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Joy Behar Page
Hollywood Murder Mystery; "Sound of Music" Reunion; TSA Travel Tangle
Aired November 24, 2010 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOY BEHAR, HOST: The actors who played the Von Trapp family in "The Sound of Music" are here tonight. I`m so excited about it. Not many people know this about me but I started my career as a child singer in the musical family, the traveling (INAUDIBLE). That`s me in the middle preparing to sing a rousing rendition of "Arrivederci Roma". I was great.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tonight on THE JOY BEHAR SHOW who murdered Hollywood publicist Ronni Chasen? As police continue to search for clues, some are now saying she was the victim of a professional hit. But why?
Then "Dancing with the Stars" drama as Jennifer Grey beats out Bristol Palin to take home the coveted mirror ball.
And the studio comes alive with "The Sound of Music". Cast members from the original film drop by to reminisce about the making of a holiday classic.
That and more starting right now.
BEHAR: It`s been more than a week since celebrity publicist Ronni Chasen was gunned down in Beverly Hills. And with no known suspects, the mystery surrounding her death is worthy of any good Hollywood screen play.
Here to discuss this unusual case is publicist and friend of Ronni Chasen, Howard Bragman; former NYPD detective and founder of Alba Investigations, Gil Alba and editor-in-chief of therap.com, Sharon Waxman.
Sharon, let me start with you. Where is the case right now?
SHARON WAXMAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THERAP.COM: Well, I wish I could tell you there were some great new leads. What we have now is a lot of wild speculating theories being bounced around the blogosphere.
BEHAR: Right.
WAXMAN: But from the police department there is precious little. Basically we`re still waiting for autopsy results. We know that the police are looking at her finances, her personal life, her professional life. They`ve confiscated all the files and computers from her house and her office. And that`s where it stands. They still have no motive and they still have no suspect.
BEHAR: Ok. Howard, does it look like a hit to you, or is it a random killing?
HOWARD BRAGMAN, PUBLICIST: You know, it really does look like a hit. I talked to a friend of mine who we`ll call Mafia Jason. He said there were five bullets of very tight wound patterns in the chest, Joy. No bullet casings were found, quiet area, done at night. And I said, well, maybe it was the wrong person. He said, "You know, they call them professional killers for a reason, Howard."
So I think most people her do believe it`s a hit. I think the Beverly Hills Police are sort of going out of their way to tell people it`s a hit so there`s not general public about a random -- freakiness about a random killing right now.
BEHAR: Gil, what do you make of that? I mean he`s saying it`s a hit. This is a woman who`s well-liked, above reproach, her reputation was sterling. People seem to really like her. She had a lot of friends. Why would someone want to kill her?
GIL ALBA, ALBA INVESTIGATIONS: And no enemies, they said. You know, I don`t know of anybody who doesn`t have any enemies. But, yes -- and kill her in such a manner when she`s driving in her car 12:30 at night, quiet neighborhood. Makes a left turn and everything has to be timed perfectly, especially on a hit like that.
And how did they shoot her? I think it was another car next to her like an SUV and shot her right in the chest. So she must have turned around and looked at them. Shot her in the chest like five times.
So people came out right away. They didn`t see a car; they didn`t see anybody walking or anything else. That has to be perfectly timed.
BEHAR: But why -- if it was a contract killing and a hit, why would they do it in open air like that? Why not get her when she`s alone somewhere?
ALBA: Or get her coming out of her house, or any other place where -- it is; so it`s kind of an unusual way that they killed her for some reason.
That`s why the police -- all these theories are out there and what happened to her and the Russian mafia and all that.
BEHAR: These are some of the theories that are floating around as Sharon alluded to.
Someone close to Ronni had gambling debts.
ALBA: Right.
BEHAR: That`s one of the things that people are saying. A Russian mob killing linked to investors of a movie could be involved. An art dealer gone wrong -- she was a very big collector of art, Howard you must know that. Even a gang initiation, you know, L.A. is weird that way. They have these gangs.
WAXMAN: Joy, that`s just ridiculous.
BEHAR: These are the theories.
WAXMAN: Yes. This has been bouncing around from day one. A gang initiation; I`ve lived here for 15 years. I`ve never seen or heard of anything like that. Crips, Bloods -- I don`t know what gangs we`re talking but there`s not hit like that.
I think that people are grasping at things because they`d like to believe that there -- well, there is a reason for it, that`s for sure. Initially I would say -- and Howard would know this too -- the entertainment community has kind of been clinging to this idea of a mistaken identity because what has happened here is so at odds with the woman that we all know.
BEHAR: Do you think so? Do you think that?
WAXMAN: No, I don`t believe that.
BEHAR: No, you don`t. What do you think, Howard?
WAXMAN: No, I don`t.
BRAGMAN: Well, I think -- I don`t think it was mistaken identity. Our big fear was that it was a pop culture hit; that it was related to who she represents or something that happens or who she was adjacent to. And I don`t think -- I don`t think that`s what happened.
WAXMAN: Well, who would that be, Howard? I mean this is not -- she didn`t represent the top a-list celebrities.
BRAGMAN: Exactly. Joy, these kind of murders are about -- what are they about? They`re about sex or money generally. And at 64, if it was a crime of passion, as I think you said one day, Mazel Tov if that`s what it is. It feels like there`s some financial issue and that`s what these are about and I --
BEHAR: Howard, this implication that a woman of 64 could not be having a passionate affair offends me.
WAXMAN: That`s not the part of it.
BRAGMAN: Absolutely you could.
WAXMAN: That`s not the part it. No, Joy, that`s not true. But she - - her close friends -- I mean I knew her very well and I know her friends very well.
