wants it to be the two of them fighting. She`s saying, "I want to reinvent myself."
In some ways, she`s going forward, moving forward, give her some credit. You may not love everything she does, but she has to support her kids.
BEHAR: That`s right.
LOVE: I`m glad she got rid of that hair though. That hair -- the porcupine look, I like the long hair.
BEHAR: She`s very pretty.
DANZIGER: The irony is, he would be ok, as long as he`s part of the new show, but since it`s her show, suddenly she`s an absentee mother.
BEHAR: But at the same time, he`s open to being on a show with her on another project.
RICHARDS: That`s what I couldn`t understand. What is that all about?
BEHAR: What else does he have to do?
RICHARDS: I can`t understand that. First he wants to accuse her of being an absentee mother, then he says, if you get a show, make sure I`m on the show with you. That`s ridiculous.
(CROSSTALK)
RICHARDS: He ought to just pack it in.
DANZIGER: You can`t change anybody else, you can only change yourself. She`s trying to change herself. Give her credit.
RICHARDS: I think they should just forget about it, both of them, go in the corner somewhere, keep quiet, work out the differences between each other and let us not know about it, because I`m sick and tired of hearing about it.
LOVE: You tell them Sal.
RICHARDS: I really don`t want to hear about these people anymore. I swear to God.
BEHAR: Well, we have a show to run, so we`re not sick of them yet.
RICHARDS: Oh, that`s right, I`m sorry.
BEHAR: But if it does end, where do you think it`s going to end? Are they going to get custody --
RICHARDS: In a river.
BEHAR: All right. Let`s change the subject. Let`s change the topic from --
LOVE: You are Italian, huh?
RICHARDS: Oh, absolutely.
BEHAR: He really is.
All right. We`re changing the topic from local to Coco. Conan O`Brien has a new home, not for Fox but for TBS as a lead-in for George Lopez. So, who saw that coming?
DANZIGER: He was always a cable guy. I think he was in a mainstream place but he`s always been this kind of quirky, out there guy. So I think he`s being authentic to himself. I think it`s great.
BEHAR: That`s true. I see myself as quirky on cable too. That`s a good point.
LOVE: But you`re doing good on network, though, too.
BEHAR: Well, yes but that`s a different story.
LOVE: I`m just glad they gave him a job so he can get rid of that beard. That red beard is haunting.
BEHAR: Yes. What was that about?
LOVE: I don`t know but thank you, TBS, for giving him a job.
BEHAR: Is this a step back for him, do you think. Or as she said --
RICHARDS: I really don`t care.
BEHAR: Again you don`t care. What do you care about?
RICHARDS: I care about me. I care about me. I don`t care about Conan O`Brien.
(CROSSTALK)
RICHARDS: Listen. Let me tell you something, I wanted to do the "Conan O`Brien Show", so they asked me to send a tape. I sent that videotape of myself to the "Conan O`Brien". They sent a videotape back saying, "You`re too old."
How old do you have to be to be funny? When does it stop, at a certain age, you`re not funny. You came to see me a few weeks ago --
BEHAR: Yes.
RICHARDS: I was funny.
BEHAR: George Burns was funny until he was 100.
RICHARDS: 100 years old.
BEHAR: I know.
RICHARDS: TBS, you know what that stands for? To be shunned again. I don`t know. I`m only kidding.
(CROSSTALK)
RICHARDS: Everybody`s side but mine.
BEHAR: He doesn`t care, ok. But we have to care, for the segment, let`s care.
RICHARDS: I care.
BEHAR: For the sake of this segment.
RICHARDS: All right, I`m sorry. I`m sorry.
BEHAR: Not forever and not about the rest of your life. Just for now.
RICHARDS: To be honest, now, ok. It was really unfair, what happened to him. To say, you know, you`re out of the slot, you`re going into the early slot, then you`re going back to the late slot, you`re in there, Jay Leno`s coming back. That was very unfair to do to anybody, whether you like the person, you don`t like the person. It`s unfair to do.
BEHAR: Well, supposedly he called George Lopez before agreeing to this, because he had to bump Lopez back now.
RICHARDS: Right.
BEHAR: And do you think he called Jay Leno before taking "The Tonight Show"?
RICHARDS: No, I don`t think so. I don`t think so. And Jay would have said, "I`ll do whatever you want to do."
LOVE: All right.
BEHAR: Now, what about the ratings, he`s going up against Leno now and he`s going up against Letterman.
LOVE: That`s cable, though, he`s not going to be able to compete. He`ll get a 0.8, 0.6.
BEHAR: He`s making $10 million a year.
RICHARDS: Oh, my God. And I`m sitting here for free on this show.
(CROSSTALK)
DANZIGER: We should set him up with Kate, feed the kids.
RICHARDS: I really don`t know.
BEHAR: All right.
RICHARDS: I watch "Law & Order" at 11:00 anyways, so I don`t care, you know. Conan O`Brien --
BEHAR: Ok. All right. Let`s talk about another topic. Let`s see if you can give a damn about this one. If it doesn`t have to do with him, he doesn`t care.
All right, author Kitty Kelley is at it again. She`s written yet another unauthorized tell-all and this one is about saint Oprah Winfrey. You don`t touch Oprah. She`s very powerful. Among the revelations: that Oprah`s staff must refer to her as Mary, so outsiders won`t know who they`re talking about.
So from now on, I`m telling all of you, I would like to be referred to as Inez. Ok.
Now, this woman, Kitty Kelley, she is tres dangerous, you know. She`s written unauthorized books about Sinatra -- remember the Sinatra book, Sal?
