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President Sends a Very Tight Budget to Congress; Speculation Mystery Over Identity of 'Deep Throat' May be Solved

Aired February 07, 2005 - 10:30   ET

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

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


BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: The Eagles have landed, but the Patriots are still flying high on this morning, after their third Super Bowl victory in four years. New England beat Philadelphia in the NFL championship game 24-21. There are no reports of serious problems in Jacksonville, the site of the game, or in the competitor's hometowns of Boston or Philly.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: After no doubt watching the game last night, President Bush is going to be meeting this hour with his cabinet, including some new members, so you might say it's the new cabinet. The session comes on as the president sends a very tight budget to Congress.

CNN's Dana Bash, she's at the White House. She's following these developments for us this morning.

Good morning, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rick.

And it is the president's first cabinet meeting of his second term. And you're right, there definitely will be some new faces in there, some old face as well.

But all of those cabinet secretaries are going to have to defend some program cuts and also some programs that are going to be eliminated altogether in this budget. This is, I should just say, one portion of the federal budget for 2006 that the White House just sent up to Congress today.

And the president, when he took office four years ago, there was a budget surplus. Now as he's entering his second term, it's a record deficit, $427 billion. And one of the president's campaign promise that people in his own party people want him to stick to is cutting that deficit in the next five years. So that end, administration officials say this budget is actually going to be the most cuts overall since the Reagan administration.

Take a look, $2.5 trillion, 150 programs being eliminated or reduced. That's things from farm subsidies, education programs, even prescription drug benefits for some veterans. And again you see there $427 billion deficit for 2006 alone.

Now it doesn't include several things in this budget, like war funding. We know already that the White House is going to send up a request for $80 billion in war funding. And the president, of course, is traveling in the country saying that he wants to reform Social Security by creating private accounts. That, the White House says, is going to cost $754 billion over the next 10 years. That is also not in this budget.

Now because of that, Democrats are saying that the president's claim head will cut the deficit is actually not accurate, that there's no way that can happen. They are also on Capitol Hill saying that there are some unfair cut requests, things like health care, things like education.

But administration officials understand that eliminating programs is not easy, that there are patrons for all kinds of programs, even those that they say are simply a waste of taxpayer money. So they say that this is going to be a tough push to get Congress to stick to this, and they know from history it is not easy.

Last year alone, for example, Rick, they proposed here at the White House cutting or eliminating about 120 programs, and in the end, Congress only cut a handful of those -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: Yes, what you're saying is when all is said and done, what we're looking at now is going to be looking nothing like it will look like in the future, right?

BASH: Well, it's going to have to make its way through Congress. And again, all of these 150 programs have people who are supportive of them, whether or not it's in Congress, or a special interest groups, and there is going to be a lot of fights for a lot of these programs, most of them. So the President has made it clear, and we're likely to hear from him in a short while that he is going to really stick to this and try to get Congress to abide by what he's proposing.

SANCHEZ: Let the battle begin.

Dana Bash following things for us there at the White House. We thank you -- Betty.

NGUYEN: In other political news today, there is speculation that decades long mystery over the identity of "Deep Throat" may be solved. The man who spilled the beans about the Watergate break-in is said to be ill and his obituary written.

Howard Kurtz with CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" has more in this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT REDFORD, ACTOR: Stories told on this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you thought I'd know?

HOWARD KURTZ, CNN HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": He's the most famous secret source in journalistic history, the man who whispered Watergate secrets to Bob Woodward in a parking garage, played by Hal Holbrook in the movie "All the President's Men." More than three decades later, could we be closer to learning the identity of Deep Throat. John Dean, the Nixon White House aid who went to jail over the Watergate cover-up, says we might. Writing in Sunday's "Los Angeles Times," Dean says that Deep Throat, the man, we do know he's a man, who helped bring down President Nixon is ill.

What's more, says Dean, Woodward has told the editor of "The Washington Post" about the illness. How exactly does Dean know this? He's got his own Deep Throat, a source he won't identify, who gave him the information.

Woodward declined to comment Sunday about any alleged illness, but confirmed that former Post editor Ben Bradley, the only other person beside Woodward and Carl Bernstein who knows Throat's identity has said publicly that the obituary is already written.

