Return to Transcripts main page
Joy Behar Page
Hollywood Murder Mystery; A Taxing Debate
Aired December 06, 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: You know, I was in Macy`s the other day and I saw a little boy sitting on Santa`s lap. And Santa asked him, "What do you want for Christmas, little boy?" And the little boy said, "I want what almost 26 percent of Americans want. Tax cuts for billionaires. And my name is not little boy. It`s John Boehner. Ok?"
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming up on THE JOY BEHAR SHOW, another dead end in the Ronni Chasen murder investigation. Cops believe a man who killed himself while they closed in did not murder the high-profile publicist. Chasen`s brother still believes it was a road rage killing. But could her murder have been the work of a serial killer.
Then, it was only a matter of time. Margaret Cho said Sarah Palin forced daughter Bristol to do "Dancing with the Stars". Well, now Bristol has fired back via Facebook.
Plus, the hosts of the hit show "Mythbusters" are here and Joy will ask them about their upcoming episode featuring President Obama.
That and more starting right now.
BEHAR: It`s been three weeks since Ronni Chasen was brutally gunned down on a Beverly Hills street. But what looked like a big break in the case just days ago now appears to be a dead end. Ballistics on the gun that one-time suspect Harold Smith used to kill himself do not match the murder weapon. So the question still remains, who killed Ronni Chasen? There are more clues and even more bizarre theories.
Here now to discuss it all are Ann Louise Bardach, contributor to "The Daily Beast"; Robin Sax, a former prosecutor; and Ronni Chasen`s personal friend and co-executor of Chasen`s will, Martha Smilgis.
Ann Louise, let me start with you, Harold Smith`s weapon does not match the Chasen murder weapon? So is that link a total dead end for investigators?
ANN LOUISE BARDACH, CONTRIBUTOR, "THE DAILY BEAST": It never looked really hopeful. Look, he was turned in to "America`s Most Wanted" by a resident of that more or less flop house that he lived in. It was a very vague situation there.
I mean, look, the man was a very unfortunate soul. He had a police record but quite minor. He was on a bicycle and the minute he saw police, he took out a gun and killed himself, which is not the mark, really, or the behavior of a professional hit man. So --
BEHAR: Well, the theory was that he didn`t want to go back to jail anymore.
BARDACH: There you have it.
BEHAR: He would rather be dead.
BARDACH: Right.
BEHAR: But couldn`t he have used another gun? He didn`t have to use the gun that they checked.
BARDACH: Well, there all matter of possibilities and that`s the case. As I wrote in the "Daily Beast", the person who did this, this terrible killing did not have to be James Bond, did not have to be an expert marksman.
According to Michael Baden, the coroner in New York, taking somebody out at five, ten, even 12 feet through a car window is something that can be done by gang guys, carjackers, of course, hit men. It doesn`t, as he said, a (INAUDIBLE) could have done this.
BEHAR: We`re trying to wade through a lot of the possibilities here.
Now Martha, you were Ronni`s friend and the co-executor of her 1994 will. But her brother is saying there`s a new will from 2006. Do you know if she`s made a new will since 1984 -- 94, rather?
MARTHA SMILGIS, RONNIS CHASEN`S FRIEND: Apparently the lawyer, the estate lawyer did draft a will, gave it to Ronni. Now someone saw her -- a woman called me who actually is one of the witnesses and saw Ronni`s signature on that `06 will. However, that will never was returned to the lawyer.
In September of this year, just recently, when we were -- I spent a lot of time with Ronni this summer walking. And we were sitting down and she said, I`m making you executor again. I`m working on my will. She didn`t say it was finished, signed anything but she did say I`m working on my will. Maybe she was doing a codicil to this `06 and she had not yet turned it in but clearly there is a new document floating around somewhere.
BEHAR: Well, her estate was reportedly valued at more than $6 million. How does a publicist make that kind of money, Martha?
SMILGIS: She was very smart; very, very intelligent. First, you have to understand, she had the ability to time the market very well. And she had some very good advisers in Los Angeles. In fact, we talked stocks a lot because I was a day trader for a while; I go in and out. We had a lot of fun with it. In fact, many of our conversations were buy platinum, buy palladium. Should we get the corner of the copper market? I mean you wouldn`t believe it.
BEHAR: Smart.
SMILGIS: I mean you wouldn`t believe it. She was up to date on stocks. And she was very sharp. She only would invest big dividend-paying stocks. And she pulled out at the right time. She got out just before this last crash and went back in pretty early. And she has some very good advisers as well.
BEHAR: Good advisers lucky and smart.
SMILGIS: And her business.
BEHAR: And her business, right, of course.
SMILGIS: Well, she was making money -- yes, she was making money on the business, too. Don`t forget, she handled the movie campaigns. She was very busy. And Ronni was very smart with money. She could maximize -- and she had very high quality -- you know, Armani. The car was leased by the way. Every two years she got a car through the business. Everything was covered. She was just very sharp. Extremely frugal in a very smart way.
BEHAR: Ok. Now, her brother and one of her nieces were left out of the will. It`s like an Agatha Christy novel.
Robin will police be looking at those left out of the will?
(CROSSTALK)
SMILGIS: I don`t think, well, personally this is my own opinion. We`re talking `94. 1994. Her mother had not yet died. The business -- she was not Chasen and company yet. This was a personal thing. She liked one niece more than the other. That`s how it went. And her brother at the time I believe was doing quite well.
BEHAR: Robin, what do you want to say to that?
