Return to Transcripts main page
Showbiz Tonight
ShowBiz Tonight for September 30, 2005, CNNHN
Aired September 30, 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, California burning. Tonight, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger tours the scene as celebrities watch wildfires creep dangerously close to their homes. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is live on the scene with the latest.
BRYANT (voice-over): The shock heard round the Hill. Former education secretary Bill Bennett`s explosive comments on talk radio about blacks and abortion. Tonight, what he said, the backlash and a live debate on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
HAMMER: Is there a Genesis reunion in the cards? We`ll get the answer from Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford in the interview you`ll only see on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, we`re the cast of "Ghost Whisperer." If it happened today it`s on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, we`re the cast of "Ghost Whisperer." If it happened today it`s on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, we`re the cast of "Ghost Whisperer." If it happened today it`s on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Hello, I`m A.J. Hammer.
BRYANT: I`m Karyn Bryant.
It has been 48 hours of hell on earth for Hollywood. As fires continue to rage out of control in southern California, smoke is actually now looming over the famous Hollywood sign.
HAMMER: And as the fires threaten to torch the studios and the places where the stars call home, the biggest star in the state was called in, Governor Arnold.
Let`s go straight to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Brooke Anderson. She`s live on the scene in Simi Valley, California.
What`s the story now, Brooke?
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, A.J., Simi Valley is located on the northern end of these wildfires, and fire officials tell me the hills behind me, this is a controlled burn. Things are pretty much contained. The residents in this neighborhood have been allowed back into their homes.
But, you know, in a town that`s known for special effects and drama, it is only fitting that Arnold, the Terminator, as you say, has come to the scene.
Earlier, he toured the devastated areas, the burned areas by helicopter. He also spoke about the devastation at a press conference and we will bring some of those comments to you later on in the show.
But I do want to say another fire has broken out in nearby Burbank. It`s about 30 miles southeast of here. Totally separate fire from these wildfires that began about 48 hours ago.
Now, Burbank is the home to many film and television studios, including NBC, Universal, Disney, Warner Brothers. We`re told by fire officials that about 500 acres have been burned, but no homes are threatened there at this point.
Here the fires are about 20 percent contained. Vast improvement from five percent containment from yesterday, but still, many local residents are worried, including some big-name celebrities.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Topanga fire continues to blaze a trail his hour along the Ventura-L.A. County border.
ANDERSON (voice-over): This is the biggest story in Hollywood, something even the best special effects wizards couldn`t whiz up. Wildfires ravaging more than 20,000 acres of land in the hilly region northwest of Los Angeles, and it`s growing. Continuous updates from local news to late night.
JAY LENO, HOST, NBC`S "THE TONIGHT SHOW": I`m your host, Fire Narshal Jay, nice to have you here.
ANDERSON: On "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," the local media was the target.
LENO: And they all say stuff like, something seems to be fanning the flames. We`re going to take the helicopter a little lower to see if we can see what it is. Gee, maybe it`s the helicopter, hello!
Did you see Paris Hilton`s reaction to the fire today, show that.
PARIS HILTON, HEIRESS/ACTRESS: That`s hot.
ANDERSON: But laughing aside, many big names are feeling the heat, including "The Tonight Show`s" Kevin Eubanks.
LENO: Kevin, you had to evacuate your house.
KEVIN EUBANKS, MUSICIAN: Yes. I`m not allowed back in my house.
ANDERSON: The great views and lush landscape make the area popular with celebs. Lisa Marie Presley, Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards, Brad Garrett, Alyssa Milano are all said to have homes in the impacted hillside areas. All could be in potential danger.
I spoke with Bon Jovi`s Richie Sambora, who lives in the area with actress wife Heather Locklear and their daughter.
RICHIE SAMBORA, MUSICIAN: I went out to my window and I looked, and I live in the mountains here in North Ranch. And I looked up and there was flames and I went, "Uh-oh, here we go."
ANDERSON: Also living close to the flames, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, and Jessica Simpson and husband Nick Lachey. They told SHOWBIZ TONIGHT they are not yet in danger and have not been evacuated.
And much of the vast region in the impacted areas is also popular Hollywood production grounds. The fires could have made filming "Mission: Impossible" for Tom Cruise`s upcoming action flick.
Local station KABC flew its chopper above the set.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you`re seeing here is possibly some equipment used in a motion picture that they have been shooting up here called "MI 3." And basically what we`re seeing here is this fire making a run at some of these outbuilding and these sheds on the Armison (ph) ranch here.
ANDERSON: Another area and potential danger zone, the celeb-packed beachfront community of Malibu, located just across the road from the flames. But officials say so far, so good.
KEVIN NESTON, VENTURA COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: We knew that we wanted to set up contingency plans for Highway 101, because we did not want this fire to jump that freeway and continue on to what we call the great fire break, which is the Pacific Ocean, because that has done that before.
ANDERSON: That`s a big concern. It means star Malibu residents including Britney Spears, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and Charlize Theron can`t breathe a sigh of relief quite yet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And the air quality, big concern right now. Air quality warnings all throughout the region. People are saying stay inside if possible. Thick, dark layer of smoke blanketing much of Los Angeles and still the cause of the fire unknown, being investigated.
A.J., back to you.
HAMMER: All right. Brooke, we`ll see you a little bit later in the show. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Brooke Anderson live in Simi Valley, California.
