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Showbiz Tonight
Thousands of Evacuees Jam Texas Highways; Sky High Drama Unfolds on TV; Media Gears up for Rita Coverage; First Contestant Booted from Martha`s Show Speaks Out
Aired September 22, 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: 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, the remarkable exodus from the Lone Star State as Hurricane Rita gets closer. Incredible scenes on television as Texans look for any way out. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with the scenes you might have missed and how TV is going to get you the story when Rita hits.
AMY REISS, JETBLUE PASSENGER: The scariest, worst, most horrendous minute of my entire life.
BRYANT (voice-over): Also, the dramatic stories behind the heart- stopping Jetblue landing watched by millions on TV. Tonight, the Hollywood star who was on the plane tells her story to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, live.
HAMMER: The secret recordings of Michael Jackson. What did the King of Pop say on his way to surrender? And why did two men just get indicted? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT goes looking for answers.
S. EPATHA MERKERSON, ACTRESS: Hi. I`m S. Epatha Merkerson. And if it did happen today, you bet it`s on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRYANT: Hello, I`m Karyn Bryant.
HAMMER: I`m A.J. Hammer.
In just a moment, the inside story on the fiery emergency landing of a Jetblue plane, as millions watched in disbelief on TV.
BRYANT: It really was incredible. But first, Hurricane Rita, a storm so big, so scary, that tonight millions of people are part of a mass exodus to get to someplace safe. On TV today, a drama unfolded that, at times, seemed surreal.
Our David Haffenreffer is live with the very latest in the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT newsroom -- David.
DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Karyn and A.J., that mass exodus looked, for most of the day today, like a massive parking lot, as people literally sat on the highways trying to get safely inland.
Making matters worse, of course, is that Rita continues to march her hurricane force fury towards the coastline, and it can all be watched on live television.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAFFENREFFER (voice-over): Alarming news on the morning shows.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hurricane Rita gathers the force of a monster.
KATIE COURIC, CO-HOST, NBC`S "THE TODAY SHOW": Sometimes we`re prone to hyperbole when talking about these storms, but this one is really scary.
HAFFENREFFER: Blunt warnings from public officials.
GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO (D), LOUISIANA: I cannot say this strongly enough. Rita will hit Louisiana.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Galveston is going to suffer.
HAFFENREFFER: And an ominous statement from President Bush.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We`ve now got another hurricane coming, Hurricane Rita.
HAFFENREFFER: The airwaves today were filled with nail-biting updates on Hurricane Rita, and the damage it threatens to do to a region already devastated by Katrina.
On Rita`s possible hit-list, the island city of Galveston, Texas. CNN reporter David Mattingly went to that city`s sea wall to dramatically illustrate the danger Galveston may face.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This sea wall is 17 feet high. If we get a full strength hurricane hitting right here, they are believing that they could see waves 15 feet over the top of this wall.
HAFFENREFFER: And that would be a disaster of New Orleans-sized proportions, as CNN meteorologist Chad Myers showed viewers in high-tech, and horrifying, fashion.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Take a look at this. Everywhere it`s blue, with a storm surge of about 18 feet. Galveston itself basically disappears. There`s downtown Galveston. Now the flood surge comes in. You being to see -- is this not too eerily similar to what New Orleans looked like?
That message was not lost on hundreds of thousands of Texas and Louisiana residents. They hit the road in a frantic, but painfully slow, quest to escape north to higher ground.
DARYN KAGAN, HOST, "CNN LIVE TODAY": Thirteen hours and you`ve gone 40 miles?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we`re up to 48 miles now.
KAGAN: Oh, that`s a little bit better.
HAFFENREFFER: CNN`s Daryn Kagan talked to one evacuee whose desperation to leave Houston led him to ask CNN for a personal traffic report.
TOM CONKLIN, HOUSTON RESIDENT: You know when one thing you could find out for me?
KAGAN: I`m sorry. Go ahead.
CONKLIN: The one thing you could find out for me is how is the traffic on I-35 going north?
KAGAN: I-35 going north?
CONKLIN: Yes.
HAFFENREFFER: But while many residents were escaping, local reporters had to stay behind to do their jobs. But their thoughts weren`t always on their work, as one local reporter admitted to CNN`s Wolf Blitzer.
WENDELL EDWARDS, KHOU CORRESPONDENT: I even have a personal experience. I just got off the phone with my wife about 30 minutes ago. She left our house in northwest Houston at 4 a.m. We have a 7-month-old daughter and a 3-year-old daughter. And she`s gone 16 miles in about eight hours. And she`s reached her breaking point. She was -- she was on the phone in tears, and it`s kind of hard to hear. But those stories like that are all over Houston.
HAFFENREFFER: And stories like that led to growing outrage over how long it`s taking for people to make the great escape.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: This is inexcusable, these pictures of these empty lanes headed -- for southbound traffic and all the northbound cars are sitting doing nothing except running out of gas. A lot of them probably have kids in the car, pets in the car. It`s not cold in Houston this time of the year. I mean, that`s inexcusable. Isn`t it?
