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Showbiz Tonight

Britney Spears Announces Pregnancy; Mariah Carey`s New Album Hits Record Stores

Aired April 12, 2005 - 19:00   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.


KARYN BRYANT, CO-HOST: Britney`s pregnancy.
A.J. HAMMER, CO-HOST: And Mariah mania. I`m A.J. Hammer.

BRYANT: I`m Karyn Bryant. This is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

HAMMER: Breaking Britney news. Britney Spears is pregnant. How we find out and all the latest details.

Mariah Carey. The voice is back in a big way. Mariah Carey goes one on one with SHOWBIZ TONIGHT in a revealing "SHOWBIZ Sitdown."

Plus, Trump talks. Donald dishes on an "Apprentice" arrest and tells us if his first "Apprentice" will be staying on the job.

Not so silent Bob. Bob Newhart live from Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB NEWHART, "THE BOB NEWHART SHOW": Well, honey, this is just stupid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: From Vermont...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWHART: The whole town?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: ... to Wisteria Lane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWHART: The pancake shack is just starting to take off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: ... and to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

And he`s the boss. "The Office" is opened for business. Steve Carell joins us live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIAH CAREY, "THE EMANCIPATION OF MIMI": I`m Mariah Carey. If it happened today, it`s on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: Hello. I`m Karyn Bryant, and you are at the top of the show.

HAMMER: I`m A.J. Hammer. We are live with you from Headline Prime studios in New York City for the next hour.

BRYANT: Tonight, we have some breaking Britney news. She`s pregnant.

HAMMER: That`s correct. And apparently, all of those rumors were right, too. Just moments ago, Britney Spears made the big announcement on her Web site. We have it for you here first. It says, quote, "Dear fans, the time has finally come to share our wonderful news that we are expecting our first child together. There are reports that I was in the hospital over this weekend. Kevin and I just want everyone to know that all is well. Thank you for your thoughts, your prayers. Love, Britney and Kevin."

BRYANT: As we said, the Britney rumor mill has been running at high speed for the last few weeks, so why come out and with the news today? Well, joining me live is Devin Gordon, senior writer for "Newsweek" magazine. Devon, how`s it going?

DEVIN GORDON, "NEWSWEEK": Pretty good. Pretty good.

BRYANT: Big, exciting news. So what`s the deal? Why did she finally decide to tell everybody today?

GORDON: Oh, I think there could be a lot of reasons. I mean, I think there`s only so long that you can keep denying that you`re pregnant or saying no comment. At some point, it becomes physiologically obvious that you`re lying. So at some point, you got to spill the beans. But also, maybe -- you know, maybe this is just the three-month point. I mean, you`re not supposed to discuss these things until you`re done with the three months, and maybe that`s -- maybe we`re three months and one day right now.

BRYANT: Right. So it is a little ironic, though, that she, you know, chastised the tabloids all this time, and they were, in fact, correct. What do you think this will for her now publicity-wise?

GORDON: Well, you know, I think it`s only going to increase it. I mean, that`s one of the things that I find pretty puzzling about the whole thing is that she lashes out at the tabloids, the invasion of privacy that she has to endure and how horrible it is, and she obviously decides, OK, actually, this is a great time to have a baby.

BRYANT: Right.

GORDON: I mean, you would think that, you know, she would realize what`s going to in her life and maybe decide, You know, maybe I want to cool down a little bit, maybe get out of the limelight a little bit before I bring a child into this and subject my child to all this kinds of publicity...

BRYANT: Right.

GORDON: ... that she`s dealing with. You know, maybe she`s even -- you know, you can push it even a little further in hoping that the presence of a child will give her an ethical shield of some kind, so that she can sort of shame us into leaving her alone, which is, you know, even worse than being oblivious to the fact that her -- her having a child in her life is going to bring her even more publicity.

BRYANT: Right. Now, how do you think this will position her in her career?

GORDON: Well, every cloud has a silver lining. I mean, what I`m wondering is whether or not this means her recording career is on hold because, frankly, I just got "Toxic" out of my head, like, last Thursday. So if we go a little while without any Britney Spears albums, welcome to the world, young Mr. or Mr. Spears.

BRYANT: All right. Well, thanks very much, Devin Gordon of "Newsweek" magazine. And we`ll have reaction from Britney`s fans a little later in the show.

We do have more breaking news to report tonight. We are getting word in our newsroom that actor Joaquin Phoenix has entered rehab. The actor is best known for his roles in "Hotel Rwanda," as well as the Oscar-winning film "Gladiator." And he is also in an upcoming movie playing country superstar Johnny Cash. Phoenix checked himself in two weeks ago to treat alcoholism. His publicist told us moments ago, quote, "He was uncomfortable with the way he was living his life and found the courage to deal with the disease," end quote. His brother, actor River Phoenix, died of a drug overdose in 1993.

HAMMER: Well, there`s more news happening right now. It`s been dubbed "The return of the voice," and boy, can she sing. Mariah Carey`s new album, "The Emancipation of Mimi," is in stores today. This has been a day of Mariah mania all over New York City, and at this hour, Mariah just keeps on going. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s David Haffenreffer is live in downtown New York City, where Mariah is signing copies of her brand-new CD -- David.

DAVID HAFFENREFFER, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: A.J., it has been a big day for Mariah Carey, an even bigger day for her fans here in New York City. There have been lots of opportunities for them to get up close and personal with the star. It all began this morning at 7:30 in Times Square, New York City, a free concert sponsored by "Good Morning America." For the pop star`s appearance on that particular program, she played three different songs on that particular appearance: "I Like That" -- or rather, "It`s Like That" off her new album, as well as "We Belong Together" from her brand-new album called "The Emancipation of "Mimi," hitting stores today.

After this morning, the next stop was the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT studios at Time Warner Center in New York City, where she sat down for an exclusive one-on-one interview with our very own A.J. Hammer. And you will see more of that interview coming up in just a short while on tonight`s program.

Fast forward now to right now, where the fans and the press -- everybody can -- [SOUND DROP-OUT] the best buy in the Noho neighborhood of New York City. She has yet to arrive, but everybody is in place, as we continue to wait for her particular arrival.

She`s had 16 No. 1 hits. In fact, that puts her only in the number third spot behind Elvis and the Beatles, as far as artists who have had No. 1 hits in the past. We did manage to catch up with at least one of her fans today, and here`s what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, her singing, of course, her voice, her talent -- I think she`s, you know, misunderstood. She should be commented more on her talent, rather than what she wears. And you know, I`m just a long-time fan, and I love her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAFFENREFFER: But a lot of people do talk about what she does wear, and we`ll be looking for that, as well, tonight, when she arrives, has yet to arrive here. So we`ll be looking forward to that and have more for you at the bottom of the hour. Back to you.

HAMMER: All right, David Haffenreffer, thank you very much, among the fans of Mariah Carey in New York city. And in between all this Mariah madness, as David mentioned, she stopped by SHOWBIZ TONIGHT for an extensive interview, where she really opened up to me about the process of making this record and all these obstacles she had to overcome to get to this point in her life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIAH CAREY, "THE EMANCIPATION OF MIMI": I had to kind of go through this process of eliminating all the negative elements from my life. And there are still some, you know, that around, but it`s a process. And at this point in my life, I feel like this is the best place that I`ve been in.

HAMMER: Really.

CAREY: Yes. I really do.

HAMMER: So you`ve gotten there.

CAREY: I really feel that way. And I mean, whatever happens, it`s, like, I`m proud of this record, and I`m also -- honestly, I`m proud of myself for being able to get to this point.

HAMMER: That`s nice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

We`re going to bring you much more of my "SHOWBIZ Sitdown" with Mariah later in the show, including Mariah`s take on fame, performing and a whole lot more.

BRYANT: Donald Trump warned him about his temper, but apparently, someone didn`t heed the advice. As we reported, "Apprentice" contestant Chris Shelton was arrested Sunday for disorderly conduct after causing a scene in a hotel lobby. Shelton is one of the six remaining "Apprentice" hopefuls competing for a job with Donald Trump. We caught up with Mr. Trump today and asked how he felt about the arrest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, "THE APPRENTICE": I was surprised to hear that this could happen to Chris. I thought that he had it better under control under than this. We`ve determined on the show itself, "The Apprentice," that he has an anger management problem. And the show on Thursday night, I think, is going to be amazing because Chris plays a major role in the show. I mean, it`s -- and I`m not saying he gets fired or he doesn`t get fired. I`m just saying he plays a major role. Something that he does is very interesting. And we`ll see what happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: Although one "Apprentice" wannabe will get fired this week, the first-ever "Apprentice," Bill Rancic, is rehired. At that press conference we attended today, Trump announced he`s extending Rancic`s contract for another year.

HAMMER: It is time for "SHOWBIZ Shorts," a look at more stories that are making news tonight. Two words. The second one sounds like bank. It`s Hilary Swank, and she`s playing charades. The Oscar winner, alongside husband Chad Lowe, is producing "Celebrity Charades" for the AMC channel. The game show will start airing in June, with winnings going to charity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the winner is? And the belt buckle goes to Gretchen Wilson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: Yes, the "Redneck Woman" took home gold. Gretchen Wilson won two awards, including Breakthrough Video for "Redneck Woman," at the CMT Music Awards in Nashville tonight. Keith Urban won Video of the Year.

And we`ve got more "SHOWBIZ Shorts" coming up throughout the show.

Well, Mariah Carey is here in New York City. In between her crazy schedule, she had time to sit down with me earlier today, and we`ve got the full interview for you a bit later on.

Now it`s time for tonight`s "Entertainment Weekly Great American Pop Culture Quiz." In which city is the film "Ferris Bueller`s Day Off" set? Was it Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit or Toronto? Do you know? We`re coming right back with the answer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HAMMER: Welcome back. So again, tonight`s "Entertainment Weekly Great American Pop Culture Quiz." In which city is the film "Ferris Bueller`s Day Off" set, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Toronto? Easy, easy, easy. You might remember Ferris, Matthew Broderick, joy-riding in that red Ferrari through the streets of the Windy City. The answer is, A, Chicago.