BRYANT: Former education secretary Bill Bennett is trying to put out a different sort of fire tonight: controversy over his comments about race, crime and abortion.
A man called into Bennett`s syndicated radio show with a theory that if abortion was illegal, there would be more taxpayers alive, and therefore Social Security would be solvent. Well, that started a conversation in which Bennett criticized another theory, which says crime has decreased because of legalized abortion.
Warning against these types of wild hypotheticals, here`s what Bennett said that set everyone off.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
BILL BENNETT, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: but I do know that it`s true that if you wanted to reduce crime you could, if that were your sole purpose. You could abort every black baby in this country and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far out -- these far reaching, you know, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BRYANT: And some congressional Democrats and the NAACP are blasting Bennett. He says they`ve taken his comments out of context. The White House says President Bush believes the comments were not appropriate.
HAMMER: No big surprise, the backlash from Bennett`s comments have radio talk shows buzzing from coast to coast. Joining us live from Sacramento, California, Mark Williams, KFBK talk radio host. And from Houston, Texas, KTRH talk radio host Deborah Duncan.
Mark and Deborah, thanks for both joining us. And before we get to you and hear what your listeners are saying about all of this, Bill Bennett did release a statement today, and here`s part of what it said: "A though experiment about public policy, on national radio, should not have received the condemnation it has. Anyone paying attention to this debate should be offended by those who have selectively quoted me, distorted my meaning and taken out of context the dialogue I engaged in this week."
All right, let`s get to it. You guys have your finger on the pulse of the nation. Mark I`m going to start with you. What are your listeners saying? Did Bennett get a raw deal through all of this?
MARK WILLIAMS, KFBK TALK RADIO HOST: Well, if his mother had had an abortion, we`d have fewer stupid comments on the radio. I can`t believe he said that. I don`t think it was all that out of context. I think it was one of the dumbest things I`ve ever heard.
The idea that you would seen even say something that stupid in the position like he`s in is beyond belief. He should be jumped on by the NAACP and people who are jumping on him.
In this job, you have to choose your verbiage very, very carefully. It doesn`t matter if you`re correct, if you`re wrong or misquoted, once you say something like that, that becomes the debate and you lose. You`re indicted, convicted and sent up the river.
HAMMER: It`s true. When you have a national platform, you`ve got to have some kind of a gate and keep control on what you`re saying.
WILLIAMS: Exactly.
HAMMER: Deborah, I want to throw the same question to you and to what your listeners are saying about Bennett and the fact that, you know, he may or may not have gotten a raw deal here, or is he getting exactly what he deserved?
DEBORAH DUNCAN, KTRH TALK RADIO HOST: Well, what my listeners are telling me is when you look at the statement, the thing that bothered them is that he stated as fact.
He says, "I do know that it`s true." And so the fact that he was saying this, "Well, is true. Now I do think it`s wrong. We can`t really go out there and do that." But he stated it as fact and that`s what really made so many of my listeners very upset.
Because basically, we`re as in a country when they say you`re innocent until proven guilty. Well, in this case, you`re guilty even if you`re not born yet. You know, we have killer fetuses or criminal fetuses out there. And there`s this idea that, you know, feeding the negative stereotype that, as African Americans, you`re inherently criminal. And so that`s something that a lot of them took offense to. With my listeners, it was black people, white people, everybody. Everybody took offense to that.
HAMMER: Mark, are you hearing that people want him to apologize, because he said he`s not doing it?
WILLIAMS: He should apologize, and that`s exactly what I`m hearing. I`m hearing that he said something stupid, that he should apologize.
And he did perpetuate the myth that, as Deborah said, you have killer fetuses because they`re going to be born black. That`s the stupidest thing I`ve ever heard in my life, and I`ve said some pretty stupid things on the radio, speaking extemporaneously 15 hours a week for the last 25 years. And nothing that stupid has ever crossed my lips.
HAMMER: Another thing that he also conveyed in his statement that he issued today, that people are particularly sensitive right now, of course, to race issues after hurricane Katrina.
So could in any way, are your listeners suggesting, well, maybe at leas it`s a good thing because it keeps this topic at the surface and the national dialogue continues, Deborah?
WILLIAMS: No, those -- I was brought up in the `60s and the `70s to be color-blind. And I would like to get to that point. I would like the society to get there. Because that`s where I am.
And I`m sick and tired of people defining themselves by everything from the color of their skin to their sexual orientation. Let me look at you and decide for myself what your character is all about. Don`t -- if you`re black, I can see that for myself. I don`t need you to be telling me about that.
DUNCAN: You know, I think you say that people are particularly sensitive now. I will tell you that people have been sensitive for a very long time because this fight is not over.
But you`re right, I`m here in Houston and so remember when the evacuees first came here, we kept hearing all these rumors, got all these e-mails that said crime is running rampant in every city that has taken in evacuees.
And of course, we checked with every police department in Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas/Fort Worth, and they said that`s absolutely not true. So again, feeding into those negative stereotypes.
I want to back up to something that was just said. I want to get to the point where we see color. We`re always going to see color. But the difference is, can you see it and just appreciate it and move on? We`re never going to get rid of those color lines. Just appreciate it and realize that human beings are human beings and it doesn`t matter.
