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Piers Morgan Live

The Trouble With The Polar Vortex: Updates From Around The Country; Concern For Zoo Animals In Extreme Cold; John McCain On Dennis Rodman's Rants; Reinventing Yourself For The New Year

Aired January 07, 2014 - 21:00   ET

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


PIERS MORGAN, CNN HOST: This is Piers Morgan Live. Welcome to our viewers in United States and around the world. Tonight I say this is the thing that's making all of the trouble right now, the polar vortex. And with the wind chills, tonight's temperatures could plunge to the lowest yet. So it is uncomfortable. It's downright dangerous and thus with people (inaudible). The national zoo is moving animals inside as we report now. Also, Philippe Cousteau, to explain why is too cold for some -- even for some polar bears. Plus you heard this from Dennis Rodman this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENNIS RODMAN, FORMER NBA PLAYER: Do you understand what Kevin Bae did? Do you understand what he did --

CUOMO: What did he do? You tell me.

RODMAN: -- in this country?

CUOMO: You tell me, what'd he do?

RODMAN: And -- no, no, no, you tell me. You tell me.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

MORGAN: Tonight, John McCain tells me what he thinks of Dennis Rodman's rants. A new year, new you. What better time to change your life and who better to help me than my guest tonight. Next (inaudible) on reinvention of one America's favorite journalist, Jane Pauley, Super Chef and my (inaudible), Jamie Oliver, and the news, The View co-host, Sherri Shepherd, they're all coming up later.

But I want to begin tonight with our big story, of course, the Polar Vortex. It is freezing cold out there, really, really, freezing cold all across America, all 50 states being hit. And no one knows that better than my (inaudible) colleagues (inaudible) from what we're dubbing (ph) The Frozen Zone, Ted Rowlands, Erin McPike and Rosa Flores, also Pamela Brown Buffalo. But we got exactly what we don't need right now, a new blizzard. And Chad Myers, of course, in the CNN Severe Weather Center. We'll start with Pamela Brown who's in Buffalo, New York, currently six degrees a low of 4 degrees. Tell me what is going on down there, Pamela. How bad is it tonight? PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is absolutely, Piers. There's really an understatement to say that we're really dealing with a trifecta here. We're dealing with these ferocious winds with the biting cold and of course the snow. And let me show you what it looks like here. It's best illustrated.

If you look under the street lamp here, you could see the blowing snow. Wind gust had been up to 45 miles per hour. And what you can't see of course is how cold it is, and that's create in a big issue here and a big part of why this blizzard is so dangerous. In fact there have been a flood warning (inaudible) because of broken water main. And also we've learned that Lake Erie where we're sitting right next to is actually frozen over which has the impacted the lake of that snow.

We're not seeing near the tunnels. We thought we would see because Lake Erie, the moisture from the lake isn't going up to that cold air to produce the accumulation, that three feet of snow that we thought here where we are right outside Buffalo. We're seeing about 10 inches of snow, but of course a blizzard warning, in effect, through tomorrow morning, so we could see more as these conditions persist. Piers.

MORGAN: Pamela, thank you very much. And then we're going to go to Ted Rowlands, CNN correspondent in Chicago, Illinois near the Amtrak train station currently four degrees, I believe. What does it feel like taking (inaudible) yesterday, for example?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Big difference, Piers, than we did within Michigan Avenue downtown. Yesterday, when we're coming to you, we were below zero. Four above feels like tropical weather here. In fact, it's woken up some people to hibernations seems to be over here in Chicago. Temperatures are going to get better and better today. It was another horrible day, however. Subzero temperature, roads were in terrible shape. And you mention those train, those folks who were stuck on the Amtrak train. It was a very bad day. The warmth that is slowly coming, it is well up here in the Midwest specifically in Chicago.

MORGAN: And, Ted, let's talk more about these trains. You know, the 500 passengers stranded on three Amtrak trains in Illinois. What is the latest on them? And what kind this train generally, is this massive cold burst now putting on all electric grids in that area?

ROWLANDS: Well, specifically with the train passengers, they ran into a snow grip that the train believably couldn't get through so they were stranded for. In some cases, 13, 14 hours sitting in a train car. One of the biggest problems they had was that they had -- they were starting to run out of food, they were using the same bathroom, one passenger said it was absolutely disgusting. They had to create a smoking car because smokers were getting agitated, it was so called outside, they couldn't let them outside the smoke, so they created a smoking car. Best comment there was from a woman who said she could not feel her derriere after 24 hours plus of sitting down on the Amtrak train. They were bad, they were kept warm and there were no injuries, however.

MORGAN: How's your derriere feeling out for about 48 hours in the freezing close standing on your feet, Ted?

