Comedienne Rachel Feinstein joined the ladies of The View as guest co-host for the day!  Rachel is getting her own show on comedy central!  She said the show, produced by Amy Schumer, will be based on several of the characters from her stand-up act.  She said they will also do skits and “social experiments” on the show.   Rosie O joked about how much Rachel’s boyfriend, the Executive Producer of Impractical Jokers, looks like her!  Rosie O said for years her children have told her she looks exactly like Rachel’s boyfriend.  She said, “He’s me, as a boy!  We look exactly alike!”

Here’s a clip of Rosie O on Impractical Jokers!

Hot Topics:

Sony Leaks:  There are now leaked emails of Sony executives discussing the new comedy The Interview saying the movie isn’t very good which is ironic because it’s clear that if the North Korean government hacked Sony it’s because of this movie.  In a new hacked email, Amy Pascal says the trend of A-list actors doing TV is as big as the trend of Hollywood actors adopting kids from Africa.  Whoopi thought that was a really dumb thing to say.  Nicolle doesn’t think our outrage makes any sense.  She said Hollywood loves a good story about hacked emails when they get to tell it in a film but not at all when it’s about them.  Rachel liked the George Clooney email that was leaked because it proved to her that fame doesn’t solve anything. She said even when you have money and fame you still have the same insecurities as everyone else.  Whoopi said when you’re a big actor like George Clooney and you make a movie that doesn’t even make enough money to cover its cost, you get worried because it means you might not get the opportunity again.  Rosie P thinks George Clooney doesn’t just care about the money but also cares because he’s an artist and always wants to produce good work.  Rosie O said we all must remember even some of Picasso’s paintings were terrible!  And she said you put just as much work into the movies that bomb as the ones that hit it big.  Rachel compared it to doing her stand-up every night and how you always remember that one guy in the audience with his arms folded, who’s not laughing at any of your jokes.  Nicolle said Howard Stern likened the data dump to a terrorist attack and said we, as Americans, should rally around Sony in support.  Nicolle thought he was joking but Rosie O said he was very serious when he said that.  Rosie O also mentioned a recent article written by Aaron Sorkin of the same sentiment.  Sorkin believes we should not participate in the consumption of the stolen material.  Nicolle said we must remember that no one was hurt and all really we learned was that sometimes famous people are jerks too.

The Elf Is Watching You: Some people think the Elf on the Shelf teaches children to accept a surveillance state.  Nicolle admitted she still has a monitor in her son’s room and when her son goes to bed he points to it and says, “Mommy’s eyes see me.” So, she can’t really talk about the “surveillance” issue being wrong.  Rosie P said this whole idea is stupid to her because Santa was a spy too!  She was constantly paranoid he was watching her!  She sees no difference between Elf on the Shelf and Santa.

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray: Mayor de Blasio and his wife joined the ladies to discuss the recent protests that have erupted in NYC following the Eric Garner case.  Whoopi asked the mayor how he’s planning to address the protests.  He said they are addressing them right now by retraining the police force in how to have a better relationship with the community, how to deescalate situations and how to only use violent force when necessary.  He said they are also starting a body camera program to give police the advantage of being able to prove exactly what happened in each situation they encounter.  Mayor de Blasio said the training process for the body cameras also helps police stop and think about each step they are going to make when they interact with the community.  He said the majority of the protests have been peaceful but those protests that have not been peaceful only serve to denigrate their cause and they will not be tolerated.  Nicolle asked the mayor if he agonizes over his poor approval rating.  She said it shocked her because she thought it was clear to everyone that saw the video that the police used excessive force.  He said he doesn’t take the approval ratings too seriously because he believes this is a temporary moment of pain.  He said this situation has caused a rehashing of a racial divide in this country that we have to overcome.

Chirlane said she and her kids try to remain positive about the situation at home and focus on how they would like to move ahead.   Bill and Chirlane had to sit down with their eldest son when he was just 11-years-old to have a conversation about race and the police.  They explained to him that the police are there to respect you, and that he has to respect the police.  And yet, they felt the need to explain the history in this country when it comes to the police and the black community.   They basically told him to be very careful and some people interpreted that as a lack of respect for the police.  But he said they have immense respect for the police and the message they were trying to get across was once of respect and not ignoring the history.  Rosie P’s cousin is a retired NYC police officer and she believes in the NYPD though she does believe there are some blemishes that need to be addressed and fixed.  It bothered her immensely when the NYC police union wanted to ban de Blasio from police funerals.  Mayor de Blasio called that suggestion a divisive and inappropriate thing to say.  He said when an officer dies, it’s a moment when the entire community needs to come together and the people elected to lead need to go to the funeral and comfort the family.  He said anyone who suggests the elected leaders shouldn’t be at a police officer’s funeral is breaking civility and discourse.  And he also believes, with all due respect, that police unions do not always speak for the rank and file.