She just came back from a trip to Paris where she was not off in a hotel with her lover. She was doing business and with other friends who are in the publicity community.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Is there -- is there a person of interest anywhere, Sharon? Is there any suspect, anywhere?
WAXMAN: I don`t think there`s a person of interest. But I will say this. The piece of Ronni`s life that -- those of us who worked with her professionally were less familiar with is her personal life. She was apparently a woman of some means. She did have an active passion for collecting art and expensive art. So that`s a piece of it that --
BEHAR: That could be. But this business of somebody had had a gambling debt, that`s the one that strikes me as plausible. Because as Howard says, when money is involved, people do get very angry. If the money is not being paid and there`s some kind of mob that wants their money --
ALBA: Yes. That`s true.
WAXMAN: I don`t know anyone who says Ronni was a gambler.
BEHAR: No, not Ronni. Someone close to Ronni.
ALBA: That wanted her money. But you know, when the police don`t have a suspect or person of interest. That`s when all the rumors come out. And I don`t really think the police know what`s going on yet. Do I think this case is going to be solved eventually? Yes, I do
BEHAR: You do? Why?
ALBA: Because this is what happens on these cases. They just gather as much information and at some point they`re going to hit it. It`s going to be a black and white issue and say, this is exactly what happened. And that`s what happened.
WAXMAN: Well, there`s a reward as well -- a pricey reward.
ALBA: You know the reward --
BEHAR: How much is the reward?
WAXMAN: $100,000.
BRAGMAN: I think it`s over 100 now. Yes.
BEHAR: And who`s offering the reward?
ALBA: The Palm Springs Film Festival.
WAXMAN: The Palm Springs Film Festival.
BEHAR: Oh really?
WAXMAN: That was Ronni`s client for a very long time. They put that money up.
BEHAR: She had over -- a lot of people came to the memorial service. I heard 1,000 people. That`s a lot of people. She must have been very popular.
Howard, do you think -- I mean you`re a publicist. She was a publicist. Do you think this could be related to her job? Does that make you a little bit unnerved?
BRAGMAN: No. I don`t. Really, I`m probably at greater risk than she is. And I`m the kind of guy who represents controversial clients and I get hate mail and I get death threats.
WAXMAN: I agree.
BEHAR: You get hate mail for what? What do you get hate mail about?
BRAGMAN: You know the last really good one I got is when Paula Abdul and I had a really kind of public fight that she talked about where she said I called her a crying, whiny bitch while she was crying, whining and bitching on this tape.
And I got some really nasty hate mail from one of her fans. And I was talking to -- I think you know Ricki Clenman, who`s a big criminal defense attorney and she`s a friend and she was married to the chief -- she`s married to the former chief of police.
And I said, you know I got this, this is funny, isn`t it? And she goes, no, Howard, that`s not funny. Get your butt down to the police station they did all the research and found out who did it. And we resolved.
But that`s not Ronni. Ronni represents screenwriters and cinematographers --
WAXMAN: Composers.
BRAGMAN: -- and production designers. Yes, exactly. This is not -- these are not people -- Hans Zimmer is the not putting a hit out on her, ok.
ALBA: When you have a hit like this though --
BEHAR: Yes.
ALBA: You know, it could be really, really close to her. Maybe somebody who takes care of her finances, somebody who`s jealous, somebody who`s been maybe ripping her off in a sense that way and trying to get her money in some sense.
BEHAR: Let me show you a surveillance --
WAXMAN: And there are people -- I should say Joy, someone else brought up to me like not to forget that there is random violence that happens if you have a dispute with a neighbor or somebody who would -- we would consider to be in daily life the kind of conflicts that come up. And maybe somebody has a really bad temper and knows somebody who knows somebody who would put out a hit.
I don`t know if it would end up being something like that. You have a dispute with somebody close to you or somebody in your domestic staff or something like that. Certainly from her professional life as we know it and we see her out every night, especially this season, there`s nothing that seems obvious or even suggest it.
BEHAR: Ok. Let me show you a surveillance video obtained by TMZ and given to the police. It was shot by a private detective, who believed it was Ronni driving an unknown car just weeks before her death.
Sharon, what do you know about this? This is like an odd, sort of wildcard. It is not Ronni in the car?
WAXMAN: It`s not her. She was in Europe on that date.
BEHAR: Are you sure?
WAXMAN: Yes. We`ve checked it with her office, with her friends. She was in Europe on that date. So it`s not her. In fact TMZ has taken the story down.
(CROSSTALK)
BRAGMAN: And Joy --
BEHAR: Yes, Howard.
BRAGMAN: You know, we talked before about wasn`t it strange that they didn`t hit her in a different place. Ronni lived in a big high-rise on the Wilshire corridor. So she didn`t -- you don`t walk around the neighborhood, you leave from your garage in your car and you pull into the office building you`re in. You`re in your car.
Ronni spent her life indoors or in a car. A car is about the only rational place you could do a hit on her truly.
BEHAR: Ok. All right, thank you guys very much. We`ll keep an eye on this case. It`s interesting, it`s a mystery.
ALBA: Yes it is.
BEHAR: We`ll be back in a minute. Yes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: It`s been 45 years since "The Sound of Music" premiered on the big screen. I`m happy to report the hills are still alive. Joining me are four of the actors who played some of the Von Trapp children.
Welcome to the program Nicholas Hammond, Heather Menzies-Urich, Debbie Turner and Angela Cartwright. Welcome, guys.
NICOLAS HAMMOND, PLAYED FRIEDRICH VON TRAPP: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
BEHAR: You know, this -- this movie has incredible history. It was the best picture in 1965. Five Academy Awards, including best picture.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
BEHAR: It was one of the top-grossing pictures of all time. What is it about this film? Nicholas?
