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Showbiz Tonight
Showbiz Tonight for July 13, 2005, CNNHN
Aired July 13, 2005 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KARYN BRYANT, CO-HOST: Hello, I`m Karyn Bryant.
A.J. HAMMER, CO-HOST: I`m A.J. Hammer. TV`s only live entertainment news show starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER (voice-over): On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, more drama at the Cape. The media there, the world watching, America on pins and needles. Cape Canaveral crisis. What`s next?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will touchdown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Final approach orbit.
HAMMER: And are space movies out of this world or down to earth? A "Showbiz In-Depth" look at sci-fi versus sci-reality.
BRYANT (voice-over): Also news wars. The networks versus the Net. The battle for viewers moves online. Tonight, a major new development. Where do you get your news?
HAMMER: And...
(MUSIC)
HAMMER: ... Rick Springfield live. It`s our weeklong "Showbiz Flashback" series with music icons. Dick Rick ever get Jessie`s girl? Find out, coming up.
HALLE BERRY, ACTRESS: Hi, I`m Halle Berry, and if it happened today, it`s on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRYANT: Hello, I`m Karyn Bryant.
HAMMER: And I`m A.J. Hammer.
Tonight, what could have been the greatest show on earth cut short by a crisis at the Cape.
BRYANT: As millions of people got set to watch the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery, a last minute technical glitch put an end to America`s return to space on the shuttle.
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s David Haffenreffer has the very latest for us -- David.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Karyn and A.J., the nation was transfixed to their TV`s today as the countdown clock at Cape Canaveral came to a stop. Technicians evaluating what went wrong and how long it would take to fix the Space Shuttle Discovery.
For a nation eager to get back into the space program after a two- year delay, it was a day of suspense, not only for those at NASA but also for those at home watching the events unfold on their televisions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAFFENREFFER (voice-over): As a beautiful but cloudy dawn first cracked over Kennedy Space Center, speculation was high.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the Space Shuttle Discovery set to lift off just hours from now, but will the weather cooperate?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We`re looking for thunderstorms within the...
HAFFENREFFER: The media had their eyes trained on the sky, where bad weather threatened to scrub a much-awaited mission.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today`s scheduled launch of Discovery will be bittersweet for a lot of people here.
HAFFENREFFER: The first shuttle to launch in two years following the Columbia disaster that called all seven astronauts onboard.
CNN`s space correspondent Miles O`Brien told SHOWBIZ TONIGHT it`s because of that terrible tragedy that the media and the world are so focused on Cape Canaveral.
MILES O`BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: There`s a bit of nostalgia. There`s a little bit of sadness for the crew that was lost. There`s a lot of anxiety they goes along with any launch, this one in particular. And so you kind of put that all together and it makes for a very compelling story.
KATIE COURIC, CO-HOST, NBC`s "THE TODAY SHOW": I know this mission is crucial for the future of NASA and the entire space program. So what is the mood down there?
MATT LAUER, CO-HOST, NBC`s "THE TODAY SHOW": They feel as if they can`t afford another mistake.
HAFFENREFFER: The focus of the day isn`t just on weather, but safety, and making extra sure that nothing goes wrong. The pressure is on. A scrubbed mission shortens a launch window in the future.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This 10-minute window is very time specific. Now they will move this and the earliest next launch date is tomorrow.
HAFFENREFFER: The big three networks were there live from Kennedy Space Center ready to cover liftoff, which was scheduled at 3:51 p.m. Then, a little before noon, NASA makes an announcement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because of the thunderstorms that are moving through this area this afternoon they now think there`s about a 60 percent chance of a scrub.
HAFFENREFFER: Then around 1:30, just as the skies cleared up and all thought it was a go, the announcement.
KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST, "LIVE FROM": We`re just getting word that the launch has been -- has been scrubbed.
HAFFENREFFER: Not because of the clouds, but because of a technical problem. The media scrambled to get the story.
O`BRIEN: Let`s just get a microphone on him right now so he can tell us what`s going on. He`s got some information for us.
HAFFENREFFER: And to get the lowdown from experts to tell us what`s going on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`ve got three different sources of power to get you through the atmosphere.
HAFFENREFFER: It was an emotional day with an ending to the story that no one could predict and for CNN`s Miles O`Brien, who arrived first on the scene at 3 a.m., that`s what reporting is all about.
O`BRIEN: It`s both exhausting and very enjoyable to me. I have a great interest in this, a true passion for it and so, while it has been an incredibly long day with a 3 a.m. wake-up call and all kinds of twists and turns and ups and downs and thunderstorms that forced us to evacuate and then, ultimately, a scrub when the sky turned blue, all those things are precisely what I signed up for when I decided to start covering space for CNN.
It is covering an adventure in real time, and what a great privilege it is to be able to tell a story like this sort of as it happens. But either way, in my view, it`s a very engaging and compelling story.
HAFFENREFFER (on camera): NASA now tells CNN that the space shuttle won`t launch before Saturday at the earliest. Of course, the media will wait to bring you the story.
Back to you in the studio.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: All right. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s David Haffenreffer, thanks very much -- Karyn.
BRYANT: Today`s shuttle shutdown is a far cry from what we all thought once thought the future of space travel would be by this time, the year 2005. If you believed, the movies and TV shows by now we`d be vacationing on the moon and traveling to the stars.
