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Showbiz Tonight
Is it Too Soon to Joke about Katrina?; New Show Features Female President; Who`s to Blame for Inaccurate Stories in Katrina`a Wake?
Aired September 28, 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: And I`m A.J. Hammer. TV`s only live entertainment news show starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER (voice-over): On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, the storm has passed. Now, here come the jokes.
JON STEWART, HOST, COMEDY CENTRAL`S "THE DAILY SHOW": The whole show, all hurricane.
HAMMER: From Leno to "The Daily Show," is laughter the best medicine?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rescuing people and animals, and things that look like animals.
HAMMER: Tonight, is it too soon to turn Katrina into comedy?
BRYANT (voice-over): The Katrina blame game. Outrageous early news reports about death tolls, rapes, mayhem. Now, some of them turn out to be fiction. Tonight, should the media take the blame?
HAMMER: A shocking new twist in the Scott Peterson case. He was convicted of murdering his wife, Laci. Now he wants to collect her big bucks life insurance policy. Tonight, why Scott Peterson says he should get the money.
ERIC MCCORMACK, ACTOR: I`m Eric McCormack.
DEBRA MESSING, ACTRESS: And I`m Debra Messing.
MCCORMACK: If it happened today...
MESSING: It`s on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRYANT: Hello, I`m Karyn Bryant.
HAMMER: I`m A.J. Hammer.
Tonight, laughing in the face of tragedy. The misery left behind by hurricanes Katrina and Rita is no laughing matter. So why are so many comedians making jokes about the aftermath of the disasters?
BRYANT: Well, tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is asking the question, is it inappropriate to be joking about what happened? Let`s get right to our David Haffenreffer, who is live in the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT newsroom -- David.
DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, there`s a fine line between humor and insensitivity, Karyn and A.J., but that is a line that late night comedians walk and sometimes cross all the time.
But when it comes to this year`s devastating hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico, are comedians going too far?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAFFENREFFER (voice-over): Over the past few hurricane-filled weeks, we`ve seen tears on TV, we`ve seen anger, and now we`re seeing laughs?
STEWART: We begin tonight with hurricane Rita, which proved the old rule, no matter how anticipated, sequels are always less compelling than the originals.
JAY LENO, HOST, NBC`S "THE TONIGHT SHOW": Here is the strangest story to come out of Hurricane Katrina. This is so bizarre. It seems a group of armed dolphins who were trained by the military to shoot terrorists are missing in the Gulf of Mexico. I`m not making this up. They said they got lost during the hurricane, and they`re carrying dart guns, putting divers at risk.
How scary is this for these poor people in New Orleans? You finally get back in your house, look out in your yard, you get shot in the ass by a dolphin.
HAFFENREFFER: Jon Stewart and the other late-night comedians have been having a field day with Katrina. The new wave of hurricane humor begs the question, when is it too soon to joke about a tragedy? It`s a tough line for comedians to walk.
CHRIS KULA, COMEDY WRITER: The worst thing a comedian can hear is just somebody heckling, "not funny." And in this case it would be "too soon" and people aren`t afraid to like let you know that. Like, you went there!
HAFFENREFFER: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT hit the streets to find out what the people are saying about hurricane humor. Is it funny? Or not funny?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it`s great. I think they should do whatever they want to. It`s their rights, freedom of speech.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To be joking about it, I think it`s absolutely disrespectful.
HAFFENREFFER: To keep from looking too disrespectful, comedians are lobbing most of their hurricane humor at what they consider to be safe targets, including the White House.
LENO: The big story continues to be the evacuation from the hurricane, the hiding, the running, but enough about President Bush.
HAFFENREFFER: The former FEMA director.
MICHAEL BROWN, FORMER FEMA DIRECTOR: You see I get it when it comes to incident command systems. I get it when it comes to emergency management. I know what it`s all about.
JIMMY KIMMEL, ABC`s "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": Well, you should find out who the bonehead using your name and face is, because he`s making you look like an idiot.
KULA: Nobody is laughing at the tragedy themselves. The victims aren`t the sources of humor, obviously not, but when you`ve got great, you know, comic figures like a FEMA or a Bush administration or you know, whatever you want to take it out on, that`s what you`re going to zing, you know?
HAFFENREFFER: But when it comes to national tragedies like Katrina or 9/11, comedy writers find themselves walking a fine line. The popular New York-based humor newspaper "The Onion" did a viciously funny September 11 issue just two weeks after the attacks. It was widely praised and was even considered for the Pulitzer Prize. The newspaper has now turned its satirical eye to the hurricane.
TODD HANSON, HEAD WRITER, "THE ONION": In the face of something like 9/11 or something like Katrina, you want to try to go for that second approach and be as intelligent as you can. Your question is not, is this too soon or too tragic to make jokes about? But, Rather, what is an appropriate joke to make?
HAFFENREFFER: But if it`s now OK to laugh after Katrina, there may be something to be concerned about.
DR. ROBERT THOMPSON, POP CULTURE PROFESSOR, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: This is going to be a big story, the reconstruction of these cities and that area, the continued investigation about FEMA and homeland security and all the rest of it. These are important national stories that citizens need to know about.