BRYANT: She likes to watch baseball, read suspense novels, dance and shop. She`s also the new Miss USA.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first runner-up is California. The new Miss USA, Miss North Carolina!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: Twenty-one-year-old Chelsea Cooley, a fashion marketing student from Charlotte, North Carolina, was crowned last night in the 54th annual Miss USA pageant. NBC`s broadcast of the pageant, however, got relatively ugly ratings. "CSI Miami" did almost twice as well as the pageant, and even repeats of "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Two-and-a-Half Men" got a bigger audience.

HAMMER: But while the Miss USA pageant is still on TV, the Miss America pageant right now does not have a home. Tonight`s "SHOWBIZ In Depth": Can the Miss America pageant survive? ABC dropped it last year after disappointing ratings, and the pageant is trying to get another network to pick it up. So one idea that`s under consideration is turn it into a reality show. But the question is, Would that work?

So joining us live from Hollywood right now, Mary Murphy, who`s the senior writer for "TV Guide." Mary, thanks a lot for being with us. So the talk of a reality show possibly saving Miss America -- what do you think?

MARY MURPHY, "TV GUIDE": Yes. Can it survive? If it turns into "Survivor," it might be able to survive. I think it will survive, but only if it becomes a reality show. America is now used to having people -- you know, one team pit against each other, one contestant against each other. We have "The Apprentice." We have "The Contender." We have "Survivor." We have, you know, every, you know, reality show. "American Idol." "American Idol."

This is what people want to see. They want to see behind the scenes. They want to see interactive voting. And I think it wouldn`t hurt. I mean, I`ve heard a couple of, you know, funny ways that people think that it should be turned into sort of -- put them in, you know, gladiators and fight against each other, and at the end, hand them swords and kill each. But that`s way too far for what America wants.

HAMMER: What...

MURPHY: I thin that...

HAMMER: What kind of format...

MURPHY: I think...

HAMMER: ... do you think it should take in order to have that success it`s looking for?

MURPHY: You know what I think they should do is divide them up into teams and have real challenges. Not -- you know, I never want to see the women eating worms, but I do want to see these women in some kind of challenges which shows how intelligent they are because one of the misconceptions of these shows and one of the reasons that they don`t do well is that the women who enter them aren`t very smart. And I think that they should show their brains, as well as their talent. I`d love to see the talent contest.

And also, I think they ought to think about who the hosts are. Why don`t they bring, you know, William Shatner from "Miss Congeniality" or Sandra Bullock, somebody like that, who can add a sort of weight to the show, besides people who seem like they also want to be in the contest.

HAMMER: And one of the elements you mention that has made a lot of reality shows successful is you see it develop over time. Do you think that Miss America should do that, as well?

MURPHY: Yes. I would love to see them go behind the scenes with the women. You know how on "American Idol," they show the early -- the early judging. I`d like to see some of the early judging in the states. And then I`d like to see them go behind the scenes because that`s one of the problems with the show. We only see the superficial. We have no idea who these women really are, and they`ve been made so much fun of.

HAMMER: Right.

MURPHY: I`d like to see them come to life a little bit more.

HAMMER: And Mary, real quickly, one of the things that Miss USA is successful with, perhaps, is they show a little more skin. Does Miss America need to de-emphasize their -- their emphasis, basically, on talent and scholarship and maybe make it more about beauty?

MURPHY: I don`t think so. I think they need to be more about talent and what they`ve achieved in their life. And take it out of Sweeps and put it in the summer.

HAMMER: Right. Well, we`ll have to see what happens. They do need a new home, and maybe they will get a second chance. Thanks very much, Mary from California, for joining us live.

And now, of course, we would like to know your thoughts on the subject. It is our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. The Miss America pageant: Should it be canceled? You can vote at cnn.com/showbiztonight, or if you have more to say, you can e-mail us at showbiztonight@cnn.com. And we`re going to share some of what you have to say later on in the show.

BRYANT: Today, Peter Jennings is beginning his cancer treatment. The 66-year-old anchor of ABC`s "World News Tonight" is undergoing chemotherapy. He went public with his diagnosis of lung cancer last week. And even though he hasn`t been on-air since then, Jennings has been working behind the scenes and says he plans to continue hosting the nightly newscast.

HAMMER: What about Bob? Well, he`ll tell us. Bob Newhart`s coming on live, bringing his old show to new audiences.

BRYANT: And screaming for Mimi. Mariah`s back with a hot new album and looking as good as ever. A "SHOWBIZ Sitdown" with Mariah Carey.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRYANT: It`s the word a lot of people have been waiting for. Tonight, Britney is having a baby. We`ve got more to come.

HAMMER: It is time now for another "SHOWBIZ Short." "Desperate Housewives" is getting a new neighbor. Today`s "Variety" says that Alfre Woodard is joining the cast of the ABC hit show. She`s make her very first appearance in the season finale and return as a regular in the fall. Woodard is currently seen in "Beauty Shop."

More SHOWBIZ Shorts coming up throughout the show.

BRYANT: And from one "Desperate Housewives" newcomer to another. If you caught this Sunday`s episode, you may have seen a familiar face, Bob Newhart joined the case as Susan`s mother`s boyfriend, Morty. It is the latest role for a man who is arguably a living comedy legend.

"The Bob Newhart Show" came on the air in 1972. The sitcom about a Chicago psychotherapist, Bob, and his wife, Emily, was a breakthrough, and now reruns are brining in a whole new generation of fans. Starting today, all of Bob`s fans can get the entire first season of "The Bob Newhart Show" on DVD.

Joining us live today from Los Angeles, the man behind the show`s title, Mr. Bob Newhart. Hi, Bob!

BOB NEWHART, "THE BOB NEWHART SHOW": Hi, Karyn.

(LAUGHTER)

BRYANT: Hi. It`s great talking to you. You know, I watched your show growing up. What I loved about it was it was that it was show I could watch with my parents and we all were entertained. Can you even believe, though, it`s been 33 years since this came on?

NEWHART: No. No. It just -- the time has just flown by. And TVland had an award ceremony, and we got the Icon Award. Carol Burnett got the Legend Award. And it was just great seeing everybody, you know, Susie and Marcia (ph) and Peter and Billy and Jack Riley (ph) and...

BRYANT: The gang.

NEWHART: Yes. We went out to dinner afterwards and just kept telling stories about how much fun was.

BRYANT: Great. What do you do when you`re channel surfing and you come upon your show, do you watch it?

NEWHART: Yes. I don`t go out of my way to see it, but yes, if I happen to stumble upon it, I`ll watch it.

BRYANT: Yes.

NEWHART: And very often, I won`t remember to the end of it, you know? I mean, I know I`m in it because I can see myself in it, but I forgot how it ends.

(LAUGHTER)

BRYANT: Right. Well, what do you think about the current crop of sitcoms? Because some people, you know, argue that sitcoms are dead. They don`t seem to catch on and last as well as they did back in your day.

NEWHART: I don`t think they`re dead. I just -- I don`t watch shows - - I don`t watch laugh-track shows. I just...

BRYANT: OK.

NEWHART: The genre that I grew up in, "Lucy" and "The Honeymooners" and "All in the Family" and "Mary Tyler Moore" and our show and Carol Burnett, we all did it in front of a live audience and...

BRYANT: Right.

NEWHART: ... and it made -- it just made for a better show, I think.

BRYANT: As an actor, it gave you probably just a lot more to feed off of, and it just probably felt more organic, I guess?

NEWHART: Well, yes, because -- like, for instance, in "Newhart," when we -- when we brought in Larry, Darrell and Darrell, well, they were an instant hit.

BRYANT: Of course! I mean, every -- they`re lovable. How could you not? I still say it, "This is my other brother, Darrell." I mean, everybody knows that line. It`s great.

NEWHART: So we knew then from the audience reaction. We said, Well, let`s get another script and work so -- featuring these guys because the audience loves them. Well, that`s something you don`t find out with a laugh track.

BRYANT: Right. Exactly. So do you think, though, today, if "The Bob Newhart Show" came on, it would succeed? Brand-new show?

NEWHART: Yes. "The Bob Newhart Show," you mean the old one?

BRYANT: Yes. Yes.

NEWHART: Yes, it -- yes, because -- because good writing lasts and good acting lasts. And we had good acting and we had good writing, and I think that`s -- I`ve given away the secret of longevity.

(LAUGHTER)

BRYANT: Breaking news! Well, thanks so much, Bob Newhart. You`ve been terrific over the years. It`s really been a treat watching you. Thanks for joining us here. And again, "The Bob Newhart Show," the complete first season, is in stores starting today.

HAMMER: It is time now for "Tuesday In Style." Tonight, flattering ruffles, feminine floral prints. We`ve got spring`s hottest dresses, and who better to model them than Alicia Silverstone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUZANNE ZUCKERMAN, "IN STYLE" MAGAZINE: This spring, you know, fashion is made for the girly girls. We shot a very organic, bohemian, beautiful actress, Alicia Silverstone, wearing some of the season`s most feminine florals. Our crew followed her around all day, sort of running wild through the fields. She really, really loved wearing this beautiful sort of billowing, flowing orange Bill Blass dress. She specifically loved it because she said when you see that color, you know, that bright, bright citrusy orange, there is we way that it can`t catch your eye.

Alicia Silverstone wears this amazing Roberto Cavali (ph) silk chiffon caftan dress with a built-in bikini. And like many of Roberto Cavali`s designs, this one has a innate sexiness to it. Also, because it`s sort of a sort of flowing, billowing caftan, it also had that bohemian, hippy flair.

Alicia loved wearing one particular J. Mandel (ph) halter dress. It`s a plunging, plunging neckline, a yellow silk chiffon halter that sort of grazes the knee. And something that I think a lot of women should embrace is taking the plunge, so to speak.

Alicia absolutely adored wearing a Ralph Lauren collection silk chiffon dress. It had an amazing plunging back, and she really liked the little bit of the tease, that it dipped so low that you almost see a hint of the backside. So it`s sort of revealing without actually revealing anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: If you like what you saw, for more on this spring`s hottest florals, just pick up a copy of this month`s "In Style" magazine. It`s on newsstands now.

BRYANT: Mariah Carey has whole closet full of songs, and she`s adding to that with a brand-new CD. Part one of the "SHOWBIZ Sitdown" Mariah Carey.