Well, tonight`s "Showbiz In-Depth," a sci-fi reality check. Joining us live to help us do this, Neil Rosen, movie critic for the New York cable news station New York 1. Also here live, Gitesh Pandya from BoxOfficeGuru.com.
So this is a little bit of a lighthearted look, gentlemen. We`re not here to rag on the space program. But Neil, what about the idea that "Lost in Space," you know, what they predicted, was totally different from what we`re doing now?
NEIL ROSEN, MOVIE CRITIC, NEW YORK 1: Well, you know, the timeframe -- I think "Lost in Space" was set in the late 1990s. At the time the show came out in the `60s, even though they were traveling to another galaxy and there was a -- there`s lot of robots in all these shows.
BRYANT: Sure.
ROSEN: You know, that`s always a vision of the future, was a robot that has humanlike characteristics and can talk to and think logically.
But if you look at the history of air travel, the turn of the century was the first flight. Jet -- then came, you know, jet travel was popularized in the `50s. Space travel started in the `60s. So if you go 30 years ahead, maybe there would be a family going into space or something, but you know, we haven`t gone anywhere. We haven`t set foot anywhere since 1970-something on the moon.
BRYANT: Right. They certainly were preoccupied with robots, it seems, in a lot of these shows.
Gitesh, what about "Back to the Future 2"?
GITESH PANDYA, BOXOFFICEGURU.COM: Right.
BRYANT: This one, maybe not so many robots, but definitely lot of flying, surf boards, skateboard, everybody flying, zooming everywhere. Individual jet propulsion.
PANDYA: Well, you know, "Back to the Future 2," a big hit sequel and you have Michael J. Fox and the cast going forward to the year 2015. And of course, at that time when they were predicting the future they`ve got these hover boards that they`re on. I think they`ve got an identity thing with your fingerprint. You can pay for things.
BRYANT: But that exists, kind of. Doesn`t it?
PANDYA: It`s close what we have right now. We`re not there yet. I still have to carry my wallet.
ROSEN: Flying cars. They had flying cars.
PANDYA: Flying cars, hover crafts, it`s as if it`s out of "Star Wars." I mean, they were thinking ahead into the future that we will have these kind of things. And you know, science obviously doesn`t agree with what the scriptwriters think.
BRYANT: All right, Neil, back to you. What about "2001: A Space Oddity"?
ROSEN: "Odyssey."
BRYANT: "Odyssey," rather. This is a classic, classic film.
ROSEN: Well, come of those -- practically all those predictions didn`t come through. But...
BRYANT: Computers can talk.
ROSEN: But yes, there are -- nothing as diabolical as HAL. But I remember PanAmerican, they went on a flight. There were doing regular flights to Mars. And PanAmerican was the carrier on the spaceship. I remember that.
They had videoconferencing. He was able to call, I believe, his family. And they have that now. But certainly we`re not taking trips on any spaceships by, you know, Delta or American airlines these days to -- and that was the thing in 2001.
And, you know, beyond that the space walk that the guy does, you know, we have done spacewalks, but there`s no -- to my knowledge nobody`s discovered a big, brown obelisk floating.
BRYANT: And PanAm isn`t even around anymore.
ROSEN: Right.
BRYANT: OK. Gitesh, one more. What about "Space 1999," the TV show with Martin Landau?
PANDYA: Right. Well, this is a TV show from the mid-`70s, and it takes place, of course, in 1999. And it`s about a moon colony that goes awry, basically lost in space when the moon shifts away from the atmosphere. So again, it`s a "Lost in Space" kind of a theory. It`s about robots in the future, space travel not a problem. We`ll be going to the moon. But of course, that didn`t happen now.
BRYANT: All right. Well, I`d like to think they were keeping it optimistic.
Thank you for joining us here, Neil Rosen and Gitesh Pandya. Neil, of course, from New York 1 and Gitesh of BoxOfficeGuru.com
HAMMER: Thanks, Karyn.
All right. Well, tonight Rosie O`Donnell is raging. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has found out she`s put herself right in the middle of a major controversy in Washington.
This comes on the same day that a magazine reporter, a "TIME" magazine reporter, was called to testify before a grand jury about the leak of a CIA operative`s name. The reporter, Matthew Cooper, wrote an article that identified Ambassador James Wilson`s (sic) wife, Valerie Plame, as that CIA operative.
Well, Rove`s source for -- told the reporter`s article, was reportedly -- the source was reportedly President Bush`s top aid, Karl Rove.
Rosie blogged about the complicated political saga, lashing out at Rove, saying, quote, "Karl Rove is caught, at any cost -- is his motto. Positively Machiavellian."
She continues, "The leak of Wilson`s wife, part of a creepy campaign to discredit and punish Wilson and to scare every journalist who dares to criticize this horrifically corrupt administration. Stand up America. We, the people, deserve better."
BRYANT: Well, it is not news that the news networks are always trying to one-up each other, but tonight, they`re taking their battle to the Internet, and it could change how you find out the day`s news. We`ll have that story coming up next.
HAMMER: Also, tomorrow`s Emmy nominations, they`re coming out, but tonight, of course, the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT staff is going to help you out. We`re going to reveal who our staff thinks should get the nod. And we`ll see if you agree.
