ridickulist. tonight, my close encounter with a yeti o mine daytime show, "anderson," with padma lakshmi, we talked about it with my daytime show staff. >> a gorilla that looked like a gorilla or a bear walking on all fours. i mean -- >> whoa, jesus! good lord. >> i think i peed in my pants. >> did you say you peed in your pants? >> a little. just a little. >> all right. so the "anderson" live staff turned senate sasquatch what happens live and several 360 staff members noticed while they were watching this clip over and over and over again today and mocking me all day i was much, much more scared of the big foot than i was when bombs were going off behind me in gaza. also two media centers built -- whoa!

that was a rather large explosion. >> explosions are one thing but a guy in a big foot costume coming out of nowhere while you're at work completely different thing. it was so startling, although oddly, it is not the first time live a close encounter with a costumed character while i've just been trying to do my job. happened during hurricane ike when i was forced to ponder why did the chicken cross the road in the answer, because he was probably drunk. we are live throughout the next two hours and larry king takes it live and we take it live for another hour. we have much more coverage of hurricane ike still coming up. there's a lot of people, if you can believe it or not in houston, a couple bars are still open. >> yeah. see, i was totally not scared of that chicken. maybe it is just the renegade big foot that frightens me because i certainly can hold my own with other smaller creatures. see, i find these far worse than worms because of all the little leg he is. >> yeah. >> i will touch it. i'm not going to lift it up though. >> stroke t pet it. >> i don't like being afraid of anything.

>> give it a -- >> that's it. that's it. i'm done. so i don't like creepy crawley things as well. sue me. i don't like little bugs and i don't like big feet or big foots, what is the plural of big. >> the any way, pond they're as we watch it one more time in slow motion. >> have a great weekend. be sure to watch out for big foot on the ridicule list. tonight, sex, lies and stubenville who is telling the truth? plus, a staunch republican senator against gay marriage stuns everybody. >> i'm announcing today a change of heart. >> remarkable u-turn, who coached mitt romney during the campaign and what it means for the gop. setting the record straight. >> 15 years life for the second-degree murder conviction. >> what his wife says about the

crime and the new hbo movie starring al pacino. and courage and grace. >> i just want folks to see me, that i'm okay, that i'm not suffering. >> valley harper diagnosed with incurable brain disease, extraordinary interview that everybody is talking about my prime time exclusive. >> want folks to know how much i have just been touched to the bone marrow by their concern, their love, their offers of care. this is piers morgan live. graph rick sexually charged testimony in stubenville. get to that in a moment. first, gathering of cpac, looking live as jed bush talks to the crowd, the speech comes after mitt romney. wayne lapierre taking aim at the liberal media.

i wonder if he is talking about me here. >> the political elites, they may not like it the liberal media can keep hating on me. but i'm still standing, unapologetic and unflinching in defense of our individual freedom. you know, they can call me crazy or anything else they want. but nra's nearly 5 million members and americans, 100 million gun owners will not back down, not ever. i promise you that. >> you're not cynical, mr. lapierre, just dangerous. and rob portman's stunning decision to now support same-sex marriage after his son told him he is gay. join something he david boss

circumstance president of citizens united and republican strategist and cnn contributor, margaret hoover a big day forth republican party in this country, in many ways, to start with, the portman sensation. another way of putting it really, here is a republican senator who had repeatedly voted against gay marriage doing a complete u-turn because his son turned out two years ago, went to him and said, dad, i'm gay. margaret, what did you make of that? >> look, i think rob portman acted in a way that was consistent with the love for his son and consistent with a movement happening across the country with republican legislators. piers, many people don't know, more than 205 republican state legislators across the country have voted, elected leaders have voted for the freedom to marry and not lost their seats because of it. 135 members signed on to amicus brief for the supreme court, a solution to a conservative case and a constitutional case for freedom to marry.