HAMMOND: Well, I think it`s a story of love on every level. A family that loves each other --
BEHAR: Yes.
HAMMOND: A man who loves a woman, and children who love their father and their step mother. And -- and fantastic Rogers and Hammerstein music I mean, it`s you know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The scenery -- the scenery.
BEHAR: Except for the music it`s -- "The Godfather" is like that too.
HAMMOND: Yes, but we`ve got Nazis. They don`t have Nazis.
BEHAR: I know, Nazis for a second. I mean, you were how old all you guys, approximately?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seven.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was 14.
BEHAR: You were 14?
HAMMOND: I -- I was 13.
BEHAR: Ok, there you are in Salzburg, 1964. Ok, 19 years from -- we know the end of the war --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
BEHAR: -- when the Nazis were in power there.
HAMMOND: Yes.
BEHAR: How did they take it, these people parading around --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not very -- not very well.
BEHAR: They didn`t like it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know because they didn`t really know what we`re doing. They didn`t know we were making "The Sound of Music."
BEHAR: Did they think that Hitler was back?
HAMMOND: Well, I`ll tell you what in actual fact at the time we made the movie it was illegal to display a swastika in Austria.
BEHAR: Right.
HAMMOND: And of course, we were putting and hanging them from windows all over town.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s everywhere.
BEHAR: Now it`s not illegal?
HAMMOND: I think now it`s actually they --
BEHAR: Now they like it again, oh, great. So yes, that`s interesting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. The people -- it really made people very nervous. I mean, you could just see the look on their faces.
BEHAR: I bet some of them were like, yes.
So -- now Christopher Plummer drank heavily during the production I heard. I read that he taught Charmaine Carr she played the oldest.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
HAMMOND: Yes.
BEHAR: -- Lisel how to drink. Is that true?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s what she said as a 7-year-old.
BEHAR: Yes, what was going on? You were seven and he`s drinking --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was in bed I have no clue.
BEHAR: Does anybody know?
HAMMOND: You know, because she actually was staying in a different hotel from us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes.
BEHAR: Oh she was in a different hotel. Probably with Christopher Plummer. Hello.
HAMMOND: Yes. Well, listen and let`s put a veil over that right now --
BEHAR: Well, I heard that Christopher Plummer had a crush on Julie Andrews. True?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes he did, he did.
HAMMOND: So he said. Yes.
BEHAR: So maybe they had a little tete-a-tete.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was married and she had a little Emma Kate with her it at the time.
HAMMOND: Yes.
BEHAR: Oh she had her child with her at the time?
HAMMOND: Yes, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we just found this out not very long ago.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
BEHAR: You just found what out?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Debbie you were asleep. You went to bed early.
HAMMOND: Yes, yes.
BEHAR: What did you find out recently?
HAMMOND: Oh well, just that Christopher said he had this attraction to Julie.
BEHAR: And did Julie have an attraction to him.
HAMMOND: We have no idea.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was -- she mum on the subject. She`s a lady.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s a lady.
BEHAR: Yes, let`s keep the image of the Von Trapps going ladies and gentlemen.
HAMMOND: Yes.
BEHAR: Ok. Now, you guys are doing great -- you did great afterwards. All of you. You went back to being a mom and a wife and mother. You didn`t stay in showbiz, right, Debbie?
DEBBIE TURNER, PLAYED MARTA VON TRAPP: No, I didn`t.
BEHAR: How come?
TURNER: How come, it was difficult for me going from a 7-year-old and going back into acting and I was type cast. And I just wasn`t -- my heart wasn`t in it.
BEHAR: You weren`t feeling it?
TURNER: No.
BEHAR: You`re probably better off --
TURNER: I was an athlete and I was into all sorts of other things.
BEHAR: Yes. A lot of times kids grow up and then they really have been demented after being in show business. Although, Angela, you`re not. Still open, Angela was in "Make Room for Daddy" as a child. We remember her and then you went on to do --
ANGELA CARTWRIGHT: "Lost in Space."
BEHAR: Right, right and other things too. I mean, you had a long career.
ANGELA: I did.
BEHAR: You did and -- and Heather, you were in --
HEATHER MENZIES-URICK, PLAYED LOUISA VON TRAPP: I did "Logan`s Run". And a lot of TV -- and right now what I`m doing is I`m -- I`m raising funds for cancer research. And it`s the Robert Urich Foundation for Cancer Research and it`s RobertUrich.org you can go and type it in.
BEHAR: You were married to Robert Urich?
MENZIES-URICH: Yes. Yes.
BEHAR: You`re a widow?
MENZIES-URICH: Yes.
BEHAR: And Nicholas?
HAMMOND: Yes, well, I`m still in the business. I mean, I`ve acted all my life and I`m writing --
BEHAR: You were on "The Brady Bunch."
HAMMOND: I was on the "The Brady Bunch" and I did -- I played "The Amazing Spiderman" for three years. And then did --
BEHAR: I can imagine the hanky-panky at "The Brady Bunch" what with Florence Henderson in the middle of it. Oh yes --
HAMMOND: Well is that maid.
BEHAR: What went -- what went on with the maid? Oh what was her name?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Alice.
HAMMOND: Now yes what was her name? Alice is her name.
BEHAR: Oh what was Alice up to?
HAMMOND: I don`t know.
BEHAR: Oh you know, it`s funny Nicholas.
HAMMOND: Now, I`ve -- I`ve played, I`ve played Marsha`s boyfriend.
BEHAR: Oh you were Marsha`s boyfriend?