HAFFENREFFER: The exodus will continue throughout the night as Hurricane Rita creeps dangerously closer, hour by frightening hour.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAFFENREFFER: And if there are any music fans still left in Houston, they have to make new weekend plans, as well. We hope they get out of town anyway. Coldplay and Oasis have rightfully cancelled their scheduled concerts there.
Karyn, back to you.
BRYANT: What a mess. Thanks for that report. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s David Haffenreffer.
Well, tonight, the extraordinary story of Jetblue Flight 292. It was a flight and a landing that millions of us watched play out on live television last night as the crippled plane headed for an uncertain landing.
Today came the emotional stories of what really happened on board. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Sibila Vargas is live with the latest in Hollywood.
Hi, Sibila.
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Karyn.
Jetblue has had TV`s on their planes since the company launched in 1999. I think that`s why so many people like it. But that thrill made for some tense moments last night as passengers watched news reports detailing their own fate as they prepared for their emergency landing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Was that a fire we just saw, or is that just what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that fire...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s the tires being burned up.
VARGAS (voice-over): Unbelievable TV. A landing with the potential for utter disaster. Millions of people around the country glued to their television sets, watching Jetblue Flight 292 touch ground safely at Los Angeles` LAX.
REISS: The scariest, worst, most horrendous minutes of my entire life.
VARGAS: One hundred forty passengers and six crew members all safe and sound after a terrifying three-hour ordeal.
The plane departed from Burbank, bound for New York`s JFK Airport. Shortly after takeoff, though, the pilot realizes there`s a problem with his landing gear. The front wheels are turned sideways, twisted as a 90- degree angle.
KING: Remember, that front wheel is bent.
VARGAS: For the next three hours, the plane burned off fuel, circling LAX as TV stations around the country carried the drama live. This morning, "The Today Show" showed video of one man on the plane who taped an emotional message to his girlfriend, not knowing if he`d ever see her again.
DAVE REINITZ, JETBLUE PASSENGER: I love you. And thanks for everything. And I`m sure I`ll be seeing you right on schedule on Monday.
VARGAS: Incredibly, that man and other passengers were also watching their own life or death drama from satellite TV`s at their seats, something CNN`s Larry King realized during his breaking news coverage.
KING: Jetblue is an airliner that has live satellite channels, CNN being one of them. Would you imagine they have those channels on now in the plane?
VARGAS: Alexandra Jacobs, six months pregnant, was on the plane and had one of those channels on.
ALEXANDRA JACOBS, JETBLUE PASSENGER: It was insane. If it had only been local news covering us, I would have been less frightened. But I -- I think the sight of the plane from the outside, it just aroused this feeling of possibly watching our demise on television, and that you know, that was very scary.
REINITZ: About 10 minutes before we landed, they cut it all off. That was the scariest part, is when they cut it off. It went off. Is there something going on they`re not telling us?
VARGAS: So here is what played out. After three hours, the pilot makes his final approach.
KING: Now, does it look to you like he`s landing?
VARGAS: Easing the plane down, keeping its nose gear in the air as long as possible. Finally, the broken landing gear hits the runway.
KING: He hasn`t touched yet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has just touched down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, he has.
VARGAS: The tires burst into flames.
KELLY RIPA, CO-HOST, "LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY": Part of me was saying, "Look away. Something bad might happen." And then the other part was saying, "I have got to see how this plays out. I have to see what happens."
REGIS PHILBIN, CO-HOST, "LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY": How would you like to be on Jetblue? One of the nice things about flying on Jetblue is the fact that you can watch live television. And so there`s your plane on the air on CNN and Larry King is saying, "What`s going on?"
RIPA: I would have had to be sedated.
VARGAS: The whole thing may have looked ominous from the outside, but inside the cabin, there was calm.
JACOBS: People cheered, applauded, there were tears, euphoria. It was wonderful.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VARGAS: Wonderful, indeed. Jetblue said today that it has no plans to get rid of in flight television, even in times of emergency. The airline is investigating what happened last night with the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.
A.J., back to you.
HAMMER: All right, Sibila. What a story. Sibila Vargas, live in Hollywood.
Well, one of those onboard the Jetblue flight, actress Taryn Manning, who most recently appeared in the movie, "Hustle and Flow." Taryn Manning joins us now live from Hollywood.
Obviously, you`re in Hollywood, Taryn. You decided not to be one of those who did hop another flight to New York City.
TARYN MANNING, ACTRESS/JETBLUE PASSENGER: Yes. I was pretty much done with flying for the night.
HAMMER: I can understand that. Well, we`ve learned by now that the televisions on the board plane were on all over the plane. Were you watching intensely the coverage as it unfolded?
MANNING: I was watching, but I couldn`t listen. My best friend and publicist was listening, and she would relay to me the positive stuff, and not relay some of the worst outcome news. So -- but yes, it was interesting to be able to kind of watch ourselves. It was a surreal kind of out of body experience.
