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Reid Repeats Charge that Iraq War is Lost; Alec Baldwin's Angry Voicemail Broadcast 'Round World; Australian Yacht Found Abandoned
Aired April 21, 2007 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. That was a house, literally, but that was also somebody's dream of oceanfront property coming crashing down. It happened for a lot of homeowner. We'll tell you about that.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: It is not a pretty picture. There's also a mystery that we're going to show you, it's down under. An abandoned yacht. The motor still running. Food on the table. But no one is aboard.
Plus...
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: So I'm going to let you know just how I feel about what a rude little pig you really are. You are a rude, thoughtless little pig.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Whew.
HOLMES: The voice message everybody is talking about this weekend after an ugly celebrity divorce and custody battle continues to play out in public. We are taking your e-mails and a ton of them today in the CNN NEWSROOM.
NGUYEN: It has got a lot of people talking. We'll be talking about that a little bit later, but in the meantime we do want to say good morning, welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM. It is -- what is today, the...
HOLMES: The 21st.
NGUYEN: ... 21st...
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: ... of April. Boy, this year is just going by so fast. Thanks for joining us. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes. So glad you could be here with us. We're going to start this hour in Virginia actually where investigators trying to answer some pretty tough questions about the country's worst mass murder by a lone gunman. How did he pick his targets? Why did he start in a dorm? They hope a victim's cell phone and a laptop will offer some clues. CNN's Brianna Keilar joins me now live from Blacksburg.
Good morning, again, to you, Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, T.J. And investigators here trying to check and see if there's any connection between Seung-Hui Cho, the killer, and Emily Hilscher, one of those two victims who was killed here at Virginia Tech in the first shooting at the dorm here on Monday.
According to a search warrant, investigators are looking at Hilscher's laptop as well as her cell phone to see if there might be any links between the two students.
Meanwhile the weekend finally here after no doubt one of the most difficult weeks -- the most difficult week in the history of this entire campus. Yesterday, of course, was a day of mourning, a day of remembrance, not only here but all across the nation. And Virginia Tech students say the focus was right where it should be, and that's on those who lost their lives here on Monday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (voice-over): Bells tolled around Virginia and around the country as the nation stopped to mourn the 32 victims of Monday's massacre at Virginia Tech. On the campus itself, hundreds marked a moment of silence at 12:00 noon. Grieving students and area residents brought flowers and candles to a memorial on the Drillfield in front of Norris Hall.
MEREDITH GEORGES, VIRGINIA TECH STUDENT: It's starting to heal. It's kind of a closure. It's just amazing to see the community together, to see all this orange and maroon when it's not a game day.
KEILAR: Hokie hope day, that's what Virginia Tech alum called it, asking people to wear the school's colors of orange and maroon. And they did just that, releasing balloons of the same colors into the sky. Across the nation many Americans observed a moment of silence, including lawmakers on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Places like Boston, Las Vegas, and Baltimore, bells rang out in remembrance.
In downtown Blacksburg, the grief was still raw with residents openly weeping. Virginia Governor Tim Kaine declared this a day of mourning to honor victims of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
GOV. TIM KAINE (D), VIRGINIA: This event this week, this horrible event has touched every corner of the world.
KEILAR: Kaine spoke of the universality of grief at a prayer service at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Some students there took turns reading the victims' named aloud, pausing for chimes between each one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kevin Granata, professor.
KEILAR: And at the end of the service, a spontaneous pep rally with students erupting into the Virginia Tech school cheer.
CROWD: Let's go!
CROWD: Hokies!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: And that's a chant that students here say has really taken on a new meaning for them as a symbol of solidarity and strength. Also yesterday on the day of mourning we got word from the Cho family, from Seung-Hui Cho's family for the first time. They had been in seclusion all week. But his older sister, Sun-Kyung Cho, speaking on behalf of the family, issuing a statement that says in part: "He has made the world weep. We are living a nightmare. Our family is so very sorry for my brother's unspeakable actions. It is a terrible tragedy for all of us. Our family will continue to cooperate fully and do whatever we can to help authorities understand why these senseless acts happened."
And the family as well, T.J., also saying that they are praying for the victims. They actually went through in the statement and named every -- all of the 32 victims who, presumably at this point, you know, police are not exactly making a connection between those first two murders, but at this point obviously the assumption is that these are the 32 people that Seung-Hui Cho took out here on Monday -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Brianna Keilar for us from the Campus of Virginia Tech. Brianna, thank you so much.
Also somewhat of a sense of normalcy returning to that campus after a moment of silence that lasted 32 seconds, one for each victim. Virginia Tech and the University of Miami took to the baseball field yesterday. It was the first sporting event hosted by Tech since Monday's shootings. Tech did lose the first game though, 11-9, but the coach says certainly the scoreboard not that important.
