Today the ladies of The View were joined by guest co-host Michaela Watkins who does a fabulous Arianna Huffington impersonation!  She is also going to be on a new Netflix series entitled Wet Hot American Summer with Bradley Cooper.

Weather or Not:  New York City did not get hit as badly by this week’s blizzard as the mayor predicted.  Nicolle thinks he’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t.  She said he would have also been blamed had he not warned the city and they got slammed by a storm.  Whoopi thinks we should all pay attention to the meteorologists regardless.  Rosie agreed.  She said whenever she’s on a flight with turbulence, if the flight attendants appear concerned, she gets scared.  She looks to the experts to know how she should react and feels the same about the weather.  Rosie had 5 kids home with her yesterday during the snowstorm and thanks to Apple products, everyone had their own entertainment to ride out the storm!  Rosie binge-watched the series Wentworth, an Australian female prison drama and she loved it.  Michaela loved how verbose New Yorkers were when the storm didn’t deliver as promised. She said if there was a weather event like that in Los Angeles, it would have been so epic they would have already sold the movie rights to it.

School Is Closed:  There’s a principal in Providence, Rhode Island whose video has gone viral for the way he announced the snow day.  Rosie gave him a standing ovation!  Watch the video below and you’ll see why…

Money Talks: Over 100 million people will be watching the Super Bowl this Sunday and yesterday the Patriots and Seahawks sat down for media day interviews.  Seattle’s Marshawn Lynch didn’t have much to say to the press so he repeated, “I’m here so I won’t get fined” twenty-five times during an interview yesterday!  Whoopi pointed out that football players are contractually obligated to speak to the media and Nicolle wondered why.  Rosie said it’s similar to when an actor does a movie.  She said the studio invests a lot of money in the actor’s salary and in the production of the movie so actors are required to do promotion events for the movie.  Michaela thinks actors are more naturally inclined to speaking to the press and didn’t know why it would be necessary for football players. Nicolle said if she was doing media training for professional football players and one of them told her they didn’t want to talk to the press, she would have begged to get someone else.  Nicolle didn’t think he should have to do it and she admired his message.  Rosie liked it too!  Whoopi said that everyone doesn’t do press events well, yet everyone wants to look their best in front of the media.  She doesn’t think they should force the players to speak when they clearly don’t want to.

Ad Nauseum: GoDaddy just pulled their Super Bowl commercial that was set to air on Sunday after animal rights groups took issue with it.  Watch the ad here.  Nicolle can’t be neutral when puppies are involved.  She doesn’t think the ad is cute or funny.  She uses GoDaddy but thinks the ad is in terrible taste.  Rosie didn’t know why Nicolle was so offended by the ad because she just purchased a purebred dog from a breeder.  Nicolle thinks it makes light of the connection between humans and animals.  Rosie didn’t find it so horrific and said she owns some purebred dogs herself.  Michaela, who admittedly still has PTSD from the movie Benji, said to her the ad offended her not because the dog was a purebred being sold on the Internet, but because of the woman’s cold-hearted attitude.  And she worried about the actress who bragged about booking a Super Bowl ad that’s now been pulled!  Nicolle admitted to watching the Super Bowl for the commercials and Rosie wondered why they’re releasing them before the big day!  She thinks it ruins part of the fun.

A new commercial by UltraViolet is taking aim at the way the NFL is handling domestic violence. Watch the ad here. Whoopi thinks the ad is “an interesting addition” and reminded everyone that not all football players are domestic abusers.  Rosie thinks they would have gotten a more emotional response if they had shown an act of domestic violence instead of a woman being tackled for 1/8^th of a second on a football field. Nicolle felt like the ad highlighted the collision of the two issues – football and domestic violence.