BRYANT: Plus time travel with us for our "Showbiz Flashback" series. Tonight we`ll find out if Rick Springfield ever caught up with "Jessie`s Girl" when he joins us live on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
HAMMER: Time now for tonight`s "Entertainment Weekly Great American Pop Culture Quiz." In which film did Chris Rock make his big- screen debut? Was it "New Jack City," "Beverly Hills Cop II," "Boomerang" or "I`m Gonna Git You Sucka"? We`re coming right back with the answer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Once again, tonight`s "Entertainment Weekly Great American Pop Culture Quiz." In which film did Chris Rock make his big-screen debut? Was it "New Jack City," "Beverly Hills Cop II," "Boomerang" or "I`m Gonna Git You Sucka"? Well, Chris Rock made his movie debut alongside Eddie Murphy in "B, "Beverly Hills Cop II."
BRYANT: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Karyn Bryant.
Tonight, in London, the terror attacks and Harry Potter. Bookseller W.H. Smith says it will move a launch party for the sixth "Harry Potter" book. The company no longer wants to have the event at the central London train station King`s Cross. That station was involved in last week`s terror bombings.
The bookseller held a party there when the last "Potter" book came out. And more than 500 people showed up. King`s Cross is the station where Harry and other young wizards catch a train at platform 9 3/4 to the Hogwarts School.
HAMMER: Tonight in "The Show`s Biz," a major new development in the news war on the Internet. CBS News has just announced it will launch a 24-hour video news service on the Web.
Yahoo! News was the No. 1 news site on the net in June, with nearly 25 million unique viewers a month. And CNN.com just began offering free news related video on its site.
Joining us live tonight to talk about the news war on the Net, "USA Today`s" David Lieberman, whose cover story today in the newspaper takes a close look at what this all means.
Also live tonight in Washington, Jonathan Darman. He`s the general editor for "Newsweek" magazine. Gentlemen, thank you both for joining me.
David, I want to start with you. Why did CBS decide to go this route and go on the Internet with 24 hour news, as opposed to a cable news channel like CNN?
DAVID LIEBERMAN, "USA TODAY": I think they figured that cable would just be too hard. They`d have to knock on too many doors, doors of Comcast and Time Warner and Cox (ph) and try to convince them to take another channel on top of CNN and FOX News and MSNBC and C-SPAN and everything else they`ve got.
Here, they can control everything. They throw the switch, they`re on the Internet. If you want it, you can get it.
HAMMER: It`s got to be so cost prohibitive to launch anything these days on television.
LIEBERMAN: Oh, sure. And also, when you go to the cable operators, they`ve got to pay the channel, and that gets passed along to the consumer. And people don`t want to have their cable bills to go up.
HAMMER: Jonathan, a couple of the numbers that I rattled off a couple moments ago about how many people are going to check out the news on the Net makes it seem like, you know, an awful lot of people are getting their news that way. Where are most people getting their news these days?
JONATHAN DARMAN, EDITOR, "NEWSWEEK" MAGAZINE: Well, there`s no one answer to that. I mean, in the old days if you really wanted to reach a majority of Americans there was a simple answer: you`d go to "The CBS Evening News," and you`re guaranteed 30 million, 35 million people seeing your story.
Nowadays I mean, think "The CBS Evening News" averaged about 6.8 million viewers last week, and that`s a dramatic decrease. And so where are all those people going? The answer I don`t think any of us have ever sort of clicked around to, you know, see the headlines during an idle moment would be surprised to see, is the Internet.
As many as 45 million people get their news, you know, from Internet news sources, you know, when they`re clicking around at the office during the day.
HAMMER: So with that information instantly available and David, with all of the video on demand, on the Net, like we offer at CNN.com now, are the network newscasts that people, you know, have been watching for years on NBC and CBS and ABC, are those going to be dinosaurs before too long?
LIEBERMAN: Well, they`re dinosaurs, but remember that the dinosaurs lasted for millions of years. So I think that what you`ll see is what they`re seeing now. The audiences are declining, and they`ll continue to decline, but they still get 30 million viewers a night. So it`s still a force to be reckoned with.
HAMMER: And now a big part of the Internet news -- and Jonathan, I want to throw this to you -- blogs are a big part of that. Viewers can send in video like we saw with CNN during the hurricane coverage over this past weekend. How is that going to impact the way news gathering is done?
DARMAN: It`s an interesting question. I know that, you know, certainly the print model so far has been that journalism has really been changed by it, because journalism on the Internet favors much more towards the sort of opinion driven coverage and has drifted away from hard reporting.
I know that, you know, CNN.com or CBSNews.com would tell you that if it`s on the web site it`s going to still, you know, meet the journalistic standards of the parent news organization.
HAMMER: Right.
DARMAN: But the media does affect these things, and if you`re competing with web sites that aren`t as focused on reporting, there`s a temptation to sort of become more like them.
HAMMER: Well, David, is this a trend that`s going to continue to grow with viewers sending in their own footage and that being used as actual news gathering information?
LIEBERMAN: I think yes, you`ll see more of everything. We`ll see people sending in news on their own. I think you`ll still see reporters, though, going out there. People still need to have someone who they can trust to be somewhat dispassionate and not having an axe to grind who knows how to get information and will give it to them as freely, as completely as they can.