HAMMER: How long after you guys knew on board that there was some kind of a problem did you see people beginning to watch it unfold on TV?
MANNING: It actually happened after we did our -- we did this low fly by in Long Beach where they looked at our wheels through binoculars from the tower. And we realized right after that when the pilot didn`t come back on with good news that something was terribly wrong.
And then we looked around the plane and we saw on the monitor, an airplane, and it was our airplane, and it was breaking news and it was on, like, four different channels. And it was -- it was unbelievable. I have never -- you never think it`s going to -- you`re going to be a part of something so terrifying.
HAMMER: Just wild.
MANNING: Yes.
HAMMER: So what actually was going through your mind while all of this was happening? What did you actually think was going to happen?
MANNING: I really -- I had no idea. You sort of, I don`t know, I felt a way I`ve never felt and I hope to never feel again. I mean, it`s just kind of the ultimate fear.
And also, your life sort of, you sort of start thinking about everyone you love. And I actually wrote a note to my mom and my brother, and my boyfriend, just in case, and I don`t know. I was thinking about my dog. And, I don`t know, it was just -- it was hard. And I feel so lucky to be here today.
HAMMER: Well, obviously, everybody is happy for the same reason, Taryn. And we really appreciate you joining us on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Taryn Manning, joining us live from Hollywood.
And as you just heard, as the plane was circling in the sky, the passengers were watching their life and death drama unfold right there on the live television. Surreal indeed.
Now, we`d like to hear from you. It`s our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Airplane TVs: should they be shut off during in-flight emergencies? You can vote at CNN.com/ShowbizTonight or send us your e-mail on it, ShowbizTonight@CNN.com. We`re going to read some of your thoughts later on in the show.
BRYANT: Getting ready for Rita. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT hits the front lines where reporters are poised to tell Rita`s story.
HAMMER: Plus, better days for the Goo Goo Dolls. The band is teaming up with CNN, and it`s all for a good cause. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has your first look.
BRYANT: And controversy swirls around Michael Jackson once again. His conversation, recorded on a flight to Santa Barbara, now has two men in trouble with the law. That`s in tonight`s "Legal Lowdown."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRYANT: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Karyn Bryant. Our coverage of Hurricane Rita continues now.
Hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing the Gulf Coast area, doing everything they can to get out of Rita`s path. But staying behind are the reporters ready to cover this monstrous storm. But how are they preparing?
Well, let`s go to CNN correspondent Chris Wolfe, who is live tonight in Houston.
Chris, we have to ask, first and foremost, because of what happened after Hurricane Katrina, are you stockpiling food and water? What are you doing to make sure that you`ve got enough supplies?
CHRIS WOLFE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are stockpiling plenty of food and water, Karyn. Absolutely. I have a crew of five, and everyone has been bringing supplies with them from whichever city they came from down here to Houston.
And when we got here earlier this afternoon, we stopped at the first convenience store we found. A lot of people actually had gotten out of town already, so the supplies there are pretty much up for grabs. We stopped at a convenience store, grabbed what we could. A lot of water, a lot of canned tuna fish, peanuts, peanut butter and jelly, all those great high protein essentials. And we feel pretty confident that we`re stocked.
But water is essential, especially here in Houston. At mid-day, it was 100 degrees out here today, and that was really tough to deal with but you do it. And you`re out here covering this major story. And water -- see, we have our two jugs right down here, that is very, very important.
BRYANT: So you said there`s a team of five with you? Who all makes up the Chris Wolfe team?
WOLFE: All right. Well, the Chris Wolfe team is Linda Sader (ph) over here. She`s my field producer. She deals with the managers back in Atlanta and helps to coordinate what -- when we`re going to be appearing in my live shots so I can concentrate on what I`m going to be saying and writing my stories.
We also have two photographers: R.J. Fletcher is behind the camera right now. Damian Catanza (ph) is right over here. He`s my second photographer on the scene in Houston.
And we`re going to pan over to our live truck. We have a live truck operator in that truck. You can see that`s our sat truck with the big satellite dish on top. And that pretty much is my crew. The five of us are here together.
BRYANT: Good to see the guys behind the camera getting a little love there.
Now what do you do about powering up? Because obviously, if the electricity goes out, we still need you guys to be able to broadcast. Any special hurricane gear?
WOLFE: Well, why don`t we throw it over to Damian? He can probably answer more on that. We do have generators, of course. And that`s one way.
Damian, how do you deal with protecting your gear and powering up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I mean, you`ve got to have a lot of plastic bags. And also, the camera is the most important thing.
And this here is our cover for the camera. As you can see, it`s pretty heavy duty. But the cool thing about it is this part right here which actually screws on to the camera. And what it does is it makes a water proof seal around the camera. That`s how we do TV during a hurricane.
WOLFE: And you just work on a lot of juice, a lot of battery power, and generators, basically -- Karyn.
BRYANT: OK. So when the storm does hit...
