>> john walsh of "america's most wanted" on the biggest crime headlines and the scandals in college sport. also one of the hottest young comics in the business. why dane cook is getting serious. this is "piers morgan tonight." good evening. herman cain's run for the white house is on life support tonight. never a good sign when a candidate says he's reassessing his campaign. but he's still out there tonight making a foreign policy speech in michigan. >> apathy, not being involved, not being informed, not staying inspired is a threat to the future of this great nation. but it's up to us and especially the younger generation to do something about it. >> despite his confident performance tonight, it seems unlikely that candidate cain can stay in the race much longer after one claim of a longtime affair and allegations of sexual harassment hanging over him. here to answer that question is the senior adviser for the cain campaign. now, let me start with you. when a candidate starts telling supporters it's time for a reassessment, it's over, isn't it? >> no, not at all. first, thanks for having me on the show tonight. i'm happy to be on with amy holmes. the cain train is moving full steam ahead. he filed his fees and papers to be on the ballot in nevada on february 4th. he's in over ten states he filed. the herman cain train is full speed ahead. he's got precinct captains in iowa ready to nominate him. the herman cain train is moving full steam ahead. i think that's not only healthy for herman cain who i support, it's healthy for the republican party and healthy for the citizens movement unleashed in 2010 with the tea party revolution which was a pox on both the establishment's houses that this man of the people, this man not of the establishment will not be scared away. >> but here's the problem, i would say, niger, a passionate defense of your man. i would expect nothing else. he's clearly charismatic and he's clearly trying to stay in the race here. but the money is beginning to ebb away as are his poll ratings. the reason is quite obvious. he's been hit by a succession -- this train has hit buffer after buffer of sexual allegations, which are clearly turning off a lot of conservatives and female conservatives in particular. >> well, let's be careful here. i mean, the epitaph -- the r.i.p. was written on his tombstone when the first incredible allegations from an incredible figure, miss bialek came out. and actually his fund-raising went up, his poll numbers had sustained. and look, in this case, according to your poll, the cnn poll, he's still in a neck and neck dogfight with mitt romney and with newt gingrich. let me tell you something, i think it would be a real tragedy for our country if we have a new standard for minority conservatives or for women conservatives whose characters get shredded by the establishment media, who the character assassination is relentless, and now you have a new standard. there's no dna on a blue dress here. there's no love child out of wedlock here. all right? there's no charge of sexual assault that's in the books here. >> let me jump in, niger! let me put to you one thing. you know herman cain better than i do, better than a lot of people. >> i saw him in weekend. >> okay. and i've interviewed him once. so you're ahead of the game on me. on his character and the kind of man he is. this woman says they had a 13-year affair. are you 100% confident, you, his close friend, his adviser, are you 100% confident that she's simply inventing a 13-year affair? >> pier, i'm not 100% confident that when i walk out of this building that i'm not going to get struck by lightning, but i find it highly unlikely. i've talked to herman, i've seen herman, i've seen him absolute deny this. and i find her -- frankly i find holes in her story. i find it a little strange and unusual that, let's presume -- i don't think it's true, i think it's wrong, i think it's a lie. but let's presume it's true. i find it strange and unusual that a person according to her testimony that was treated so wonderfully by herman cain would be part of the character assassination and destroying this man's -- not only his political candidacy, but his entire character. i find it very strange and unusual and i do not believe her. i believe herman cain. >> okay. let's bring in amy holmes. same question to you, amy. do you believe this woman's story? i mean, there are a few holes in it that are beginning to emerge. we haven't heard the full account of what evidence she has. herman cain's denial couldn't have been more emphatic. >> i have no way of knowing who to believe in all of this. if she's a fantasist, if she invented a 13-year-long affair with herman cain, i would imagine that herman cain must be pretty angry that any nut can go on local television and make these charges and, as niger put it, character assassination. i have no idea about the truth of this matter. but your campaign is in a pretty bad spot when you have to invoke stained blue dresses and love children and you're not talking about the issues. niger, he mentioned that herman cain has been the nonestablishment candidate, in this sort of