ROWLANDS: My face is worst than my derriere. I'm OK. I've got the old long underwear working for me, Piers, and many layers, but there's nothing on my face. So, yesterday was worse than tonight though, that's for sure.

MORGAN: You need some old King Henry VIII long johns (ph) as we would have in England, very long woolen johns (ph) to cover that whole area. Thanks very much, Ted. Stay safe there and try to stay warm as you'd possibly can.

Going on to Erin McPike, CNN correspondent in Minneapolis, Minnesota, currently four degrees as we are heard in Chicago. It's in a low of negative 16 degrees. To put in context, extreme wind chills and the flesh can actually freeze until in (inaudible) of five minutes. Authorities have already claimed 16 deaths on the cold so far. 11 from traffic accidents, three from hypothermia. How does it feel to you, Erin, and you've obviously been in this for quite sometime. What was this you feel like to be in these extreme cold temperatures?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Piers, it is obviously cold here. There's no doubt about that. And I haven't been standing outside for more than 10 minutes at a time. I've been standing out here now for about five minutes and my fingers are very cold, it's hard to move them. But what I will tell you about this is that it's not as treacherous, let's say, as it is where Pamela is in Upstate, New York. There hasn't been precipitation falling here in the last couple of days, but that can be deceiving, and we want to show you why.

A video came to us this afternoon from a woman who is driving North on Interstate 35 Ramsey County Minnesota earlier this morning and she lost control of her truck. It went over the bridge. Now, miraculously, this woman left her car without more than a few bumps or bruises, so she survived and did pretty well. But still, the Minnesota Department of Transportation wanted to make an example of her. They went to their Facebook page this afternoon and said, "This is why we're urging people to slow down, pay attention and watch out for icy bridges and ramps." And that's because these subzero temperatures create this black ice conditions so drivers aren't really aware of what they're getting into. And that's why they want people to slow down.

The other thing we can tell you about this extreme cold is that it's causing a lot of frostbites. So, one of the local hospitals here said that they usually see about 30 patients a year for frostbites. But just in December, they saw 30, and already in January, they said they've seen about 25 in this first week, but it's getting a little bit better and schools in the area should be open tomorrow. So, it seems like the worst is over, Piers.

MORGAN: Erin McPike, I think you've nearly exceeded your 10-minute limit. Get inside immediately and get some warmth.

Let me go now to Rosa Flores, CNN correspondent in New York, LaGuardia Airport, currently above 10 degrees by comparison to what it has been low of seven degrees Central Park seem record lows of six set back in 1896. Now, you're from Texas, Rosa. This must be like some weird horror film, isn't it?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I would have to say Holy Guacamole, where is my tequila beer? But, you know, you don't have to be from Texas for you to feel this cold frigid temperatures we checked. The National Weather Service has a windshield advisory for the Northeast. Hear this. Of negative 15 to negative 30 degrees depending on where you're at, so the only other thing I could say would be, "I got (inaudible) here this cold."

MORGAN: Now, tell me about the flight situation because 3,000 flights have been canceled in or out of United States on Tuesday morning. JetBlue in particular shut down basically all operations of Boston's Logan Airport and the three New York Area airports, 150 thousand JetBlue passengers alone affected by these cancellations of the last six days. Pretty chaotic. Is there sense of anger of what JetBlue does or was it basically all they could do in these circumstances?

FLORES: You know, there is probably some anger from passengers just because of all of the flights that have been canceled. Some of them are probably taking it better than others, but imagine this, a lot of them are sleeping at the airport on the floor or they're sleeping on cots (ph), or, you know, this is right after the holidays. So, a lot of folks spend all of their holidays with their family or their in- laws. They're back with their family and/or their in-laws because their flights got canceled. So, it's a very frustrating situation. So, you can't blame this people if their patience have frozen with the cold here.

MORGAN: Weeks with the in-laws, some (inaudible). Let's move on. Rosa, thank you very much. We go to Chad Myers now, meteorologist extraordinary in CNN Severe Weather Center, very aptly named at the moment down there in Atlanta. It's pretty extraordinary, isn't it, Chad, all 50 states in America. Has this ever happened if all recorded freezing temperatures before at the same time?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, it has and even for Hawaii because you have (inaudible) and you have, you know, mountains that are 14 thousand, 60 thousand feet high. Obviously, it's cold up there. But what happened, Piers, think about this. Think if we had a large water balloon up over the North Pole and somebody poked it. Well, all of a sudden, all of that cold water went straight south because it was nothing to hold up there anymore, the balloon popped.

Well, that's what happened when this arctic vortex came out. It was supposed to be up here to the North. It popped and it went all the way down to the South, and so we have that big, big cold (inaudible) drop all the way down even into Florida. It goes away though for Saturday. New York City, Buffalo all talking about 50 degrees by Saturday, Atlanta to 60 and even in the Minneapolis to 32, how about that?