so, there is a sea change happening within the republican party across the country that is just now with rob portman percolating up to washington. and so i think we are at a tipping point. >> politico is reporting tonight that a lot of the gop elite, apparently, have been very receptive to what senator portman said. i want to play the other side of the coin, which is what rick santorum said by way of his reaction. >> i don't think it, in my mind, it doesn't alter what the right thing is for america. the right thing for america is to promote stable families that can come together, have children and be a solid foundation to raise those children for the next generation. and man and woman can do that no other couple, no other group can really do that >> david bossie, is what senator portman did a good thing or a bad thing? >> well, look, i think it's obviously what he thinks is the right thing for his family.

i don't think it is the right thing for america and i don't think it is the right thing for senator portman, from public policy standpoint. look, senator portman had only a few choices. he could cast his son out which obviously is a harsh, harsh thing to do, to say i love you unconditionally, and i change my views, forget my principles or say i love you unconditionally but i don't agree with you philosophically and therefore, i'm not going to change my principles. and senator portman sided with changing his principles. look, i'm father, i understand, i am father of four, i understand. when you're a parent, off different view of the world. but i can tell you what senator santorum talked about, the importance of a mother and father raising their children -- raising their children, raising the best possible family, is really what america has been about. it's been the thousands of years of church teachings, you know, i

think we can try to describe marriage in any way we want but the real definition of a man and woman will never change. >> so what would you do if one of your children came to you and said you dad, i'm gay? >> well, look, i have very small children, so i'm -- years -- >> they are gonna grow up right? >> well, we hope so, yes. but i can tell you, i'm not gonna -- i may be the guy who is supportive of my child and unconditional love but i'm not going to change necessarily by principles over one of my children's decisions. i would urge my -- one of my kids, if i thought they were doing anything wrong, i would try to urge them to not do that obviously. >> when you say doing something wrong -- >> piers, can i offer something -- >> one second there you say do something wrong, would be the fact they were born gay be something they had done wrong? >> well, you believe -- you may bea live that people can be born gay. i'm not necessarily in that boat.

but i can say that i was doing a broad, it was doing a broad stroke, piers f my child came to me on any number of things, talking obviously about gay marriage, i hope i never have to answer that question. >> but you would try to correct the wrong, as you put it? >> no. you're -- you're now putting words in my mouth. i told you -- i was doing a broad -- >> not putting words into your mouth. we were only talking about gay mariage and whether one of your children if they turned out to be gay how you would react and you said if one of my kids did something wrong, would you correct them. >> i fundamentally disagree that lifestyle. >> i want to clarify your position. >> i fundamentally disagree that lifestyle. i believe it is fundamentally wrong. i don't think i could be any clearer. >> i understand that what would you do then about one of your children -- >> i don't do hypotheticals that are 15 or 20 years off, piers, to be honest with you. >> what would you advise senator portman to do? >> um, i would have advised

senator portman to show unconditional love for his child but not -- not abandon his principles, which he has espoused the last many years. >> margaret? >> so what i would offer david is a fourth consideration. he gave us three scenarios. the one he left out is the one portman arrived to and many conservatives, people like charles murray, conservative intellectuals always harbingers of conservative intellectual thought and grassroots conservatives, that is that i can love my son, accept them and realize i can be more marriage and for families and for same-sex marriage, that it is not against conservative principles to support his son in a same-sex marriage. frankly, we want more marriages in this country, not less marriages. that is what charles murray is saying now the thinker of the bell curve is saying we have a hollowing out of marriages in

this country, single-parent households that are weakening across the country. we want more mar people married making life long commitments to each other. across america it makes our communities strong, our society strong are families strong, the life long commitment, regardless of the gender, we need more marriages not less. marriages are marriages and that is not -- >> if i may jump in, margaret, the latest poll we have, the quinnipiac poll of february 27 to march 4, 47% of americans support gay marriage. so you're on the wrong side of the popular held view here, mr. bossie. >> we don't make decisions based on what the latest poll s that may be the same pollster that said mitt romney was going to win last november. i'm saying, polls and go.