HAMMOND: Yes.
BEHAR: Now, Heather, you had a little foray with "Playboy" magazine.
MENZIES-URICH: Oh yes.
BEHAR: With the nude scene there. Were you on the cover in the middle --
MENZIES-URICH: No, no I was in the -- in the pages there somewhere, you know I was trying to change my image. And you know, you are who you are and it didn`t work.
BEHAR: Really?
MENZIES-URICH: It didn`t work.
BEHAR: But I mean to go from the Von Trapps to nudity.
MENZIES-URICH: I know, they called it the tender Trapp.
BEHAR: I love that. I love that. Was that your only --
MENZIES-URICH: That was -- yes.
BEHAR: -- time that you posed nude?
MENZIES-URICH: Yes, that was it.
BEHAR: In public?
MENZIES-URICH: Don`t you think that`s enough?
BEHAR: Well, that is the pinnacle of it.
MENZIES-URICH: Yes, right.
BEHAR: That`s the goal of most nudists.
MENZIES-URICH: I went on to do Penthouse, right?
HAMMOND: Yes nude --
BEHAR: Yes.
Now, Nicholas, you actually grew six inches taller when you were filming.
HAMMOND: I did while we`re making the movie I grew from 5`3" to 5`9". So that created some problem.
BEHAR: That`s a problem.
HAMMOND: Well, it did for the wardrobe department.
BEHAR: I mean, did you outgrow the Lederhosen?
MENZIES-URICH: Yes absolutely.
HAMMOND: Oh you bet. Many times over. Yes I think so.
BEHAR: And what else what has happened here, Debbie lost her front teeth.
TURNER: Yes I did.
BEHAR: Do they care?
TURNER: Well, I had false teeth. They gave me a retainer with teeth on it. So I spoke with a lisp for most of it. And by the end of the movie, I had two, one on top and one on the bottom. So half the time when I tried to speak, I couldn`t.
BEHAR: Yes, that`s a problem when you`re working with children.
HAMMOND: Yes.
BEHAR: They grow and they change and they lose teeth.
HAMMOND: And for continuity.
BEHAR: And then when they grow up, they do nude magazines.
Last question. Do you ever have the urge to climb a mountain and just burst into song as a result of this movie?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
HAMMOND: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
HAMMOND: No, never.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We see down them.
BEHAR: Thank you for doing this. I know you have a very busy day. Thanks, everybody. "The Sound of Music 45th Anniversary" Blu-Ray and DVD combo-package out now.
Back in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: On one of the biggest travel days of the year, protesters of the TSA`s enhanced security measures are asking travelers to skip the screenings and go straight to the pat-down. They`re calling this National Opt-Out Day, which I guess is better than national don`t touch my junk day.
Here with the details is CNN correspondent Ted Rowlands who`s at San Francisco International Airport.
Hey, Ted, how you are you? You flew today. Is this National Opt-Out Day causing disruptions? Is there any anger or anything going on?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, there is some anger when you talk to people. Everybody`s got an opinion on this. We have talked to some people that are genuinely angry and they do feel as though they`re violated through this pat-down procedure.
But there`s been absolutely no effect on this opt-out, not here in San Francisco or in Los Angeles where we started our day, or anywhere across the country. We haven`t had any reports of security lines getting long because people have opted out, if you will, and clogged up the lines intentionally, which is what organizers of this were hoping is that they would delay the lines and people will get irate and this would become a national story.
It is a story, but they didn`t clog any lines up.
BEHAR: I`m glad that they didn`t. It really would have made the whole situation horrendous today. I mean, what is the goal of it anyway? What is the goal? Basically to stop everything, is that what they want to do?
ROWLAND: Yes. They claim that the goal was to -- you know, if you clog the lines up and make enough people mad and the media covers it enough, that it`ll bring the attention of the TSA to this issue.
Well, believe me, the TSA knows that there`s an issue here. And just doing that would have really made a lot of families and other people irate. There were people who had their guard up just waiting -- you know, how are the lines; how are the lines -- and then they get here and it`s fine. So it`s worked out well. I can only imagine if they had succeeded what kind of problems we`d have.
BEHAR: Well, some of the government officials like Timothy Geithner are being exempt from the screenings, I found out, which is unfair.
But the other thing is that Ron Paul, congressman from Texas, he says he`s got his crotch prodded. Which you know, he`s a gynecologist so he knows from whence he speaks. Is he angry because he wasn`t exempt? He`s furious. He would like everybody to boycott the airlines. What do you know about him?
ROWLANDS: Yes. And he`s actually -- he`s introduced legislation to take it a step further and change the procedures that TSA uses. He really -- here`s one thing, Joy. People are very passionate about this. There`s a huge segment of the population, about 80, that thinks this is ridiculous that we`re talking about this and it has become such a political issue.
But there are people, about 20 percent of the people that we`ve talked to on that are really passionate and are really upset. They feel that this pat-down is invasive and they feel as though people should stand up and not take it.
Ron Paul feels that way. You know, he thinks that the guidelines should be changed.
BEHAR: You know, in England there are 4 million closed circuit cameras in England. I think that`s interesting. They really have Big Brother watching you there.
ROWLAND: Right. And we don`t tolerate it on local levels usually. That`s why you don`t see cameras here because local governments it -- it wouldn`t make it through. But it`s a good point. Where is this going? That`s the big question. Are you going to get on the local train and get patted down?
BEHAR: I`m glad I`m not going anywhere on the planet today.
ROWLANDS: The protest didn`t go anywhere today. Yes.