RICHARDS: Exactly, exactly.
BEHAR: She said -- didn`t she say he murdered somebody in that book?
RICHARDS: Yes. You know, this woman is out of her mind. I`ll tell you the truth. She really is another one that`s out of her mind because I`ll tell you what, if you`re going to write a book about yourself, you can tell the truth about yourself, because you know what your life is all about. That`s what my book is about. It`s about my life.
But Kitty Kelley talks about Oprah Winfrey, how does she know these things? What, research?
LOVE: Her family.
RICHARDS: Whose family?
LOVE: Oprah`s family.
RICHARDS: Oprah`s family screwing on Oprah --
LOVE: I believe Oprah`s family -- yes because they`re mad because Oprah probably didn`t give them a lot of money, so now they`re just like -- blah, blah -- talking about her.
RICHARDS: That`s hearsay.
BEHAR: Well, some of the things she says are true, like the fact that Oprah was having an affair back with John Tesch back in the day.
RICHARDS: So.
BEHAR: I mean John Tesch has confirmed that. So that`s --
(CROSSTALK)
LOVE: I would want to keep that secret too, if I dated John Tesch.
BEHAR: Why?
LOVE: I will want to keep that secret.
BEHAR: Why? He`s a good-looking guy.
LOVE: He dumped her though. Did you see what he said?
BEHAR: Tell them what he said. You tell them.
LOVE: Supposedly, they said that he looked at her black body one day and he couldn`t take it and he walked out.
BEHAR: He was lying in bed next to her and he said, he looked at her black body and he said, "I can`t do this."
But you have to remember, this is -- that was very charming of you I think.
RICHARDS: Thank you.
BEHAR: But in those days, in the `70s, you know, it was unheard of. Back in the day -- we remember when Sammy Davis Jr. was dating Kim Novak.
RICHARDS: That`s right.
DANZIGER: Right.
RICHARDS: Not to be with her anymore, man.
(CROSSTALK)
DANZIGER: There`s no huge scandal here. She said, well, she might have been poor and maybe there weren`t as many pigs in the front yard.
You know, Oprah`s memories are hers. We all have our memories. When you`re a child, these things play out like a movie in your mind for the rest of your life. So Oprah has perceived memories that are valid and rational, and I say let`s wait for Oprah`s book and we`ll judge that. But I think her memories are valid whatever they might be.
RICHARDS: You know whose book I would like to see, Kitty Kelley`s. Let her write a book about herself.
BEHAR: Nobody`s interested in that book.
RICHARDS: No, I`m interested. I want to hear what she got to do.
BEHAR: Oh, suddenly he`s interested of something.
RICHARDS: No. When you told me that --
LOVE: You know what? I`d like to see (INAUDIBLE) book.
BEHAR: Of all the things you`re interested in, and it`s Kitty Kelley. Who gives a damn about her?
RICHARDS: You see, you don`t care about her either.
LOVE: But she says, "I`m nothing".
BEHAR: The Gosselin`s we are to be fascinated by, tiger woods, Oprah Winfrey.
RICHARDS: Tiger Woods and Jesse Jackson -- not Jesse Jackson. Tiger woods and Jesse James are doing a reality show. It was on the news the other night. It`s called, "Who`s next?". I don`t know. They have to do something.
BEHAR: Why didn`t Kitty Kelley save the John Tesch little nugget for John Tesch`s tell-all? Because she`s not going to do one of him?
LOVE: No one`s interested in John Tesch.
BEHAR: And you know? What I said before is, Oprah`s really powerful. I think that people -- she`s treading on a lot of toes here and a lot of people don`t want to talk about this book in any negative way.
RICHARDS: Yes. But she`s still going to make a lot of money from it, because a lot of people are going to buy it and they`re going to read it and they`re going to believe it. And that`s the bad thing. They`re going to believe the book. And I would like to know how much of it is true.
You have to prove it to me that these things have happened.
BEHAR: You know what Sal? A lot of these things stick. We remember -- did I remember that she wrote that Sinatra killed somebody?
RICHARDS: Yes.
BEHAR: I do.
Did I remember that she said that Nancy Reagan and Ronald Reagan talked to a psychic about affairs of the state? Hello. Cuckoo.
RICHARDS: Yes, but you know, maybe Sinatra was --
LOVE: The only thing you`re all you`re going to remember is that she slept with John Tesch.
BEHAR: That`s right. That`s the takeaway value here.
RICHARDS: That she slept with John Tesch?
BEHAR: Yes.
RICHARDS: So did I. So what`s the big deal?
BEHAR: Ok. All right, thank you guys very much. We had a lot of fun.
RICHARDS: Thank you.
BEHAR: Up next, Ashley Dupre, stops by to bare it all.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: She went from the cool girl in the Eliot Spitzer sex scandal to an advice columnist at the "New York Post". And now Ashley Dupre is sharing more than just her insights in the newest issue of Playboy. Hi, Ashley, she`s here with me.
ASHLEY DUPRE, ADVICE COLUMNIST: Hi.
BEHAR: I was just looking through it and I see --
DUPRE: It`s so awkward.
BEHAR: -- and I see that it`s a very pretty picture of you.
DUPRE: Thank you, thank you.
BEHAR: And you didn`t do spread eagle like this other (INAUDIBLE) -- on page whatever. You know what I mean, yours are more tasteful.
DUPRE: Yes, thank you.
BEHAR: I thought.
DUPRE: Thank you.
BEHAR: Yes. So why would you pose for "Playboy," though. What was the reason you posing for it?