ROBIN SAX, FORMER PROSECUTOR: My understanding is that police right now, and this came from my sources within the Beverly Hills Police Department and the LAPD are telling me that this is a no stone goes unturned approach.
So even the red herring of Harold Smith is still being looked at, because they want to rule out every possibility. No doubt if there is a defendant out there, they will blame Harold Smith so they are going to have to have a case so that they can totally exclude him as a potential suspect or co-defendant.
The will is the same thing. They are going to go through every line. 1994, 2004, 2006, whatever years they were they are going to look at it. And also there is no legal requirement that a will actually be turned in so long as it is signed and witnessed, it is a valid will. As a matter of fact, anyone can write their own will in their own handwriting and do it right at home and leave it right there without it ever going to a lawyer. So there`s no requirement for that either.
BEHAR: Really/
SAX: And I find it curious -- and I find it curious that we -- that we haven`t seen that 2006 will. And I do find some of the behaviors with - - of some of the people who were named in the will or not named in the will for beneficiary purposes kind of curious why was it that Larry Cohen decided to have the police accompany him to the safe deposit box. Why wasn`t it a lawyer that brought the will from his actual safety deposit box because they keep safe deposits boxes with all kinds of wills and trust lawyers? That`s what they do. They keep those under lock and key. Why did he have to even go there?
BEHAR: Jump in.
BARDACH: I can answer that about the will. It`s that he really -- Larry Cohen wanted to be completely on the up and up. I spoke to a close friend of his and he deliberately arranged to go with the police because there was already all manner of speculation or rumor in the tabloids and the trades and everywhere about him and he wanted to do this completely on the up and up, and so therefore asked then the Beverly Hills police to accompany him. They opened up the safety deposit box, they found no will, just some jewelry of his sister and they left it there.
BEHAR: You know, speaking of the brother, Larry Cohen his name is. He says that he thinks it was road rage. This is late at night on a dark street. Wasn`t it? I mean where would road rage come into this?
BARDACH: Well, the issue is that what I wrote about in "The Daily Beast", is that a week before a woman was driving nearby, right on -- coming down Benedict Canyon at the stoplight, at tower, we`re talking less than half a mile away, maybe a quarter mile. And a man pulled up on her right side rolled down his window, looked straight at her, had gang garb on, and pointed the gun directly at her face. They took off, they crossed Sunset, he then turned around at the little Will Rogers` Park and went directly into the face of traffic. Complete --
SAX: I do not buy that for one minute.
BARDACH: I`m just saying this happened a week before the incident with Ronni Chasen. It involves a woman, on the right side.
BEHAR: Coincidence? Is that a coincidence?
SAX: I don`t buy it one bit. First of all, this woman never reports this incident with a gang member and a gun to her face to the police and comes out now when after the Harold Smith comes up. That`s ludicrous.
And the other thing is, that I personally actually am on the L.A.P.D. and neighborhood safe announcements for that area because I happen to live in the same neighborhood that Ronni Chasen lived in. And I normally get those announcements when there`s a whole new ring of stuff going on or this new crime or that new crime --
BEHAR: So what are you saying? That they didn`t report?
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: I don`t think those residents in that area want to hear this because it makes you feel unsafe.
BARDACH: It wasn`t widely disseminated. It was among a small group and the police have now spoken to the woman is my understanding. And it was not widely disseminated to all the residents.
BEHAR: Ok.
BARDACH: And the other point I want to make is that ten days later a Covina man, at virtually the same time, 12:54, after midnight, he`s leaving his home, and he`s again, shot by somebody to the right side, four, five bullets, he barely survived it.
My point is not that these are all connected. It`s that this seems to be a style and there`s also the other point that the resident of Benedict Canyon and several other people who live near Sunset, Benedict and Cold Water had that told me that there`s been numerous incidents and carjackings, robberies, et cetera in the last two months.
BEHAR: Well, now we`ll make everybody very nervous.
Thank you very much everybody.
We`ll be back after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming up a little later on the JOY BEHAR SHOW, Margaret Cho accuses Sarah Palin of forcing daughter Bristol to do "Dancing with the Stars". Now, it`s Bristol`s turn to fire back.
And Chelsea Handler has some choice words for Angelina Jolie, calling the actress a home wrecker.
Now back to Joy.
BEHAR: If all you want for Christmas this year is to keep your tax cuts or unemployment benefits, you could be in luck. President Obama looks like he`s caving to GOP pressures and is ready to compromise. He`s offering Democrats a plan that would extend the Bush tax cuts to two more years for everyone and extend jobless benefits for another 13 months.
Here now to discuss this are Bill Press, radio talk show host, and the author of "Toxic Talk"; and E.D. Hill, conservative pundit. I guess we`ll call you a pundit.
(CROSSTALK)
BILL PRESS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I want to be a pundit Joy.
BEHAR: You want to be a pundit?
PRESS: Yes.
BEHAR: You are a pundit.
Polls show that he seems to be caving in, ok. But the polls are showing that only 26 percent of Americans actually support extending these Bush tax cuts, E.D.. You`re going to answer this -- which means that 74 percent don`t.
E.D. HILL, CONSERVATIVE PUNDIT: I disagree. If 74 percent of Americans didn`t agree with extending it, the Democrats would have hit this issue before the midterms. They would have hit it hard. They would have had the public on their side and they could have benefited from it.
Everybody passes it off because they don`t want to deal with it before the midterms. And now all of a sudden it`s before Christmas, like no one knew Christmas was scheduled on -- you know, coming up. And all of a sudden they realize unemployment insurance is going out the window and tax cuts are set to kick in. Now they`re going to take care of it?
