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Barbara Walters announced on The View earlier today that she received a call from Britney Spears’ “manager” Sam Lutfi.  Lutfi told Babbs that Britney is getting psychiatric treatment and her “mental issues are treatable”.

“She has been to a psychiatrist,” Walters, 78, said, recounting Lutfi’s explanation over the phone. “She, I assume, is starting some kind of treatment.”

Walters also reported that Spears was having trouble sleeping and was suffering from “mood swings,” but that she was back in touch with her mother, Lynne Spears.  (Lynne Spears was spotted at LAX this morning, arriving in Los Angeles.)

When those at the table challenged the veracity of Lutfi’s report, Walters’s response was, “I don’t know if anybody is telling the truth or not telling the truth.” But she noted, “He has been with her constantly. He seems to be enormously supportive.”

Chiming in with her analysis was Whoopi Goldberg, who said, “I think this girl has worked and worked and worked – and she is burnt out.”