Idol Banter: American Idol winner Phillip Phillips is suing the show’s production in an attempt to escape his oppressive contract that he felt manipulated him into accepting jobs that hurt his career.  Rosie said the contract reminded her of the “old studio system” where they would sign actors for one movie and then commit you for a five year deal with the studio.  Then the studio would “lend” you out to other studios.  She sort of understood what Phillip was saying.  Back in the day, Rosie was on a show called Star Search that launched many careers.  But, she said, there was no obligation to Star Search after you won.  She doesn’t think American Idol should have the right to own the talent of the entertainers for five years when they’re already getting them to perform for free on TV.  Nicolle read the show’s response which stated that the company has always acted in the best interest of Phillip and they’re proud of everything they’ve accomplished together.  They also said they would vigorously defend themselves against the accusation that they haven’t always had Phillip’s best interest in mind.  Nicolle thinks maybe there should be a middle ground because she said she never would have bought Phillip’s CD if it wasn’t for the show.  Michaela who works on Saturday Night Live said one could say the same thing about that show launching the careers of actors.  She said you don’t get rich performing on SNL but you do get famous and the show doesn’t own you afterwards.  She thinks the artist should have the right to choose whether to have the show act as manager.

Family Values: Alabama’s only openly gay legislator Patricia Todd said she will expose politicians having extramarital affairs trying to block the state’s marriage equality bill who cite family values as their reason.  Michaela thinks they are totally separate issues and we should make gay marriage legal because it’s the right thing to do not because we’re holding someone hostage.  Nicolle thinks Patricia’s point is that in politics, there’s a lot of hypocrisy and politicians who hold “family values” as their reasoning shouldn’t have that right if they don’t hold “family values” in their own lives.  Rosie thinks you never want to become what you loathe but you should aim to rise above it.  She understands Patricia’s anger and her reasoning but doesn’t think it’s a morality contest.  Rosie said simply, “Equality is about the Constitution and everybody should have the same rights.”

Zombie Cat: Bart the cat, who was hit by a car and presumed dead so his owner buried him, has risen from the dead!   For 5 days the family mourned the cat’s passing and then suddenly Bart showed up!  He actually dug himself out of the grave!  He was taken to a vet and though he may lose an eye, they expect him to recover.

Guests:

Oscar Isaac:  Oscar stars as an honest business man who will not bow to organized crime in A Most Violent Year.  Rosie first saw Oscar in Madonna’s film W.E. and she was surprised he was American because he did such a convincing accent in the film!  Oscar said his second language is Spanish but he moved to the United States when he was 3-years-old.  The film A Most Violent Year is set in 1981 which was statistically one of the most violent years in New York’s history.  Jessica Chastain co-stars with Oscar in the film and he said they are longtime friends.  They went to Julliard together and they have always stayed in contact since school.  When the actor who was originally cast on the film backed out of the project, Jessica pitched him to the Director and he got the job!  A Most Violent Year will be in theaters nationwide on Friday (Jan. 30th). Go see it!

Master Baking with Mario: Mario Cantone and Rosie made banana bread together!  He told her he is sick of her Frozen and making him craft.  He said she’s making him into a lesbian so he’s making her bake with him as a payback!  Rosie admitted the only thing she knows how to bake is slice and bake Nestle Toll House cookies.  Mario said, “That’s cheating!”

To make Mario’s banana bread:  Take 8 ripe bananas and mash them in a bowl.  In another bowl, sift together 2 cups of flour, ¾ of a teaspoon of baking soda, 2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1¼ teaspoon of salt.  In another bowl cream together 1 ¾ cup of sugar and 2 sticks of soft butter.  Add 3 eggs to the sugar/butter mixture and continue mixing.  Combine all the ingredients together and mix thoroughly.  Pour banana bread mixture into two greased banana bread loaf pans.  Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 50 minutes.

If you’re in New York City, Mario sells his banana bread at Stone Street Coffee on 19^th Street and 9^th Avenue in New York City!

Take a little time to enjoy The View!

written by Kelly Weist
KidRo Productions              

Rosie was sick today.  No recap.

Stay safe in the storm East Coasters!

xo

Kelly Weist

Today on The View Rosie and Nicolle were joined by the fabulous Mario Cantone and the incredibly stylish Stacy London!  Whoopi was home resting her back for another day and Rosie P will be back February 3^rd!

