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Flight Attendant Curses Passengers, Storms Out Through Plane`s Emergency Chute; Update on Search for Kyron Horman

Aired August 10, 2010 - 21:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tonight on THE JOY BEHAR SHOW, a ticked-off flight attendant curses out his plane`s passengers before storming out through the emergency chute. But the freak-out was apparently provoked by an unruly passenger. Is this guy a working class hero or a criminal? We`ll discuss.

And a week after Gisele gives controversial advice on breast feeding, Jennifer Aniston shares her provocative views on parenting. The actress says it isn`t important for a woman to raise kids with a man. Some single- parent stars will give their take.

That and more starting right now.

SHAUN ROBINSON, GUEST HOST: Hi, everybody. Welcome to THE JOY BEHAR SHOW. I`m Shaun Robinson sitting in for Joy which she is on a much needed vacation.

Tonight we start with the chute heard around the world. After a JetBlue flight landed at JFK yesterday, flight attendant Steven Slater got into a tiff with a passenger who refused to sit down. The passenger reportedly cursed at Slater and, in return, Slater went on the intercom and cursed right back at her. He then allegedly pulled the emergency chute and slid down to freedom, but not before grabbing a beer on the way out. Now, hours later he was arrested in his home.

With me is someone who was actually on that flight with Slater. Heather Robinson, a former senior writer for "The Daily News". And Heather, tell me, was this otherwise an uneventful flight until the landing?

HEATHER ROBINSON, FORMER SENIOR WRITER, "THE DAILY NEWS: Yes, exactly, Shaun. I -- you know, it was a good flight -- turbulent. In fact, there was a lady who was nervous, a religious lady with a rosary sitting next to me.

S. ROBINSON: Really.

H. ROBINSON: And I kept telling her there is nothing to worry about. Don`t worry, turbulence is to be expected. After Mr. Slater unleashed his rant at the end of the flight, she looked at me like, is this normal, too?

S. ROBINSON: Ok. So Heather, you guys are landing, what were you hearing? You`re about to -- you were listening for the message to tell you that you could actually get up to get your bags. But what happened after that?

H. ROBINSON: Well, we were actually standing. It was those annoying moments when you`re all stuck in the plane waiting to be free, and Mr. Slater commandeered the PA. And he unleashed a torrent of just frustration.

It wasn`t scary. It didn`t sound menacing. It was just blank you, blank that passenger who said blankety-blank to me, that blanking blankety- blank.

S. ROBINSON: Oh, my goodness.

H. ROBINSON: You`re going to -- I`m sick of this. I`ve had this for 26 years and I`m done.

S. ROBINSON: What was the first thing that came to your mind? Did you think it was some joke?

H. ROBINSON: I think I -- there was something so authentic about it that it was unmistakable. This was a person who was fed up. He just couldn`t take it, didn`t want to take it anymore. And it was funny. It was more funny than anything.

S. ROBINSON: What were the passengers around you saying?

H. ROBINSON: Some were a little nonplussed. There were some young people -- they seemed like college kids, laughing. And one of them, a young woman said, oh, I wonder if that was the flight attendant who was bleeding. There was a guy bleeding. So I didn`t witness him bleeding or being injured, but you know, in retrospect, I don`t know why she would have said that if she hadn`t observed something like that. So he may have gotten injured.

S. ROBINSON: Heather, were you able to see Steven at all? Were you able to get a shot of him?

H. ROBINSON: I only -- I remember his face from when I boarded the plane. He was very nice.

S. ROBINSON: Was he?

H. ROBINSON: Yes.

S. ROBINSON: Nice demeanor? Everything --

H. ROBINSON: Yes.

S. ROBINSON: Nothing kind of odd about him?

H. ROBINSON: No, not in my observation.

S. ROBINSON: So you hear this rant on the PA system.

H. ROBINSON: Yes.

S. ROBINSON: And then what happens after that? Are you guys -- are you kept on the plane for a while? Because the emergency chute then deployed.

H. ROBINSON: Yes, honestly, even as a newswoman myself, I have to confess, I didn`t catch that part. I didn`t realize the emergency chute had been deployed. I just exited the plane. But on the way out, I tried to find out what had happened and I saw the captain. I said, "Well, I hope that wasn`t you." And he said, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no -- certainly not. I`m going to have to write up a report on this."

S. ROBINSON: Write up a report he had to do -- definitely. Did the crew say anything to the passengers at all? Did they say we apologize for what you just heard? Anything?

H. ROBINSON: No, they seemed to be trying to sort of downplay it. But I did receive a note from JetBlue saying I got $100 credit toward another flight. As far as I`m concerned, the whole thing was a plus, you know?

S. ROBINSON: All right. Well, Heather, thank you very much for joining us.

H. ROBINSON: Thanks, Shaun.

S. ROBINSON: Hopefully you`ll take that experience and not tick off any of the flight attendants.

H. ROBINSON: No, no, no.

S. ROBINSON: Thank you so much. Ok.

H. ROBINSON: Thank you.

S. ROBINSON: Let`s talk to our panel right now. First of all, Janet, you actually know Steven Slater.

JANET BAVASSO, STEVEN SLATER`S FORMER NEIGHBOR: Yes, I do.