I think the fact that we`re joking about this demonstrates that it`s on the verge of in fact not being a big story anymore, and that`s potentially something we need to be concerned about, because I think the biggest part of this story is yet to come.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAFFENREFFER: And Professor Thompson told SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that laughing after a tragedy is a natural human response, kind of like the laughter you sometimes hear at a funeral or perhaps a memorial service. Thompson calls humor just another way to process sadness -- A.J.
HAMMER: David Haffenreffer, thanks very much.
A bit later on, on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, we`re going to be joined by three well-known comedians to get their take. And we`ll find out how they deal with this sensitive issue.
BRYANT: And now we want to hear from you. It`s our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Katrina and comedy: is it too soon to be joking about it? You can vote at CNN.com/ShowbizTonight. You can also e-mail us at ShowbizTonight@CNN.com. Later in the show, we`ll read some of your thoughts.
HAMMER: Well, you ready for this? First lady Laura Bush will be making her reality television debut. It`s all in the name of Katrina.
CNN cameras were there when the first lady appeared in a taping of the hit TV show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" in Biloxi, Mississippi. Mrs. Bush was there helping to hand out donated items to hurricane victims. A spokeswoman for the first lady says the episode will probably air in early December.
BRYANT: Tonight, a new TV show about the first woman to become president of the United States is shaping up to be a hit. Nielsen numbers out today show more than 16 million people tuned into last night`s debut of ABC`s "Commander-in-Chief," starring Geena Davis.
So how far-fetched is the idea of a woman president anytime soon? Here`s CNN`s Jeannie Moos for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNIE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Who knew that when Geena Davis drove off that cliff in "Thelma and Louise" she would one day land in a limo as president of the United States?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Madam President?
MOOS: Being madam`d and ma`am`d to death.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma`am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of course, ma`am.
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So you really want to be president?
GEENA DAVIS, ACTRESS: I want to be the pretend president, and I am, as it turns out.
MOOS: Actually, she starts as vice president and takes over after the president has an aneurysm. Though political foes try to persuade her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I really must insist that you strongly...
DAVIS: You`re not in a position to insist how I take my coffee.
MOOS: Think of "Commander-in-Chief" as "The West Wing" meets "Desperate Housewives."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will they put your face on money?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Female president. Can`t you smell the history?
MOOS: Polls show the scent is getting stronger. How long before a woman is elected president? The next 10 years, say 46 percent of Americans polled.
(on camera) Are you ready in reality for a female president?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You bet your life.
MOOS: By the way, six percent of those polled said there would never be a female president.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My daughter thinks women are too sentimental, too emotional to handle, you know...
MOOS: What do you think?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it`s time for a little caring in the White House.
MOOS: But her own sister disagrees.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it needs a little more time.
MOOS: Are you going to slap her around when you get her home?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
MOOS (voice-over): The bad guy in "Commander-in-Chief" is the speaker of the house played by Donald Sutherland. Is he the one who sabotaged the new president`s teleprompter as she addressed Congress?
President Mackenzie Allen barely misses a beat, going on to adlib a heartwarming speech. Something similar happened in real life.
JEANINE PIRRO (R), NEW YORK SENATE CANDIDATE: Hillary Clinton...
MOOS: A woman running for the Senate against Hillary Clinton froze.
PIRRO: Page ten.
MOOS: Fiction meets reality, this first episode in New Hampshire where a group hoping to convince Condoleezza Rice to run for president is running a political ad during the debut of "Commander-in-Chief."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good, she`s going to be our president in a few years.
MOOS: Imagine Hillary versus Condi, or Condi versus Oprah.
(on camera) How about Condi Rice?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not on an empty stomach -- or not on a full stomach.
MOOS (voice-over): As for the president`s husband in "Commander-in- Chief," the first gentleman finds his quarters...
KYLE SECOR, ACTOR: Very pink.
MOOS: This isn`t the first movie featuring a female president and a first hubby. That`s Fred McMurray admiring portraits of previous first ladies. We`ve come a long way. "Commander-in-Chief" even features a menopause joke.
DAVIS: And we have that whole once a month, will she or won`t she press the button thing.
DONALD SUTHERLAND, ACTOR: In a couple years, you`re not going to have to worry about that anymore.
MOOS: Now that`s enough to make a female president go nuclear, unlike a male president. He`d go "nucular."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRYANT: "Nucular." That was CNN`s Jeanne Moos, reporting for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
Well, Angelina Jolie opens up about her newly adopted daughter`s health. It`s an emotional and exclusive interview with CNN, and it`s next on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
HAMMER: Plus, should the media take the blame for some of the outrageous stories that came out early on during Hurricane Katrina, stories that in fact turned out to be false? That`s coming up ahead in "SHOWBIZ In-Depth."
BRYANT: Plus, she`s one of the most popular teenagers in America. And if you are under 18 or have kids who are, you know the name. Amanda Bynes joins us live. That`s coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRYANT: Angelina Jolie is opening up about the health of her adopted baby daughter. In an interview on CNN`s "SITUATION ROOM," she told Wolf Blitzer that learning about baby Zahara`s HIV status was a double-edged sword.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Does Zahara have AIDS?