HAMMER: Well, it was a real interesting read in "USA Today," today. David Lieberman and Jonathan Darman, thank you both -- both for joining us and going in-depth on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Appreciate it.
BRYANT: Nominations for the 2005 primetime Emmy Awards come out tomorrow morning. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT will be all over that for you. But tonight, we wanted to share with you what you should be watching out for and who the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT thinks should be nominated. So settle in. Time for the "Showbiz Staff Picks."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nominations in the Drama Series category are...
BRYANT (voice-over): Hold on, we won`t know until tomorrow who the 2005 primetime Emmy nominees are, but we TV fans at SHOWBIZ TONIGHT are hoping that the names of our favorite shows and actors are called out. So we took a vote among the staff, counted and recounted the results, and came up with our "Showbiz Picks" for Emmy nominations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don`t have time to argue about who gets to risk their lives.
BRYANT: There were no arguments here at SHOWBIZ TONIGHT about which shows we want nominated for outstanding drama series.
"Lost," the spooky suspenseful show about plane crash survivors marooned on an island, had us hooked from the first episode, and we`re looking forward to hook its first Emmy nod tomorrow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Norman fell.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wasn`t he married to Mrs. Roper?
BRYANT: TV powerhouse "CSI" is also a SHOWBIZ TONIGHT favorite and a show that deserves another nomination in this category.
Other shows we hope make the cu: "24," "Nip Tuck" and "Six Feet Under."
KIEFER SUTHERLAND, ACTOR: Prepare to ignite charges on my mark.
BRYANT: Kiefer Sutherland helped put a charge into "24" this season as tough government agent Jack Bauer. Jack may have lost his girl this season, but a nice consolation prize would be a nomination for best actor in a drama.
As for Sutherland`s competition, we`re hoping for two doctors, a cop and a president, namely Matthew Fox from "Lost," Patrick Dempsey from "Gray`s Anatomy," Gary Sinise from "CSI New York," and Martin Sheen from "The West Wing."
If it were our decision, Evangeline Lilly from "Lost" would get a nomination for outstanding dramatic actress. We also think Jennifer Garner from "Alias" kicks butt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s kind of emasculating having your kid brother pick your head shots.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And him paying for the rest of your life, as well.
BRYANT: In the outstanding comedy series category we`d love to see "Entourage" score its first nomination.
DORIS ROBERTS, ACTRESS: These seem old.
PETER BOYLE, ACTOR: You are what you eat.
BRYANT: "Everybody Loves Raymond" kept us laughing right up until its finale this year, a good reason for it to get its final nomination in this category.
We`re hoping that last year`s winner, "Arrested Development," "Two and a Half Men" and "Desperate Housewives" round out this category.
Speaking of the housewives, it`s safe to say we were frequent visitors to Wisteria Lane this season, so we`d like to see it get at least two nominations for best comedy actress. One for Teri Hatcher.
TERI HATCHER, ACTRESS: Mike, I need you to call me back. I mean it, love you. Bye.
BRYANT: And the other for Marcia Cross.
But along with the "Desperate" drama queens, we`d like to see a trio of frequent Emmy nominees make the cut in this category, like Patricia Heaton from "Everybody Loves Raymond," Debra Messing from "Will & Grace" and Jane Kaczmarek from "Malcolm in the Middle."
JUSTIN BATEMAN, ACTOR: You`re all going to have to start fending for yourselves. You`re all going to finally feel that sweet sting of sweat in your eyes as Buster -- you can`t do that on the balcony, buddy.
BRYANT: We still think someone ought to be arrested for not giving "Arrested Development" star Jason Bateman an outstanding comedy actor nomination last year. We`re hoping that mistake is corrected this year.
Charlie Sheen has grown on us in "Two and a Half Men." And we`d like to see him get a nod.
And those are our picks for Emmy nominations. Will the television academy agree with us? Stay tuned.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRYANT: And of course, after the nominations come out tomorrow we`ll have complete coverage. And we`ll then start talking about which of the Emmy nominees will become Emmy winners. We`ll find out on September 18, when the 57th annual prime time Emmys air on CBS.
HAMMER: You will definitely want to stay with us, because a secret will be revealed about the new "X-Men" movie, and it may cause a bit of a Storm. That`s coming up.
BRYANT: Also, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT live at "The Wedding Crashers" premiere. Before they walk down the aisle, they`re walking down the red carpet, but I`ve got a hint for you. It`s not red tonight. We`re right there with Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn and Rachel McAdams.
HAMMER: And Rick Springfield live. The "Jessie`s Girl" singer is now giving Beatles songs a try. Our "Showbiz Flashback" series continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
Well, tonight, secrets of the "X-Men" from someone who should know: Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry, or Storm, if you of course, are an "X-Men" fan. Berry today gave SHOWBIZ TONIGHT some secret inside info on "X-Men 3."
Berry, who has played Storm in both "X-Men" and "X-Men 2," was in New York today when SHOWBIZ TONIGHT caught up with her. The actress was at a charity event for the American Heart Association, where she handed over $150,000 from the Oral-B toothbrush company.
Berry was also charitable with the 411 on exactly what we can expect in the third installment of the "X-Men" series.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERRY: No.
HAFFENREFFER: None at all. Is it still in production?