S. ROBINSON: Tell me how did you come to know him?

BAVASSO: I met Steven about maybe four or five years ago through his partner. I know his partner he and his family.

S. ROBINSON: Paint us a picture of him. What kind of guy is he?

BAVASSO: Steven is absolutely delightful. I have nothing that I could say that would be detrimental to his -- anything because he`s just -- he`s a really, really nice guy.

S. ROBINSON: Have you like hung out with him at all?

BAVASSO: The first thing that we had in common was that we were both flight attendants. I was a flight attendant. We could relate to that.

We could relate to travel. We could relate to shopping. We could relate to people. And we just had a really nice rapport. I looked forward to him when he came home from his trips to talk to him about where he had gone, who did he meet, how was the flight?

S. ROBINSON: As a flight attendant, did you have stories -- horror stories of passengers at all?

BAVASSO: There were no horror stories -- mostly they were funny stories. Just funny things that would happen anywhere -- whether we landed somewhere or we were laying over somewhere; it was basically funny stories. But he loved his job.

S. ROBINSON: Really? So he never said --

BAVASSO: No.

S. ROBINSON: I can`t wait to get out of here.

(CROSS TALKING)

BAVASSO: We were both on the committee for the uniforms. And every time that I would -- I fly JetBlue often. Every time that I flew, I would come back and I would say, Steven, there`s something that I need to address with you. You need to take care of this right away, ASAP.

And he loved his job. And he`s a wonderful guy. I mean, I get along great with him.

S. ROBINSON: So you hear the story about a flight attendant going rogue, and then you hear his name associated with it.

BAVASSO: Actually, this is how it happened. I came home from work and there was this young lady sitting across the street, a journalist. And she came over and she said, did you hear what happened to Steve? Do you know Steven? And then I said yes. Then she says, such and such, this is exactly what happened. I said, oh, my god, I can`t believe it. And I started laughing.

S. ROBINSON: Really?

BAVASSO: I started laughing. Because I couldn`t picture -- because if you see all of his pictures that have been posted and have been out there in the newspaper from his Facebook and stuff, you would see that exactly what`s on those pictures is what Steven is all about. He`s happy. He`s just got a wonderful personality.

S. ROBINSON: Well, where did this come from then?

BAVASSO: You know what? Sometimes people -- and I`m saying people -- have problems or things that go on in their lives. Sometimes it gets to a point where it just might become too much to handle. And at any moment`s notice, something could just happen to you where it just triggers you.

And Steven has his mother. His mother`s not well.

S. ROBINSON: Right. I hear his mother is very ill and he`s taking care of her.

BAVASSO: He`s very close to his mother. He`s an only child. He had actually just gotten back from visiting his mother who -- she has a battle ahead of her.

S. ROBINSON: Right, right.

BAVASSO: I really feel for him. I feel for him.

S. ROBINSON: Ok. Randy Cohen, author of the ethicist column for "The New York Times" magazine and also Amy Feldman, attorney and author of "So Sue Me, Jackass" -- I love that title.

Let me just say to you guys, whenever I -- I travel a lot -- whenever I go on the plane, I`m extra, extra nice to the flight attendants, because I know they deal with some jerks as passengers. And I`m always really super-sweet to them. I`ve never had an incident like this where somebody goes off on me. So I don`t know.

But it`s interesting. A lot of people like on my Facebook page, my Twitter page. They`re like go -- I`m team flight attendant because they feel that there are so many passengers who are rude. So Randy, let me ask you, is this guy a hero to many people?

RANDY COHEN, ETHICS COLUMNIST: He`s a knucklehead and a hero. He`s a knucklehead hero, sure -- no one endorses what he did. This is not the way to behave on your job. Of course, we all know that. But who can`t sympathize with him.

Air travel is, with all due respect, so hellish.

S. ROBINSON: But hellish for the flight attendants, too, don`t you think?

COHEN: Absolutely. I`m not a flight attendant, although I would look good in that uniform. You finish a flight and your friends say, how was the flight? What could the answer be? Good? I had fun? Oh, I can`t wait.

S. ROBINSON: I would say if we land safely, it was a good flight.

COHEN: Right. No one was killed. That`s the best you can say.

But it`s not only so bad for the passengers, it`s now gotten so bad for the hard working flight crews that even they can`t stand it. So I think he`s being admired for that.

That someone said, who can stand to be in this horrible stinking cylinder treated like cattle.

S. ROBINSON: Amy, then some people are saying -- because Steven, he had to go before the judge. Some people are saying he should get jail time because he could have injured somebody on the ground when he released that chute. I mean, somebody could have been killed.

AMY FELDMAN, ATTORNEY: I think that there are potential criminal charges. You can`t just be releasing evacuation willy-nilly wherever you choose, then flee in an airport. Certainly there are security concerns.

But let`s face it, who hasn`t been in a position where somebody is in desperate need of having a little butt kicked. And apparently he`s the guy who is going to do it.

I mean, I don`t know a single employee, regardless of this situation that they`re going through who hasn`t to somebody at their workplace for the 700th time something that they`ve been ignored for. And who wouldn`t want to grab a beer, evacuate the chute and walk out the door?

S. ROBINSON: Ok, well, Chris Jess (ph) on my Twitter place says I`m team flight attendant. Customer service is hard work. And some people are so rude and ignorant he reached the end of his rope.