ANGELINA JOLIE, ACTRESS: No, she doesn`t, but we didn`t know that at first.
BLITZER: And she`s not HIV-positive.
JOLIE: She is not, no. But we didn`t know that, and there were a lot of -- I think the most upsetting thing for me was that I came here and she had to go to the hospital for dehydration and malnutrition. And when she got there, there were lots of other things that they were concerned about that were showing up that turned out to be different things. They thought there was a mass in her arm and it turned out to be a rickets fracture from being malnourished.
BLITZER: How old is Zahara now?
JOLIE: She is nine months, soon, but there were -- there was a fear she had HIV. And the upsetting thing is I was sat down and it was explained to me that don`t worry, because in this country, it`s not a death sentence, you know, which is also saying to me, you know, because she`s not in an area where she`s poor, now she can live, because she`s not in an area where she can`t access medicine. You know, it`s such -- it`s such a kind of horrible thing to hear.
BLITZER: Because in Ethiopia she would die?
JOLIE: What they`re saying is, yes, this is something that because you`re in a wealthier country you have more of a chance. But at the end of the day I was terrified, but prepared, because it is something I think we should all be prepared to take on. It`s not a, you know -- it`s a very real, very serious, very scary thing, but at the same time we should not be scared to adopt children that possibly could have AIDS. It`s OK, but she does not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRYANT: Angelina Jolie adopted Zahara from Ethiopia.
HAMMER: Tonight, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT In-Depth": who`s to blame for so many of the horrific stories we heard after Hurricane Katrina hit, stories that turned out not to be true?
The media reported frightening stories of murder from eyewitnesses who were coming out of the New Orleans Superdome and convention center. There were reports of rape, including the rape of babies and children. And bodies were said to be everywhere in the Superdome. Plus, the death toll in New Orleans was said that it was going to be in the thousands, perhaps even 10,000.
Joining us live tonight from Detroit, Michigan, Nancy Skinner, radio talk show host on 1310 AM, WDTW in Detroit. And live from San Antonio, Jack Riccardi. He is the radio talk show host from "The Jack Riccardi Show," of course, heard on KTSA AM in San Antonio.
Jack, let me start with you. A lot of finger pointing was going on from day one here, so who is to blame? Is it the media? Is it the government officials? Or can we just say it`s both?
JACK RICCARDI, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, first of all, A.J., I would say my listeners are definitely concerned about the media reporting, but they`re much more concerned about people like Mayor Nagin and Chief Compass and others repeating the stories as if they knew they were true, giving them more credence and credibility.
And then later on when the newspapers like the "Times-Picayune" asked the mayor and asked the police superintendent where did you get this information? They acted like they couldn`t remember where they heard it.
So it`s bad when reporters get it wrong, but it`s worse when officials give credence to these stories and speak of them as if they know their facts.
HAMMER: Nancy, let me throw it to you. There are some reports out there and newspaper articles placing blame on the media for all of the misinformation coming out of New Orleans. What`s your take?
NANCY SKINNER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: And the blame game continues. Now we`re going to blame the media.
I would say, first and foremost, they were there. I mean, CNN and -- they were there, and a whole bunch of news crews, where the government couldn`t even show up.
So No. 1, what happens in a situation like that is, they don`t have time to do a big think piece about this. They`re in the fog of war. There was chaos going on. So they were reporting these rumors. In some case they were eyewitness accounts, people just saying that.
I remember before my show, seeing on CNN, something called in with a cell phone said something about what was going on, and they just aired that. So those get amplified. And they made mistakes.
I think the truth is somewhere probably in the middle. Right now they`re saying there was nothing going on, you know, it was a little garden party going on there and there were no problems.
It`s probably somewhere in the middle, the truth there, especially when it comes to rapes. They said, well, there were no rapes. That`s one statistic that it`s very hard to report on. Those people are now spread all across the country, both the victims and the rapists, so good data really can`t be found. I`m not going to start pointing fingers at the media in this case.
HAMMER: You also bring up a good point about the fact that, you know, this was a breaking news event, the reporters were there live, and they were dealing with people live as they were coming out of the convention center.
They were talking live on the air to various politicians and to various officials who were giving this information out live on the air that maybe later proved to be false.
So Jack, my question to you is what does this now say about this 24- hour media cycle that we`re in, with CNN, for instance, where sometimes you can`t do the fact-checking right away, but you have to report the story best you can as it`s going on?
RICCARDI: Right. Very good point. I think newsroom management has a lot to do with the way news is covered. It`s not just the reporter out in the field. And when we put too much of an emphasis on live reporting, and staying on the air live, I start to wonder as a viewer, when does the reporter get to do his job? When does he get to go and get the facts or corroborate what`s being told him?
I think they stayed on the air with rumors Rather than getting off the air, maybe turning it over to a studio anchor or meteorologist and let`s go chase down some of these stories.
Nancy is right, the reporters were in the best position to tell us what was going on, so good in fact that officials were depending on the reporters to tell them what to do, which is a whole other problem.
HAMMER: Jack Riccardi and Nancy, I`m afraid we`re out of time. Sorry about that. But I thank you both for your input. Jack Riccardi, of course, and Nancy Skinner. Thanks for joining us on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
SKINNER: Sure.