Body Beautiful:  Stacy thinks Rosie needs to wear brighter colors because she really believes color effects one’s mood.  And Stacy complimented Mario on his blue shirt.  He thanked her but said he didn’t get the “gay fashion gene.”  His husband picked out his outfit for him today.  Mario joked that he tends to go for black…men, oops he meant clothing.  The panel discussed the day when Rosie wore a dress on The View.  She called it traumatizing but promised to do it again on Valentine’s Day and again on her birthday!  Stacy referred to the term “weight whiplash” when someone loses weight and it takes time for the brain to catch up to your body.  She said it works in the same way when you gain weight too.  Before Rosie had her surgery, when she would gain weight she wouldn’t see the difference in herself until she saw a photograph of herself.  Stacy said people wear black because they think it makes them look slimmer but in fact, that’s not true.  Nicolle thinks perhaps one of the good things Kim Kardashian has contributed to society is a greater acceptance of having a big behind.  Mario said he used to be a chunky child and he believes those memories have stayed with him his entire life.  Stacy said Freud said the way we feel about our physical body is closely connected to our self-esteem.

Next week, they’re going to have on Rosie’s doctor who performed her gastric sleeve surgery to explain what it entailed.  The surgery was literally a life-saver for her as she had a heart attack two years ago.  She has lost about 60 pounds since the surgery and said she feels so much better and has more energy!  However, she does feel vulnerable sometimes.  The day she wore the sexy dress on The View she had therapy after the show and the entire therapy session was about how she felt in that dress.  The therapist asked her if she felt sexy in the dress, which she did not.  But she felt like everyone else thought she looked sexy and that made her uncomfortable.  Mario said he feels uncomfortable when another gay man flirts with him.  Nicolle feels it’s a greater compliment when a gay man praises her on how she looks than when a straight friend does it.  So, Mario and Rosie both piled on the compliments for Nicolle.  🙂

Nice Try: This is the week when most people break their New Year’s resolutions, especially the ones regarding exercise.  Rosie’s resolution was to do yoga and so far, she’s done it only twice.  Mario was going to work out more and it wasn’t until two days ago that he started doing it.  Stacy didn’t make any resolutions, she said she puts enough pressure on herself already.  Nicolle’s resolution was to make all the medical and dental appointments she’s been putting off since she started the program back in September.

Performance Anxiety: Rosie was supposed to take her kids this weekend to see Linkin Park.  Her teens love the band but she didn’t really know much about them.  The concert was supposed to be Sunday night in Brooklyn but she’s found out the best news, one of the guys in the band broke his leg!  The concert was canceled and she was relieved!  She told her kids she was going to tell that story on the show and Chelsea asked her to give her 30 minutes to actually sit and listen to their music before she goes out and bashes them.  So Rosie did and she thought it was actually really good music!  Stacy said there’s even a nail polish named Lincoln Park After Dark.  Rosie said her kids don’t want to go to Barry Manilow with her so they each have to make exceptions for each other sometimes.

Lucky Dog:  There is a dog that currently gets a $100,000 a year allowance.  She’s treated to lavish shopping sprees and is set to inherit $1.8 million from her owner who considers her the daughter she never had.  Nicolle said, as the person at the table who probably has the most inappropriate relationship with her dog, “The dog doesn’t need the money!  Find a human!”  She thinks the owner should give the money to a charity or to a person who really loves dogs.  Rosie thinks it’s all just really a message to her sons.  Mario said it’s very “Joan Crawford” of her.   

Kale No: A new Zagat survey of food trends claims that kale and bacon are over.  Mario hates kale so he said, “Hallelujah!”  Nicolle agreed.  She said there is nothing you can do to kale to make it “not taste like dirt.” Stacy’s sister is a nutritionist and says that kale has a lot of nutritional properties but she calls kale “the Kim Kardashian of vegetables.”  Kale gets all the publicity but there are many other dark leafy greens that are very nutritious.  Rosie likes putting kale in the oven and making kale chips.  Mario said Rosie stole that idea from Barbra Streisand and he did a hilarious Barbra Streisand impersonation which sent Rosie over the edge!  Rosie told Mario to never impersonate her Barbra in front of her and Mario said, “No one loves Barbra more than me!”  Rosie asked Mario when Barbra’s birthday is and he didn’t know!  Then the duo broke out into Don’t Rain on My Parade and went to commercial.

