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Showbiz Tonight

Dr. Phil: Natalee Holloway Could be Alive; Shooting Begins for 9/11 Film; Brooke Shields Looking Forward to Second Child

Aired November 03, 2005 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CO-HOST: I`m David Haffenreffer filling in for A.J. Hammer.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CO-HOST: And I`m Brooke Anderson. TV`s only entertainment news show starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HAFFENREFFER (voice-over): On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, a shocking theory on what might have happened to Natalee Holloway. Tonight why Dr. Phil thinks she`s still alive and might have been kidnapped to be a sex slave.

ANDERSON (voice-over): Oliver Stone`s 9/11 movie with Nicholas Cage. The cameras are rolling, and SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has your first look behind the scenes. Tonight we asked, is it too soon to dramatize on film the most dramatic event in U.S. history?

HAFFENREFFER: Jamie-Lynn DiScala`s amazing story of struggling with anorexia and exercise bulimia.

JAMIE-LYNN DISCALA, ACTRESS: I seriously contemplated suicide.

HAFFENREFFER: Tonight in a special report, "The Sopranos" star reveals the chilling details of the darkest days of her life.

ANDERSON: Brook Shields, baby No. 2 on the way. After her public battle with post-partum depression, what is she concerned about this time around? Brooke Shields one-on-one in the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

BROOKE SHIELDS, ACTRESS: Hi, I`m Brooke Shields. If it happens today it`s on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Hi, I`m Brooke Anderson.

HAFFENREFFER: And I`m David Haffenreffer, in for A.J. Hammer.

Tonight, a shocking claim in the case of missing teen Natalee Holloway, as she might be alive and a slave in a sex ring, and it comes from talk show host Dr. Phil.

ANDERSON: That`s right. Dr. Phil has made it his mission to help find Holloway. And what he said on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" has left people stunned.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. PHIL MCGRAW, TALK SHOW HOST: We have reasonable belief -- without creating false hope, we have reasonable belief and some credible evidence that Natalee Holloway is alive.

ANDERSON (voice-over): A shocking twist in a heartbreaking and still unsolved mystery, the case of missing Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway. She disappeared during a trip to Aruba five months ago, touching off a major media fascination.

Talk show host Dr. Phil has sent his own investigators into Aruba to find out what happened to her. On "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" last night, he suggested Holloway may still be alive, but in a horrifying situation.

MCGRAW: We cannot prove that at this point, and we don`t know where she is, but, you know, there is a huge sex slave underground in some of those countries down there. Young women have disappeared from that part of the world before.

ANDERSON: Sadly, Dr. Phil is right. Young women being sold into sex slavery is not unheard of in Aruba. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has uncovered a U.S. State Department report that labeled Aruba "a transit and destination region for trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation."

The report also said that in Aruba and neighboring Curacao, 500 foreign women are in prostitution, some of whom may have been trafficked.

MIRA SORVINO, ACTRESS: I think she was trafficked.

ANDERSON: A recent Lifetime Network miniseries, "Human Trafficking," starring Oscar-winner Mira Sorvino, dramatized the horrors of the international sex slave trade.

SORVINO: We must face the fact that none of this horror would be possible if our culture didn`t create a demand for it.

ANDERSON: One psychotherapist tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that women, particularly young women, are vulnerable to kidnapping, especially in a foreign country.

DR. ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: They`re young, they`re naive, they`re at the height of their attractiveness, and their lifestyle in part makes them vulnerable. They`re going to parties, they`re going bars, they may be drinking. Sometimes they`re alone. And anything that makes you more vulnerable an abductor will look for that and go in for the kill.

ANDERSON: Pop singer Ricky Martin has been working with the United Nations to stop human trafficking. He recently told me that the situation makes him frustrated and angry.

RICKY MARTIN, POP SINGER: We`re talking about slavery. This is the slavery of a new era, and two million children are forced into -- into prostitution and pornography every year.

ANDERSON: Still, this kind of speculation in the Natalee Holloway case remains just that, speculation. The truth is there have been few major developments since the three local men who were the last to see her alive were released from jail.

And now, more than five months after Natalee Holloway first made headlines, Dr. Phil and her family say they`re determined to keep her in the headlines.

MCGRAW: Just imagine if you have been abducted and you`re catching news somewhere or you`re seeing yourself in the news. And all of a sudden it just goes away, and you`re just left and nobody`s looking for you.

We all have kind of a short attention span, and when the next big thing hits, you know, we move on that. The headlines change, and we move to the next story. And I just don`t think that`s going happen here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Dr. Phil said on "The Tonight Show" that he has devoted every resource at his disposal to looking for Natalee Holloway.