HAMMER: Well, tonight, surprising words from Dan Rather. He says he wants to revisit the story that led to Memogate.
In an interview with C-SPAN, Rather said that he wants to reopen the investigation of President Bush`s service in the National Guard but that CBS is prohibiting him from doing it. Rather`s report on "60 Minutes 2" last September was discredited two weeks later. He told C-SPAN, quote, "There are some strange and to me, still mysterious things. Certainly unexplained things that happened about how it got attacked and why, even before the program was over."
Rather retired from "The CBS Evening News" last spring.
BRYANT: Time now for a "SHOWBIZ Sitdown" with Amanda Bynes.
At the tender age of 10, she began winning the hearts of teens everywhere with comedy shows like "All That" and then "The Amanda Show" on Nickelodeon, both of those shows. Now at 19, her WB show, "What I Like About You," is in its fourth season and she is winning such critical acclaim that she`s even been compared to Lucille Ball.
Joining us now live in New York is Amanda Bynes. Thanks for coming here.
AMANDA BYNES, ACTRESS: Thank you for having me.
BRYANT: So here`s the thing, you`re a young actress, a teen actress. We hear so much about some of your contemporaries, Lindsay Lohan, Hillary Duff, Ashlee Simpson. They`re splashed over the tabloids, and they seem to be getting in so much trouble, for real or made-up.
How is it that you have been able to stay clean from all of that harassment in the tabloids?
BYNES: You know, I don`t know. I don`t think I`m interesting enough to be sort of splashed around. I mean, I like to go out to dinner and I like to go out and have fun and, you know, go out with my friends, but I just sort of -- I don`t know.
I don`t like drinking, and a lot of kids do, and I think that that`s sort of the main difference. I think when alcohol is involved you sort of do things that you wouldn`t necessarily do if you were together, and what can I say? Maybe one day I`ll become a big drunkard, and you`ll have tons to talk about.
BRYANT: Let`s hope not. Well, you have won a Kids Choice Award. You`ve been nominated for a Teen Choice Award. Does this factor into maybe why you don`t drink? I mean, do you feel maybe a little bit more of a sense of responsibility, knowing that you have such a young fan base?
BYNES: You know, without realizing it, it definitely sort of is in the back of my mind. More than anything, I think it`s -- I`m very close to my parents, and I don`t want to do anything that I would have sort of a hard time telling my parents.
And for me it`s sort of like, if I did something, it really would be in a magazine or in the paper, and I just don`t want my parents to sort of -- I don`t want them to have to find out that way, and I definitely don`t want to have to break it to them, oh, got married. You don`t know him, and I just met him that night.
So, you know, and I just sort of feel like, I don`t know, I mean, I think people go through things. And I`ll probably go through my dumb things too, but, you know.
BRYANT: There`s nothing wrong with loving your parents and respecting them and wanting them to be happy with you. You keep on doing that, sister woman.
BYNES: Thank you. Keep trucking. Keep on trucking.
BRYANT: So let`s talk about your show, "What I Like About You." It`s in its fourth season. People have talked about in the media, you know, critics and things saying the sitcom is dying; we haven`t seen a good one in a long time. Here you are rolling into your fourth season. What do you think it is about your show that`s keeping it going?
BYNES: You know, I think that young women, 18 to 34, I mean, we actually do pretty well. We are, like, No. 1 in that demographic every Friday.
And I think it`s sort of nice to have a show you -- it`s on at 8 p.m. on Fridays, but you can watch before you go out, you know, getting ready. And I know for me, it`s sort of -- it`s fun to do a show where you`re really dealing with the problems that, like, 18-year-olds through 34-year- old women are going through, like relationships.
On the show, I`ve been dating this guy who I was best friends with forever and then we`re making that transition into dating. And sometimes you can completely ruin a friendship that way. And so I think that`s what girls go through. And I think we sort of deal with it in a funny manner, and we`ve got great writers, Karen Lucas, who was like a head writer on "The Nanny," and...
BRYANT: Jennie Garth is your co-star. And people loved her all the way back on "90210." So...
BYNES: Yes. And Leslie Grossman, who was on "Popular." And she`s just a hilarious actress. So I`m very lucky.
BRYANT: So it`s all good. Well, great. Well, congratulations to you, thanks to joining us. The show is "What I Like About You," Friday nights at 8 p.m. Thanks for joining us.
BYNES: Thank you for having me.
HAMMER: Well, in the rock world, it`s somewhat of an anomaly: the longstanding rock `n` roll marriage. We`re going to hear how Jon Bon Jovi does it in an interview you will see only here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
BRYANT: Plus, where tragedy meets comedy. Is it too soon for Katrina jokes? We`ll go into the comedy trenches and three comedians join us live. That`s on the way.
HAMMER: And Scott Peterson says Laci`s mom shouldn`t get her insurance policy. He says he wants the money. That`s ahead in the "Legal Lowdown" here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRYANT: It looks like the secret is out. If you want to get Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner a gift for their baby, pink might be a good choice.