MORGAN: Well, I just got back from Australia watching England debacle playing cricket, and it was a 114 degrees there. These massive swings of temperatures around the globe, what do you think it says about global warming? I'm about to talk to Philippe Cousteau. But what is your sense, Chad, about what is going on here?

MYERS: Yeah, I've heard a lot of chatter about, "Oh look at this global warming. How cold it is? Look at this." Let me just put this into perspective.

Over the past 30 days, there have been 1,000 or so or about a thousand record highs across America. There have been half of that for record lows. So, even though it feels cold, it's still as been warm over the past 30 days. It's global. It's not where you live. I know global where you live, things like you, to the safe way and back, that's your globe. And we're talking about like Australia, a hundred degrees down there, 150 to some spots, hot in some spots, cold in others. That's just the way it goes.

MORGAN: Chad Myers, thank you very much indeed.

We go now to Dr. Brandie Smith from Animal Impact (inaudible) making life miserable for humans. It's no picnic for animals, either. Dr. Smith, you're the curator of mammals in the National Zoo in Washington DC, the 2000 animals and 400 different species. Presumably many of those animals that can deal with extreme cold temperatures and many that are used too much warmer climates. How do you cope with those? What are you doing right now?

BRANDIE SMITH, NATIONAL ZOO SENIOR CURATOR.: Well, we're taking care of all of the animals. The animals that love this weather or spending a lot of time outside, you know, or seals and sea lions love playing in their pools right now and they've got heated beaches that they can time up on.

Some of the more tropical animals, so, our gorillas, our orangutans have no interest in going outside right now. They're kind of like our kids. They just want to stay inside, be warm and relax.

MORGAN: Are running (ph) animals actually dying in this? Has it been that dangerous for them?

SMITH: Neither the zoo. So, the animals here, we take care of them. They have 100 percent access to the temperatures that they need. So, all of our animals are well-cared for. A lot of them, we give the opportunity to go outside if they want to. So our dying pandas can choose if they want to go outside or stay inside. But any animal that needs heat gets it.

MORGAN: For people watching, you've got cats and dogs and so on, normal family pets. What is the best advice for what you do in this kind of situation if this deep freeze continues?

SMITH: You know, if you have animals that are outdoors, the best thing that you can do is bring those animals inside. So, if they're regularly outdoors, bring them inside when it's this cold outside, make sure that their food isn't frozen, that their water isn't frozen, that they always have access to those things, but, you know, even if they're used to the outdoors, this temperature is just a little too cold for them.

MORGAN: And the pandas, are they the ones are enjoying this the most?

SMITH: The pandas are definitely enjoying it. I will say it's, you know, a little bit too cold for them, so they only spend a few -- maybe about an hour or so outside today before they came in. What the pandas really seemed to like is snow. They'll go outside and they'll play in the snow. So, here in Washington D.C., we just have the real cold, you know, pretty snow to go with it.

MORGAN: Well, Dr. Smith, continue your great work down there. Looking forward to visiting the zoo again soon. I thank you very much. I'm joined by Philippe Cousteau, Environmental Impact environmentalist and CNN (inaudible).

What do you make of all these? A lot of chatter, as Chad was saying, about global warming, about what may be happening here? You're from a very imminent family and studied this kind of thing for (inaudible) years. What do you think is really going on?

PHILIPPE COUSTEAU, ENVIRONMENTALIST: Well, Piers, you know, it's really important to remember that while the long term trend is global warming, that the climate is warming, I prefer the term climate change because it gives a little bit of a more accurate sense of exactly what's happening, long term that the client is changing and growing warmer, but that can mean that in short term trends, some places will get warmer, some places will get colder. And ironically, the oceans driving our climate, the arctic ice caps melting, shifting ocean currents, could be one of the things that's contributing to these jet stream and this air current shifting and making it colder in some areas.

So, there are extreme storms in Europe and U.K. right now that are also cause --

MORGAN: Right, which has been horrendous whether --

COUSTEAU: It's been horrendous there, so again --

MORGAN: A very, very hot in places like Australia. They're getting extremes almost everywhere.

COUSTEAU: Well, we try to make some great point, you know. When we look out the window in New York City, it's very cold but it doesn't mean that the long term trends aren't what they are. It's global for a reason.

MORGAN: To those who remain resolutely skeptic about all these and say, there's no such thing as global warming, there's no science that really supports it, what do you say?

COUSTEAU: I mean it's - there are people that are advancing in agenda that it's not going to do with science I think in that case because, of course, the science is overwhelming. 97 percent of peer viewed scientist, et cetera, have confirmed that this is a trend that's happening. I don't personally like to get into the argument. I think what we need to do is recognize that the world is changing. We need to recognize that there are consequences to our health, to our security, et cetera, and we need to start having adult conversation on what to do about it.