circumstance, this is hurting him because he doesn't have an establishment to rally around him and defend him as they did, say, with bill clinton, with the stained dress, the entire democratic party trying to protect their man in the white house. so i think the problem here is that herman cain is asking a lot of his supporters, of his voters and potential constituents to support him through each one of these accusations. on top of this, he's been stumbling when it comes to foreign policy all of this is really weighing down his candidacy. we'll see what his campaign says about fund-raising, but will he have the money even to take this all the way to iowa, to pay his staff -- >> niger -- >> -- drying up. >> let me jump in again. niger, the problem here for herman cain is the sheer volume of allegations, isn't it? one or two you could brush off as disaffected women, but are you really going to look the american public in the eye collectively as a team and say, every one of these women is a fantasist? >> no. what i am going to say is this. i don't want to focus on the women. i don't want to besmirch their character and the way that they and a certain -- and a machine has besmirched herman's character. what i will say is that there are some very powerful forces out there and they're not just the liberals in the white house. there are conservative forces that have nothing but contempt for the tea party. they want their vote and their energy. but they don't want them at the table. >> but niger, niger, hold on -- >> let me just finish this one point, amy. and there are folk among the liberal establishment that very much know that for barack obama to win re-election, he has to divide and conquer, he has to use the race card, use the class warfare card. and herman cain's relevance in this campaign undermines that agenda and that initiative. >> but here, niger, here's the problem -- >> -- manifestations of that plan. >> amy, jump in there. >> here's the problem with that conspiracy theory which is if this is about trying to sideline or delegitimize a figure of the tea party movement, then michele bachmann who is the leader of the tea party caucus in the house, she would be facing these bizarre, wild, fantastical accusation just as herman cain. unfortunately for herman cain, he's the only person in this race at this moment who is having these people come forward to make these types of accusations against him. face it, gop voters have other option which they may consider. other conservative options. other non-romney option that don't come with this type of baggage. >> the character assassinations are not limited to herman cain. michele bachmann just on nbc on this entertainment program had an atrocious thing done to her that would never have held muster if it had been done against michelle -- the first lady michelle obama or hillary clinton. you know this -- >> niger, niger -- >> conservatives. >> -- disgusting. >> it's my show. it's my show. niger, fall back in line. >> yes. >> here's what confused me yesterday. i admire your passionate defense. but here's what confused me. at the precise moment that herman himself went on television with wolf blitzer to reveal all this and talk in some detail about all this, his lawyer was going elsewhere to the media saying this is a private matter. no denial. no, this didn't happen. this is a private matter. it's consensual, et cetera, et cetera. that's weird, isn't it? why wouldn't his lawyer say the same thing he's saying? >> no. first of all, the lawyer was doing his job as a lawyer. and he was saying that, first of all, this is an allegation. my client says it's untrue but it's an allegation. it is quite different than what had been alleged which is a sexual assault by an incredible person that gave incredible testimony alongside an ambulance chaser gloria allred. he was separating that and the so-called settlements from this allegation of a consensual relationship. >> but niger, all -- >> he was making the distinction. >> all the more reason why did the lawyer issue a statement since, as you and everyone looking at this would say that there's no criminal accusations here. so why would a lawyer be putting out a statement at all and why a lengthy one that is arguing that a person's private life should not be held up for scrutiny when running for office. that's a political statement not a legal one. very confusing. i would say, niger, that once again the herman cain campaign is, at the very least disorganized. you have a candidate making an unequivocal denial then you have his lawyer undermining that denial by saying it doesn't matter. >> i have to wrap this up. i want to ask niger finally this. and this is a question for you because you are a senior adviser to the team. if it turns out herman cain has been telling porky pies and has had an affair with this woman, would you then advise him to stand down? >> i would advise that that is a blow that would be difficult to come back from. yes, i would. but he has assured me that this allegation is untrue, and i think there is a larger question here, piers. and i think that larger question is do we have a new standard where you are guilt by accusation? if we have this new standard, you might as well clear the halls of congress, clear the staffers, three-quarters of our presidents would have never been in office -- >> niger -- >> this is not a new standard if you remember "the new york times" ran a very disgusting piece on john mccain below the fold front page accusing mccain of having raised suspicions among his staffers. it has to do more with conservatives than -- >> i have to leave it there. i've enjoyed -- >> defend john mccain. >> i have enjoyed. okay, niger, i have to leave it there. it's a fascinating debate. i think you have a good point that he is innocent till proven guilty and the proof will be in the pudding, as we say. let's wait and see. