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Joy Behar Page
Culture of Hate?; Year of the Republican Women; Krystal Ball Responds to Racy Photos
Aired October 12, 2010 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOY BEHAR, HLN HOST: Reports say that quarterback Brett Favre texted pictures of his privates to some woman`s cell phone. So what? Alan Greenspan texted pictures of his liver spots all the time and sometimes I even connect them with a pen. It`s fun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming up on THE JOY BEHAR SHOW New York businessman Carl Paladino is running for governor and into trouble. Does his recent speech about gays in the wake of two brutal bias attacks foster a culture of hate?
Then single mom Bristol Palin turns up the sex appeal on "Dancing with the Stars".
Plus "Today" co-host Hoda Kotb opens up about beating breast cancer in the middle of a messy divorce.
That and more starting right now.
BEHAR: Carl Paladino, Republican candidate for governor of New York, made some explosive remarks about gays in a campaign speech over the weekend. I`m sure by now you`ve heard a bit of that. But there is more you may not have heard and it is arguably worse. Take a look at his comments in context.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARL PALADINO (R), NEW YORK GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: We must stop this indoctrination of our children and our schools in the ideas and values that will prevent them from enjoying happy and successful lives. We must stop pandering to the pornographers and the perverts who seek to target our children and destroy their lives.
I didn`t march in a gay parade this year -- the gay pride parade this year. My opponent did. And that`s not the example we should be showing our children and certainly not in our schools.
And don`t misquote me as wanting to hurt homosexual people in any way. That would be a dastardly lie. My approach is live and let live. I just think my children and your children will be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family. And I don`t want them to be brain washed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid or successful option. It isn`t.
If you elect me as your next governor, you can depend on me to protect and defend your family from those who seek to tear down our values and bankrupt our citizens. And, yes, I will veto all legislation that mocks our sacred institution of marriage and family. I will veto any gay marriage or civil union bill that comes to my desk.
Yes, I`m angry, real angry at the way our politically correct elites are mistreating our innocent children and I want to protect them and give them a real future in America, the greatest country on God`s green earth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Now given the recent rash of gay-related hate crimes and suicides, what kind of message does this send? Here with me now to discuss this are Jim McGreevey the former governor of New Jersey who came out during his term in office; and Dan Savage, gay activist and editor of "The Stranger".
Dan, first of all coming on the heels of all the gay bashing and the suicides that are going on, could this be considered hate speech?
DAN SAVAGE, EDITOR, "THE STRANGER": Absolutely. What about children who are gay or lesbian themselves who are going to school with children who are exposed to just this kind of hate speech? We`ve seen the consequences of really remarks like Paladino has made in our schools where children are being brutalized and dehumanized and tormented and physically assaulted by other students who regard them as some sort of existential threat to their families because they`ve listened to bigots like Paladino who mercifully enough is down 20 points in the poll and I hope he goes lower.
BEHAR: Good.
SAVAGE: Spew just this kind of violent, degrading garbage into our culture, into the discourse, and into our politics. It has no place in American life.
BEHAR: Well, he jumps from one sentence about perverts and pornographers and then he talks about the gay pride parade. So, I mean, fully nobody, Carl, even though he tried to back off the comments.
JIM MCGREEVEY, FORMER GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY: Yes. I think as Dan so eloquently said this is a broad brush. And the message when elected or those that are running basically try to say, Joy, that somehow gays aren`t as good enough or gays are less than.
BEHAR: Yes.
MCGREEVEY: But at the same time say, well, I don`t want them to be bullied, what you`re inherently in the structure of your comments, you`re saying that gays don`t deserve the same protections. Gays don`t deserve the same civil liberties.
BEHAR: Right.
MCGREEVEY: And somehow they`re intrinsically worth less. And then we sit back and wonder why children bully or children think that gays are permissible targets. Well, you, yourself, have indicated that somehow they`re not worth or they`re not equal to every other citizen.
BEHAR: That`s right. It seems as though there`s a connection, to me. You know what else is appalling, Dan, that these Hasidic Jews are in the room applauding this when they should know better as Jews what it means to be scapegoated in the world and targeted and used as -- put into situations where they actually were murdered in the 20th century. It`s outrageous that they should be clapping for this. I`m just as annoyed with them.
(CROSSTALK)
SAVAGE: Yes, to borrow a phrase, the accusation that gays and lesbians are targeting children or recruiting children or brain washing children, exposing them to perversity at the gay pride parade of all things, it really is the blood libel. And that`s a phrase that I think should be familiar to most Jews.
The blood libel leveled against gay and lesbian citizens -- gay and lesbian children -- many of the children who committed suicide in the last month were 13, 14 years old living in small towns, rural America. They hadn`t been taken to gay pride parades by Andrew Cuomo and yet they were targets for violence and abuse because of the bigotry that pours forth from the pulpits and spills out of the mouths of religious bigots all over this country every day and they get a pass.
They get a pass because they can say, well, the Bible says. Well, the Bible defends slavery. The Bible defends murdering your disobedient children. The Bible says women who aren`t virgins on their wedding night should be stoned. There`s all sorts of things in the Bible that we ignore --
BEHAR: Right. That`s true.
SAVAGE: -- and as a culture we have to learn to start ignoring what the Bible has to say about homosexuality because the Bible is wrong about homosexuality just as it is wrong about slavery and the equality of the sexes.