At the very least, "The Post" has the material ready.

Journalists are increasingly on the defensive about their use of confidential sources. "New York Times" reporter Judith Miller and "TIME" magazine's Matthew Cooper are facing possible jail terms for refusing to disclose which Bush administration official or officials talked to them about Valerie Plane, the CIA operative whose role was leaked to columnist and CNN "CROSSFIRE" host, Bob Novak.

Other journalists could face jail over anonymous sources in the case of Wen Ho Lee, the former nuclear weapons scientist suing to find out who gave his name to reporters, including one former CNN correspondent.

Last week's opening of an exhibit of Woodward and Bernstein's paper is at the University of Texas rekindled interest in Deep Throat, who is still held up as a good source, a classic example of a whistleblower who needed to be protected by the press.

But who was Deep Throat? What was his motivation? And why did he betray Richard Nixon? If John Dean is right, we may soon be able to answer those lingering questions.

Howard Kurtz, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And one final note, the current executive editor of the "Post," Lynne Downey (ph), tells Howard Kurtz that Woodward has not been contacted to say that deep throat is ill.

NGUYEN Here's another story on the legal docket that we're following for you on this day: About 250 potential jurors in the Michael Jackson molestation trial are not going face questions today as had been scheduled. Why? Well, over the weekend the sister of Jackson's defense lawyer, Thomas Mesereau, died of lung cancer. Some jurors are going to be assigned numbers, and then just sent home today. Questioning will begin next Monday.

Meanwhile, jurors return to deliberations in the sex-abuse trial of former Catholic priest Paul Shanley. Jurors in the two-week old trial began deliberating Thursday. Shanley has become one of the most notorious figures in the scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in the United States.

And there's this, a really heartbreaking story that's coming out of Alabama. First, the shocking discovery of three young children found dead in their apartment, apparently starved to death.

Now police are saying the mother, Natashay Yvonne Ward, confessed to killing them.

CNN's Carol Lin has this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The mother of the three children found dead in this Alabama apartment is now charged with capital murder. Huntsville police say 33-year-old Natashay Ward told them she deliberately starved her son and two daughters to death. Police report that the disturbing confession came late Friday night.

Earlier that day, emergency workers responding to a distress call at the home found the bodies.

WENDELL JOHNSON, HUNTSVILLE, POLICE DEPARTMENT: The utilities had been turned off since January 12. The children had been missing from school. They'd never returned to Ridgecrest after the school break.

LIN: Eleven-year-old Shanieka, 9-year-old Latricia and Christopher, just 8, were found fully clothed, lying on the floor in separate bedrooms that had no beds. They appeared malnourished.

JOHNSON: Please try not to speculate, read anything and go on rumors and innuendoes. This may be a long and extensive investigation.

LIN: Grieving family members say they tried to give the mother money for the electric bill, but Natashay Ward would not let them in. State social services say they called on the family in December, but no one answered the door.

It is unclear when the children died.

Neighbor Eddie Love says he last saw the family two weeks ago.

EDDIE LOVE, NEIGHBOR: They were standing across the street (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And I used to see them going back and forth to school and we used to walk over there together. And she never did talk much.

LIN: When the bodies were discovered on Friday, the children's father was at the scene. So was their grandmother, whom police believe called 911. Both are being questioned. Neither lived with the family.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Autopsies will be performed on the children to try and confirm the cause of death. The mother is being held you without bond on capital murder charges.

NGUYEN: The latest on another shocking case of alleged child abuse. A couple accused of torturing five of their seven children remain jailed in Utah this morning, awaiting extradition to Florida. Sheriffs deputies in southeast Utah arrested John and Linda Dollar on Friday. Authorities tracked down the fugitive couple by tracing their cell phone calls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. ALAN FREESTONE, SAN JUAN CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: It's exciting to take these people off the street, charged with these types of crimes. Hopefully this will provide an opportunity for those children to have some closure and maybe begin to recover from what's happened to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Police say the couple starved their adopted children, and there are accusation they pulled their toenails out with pliers. There's no word on when the Dollars will be sent back to Florida.