HAMMER: And Alicia Silverstone is standing up and modeling the latest in spring fashion, as we just showed you. We have more SHOWBIZ TONIGHT coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

BRYANT: Britney`s baby. There have been rumors for months. Now Britney Spears confirms it. She`s pregnant.

HAMMER: Get carried away. It`s Mariah`s big day. She sits down with SHOWBIZ TONIGHT to tell us all about her new CD.

ALICIA KEYS: Hey, I`m Alicia Keys and if it happened today, it`s on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

BRYANT: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. It`s 30 minutes past the hour. I`m Karyn Bryant.

HAMMER: And I`m A.J. Hammer. Here are tonight`s hot headlines.

BRYANT: Joaquin Phoenix is in rehab. Just a short time ago, his publicist said Phoenix checked himself into an undisclosed facility two weeks ago for treatment for alcoholism because he was uncomfortable with the way he was living his life. Phoenix stared in movies including "Hotel Rwanda," "Signs" and "Gladiator." His brother River died of a drug overdose in 1993.

HAMMER: Mariah Carey is back! Her new album "The Emancipation of Mimi" is out today and Carey has been all over New York since early this morning promoting and performing. My showbiz sit down with Mariah is coming up in just a minute.

Britney is pregnant! Today, Britney Spears posted a message on her Web site saying she and Kevin Federline are indeed expecting their first child together, finally ending all the speculation.

BRYANT: Big news on two fronts going on right now. Mariah Carey is dropping her new record at a big event in New York City and word is spreading there that Britney Spears has confirmed her pregnancy. Let`s go back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s David Haffenreffer live in downtown Manhattan.

HAFFENREFFER: We got lots to talk about, Karyn. Of course "Emancipation of Mimi" is the brand new album hitting record stores today. We continue to wait for the arrival of Mariah Carey today. Mimi, by the way is the nickname for her, by her friends and very close relatives as well. Of course, the news is spreading about Britney Spears being pregnant. The news was released on her Web site today, britneyspears.com. It said as follows: Dear Fans, the time has finally come to share our wonderful news that we are expecting our first child together. This has got to be the worst kept celebrity of mankind at this point. We did manage to catch up with some Mariah fans earlier today to ask them what they thought about the news about Britney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that`s awesome, great for her. If that makes her happy, whatever makes her happy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s great. Wow!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love her.

HAFFENREFFER: Why do you love her?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because she`s Britney.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m not surprised. I mean, you know? That`s great for her and Kevin.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I kind of figured she was pregnant but I don`t -- she`s doing her own thing. It`s cool.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think she`s way too young.

HAFFENREFFER: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know. She just jumped from being famous and like public and everything and then got married and all of a sudden she`s pregnant. I don`t know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAFFENREFFER: We are finding that Mariah fans are not necessarily Britney fans, but we do understand that Mariah Carey is all of one block away. These fans can`t wait. And we`ll have more when she arrives. Back to you in the studio.

BRYANT: Thanks a lot, David Haffenreffer outside of New York City. AJ?

HAMMER: All right, Karyn. It is time for another "Showbiz Sitdown." I will be doing it standing up, but my guest will be seated. This time it is Steve Carell. He plays the not so graceful boss on NBC`s THE OFFICE, which is based on the BCC show of the same name. Steve Carell joins us from Los Angeles. Hey, Steve, thanks for being with us.

Did you know Camilla Parker Bowles is pregnant as well? I`m breaking that from here. That`s what I heard.

HAMMER: All right. Well as a correspondent for the DAILY SHOW, I assume you are up to the minute on the breaking news information.

STEVE CARELL, COMEDIAN: I am up to the second.

HAMMER: And I need to get your take on the Britney Spears thing in just a minute, but first I want to check out a clip from THE OFFICE. Of course your character is in this clip demonstrating his fine leadership skills. So let`s take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARELL: Ah. This is our receptionist Pam. Pam. Pam, Pam. Pam Beasley. Pam has been with us for -- forever, right, Pam?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I don`t know.

CARELL: If you think she`s cute now, you should have seen her a couple of years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?

CARELL: Any messages?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: So, Steve, basically your character just has no social grace whatsoever.

CARELL: No, he has what I term a social blind spot. He kind of doesn`t understand how other people perceive him. He`s a gem.

HAMMER: He`s like a big doofus, and everybody has one of these guys in their office.

CARELL: Well, they say that if you don`t know one of these guys, then you are one of these guys.

HAMMER: You have ever worked for a guy like this?

CARELL: Oh, yeah. I worked in the produce department of a supermarket, and my boss was pretty much this guy.

HAMMER: So you`ve actually had real jobs before the whole acting thing unfolded for you.

CARELL: I have had real jobs and I could potentially have another real job, depending on how the show goes.

HAMMER: See how it goes. You have acted for a while. Of course people know you from "The Daily Show," "Bruce Almighty," "Anchorman" and what about the office job, though? Besides the produce, did you ever actually have to push pencils around?

CARELL: Not pencils, mail. I actually worked in the post office. I was a U.S. postal carrier for a while.

HAMMER: Worked in civil service, very nice.

CARELL: I was! I had to pass the test and everything. I was a government employee.

HAMMER: A lot of people do know you from "The Daily Show" as a news correspondent and you broke the news about Camilla Parker Bowles. We are checking into that story right now. Give us the take on the Britney story. You can report on that for us?

CARELL: I think it`s a fascinating and fabulous story that she`s pregnant. I was led to believe that she had been because she had become enormous in the last month. So that was kind of a give away for me personally.

HAMMER: You think that was the tip-off?

CARELL: The tip-off, yeah. When someone looks like they`re -- I don`t know, six weeks pregnant that generally is sort of a tip-off.

HAMMER: I want to ask you about a couple of other projects that you have going on, a couple of others movies, "Bewitched" and "Get Smart" among them. You are playing the Don Adams character in "Get Smart," is that right?

CARELL: Right, yes. That`s in the future. They`re writing it as we speak.

HAMMER: And as far as "Bewitched," which is coming out this summer I believe. Nicole Kidman you are co-starring with. Pretty nice gig.

CARELL: Well, I think co-star might be a little overstated.

HAMMER: I am pumping you up here, Steve. I am pumping you up, man.

CARELL: I am in the movie and at one point I actually saw her on the set. I guess that means I am her co-star, yeah. And Will Farrell is in there somewhere too, but it`s mostly me and Nicole Kidman.

HAMMER: Well, it`s going to be nice to see you and Will Farrell as well one more time.

CARELL: Oh, anytime I can work with that man, it would be great.

HAMMER: And we look forward to seeing you in THE OFFICE as well. Steve, thank you very much. Steve Carell from THE OFFICE which airs Tuesday nights on NBC. Karyn.

BRYANT: I`m a big Steve fan. That guy cracks me up.

We have been asking you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day -- Miss America pageant, should it be cancelled? You can keep voting at cnn.com/showbiztonight and send us your e-mails at showbiztonight@cnn.com. We`ll share some of what you had to say at 55 past the hour.

HAMMER: Well of course the buzz bench wants to get in on all this pageant action. So we`re going to buzz about the Miss USA pageant and what beat it in the ratings. That`s coming up.

BRYANT: Plus Mariah Carey in a showbiz sit-down. She talks about fame, fortune and the "Emancipation of Mimi."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HAMMER: A busy, busy day for Ms. Mariah Carey. She was up bright and early this morning to give a concert for GOOD MORNING AMERICA and then she cruised on over to the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT studios where she and I had some time to talk about her new album "The Emancipation of Mimi." Excellent to see you.

MARIAH CAREY, SINGER: Great to see you.

HAMMER: You`re very busy.

CAREY: A little.

HAMMER: A lot of work putting out a brand new CD.

CAREY: It is, but it`s fun. It`s been so much fun, really. Just from making the record until today. It was just a great time.

HAMMER: Let`s talk about what happened this morning.

CAREY: OK.

HAMMER: They shut down Times Square for you to appear on "Good Morning America." They didn`t just kind of put you up on the sidewalk. They shut the place down, Mariah.

CAREY: I know. It was really shocking. It was really amazing and you know what was so great was to see the fans there, like to see the die- hard fans. I was like, oh no, it`s cold. I feel bad. I didn`t know what the turn out was going to be and then it was so nice and just like to see the fans being so energetic and knowing all the lyrics already.

HAMMER: How great is that? It`s a brand new album. The couple of singles that have been out and they know all of the words. I saw them singing along.

CAREY: Right, right. It was amazing. It`s such a great feeling because this album is really a labor of love for me.

HAMMER: The idea that they shut down times Square, I got to stay with this for a second because you have been at this for a while. You`ve had a lot of big events that you have been involved with all over the world. But do you still get up there and for just a moment say, well, this is for me?

CAREY: You know what`s so weird, like you drive in, you get out of the car. You`re going in the back way up a little lift, walking up a ladder and you almost don`t get to take in the magnitude of what it is until you watch it on TV. I`m always going in some entrance and just kind of like rapidly going through the motions, but the actual moment on stage was amazing.

HAMMER: Do you have nerves? Do you get at all anxious before something that big?

CAREY: I was surprisingly not as anxious as I thought I would be this morning, but like last night I was nervous. But you know what, just to see the people coming out and really being supportive, that`s the thing.

HAMMER: This is you doing what you do best. Yeah, you`re delivering a part of the album a modern hip-hop album, bur you are. You back to your roots. You are revisiting what put you on the radar 15 years ago.

CAREY: Right, right, which is bizarre because I am only 15 so I don`t know how that happened.

HAMMER: How does that happen? How does that work?

CAREY: No, no, but seriously, it really was like the approach to making this record was very much like, I`m going to have a good time.

HAMMER: so you`re the co-executive producer of the album along with Eliot Reid (ph). How do you go about choosing the next single?

CAREY: With this particular record, people really have very definite favorites. I`m just glad I got it make an album that was full of all my influences, not just the ballads and really trying to take the approach with the ballads to keep them pared down.

HAMMER: The album`s titled, "The Emancipation of Mimi." Now, I know it`s a little nickname that your friends call you -- may I call you Mimi?

CAREY: Of course.

HAMMER: So Mimi, the emancipation part. Being free, it all comes down to your own self-expression in a grand way.