>> margaret, we got to move on another-to-another thing of the day, wayne lapierre's extraordinary performance, yet again. i will start with you, margaret, if i may. he was right on the attack, as usual, the weak liberal media, presumably include mess in this, anyone who supports gun control. >> speaking directly to you. >> the line that really got me was this one. let's listen to this. >> the one thing a violent rapist deserves to face is a good woman with a gun. >> now, the thoughts, i would imagine, margaret, i want to you think about it what he is basing it upon is every woman should therefore be armed, is a logical extensions of his argument which would, of course, sell millions more guns and he is, of course, financed by the gun manufacturers. so, is that what this is all about? >> well, i mean, piers, i hate to use your own tool against you, but you just cited polling. the polling across the country is not for assault gun weapons

ban with the implementation of it. the polling is much more alined not with every woman owning a gun but people are more -- are closer to wayne lapierre's position than yours. if you were just going to say go with the majority of polling, i agree, his rhetoric is inflammatory and, sure, he is talking to, the liberal media. >> i'm not saying i'm liberal media. i don't park myself in liberal or -- i can't even vote. i don't have a horse in the race. >> let me just say this, do you think, piers, it would a bad thing for all potential rapists to think the woman they are about to rape would be armed and wouldn't a bad way to stop a potential rape? >> here is the problem, mr. boss so i facilitate that logical extension of that thought process, every single woman in america needs to walk around with a gun. >> no. no. a rapist has to think the woman may be armed that's all it takes that's all it takes. >> how do they know when they are going to be attacked by a rapist?

>> you disarm everyone in america, they do know you are not armed. that is the one fact you can't get away from. what they don't know is if you are armed, there's no sign on your back saying i'm armed. there's the potential for you to be armed and that's what stops crimes. >> right. >> that's what stops people from breaking in homes all over the country every day. >> but if that is true, how do you explain in america, 100,000 people a year get hit by gunfire, 12,000 or so get murdered with guns, 18,000 kill themselves with guns? only today in nashville, a man shot his 8-month-old baby with a firearm he was playing around with in a hotel room with two other very young children? how do you explain when you have more guns in america, you have more gun violence, more gun murders? that seems to fly in the face of your argument? >> well, it doesn't there are criminals and there are people who obviously, piers, violate 30

or 40 federal laws long before they murder somebody. and they don't care. they don't care about the 30 or 40 they break before they pull the trigger, okay? so, let's get -- i know there's -- there's people who have accidents. obviously, this person that you're talking about, that's an unbelievable, horrible situation and i don't know anything about it. but that is -- those are accidents or on purpose that you can't get around. but that's not to say that every -- the 330 million americans should have their second amendment taken away. that's where you guys, and i say you guys, the people who are -- have been -- over the last several months beating the drum to demand to congress, demand that the u.s. senate, demand the house of representatives, pass bad legislation. and that's what's going to end up happening here potentially is they are going to pass bad legislation and then they are going to have to fight all the way to the supreme court and the nra is going to win because the second amendment is the second amendment. and just like when i had to go

to the supreme court to fight for my first amendment rights in citizens united versus the fec a couple of years ago, the congress passed bad law. mccain feingold was bad law, unconstitutional when it was signed by president bush. it was unconstitutional when it was passed by congress. so i had to fight for three years to overturn that law and you that's what happened. that's what's gonna happen with wayne lapierre. have him standing in front of the supreme court as a victor. >> i suspect the reality is that rather like senator portman, when he discovered his son was gay, and he performed this dramatic u-turn, suddenly realized being gay may not be the worst thing in the world, nor would gay marriage, that it may take something like this happening with guns. if a politician who is so vocally supporting the nra was to lose his child in the way those poor parents did at sandy who maybe they, too might perform a u-turn on gun control, because it's about making america safer. mr. boss circumstance you keep saying it is attacking the second amendment.