And I`ve got to tell you a lot of people who have been e-mailing me have said exactly that; that this guy just reached the end of his rope. And you know what? They actually applaud him.

Ok, stay right there. We will continue this in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming up a little later on the JOY BEHAR SHOW, a new report says that Mel Gibson hired private detectives to visit star witnesses in hopes of discrediting his ex-girlfriend Oksana.

And Levi Johnston`s quest for fame continues, his newest venture, a reality show documenting his run for Mayor of Wasilla.

Now back to the show.

S. ROBINSON: Mayor of Wasilla, I mean, come on.

Ok. We are back discussing Steven Slater, the flight attendant now famous for getting ticked-off with a passenger and in a "tank this job and shove it" move exiting the plane by the emergency exit chute.

Back with me are Randy Cohen, author of the ethicist column for "The New York Times" magazine"; Amy Feldman, attorney and author of "So Sue Me, Jackass"; and Janet Bavasso, a former neighbor of Steven Slater`s and also a former flight attendant.

Let me tell you that -- that Steven could face up to seven years in prison for doing this. Amy, is that fair? A lot of people are on his side.

FELDMAN: Well, there are a lot of people on his side. Keep in mind you can actually face prison for smoking in the bathroom of the airplane.

S. ROBINSON: Yes.

FELDMAN: The FAA and the federal government --

S. ROBINSON: -- which you should then -- which he should.

FELDMAN: -- takes those regulations very seriously. Is he going to get seven years? That would be very hard to believe. Remember no one was harmed --

S. ROBINSON: Right.

FELDMAN: -- in the filming of this "Take This Job and Shove It" episode.

S. ROBINSON: Ok Steven`s lawyer has definitely something to say about the passenger that prompted his lawyer to -- or rather his client to exit the emergency chute.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD TURMAN, ATTORNEY FOR STEVEN SLATER: He was trying to assist. She started cursing based on the information. And Mr. Slater carried the luggage to the overhead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Overhead.

TURMAN: The overhead fell on his head.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. ROBINSON: Wow, now this passenger could definitely be in some trouble. Steven`s lawyer says he was actually injured during this whole debacle. Could that passenger actually be facing some charges, Amy?

FELDMAN: Well, I think had he taken that loudspeaker on which he -- for which he unleashed his stream of obscenities and instead used it to call ahead to security, she would certainly have been facing charges.

This is now a little muddy in terms of what actually happened. But yes, his bad behavior does not preempt her from facing charges for her bad behavior if there was an assault.

S. ROBINSON: And Janet, the pictures of Steven show him kind of smiling when, you know, the photographers got a shot of him. He was kind of happy. It wasn`t like he seemed upset or had any kind of regrets about what he did. Is that the type of personality that you know?

BAVASSO: Well, you know what? I think they`re kind of more or less portrayed him as being relieved and like basically just done with it, just done.

You know, there`s -- he`s got a lot of pressure, like I said. And a lot of times as a flight attendant, when you have passengers to board the plane, for some reason they`re on that plane and they seem to forget that the priority -- that the reason why we are there is for their safety.

S. ROBINSON: Do you sometimes like hate the passengers?

BAVASSO: I do. I dislike them. I don`t want to say I hate, but I do dislike.

S. ROBINSON: Oh I got.

BAVASSO: And just -- it just becomes an individual thing because I try not to dislike too many people but sometimes --

S. ROBINSON: Yes.

BAVASSO: You`re not -- I`m not --

S. ROBINSON: Like what kind of passenger like drives you crazy?

BAVASSO: Well, for one -- the one that won`t sit, the one that continues to ask for things --

S. ROBINSON: Yes.

BAVASSO: -- the one that demands things. And the one that if you say, look, we don`t have any blankets available. You have to purchase a blanket. They behave as if I`m asking them for the money for my pocket.

S. ROBINSON: Right.

BAVASSO: I`m only relaying what I need to do. I`m there to do a job.

S. ROBINSON: Well, let me just say, I always say please, every time I`m on the plane -- I always say please.

(CROSSTALK)

BAVASSO: And that`s exactly the way it should be.

S. ROBINSON: Thank you.

BAVASSO: You`re welcome for any --

S. ROBINSON: Let`s listen to what one woman said who saw Steven after he slid out of the plane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL CATELINET, PASSENGER ON JETBULE FLIGHT: He flung his tie off, he was happy that he -- he said, I quit my job. I`m -- I`m done with this. And he was happy. It wasn`t like he was mad. He seemed relieved and excited that his career was, you know, taking a new turn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. ROBINSON: Well, wait a minute he will probably -- Randy, don`t you think he`ll get like his own reality show or something?

COHEN: That`s a pretty cynical thought. You know, one -- one of the things that causes stress is you give people responsibilities but you don`t give them enough power to actually fulfill those responsibilities.

And so I -- I feel for you and your co-workers. There are 100 people who you have now said, please sit down and no one sits down. Well, what can you do? You don`t have tasers, do you?

BAVASSO: No.

COHEN: You can`t -- you know this --

BAVASSO: No.

COHEN: That`s probably not in the manual, no hitting with a stick. So -- so -- but you`ll be in trouble if you don`t keep those passengers in order and they`ll be at risk. So that`s stress. If you gave a rat that job -- and I`m not saying --

BAVASSO: And you`re in a cabin and you`re up there or whether you`re down on the ground or whether you`re up in the air, you`re responsible for those passengers.