BEHAR: Ok. Jim, do you think this atmosphere of fear and hate forces people to stay in the closet? I mean it`s frightening if you`re in the middle of nowhere, you know?
MCGREEVEY: Yes, you know, I think in part it forces people to stay in their closets. But I think Dan is very much on point because the Bible has been construed to support anti-Semitism, racism, sexism, throughout history. And as a Christian, I believe the Bible has so much inherent good but it`s how we interpret the Bible.
And for some reason in this country in the 21st century we recognize that we shouldn`t engage in sexism or anti-Semitism or racism but we select those passages from Leviticus or from Paul that give us permission.
BEHAR: Why do they still feel like somebody like Paladino, why does he feel as though it`s ok to target gays? He wouldn`t say anything about Jews or blacks or other ethnic groups. Go ahead, Dan.
SAVAGE: Well, here`s the thing with religiosity in America right now. Carl Paladino had a child out of wedlock with an employee; a love child that he hid from his wife that he also had children with for ten years.
BEHAR: Right.
SAVAGE: Really, Christianists (ph) and religious bigots have advanced the argument over the last ten years that the only thing that`s required of you as a heterosexual to be right with God and to present yourself in public as a moral and a moralist is to hate gay people. Nothing is required of you personally. You don`t have to limit your own behaviors or pursuits. Nothing is required of you personally.
BEHAR: Well, it`s kind of a cover.
SAVAGE: You just have to hate gays and lesbians.
BEHAR: It`s kind of cover --
SAVAGE: It is a cover.
BEHAR: -- for his own immorality and ethical behavior.
SAVAGE: Well, think of the children in that room. Think of the children of those Hasidic Jews. One of the toughest roads for gay and lesbian people in this country, the children of Orthodox Jews who are gay or lesbian and have to grow up around that kind of hatred and intolerance and bigotry. It is tragic.
MCGREEVEY: I think what Dan is getting to is what do we believe in and what are our cultural values? Is it about a litmus test which certain politicians would engage in? Well I can gay bash. Or is it about manifesting a true belief of caring, of compassion, of reaching out? And I think when I traveled around the country and particularly among Evangelical Christians, I saw the intense pain for many children I think as Dan alluded to that are relatively isolated that aren`t proximate to a large city that don`t have anyone in their lives that they can reach out to.
For those young men and women, the pain is so intense, the need for conformity, that the closet is for many of them the only rational alternative.
BEHAR: You know, you went through this yourself in your own personal life.
MCGREEVEY: Yes.
BEHAR: I don`t know about you, Dan. Dan were you ever in the closet?
SAVAGE: My dad was a Roman Catholic deacon. My mom was a Catholic lay minister. They ran a Catholic marriage encounter in the state of Illinois. So, yes, I was in the closet. I thought about being a priest because I thought I would never be able to come out to my family.
BEHAR: What, you can come out to the priesthood. What, are you kidding? That would have been a perfect place for you.
SAVAGE: Yes I wanted a big house and I wanted to wear dresses and have sex with men --
BEHAR: Bingo.
SAVAGE: I suppose I could have been a priest if I wanted to when I grew up. But at 15, 16 years old I decided that I would come out to my family and live with some integrity. I wasn`t created, and I wasn`t recruited, and I wasn`t molested and no one perverted me. I was gay.
(CROSSTALK)
SAVAGE: I was who I was and my parents came around to that and accepted me for who I was and loved me for who I am. I can`t imagine, I would be so disappointed in New Yorkers if they voted for a man who would contribute to the suicides of gay and lesbian teenagers, contribute to gay bashings by spewing this kind of hate in public.
BEHAR: Well, you know, you`re in a seminary now, I understand.
MCGREEVEY: I just graduated seminary.
BEHAR: Don`t you think religious leaders should be speaking out more against this type of homophobia and hate speech?
MCGREEVEY: I belong to an organization called Faith in America. And I think there are many progressive, liberal religious leaders, I happen to be an Episcopalian, who speak to these issues. But I think as Dan says, I mean you look at the Evangelical church, you look at certain Orthodox Jewish communities and there is such hatred that`s perpetrated on the young men or women that it becomes part of their soul.
And so the real problem, Joy, is when someone in a major position says, well, the bible or my religious teachings tell me so.
BEHAR: Yes.
MCGREEVEY: The point that Dan made is so powerful, well, you reject anti-Semitism. You reject sexism. You reject racism. Why is it somehow permissible to engage in homophobia at the expense of a percentage of the population?
BEHAR: Well, that is the question of the day. Thank you all very much for joining me.
MCGREEVEY: Thank you for your advocacy.
BEHAR: Of course.
MCGREEVEY: It`s moving this agenda forward.
BEHAR: I hope so.
Up next will the year of the mama grizzlies. Will Sarah Palin cover them with honey and hunt them down? Find out here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming up a little later a congressional candidate says she is the victim of sexism after racy photos of her are leaked online. Tonight she tells Joy her side of the story.
And Bristol Palin turns up the sex appeal on this week`s "Dancing with the Stars" but will it backfire with voters?
Now back to Joy.
BEHAR: While Tea Party favorite Carl Paladino is making a lot of noise with his anti-gay comments many on the right have been noticeably silent. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann side stepped the question this morning on today but it seems strange to me that a woman even on the right as far as she is wouldn`t say something about equal rights.