Rosie and Chirlane hug

The Newest Hanukkah Song:  The hosts and the audience came back from commercial break dancing to the latest Hanukkah song parody to Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off!  Rachel said she used to go to church with her friends because she really wanted to be Christian when she was growing up and Rosie O said she always wanted to be Jewish!

Giving Back: Through their hope and grace initiative, the beauty company Philosophy is donating 1% of all sales on Philosophy.com today to support community based mental health efforts.

The Chew Crashes The View: The cast of The Chew joined the ladies of The View to share their thoughts on the best recipes, from appetizers to desserts, to serve this holiday season!

The Chew Visits The View!

Guest:

Idina Menzel sat with the ladies of The View to discuss her brand new Christmas album entitled Holiday Wishes.   She discussed her son (who is 5) and joked how he pretty much hates it when she sings!  Rosie O told her she should just point to all her Tony awards when he says that!  Idina said truthfully, motherhood is the best thing that has ever happened to her but her son is “feisty.”  Either she’s the best mom in the world or she’s ruining his life.  Idina chatted about some of the musicals she’s starred in like If/Then, Wicked and Rent.  Idina also talked a little about her concert tour!   Rosie O said she loves to come see Idina in concert because when she’s there, she’s amongst “her people.”

Idina Menzel and Rosie!

Regarding the rumor she started announcing there was definitely going to be a Frozen 2, Idina said she is “going to Disney prison.”  She admitted she doesn’t know for sure if there will be a Frozen 2 but she thinks there should be! Lastly, when Rosie O asked Idina if she ever gets sick of singing “Let It Go” from the film Frozen, she said she does not.  She truly loves it.

Idina sang a song from her new Christmas album Holiday Wishes.

Audience Gift:  The members of the studio audience received a cleanse and peel treatment package from the Philosophy beauty company and tickets to If/Then!

Take a little time to enjoy The View!

written by Kelly Weist
KidRo Productions

Hot Topics:

The women of The View were joined by Keke Palmer, who is starring in Cinderella on Broadway, as their guest co-host of the day!  

Keke Palmer guest hosts on The View!

Australian Standoff: Whoopi started off today’s show letting the audience know the hostage situation in Australia has finally ended.  Nicolle said the terrorist threat in Australia is worse than we realize.  She said Islamic extremists now use the Internet as a recruitment tool and therefore these types of situations affect the entire world.  Rosie P loved how the people of Australia came together with the #IWillRideWithYou social media campaign.  All the ladies loved the idea too and offered to ride with people of the Muslim faith who are afraid to travel, in an expression of solidarity.

Hollywood Confidential:  The ladies discussed how the Sony hacking scandal just keeps growing with recent hacked emails of Sony executives now being released to the public.   Whoopi didn’t think the Sony executives were guilty of being racist but simply guilty of making jokes in bad taste.  She called it stupidity and said she doesn’t know anyone who hasn’t said something in an email as a joke.  She advised everyone to leave the jokes to the professionals.  Keke thinks we live in an age where everyone is now forced to be accountable for every little thing they say.  Nicolle believes people should simply not be ugly in private!  She said she comes from the world of politics where they believe everyone is hacking into their emails.  In the White House, when they would get mad at reporters, they would never rant about them in an email.  She said they would just walk down the hall and complain to each other.  She said if you’re acting in an embarrassing way in private, you should expect to get caught.  Rosie P thinks what the Sony heads said was “slightly racist” but she admitted that we all talk shit about everybody when we think we’re in private.   Rosie O thinks it’s funny that North Korea feels like hacking Sony is the way to get back at America.  Whoopi doesn’t think the leader of North Korea has much of a sense of humor so she wasn’t surprised they went after Sony.  They discussed whether or not they believe the executives may be fired for their emails and further about whether or not the tone of the emails was offensive.  Whoopi thought the execs were just having a real conversation about black people and what movies they like to watch but Rosie O said she would be very offended if they were saying such things about a gay person [that gay people only like to watch movies with gay themes].  Whoopi doesn’t think the execs were being racist but she said Rush Limbaugh has said some things that to her were truly racist.   Rosie O said no one with a brain takes Rush seriously but all the other ladies at the table agreed there were thousands of people who take Rush Limbaugh VERY seriously.

Beverly Johnson:  Beverly joined the ladies at the table to discuss her recent allegations against Bill Cosby.  She discussed the story she describes in a recent Vanity Fair article.  You can read the article here.  Rosie O asked Beverly how she found the courage to confront Cosby that night she knew he had drugged her.  She said she wasn’t sure if it was the drugs but she just kept calling him a “motherfucker” louder and louder until Cosby came to the realization that his plan to drug her and have her pass out, wasn’t going to work.  He eventually kicked her out of his brownstone and put her in a taxi.  The next thing she remembered was waking up the next morning.  Beverly said she decided to come forward with her story because of all the courageous women coming forward and telling their own stories which sounded eerily similar to hers.  She also sits on the Board of Barbara Sinatra’s Children’s Center for Abused Children where she has witnessed the stories of brave children who have come forward with their personal tales of abuse.  She said her conscience would not let her sit in silence any longer.  She was so fearful about other people’s opinions but she eventually realized she didn’t care what other people thought.  Beverly admitted she never told anyone about the incident and she said that is the norm when something like this happens to a woman.  She felt devastated and numb the next day when she realized what had happened.  She also remembered in 2006 reading about when Bill Cosby settled with some of his accusers thinking the authorities had finally gotten him for what he had been doing to women.  And then the story disappeared.  Keke wanted to know if Beverly ever saw Cosby again after the incident.  Beverly said about 10 days after the incident she decided to call Cosby and confront him but Camille answered the phone and she never got to speak to him.