Rosie’s Crafty-U:  Rosie and Mario made sand candles together! (<—–click to watch the video)  Mario said now that they’ve done a craft segment together he wants to do a baking segment entitled “Master-baking with Mario.”  He said he’s the greatest master-baker in the country!  Rosie was surprised!  No one ever told her he was a “master-baker” before.  Think you have what it takes to make it into Crafty-U?  Tweet pics of your masterpieces to The View or post them on Instagram using the hashtag #RosiesCraftyU. Or go to their website and maybe you’ll get the chance to come on The View and craft with them!

Joshua Malina: Scandal’s Josh Malina joined Nicolle, Rosie and Stacy to discuss the latest scoop about the series. Even though Olivia Pope disappeared on the final episode of last season, most would assume since she’s the star of the series  she will return!  But Rosie said the series Game of Thrones ruined that concept for her forever when they killed off one of their major stars.  Rosie and Josh discussed their mutual friend Dan Bucatinsky who won an Emmy award for his role on Scandal and then was killed off!  Josh joked if winning an Emmy has any thing to do with being killed off, he will always be safe.  Josh is also a good friend of Aaron Sorkin, whom Nicolle adores.  Josh and Aaron worked together in A Few Good Men and The West Wing but he said he’s a true Broadway boy at heart.  He knew from the first Broadway show he ever saw that was what he wanted to do.  Rosie said the same thing happened to her when she saw her first Broadway performance.  Scandal will be back next Thursday (1/29) at 9pm on ABC!  Don’t miss it!

Sherri VandenAkker and Rosie

Documentary Filmmaker Sherri VandenAkker:  Millions of women in America are battling alcoholism right now, many of them in silence.  My Name Was Bette: The Life and Death of an Alcoholic is one woman’s story of how alcohol shaped her life.  Sherri VandenAkker, the filmmaker, joined Rosie in a personal one-on-one interview to discuss how her mother’s alcoholism affected her.  Rosie told Sherri she was moved by Sherri’s courage, strength and ability to forgive.  Sherri said her mother’s death was tragic and shocking and yet she knew she was going to die from alcohol eventually.  She really wanted to bring some meaning to her death and she wanted to get a sense of who her mother was before the disease of alcoholism completely destroyed her mom.

Sherri said growing up, she knew there was a lot of anger and tension in her house but she didn’t really know why.  The most powerful piece of healing for Sherri came when she could separate her mom from her disease.  She was able to get angry at the disease and stop directing the anger at her mom.  She said her mother had dreams for her daughters and she had dreams for herself but the illness took all of that away.  Her mom once told Sherri it was easier for her to stay drunk than to get sober and face the things she did when she was drunk.  Sherri said it took her a long time to get to the place of forgiveness with her mom.  She had to come to terms with her own depression and anxiety and realize her mother was really self-medicating.  She had to come to the conclusion that her mother wasn’t the disease but that she had the disease and the disease was winning.  It wasn’t until Sherri realized how many things she values about her own personality and her own dreams due to her mother, that she could she be grateful to be her daughter.  Rosie loved the documentary and said Sherri shined a light on alcoholism in women and also on the peace that can come with forgiveness.  You can watch My Name Was Bette HERE on Amazon Prime.

Closing Statements: Stacy London’s Love Lust or Run premieres on TLC Friday January 23rd at 9pm!  Mario is hosting the 2015 Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards: Imagine a World Without AIDS, in Palm Springs February 7^th!   

Take a little time to enjoy The View!

written by Kelly Weist
KidRo Productions    

Today on The View, Nicolle and Rosie were joined by singer Michelle Williams and YouTube sensation Colleen Ballinger.  Whoopi was taking another day to heal her back and Rosie Perez returns to The View on Tuesday February, 3^rd!  Colleen has an unbelievable YouTube channel called Miranda Sings that has over 325 million views and has 3 million subscribers!  Colleen said she got the idea for the YouTube channel after she started going to school with a bunch of vocal performance majors who were very cocky and really rude to her.  So she poked fun at them a bit on her YouTube channel and now she’s hosting The View!

Michelle Williams, Nicolle, Colleen Ballinger & Rosie!