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> thank you. coming next, michael jackson's doctor is sentenced to the maximum term of four years imprisonment. will he actually do that time? 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and was justice served? joining me murray's defense team j. michael flanagan and spokesman mark fee arrow. a tough day. he got the maximum sentence. i was watching it life. it was pretty elongated, the judge's sentence decisionmaking. but as we got going and got going, you could tell the anger welling up inside him. and he clearly wanted to throw not just the book but the library at your client. why do you think he took so against conrad murray? because my experience has been with almost all the guests i've had very mixed feelings about this case in the sense of, okay, he may have been partly responsible for michael jackson dying, but he didn't do it deliberately. >> you just noticed it today. i've noticed it for almost two years. this judge has been angry with us the entire time. and today was just a real opportunity for him to vent his anger. >> why, michael? >> you know, i just think that -- mark,. >> mark, sorry. >> that's okay. this was about what the jury didn't get to hear. i would be furious if i sat on the jury for six weeks and never knew that michael jackson was $400 million in debt. you never heard that he was paid one cent, not a dime. >> it was that he was expected to be. >> not only was he not paid. he maxed out all of his credit cards caring for michael jackson. >> describe the relationship between conrad and michael jackson, clearly complicated. all the previous patient, i had four of them in here one day, very powerful testimony in conrad's favor. they couldn't recognize any of this picture being built about him at all. in the end he took the money, the fame, he wanted the glamour job, the big payday. >> you heard from the other patients. they all basically thought of themselves as friends. conrad murray thought of michael jackson as his best friend. michael jackson thought of conrad murray that way. conrad murray was the only one allowed upstairs in his house. it's incredible. conrad murray, the saddest day of his life was not today or wasn't the day that he was convicted. it's the day he lost his friend, michael jackson. >> one of the most furious passages, i guess, of the judge's sentencing came when he alluded to this documentary that conrad took part in. you didn't put the client on the stand, obviously. let's watch a little clip from this and then discuss this. >> i can cross-examine him and he wouldn't stand a chance. he's stupid. however, i take offense when my damn attorney is not prepared. >> we never said he gave a drip. >> i disagree with you. he gave a drip. it says here. >> dr. murray goes the dose and the drip. line 22. he says it. this is about that night. >> he needs to wake up. he needs coffee and some pit bull, or red bull. end of story. this is why i said i'm available. >> i mean, you don't know whether to laugh or cry watching that, i guess because -- i don't know. i felt uncomfortable watching that, i'll be honest with you. because if you're not going to have him speak in public in the court case, why let him do a documentary? isn't that going to be antagonistic? >> he needed to do the documentary. he was out of funds. he had no money for living expenses much less the expenses he had for his children. we had expert witness fees to pay. it wasn't for the attorneys, but he got paid some money. i don't know exactly what the numbers were, and it was used for living expenses. and by the way, in that piece, i said, conrad, you threw me under the bus. he says, mike, i was just -- i was hot, i was mad at that witness. and i just wanted you to rip him up, and you didn't rip him up. and i'm sorry, he said, if you'll just stick with me, we'll do it your way next time. >> everybody has known about these celebrity doctors, nor -- for want of a better phrase, who have administered stuff to people in their homes within the area around this studio in los angeles. and others say michael jackson was a fully grown man in his middle age, probably doing this for quite a while and should have been responsible for himself. but then there are the other, many in the medical profession who say what conrad murray did was fundamentally unethical and wrong. no doctor should have done what he did. do you