HAFFENREFFER: And this Saturday the TV show "America`s Most Wanted" will have an update on the Natalee Holloway case and show some exclusive video of the underwater investigation that took place off the shores of Aruba.

John Walsh, the host of "America`s Most Wanted" joins me now.

Welcome to the program.

JOHN WALSH, HOST, FOX`s "AMERICA`S MOST WANTED": Thank you.

HAFFENREFFER: First, before we take a look at that video, I want to ask you about the Natalee Holloway case. Dr. Phil McGraw on the air talking about how he believes Natalee Holloway is alive. He`s kind of adopting this case on his program, trying to help the family track her down, saying he believes she may be alive and that she may have been sold into some kind of sex slave circle.

WALSH: I don`t know where he comes up with that theory. The publicity to keep this case alive is a good thing, but the innuendo and speculation, I don`t know where that theory came up with.

I mean, 99.9 percent of the time the woman is missing under those circumstances is probably dead. And I think the Holloway family would love to think that she was alive somewhere.

But the three suspects, I mean, they changed their stories three times. If -- you know, if you`re innocent you don`t change it. They first said it was two black security guards at the Holiday Inn. Then they changed their story that, you know, he left her at the beach alone. Then one of them said -- one of the brothers said that they all had sex with her when she was coming in and out of consciousness when she`s drunk.

You know, you don`t change your story. I mean, I think the reality of this is that -- that they know what happened to her, those three guys. It`s -- there was terrible police work, mistakes made from the beginning. They`ll be lucky if they find her body.

I`ve talked about Holloway several times and said, you know, she just wants to know what happened to Beth (sic), but the likelihood of being sold to sex slavery, it`s pretty farfetched.

HAFFENREFFER: You guys have some video that nobody`s ever seen before about this underwater investigation. We can take a look at that. Tell me a little bit about what came out of that investigation.

WALSH: Well, not much. I mean, there was a -- there was a possibility of a sighting of maybe her body there and EquuSearch went down and looked at it. Then we also found a strange, bizarre monument on the beach to her that police are looking into that.

So we`re show all that on Saturday night and hope somebody has the guts to call up and say, "Hey, we know something about this case."

HAFFENREFFER: You`re taking a look in your new season, which basically gets underway this fall here, the 18th year anniversary of "America`s Most Wanted." The collar bomber case. This is the pizza delivery man who was trying to tell police that he`d been basically kidnapped, put a bomb around his neck and told to go rob a bank. Why did you pick up this case?

WALSH: Well, I have a real personal investment in this case, because I believed from the beginning that this guy was just an innocent pawn of a horrible game. It is starting to prove to be the case.

I mean, he was murdered on television. I mean, there were local TV crews there, watching him plead for his life. The police had handcuffed him, had him in front of the police car. I would have hoped that the bomb squad would have come sooner, but the bomb exploded.

And now as we`ve done the case, we`ve gotten some really good clues, and I think that we`re going to be able to break this case open. I think that several people, three in particular, one of whom is dead, planned this as a lark to see if they could get away with killing someone and placing a bomb around their neck.

And one of the suspects, one of the people of interest, died of cancer, and when the police went in their house they found a body frozen in the freezer and a guy that was a wanted fugitive on the lam. So, you know, I think the -- I think we`re going crack this case. I really do.

HAFFENREFFER: This pizza delivery man from Pennsylvania simply in the wrong case at the wrong time.

WALSH: Brian Wells, this poor guy, he had no record. He was a volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club, an aspiring musician. And I think that it was a horrible prank to see if these people could get away with killing somebody with this stupid scavenger hunt information they gave him, you know, to rob this bank.

HAFFENREFFER: John Walsh, great to see you again. Thanks for being with us.

And "America`s Most Wanted" airs Saturday night on FOX.

ANDERSON: It`s a day that`s still full of nightmarish memories for most Americans. Now 9/11 is being made into a movie. Coming up, we have your first look behind the scenes of Oliver Stone`s film.

Plus...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA ZAHN, HOST, "PAULA ZAHN NOW": How seriously did you consider suicide?

DISCALA: Pretty seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAFFENREFFER: "Sopranos" star Jamie-Lynn DiScala opens up about the battle with eating disorders that nearly killed her. Jamie-Lynn DiScala`s painful ordeal coming up in a special report.

ANDERSON: And my candid talk with Brooke Shields about her struggle with post-partum depression and how she`s feeling with a second babe on the way. That`s coming up on the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

HAFFENREFFER: First, tonight`s "Entertainment Weekly Great American Pop Culture Quiz." Which baseball team did George Clooney once try out for? Was it the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers or the Philadelphia Phillies? We`ll be right back with the answer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HAFFENREFFER: So again, tonight`s "Entertainment Weekly Great American Pop Culture Quiz." Which baseball team did George Clooney once try out for? The answer, is "A," the Cincinnati Reds.