Last night on "The Tonight Show," Jay Leno asked Garner about the sex of the baby, and she refused to answer. But a little later in the show -- well, this is what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNIFER GARNER, ACTRESS: And I had never felt so pregnant in my life. You know how you can just -- I mean, there are women here, you may not know this, but you can just start to feel really pregnant, like you are the hugest person on the face of the planet.
And I sat there, and first I felt bad just because I wasn`t helping, and then I felt just bigger and bigger like she...
LENO: You meant to say "he."
GARNER: Anyway...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRYANT: Very cute. Well, Garner and Affleck got married in June, and this will be their first child.
HAMMER: Well, the season premiere of "Will and Grace" has some surprises in store, and not just in the plotline. The cast makes a daring move, and SHOWBIZ TONIGHT will take you behind the scenes coming up.
BRYANT: Plus, when is it OK to start making jokes about national tragedies? Some comedians have already started with hurricane jokes. But is it the right thing to do? Comedians join us live to talk about it next.
HAMMER: And Bon Jovi gives back. How the band is getting involved in the hurricane relief effort. It`s the interview you`ll see only here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, and that`s coming up as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRYANT: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. It`s 31 minutes past the hour. I`m Karyn Bryant.
HAMMER: I`m A.J. Hammer. You are watching TV`s only live entertainment news show.
Still to come in the program, we`re asking the question tonight, when is it too soon to be joking about Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We`re going to talk to some comics and get their take on it. We`ll also speak to one comedian who lost everything in the aftermath of Katrina and she`ll certainly have some interesting perspective.
BRYANT: And on the docket tonight in the legal lowdown, that sick SO -- Scott Peterson. The guy is in jail for killing his pregnant wife, and now he wants to collect her life insurance money. Nice guy. So we`re going to find out about that case and see if it is even possible. It`s disgusting and it`s coming up in the legal lowdown.
HAMMER: We`ll deal with that and so much more, but first let`s get to tonight`s hot headlines.
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s David Haffenreffer joins us live from the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT newsroom. Hi -- David.
DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, A.J. Thanks.
Tonight in a revealing and exclusive interview, Angelina Jolie is speaking out about the health of her adopted baby daughter. On CNN`s "The Situation Room" this afternoon, Jolie told CNN`s very own Wolf Blitzer that little Zahara does not have AIDS and is not HIV positive. Jolie said she wasn`t sure at first because the baby`s Ethiopian parents had it.
Tonight Dan Rather says I want a second chance. In an interview with CSPAN, the former CBS news anchor wants to revisit the investigation that led to the so-called memo-gate scandal, but Rather says CBS won`t let him do it. The report, which aired last September, called into question President Bush`s National Guard service. It was soon discredited.
And the first lady makes her first reality TV show appearance. Laura Bush taped an episode of ABC`s "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," in Biloxi, Mississippi. Mrs. Bush was on sight to help handout clothes for hurricane victims. The episode is set to air in early December.
And those are tonight`s hot headlines. Karyn, back to you.
BRYANT: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s David Haffenreffer, thank you very much.
We have been asking you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day, Katrina and Comedy: Is it too soon to be joking about it? You can keep voting at cnn.com/showbiztonight. You can write us at showbiztonight@cnn.com. Your emails are coming up at 55 past the hour.
HAMMER: As Karyn just said, tonight we are asking when is it and is it OK at all to be making jokes about tragic situations. For example, after 9/11, late night talk show hosts and comedians waited a fairly long while before tackling the terror attacks. But today comics like Jay Leno and John Stewart have already been finding the humor in the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.
Earlier this week, Stewart jokingly compared Katrina to Hurricane Rita, saying the sequel was a disappointment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN STEWART, "DAILY SHOW": We begin tonight with Hurricane Rita, which proved the old rule, no matter how anticipated, sequels are always less compelling than the original. I mean, Katrina, you got your mayhem, your devastation, your city wiped out. Rita, hmmm. There was damage, but where was the zazz? Rita, I feel, was the "Ghostbusters II" of hurricanes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Joining us to talk about making humor out of tragedy, some of the folks who do it for a living. Live out of Las Vegas, comedienne Jodi Borrello. She actually hails from New Orleans and like so many lost her home and her business to Hurricane Katrina. Also joining us live here in New York City, comedians Chuck Nice and Lee Kessler.
I want to thank you all for joining us and I want to start with you, Jodi, because, as I just mentioned, you lost everything. You no longer can go to work. You had to move out of your town. Your family was devastated as well. So what do you think when you turn on the TV late at night and you see someone like John Stewart making a joke? Are you thinking it is just too soon?
JODI BORRELLO, COMEDIENNE: Well, in all honesty, I haven`t been watching a lot of late night TV. When it comes to it, this is the first that I even close to heard about that.
If it`s in bad taste, it`s bad taste all around. That`s the way I see things like that. And, you know, is it too soon? You know, for me it is, personally. For me to get up on stage and joke about Katrina as a whole, absolutely. I don`t think I`ll ever do it in my life, because it`s too close to home and it`s too much of a catastrophe.
But I can turn around and look at the truth in my life and see the humor in it, that we have 14 of us living under one home. You know, I mean, that`s crazy. That`s crazy. That was not on my schedule to do last month, you know.