Beverly Johnson & Rosie

Beverly Johnson & Rosie hug

Whoopi asked Beverly why she didn’t worry about what he had drugged her with and go to the hospital when she got in the taxi. Beverly said she wasn’t thinking straight and at that point she was just struggling to stay conscious.  Beverly said her coming forward is not an attack against Cosby.  She called him a “lightning rod” for a conversation about violence against women.  She wasn’t raped (at least she doesn’t think she was) but she wanted to come forward to tell her truth.  Nicolle said Cosby was recently quoted as saying he only expects the “black media” to uphold the standards of excellence in journalism and remain neutral.  And she asked Beverly what she would like to happen to Cosby now.  Beverly just wants women who have been raped by Cosby (and others) to be free to come forward and to not be afraid to speak out.  Rosie O told Beverly, “And by you doing so [speaking out], you have given every one of us a voice.  So, thank you.”

Guest:

Maggie Gyllenhaal: Maggie just received Golden Globe and SAG award nominations for playing a business woman caught in the middle of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in the mini-series The Honorable Woman.  Maggie said she’s never been more proud of anything she’s ever worked on.  Rosie O asked her if she was scared to take on the role and Maggie said she’s always scared to take on a role.  She’s never sure she can give justice to her performances.  Even before she walked out onto the stage at The View, she said she felt nervous.  But this project was a mini-series, 8 hours on film, and that felt very overwhelming.  So, she decided to just take it scene by scene, moment by moment and one day at a time.

Since The Honorable Woman deals with a very controversial theme [the Palestinian/Israeli conflict] Maggie said she read up on it as much as she could.  She said the topic itself is incredibly difficult to unravel but once she decided to work on the project she realized her character stands unapologetic in her truth.  She hopes that the series might encourage people to learn more about the conflict so they too can become more aware about what is going on in the world.

Maggie Gyllenhaal & Rosie

Maggie talked with the ladies a little about her performance in The Real Thing on Broadway.  She said she originally read the play when she was just 17-years-old and the script “blew her mind.”  She was beyond excited when she was asked to do it on Broadway.

The Honorable Woman premieres this Thursday (12/18) on Netflix!

Must Have Mondays: The View has partnered with fantastic vendors to give the audience up to 84% off the retail price for 48 hours only (while supplies last)!  To see the complete list of the Must Have Mondays visit their website.

Audience Giveaway: Everyone in the audience received a free one year subscription to Netflix and all of the items featured in the Must Have Monday segment!

Rosie & Keke Palmer

Take a little time to enjoy The View!  

written by Kelly Weist
KidRo Productions

Hot Topics: 

Rosie crafting during Hot Topics!

The ladies of The View were so delighted to have the legendary View creator Barbara Walters join them at the table as co-host for the day!!   She remarked how proud she was of the women on the show and that it has lasted for all these years.  Barbara said she still watches the show every day!  As they were sitting at the table Rosie O was decorating a holiday ornament for Barbara Walters and she was going to teach Barbara how to make one herself during the craft segment later on during the show.

Barbara’s 10 Most Fascinating People: Barbara and the women discussed her list of the 10 Most Fascinating People of 2014.  She even brought along some sneak peeks for the audience!   Barbara thinks this is one of the best lists they’ve ever had.  The list includes people like Scarlett Johasnson, Neil Patrick Harris, David Koch (the 6^th richest man in the world), Chelsea Handler, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Strahan, and Taylor Swift.  Barbara wouldn’t reveal who THE most fascinating person was but she said they would never be able to guess it either!  The 10 Most Fascinating People airs this Sunday at 9(8)c on ABC.

Word Association With Barbara:  The ladies played a game with Barbara.  Rosie O named some of the people Barbara has interviewed over the years and she was supposed to say the first word that popped in her mind.

The list went like this:
Fidel Castro: whom she called “charismatic.”
Anwar Sadat: She referred to him as one of the “greatest people” she’s ever met.
Richard Nixon: She called him “constipated.”  (LOL!!)  Not physically. She said he was just extremely difficult to interview.
Warren Beatty: She said he was “the worst interview ever!”   She said Warren is brilliant but the worst interview.
John Wayne: She didn’t exactly answer the question but she said when she was failing at the beginning of her career she received a telegram once from John Wayne that read, “Don’t let the bastards get you down.” And she will never forget it.
Hillary Clinton: Barbara referred to her as “history-making, remarkable and terrific.”
Christopher Reeve: She called him “inspirational.”