CAREY: I think that my whole journey not to get too deep. But I think that my whole life has always been about trying to break free of something. I had dreams and I wanted to pursue my goals and I believed that I could, but it was always like getting past the next barrier and the next barrier and a lot of those battles were internal battles that I had to go through just in terms of feeling at peace with who I am, just even coming from a biracial family, going through what that did to me as a person, what that did to my self-esteem and obviously just relationships and other things and public, moments that everyone dramatized.

HAMMER: Did that all happen?

CAREY: Did that happen, I don`t recall. All those things either break you or they make you stronger, so I had to kind of go through this process of eliminating all the negative elements from my life and there`s still some that are around but it`s a process. And at this point in my life, I feel like this is the best place that I`ve been in.

HAMMER: Really?

CAREY: Yeah I really do.

HAMMER: So you`ve gotten there.

CAREY: I really feel that way. Whatever happens, it`s like, I`m proud of this record and I`m also -- honestly, I`m proud of myself for being able to get to this point.

HAMMER: You can definitely feel the good energy of the place she`s at in her life right now and right now, you are looking at a live picture of downtown Manhattan in New York City. Hundreds of fans are waiting for Mariah Carey to arrive at her record signing. Tomorrow, we`re going to have part two, where she`ll share more about her personal journey, her dog Jack. I asked hear all about Jack and what she does when she`s not working. That`s coming up tomorrow night on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. So make sure you`re here for more Mariah.

BRYANT: Britney`s baby, it is the big news of the day. Britney Spears confirms that she`s pregnant. We`ll take that to the "buzz bench" coming up.

Plus Tea Leoni pulls some strings. We`ll tell you why she was in New York today, showing (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRYANT: Time for the "Buzz Bench," where today`s top entertainment chatter takes center stage. Tonight, Britney`s baby news, what makes President Bush bop and why are these beauty pageants such a flop?

HAMMER: Joining us on the buzz bench tonight, "Newsweek`s" Devin Gordon, VH1 Classic host Amy Scott and SHOWBIZ TONIGHT contributor Amy Kean. Let`s get right to topic one. Britney`s pregnant. Yes, she and Kevin Federline are indeed expecting their first child. Devin, come on.

GORDON: It`s amazing Kevin Federline is going to be a daddy. That`s already happened a couple of times. So maybe it`s not that exciting. I know it`s the news that rocked the world today. I think we`re all shocked, despite the round the clock tabloid reports that this was exactly what was happening. Now we finally know for sure.

AMY KEAN, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT CONTRIBUTOR: You can just see, you and I were talking about this, you can see her going through "Us Weekly" or "In Style" it is time to have a baby with Julia Roberts and Gwyneth Paltrow.

AMY SCOTT, VH1: Look they`re saying I`m fat, I better get pregnant.

HAMMER: I was walking by, I was walking in to do the show. The news just broke literally right before we went on the air. I said to one of our security guards here at the "headline prime" studios that we have breaking news, Britney is pregnant. And the security guard says, I knew that. That was obvious. You look at any picture of her.

SCOTT: It has been rumored for quite a while, but I`m just a little bit sad because Kevin doesn`t have a real good track record as far as staying with pregnant wives, does he?

BRYANT: He was never married to the other.

KEAN: The other one didn`t have as much money as Britney Spears. I think he`ll stay.

SCOTT: Quite a bit of a pay day.

KEAN: We were saying she was 23, 24 years old. It`s very strange thing of her to do. I don`t see her as the type of person to be able to really bounce back from a pregnancy.

GORDON: This is the kind of person who just a week ago was complaining about all the attention from tabloids and now she`s going to be having a baby.

HAMMER: She`s not that innocent.

SCOTT: And she`ll be singing "Kick Me Baby One More Time."

BRYANT: We`re going to move on. We`re going to move onto President Bush. He got an iPod for his birthday. His daughters gave it to him in July. Even though the thing can hold 10,000 songs, he has 250 on there. They weren`t even loaded by him and.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They weren`t loaded by him?

BRYANT: No, he had an aide load the play list.

KEAN: We have the president - was sitting around downloading -

(CROSSTALK)

BRYANT: He has Joni Mitchell on there, Van Morrison and John Fogerty which is ironic because John Fogerty had a song that they were using against Bush. It was during the vote for change concert.

SCOTT: The song that John Fogerty, the John Fogerty song that he has is "Center Field" and I do believe that baseball trumps politics, especially when you are the former owner of the Texas Rangers.

BRYANT: Exactly. But what do you think of this? He doesn`t load his own iPod and he only uses a fraction of the --

KEAN: . iPod. I think that the president should have someone to do that. I don`t think he should have to do that and I also think that what I do like about the list is it`s exactly what you`d expect. It`s -- he doesn`t -- again what you see is what you get.

BRYANT: A lot of country.

SCOTT: He listens to a lot of classic rock and I`m pretty happy about that. I`m thinking maybe I can get him on VH1 classic.

GORDON: I know that in the history of the military they have used music, loud rock music to torture prisoners. I think if you wanted to torture me, just hand me President Bush`s iPod.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "My Sharona."

GORDON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and that would pretty much - I would steal state secrets in a heartbeat.

(CROSSTALK)

KEAN: One of the interesting things that was pointed out, was that there was just - it`s basically classic rock and country. But what`s interesting is if it was John Kerry`s, he would be appeasing everybody. It would be a little bit of jazz, a little bit of rap.

HAMMER: No truth to the rumor that the humpy dance is on there. I got to move on to our last topic, Miss North Carolina was crowned Miss USA 2005 last night. That was the last highlight for the pageant. The ratings were not pretty. The show placed fourth in the first hour. CBS was in first with reruns. The ironic part here is the Miss USA episode of FEAR FACTOR helped bring NBC to number one for the 8:00 hour. Miss America is also in trouble. We`re almost out of time on this. Your take.

KEAN: Who cares about these pageants? They are so over. I haven`t seen these pageants since I was a kid. Who is watching them?

GORDON: I loved that Donald Trump said that he would restore integrity to the pageant and then he said, oh, did I say integrity? I`m sorry, I meant boobs.

SCOTT: Miss America is all about scholarships. I think why don`t they just give every pretty girl in America $5,000 and call it a walk because we don`t know the show really.

KEAN: Yeah, we shouldn`t joke (ph).

HAMMER: I don`t know if we can come up with the budget but we will look into it.

BRYANT: Thank you, Amy, Amy, and Devin for joining us here on "the buzz bench."

Jimmy Kimmel gives Charles and Camilla the royal treatment. That`s coming up next in laughter dark and of course, there`s still time for you to sound off in our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day, Miss America pageant, should it be canceled? You can vote at cnn.com/showbiztonight or e-mail us at showbiztonight@cnn.com. We`ll read some of your thoughts live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRYANT: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

HAMMER: It is time now to get your laugh on in laughter dark. As we do every night and we`re going to get to that in a moment but first, we`re going to take a live shot.

BRYANT: Of Mariah Carey. There she is arriving downtown in NoHo Manhattan. She`s there for a signing. Of course her record "The Emancipation of Mimi" has just dropped today and AJ had a nice sit down with her earlier. There she is live. She`s finally arrived.

HAMMER: And feeling good.

BRYANT: Feeling good. The crowd looks pretty exciting too.

HAMMER: That million dollar smile.

BRYANT: That`s right. That`s right.

HAMMER: All right. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to be with Mariah Carey tomorrow night. As we do every night, we bring you the late night laughs you might have missed, so let`s get to that.

BRYANT: As you`ve probably heard, Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles got married this past weekend. And on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Jimmy just can`t resist the royal wedding jokes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": Even though Camilla is now technically, she is the princess of Wales, out of respect for Diana, she`ll be known as the duchess of Cornwall. However when the prince becomes king, Camilla will be named the queen of the British empire, I guess replacing Sir Elton John who owns that title. They`re on their honeymoon now. They`re getting no privacy whatsoever. It must be difficult to be in that situation. Everywhere they go, there is a camera on them. Look at this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The royal newlyweds on their first outing as husband and wife enjoyed a sunset stroll along the beach.

KIMMEL: There`s no -- there`s no privacy. That`s what I`m saying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: Sometimes that thong just doesn`t work.

BRYANT: Just uncalled for. Well, let`s move on. Tea`s good cause.

Today, "House of D" star Tea Leoni was at New York`s Hard Rock Cafe showing guitars that will be auctioned off for breast cancer research. Leoni introduced five Gibson guitars designed by celebrities including Sheryl Crow, Ellen Degeneres and Melissa Etheridge. Leoni is the auction chair and she told SHOWBIZ TONIGHT why raising money for breast cancer research is more urgent than ever.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEA LEONI, ACTRESS: We`re really close. This is a new disease. This isn`t the research that`s going on at UCLA and USC. I mean what they`re coming up with is incredible. There`s talks of a vaccine within a year. I mean this is -- we`re so close it feels like now`s the time that we really have to drive and push and end it. Even you can go online and bid on these guitars, on any of the 50.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: The guitars go up for auction starting April 24th on juliensauctions.com. Leoni`s husband David Duchovny stops by this week SHOWBIZ TONIGHT Thursday night to talk about their movie "House of D," which opens on Friday.

HAMMER: We have been asking you to vote online on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day -- Miss America pageant, should it be cancelled? The vote so far as 66 percent of you saying yes, it should be canceled, 34 percent of you say, no, it should not be canceled. We`ve also gotten some emails on the question, like one from Olga in Honolulu who says, it`s simply idiotic that in the year 2005 we still have contests based on how good someone looks.

Patrick writes, keep the pageant but move it to the summer where it isn`t challenged by new television programs. Keep voting at cnn.com/showbiztonight.

BRYANT: Time to see what`s playing on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT tomorrow.

HAMMER: Take it away, marquee guy.

ANNOUNCER: Boy, are we going to get teed off tomorrow. It`s the ballroom game that hooks the stars. Golden tee tomorrow on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Fore.

Plus, silent Bob speaks. He`s one half of Jay and silent Bob, now Kevin Smith writes back with a new book and he`s live on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT tomorrow. This is the never silent marquee guy saying, yo, babe later.

BRYANT: That`s it for -- that is it for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. We`ll see you here tomorrow.