DUPRE: I really respect "Playboy". For me, it was -- I have always wanted to pose for "Playboy," but when everything happened, if I would have done it in the beginning, I would have been known as the pictures and the article would have been about that girl and being connected to Spitzer. Whereas this, it`s more about Ashley Dupre, where I`ve come from, where I am now, and where I`m going.
So it`s a little -- I have more control. And the media outlets pretty much used my image, sex --
BEHAR: Right.
DUPRE: -- to sell their papers and magazines and you know to get --
BEHAR: Oh, you mean, after the scandal --
DUPRE: Yes --
BEHAR: -- when you were spread all over the magazines and tabloids.
DUPRE: Yes. Everybody was so -- and so for me, this was -- doing "Playboy" was a way for me to gain control over my sexuality and my image and I -- this is the first time I`ve actually had photo approval.
BEHAR: Did they pay you?
DUPRE: Yes, yes.
BEHAR: They paid you to do it?
DUPRE: Yes. They took care of me, yes.
BEHAR: So you made some money.
DUPRE: Yes.
BEHAR: All right, you`re a working girl. I always say that Ashley is a working girl. But I mean --
DUPRE: I`m just doing it like the legal like doing, like, the good way.
BEHAR: Yes, yes, yes. Well, a lot of people think prostitution should be legalized anyway.
DUPRE: I think that they need to take the money that they`re spending on bringing down the big agencies and focus on human trafficking, where there`s 6-year-old little girls --
BEHAR: That`s -- that`s true.
DUPRE: -- and 6-year-old boys that are being sold into slavery which is disgusting.
BEHAR: For me, it`s like two consulting adults want to do what they do --
DUPRE: I agree.
BEHAR: -- and pay for it, I don`t really care.
I mean, but I don`t get what you mean when you say, I want to regain my sexuality. I don`t understand how you do that.
DUPRE: Well, my image --
BEHAR: What does that mean?
DUPRE: -- because everybody was taking my sexuality, and they were selling it. They were selling newspapers, they were -- for television, and everything. And for me, it was -- they are putting photos out there that I didn`t enjoy. And I`m like --
BEHAR: This way you kind of own it yourself.
DUPRE: Yes.
BEHAR: And you`re getting paid for it.
DUPRE: Yes.
BEHAR: Why should they get the money for it?
DUPRE: Why should they make money off of my body?
BEHAR: That`s right.
DUPRE: And I think I should be the one that`s making money.
BEHAR: Ok, people around here want to know if your boobs are real. Do you mind telling me?
DUPRE: They`re not real.
BEHAR: They`re not?
DUPRE: No.
BEHAR: Does -- a john care in your past?
DUPRE: No.
BEHAR: Do they care if they`re real or not?
DUPRE: No.
BEHAR: Why not? Why shouldn`t -- they should care if they`re real.
DUPRE: Why?
BEHAR: Well, if their penises were fake, we wouldn`t like it.
DUPRE: I don`t know, it depends how big it is.
BEHAR: Ok, no that`s their point, if they`re huge and they`re fake, they`re happy with that.
DUPRE: Well, mine are not really huge. Like they`re a good size, I got them when I was like 18 and they were way too big --
BEHAR: Yes.
DUPRE: -- and I got them taken out and put smaller ones in.
BEHAR: Oh really?
DUPRE: Yes, yes.
BEHAR: All right. Now, let me ask you a question --
DUPRE: They feel real. Do you want to touch?
BEHAR: Say what?
DUPRE: They feel real. Do you want to touch?
BEHAR: No. That`s all right. My days of playing doctor with girls are over.
Now, you have a tattoo, I understand, that says Tutela Valu --
DUPRE: Tutela Valu yes.
BEHAR: Ok.
DUPRE: That`s gained a lot of --
BEHAR: Does that mean that these tatas (ph) are valuable? What does it mean?
DUPRE: It means protection and power and it doesn`t have to do with the (INAUDIBLE) -- it`s just protection and power, over me as a girl.
BEHAR: I see.
DUPRE: Yes.
BEHAR: There`s a new book out there that says Spitzer cheated on you. This is the new information, with two other escorts the same day he was with you. Does that hurt your feelings?
DUPRE: No.
BEHAR: No?
DUPRE: No.
BEHAR: I mean, can you relate at all to these Tiger Woods mistresses --
DUPRE: No.
BEHAR: -- who are all offended that he was cheating on one mistress --
DUPRE: No.
BEHAR: -- with another?
DUPRE: -- no, I can`t, because if I mean, you`re sleeping with a married man, really you have no grounds to say you`re cheated on. You have none. And you know and they just keep coming out and I don`t understand that.
BEHAR: Ok.
DUPRE: I don`t know why they want that.
BEHAR: Now, you know, you and Rielle Hunter, in a certain way, have a lot in common, I think. You were both with politicians that led to their downfall, right?
DUPRE: Correct.
BEHAR: What about that? What about that? Do you have any feelings about the fact that, you know, Eliot Spitzer lost his job basically because it was exposed that he was seeing you? Besides the fact that he might have lost his marriage, which he did not.
DUPRE: No it`s -- with him it`s the hypocrisy, I mean, it was a decision that he made and we have to pay for our, you know, the choices that we make. And I`ve learned that, over the past two years, of me, you know, will I ever overcome the title, you know, of what I`ve been given.
I had a life before all of this. I wanted to pursue my music, and I`m still chasing after it and people are saying, you know, why? I think you should just go away.
