Mo Rocca Of ‘The Daily Show’ On ‘Crossfire’
Mo Rocca, correspondent for the ‘Daily Show’ on Comedy Central gave his comical views on the Michael Jackson baby dangling incident on CNN’s ‘Crossfire’ on Wednesday. Rocca explained, “I mean, the fact is that pop stars are non-traditional care givers. You may not choose to dangle your baby out of a window. Michael Jackson does. If Mariah Carey had a baby, who knows where she’d dangle it.” Read on for a complete transcript.
Now as we saw in our quote of the day segment, Michael Jackson has
apologized himself for dangling his baby son over the railing of a fourth
floor balcony in a Berlin hotel. And people are agreeing with the New York
Post’s assessment in this morning’s headline, “Jacko Goes Over the Edge.”
However, our next guest is not falling in with the crowd, or dropping
his support for the King of Pop. Joining us from New York, the inimitable
Mo Rocca, correspondent for the “Daily Show” on Comedy Central.
Mo, good to see you.
ROCCA: Thank you having me. Thank you. I appreciate it .
CARLSON: Mo, thanks for coming on and taking the bold position.
ROCCA: Sure.
CARLSON: I’ll admit I’ve got some concerns about Michael Jackson. Do
you think they’re founded?
ROCCA: Well, here’s what troubles me. I don’t think that we should be
imposing one standard of child rearing on everyone else willie nillie.
I mean, the fact is that pop stars are non-traditional care givers.
You may not choose to dangle your baby out of a window. Michael Jackson
does. If Mariah Carey had a baby, who knows where she’d dangle it.
But the point is, the point is that baby is safe and sound. And that
really is what matters.
BEGALA: Mo, let me read you a comment though from Mr. A. Sydney Johnson,
Sydney Johnson, A period, the president and CEO of Prevent Child Abuse
America. And he says this, “It is a painful reminder that even the most
well intentioned among us sometimes act in ways that put children in danger
of being abused of neglected.”
Do you agree with Mr. Johnson that Michael Jackson was well intended
when he held his baby off a balcony?
ROCCA: Well, let me explain. I’ve looked at a lot of different polls,
and the research I have, and it’s right here, ti shows that American babies
are inordinantly afraid of heights, and I think what Michael Jackson is
doing is he’s inoculating his baby against vertigo.
BEGALA: That’s a valid point. I hadn’t thought of that.
CARLSON: But see — in a vacuum, I might buy what you’re saying. You
make some compelling points. You are making the same case of (UNINTELLIGIBLE)…
ROCCA: Oh, please.
CARLSON: … that Al Gore is making in his new book about families.
But…
ROCCA: Yes.
CARLSON: There is a history here with Michael Jackson. I’m not simply
talking about the child molesting. I’m also talking — or the allegations
of child molesting — I’m talking about the problems of course with his
nose.
And I want to read you a quote from a plastic surgeon Edward Demaneske
(ph) who says this, quote, “Short of wearing a prosthesis for your nose,
you could take tissue from the forehead or the back of the ear to build
up the area, but I don’t think he wants that. It seems like he’s fairly
comfortable with the way he looks which is unfortunate because it’s a bad
reflection on all of plastic surgery.”
ROCCA: Look, look Michael Jackson has made a bold choice. So many people
I know complain about their nose, and they’re too lazy to do anything about
it. All right. And my problem with criticism of the way he looks is I think
it’s tinged with a certain amount of prejudice. I think that Michael Jackson
needs to be judged on the content of his character, not on the bleached
mocha latte light color of his skin.
I mean, for too long, for too long celebrities with bleached mocha latte
light skin have been the targets of persecution.
BEGALA: That’s a very important point.
Mo, the king of pop, wacko Jacko was in Berlin to receive what’s called
a Bambi Award.
ROCCA: Right.
BEGALA: Any idea what that is or what he did to earn such a prestigious
award?
ROCCA: It is for children. It is an award on behalf of children.
Look, I think we need to step back and take I think a historical perspective.
My good friend Robert Dylak (ph) has written a wonderful piece about JFK
in the Atlantic Monthly. John F. Kennedy suffered so much pain through
is life in large part because of the operations he had to undergo for different
ailments.
Michael Jackson too has gone through five rhinoplasty operations. They’re
very painful, and I think we know that severe pain impairs judgment. So
I’d like to think that Michael Jackson’s baby dangling incident is sort
of his Bay of Pigs fiasco.
OK, and we know that and we know that the Bay of Pigs was followed by
the Cuban missile crisis triumph. So I’m excited. I’m actually looking
forward to Michael Jackson’s Cuban missile crisis resolution.
CARLSON: I’m glad you brought the political angle into this, Mo. Because
as you know, for many years, Michael Jackson has been a particularly good
fund raiser for the Democratic Party. Wondering if you’re thinking he’s
going to be in as much demand now that he’s dangled his son out the window?
ROCCA: You know, I think that — I think that if there’s anything both
parties can agree on, it’s the importance of family. And I’m going to go
out on a limb here and say that in a way I was kind of moved by yesterday’s
scene you know, because the statistics show that American families continue
to break down, and yet Michael Jackson’s baby trusts him enough to allow
him to dangle out a fourth floor window. And there’s something I think
kind of poignant about that.
BEGALA: Let me show you another picture of Michael Jackson with our
first family, with America’s first family, the mother and father of our
current president. There they are right there. Michael Jackson with George
Sr. and Barbara Bush. And in fact in that session, they confided to the
king of pop that they themselves had dropped their son George on his head
as a baby.
And so you see, it happens all of the time, Mo.
ROCCA: And he’s the president now.
I mean, you know, look, I have a lot of problems with all of these objections.
I mean, Tucker, as long as I’ve known you you’ve been a strict constructionist
when it comes to the interpretation of the Constitution. You are an ardent
defender of Robert Bork. Where then in the Constitution does it say that
a pop icon is not allowed to dangle his baby out of a fourth floor window?
I don’t know where.
CARLSON: That’s an excellent point. And the document is strangely silent
on the whole question of pop icons.
And it’s upset constitutional scholars for decades, as you know. My
question to you though, Mo, as a prognosticator, where does…
ROCCA: Yes…
CARLSON: Where does Michael go from now, now that he’s done the dangling?
What’s the next step for him?
ROCCA: Well, I — he doesn’t have much cartilage left. So I don’t know
if he’s going to be having any more rhinoplasty done to him.
You know, I don’t know. Look, all I know is we should leave no child
behind, and he dangled the baby, but the baby is back in safe hands.
So you know, that’s all I have to say. I mean, you know, I can only
spend so much for him.
BEGALA: We’re almost out of time. I’m just wondering…
ROCCA: Yes.
BEGALA: … I’m wondering why he suppose he picked Germany for this
venue. And we’re almost out of time, but is there any significance to the
fact that picked Berlin to dangle the…
ROCCA: Well, I don’t know, but I think, I think that you know Germany
has bashed American long enough, so it’s time to circle the wagons around
Michael and defend one of our own.
BEGALA: Very good point.
CARLSON: Amen.
Mo Rocca, our cultural correspondent, a correspondent from the “Daily
Show” on Comedy Central. One of our favorite guests. Thank you.
Tags: Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson
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