HAMMER: Well, Mark, certainly, and Deborah, the race issue brought to the surface through all of this, people talking more about crime today. They`re even talking about abortion today. From your listeners, Mark, any other issues related to what Bill Bennett said coming to the surface here?
WILLIAMS: Yes, the real tragedy of what he said is that he seems to have been saying, anyway, in the opinion of people speaking to me, that the only -- the only real problem here is that we have a conflict between bad black people and abortion, and abortion is the worst of the two evils. And that, to me, is just reprehensible.
HAMMER: I appreciate you both giving us your comments and filling us in on exactly what the nation is saying. Mark Williams, live in Sacramento, Deborah Duncan, live in Houston, thanks for joining us here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
DUNCAN: Thank you.
BRYANT: Well, after months in jail, "New York Times" reporter Judith Miller speaks, and she has plenty to say. That is still to come on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
HAMMER: Plus, Arnold versus Warren in the Hollywood smack-down. We`re going to tell you about the back-and-forth between Schwarzenegger and Beatty. That`s coming your way.
BRYANT: And Julianne Moore tells us about her prize-winning new role as mother to 10 kids and her real-life role as a mother of two. It`s the interview you`ll only see on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, and it`s coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRYANT: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, I`m Karyn Bryant.
It is the case that is part spy drama, part political drama and part legal drama and it affects the news you watch and read.
"New York Times" reporter Judith Miller finally has been released from prison after being held in contempt for refusing to cooperate with a federal grand jury. Today, she broke her silence.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDITH MILLER, "NEW YORK TIMES": Believe me, I did not want to be in jail.
BRYANT (voice-over): "New York Times" reporter Judith Miller gained notoriety and jail time for clamming up. Today, she couldn`t stop talking.
MILLER: Recently, I heard directly from my source that I should testify before the grand jury.
BRYANT: The day after walking out of prison, she walked into a courtroom and finally testified before a grand jury. That grand jury is investigating whether White House officials leaked the name of a covert CIA operative who happens to be the wife of Bush administration critic Joe Wilson.
Miller spent months in jail for refusing to testify in the probe. The whole affair has become a big headache for the Bush administration and a long fight that could end up affecting how you get your news.
MILLER: I served 85 days in jail because of my belief in the importance of upholding the confidential relationship journalists have with their sources.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wouldn`t talk to the grand jury. The judge held me in contempt. I report to Cumberland Minimum Security Prison tomorrow.
BRYANT: This case is one remarkably similar to one that will play out this Sunday on the NBC drama, "The West Wing." That fictional White House is caught up in an investigation over who leaked some super secret space shuttle info to "The New York Times."
ALLISON JANNEY, ACTRESS: Name your source.
BRYANT: What`s unique about this real-life case is that Miller researched the matter of the leaked CIA operative, but she never actually wrote about it.
Still, over the past few months, she had refused to cooperate with federal investigators looking into the case. She said she had promised to protect her source.
MILLER: I was a journalist doing my job, protecting my source until my source freed me to perform my civic duty to testify.
BRYANT: Miller says that`s exactly what happened. She says her source who, according to "The New York Times" is Vice President Cheney`s chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, offered to release her from her confidentiality promise. Exactly when he made that offer is the subject of an inside the beltway debate.
WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Scooter Libby`s attorney is saying you could have had this deal not only 80 days ago but a year ago.
BRYANT: Suffice it to say, Miller is now free, and this case has become a crucial test of the rights of American journalists to keep their sources a secret.
MILLER: I am hopeful that my very long stay in jail will serve to strengthen the bond between reporters and their sources.
BRYANT: But some think her case has already had the opposite effect.
HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": Reporters themselves are saying to themselves, "Do I want to promise confidentiality to somebody and suddenly find myself having to make the Judy Miller decision? Do I get separated from my family and go spend months in jail because I`ve made such a promise?" So in that sense, the public is the loser.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRYANT: Now we want to hear from you. It`s our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Judith Miller freed: did she deserve to go to jail? You can vote at CNN.com/ShowbizTonight. You can send e-mail to us at ShowbizTonight@CNN.com. Later in the show, we`ll read some of those e- mails.
BRYANT: A half a million dollars: that`s how much money Jay Leno has raised for Hurricane Katrina victims. For the past month, celebrity guests like Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Pamela Anderson and Damon Wayans have been popping by "The Tonight Show to autograph a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Leno put it up on eBay, and the winning bid came in last night at $505,000. Ninety-five percent of that will go to the Red Cross`s Katrina relief efforts.
BRYANT: Time now for a "SHOWBIZ Sit-down" with Julianne Moore, star of "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio," which is in theaters today. Moore plays a mother of 10 who supports her family by winning jingle contests.
As a real-life mom, Moore told me she found a lot to relate to in the character and also that some things that were completely foreign to her.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRYANT: So, Julianne, in "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio," you play a housewife who is very adept and writing jingles.
JULIANNE MOORE, ACTRESS: Yes.
BRYANT: Which begs the question, if you`ve got a favorite jingle.
MOORE: No, uh-uh. No. It`s not something -- it`s not my skill not my interest. I have no -- you know, what was interesting about her is that she was, at heart, a writer. You know, she had wanted to be a journalist before she got married and had children.
And so, what she did kind of wonderfully, is find a way to -- to take care of her family by winning these prizes and whatever, but also find a creative voice.