accept that? >> i just got to say this. this is what was fundamentally different about this case. michael jackson had backed himself into a corner and had conrad murray walked away for a single day, not only would michael jackson have been $400 million in debt, he would have lost the catalog. he would have been penniless. conrad murray didn't know that he was going to die. he knew it wasn't a perfect setup, but had he for a single day, i'll pull the plug. that's the end of the tour. michael jackson was living in a rented home. had conrad murray walked away from his friend one day, michael jackson would have been penniless. would he be alive today? i don't know. he was chasing that propofol thing for a long time. >> secondly the family indicate that they may sue for up to $100 million. does conrad murray have any money? >> the judge might assess restitution in the sum of $100 million in january when we have to go back to court. it doesn't matter if he assesses him 100 million or a million, conrad murray doesn't have the money. he can't pay it. now that his livelihood has been stripped from him, he probably will never have that ability to pay that kind of money. >> were you expecting the worst of it? >> today, yes, i have been expecting the worst ever since the jury said guilty. i knew where this judge stood. >> how is conrad today? >> i haven't talked with him today. i'm meeting with him tomorrow. but he was strong last wednesday and the day before when i saw him. you know, it was devastating blow to get convicted. but he's been put into a situation and you know, there's survival instincts. he's doing okay. >> well, sad case for everyone involved. michael flanagan, mark fierro, thank you very much. coming next, the fighting host of "america's most wanted" on the scandals in college sports. m to the pool daddy promised! look at me, i'm swimming! somebody, get her a pony! [ female announcer ] the travelocity guarantee. from the price to the room to the trip you'll never roam alone. i feel the same way i did before the verdict. the time is [ bleep ]. it should have been a hundred years. it's not enough. >> that's michael jackson's brother jermaine on conrad murray's sentence today. four years the maximum. joining me to help sort out if that sentence was fair and give us insight into the kind of sex crimes alleged at syracuse ynd penn state institutions is john walsh. the host of "america's most wanted." beginning his 25th season on friday on lifetime. john walsh, a lot of what's going on is within your program ator of expertise. the michael jackson case, was justice done? jermaine jackson angry there but it was the maximum sentence. >> i think justice was done, but i think everybody's avoiding the real question. why didn't conrad murray adhere to the hippocratic oath that he took when he became a doctor? and that was to do the thing that was in the best interests of his patient. i think he must have known if he was michael jackson best friend, as his attorneys say, that michael jackson was heavily addicted to all kinds of prescription drugs. and the best thing he probably wouldn't be in jail today, conrad murray, and michael jackson might be alive if he'd have said, michael, the best thing i can do is put you in a car and take you to rehab. everything else can wait. the big payday for the tour that's upcoming. everybody else can wait. i know you're addicted. i'm giving you drugs every single night. let's go to rehab. >> are there many doctors in hollywood that would ever do that to somebody of michael jackson's stature? >> i think that they have to know that somewhere along the way that the whole thing's going to go off the rails. he's not the first doctor who was prosecuted. elvis presley's doctor was prosecuted after his death. it just can't be worth the money. even though his lawyer said he never got paid, i'm sure he was waiting for that big payday and he was hoping he could get michael jackson to england to do that tour. and i think doctors have to say, it isn't worth it. it's not worth ruining my career, my reputation or my client to die to give them drugs for a future payday. >> let's turn to big scandals infesting american sport at the moment. but in the last couple of days, we had this thing at syracuse involving bernie fine, the assistant basketball coach. what do you make of this? is there a parallel between these two cases? it seems that there was a cover-up that a lot of people knew, they didn't take action. people were being abused and horrible stories and horrible cover-ups both in big sporting organizations. what do you make of it? >> i think it's appalling. this is something i've been talking about for 30 years, the ability of children to come forward to a trusted authority figure, an adult and somebody will do something about it. the penn state is the most appalling case because this guy was on the radar. he's alleged to have committed these crimes and i have to say it and so do you, but he was on the radar since 1995. when he retired in 1999 he still had the keys to the locker room. he retired at 55 years old. these kids -- boys are very reluctant to report abuse. they're