HAMMER: Nancy Grace coming up next right after the very latest from HEADLINE NEWS.

END


Aired April 12, 2005 - 19:00:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KARYN BRYANT, CO-HOST: Britney`s pregnancy.
A.J. HAMMER, CO-HOST: And Mariah mania. I`m A.J. Hammer.

BRYANT: I`m Karyn Bryant. This is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

HAMMER: Breaking Britney news. Britney Spears is pregnant. How we find out and all the latest details.

Mariah Carey. The voice is back in a big way. Mariah Carey goes one on one with SHOWBIZ TONIGHT in a revealing "SHOWBIZ Sitdown."

Plus, Trump talks. Donald dishes on an "Apprentice" arrest and tells us if his first "Apprentice" will be staying on the job.

Not so silent Bob. Bob Newhart live from Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB NEWHART, "THE BOB NEWHART SHOW": Well, honey, this is just stupid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: From Vermont...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWHART: The whole town?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: ... to Wisteria Lane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWHART: The pancake shack is just starting to take off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: ... and to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

And he`s the boss. "The Office" is opened for business. Steve Carell joins us live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIAH CAREY, "THE EMANCIPATION OF MIMI": I`m Mariah Carey. If it happened today, it`s on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: Hello. I`m Karyn Bryant, and you are at the top of the show.

HAMMER: I`m A.J. Hammer. We are live with you from Headline Prime studios in New York City for the next hour.

BRYANT: Tonight, we have some breaking Britney news. She`s pregnant.

HAMMER: That`s correct. And apparently, all of those rumors were right, too. Just moments ago, Britney Spears made the big announcement on her Web site. We have it for you here first. It says, quote, "Dear fans, the time has finally come to share our wonderful news that we are expecting our first child together. There are reports that I was in the hospital over this weekend. Kevin and I just want everyone to know that all is well. Thank you for your thoughts, your prayers. Love, Britney and Kevin."

BRYANT: As we said, the Britney rumor mill has been running at high speed for the last few weeks, so why come out and with the news today? Well, joining me live is Devin Gordon, senior writer for "Newsweek" magazine. Devon, how`s it going?

DEVIN GORDON, "NEWSWEEK": Pretty good. Pretty good.

BRYANT: Big, exciting news. So what`s the deal? Why did she finally decide to tell everybody today?

GORDON: Oh, I think there could be a lot of reasons. I mean, I think there`s only so long that you can keep denying that you`re pregnant or saying no comment. At some point, it becomes physiologically obvious that you`re lying. So at some point, you got to spill the beans. But also, maybe -- you know, maybe this is just the three-month point. I mean, you`re not supposed to discuss these things until you`re done with the three months, and maybe that`s -- maybe we`re three months and one day right now.

BRYANT: Right. So it is a little ironic, though, that she, you know, chastised the tabloids all this time, and they were, in fact, correct. What do you think this will for her now publicity-wise?

GORDON: Well, you know, I think it`s only going to increase it. I mean, that`s one of the things that I find pretty puzzling about the whole thing is that she lashes out at the tabloids, the invasion of privacy that she has to endure and how horrible it is, and she obviously decides, OK, actually, this is a great time to have a baby.

BRYANT: Right.

GORDON: I mean, you would think that, you know, she would realize what`s going to in her life and maybe decide, You know, maybe I want to cool down a little bit, maybe get out of the limelight a little bit before I bring a child into this and subject my child to all this kinds of publicity...

BRYANT: Right.

GORDON: ... that she`s dealing with. You know, maybe she`s even -- you know, you can push it even a little further in hoping that the presence of a child will give her an ethical shield of some kind, so that she can sort of shame us into leaving her alone, which is, you know, even worse than being oblivious to the fact that her -- her having a child in her life is going to bring her even more publicity.

BRYANT: Right. Now, how do you think this will position her in her career?

GORDON: Well, every cloud has a silver lining. I mean, what I`m wondering is whether or not this means her recording career is on hold because, frankly, I just got "Toxic" out of my head, like, last Thursday. So if we go a little while without any Britney Spears albums, welcome to the world, young Mr. or Mr. Spears.

BRYANT: All right. Well, thanks very much, Devin Gordon of "Newsweek" magazine. And we`ll have reaction from Britney`s fans a little later in the show.

We do have more breaking news to report tonight. We are getting word in our newsroom that actor Joaquin Phoenix has entered rehab. The actor is best known for his roles in "Hotel Rwanda," as well as the Oscar-winning film "Gladiator." And he is also in an upcoming movie playing country superstar Johnny Cash. Phoenix checked himself in two weeks ago to treat alcoholism. His publicist told us moments ago, quote, "He was uncomfortable with the way he was living his life and found the courage to deal with the disease," end quote. His brother, actor River Phoenix, died of a drug overdose in 1993.

HAMMER: Well, there`s more news happening right now. It`s been dubbed "The return of the voice," and boy, can she sing. Mariah Carey`s new album, "The Emancipation of Mimi," is in stores today. This has been a day of Mariah mania all over New York City, and at this hour, Mariah just keeps on going. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s David Haffenreffer is live in downtown New York City, where Mariah is signing copies of her brand-new CD -- David.

DAVID HAFFENREFFER, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: A.J., it has been a big day for Mariah Carey, an even bigger day for her fans here in New York City. There have been lots of opportunities for them to get up close and personal with the star. It all began this morning at 7:30 in Times Square, New York City, a free concert sponsored by "Good Morning America." For the pop star`s appearance on that particular program, she played three different songs on that particular appearance: "I Like That" -- or rather, "It`s Like That" off her new album, as well as "We Belong Together" from her brand-new album called "The Emancipation of "Mimi," hitting stores today.

After this morning, the next stop was the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT studios at Time Warner Center in New York City, where she sat down for an exclusive one-on-one interview with our very own A.J. Hammer. And you will see more of that interview coming up in just a short while on tonight`s program.

Fast forward now to right now, where the fans and the press -- everybody can -- [SOUND DROP-OUT] the best buy in the Noho neighborhood of New York City. She has yet to arrive, but everybody is in place, as we continue to wait for her particular arrival.

She`s had 16 No. 1 hits. In fact, that puts her only in the number third spot behind Elvis and the Beatles, as far as artists who have had No. 1 hits in the past. We did manage to catch up with at least one of her fans today, and here`s what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, her singing, of course, her voice, her talent -- I think she`s, you know, misunderstood. She should be commented more on her talent, rather than what she wears. And you know, I`m just a long-time fan, and I love her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAFFENREFFER: But a lot of people do talk about what she does wear, and we`ll be looking for that, as well, tonight, when she arrives, has yet to arrive here. So we`ll be looking forward to that and have more for you at the bottom of the hour. Back to you.

HAMMER: All right, David Haffenreffer, thank you very much, among the fans of Mariah Carey in New York city. And in between all this Mariah madness, as David mentioned, she stopped by SHOWBIZ TONIGHT for an extensive interview, where she really opened up to me about the process of making this record and all these obstacles she had to overcome to get to this point in her life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIAH CAREY, "THE EMANCIPATION OF MIMI": I had to kind of go through this process of eliminating all the negative elements from my life. And there are still some, you know, that around, but it`s a process. And at this point in my life, I feel like this is the best place that I`ve been in.

HAMMER: Really.

CAREY: Yes. I really do.

HAMMER: So you`ve gotten there.

CAREY: I really feel that way. And I mean, whatever happens, it`s, like, I`m proud of this record, and I`m also -- honestly, I`m proud of myself for being able to get to this point.

HAMMER: That`s nice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

We`re going to bring you much more of my "SHOWBIZ Sitdown" with Mariah later in the show, including Mariah`s take on fame, performing and a whole lot more.

BRYANT: Donald Trump warned him about his temper, but apparently, someone didn`t heed the advice. As we reported, "Apprentice" contestant Chris Shelton was arrested Sunday for disorderly conduct after causing a scene in a hotel lobby. Shelton is one of the six remaining "Apprentice" hopefuls competing for a job with Donald Trump. We caught up with Mr. Trump today and asked how he felt about the arrest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, "THE APPRENTICE": I was surprised to hear that this could happen to Chris. I thought that he had it better under control under than this. We`ve determined on the show itself, "The Apprentice," that he has an anger management problem. And the show on Thursday night, I think, is going to be amazing because Chris plays a major role in the show. I mean, it`s -- and I`m not saying he gets fired or he doesn`t get fired. I`m just saying he plays a major role. Something that he does is very interesting. And we`ll see what happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: Although one "Apprentice" wannabe will get fired this week, the first-ever "Apprentice," Bill Rancic, is rehired. At that press conference we attended today, Trump announced he`s extending Rancic`s contract for another year.

HAMMER: It is time for "SHOWBIZ Shorts," a look at more stories that are making news tonight. Two words. The second one sounds like bank. It`s Hilary Swank, and she`s playing charades. The Oscar winner, alongside husband Chad Lowe, is producing "Celebrity Charades" for the AMC channel. The game show will start airing in June, with winnings going to charity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the winner is? And the belt buckle goes to Gretchen Wilson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: Yes, the "Redneck Woman" took home gold. Gretchen Wilson won two awards, including Breakthrough Video for "Redneck Woman," at the CMT Music Awards in Nashville tonight. Keith Urban won Video of the Year.

And we`ve got more "SHOWBIZ Shorts" coming up throughout the show.

Well, Mariah Carey is here in New York City. In between her crazy schedule, she had time to sit down with me earlier today, and we`ve got the full interview for you a bit later on.

Now it`s time for tonight`s "Entertainment Weekly Great American Pop Culture Quiz." In which city is the film "Ferris Bueller`s Day Off" set? Was it Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit or Toronto? Do you know? We`re coming right back with the answer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HAMMER: Welcome back. So again, tonight`s "Entertainment Weekly Great American Pop Culture Quiz." In which city is the film "Ferris Bueller`s Day Off" set, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Toronto? Easy, easy, easy. You might remember Ferris, Matthew Broderick, joy-riding in that red Ferrari through the streets of the Windy City. The answer is, A, Chicago.

