ROSIE O’DONNELL: What do you think of global warming?
MARTHA STEWART: I think global warming is a real problem.
O’DONNELL: Yeah, you know how I know it is?
STEWART: Why?
O’DONNELL: Last week my kids were in the pool.
STEWART: Ugh!
O’DONNELL: Yeah, in October in New York.
On November 7, news broke that negotiations of a possible show on MSNBC failed. Reports surfaced that Rosie the environmentalist demanded a daily helicopter ride to the NBC studios. This is the same Rosie O’Donnell that demanded restrictions on gun owners, despite hiring armed guards herself.
The November 8 "Fox and Friends" covered the helicopter demand story, along with NBC News anchor emeritus Tom Brokaw refusing to comment on the near Rosie O’Donnell/MSNBC deal.
GRETCHEN CARLSON: Rosie O'Donnell, just 24 hours ago we thought she was going to have this new deal to do a show on MSNBC. But guess what? It appears, according to her own blog, that the deal is off before it even started.
GREG KELLY: The deal is off, but at least they gave us the entertaining notion that she might be helicoptered to work. Actually, the reports were that she was insisting on a helicopter ride to NBC headquarters to do the show, a prime time show, which would have been the perk of the century. Only the president, as far as I know, gets this into his contract with the American people. I mean, it's okay for him to have a helicopter, but a little extreme for a talk show host.
BRIAN KILMEADE: Yeah, that she said that she blew it herself for bringing it up from Miami. But there's just no logic there. For example, if you have Rosie O'Donnell, you do it for ratings. You don't do it for credibility and, you know, carte blanche in the industry. So if you have people talk about it, if you have people interested, if you have people tuning in, doesn't that, isn't that the reason you hired her to begin with?
KELLY: So there's a story behind this too.
CARLSON: Yeah, I don't, I don't think that, that this deal is suddenly cut off because-
KELLY: You don't believe her blog?
CARLSON: -because of compensation issues. Yes, I do believe her blog that the deal has been cut off, potentially, but not because of compensation. Maybe it had something to do with these gentlemen and women who have worked at NBC, because, you know, maybe they didn't necessarily want her to become the face of a news organization.
KILMEADE: Well, that's the indication I got yesterday, because Brian and the Judge, yesterday, Tom Brokaw joined us to talk about his book, and we seguewayed into one of the NBC executives saying that MSNBC has moved left. And I asked him if you were surprised. He said yes. I said, "what about Rosie O'Donnell at nine o'clock?" No comment. I asked him three or four different ways, he would not comment. That isn't the pat on the back that you would expect from somebody who wants to see MSNBC to be successful.
