Hot Topics:

• Weekend Wrap-up: The ladies of The View began today’s show congratulating all the runners in this weekend’s New York City Marathon! Every year, when Whoopi sees the marathon take place on the streets of NYC, she wants to run it but never actually gets around to training for it. Rosie O’s friend Lenny once decided to run the marathon at the last minute, without having trained for it, and he ended up finishing the race but breaking both of his shins and was in a wheelchair for 4 months! Rosie P fantasizes about running the marathon every year but never actually commits to training for it either. Nicolle once went so far as to sign up for a marathon training program, where you also raise money for a cause, but dropped out and then felt ashamed. She still raised the money but could never get into the running. This weekend, Whoopi was the grand marshal at the New York City Halloween parade and they showed a video montage of her at the parade. Rosie O has moved from her home in Nyack, where she used to get many trick-or-treaters and she did not get one single trick-or-treater at her new home on Friday. Her youngest daughter Dakota dressed up as Elsa from Frozen. They went to one house trick-or-treating and then Rosie O said, “She was over it.” She and her kids also went to see Side Show on Broadway this weekend and they all loved it! She said it was great. Rosie P flew to LA to be on the Jimmy Kimmel show for Halloween though she doesn’t really like Halloween. She told a hilarious story about the time one of her friends invited her to a Halloween costume party and told her to dress up but no one else at the party had on a costume! Nicolle’s son was a fireman for Halloween and she said he wasn’t really into the candy but he had a really great time. And she said on Saturday night she checked “the Twitter” and tweeted with Rosie P about the boxing match she was watching. Nicolle enjoyed the match and didn’t mind the violence but she was surprised at all the women in the audience.

• Not Afraid of Heights: Tom Cruise spent the weekend dangling from an airplane 5000 feet up in the air for the Mission Impossible sequel.  And Nick Wallenda walked across a wire between two Chicago skyscrapers.  Nicolle’s friend Willie Geist did the commentary for the tightrope walk and said there was a 10 second delay on the live feed in case he falls to his death.  Rosie O’s Nana was obsessed with the Wallenda’s because she lived during the era that the whole family fell and died.  Rosie O said it’s too terrifying for her to watch Nick Wallenda’s stunts. Whoopi said the people who do these stunts for a living don’t see them as deadly. Nicolle said this is how the Wallendas want to live and how they want to die so for them, it’s worth it.

• Chris Rock’s SNL Monologue: A lot of people were upset by Chris Rock’s SNL monologue this Saturday which joked about 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombing.  Rosie O saw the monologue and thought he really pushed the envelope.   She thinks he is one of the funniest men around and has always talked about the things people are afraid to talk about.  She thought he was on point and brave to say things people think but won’t say. Whoopi said it might take people a little while to get to the point where they can laugh about these tragedies but agreed that Chris Rock is a great comedian.

• Brittany Maynard Dies: Death with Dignity advocate, Brittany Maynard, decided to end her life Saturday in what some are calling a controversial decision. She said she wanted her story to ensure death with dignity is available to every terminally-ill American, or at least spark the conversation. Rosie P mentioned Maggie Karner who lives in Connecticut and is suffering from the same illness as Brittany. Maggie made a video begging Brittany to not to take her own life. Rosie P thought it was only fair to present the other side of the conversation. If you’d like to see Maggie’s video message to Brittany click here. Rosie P knows that it was Brittany’s decision to end her own life, but she admitted if her sister even entertained the thought, she wouldn’t be able to handle it. Rosie P has watched friends dying from AIDS, taking their last breath so she knows something about dying. She didn’t understand why Brittany couldn’t wait and why she had to give up. Whoopi said sickness effects people differently. She understood Brittany’s decision that she didn’t want to waste away. And she said she would make the same decision if that were her. Nicolle thought Brittany was brave, thought her last wishes were beautiful and loved how Brittany was able to achieve so many of her bucket list items. She thinks Brittany’s story will have a profound effect on end-of-life debates and they should all attack their bucket list items with zeal! Rosie O said, “Better yet? Make it a live-it list.”