Hot Topics:

Battle of the Balls: The deflate-gate scandal is calling for the Patriots to be disqualified from the Super Bowl.  Rosie actually agrees.  Coach Belichick spoke at a press conference earlier this morning and said he had nothing to do with it.  He also said, “I don’t handle the balls.” Rosie said as a lesbian she can say that too! Rosie thinks the team shouldn’t go to the Super Bowl if they were cheating but Michelle respectfully disagreed.  She feels like other teams have probably done things that could get them a point or two in the past too.  Because Nicolle isn’t a football expert, she asked her husband about this issue and he said it makes it a lot easier to throw and catch a football when they’re a little deflated.  She thinks the Patriots should lose their win and a team that didn’t deflate their balls should go to the Super Bowl.  Colleen said at least they cheated using deflated balls because it gives them so many funny things to talk about.  Rosie asked if the Patriots are picked on so much because they’re good or because they cheat better.  Michelle likes the Patriots and thinks it was an accident.  Nicolle said the Patriots actually scored more points in the second half of the game after the balls had been reinflated.

Show Me Your Login: A new cyberbullying law allows schools to force students to hand over their social media passwords if the school suspects the child of bullying.  Michelle said she was for it.  She thinks parents are oftentimes in denial about what their children are capable of and since she was a bullied child, she has a low tolerance for bullying.  Colleen has strong feelings against the law.  Firstly, she feels like parents should be involved before they bypass them and access the student’s social media accounts.  But she does like that schools are trying to do something to combat cyberbullying because she witnesses it every day.  Rosie thinks until kids are 18-years-old parents have the right to monitor their kids’ social media accounts and online activity.  She has an app on her computer called Teen Safe that allows her to monitor her teens online.  Nicolle believes if one child’s life is saved because of this new law, she’s all for it.  She thinks that snooping is a higher priority than the privacy of a teenager.  Colleen doesn’t think it will really prevent anything to delete a teen’s Twitter account.  She said if they’re a true cyberbully, the teen will just create another account and keep doing it.  Rosie has wrestled with the concept of going off all social media herself.  Now, if Rosie brings out her phone while she and her young daughter Dakota are coloring or playing together, Dakota will grab the phone and say, “No, Mommy, no!”  Dakota wants her full attention!  She said iPhones, in a way, have ruined their lives because they have made us want to record every single moment.  Colleen agreed and said her niece and nephew just want to play with her iPhone whenever they’re together rather than interact with her.

First Kiss Freak Out: A grade-school boy named Griffin has gone viral for a video he made describing his first kiss!  (watch the video below)  Colleen was 16 when she had her first kiss and it wasn’t even a real kiss, it was a stage kiss, but Rosie said that still counts.  Nicolle doesn’t even remember her first kiss and Michelle’s first kiss was in church!  Rosie remembers her first kiss well.  It was with Craig Blitz who lived in Dix Hills, New York.  They were playing basketball together in her driveway and the ball bounced into the garage.  He followed her in to get it and he kissed her! Then two weeks later, he stole a ring from his mom’s jewelry box and gave it to her.  She loved the ring but his mom alerted the school and the principal called Rosie down to the office to ask her where she got it.  She ended up having to give it back.

Watch Griffin as he describes his first kiss…

Baby Bulletin:  Chelsea Clinton says she reads the newspaper to her infant daughter every morning.  Rosie thought that was “interesting and little bit odd.” Nicolle said after the Newtown tragedy, she and her husband don’t have the news on in the house anymore.  She doesn’t want her child to ingest the negativity.  She realizes he’ll have access to all the news on the Internet someday but said she doesn’t want it a part of their daily lives.  Nicolle said she wouldn’t choose to read the news to her son but she said she’s sure that Chelsea’s daughter will be just as smart as all the other Clintons.  Michelle said Charlotte Clinton might be a co-host on The View someday, who knows!

Quit Calling Me Cougar:  Jennifer Lopez’s The Boy Next Door opens tomorrow (1/23) and in the film J-Lo gets involved with a much younger man.  However, she has a problem with people calling her a “cougar” in real life when she enters into a relationship with a man who is younger than her.  Mostly, because no man is ever called a cougar.  They are congratulated.  Colleen said there’s definitely a negative connotation with women dating younger men but if an older man dates a younger woman he’s celebrated.  She thinks that’s ridiculous.  Rosie said it’s definitely a double-standard.   Madonna for example, doesn’t care what anyone thinks about who she dates.  She chooses to date the person she loves no matter their age or what anyone says.  Rosie was always inspired by how Madonna embraces her sexuality.  Michelle, who is single, joked that she would rather go for the older guy with a senior discount at this point.