BRYANT: And your character in this movie has 10 children. You, yourself, have children.
MOORE: I have two.
BRYANT: Yes, two. Little bit more manageable, but certainly, there are times in the film when things get a little bit out of control.
MOORE: Yes.
BRYANT: But, for the most part, you`ve got a pretty good bead on things. In your real life, do you have those moments of just complete loss of control?
MOORE: You know, I don`t know. Yes, I mean, every parent does. Every family does. The big one in my family seems that everybody wants to walk around while they`re eating, which you don`t want them to do because kids trip, they fall, they choke. But that constant, please sit down. Please sit down. Please sit down when you`re chewing. Please sit down. I said sit down, sit down.
That is happening and you start feeling like a lunatic, you know, but I think that`s pretty common.
BRYANT: Take us through what it`s like the first day you show up on set. Is it, do you feel like the kid at school with your shiny new lunchbox?
MOORE: You introduce yourself to the crew. Maybe you`ve had some time to do tests and some rehearsals, so you know some of the actors, you know. But there is that -- there`s always a hope when you start a movie, you start with something small. You don`t want to start with a big scene. You want to kind of warm up to it, maybe by day two or day three, you can do something. But it`s always a little scary.
BRYANT: Have you been star struck ever with any of your cast mates? I mean, you`ve had Sir Anthony Hopkins.
MOORE: Yes.
BRYANT: In "Surviving Picasso."
MOORE: You know who? I was at Sundance years and years ago, when I was on the jury. And I met Robert Redford, and I was absolutely floored. I couldn`t speak. Actually, my friends told me they`d never seen me act like such an idiot. I was just like, you know. I mean, it was Robert Redford. That was very exciting. I still don`t know that I could really talk to him.
BRYANT: When you`re sitting at home, what do you have on the TV?
MOORE: I watch very little television, to tell you the truth, because of my children. I mean, I like to turn on the TV in the morning to see the news, but then I end up having to turn it off because it`s so disturbing. And sometimes, so sensationalistic that you sort of feel like, well, I want my kids to get their news another way.
BRYANT: And we`ve been obviously for weeks talking about Katrina.
MOORE: Yes.
BRYANT: And especially with children, it is very sensitive.
MOORE: Sensationalized.
BRYANT: Yes, but I would think by the same token, the reality of it is so grave...
MOORE: Yes.
BRYANT: ... that even when it`s not sensationalized, do you let them in on what`s going on down there?
MOORE: You have to, you know,. I think you have to let them know because they need to know where they are in the world and they can`t be kind of left out. They hear other kids talking about it and they want to say, what`s happened? Mommy, what`s happened?
But you talk about it in terms that you hope they can understand and you also try to make them feel safe. Because that`s the scariest thing.
I think for kids here in New York with 9/11, there were some children who were actually in the playground and saw it happen, were looking up, and they felt incredibly afraid and unsafe.
And so what you need to do with your kids is say, "It`s going to be OK. I will take care of you. You`re not going to be hurt, you know, and this is what`s happening."
So it`s about that. It`s about trying to let kids know what happened without scaring them. I think.
BRYANT: It seems, too, that you make a lot of movies for women. Is the important to you?
MOORE: I make them for myself, you know? I make the movies that I like that hopefully, I would want to see. And I mean, and that feel like they`re still -- there`s still movies out there that are really, they`re real women stories. Those are the ones I`m attracted to.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRYANT: Lovely lady, Julianne Moore. Well, she also told me that she and her husband, director Bart Freundlich, do bring their work home with them. Sometimes they even get around to reading the same scripts -- A.J.
HAMMER: All right, Karyn. Well, coming up a bit later on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, we`re actually going to get a review of Julianne`s new movie, "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio." We`re also going to get a look at other movies that are out today when we do "People" magazine`s "picks and Pans."
BRYANT: Plus, in the beginning, there was Genesis. But what are Phil Collins and the guys up to these days? And will they ever take the stage together again? It`s the interview you`ll only see on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, and it`s on the way.
HAMMER: We need these questions answered. And we`ll get the answers.
Also, Robert Blake, he takes the stand, finally. Things get a little ugly. That`s coming up when we do the "Legal Lowdown."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m A.J. Hammer.
Tonight a rare peek into the private life of Faith Hill. In fact, you can`t get much more private than this. The country music star sat down with Oprah Winfrey and shared details about life behind closed doors with her husband, Tim McGraw. She even let us in on some of her bedtime secrets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: That you will only sleep in one thing.
FAITH HILL, COUNTRY MUSIC STAR: That I will only sleep in one thing.
WINFREY: Yes, what is that?
HILL: My husband`s t-shirt?
WINFREY: The white t-shirt, yes.
HILL: The white T-shirt, yes, when we`re apart, yes.
WINFREY: When you`re apart.
HILL: Yes. When we`re together, you know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: You can catch the rest of Faith`s interview Monday on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
BRYANT: Beatty versus Schwarzenegger in a war of words. It`s a Hollywood smack-down coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
HAMMER: Plus, Kate Moss has lost some major modeling contracts. It`s been all over the news lately. But there actually could be something much greater at stake. We`re going to talk about that coming up in the "Legal Lowdown."