SANCHEZ: We want you to stick around, because we're going to bring you a story about something that started as a normal day but then turned quite eventful. This is for one Maryland teenager. How his quick thinking ended up saving a life.

NGUYEN: Plus, feeling pain at pump? Well, you are not alone. A look at who is getting hit with the higher gas prices.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

NGUYEN: Well, let's take a look at other stories making news coast to coast right now.

SANCHEZ: In Los Angeles, police shot and killed the driver of a stolen car, only to discover a 13-year-old boy was behind the wheel. Now police are saying they opened fire after the boy rammed a police vehicle. The youngster is believed to have been a gang member.

Fire officials in Bethesda, Maryland are hailing this 17-year-old as a hero. The teenager heard screams coming from a burning home. He burst in and escorted an elderly woman to safety. That fire broke out while the woman was cooking.

From fire to ice. At New Hampshire's Hampton Beach, hundreds of hearty souls took the penguin plunge. What is that, you say? Well, it's something they do for a good cause. And yes, it's cold. The heartwarming, toe-numbering tradition benefited the state's Special Olympics. NGUYEN: Better be a good cause to get out there in that freezing water.

SANCHEZ: Funny how they run much faster on the way out than they did on the way in.

NGUYEN: Have you ever wondered who are TVs worst moms and dads? Or what's the future of reality television.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, a hundred things to love and hate about TV and pop culture. Our TV and pop culture critic Ken Tucker joins us for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Our eye on entertainment is about to zoom in on television. Love it or hate it, that flickering box has no doubt become a part of our daily lives. TV critic Ken tucker has a lot of reasons to get emotional about television, in fact, hundreds of them. He's the pop culture critic for "New York Magazine," and the author of "Kissing Bill O'Reilly," "Roasting Miss Piggy," a hundred things to love and hate about TV.

Welcome. Enjoyable book. Had a nice time with it this weekend.

KEN TUCKER, TV CRITIC: Good. I'm glad.

SANCHEZ: Let me be real direct with the first one, because you mentioned it in your title. Are you trying to cash in on the move to the right by putting Bill O'Reilly in your title?

TUCKER: Absolutely. And of course I'm cashing in on the move to the left with Miss Piggy who is, you know, a well-known bomb thrower.

SANCHEZ: What -- is it the show that you like? I mean, you seem to mention that you're not crazy about him, but you've been on his show and you think it's good TV?

TUCKER: Yes, that's exactly right. I think he's a really good communicator and the show is very well-produced, but you know, would I be a good East Coast media critic if I didn't despise almost anything that came out of his mouth?

SANCHEZ: You like "The Sopranos," too, do you, especially Mrs. Soprano. Interesting what you write about her.

TUCKER: Yes, I think that Edie Falco really provides a kind of ballast for the other side of this real macho, violent show. Edie is just so terrific at making this very need, very feisty woman, as the seasons have gone on, really fight for herself, hold her ground. I think the battles, the arguments she's had with Tony really make her a toe-to-toe -- they're like the dramatic version of the Alice and Ralph Kramden in "The Honeymooners."

SANCHEZ: You know what's interesting, too, you talk about "Star Trek" in here. And you know, there's so many -- people have conventions over these things, and you're saying, you know what, overrated, right?

TUCKER: Way overrated. I mean, "Star Trek" has given us more wooden acting over the years with the exception of maybe Patrick Stewart. But I mean, you know, do we need the ironic William Shatner now? I don't think so. "Star Trek" was one of those shows that always kind of gave us uplifting social messages that I really doesn't think needed to be in a good drama.

SANCHEZ: Here's one that proves that you're a little bit of a nerd, which is OK, because I do the same thing. Sometimes I sit home and I watch C-SPAN, and if my wife walks by, she'll look at me like, what are you do doing? You think that's good TV? .

TUCKER: I do. I think C-SPAN. Because it's completely unfiltered, it gives you the news the way it's exactly presented, puts that one camera right there, it focuses on your attention, there's no commentary from the left or the right, there's none of that yelling. I think C-SPAN and Brian Lamb reading those books, interviewing authors, that's a good thing for literacy.