HAMMER: Chuck and Lee, let me get you guys in here, because you have sort of a different perspective. You`re not from New Orleans. So what`s your take? Too soon -- Chuck?
CHUCK NICE, COMEDIAN: I think right now is too soon. And, like Jodi said, if it`s in bad taste, it`s in bad taste all around. I mean, personally I am playing it safe. I`m just sticking with my tsunami jokes for now and -- OK, maybe that`s still too soon.
But, I think if it is mean spirited and malicious then, of course, you know, it`s going to hurt feelings. You`re going to get -- I`ve seen guys in a club actually try Katrina jokes and, you know, the crowd turns into a lynch mob, you know. So I think that, you know, it`s kind of like comedy death to even attempt it.
HAMMER: Right, so you don`t want to go out there -- even if you intend to tell the jokes that you think are funny, if they don`t play well to the crowd you don`t want to do them.
What`s your take on it?
LEE KESSLER, COMEDIAN: Comedians provide social commentary. We look at the prism of life and we break it apart and present it in a way that you may not have seen it. And a comedy audience is as democratic a process as there is with the most immediate returns. I mean, if they agree with you, they will laugh. If they agree with you but they`re uncomfortable, they`ll laugh, but ooh, then you know you`ve touched on something, but they`re not ready for it. And if they don`t laugh at all, then it`s either not funny, which happens a lot, or it is flat out something they`re not ready to deal with.
HAMMER: Chuck, you mentioned the tsunami and, of course, we`ve dealt with this before. And, Jodi, for instance, after 9/11, as I mentioned, a lot of comedians really chose, wisely, I believe, to wait a while. How do you gauge when it`s OK? How do you gauge when enough time has passed?
BORRELLO: For me?
HAMMER: Sure?
BORRELLO: Yeah, for me personally, how much time is passed -- you know, fist of all, as far as the political aspect of it, I`ve never even gotten into it, but I think, as the other gentleman said, the audience is going to be your immediate judge. You don`t need a better judge than that. And if you want to keep going with, you know, going on a different avenue, you know, you could pursue it, but it`s not going to work, it`s not going to work. It`s as simple as that.
HAMMER: And Jodi, you mentioned politics. I know you don`t shy away in your act from talking about our particular administration.
NICE: Not at all.
HAMMER: So people are going at it from that angle, perhaps. Do you feel differently? Or what topics, Chuck, do you think are appropriate now? Or what do we have to wait on?
NICE: Like, for me, I do do jokes about it, but not the actual tragedy, the devastation, the disaster itself. I don`t think there is anything funny about that, honestly. People losing their lives and their homes, I mean, come on, if you find that funny, you`re pretty sick.
However, the response, the administration, the finger pointing, the blaming, all of that, there is some funny stuff there, and that is what I have focused on when I am on stage.
KESSLER: When you say that there is a certain time, when is it going to be OK. It will be OK when somebody does it and some people laugh and the rest are appalled, and then more people laugh and less are appalled.
Comedy is a defense mechanism. I mean, it`s how we deal with pain. You look at the great comedians of the past that have come through even today, I mean, they`re Jews, they`re blacks, they`re women, they`re people who were oppressed who have to deal with painful issues, and that`s how it comes out. They empower themselves by instead of being damaged by the subject, they make fun of the subject. And eventually there will come a time when people take Katrina and they will make fun of it because it`s the only way to have power over this thing that we were totally powerless with.
NICE: And for me, being a Jewish black woman, I agree, completely, absolutely.
HAMMER: I want to thank you all for joining us, and, Jodi, best of luck to you in getting your life back together and hopefully back to work.
BORRELLO: Let me just say hi to my daughter, Jesse (ph). I appreciate that. Thanks.
HAMMER: And thank you so much Chuck, Lee Kessler, nice to see you as well.
BRYANT: Well, the cast of "Will and Grace" is doing something it`s never done before, and we here at SHOWBIZ TONIGHT are doing it right now. Stay tuned to find out what it is. That`s next.
And Scott Peterson, he was convicted of the sickening crime of killing his pregnant wife, Laci. Now he`s battling Laci`s mom. That`s coming up in tonight`s legal lowdown, and that`s next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRYANT: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Karyn Bryant.
It is time now for a showbiz sit down, and it is the interview you will only see here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Bon Jovi. For over 20 years, the New Jersey band has sold over 100 million albums. That number is continually going up. They`ve got a new album out called "Have a Nice Day." It is number two on this week`s Billboard charts.
But music isn`t the only thing they`re focusing on. Bon Jovi just gave Oprah Winfrey a $1 million check to help the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Jon Bon Jovi and guitarist Richie Sambora stopped by SHOWBIZ TONIGHT and I asked them how it feels to be able to give back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRYANT: At what point in your careers did you reach that place, where you could start to give back and where you felt it was incumbent upon you to do so?
JON BON JOVI, MUSICIAN: I don`t know that it`s incumbent upon. It`s up to the individual. But I think it`s instilled in you as a kid. If you have an opportunity and you do something with it, it`s just a little more fulfilling. And as you get older, I think you see the world differently.