ANDERSON: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Brooke Anderson.

SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has your first look on the set of the most controversial movie being made right now. Oliver Stone and Nicholas Cage have teamed up to shoot one of the first movies about September 11. They say they`re approaching it with reverence and respect, but is America ready?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON (voice-over): It`s an important moment: actors Nicholas Cage and Michael Pena meeting the last two survivors of the World Trade Center attacks. They`ll be playing these heroic officers in director Oliver Stone`s untitled movie. It just began shooting, and SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is giving you this behind the scenes look.

It`s one of Hollywood`s first films about the September 11 attacks. The story is about these two police officers, Sergeant John McLoughlin and Officer William Jimeno. They were rescued from the trade center rubble after being trapped for a terrifying 22 hours.

(on camera) I`m here at Ground Zero. There`s no doubt this is sacred ground. That`s why some families of the victims of September 11 are making extra sure that Stone treats the story with proper respect.

CHARLES WOLF, LOST WIFE IN 9/11 ATTACKS: I`m concerned about revisionist history, and I am -- I am very sure that they`re not going do that.

ANDERSON (voice-over): Charles Wolf lost his wife on September 11, and he tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT he`s been working with producers at Paramount to make sure the movie portrays the day`s events accurately.

WOLF: It turns out that are -- they`re being extremely sensitive about this. They`re -- they`re -- it`s an actual depiction. It is not a - - it`s not going to be -- you`re not going see planes hitting the buildings. You`re not going see the buildings falling. You`re not going to see bodies falling.

ANDERSON: Some raised concerns about how Stone might interpret the attacks in the film, like reporter John Schumo of New York One. He covered the entire story of the two officers as it was happening.

JOHN SCHUMO, NEW YORK ONE: These stories tend to be so dramatic that the film versions and the play versions and the TV versions tend to rub some of the 9/11 victims` family members the wrong way. Why dramatize an already dramatic event?

ANDERSON: Oliver Stone`s redramatization of another national tragedy was steeped in controversy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I stepped down to the curb and yelled, "Hey, Mr. President."

ANDERSON: In "JFK," Stone included conspiracy theories, which families of 9/11 victims want to make sure doesn`t happen in this movie.

But the movie`s producers say they will take great care to depict the day`s event as it happened, without injecting politics. Nicholas Cage told SHOWBIZ TONIGHT he understands people`s concerns.

NICHOLAS CAGE, ACTOR: This is not an exploitive movie. This is not in any way an action film. This is a story with -- about a handful of cops who went into the World Trade Center. It`s a true story based on fact. These are real living people.

ANDERSON (on camera): So is making a movie about September 11 ultimately a good idea? We decided to ask people for ourselves.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like anything that we -- when we capitalize on someone`s tragedy that -- then you`re walking a thin line and especially to make money from.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess my strongest feeling is that, if it was done and it helped the victims from this somehow, I think it would be a great thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it`s too soon. I think they should give it a little time before they start making all these movies about what happened here. I still think about it.

ANDERSON (voice-over): Four years have passed since 9/11, and this is still a hot button issue, but producers promise a movie that is based more on truth and less on drama.

WOLF: Listen, I`m not a gushy type of person, but I will say this, that I believe that the representation that they`re doing, and I will tell you this, that Oliver Stone himself is very, very keen on getting this right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: And something important to note, Stone is shooting much of the fill on set in Los Angeles, not in New York. And he plans to release the film in August of next year, one month before the fifth anniversary of 9/11.

HAFFENREFFER: Lindsey Lohan has signed on for a movie with some pretty heavy subject matter of its own. After a string of teen queen type roles, today we learned that Lohan will co-star in an independent film about the murder of John Lennon.

The movie is called "Chapter 27," and Lohan is playing a Lennon fan who makes friends with Mark David Chapman, just days before he kills Lennon outside his New York City apartment building. Jared Leto is playing Chapman. There is no word yet on who will be playing John Lennon.

ANDERSON: Tonight, a "SHOWBIZ Sit-down" with Brooke Shields. She`s the spokeswoman for Fertility Lifeline, a free and confidential fertility service, and in a very honest and personal interview today, Brooke opened up to me about her battle with fertility and postpartum depression, her battle with Tom Cruise, and how she`s taking a break from Broadway for awhile to focus on her new baby that`s on the way. I asked her if this pregnancy was a planned one.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHIELDS: It was, in an odd way, incredibly planned and not at all. We had gone through all of our fertility to have our first daughter, and we were in the process of going through it all again. We were just in the beginning of the process when we discovered that we were actually...

ANDERSON: So, naturally, like, anatomically has your body changed maybe?