nobody wants to attack the second amendment. it s. >> people want to make the streets of america safer. >> piers, you do it every night. you do a show on it every night. attacking america. >> i'm glad you're watching. >> maybe that's not how you look at it, but that's how the folks thought, see it. >> mr. bossie, i respect your opinion. i don't agree with it but i'm glad you're watching the show every night and noticing. margaret hoover, david bossie i thank you very much. >> thanks for having us. >> thanks, piers. coming up, stubenville uncovered. i will talk to the blogger who had to go into hiding, talking about the case that is tearing city and america apart. next week, he is hollywood's beloved box office champ, now, tom hanks may be taking his biggest risk yet, as a broadway actor. >> you have not done a play since 1981. >> i don't think you can be an actor around not want to at some point, be on broadway and challenge those waters. >> how do survive a mar arrange in hollywood. >> how many times have you been properly in love in your life before you met rita? >> once.

it took me until i met my wife, rita, until i figured out, oh, that's how wonderful it is in order to make the permanent connection. >> next week the piers morgan interview, tom hanks.

testimony still ongoing in the emotionally charged rape case, turned the city in ohio, the rape victim, a 16-year-old girl yet to testify against two high school football players she is accused of raping her h prosecutors are using text messages and eyewitness testimony to prove her guilt. a warning of what you are about to hear is disturbing. poppy har slow in stubenville with the latest. poppy, bring me quickly up to speed with what has happened today so far. >> reporter: piers, as you said, for our viewers, a warning, the testimony is very graphic, what we have been hearing all day, day three, in the trial in stubenville. three eyewitnesses taking the stand, all three teenaged boys all three friends of co-defendants, trent mays and

malik richardson. the first man testifying saying he was in a car with the men the night of the alleged rape, he saw with his own eyes, trent mays use his fingers in sexual activity with this alleged victim in the back seat of the car car, saying he videotaped it on his iphone for a couple minutes then deleted the video the next morning. the second eyewitness saying when they got to a home after that car ride night, basement, the girl was like naked on the floor and that ma'lik richmond did a similar act to the girl with his fingers on that basement floor the key is how intoxicated was she at this point in time in the third eyewitness taking a stand, also a friend of both the defendants saying the same thing, he saw ma'lik richmond use his fingers in sexual activity with this girl, which if it is not consensual is rape in the state of ohio. this is key, the third witness

saying, "she wasn't moving. she wasn't talking. she wasn't participating. "piers? >> on the face of it incredibly damning, certainly some of them are friends of the accused. in terms of the defense house, are they position egg the defense now, in light of what these witnesses have been saying? >> reporter: that's very good question. they are not saying that this didn't happen. they are not cross-examining and saying you didn't really see that, did you? they are using key strategies here is the first is how do you know how drunk this girl was? did you see her all night? this alleged victim did want to leave the party to go with the two young boy, resist herd friends asking her to stay and said i want to go with them. the other thing they are doing is they are poking holes in these witnesses witness testimony saying you have seen the media coverage of this the social media, the tweets, the videos, the posts, haven't you sort of reconstructed your memory of the night leading up to your testimony and got some

witnesses to say yes they have. the burden of proof is on the prosecution in this case, they have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this girl was raped and they are trying to poke holes in that the two boys, juveniles, facing a maximum sentence until they are 21 years old. piers? >> poppy, thank you very much, indeed. stubenville case drew national outrage from blogger alexandria goddard made names, text and tweets of the assault made public. from an u.n. disclosed location, because of threats she received in this case you and also joining me, attorney gloria allred. alexandria, not going to reveal where you are, you have received many threats since you went public with the information you found. why do you care so passionately about this case? >> there were allegations in town there could possibly be a coverup, the media wasn't providing much could have ram about the case, and so i wrote about it and ultimately,

sunshine a good disinfectant. if there is a coverup, hopefully that will come out at trial, during testimony. >> one of the most shocking aspect of this is the fact that nobody intervened, even afterwards, mocking this poor girl for what had happened. you were collecting this information, tweeting about it you also found video. i want to play a little clip now. from a stubenville student, who we can't name, but this sort of sums up i think the kind of cavalier attitude so many took toward this. listen to this. >> she's deader than o.j.'s wife. she is -- she is -- she is deader than caylee anthony. >> right, i watched that video again today, incredibly disturbing, as indeed are the full texts, which got released late last night. trent mace texted to a friend