BEHAR: Ok. Thanks very much, Ted. We`ll be back in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Coming up a little later on the JOY BEHAR SHOW, Whoopi Goldberg takes on Bill O`Reilly in their first face-off since the infamous "View" walk-off. And Doris Roberts drops by to talk about life after "Everybody Loves Raymond." Now, back to Joy.
BEHAR: After weeks of speculation that the low-scoring Bristol Palin could actually take the "Dancing With The Stars`" win, the nation breathed the sigh of relief last night as Jennifer Grey was crowned the champion (ph). With me now to talk about this and other stories in the news are Sandra Bernhard, comedian and singer, Rebecca Dana, senior correspondent for the Daily Beast, and Andrea Marcovicci, singer and actress. I called you Andrea. Is it Andrea or Andrea?
ANDREA MARCOVICCI, SINGER: It`s Andrea.
BEHAR: Andrea?
MARCOVICCI: Yes. You did great.
BEHAR: So, Sandra, were you ready to shoot the TV last night?
SANDRA BERNHARD, COMEDIAN: I twittered for the entire two hours. My eyeballs were falling out of my head. I said, first of all, I said, Cander and Ebb would not allow this.
(LAUGHTER)
BERNHARD: You cannot be part of the Palin legacy and dance to Cander and Ebb in a cage.
BEHAR: Yes.
BERNHARD: I mean, Bob Fosse, he turned over in his grave.
BEHAR: I know. What about Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers? They`re dead, you know. They died last night.
BERNHARD: Yes. They died and came back and died for the third time.
BEHAR: What`s her name, Bristol on today`s "View" said something like --
BERNHARD: How did she do it? How did she get to New York to do the "View"?
BEHAR: I don`t know.
REBECCA DANA, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, THE DAILY BEAST: They have their own plane, these people.
BERNHARD: She`s such a hooker. She got on a flight after losing last night.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: How did they deal with ABC? I think that the losers come on the "View" and they dance. She said that her mother likes her being in the cage.
BERNHARD: This is what kills me --
DANA: Well, maybe that will prevent her from having another baby.
BERNHARD: She`s supposed to be the spokesperson for abstinence and yet wears candies shoes which like you say -- I`m wearing these (INAUDIBLE). I`m thrown (ph) out of a car at full speed. You know what I mean? These are like total like hooker shoes. By all means, have candies underwrite abstinence.
BEHAR: You know, there`s a backlash on me because a lot of people when I`m talking to my friends are saying, she`s a sweet girl, she worked hard, and she`s a nice girl.
BERNHARD: Who worked hard? Are you kidding me, she worked hard?
BEHAR: Do you think she worked hard, Rebecca?
DANA: I mean, look, I`m not a professional dancer, but chick is dancing in like ked (ph). She abandoned the high heels even. This is not a hard worker. She can do this a little bit, but that`s about --
BERNHARD: But that was -- the whole thing was the elbows and the tuchus.
DANA: I think she worked hard.
BERNHARD: She`s a young kid, honey. Yes, I`m a young kid.
DANA: She worked about as hard with "Dancing with the stars" as Sarah Palin did learning her geopolitics.
MARCOVICCI: I just want to know if Chelsea Clinton could go on next year so we could basically be voting for Bill.
(LAUGHTER)
DANA: Yes, I like reality television as a proxy for national politics.
MARCOVICCI: Wouldn`t that be fun?
BERNHARD: Good news. Chelsea Clinton wouldn`t even know what "Dancing With The Stars" was. Believe me, that girl is too smart for that crap.
(CROSSTALK)
DANA: Chelsea Clinton was a ballerina for many years.
MARCOVICCI: Oh, that will disqualify her.
BEHAR: Let`s talk about the mother now. OK. Bristol`s mother, Sarah, is the topic of conversation in Barbara Walters` interview with the President Obama in her upcoming Thanksgiving special. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARBARA WALTERS, HOST: You may have heard that Sarah Palin told me just last week that she could beat you if she ran. Could she?
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, I don`t speculate on what`s going to happen two years from now.
WALTERS: Mr. President, you will not tell me that you think you could beat Sarah Palin?
OBAMA: What I`m saying is I don`t think about Sarah Palin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Ouch.
BERNHARD: I`m surprised he didn`t just break down and cry. Yes, with Barbara over that one. Why would he bother to respond to this? I mean, the man is digging himself out of like eight years of George Bush. And she`s, you know, pushing him to worry about, you know, Sarah Palin?
BEHAR: Well, she -- because Sarah Palin on her special Barbara said that she thinks she could beat him. What do you think about that, Andrea?
MARCOVICCI: I think with her going on reality TV, I think with her showing up at "Dancing With The Stars" to consider herself a serious candidate for the presidency right now, I think he`s serious that he doesn`t think about her. I think that`s what he meant. I think he was couching I don`t think about her, meaning, I don`t consider her serious competition.
BEHAR: I don`t agree with that. I think she is a force to be reckoned with, that woman. With her series, which by the way, dropped 40 percent the second night.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: But she has this group of people. She can win the primary.
BERNHARD: She`s a shadow candidate. That means she has all these people out in the periphery, you know, pushing her, including Todd Palin, who`s her head visor. I mean, it`s not to say she couldn`t be a contender.
BEHAR: I think she`s a dangerous possibility.
DANA: OK. You know, I totally agree with you, Joy. And I think she`s running one of the most unconventional campaigns ever in American politics. She`s ubiquitous. The one thing that we can say about Obama`s statement is that is it`s a lie. There`s no way not to think about Sarah Palin right now.
BERNHARD: I honestly do not think that Obama is thinking about Sarah Palin.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: He is thinking about it and he`s just saying he`s not thinking about it.