SHIELDS: My body actually anatomically has changed considerably, only through -- I mean, again without going into too much crazy detail, because it`s just my story, but the fertility that I went through in the beginning that and the conception and the delivery all contributed to the fact that I actually, surprisingly, did conceive.

ANDERSON: You suffered severe post-partum depression. Are you worried or are you anxious that that will happen again?

SHIELDS: I`m not anxious, because I now know that I`m a possible candidate for it.

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: You`ve got to understand. I really care about Brooke Shields.

ANDERSON: What about the negative attention, Tom Cruise publicly criticizing your view of anti-depressants. I have to ask, where were you when you heard he did that and what did you think?

SHIELDS: No, I really didn`t think too much about any of it. I was in London, but -- I -- what I`ve been sort of shocked by, to be honest, is how my one little story, although very big to me, has become this -- sort of provided this template for -- for so many different stories to sort of come to light and people to be willing to speak about it.

ANDERSON: Your name came up on "The Today Show" again this morning.

SHIELDS: Oh, no.

ANDERSON: A top scientology official on "The Today Show" mentioned you by name and then criticized Paxil, the drug that you used for post- partum depression.

SHIELDS: Which I successfully used, that I got off of, you know.

ANDERSON: And all other drugs. Mentioned you by name.

MICHAEL RINDER, CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY: The very drug that Brooke Shields was on, Paxil, a study came out and said that people who are taking Paxil have seven times more likely to commit suicide as someone who takes a placebo.

ANDERSON: What do you think about that?

SHIELDS: I think it just goes to show you that -- that this whole fertility issue, this whole -- this whole situation with women and families and -- is really, really changing. People are needing to come on different in formats, and they`re needing to speak their voice about it.

ANDERSON: Ironically, Tom Cruise`s fiancee pregnant, as well. No one would wish for her to have post-partum depression, but if she did, what would she do? Could you handle it without a little medication?

SHIELDS: You know, I don`t know her. I don`t know what her biology is, so I can`t -- I`m not a doctor, so I don`t really -- I mean, I -- I was in a position where I was declining rapidly. And my biochemistry was in such flux and was in such imbalance that, had I not -- I would not have -- I mean, I missed time anyway. I missed, like I missed that day when I got home. I missed those few weeks before I even started to begin to feel better.

ANDERSON: Can you now focus on this pregnancy? "Chicago," you`ve wrapped up your run there. So what are you planning to do and when is the baby due? Do you know?

SHIELDS: It`s too early to tell. We haven`t gotten to that place yet, because it`s harder to chart this one. It`s just -- I don`t know. I mean, it`s a relief to not have to put my dancing shoes on and climb up a ladder. So I have to say that that`s a bit of a relief.

ANDERSON: Last question. Is Rowan excited to be a big sister?

SHIELDS: She announces it to whoever she meets that I have a chubby belly.

ANDERSON: But you don`t.

SHIELDS: Well, it`s definitely not flat any longer. I said to her, you know, "The good news is you`ll always be my baby. You really will always be my baby and if you decide you don`t want to be, tell me and it will be our little secret."

And she said, "OK, Mommy."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Brooke and her writer -- her husband, writer Chris Henchy, are ecstatic, but she told me at times she felt like a failure when she could not easily conceive her first child.

Brooke urged anyone with fertility concerns to call Fertility Lifelines at 1-866-LETS-TRY or log on to FertilityLifelines.com. She said it`s a resource she wished she`d had.

HAFFENREFFER: All right. Now we want to hear from you. It`s our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Health issues: do celebrities who speak out make a difference? You can vote at CNN.com/ShowbizTonight or send us an e-mail at ShowbizTonight@CNN.com. We`ll read some of your thoughts a bit later on in the program.

ANDERSON: Coming up, the dramatic closing arguments in Robert Blake`s civil trial over the murder of his wife after Blake takes the stand. We`ll tell you what he said, coming up in the "Legal Lowdown."

Plus...

HAFFENREFFER: Well, the secret hell that consumed "Sopranos" star, Jamie-Lynn DiScala. She talks candidly about her struggle with eating disorders. That`s all coming up in a special report.

ANDERSON: And we`re going to tell you why Goldie Hawn was all smiles in New York. That`s next on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HAFFENREFFER: Well, the stars were out in New York last night to honor "Glamour" magazine`s 2005 women of the year and, of course, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT was right there for you.