MORGAN: I've had people on here and I've had this debate saying, "Look, you know, the number of hurricanes and tornadoes and so on is pretty consistent actually, historically with patents that come and go. They are not really an indicator either way about climate change." Are they right?

COUSTEAU: Well, one of the things that's important to remember too is that in many cases, though not all, climate change is not necessarily causing these storms to happen but can increase the severity of them. And so the differentials between hot and cold and currents in the ocean and thus in the climate can make storms more severe, can cause more storm surge. It is causing sea level rise. So, it's really an issue of degrees and severity in many cases, that climate change is causing. But again, there are people who have an agenda and they want air time and they will say, you know, they'll argue this until the end of their days I'm sure.

But at the end of the day, the evidence is overwhelming and I think the responsible action is just to get on with it and realize again that it's affecting all these issues including our economy and that we need to do something about it.

MORGAN: Well, but to take action and then be proven wrong than to take no action and not be proven wrong, right?

COUSTEAU: Exactly. That is the --

MORGAN: It seems to me the responsible thing to do is we need to try and do something. Philippe Cousteau, thank you very much for joining me.

Coming next, America's deep freeze and the globe's hottest hot spots, this country's nuclear relationship with North Korea isn't exactly being held by Dennis Rodman's latest weird (inaudible) John McCain. So, let's see what he thinks about this rant on CNN this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RODMAN: We have to go back to America to take the abuse. Do you have to take the abuse? Well, we don't take. Do you sir, let me know, are you (inaudible). Well guess what, you know, one day, one day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MORGAN: Tensions rising between North Korea and the West when you got a delicate diplomatic situation on your hands. Who better to set loose in the middle of it all but Dennis Rodman. Obviously, on situation (inaudible) anyone on Washington very comfortable right now, well joining me now and talk about that under the hot pot issues of the day. Senior Senator from Arizona, John McCain. Senator McCain, first of all, Happy New Year to you, sir.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: Thank you sir and I hope you're healing from your trying to be a young man again and play cricket.

MORGAN: I had a little encounter with an Australian fast baller and cricket, but nothing compared to the wounds you suffered over the year. So, I feel I shall keep my bleating to a minimum.

Let us turn to North Korea off the top, well, what do you make of Dennis Rodman? There's a school of thought that he is being reckless and naive here. Other people think any kind of dialogue with North Korea is better than nothing. Well, what do you say?

MCCAIN: I think he's an idiot. I think he's the very person that -- of not great intellect who doesn't understand that he really does provide propaganda for this very brutal ruthless young man. But in one way, it's almost comic, but on the other side of it, it really does enhance his prestige with his people and he's one of the -- you know, the guy runs a bootleg (ph) of 200,000 people. It's full of unspeakable cruelty. And so -- and he also has missiles and nuclear weapons. And so it isn't a child's game here.

MORGAN: I want to play a clip from a conversation that Dennis Rodman have with my colleague Chris Cuomo this morning which concern the situation involving Kenneth Bae is being held there obviously for reasons that never since we got shore (ph), listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Are you going to take an opportunity if you get it to speak up for the family of Kenneth Bae, and to say let us know why this man is being held, that this is wrong, that he is sick. If you help them, will you take the opportunity?

RODMAN: What is this (inaudible) the one thing about politics, Kenneth Bae when you think, did you can understand, I got it, did you understand what Kenneth Bae did?

CUOMO: Yes?

RODMAN: Do you understand what he did --

CUOMO: What did he do? You tell me.

RODMAN: -- in this country?

CUOMO: And you tell me, what did he do?

RODMAN: No, no, no, you tell me, you tell me why is he held captive --

CUOMO: They haven't released any charges.

RODMAN: Why?

CUOMO: They haven't released -- they haven't released any reasons.

RODMAN: I -- MORGAN: I mean, Senator McCain, the problem at all this is, it sounds shockingly naive at best or worse, he's become a kind of a propaganda tool for the North Korean regime, isn't it?

MCCAIN: Well absolutely I mean for him to say, do you know what he did, obviously they had feed Mr. Rodman some lying about the person which is, you know, is the whole thing is a -- as I say in one respect it's kind of side show where the guy that's not too bright, that's looking for something to do. And that kind of part of it can even amuse us but when we're talking about an American is being held prisoner in a God knows what conditions and he is basically defending it that's pretty bad behavior.

MORGAN: It certainly is, let's move on to another big story that's emerging today in Washington, still on foreign affairs. This is Robert Gates (inaudible) of his new book. Some pretty damning revelations on this, not least in which, and he reveals the president had serious doubts about the entire enterprise in Afghanistan. He writes a biography (ph) 2010, he had concluded the president doesn't believe in his own strategy and doesn't consider the war to be his. For him, it's all about getting out, and he goes on to write, I never doubted the Obama's support for the troops, only his support for the mission. What do you make of this?