SANCHEZ: People like you have written about people like me now ever since I've been in this business. And for the most part, you're unkind. Most critics, like yourself, tend to priggish and overweening. So you would think that an organization like Viewers for Quality Television would be loved by them. You say in your book, hate them.

TUCKER: Yes, that's right. I'm still stunned at being called priggish and overweening. I'm very -- that's wonderful, thank you so much.

SANCHEZ: You get it on the other network, too, so I was just going to give you a little bit of it.

TUCKER: That's right, yes. No, I think Viewers for Quality Television, they always praise like the most middle brow, safe, quality television. Again, it's this idea that if you put a good message in a show, it doesn't really matter whether it's well acted or well written.

SANCHEZ: Nothing seems to be making more money nowadays than this thing called "American Idol," right? I remember in fourth grade, we would have a talent show every year. And essentially, that's what this is, a talent show that's doing better numbers than seemingly any show in the history of TV. What's going on? Now do you love it or do you hate it?

TUCKER: I hate it, but, Rick, I think you sound very priggish saying so.

SANCHEZ: And overweening, you might add.

TUCKER: That's right. But "American Idol" is really, I think, a terrible show in the sense it teaches America that you should sing the worst schlock, that you should be the most melodramatic, you should enunciate far too much. It just teaches the worst lessons about popular music. Go back and watch The Beatles, and Elvis Presley and The Sex Pistols if you want good music.

SANCHEZ: Interesting book. It's called kissing some guy at some other network and roasting Miss Piggy.

Ken, you're all right. You know, for a TV critic, you're cool.

TUCKER: Well, thanks a lot. I appreciate it. And you are, too.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate having you on.

And you can keep an eye on TV entertainment 24/7 by pointing your Internet browser to CNN.com/entertainment. Among the highlights you'll find there, the top 10 TV shows and how NBC's medical investigation saved itself.

NGUYEN: Priggish and overweening, you say. OK.

SANCHEZ: I really got him.

NGUYEN: Yes, you did.

Well, it is 10:53 here the East Coast, 7:53 here on the West. Stay with us for a check on your morning forecast. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

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Aired February 7, 2005 - 10:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: The Eagles have landed, but the Patriots are still flying high on this morning, after their third Super Bowl victory in four years. New England beat Philadelphia in the NFL championship game 24-21. There are no reports of serious problems in Jacksonville, the site of the game, or in the competitor's hometowns of Boston or Philly.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: After no doubt watching the game last night, President Bush is going to be meeting this hour with his cabinet, including some new members, so you might say it's the new cabinet. The session comes on as the president sends a very tight budget to Congress.

CNN's Dana Bash, she's at the White House. She's following these developments for us this morning.

Good morning, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rick.

And it is the president's first cabinet meeting of his second term. And you're right, there definitely will be some new faces in there, some old face as well.

But all of those cabinet secretaries are going to have to defend some program cuts and also some programs that are going to be eliminated altogether in this budget. This is, I should just say, one portion of the federal budget for 2006 that the White House just sent up to Congress today.

And the president, when he took office four years ago, there was a budget surplus. Now as he's entering his second term, it's a record deficit, $427 billion. And one of the president's campaign promise that people in his own party people want him to stick to is cutting that deficit in the next five years. So that end, administration officials say this budget is actually going to be the most cuts overall since the Reagan administration.

Take a look, $2.5 trillion, 150 programs being eliminated or reduced. That's things from farm subsidies, education programs, even prescription drug benefits for some veterans. And again you see there $427 billion deficit for 2006 alone.

Now it doesn't include several things in this budget, like war funding. We know already that the White House is going to send up a request for $80 billion in war funding. And the president, of course, is traveling in the country saying that he wants to reform Social Security by creating private accounts. That, the White House says, is going to cost $754 billion over the next 10 years. That is also not in this budget.

Now because of that, Democrats are saying that the president's claim head will cut the deficit is actually not accurate, that there's no way that can happen. They are also on Capitol Hill saying that there are some unfair cut requests, things like health care, things like education.