The magazine gives out awards in different categories. And Catherine Zeta Jones won for Killer Talent. Melissa Etheridge, the Accidental Activist, recognizing her battle with breast cancer. Petra Nemcova for surviving the 2004 Indonesia tsunami. And Goldie Hawn took home a lifetime achievement award for bringing smiles to people`s faces as the Laugh Legend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOLDIE HAWN, ACTRESS: I get to tell stories. I get to find the laugh. I get to share it. These are really positive, amazing things. There is a place for it in this world, and it`s vitally important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAFFENREFFER: By the way, CNN`s own Christiane Amanpour as the News Source for her reporting. The "Glamour" women of the year awards will air this month and next. As they say, check your local listings.

ANDERSON: Kevin Federline is trying to rap his way out of being known as only as Mr. Britney Spears, but he`s already getting some unfavorable reviews. That`s coming up.

Plus...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DISCALA: I seriously contemplated suicide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAFFENREFFER: The secret hell that consumed "Sopranos" star Jamie- Lynn DiScala, her struggle with eating disorders, coming up in a special report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOPHIA CHOI, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: Hi there. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT continues in just a minute. I`m Sophia Choi with your "Headline Prime Newsbreak."

Vice President Dick Cheney`s former chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, pleaded not guilty to perjury and obstruction of justice charges today. Libby is the first sitting White House official to be indicted in 130 years. Libby`s next hearing is set for February 3rd.

And if you`re one of the chosen ones, you might not have to get to the airport so early to catch a flight. The Bush administration says it plans on moving forward with a national prescreening plan that allows business travelers and frequent fliers to bypass extra security. The plan could go into effect next summer.

And in New York earlier, it was a contest of the wills. All to see who could eat the most grapes. At 409 pounds, Ed "Cookie" Jarvis took the title -- there he is -- putting away nine pounds in 10 minutes.

That`s the news for now. I`m Sophia Choi. Now back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

HAFFENREFFER: And welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s only live entertainment news program. I`m David Haffenreffer, in for A.J. Hammer.

ANDERSON: I`m Brooke Anderson.

Tonight, a special report, the remarkably frank and disturbing story of a major TV star`s almost deadly battle with an eating disorder.

HAFFENREFFER: Indeed. "Sopranos" star Jamie Lynn DiScala suffered in silence as she became obsessed with not eating and remaining stick thin. Then one day, a breakdown that wound up saving her life. Tonight, Jamie Lynn in her own words.

Here`s CNN`s Paula Zahn for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE LYNN DISCALA, ACTRESS, "SOPRANOS": Want to look out for ducks, Dad?

PAULA ZAHN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It would be the role of a lifetime for 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Sigler, who started acting when she was seven and always dreamed of being a star. But behind the scenes, Jamie Lynn was in a desperate fight for her life.

(on-screen): How seriously did you consider suicide?

DISCALA: Pretty seriously.

ZAHN (voice-over): It was a shocking turnaround for this New York teen who seemed to have it all.

Jamie Lynn succeeded at everything she did, until her first boyfriend, her first love, broke up with her in the fall of 1997.

DISCALA: You know, was I not good enough? Was I not pretty enough? Was I not skinny enough?

And it was at the time where a lot of my friends started talking about dieting, calories, exercise, something that was never discussed, never a concern of mine or any of us, and it ended up becoming an obsession. Within four months, I might probably dropped almost 40 pounds.

ZAHN (on-screen): That is an amazing amount of weight.

DISCALA: Oh, yes.

ZAHN: What did you do?

DISCALA: It started off kind of pretty innocently, I guess, I can say, because I started, you know, maybe just doing, like, 20 minutes on the treadmill before school and then deciding I wasn`t going have any dessert anymore.

And then, when I saw the scale start to go down, well, then, I thought, well, what happens now, if maybe I exercise an hour before school and don`t eat bread? And that snowballed into exercising 4 1/2 hours before school every morning and basically eating next to nothing.

ZAHN: What time were you getting up in the morning?

DISCALA: 3:00 a.m.

ZAHN (voice-over): Jamie Lynn`s eating disorder is called exercise bulimia. Exercise bulimics work out to purge what they have eaten in much the same way bulimics vomit after eating.

Chronic, obsessive exercise, accompanied by vigilant, nearly compulsive focus on calories. And Jamie Lynn counted every last one, using a calculator to make sure she always burned every last calorie she consumed and more.

On some days that could be as few as 400. All it would take was the outside of a bagel, a fat-free yogurt, and a diet frozen dinner.

(on-screen): What else would you eat the rest of the day?

DISCALA: Lots of diet soda. Lots of diet soda.

ZAHN: I don`t count that as food. I count that as drink.

DISCALA: I would constantly make excuses that I ate already, or I wasn`t hungry, or I was rushing here or there.

ZAHN (voice-over): Jamie Lynn kept on losing weight. She would exercise whenever and wherever she could. For extra exercise, fidgeting in school. When she had to do laundry, taking her laundry down to the basement one item at a time so she had to take extra trips.