S. ROBINSON: Right.

BAVASSO: And if you have one passenger that does that, you can have chaos on that plane.

S. ROBINSON: But Randy, I`m wondering why, though, most people who have been passengers and may have had complaints about flight attendants, most of these people are on the side of the flight attendant.

COHEN: Sure.

S. ROBINSON: Why do you think that is?

COHEN: It`s the solidarity of the sufferers.

S. ROBINSON: Ok.

COHEN: We all find air travel so deeply unpleasant. That`s half. And that to see it reflected in -- in -- in the people who have to work for our safety, well we think that they`re our -- our brothers and sisters, yes. I feel your pain. You think the airlines could make this job and our experience a little more comfortable.

Ok, they might make a little less money. That`s one reason. And I also think it`s the take this job and shove it part --

S. ROBINSON: Right.

COHEN: -- you`ve been using. Everyone feels frustrations at work. Everyone at a certain moment would like to --

S. ROBINSON: Right.

COHEN: They hear that island calling. It`s calling you, Shaun.

S. ROBINSON: Right, I know and you know we`re in -- we`re in a business sometimes I think there`s no such thing as bad publicity. Do you think that JetBlue is loving this attention or hating it? I don`t know.

What do you think, Amy?

FELDMAN: I can`t see how airlines could really have worse reputations -- no offense, of course. So I don`t really see JetBlue liking this, maybe trying to control this situation.

S. ROBINSON: Yes.

FELDMAN: Particularly where the person who they have now unceremoniously fired --

S. ROBINSON: Right.

FELDMAN: -- and who may be facing criminal charges after years of employment who, by the way, according to his Facebook page, was on the in- flight values committee, is likely going to be the hero.

On the other hand, to the rest of the public, be they air travelers or just plane employees, I think most people think this guy does not need a Bat Mobile when he`s got an escape hatch. I mean, all he needs is a cape and a pair of tights and he`s the hero.

S. ROBINSON: Ok. Thanks, everybody. Randy`s play "Punishing Blow" opens Friday.

COHEN: Thank you.

S. ROBINSON: At the Carmen Theater in New York.

Up next we`ll have an update on the search for Kyron Horman. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. ROBINSON: Investigators in Oregon renewed their massive search this week for missing 7-year-old Kyron Horman and plan to release further case details on Wednesday regarding a report that another person was actually in the car with the second grader`s stepmother when she dropped him off at school the day he disappeared.

Joining me now with the latest in the case is Jane Velez-Mitchell, host of HLN`s "ISSUES WITH JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL".

And Jane, thank you so much for joining us.

Two months later now somebody says there`s somebody else in the car?

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN HOST, "ISSUES": This is a bombshell, Shaun.

S. ROBINSON: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Because authorities are now handing out a flyer saying with Terri`s picture, the stepmom and her friend Dede Spicher and the white truck and saying did you see these that day, the day that Kyron disappeared?

S. ROBINSON: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, we know that Terri`s friend Dede Spicher got up and left her gardening job, according to witnesses, and disappeared for about 90 minutes on the day Kyron disappeared so it would seem that authorities are now kind of narrowing in on was Terri and Dede in the white truck doing something that day?

Now, it`s very significant because Terri has not said that.

S. ROBINSON: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: She said no, I was doing errands and I was driving around with my baby daughter and went to the gym. She never said she was in the truck with another individual.

Now parents, the biological parents of the missing boy feel that Terri is responsible and that she had help and that this child is stashed somewhere alive. So this would dovetail with the belief of the parents that Terri had help.

S. ROBINSON: If somebody was in the car -- I mean, it was all so confusing because she supposedly dropped him off at school, right? Somebody actually see this little boy hop out of the car and go into the classroom?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: He was in the school. There was a science fair that day. And Terri Horman, we`ve obtained now e-mails reportedly where she says, well, there were 300 people there, it was chaotic. And she claims that there was a male chaperone who was seen with the little boy, but we haven`t heard that from anybody else.

Remember, this is a woman who has failed two polygraphs. She`s not officially a suspect, but she`s the focus of the investigation.

S. ROBINSON: Right. Now the sheriff`s office plans to hold a news conference tomorrow. What will we learn from that news conference?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I think what`s really fascinating is now an anonymous friend of Terri`s has come forward and said that months before this little boy disappeared, Terri was at the gym complaining to anybody who would listen, that she was furious at her husband, the missing boy`s father, because that husband was reportedly forcing her teenage son to leave the house.

So that`s very significant because that could suggest a motive. If you`re upset because your husband`s forcing your teenage son to leave the house --

S. ROBINSON: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: -- would you retaliate by doing something to his son? So again, she`s not a suspect, but that is as close we`ve come to a motive since this mystery started.

S. ROBINSON: Ok. I want to get this in. It seems some e-mails that Terri wrote soon after Kyron`s disappearance say that she knew suspicions were settling on her.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, a news organization has obtained some e-mails. She`s saying things like, I could just scream, because she has become the focus of the investigation.

What`s fascinating about these e-mails is that she kind of lays out a whole bunch of alibis and she also points the finger at mystery people that nobody else knows about, like this mystery male chaperone.