But administration officials understand that eliminating programs is not easy, that there are patrons for all kinds of programs, even those that they say are simply a waste of taxpayer money. So they say that this is going to be a tough push to get Congress to stick to this, and they know from history it is not easy.

Last year alone, for example, Rick, they proposed here at the White House cutting or eliminating about 120 programs, and in the end, Congress only cut a handful of those -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: Yes, what you're saying is when all is said and done, what we're looking at now is going to be looking nothing like it will look like in the future, right?

BASH: Well, it's going to have to make its way through Congress. And again, all of these 150 programs have people who are supportive of them, whether or not it's in Congress, or a special interest groups, and there is going to be a lot of fights for a lot of these programs, most of them. So the President has made it clear, and we're likely to hear from him in a short while that he is going to really stick to this and try to get Congress to abide by what he's proposing.

SANCHEZ: Let the battle begin.

Dana Bash following things for us there at the White House. We thank you -- Betty.

NGUYEN: In other political news today, there is speculation that decades long mystery over the identity of "Deep Throat" may be solved. The man who spilled the beans about the Watergate break-in is said to be ill and his obituary written.

Howard Kurtz with CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" has more in this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT REDFORD, ACTOR: Stories told on this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you thought I'd know?

HOWARD KURTZ, CNN HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": He's the most famous secret source in journalistic history, the man who whispered Watergate secrets to Bob Woodward in a parking garage, played by Hal Holbrook in the movie "All the President's Men." More than three decades later, could we be closer to learning the identity of Deep Throat. John Dean, the Nixon White House aid who went to jail over the Watergate cover-up, says we might. Writing in Sunday's "Los Angeles Times," Dean says that Deep Throat, the man, we do know he's a man, who helped bring down President Nixon is ill.

What's more, says Dean, Woodward has told the editor of "The Washington Post" about the illness. How exactly does Dean know this? He's got his own Deep Throat, a source he won't identify, who gave him the information.

Woodward declined to comment Sunday about any alleged illness, but confirmed that former Post editor Ben Bradley, the only other person beside Woodward and Carl Bernstein who knows Throat's identity has said publicly that the obituary is already written.

At the very least, "The Post" has the material ready.

Journalists are increasingly on the defensive about their use of confidential sources. "New York Times" reporter Judith Miller and "TIME" magazine's Matthew Cooper are facing possible jail terms for refusing to disclose which Bush administration official or officials talked to them about Valerie Plane, the CIA operative whose role was leaked to columnist and CNN "CROSSFIRE" host, Bob Novak.

Other journalists could face jail over anonymous sources in the case of Wen Ho Lee, the former nuclear weapons scientist suing to find out who gave his name to reporters, including one former CNN correspondent.

Last week's opening of an exhibit of Woodward and Bernstein's paper is at the University of Texas rekindled interest in Deep Throat, who is still held up as a good source, a classic example of a whistleblower who needed to be protected by the press.

But who was Deep Throat? What was his motivation? And why did he betray Richard Nixon? If John Dean is right, we may soon be able to answer those lingering questions.

Howard Kurtz, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And one final note, the current executive editor of the "Post," Lynne Downey (ph), tells Howard Kurtz that Woodward has not been contacted to say that deep throat is ill.

NGUYEN Here's another story on the legal docket that we're following for you on this day: About 250 potential jurors in the Michael Jackson molestation trial are not going face questions today as had been scheduled. Why? Well, over the weekend the sister of Jackson's defense lawyer, Thomas Mesereau, died of lung cancer. Some jurors are going to be assigned numbers, and then just sent home today. Questioning will begin next Monday.

Meanwhile, jurors return to deliberations in the sex-abuse trial of former Catholic priest Paul Shanley. Jurors in the two-week old trial began deliberating Thursday. Shanley has become one of the most notorious figures in the scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in the United States.

And there's this, a really heartbreaking story that's coming out of Alabama. First, the shocking discovery of three young children found dead in their apartment, apparently starved to death.

Now police are saying the mother, Natashay Yvonne Ward, confessed to killing them.

CNN's Carol Lin has this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The mother of the three children found dead in this Alabama apartment is now charged with capital murder. Huntsville police say 33-year-old Natashay Ward told them she deliberately starved her son and two daughters to death. Police report that the disturbing confession came late Friday night.