BRYANT: And next, we`re going to go live again to California for the very latest on the wildfires that are threatening celebrity mansions. The fires happen every year out there. It`s awful to see. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is coming right back with the pictures.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VIRGINIA CHA, ANCHOR: "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" continues in one minute. Hi, I`m Virginia Cha with your HEADLINE PRIME NEWS BREAK. Firefighters are making significant progress against a massive wildfire near Los Angeles.
Weather conditions are helping the situation. Fire officials say so far, they`ve saved 2,000 houses and are literally standing in front of some homes to protect them. Now another wildfire is burning in the hills near Burbank. So far, it`s charred 80 acres but crews say that fire is spreading quickly.
A third of New Orleans residents were allowed to return home today. Now the French Quarter, Garden District and other neighborhoods are open again. Those areas escaped major flooding. Still, there`s limited clean drinking water and the sewage system remains in need of repair.
More than 50 people were treated at the scene of a school bus accident on a major New York City highway. All 42 middle school students aboard were taken to a hospital in the Bronx as a precaution. They had been attending a teachers funeral.
That`s the news for now. I`m Virginia Cha. Back to "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT."
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, 31 minutes past the hour, Friday night. I`m A.J. Hammer.
BRYANT: And I`m Karyn Bryant. You`re watching TV`s only live entertainment news show.
HAMMER: You ready for a real Hollywood showdown?
BRYANT: I guess.
HAMMER: It`s safe to say Arnold Schwarzenegger and Warren Beatty -- obviously, Arnold being the governor, and Warren being a very political person, they don`t see eye to eye politically. There`s been a war of words. You`ll get to hear what they`re saying to each other coming up in just a bit.
BRYANT: And also, Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford of Genesis -- I talked to them, great guys. Genesis, the band, has been around for years. They put out this terrific CD and DVD package. We`re going to talk to them about the band, how they started, tips for longevity in these days.
HAMMER: Will they go on tour?
BRYANT: I don`t know, A.J., I`ll ask.
HAMMER: I`ll tune in to find out. All that and more is on the way, but first, it`s the hottest story in Hollywood literally as we`ve been reporting. A massive fire has burned over 20,000 acres of land in the hills just outside of Los Angeles.
At this point, only 20 percent of the fire is actually contained, forcing celebrities and locals to run from the hills. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`S Brooke Anderson joining us live now again from Simi Valley -- Brooke.
BROOKE ANDERSON, HEADLINE NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, A.J. Well, I`m located on the northern end of these fires and you`re not seeing much smoke behind me right now because this area has pretty much been contained. They`re calling it a controlled burn. The residents have been let back into this neighborhood.
But I want to take to you Burbank. It`s about 30 miles southeast of here, a totally separate fire has begun. Fire officials here told on me about 500 acres have burned there. Now, Burbank is the home to many television and film studios, including Disney, Warner Brothers, Universal, NBC.
And at this point, no homes are at risk. You`re looking at live pictures right now of that fire in Burbank. But, A.J., as you said, this is a huge story out here, all anyone is talking about from Hollywood to the hills, 20,000 acres burned, 20 percent contained.
So, of course, the terminator came to the scene to check things out. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger just recently toured the devastation, toured the burned areas by helicopter. He then spoke at a press conference and in that press conference, he praised the work that thousands of firefighters have done to control these blazes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: So we`re moving forward, like I said, I`m a big friend of the firefighters. As a matter of fact, in one of my movies, I even played a firefighter.
I always complimented the firefighters because I think that they`re the true action heroes, that if others that had disasters in the past -- I didn`t want to mention any names, if they would have had that coordination, that kind of a team effort and that well prepared, they wouldn`t have had the kind of problems they had.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And now, I want to say these fires have caused a lot of concern, a lot of worry among residents. A number of celebrities live in the region, one including Bon Jovi`s Richie Sambora. I spoke with Richie yesterday. He told me he and his wife, Heather Locklear, have not evacuated their home. They`re monitoring the news to see what`s going on he said they are prepared to leave if necessary.
Also, Jessica Simpson, her husband Nick Lachey, Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith -- they all have homes in the region. But we`re told that they have not had to leave and that they are safe right now, fortunately.
And, you know, A.J., it seems every year the hot, dry conditions are breeding grounds for these fires. And with the rain that we had earlier this year, there`s so much more vegetation, so much more brush to burn, and, of course, we will keep you updated on all aspects, all angles, of these wildfires. Back to you.
HAMMER: I appreciate that very much, Brooke. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`S Brooke Anderson live in Simi Valley, California.
BRYANT: Tonight, a Hollywood smack down. Warren Beatty and Arnold Schwarzenegger are exchanging tough words in California, going head to head in the political arena. Here is CNN`s Bill Schneider for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER: It`s the Hollywood smack down. Senator Bullworth.
WARREN BEATTY: Socialism!
SCHNEIDER: ... takes on the terminator.
SCHWARZENEGGER: I`ll be back.
SCHNEIDER: After Warren Beatty criticized Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in a commencement speech last spring, the governor called him names.
BEATTY: Arnold had his spokesman called me a crackpot. That was a mistake.
SCHNEIDER: Beatty fired back in a speech to the California Nurses Association.
BEATTY: A Schwarzenegger Republican is a Bush Republican who says that he is a Schwarzenegger Republican.
SCHNEIDER: The nurses were thrilled because the governor has called them names, too.
SCHWARZENEGGER: Pay no attention to those voices over there, by the way. Those are the special interests.