S. ROBINSON: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So is she trying to -- the most shocking thing she says, she says the little boy was behaving strangely in the weeks before he disappeared and was staring off into space. The doctor thought he might have mini seizures. What doctor has said that?

S. ROBINSON: Ok. All right. Jane Velez-Mitchell, thank you for joining us. Be sure to watch "ISSUES" with Jane every night at 7:00 here on HLN for the latest on this story.

We`ll be back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBINSON: Hi everybody. Welcome back to the JOY BEHAR SHOW, I`m Shaun Robinson. While Mel Gibson has never been far from the headlines of late. And now a new report claims that Gibson has hired a private eye to look at key witnesses connected to his ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva. This as authorities get ready to hand over the results of their investigation into domestic violence claims against the star. Here with an update is my friend and co-anchor, Tony Potts, weekend co-host and correspondent for "Access Hollywood." hey, T.P., how are you doing?

TONY POTTS, WEEKEND CO-HOST, "ACCESS HOLLYWOOD": Good Shaun, very well. You know you and I had a lot of conversations off camera about the Mel Gibson case, for sure.

ROBINSON: Yes definitely, what is the latest -- what can you tell us?

POTTS: Well you know, we`re very close do the sheriff`s office, as you well know. We found out that they`ll deliver all of their investigation to the D.A.`s office within the next two weeks. You know, the case is focusing on extortion, also the claims of extortion by Mel`s side. Also they`re looking at what can happen as far as the alleged domestic violence issue there as well. Then of course, child services is playing a part in all this as well because you know, she claims that Mel hit her allegedly, that he also hit their young daughter who is about, I think, four or five months at the time, Shaun.

ROBINSON: Right, Tony, do we know if these explosive audio recordings that we`ve heard time and time again that allegedly, you know, between Oksana and Mel would be admissible in court? Because he obviously did not know he was being recorded.

POTTS: Right. As everybody knows, it`s a two-party state. So obviously there`s one party being known that they`re being recorded here. One of the things that`s interesting now, Shaun, is that the you know, sheriff`s department is saying look at the feeling coming out of this whole investigation that the audio tapes are not playing that big of a part in the investigation. From what we understand from our sources is that there are other pieces of evidence they found that appear to be much stronger than that. Remember, you know, they have to go through and try to figure out how were these audio tapes put together? Were they spliced together? I`m mean obviously, you and I have about this ad nauseam. I mean Mel was out of his mind. Right, we can assess that. Completely out of his mind. But were his responses to her questions and how do they all work? They want more concrete evidence in other ways. And that`s I think what they`re getting.

ROBINSON: Right and Tony what do you know, if anything, about these reports that Mel hired a private investigator to look at key witnesses that might be connected to Oksana?

POTTS: Well, you know, Shaun, you and I both know very well in this business, there`s a lot of he said, she said. And I think in this case, as well, as we`ve seen in the Charlie Sheen case and other things you and I have covered over the years, that you have to step back a bit. Because there`s always positioning by the lawyers. The lawyers won`t say anything but they`ll put it out there and leak it through sources to say somebody`s doing this and what have you. And usually when something comes out about the other side, it`s the other side that has actually leaked the information. Oksana may be leaking it about Mel`s camp and what have you. I would be surprised if his lawyers didn`t try to uncover everything. That`s what a lawyer is supposed to do. So Blair Brook, by the way, Mel`s lawyer, she also represented him back in 2006 I think with his famous tirade in Malibu with the police officer there. She`s very good. She`s represented Kanye West, a ton of people. So she knows what she`s doing, as you and I both know. Let the dust settle on all this and when the D.A. gets his stuff in a couple of weeks, we`ll figure it out from there.

ROBINSON: Right, right, all right, T.P. I will see you back in L.A. next week. I know you miss me, don`t you, don`t you?

POTTS: I miss you and by the way, you`re doing a great job. And finally you and I were together and we`re just chatting. It`s fantastic, I love it.

ROBINSON: All right, Tony, thank you. OK now I am going to bring in my panel to discuss Mel Gibson as well as other dish of the day. Comedian Caroline Rhea. And Noah Levy senior editor for "In Touch" magazine. OK, first of all can things get worse for Mel Gibson?

CAROLINE RHEA, COMEDIAN: First of all, Joy, you could not look better. Does she not look fantastic.

NOAH LEVY, SENIOR EDITOR "IN TOUCH": Yes, the hair color is -

RHEA: Yes, it is totally new. It`s fantastic, very slimming. You look fantastic.

ROBINSON: Mel Gibson, I mean we keep hearing about, you know, more tapes and all this stuff that Oksana allegedly has against him. Can it get any worse for this guy?

LEVY: Oh completely.

RHEA: Now, he`s watching. Oh, good.

LEVY: Now he has people going over to look at her witnesses.

ROBINSON: Right.

LEVY: In court. But I have a theory.

ROBINSON: OK.

LEVY: I think this story was leaked because it was really Mel Gibson going to her witnesses with a mustache on, a German accent, I`m just saying a German accent.

RHEA: Oh, god.

LEVY: And he had a couple questions and they`re saying Mel was digging for dirt.