WOLFE: Yes.
BRYANT: ... where are you going to be?
WOLFE: We actually were intending to be on Galveston, Galveston Island. But we could not do that. By the time we got in today, authorities had turned all the southbound lanes headed into Galveston into northbound lanes to ease the evacuation process.
So there`s no getting into Galveston now. All the traffic is coming out of that area.
So we are probably going to be in an area closer to the coast, maybe Baytown, a coastal city, when the winds start to pick up tomorrow, late tomorrow.
We will be out there as long as we can. We`ll be in our rain suits from head to toe, and our galoshes and our boots. And I`ll probably be wrapped around a pole somewhere, trying to -- trying to hold my balance.
But ultimately, Karyn, we are responsible for our own safety out here. And when the wind starts to kick up too much, and we start to see debris flying through the air, that`s when we say, "OK, guys. We need to go in. We need to find shelter."
And we will probably then move inland to either Houston or north of Houston and ride out the storm in a hotel somewhere.
BRYANT: All right. Well, great. Well, thanks for that behind the scenes look, very much for that. Chris Wolfe, CNN correspondent in Crystal (ph).
WOLFE: Thank you.
BRYANT: A.J.
HAMMER: All right, Karyn. The outpouring of generosity for the victims of Hurricane Katrina has come from all over the country and the world, of course.
Many people are still wondering exactly what they can do and where they can go to help out. Well, the CNN.com help center is one such place. And you`ll be seeing a special public service announcement to spread the word about that.
The band the Goo Goo Dolls lent its song, "Better Days," to drive the message home. And SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has your first look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRYANT: Nicely done.
Well, Katrina and Rita are heating up the airwaves on talk radio with listeners on both sides of the political spectrum spouting at the mouth. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT listens in.
HAMMER: Well, all he got from Martha was a good-bye and a hand shake. He just didn`t fit in. The first contestant booted off "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" joins us live for a "SHOWBIZ Sit-down," coming up.
BRYANT: She`s a guy`s girl who`s gone from pinup to pindown. Jenny McCarthy on "Dirty Love." We chat with the actress/writer/producer, live in our studio.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRYANT: The first ratings are in tonight for Martha Stewart`s debut reality show, "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart." She came in at No. 2, with eight million viewers tuning in to see if Martha has what it takes. And of course, they also tuned in to see the one contestant that Martha was getting rid of.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTHA STEWART, FOUNDER, MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMEDIA: Jeff, you didn`t hear me when I said the main business task was to connect. This story had to connect with parents, had to connect with kids. And the message was really off, and it was your message. And I don`t think you even connected with your own coworkers. So Jeffrey, you just don`t fit in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRYANT: Well, joining us in the studio for a "SHOWBIZ Sit-down" is Jeff Rudell, the first candidate not to fit in on "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart."
So thanks for joining us. Tell us what it`s like with Martha. Her daughter is on the show. What is the interaction like? How is the feeling in the room?
JEFF RUDELL, CONTESTANT, "THE APPRENTICE: MARTHA STEWART": It`s very good. It`s actually very nice and warm and hospitable. Alexis is wonderful. Charles is wonderful, very funny. I don`t know if that came out on last night`s episode, but he`s very charming, actually.
And Martha is a commanding presence. She walks into the room, and everybody sits up a little straighter and leans forward a little. And it was good. I mean, demanding, but it was wonderful.
BRYANT: And we`ve watched "The Apprentice," the Donald Trump version. Is there a sense that you`re on sort of the J.V. team? Tell us what it`s like. Do you know what I`m saying? I don`t mean any disrespect. But you know what I`m saying. You`ve seen the show and now you`re in it, so what is like from the inside looking out?
RUDELL: I actually would say the opposite. I love Donald`s show. That`s why I went down and applied for Martha`s. But it`s usually sales or it`s real estate. That`s mostly what he does. And I have very little interest in either of those.
Martha, I thought, would be a lot more sort of things that I like, publishing, media, radio. So I thought it would be more of my interests, and boy, is she tough.
BRYANT: Is she?
RUDELL: She`s tough. I think she`s going to give Donald a run for his money.
BRYANT: Really? Well, we`ll see. Well, this -- your task on last night`s show was to re-create a children`s book, a fairy tale, an update on it. This is the one that won, "Jack and the Beanstalk." You chose to do "Hansel and Gretel," a dicey story, kind of tough.
RUDELL: Yes.
BRYANT: Speaking of reinvention, do you believe that people can reinvent themselves? Are you buying into the new Martha?
RUDELL: I think the new Martha is the old Martha. But I don`t think anybody was interested in learning about her then. Now they`re very interested. And so I think who she always was is coming to light.
I don`t think people change, but clearly, there`s an interest in knowing more about her. And she`s letting people in. So they`re getting a glimpse.
BRYANT: Is there any nugget that you picked up from her that we have never seen but now that you were face-to-face?