SCHNEIDER: After the governor started picking fights with public employees, his adversaries started calling him a rude name.
BEATTY: I`m not calling him a crackpot. I`m just calling him and old-fashioned politician.
SCHNEIDER: Worse, an out-of-touch politician.
BEATTY: If he thinks that there are not two Americas, I call on him to talk with the 170 nurses that you`ve sent to New Orleans, and to Mississippi and to Texas.
SCHNEIDER: Schwarzenegger is dismissive of Beatty.
SCHWARZENEGGER: He does his thing and it`s perfectly fine with me. He can do all the speeches that he wants.
SCHNEIDER: The governor told the Associated Press, "I just think that maybe he is jealous that I did jump in." Beatty apparently is not jumping in.
BEATTY: I`ve always preferred not to run for public office and I still prefer not to run for public office. Don`t go there. I have a day job.
SCHNEIDER: One thing is certain, the name calling will go on.
BEATTY: Arnold says that he`s not in this for the short run. We have to show him that neither are we.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRYANT: That was CNN`s Bill Schneider reporting for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
HAMMER: It`s time for the "Showbiz Guide" where we help you decide where to best spend your dollars on music, movies DVDs and more. Tonight, we`re doing "People" magazine`s Picks & Pans, new movies.
"The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio," "Capote," and "Oliver Twist" are all out and on our block tonight. Joining us from "People" magazine will be critic Leah Rozen. Nice to see you, as always, Leah.
LEAH ROZEN, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Thank you, A.J.
HAMMER: Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson starring together in a true story, "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio." It`s a long title.
ROZEN: Long title, but good movie, and not that long a movie. This is based on a true story about a housewife in the 1950s with ten kids and a husband who drank pretty much his salary away who kept a roof over their head and milk on the kitchen table by writing prize-winning jingles, winning contests.
And it`s just -- it`s a good film about a pre-feminist era when there weren`t too many other options. Julianne Moore, as always, is just sensational.
HAMMER: Nice. Good pick for the weekend.
ROZEN: Yes.
HAMMER: Excellent. Well, then let`s move on to "Capote." One of my favorite actors, Philip Seymour Hoffman, taking on a complex pretty complex character.
ROZEN: Oh yes. He`s playing Truman Capote, the writer. And, I mean, he`s on track for an Oscar nomination. No way is he not going to get one for this. It`s a biopic, but what they have really smartly done is they`ve just focused on a few years in Capote`s life when he was writing "In Cold Blood," when he was reporting on the murders in Kansas and writing the book that made his name.
But you`re seeing the seeds for what would be his downward slide and it`s just -- it`s a smart film. And it`s really well acted by Hoffman and by Catherine Keener.
HAMMER: Nice to hear that it was such a great performance from Hoffman, who has been looking for the right lead role for a long time.
ROZEN: Oh, and in this, he just -- he nails Capote but at the same time, it`s not just an invitation. It`s an interpretation. And you see, you know, a writer will betray anyone for a story.
HAMMER: Let`s move on now quickly to Oliver Twist, the Dickens tale that has been told in movies since 1909. How is this take with Ben Kingsley?
ROZEN: This is directed by Roman Polanski. And you would think that Polanski was going to bring something of himself to it since he sort of wandered around during World War II pretty much an orphan himself almost and he doesn`t. And that`s a disappointment. It`s a faithful Dickens version. It`s a beautiful looking film, but there`s not anything special about it.
HAMMER: We appreciate your take on it, Leah. That is Leah Rozen from "People" magazine, and for more Picks & Pans, as always, you can check out the new issue of "People" which is on newsstands now.
BRYANT: Coming up, Genesis. These guys have rocked their fans for three decades and they have a lot to say, including some strong opinions about Usher and Eminem. Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford join us for the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
HAMMER: Plus, how things might get even worse for supermodel Kate Moss. That`s coming up in the "Legal Lowdown."
But first, as we reported earlier, "The New York Times" reporter Judith Miller finally broke her silence today, testifying before a grand jury after spending 12 weeks in jail. Miller wouldn`t give up her confidential source in a White House CIA leak investigation and was sent to the slammer back in July, but she agreed to speak out today after her source said it was OK.
Now we want to hear from you on this. Judith Miller freed -- did she deserve to go to jail? If you`d like to vote, cnn.com/showbiztonight is our URL on the World Wide Web. You can also write to us at showbiztonight@cnn.com. E-mails on the way at 55 past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)rMD+IN_rMDNM_
BRYANT: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Karyn Bryant.
It is time for another "Showbiz Sitdown." This time, Genesis. They`re one of the most successful rock bands of the `70s, `80s and `90s, with hits like "Follow You, Follow Me," "Invisible Touch," and "I Can`t Dance." The band also launched the hugely successful solo careers of Peter Gabriel, who was the original lead singer, and Phil Collins.
I sat down with two members of the classic genesis line-up, Phil Collins and guitarist Mike Rutherford. We chatted about their new DVD/video collection, the chances of a reunion, and what it was like for Genesis in the beginning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE RUTHERFORD, GENESIS: Tony Banks, myself and Peter Gabriel, a school band. Made the first album and then Phil joined on the drums `til sort of mid-`70s and then Peter Gabriel left. Moving along here, Phil stepped from behind the kit to the front.