BEHAR: So who are you blaming?
HILL: I blame them all.
BEHAR: You`re blaming the Democrats, the Republicans and the American voters.
HILL: You know what? You`re running the house. Basically you`re running the people`s house. Take care of business. Quick pushing it off and hoping that somehow magically it`s going to go away, it`s not. Deal with it.
PRESS: Well, surprise. Surprise. I mean delay is the name of the game in Washington. It doesn`t matter who`s in charge.
But here, I`ve got to tell you, as a liberal, here`s what I feel. That I`ve been asking by the President to bend over again and take another one for the team and I`m tired of it. I took one for the team on Gitmo. I took one for the team on "don`t ask, don`t tell", we`re not going to get that. Took one for the team on the public plan option. There`s no reason to accept this compromise.
If I were a liberal in the house, I would say, Mr. President, this time, no way. We can`t afford it. It`s another $700 billion on top of the deficit.
BEHAR: Right.
PRESS: And notice, notice two years for the rich, 13 months for the unemployed, you know.
BEHAR: I know. That will get kicked in again.
HILL: Yes, 13 months right, for the unemployment and then you start campaigning and then it`s the other one kicking in right before the next election.
PRESS: Yes, right.
BEHAR: Do you think that what Frank Rich said on Sunday which is that Obama is suffering from the Stockholm syndrome. He`s been kidnapped by the Republicans and he doesn`t have a way out?
PRESS: I will tell you a little secret.
BEHAR: Just like Patty Hearst.
PRESS: Yes. When I walked in this building tonight, the first person that spoke to me was a security guard. I kid you not. On the security gate he came up to me and he said, Bill Press, please tell President Obama to get a backbone. When the security guards are saying that, this guy is in trouble.
Let me tell you something else too. And I think politically, agree with him or disagree with him. Look, when he caves in to the gang that hasn`t even taken over yet --
BEHAR: I know.
PRESS: What kind of backbone is he going to have later?
BEHAR: What is wrong with the Democrats? It`s such an obvious case. To me, as a person out there, it looks as though the Republicans only care about billionaires and rich people.
HILL: No, they want to extend the tax cuts for everyone.
BEHAR: But it`s not going to help the deficit.
HILL: No, it won`t help the deficit. And neither will extending unemployment insurance. However no one wants to deal with the deficit. They want to keep on pushing us along until we can get to a secure enough position to hopefully work our way out of this.
BEHAR: But who should pay the bill?
(CROSSTALK)
HILL: You know what? Here`s a novel idea. Why don`t we get some of the money by keeping all of the cash we give to foreign entities? Instead of buying fake friends and false security, let`s keep that money at home and tell the rest of the world, you know what, we`ve got a lot of problems here. We`ve got to focus on ourselves.
I`m saying get out of the wars. I`m saying get out of all the money that we give to federal government. Every time that there`s a disaster --
BEHAR: Afghanistan and Iraq.
HILL: Anywhere -- we`re the first ones to send carrier groups and everything else over there. We have people hurting here at home. Help them first.
BEHAR: Ok.
PRESS: Yes. You don`t help them by giving the rich another tax cut point.
HILL: You do.
PRESS: And don`t -- if you`re trying to change the subject, I want to come back -- look let`s look at some facts here.
These tax cuts were put in ten years ago, temporarily. Why? Because we have a surplus and everybody said we`re going to do it temporarily because if we get into a deficit, God forbid, we`ll get rid of them. Well, guess what, here they are.
BEHAR: We`re in it and they didn`t.
PRESS: And the other thing is that the tax cut -- by the way, everybody does get a tax cut under the President`s plan. Everybody gets a tax cut, up to $250,000. So they are moaning about what they would have to pay on taxable income above $250,000.
BEHAR: They seem to about very rich people E.D. Let`s face it.
PRESS: Only. Only.
BEHAR: Yes, only.
HILL: This is what I see. Everybody -- it`s relative. You know, if you`re rich and you`re losing your house, you feel just the same way as if you`re poor and you`re losing your house.
BEHAR: No you don`t.
PRESS: How many are?
HILL: Sure.
PRESS: Oh, get out of here.
HILL: Can you go and buy another house? Yes. However, if you take a look at the trickle-down effect there, you take a look at the rich who has discontinued -- and I know this sounds like petty stuff, but it does impact it. Gardeners. They get rid of gardeners. They`re not hiring housekeepers.
And in Manhattan, that`s something that you`ve seen in a lot of places. And it hurts the lower income.
BEHAR: When I read about this stuff, what they always say is that rich, rich people do not spend the money. That people who are on unemployment insurance actually put money back into the system.
It seems that middle-class people spend money which keeps the economy going.
HILL: Except no one`s doing that now.
BEHAR: They don`t have the money yet. Give them the money back and they will.
PRESS: We have some moral equivalency between these people. They have a house in the Hamptons and an apartment on the Upper East Side. They have a yacht and may employ a gardener who`s somebody who has been out of a job for two years and trying to get another job.
It is immoral to think that way.
HILL: Ethically and morally people are the same.
PRESS: No, they aren`t.
HILL: Yes, they are. The rich are not different. People are the same.
PRESS: They are.
HILL: And I think that what we do is we start picking on one group versus the others. Should they have to help out? Absolutely. But I think that there has to be a consensus in America that we`re all in this together. That their government --
PRESS: Wait, wait, wait.
BEHAR: Ok.