DISCALA: I was completely physically and mentally addicted to the exercise and the restricting of calories. I was wearing, you know, basically children`s clothes. I mean, I was a teenager and back to children`s sizes.

It was hard to find clothes that would fit. And it was, like, every week I would see my reflection of my back and see more bones coming out, more ribs, and more hip bone. And it was awful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at me. This is no joke.

ZAHN: During this low point in her life came what should have been a high point in her career. In November of 1997, HBO announced that "The Sopranos" was being picked up for five seasons.

It should have been a dream come true for Jamie Lynn. But under the spell of her eating disorder, nothing else mattered.

DISCALA: I truly lost a will to live. I seriously contemplated suicide because I felt that no one in this world would ever understand the constant battle I had in my head every day.

ZAHN: Jamie Lynn`s rock-bottom moment came soon after, on a drive with her parents into New York to go rollerblading. Because they left the house more than 45 minutes late, Jamie Lynn`s strict exercise and eating schedule was completely disrupted, a disaster for an exercise bulimic.

DISCALA: I was shaking and crying in the back of the car. And my parents were crying, because they didn`t know what to do. And it`s where it just all became too much. And I blurted out, "I have an eating disorder. I want help."

And my parents pulled the car over in FDR. And I remember we hugged, and we cried. And the next day, I was, you know, with a therapist, nutritionist. I was on Prozac.

ZAHN: Jamie Lynn cut down on the exercise, started eating more, and explored with the therapist the underlying causes of her eating disorder. The antidepressant Prozac, which is used to help treat a majority of eating disorders, helped Jamie Lynn deal with the major mood swings associated with her bulimia.

In a few months, Jamie Lynn gained five pounds. When it was time to go back to the set of "The Sopranos" in June of 1998, she was still 35 pounds thinner than when she had filmed the pilot less than a year before.

(on-screen): The producers brought your mother in a room. They were really concerned about the way you looked, and they weren`t sure you were going have the stamina to do the job. Were you also aware that those same producers who were reasonably honest with your mother were conducting auditions behind the scenes to replace you?

DISCALA: I was filming the second episode. I mean, I was shocked, but almost empowered in a way, like I wasn`t going lose it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dad, how do you stay so hip?

ZAHN (voice-over): It took more than eight months for Jamie Lynn to get back to her normal weight. By the time she started shooting the second season of "The Sopranos" in June of 1999, she was healthier. Her transformation from season one to season two was dramatic. Everyone noticed.

DISCALA: Thought that people were going say, "Wow, she looks so healthy. She`s not sick anymore. Good for her." And instead it was, "Wow, can you believe how fat she got?" And they went on from there.

And it was horrible. I was terrified of just now all of a sudden feeling like, well, what does this mean? In order to be accepted in this industry, do I have to have an eating disorder? But I`m so happy now. I don`t want to go back there, but what do I do?

But fortunately, because of what I had been through, I wasn`t afraid to talk about it.

ZAHN: So Jamie Lynn came out about her eating disorder on an HBO fan web site and in a candid autobiography.

DISCALA: Once I did come out about it, I started getting letters and fan mail from young girls. And that`s when I really realized how important it can be.

ZAHN: Today, Jamie Lynn has stabilized herself at that healthy weight, by exercising moderately and eating normally, but she doesn`t consider herself cured. Instead, she will always be recovering from the disease that almost cost her her life and her career.

(on-screen): Is it true to this day, now that you`re at a healthy weight, that you still carry with you in your purse a picture of yourself when you hit about 80 pounds?

DISCALA: Yes.

ZAHN: Why do you carry that around? And what do you see?

DISCALA: It`s awful. For me, the reason why I carry it with me is just because of a constant reminder of what I`ve been through. I thought that that was my life. I was set. This was the way I was going to have to live my life. And knowing that I was able to overcome it and be healthy happy again is amazing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAFFENREFFER: That was CNN`s Paula Zahn for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. As the spokesperson for the National Eating Disorder Association, Jamie Lynn continues to raise awareness about the disease that almost took her life and her career.

And you can see more of Paula`s special, "Walking the Thin Line," this Sunday at 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.

ANDERSON: And this takes us to our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day." Health issues: Do celebrities who speak out make a big difference?

Keep voting at CNN.com/showbiztonight and write us at showbiztonight@CNN.com. Your e-mails are coming up at 55 past the hour.

HAFFENREFFER: All right, so why are the names Kevin Federline and Vanilla Ice being used in the same sentence? The latest news on Britney Spears` husband, next.

ANDERSON: Plus, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT learns what illegal thing Ellen DeGeneres wants to do right now.