RUDELL: Nugget. I actually have to say I think I wasn`t very generous, because I went in thinking, "Oh, Martha is probably really good in front of the camera and has a great staff." But what turned out to be the fact is that Martha is really good, period. She knows everything, front to back.
BRYANT: Really?
RUDELL: And that was amazing.
BRYANT: All right. Well, thanks for joining us.
RUDELL: Thanks for having me.
BRYANT: Sorry you had to go. Jeff Rudell. Thanks for being here.
HAMMER: So, did Russell Crowe crush his one chance at a plea deal in that telephone throwing incident? And what would it do to his career here in the U.S.? That`s coming up in tonight`s "Legal Lowdown."
BRYANT: Plus, in-flight TV, a blessing or a curse? Jetblue passengers weigh in on watching their fate unfold on national television and what happened when the TVs were turned off.
HAMMER: Radio talk shows are buzzing about Katrina and Rita. How the hurricanes set off a flurry of fury over the government`s response. The airwave angst, coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. It`s 31 minutes past the hour. I`m A.J. Hammer.
BRYANT: I`m Karyn Bryant. You`re watching TV`s only live entertainment news show.
HAMMER: Still to come the next half hour, of course, Hurricanes Katrina and now Rita have really set off a fury on talk radio, almost reinvigorating talk radio, with a lot to talk about from the race and class issues to issues of government response, and both sides have a lot to say. We`re going to talk to a couple of talk radio show hosts to find out what`s going on with the pulse of America right now.
BRYANT: Also, A.J., I didn`t go to law school -- I was going to, but I didn`t. But tonight in the legal lowdown, we get to get our hands in some good stories. It turns out that Russell Crowe has reportedly declined a plea deal in the incident in which he threw a phone at a hotel worker.
And also, two men were indicted for secretly recording Michael Jackson on an airplane.
Those stories are coming up in the legal lowdown, but first, let`s get to tonight`s hot headlines. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Sibila Vargas joins us live once again in Hollywood. Hi -- Sibila.
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Karyn.
Well, tonight Kate Moss says, "I`m sorry," speaking up for the first time since the "Daily Mirror," a British tabloid, showed pictures of the British supermodel apparently snorting cocaine.
Moss says, "I take full responsibility for my actions. I also accept that there are various personal issues that I need to address and have started taking the difficult yet necessary steps to resolve them."
Also today, Ramel (ph) of London, a cosmetics company that had an endorsement deal with Kate Moss, says it is reviewing its relationship with her. Burberry, Chanel and the H&M Clothing Store chain have already dropped the supermodel.
And tonight the threat from Hurricane Rita has forced the cancellation of some big name concerts. Cold Play, Oasis and Journey have all cancelled their shows in Houston. The Journey show has been rescheduled for November. Cold Play and Oasis tickets can be refunded at the point of purchase.
And those are the hot headlines. A.J., back to you in New York.
HAMMER: All right, SHOWBIZ TONIGHTS`s Sibila Vargas, live in Hollywood.
Well, tonight, Hurricanes are the talk of talk radio. As Hurricane Rita heads for the Gulf Coast, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is still creating a storm of controversy on the airwaves. Listeners are all fired up about it. Are we better prepared this time? Will issues of class and race come into play once again?
Well, joining us with the hot topics that their listeners are lashing out about, live from Philadelphia, Ed Schultz. He is host of the nationally syndicated radio show "The Ed Schultz Show." And live from San Francisco, Jeff Katz, radio host on Talk 910 KNEW.
Big Eddie, I`m going to start with you. Thanks for being with us -- both of you guys -- tonight. I know a lot of people since the day this happened with Katrina have been talking in great detail and with great passion about the government`s response immediately after Katrina.
Ed, what are people saying about the government response then and what are they saying about how it`s going now?
ED SCHULTZ, TALK RADIO HOST: Well, I think the listeners of talk radio in America, especially to my show, they are emotional and they are divided on the issue.
What`s done is done. They`re upset with the government. They`re upset with the poor response of this administration. I think the conservatives are going to take a political fallout here, because they`ve got the White House, the Senate and the House and they`ve got everything they wanted as far as Homeland Security is concerned. I think there is blame at all levels of government, from local all the way up to the federal, and I think a lot of our listeners are saying that.
But the number one concern at this point, can we get this thing right the second time. This administration and the country is getting a do-over. Here comes another one, and looking forward, they`re very concerned about how we`re going to pay for this. There is no plan in place to pay for it. There is going to be a big battle across the country and on talk radio that is unfolding right now, about possibly raising taxes, possibly rolling back the tax cuts instead of just funding it onto the next generation.
So that`s what they`re really emotional about right now.
HAMMER: Jeff, let me get to you on the same topic. In terms of the government preparedness, you were on the air today as Rita was unfolding. We were watching it before our very eyes on television. Are you hearing similar things from your listeners?
JEFF KATZ, TALK RADIO HOST: Well, my listeners I think understand the difference between what`s going on in Texas and what went on in Louisiana. They understand that the folks in Texas are obviously a lot more competent, a lot more intelligent, than the administration in Louisiana. They`re not burdened with all of the corruption and the politicking that went on there.