HILL: -- isn`t just picking out new ways to spend money but they`re going to --
PRESS: Wait, wait some --
HILL: -- they`re going to cut the deficit somehow.
PRESS: -- some people are hurting and some people are not. Let`s cut through it. And all you care about are the people that are hurting. The new Republican Party is screw the middle class, screw the unemployed, tax cuts --
BEHAR: And the poor.
PRESS: -- and the poor and tax cuts for Donald Trump.
HILL: When did the -- when the Republicans say let`s hike taxes on the middle class?
BEHAR: But even Warren Buffett --
HILL: You said screw the middle class. When did they say tax hikes on the middle class? They didn`t.
PRESS: Right now, right now.
HILL: They didn`t, they said extend them all.
PRESS: They are saying, no, no.
BEHAR: No but they`re black mailing us.
PRESS: They would -- they said we will raise taxes on the middle class unless you also cut them for the millionaires.
HILL: No, they said we`ll let them expire.
BEHAR: We`ll continue this lovely discussion in just a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: I`m back talking taxes. It was either that or death.
Ok, I don`t know. The GOP`s major argument is that keeping tax cuts for the rich would create jobs. But according to Paul Krugman, the Nobel Peace Prize winner -- the Noble Prize winner, not peace. No, that`s the last thing he wants.
PRESS: Ok.
BEHAR: He says that keeping tax cuts for the richest people would only decrease unemployment by .1 to .3 percent next year. That`s not a lot.
HILL: No, that is not significant.
BEHAR: And in order to do that --
HILL: However, I would say, that any a little bit at this point helps. However, Krugman say and he -- he claimed this along with Texas Senator John Cornyn a Republican last I checked. They both say that increasing taxes -- well, we`re in this economic position is a bad idea. It doesn`t help anybody.
BEHAR: That`s now what everybody is saying though.
HILL: That`s what Krugman and Cornyn are saying.
PRESS: Yes.
BEHAR: But also let me just make this one point.
PRESS: Yes.
BEHAR: Krugman says that you have to dismantle Social Security and Medicare in order to make these -- these tax cuts work. Do we really want that to be dismantled? I mean, really? That really is sticking to poor people, in my opinion, and old people.
PRESS: But also --
HILL: Yes but he`s looking down the road. I mean, these guys can`t figure out how to balance their books a week down the road. I`m (INAUDIBLE) to say what`s going to happen in ten years?
PRESS: Yes, I just want to point out for the record that Paul Krugman does say no deal. He says the President should not make this deal.
HILL: Right.
BEHAR: He says --
PRESS: I mean, he does say it`s going to be maybe a little disruption but he still comes out strongly against the deal.
BEHAR: But this is not GOP fiscal responsibility as far as I can see -- they`re all about that the Tea Party --
PRESS: No they`re not.
BEHAR: Fiscal responsibility -- this is all more spending and more deficit.
PRESS: This is going to the Chinese and saying we want to borrow another $700 billion and pile it on top of the deficit.
HILL: Right.
BEHAR: You don`t like that either.
HILL: No I don`t.
PRESS: I guess not -- that`s not good but on the jobs front, I just have to point out, look, these taxes have been in place for ten years. Right? If giving the wealthiest or the wealthy a tax cut creates jobs, my question is, where the hell are they? Where are they, seriously?
BEHAR: That`s right where are the jobs?
HILL: And say you know what? They -- they the Democrats and Republicans agreed to them ten years ago.
PRESS: Temporarily.
HILL: Ok, temporarily. So even if temporarily they thought it was a good economic plan then.
BEHAR: But it`s not.
HILL: Krugman argues that the Republicans intend to make this permanent. Well, if they haven`t done it in the last ten years --
BEHAR: Oh come on.
HILL: I don`t buy that.
BEHAR: They are pulling fast ones when they expire again.
PRESS: Oh no, no, no that`s a --
HILL: Well, they`re going to pull a fast one in ten years. They`re not pulling fast ones.
BEHAR: But if they see that Obama is so wishy-washy on this -- why wouldn`t they do it again?
Listen to Senator Menendez on what he said. Let`s watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ (D), NEW JERSEY: You allowed yourself to be held hostage and get something done for the sake of getting something done when in fact it might be perverse in its ultimate result. It`s almost like the question of, do you negotiate with terrorists?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: He`s calling the GOPs a bunch of terrorists.
HILL: He said almost. That probably wasn`t the best of words to use but I think that that is the problem. As he start you know, all of this -- he`s this and she`s that and they -- instead of focusing on the problem. If you don`t believe that this is the right fiscal policy, vote against it. Vote against your President.
BEHAR: I don`t think the people who voted in the midterm election understood so clearly how they were going to get screwed by the Republicans.
HILL: I`m talking about the vote in Congress -- no I`m talking about in Congress. If Senator Menendez doesn`t like it, vote against it.
BEHAR: He will.
HILL: You know have a back bone --
BEHAR: I`m sure he will
HILL: And they should.
PRESS: They don`t understand the issue until they watch this segment. And then they`ll ask you but then they will.
BEHAR: That`s right.
PRESS: But I just want to say, on this terrorist thing, look, it`s just like calling Obama a Nazi or a fascist or a socialist or bull shit.
BEHAR: Yes.
HILL: We`ve had plenty of that.
BEHAR: Yes.
PRESS: But just stop it.
BEHAR: Yes exactly.