MCCAIN: It's a assessment I've had frankly since the Presidential campaign. I think you know, that one of the major reason why he won the nomination of his party instead of Hillary Clinton is because she had voted for the resolution to go to war in Iraq and he had voted against it. And so -- look every time I ever heard him talk about Afghanistan, he's talk about withdrawing, he said he'd get us out Iraq, he got us out Iraq. And to blame Maliki by the ways is absolutely false, we didn't want to stay and the president didn't want to stay.

And so I was surprised to read that or hear about that portion of Mr. Gate's book. And by the way if I could remind you it's and of second battle of Fallujah we had 95 killed and 600 wounded.

MORGAN: Well talking of Fallujah there were reports as with Al-Queda as we take in control in parts of Fallujah, what does this tell you about the reality of the situation in Iran there?

MCCAIN: It tells me because we didn't leave the force behind not to fight to influence and to help and train and assist and do all the things that American Troops could do and not fight anymore. That the situation deteriorated very badly and the Iranians became greater influence. And Maliki, rather than trying to bring this country together begun almost immediately or within a year persecuting the (inaudible) including his own Vice President and alienated his people in nearby province and now we're seeing people driving through Fallujah with black flags.

And it's really tragic because we lost so many brave, you know, it was where the real fighting went on and Iraq where Pierce as you know, and its tragic for the families of those who sacrificed.

MORGAN: Finally, and it's certain that there's ongoing battle over unemployment benefits, where are you sitting on this issue?

MCCAIN: Well, I'd like to find a way to pay for the $6 billion this cost, it's impossible for me that to believe that we can't find $6 billion in order to fund this rather than just increase the debt. Second of all we obviously need to reform the system, and third of all Harry Reid who has now become almost a dictator in the United State Senate won't allow us any amendment. To try to make it better, that's not the way the Senate work in particularly in the early years I was hear. We would debate and we would amend and we would -- they would probably win votes but at least they should have -- Harry should gave us some voice and allow us amendment to make it better. That's what the Senate is supposed to be about and he stopping all of.

MORGAN: Senator McCain, it's good to see you back on a feisty form as always, you clearly rested and up for the fight in 2014, good to talk to you.

MCCAIN: Thank you, my friend. Bye-bye.

MORGAN: Coming next, new year, new you, your guide to changing your life. Some advice from Jamie Oliver, Jane Pauley, and Sherri Shepherd, it will be fun.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MORGAN: It's not too late to keep your New Year resolutions and reinvent your self. Tonight, New Year, new you. Well, the woman who knows more than most about changing her life, Jane Pauley, also top chef extraordinary, Jamie Oliver, and The View co-host Sherri Shepherd on her weight loss secrets.

So I'm going to begin with Jane Pauley. It will be very easy for her to look back on her careers on Today's show and Dateline. Miss Jane looks forward in her new book, "Your Life Calling: Reimagining the Rest of Your Life". And she joins me now. Jane, welcome to the show.

I read a great statistics in this book which is that by the end of 2014, pretty -- well, everyone of the Baby Boomers will have reached the age of 50. Now, I just miss that because I will be 50 in 2015. So what is that leave? Am I --

JANE PAULEY, TELEVISION ANCHOR AND JOURNALIST: You're a Gen Xer. You're a Gen Xer. But, you know, we're all going to the same direction so welcome aboard.

MORGAN: It's a great book because actually what it recognizes is that whether it has maybe 40, 50 years ago -- 50 seems the beginning and the end -- now for many, many people it's being seen as a complete opposite. The chance to reinvent yourself, do something completely different, be crazy, travel the world, whatever it is takes your fantasy. What made you write the book? And what are the key things you think the people should embrace as they reach the 50 milestone?

PAULEY: Well, this is kind of an aspirational time of life. You know, I'm a Baby Boomer -- a living edge Baby Boomer. I'm blood older than you are and that's fine with me. We are changing the way people look at the midlife decades, the time of life when your responsibilities raising children begin to ease up, you sent your kids to college, you -- you're job is either been as rewarding as it's ever going to be, or it may even if you lost your job, it is an opportunity with a greater life expectancy and to remain productive and creative on your own terms.

So once my generation creates a template for how it's done, yours and the Generation Y and the Millennials following aren't going to take for granted that there is a career arc followed by whatever. So it's really is an aspirational time of life.

MORGAN: I recently interviewed Barbara Walters. So because you replaced her Today Show in 1976. And she's --

PAULEY: Nobody replaces Barbara Walters.