I think that there is still a lot of passion. Ed is absolutely correct. There is still a lot of passion on the part of my listeners, talking about the snafus in Louisiana and who ultimately is going to get the bill for all the screw ups from Ray Nagin, Kathleen Blanco, stuff like that.
HAMMER: And let`s talk about that bill issue for just a moment. Eddie, I`m going to throw this over to you. You mentioned it a moment ago. You know, people are really wondering where is all of this money going to come from. The president was on television last week talking about, you know, obviously, spending all of the money we need to to make this thing right, but are your listeners talking about and wondering about how we`re going to pay for all of it?
SCHULTZ: I think it`s all well-intended. I think Americans want to give New Orleans a chance to put their city back together and I think we are a compassionate country. But we`re also facing the stark reality, there are a lot of other strains on the budget right now. People are concerned about how long this is going to go on in Iraq. They`re concerned about health care. They`re concerned about education. All the infrastructural things that this country has enjoyed, we may have to sacrifice a little bit, and the president is not talking about it.
The buck does stop on his desk, and that`s where people are getting pretty emotional, because right now nobody is coming forward with any kind of plan on what we`re going to do to pay for it other than to hand the credit card to the next generation.
HAMMER: Jeff, are your listeners chiming in at all about what the president is not talking about?
KATZ: Well, you know, it`s sort of funny, because here in San Francisco we`ve got a very active talk radio audience. I`m on at the same time on Talk 910 KNEW that Ed is on on 960 The Quake, here in San Francisco, and we share listeners, believe it or not. We do trade some of them back and forth. And everybody gets the fact that this is going to be an awfully expensive project.
A lot of my listeners, conservative listeners, quite frankly, don`t want to be on the hook for $200, $300, $400 billion to rebuild New Orleans when so much of it is this boondoggle from the administration in Louisiana.
So, yeah, there is a lot of passion and a lot of concern with how the bills are going to get paid, and I`m hearing that an awful lot from my listeners.
HAMMER: Big Ed, I have less than 30 seconds here and I want to get into one big hot button issue since this all started, the race and class issue. Where do your listeners lie on that? What are they saying?
SCHULTZ: Well, I think all Americans have got to realize that that argument or that issue doesn`t take America forward at all. We`ve got to rebuild and we`ve got to move forward.
There were sins committed against black folks in this country, there is no question about it. There were sins committed against low-income people. I think we`re at a crossroads right now in this country as to what our priorities are, and we better examine this very, very closely and do it right the next time.
HAMMER: Big Eddie Schultz, I want to thank you for joining us, and I would also like to offer you kudos on your Adopt-A-Family-Of-Hurricane- Katrina program that you`ve got going on. Jeff Katz, thanks for joining us, live from San Francisco, and for all of the support you`re giving to the victims of Hurricane Katrina as well.
BRYANT: Just as people have been glued to coverage of Hurricane Katrina and now Hurricane Rita, another terrifying drama played out in front of millions last night. As we watched live on TV, a JetBlue Airways flight from California to New York got set to make a dramatic emergency landing, and the passengers onboard were also watching the same thing on TV, even as they lived through the horror.
Here is CNN`s Jeannie Moos for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNIE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It`s one thing to see your close call after the fact. JetBlue passengers were able to watch events unfold live, to see the outside of the plane they were in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of the sudden, we`re on the news.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all started tuning in. Or those of us who could stomach it.
MOOS: Tuning in to what JetBlue so proudly advertises.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My plane has DirecTV at every seat.
MOOS: That`s right, so you can watch all of that late breaking news. Only the breaking news was that the landing gear was broken, and experts were analyzing their chances of a safe landing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a specialist on, explaining everything, and I`m like uh-oh. Watching that, I would kind of flip back and forth to Comedy Central.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People realized it was a national event, or it was being treated as a national event, you know, the same as the Rita storm, which I think made us scared.
MOOS: And speaking of storms, the line between real life and TV was blurred on ABC as well when an ABC series called "Invasion" debuted with a fictional hurricane that spawned aliens and required a disclaimer.
ANNOUNCER: Due to recent events, viewers may be sensitive to some of the following images.
MOOS: Still, images of your own in-flight emergency trumped any made- for-TV hurricane. Normally airlines edit out movie scenes like this --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brace for impact!
MOOS: -- but the live coverage continued. This woman cried for three hours as the plane circled.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was emoting loudly. I was the loudest one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We couldn`t believe the irony that we might be watching our own demise on television. That seemed a little bit, you know, post-post-modern, if you will.
MOOS: And if you think watching the coverage was scary --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About 10 minutes before we landed, they cut it all off. That was the scariest part, was when they cut it off, because I thought there is something going on they`re not telling us.
MOOS (on camera): You could conceivably be a passenger on a JetBlue plane, watching me doing this right now on CNN HEADLINE NEWS, but don`t worry. Your landing gear is OK, you hope.
