The View

Mariah Carey just made it clear -- TMZ was dead on when we reported Nicki Minaj threatened to shoot her.

Barbara Walters reported on "The View" today she spoke with Mariah, who said she was concerned because "Nicki walked off the set and multiple people heard Nicki say, 'If I had a gun I would shoot the bitch.'"

Walters says Mariah told her, for safe measure, she's hired extra security.

And, Walters adds, Mariah said Nicki has not apologized but told her she loves her ....HOWEVER, Nicki said they might be fighting again on "American Idol."

For her part, Nicki just tweeted, "I don't call tmz n Barbara Walters cuz I stand on my own two feet. Never needed an army. God is good. Insecurity is as cruel as the grave."

Minaj continued, "I guess it hurts 2 have the producers tell u to ur face that nicki is the best judge we've had since simon. Awww, poor u. Keep them lies cmn." So much for the truce.

Anderson Cooper just BLASTED Star Jones ... claiming the former "View" host was talking out of her lying, irrelevant ass when she claimed Anderson's gay announcement was a ratings ploy.

Cooper was shooting a segment of "Anderson Live" with Bravo bigshot Andy Cohen ... when Cohen asked A.C. if he felt any different after coming out publicly back in July.

That's when Anderson dropped the truth bomb:

"I will say and I actually haven't mentioned this, the only thing that did kind of annoy me and actually it annoyed my mom who brought it up to me, Star Jones of all people."

He continued, "I haven't thought about Star Jones in I don't know how long. I was unaware she was even on TV still ... but she apparently shows up on a morning show."

"Out of the blue Star Jones ... said this was a ratings ploy by me to boost ratings."

On the show, which airs today, Cooper says Jones couldn't have been more wrong -- 'cause he was on assignment in Africa when he decided to quietly make the announcement in an email to a journalist friend, who posted the letter online.

"If I was wanting to boost ratings, I would have waited to announce it on 'A Very Special Episode' that would have been promo'd for weeks and weeks and there would have been commercials ... 'Anderson's Huge Announcement.'"

"As memory serves, in terms of boosting ratings, I seem to recall [Star] hocking her wedding every single day to get free products when she was on 'The View' and I seem to recall her lying about her gastric bypass surgery and making everybody else lie about it as well. So for her to suddenly emerge out of the shadows and suddenly attack me for this, I couldn't believe it."

Cooper says he invited Star to his show to discuss her comments, but she turned him down.

"I would think she would want as much publicity as possible given her penchant for wanting publicity."

"The View" co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck is HOPING to sell her swanky NYC condo ... but thanks to the crappy real estate market ... she could end up taking a serious hit on the place.

Hasselbeck and her former NFL quarterback hubby Tim just listed their Upper West Side condo for a cool $3.3 million ... just under the $3.309 they paid for the place back in 2008.

The 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom home is pretty sick ... marble flooring, 10-foot ceiling, massive windows with a great city view. The building also includes a full-time doorman, courtyard, fitness room and 52-foot indoor swimming pool.

Whoopi "Cushion" Goldberg strikes again -- tearing ass this morning on "The View" so loudly ... she nearly put a hole in her seat.

Whoop doesn't even attempt to hide it either, claiming, "Excuse me, I think I just blew a little frog outta there!" The guest on the show -- Claire Danes -- clearly has no idea what to do with herself.

It's nothing new for the gas-woman -- during an interview with Dr. Oz back in May, Whoopi admitted she farts all the time on her show. Gotta respect her honesty.

Barbara Walters just told President Barack Obama she's retiring next year ... this according to a source who heard Barbara say it.

Barbara just finished interviewing the Prez at the White House. According to the source, during a break in the action, Barbara leaned over to Obama and said, "I need one more interview with you because I'm retiring next year." Here's the thing .. Barbara's mic was open when she said it, and lots of people were listening.

Barbara still does specials for the network, in addition to "The View." Her "Most Fascinating People" show aired last night -- Obama was NOT on her list.

We called ABC News for comment, but so far ... nothing.

12:00 PM PT: Jeff Schneider, Sr. VP of ABC News, just got off the phone with Walters and told us, "Barbara has joked that she is retiring every year since the Clinton Administration. Anyone who just did a day trip to Syria, 90-minute prime time special and an interview with the President and First Lady hardly sounds like someone retiring from anything."

We asked if she fibbed to Obama to get another interview, and Schneider laughed, saying, "She's one of the greatest bookers who ever lived."

Sherri Shepherd might be a queen of daytime TV on "The View" -- but she won't be crowned queen of "Dancing With the Stars" any time soon ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Shepherd tell TMZ she's been approached by "DWTS" for this upcoming season -- and they've been "aggressively courting her."

But Shepherd is getting married later this month -- during hiatus from "The View" -- and we're told once she goes back to work ... there just won't be time for "DWTS."

Walters went after Paris for bitching about having to do 200 hours of community service. And Babs scoffed at Paris' claim she wanted to help women by doing charity work. Walters wondered aloud why Paris didn't show any of her charity work on her show: "Why not present that side of yourself, if indeed it exists?"

After the segment, Paris and her dad, Rick, berated producers backstage over the tone of the interview, so says the NY Post. A rep for the show confirmed the incident, but Paris was mum.

The ladies were hanging with Dr. Oz yesterday ... when he asked if any of the women had tore some ass during the segment.

Whoopi's hands shot up ... as she proclaimed, "There is more room out than in!"

Hasselbeck had been sued by Susan Hassett back in 2009 -- after Hassett alleged EH's book, "The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide," was a rip-off of her book, "Living with Celiac Disease."

The judge had originally 86'd Hassett's case on a technicality -- but she re-filed ... and Friday, it was decided once and for all that Hassett didn't have enough evidence to prove Hassselbeck violated her copyright.

Geddie and his wife, Barbara Ann, are being sued by Annjeanette George, who claims the Geddie's vehicle hit the motorcycle she was riding on near LAX in December, 2008, causing serious injuries.

According to the complaint, Bill and Barbara Ann "owned, controlled, repaired, entrusted, maintained and operated" the vehicle.

The suit was filed Thursday in L.A. County Superior Court, just before the statute of limitations ran out.

Annjeanette claims she'll have to endure physicians, surgeons and others to heal. She's suing for unspecified damages.

Boyle was belting out "O Holy Night" -- when she began coughing and backed away from the mic ... then asked the producer if she could start over ... all while the cameras continued to roll.

After several awkward seconds, Whoopi and Sherri swooped in and bailed her out.

Producers tell us Boyle will retape her performance for the West Coast.

The ladies launched right into the controversy on this morning's show -- with both Whoopi and Joy insisting they were "glad" that they left.

But Babs -- still upset with the way things went down -- said, "You don't walk out of your own home ... you can walk out of somebody else's home ... but you don't walk out of your own home."

Shepherd was at LaGuardia Airport yesterday, where she also insisted that Bill knew what buttons he was gonna push when he said, "Muslims killed us on 9/11."

As for dirty details from the set of "The View" -- Sherri seems to be under a gag order ... telling us, "I can't talk about that."