In Google We Trust: In a brand new survey, Google is now a more trusted news source than TV and print journalism.  Michelle enjoys Google because now there is no excuse for being ignorant.  She likes that you can find out the truth in real time.  Nicolle said she’s still a “dinosaur” and reads three newspapers every morning but she does think Google helps marriages.  She thinks it’s a great tool for couples to clear up disagreements immediately.  She and her husband have settled political disputes using Google and Rosie thought it was so cute that Nicolle fights about politics with her husband.  Colleen and her fiancé have argued and had to use Google to find the correct pronunciation of words.  Colleen met her fiancé after he saw her YouTube videos!  He messaged her on Facebook and they started chatting.  The day they met in person they said, “I love you.”   Rosie said Colleen’s story is a little like Frozen!  Michelle thinks she must be doing something wrong because she’s still single.  And she said maybe she should start a YouTube channel like Colleen!  Nicolle thinks Michelle is a wonderful person and she’ll surely find the right person someday.  Michelle joked that whoever it is, he will have to be able to “handle her crazy.”  Rosie said that’s the requirement of all partners.  She said everyone comes with baggage and baggage can also be seen as experience.  Rosie said, “You don’t get to be where you are right now without everything that’s happened to you in the past.  And the great news is, the past is in the past.”

And that whole conversation reminded me of this scene from The Lion King, so here it is for your enjoyment!  🙂

Guests:

David Hyde Pierce: David is making trouble for Julianna Margulies in The Good Wife and making his directorial debut on Broadway in the new musical It Shoulda Been You.  Firstly, he told Michelle, if he wasn’t already married, he would marry her!  Awwwwwww.  He said his new musical It Shoulda Been You is in pre-production right now and it’s very exciting!  His husband wrote the book and the cast has many stars including the talented Tyne Daly!  Rosie asked David if he’s ever been to one of Tyne’s poker parties at her house.  He hasn’t, but said he learned from Tyne, who he said has “the best legs on Broadway,” to always take the stairs instead of the elevator.  Nicolle said she is obsessed with The Good Wife. David plays Julianna’s political opponent on the show and Nicolle wanted to know if this is going to be a dirty campaign.  He said it’s going to get dirtier!  He tapes an episode of The Good Wife tonight and he still doesn’t know if he wins or loses the election!

David talked about what a huge Broadway guy he is.  He said his very first play was entitled Beyond Therapy and it was performed at the same theater where he is going to have his directorial debut.  Rosie saw David in Heidi Chronicles and thought he was fantastic.  Michelle asked David if there will ever be a Frasier reunion and he said they have them all the time, but they happen in private.   It Shoulda Been You begins previews on March 17^th and opens on April 14^th. But you can buy tickets now!

Mike Huckabee: Mike Huckabee joined the ladies to discuss his new book God, Guns, Grits and Gravy  and to also discuss his political aspirations when it comes to the next presidential campaign.  Nicolle complimented Mike about how great he is at standing alone in his political beliefs, even when he’s surrounded by those that don’t agree.  Mike said he is a conservative but he’s “not mad at anyone about it.”  He believes in the ability to have conversations with people that may not agree with him.  One of the things that bothers Mike about politics today, is that so many people make it “hostile and polarizing.”  He thinks people can have the sharpest of disagreements in the kindest of ways.  He recalled when he joined Rosie on her radio program Rosie Radio.  They had a wonderful conversation about gay marriage.  Rosie agreed.  She said they have different views but they were able to come to a “mutual understanding.”