usually diminished by their peers. and everybody realized that this guy had a problem. as this onion peels, everybody said we knew he was creepy. a 6'4" man with a 10-year-old boy sodomizing in the shower, he had to think about it, call his dad, worry about his job, then report it. and the penn state authorities, the director of sports, the cfo of penn state and joe paterno say, you know, maybe this will go away. maybe we shouldn't call the cops. maybe we shouldn't call and tell the campus police. and now it comes out that this was a man who allegedly created a charity -- and that charity did a lot of good work -- so that he could cherry pick the kids that he wanted to do whatever. it's really appalling, and it's really sad. and my 17-year-old son called me -- i was out on the road. he said, dad, the students are rioting on penn state because joe paterno got fired. a couple years ago those students were kids themselves. nobody's talking about those kids at risk, those kids that were in the second mile charity that jerry sandusky allegedly, allegedly hurt. i thought, you know, hayden for a 17-year-old guy, you're prett perceptive. they're worried about that football program and that's all that school's worried about. >> yeah, couldn't agree more. it was deeply disturbing, the whole thing. after the break, i want to know what you really thing is going on behind some of the biggest crime stories going on. and your extraordinary career in nailing so many evil people. usa prime credit... this peggy... hi, i'm cashing in my points... peggy? 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[ male announcer ] trade commission-free for 60 days. plus get up to $600 when you open an account. for 27 years we've been asking who could take a 6-year-old boy and murder him and decapitate him? who? we needed to know. we needed to know. and today we know. >> an almost unimaginable moment for any parent there. john walsh, obviously it's clear what has driven you to do this extraordinary chasing after these evil people for the last 20-odd years. how have you dealt emotionally with what happened to you and your family? i only say because watching you there you were surprisingly emotional. you're always so calm and in check. i just wondered how you kept yourself in control over these years. >> well, i think that something my wife said to me year and year ago after adam was murdered, that we ought to remember who the real victim was. that it was this beautiful 6-year-old boy. and we've tried to focus on that in these 30 year since adam died to make sure that adam didn't die in vain and to be a loud voice. if the people, for example, in penn state, had been a loud voice for those boys, that jerry sandusky wouldn't have been able to continue molesting them for years and have keys to the locker room. and i have to ask this question. i didn't say it in the last -- before the last break, piers. why is he out on probation -- why is he out with no serious bond and no electronic monitor on his ankle? i profiled many respected pedophiles, convicted or alleged, who have taken off just before trial and gotten money from somewhere. but that really bothers me. and i had to say it on your show because i know you're bothered by everything that happened at penn state. but what propels me is every now and then we do something right, be we get a missing child back. we got elizabeth smart back alive. every now and then we stop a predator that i know would be out molesting another child or murdering someone else. it is not about closure. i'll always be the angry, broken hearted father of a murdered child, but the way to change things is change it through the system. every now and then someone steps up -- i've seen it for 23 year on "america's most wanted," good people. my real hero dad was my role model. when good men do nothing, evil prevails. i've lived by that moto since i was a little boy because he taught me that. >> the statistics on your show is quoit extraordinary, 1,162 fugitives captured. people reunited with their families. of all these cases which is the one that has the most significance to you personally? >> well, i have to say, elizabeth smart. i grew so close to that family during the eight months that she was missing. i got to know lois and ed smart, i profiled her incessantly. finally when ed called me up and said, they have a guy in jail. yes, the handyman. he's died of a heart attack. i don't think he took elizabeth. the police, the salt lake city police and the fbi are telling us that the case is over, that we'll never find elizabeth and her body is in the desert somewhere. ed, you've got to give me a reason to keep doing it on "america's most wanted." there was a composite. mary katherine was in the room and she said it was a guy that was in the house one day working there on the roof because mormons go down and get homeless people and people are that in need to come work on their homes. mary katherine is absolutely sure that it was this guy called emmanuel. and i'll never forget it. i asked the fbi and salt lake city police there in salt lake if i can put the composite on. i was going on this very show, when