BERNHARD: He would be foolish not to think about her. I mean, --
DANA: There`s just no way to rule this woman. She is everywhere. Talk about name recognition. You cannot go everywhere and not hear about her.
(CROSSTALK)
DANA: Yes. I mean, so, just because she isn`t running a conventional candidacy or campaign that doesn`t mean that she`s irrelevant.
BEHAR: Didn`t you think Ronald Reagan wouldn`t be elected? Didn`t you think George W. Bush couldn`t get elected and then they --
BERNHARD: I`m not saying she couldn`t get elected, but I don`t think -- I really don`t think that Obama is sitting, cogitating over Sarah Palin. You know, just getting a manny petting (ph) getting his hair picked up.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: He`s the man that`s not cogitating.
BERNHARD: Exactly.
BEHAR: OK. One brave woman had the guts to stand up to an unfortunately has become a common occurrence in the New York City subways. Flashers. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why does this person keep rubbing up against me, and I realized (EXPLETIVE DELETED). See his penis out! That`s it!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you`re not (EXPLETIVE DELETED) arrested, I`m not leaving his side. My friends (INAUDIBLE) for tonight. I`m escorting you to the police station, OK. Oh, yes. Oh, (EXPLETIVE DELETED) yes. I know what I saw. Where the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) is the conductor?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: She took him on. Rebecca, would you have the balls to do something like that?
DANA: Absolutely not. I wish that I did so. She`s like Reese Witherspoon in election. I think she`s the new subway hero. I think she`s a hero. I think she`s amazing.
MARCOVICCI: You know what I love about this woman, I`m canceling my plans for tonight. I`m not going to the opera. I`m not going to the ballet. I`m taking your penis to jail.
BEHAR: I mean, we all have been the object of somebody flashing.
BERNHARD: It`s not happened to me in New York. It happened to me in Phoenix when I was in high school and my parents had the Chevy van and I was driving at home one day, and the guy was below me and he had his thing out. And I said to him, you`re a complete (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I`m 17 at that time. One withering look for me and he put it back and zipped up his pants.
BEHAR: Is there anything lower than someone who says, look at my genitals? Is there anything more demented than that?
MARCOVICCI: I don`t think so. I don`t think so. I think what I`d like to know is what eventually happened. Did the rest of the subway car gather around her, support her and have the guts to get this guy off the subway train?
BERNHARD: Andrea, believe me, by tomorrow, she`ll have a book deal. You know, a ten-picture -
MARCOVICCI: Maybe we can be in it. Maybe you can play her.
BERNHARD: Exactly. I`m trying to like soften my age.
BEHAR: Sandra, the movie that says it all, king of comedy.
BERNHARD: Exactly.
BEHAR: What she`s just describing here, you know?
BERNHARD: Right. It`s the world that we`ve come to. And that was oppression thumb (ph) but never could we have imagined the world we`ve come to. With people like Sarah Palin.
BEHAR: But I mean, they took pictures of him with a cell phone. Eat your heart out, Brett Favre.
DANA: Yes. That`s what actually happened. I doubt everyone rush to her defense. I`m sure everyone pulled out their cell phone and was thinking like, how can I cash in on this?
BERNHARD: Exactly.
BEHAR: OK. We have one more story. Remember when Whoopi and I walked off the "View" after Bill O`Reilly said --
BERNHARD: Of course. Who could forget -- I`ve been hunted by it.
BEHAR: The O`Reilly backed last night to bury the hatchet. Let`s watch that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL O`REILLY, HOST: So, here`s what I want to know. What did you guys say about me after I left?
(LAUGHTER)
WHOOPI GOLDBERG, CO-HOST OF THE "VIEW": Actually, you know, we --
O`REILLY: Come on. What did you say?
GOLDBERG: You know, I said --
O`REILLY: Yes.
GOLDBERG: That I thought that you did not realize how hurtful --
O`REILLY: No, you said that on the air, but I mean off the air after -- when you guys were back --
GOLDBERG: I said the same stuff off the air.
O`REILLY: Were you cursing me out?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(CROSSTALK)
BERNHARD: (SINGING) Please don`t talk about me when I`m gone.
DANA: I just love thinking about Bill O`Reilly going home that night and being like what would Joy and Whoopi saying? What would Joy and Whoopi saying?
BEHAR: I`ll tell you what we were saying that Glenn Beck is so hot.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Isn`t it interesting how he`s so fascinated by what we said about him later?
BERNHARD: Maybe he was really hurt.
BEHAR: Oh, come on.
(CROSSTALK)
BERNHARD: (INAUDIBLE) narcissist. They want to be talked about at any cost. Why else would you put yourself out there?
DANA: For a person so concerned with words and being called names, maybe he should think a little bit more before he talks about Muslims next time.
BEHAR: Well, he hasn`t really backed off quite the statement.
DANA: And never will.
BEHAR: And other people said the same thing. They agreed with him. Even Bill Maher said, well, they were Muslims.
MARCOVICCI: But what do you think about Whoopi going on and having a one-on-one with him?
BEHAR: Fine.
MARCOVICCI: I thought that was --
BERNHARD: I was going to say, why wouldn`t she?
BEHAR: He has very good, you know, numbers of his show, so why shouldn`t she use it?
MARCOVICCI: Well, I think dialogue in America is wonderful, and I think conversation in America is wonderful. So, it has to continue.
BEHAR: You want to see some more? Let me show you another clip.
BERNHARD: It`s not so sophisticated the way it used to be.
DANA: She comes off so well in that clip because she`s so calm.
BEHAR: Whoopi is calm.
DANA: Yes. And so, she really made up for walking off last time.