PHIL COLLINS, GENESIS: Well, one of my things when I started singing was that I couldn`t do that. You know, I mean, Peter`s eccentricity, if you`d like -- I was much more open and friendly, I think, to the audience than Peter, who was more mysterious. And I`m kind of the guy that everybody thinks they know, you know?
BRYANT: You guys have made some really memorable videos over here. I particularly remember the one with the puppets. We`re talking "Land of Confusion."
(MUSIC)
RUTHERFORD: We just wrote -- you know, we had the song and the lyrics and the idea and discussed it. But I mean, how often can you have in a video? We had, you know, Madonna, the pope, we had Mick Jagger.
BRYANT: Obviously, it seems that sense of humor was important to you in videos.
RUTHERFORD: That humor, I think, brings the audience into the band.
BRYANT: You kind -- you burst the balloon before somebody comes along and bursts it for you.
COLLINS: I think it`s definitely -- it`s our personalities, you know. It`s what we do. To me, the great -- the ones that still stand up are "I Can`t Dance" and "Invisible Touch." And "Jesus, He Knows Me," which is my favorite.
(MUSIC)
BRYANT: Genesis has lasted for such a long time. You still hear your songs on the radio all the time. What would you tell a baby band these days is the secret to longevity?
RUTHERFORD: I think it`s important to have a live career, a live following.
COLLINS: Yes, it was pretty impossible to be a success when we started without the live thing, you know. I mean, certainly for us, we weren`t writing hit singles, there was no MTV.
RUTHERFORD: It was so easy, actually.
COLLINS: Well, it`s so different.
RUTHERFORD: You`d do a tour then.
COLLINS: If you wanted to see us, you had to go dig us out. And you know, and we`d playing six or seven nights a week.
BRYANT: You see bands like The Rolling Stones still going out there touring.
COLLINS: Yes.
BRYANT: Are we going to see Genesis playing together, perhaps?
COLLINS: Possibly, possibly not. I think we`re open to the idea of - - you know, we`re open to the idea of doing something. We`re great friends. I mean, this isn`t the first time we`ve seen each other for years. I mean, you know, we -- and we have that Genesis reunions, at my wedding and my birthday. You know, we play together. And we`re still great friends.
BRYANT: But would you still tour when you`re 65?
RUTHERFORD: That`s such a long way off.
COLLINS: I can`t see that far ahead.
RUTHERFORD: But it`s quite interesting. It won`t feel the same. You know, ten years ago, the idea that people could be a certain age and still do the live stuff. And a good live band`s a good live band.
COLLINS: And people still come to see them.
BRYANT: What do you guys like to listen to these days?
RUTHERFORD: In England -- there`s a lot more good bands in England that we (INAUDIBLE) like. Eden`s good.
COLLINS: Coldplay.
RUTHERFORD: Coldplay. I mean, there`s a lot more bands coming up which I quite like, actually.
(MUSIC)
COLLINS: But I mean, listening to Rush`s album, the last one he did, every song has a character. Every song has got a reason to be in there. Eminem`s another guy I think is a very smart guy.
BRYANT: What do you think is next for you, individually together? I know you`re working on Broadway, perhaps...
COLLINS: Broadway! Yes, I`ve been writing a musical with Disney for the last four years, of "Tarzan." And that`s finally going to come out next May.
RUTHERFORD: And I`m still doing a bit of Mike and the Mechanics. I still enjoy that.
BRYANT: No, I mean, yes, it`s great. It`s great to hear that you`re friends and you`re still doing it, it`s possible. Because you hear so many of the risks and these -- people don`t like each other anymore...
RUTHERFORD: They normally fall out -- they normally fall out over the money.
COLLINS: Yes.
RUTHERFORD: And we`ve had our -- I think (INAUDIBLE) great manager, Tony Smith (ph), from the word go. He manages all the...
COLLINS: That has taken all the money.
BRYANT: I was just about to say...
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRYANT: Those guys actually have a really great sense of humor. Nice guys. The Genesis platinum collection CD debuted at number 100 on the Billboard`s 200 album chart this weekend, and Genesis, the video show/DVD, is in stores now.
HAMMER: Here we go, time for the "Legal Lowdown," a look at what`s going on in the world of entertainment legal news.
On the docket tonight, "Baretta" star Robert Blake testifies about the murder of his wife. He has been giving different accounts about the night of her death, and a lot of people are kind of surprised by all the excuses he`s dishing out for this.
And, supermodel Kate Moss may be charged with a crime. This after British tabloids published photos of her apparently snorting cocaine.
And joining us live from Glendale, California, our friend Harvey Levin, the managing editor of the soon-to-be-launched entertainment news site, tmz.com.
All right, Harvey, let`s get into this Robert Blake situation. Of course, he was acquitted on murder charges for the death of his late wife, Bonnie Lee Bakley. Now, the civil trial`s underway. And as is required in a civil trial, he has to take the stand. He`s taken the stand now. We`re hearing him tell his side of things in court for the very first time.
First up, would you give us some background here? Just, for background purposes, why is this civil trial taking place?
HARVEY LEVIN, EDITOR, TMZ.COM: Well, it`s taking place because Bonnie Lee Bakley`s children are pursuing Blake the way Nicole Brown Simpson`s and Ron Goldman`s family pursued O.J. Simpson after the criminal trial. There`s still the possibility of getting money out of this guy, if a jury believes -- a civil jury believes that he`s the killer.