When you`ve traveled to India and Africa and Asia and Australia and Europe and you`ve seen all these different cultures come together and you see that everybody is different but actually still the same -- one great thing that happened in light of 9/11 here in New York and I am so proud of my hometown for this is people didn`t care if you were Republican, Democrat, Met fan, Yankee fan. People ran to the streets to help each other. You know, I mean, everybody became a New Yorker for a short period of time.
BRYANT: Do you guys feel the need to get your message out, get political at all, ever at a concert?
RICHIE SAMBORA, MUSICIAN: No, that`s pure entertainment. I think what we can do, especially what`s happening in lieu of tragedies in the world and what is going on today, is you come and put a Bon Jovi record on or come see us in a concert and we can entertain you and maybe take you away and take you out of it for a little while.
BRYANT: I want to move on to something a little bit more lighthearted. You`ve both been married for a long time. How have you been able to keep it together.
SAMBORA: There is a balance there, you know. We`ve been managing ourselves now since 1990, and a big part of it was like, you know, when you go on the road, take a few weeks and go home for a week, and tour for a few weeks. It`s really about timing. There is a lot of that going on. We`re very, very -- we talk about it a lot as a band, you know, about how we`re going to get back to our families and keep that going.
BRYANT: And are you very sacred about keeping your home life home?
BON JOVI: You don`t see pictures of my kids ever, anywhere, ever. They`ve never been photographed, and that`s just the way I do things, you know, but it teaches them.
BRYANT: People probably think that you guys go home and you`re just all rock-and-roll. Are you really normal guys? Do you sit down with a bucket of popcorn and watch a movie and hang out?
BON JOVI: Well, it`s not "The Osborne`s" but it`s not, you know, "Ozzie and Harriet" either.
SAMBORA: It ain`t "The Beverly Hillbillies."
BON JOVI: It`s somewhere in the middle.
SAMBORA: Before the limousine came and picked me up to drag me out here yesterday, I just got home from taking my kid to school. I mean, it`s actually, you know, it`s -- I think it`s more normal than people would think. I really do.
BRYANT: I do want to talk about the record, because it`s the first one with new material in three years? Is that the case?
BON JOVI: Three years.
BRYANT: So what took so long?
BON JOVI: Work. You know, between balancing this was a world tour, a box set and an unplugged record that we reinvented songs with while we were writing this one. So it`s not like we haven`t been busy. We`ve been doing quite a bit.
BRYANT: And touring for you has always been important, is that true?
BON JOVI: We built our reputation on touring. You know, we`ve always been known as a live act, and we`d go anywhere and everywhere. I mean, the old adage about us is that if you didn`t have electricity, we`d bring it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRYANT: Nice guys. And Bon Jovi`s new album, "Have a Nice Day," is in stores now.
HAMMER: Well, it`s the season of season premiers, and the very first episode of "Will and Grace`s" final season will be unlike any other. It will be live.
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Brooke Anderson joins us from Hollywood with that story -- Brooke.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, A.J.
Well, after eight seasons, the folks behind TV`s breakout comedy "Will and Grace" still have a few tricks in store for their fans. There were lots of laughs when we visited the set, and the cast also told us why they are so proud of the show that has gone so far, and why this season`s premier will not disappoint.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEGAN MULLALLY, "WILL AND GRACE": We are doing a live episode of "Will and Grace."
DEBRA MESSING, "WILL AND GRACE": Live!
ANDERSON (voice-over): SHOWBIZ TONIGHT caught up with the "Will and Grace" cast as they were getting ready for the live broadcast of the show. They will actually be doing two live versions, one for the East Coast and then again three hours later for the West Coast.
ERIC MCCORMACK, "WILL AND GRACE": I`m hoping that a lot of people that have the ability, that have satellite ability, will watch both shows.
MESSING: Oh, yeah.
MCCORMACK: Will watch the East and the West Coast, because they are going to be different.
MESSING: They`re going to be different.
MULLALLY: They`ve said that they`re probably going to rewrite a few jokes here and there.
SEAN HAYES, "WILL AND GRACE": If Megan doesn`t cut it the first show, we`re going to go ahead and write her out for the second one, and then if it does well, then this really is your last show.
ANDERSON: TV`s Will, Grace, Jack and Karen have been rehearsing the live season premier for two months, but they told SHOWBIZ TONIGHT beware, there will definitely be some surprises.
SHELLY MORRISON, "WILL AND GRACE": We don`t know if someone is going to burp or sneeze or pass wind or who knows.
MCCORMACK: I don`t think people care if we screw up, as long as we screw up in a fun way.
ANDERSON: The season premier will answer cliffhangers from last season`s finale, featuring guest stars Eric Stoltz and Alec Baldwin. The cast told us it`s a show that entertains, but has also broken new ground.
MCCORMACK: I think the thing that I am most proud of is that we have managed to walk the line in that we have introduced a lot of American in a safe, funny way to gay America in a way they wouldn`t have, and yet we have for the most part pleased gay America too.
MESSING: Television should reflect real life.
ANDERSON: And for Shelly Morrison, who plays the housekeeper Rosario, it`s been a far cry from when she starred in the 1960`s TV show "The Flying Nun."