HAFFENREFFER: Also, "Baretta" star Robert Blake`s final words at his wrongful death trial and why Sean "Diddy" Combs would be in trouble with the feds, all coming up in tonight`s "Legal Lowdown."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Brooke Anderson.

Well, Britney Spears had her baby. Now her husband, Kevin Federline, is working on his. Tonight, a sample of a song from his upcoming debut rap album is floating around the Internet.

Here`s the lyrics of the chorus of "Y`all Ain`t Ready": "Back then, they called me K-Fed, but you can call me Daddy instead."

Some harsh truth for Federline`s album, which is titled, "The Truth." Today`s "New York Post" said K-Fed is, quote, "not even Vanilla Ice." Oh, they had to bring Vanilla Ice into this.

HAFFENREFFER: Hey, don`t go picking on Vanilla.

(LAUGHTER)

All right, time now for the "Legal Lowdown," a look at what`s going on in the world of entertainment legal news. On our docket tonight, closing arguments began today in the Robert Blake trial, as Blake himself took the stand. If you remember, the "Baretta" star was acquitted of killing his wife in his criminal trial.

And Sean "Diddy" Combs and his non-profit group, Citizen Change, could be in trouble with the feds because of his involvement with last year`s presidential elections.

Joining us now live from Hollywood, investigative journalist Pat Lalama.

Pat, Robert Blake, civil case brought by his ex-wife, Bonny Lee Bakley`s, children. He took the stand. Walk us through what happened. And why is he talking now? He didn`t in the criminal trial.

PAT LALAMA, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Well, first, let me tell you I got off the phone literally three minutes ago with the superior court. The closing arguments are still happening right now. So it has not yet gone to the jury.

So we did have closing arguments today. Blake, in taking the stand -- you have to understand the power for him of taking the stand in the civil case.

Number one, this man is an actor and a good one. Number two, some call him a sociopath.

For him, he was salivating to get up there and be able to try to win this jury over with what he feels are his charms and his ability to, you know, for lack of a better word, well, you know, turn them around, let`s say.

He did not do that in the criminal case, because I`m sure his lawyer didn`t let him. The problem with allegedly sociopathic alleged killers are that they talk too much, talk too much, and his lawyer could not take the chance in that case.

Remember, in this case, also, it is not 12 members of the jury that have to decide. It`s most of the jurors and a preponderance of the evidence rather than beyond a reasonable doubt. So the standards are lower here.

HAFFENREFFER: OK. So give us one thing that Blake stands to gain and one thing he stands to lose after all of this?

LALAMA: Well, I mean, I think he`s out of money, honest to goodness. A couple of people I know quite well told me that they saw him -- one of them pick up a cigarette on the ground and light it to smoke it. A person I know who is a photojournalist told me that he asked him for a dollar.

This guy`s got money problems. So, I mean, the thing he stands to gain, if he`s found not responsible for this, is that there`s no more money to pay out. I mean, he`s really in trouble.

The thing he has to lose is, you know, the rest of his dignity, the rest of his integrity. This is a man who`s very proud, you know, came from old country Italians.

He had a really bad childhood. I think it kills him not to be able to go to his grave looking like he really was a powerful man. I think that kills him more than anything.

HAFFENREFFER: And we`ve got about 30 seconds here. Today, Sean "Diddy" Combs, who started the group Citizen Change -- it`s a nonprofit, non-partisan group -- during last year`s presidential election, is being investigated now by sort of a conservative-leaning group for perhaps violating some federal election rules. What`s going on here?

LALAMA: Well, they`re trying to say that, you know, his campaign, you know, Vote or Die, and the rest of it, was really just a big front, that it wasn`t not-for-profit, that it was all about giving him publicity and making him more money.

We`ll have to see where the cards lay. But, hey, welcome to the club, when you decide to get into politics. Now he`s in the lion`s den with everybody else who has decided they want to align themselves with a candidate.

HAFFENREFFER: All right. Pat Lalama, thanks so much...

LALAMA: My pleasure.

HAFFENREFFER: ... for joining us from Hollywood.

ANDERSON: Tonight, Ellen DeGeneres says she has found her soul mate in Portia di Rossi and that they`d get married if it were legal. Ellen gets candid in a brand-new interview with "People" magazine about her relationship with di Rossi.

She says, quote, "It`s the first time that I`ve known in every cell of my being that I`m with somebody for the rest of my life." As for having kids, Ellen says, quote, "Never say never. That`s the only time I think about age. I think we should do it soon."

You can read more about Ellen`s life with Portia in "People" magazine, which hits newsstands tomorrow.

HAFFENREFFER: Time for "Thursday InStyle." Tonight, why the stars can`t stay away from Sin City, from Celine Dion to Wilmer Valderrama. We have your inside look at one of Hollywood`s hottest destinations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMES PATRICK HERMAN, SENIOR ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR: "InStyle" magazine photographed seven stars who love Sin City at their favorite hot spots on the strip, where they go to play, relax and, of course, gamble.