RHEA: I don`t think you want to get caught in the cross-hairs of someone`s bipolar medicine when they`re drinking. That`s no fun for anyone.

LEVY: Yes.

RHEA: But this woman does not appear to be completely innocent to me. Not deserving of anything bad, but a little odd. Listen to the tape.

ROBINSON: Caroline, I`m going to tell you, it makes me crazy when people say Oksana brought this on herself. And she`s --

RHEA: No, of course, nobody ever brings that on themselves. But she`s a little odd.

ROBINSON: OK.

RHEA: Listen to the tape. He`s having a meltdown, he`s completely losing his mind. And she`s like this. Excuse me, Mel, I don`t know why you`re -- I made her Swedish or whatever. But the tapes are too altered.

LEVY: She is smart. She had him from the beginning.

RHEA: She is smart. That`s crafty.

ROBINSON: We did this poll on "Access Hollywood," would you ever go see a Mel Gibson movie again, the majority of people said, sure, why not? And a lot of them felt that he got in this space because of her. Do you think the tide is shifting at all? Do you think --

RHEA: You can`t become bipolar because of another person.

ROBINSON: I know. I absolutely know that.

LEVY: I`m just saying that people do favor men in a scandal.

ROBINSON: I think so.

LEVY: Because he`s the man, people will see his movies one day. I was never a big fan of his to begin with, since "A Man Without A Face."

RHEA: Now apparently he`s a man without a soul.

ROBINSON: Very quickly, do you think he`ll be charged? Yes, no?

LEVY: I mean look at Charlie Sheen.

ROBINSON: All right. Let`s look to Lindsay Lohan. According to her assistant, she`s doing great in rehab. Maybe that`s because a former Lohan jail mate claims quote, "the entire jail was put on lockdown any time Lindsay left her cell." So maybe we`re seeing the results of special treatment here. But we`ve had this question put to the audience so many times. Do you think this is going to be it? Do you think this is going to be turning point that she needs?

RHEA: I`m just bitter that I didn`t get that parent in "Parenthood" again. So I can`t really answer this. I still like her for -- I was supposed to be in the nanny, I was robbed. But you know she`s walking around the jail going, has anyone seen my cell? OK, sorry.

ROBINSON: OK, do you think that she`s going to be in the straight and narrow? Do you think there will be no more stories about this child after she gets out?

LEVY: Uh-uh, no. No way. Because and she hasn`t been an actress since she was like 8.

RHEA: You`re forgetting her career, right?

LEVY: It`s really true she`s a bad girl. And maybe she`ll be reformed. But listen, in jail, she got her way. In Hollywood, I don`t know if that`s the case.

ROBINSON: So is there any - updates to the story that when she gets out, is there going to be something awaiting her, waiting for her.

LEVY: Waiting for her in terms of a career? Her movie "Inferno" they`ve held the movie, the behind the loveless story, which is a personal favorite of yours, I know.

RHEA: Again, another part I was robbed of. Parenthood and the Linda loveless story.

LEVY: So they have that but also, while she`s in jail, she`s making a lot of money. Her 6126 clothing line is actually booming and it`s only been out two weeks. Practically sold out at kit send.

ROBINSON: Wait, 6126 is a clothing line?

LEVY: Yes, and her jail cell number.

ROBINSON: Oh got you. Oh, man. Now I know you guys wanted to talk about --

RHEA: We were obsessed with the --

ROBINSON: I know you`re obsessed. OK, Team flight attendant or team passenger? Which one are you on?

RHEA: I was someone in the service industry and when you`re done, you`re done. But the fact that I didn`t have an escape hatch, and the slide, and a bottle of wine, or whatever it was -

ROBINSON: Man.

RHEA: That`s in on me, at the end of the job. People don`t get retirement accounts any more, you should have an inflatable slide at your job.

LEVY: He`s a national hero. He`s taking the world by storm. He needs a reality show.

ROBINSON: You know he`ll probably get one.

RHEA: I did ask someone on that particular airline the other day, I did tell them, you know, my television`s not working. And their genteel customer service response was, are you freaking kidding me? I was like -- love them but --

ROBINSON: OK Caroline, be honest.

RHEA: Yes.

ROBINSON: What kind of passenger are you? Do the flight attendants kind you know -- of --

RHEA: Let me tell you how I am. Some celebrities are intimidating. I`m the kind of celebrity where fans eventually say to me, I`ve got to go. I talk to everyone way too long.

LEVY: Yes, yes.

RHEA: I go back, I talk to the flight attendants. I see if they need anything. I`m very co-dependent. I`ve never fought with them. Because they`re smart, I fear them. You should always fear a good flight attendant because they`re in charge. It`s like a hairdresser.

ROBINSON: Do you give the flight attendants pop-tarts?

RHEA: I would love to give them pop-tarts.

ROBINSON: Why?

RHEA: Because I`m the ambassador to the pop-tarts store in New York today.

ROBINSON: What is the pop-tart --

RHEA: It`s really cute, do you know pop-tarts.

LEVY: Yes, I do.

ROBINSON: what`s your favorite kind.

LEVY: Strawberry.

ROBINSON: I don`t like the ones with the frosting.

RHEA: See there`s a whole world to break, frosted, unfrosted, toasted, untoasted. They started this very cute contest. Basically for an individual or family member to create and generate the most fun in their community. There`s a contest and whoever wins it will win a $25,000 fund.