Why not? Why should I give up my dreams and my goals just because all of this happened to me? If anything, I hope, you know, my mistakes, I hope that children, like little girls can learn if they`re heading down a similar path and hopefully I can turn, you know, I can make lemonade out of lemons.
BEHAR: Well, he`s not exactly going away. He wants to run for office, again, I was reading. I mean, this guy has, he`s got no scones (ph) about it.
You say in the "Playboy" interview that you love sex and you`re very good at it, but I`m saving that.
DUPRE: Absolutely.
BEHAR: What are you saving that for?
DUPRE: I`m saving it for my future boyfriend and husband. Not that I`m practicing celibacy, that`s not what I mean.
BEHAR: No, I know that. But your future boyfriend will hit the jackpot, I have a feeling. Don`t you think?
DUPRE: I think so.
BEHAR: And the other thing is, you do you do have an advice column for the "Post".
DUPRE: Yes.
BEHAR: Do you have any advice for these women, like Sandra Bullock? Let`s say, what`s your advice to Sandra Bullock?
DUPRE: I think that they need to go to therapy and if she can make the relationship work, then do that, but if every time the phone rings or a text message goes off, she`s going to feel insecure, it`s not worth her sanity, like she needs to get out and leave. And she`s a gorgeous, beautiful woman.
Both of them, Elin and Sandra, I don`t think they`re going to have a problem finding great men.
BEHAR: Men cheat on gorgeous women as well as homely women. A man who cheats will cheat period, no matter the girl looks like.
DUPRE: No, I totally agree you.
BEHAR: Yes.
DUPRE: And that was like a sex -- that`s -- that`s not a sex addict, it`s more of somebody that should be in a swinging relationship, but they just you know, they don`t want their wife to do the same thing.
BEHAR: Ok. Well, you sound like you`re getting your life in order.
DUPRE: I`m working on it.
BEHAR: You`re working on it.
DUPRE: I`m working on it.
BEHAR: Ok, the air brushing, though, big time.
DUPRE: Oh, my gosh, can I tell you? There was this one picture --
BEHAR: A lot of air brushing.
DUPRE: No, there was this one picture and they tried -- I was sitting up and my back was straight and they tried to actually carve out a butt to make it look like I had -- I`m like, I don`t -- it`s not there. Just keep it -- put it back to the original
BEHAR: I tell you, if they don`t air brush me, I look like Winston Churchill.
We`ll be back in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: When most people think about the Tea Party Movement, African- American participants don`t immediately come to mind. But in a country as big and diverse as this one, we have to expect anything to be possible.
My next guest not only didn`t support Obama, he spends time at Tea Party rallies. Joining me now is Tim Johnson, chairman of the Frederick Douglass Foundation.
Tim, what`s the most offensive name you`ve been called for being a Tea Partier?
TIMOTHY JOHNSON, CHAIRMAN, FREDERICK DOUGLASS FOUNDATION: Well, I think I would say "Uncle Tom", "a spook at the door", "sellout". There`s obviously a host of names that black Republicans are oftentimes called. So those are the ones I would say on air anyhow.
BEHAR: And you`re saying that you`re being called those names from whom?
JOHNSON: By blacks.
BEHAR: By other blacks who are more liberal?
JOHNSON: Absolutely.
BEHAR: Why do you think most people are uncomfortable with you being part of the Tea Party Movement?
JOHNSON: I think there`s a lack of understanding and there`s also portrayal that`s been out there in the media that base their impression as if every organization and every event needs to be thousands of blacks.
I mean the reality of it is, I went to the Republican Party`s National Convention and there weren`t a bunch of blacks in Minneapolis, but we`re only 13 percent of the national population. So I don`t understand why people think there should be so many blacks showing up at these events.
BEHAR: Let`s look at these posters. Can you see them?
JOHNSON: Not yet.
BEHAR: There you go. Ok, there`s one. You see that?
JOHNSON: Sure.
BEHAR: And then let`s see another one. "The Zoo has an African and the White House has a lying African."
And then this one, "Where is the birth certificate?" People do not believe he was born in this country. And then that one, "Go back to Kenya."
Can you honestly say there`s no racial element to these kinds of protests?
JOHNSON: Oh, no. I would never say that and the same thing I would say about the Democratic Party. They have a history of racial overtones. So I think you`re going to find that in any organization that you`re going to find some who go over the line with those racial slurs and those racial epithets.
But that doesn`t mean that it represents everybody that`s part of the movement.
BEHAR: Then, why don`t you get rid of these people who are in the movement? Clean them out.
JOHNSON: I think there are people that had done that and I have spoken out on it. I know other black Republicans who have spoken out on that issue as it relates to those slurs and those disrespectful comments. And I`ve seen a whole lot more than -- worse than what you`re showing on TV.
And we`ve spoken out on that. I can`t help that the media hasn`t picked up on it but it doesn`t mean that we haven`t spoken out on it.
BEHAR: Yes. Look at this video of a woman holding a monkey with a sign. She`s being given the thumbs up sign, not kicked out. How is that ok?
JOHNSON: Again, I`m not saying that it`s ok. I`m not saying it`s appropriate. Once again -- but that`s one person out of thousands of other people in attendance. I can`t control -- I mean I`m not in charge of those events, so I can`t control what they do.
But I can just say where I stand on those issues and again speak for many black Republicans. I won`t say all but that we`re offended by those actions and those depictions but it doesn`t represent the whole movement or the issues on the table.
BEHAR: But sir, I did not hear one white or black person saying that that was a racist thing that was she was doing. I did not hear anybody in the Tea Party condemning that particular -- that monkey that she was carrying, that whole look.