BRYANT: She likes to watch baseball, read suspense novels, dance and shop. She`s also the new Miss USA.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first runner-up is California. The new Miss USA, Miss North Carolina!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: Twenty-one-year-old Chelsea Cooley, a fashion marketing student from Charlotte, North Carolina, was crowned last night in the 54th annual Miss USA pageant. NBC`s broadcast of the pageant, however, got relatively ugly ratings. "CSI Miami" did almost twice as well as the pageant, and even repeats of "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Two-and-a-Half Men" got a bigger audience.

HAMMER: But while the Miss USA pageant is still on TV, the Miss America pageant right now does not have a home. Tonight`s "SHOWBIZ In Depth": Can the Miss America pageant survive? ABC dropped it last year after disappointing ratings, and the pageant is trying to get another network to pick it up. So one idea that`s under consideration is turn it into a reality show. But the question is, Would that work?

So joining us live from Hollywood right now, Mary Murphy, who`s the senior writer for "TV Guide." Mary, thanks a lot for being with us. So the talk of a reality show possibly saving Miss America -- what do you think?

MARY MURPHY, "TV GUIDE": Yes. Can it survive? If it turns into "Survivor," it might be able to survive. I think it will survive, but only if it becomes a reality show. America is now used to having people -- you know, one team pit against each other, one contestant against each other. We have "The Apprentice." We have "The Contender." We have "Survivor." We have, you know, every, you know, reality show. "American Idol." "American Idol."

This is what people want to see. They want to see behind the scenes. They want to see interactive voting. And I think it wouldn`t hurt. I mean, I`ve heard a couple of, you know, funny ways that people think that it should be turned into sort of -- put them in, you know, gladiators and fight against each other, and at the end, hand them swords and kill each. But that`s way too far for what America wants.

HAMMER: What...

MURPHY: I thin that...

HAMMER: What kind of format...

MURPHY: I think...

HAMMER: ... do you think it should take in order to have that success it`s looking for?

MURPHY: You know what I think they should do is divide them up into teams and have real challenges. Not -- you know, I never want to see the women eating worms, but I do want to see these women in some kind of challenges which shows how intelligent they are because one of the misconceptions of these shows and one of the reasons that they don`t do well is that the women who enter them aren`t very smart. And I think that they should show their brains, as well as their talent. I`d love to see the talent contest.

And also, I think they ought to think about who the hosts are. Why don`t they bring, you know, William Shatner from "Miss Congeniality" or Sandra Bullock, somebody like that, who can add a sort of weight to the show, besides people who seem like they also want to be in the contest.

HAMMER: And one of the elements you mention that has made a lot of reality shows successful is you see it develop over time. Do you think that Miss America should do that, as well?

MURPHY: Yes. I would love to see them go behind the scenes with the women. You know how on "American Idol," they show the early -- the early judging. I`d like to see some of the early judging in the states. And then I`d like to see them go behind the scenes because that`s one of the problems with the show. We only see the superficial. We have no idea who these women really are, and they`ve been made so much fun of.

HAMMER: Right.

MURPHY: I`d like to see them come to life a little bit more.

HAMMER: And Mary, real quickly, one of the things that Miss USA is successful with, perhaps, is they show a little more skin. Does Miss America need to de-emphasize their -- their emphasis, basically, on talent and scholarship and maybe make it more about beauty?

MURPHY: I don`t think so. I think they need to be more about talent and what they`ve achieved in their life. And take it out of Sweeps and put it in the summer.

HAMMER: Right. Well, we`ll have to see what happens. They do need a new home, and maybe they will get a second chance. Thanks very much, Mary from California, for joining us live.

And now, of course, we would like to know your thoughts on the subject. It is our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. The Miss America pageant: Should it be canceled? You can vote at cnn.com/showbiztonight, or if you have more to say, you can e-mail us at showbiztonight@cnn.com. And we`re going to share some of what you have to say later on in the show.

BRYANT: Today, Peter Jennings is beginning his cancer treatment. The 66-year-old anchor of ABC`s "World News Tonight" is undergoing chemotherapy. He went public with his diagnosis of lung cancer last week. And even though he hasn`t been on-air since then, Jennings has been working behind the scenes and says he plans to continue hosting the nightly newscast.

HAMMER: What about Bob? Well, he`ll tell us. Bob Newhart`s coming on live, bringing his old show to new audiences.

BRYANT: And screaming for Mimi. Mariah`s back with a hot new album and looking as good as ever. A "SHOWBIZ Sitdown" with Mariah Carey.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRYANT: It`s the word a lot of people have been waiting for. Tonight, Britney is having a baby. We`ve got more to come.

HAMMER: It is time now for another "SHOWBIZ Short." "Desperate Housewives" is getting a new neighbor. Today`s "Variety" says that Alfre Woodard is joining the cast of the ABC hit show. She`s make her very first appearance in the season finale and return as a regular in the fall. Woodard is currently seen in "Beauty Shop."

More SHOWBIZ Shorts coming up throughout the show.

BRYANT: And from one "Desperate Housewives" newcomer to another. If you caught this Sunday`s episode, you may have seen a familiar face, Bob Newhart joined the case as Susan`s mother`s boyfriend, Morty. It is the latest role for a man who is arguably a living comedy legend.

"The Bob Newhart Show" came on the air in 1972. The sitcom about a Chicago psychotherapist, Bob, and his wife, Emily, was a breakthrough, and now reruns are brining in a whole new generation of fans. Starting today, all of Bob`s fans can get the entire first season of "The Bob Newhart Show" on DVD.

Joining us live today from Los Angeles, the man behind the show`s title, Mr. Bob Newhart. Hi, Bob!

BOB NEWHART, "THE BOB NEWHART SHOW": Hi, Karyn.

(LAUGHTER)

BRYANT: Hi. It`s great talking to you. You know, I watched your show growing up. What I loved about it was it was that it was show I could watch with my parents and we all were entertained. Can you even believe, though, it`s been 33 years since this came on?

NEWHART: No. No. It just -- the time has just flown by. And TVland had an award ceremony, and we got the Icon Award. Carol Burnett got the Legend Award. And it was just great seeing everybody, you know, Susie and Marcia (ph) and Peter and Billy and Jack Riley (ph) and...

BRYANT: The gang.

NEWHART: Yes. We went out to dinner afterwards and just kept telling stories about how much fun was.

BRYANT: Great. What do you do when you`re channel surfing and you come upon your show, do you watch it?

NEWHART: Yes. I don`t go out of my way to see it, but yes, if I happen to stumble upon it, I`ll watch it.

BRYANT: Yes.

NEWHART: And very often, I won`t remember to the end of it, you know? I mean, I know I`m in it because I can see myself in it, but I forgot how it ends.

(LAUGHTER)

BRYANT: Right. Well, what do you think about the current crop of sitcoms? Because some people, you know, argue that sitcoms are dead. They don`t seem to catch on and last as well as they did back in your day.

NEWHART: I don`t think they`re dead. I just -- I don`t watch shows - - I don`t watch laugh-track shows. I just...

BRYANT: OK.

NEWHART: The genre that I grew up in, "Lucy" and "The Honeymooners" and "All in the Family" and "Mary Tyler Moore" and our show and Carol Burnett, we all did it in front of a live audience and...

BRYANT: Right.

NEWHART: ... and it made -- it just made for a better show, I think.

BRYANT: As an actor, it gave you probably just a lot more to feed off of, and it just probably felt more organic, I guess?

NEWHART: Well, yes, because -- like, for instance, in "Newhart," when we -- when we brought in Larry, Darrell and Darrell, well, they were an instant hit.

BRYANT: Of course! I mean, every -- they`re lovable. How could you not? I still say it, "This is my other brother, Darrell." I mean, everybody knows that line. It`s great.

NEWHART: So we knew then from the audience reaction. We said, Well, let`s get another script and work so -- featuring these guys because the audience loves them. Well, that`s something you don`t find out with a laugh track.

BRYANT: Right. Exactly. So do you think, though, today, if "The Bob Newhart Show" came on, it would succeed? Brand-new show?

NEWHART: Yes. "The Bob Newhart Show," you mean the old one?

BRYANT: Yes. Yes.

NEWHART: Yes, it -- yes, because -- because good writing lasts and good acting lasts. And we had good acting and we had good writing, and I think that`s -- I`ve given away the secret of longevity.

(LAUGHTER)

BRYANT: Breaking news! Well, thanks so much, Bob Newhart. You`ve been terrific over the years. It`s really been a treat watching you. Thanks for joining us here. And again, "The Bob Newhart Show," the complete first season, is in stores starting today.

HAMMER: It is time now for "Tuesday In Style." Tonight, flattering ruffles, feminine floral prints. We`ve got spring`s hottest dresses, and who better to model them than Alicia Silverstone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUZANNE ZUCKERMAN, "IN STYLE" MAGAZINE: This spring, you know, fashion is made for the girly girls. We shot a very organic, bohemian, beautiful actress, Alicia Silverstone, wearing some of the season`s most feminine florals. Our crew followed her around all day, sort of running wild through the fields. She really, really loved wearing this beautiful sort of billowing, flowing orange Bill Blass dress. She specifically loved it because she said when you see that color, you know, that bright, bright citrusy orange, there is we way that it can`t catch your eye.

Alicia Silverstone wears this amazing Roberto Cavali (ph) silk chiffon caftan dress with a built-in bikini. And like many of Roberto Cavali`s designs, this one has a innate sexiness to it. Also, because it`s sort of a sort of flowing, billowing caftan, it also had that bohemian, hippy flair.

Alicia loved wearing one particular J. Mandel (ph) halter dress. It`s a plunging, plunging neckline, a yellow silk chiffon halter that sort of grazes the knee. And something that I think a lot of women should embrace is taking the plunge, so to speak.

Alicia absolutely adored wearing a Ralph Lauren collection silk chiffon dress. It had an amazing plunging back, and she really liked the little bit of the tease, that it dipped so low that you almost see a hint of the backside. So it`s sort of revealing without actually revealing anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: If you like what you saw, for more on this spring`s hottest florals, just pick up a copy of this month`s "In Style" magazine. It`s on newsstands now.

BRYANT: Mariah Carey has whole closet full of songs, and she`s adding to that with a brand-new CD. Part one of the "SHOWBIZ Sitdown" Mariah Carey.