(voice-over): Forget must see TV. This was must we see.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The flight attendants were chanting "Brace, brace, brace."
MOOS: The passengers missed the happy ending.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRYANT: Jeannie was getting a little sassy there. That was CNN`s Jeannie Moos, reporting for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. A little bit nutty.
So what do you think? We have been asking you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Airplane TVs: should they be shut off during in-flight emergencies? Keep voting at cnn.com/showbiztonight. You can write us at showbiztonight@cnn.com. Your emails on the way at 55 past the hour.
HAMMER: Anybody who was on the flight is voting no right now.
The shocking story of what happened aboard a plane Michael Jackson was flying in and Russell Crowe says no thanks, but it could mean he won`t be back in the United States anytime soon. That`s next in the legal lowdown.
BRYANT: Plus a woman looking for love in all the dirty places. Former "Playboy" model Jenny McCarthy juggles books, babies and now the box office. She`s live on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRYANT: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Karyn Bryant.
Tonight in a showbiz sit down, Jenny McCarthy. She got her start posing in "Playboy" and co-hosting MTV`s dating show "Singled Out." Since then, she`s been in a number of films and the Chicago-born actress also has written two best selling books about pregnancy and being a mother. Somehow, she has also found the time to write, produce and star in a brand new movie called "Dirty Love."
Jenny McCarthy joins me now live here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
First and foremost, what are you thinking about the Rita coverage? I mean, it`s everywhere now. How are you feeling, because it`s just incredible.
JENNY MCCARTHY, ACTRESS: It`s actually terrifying. With Katrina, now that I am a mom, I had a really hard time watching it. I kind of had to change the channel a lot, send out a lot of prayers, do what I can. I saw celebrities pitching in, which I think is great, but I also think they don`t need a press photographer with them when they`re helping people out. But, you know, right now, my prayers are again with the people in Houston.
BRYANT: Because there certainly has been, as you mentioned here, the Hollywood outpouring of support. You seem to be a little cynical though.
MCCARTHY: No, I think it is great. I think anybody that can support people in need is wonderful. I just feel like, you know, don`t try to showboat about, you know, hard times. People are in need.
BRYANT: Let`s talk about the books that you`ve written, "Belly Laughs," "Baby Laughs," these are stories and sort of first-person accounts of what it`s like to go through pregnancy and having a baby. Are you planning a third one at all in the series?
MCCARTHY: Believe it or not, yes. I was in the middle of writing "Marriage Laughs" and got about 30 chapters done and then filed for a divorce. But, you know what, it`s perfect for me because how ironic is that. But, I`ve got to tell you, the best book yet, out of the three of them. I changed the title to "Life Laughs" and incorporated a lot of things that happen to women in their life, like vanity and hygiene. But the chapters on sex and marriage are pretty amazing. So that will be out next May.
BRYANT: So here`s the thing. With your movie, "Dirty Love," it`s this account of one woman`s down and dirty search for love. Now is this going to be a case of life imitating art? Because we should say who the director of the movie is --
MCCARTHY: My ex-husband.
BRYANT: Right. A little awkward.
MCCARTHY: And, you know, I really hope my life does not turn out like this girls or have the dating experiences. I really went above and beyond what anybody has ever done on screen, which is why I had to make it an independent film at first, because no studio would dare to touch it. Sundance found something great in it, and had us there, and we sold it, one of three movies at Sundance, so there is something. But I -- you know, there is a big warning. Be prepared.
BRYANT: Well, because it`s a little raw. You`ve been known for sort of pushing that envelope to where people are like, you know, that`s just disgusting, Jenny, thanks for -- but you really just love doing that, obviously.
MCCARTHY: Well, you know why? It`s because in Hollywood, I`ve noticed in the 12 years I`ve been there, if you can believe it, the scripts that come my way are always the funny guy with the straight girl, or the trophy girl. So I have always considered myself to, you know, be as good as them. Why not give me the gross out comedy that they`re doing? But there isn`t any. So I knew I had to write it myself in order to get the message across.
BRYANT: So when you`re writing this, because everybody in Hollywood pretty much -- you can meet a brain surgeon who says, but I`ve got this great script -- you know what I`m saying --
MCCARTHY: I`ve met him.
BRYANT: So have I. It`s a little disturbing. What do you think is the hardest, though, because you wrote it, you produced it, you`re acting in it. Which of those elements was the most difficult?
MCCARTHY: You know, writing was pretty easy. I seem to have found my own niche in writing. Acting in it, piece of cake. Producing it was really hard because I ran out of financing half-way through the movie and had to find a lot of money in four hours. I never want to wear that hat again.
And then also, you know, selling it. It`s scary when you put your heart and your paycheck and all of your retirement account into a film. You`re hoping that somebody sees something in it, and I`m so grateful, because, like you said, there are so many scripts, so many screenwriters that never get the opportunity, and I fortunately at least get a break.