The Women of The View with the one and only Barbara Walters

How Soon Is Too Soon: A woman wrote an online advice column wanting to know how soon is too soon to ask a recently widowed man out on a date  Barbara, unfortunately, has had this experience!!  She sighed and said a man she knew was married for more than 50 years and then his wife passed away.  About three months after his wife died, she and the man were leaving their building at the same time and she invited him to breakfast one morning.  He looked at her and simply said, “Too soon.”   Nicolle admired her courage!  And she thought breakfast was a great idea.  Rosie O agreed and called going out for breakfast very innocent!  But Whoopi wasn’t too sure.  She thought breakfast wasn’t as innocent as it sounded.  About three years ago, Whoopi knew a man whose wife died and she invited him out.  She was worried about him and wanted to get him out as a participant in life again because he was just sitting around and she was worried about him.  But she went out with him and she said she was bored out of her mind!

Barbara Walters and Rosie chatting backstage

How Low Can You Go:  For the first time ever, Amazon is adding a feature that will allow online shoppers to haggle over the price of the products being sold.  Barbara admitted to haggling but said she ends up feeling so guilty about getting a lower price for the product she ends up paying more for the item anyway.  Out of pure guilt!  Rosie P brings her family with her when it’s time to bargain shop because she’s terrible at it.  But she said her sister Carmen is “fierce” at haggling.  Nicolle told a story about going on her honeymoon to Turkey and her husband  haggling with the vendors over rugs.  She said it mortified her and she just wanted him to pay what they were asking.  Rosie O hates getting a car because she hates to haggle. And, as a side note, she said every car she’s ever liked is on the Ugliest Car List.   When she was young she had an AMC Pacer and a Gremlin, which she thought were the greatest cars.  Now she’s getting a new Ford Flex and she’s very excited!  However, she makes her brother Timmy haggle over the car price for her because she feels too guilty doing it herself.

Does An Equal Marriage Mean Less Sex: A new study of over 4,000 couples found that when men do more housework they actually get less sex from their partners.  So apparently, helping out with the chores seems to be a turnoff.  But Rosie P said, “When her husband does housework he gets some!”  Nicolle agreed.  She likes it when her husband makes an effort to do things around the house.  Whoopi feels like the men live in the house too so why wouldn’t they help do the housework?!  She did admit that she’s NOT married and that may be one of the reasons why.

Tales of a Hypochondriac:  Nicolle gets a mammogram every fall and this September she missed her annual appointment because of her new job on The View.  She said she laid in bed Monday night sure she was dying of breast cancer since she didn’t get her annual screening.  She was already planning whether or not she would like her husband to get remarried after she dies.  Barbara said Nicolle is not the only one.  She told a story about a man who went to his doctor and was told he only had 24 hours to live.  He went home and told his wife he only had 24 hours to live so she asked him what he would like to do with his final day on Earth.  He said he wanted to take a carriage ride through the park, go to the best restaurant in town, and then go home and make love until morning.  And she said, “That’s easy for you to say you don’t have to get up in the morning!”  Ha ha, everyone laughed and applauded.

Getting Crafty With Rosie:  Rosie O and Barbara got together to craft again!  They showed clips from the time they crafted together on The View in 2006.  This year, they designed homemade snow globes, a yarn bowl for holiday treats, and decorated ornaments for your Christmas tree or Hanukkah bush.   

Barbara Walters & Rosie craft together

Walmart’s Last Minute Gift Ideas: If you haven’t even put a dent in your Christmas shopping, no worries!  A Walmart lifestyle expert joined Nicolle to show the audience some great gift ideas for everybody on your shopping list.  The gift ideas including pajamas, the 2014 Holiday Barbie, character themed scooters and helmets, the Keurig K300, the Fitbit Flex, and the iPhone 5C.

Beyonce’s Platinum Deluxe Edition Box Set: Beyonce’s platinum deluxe edition box set, a two CD limited edition package with brand new songs, special guest stars, live concert videos and a ton of other special features, just hit the stores.  You have a chance to win a box set personally autographed by Beyonce herself plus a boatload of Beyonce swag.  Find out sweepstakes details by following The View on Twitter HERE.

Audience Gift: Members of the studio audience went home with a scooter and helmet, the holiday Barbie, the Fitbit Flex, the Keurig K300, the iPhone 5C and a Beyonce Platinum Deluxe Edition box set!

Take a little time to enjoy The View.

written by Kelly Weist
KidRo Productions

Hot Topics:

The ladies were joined by Olivia Munn, from the hit HBO show The Newsroom, as their guest co-host for the day!  

Nicolle was super excited to be sitting with Olivia because she is a huge fan of The Newsroom.  In fact, the season finale of The Newsroom is this Sunday(12/14)!  Whoopi needed to clear the air over a couple things before they began their discussion.   She said, “I thought people were much smarter than the newspapers give folks credit for but apparently, no.”  During yesterday’s Hot Topics segment of the show, a sound effect went off while Ashanti was talking and Whoopi pretended to pass gas for comedic effect in order to cover up the interruption.  Apparently, people thought she really farted!  She wanted to make it clear she did not.