BEHAR: I tend to get excited. I`ve learned to calm down and medication, you know.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: OK. Thanks, guys.
And if you`re going to be in New York, check out Andrea`s show "Blue Champagne: The History of the Torch Song" running through December 30th at the Algonquin Hotel, and Sandra will be appearing at Joe`s Pub December 29th through January 1st. Get more information at Sandrabernhard.com. Back in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: Doris Roberts is an Emmy-winning actress whose career spans several decades. She`s perhaps best known for playing the well-intentioned but extremely overbearing matriarch, Marie Barone, on "Everybody Loves Raymond." Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DORIS ROBERTS, ACTRESS: Saw your car pull up before. You didn`t call. Deborah, I brought you some baking soda for your fridge. I smelled something questionable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From across the street?
ROBERTS: No. The fact was here yesterday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: With me now is the very funny, Ms. Doris Roberts. Doris.
ROBERTS: Hi, honey.
BEHAR: You know, I read the show is shown in 200 countries around the world. That must be hilarious in Japanese. I like to see that. But it was shown in Iraq, I read only twice, and then they pulled it. Why?
ROBERTS: Because the mother was too strong.
BEHAR: Aha.
ROBERTS: Isn`t that wild?
BEHAR: Is that what you think?
ROBERTS: That`s what we were told.
BEHAR: I thought they loved their mothers in the --
ROBERTS: Not this mother.
BEHAR: Not you. Why, it`s a comedy? They don`t have a sense of humor?
ROBERTS: They don`t have comedy there.
BEHAR: They don`t allow comedy in Iraq. Why, Ahmadinejad, who`s funnier than him? So, it was all about that, huh?
ROBERTS: Oh, yes. And originally, you know, Russia has it now. And when the executive producer went over to Russia to talk to someone, it was the costume designer. She had great gowns that she was, you know selling for the show, and he said, have you seen the show, because the girls don`t leave the house. She said, no, no. In Russia, if you don`t dress for your man, you lose your man.
BEHAR: Oh.
ROBERTS: Now, that has what to do with the sitcom. I have no idea. But they thought -- and this is what I was told that if they could find someone who spoke Russian and was Russian, it would be Cher. That was the person they were looking for to replace me.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: That`s a riot. OK. I guess, you could do better -- I mean, worse, rather. Now, a lot of people have overbearing mothers-in-law and mothers.
ROBERTS: Yes.
BEHAR: Do you base your character on someone in your family?
ROBERTS: No
BEHAR: Where do you come up it with her?
ROBERTS: Well, she`s part where every (INAUDIBLE) Phil Rosenthal`s mother.
BEHAR: I see. So, they created it.
ROBERTS: Yes. They created, but what I did I never thought that I was being evil or mean or not concern. I always wanted my sons to have the best.
BEHAR: Of course.
ROBERTS: And that`s what I dealt it. It was from love that I did all that.
BEHAR: They say you have you to always love the character or understand the character, right?
ROBERTS: Absolutely.
BEHAR: I mean, even if the daughter-in-law, Patricia Heaton, wanted to strangle you, you only wanted the best for your son and for her probably, too, right?
ROBERTS: Yes. Yes.
BEHAR: You have to think it that way?
ROBERTS: I didn`t think about her too often, I can tell you that. I thought about my boys.
BEHAR: OK.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Now, you beat out a hundred other actresses for that part and everybody loves -- does that just go to show you how few roles there are for women of a certain age?
ROBERTS: Oh, now it`s worse.
BEHAR: It`s worse now?
ROBERTS: Sure it is.
BEHAR: Why?
ROBERTS: Nobody`s writing for older people. They think that we don`t exist or they`re trying to air brush out of society. They`re crazy, because in a few years, we`re going to be the oldest population in the history of the world. So, they`re going to have to pay attention to older people.
BEHAR: Well, the baby boomers are coming up. It`s a big group of people. I mean, the advertisers still haven`t caught up. We`re still worried about 18 to 49. It`s really kind of dumb, I think.
ROBERTS: It`s stupid. It is.
BEHAR: It`s the way it is. You actually testified in front of the Senate --
ROBERTS: Yes.
BEHAR: That age discrimination is prevalent in Hollywood and that age-ism is the last bastion of bigotry in this country. What about fat- ism. That`s another one. If you`re fat, forget about it.
ROBERTS: Isn`t that terrible?
BEHAR: Fat and old is verboten.
ROBERTS: So, I`m through. OK.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: You`re not fat and you`re not old. You`re a spirited woman. I don`t see you in either one of those categories.
ROBERTS: Good.
BEHAR: But I mean, you have done very well in your older years, haven`t you?
ROBERTS: Oh, I have, yes. I have not stopped working.
BEHAR: Who`s getting the roles? Betty White works constantly.
ROBERTS: Oh, bless her. She`s leading the way for us, honey. Leading the way.
BEHAR: She is. I mean, she gets every part.
ROBERTS: Yes.
BEHAR: She does commercials where they`re tackling her. She`s on "Saturday Night Live." They should ask you to do "SNL." That would be good for you, I think.
ROBERTS: OK.
BEHAR: Would you like to do it?
ROBERTS: Sure.
BEHAR: OK. We`ll have to make a call to Lauren Michael (ph).
ROBERTS: OK.
BEHAR: Do you think any of the young stars today have the same kind of staying power as you and Betty?
ROBERTS: No.
BEHAR: They don`t?
ROBERTS: They don`t. And I don`t know what that`s about. I don`t know that they spend time in studying to be an actor. I still go to class on Saturday morning.
BEHAR: You do?
ROBERTS: Yes, I do.
BEHAR: Where? In L.A.?