MORRISON: Someone just asked me a question, did I think when I was doing "The Flying Nun" that I would be in a gay -- about homosexuals. What would you have said, Shelly, and I said, cool.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Definitely a very cool cast, that`s for sure, and the live premier should be a lot of laughs. That show airs on NBC tomorrow night -- A.J.
HAMMER: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Brooke Anderson, in Hollywood. Thank you.
BRYANT: Time now for the legal lowdown, a look at what is going on in the world of entertainment legal news.
On the docket tonight, Scott Peterson. Remember this guy? He was found guilty and sentenced to death for the horrific crime of killing his pregnant wife? Well, now he says he wants her life insurance money.
Plus tonight, John "Junior" Gotti is home on $7 million bond after a New York federal judge declared a mistrial last week. The sone of the last mob boss, John Gotti, was on trial for a bunch of things, including the attempting kidnapping of popular radio talk show host Curtis Sliwa.
Joining us live from Glendale, California is Harvey Levin, who is the managing editor of the soon-to-be-launched entertainment news sight TMZ.com.
Harvey, this disgusts me. Scott Peterson is disgusting. He killed his pregnant wife. And now he wants the insurance money. What is going on?
LEVIN: Well, I mean, you know, he is a double murderer, so it really should come as no surprise that he`s also greedy, and in fact a lot of people think that`s why he did it in the first place.
But basically, Scott Peterson is saying, look, even though I was convicted, I have a chance of having this reversed on appeal, so I`m not giving up my right to the $250,000 insurance policy, and Laci`s mother is saying absolutely no way. So a judge is going to hear the matter.
The problem is, if there is a dispute like this, the insurance company doesn`t want to release the money to Laci`s mom without a court order because the insurance company is worried, what if we guess wrong and we`re going to owe it twice. So that`s why the court is getting involved.
BRYANT: And talk about Laci`s family, because certainly, like you said, they would love the money, but this could get tied up in appeals for a long time. So potentially, they could wait 20 years, something like that, for some money?
LEVIN: You know, it`s not going to be 20 years. At a point, all the judge would want to look at is, is this case going to get reversed, and I think we`ll know that in a year or two, but it seems outrageous that they should have to wait a year or two. The bottom line is he is a convicted murderer now, and I think a judge should look at the merits of the appeal, and if the judge feels that this guy is not going to get this reversed, then maybe Laci`s mom should post a bond, but she should get the money. She should not have to wait until Scott Peterson gets to exhaust his legal rights.
BRYANT: And this is kind of ridiculous, because the guy is scheduled to die, so is he trying to say I`m innocent? Is he trying to position himself a certain way? What do you think he is trying to prove with this pursuit of money?
LEVIN: You know, Karyn, I think part of it is the guy is a sociopath and you can`t really rationally look at what he is doing. I think he is angry at Laci`s family. I think he almost believes that he is still going to get away with this. I mean, his arrogance is just really breathtaking. And I think this is just another statement that Scott Peterson can do what Scott Peterson wants to do. That`s the way he has lived his life.
BRYANT: All right, we`re going to move on to the Gotti family. John Junior is put out on a $7 million bond and with the notorious history of his family, there is probably some concern that some of the money that was put up was maybe a little questionable. Was the money scrutinized at all?
LEVIN: I mean, judges always do this. When they decide that somebody can post bond, they want to look at whether it is dirty money or not. It`s really hard to start tracing money and knowing where every penny goes, so judges kind of get a sense, is this dirty money, we`re not going to let it happen. So presumably it passed the test, but usually these aren`t the kinds of tests that prosecutors use to decide if it is money laundering or not. The judge does the best he can.
BRYANT: And really quickly, what are the terms of his house arrest?
LEVIN: He has to wear an ankle bracelet. He is electronically monitored. And the police or the feds can basically do random searches on him just to make sure that he stays clean, so they`re going to be monitoring him pending all of this.
BRYANT: All right, well, thanks for your input. Always a pleasure to have you on the show, Harvey Levin.
LEVIN: See ya, Karyn.
BRYANT: A.J.
HAMMER: All right, Karyn, still some time for you to sound off at our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day, if you haven`t already. Katrina and Comedy: Is it too soon to be joking about it? You can vote at cnn.com/showbiztonight or write to us at showbiztonight@cnn.com. We`re going to read some of your emails live coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Throughout the show we`ve been asking you to vote online on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day, Katrina and Comedy: Is it too soon to be joking about it? Here is how the vote has been going tonight: 64 percent of you say yes, too soon; 36 percent of you say no, not too soon.
We`ve gotten emails on the subject, including one from Liz, in South Carolina. She feels that the comedians should be more respectful. "These comedians making light of the devastation caused by Katrina obviously have not experienced such in their own lives."
But Chris, from Texas, stresses how important it is to lighten up. "I`ve never seen depression, be it natural or disguised as respect, help heal anything."
You can keep voting by going to cnn.com/showbiztonight.
BRYANT: What do you think? I like the point they made. If it`s in good taste, it maybe isn`t too soon. But wrong is just wrong.
HAMMER: And the audience will let you know.
BRYANT: Yep, absolutely.
Well, that is it for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Karyn Bryant.
HAMMER: I`m A.J. Hammer. Stay tuned for the latest from CNN HEADLINE NEWS.
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