PRESS: You don`t have to have the name calling. I agree with you on that. Vote against the policy, criticize the policy, I just -- quickly, Churchill, one of his political enemies was Chamberlain. And he said, an empty taxi cab pulled up in front of parliament and Mr. Chamberlain got out. That`s a classy way to criticize somebody rather than call him a (INAUDIBLE)
BEHAR: I know. But there`s a lot --
HILL: And it takes a lot more intelligence to say it that way.
BEHAR: All right. Thank you guys very much. We`ll be back after a short --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: Remember when Margaret Cho said the only reason Bristol Palin did "Dancing with the Stars" was because her mother, the mama grizzly, Sarah made her do it? Well, now, Bristol is firing back on Facebook. Do you really want the Palins firing anything at you? This is what she writes.
"Let me be blunt. My mom did not force me to go on "Dancing with the Stars. She did not ask me either. The show approached me. Politics had nothing to do with it." OK. With me now to talk about this and other fabulous stories in the news are Joe Levy, editor-in-chief of "Maxim" magazine, Tabitha Coffey, host of "Tabitha`s Salon Makeover, and comedian, Hiram Kasten. Welcome you guys. Now, this sounds like a press release. Do you think that Sarah Palin forced to write this, too? What do you think?
HIRAM KASTEN, COMEDIAN: I believe the young lady was picked solely on talent alone. It`s obvious.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: What do you think?
JOE LEVY, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, MAXIM: Somebody forced her to write it because have you read the entire statement? Either she did really, really well on her SATs or she naturally when composing stuff for Facebook uses words like canard -- canard is ridiculous.
KASTEN: This often (ph) was a cruise line.
BEHAR: This is what she said, if you understood that common sense conservative values supports the rights of individuals like you, like all of us, to live our lives with less government interference and more independence, you would embrace us faster than KD Lang at an Indigo Girls` concert. Gay joke?
TABITHA COFFEY, HOST OF "TABITHA`S SALON MAKEOVER: Slightly, but I mean, OK, slightly, no offense KD, but when was the last time KD Lang was the coolest lesbian in town. I mean, you could have picked a better lesbian if you`re going to do it, right?
BEHAR: A hotter lesbian.
COFFEY: A home (ph) lesbian, something a little bit more -- well, thank you, Joy.
BEHAR: You`re welcome.
COFFEY: Thank you. So, if we`re going to go for the gay joke, let`s pick a hotter lesbian. And I mean, really, we all know Bristol just makes such great choices in her life, doesn`t she, you know, without talking to her mother, like writing I made the choice, because all of her choices have been stellar up until now, haven`t they?
KASTEN: Excuse me. Sarah Palin is in the audience of these shows. Sarah Palin promotes a program of her own. It`s all part of a massive free publicity --
BEHAR: So, what do you think? Do you think that Sarah pushed her? It`s Margaret`s word against Bristol`s now, which Margaret, by the way, is coming on the show tomorrow to discuss this.
LEVY: Absolutely. Margaret is passing on gossip here, which she says in her post (INAUDIBLE). I know people in the know told me. But here`s the really interesting thing. Both Bristol and Margaret go out of their way to talk about how much they like each other.
COFFEY: I know.
LEVY: They keep mentioning in their posts, I really like you. I`ll baby sit for your kid if you want to baby sit for my kid. I need a night off.
BEHAR: Right.
LEVY: Margaret goes out of her way to talk about what a great dancer Bristol is.
BEHAR: Yes, that`s what --
LEVY: Are you kidding?
BEHAR: I`ll have to ask Margaret about that one tomorrow.
KASTEN: Yes. I would side (ph) with Margaret, but that is a little dubious.
BEHAR: OK. Speaking of the Palins, Kate Gosselin is going to be on Sarah Palin`s Alaska next week. I know what you`re thinking. Too much sweetness for one night. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s the Palin/Gosselin camps out. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have never camped for real.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our ruggedness is really a mystery to the people in the lower 48.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can have a high population of bears. It`s going to go --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s going to rely on me to protect her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am freezing to the bone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m hungry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on, it wasn`t that bad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Go ahead, Hiram. Do you have comments?
KASTEN: This is -- this reality is like wrestling. You know what I mean? It`s not fixed. It`s a little fixed. It`s not real. There are cameras all around you.
BEHAR: Yes.
KASTEN: People go and like in three, two, one, like it`s real life.
BEHAR: Yes, but --
(CROSSTALK)
LEVY: Is there any chance she`s going to get something good out of this and she`s hunting Kate Gosselin?
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: I don`t know.
LEVY: No? I`m hoping.
KASTEN: Just because I`m not editor-in-chief of a magazine, please don`t interrupt me.
BEHAR: Oh, boys, boys.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Well, what about -- you know Kate is not exactly an A-lister. So, what`s Sarah Palin`s motivation to have her on the show and hang out with her? What is that about?
COFFEY: It`s total press. I mean, come on, it`s total press. I mean, honestly, think about it. With the Palin clan and the Gosselin clan, it`s like the worst nightmare of deliverance. That would be like my worst nightmare deliverance. Could you imagine?
BEHAR: One of the things from the show is that they kind of like bond over being victimized by the media. Of course, they were checking their back lighting at the time, but, still, they were upset that the media -- the victimization that goes on --
LEVY: Sure. Well, Kate Gosselin was an unknown until she was on television and then she was victimized by the media. She didn`t ask for it or anything. She just went on to make another television show about herself. This is ridiculous.
BEHAR: Yes. And Sarah, too. Sarah uses the media. She really knows what she`s doing.
