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Ladies Who Lunch: Walters and the Hiltons

Kathy Hilton, Nicky Hilton Gregg DeGuire/WireImage.com

It appears Barbara Walters has secured—or at least is very close to securing—Paris Hilton's first postpokey interview.

Not only did Paris' mom, Kathy, and sister, Nicky, show up at the unveiling of Walters' star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this morning, they joined the legendary newswoman at her luncheon at Wolfgang Puck's Vert restaurant.

And they weren't just a couple of regular luncheon attendees. Kathy and Nicky, I'm told, sat at Walters' table. 

How about Paris as a cohost or maybe a guest cohost on The View

When I asked Walters if Paris would be taking a seat at the her talk-show table, she didn't give me a definitive yes or no. Instead, Walters said, "I think she has other things on her mind right now."

Barbara Walters, Elizabeth Hasselbeck, Joy Behar Gregg DeGuire/WireImage.com

As for announcing the new View cohosts, Walters told reporters that she's still mulling it over and expects to make an announcement in July.

She said she and Rosie O'Donnell are still friends. They spoke just this week via email. 

Meanwhile, Walters said she was feeling "hip and hot" because her star falls between my E! pal Ryan Seacrest and Destiny's Child.

View cohosts Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, my Daily 10 cohort and former View cohost Debbie Matenopoulos, Desperate Housewives star Marcia Cross, ABC News honcho David Westin, L.A. police commissioner Bill Bratton and Disney chief Bob Iger were also among today's well-wishers.

Iger recalled being a production assistant at ABC in the '70s when Walters joined the network. He said Walters was even nice to him then but joked that she would mistakenly refer to him as "Jim."

At least I think he was joking.

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