So where are Michele Bachmann and the other so-called ma grizzlies on this and other social issues? Joining me to discuss are Rebecca Traister, author of "Big Girls Don`t Cry: The election that changed everything for American women"; and S.E. Cupp, co-author of "Why You`re Wrong about the Right".
Ok, ladies. What is up with her? Why doesn`t she open her mouth?
S.E. CUPP, CO-AUTHOR, "WHY YOU`RE WRONG ABOUT THE RIGHT": Bachmann?
BEHAR: Yes, Bachmann.
CUPP: You know, I don`t know that it`s a congresswoman`s job to defend a candidate. I think she can endorse if she`d like. She can comment. But she is not obligated. I think it`s up to pundits to say what`s what and someone like me, a conservative pundit, I am absolutely not defending a Carl Paladino.
If someone like Ann Coulter wants to that is perfectly within her purview. But I don`t leave it to Michele Bachmann to get up there and say aye or nay to every candidate gaffe.
BEHAR: Don`t you think she should have said something.
REBECCA TRAISTER, AUTHOR, "BIG GIRLS DON`T CRY": Absolutely. I think it`s kind of a human imperative to weigh in especially when it`s somebody in your party, when you are somebody who`s conveying messages about your party especially when one of the messages because she is one of these women on the right whose running and suggesting this is the year of the woman, that in itself is a sort of socially progressive impulse about including more people. And here is this comment that`s very much about excluding people and she is not -- she`s not weighing in.
BEHAR: Don`t you think it shows their true colors these mama grizzlies so-called? I mean she is against a federal program to help poor kids get health insurance, Michele Bachmann. She is no, mama grizzly. She is against children. Who is she fooling?
CUPP: That`s a little -- I think that`s a generalization. Michele Bachmann --
BEHAR: That is a fact.
CUPP: I think is a woman to admire. I admire her, I know her well. She is I think an advocate for her state, for women, for men, for all different types of people. And the fact --
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: She is against children, the federal program helped at aiding income kids get health insurance.
CUPP: The fact that she is a conservative, the fact that she does not support gay marriage does not make her anti-woman.
BEHAR: No, but don`t call yourself a mama grizzly when you`re against children.
CUPP: She is not against children, Joy.
BEHAR: Yes she is.
CUPP: She is absolutely not against children. She has children. She stands up for children --
BEHAR: I`m sure they all have health insurance all her children.
(CROSSTALK)
CUPP: She thinks policy should -- you can disagree with her politics, joy, but let`s not paint her as anti-woman. This is a mistake.
BEHAR: Anti-children.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: But she`s anti-children.
CUPP: She is not.
TRAISTER: But the policies -- and the policies of a lot of the mama grizzlies work against women and against opportunity for women besides the mama grizzlies. That`s one of the, you know, they can talk about empowering themselves and becoming advocates for Republican womanhood but - -
CUPP: This is why feminism is completely irrelevant today because it completely misconstrues.
BEHAR: How? Explain.
CUPP: It pits people against each other. Gloria Steinem calling Sarah Palin the wrong kind of woman which is essentially what you are doing is not feminism. It`s not pro woman.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: It is not patriotic to say that she is the real American Sarah Palin and we`re not.
CUPP: We`re not talking about patriotism. I`m talking about feminism.
BEHAR: Ok. I`m just giving you the other side of the coin.
CUPP: I understand but we`re talking about feminism. And this is why liberal progressivism has not been able to compete with the likes of Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann in terms of personality and popularity because the angry feminism and identity politics of the `70s is obsolete today.
TRAISTER: I don`t question the right of these women. First of all I want to see more women in both parties; I want to see more Republican women, I want to see more Democratic women. I wish there were more Democratic women right now.
I have complaints with my own party. And I don`t question the rights of these women to talk about themselves as feminists, the call on feminist ideology. You`re in the club then, but then once you`re in the club, you get questioned about how your policies help women.
BEHAR: ok. Let me ask you about this woman. In my next segment I`m going to introduce Krystal Ball. She`s running for Congress in Virginia. Racy photos of Miss Ball leaked out showing her kissing a guy`s nose that coincidentally looks just like a penis. Now she is saying she is being criticized only because she is a woman.
Now I`m talking to her next, Rebecca. What do you make of this? She is saying it is sexist to attack her.
TRAISTER: I think that -- her point is that -- and she actually wrote a long response online saying this is not just about embarrassing me. This is about making me look like a whore. That`s what she said. In that regard I think that there is truth and it certainly has to do with gender and it`s something that does happen to female candidates.
However, I would say that what has happened to Krystal Ball also has to do with her age. She`s part of a generation -- she`s 28. If elected, she would be the first female member of Congress under 30. And I think that she is part of a generation that puts stupid photos of themselves online.
We`re going to be seeing these with men and women coming down the pike as these kids who don`t know about closing a diary have left every embarrassing detail from their college lives online.
I think though that her response and deciding to call it sexism, she is really counting on the fact that we have a bigger appetite for talking about this stuff than we have had in years.
BEHAR: Ok. I`m going to talk to her soon so I`ll check in with you some other day. Ok.
Before we go I have to do something.
Last week we talked about a report in "The Nation" magazine that illegal immigrants were working for anti-illegal immigration activist Lou Dobbs. Since then Mr. Dobbs has said that neither he nor his companies directly employed illegal immigrant workers. "The Nation" magazine is sticking by its story that illegals were working on his property as a result of third-party contractors.