JOHNSON: Well, again, outside of this opportunity and what came out with the Associated Press last week. I`m also the vice chairman of North Carolina Republican Party and I don`t get phone calls asking me any of these comments or concerns.
Again, one of the problems that we have and the perception is that we keep going back to one or two people and assuming that those one or two people don`t speak out then it must be something ok for all of them.
BEHAR: Ok. Thanks very much, Tim, for joining me.
Up next, Jerry Springer joins me, so stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: He`s been a political reporter, and a commentator, an actor, and the mayor of Cincinnati. But he`s best known for the Jerry Springer show now in its 19th season. My god, that`s long. You know and he has a new gig. The Dating game show called "BAGGAGE" it premieres on GSN April 19th. Take a look at that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERRY SPRINGER, HOST, "BAGGAGE": Time to reveal your biggest baggage. Let`s start with you, Adam. "I expect my girlfriend to cook and clean for me."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Huh-uh. I really find that offensive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: I`m happy to welcome the always busy and sometimes controversial, the fabulous Jerry Springer. Hi, Jerry.
SPRINGER: Thank you and congratulations on your mug.
BEHAR: Thank you.
SPRINGER: Where can they get this? Where can they sign onto the mug?
BEHAR: I don`t know yet.
SPRINGER: That is great.
BEHAR: This is the first time we`ve had them, so I don`t really know.
SPRINGER: You look beautiful.
BEHAR: I do not.
SPRINGER: Look at this.
BEHAR: All right, anyway, you know this game show that you`re doing now -
SPRINGER: Yes, "BAGGAGE."
BEHAR: Fabulous idea, I think.
SPRINGER: It is. I wish I would have thought of it.
BEHAR: Me, too. We could have make nice change on that.
SPRINGER: And we could use some. I got expenses, I can tell you.
BEHAR: What is your biggest expense, Jerry?
SPRINGER: Uh, biggest expense?
BEHAR: Yes. Clothing? Not.
SPRINGER: Thanks for being with us. Tune in every night. Yes, no --
BEHAR: How hard can they about to deal with?
SPRINGER: Biggest expense?
BEHAR: No chairs are flying, nothing is going to happen to you here.
SPRINGER: I know. This is lovely. I know. Biggest expense?
BEHAR: Yes, what is it.
SPRINGER: Fuel.
BEHAR: Fuel? OK. OK. Fine, whatever.
SPRINGER: There`s no joke there. It`s a plane.
BEHAR: It`s a plane, oh you have your own plane?
SPRINGER: Well you don`t get fuel for a car. You say you get gas for a car.
BEHAR: See I didn`t know that.
SPRINGER: See now you want to be friendly suddenly.
BEHAR: I didn`t know you owned your own plane. You really have made some money over there, boy. All right --
SPRINGER: No, I volunteer to do my show.
BEHAR: OK, this show -
SPRINGER: Oh "BAGGAGE."
BEHAR: It is like the dating game, right?
SPRINGER: Yes, except that most of these game shows, you know, the beautiful contestants come on and talk about the best parts about themselves. You should go out with me because.
BEHAR: Yes.
SPRINGER: And then later on three, four, five dates later or later in life you find out what the baggage is. But on this show they come out with their three little bags, a little big, medium bag, and big bag and they open each one and there`s another bit of baggage. And so they have to choose which baggage they can accept and maybe you really want this one woman said I really want to go out with you and she opened up the bag and you find out she`s divorced with seven kids.
BEHAR: I see so that`s the baggage she`s carrying around.
SPRINGER: Yes, that`s the point.
BEHAR: It`s brilliant. Why are people with secrets so attracted to you? I mean this show has secrets and baggage.
SPRINGER: Nobody is attracted to me.
BEHAR: Yes we are, we are very attracted. Everyone is attracted to you. You`re very attractive, Jerry. Don`t act shy with me. A man with a plane is already attractive.
SPRINGER: Exactly.
BEHAR: You know what I`m saying? You don`t have to do that much.
SPRINGER: Because it`s hard to bring a plane into these clubs.
BEHAR: But I mean, people --
SPRINGER: I walk around with my pilot.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: But you said -
SPRINGER: What`d I say?
BEHAR: I`m like the crazy old uncle. People feel comfortable telling me their secrets, that I won`t be judgmental. That is true.
SPRINGER: Well that is true.
BEHAR: Yes.
SPRINGER: I mean joking aside, I am not judgmental. I`m really not. And I -- you know I think I`m nice to people. So I`m not going to yell at them, I`m not going to say you`re so stupid, how could you do that -
BEHAR: Yes.
SPRINGER: Or something like that.
BEHAR: Yes.
SPRINGER: You know because the truth is, we`re all alike.
BEHAR: But on your show they show how stupid they are without saying it, right?
SPRINGER: Yes but the only difference, I`ve never met a human being that could not be on my show. And that`s the truth. Every human being could be on my show. Ninety percent of us would never go on the show, including me, but 10 percent would. And 10 percent of America is 30 million people. That`s a lot of shows.
BEHAR: OK fine, let`s look at your shows. You`re in the 19th season of the Jerry Springer show, which is just as crazy as ever. Let`s look at that.
SPRINGER: Oh this is - this is -
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hold on. I can`t talk to these (EXPLICATIVE DELETED). Hold that. You are not marrying my son. No. You are controlling. He can`t even have his friends. He can`t even be around his family? No, you are not marrying my son. (EXPLICATIVE DELETED)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Now, that is a fun mother-in-law.
SPRINGER: Yes.