Remember, the standard of proof is different. In a civil case, all you have to do is tip the scales a little bit, prove that it`s more likely than not he did it. In a criminal case, you have to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, which is much higher. So even though, as with O.J. Simpson -- even though Robert Blake won his criminal case, he could lose civilly.
HAMMER: And as I mentioned, he has, as required, taken the stand. I`m sure the testimony has been fascinating. What kinds of things are we hearing?
LEVIN: Well, I mean, to me, the headline is, when confronted with some inconsistencies, Blake basically said, look, I`m a human being, I`m 72, and I`m dyslexic. And you know, a level, that`s pretty compelling. Because it`s true. People don`t remember the same thing exactly over a period of four years. They just don`t. And it`s so common in cases that people are caught in little inconsistencies.
And I think it`s a danger for the lawyer who`s going after Robert Blake to start nailing him on every single thing, because people really do -- on juries, they say, give the guy a break. He`s a human being, he doesn`t remember certain details. That doesn`t make him a killer.
HAMMER: So, responding in this way, is that actually helpful to him in the civil case, or is he kind of looking goofy up there?
LEVIN: Well, you know, Robert Blake is goofy. And Robert Blake does bizarre things. And you know, there were times he got really contentious with a lawyer. I mean, one of the big inconsistencies was, at one point, he had said that he put the gun in the restaurant on the floor and another time he said he put it on the actual banquette. So there was some inconsistency there, but again, I don`t think juries necessarily say, ah- ha, we caught you in an inconsistency, therefore, you`re a killer. I don`t think it goes that far.
HAMMER: And being goofy, as you`ve called him -- and this is just speculative, of course, but do you think, had he taken the stand in the criminal trial, the outcome would have been different?
LEVIN: That`s a good question, and I don`t and I`ll tell you why. The prosecutor in that case, I believe, painted herself into a corner and I think the lawyer in this case is doing exactly the same thing. They`re saying, essentially, Robert Blake was the trigger man. Robert Blake took a gun and killed his wife. The problem is, number one, they say he solicited two other people to do it, so if he was looking for other people, why did he do it himself?
But more importantly, no eyewitnesses that Blake did it. There`s no DNA proving that he did it. There`s no blood on Blake, which you would have expected to see, and finally -- and you know what, there`s no gun residue that would show he pulled the trigger. And that`s a huge gaping hole. What they`re not saying is, what if Blake did get somebody else and didn`t do it himself and used all of this as a ruse. But nobody`s going in that direction.
HAMMER: All right, we got to quickly move to supermodel Kate Moss -- we`re running out of time, Harvey. Very quickly of course, she`s now reportedly in rehab since these photos of her allegedly using cocaine were published, lost a bunch of jobs, modeling contracts. British police now looking into possibly charging her with a crime. What would the charge be here? What`s the crime?
LEVIN: The crime would be using cocaine. The problem is, they generally don`t prosecute people for that. And I think if they actually went after Kate Moss for that -- because the chief of police said we want to make an example of her so young kids don`t do this -- that`s what you call selective prosecution. I don`t think you can start picking certain people out and saying, we generally don`t prosecute but we`ll go after her because she`s a celebrity. I think that`s a real problem and that could be something that Kate Moss could use if she`s ever prosecuted.
HAMMER: And wouldn`t they run into trouble here anyway because wouldn`t they need evidence to have any kind of a case?
LEVIN: Yes, you need evidence. Look, there`s a photograph of her, but you don`t know what it is she`s doing. And she didn`t say, I used cocaine. She said, I take responsibility for my action. So that`s not a confession. I think they would probably need something more than that if they really are considering prosecuting her.
HAMMER: And this at this point may or may not happen. They`re still figuring it all out.
LEVIN: My guess is, it`s not going to happen.
HAMMER: Harry Levin, thank you for your insight. We`ll keep watching both stories: Robert Blake as he stays on the trial and Kate Moss, that story will continue to unfold. Appreciate it.
BRYANT: There`s still time for to you sound off on our question of the day. Judith Miller free -- did she deserve to go to jail? You can vote at CNN.com/ShowBizTonight or write to us at ShowBiz Tonight, CNN.com. We`ll read some of your e-mails live next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRYANT: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Karyn Bryant.
Throughout the show we`ve been asking you to vote online on our showbiz tonight question of the day. Judith Miller freed -- did she deserve to go to jail? Let`s take a look at how the vote is going so far - - 29 percent of you say, yes, she did, 71 percent say, no, she did not. Here`s one of the e-mails we received. Esteban from California writes "Judith Miller should have definitely been sent to prison. The outing of a CIA agent is a matter of national security." Well, remember, you can keep voting at CNN.com/showbiztonight.
HAMMER: A lot of big entertainment for people this weekend. Baseball as the season winds down.
BRYANT: Go Sox.
HAMMER: Of course, the Yankees will be beating the Red Sox.
BRYANT: I don`t think. But we Red Sox fans are used to the letdown. Last year was a beautiful thing.
HAMMER: Boston native, New York native.
BRYANT: We`ll see what happens. Either way, Patriots will probably win again.
That`s it for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Karyn Bryant.
HAMMER: And I`m A.J. Hammer. Stay tuned for the latest from CNN Headline News.
END