after this, yeah, dude, she was like a dead body. i just needed some sexual attention. the victim texting the next die a friend, i think i was drugged. i have no memory after i left. on the face of it incredibly damming. what do you think of the developments in the last 24 hours? >> i think it's very important, piers, that the two witnesses testified that they actually saw both defendants involved in digital penetration of this young woman's vagina, which is rape -- >> it is rape in ohio. as a matter of fact, in many places, in most places, it is not just penetration of the vagina by a male genitalia t could be by any bodily part it also could be by an object, but in this case irk it's by two fingers. let me turn back to you you alexandria, from living in stubenville, one of the aspects again that is disturbing is the apparent power of the footballers.

as we saw with penn state this can sometimes override normal decency and normal reaction and behavior from people. how significant do you think that's expect of this case, the fact that these two are star football players in a town that's football crazy? >> i think, you know, you can't blame an entire town for what a bunch of kids did on the whole that is very important. that team, they love that high school football football team, high school football in that that area is very popular on friday nights, that's where people are at. >> gloria, try to get inside the mind seth of these young people, all 16, 17 years old. there was a clip from an interview that ma'lik richmond did with "nightline" that aired. let's watch a little bit of this. >> you weren't thinking that a girl who keeps repeatedly throwing up was pretty drunk? >> no because it's natural.

>> you see that a lot? >> yeah. >> at parties? >> not just at parties. you see it everywhere. you can see that at a football game. you can see this at a concert. >> people throwing up because they had too much to drink? >> you can see that anywhere. >> i mean, gloria, there is an aspect i asked you about last night about young people getting drunk, behaving badly. i have to say, having read the text messages, seeing more detail, i feel less sympathy for the accused, the nature of the way they mocked the girl afterwards, in terms what they said there about a culture of drunkenness and so on, could that play against this girl in the sense she got so drunk, a variety of parties that she didn't know what was going on? >> well, piers, the defense, of course, is trying to pierce holes in the issue of whether or not she was drunk. as we pointed out last night, it doesn't matter if she was drunk or no the question is she substantially impaired in the reason that matters is because there's no rape if she

consented, at least not with people of the same and similar age. the question is was she even in a position to consent? the issue was she stumbling when she was walking? she has inability to talk. and also, there was testimony about one of the defendants allegedly trying to get her to engage in an act of oral copulation with him and she couldn't even open her mouth. she wasn't even in a condition too do that which would tend to sport prosecution's theory that she was under the influence and substantially impaired, any way, could not consent. >> fascinating case it will go on all weekend. gloria, thank you very much. alexandra, thank you, too. i will talk to the wife of convicted killer phil spector. why they says new movie starring al pacino as her husband has the story all wrong. but he's not. ♪

he's an architect with two kids and a mortgage. luckily, he found someone who gave him a fresh perspective on his portfolio. and with some planning and effort, hopefully bob can retire at a more appropriate age. it's not rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade.

i'm sorry you're upset. >> i know you are. so, what do we do now? >> i'm gonna put you on the stand. >> i get to tell my story? >> it means they get to tear you apart. >> you defend me. >> from the new hbo film about phil spector, movie legend convicted of murder. his wife says that thank is not the truth. welcome. why do you think this movie not accurate? you saw it fully for the first time last night? >> i did. i actually to sneak into the screening of a movie about my own husband. because they would not accommodate me for the premeefrmt and going into it

just shows the character of the people that actually directed and produced the film. they wanted nothing to do with my husband or i and i feel that if they wanted to properly depict him in this film, you would think they would want to meet the guy, you know, learn his voice inflections, his mannerisms, his thoughts behind the music, you know, what he was actually going through during the trials. and no, they did not do that and i feel that they have an opportunity to make a really amazing, wonderful film about this music legend. >> hbo, which is, in full disclosure, part of the same company as cnn, said this -- so, they are basically saying, look this is not a documentary, this is just a dramatic interpretation.