BEHAR: Now why is one dressed in a bridal gown on your show?
SPRINGER: Because -- she`s going to get married -
BEHAR: On your show?
SPRINGER: Of course. Is there a better place to be married?
BEHAR: No, I guess not. And whose teeth are missing?
SPRINGER: It was the mother, the mother that took the teeth out because we don`t want the teeth hurt.
BEHAR: Oh, I see. So you really do prevent injuries over there. In some way.
SPRINGER: We`re very concerned.
BEHAR: So how much of these fights are staged exactly? Come on.
SPRINGER: Oh no, no, if you`re there you see it`s real. They don`t hurt each other, they pull each other`s hair. There`s security there and nobody gets hurt. No, but they`re really angry. Honestly it`s all true.
BEHAR: You geek them up. They come in there with their agendas, and then you geek them up.
SPRINGER: Well they wouldn`t call the show -- look, you can put these same people on Oprah, and they would behave perfectly well.
BEHAR: Right.
SPRINGER: It`s that they -- the only way to get on the show is by calling the show. The only way you know our number -- we`re in the phone book. Is by seeing the number on the screen which means you have seen the show before to memorize it.
BEHAR: Yes.
SPRINGER: They know that --
BEHAR: But don`t you think some of them say you know let`s come up with something really good. I`ll take my teeth out -
SPRINGER: Producers are very -
BEHAR: I`ll hit my daughter-in-law and we`ll do a show.
SPRINGER: No, the producers are very good in finding out whose making up stories, not, oh do they get excited on the show? Sure.
BEHAR: It`s showbiz and they all know it.
SPRINGER: Well it`s just like here I have been briefed so much on what to say on this show.
BEHAR: No, you haven`t.
SPRINGER: On this show -
BEHAR: This show is free-for-all. This is really free-for-all.
SPRINGER: Now I`m supposed to raise my right arm and put down. It says first when you come out here, talk about the mug-
BEHAR: No, that`s not true, stop lying.
SPRINGER: So I did.
BEHAR: You lie. Now listen -
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: What do you say to critics who say you`re exploiting dysfunction and lowering the level of discourse in this country and bringing us to ruin?
SPRINGER: Guilty.
BEHAR: Guilty as charged.
SPRINGER: Tell me something I don`t know. No, the only thing I would say we don`t -
BEHAR: Yes.
SPRINGER: Is the exploitation part. That I really disagree with, with the exploitation.
BEHAR: Because?
SPRINGER: Well the idea that our show contrary virtually -- I was in journalism for 10 years. Contrary to any news programs I`ve been on, virtually every show I`ve been on our show is purely voluntary to the point even after the show is taped they can decide what they don`t want in it. They can change their names. They can wear wigs as long as they stay on it or whatever.
BEHAR: Yes.
SPRINGER: They can disguise. In other words, they get a list, here`s something that`s amazing. They get a list before they`re on the show of 21 possible surprises if there`s going to be a surprise.
BEHAR: Right.
SPRINGER: And they have to check off all of them before we go on with the show. So in other words --
BEHAR: Well that covers you guys.
SPRINGER: Plus, I`m not interested in hurting them. I have no interest in that.
BEHAR: No, it`s entertainment.
SPRINGER: So therefore.
BEHAR: Yes.
SPRINGER: When there`s a surprise on the show they don`t know which of the 21 it`s going to be, but they`ve agreed that they`re OK with whichever one this is.
BEHAR: Oh I see.
SPRINGER: So they can`t say I wouldn`t have gone on the show if I found out my girlfriend`s really a guy.
BEHAR: I see, have you been sued?
SPRINGER: No. Not on that.
BEHAR: No.
SPRINGER: From day one we did that. So now, does our show show craziness? Yes, because the show is about craziness.
BEHAR: Right.
SPRINGER: If you do a show on murderers, then the people you have on the show are going to be about people that committed murder.
BEHAR: Right.
SPRINGER: Our show is about crazy, so of course it`s crazy.
BEHAR: I see it`s lasted all the years. The ratings are up.
SPRINGER: We have the kids from the original guests on the show.
BEHAR: That is frightening. The next generation is demented, too. And you are proud of this, he shouts it from the rooftop.
SPRINGER: No, I`m angry about it because these people were told not to procreate, and they did anyway.
BEHAR: Well maybe they need to follow Bristol Palin`s abstinence program.
SPRINGER: We are going to start handing it out.
BEHAR: Why do you think, these other shows, "MONTEL WILLIAMS" and "JENNY JONES" went off the air. What`s the secret different from their theirs?
SPRINGER: Because we`re really stupid.
BEHAR: They were just moderately stupid.
SPRINGER: No, yes, yes, they toyed with it, it`s like, you know they dipped their toe in the water.
BEHAR: Yes. I see.
SPRINGER: We`re a circus. It`s crazy. It`s nuts.
BEHAR: OK, Jerry. We`re just getting started. I want to take on some stories in the news when we come back, OK? Yes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: I`m back with Jerry Springer. Now you were the mayor of Cincinnati at one point.
SPRINGER: Yes, yes.
BEHAR: So you know from politics.
SPRINGER: Yes.
BEHAR: Let`s talk a little politics.
SPRINGER: Sure.
BEHAR: A new poll is out today, that T -- it was on the "New York Times" front page today, I was looking at. Tea partiers tend to be wealthier and more well educated than the general public, this is very surprising information, Republican.
SPRINGER: Yes.
BEHAR: Well that wasn`t surprising.
SPRINGER: No.
BEHAR: White. Duh.