CIA Report Reaction:  Former Vice President, Dick Cheney, just weighed in on the Senate Committee report on CIA interrogation techniques used after 9/11 and his assessment was that we did exactly what needed to do.  He also says the report is “full of crap” and that Bush was briefed on the program during the years it was occurring.  Not only was he briefed, he approved it, claims Cheney.  Rosie P still wants to hear the truth but is fearful we will never find it out.  One of Rosie P’s dear friends told her yesterday that he agrees with torture and she was a little shocked.  He believes in doing whatever is necessary to get the bad guys.  She respects her friend’s difference of opinion and she realized she needed to also respect Nicolle’s difference of opinion.  Nicolle thanked her for saying that.  Rosie O believes we will soon know something close to the truth because of the 2,000 photos about to be released connected to the report.  She said we have seen photos of torture in the past.  We have seen Rory Kennedy’s Ghost of Abu Ghraib documentary, we’ve seen the photos from Abu Ghraib, and we’ve seen the film Zero Dark Thirty (which depicts torture techniques used by the CIA).  She said,  “The one man who actually blew the whistle on the torture techniques is in prison but none of the men who orchestrated the torture or who implemented it are in prison.”  Rosie O explained that John Kiriakou, a father of 5, is in prison for 30 months because he refused to participate in waterboarding.  He believed it was un-American and against the Constitution.  Olivia wanted to know now that the report has been released, if he gets to now be released from jail.  Rosie O hopes so and she hopes the American people will take a stand for him, perhaps over the Internet.

Olivia Munn & Rosie chatting

Rosie P and Rosie O said two men were paid over 80 million dollars to create the kinds of torture used against suspected terrorists (like putting a feeding tube up a person’s rectum with pureed food in it and call it “nutritional feeding”).  Even though it is physically impossible to rectally feed a human being.  Nicolle said the problem with all of this is that it’s really emotional.  She was working in the White House on 9/11 and was evacuated that day.  She remembered the guard recommending she take off her shoes so she could run faster from the building.  She called her father as she was running up Connecticut Avenue and said, “I think the fourth plane is coming for us.  I love you.”  Nicolle got teary-eyed as she was telling this story and her voice was shaking.  And in the months following 9/11, Nicolle said the debate in the country wasn’t whether or not we’d get hit, it was which city was next.  She was very afraid.  Rosie O said all of us were afraid.  Nicolle said she’s never had more people call her to thank her for defending the men and women of the CIA who were simply doing their jobs.  Rosie O said she’s had many people call her and thank her too for standing up for the other side.  Rosie O said, “I’m sorry that you feel the ends justifies the means but I don’t think Machiavellian techniques are really the foundation of Democracy in America.”  Whoopi has a lot of questions including whether or not we went to war with the right country following 9/11.  She agrees with Rosie P that we may never know the truth, even with photographic evidence.  She knows people can Photoshop anything.  Rosie O thinks we already know the truth and it’s hard for America to face the facts of what we have done.  Whoopi doesn’t think that’s true.  She thinks Americans know we have done some bad stuff and this is one of those “not-so-great things” we’ve done.  Olivia wanted to know if it saved lives and thinks there has to be something that sets us apart from the enemy.  That being said, like in the movie Prisoners, she said if someone had her child she can’t say she wouldn’t do everything possible to get the information from the person she suspected.  Nicolle said, “And on 9/11, they got 3,000 people’s children.”

DVF: Whoopi was wearing shoes by Diane Von Furstenberg, who is going to be a guest later on the show.  Rosie O was wearing a DVF scarf and Nicolle was wearing a DVF dress!  Rosie O said Diane told her backstage she had style!

Golden Globe Nominations: The ladies discussed the Golden Globe nominations that were announced recently.  Birdman led the nominations with seven and the TV series Fargo led the television group with five nominations.  Rosie O was so happy that the Amazon original series Transparent was nominated.  And she was very happy for Louis CK and Lena Dunham who were also nominated.  Both Rosie O and Nicolle were happy when they found out The Theory of Everything was nominated too.  Olivia was so excited for her friend Julianne Moore who received two nominations.  And Nicolle was quite pleased her crush Liev Schreiber  was nominated for his work in Ray Donovan.

Got A Minute: There’s some good news in America’s battle with obesity!  Apparently you can improve your fitness and heath by exercising for only one minute a day!  Rosie O’s heart doctor actually told her it would be better to vigorously jump rope for 5 minutes than to walk slowly for an hour every day.  Olivia isn’t so sure about the veracity of the report.