HAMMER: And Alicia Silverstone is standing up and modeling the latest in spring fashion, as we just showed you. We have more SHOWBIZ TONIGHT coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

BRYANT: Britney`s baby. There have been rumors for months. Now Britney Spears confirms it. She`s pregnant.

HAMMER: Get carried away. It`s Mariah`s big day. She sits down with SHOWBIZ TONIGHT to tell us all about her new CD.

ALICIA KEYS: Hey, I`m Alicia Keys and if it happened today, it`s on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

BRYANT: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. It`s 30 minutes past the hour. I`m Karyn Bryant.

HAMMER: And I`m A.J. Hammer. Here are tonight`s hot headlines.

BRYANT: Joaquin Phoenix is in rehab. Just a short time ago, his publicist said Phoenix checked himself into an undisclosed facility two weeks ago for treatment for alcoholism because he was uncomfortable with the way he was living his life. Phoenix stared in movies including "Hotel Rwanda," "Signs" and "Gladiator." His brother River died of a drug overdose in 1993.

HAMMER: Mariah Carey is back! Her new album "The Emancipation of Mimi" is out today and Carey has been all over New York since early this morning promoting and performing. My showbiz sit down with Mariah is coming up in just a minute.

Britney is pregnant! Today, Britney Spears posted a message on her Web site saying she and Kevin Federline are indeed expecting their first child together, finally ending all the speculation.

BRYANT: Big news on two fronts going on right now. Mariah Carey is dropping her new record at a big event in New York City and word is spreading there that Britney Spears has confirmed her pregnancy. Let`s go back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s David Haffenreffer live in downtown Manhattan.

HAFFENREFFER: We got lots to talk about, Karyn. Of course "Emancipation of Mimi" is the brand new album hitting record stores today. We continue to wait for the arrival of Mariah Carey today. Mimi, by the way is the nickname for her, by her friends and very close relatives as well. Of course, the news is spreading about Britney Spears being pregnant. The news was released on her Web site today, britneyspears.com. It said as follows: Dear Fans, the time has finally come to share our wonderful news that we are expecting our first child together. This has got to be the worst kept celebrity of mankind at this point. We did manage to catch up with some Mariah fans earlier today to ask them what they thought about the news about Britney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that`s awesome, great for her. If that makes her happy, whatever makes her happy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s great. Wow!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love her.

HAFFENREFFER: Why do you love her?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because she`s Britney.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m not surprised. I mean, you know? That`s great for her and Kevin.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I kind of figured she was pregnant but I don`t -- she`s doing her own thing. It`s cool.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think she`s way too young.

HAFFENREFFER: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know. She just jumped from being famous and like public and everything and then got married and all of a sudden she`s pregnant. I don`t know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAFFENREFFER: We are finding that Mariah fans are not necessarily Britney fans, but we do understand that Mariah Carey is all of one block away. These fans can`t wait. And we`ll have more when she arrives. Back to you in the studio.

BRYANT: Thanks a lot, David Haffenreffer outside of New York City. AJ?

HAMMER: All right, Karyn. It is time for another "Showbiz Sitdown." I will be doing it standing up, but my guest will be seated. This time it is Steve Carell. He plays the not so graceful boss on NBC`s THE OFFICE, which is based on the BCC show of the same name. Steve Carell joins us from Los Angeles. Hey, Steve, thanks for being with us.

Did you know Camilla Parker Bowles is pregnant as well? I`m breaking that from here. That`s what I heard.

HAMMER: All right. Well as a correspondent for the DAILY SHOW, I assume you are up to the minute on the breaking news information.

STEVE CARELL, COMEDIAN: I am up to the second.

HAMMER: And I need to get your take on the Britney Spears thing in just a minute, but first I want to check out a clip from THE OFFICE. Of course your character is in this clip demonstrating his fine leadership skills. So let`s take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARELL: Ah. This is our receptionist Pam. Pam. Pam, Pam. Pam Beasley. Pam has been with us for -- forever, right, Pam?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I don`t know.

CARELL: If you think she`s cute now, you should have seen her a couple of years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?

CARELL: Any messages?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: So, Steve, basically your character just has no social grace whatsoever.

CARELL: No, he has what I term a social blind spot. He kind of doesn`t understand how other people perceive him. He`s a gem.

HAMMER: He`s like a big doofus, and everybody has one of these guys in their office.

CARELL: Well, they say that if you don`t know one of these guys, then you are one of these guys.

HAMMER: You have ever worked for a guy like this?

CARELL: Oh, yeah. I worked in the produce department of a supermarket, and my boss was pretty much this guy.

HAMMER: So you`ve actually had real jobs before the whole acting thing unfolded for you.

CARELL: I have had real jobs and I could potentially have another real job, depending on how the show goes.

HAMMER: See how it goes. You have acted for a while. Of course people know you from "The Daily Show," "Bruce Almighty," "Anchorman" and what about the office job, though? Besides the produce, did you ever actually have to push pencils around?

CARELL: Not pencils, mail. I actually worked in the post office. I was a U.S. postal carrier for a while.

HAMMER: Worked in civil service, very nice.

CARELL: I was! I had to pass the test and everything. I was a government employee.

HAMMER: A lot of people do know you from "The Daily Show" as a news correspondent and you broke the news about Camilla Parker Bowles. We are checking into that story right now. Give us the take on the Britney story. You can report on that for us?

CARELL: I think it`s a fascinating and fabulous story that she`s pregnant. I was led to believe that she had been because she had become enormous in the last month. So that was kind of a give away for me personally.

HAMMER: You think that was the tip-off?

CARELL: The tip-off, yeah. When someone looks like they`re -- I don`t know, six weeks pregnant that generally is sort of a tip-off.

HAMMER: I want to ask you about a couple of other projects that you have going on, a couple of others movies, "Bewitched" and "Get Smart" among them. You are playing the Don Adams character in "Get Smart," is that right?

CARELL: Right, yes. That`s in the future. They`re writing it as we speak.

HAMMER: And as far as "Bewitched," which is coming out this summer I believe. Nicole Kidman you are co-starring with. Pretty nice gig.

CARELL: Well, I think co-star might be a little overstated.

HAMMER: I am pumping you up here, Steve. I am pumping you up, man.

CARELL: I am in the movie and at one point I actually saw her on the set. I guess that means I am her co-star, yeah. And Will Farrell is in there somewhere too, but it`s mostly me and Nicole Kidman.

HAMMER: Well, it`s going to be nice to see you and Will Farrell as well one more time.

CARELL: Oh, anytime I can work with that man, it would be great.

HAMMER: And we look forward to seeing you in THE OFFICE as well. Steve, thank you very much. Steve Carell from THE OFFICE which airs Tuesday nights on NBC. Karyn.

BRYANT: I`m a big Steve fan. That guy cracks me up.

We have been asking you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day -- Miss America pageant, should it be cancelled? You can keep voting at cnn.com/showbiztonight and send us your e-mails at showbiztonight@cnn.com. We`ll share some of what you had to say at 55 past the hour.

HAMMER: Well of course the buzz bench wants to get in on all this pageant action. So we`re going to buzz about the Miss USA pageant and what beat it in the ratings. That`s coming up.

BRYANT: Plus Mariah Carey in a showbiz sit-down. She talks about fame, fortune and the "Emancipation of Mimi."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HAMMER: A busy, busy day for Ms. Mariah Carey. She was up bright and early this morning to give a concert for GOOD MORNING AMERICA and then she cruised on over to the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT studios where she and I had some time to talk about her new album "The Emancipation of Mimi." Excellent to see you.

MARIAH CAREY, SINGER: Great to see you.

HAMMER: You`re very busy.

CAREY: A little.

HAMMER: A lot of work putting out a brand new CD.

CAREY: It is, but it`s fun. It`s been so much fun, really. Just from making the record until today. It was just a great time.

HAMMER: Let`s talk about what happened this morning.

CAREY: OK.

HAMMER: They shut down Times Square for you to appear on "Good Morning America." They didn`t just kind of put you up on the sidewalk. They shut the place down, Mariah.

CAREY: I know. It was really shocking. It was really amazing and you know what was so great was to see the fans there, like to see the die- hard fans. I was like, oh no, it`s cold. I feel bad. I didn`t know what the turn out was going to be and then it was so nice and just like to see the fans being so energetic and knowing all the lyrics already.

HAMMER: How great is that? It`s a brand new album. The couple of singles that have been out and they know all of the words. I saw them singing along.

CAREY: Right, right. It was amazing. It`s such a great feeling because this album is really a labor of love for me.

HAMMER: The idea that they shut down times Square, I got to stay with this for a second because you have been at this for a while. You`ve had a lot of big events that you have been involved with all over the world. But do you still get up there and for just a moment say, well, this is for me?

CAREY: You know what`s so weird, like you drive in, you get out of the car. You`re going in the back way up a little lift, walking up a ladder and you almost don`t get to take in the magnitude of what it is until you watch it on TV. I`m always going in some entrance and just kind of like rapidly going through the motions, but the actual moment on stage was amazing.

HAMMER: Do you have nerves? Do you get at all anxious before something that big?

CAREY: I was surprisingly not as anxious as I thought I would be this morning, but like last night I was nervous. But you know what, just to see the people coming out and really being supportive, that`s the thing.

HAMMER: This is you doing what you do best. Yeah, you`re delivering a part of the album a modern hip-hop album, bur you are. You back to your roots. You are revisiting what put you on the radar 15 years ago.

CAREY: Right, right, which is bizarre because I am only 15 so I don`t know how that happened.

HAMMER: How does that happen? How does that work?

CAREY: No, no, but seriously, it really was like the approach to making this record was very much like, I`m going to have a good time.

HAMMER: so you`re the co-executive producer of the album along with Eliot Reid (ph). How do you go about choosing the next single?

CAREY: With this particular record, people really have very definite favorites. I`m just glad I got it make an album that was full of all my influences, not just the ballads and really trying to take the approach with the ballads to keep them pared down.

HAMMER: The album`s titled, "The Emancipation of Mimi." Now, I know it`s a little nickname that your friends call you -- may I call you Mimi?

CAREY: Of course.

HAMMER: So Mimi, the emancipation part. Being free, it all comes down to your own self-expression in a grand way.