MORGAN: -- extraordinary. That's true.

PAULEY: I sat in the chair.

MORGAN: So she's a remarkable lady --

PAULEY: Absolutely.

MORGAN: -- into her mid 80's now. She looks about 50 and she just finally retiring because I don't really believe it until I see it. But what kind of inspiration of somebody like Barbara not just to your generation but to all future generations really, of women in the media, women working anywhere in America?

PAULEY: Well, she's a really good example of the -- it used to be these exceptional people like Barbara or Mike Wallace in our industry who could continue to be at the top of the majors for an entire career. I think what is new is that millions of people are going to have a productive life in their 60's and their 70's and beyond. And we're going to just take for granted that we have those opportunities. We will define opportunity differently than we did when we were in our 20's.

Our aspirations may not be to get a new job title to measure our happiness by the size of a paycheck. "Less is more" can really be true, more freedom, fewer bosses. So -- but where Barbara being gorgeous and smart and still in the top of her game was exceptional. In future generations, you know, a lot of people will be having careers and experiences like that. So -- but my generation because we do everything by the tens of millions, will really cause the paradigm to shift once and for all and to make, you know, attitudes toward aging change.

We're not in denial. I mean I know that old age will come. But as I've read it will be a period of life that comes later and be shorter period of time at the end of life. But in the meantime -- and you know, what is the -- what are you going to do with this bonus years. So that's the heads up that my book is about. Your life calling is that it's both an opportunity and -- Oh, yes, what am I going to do for 40 years? MORGAN: One thing you could, you recently be back with Bryant Gumbel and return in Today Show in glory. Would you like to do more of that? Could you see yourself making a dramatic comeback into the breakfast TV world?

PAULEY: Yes. That is --

MORGAN: So pretty impressive right now?

PAULEY: No. I don't have the stamina to keep up with the program that that Bryant and I did. It was a lot sleepier by comparison. And I was fortunate that we were there during a fairly slow news day and Matt was doing most of the heavy lifting and Bryant and I was having a really great time but I will go back if they invite me back on occasions. I'm in. It was so much fun.

MORGAN: Well, Jane, it's lovely to talk to you. You're a TV legend. It's a great book for anyone who's thinking, "You know, I'm getting the 50, 55. What am I going to do with myself?" Read this book and feel invigorated and inspired. Jane Pauley, thank you very much.

PAULEY: Well, thank you.

MORGAN: Coming on next, Jamie Oliver's mission to save America's kids in obesity -- a very important mission too. And next, weight loss secrets from ever pleasant and outspoken co-host of The View, Sherri Shepherd. And you can see, because it vastly improved her twerking skills. Take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MORGAN: Of course, most common new year resolutions we broken is the dirty (ph) weight loss goal. (inaudible) with Sherri Shepherd who recently lost over 20 pounds and she's keeping off a new book, Plan D, how to lose weight and beat diabetes even when you don't have it. With me now, the hilarious and beautiful co-host of The View, Sherri Sherri Shepherd. Welcome, Sherri, how are you?

SHERRI SHEPERED, CO-HOST, THE VIEW: I'm not twerking, I'm a little tired and, you know, I like to twerk.

MORGAN: Well, I know you do, I couldn't help but notice your hysterical reaction to the footage of you twerking. In fact, so much so I'm going to replay it for you. Here we are. (inaudible). Look at you go, go.

SHEPHERD: That's a grown woman fork (ph) twerking.

MORGAN: Miley Cyrus eat your heart out.

SHEPHERD: Yes, you got to have lived a little life to twerk.

MORGAN: I've had the pleasure being on your show a few times. It's great to have you here. Tell me about Plan D, this book you've written. It's obviously come from personal experience.

SHEPHERD: Absolutely.

MORGAN: Tell me what you went through and what's inspired you here.

SHEPHERD: You know what, my mom inspired me but she was 41 years old when she passed away from the devastating effects of diabetes. And she left three young daughters to kind of fend for themselves in the world. And I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes as well and hadn't changed my life. I was diagnosed a few weeks before I've started The View back in 2007 and I realized I just had this vision, Piers, of my son, five years old, crying because he was trying to figure out where heaven was because that's where everybody said mommy was. And I knew that if I did not change the way I ate -- that's Jeffrey (ph) -- that I was going to die and my son would suffer the same fate that I did when I lost my mother.

So, I had to completely revamp my lifestyle, revamp the way I ate, and it's been a journey of losing weight, eating right, making right choices, starting to love exercise. And I wanted to share that with other people who have fear. I wanted to take the fear of diabetes away. And if you're pre-diabetic, I wanted to show you what you could do to change so that you didn't come over here where I was.