BRYANT: Cool. All right. Well, good luck with it. It`s called "Dirty Love." It heads into theatre tomorrow in limited release. Jenny McCarthy, thanks for joining us.
MCCARTHY: Thank you so much.
HAMMER: It is time now for the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT legal lowdown. On the docket tonight, new developments in the Russell Crowe phone-throwing case as he reportedly turns down a plea bargain. And two men have been indicted for allegedly videotaping Michael Jackson while he flew on a private jet to turn himself in on child molestation charges.
Joining us live from Hollywood, the managing editor for the soon-to- be-launched entertainment news site TMZ.com, Harvey Levin.
All right, Harvey, let`s get to it. With Russell Crowe, the "New York Post" reports today that Russell was offered a plea bargain where he could plead guilty to just a single misdemeanor count of reckless assault, therefore no jail time would be involved, but he would have to report his crime every time he applies for a visa, so every time he would come to the United States he would have to tell somebody and write it down.
Seems like a pretty good deal to me. Was this a dumb move? Is Russell Crowe, as you would put it, a wacka-doo?
HARVEY LEVIN, TMZ.COM: Well, it really kind of shocked me when I read it, and we ended up calling the DA, and you would have thought the DA would have said, look, it`s not true, if it wasn`t true. But the DA was really clear on this one. They told us absolutely no comment. And the information I`m getting is they are really, really unhappy with Russell Crowe. There is something he did.
So it`s making me feel like this story is true, and I cannot imagine why he would not cop to a misdemeanor. He will not be out of the country with a misdemeanor. He may have to write it down, but it`s not going to keep him out, and he`s rolling the dice big time by not taking that plea.
HAMMER: Because that`s basically the deal. He still could wind up not being able to return to the United States, therefore not being able to work in the United States now that he has potentially refused this deal.
LEVIN: Hey, A.J., he could go to jail. I mean this guy could be locked up if he is convicted. So there are huge stakes in this if he doesn`t cop a plea. Now, it may be that he is trying to get even a lesser charge, an infraction, which he wouldn`t have to report, but the DA may say, hey, buddy, we`re not dealing with you anymore. And I`m telling you, they are not happy with this guy. He did something after the incident that really ticked the DA off, and I`m guessing this could be their final offer.
HAMMER: Well, let`s shift gears then to the Michael Jackson situation. Of course, before the whole trial began, Jackson and his attorney, Mark Geragos, were flying on a private jet as Jackson went to surrender in Santa Barbara, back in 2003. This was a story we were hearing about back then.
Two men were indicted for videotaping Jackson`s conversations. The question is, what laws did these guys actually break to get the indictment? It was their jet, right?
LEVIN: Well, the problem is, it was their jet, but it was leased by Michael Jackson, and what they were doing is they were trying to intrude on an attorney-client conversation. So they were illegally wire-tapping the space -- if it`s true -- that Michael Jackson had basically leased, and they also allegedly went to a witness in this case and basically said, hey, if the FBI comes to you we want you to lie and say that the videotaped equipment was put in because there was theft on the airplane and we wanted to catch the thief.
Let me tell you what dufuses they may have been. They actually recorded themselves installing the equipment on the airplane. This is something that we found out about a while ago. So they are just caught dead to rights doing this on the plane, and this may be a real tough one for these two.
HAMMER: You`ll win a Harvey Levin dufus award for that.
Real quickly, I have less than 30 seconds, Harvey, what`s on the tape? Do you know? Are we ever going to find out?
LEVIN: Oh, we`ll never find out. I mean, they`re never going to play this. This is kind of a sacrosanct relationship, attorney and client, and just remember that this is Mark Geragos and Michael Jackson sitting next to each other as he is about to get arrested on child molestation charges. So, I mean, recording this or attempting to record it is really, really shocking. There is no way -- no way -- that those conversations, I think, are ever going to get out.
HAMMER: Thanks, as always, for filling us in, Harvey Levin, managing editor for the soon-to-be-launched entertainment news site TMZ.com.
BRYANT: There is still time for you to sound off in our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Passengers aboard that JetBlue airplane that made an emergency landing watched the scary drama happening around them unfold before their own eyes on the TVs on the airplane. So we asked, airplane TVs: should they be shut off during flight emergencies? You can vote at cnn.com/showbiztonight or write us at showbiztonight@cnn.com. We`ll read some of your emails live, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: We`ve been asking you to vote online on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day, airplane TVs: should they be shut off during in-flight emergencies. The vote so far, 62 percent yes, 38 percent say no.
Some emails on the subject, including one from Dave, in Colorado: "The worst possible thing you can do to a group of frightened people is withhold information."
Also heard from Ms. Bee, who says -- she`s in California -- she says: "I probably would have passed out. Sometimes ignorance is bliss."
BRYANT: That would have been unbelievable.
And that does do it for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Karyn Bryant.
HAMMER: I`m A.J. Hammer. Stay tuned for the latest from CNN HEADLINE NEWS.
END