KASTEN: She has a media phenomenon and she truly is. Wherever she goes, she outshines whomever is on the panel with her on the day as with her. That is without a doubt, good, bad, or indifferent. She is the only way -- she`s never annoyed by the media. This makes her better, bigger.
BEHAR: She is annoyed by the media.
KASTEN: She`s annoyed by the media if the media would never mention her again, she would go away.
BEHAR: Well, that`s the issue.
KASTEN: That`s the dilemma (ph).
BEHAR: Well, that`s the issue. It`s (SPEAKING DIFFERENT LANGUAGE) as they say.
KASTEN: What was that again?
BEHAR: (SPEAKING DIFFERENT LANGUAGE). OK. Up next --
KASTEN: She`s from Brooklyn.
BEHAR: The trailer from Mel Gibson`s bizarre new movie "The Beaver" is out. But I hear they want to change the title to the passion of the Beaver. Take a look.
(LAUGHTER)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Walter is a man who`s lost all hope. But he`s about to find his voice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m sick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want to get better?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m the beaver.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: How can anybody take this man seriously, Tabitha, really? He`s kind of -- he`s jumped the shark, I think.
COFFEY: He`s jumped more than a shark with the shark --
BEHAR: He`s jumped the beaver.
COFFEY: With the shark -- God. You know, it`s embarrassing that I`m Australian. So, I wish I could change my accent. But I just hope that Mel treats his hand puppet better than he treats his girlfriends.
BEHAR: Well, maybe if he calls the beaver a whore.
LEVY: See. That`s a thing. This is --
(LAUGHTER)
LEVY: This is the story of a man who is down on -- he loses everything. He loses his wife, he loses his family, and he falls in love with a puppet, and if he actually --
BEHAR: Like Laura Bush?
LEVY: If he knocked that beaver`s teeth out, it would be his life story. This would be the Mel Gibson life story. If he knocked that hand puppets teeth out.
(CROSSTALK)
COFFEY: If you think Mel`s life has been a little like, you know, run by the beaver for a while. Like, you know, life has been run by a beaver for a while.
KASTEN: Excuse me. Those hair plugs (ph) they want a little too deep, you know. When they drilled, when they got those early ones -- remember, they (INAUDIBLE) to early ones?
BEHAR: (INAUDIBLE). Who`s going to go see this? All right. I have one more really juicy story about a fellow comedian. Chelsea Handler is under fire for going after Angelina Jolie in her stand-up act, calling her a home wrecker and much worse. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s a home wrecker. She is, and so are you. You`re a home wrecker, too. She`s the kind of girl that you looked at. And like she can rescue as many babies from as many countries as she wants to I don`t (EXPLETIVE DELETED) believe you because when I look into a woman`s eyes and she get an interview and she goes "I don`t have a lot of female friends" that`s true because she`s (EXPLETIVE DELETED) that`s why. That`s why.
(CLAPPING)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: You know, you really don`t want to attack Angelina. There`ll be children from 47 countries coming after you.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: I mean, Chelsea is a comedian. What do you -- come one. What do you think about what she did? It`s a stand-up show. It`s not on her show. Not a TV show.
KASTEN: It`s a stand-up show. She has freedom of speech. She could say whatever she wants. If it`s funny, that didn`t sound particularly funny to me, number one. But number two, I don`t see anything that Jolie does that wrong, adopting children, you know, I`m sort of (INAUDIBLE) wouldn`t believe in and having causes that are on the correct side of things, I think a wonderful and I`d like to know what Ms. Handler has ever done besides date ahead of a network. You know, I`m entitled (ph) to get a TV show.
BEHAR: Well, you know, she and Jennifer Aniston are friends.
LEVY: Yes. She should be carrying a little bit of water for Aniston. Apparently, they spent Thanksgiving together, and now, she`s out there talking down to Angelina. This, this -- she should be carrying a little water for Aniston.
KASTEN: That little water, what is this, (INAUDIBLE).
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: We have heard that expression. She has a dog in a fight, as they say.
KASTEN: That`s right.
LEVY: Wow.
BEHAR: Yes. Something like that.
COFFEY: Who really cares? I mean, honestly, it was like, you know, in Hollywood marriage years, it`s over and done and --
KASTEN: She`ll probably get me for this, but Chelsea Handler is like funny like a cry (ph) for help. She does not that funny.
BEHAR: You know what, I want to say something about her. That girl has published so many books of her own that she has her own imprint or something now. They`re giving her her own book company. That`s how successful Chelsea Handler is. And in her defense, also, she is the only woman in late night ever besides Joan Rivers had a moment, but they threw her off, and Chelsea has been handling it.
So, I give her a lot of credit. And can I just also say, as a comedian -- what I say on a stage is not anybody`s business except that audience. You know, Whoopi Goldberg said today on "The View" that -- I don`t know if she said that loud (ph) or not, but she said that she takes - -
LEVY: You don`t know if she said that loud --
BEHAR: No --
LEVY: So, you guys read each others thoughts now?
BEHAR: No, no, no. I don`t know if she said it on "The View" or in the makeup room.
LEVY: Right.
BEHAR: But she said that she does not allow any cameras and Blackberries. They`re all confiscated before they come in to see her show.
(CROSSTALK)
COFFEY: I`m sorry, when you go to those shows, it shouldn`t be something that now it`s come out. She spoke about it, you know, for whatever the reason, and now, everyone wants to criticize.
(CROSSTALK)
COFFEY: And right or wrong, she`s comedian. Let her go and do her act.
KASTEN: You have a right if you run club --
BEHAR: No kids and no blackberries.