BERRY: It`s in production. Storm`s going to fly, I hope. There`s going to be lots of -- there`s going to be some new "X-Men" characters from the comic book series that you haven`t seen before. And it is the end, so be prepared for some big, you know ending, if you will, to occur.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: One of the new characters Berry was referring to was Kelsey Grammar, who`s going to be playing the character Beast. "X-Men 3," due out in the summer of 2006.
BRYANT: "X-Men 3" hopes to ride the wave of success started by another comic book movie, "Fantastic Four," and that movie has broken the summer`s box office slump.
Now that we are midway through the summer season, it had us thinking about the box office so far. And it`s our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Midsummer movie choices: are you happy so far? You can vote at CNN.com/ShowbizTonight. You can also send e-mails to us at ShowbizTonight@CNN.com. And we`ll put some of your thoughts on the air later on in the show.
HAMMER: Well, coming up, Michael J. Fox heads to the nation`s capital and speaks out about a very personal cause.
BRYANT: And "Jessie`s Girl" was a huge hit for Rick Springfield in the `80s. Now he`s taking a hit at hits by other artists. Our "Showbiz Flashback" series continues with Rick Springfield, live.
HAMMER: Plus we go up close and personal with Alicia Keys.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: Good evening. I`m Sophia Choi. And here`s your "Headline Prime Newsbreak."
Chief Justice William Rehnquist is in the hospital for tests and observation. Supreme Court officials say he was taken by ambulance to a Virginia hospital after complaining of a fever. Rehnquist has been battling thyroid cancer. His health has led to speculation that he will announce his retirement soon.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expressing shock that the four men believed to have carried out suicide bombings in London last week were British nationals. Neighbors of three of the men say they were of Pakistani descent. Blair`s urging against any anti-Muslim backlash, saying the bombings were the work of a small group of extremists.
And good news for hockey fans. Hockey may be back in business this fall. The NHL says it has received a tentative labor agreement with the player`s union. Last season was cancelled over the dispute. Both sides will still need to ratify the deal.
Well, that`s the news for now. I`m Sophia Choi. Now back to SHOWBIZ.
BRYANT: ... on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, we are crashing their party live on the red carpet at the "Wedding Crashers" premiere. Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Christopher Walken, and more.
HAMMER: And there`s still plenty of spring in Rick Springfield`s step. Our "Showbiz Flashback Week" dances on with the guy who spent 25 years looking for "Jesse`s Girl," coming up live.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALICIA KEYS, SINGER: Hey, I`m Alicia Keys. And if it happened today, it`s on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: And welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s only live entertainment news show. It`s 31 minutes past the hour. I`m A.J. Hammer.
BRYANT: I`m Karyn Bryant. Here are tonight`s "Hot Headlines."
Crisis at Cape Canaveral: With the world glued to their TVs, watching on pins and needles, NASA today scrubbed the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery at the last minute. All of the big guns of TV news were there, and they`re expected to stay there until NASA reschedules the launch.
Michael J. Fox faced off with Congress again today over stem-cell research. The actor stood side-by-side with Senate leaders on Capitol Hill to speak out in favor of stem-cell research. Fox, who has been suffering from Parkinson`s disease for over a dozen years, told Congress why he believes a bill that will lift funding restrictions on stem-cell research should be passed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL J. FOX, ACTOR, STEM-CELL RESEARCH ADVOCATE: Today, there are new suggestions that we ought to try other approaches before authorizing more federal funding for more cell lines. Do we want that work to go forward? Absolutely. Do we want it to come at the price of the progress we`ve already made? Absolutely not.
And I take issue where those who say that those other methods are somehow more ethical. Most embryos left over from in-vitro fertilization are destroyed and thrown away. To my thinking, it is the highest form of ethics for them to be donated for medical research, to help save lives and allow federal funding of this research.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRYANT: Fox announced that, in the past four years, his foundation, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson`s Research, has raised over $10 million for stem-cell research.
HAMMER: Well, tonight, Brad Pitt remains hospitalized. What he`s got, well, that`s still the biggest secret in Hollywood. Here`s what SHOWBIZ TONIGHT does know.
Pitt checked himself into a Los Angeles hospital the other day complaining of flu-like symptoms. He`s been going around the world and back again. First, he was at Live 8 in London, then to Ethiopia with his "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" co-star Angelina Jolie. That was so he could fill out paperwork to adopt a baby. He might have caught something there. We just checked in on him, but there`s no word yet on when he`ll be released.
BRYANT: Our next guest seems to always be waiting for girls. It is time now for "Showbiz Flashback." All this week, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is bringing you interviews with some of your favorite music icons. We`ll hear what they`re up to today, their thoughts on the music biz, and of course, a little fun, as well.
Tonight, live, we have got Rick Springfield sitting right next to me. And we`re going to get to it in just a minute, but first we`re going to flashback.
RICK SPRINGFIELD, MUSICIAN: Uh-oh.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRYANT (voice-over): In the early 1980s, Rick Springfield seemed to have a thing for other women on TV and in music.
The Australian soap star-turned-pop rocker went to number one in 1981 with "Jesse`s Girl." He won a Grammy for the song and other top- ten hits followed.