SPRINGER: Yes.
BEHAR: Male.
SPRINGER: Yes.
BEHAR: Married and older than 45. Sounds like you.
SPRINGER: Yes.
BEHAR: Doesn`t it?
SPRINGER: Yes, except I`m --
BEHAR: Not republican?
SPRINGER: No. I tend to be liberal. I don`t think there is any surprise, and I don`t think there`s any -- I disagree with the tea partiers.
BEHAR: Which part do you disagree with?
SPRINGER: Most of the issues in terms their conservatism, in terms of the fact there`s no room for government involvement on health care, for example.
BEHAR: Yes.
SPRINGER: Here`s my disagreement on the health care -
BEHAR: OK.
SPRINGER: And I know it passed and a lot of work still needs to be done on it. But I don`t understand the argument against it. One thousandth of 1 percent of Americans will leave this earth because they happen to be unfortunate enough to be anyway building that gets hit by a terrorist plane.
BEHAR: Right.
SPRINGER: Ninety nine point nine percent of us will leave this earth because of a disease or an accident.
BEHAR: That`s right.
SPRINGER: so we know what`s ultimately going to kill us. And if it`s to spend trillions on a wars that we never asked exactly where the money is going, there are no hearings on that, just go -
BEHAR: Yes.
SPRINGER: Do what you got to do, we rah-rah that. And then when it`s a minute possibility that something is going to happen to you personally, and yet when you know everyone in your family ultimately going to die from disease, why is it so hard for us to agree. Let`s make sure just as a starting point everyone in America has health insurance. We say in the seventh inning of every ball game how much we love America when we sing "God Bless America" how can you love America and not love Americans? How is it OK that 30 million - 15 million didn`t have health insurance or afford the premiums.
BEHAR: Well the argument is that it`s going to take us deeper in debt. When it was the Iraq war, nobody complained about it.
SPRINGER: Right.
BEHAR: When George Bush raised the deficit, nobody complained about it. Now they complain about it. Would it interest you to know these tea partiers do not want their Medicare taken away or their social security taken away.
SPRINGER: Yes, I know, I saw that.
BEHAR: That was very interesting. I thought they were against socialism. They are yelling socialism, what happened to that?
SPRINGER: Well of course.
BEHAR: Yes.
SPRINGER: But that`s human nature.
BEHAR: Because it`s for them. It`s like I`ve got mine, give me mine. Forget about you.
SPRINGER: Yes. Well that`s the difference between political conservatism and political liberalism. Conservatives are for low taxes because conservatives tend to be, as this shows, they tend to be wealthier, they tend to be self-sufficient. You know the lower you are on the economic scale, the more likely you are to vote Democrat. It is not -- there is not, there is no exception to this rule. The wealthier the income of a community is, the more Republican it is. That`s why inner cities are always Democrat, vote 99 percent Democrat, and that is why wealthy suburbs vote 99 percent Republican. It`s not coincidence. It`s because if you can afford your own private school, your own home, your own vacation, your own transportation, you don`t need government very much. The chances are you`re going to be -- to vote for low taxes and conservative.
BEHAR: You`ll be fine, so there`s a selfishness about it in a way.
SPRINGER: It`s self interest.
BEHAR: I`ve got mine and screw you?
SPRINGER: It`s self interest.
BEHAR: What are they angry about though, these people? They say they are angry. Most Americans got tax cuts this year. The wealthy, wealthy are going to get hit, obviously, people who make a certain amount of money. Why are they so ticked off, these people?
SPRINGER: Well I think a lot are ticked off. And by the way, if they`re angry I don`t disrespect that. If you`re angry, they`re angry. These people are hurt.
BEHAR: I think they`re angry about something other than they think they`re angry about.
SPRINGER: Well that`s always true.
BEHAR: I mean maybe - I mean I`m not throwing it out rightly. Maybe it`s because there`s an African-American in the White House. Maybe they`re angry about that. They don`t like that idea --
SPRINGER: I don`t think it`s that specific.
BEHAR: No.
SPRINGER: But, I don`t -- that`s my guess. I don`t know. I think there is an America in their mind that they grew up with, which we all grew up with, that doesn`t exist so much anymore. America is changing. It is changing, whether you think it`s a good thing, get over it. It`s changing. The demographics are changing. In what, 30 years most Americans won`t be white.
BEHAR: That`s true but that`s one of the reasons I think they`re angry.
SPRINGER: Yes.
BEHAR: It`s because they`re hanging on by their fingernails.
SPRINGER: The idea of going back to the `50s or `60s.
BEHAR: Yes, it`s not going to happen.
SPRINGER: It isn`t going to happen.
BEHAR: I hated that period anyway. It was so repressed, and women were not working as much.
SPRINGER: Except the Dick Van Dyke Show. I liked that.
BEHAR: Oh well that`s true. You know what, all right, what about this idea that Lou Dobbs -- I was just reading, he told "GQ" that he`s not ruling out a presidential bid. Lou Dobbs wants to run for president, maybe, what do you think of that?
SPRINGER: Everybody should run, then.
BEHAR: No, I mean -
SPRINGER: Let everyone run. You know it`s a function of having 24/7 media.
BEHAR: I guess so, yeah.
SPRINGER: It really is. Everyone who gets a spotlight suddenly starts envisioning that they can do that. It`s amazing - look, I think he could very well run for something like the senate, some legislative body because he has a point of view and is very articulate.
BEHAR: Right.
SPRINGER: It`s not a point of view I like.
BEHAR: But president is out of the question. That`s overstepping.