Days Off for Period: A prominent doctor in Britain just proposed that women should get paid leave from work if they suffer from cramps and fatigue due to menstruation.  Rosie O never had one pain from her period growing up and she always thought all the girls in school were lying, being wusses or trying to get out of PE.  Then she went through menopause at 50 years old and she was literally flat on the bed or in the bath with excruciating cramps!  She finally believed everything she had been hearing all along about menstrual cramps.  Rosie P had debilitating cramps growing up where she literally could not stand and everyone would call her a drama queen.  Whoopi said she used to have terrible cramps too and they had to give her painkillers for the discomfort.  Her mother never believed her until her mother went through menopause.  One day her mother called and apologized to Whoopi for not believing her because of the true discomfort she was going through as she suffered from menopausal symptoms.

Just then the adorable Mario Cantone joined the ladies of The View with Teavana tea for everyone!  In fact, everyone in the studio audience received White Chocolate peppermint tea and a glass teapot from Teavana !   

Got Topics: The viewing audience got to vote on Instagram and Twitter for the topics they would most like the hosts to talk about on the show.  The audience voted for them to discuss the Internet acronyms every parent needs to know.  The only acronym the ladies discussed was M.O.S. which stands for “Mom  Over  Shoulder.”  But Rosie O’s kids always told her MOS stood for Movies On Sunday.  This conversation led to a discussion about being naughty and sneaking out of your house as a teen.  Whoopi said she lived on the 6^th floor in an apartment building in the projects and no one ever snuck out of their house in the middle of the night.  But Olivia and Nicolle both were regular “sneaker-outters.”  Rosie O would never even consider sneaking out as a teen.  She was too concerned with the teachers liking her.  In fact she was Senior Class President, the Prom Queen and the Homecoming Queen!  Plus she said there was no one to really rebel against in her house.

Viral Video: They showed an adorable video of a little boy meeting twin baby girls for the first time and having a hard time processing the double vision.

Saving Mothers: Nicolle works for a wonderful charity called Saving Mothers which works to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity in the developing world.  Nicolle donated 25 birth kits to women in the developing world on behalf of each of the hosts on The View.  This Saturday they will put together birth kits that will be sent to women in the developing world that will save lives with the most low-tech solutions.  Each kit contains a baby blanket, a bottle of Purell, an antibacterial swab, gauze sponges, a bar of soap, plastic gloves, a baby hat, a shower curtain liner and those little plastic clips they use to close off the umbilical cord.  Nicolle said she had an ovarian torsion from IVF treatments and the doctor she’s working with saved her ovaries and her life.  She feels indebted to this doctor and she repays her by helping create birth kits and spreading awareness.  Learn more about Saving Mothers and how you can help HERE.

Guests:

Diane Von Furstenberg: Diane joined the ladies of The View to discuss her memoir The Woman I Wanted to Be.  They discussed her creation of the wrap dress that changed her life!  Diane, who made the cover of Newsweek when she was just 29 years-old, explained when she moved to America from Europe she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do but she knew the kind of woman she wanted to be.  She knew she wanted to pay her own bills and write her own destiny.  She said she lived the American dream but it took her this long to realize what the wrap dress really means for women.  Diane believes the wrap dress symbolizes female power because it is the dress you get the guy in and his mother doesn’t mind.  It is both proper and seductive at the same time.  In her new show, House of DVF, Diane goes on a mission to find a new brand ambassador.  Diane said once she was empowered, it was important to her to empower other women.  She said, “The most important relationship in life is the one you have with yourself.”  The House of DVF premieres this Sunday night at 10/9(c) on E!

Audience Giveaway: Members of the studio audience went home with a copy of The Woman I Wanted to Be by Diane Von Furstenberg and White Chocolate peppermint tea and a glass teapot from Teavana.

Quoteables:

Nicolle:  [to her father on the phone on 9/11 after the planes hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon] “I think the fourth plane is coming for us.  I love you.”
Rosie P: “I still think torture is bad.  I still disagree with you respectfully, Nicolle.  But what I learned yesterday is if I can respect my friend’s difference of opinion I need to respect my coworker’s difference of opinion.”    
Whoopi: “Style is in the soul.”  
Rosie O: “The one man who actually blew the whistle on the torture techniques is in prison but none of the men who orchestrated the torture or who implemented it are in prison.”
Rosie O: “I’m sorry that you feel the ends justify the means but I don’t think Machiavellian techniques are really the foundation of Democracy in America.”
Olivia Munn: “That being said, like in the movie Prisoners, if someone had my child I have a hard time saying I wouldn’t do everything possible to get the information.”
Diane Von Furstenberg:  “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do but I knew the kind of woman I wanted to be.”
Diane Von Furstenberg: “The most important relationship in life is the one you have with yourself.”
Diane Von Furstenberg: “You must love yourself first.  Once you have that, any other relationship is a plus and not a must.”

*Barbara Walters returns to The View tomorrow!

A Olivia Munn/Rosie selfie!

Take a little time to enjoy The View.

Written by Kelly Weist
KidRo Productions

Hot Topics:

The ladies were joined by guest co-host Ashanti! 