ROBINSON: Oh nice.

RHEA: Come on, the world needs a little -- I know it`s fun to gossip and destroy everyone. But still isn`t it nice to create something good once in awhile?

ROBINSON: Right.

LEVY: And it`s a good snack.

ROBINSON: I`m giving you ten seconds, ten seconds. Levi Johnston running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska?

LEVY: Oh yes, he`s running for the male -- mail! -- the mayor. I bet the only one buying this him running for mayor is going to be Playgirl TV.

ROBINSON: Oh my god, thank you so much. I got to leave on that. And if you`re in New York, check out pop-tarts world in Times Square.

Coming up next, Jennifer Aniston says women don`t need men to raise kids. Some single parent stars will give me their take. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBINSON: Jennifer Aniston plays a single mother -- or rather a single woman who decides to have a baby by artificial insemination in her latest movie "The Switch." but in real life the actress weighed in on the idea of single parenthood as well saying, quote, "Women can get pregnant and raise a child without the help of a boyfriend or husband because there are so many options available to them." So does she have a point? Here now to discuss single parenting are actress and single mom Janine Turner. She`s also the author of "Holding Her Head High: Inspiration Of 12 Single Mothers Who Championed History" actor and single dad, Willie Garson. Who stars in "White Collar" on USA. And clinical psychologist and parenting expert Laura Markham. Everybody, thank you for joining me. Janine let me start with you.

JANINE TURNER, ACTRESS: Thank you for having me.

ROBINSON: Thank you, let me start with you Janine, 12-year-old daughter. And you have been raising her alone for how many years?

TURNER: Twelve years.

ROBINSON: For all 12. OK, so my goodness, I mean, what has that been like for you as, you know, a single mother not having a partner in your life and not having that father figure, if you will?

TURNER: Well, you know, I loved her father very much, but it just didn`t work out. And I think that that`s the way it is with a lot of single parents today across America. And I can speak for the single mothers. I mean I don`t think too many young girls sit back and say, when I grow up, I want to be divorced and raise five kids alone or I want to be a single mom. But sometimes it happens. And you know, I believe that god destined my daughter to be born. She`s just a blessing in my life. And she`s been a great joy. Great joy being my daughter`s mother.

ROBINSON: So when you hear this quote by Jennifer Aniston, do you think she has a point there about, you know, women can do this all by themselves?

TURNER: Well, women can do it. And they`ve been doing it for centuries. And this is what I talk about in my book. My book spans 17 centuries of women. We think it`s a modern-day phenomenon, but it`s not. Women were widowed and things happened and maybe they didn`t get married and they still raised these children. And they raised, some of them, great heroes. It`s really not a modern-day phenomenon. And there are women out there doing it alone. So I just think that it can be tough. You know, I have times where I`m like, OK, the biggest issue for me is how do I put food on the table and provide for us financially and be a mother? I think that that`s the biggest juggle for me.

ROBINSON: Is definitely nodding your head. Willie, you say you can understand. You`re a single father.

WILLIE GARSON, STAR, "WHITE COLLAR": I`m a single father.

ROBINSON: You adopted your son when he was seven and a half.

GARSON: He moved in at seven and a half

ROBINSON: And he`s 9 now.

GARSON: Yes.

ROBINSON: And you were saying that you can identify with just not having that extra support system.

GARSON: Well, yes, I mean basically it ends up being about scheduling and an extra set of hands, you know, that`s not an employee. And that ends up being the biggest challenge is just scheduling really.

ROBINSON: Right so what type of support system have you had so far? Just you`re a full-time actor. So you --

GARSON: And like Janine was saying, obviously I`m the breadwinner of the family. I have a job, I have a hit show and I work hard. And I have to go to work. So you create a support system. I have my business partners are helpful, my old girlfriend is helpful. I mean, I have many people around me. I made a family.

ROBINSON: Right.

GARSON: So that we could take Nathan into our lives.

ROBINSON: Laura, do you think that more -- you`re hearing so much about celebrities doing this by themselves. The list goes on and on. Sandra Bullock, Sheryl Crow, Madonna. They all talked about raising children as a single parent. And is this a trend that we`re seeing? Because you know, women, look, I got so many girlfriends who say, time`s a- ticking. I can`t wait for this man to come into my life. This has to be an option for them.

LAURA MARKHAM, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: I think these are the only most visible people doing it. I think it`s true that as Janine said, women have been doing this for generations. But I also think that more and more now that women are in the workplace, they don`t necessarily need a second income to raise a child. And you know, they have their whole lives to find a life partner. The women I speak with, they wish they had a life partner often.

ROBINSON: Right.

MARKHAM: But he`s not there yet and the clock is ticking and I`m ready to be a mother.

ROBINSON: Do you think there is a big difference between the woman who, you know, she`s in a relationship. Maybe you know she finds herself widowed or the husband or boyfriend leaves her versus the woman who doesn`t have a partner at all and says, I want to do this by myself?

MARKHAM: Well, there`s a difference for the child. When a child is born to two people and one of those people leaves and is not there for the child during the growing up, whether through death or through abandonment and, you know, many divorces, many, many, many dads -- I don`t know the figures, but I think it`s close to 50 percent of dads leave and are not there with the kids.