KASTEN: No kids and no blackberries.
BEHAR: Thank you, guys, very much. Be sure to catch the season premier of "Tabitha`s Salon Takeover" tonight at 10:00 on Bravo. We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: We are about to answer life`s greatest questions right now like, do people really get cold feet when they`re afraid? Do Twinkies actually last forever or is that just on my thighs? And what happens when a sitting president appears up on a primetime TV show with a burning question? Watch?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I expect you guys to get to the bottom of this once and for all and then report back to me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re on it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the president`s request, Adam and Jamie breathe new light into the myth of our committee`s solar raid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s what I`m talking about. That`s perfect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Finding out if super sizing their mere military --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want to save your old city? Can catch the sun`s rays and set a boat ablaze.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s the spirit --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: That was a sneak peak of Discovery Channel`s "Mythbusters," featuring President Obama airing this Wednesday. With me are the "Mythbusters" themselves, JamieHyneman and Adam Savage. Welcome to the show. I cannot believe that you booked the president, and I can`t get him on this show.
(LAUGHTER)
ADAM SAVAGE, CO-HOST, "MYTHBUSTERS": He actually -- he called us.
BEHAR: Stop it. You`re killing me.
SAVAGE: Yes. He asked us to come on and be in the audience for a policy speech on getting kids interested in science.
BEHAR: Oh.
SAVAGE: And gave us a shout out during the speech and then called us up and said, is there an episode that we could do together that would get kids involved in science and help promote the --
BEHAR: I see. What if I told him Angelina Jolie was a scientist? Would that get him here?
SAVAGE: I`m not his press secretary. I can`s speak for --
BEHAR: OK. So, did our committees do this thing like you said (ph)?
JAMIE HYNEMAN, CO-HOST, "MYTHBUSTERS": Well, we have no way of telling except that we -- we were able to test everything that the story was about, and it was pretty interesting. The point of this episode is it`s about actually experimentation. It`s not so much about whether you can set something on fire with mirrors. It`s about whether soldiers could actual have done it.
SAVAGE: So, we lined up 500 middle and high school students along half miles of San Francisco shoreline while Jamie sailed towards them in a boat, wearing a fire suit, and we tried to set him on fire.
BEHAR: Sounds like a big budget show.
SAVAGE: This one, we were able to throw a little more resources. Actually, we`ve tested this myth twice before, or maybe three times before, and we`ve never actually done it with real soldiers because wrangling them is expensive and time consuming. This one for the president, we knocked it out.
BEHAR: I see. So, let`s bust some myths.
SAVAGE: OK.
BEHAR: OK. These are things that we`ve read. Can you really slap sense into someone is one of the myths and why hasn`t anyone slapped Charlie Sheen if that`s true? Or Lindsay Lohan for that matter? Can you really slap sense into somebody?
HYNEMAN: Well, according to our testing and this was done by Carry Grant and Torie (ph), the other part of our team. You can.
BEHAR: You can?
HYNEMAN: Yes.
SAVAGE: You can.
HYNEMAN: The idea was that if somebody is like compromised, you know, and they have a lot of anxiety about something or whatever, can you smack some sense into them? And they couldn`t really create an anxiety properly, but what they could do was compromise people, which they did by putting themselves in a freezer until they got kind of numb, and --
SAVAGE: And mentally slow.
HYNEMAN: Yes. And mentally slow. And then they, you know, timed their reactions and so on. And it turns out it is quite effective.
SAVAGE: We also found out that actually slapping is a great way to sober people up, too. I came and I got drunk last year and he smacked me and it improved my ability to think clearly.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Well, you know, I know somebody. I have a friend who slapped her brother into stopping stuttering. The boy was in stutterer (ph). She said stop it, and he stopped stuttering. I swear. This is a true story. Do you believe it?
HYNEMAN: Sure.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: OK. Did Al Gore invent the internet?
SAVAGE: No, but he never claimed to have invented the internet.
BEHAR: No? But that`s the myth.
SAVAGE: It is the myth. What he did was promote legislation that helped create the infrastructure for the internet. So, he is entirely partially responsible.
BEHAR: See that -- and why people say that and save the poor guy. He`s really taking a lot of flack for that.
HYNEMAN: Well, you know, sometimes, a good myth is just more fun than not having one.
BEHAR: I know, I know. Now, you blow stuff up, you use guns, and you recreated an ancient killing device, I understand on one of your episodes.
SAVAGE: The arrow machine gun.
BEHAR: Yes. It`s kind of dangerous. Are you worried about getting hurt?
HYNEMAN: Every day.
SAVAGE: Yes. We`ve got about 40 or 50 stitches in our hands, but luckily, no really major injuries.
BEHAR: I see.
SAVAGE: The arrow machine gun was scary.
BEHAR: Yes.
SAVAGE: It`ll knock that bray (ph) right off your head.
(LAUGHTER)
SAVAGE: We took out about five soldiers at 90 yards in less than two minutes.
BEHAR: Is there an experiment you`ve called off because it`s too dangerous?
SAVAGE: Yes.
BEHAR: OK. Let`s talk about dogs because I love dogs, and I really would like to know that they are smarter than humans, but they probably not quite that smart. They`re smarter than cats, though. I saw that last week. Can the sniffer dogs -- can they actually find bedbugs, drugs, and smell when someone has cancer? Is that true?
SAVAGE: We haven`t tested the one about cancer on the show, but their ability to find drugs and even find us when we`re trying to outrun them through water, through all sorts of environments is astonishing.
BEHAR: Really?
