Monday, February 08, 2010

Larry King Live: Tonight's guest, Biathlete Ross Mettlecune

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

LARRY KING, HOST, LARRY KING LIVE: Tonight, prime time exclusive -- what is "Biathlon," who are "Biathloners," and are they a threat to this country's security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Montage of images: World Trade Center buildings falling; cross country skiers cross country skiing on a sunny day; a crowd at the security checkpoint in a O'Hare Airport; an American flag burning in a demonstration somewhere in the Middle East.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING: I'm joined tonight by "biathloner" Ross Mettlecune who says he can explain away the recent controversy surrounding his group's stated intent to disrupt the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.

(turns to Mettlecune and speaks in his patented Larry King "come on" voice)

Why do want to disrupt the Winter Olympics? They're fun. Families and dignitaries will be there. What sick pleasure do you get out of scaring people like this?

ROSS METTLECUNE (bewildered): I don't understand what you're saying. I'm competing at the Vancouver Games. I'm a biathlete.

LARRY KING (confused): What is the "biathlon" I keep hearing about? Is it some kind of newfangled ideology? Are you part of a cult?

ROSS METTLECUNE: No, no, no, it's a sport. It combines cross country skiing with target shooting. It's been an official Winter Olympic sport since 1960.

LARRY KING (long pause): What's it feel like to kill a man?

ROSS METTLECUNE: I'm not sure you understand. I shoot at targets, not people. I've never shot a person in my life.

LARRY KING: But you were up in that clocktower for hours. We saw you -- there was live coverage -- !

ROSS METTLECUNE: I have no idea what you're talking about.

LARRY KING: What do your parents think about all of this?

ROSS METTLECUNE: They're very proud of me going to the Olympics. They've been extremely supportive of my dream, ever since I was a kid.

LARRY KING: How did you get started in the biathlon. Did you grow up in a militia?

ROSS METTLECUNE: No, no, I grew up in Chicago. I've always loved skiing and I got into target shooting with my father.

LARRY KING: And he would be Donald Drag, the infamous white supremacist.

ROSS METTLECUNE: No! My dad's a dentist! His name is Kyle Mettlecune! Where did you get your information? It's completely wrong.

LARRY KING: On this show, we believe in letting all sides tell their stories. So, what was life like on deathrow?

ROSS METTLECUNE: You've got me mixed up with some other person. I'm a biathlete. I'm going to compete in the Vancouver Winter Games. I'm not a militia member and I've never killed anybody.

LARRY KING: Then what was your link to Charles Manson? Were you one of those rich music moguls who screwed him around?

ROSS METTLECUNE: (silence)

LARRY KING: Biathlete. Biathlete. Is this some sort of "don't ask, don't tell" king of thing?

ROSS METTLECUNE: (silence)

LARRY KING: Now that the Innocence Project has gotten you out of prison, are you rehabilitated? Do you still crave having sex with young children.

ROSS METTLECUNE: (gets up from his chair and walks off the set)

LARRY KING: Because, if I remember correctly, it was Dean Martin who convinced Frank Sinatra to raise minks for their fur, and ferrets as pets. (chuckles) Ole Dean-o!

He could sing, and tell a joke, and sculpted the hedges at his Burbank home into Disney characters engaged in depraved sex acts. (chuckles) Ole Dean-o!

And that D.B. Cooper. I'll never understand how he avoided arrest for driving O.J. Simpson around in that Prius that had no brakes. Murder is always a terrible thing, but to have murdered Gerry Spence and his suede, tassled Navajo jacket. That's the definition of tragedy.

I was the DJ on the midnight shift at W-something-or-other in New York. Ah, that call that came in -- the woman with the Lauren Bacall voice. Putting on the longest record I had in the booth: Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall. And then going over and giving the woman with the Lauren Bacall voice the business.

The business.

Busy O'Business.

Was that before or after I lost my second fortune? No, it was after I'd lost my second fortune, but before the wreck of my third marriage.

No, that's all wrong. It happened after I lost my first fortune, the crack-up of my second marriage and my second heart attack.

A TWENTY-THREE YEAR OLD STAGE HAND, WEARING A HEADSET COMES ON SET, TAKES LARRY KING BY THE HAND AND LEADS HIM, BABBLING, BACK TO HIS DRESSING ROOM.

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