Time Names Person of the Year: Time Magazine has just revealed their person of the year.  This year they chose the men and women who have been fighting Ebola.  Rosie O thought it was a wonderful choice.  She said it is very brave to walk into a room and care lovingly for a person who is dying from a deadly, contagious disease.  She said that’s really what life is all about and “bravo to them.”  Nicolle agreed and added that people are still dying in West Africa of this disease and we cannot forget simply because it no longer exists in the U.S.  Rosie P said because of these healthcare workers the number of infections and deaths due to Ebola are down considerably.  And she also added, “Bravo to them.”

CIA Report: The Senate Intelligence Committee released a report on the CIA’s use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” in the war on terror concluding that it did nothing to keep America safer.  But the CIA disputes the findings saying these techniques saved thousands of lives.  Rosie P doesn’t think we’ll ever actually know the true answer to this question.  It truly hurt her to hear the report of the torture.  She was shocked and embarrassed to hear that we bent a human being over to force feed him with a tube up his rectum.  She thinks we, as Americans, are supposed to be better than that and act with a higher moral code.  She said she was also scared after 9/11 but she remembered wanting to slow down and do it right.  Rosie O said 15 Saudi’s attacked America during 9/11 and this report of horrific, inhumane, illegal torture was done to Iraqis.  She said Saudi’s attacked the World Trade Center but we invaded and tortured people in Iraq.  And she thinks it’s unbelievably demoralizing for us as Americans.  She too thinks we are better than this [report].  Ashanti asked, “What did it solve?”  Rosie O said, “Nothing.”  Whoopi wondered who this happened to.  She isn’t sure how she feels about torture because on one hand other countries have done it and it’s reaped benefits for them.  She’s not surprised other countries, countries that we have accused of torturing people in the past, are now pointing the finger back at us asking what we’ve been doing.  Rosie O said Ronald Reagan, a very respected Republican, banned torture and sentenced Japanese soldiers who were ordered to waterboard people during WWII to hard-labor camps.  She doesn’t see it as a partisan issue but an issue of national security and national identity.  She said we have to own what we’ve done.  Nicolle reiterated that this is not a partisan issue.  But, she continued, for the first time in history, since the Senate Intelligence Committee was founded, a partisan report came out and only the Democrats published and signed the report.  She said the report only contains allegations and no one asked the CIA if they were true.  She googled The View and said there were 537 stories about them this morning when she looked, implying people say a lot of things whether they’re true or not.  She said the CIA says they too were caught up in emotions after 9/11 and a program was created that allowed for enhanced interrogations of the worst of the worst.  Nicolle is for the CIA doing anything they had to do so that more planes didn’t fly into more buildings.  And she thinks people in Congress have a responsibility to speak with one voice and since only the Senate Democrats would put their names on the report that makes her doubt its veracity.  Rosie P pointed out that the CIA is even admitting mistakes were made, regardless of who gave the report.  Nicolle said the Department of Justice investigated this program two times and Eric Holder has said no evidence exists that crimes were created and no one will be prosecuted because of the findings.  Rosie O wanted to know if international crimes were committed and if they could be tried at the Hague for war crimes because torture is illegal across the world.

Nicolle wanted to make it clear that this program ended before Bush left office.  But Rosie O maintained that the program was created while he WAS in office and started by him.  Nicolle said the report doesn’t say that.  The report says it was started by the CIA.  And she said the biggest bombshell in the whole report was that Bush didn’t know about it for 3 years but the Democrats and the Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee knew all along.  Rosie O said Bush was told on August 5^th, 2006 (three years after it began) and the following year he went on television and said the United States does not torture.  Nicolle said it was “enhanced interrogation” not torture.  Rosie O said, “You can name it anything you want.  You can also name the war in Iraq ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’ but that still makes it a war.  You can name this ‘enhanced interrogation’ but it still makes it torture.”  Rosie P looked right at Nicolle  and said, “So the waterboarding did not happen?”  Nicolle said it happened, to three people.  Rosie P replied, “Okay, so that’s torture in my book.”  Nicolle also said force feeding is done to detainees at Gitmo who are on a hunger strike so they don’t die.  And Rosie O said, “They don’t want you to die so they can continue to torture you.”  Nicolle said President Obama is not torturing anyone at Gitmo. Rosie O said shoving a feeding tube up someone’s rectum is rape,  inhumane and it IS torture.  And that is NOT an American value. Nicolle said if people need a silver lining, know that this is over and it doesn’t happen anymore.  Rosie P said just because it doesn’t happen anymore doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be held accountable.  Whoopi said that’s why we will never do it [torture] again, until “they” do it [terrorist acts] again.

Want to know what happens during the commercial breaks during The View?!  Watch this video.