SAVAGE: Yes.
HYNEMAN: Yes. It`s proven.
BEHAR: And the bedbugs, too, right? They can find them?
(CROSSTALK)
SAVAGE: I haven`t heard that one before, but it just went on my list.
BEHAR: Are you kidding me? People are making a fortune on this particular idea.
SAVAGE: Really?
BEHAR: Yes. Only beagle, so far, but they have all the dogs, too. They train them to sniff out bedbugs and that`s how these department stores are saving their, you know, stuff.
SAVAGE: We`ve got to do that.
HYNEMAN: Yes.
BEHAR: Yes. All right. Do barking dogs really not bite?
SAVAGE: You know, it`s funny. I have a little terrier, Wire Terrier, and she`s never bitten anybody. So, anecdotally, I could say yes.
BEHAR: And if she did, who cares, she`s this big.
SAVAGE: Exactly.
BEHAR: Did you ever see that thing bark off? Do you think that works? That product that they say makes them stop barking.
SAVAGE: I`ve toyed (ph) with buying it. I haven`t yet.
BEHAR: OK. Unit (ph), this is breaking news here. OK. More mythbusting, easy for you to say, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: We`re back busting myths with the co-hosts of Discovery Channel`s "Mythbusters." So, if your car goes into way into water, can you get out of that?
SAVAGE: We`ve tested this a couple of times, and most recently, an episode that aired just before Thanksgiving, we actually found out that most cars that go into the water turned upside down. So, we did that experimentally and I escaped from it.
BEHAR: Aha.
SAVAGE: And then that Sunday night in Ottawa, two police officers skidded off the road at night on ice, went into the drink and they actually wrote to us the next day and said that they owed their lives to the information they saw that was on our show that previous Wednesday.
BEHAR: You`re heroes.
SAVAGE: Totally unintentional.
BEHAR: OK. Here`s another myth. People around here -- I said I knew this one and people would like -- a couple of people said, I didn`t know this. What`s the safest way to sneeze and not spread germs? Is it this?
SAVAGE: Yes, the vampire sneeze. This one.
BEHAR: Into your elbow here?
SAVAGE: Exactly.
BEHAR: Inside of your elbow.
SAVAGE: Yes. When we do this, we found particles going about like 15 or 17 feet and this was like one foot.
BEHAR: It`s better than just a couple of tissues, then, right?
SAVAGE: I think so. Did we try tissues or we just tried the hand?
BEHAR: Oh, you mean, this could be just as good?
SAVAGE: Like could be this is good, except that you got the stuff on your hands, still. You end up with it on the tissue --
BEHAR: But you have it on your sleeve, what if someone comes and sticks their nose in your sleeve? (LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: That could happen.
HYNEMAN: That could happen, but it`s much of more of a concern about you touching something and then -- or shaking hands, for example, and then ends up on their face and that`s not what you want.
BEHAR: OK. Do hair and finger nails keep growing after you die?
SAVAGE: No. That is a myth. What happens is that your skin retracts so it looks like your finger nails grow after you die.
BEHAR: Eew.
(LAUGHTER)
BEHAR: Never mind. Is Fox News fair and balanced?
(LAUGHTER)
SAVAGE: No.
BEHAR: OK. Can you scare away hiccups?
SAVAGE: Yes. I`ve had hiccups scared away from me and I`ve scared my children out of the hiccups.
BEHAR: But isn`t the best way to get rid of hiccups to blow into a paper bag and get the carbon dioxide into your lungs.
SAVAGE: I like drinking a glass of water upside down.
BEHAR: Why -- you`re upside down?
SAVAGE: Yes. You got to bend all the way over in feet and to your knees and drink it from the wrong side of the glass. It works at a turn.
BEHAR: How kinky. I did that one already. S it true that you shouldn`t swallow chewing gum because it stays in your stomach for years?
SAVAGE: No. It does not.
BEHAR: It does not. You agree with that? Do you ever disagree and say, that`s not true?
HYNEMAN: Constantly.
BEHAR: Constantly. Now, this was interesting to me. You actually got, one of you, Adam, got a 12-inch blade past airport security. How did that happen?
SAVAGE: What`s astonishing to me is it doesn`t happen more often. With all of the explosive residue on my shoes on any given day, I can`t believe we don`t light up the security theater like Christmas tree.
BEHAR: But how did you get through with the --
SAVAGE: They missed it in my laptop bags (ph).
BEHAR: They miss a lot of stuff, which makes me very nervous. Does it make you nervous?
SAVAGE: No, it doesn`t make me that nervous. I think I`m a pretty good security risk.
BEHAR: OK. Can cola really be used to clean up a crime scene and destroy a tooth overnight?
HYNEMAN: It won`t destroy a tooth overnight.
BEHAR: A baby tooth?
HYNEMAN: Not so much.
BEHAR: No?
HYNEMAN: But it does have a little bit of a solvent property that you can use to clean things with.
BEHAR: They clean things with cola?
SAVAGE: Yes.
BEHAR: I`m not going to say any particular one because there`s a -- they`re all the same, right? So, people shouldn`t be drinking that stuff?
HYNEMAN: I don`t know about that. I mean, it does make you wonder, though, the thing that at work there is phosphoric acid.
BEHAR: Oh.
HYNEMAN: And you know that`s a corrosive.
BEHAR: Not good.
HYNEMAN: Yes.
BEHAR: Not good. You might as well drink lie. OK. Thanks, guys. You can catch "Mythbusters" Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. on Discovery. Goodnight, everybody.
END