Ok. Thanks, ladies. We`ll be back in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: As I mentioned earlier in the show before I was interrupted by a commercial, Krystal Ball is a Virginia Democrat running for Congress. Now racy pictures of her at a costume party recently surfaced on the web and she says the resulting controversy highlights the double standard of politics.
Krystal Ball joins me now. Hello, my dear. How are you?
KRYSTAL BALL (D), VIRGINIA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: I`m good, Joy. How are you doing?
BEHAR: First of all, what is the real name? It`s not Krystal Ball.
BALL: It is Krystal Ball. That is actually the name my parents gave me. My dad was a PhD physicist and did his dissertation on crystals and he just liked the name, so they and went with it.
BEHAR: Ok. All right. Well, it`s cute.
I saw these photos from when you were 22 and I chalked it up to youthful indiscretion but a lot of people are attacking you. What do you say to those people who are attacking you for these crazy pictures?
BALL: Well, you know, I think it`s really frustrating. A big part of the reason I decided to run for office in the first place, which is not something I ever honestly pictured myself doing, was because I was frustrated with exactly these sorts of tactics; the level that our political dialogue has stooped to, the absolute triumph of politics over policy.
I became frustrated and decided to run so it is a little bit ironic now that I`m getting a very up close and personal look at exactly the kind of tactics that they will use.
BEHAR: I have to say I`m not -- not that I care, but Christine O`Donnell who was also 23 and said she was a witch at -- dabbled in witchcraft, she also got a lot of that. Do you think that that`s sexist against her also?
BALL: Yes, I think it happens on the left and the right. I do think that there is a double standard and, you know, this tactic is really not new. It`s not new to me. I think it`s a very -- very old news to paint women as -- and I`m sorry to use this word on your show, Joy but -- as whores in order to denigrate them and delegitimize them and that is female politicians, successful women of all stripes. I do not think this is a new thing.
BEHAR: Yes, women are always, you know, a little behind the 8 ball on a lot of subjects. So it`s coming too -- because we`re more visible I guess in politics more stuff is going to come out. But you do point to Scott Brown`s Cosmo center fold when he was 22.
BALL: Right.
BEHAR: And what do you say about that?
BALL: Well, what I would say is, you know, it did not hurt him in his campaign. In fact, he has said that it was actually a benefit for him, which to me, fine. You know? To me it`s an irrelevant campaign issue. It should be for men. It should be for women, too.
BEHAR: Maybe it won`t hurt you either. Maybe it won`t hurt you.
BALL: Well, I will say that my goal in coming out and speaking out against these sorts of tactics is, number one, a lot of young people, young women, young men, are going to be stepping up from my generation and running for office. Many of them will have done stupid things in front of a camera at some point in their life. And I want to make sure they`re not afraid to step up and run; that they don`t let these tactics keep them from serving if this is what they want to do because we desperately need young people to step up and run for office.
BEHAR: Why are those pictures all over the place? How did they get out?
BALL: I don`t know to be honest with you.
BEHAR: You knew they were taking them. How drunk were you that night? I mean, what were you -- it`s like, why would you take those pictures?
BALL: You know, I really -- it was a long time ago. They have long left my memory and I don`t know how they got out. I honestly don`t. I think it must have been somebody that was at that party.
BEHAR: Yes.
BALL: They weren`t posted anywhere online. But, Joy --
BEHAR: It`s just going to happen more and more.
Go ahead finish up. I have to go. Go ahead.
BALL: I just wanted to say, there is a great organization out there fighting against this kind of sexism. It`s bipartisan, it`s nameitchangeit.org and I would really recommend it to your viewers.
BEHAR: Ok. Thanks very much Krystal. Good luck with your campaign.
BALL: Thank you.
BEHAR: Next, Bristol Palin turns up the heat on Dancing --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Coming up a little later on THE JOY BEHAR SHOW reports allege Brett Favre texted naked photos of himself to a sideline reporter. We`ll have the latest. And today`s show co host Hoda Kotb drops by to talk about surviving war zones, bad hair, cancer, and Kathie Lee. Back to Joy.
JOY BEHAR, HLN HOST: Not necessarily in that order. America`s favorite teen mom and abstinence proponent Bristol Palin turned on the sexy last night on "DANCING WITH THE STARS." Let`s take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pain killers in the dark, with shiny --, that`s when you need me there. Because fall together, Ella, Ella -
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: You have to hand it to the Palins. They are getting richer and more famous by the minute. You know someone needs to send John McCain a nice Christmas gift. Not me. With me now to discuss this and more pop culture stories are Carrie Keagan host of "ROCK `N ROLL FANTASY CAMP" on VH1 classic. Tyler Florence, chef and author of "TYLER FLORENCE FAMILY MEAL" and Sarah Bernard host of "The Thread" on Yahoo. Appropriate dress for an abstinence advocate? Carrie.
CARRIE KEAGAN, HOST, "ROCK `N ROLL FANTASY": It`s an appropriate outfit for where she was. And I think that we should just open our arms and welcome her to the dark side because she`s coming over to us.
SARAH BERNARD, HOST, "THE THREAD" ON YAHOO: You`re on the dark side?
KEAGAN: Yes.
BEHAR: Well you know she did say at one point that she would have the most modest outfits on the show because of who she was. Somehow that just got thrown out the window.
