Hot Topics:

• Ferguson Reacts: There was no indictment for the officer in the shooting death of Michael Brown.  Rosie O predicted it last week and wasn’t surprised at all by the verdict.  She thinks a lot of people weren’t surprised.  She feels for Michael’s parents and for every mother who has a son that age.  Her son Parker was 17 when Travon Martin was killed and 18 when Michael Brown was killed, and she said it’s overwhelming to her.   Rosie P also said it’s terrifying and overwhelming.  Her first reaction to the verdict last night was to pray for nonviolence.  She referenced Rodney King and the LA riots and said the only people who suffer in the end when there is rioting is the community itself.  Nicolle doesn’t know if she’s ever seen parents so capable of being so constructive in their hour of grief.  She said Michael Brown’s parents were devastated with the outcome but didn’t want his death to be in vain.  They called for peace and restated their goal to reduce police violence and to make sure that every police officer wears a camera.  Rosie P feels like the media didn’t give the peaceful protesters outside the courthouse credit.  Rosie O wondered why they waited to announce the decision until 9:00 at night.  She thinks it was a calculated decision in order to incite people in the nighttime.  She thinks the verdict wasn’t a surprise but the timing of the announcement was a distraction to shift the focus from the fact that a unarmed teenager was shot.  Instead, people ended up talking about the riots in the street and not the verdict itself. She thinks the anger of the people rioting is due to righteous indignation and rage.  And although she knows it’s not productive to the cause, she understands it.  Rosie P recalled the Rodney King and OJ verdicts, both reported during the day, both of which caused rioting.  Rosie O didn’t think the verdict or the outcome was a surprise to anyone.  Whoopi thought the verdict was a surprise to some people and she thinks whoever made the decision to announce the verdict at night was an idiot.  She said they [the grand jury] skirted their responsibility because it’s now on Eric Holder to make the ultimate decision.  Nicolle explained that the justice department has two separate, ongoing investigations looking at all the same evidence.  One is a civil case and one is a deeper look to see if there are systematic violations of civil rights happening.  Rosie O said, in general, we have a culture where white police officers shoot and kill black teenagers.  She believes this is a much bigger issue than Ferguson, the riots, and the reaction.  Nicolle thought President Obama made a beautiful gesture by speaking during the Ferguson riots.  She said most presidents wouldn’t allow themselves to be split-screened alongside riots in the street following such a controversial outcome.  Whoopi agreed that this is not a new situation, but an overall bigger issue.  Rosie O said, as a mother, she couldn’t believe how Michael Brown lay in the street for four hours and an ambulance was never called.  Instead, he was put into the back of an SUV.  Whoopi also wondered where the ambulances and fire trucks were during last night’s riots.  She said burning down your own stuff never works; it didn’t work in LA or Newark, and “we’re only hurting each other.”  Rosie O said in our history it took a lot of people protesting and getting shot at before change occurred, and she thinks that maybe we’re at that point again.  She pointed out that St. Louis is one of the most segregated cities in the United States.  She thinks we need to protest in the same way as they protested during the spring in Egypt.  Rosie P disagreed and said it could be done peacefully as they have recently done in Japan (she meant Hong Kong) and still be very effective.  She referenced the 2014 umbrella protests to fight for democracy and Martin Luther King who she said was always very “on message” stating we can obtain peace (I think she meant justice) through peaceful means.  Whoopi said you stand tall when you are not the perpetrator.  The police were the perpetrators in the 60s with the dogs and the fire hoses and the protesters were just asking for the right to vote.  In this case, it’s different because the protesters look like the perpetrators when they use violent means.

Pitbull Joins Hot Topics:  

• J-Lo’s Body of Work: Pitbull joined the ladies of The View for Hot topics and to discuss the American Music Awards!  Some are saying that Jennifer Lopez acted too young and sexy in her AMA performance but Pitbull loved her.  He even got to sneak in a kiss!  He said the AMAs are a lot of fun and the producers give them a lot of freedom with their performances.  All the ladies agreed that the female performers were hot and sexy and didn’t understand the criticism that J-Lo received.  Rosie P said it’s really insulting to tell a woman who’s had a child that she can’t be sexy anymore.  She talked about Iris Chacon, a Latin superstar, who has always been sexy and the Latin community loves her for it.    The other day someone asked Pitbull who he thought was sexier, Kim Kardashian, Nicki Minaj or Jennifer Lopez.  He said he thinks they’re all beautiful but wants to see what Kim and Nicki look like at Jennifer’s age.  He said it’s a lot of hard work to look as Jennifer does at her age.  Rosie O remembered when her daughter started reading and she found out that Jennifer Lopez was voted the most beautiful person in People Magazine. To this day her daughter states that as a FACT because she read it!
• Mug Mystery:  Rosie P showed a new Beyonce mug that was sent to her that states “I woke up like this, Flawless.” She wondered who sent her the mug!  She hoped it was Beyonce because she is a friend of hers….in her own mind.  Whoever sent it to her she says, “Thank you.”
• Phone Ban During Thanksgiving: A new study finds that 66% of Americans want to ban cell phones during Thanksgiving and the holidays.  Whoopi thinks that’s a fantastic idea!  Pitbull said one of his kids came home with a bad grade and he took the cellphone, the Xbox and all the controllers and threw them in the pool.  (I’m sorry, that’s what rich people do.  I would FREAK out if someone did that to our electronics.  That crap is expensive!)    He said his son took it like a man and has been working with a friend of his on the weekends and has raised his grade to a B.  Rosie O said they have a cell phone ban during the holidays and a couple hours a day when cell phones are banned in their home.  She said everyone hangs out, talks and plays with the baby when the cell phones are off.  Pitbull said, “Social media is the farthest thing from socializing.”  Whoopi puts her phone away at 6:00pm and said if you need her you should call her.  She’s old school, but she wants to be able to go to the bathroom in peace.  She feels like she doesn’t want people to be able to find her all the time every day.
• Pet Gets A Pass: A pit bull named Zeus was set to be put down in a Louisiana town because of a ban on pit bulls but since the story broke there has been such a massive online campaign to stop it that the town will now be reversing the ban! Zeus will live!

The Bar Cart: The ladies of The View got a crash course from a Target representative on this season’s newest trend, the bar cart.  Nicolle and Rosie P each had 45 seconds to style a bar cart.  Rosie P won by audience applause.   Members of the studio audience each received a $200 gift card to Target!

Pitbull Performs: Pitbull performed two songs off his latest album entitled Globalization.  He also introduced his new fragrance creatively titled “Pitbull.”

Audience Giveaway:   All the members of the studio audience received a $200 Target gift card, a copy of Pitbull’s newest album Globalization and his newest fragrance, Pitbull.

Quoteables:
Rosie P:  “It’s really insulting to tell a woman who’s had a child that she can’t be sexy anymore.” 
Nicolle: “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen parents so capable of being so constructive in their hour of such profound grief.”
Whoopi: “I think they [the grand jury] skirted their responsibility because now it will be on Eric Holder and the justice department to make that decision.”
Rosie O: “I think this is not a surprise and in some way takes everyone off of what actually happened to an 18 year old boy in the street and puts it on to ‘look at all those horrible people rioting.'”
Rosie O: “I think the anger of the people rioting, that’s righteous indignation and rage. And I understand it and although it’s not necessarily productive for the cause, it is very understandable as a human being why one might react in the way so many did.”
Pitbull:  “Social media is the farthest thing from socializing.”

Take a little time and enjoy The View!
And Happy Thanksgiving!