Earlier that day, emergency workers responding to a distress call at the home found the bodies.

WENDELL JOHNSON, HUNTSVILLE, POLICE DEPARTMENT: The utilities had been turned off since January 12. The children had been missing from school. They'd never returned to Ridgecrest after the school break.

LIN: Eleven-year-old Shanieka, 9-year-old Latricia and Christopher, just 8, were found fully clothed, lying on the floor in separate bedrooms that had no beds. They appeared malnourished.

JOHNSON: Please try not to speculate, read anything and go on rumors and innuendoes. This may be a long and extensive investigation.

LIN: Grieving family members say they tried to give the mother money for the electric bill, but Natashay Ward would not let them in. State social services say they called on the family in December, but no one answered the door.

It is unclear when the children died.

Neighbor Eddie Love says he last saw the family two weeks ago.

EDDIE LOVE, NEIGHBOR: They were standing across the street (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And I used to see them going back and forth to school and we used to walk over there together. And she never did talk much.

LIN: When the bodies were discovered on Friday, the children's father was at the scene. So was their grandmother, whom police believe called 911. Both are being questioned. Neither lived with the family.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Autopsies will be performed on the children to try and confirm the cause of death. The mother is being held you without bond on capital murder charges.

NGUYEN: The latest on another shocking case of alleged child abuse. A couple accused of torturing five of their seven children remain jailed in Utah this morning, awaiting extradition to Florida. Sheriffs deputies in southeast Utah arrested John and Linda Dollar on Friday. Authorities tracked down the fugitive couple by tracing their cell phone calls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. ALAN FREESTONE, SAN JUAN CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: It's exciting to take these people off the street, charged with these types of crimes. Hopefully this will provide an opportunity for those children to have some closure and maybe begin to recover from what's happened to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Police say the couple starved their adopted children, and there are accusation they pulled their toenails out with pliers. There's no word on when the Dollars will be sent back to Florida.

SANCHEZ: We want you to stick around, because we're going to bring you a story about something that started as a normal day but then turned quite eventful. This is for one Maryland teenager. How his quick thinking ended up saving a life.

NGUYEN: Plus, feeling pain at pump? Well, you are not alone. A look at who is getting hit with the higher gas prices.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

NGUYEN: Well, let's take a look at other stories making news coast to coast right now.

SANCHEZ: In Los Angeles, police shot and killed the driver of a stolen car, only to discover a 13-year-old boy was behind the wheel. Now police are saying they opened fire after the boy rammed a police vehicle. The youngster is believed to have been a gang member.

Fire officials in Bethesda, Maryland are hailing this 17-year-old as a hero. The teenager heard screams coming from a burning home. He burst in and escorted an elderly woman to safety. That fire broke out while the woman was cooking.

From fire to ice. At New Hampshire's Hampton Beach, hundreds of hearty souls took the penguin plunge. What is that, you say? Well, it's something they do for a good cause. And yes, it's cold. The heartwarming, toe-numbering tradition benefited the state's Special Olympics. NGUYEN: Better be a good cause to get out there in that freezing water.

SANCHEZ: Funny how they run much faster on the way out than they did on the way in.

NGUYEN: Have you ever wondered who are TVs worst moms and dads? Or what's the future of reality television.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, a hundred things to love and hate about TV and pop culture. Our TV and pop culture critic Ken Tucker joins us for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Our eye on entertainment is about to zoom in on television. Love it or hate it, that flickering box has no doubt become a part of our daily lives. TV critic Ken tucker has a lot of reasons to get emotional about television, in fact, hundreds of them. He's the pop culture critic for "New York Magazine," and the author of "Kissing Bill O'Reilly," "Roasting Miss Piggy," a hundred things to love and hate about TV.

Welcome. Enjoyable book. Had a nice time with it this weekend.

KEN TUCKER, TV CRITIC: Good. I'm glad.

SANCHEZ: Let me be real direct with the first one, because you mentioned it in your title. Are you trying to cash in on the move to the right by putting Bill O'Reilly in your title?