BRYANT: Fans love their Rick Springfield. When you add it up, he`s sold more than 18 million albums and had 17 top-40 hits.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRYANT: Well, joining us for one night, Rick Springfield live. So you kind of cringed a little there. Well, you look good. You still look great. You had 17 top-ten hits. I mean, what`s there to cringe about?
SPRINGFIELD: There was some geeky stuff happening back there. Let`s be honest. Things my sons would cringe at. I was actually marveling at how much my son looked like me in that early stuff. It`s pretty wild.
BRYANT: And how old is he now?
SPRINGFIELD: I have an elder son, 19, and the youngest one is 16.
BRYANT: OK. Well, how do you stay relevant in today`s music world, Rick, because things have changed so much with the way people get their music and just the way record companies even sign and promote bands?
SPRINGFIELD: Yes, it`s pretty -- I`ve been touring pretty solidly. And we have a great, very high-energy, audience-involved live show. And I`ve been putting records out. I have my own record company.
I have a new record out now called "The Day After Yesterday." That`s a bunch of covers from the `70s and the `80s. It came out today. And I`m just, you know, doing -- I love to perform. I love music. And I`ll keep doing it until I`m not having fun. Basically, I mean, the key is I`m having fun.
BRYANT: Well, on your album, "The Day After Yesterday," you are covering a lot of people, Dream Academy with "Life in a Northern Town," you`ve got The Church in there, Foreigner. You`ve got a duet with Mr. Mister, Richard Page, right, from the original?
And I have to say, I thank you for introducing -- perhaps introducing some of the people in the world to the Blue Nile. You have a song in there, "Let`s Go Out Tonight." This is one of my all-time favorite songs in the world. How did you go about choosing the songs for this record?
SPRINGFIELD: My last record was very shocked in our language. It was very pedal-to-the-metal, very challenging hard rocking record. And I wanted to do something really different. Now, this is -- I picked moody atmospheric, you know?
And so, and Blue Nile, and had the Blue Nile song, and also "I`m Not in Love," the old 10cc song, were kind of the blueprints for what I was going to use and make the album sound like. And so it`s interesting you brought up that, because they`re not a well-known band, but they had one of the most brilliant albums of all time, "Hats," in the `80s.
BRYANT: "Hats." Their Scottish, and Paul Buchanan, the singer, and his voice is just the most, the most beautiful.
SPRINGFIELD: Incredible, incredible.
Yes, and no one knows that song. I wanted to do hits, mostly hits, or songs that people would recognize. But that one -- I`ve loved Blue Nile for so long. And I`ve loved that song for so long that I had to include it just for that reason.
BRYANT: Thank you, Rick. OK, so let`s talk about getting on the radio, because it seems today that, in adult contemporary record -- radio stations, rather -- sometimes you`ll get an artist like you who`s been around forever -- let`s say Michael McDonald. They`ve been around for a long time, and they kind of reinvent themselves by doing covers and making something old new again.
Is that a way, do you think, for people to continue to be able to hear your music?
SPRINGFIELD: Honestly, I think Michael McDonald`s thing was lightning in a bottle, like, you know, it`s one of those things that he does -- someone does something like that, and then everybody goes out looking for the commercial, and doing a cover album. It doesn`t happen like that.
He had a great record. It was just -- the timing was right, you know? And I think everybody has their own path. And I`ve always believed that. And I believe I have my own path. Sometimes it`s taken me up. Sometimes it`s taken me down.
But I think you -- as long as -- I don`t mean to keep saying it, but as long as you love and have a passion for what you`re doing, which I very much do, that, you know, the doors will open eventually and then you`ll find your way through.
BRYANT: And people still love "Jesse`s Girl." Was there a "Jesse`s Girl"?
SPRINGFIELD: Yes, very much so. Well, I always write songs from a basis of fact. And there definitely was. And they never knew that the song was about them.
BRYANT: Oh.
SPRINGFIELD: All my other friends were going, it`s me, right? So that`s me?
(LAUGHTER)
BRYANT: Oh, great. Well, that`s a great -- well, thanks for joining us here, Rick Springfield. And as you said, the album came out. It`s called "The Day After Yesterday," and it is in stores now.
Now, we have still got more "Showbiz Flashback Week" to come. Tomorrow, Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship`s Grace Slick, and Friday, `70s TV star and singer Donny Osmond.
HAMMER: Well, she was saved by the bell, and she just heard wedding bells. A first look at Tiffany Thiessen`s wedding pictures coming up.
And the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT wedding march does not stop there. We are live at the "Wedding Crashers" premiere, and we hear they`ve put a little twist on the red carpet. We`re there live with Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, and Jane Seymour.
And the singer people keep falling in love with lends her voice to a cause. We`ve got your front-row seats to a very special Alicia Keys concert, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRYANT: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Karyn Bryant.
Your first look at Rachel Griffith`s new baby girl. Well, here she is. The star of HBO`s "Six Feet Under" told "People" magazine that she gave birth to Adelaide Rose after only an hour-and-a-half of labor. And just three weeks after that wonderful day, Rachel`s already back in her pre-pregnancy jeans.
Just days before she gave birth, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT caught up with her to see what it was like being a working pregnant actress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RACHEL GRIFFITH, ACTRESS: Well, "Six Feet" has been great, because they, you know, they have written the pregnancy in, which means never being asked to do anything, like, you know, "We need you to horse ride." Or, you know, it`s all -- you`re only ever asked to do what is appropriate. I`ve gotten really good at like taking like 15-minute cat naps, you know, between scenes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRYANT: (INAUDIBLE) for a welcoming party. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you that almost immediately after giving birth, Rachel introduced her daughter to the cast-mates at the "Six Feet Under" wrap party.