ROBINSON: Fifty percent?

MARKHAM: Yes. They do not see their children with any regularity after divorce. Very large number. So what you have is kids who feel abandoned. And death also causes kids to feel abandoned. So those kids have a hard time.

(CROSSTALK)

ROBINSON: The children -- Janine, go ahead.

TURNER: Well, what I think it`s interesting when we talk about this type of thing is that all kids struggle. Unless they`re in a "Leave It To Beaver" type of family, just because the father`s there doesn`t mean it is always perfect, or if the mother`s there doesn`t mean it`s always perfect.

MARKHAM: Absolutely right.

TURNER: So to me, what is so important, and this is what I write about in my book and teach my daughter every day is coping skills. Whether you`re in a family with a father and mother, traditional family or a dysfunctional family or single mother, the -- to me, the impetus and the foundation is how do we teach our kids to cope no matter what situation they`re in? And if you happen to be a single parent like I am, then she`s watching how I cope. And this is giving her life skills for the rest of her life. No matter what situation the child`s in --

ROBINSON: Go ahead, Willie.

GARSON: And also - and also in addition to what Janine`s saying, I mean the reality is love is love. You know what I mean? It`s like, you know, no one`s going to love my kid more than I love them.

ROBINSON: Uh huh.

GARSON: So if I could be in a bad relationship, I could be -- other things going on and he`s it in my house.

ROBINSON: Right, when we come back, we are going to talk about making the choice to be a single parent. Kimberly Jones on my Facebook page says, a child needs two parents. It`s selfish to have a child when you`re the only parent. It`s not about you, it`s about the child. And the children should be conceived out of love. We are going to talk about that when we come back.

GARSON: Right, I can`t wait.

ROBINSON: Stay with us.

NANCY GRACE, HLN ANCHOR: Hello, hello? Stay with us friends, we are speaking justice.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBINSON: Welcome back. We`re talking about the issue of single parenting and right before the break, I read a comment on my Facebook fan page from Kimberly Jones who said, a child needs two parents. And she thinks it`s a very selfish to have a child when you are a single parent. Let me just read some of the other comments. Selfish. Children need a mother and a father figure. It`s as simple as that in my book. But -- and I did ask the question, do you think it`s selfish or noble. Tanya says it`s noble. So many kids need parents to love them. It is preferable if there`s two, however, one loving parent is better than none. And Willie, let me just ask you, do you think it would be better for your son if there was a mother figure in the household?

GARSON: You know, I don`t know. It`s kind of like Janine was saying, you cope with what it is. It is what it is. I don`t -- I almost can`t even answer about the selfish comment. As I spend my entire life is basically turned over to my son Nathan. Really? Selfish?

TURNER: That`s true. You know, Willie, that`s a really good point, Willie makes. You know, that it`s really not -- when you`re a single parent, your every moment -- Willie, that`s a really good point. Every moment is dedicated toward this child.

ROBINSON: More time than would be required if you had two parents in the home.

TURNER: Absolutely. Exactly.

GARSON: Absolutely, you know I did it later, you know, with an older kid. So I was single and, you know, an actor, bachelor for a long time. I still have friends who call me and say, oh, going to see a show tonight. You want to come? It`s like, I don`t have that other set of hands in the house.

TURNER: Forget the social life.

GARSON: Yes.

ROBINSON: And Laura, I think that`s one thing that single parents have to deal with all the time. The criticism from other people saying, oh, you wanted to have a kid because it`s all about you. You just wanted to, you know, to call yourself a parent instead of thinking about what`s actually better for the child. They have to deal with that a lot, don`t they?

MARKHAM: It`s so tough to be a single parent. It`s tough in every way. You have to make all these critical decisions by yourself without support. If you`re smart enough to set up a community, as you said, to create a family, you have that. But it`s still not -- it`s not a parent.

GARSON: At the end of the day, it`s you.

(CROSSTALK)

TURNER: They`re not there at two in the morning sometimes.

MARKHAM: That`s right. Yes.

TURNER: I think some of the toughest times for me have been when I`ve had to make these excruciating decisions that affect her life, and I just don`t -- I would love to have somebody to bounce it off of. Or when she`s sick. When she has pneumonia and it`s two a.m. in the morning or three a.m. and we`re getting in an ambulance. I think there are I`m times like that where you really think, oh, gee, it would be nice to have support system. A traditional situation is fantastic. But it just doesn`t always work out that way. And for the woman or the man that`s thrown into this situation, power to them. That they`re with the kid. They haven`t walked away. They`re bringing home the bacon and giving him a foundation for life, you know.

ROBINSON: And so very quickly, do you make an extra effort to have your female friends be around your son just to have that kind of female energy? And Janine, for you, do you make it a point to have -- I don`t know, surrogate uncles to --

TURNER: Yes.

ROBINSON: -- to be around your daughter?

TURNER: She has her uncle. She`s around her uncle a lot, her uncle Tim and my dad, her grandpa. So I do think it`s important for her to have a normal -- normalcy around her.

ROBINSON: All right guys, we`re out of time. Thank you so much. And you can see Willie Garson on "White Collar" Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. it`s a hit show. He said it.

GARSON: Whatever they tell me to say.

ROBINSON: I`ll be back here again tomorrow night.

END