larry king was sitting in that chair right now. they said, no, it's richard reesy. i said i'm going to air that composite. four days later we knew it was a guy named brian david mitchell. three weeks later die hard fans of "america's most wanted" spotted him in a kinko's. and two hours after that ed smart was on his way to that police department to pick up his daughter alive. they asked me to fly out there the next day. a lot of people don't know this. the media was circled around their house. i advised them not to make elizabeth available for any interviews until she got psychological counseling. no, it's important you come out and meet elizabeth. i said, i don't have to. they said, no, you helped save her life. i flew out there and the smarts brought me through the back door so the media couldn't see me. and that gorgeous 14-year-old girl who is wonderful lady now walked down those stair. i'll never forget it. never forget it. >> an amazing moment. you've had so many of those. john walsh, you do an extraordinary job and i salute you for that. your series "america's most wanted" starts at 11:00 on lifetime. good luck with the new series. >> thank you, piers. comic dane cook joins me with his unique take on the times we live in. ♪ sen♪ co-signed her credit card - "buy books, not beer!" ♪ ♪ut the second at she shut the door ♪ ♪ girl started blowing up their credit score ♪ ♪ she bought a pizza party for the whole dorm floor ♪ ♪ hundred pounds of makeup at the makeup store ♪ ♪ and a ticket down to spring break in mexico ♪ ♪ but her folks didn't know 'cause her folks didn't go ♪ ♪ to free-credit-score-dot-com hard times for daddy and mom. ♪ your new progresso rich & hearty steak burger soup. [ dad ] i love this new soup. it's his two favorite things in one... burgers and soup. did you hear him honey? burgers and soup. love you. they're cute. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. dane cook spent years as a rising star in comedy. now he's very much arrived, movies on stage and television. dane cook joins me. how are you? >> that's the introduction i wish i had every time i went home right there. that's not what i receive when i walk in the house. >> i don't like you because you have more twitter followers than me. i thought i was doing quite well. you have over 2 million. >> i think it does dance around you. what are you at? >> i'm about 1.5. but i now assess everybody in terms of follower account. which is completely pointless because kim kardashian has 11 million which is more than the president. the whole thing is absurd. >> every day when i tweet, 2,000 followers but lose that many at the same time. that's the tough thing about comedy. you never know where something's going to land. >> how do you deal with abuse? >> a therapist. we read the twitters. >> all of you are terrible self-analyzers and you're all terribly insecure and paranoid. isn't that true about comedians? >> we're fragile souls, piers. >> so why be on a medium where people come on every day and say you are not funny? >> right. because we need love 24/7. the re-tweet is our version of the applause. >> that's true, isn't it? >> yes. >> every comedian i've had -- you can see, they just want to be laughed at. >> right. >> that's the ultimate kind of thing that you crave, isn't it? >> yeah. i grew up -- i was so insecure. i was the quiet kid in class. you really did want to break out of that shell. and also being funny, it helps with the girls, too. >> how many have you literally laughed into bed? >> oh, wow. >> a motley crew. so i'm prepared for any kind of statistic. >> nowhere near the train caboose that they have. but i've done well. i've had some dalliances over the years. how about you? >> not as many as you. >> you just had a fourth kid. a little girl. that's wonderful then three -- >> three boys. >> is that it, four? >> you can't leave it at four because you need a football team, you need at least five a side. >> i don't want to have that many kids. >> don't you? >> no, because one is bound to turn out to be an a-hole. if you have that many kids, then you're really raising the stakes on somebody just being a complete -- >> you produce a whole breeds ground of young comedians and comediennes? >> i don't know if i want to catapult them into that world. i dealt with a family who dealt with hardships through humor. it would be kind of close to home to have that kind of family. >> you lost both your parents in the space of a year. this awful thing with your half-brother making loads of money. a tough thing to go through. i've always been curious when you're a comedian and high profile and you're out there and facing audiences and stuff, how easy is it to use comedy for a mask on how you're really feeling in situations like ha? >> you definitely reach a point and in my 20s, it was about what i was experiencing then, partying, being young. you hit 30, serious moments, tragic moments. then you decide is this going to inform my performance? am i going to be truthful, live in the moment or be fantastical and imaginative. i turned a corner in stand-up by allowing vulnerability to come into play and finding laughs and