do you accept that moviemakers have the right to dramatize this kind of thing even if you -- the other side of the coin, lana clarkson, the woman who was killed, she -- her family also believed that this is a poor portrayal. so, you know, they would argue, i guess, look, both sides don't agree because it is a dramatization? >> i believe that is a dramatization, the way hollywood s they make things up. again, the way my husband was depicted through al pacino, al

pacino doesn't look like my husband, doesn't sound like my husband, he doesn't act like my husband, you will say the one thing that was accurately depicted through the filmed and was reiterated was the fact that lana clarkson was loaded on pills and alcohol, informs a very desperate and bad mental state and killed herself. so, and they actually showed forensic evidence that supports that. >> you believe that obviously. you met phil spector after this appalling incident in which lana clarkson died. do you have any doubts at all that he is an innocent man? he was obviously convicted of the crime. >> absolutely, i believe he is 100% innocent. he was wrongfully convicted. and you get no sense of danger from this man whatsoever. and we have been together -- this september will be ten years. and that's actually why i was --

i put out a song called "ps, i love you" which was a dedication to my husband to show a sympathetic and humanizing side to this man. i mean, people forget all the loss that he has endured his entire life. i mean, we may not even be talking about phil spector and his music if his dad didn't pass away. and i mean, what he was able to create with those losses. and i mean it all comes down and back to the music and again, the way they depicted him in the trials was a fictionalized monster and even our appealable issue at this point, it just shows how desperate they were to convict my husband. in the second trial, the judge, judge fiddler, became a witness for the prosecution on very important blood splatter evidence and then the prosecution even backed it up in the case in closing argument, said if you don't believe such and such and such and such,

you'd believe judge fiddler around they actually put his picture up as a witness on the screen. so -- they were -- >> the debate will rumble on by all those who see this, it was a very contentious trial, i remember it well and good talk to you, rochelle specter and i'm sure we will talk again. thank you. my exclusive with valerie american battling cancer, with everything she's got. an interview many are talking about. you have to see it next. hey. they're coming. yeah. british. later. sorry. ok...four words... scarecrow in the wind... a baboon... monkey? hot stew saturday!? ronny: hey jimmy, how happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico? jimmy: happier than paul revere with a cell phone. ronny: why not? anncr: get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more.

millions know valerie harper from the "mary tyler moore show" and "rhoda," now diagnosed with incurable brain cancer. living life to the fullest, extraordinary would. i spoke to her in a prime time exclusive, an interview i won't forget, nor those who watched it. we want to bring it again to you now. valerie, it's so nice to see you. and i have been struck by one thing, looking at you doing various interviews in the last week. you look remarkably well for somebody who has been told you may literally only have a few weeks to live. >> the disease i have is quite a rare cance and is located in a looted area, a very widespread area but

narrow, so a lot can happen. if the cancer starts getting really aggressive, pressing on parts of the brain and cause knowing lose eitherer my speech or my ability to think, et cetera. so, that's why i thought i should tell the whole family, my whole family, the extended family who loved rhoda and loved valerie as well. and deer issed of a hear the news from me and this way, i have control of the message. >> let me take you back, the cruel irony of what happened to you, you had lung cancer and you had basically defeated lung cancer and must have felt this great euphoria of having wasn't the dreaded c-word. >> oh, i did. >> tell me that period in your life >> >> part of the reason i wrote the book. i thought i better write my memoirs while i still can remember, at 73.

it's time to do it maybe. and i did want to share about the cancerous tumor that was in my lung. great doctor, mckenna, took it out with a very wonderful mode of visually assisted thoracic surgery, vats, it is very simple. my mother had the same kind of cancer when she was, you know, back in 1970 and they had to do a huge invasive operation. going the way around her body with an incision, lifting the ribsship. like orthroscopic surgery. dr. mckenna invented it his team has done over 3,000 procedures. it's amazing. >> what i understand, the doctor, when you realized it was a terminal condition that you had, he first told your husband of 34 years, tony. and tony decided for a while not to tell you.