CAREY: I think that my whole journey not to get too deep. But I think that my whole life has always been about trying to break free of something. I had dreams and I wanted to pursue my goals and I believed that I could, but it was always like getting past the next barrier and the next barrier and a lot of those battles were internal battles that I had to go through just in terms of feeling at peace with who I am, just even coming from a biracial family, going through what that did to me as a person, what that did to my self-esteem and obviously just relationships and other things and public, moments that everyone dramatized.

HAMMER: Did that all happen?

CAREY: Did that happen, I don`t recall. All those things either break you or they make you stronger, so I had to kind of go through this process of eliminating all the negative elements from my life and there`s still some that are around but it`s a process. And at this point in my life, I feel like this is the best place that I`ve been in.

HAMMER: Really?

CAREY: Yeah I really do.

HAMMER: So you`ve gotten there.

CAREY: I really feel that way. Whatever happens, it`s like, I`m proud of this record and I`m also -- honestly, I`m proud of myself for being able to get to this point.

HAMMER: You can definitely feel the good energy of the place she`s at in her life right now and right now, you are looking at a live picture of downtown Manhattan in New York City. Hundreds of fans are waiting for Mariah Carey to arrive at her record signing. Tomorrow, we`re going to have part two, where she`ll share more about her personal journey, her dog Jack. I asked hear all about Jack and what she does when she`s not working. That`s coming up tomorrow night on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. So make sure you`re here for more Mariah.

BRYANT: Britney`s baby, it is the big news of the day. Britney Spears confirms that she`s pregnant. We`ll take that to the "buzz bench" coming up.

Plus Tea Leoni pulls some strings. We`ll tell you why she was in New York today, showing (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRYANT: Time for the "Buzz Bench," where today`s top entertainment chatter takes center stage. Tonight, Britney`s baby news, what makes President Bush bop and why are these beauty pageants such a flop?

HAMMER: Joining us on the buzz bench tonight, "Newsweek`s" Devin Gordon, VH1 Classic host Amy Scott and SHOWBIZ TONIGHT contributor Amy Kean. Let`s get right to topic one. Britney`s pregnant. Yes, she and Kevin Federline are indeed expecting their first child. Devin, come on.

GORDON: It`s amazing Kevin Federline is going to be a daddy. That`s already happened a couple of times. So maybe it`s not that exciting. I know it`s the news that rocked the world today. I think we`re all shocked, despite the round the clock tabloid reports that this was exactly what was happening. Now we finally know for sure.

AMY KEAN, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT CONTRIBUTOR: You can just see, you and I were talking about this, you can see her going through "Us Weekly" or "In Style" it is time to have a baby with Julia Roberts and Gwyneth Paltrow.

AMY SCOTT, VH1: Look they`re saying I`m fat, I better get pregnant.

HAMMER: I was walking by, I was walking in to do the show. The news just broke literally right before we went on the air. I said to one of our security guards here at the "headline prime" studios that we have breaking news, Britney is pregnant. And the security guard says, I knew that. That was obvious. You look at any picture of her.

SCOTT: It has been rumored for quite a while, but I`m just a little bit sad because Kevin doesn`t have a real good track record as far as staying with pregnant wives, does he?

BRYANT: He was never married to the other.

KEAN: The other one didn`t have as much money as Britney Spears. I think he`ll stay.

SCOTT: Quite a bit of a pay day.

KEAN: We were saying she was 23, 24 years old. It`s very strange thing of her to do. I don`t see her as the type of person to be able to really bounce back from a pregnancy.

GORDON: This is the kind of person who just a week ago was complaining about all the attention from tabloids and now she`s going to be having a baby.

HAMMER: She`s not that innocent.

SCOTT: And she`ll be singing "Kick Me Baby One More Time."

BRYANT: We`re going to move on. We`re going to move onto President Bush. He got an iPod for his birthday. His daughters gave it to him in July. Even though the thing can hold 10,000 songs, he has 250 on there. They weren`t even loaded by him and.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They weren`t loaded by him?

BRYANT: No, he had an aide load the play list.

KEAN: We have the president - was sitting around downloading -

(CROSSTALK)

BRYANT: He has Joni Mitchell on there, Van Morrison and John Fogerty which is ironic because John Fogerty had a song that they were using against Bush. It was during the vote for change concert.

SCOTT: The song that John Fogerty, the John Fogerty song that he has is "Center Field" and I do believe that baseball trumps politics, especially when you are the former owner of the Texas Rangers.

BRYANT: Exactly. But what do you think of this? He doesn`t load his own iPod and he only uses a fraction of the --

KEAN: . iPod. I think that the president should have someone to do that. I don`t think he should have to do that and I also think that what I do like about the list is it`s exactly what you`d expect. It`s -- he doesn`t -- again what you see is what you get.

BRYANT: A lot of country.

SCOTT: He listens to a lot of classic rock and I`m pretty happy about that. I`m thinking maybe I can get him on VH1 classic.

GORDON: I know that in the history of the military they have used music, loud rock music to torture prisoners. I think if you wanted to torture me, just hand me President Bush`s iPod.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "My Sharona."

GORDON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and that would pretty much - I would steal state secrets in a heartbeat.

(CROSSTALK)

KEAN: One of the interesting things that was pointed out, was that there was just - it`s basically classic rock and country. But what`s interesting is if it was John Kerry`s, he would be appeasing everybody. It would be a little bit of jazz, a little bit of rap.

HAMMER: No truth to the rumor that the humpy dance is on there. I got to move on to our last topic, Miss North Carolina was crowned Miss USA 2005 last night. That was the last highlight for the pageant. The ratings were not pretty. The show placed fourth in the first hour. CBS was in first with reruns. The ironic part here is the Miss USA episode of FEAR FACTOR helped bring NBC to number one for the 8:00 hour. Miss America is also in trouble. We`re almost out of time on this. Your take.

KEAN: Who cares about these pageants? They are so over. I haven`t seen these pageants since I was a kid. Who is watching them?

GORDON: I loved that Donald Trump said that he would restore integrity to the pageant and then he said, oh, did I say integrity? I`m sorry, I meant boobs.

SCOTT: Miss America is all about scholarships. I think why don`t they just give every pretty girl in America $5,000 and call it a walk because we don`t know the show really.

KEAN: Yeah, we shouldn`t joke (ph).

HAMMER: I don`t know if we can come up with the budget but we will look into it.

BRYANT: Thank you, Amy, Amy, and Devin for joining us here on "the buzz bench."

Jimmy Kimmel gives Charles and Camilla the royal treatment. That`s coming up next in laughter dark and of course, there`s still time for you to sound off in our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day, Miss America pageant, should it be canceled? You can vote at cnn.com/showbiztonight or e-mail us at showbiztonight@cnn.com. We`ll read some of your thoughts live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRYANT: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

HAMMER: It is time now to get your laugh on in laughter dark. As we do every night and we`re going to get to that in a moment but first, we`re going to take a live shot.

BRYANT: Of Mariah Carey. There she is arriving downtown in NoHo Manhattan. She`s there for a signing. Of course her record "The Emancipation of Mimi" has just dropped today and AJ had a nice sit down with her earlier. There she is live. She`s finally arrived.

HAMMER: And feeling good.

BRYANT: Feeling good. The crowd looks pretty exciting too.

HAMMER: That million dollar smile.

BRYANT: That`s right. That`s right.

HAMMER: All right. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to be with Mariah Carey tomorrow night. As we do every night, we bring you the late night laughs you might have missed, so let`s get to that.

BRYANT: As you`ve probably heard, Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles got married this past weekend. And on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Jimmy just can`t resist the royal wedding jokes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": Even though Camilla is now technically, she is the princess of Wales, out of respect for Diana, she`ll be known as the duchess of Cornwall. However when the prince becomes king, Camilla will be named the queen of the British empire, I guess replacing Sir Elton John who owns that title. They`re on their honeymoon now. They`re getting no privacy whatsoever. It must be difficult to be in that situation. Everywhere they go, there is a camera on them. Look at this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The royal newlyweds on their first outing as husband and wife enjoyed a sunset stroll along the beach.

KIMMEL: There`s no -- there`s no privacy. That`s what I`m saying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: Sometimes that thong just doesn`t work.

BRYANT: Just uncalled for. Well, let`s move on. Tea`s good cause.

Today, "House of D" star Tea Leoni was at New York`s Hard Rock Cafe showing guitars that will be auctioned off for breast cancer research. Leoni introduced five Gibson guitars designed by celebrities including Sheryl Crow, Ellen Degeneres and Melissa Etheridge. Leoni is the auction chair and she told SHOWBIZ TONIGHT why raising money for breast cancer research is more urgent than ever.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEA LEONI, ACTRESS: We`re really close. This is a new disease. This isn`t the research that`s going on at UCLA and USC. I mean what they`re coming up with is incredible. There`s talks of a vaccine within a year. I mean this is -- we`re so close it feels like now`s the time that we really have to drive and push and end it. Even you can go online and bid on these guitars, on any of the 50.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: The guitars go up for auction starting April 24th on juliensauctions.com. Leoni`s husband David Duchovny stops by this week SHOWBIZ TONIGHT Thursday night to talk about their movie "House of D," which opens on Friday.

HAMMER: We have been asking you to vote online on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day -- Miss America pageant, should it be cancelled? The vote so far as 66 percent of you saying yes, it should be canceled, 34 percent of you say, no, it should not be canceled. We`ve also gotten some emails on the question, like one from Olga in Honolulu who says, it`s simply idiotic that in the year 2005 we still have contests based on how good someone looks.

Patrick writes, keep the pageant but move it to the summer where it isn`t challenged by new television programs. Keep voting at cnn.com/showbiztonight.

BRYANT: Time to see what`s playing on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT tomorrow.

HAMMER: Take it away, marquee guy.

ANNOUNCER: Boy, are we going to get teed off tomorrow. It`s the ballroom game that hooks the stars. Golden tee tomorrow on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Fore.

Plus, silent Bob speaks. He`s one half of Jay and silent Bob, now Kevin Smith writes back with a new book and he`s live on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT tomorrow. This is the never silent marquee guy saying, yo, babe later.

BRYANT: That`s it for -- that is it for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. We`ll see you here tomorrow.

HAMMER: Nancy Grace coming up next right after the very latest from HEADLINE NEWS.

END