HAMMER: Another "People" magazine first look. Tiffany Amber Thiessen, saved by the wedding bell. Thiessen`s weekend of bliss, with the new hubby actor Brady Smith, all started at a private estate in Montecito, California.
Now, as you can see in these new photos from "People" magazine, former "90210" castmates Jason Priestley, Tori Spelling, and Lindsay Price were all that. Spelling told "People" that the pastor gave the pair an assignment for wedded bliss: One 30-second hug and a 10-second kiss every day. Not bad advice. That tradition began as soon as the couple said, "I do."
For more on Thiessen`s wedding and Rachel Griffith`s new bundle of joy, just pick up the new issue of "People" magazine. It`s on newsstands Friday.
BRYANT: Well, it`s not a wedding, but the guests at tonight`s premiere of "Wedding Crashers" are hoping to toast the stars of the film. Two of Hollywood`s favorite heartthrobs Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn star in the new comedy.
And right now, we are live at the premiere here in New York City. Joining us again is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s David Haffenreffer.
David, now, we hear they tweaked the red carpet a little bit?
DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN HEADLINE NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, Karyn, I think this is becoming a theme at these red carpet events. They`re now using a white carpet for this particular event. This in an effort to better portray what a runner might look like at wedding if you go to attend one.
Of course, just two days ago, we were at "The Island" premiere, and they had a black carpet. So maybe red carpets are on their way out.
This particular film is about a couple of friends, Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, who to meet ladies, we`ll say, go to -- they crash weddings, and they go and try to pick up women, not to date necessarily, but just for the night, for lack of a better thing.
What happens -- what goes wrong in this particular film is that one of them -- and I won`t give it away -- actually begins to fall in love with a woman that he meets at a wedding. We caught up with a couple of stars earlier this evening on the white carpet, and we talked to Owen Wilson about one of more memorable scenes that he shot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OWEN WILSON, ACTOR: Yes. I was a little nervous that day to -- you know, because I have to put my hands on Jane in a slightly inappropriate way, but that is what the script called for. And, damn, if I didn`t want to get it right. So I stayed late that day and Jane thought we had gotten it, but I insisted, no, we needed enough takes.
VINCE VAUGHN, ACTOR: Not really. I mean, the one thing they have in common is they love chasing girls. So, yes, that part`s true. But (INAUDIBLE) more of an innocent kid in some ways. He kind of loves to dance, and loves to eat, (INAUDIBLE) obviously.
He has a different energy than someone like Trent (ph), who`s much more of a laid-back, cooler character. Or even the guy from "Old School" who`s married. You know, but the similarity is that they`re all kind of older guys who are, you know, interested in chasing women.
HAFFENREFFER: Thank you very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAFFENREFFER: This was Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson`s first film. Vince Vaughn will be a guest on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT tomorrow night. The film itself opens up this Friday.
Back to you in the studio.
BRYANT: Thank you very much, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s David Haffenreffer.
So "Wedding Crashers" is just one of many high-profile moves out now. That leads to our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day." Midsummer movie choices: Are you happy so far? You can keep voting at CNN.com/showbiztonight. You can also write to us to at showbiztonight@CNN.com. Your e-mails are coming our way at 54 past the hour.
HAMMER: Well, her very first hit single was called "Falling." And since then, the world has fallen in love with Alicia Keys. The Grammy Award-winner recently hit New York City, her hometown, to give a benefit concert for Wall Street Rising, which is helping to rebuild lower Manhattan after 9/11.
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT got the one-on-one with Alicia right before she performed for the sold-out crowd.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER (voice-over): Alicia Keys, she`s 24 years old, has five Grammys, countless other awards, and two multi-platinum records. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT was right there with Alicia minutes before she performed for a sold-out crowd at Cipriani`s Restaurant in New York City.
The Keys concert was part of a summer-long series to benefit the redevelopment of downtown Manhattan after 9/11. She had flown in that day...
ALICIA KEYS, SINGER: Gosh, I honestly have to reintroduce myself to the city.
HAMMER: ... just in time to get hair and makeup and hit the stage.
KEYS: You know, I was born and raises in New York. It`s really nice to come back. It feels good to come home after my tour and be able to come to the Wall Street concert series at Cipriani and just really have fun and evoke a sense of music, and passion, and feeling.
You know, I think that the beautiful thing about music is the way that it does help express different emotions that we have, you know, be it excitement, feeling good, feeling a little bit saddened by whatever`s going on in our lives.
And so because the downtown area was definitely affected by what happened on September 11th, I think that it`s good to sing about it, talk about it, feel it, and also have a good time and move on from it.
HAMMER: Keys tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT New York holds a special place in her heart. It`s where she graduated from a performing arts high school as the valedictorian.
KEYS: New York is a one-of-a-kind place. It always has been. It always will be.
HAMMER: Shortly after graduating high school, Keys was signed by industry bigwig Clive Davis. She didn`t waste much time releasing her new debut disc, "Songs in A-Minor." It immediately shot to number one on the Billboard album chart, and the hits have kept coming ever since.