And this weekend on CNN, an all new "SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT," CNN's Soledad O'Brien takes you inside the mind of the Virginia Tech killer. That is tonight and tomorrow at 8:00 Eastern here on CNN. And Sunday's primetime lineup includes a special report, "32 Lives to Remember" at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, that is followed by "Massacre at Virginia Tech" at 8:00 and "LARRY KING LIVE," special edition coming your way at 9:00.
NGUYEN: Well, the Virginia Tech massacre is fresh on many people's minds as they watched a hostage standoff unfold at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. And in the end two people are dead. Susan Roesgen is live at the Johnson Space Center this morning and recaps exactly what happened there.
A lot of questions still today, Susan.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Betty. Any time there's a shooting in any office building there's a lot of questions, but in this case even President Bush was told that there was a gunman here at Johnson Space Center. That gunman was Bill Phillips, a longtime contract engineer here who had some kind of a dispute with David Beverly, a longtime NASA engineer here.
Phillips shot and killed Beverly and then he killed himself and now the question for NASA is, how did a guy with a gun get inside this federal facility?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL COATS, DIR., JOHNSON SPACE CENTER: Because of the Virginia Tech shootings, we reviewed our security procedures. You know, they are fairly tight. We have badging. Everybody has to show a badge and a badge is touched everybody sometimes comes through the gate here.
You know, our security procedures are very tight, especially after 9/11. They have tightened up considerably. So we reviewed them this week after the Virginia Tech shootings, and concluded we wouldn't change anything we're doing right now.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
COATS: Well, we don't check every car that comes in. We have random checks of cars, but we don't stop every car and check them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: There was a survivor in this hostage situation, a secretary. She was tied up with duct tape to a chair, but she's OK. And we can assume, Betty, that she did talk to the police here last night.
NGUYEN: And we're going to be learning a lot more from her. Can you tell us any more about the gunman? Do we know what kind of conflict was going on between that gunman and the person that he shot and killed?
ROESGEN: You know, not yet, Betty, at least not publicly. We can assume that the secretary heard things, saw things. Apparently these two had known each other for a long time. Bill Phillips, the gunman, was 60 years old. He had worked here for more than a decade. David Beverly, the man that he shot, had worked here for 25 years. There was some kind of a dispute between them. We don't know what it was.
But also a tantalizing bit of information from the Houston police chief last night who said that Bill Phillips, the gunman, might have left a note here on an office building bulletin board, but he didn't say what might have been on that note -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Susan Roesgen at the Johnson Space Center. Susan, we appreciate that.
We do want to tell about this though. It's back to Earth for U.S. billionaire and space tourist Charles Simonyi. Just about 90 ninety minutes ago, he landed in Kazakhstan in a Russian Soyuz capsule after spending two weeks aboard the International Space Station. The craft also brought back a cosmonaut and an astronaut who spent seven months in orbit.
But Simonyi had more out-of-pocket expenses, yes, he did. He paid $25 million for that trip. And you thought your vacations were expensive. Well, his friend Martha Stewart watched the launch in Kazakhstan earlier this month but was not there for the landing.
HOLMES: Already under fire, now even some Republicans are making that fire even hotter, if you can imagine, for Alberto Gonzales, the attorney general. He faced hours of blistering questions during a hearing on Capitol Hill this week and critics are calling for Gonzales to resign over the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, including some Republicans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TOM COBURN (R), OKLAHOMA: The communication was atrocious. It was inconsistent. It's generous to say that there were misstatements. That's a generous statement, and I believe you ought to suffer the consequences that these others have suffered, and I believe the best way to put this behind us is your resignation.
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R), PENNSYLVANIA: I do not intend to call for his resignation. I intend to communicate with the president it's my view that the issue of whether he stays or goes belongs to the president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And White House correspondent Elaine Quijano joins us now live to talk about what the White House is now saying about Gonzales' future.
Good morning to you, Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, T.J. Well, that's right. The White House publicly is continuing to say that President Bush does have full confidence in his attorney general, Alberto Gonzales. But of course, privately there was deep disappointment in the West Wing this week over Gonzales' testimony on Capitol Hill.
Privately sources who are involved in the discussions with the administration say that two senior aides on the day of the testimony described it as going down in flames. One source called it troubling. And a prominent Republican compared watching this testimony to seeing someone club a baby seal.
Nevertheless, President Bush is continuing to stand by his embattled attorney general. In fact, yesterday White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino even praising the attorney general's work at the Department of Justice, saying that Gonzales has done a fantastic job, she said, of fighting crime and keeping the country safe -- T.J.
HOLMES: My goodness, the lengths -- somebody clubbing a baby seal.
NGUYEN: Pretty harsh.