MORGAN: So, what are the key things? I mean, I just had a two-week vacation in Australia where I love to -- love the steaks, drink lots of wine and generally abuse my body in a terribly degrading manner, and now I feel obviously -- .

SHEPHERD: That sounds quite sexy.

MORGAN: Well, I like (inaudible). And how do you tackle that demon that so many tackle all the time? You know, you do quite well over time then you fall off the saddle and you start eating too much, drinking too much. How do you battle the demons up there on your shoulder?

SHEPHERD: Well, number one, I'd say you have to forgive yourself. I'd say you have to be your best friend because if you were to call your best friend and say, "Oh my gosh, I messed up today on my diet. I'm never going to do it. I'm a bad person. Nothing ever works for me," your best friend would say get out of here, that's a bunch a horse crap. You are an amazing person. Look how far you've come, look what you've done, look what you did yesterday. You can do this. And I think that you have to be your own best friend and you have to learn to forgive yourself because this is a journey. This is not a sprint. Is this is life. It's changing your lifestyle. So, that's what I say number one forgive yourself.

Number two, you got to challenge yourself. Get rid of the stuff that you know you're not supposed to be eating. And I know it's hard because nobody ever says my boy friend broke up with me. If you don't give me a plate of broccoli, I'm going to die. You got to learn how to love broccoli, you got to learn how to love kale. I pick kale, you can make kale in a bunch of different ways. (inaudible) it with red and green peppers and garlic and olive oil, the next, say, put the kale in a neutral (inaudible). The next day make kale chip, the next day you can make a kale salad. Four different ways that I make kale. MORGAN: OK, but here's the trouble. Here is the trouble. I can't stand kale.

SHEPHERD: OK.

MORGAN: I think it taste horrible.

SHEPHERD: Well, you whine too much, that's your problem, Piers.

MORGAN: It's like eating proper seaweeds. So what do I do about the fact that I'm allergic to Kale?

SHEPHERD: OK, what -- now, being allergic is one thing and you can't stand it is another. So, which one is it?

MORGAN: No, I'm not really allergic to it. I just feel like an allergy --

SHEPHERD: So, right now you're lying to me, that's your problem right there. You don't to tell me the truth. You just don't like it. So here I go. I would try to make it in a different way. I would -- if you put kale in a neutral (inaudible) with blueberries, strawberries, some yogurt, protein powder, it taste differently than if you would just to eat kale and stuff it in your mouth.

Now, Piers --

MORGAN: What about having inside the Big Mac and large fries I have for lunch?

SHEPHERD: There's your problem again, Piers. (inaudible) because you -- I don't know what's wrong with you.

MORGAN: I've got to (inaudible), but why shouldn't I be allowed the old Big Mac, I mean, you know, they're tasty, I like them.

SHEPHERD: I don't want you to -- you know what, Big Macs are tasty but how do you feel afterwards, Piers? You feel bloated, you feel groggy, you don't have a lot of energy. That's what I want people to take notice of, it does taste good but the feelings afterwards, you don't feel so good about yourself. And so I say challenge yourself to eat food in a different way. And that's what I'm talking about in Plan D, we're just getting a new relationship with food.

And also about exercising, people think that you got spend a whole bunch of money for a trainer. You don't need a trainer. I go to central park. I work out with my son Jeffrey (ph). I do lunge and squats to the dog (ph) on washing machine and dryer. I run up the stairs with Jeffrey (ph). All you got to do is use 30 minutes a day, break it up. You don't have to do 30 minutes at one time. So, it's like you got find ways that work with your lifestyle.

MORGAN: I'm going to start running to my washing machine as a matter of --

SHEPHERD: There you go. MORGAN: -- and I'll be having -- nice kale sandwich buffet tonight.

SHEPHERD: Do butt squat while you're going to your washing machine. Do some butt squat, Piers.

MORGAN: I'm quite getting a butt squat actually. And now, Sherri, you look absolutely fabulous. I congratulate you. Your hair has changed dramatically from this cover of the book. A whole lot you changed.

SHEPHERD: Well, you know, I got a wig line. I got a wig line called Sherri Shepherd now. So, I take this one off, I throw it, I put the other one on. My husband gets to make love to a different women every night which is awesome.

MORGAN: You sound almost a perfect women, Sherri. Shall we come back and see. And the book is called Plan D, how to lose weight and beat Diabetes, New York Times best seller for a reason because it works. Good to see you, Sherri. Thank you very much. SHEPHERD: Thank you, Piers. See you later.

MORGAN: Coming next on my (inaudible) of how to get to a new you for the New Year. Jamie Oliver weighs in on how you can keep your kids healthy and battle childhood obesity, an incredibly important campaign. He's been waiting for quite some time. Let's speak with Jamie after the break.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE OLIVER: Do you as to what this is?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't know.

