Walters: Trump Is A Pathetic Man

Walters And O'Donnell Appear To Mend Their Rift, Trump Responds To Comments

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NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2007 | by Amy Bonawitz

(CBS/AP)  Donald Trump has called Barbara Walters a liar and Rosie O'Donnell a loser. On Wednesday, they both fired back.

"Well, he's at it again," said O'Donnell, referring to a letter written to her by Trump and reported Tuesday by the media. The letter said Walters had told him that working with O'Donnell on ABC's "The View" is like "living in hell."

"That poor, pathetic man," said Walters, drawing whoops of approval from her TV audience.

O'Donnell high-fived Walters and co-hosts Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck. "You know, he just can't — he just can't let go, but we're moving on," Walters said.

The co-hosts didn't mention him by name, referring to Trump as "he" and "that guy."

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Photos: Donald Trump

Photos: Rosie O'Donnell

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"The man is obsessed with me, and I'm happy to say his show tanked," O'Donnell said, an apparent reference to the ratings of the latest edition of Trump's NBC reality show, "The Apprentice," which started Sunday and fell short of those from last spring's season premiere.

An e-mail from The Associated Press seeking comment from Trump wasn't immediately answered Wednesday. But the TV show "The Insider" reported that a statement from Trump said: "They didn't even have the courage to mention me by name. It was sad to see Barbara read her statement off a cue card."

In his letter to O'Donnell, Trump said Walters had "lied to both of us."

The letter, which began "Dear Rosie," said that Walters called Trump while she was away on vacation and told him that working with O'Donnell "is like living in hell."

He said Walters had called him from her vacation trying to end the feud and supposedly told him "don't worry, she won't be here for long" and "Donald, never get in the mud with pigs."

Trump added that he saw Walters eating at a restaurant about two months ago and asked how O'Donnell was doing on "The View" to which she sarcastically rolled her eyes and responded, "Donald, do you have to ruin my meal."

Walters said last week she hadn't told Trump she didn't want O'Donnell on the daytime talk show. "Nothing could be further from the truth," she said.

The Rosie-Donald feud began last month after Trump announced that Miss USA Tara Conner would keep her title, which had been in jeopardy because of underage drinking. He owns the pageant.

O'Donnell said his news conference had annoyed her "on a multitude of levels" and that the twice-divorced real estate mogul had no right to be "the moral compass for 20-year-olds in America."

Even now, though, TV psychiatrist Keith Ablow tells CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller he thinks there's a chance to put this all behind them.

"The best way to resolve these things," Ablow says, "is to say, 'I'm sorry. I think I hurt you. ... I lost my cool. I forgot you were a person, too.' "

That said, Ablow called the behavior by both Trump and O'Donnell "kind-of school yard tactics."

© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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