BERNARD: I don`t think it was the outfit that was that sexy but I think more than that she, herself, was so uncomfortable with doing the rumba, she said I am worried about this because I am not sexy and her partner agreed. And I think more than the outfit what was so painful about the routine is you could see how completely uncomfortable she was. She is taking off his shirt and in the end she has this weird, vacant kind of stare and they cut to her mom. I mean awkward. It was so bad.
BEHAR: Sarah was there to support her or was she there for the gift bag? I`m not sure
BERNARD: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
TYLER FLORENCE: I think she should have popped out of the cake. That would have been it, frankly, maybe, I don`t know.
BERNARD: I think also between watching Sarah and her partner and then Levi`s video from last week where he`s making out with this pop star I feel like I know these guys way too well, too much information. Enough.
BEHAR: Well, they`re kind of like a train wreck family with Levi and Bristol now. You think it`s going to hurt her chances?
BERNARD: Of winning?
BEHAR: If she runs for anything?
KEAGAN: Sarah`s.
BEHAR: Yes.
BERNARD: No, unfortunately.
FLORENCE: I just want to keep it rolling because I think she is very funny frankly.
BEHAR: Who? Sarah is hilarious.
FLORENCE: The whole thing.
BEHAR: If she wasn`t so nasty she would be funny.
FLORENCE: If you want to invest in your comedy, I mean you want to pay for that.
KEAGAN: And the more famous her family gets the more she`s on TV. I mean she gets to be in front of a whole lot of people on "DANCING WITH THE STARS" every time she is in the audience.
BEHAR: I like the little piper. She`s cute that one.
The NFL is investigating whether quarterback Brett Favre sent inappropriate text and photos to a former New York Jets employee when they both worked for the organization in 2008. OK. Tyler, it was --
FLORENCE: The only guy on the set. Here we go.
BEHAR: I mean it was a picture of his -
FLORENCE: Of his what?
BEHAR: Shall we say it, his penis. OK?
FLORENCE: We said it. You said it. She said it. It`s out there.
KEAGAN: Little Brett.
BEHAR: OK. Little Brett.
Now, do you think that women really enjoy seeing pictures of men`s genitalia?
FLORENCE: I hope so. It makes me feel good. I hope you do. I don`t know.
BEHAR: Here is a tip, Tyler. Send us a picture of your American Express Card. That`ll work better.
FLORENCE: -- on the side.
BEHAR: Exactly. What are men thinking that a woman would respond to that? She, by the way, the woman he sent it to is fine with it. She`s not saying oh, I was sexually harassed or any bologna like that.
FLORENCE: Well honestly -
BEHAR: Did she?
FLORENCE: We`re only seeing one side of the story and I`m not saying it`s appropriate by any means whatsoever but when you see a situation like this where there is obviously a green light conversation happening from both directions. That`s what you have to determine like if you`re a married man and out in the public like that are you really interested in sabotaging your career?
BEHAR: Right.
FLORENCE: Is it really worth that? To be really honest with you.
BEHAR: You think Sarah that`s what he is up to?
BERNARD: Is he sabotaging his career?
BEHAR: Yes.
BERNARD: I mean he pretty much is because she actually was an employee of the jets so this is kind of a work place harassment situation. It`s not just something --
FLORENCE: Was it harassment?
BERNARD: Well, she`s not talking. But what I find interesting about this is that we supposedly "Dead Spin," which is the sports blog found out about these photos and the voice mails from a third party and she has said nothing.
BEHAR: Oh.
BERNARD: But I find this interesting. It reminds me of the whole Mel Gibson situation where we didn`t know how the voice mails were leaked.
BEHAR: Right, right.
BERNARD: It was supposedly her, Oksana`s sister. So I think this must be the new thing. Right, you have the person saying they have no complaints. They know nothing. Then somehow from a third party these things get leaked to the press two years later.
BEHAR: Uh huh, that`s interesting, yes.
BERNARD: I find this completely suspicious.
BEHAR: By the way, Carrie, he apologized to his teammates for all of the distraction but he hasn`t denied the photos or the voice mail. So is this an admission of sorts?
KEAGAN: I would think a little bit, yes. I mean, at least it`s an admission that it`s his fault that all of this is happening to his team. And having seen the photos -- you`ve seen them?
KEAGAN: Mm-hmm.
FLORENCE: You`ve seen the pictures?
KEAGAN: Why would I say that out loud? Yes, I have. Yes, I have. And I don`t recognize him from the photos. I just think that, you know what? They should forgive him. I mean if Marv Albert can be forgiven for all the things he did.
BEHAR: Well there`s a flash from the past.
(CROSSTALK)
FLORENCE: I don`t remember that whole thing, what was his story?
KEAGAN: Oh, he got busted for doing all kinds of biting and --
FLORENCE: Oh yes, he was a biter. He was a biter, that`s right.
BEHAR: You know, texting and e-mails and voice mails are all over the place now. I mean I just did -- talked to a woman who there are pictures of her biting a nose that looks like a penis at a party five years ago and now she is running for Congress. These things get out.
KEAGAN: Yes, don`t run for office, Tyler.
FLORENCE: Right and don`t bite anybody`s nose.
BEHAR: Politics is getting crazy. A man was arrested for streaking at a rally President Obama was holding in Philadelphia. British billionaire L.P. David offered $1 million to the first person to streak in front of Obama so that he could advertise his website. CBS news got footage of the streakers. Why do people do anything for money?
KEAGAN: Anything, literally.
BEHAR: A million bucks is a lot though.