KEYS: I definitely love to be able to express myself, have a connection with people. It`s a good feeling to be able to sing the songs that I`ve written and produced, and do them in different arrangements, and see people just -- they feel the same way I do about that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: What a voice, and an amazing live performer. So far, the concert series has raised more than $100,000.
BRYANT: R. Kelly`s soap opera cleaned up on this week`s Billboard 200 album chart just out today. "TP3 Reloaded" debuted in the number- one slot. It features a five-part soap opera series called "Trapped in the Closet," which was released one at a time over the past four months.
Rap veteran Missy Elliott stirred her way into the number-two slot with "The Cookbook." Coldplay`s "X&Y" holds on to the number-three position for the second straight week. Mariah Carey`s "The Emancipation of Mimi" is at number four, and the Ying Yang Twins` "USA (United States of Atlanta)" featuring the "Whisper Song" rounds out the top five.
HAMMER: Conan O`Brien pokes fun at some of your favorite celebrities. That`s coming just ahead in "Laughter Dark." And we`re going to read some of your e-mails on our "Question of the Day." That`s coming up after the break on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
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BRYANT: It is time to get your laugh on in "Laughter Dark." As we do every night, we bring you the late-night laughs you may have missed. On "Late Night with Conan O`Brien," Conan got some of the biggest names in Hollywood to fill out a survey asking just about anything. As you`re about to see, the stars delivered some very honest answers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CONAN O`BRIEN, HOST, "LATE NIGHT": "I don`t know how I lived before I got my..." Diane Sawyer wrote "TiVo." John Stamos wrote "iPod." Kevin Federline wrote, "Wife`s income."
(LAUGHTER)
O`BRIEN: "If I`m having dinner at a restaurant, and someone asks me for an autograph, I..." Tom Selleck said "politely decline." Alan Alda wrote "politely explain that now isn`t a good time." Kirstie Alley wrote "politely warn them they`re entering my eat zone."
"My most embarrassing moment was..." Gwyneth Paltrow wrote "when I tripped onstage at the Oscars." Anthony Hopkins wrote "when I gave a speech with my fly down." Tom Cruise wrote, "Do the last three months count as a moment?"
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRYANT: Well, tonight on Conan, "The Comeback" star, Lisa Kudrow.
HAMMER: Well, tonight, throughout the show, we`ve been asking you to vote online on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day," which is: Midsummer movie choices: Are you happy so far?
Here`s how the vote`s been going so far: 68 percent of you are not happy; 32 percent of you say you are happy.
Word from Giselle (ph) in Dallas -- she took the time out to write us -- saying, "I think the line-up of midsummer movies seems to be more of what we`ve seen all year long, remakes of old movies or adaptations of TV shows."
You can continue to vote by going to CNN.com/showbiztonight.
Are you, Karyn, happy with the movie choices this summer?
BRYANT: I`ve seen some terrific moves. I thought "Fantastic Four" was a lot of fun. "Star Wars," of course, was terrific. So...
HAMMER: It`s going to pick up with "Wedding Crashers," too. Just watch.
BRYANT: Yes, that`s going to be a good one.
Well, it is time to see what is playing on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT tomorrow.
HAMMER: And for that, we turn things over to our Marquee Guy. Take it away, Marquee Guy.
MARQUEE GUY: Tomorrow, rise and shine, because it`s Emmy time. The nominees are announced very early tomorrow, and we`re all over it. Will it be the boys of "Entourage," the women of Wisteria Lane, or the land lovers of "Lost"? Find out tomorrow on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
Also tomorrow, our "Showbiz Flashback" series takes off with Jefferson Airplane`s Grace Slick. She`s a hall-of-famer who helped build psychedelic sounds of the `60s and `70s. Yes, baby, oh, behave. And she also built cities in the `80s with Starship. Grace Slick, tomorrow on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
This is the Marquee Guy, always handling pressure with grace, but not as well as my dear friend, Nancy Grace.
HAMMER: Always happy to talk about Nancy Grace here on the program.
BRYANT: Good plug on that one.
So are you happy with the films so far?
HAMMER: I am generally happy. I thoroughly enjoyed "Batman," if we can log that in...
BRYANT: Very nice. Very good movie.
HAMMER: And the "Sith," which I thought -- anyway, that is it for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m A.J. Hammer.
BRYANT: I`m Karyn Bryant. Stay tuned for the latest from CNN Headline News.
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: Hello, I`m Sophia Choi. Let`s get to your "Headline Prime Newsbreak."
Well, today`s long-awaited launch of Space Shuttle Discovery was called off due to a faulty fuel-tank sensor. NASA says the delay will push back the launch at least until Saturday. The shuttle program has been grounded for more than two years following the Columbia disaster.
Former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for helping to orchestrate the biggest corporate fraud in U.S. history. That`s the stiffest sentence ever for an executive involved in corporate crime. The judge ordered the 63-year-old Ebbers to begin serving his sentence in October.
Tropical Storm Emily is bringing heavy rain to the Windward Islands and the northern coast of Venezuela. The storm`s top sustained winds are 60 miles an hour. Forecasters say Emily could become a major hurricane by the time it clears the island chain. Emily is the fifth named storm of the season.
Well, that`s the news for now. I`m Sophia Choi.
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