Nicolle flat out asked Mike if he was going to run for president.  He said he left his very successful show on Fox News and if he doesn’t run, he has to be the dumbest man around to leave a good gig like that! (Though he wouldn’t say for sure if he was running.)  Mike’s wife wanted him to run for president in 2012 but he didn’t think it was the right time and he also didn’t think it was a good idea to run against a very popular, incumbent president.  And after the election was over she said to him, “You were right.”  Three of the best words he’s ever heard!  Colleen asked Mike what makes him different from the other Republican candidates running for President and he joked, “I’m on The View and they’re not!”  More seriously, Mike said all the other Republican candidates are “good guys” and he’s not going to say anything bad about them.  He always finds it disingenuous when candidates bash each other in a primary campaign and then praise who ever gets the nomination at the convention.

They played a lightning round where Nicolle gave Mike a few words and he had to say what first came to mind:

President Obama:  Mike said he is a good man but missed his opportunity to work with the legislature and build relationships with the people in Congress.  Rosie said some of the people in Congress have not been open to having that relationship with the president either.  Mike agreed but said it is up to the president to make the effort.  And Mike said he believes in term limits for members of Congress.  He said Washington has become “The Roach Motel: They go in but they never go out.”  Rosie totally agreed.

Beyonce: Mike said she’s an amazing singer and unbelievable dancer but she doesn’t need to do songs like Partition and Drunk In Love in order to be an effective and amazing talent.  Michelle loves Beyonce and thinks she chose to do those songs in order to shed the “good girl” image. Michelle thinks Beyonce had some freedom and she “owned it.”  Michelle respects Mike but was definitely offended by his comments about her girl, Bey.  Mike said a lot of what people are reacting to are the headlines and how reporters have spun the story, not what he actually said in the book.

Audience Giveaway: Everyone in the studio audience received a pair of tickets to It Shoulda Been You and Mike Huckabee’s new book entitled God, Guns, Grits and Gravy.

Take a little time to enjoy The View!

written by Kelly Weist
KidRo Productions

Today on The View, Whoopi was back along with Nicolle and Rosie.  Rosie P is still absent because she’s rehearsing her Broadway show for the month of January.  They were joined by guest co-host, comedian and author of I Can Barely Take Care of Myself: Tales from a Happy Life Without Kids, Jen Kirkman!

Hot Topics:

State Of the Union:  Last night President Obama delivered his 6^th State of the Union address to the nation. He spoke very confidently and declared that the shadow of crisis has passed in America.  Whoopi thought his message that things are better today than it was when I took over, was a great one!  Nicolle got to be part of ABC’s SOTU coverage and she was surprised the national news didn’t lead with the SOTU address which was to air just two hours later.  She thinks the President’s SOTU address should be the biggest story in the country and what she learned working for a President, is that a President has little ability to influence the debate.  She also thought Obama had “swagger” last night and he deserves it because being the President is a really hard job.  But on the Republican side of the aisle, she said they were very skeptical of the substance and tone of his speech.  She thought he could have extended some sort of olive branch to the other side.  Whoopi wanted to know if Nicolle thinks he didn’t reach out to the other side because every Republican in that room doesn’t even believe he’s actually an American citizen.  Whoopi thinks Obama did the best he could with the “really crappy hand he was dealt.”  He managed to get health care passed, passed stimulus, he passed a bill that reformed Wall Street, ended the war in Iraq, captured and killed Osama Bin Laden, etc.  Nicolle would rather some conservative principles be a part of his agenda.  She thinks he missed an opportunity to pass tax reforms.  Jen thinks it’s because he’s a black man that they called him “cocky” rather than simply appearing confident.

Response-Ability: Joni Ernst did the Republican rebuttal to which Rosie said, “Proving that anyone in the world can be a Senator.”  In defense of Ernst, Nicolle said doing the rebuttal following the SOTU is the “worst assignment in politics.”   Whoopi appreciated Joni’s statement about putting bread bags over her shoes on rainy days to keep them dry because she only owned one pair.  Whoopi said she and many people in this country could relate to those sentiments.  Nicolle did admit it was an “awkward performance to watch.”  But she thinks it’s important that Iowa has sent a woman to Washington [regardless of the woman, apparently].  And she’s happy to see another Republican woman getting national attention [regardless of the attention, negative or not]. Whoopi invited Joni Ernst to The View so she could communicate her message in a more relaxed setting.