TUCKER: Absolutely. And of course I'm cashing in on the move to the left with Miss Piggy who is, you know, a well-known bomb thrower.

SANCHEZ: What -- is it the show that you like? I mean, you seem to mention that you're not crazy about him, but you've been on his show and you think it's good TV?

TUCKER: Yes, that's exactly right. I think he's a really good communicator and the show is very well-produced, but you know, would I be a good East Coast media critic if I didn't despise almost anything that came out of his mouth?

SANCHEZ: You like "The Sopranos," too, do you, especially Mrs. Soprano. Interesting what you write about her.

TUCKER: Yes, I think that Edie Falco really provides a kind of ballast for the other side of this real macho, violent show. Edie is just so terrific at making this very need, very feisty woman, as the seasons have gone on, really fight for herself, hold her ground. I think the battles, the arguments she's had with Tony really make her a toe-to-toe -- they're like the dramatic version of the Alice and Ralph Kramden in "The Honeymooners."

SANCHEZ: You know what's interesting, too, you talk about "Star Trek" in here. And you know, there's so many -- people have conventions over these things, and you're saying, you know what, overrated, right?

TUCKER: Way overrated. I mean, "Star Trek" has given us more wooden acting over the years with the exception of maybe Patrick Stewart. But I mean, you know, do we need the ironic William Shatner now? I don't think so. "Star Trek" was one of those shows that always kind of gave us uplifting social messages that I really doesn't think needed to be in a good drama.

SANCHEZ: Here's one that proves that you're a little bit of a nerd, which is OK, because I do the same thing. Sometimes I sit home and I watch C-SPAN, and if my wife walks by, she'll look at me like, what are you do doing? You think that's good TV? .

TUCKER: I do. I think C-SPAN. Because it's completely unfiltered, it gives you the news the way it's exactly presented, puts that one camera right there, it focuses on your attention, there's no commentary from the left or the right, there's none of that yelling. I think C-SPAN and Brian Lamb reading those books, interviewing authors, that's a good thing for literacy.

SANCHEZ: People like you have written about people like me now ever since I've been in this business. And for the most part, you're unkind. Most critics, like yourself, tend to priggish and overweening. So you would think that an organization like Viewers for Quality Television would be loved by them. You say in your book, hate them.

TUCKER: Yes, that's right. I'm still stunned at being called priggish and overweening. I'm very -- that's wonderful, thank you so much.

SANCHEZ: You get it on the other network, too, so I was just going to give you a little bit of it.

TUCKER: That's right, yes. No, I think Viewers for Quality Television, they always praise like the most middle brow, safe, quality television. Again, it's this idea that if you put a good message in a show, it doesn't really matter whether it's well acted or well written.

SANCHEZ: Nothing seems to be making more money nowadays than this thing called "American Idol," right? I remember in fourth grade, we would have a talent show every year. And essentially, that's what this is, a talent show that's doing better numbers than seemingly any show in the history of TV. What's going on? Now do you love it or do you hate it?

TUCKER: I hate it, but, Rick, I think you sound very priggish saying so.

SANCHEZ: And overweening, you might add.

TUCKER: That's right. But "American Idol" is really, I think, a terrible show in the sense it teaches America that you should sing the worst schlock, that you should be the most melodramatic, you should enunciate far too much. It just teaches the worst lessons about popular music. Go back and watch The Beatles, and Elvis Presley and The Sex Pistols if you want good music.

SANCHEZ: Interesting book. It's called kissing some guy at some other network and roasting Miss Piggy.

Ken, you're all right. You know, for a TV critic, you're cool.

TUCKER: Well, thanks a lot. I appreciate it. And you are, too.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate having you on.

And you can keep an eye on TV entertainment 24/7 by pointing your Internet browser to CNN.com/entertainment. Among the highlights you'll find there, the top 10 TV shows and how NBC's medical investigation saved itself.

NGUYEN: Priggish and overweening, you say. OK.

SANCHEZ: I really got him.

NGUYEN: Yes, you did.

Well, it is 10:53 here the East Coast, 7:53 here on the West. Stay with us for a check on your morning forecast. That's coming up.

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