ROBERTS: In L.A.
BEHAR: Where do you go like the actors studio?
ROBERTS: No, it`s Milton Casellas` class. He`s no longer with us, but his class is being run by Howie Doyt (ph) who`s a wonderful director.
BEHAR: And you just scene study?
ROBERTS: Yes, yes, and I learn.
BEHAR: To keep yourself keened (ph) up.
ROBERTS: I get to do things that I would never get to.
BEHAR: Is there a part that you regret that you didn`t get to do like Madea?
ROBERTS: Someone else could have that one.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Is there some part, you know, Lady Macbeth, for example, would you have like to have done that?
ROBERTS: How many times can you do that with --
BEHAR: The OCD issue is very big in Macbeth. What about Patricia Heaton? She`s got a shot to have longevity.
ROBERTS: She has to -- I just did her show. And it was hysterical.
BEHAR: Very funny show.
ROBERTS: I told her off and the whole --
BEHAR: Of course. That`s what you were there for in Patricia Heaton`s life. OK. We`ll have more with Doris Roberts in just a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You remind me of a great literary figure?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really? who?
ROBERTS: Scrooge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Excuse me?
ROBERTS: As a friendly store employee, I was disappointed to learn that you had canceled the Christmas party. That`s one of the reasons I took this job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was canceled 20 years ago.
ROBERTS: I know, but they still talk about it. Apparently it`s off the hook?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?
ROBERTS: It`s an expression they use today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: That was Doris Roberts in Debbie Macomber`s "Call me Mrs. Miracle," her new Hallmark Channel original movie. You`re not playing an annoying mother-in-law in this one.
ROBERTS: No. I`m playing -- you love this -- an angel with an attitude.
BEHAR: I like that. I like that. That`s good. Are you as into the holidays as this character? Because she`s very into the holidays.
ROBERTS: Yes, I am.
BEHAR: You are? You love it?
ROBERTS: I have three grandchildren.
BEHAR: Oh, yes.
ROBERTS: And it`s just great to be home with them.
BEHAR: Me too, I love it. I love it. I put the tree up next week. I just love it. Also, I want to ask you, were you patted down? Because I know you live in Los Angeles. You have to take a plane. Did they give you the body check?
ROBERTS: I must say I`m disappointed I haven`t been patted in a long time. I thought I`d try it out.
BEHAR: Was it good for you?
ROBERTS: Not quite.
BEHAR: It wasn`t?
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Now, these are some Twitter questions that people are asking.
ROBERTS: OK.
BEHAR: You know, these are not my questions. Any hanky panky behind the scenes of "Everybody Loves Raymond"?
ROBERTS: No.
BEHAR: Nothing?
ROBERTS: No.
BEHAR: Oh, come on, Doris, give me a tidbit.
ROBERTS: None.
BEHAR: Everybody was acting nice? Nobody had a fight?
ROBERTS: We had a great time. We had nine great years. I`m not kidding.
BEHAR: So, in nine years, nobody slept with anybody`s wife or husband that you know of? Nobody acted like a bitch? Come on.
ROBERTS: No. I`m dead serious.
BEHAR: Seriously?
ROBERTS: We did a show in four days. We came in --
BEHAR: Didn`t have time to act like a bitch?
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: OK. You live in a home once rented by James Dean. Do you have any stories about that?
ROBERTS: I used to sit next to James Dean at the actors studio in New York for years and I said this kid is never going to make it. He`s too angry.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Oh, boy.
ROBERTS: It`s good I`m not a casting person.
BEHAR: I know, but they said that about Mel Gibson and it was true.
ROBERTS: Ohh.
BEHAR: You play the piano teacher on (INAUDIBLE). Can you play the piano?
ROBERTS: No.
BEHAR: So, it`s all acting?
ROBERTS: I can play the radio and television. I can do that.
BEHAR: You know, people don`t realize that you had a whole career before "Everybody Loves Raymond." And I mentioned in the meeting before this, I said, has anyone seen Doris in "The Honeymoon Killers "?
ROBERTS: Oh, wow.
BEHAR: You know, I mean, people have -- they should rent that film. First of all, it`s brilliant. Tony Lobianco and Shirley Stoller (ph) who also played the concentration camp matron in Seven Beauties. Brilliant. And there you were, her best friend. That was wonderful job you did.
ROBERTS: Thank you.
BEHAR: Yes. I mean, people, I don`t think people realize that you`re an actress as much as a serious actress.
ROBERTS: Did you ever see me in "Hester Street"?
BEHAR: Yes, I do. I saw you in that? Are you Jewish?
ROBERTS: Yes.
BEHAR: oh, you`re a Jewish girl?
ROBERTS: yes.
BEHAR: But you play an Italian really well.
ROBERTS: Oh, very well.
BEHAR: Marie Varone.
ROBERTS: Oh, very well.
BEHAR: But they`re all the same, aren`t they?
ROBERTS: The same person.
BEHAR: So, after this film, what are you going to do next?
ROBERTS: Well, I`ve been working steadily. Oh, I know what I`m going to do next. Well, there`s a movie I did with Ernest Borgnine. It`s coming out called "Another Harvest Moon." And I`m going to be on QVC?
BEHAR: Oh, what are you selling?
ROBERTS: I`m going to sell these fabulous Italian plates. A company or factory rather, that started in 1498.
BEHAR: Oh, boy.
ROBERTS: They`re beautiful.
BEHAR: No one chipped them?
ROBERTS: OK.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: I`ve got to go. Debbie Macomber`s "Call Me Mrs. Miracle" airs this Saturday of the 27th on the Hallmark Channel.
Thank you for watching and goodnight everybody.
END