how long was it before he finally told you? >> i think it was a week or two, i remember. because i could feel something going on with my friends and with, you know, there was like an elephant in the room slightly, a small one, but tony was told at the hospital in new york. there's nothing we can do for her. and in fact, there hasn't been. it is incurable so far. and then we -- he told me and i felt better actually, piers, to know what i was dealing with why was i feeling so good in the meds they had me on, two a day, not like a huge cocktail or -- it seems so simple and my life is the same. i'm exercising, i am walking, i'm doing book tours. i'm just living my life. >> valerie, i have never seen anybody who -- i have known some

people in my life who have been diagnosed with a terminal condition and to most people it would be the single most crushing thing that's ever happened to them. you have reacted in this extraordinarily positive way, which i think has really inspired people and they are all asking the same thing. where do you feel you get the strength to be like this? >> first of all, i'm 74 and i have had a magnificent returning the most wonderful husband in the world for 34 years. a great career around finally you after all these years of wanting to be a little stage actress, i got a tony nomination in 2010. at 70 years old. what could be better? >> take a break. i come back, you are being so positive, say you want to achieve all the thing has maybe haven't achieved. i want to find out after the break what are you going to do for the last few -- however many it be, weeks, months, hopefully longer of your life what plans? >> yeah. >> tell me after the break. >> take some acting jobs.

>> why not? >> i'm serious. >> we will talk in a minute.

would you believe i took the subway? >> well, listen here. i'll never be able to wear it again. >> they wrote it october 28th, 1974. battling now in the prime time. on the break there, i was checking my twitter feed and people were so moved and inspired, many to tears by the way that you've been talking about this. it's so extraordinary, for me, somebody to be interviewing, somebody who has such a short period of time to live. how do you feel about the time you have left? are there things you really want to achieve?

do you have one of the famous bucket lists now? do you think i've got to do this before? >> i have been doing that the last few years without knowing i was ill. if i would be to lunch, i would go, listen, you're 71. go to lunch. take the date. do that. >> there's a wonderful original three mary tyler moore characters. rhoda is probably who you are and phyliss is who you're afraid to become. i think it goes a long way to why people feel so invested in what is happening to you. so many people related to you on a human level. they did feel that you were the kind of person they could be. >> that's right. she was familiar. she would say anything. she was very funny. greatest comedy writers in the world putting jokes in rhoda's mouth every show.

so there was this recognition that she could be your neighbor or the gal at the drugstore behind the character. so it was a wonderful character to play. and i was privileged to do it all of those nine years. so, yeah, it's true, piers. that is connectedness. feeling family. >> valerie, when you look back over this extraordinary life and career that you've had, what is the greatest moment for you? if i could replay a moment for you, what would you choose? >> my husband telling me that he thought we should adopt. because i would make a great mother. that was a nice one. and other -- the achievements are being directed by paul newman. who wouldn't want to look into those blue eyes. there have been milestones all along. but i guess biggest of all is having tony caccioti at my side,

at my back helping me in every way possible, enjoying life with me, traveling, all of the things we've done. so i guess my marriage, which is an on going, unfolding -- to this minute, tony was very resis resistant to the facts of my maybe-impending death. he said val, let's extend your time here. in the time here, maybe they'll discover something so that that will extend it more. he's's terribly positive. he was my guru and i loved him as a teacher. we became very close later, as i detail in my book. and then married and adopted our darling daughter, who is now grown up and handling this really well.

so i just -- i just want folks to see me. that i'm okay. that i'm not suffering. so far. >> well, valerie, you've been -- >> thank you. i hug you. >> i wish i could hug you. but, sadly, we're on different coasts. i find this so inspiring talking to you. i think brave is the wrong word. you are what you are. what you have, though, is an incredible energy. and you are being so inspiring to so many people who may be suffering from illness out there. i just want to thank you so much. for coming on the show. for people who haven't read it, "i, rhoda," it's a terrific memoir. you've got us all behind you. i hope you can beat this as you've beat the last thing. you never know. miracles can happen. >> that's right. spontaneous remission. that exists. >> lovely to talk to you, valerie. >> valerie harper, what an extraordinary woman. and we'll be right back.