0 the calendar will start over. you better order your new calendars now. thanks for all of you being part of my program this week. i will see you next week. stay tuned for "reliable sources." the supreme court heard a pair of same-sex marriage cases this week as more democratic politicians rushed to offer their support for such unions. any questions where the media come down on this one? >> most americans now say they have a gay friend or family member. some of the change is generational and then there's our media culture. >> are news organizations being fair to opponents of same-sex marriage? is public opinion being swayed by more gay journalists coming out? barbara walters retiring next year after an incredible career as a tv trailblazer from "today" show to the talk show she launched with only women. >> this is a show that i am now going into our 17th year next year that i have -- i'm blamed for the bad, as well as the good. and sometimes i have nothing to do with it. sometimes it is the network. >> you are the face of the network. >> look at her legacy and whether "the view" can survive without her. i'm howard kurtz and this is "reliable sources." we are standing by for news conference in kaufman, texas, that is expected to start any minute about the shooting death of mike mclelland and his wife, cynthia, in their home yesterday. just two months after his deputy was fatally shot. we'll bring that press conference to you when it happens. it is hard to imagine television without barbara walters. she was the first female star on "today" show and first woman to co-anchor a newscast on nbc. >> good evening, i'm harry at abc election headquarters. with me barbara walters and howard k. smith and we'll be here for how long it takes to determine exactly what happened tonight. >> she landed countless big interviews over the years with everyone from world leaders to celebrities. >> yes. >> do you drink too much? in our country, we read that you are unstable. we read that you are mad. what kind of a tree are you? because you think you are a tree now. >> everybody would like to be an oak tree. >> mr. president, your supporters say you saved the banking industry from collapse. you saved the automobile industry. you cut taxes for the middle class. if you did all of these things, why are you so unpopular? >> well, first of all, barbara, i'm not so -- >> first i gave you the compliment. >> i appreciate it. >> barbara walters told me she won't comment on what she calls rumors, but a source familiar with the situation confirms that the 83-year-old journalist will finally hang it up a year from this may. walters gave up her oscar specials a couple years ago. she told me on this program that she was tired of chatting up the same old movie stars. >> it doesn't seem special to me any more. i feel i've been there, done that. i thought that i didn't want to g get stale. i could have stayed for 30 years and then everybody would say, it's time for her to go or maybe she was pushed out. >> joining us from boston carol simpson and author of the. what has given barbara walters such incredible staying powers over the decades? >> because she's just the best. i am sure she will go down in history as the greatest television newswoman ever. and she deserves the accolades and the position that she enjoys. because i have never seen any. i worked with her at both nbc and abc and i have never seen anyone work as hard as barbara walters. and i suspect and i hope it won't be any time soon that on her dying bed she will be calling god looking for an exclusive interview before she goes to heaven. she's just a remarkable woman and i'm so proud of what she has done. >> since you did work with her at two networks. what influence did she have personally, professionally on your career and your aspirations? >> not much because i was always based in washington and she was in new york. so, i would see her at the occasional function by the network. she did give me some advice, though. i toyed with the idea of moving back to chicago, my hometown and running for congress. and i told her, i said, barbara, i want to be in congress. and she said, you crazy fool. why would you do that and be one of 435 people instead of being an anchor on the weekend and reaching millions of people at one time? she said, forget about that. and i really thought about it and said she's right. she's right. i probably do have more -- >> she saved your journalism career. >> oh, yeah, how happy i'd be to be there now. >> eric, people forget in these days of "the view" that her, the big breakthrough was that she was the first female co-anchor on abc evening news and how shabbily she was treated in that role. he clearly didn't want to sit next to her. >> she was a trailblazer and i think she was a trailblazer in another important way. she brought together some of the entertainment values that we see in news now where you, you're cognizant of celebrity and cognizant of making an impact with pop culture and brought that together with new sensibilities. so, some of the things we see in terms of how "dateline" nbc or "today" show handles news stories now, she pioneered in her time both as a news anchor and later with her entertainment specials that mixed politics and entertainment in the '70s. >> was that a good thing or a bad thing? >> i think it was both. i mean, it created a style of news that is engaging people now, but some people feel it can be taken to an extreme and be taken too far and it cheapens the news. so, she started something that has been quite profitable and that has kept people engaged in the news and a double edge sword for the news business. >> katie couric before her at cbs. what role in your view did barbara walters play in changing that environment to not only become possible, but now commonplace? >> she talked to me about it when the women of abc were trying to get more representation on programs at the network. and she said, you know, you all shouldn't be fighting these battles. i was the one that went through