(CROSSTALK)
KEAGAN: It is. Because this economy sucks.
BERNARD: I know.
BEHAR: That`s true, Carrie, you`re right.
KEAGAN: I have to say. I almost don`t blame the 24-year-old guy for doing that. I just feel like, you know, the billionaire is the one who should be in trouble. It`s like putting a hit on someone, right. If you order the hit you should be arrested.
BEHAR: That`s right.
(CROSSTALK)
BERNARD: What he told the guy was go out and be naked in front of Obama with, you know, whatever, with the website. However, if everyone showed up to a rally naked there would be no reason to have security whatsoever. Where are they going to hide the weapons?
BEHAR: Good point.
FLORENCE: That`s a lot of money though if you think about it. If everybody got a million dollars that would be a lot of money.
BEHAR: I mean in France they`re worried about the burkas. They should worry about nudity.
KEAGAN: Exactly.
BEHAR: You know he is reneging on the money now and doesn`t want to give the million dollars. He says that the streaker was not within ear shot.
FLORENCE: Wasn`t naked enough?
KEAGAN: I think they were trying to film it. This was something they were supposed to film for his website. So that was impossible and part of the deal. But what I love about it was originally his offer was a hundred thousand dollars and no one took him up on it so he increased it because he figured there would be some legal fees involved so now that it was a million it was appealing.
BERNARD: You know you have to --
BEHAR: Oh it`s like that show "DEAL OR NO DEAL." people come in there, basically poor and then they say, $700,000? No.
KEAGAN: Nothing.
BEHAR: I`m going for a million.
FLORENCE: And on the side, cousin Joey saying, no deal! No deal!
KEAGAN: That`s right. For a million, deal.
FLORENCE: That`s $200,000 you`ve never had. Take it. Streak. Go ahead.
BEHAR: And at the same rally another man threw a book at the president. Are people becoming unhinged? What is going on out there? Remember they threw a shoe at Bush. That was in another country.
KEAGAN: Must be in the food -
FLORENCE: Yes it must have been in the food or water. I don`t know what it is. Yes, I think from what I understand with that particular thing he was just trying to get the book onstage. You know and lot of situations like that where people are trying to get their demo tape to producers, that`s what it was is what I understand.
(CROSSTALK)
KEAGAN: Is this how you`re going to promote your book?
FLORENCE: That`s how I`m going to promote my book.
BEHAR: The FBI would have really been after this guy for trying to attack the president. What happened to him?
FLORENCE: Sure.
BEHAR: I don`t really know.
KEAGAN: He didn`t have a weapon on him or at least one that was lethal.
BEHAR: In the wake of cheating rumors Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher have gone to Israel to reconnect with each other. So why fly into a war zone? Isn`t that why god invented Amish country?
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: All right are they just trying to revive their careers, Tyler? With all this PDA`ing they`re doing?
FLORENCE: You know what I think they`re a very interesting Hollywood couple because you can`t really pinpoint exactly what they do for a living. There`s --
BEHAR: Well she`s an actress.
FLORENCE: Yes but not a lot. And he`s an actor but not a lot. And I guess they`re sort of, you know, of the Die Hard movie, you know, empire.
BERNARD: Well they tweet for a living.
FLORENCE: Is that what they do?
BEHAR: Well now that`s what they`re doing.
KEAGAN: But he has 5 million followers. I mean that is no joke obviously. And I feel like their marriage is like a brand. So maybe what they`re doing is essentially what a lot of people do on twitter. They`re just using it to build their brand and they understand that whether they`re staying married or not this is what you have got to do to keep people interested.
BEHAR: That`s probably true. She hasn`t made a movie in a while. And what does he do exactly?
BERNARD: He produces a lot of things.
BEHAR: He produces.
BERNARD: And he`s coming back with Justin Bieber. Why did I promote that? I don`t know. But there you go.
BEHAR: So doing all of this tweeting and goody goody stuff with each other is to like throw us off?
(CROSSTALK)
KEAGAN: Really, it doesn`t seem sincere, right? The more public you are, the less believable it is.
BERNARD: Or maybe that`s just the way they get off. That could be their thing. It`s the way they love each other. I think he should run for office. I think the things he says on his twitter are genius.
BEHAR: Really?
BERNARD: Yes.
BEHAR: Can you remember any of them?
BERNARD: Not exactly, no. The wording, everything, they`re so created and wonderful.
BEHAR: Wow.
Thank you, everyone. Up next, she survived cancer and divorce but that`s nothing compared to sharing the spotlight with Kathie Lee Gifford every morning. Hoda Kotb is here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: The woman has reported from some of the most dangerous war zones in the world, but in her current job as co host of "TODAY" she is in constant peril. Check this out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For the last hour we`ve been getting up the courage to tell you what we weigh. So who is going first?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`ll do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let`s do it together.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had two digits. Remember we`re going to write in the middle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Too bad. Just too bad. It`s life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One, two, three. Do it.
(EN VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: You are brave. I`d rather go through menopause again than reveal my weight. Here now is the co host of the fourth hour of "Today" and author of "Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer, And Kathie Lee." Welcome, Hoda.
KOTB: Hello.
BEHAR: How are you?
KOTB: Good.
BEHAR: We were talking about Florence Henderson before.
KOTB: Yes.
BEHAR: She was quite hot on "DANCING WITH THE STARS."
KOTB: Oh my god. I saw the video this morning and was shocked.