Rosie O’s Chillin: Rosie O said she’s been over 200 pounds since 1996.  Then she had a heart attack and had vertical gastric sleeve surgery and now she’s thinner than she was perhaps since before she had children.  She’s thinner, healthier and for the first time ever she’s actually cold!  Normally, she was menopausal and overweight which always made her feel hot.  She basically thinks her fat kept her warm!  Nicolle said she was also very hot when she was pregnant.  She weighed 165 pounds when she gave birth and Rosie O said that’s her goal weight!  Rosie O said carrying that much weight is tiring for your body and your body has to work hard to support it.  Whoopi joked that she put on Sherri Shepherd’s weight when she was losing it during her time at The View! When Whoopi stopped smoking she got as high as 217 pounds and she said it scared her.  She did the One Pound a Day diet which really worked for her.  Rosie P said there was a time she was severely depressed and she gained weight.  She got up to 185 pounds and her fat kept her warm too!  Rosie O said she never wore a coat in the winter she would wear a hoodie or a down vest.  Rosie O said they’re going to have the doctor that did her surgery on the show to inform people how morbid obesity affects so many other aspects of your health.  It took her almost dying to get here but she wants to share the journey so that other people can get there too.

To Be Or Not To Be Interested: One of the world’s top Shakespearean actresses claims that black people have no interest in seeing Shakespeare.  She claims theater is a white invention that only interests white people and that’s why black people don’t go to the theater.  Rosie P said Kabuki and the Greeks predate Shakespeare.  She called her friend George C. Wolfe, a Tony Award winning director and playwright, and he commented about this topic by saying, “Theater is fundamentally storytelling.  Humanity invented storytelling so therefore the theater belongs to everyone.”   Rosie O personally wanted to tell the woman that Shakespeare bores the crap out of her and she doesn’t understand it!  She never wants to go again and she’s “Casper white.”    She said, “Even white people don’t like Shakespeare, girl.” (and then she snapped 3 times to access her inner black goddess)  The ladies roared with laughter.  Whoopi has done Shakespeare before and she likes it!  So there!

The Flu Vaccine: Many people are refusing to get a flu shot this winter because almost half of Americans are convinced the flu shot can make them sick.  Doctors insist that it is biologically impossible to get sick from the flu shot.  Ashanti doesn’t get the flu shot because she doesn’t want to inject something into her skin that’s going to make her sick.  Whoopi has gotten a flu shot and she’s a big proponent of it.  Nicolle said her little boy had to have a flu shot in order to go to preschool.  But it does psychologically feel to her like they’re pushing germs into her body.  Whoopi said, “People put Botox in their face and they’re nervous about the flu [vaccine]!”  Rosie O had a serious case of pneumonia last year and she was scared to death.  Whoopi said people love hugging her but she’s scared to catch all the germs they’re carrying around.  Rosie O said at the Home for the Holidays event that she and Laverne Cox hosted this weekend, everyone tried to give them hugs.  Rosie would hug them but Laverne stuck with a fist bump and then sanitized her hands with Purell.  Laverne explained that she can’t risk getting sick because she has to work.  Whoopi loves Purell but said you have to be careful about how much antibacterial hand sanitizer you use because it decreases your immunity to germs.

Princess For A Day: Five-year-old Isabella Harvey is fighting leukemia and was feeling self-conscious about losing her hair until she received a visit from Cinderella who looked as beautiful as she did without any hair.  Check out the pictures HERE.

Guests:

Martha Stewart: Martha Stewart joined the ladies onstage for a craft segment!  First Rosie O and Martha designed an artificial Blue Spruce wreath together.  Then she worked with Whoopi on crafting a snow scene village in a hurricane decoration filled with twinkle lights.  And last she joined Nicolle and Rosie P, and they decorated Linzer torte cookies together.

Rosie & Martha Stewart!

Ashanti: Ashanti performed the song Santa Baby from her new album A Wonderful Christmas with Ashanti.

The beautiful Ashanti performing on The View.
(photo credit ABCTheView on Instagram)

Audience Giveaway:  Thanks to Home Depot and Martha Stewart, members of the studio audience went home with a $100 gift card to Home Depot!  Members of the audience also went home with a copy of Ashanti’s new Christmas album!

.

Quoteables:

Nicolle: [regarding the CIA torture report]  “This report came from the Senate Intelligence Committee and for the first time since Congress has had that committee, a partisan report came out.” 
Rosie P: [regarding the CIA torture report] “I was shocked and embarrassed as an American. We are supposed to be better than that.  We are supposed to have a higher moral code.”
Rosie O:  [regarding the CIA torture report] “John McCain said it resolved nothing and he would know what it means to the human being receiving it [torture] and the human being forced to do it.”
Rosie O: [regarding the CIA torture report] “You can name it anything you want.  You can also name the war in Iraq ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’ but that still makes it a war.  You can name this ‘enhanced interrogation’ but it still makes it torture.”
Ashanti: [regarding the CIA torture report] “What’s it solve?  We didn’t get any further.”
Rosie O:  [about her recent weight loss journey] “It took me almost dying to get here but I want to share the journey so that other people can try to get there too.”
Whoopi: “People put Botox in their face and they’re nervous about the flu [vaccine]?!”
George C. Wolfe: “Theater is fundamentally storytelling.  Humanity invented storytelling so therefore the theater belongs to everyone.”

Take a little time and enjoy The View!

writtten by Kelly Weist
KidRo Productions