the field and started breaking up the ground and so on. and once the ground is broken, you all are going to have to navigate around the boulders and all of that kind of thing. but you shouldn't are to break up the ground, again. so, she was very cognizant of the fact that she had broken through the glass ceiling and she stayed on the air like some of the older white gentlemen that are on tv and at advance stages. i'm so proud that she was able to stay because women were given up on at age 40. and i think that because of her great talent at getting anybody to talk to her and talk to her openly she is just the bomb. >> well, personally, i don't know what she's thinking talking about retirement in a year. she's only 83. eric, the other part of her legacy is, of course, "the view." talk about that show and how it became a cultural force that presidential candidates feel compelled to stop by and chat with the ladies. >> well, she created a template for daytime talk that has been cloned across the networks now. we've seen nbc try to do its version with hoda kotb and kathie lee gifford. >> by clone, you mean ripped off, imitated. >> i don't know that it's the most original thing to have four people in front of a camera talking about the day's events. that's been done for quite a while. but barbara walters was able to create a unique template that melded news and entertainment. she had the president on, she had ex-presidents on and some very important political figures on while at the same time having some of the most entertainment oriented programming that you could have in daytime all in the same, all in the same, you know, hour-long show. and, particularly, in the first 15 minutes, you always wanted to tune in to see what is going to happen. what are they going to talk about and what sort of news story will they uncork that they will be talking about later in the day. that is an amazing achievement. >> hot water cooler topics. with "the view" losing joy behar and barbara walters not officially confirming, but she will be stepping down in may 2014. can that show survive without its founding member and force? >> well, you know, whoopi goldberg is the host of "the view." and barbara was kind of like mother hen to all of those women and what kind of put whoopi in her place when sometimes she got out there, i can't really see the network turning over the show to whoopi to run it with her erratic ways and her tendency to say what she feels, no matter what the consequences. howie, i just wanted to say one thing about the fact that barbara is retiring. i was very concerned when she fell at the british embassy during the inauguration in january. >> yes. >> and then to come down with a case of chickenpox, which my daughter, who is a physician, calls very unusual. she probably isn't doing that well. she had open heart surgery before then. and it's probably tv people are great actors and she looks great and continues to talk, but maybe she's not feeling that well. >> testament to her fortitude that she's overcome those obstacles. i'm glad you pointed that out. let me touch on another subject before we go to break. that is over at msnbc, chris hayes is about to start a primetime show this week. he has used quotas in booking his weekend show, just new miracmer numiracle test. no more than two should be white men. do you think that goes a step too far? i know you're an advocate of getting more minorities on the air. >> i don't necessarily think that goes too far. the pool that you're choosing from that everyone is qualified to be a pundit. as we know, that bar is kind of low. as long as you are choosing from a group of people, all of whom are able to talk about the issues in a way that's great for the show, then saying that an extra level is that you want to make sure they're also diverse, i don't know how you achieve that other than keeping track. one of the problems that we have is -- >> let me jump in because we're short on time. we're all mindful of diversity. i think about every single week trying to get more women and minorities on, we could do better. but, carole, when you talk about not just making an effort butting having numiracle quotas, that does suggest to some people that it is not about getting the most guests on, but achieving a certain demographic mix. >> i appreciate what chris hayes is trying to do because i worked at abc and, again, when the employees were trying to get better representation of minorities and women on shows like "nightline" and "this week" with david brinkley it was at the time, it was all white guys. every sunday when martin luther king birthday's came along they would get some black guests to talk about it. i remember they used the congressman from california who was head of the house armed services committee. but they wouldn't talk to him. they wouldn't book him when they were talking about arms. they booked him when they were talking about martin luther king. >> right. >> so, we came up with a list of experts that were asian and hispanic and black and female that could be used in these expert roles without the same usual suspects. >> that's a good point. we're going to get a break right now. a reminder that we're standing by for a news conference in texas about the shooting death of mike mclelenland and his wif cynthia. when we come back, latest plot twists in the soap opera known as "today" show. [ male announcer ] this is george. the day building a play set begins with a surprise twinge of back pain... and a choice. take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief. [ male announcer ] that's handy. ♪ [ male announcer ] that's handy. there's a reason no one says "easy like monday morning." sundays are the warrior's day to unplug and recharge. what if this feeling could last all week? with centurylink as your trusted partner, it can. our visionary cloud infrastructure and global broadband network free you to focus on what matters. with custom communications solutions and dedicated support, your business can shine all week long.