BEHAR: Yes, you know how old she is.
KOTB: Tell.
BEHAR: She said she`s 76.
KOTB: There was a lot of grinding. Did you see it?
BEHAR: She was very, very, much hotter than Bristol Palin.
KOTB: Yes.
BEHAR: Bristol did not -- looked uncomfortable.
KOTB: But you know what, I think I`d be like Bristol. Because I think when you`re not comfortable with all of that putting it all out of there I think a lot of America would be like that sort of closed up but Florence let it rip. She didn`t care. It was all out.
BEHAR: I loved that about her.
KOTB: Me too. She`s free.
BEHAR: She`s hot. A hot mama.
KOTB: She is hot.
BEHAR: Now -- do you think we`ll see Bristol Palin hosting the fifth hour or the sixth or the seventh? How many hours over there?
KOTB: Wait a second.
BEHAR: How many hour over there?
KOTB: We just have four. We`re strictly Kathie Lee, me, and an occasional housewife of wherever. OK, that`s it. We have our standards.
BEHAR: I am coming on that show.
KOTB: You are? We`ve been waiting.
BEHAR: In a couple weeks.
KOTB: OK, good.
BEHAR: Now you revealed on that show your weight.
KOTB: Yes.
BEHAR: That`s skinny. I`m sorry. You a skinny bitch as far as I`m concerned Hoda. You are six feet tall and 146. Please. That is thin.
KOTB: One hundred forty six?
BEHAR: Yes.
KOTB: No.
BEHAR: For your height?
KOTB: I`m 5`9". Not that tall.
BEHAR: Oh, you`re 5`9" OK.
KOTB: But I was on the scale that morning praying that it, you know, we promised we would tell the truth. And you know the scales with the little slidy thing which I don`t like because no matter how you jiggle you can`t fake it.
BEHAR: You can`t fake that.
KOTB: So 146 was it. I don`t care about my weight. I don`t care about age and weight.
BEHAR: What about makeup? You went on the show without makeup too.
KOTB: That was a bad idea by someone else and you know what happened? Literally, we sat in the chairs before. It seemed like not such a bad idea. We sat and saw the monitors and the crews started screaming, like my eyes! My eyes! And we took a look and kind of went --
BEHAR: They`re so supportive.
KOTB: I know.
BEHAR: You know, they asked me about THE VIEW in fact we were talking about it with Whoopi, saying do you girls get along? So I will be annoying and ask the same question.
KOTB: OK. You know Kathie Lee.
BEHAR: I do.
KOTB: Let me tell you something you guys have in common. If you swallowed a truth pill right now and said everything you thought, you and Kathie Lee have this in common, said everything out loud that is how you live. I watched your earlier segment. You don`t care. You just blurt it out. She does that. She doesn`t care. She looks at you. There is no filter. It comes barreling out.
BEHAR: Yes.
KOTB: I think it comes, look, from a good place because I really like her. She comes in in a good mood. She is not a diva. She is not late.
BEHAR: No, no, she`s funny too.
KOTB: No, she`s really funny. She is hilarious.
BEHAR: Yes, it`s not that I don`t care. It`s just that that`s how I am. I care.
KOTB: You do care.
BEHAR: But you also tell the truth.
BEHAR: I don`t care about some things, some people that I talk about like Paladino. You know? I don`t care about him. I want to get him as a matter of fact. But that is another story. Now, in your book, you write about 2-20-07 in your book. Let`s talk a little serious.
KOTB: OK.
BEHAR: It was a bad year, right?
KOTB: Yes.
BEHAR: You said that`s the year my body and heart broke at the same time.
KOTB: Yes.
BEHAR: Tell me about.
KOTB: I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I was getting divorced. That all happened in 2007. And in that kind of situation you feel like you`re drowning. I really felt like I was on my knees and I thought, it`s hard enough to deal with one but with two it seems almost impossible. But a funny, weird thing happened. When you have two big things that you`re dealing with, you almost have to part --
BEHAR: Cancer and divorce?
KOTB: Yes. If you`re worried like why is my husband such a jerk then have you to think oh, I have to go to the doctor and take care of that surgery thing. And then when you`re worried about your health you think how could he have done that? In a weird way when you split it`s a little easier to deal with. Almost like two kids instead of one. Like you can`t worry about the one screaming over there because the other one is coloring on the wall with your lip stick. Somehow I think I was able to cope a little better.
BEHAR: And marriage, I guess divorce pales in comparison to possible death. Yes.
KOTB: Yes. It makes you kind of realize your life has margins and you just sort of start unloading things.
BEHAR: Tell me how, there was some story about you detecting something about his voice mails or something.
KOTB: Yes. Text messages.
BEHAR: Tell me what happened.
KOTB: Look, I think --
BEHAR: That`s two years ago, three years ago.
KOTB: Yes. I`m going to leave kind of the dirty details because I feel I don`t even want all that to have too much --
BEHAR: But they`re in the book.
KOTB: Just a few. Just a few. Just for you. But I do think -- look.
BEHAR: Just generally you discovered that he was fooling around while you were waiting to get a biopsy. Is that correct?
KOTB: I was finding out about that, yes.
BEHAR: OK.