• Children = More Productivity? A new study finds that women with 2 or more children are more productive at work. Rosie O said if that’s true she should be the most productive person on the panel but she’s pretty sure she’s not. She thinks maybe the study just means to point out that women with a lot of children are perhaps more experienced at multi-tasking. Nicolle disagreed with the study and felt she was a much more present and productive employee before she had kids. Rosie P said we shouldn’t really be looking at women who have money for the study because they have nannies and a lot of help. Nicolle joked that she only has one kid, one dog, and a very helpful husband yet she is not organized or very productive.

• Viral Video: Rosie O introduced little Emily, her mother and Emily’s Uncle to the audience. Emily was the little girl who donated her hair in a video that went viral. The ladies discussed the video on last week’s show and invited them to appear as their guests. Rosie O sat with Emily in her lap and they chatted about her decision to cut her hair for kids who didn’t have any. Emily’s mom said Emily is a very compassionate little girl who loves people. Emily’s uncle is a professional hair stylist and cuts all his nieces’ and nephews’ hair. Rosie O gave Emily an ENORMOUS basket of Disney Frozen merchandise and thanked her for sharing her story and for being their guest on the show!

Rosie and Emily.

Guests:

Kerry Washington: Kerry Washington from Scandal joined the ladies of The View to discuss her role on the hit ABC show. They joked about her character’s diet of wine and popcorn. Nicolle told Kerry that many of the show’s die-hard fans in Washington, the current and former White House staffers, think their portrayal of the show (and the diet) is very accurate! Kerry said many people come up to her and say they want to be just like her character. She said she doesn’t advise people drink wine, eat only popcorn and sleep with married men but she said it is great to dress like her. Kerry loves the way her character dresses so much she co-designed a Scandal clothing line for The Limited so you too can dress like her character, Olivia Pope! She mentioned her Allure Magazine cover where she went “without” makeup. She clarified that she did have “some” makeup on and it was more of a no makeup “look.” Kerry discussed with the ladies how she had to learn an important life lesson about how to ask for help. She has a great relationship with her parents who only ever allowed her to curse when she was growing up when she was quoting Whoopi’s one woman show!   Kerry said she has the best crew, cast and boss (Shonda Rhimes) in television. And she’s also enjoying working with Neutrogena about looking good and having healthy, beautiful skin. Rosie O said if there’s any chance she might look like Kerry she’s totally going to go out and buy some Neutrogena! Scandal airs on Thursday nights on ABC at 9/8c.

Joy Behar: Last but not least, the ladies of The View welcomed back, with big hugs and open arms, Joy Behar who spent 16 YEARS as a co-host on The View! She has a new one-woman-show entitled “Me, My Mouth and I.” Joy told Nicolle she’s her favorite Republican ever because she’s not annoying! She asked Nicolle if it was true that Sarah Palin could see Russia from her house which had Nicolle cracking up. Rosie O wanted to know what her fans will learn about her that they already don’t know when they go see her one-woman-show. Joy said she hasn’t always been a “confident, fabulous, diva.” In fact, she really didn’t start her career until she was 40. She said she used to have “thinner skin than Chris Christie.” Joy frequently gets into trouble with Republicans and told the story about the time she told John Boehner to stop obstructing Obama and he pretended to strangle her. Mostly, she was worried he’d “get his self-tanner all over her blouse!” Joy talked a little about her grandson who is 3 years old now, “smarter than most politicians” and “drops the F bomb” better than anybody. Joy’s daughter blames Joy for that swearing talent! Whoopi and Rosie O are both mentioned in Joy’s show. Joy said Whoopi and Rosie are “her bitches” and have always been good to her. She also talks a lot about her years on The View in her show since she spent 16 years of her life there. When Nicolle asked Joy if she had any advice for her as a newbie on the show Joy simply said, “Just enjoy it here because life is short.” You can see Joy Behar in her one-woman show Me Myself and I at the Cherry Lane Theater in New York.

Take a little time to enjoy The View.