OLIVER: I need you to know that this is going to kill your children early. We're talking about 10, 13, 14 years of their life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

OLIVER: But we can stop that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORGAN: That was Chef Jamie Oliver. He's made his mission to spread awareness about the obesity threat to America's children. And Jamie Oliver joins now. Welcome to you, Jamie. How are you?

OLIVER: Hello Piers (inaudible).

MORGAN: Spending the last few months trying to work out, who's more unpopular in America right now, me for trying to bring in sensible gun (ph) control or you for trying to bring in sense of portion (ph) control. What's your thoughts?

OLIVER: It's probably you at the moment, Piers, but I'm probably close behind you.

MORGAN: In all seriousness, I think what you've been doing is an extraordinary thing. I talked to you about it before and it's an ongoing mission but it's an uphill battle, isn't it? How do you think you're actually doing in reality? Are you're having much effect? Are you still running up a pretty large hill?

OLIVER: I should think that we've got to the point where we got to the top of the hill. I really believe progress has the capacity to be pushing good things and good ideas downhill now. When I saw you last about this, there were many things that we have to battle against and I am, you know, I've decided to focus my efforts in California because I believe if we can get California moving forward, then the rest of America will follow and then the rest of the world will follow.

So we've had some amazing wins in the last two years. I mean, the (inaudible) have dramatically changed their school food service. We've band flavored milks. We've, you know, brought up the issue of pink slime that went across the fast-food industry that the American public have no idea this thing was in that food.

So I really think, you know, really the stuff that I'm trying to do is just trying to get the conversation going. And get in, you know, and joining up the local people that have been fighting this for many, many years. So that's partly why I'm back in California again and here.

MORGAN: Right, and, you know, reports from the Centers for Disease control, the CDC, shows that child with obesity rates are in a small decline in 19 states including California between 2008 when you started talking about all these in 2011. According to the CDC one out of every eight preschoolers is obese in the US high in African- American and Hispanic kids, what have you found to be the most effective way of talking to kids in particular and their parents about how to change habits?

OLIVER: Well that's a really good point you made. I mean this is definitely the first generation where kids can be expected to teach their parents about food. We've had three generations of working parents. We've had three generations with the ability to learn, to cook at school or where food comes from and how it affects your body in England and America. So this is a very dangerous thing to happen and absolutely I mean I think when it comes to education and food and the environment nature kids love it.

In elementary school, they go crazy for it. The best way to learn that is through weighing and subtracting and baking and sowing seeds and grow and things. You know, the best way, you know, and to learn about biology and stuff like that is to get cooking. So, you know, I think, you know, the one thing for sure is I've never ever met a kid that if they've grown something, cooked it, but they wouldn't eat it. And so, you know, (inaudible) yesterday that's of being doing this for 40 years. I'm inspired me as a 16 year old to do stuff in the U.K. And I do believe that, you know, that decline in every state, you know, is about awareness and people talking about it. And, you know, I think the best is yet to come here. I really do. MORGAN: Well, keep up with the good work. And a couple of quick other things I want to ask you about. One was you recently revealed that you were once asked by a TV producer to cook a meal using human flesh. You said that you didn't but you've also said that human flesh taste like pork. And that prompts the obvious question, how do you know?

OLIVER: Well, mainly because most people used pig ingredients, sorry, pork parts in surgery and stuff like that. And it would be inappropriate to say about how I would know otherwise but, yes, I think that probably that nails that (ph).

MORGAN: You know, so are you a cannibal then, Jamie?

OLIVER: No. Definitely no. Definitely no.

MORGAN: (inaudible) matter and someone we both know quite well, Nigella Lawson is being on all the news back, pretty ugly cold case. What are your thoughts about Nigella? She's being well, I'm sure, trashed in that case but I can't help feeling very sorry for her. I like here very much. What is your thought?

OLIVER: I love Nigella. She's a beautiful lady. She's a good person. I, you know, I wouldn't want that sort of stuff to drive through the press if it was me. You know, I think the good news is, you know, she'll be fine. I think people still love her and respect her for being a great writer and cook. And, you know, when those kind of stage show start in the U.K., you know, it's quite hard to stop it. And, you know, it probably hasn't stopped yet but, you know, I send her all my love and regards and, you know.

MORGAN: Yeah. I completely agree. I think Nigella is supposed to be good and I think she'll come back stronger than ever after all. Jamie, good to talk to you. The Food Revolution TV series is back. And here's also his big rig mobile kitchen classroom driving across California as part of (inaudible). Keep up the good work, mate. It's very important that Americans take what you say seriously --

OLIVER: Thank you very much.

MORGAN: -- having a real effect. I appreciate it.

Coming up next, the latest on the coast to coast deep freeze, going back to Chad Myers for an update.

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