KOTB: So I was waiting to find out. But there was a little window in there where I wasn`t sick and he wasn`t doing anything wrong and in that tiny, I remembered as I was looking through the pages of text messages and stuff I was thinking to myself right now for a second everything is fine. You know how Monday everything is OK and Tuesday it all comes tumbling down. It was weird how you could pinpoint that happening. But I got to say at the end of something when you go through the meat grinder on that, at the very end. When I was standing there, and I was still doing "DATELINE" at the time and I had gone through my surgery and I had like this epiphany one day and I got these four words. I got, "you can`t scare me." And I remember, going in to see Jeff Zucker the head of NBC and Steve Capas and asking to host an hour of "the "TODAY" show that new hour that was coming up. Joy, I would have never done it otherwise.
BEHAR: You developed some kind of like what`s the word?
KOTB: It` like confidence I guess.
BEHAR: Confidence, yes.
KOTB: Because I think your whole life you`re thinking don`t they see me? Like, I`m right here.
BEHAR: That is a good story. Again fortified you and made you stronger.
KOTB: Sure did.
BEHAR: They say if it doesn`t kill you it makes you stronger.
KOTB: Go, girl.
BEHAR: More with Hoda in a moment. I`ll leave out the Kotb.
KOTB: It`s too complicated.
BEHAR: You are like Cher and Madonna. You`re Hoda.
NANCY GRACE, HLN ANCHOR: Hello, hello, hold on friends, we are speaking justice.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we`ll do a squat. Bounce. Bounce. Punch it out. And punch it out. And punch it out. And punch it out.
Don`t stop moving we`re burning fat here. Don`t stop moving.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: I`m back with my guest Hoda. "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE" really has fun with you guys. They do it to THE VIEW too. Don`t you like it?
KOTB: I love it. Who is you?
BEHAR: Fred Armisen -
KOTB: Oh my god.
BEHAR: So what who cares.
KOTB: Who cares. I know. This has happened twice. I know. I think it`s going to be Keenan next.
BEHAR: How does she take it? They aren`t that kind to Kathie Lee.
KOTB: She gets a kick.
BEHAR: She does.
KOTB: I`m just wonder who faxes our scripts to "SNL." they`re unchanged a lot of these things.
BEHAR: That`s Kristin Wig.
KOTB: Funny.
BEHAR: She gets the twitches and little ticks. I love it.
KOTB: I like that too.
BEHAR: Now let me talk a little bit. You`re Egyptian.
KOTB: Yes, I am.
BEHAR: That is the Hoda. That means what in Egyptian?
KOTB: I don`t know.
BEHAR: You know what it means?
KOTB: Honor, something good. It`s like Helen.
BEHAR: Beauty.
KOTB: It means beauty. It is a very common name over there. It is like Sharon. You know?
BEHAR: But now Egypt, people don`t realize Egyptians minority Caucasian, am I right?
KOTB: This is always a very complicated subject.
BEHAR: Yes.
KOTB: I mean, here is the thing. It`s kind of a blend. Look at my hair. Well not today.
BEHAR: Today you have the keratin.
KOTB: Flat irons and a hammer to make this work.
BEHAR: I used to use agent orange on mine. Are you kidding me? Nothing straightened my hair until Keratin.
KOTB: Do you love it?
BEHAR: I love it. It has formaldehyde but who is counting? Oy.
KOTB: When it comes to that I`ll take a little. OK?
BEHAR: But the Egyptians like Sadat was Egyptian.
KOTB: Right, yes.
BEHAR: But like Cleopatra was Egyptian and she did not look like Elizabeth Taylor.
KOTB: I think there are a lot of colors in the rainbow --
BEHAR: Really. Let` let`s talk about it.
KOTB: If you look at Egyptians, and people from the middle east, they look like Queen Rania, in a way. Exactly what she looks like and you see them dark, I think it is sort of -- there is a rainbow of people and it`s hard to pinpoint an Egyptian in a crowd.
BEHAR: You can`t.
KOTB: People don`t know. Even other Egyptians look at me and they don`t know.
BEHAR: I think it`s interesting to be Egyptian. I don`t think I know any Egyptians.
KOTB: Well you know what? When the song "Walk Like An Egyptian" came out my relatives were like, there is a song. We don`t understand. How do we walk? I go, you know, the whole like this. And that.
BEHAR: Oh the King Tut thing.
KOTB: We don`t walk like this. I don`t get it. I just remember it was such a hit song and they didn`t get it.
BEHAR: Did they take you to the pyramids when you were a kid?
KOTB: Yes.
BEHAR: It`s like going to Disneyland?
KOTB: Hello. You play in the sand.
BEHAR: Where people are buried? So much fun. Listen, I went to the cemetery when I was a kid. There is a lot of death in these cultures. Let`s go to the cemetery and pretend we`re visiting grandma.
KOTB: Who are you?
BEHAR: That`s the truth. So they`re from Egypt.
KOTB: Yes.
BEHAR: What does your father do?
KOTB: My father passed away but he was a petroleum engineer. My mom still works at the library of congress.
BEHAR: Oh so you were a middle class family in Egypt. Or they were.
KOTB: They were and they came here and raised us red, white, and blue. We did not know any different. We thought we were Mary Smith. Nobody told us. They just wanted, that was the generation that assimilated and they wanted to get involved.
BEHAR: It is so great to talk to you. You are so much fun. I love you.
KOTB: You are so much fun. I love you too. Come see us on the show.
BEHAR: And I love Kathie. Tell her I love her.
KOTB: I will.
BEHAR: Great, the book is called "Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer, And Kathie Lee." Good night, everybody.
END