SPRINGER: Because why - you know, I wouldn`t suddenly stand up and say, you know what, I`m running for surgeon. I want to do your operation. What are you talking about?
BEHAR: Yes exactly.
SPRINGER: And yet some people think I run for president because they have no experience in what it takes to be a president of the United States. That`s what`s foolish about it.
BEHAR: OK Sarah Palin said the prospect of a Romney/Palin ticket sounds pretty good. What do you think of that idea?
SPRINGER: OK, this may surprise you. OK, I do not want Sarah Palin to be president of United states, and I don`t want her to be vice president because I don`t think -- I personally don`t think she`s qualified to be that. But -
BEHAR: Yes go ahead.
SPRINGER: But, but, but, on Sarah Palin, unlike most of my liberal friends, I think we have to be very careful. She is a good and decent person from everything I can see.
BEHAR: Uh huh.
SPRINGER: She has views that may be different than mine, but there is something that the liberals are doing wrong. We are mocking her. When we mock her, we mock a large segment of that is fundamentalist.
BEHAR: She mocks us plenty. Honey, I disagree with you.
SPRINGER: Well, I`m going to leave after this show.
BEHAR: Sit tight. We`ll have some more with Jerry Springer right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: I`m back with Jerry Springer. I`ve got some Facebook and Twitter questions for you from people all right?
SPRINGER: Yes.
BEHAR: OK, would you ever consider running for political office?
SPRINGER: I`d consider.
BEHAR: Would you do it?
SPRINGER: I`d consider. I think about it all the time. Am I likely to do it? Do I think about it? Sure.
BEHAR: Do you think you could win?
SPRINGER: Well yes I think I could win. But - so what?
BEHAR: As what? As what? What would you run for?
SPRINGER: Congress, senate - something like that.
BEHAR: You have enough experience, you could do it. The mayor of Cincinnati.
SPRINGER: Can I get mugs, though? Vote Jerry all the time.
BEHAR: The mayor of Cincinnati and Governor of Alaska, equal or not, in experience?
SPRINGER: I think being mayor, not talking about myself. I think being mayor of a major city is the toughest job in America because the city is where all the problems fall on. These are the people --
BEHAR: And you have to wait for money from the state, which is a problem.
SPRINGER: Right, you are not in control, and the money is leaving the city. That`s the toughest job.
BEHAR: OK, have you ever been hit by a guest or audience member on your show?
SPRINGER: No. I`m a chicken. I`m nowhere near the fights.
BEHAR: You duck and let the bodyguards --
SPRINGER: Of course I do, this is a rented suit.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: What state do the majority of your guests come from?
SPRINGER: Where are you from?
BEHAR: I don`t know.
SPRINGER: Where are you from?
BEHAR: I`m from New York State.
SPRINGER: There you go.
BEHAR: That`s where they come from?
SPRINGER: No, I have no idea but I always, whenever, people is - I have no idea. They come from every place. They`re in your neighborhoods, be careful.
(LAUGHTER)
SPRINGER: Did you lock your doors? You have no idea, they could be in your home.
BEHAR: What`s the weirdest thing you`ve ever encountered on your show?
SPRINGER: The man who married his horse.
BEHAR: What do you mean he married his horse?
SPRINGER: He married his horse. You are so anti-marriage.
BEHAR: He married his horse on your show?
SPRINGER: Not on the know. He had married his horse, he lived outside of St. Louis, about 50 miles outside St. Louis. We went to his home, the hallways were extra wide so the horse could go up and down. He literally lived with his horse. And but we did a follow-up show so you don`t think we are too over the top because the horse left him.
BEHAR: Really?
SPRINGER: Yes they left the door open.
BEHAR: Who got custody of the barn? What are you talking about?
SPRINGER: I have no idea.
BEHAR: He married his horse?
SPRINGER: He married his horse.
BEHAR: Catherine the great, she had a little thing for her horse also.
SPRINGER: You`re so full of gossips.
BEHAR: It`s true, I`m a lot of gossip like the Russians, 100 years ago. Are there any episodes you regret doing?
SPRINGER: Yes.
BEHAR: Like what?
SPRINGER: the Jerry Springer show, 19 years of it. It`s a stupid -- no, it`s meant to be outrageous. So I can`t then say, I can`t believe we ran that show, it was outrageous. Those are the rules. If you call us with a warm uplifting story, I`m dead serious now -
BEHAR: Yes.
SPRINGER: We are required to send you to another show, we`re not allowed to run it. That`s the rule. So it has to be outside of the mainstream, it has to be outside of normal human behavior before it`s allowed to be on the show. So I can`t then say, oh, we can`t run it. I`m not allowed to run it if it`s normal.
BEHAR: It`s really easy to find these people isn`t it? They come to you in droves.
SPRINGER: And walk down every street in America, tell me you don`t know, you`ve never seen people before like that. It`s everywhere. Read the headlines of the papers, it`s famous people.
BEHAR: Yes.
SPRINGER: What`s different -- the only difference between the people on my show and celebrities that we have in this country or politicians we have in this country is that the politicians and celebrities are wealthier and dress better. They don`t behave any better, their language is better that`s all.
BEHAR: Well I`ve never seen a celebrity who married his horse, though. I mean let`s tell the truth here.
SPRINGER: Mr. Ed?
BEHAR: Oh that`s right. I forgot. Anyway thank you for joining me tonight, Jerry.
SPRINGER: Me too.
BEHAR: Always a pleasure to see you. Be sure to catch the premiere of "BAGGAGE" this coming Monday on GSM. Good night, everybody.
END