Molly Sims says fashion-wise you see a little bit of everything in Las Vegas. People tend to check their inhibitions at the door.

MOLLY SIMS, SUPERMODEL: I think it`s a city that you come to for two or three days, and you kind of throw away all your inhibitions, and it`s a place to go out, and have fun, and go gamble, and go see great shows, and go out with your friends.

HERMAN: Celine Dion says you can never say, "Been there, done that" in Las Vegas. Because she`s been there for three years and she still hasn`t seen everything.

Mena Suvari says Vegas is fantasyland. People come from all over the world for one thing: excitement.

MENA SUVARI, ACTRESS: To me, it`s a city that never really stops. There`s so much excitement, and glitz, and glamour here. And that`s what I`ve always seen Vegas as and associated it with.

HERMAN: Wilmer Valderrama says the image of Las Vegas has changed considerably. Now everything is catered to the MTV crowd.

WILMER VALDERRAMA, ACTOR: You know, what I love about Las Vegas is that it went from being a certain city about a certain image to another place where everybody can actually really come and relax.

And, you know, we go out here once in a while, you know what I mean? So that`s what`s cool about Vegas. Today, it just really caters to a different demographic.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAFFENREFFER: All right. To read more about the stars` Las Vegas hot spots, pick up a copy of "InStyle" magazine on newsstands now.

ANDERSON: And still to come, "Star Wars" meets "Pulp Fiction" on "The Late, Late Show." That`s coming up in tonight`s "Laughter Dark," next.

HAFFENREFFER: And now a SHOWBIZ TONIGHT birthday shout-out, where we give fans a chance to wish their favorite stars a happy birthday. Tonight, a birthday shout-out to Roseanne, who`s celebrating her 53rd birthday today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, my name is Antoinette (ph). I`d just like to wish Roseanne a very happy birthday. I love your comedy shows. I`ve gone to a lot of them. I hope you have a great day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: It`s time now for "Laughter Dark," the best from late-night TV. Well, on last night`s "The Late, Late Show," host Craig Ferguson makes an interesting observation while reviewing the new "Star Wars" DVD.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRAIG FERGUSON, HOST, "THE LATE, LATE SHOW": The DVD we`re looking at this week is "Star Wars Episode III," which is out this week. Samuel L. Jackson`s in this, and he plays a Jedi master. Now, is it just me, or does he bring out a little of his "Pulp Fiction" character in the role?

See what you think. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Master Windu, I must say you are here sooner than expected.

SAMUEL L. JACKSON, ACTOR: And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my fingers upon thee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?

JACKSON: You`re a smart (bleep), that`s right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAFFENREFFER: It`s all those extras. That`s why people buy the DVDs, right?

All right. Throughout the show, we`ve been asking you to vote online on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day." Health issues: Do celebrities who speak out make a difference?

Let`s take a look at how the vote is going so far: 32 percent of you say, yes, they do; 68 percent of you say, no, they don`t.

Here`s a look at some of the e-mails that we`ve received. Sean from Missouri writes, quote, "Famous people, being more open about their problems, make it that much easier for the average person to speak up."

And Norma from Nevada writes, "Celebrities who speak out make a difference. A wonderful example is Katie Couric. Katie`s husband died of colon cancer, and she`s very involved in battling the disease."

You can keep voting at CNN.com/showbiztonight.

ANDERSON: And now it`s time to see what`s playing out on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT tomorrow. So for that, of course, we go to the "Showbiz Marquee" with the Marquee Guy.

MARQUEE GUY: Tomorrow, Ozzy Osbourne live. He`s going under cover. Ta-da, ta-da, ta-da, ta-da, ta-da. Oh, Melsie made me to that. On his new album, he`s covering the Beatles, the Moody Blues, and Buffalo Springfield. Will this Oz be a musical wizard with these songs? You`ll find out tomorrow.

Also tomorrow, we are marshaling Gary Marshall live. He brought us favorites like "Mork and Mindy," "Happy Days," and "Laverne and Shirley." Now he`s a really big chicken in the new movie "Chicken Little." Happy days are here again with Gary Marshall, tomorrow on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

This is the Marquee Guy, very caffeinated. And remember, if anyone messes with me, I`ll tell them, "Oh, go sit on it, Fonz."

ANDERSON: Oh, you will? And Rob Melstein, a reference to a fabulous writer on the show. I`m sure he didn`t do it.

HAFFENREFFER: That is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m David Haffenreffer, in for A.J. Hammer.

ANDERSON: I`m Brooke Anderson. Stay tuned for CNN Headline News.

END