Soft Balls:  There is an investigation taking place over whether The Patriots purposefully deflated their footballs for the game on Sunday.  Eleven out of the twelve balls that they used to beat the Colts were underinflated.  Jen thinks they should take their wins away though she’s grateful this is not another NFL scandal involving domestic abuse.  Rosie believes they should let the other team go to the Super Bowl now!

UFO Files Land Online: The Air Force has released their UFO files online and people are very excited over this information!  Jen said she believes in aliens and thinks it’s the right time for us to have a little distraction from what’s going on in the world today.  Rosie believes in aliens too.  When she thinks about the vast universe she said there’s no way we’re the only lifeforms.  Whoopi wondered why release the files now.  Nicolle loves that the files are coming out under a Democratic administration because no one will suspect a government cover-up now.

A New Reptile Species: There’s a new reptile species that precedes dinosaurs.  There was a diagram and an attempt at an explanation by Whoopi.  That’s all I know.

Snack On This: The red velvet Oreo is here, just in time for Valentine’s Day!  Rosie said red velvet cake is just chocolate cake with red food coloring so really they were eating just red-dyed Oreos.  Jen thinks it’s horrible timing to release this new product right now because people are still trying to stick to their new year’s resolutions!  Whoopi is an avid Oreo fan and she remembered when she and her mother used to have “lick contests.”  Rosie’s mom used to get mad at her when she would dunk her Oreos in her milk and after her mother died, Rosie was desperately trying to think of one good thing about her mother’s passing.  All she could think of was, “I can dunk my Oreos now.”  Every time she has an Oreo she thinks of her mother.

Invisible Boyfriend: There’s a new app called Invisible Boyfriend that sends texts and calls to convince people around you that you have a boyfriend.  Rosie said they must never forget Jan Brady and her fake boyfriend, George Glass!   She thinks the app should be named “George Glass.”  Jen feels like if someone is judging her for being single, that’s their problem, not hers.  Jen also said you can wear a fake ring to keep a guy away who’s hitting on you.  Whoopi thinks you should just tell people the truth.

Guests:

Stacy London:  Stacy London became a style icon for telling people what not to wear and now she’s helping people who need to take down their look a notch, in her new TLC show Love, Lust or Run.  Stacy said her new show is really about “taking the temperature” of the general public.  The general public is shown a picture of a woman who is in a very extreme fashion and they’re allowed to say whether they love the look, whether they lust after her or whether their clothes make them want to run.  Then she shows the women what people are saying about them.  Normally, Stacy would not care what the general public thinks about how she or anyone else dresses but when you’re getting in your own way and not getting what you want out of life because of the way you dress, she said you need this sort of intervention.

The fabulous Karen Dupiche and Yancey Edwards!

They invited a woman named Amanda from Brooklyn who dresses in an extreme way to come on the show for a makeover.  Amanda asked Stacy for a toned-down look to better help the way she was perceived in the world.  Karen Dupiche, a View makeup artist and Yancey Edwards, a View hair stylist gave Amanda a makeover along with the stylings of Stacy London.  Amanda revealed her new look and she looked beautiful and still edgy!  Karen and Yancey explained what they did for Amanda’s new look and Yancey said, “She was, “yancified!”  You can follow Karen on Twitter and Instagram and Yancey on Twitter and Instagram.  Love, Lust or Run premieres Friday, January 23^rd on TLC.  Members of the studio audience received one of Stacy’s favorite style essentials, Stylette.

Yancey, Nicolle, Stacy London, Amanda, Karen, Rosie & Jen!

Natasha Bedingfield:  Natasha Bedingfield joined The View ladies to discuss her new song she wrote entitled Hope that the brand Philosophy asked her to write about mental health.  She and her husband wrote it together and it’s meant to inspire people who struggle with mental health issues.   She also discussed with Whoopi and Nicolle her song Unwritten, one of Whoopi’s favorite songs, that Natasha wrote for her little brother.  She’s working with her husband on a new album right now!  Natasha performed her new song Hope for the audience.

Rosie and Natasha Bedingfield

Update: Jen Kirkman is on tour right now performing her comedy special entitled I’m Going to Die Alone and I Feel Fine.  You can get more information about her tour dates here.  Come on out and see her!

Take a little time to enjoy The View!

written by Kelly Weist
KidRo Productions