opening up the tool shed of abilities in way to connect with people. >> is this a golden time for comedians? when it's a republican race, you so many eccentric candidates all doing weird things. >> there's a lot of rumor -- >> great material. >> i'd like to announce i'm also having an fair with cain and it's been 13 years also, because i said it on tv, it's true. >> somebody said on twitter today, isn't it easier if he announces the women he hasn't had any dalliances with. in the modern age, nobody can work out what is truth because the internet takes this stuff, before you know it, boom, he's guilty as charged. >> i used to watch courtroom shows with my mom, in five seconds of seeing the defendant, she'd say, he's guilty because i can tell by his face. we're a society that likes to judge, build you up, smash you down, say get back up. >> is that healthy or unhealthy? >> i think it's what we are. it's part of our behavior. it's the way we're wired which is i'm insecure, i need to make you feel bad, you feel bad, i'm going to tell you it's not so bad, now we're equal. i did that without using any foul language. trust me, i wanted to drop some f-bombs in there. >> do you days when you bomb, when it goes horribly wrong and you face that awful moment? >> right now. >> probably doing okay. >> we need an audience here. >> don't take my lack of laughter not finding you funny. >> i'm going to find the retweet value. >> seriously, did you get those days? >> i am. >> a wonderful delicious plateau where you have your fan base and that's it. >> i've had great heckles from people at tipping point pipe was in new york in the village one night, it was formative years, i'm sweating like nixon on television and i heard a guy in the back of the room crystal clear go, these are new jokes and they're not working. i was like, thank you, exactly. >> you can think of another new joke. want to talk to you but where you draw the line if you draw the line, should you draw the line? your father always deal with that kind of thing. >> no. mom, no, not anymore. not for nine years. he's not lighting the pilot light today. he didn't clean the gutters out last spring. he didn't flip the breakers in the fuse box when they popped the winter before last. he did not drive you to the hospital. when you fell in the driveway you fell, mom, and i drove you, i did, mum, mum, i did. >> it's from dane cook's new movie "answers to nothing" which opens friday. tell me about the movie. deals with a man dealing with infidelity, set against the backdrop of a missing girl. >> yeah. >> typical dark comedy. >> it's kind of almost become a genre film, ensemble pieces look a "crash" or "magnolia" this has a dalliance in that world where you have, you know, simpatico with these characters, six degrees of separation wise. my character ryan and elizabeth mitchell are trying to have a baby through in vitro but i'm also having an affair. i think it's one of the films right way the first scene people say, i couldn't breathe it grabs you by the throat and it's relentless and it's -- and i think that people are finding empathy in it because there's a lot of relateability in the characters and the darkness. >> i had chelsea handler on recently, one thing she won't poke fun at are ugly babies and people dying. do you have a similar bar you refuse to dip under? subjects? >> no. i think that, you know, you go through -- you certainly go through years, as you're coming up where you say, how far can i let the ship leave the shore before it's never coming back? and i -- i definitely took my hits in that regard. i think comedy's all about breaking down barriers and jumping over those hurdles and going right for the heart. and if that means, you know, stepping on a few toes to get there, that's part of the pinprick of release of laughter right there. >> it's a sad day for -- >> ugly babies, by the way, there's very hysterical ugly babies. uglybaby.com website you can peruse. >> it's been a sad day for comedy with the death of patrice o'neal who i know that you knew. he died of a stroke today. take a quick look of patrice on "jimmy fallon." white people need to loosen up. >> we're loosening up. president obama, we have -- >> you gave that a two-year shot. it is over. it's done. he got two more years. that's why he goes on so many vacations. he knows it's finished. >> patrice o'neal died today. very funny guy. >> yes. i started my comedy career with patrice. we both came out of boston, he was a roxbury kid. he was an inquisitive, brilliant performer, it's just tragic. it's horrible. >> what's next for you? obviously you're doing everything, stand-up, the movies, tv, whatever -- whatever comes your way, it's all turning gold at the moment. what's the ambition left for you? >> i think it's -- i made a choice a few years ago, i had been on this like whirlwind arena tour all throughout u.s. and i thought, as i take my fans and kind of tell new stories and bring them into the new, you know, mediums, i'd like to, you know, exceed my own expectations. i've always tried to do things that would entertain my families, my friends, my fans and with choices like "answers