HOLMES: That's pretty bad, so I guess we shouldn't be surprised if they say it was that bad that -- is the White House surprised at all that more Republicans are coming out against Alberto Gonzales? And I guess we've got another Republican kind of on board, calling for his resignation now.
QUIJANO: That's right, and it is a prominent Republican, it's the third-ranking Republican in the House, Congressman Adam Putnam who told CNN yesterday he thinks it's time as well for the attorney general to step down. Putnam said that Gonzales did not distinguish himself in the hearing and said that there remains a cloud in his view over the Department of Justice.
And that, of course, is coming on the heels of the sound bite we heard earlier from Senator Coburn who also called for Gonzales' resignation. Well, a senior Bush aide I spoke to about all of this and the fact that Republicans are indeed not showing support for Gonzales says he's not surprised by it.
He said, look, that's the way Washington works. But this aide certainly did not deny the fact, T.J., that there is disappointment that Republicans -- at a time when the White House was hoping to see them come forward and perhaps show some support for Gonzales, Republicans instead chose to pile on -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Elaine Quijano for us from the White House. Elaine, thank you so much.
QUIJANO: Sure.
NGUYEN: A former Bush administration official waits to learn his fate. A review panel has been ordered to investigate World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz. Now at issue is whether he acted improperly when he helped his girlfriend get a new job at the State Department with a hefty pay raise. She was a World Bank employee at the time. Wolfowitz says he welcomes the call for an urgent review of this case. President Bush nominated Wolfowitz to head the World Bank in 2005.
HOLMES: Well, we have got some new details this morning about a so-called ghost ship found off the Australian coast. That story coming your way in 10 minutes.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And we've been asking you how you feel about the controversy surrounding Alec Baldwin this morning. Should he lose complete custody of his daughter Ireland? We'll be reading your e-mails next. That's from the .com|Desk.
NGUYEN: But first, check this out, coalition soldiers in Afghanistan sending their condolences to the Virginia Tech victims. Members of the (INAUDIBLE) Provincial Reconstruction Team held a memorial service on Friday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
NGUYEN: All right. Apparently we're rocking out here on Saturday. Was it a temporary moment of parental insanity, or was Alec Baldwin out of line when he called his 11-year-old daughter a "rude little pig," a "thoughtless little pig"? The moment all caught on audio tape and it is the topic of our e-mail question of the day. Veronica De La Cruz joins us now.
And I have already heard the e-mail basket is flooded with this one.
DE LA CRUZ: Oh, flooded, flooded. We have gotten so many e- mails on this. And you know, we've been asking you this morning if you think that Alec Baldwin should lose complete custody of his daughter over this tape that has been leaked to the media.
We know that this issue has been going back and forth in the courts, and here's what some of you are saying. We got this from Joyce. And she says: "Alec Baldwin called his daughter at the court- appointed time and the child was not available again. It would seem Kim Basinger is not obeying the court order. Isn't this contempt of court? His reaction is a human one, a reaction from a father who cares. Stop beating him up."
And this e-mail from Karen in Missouri who says: "I don't know which is the most appalling, what Baldwin said to his daughter or many people's response. Have we become so complacent with people's hateful speech towards one another that we would give him a pass? We shouldn't. This is Imus all over again, just a different version. Our society has become less and less civil the last few years, and it certainly isn't to our credit."
This next e-mail says the most vulgar thing is Kim Basinger's blasting of this private message worldwide. "What parent in their right mind would allow this? It is she that needs some counseling." That's from Jeffery Miller.
And this final one from Maria, who said: "This father comes across as a narcissistic, hotheaded individual who has completely forgotten that he is addressing a child. Custody, however, cannot be decided on this basis: the mother might be even worse!" And again, that one was from Maria.
We thank you so much for writing into us. And again, you can weigh in with your thoughts at weekends@cnn.com.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Well, we're going to be talking about a mystery on the high seas.
NGUYEN: What happened to the three-member crew of this yacht found on the open water? We have those details next.
HOLMES: Plus, prosecutors call it a murder, but that's not what the jury calls it. A preacher's wife, the trial, the verdict and the testimony that may have swayed the jury. All that coming up in about three minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We, the jury, find the defendant, Mary C. Winkler guilty of voluntary manslaughter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: A Tennessee preacher's wife hears the verdict in the shooting death of her husband. Prosecutors had been seeking a first degree murder conviction against Mary Winkler, but Thursday the jury came back with the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. Winkler says last year's shooting was an accident. The 33-year-old woman said her husband was abusive physically and sexually. She testified she was afraid of her husband.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARY WINKLER, CONVICTED OF VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER: He threatened me with the shotgun many times, putting it in my face or having it towards me. He told me if I ever talked back to him the way one of my sister-in-laws talked back to his brother that he would cut me into a million pieces.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Prosecutors argued there had been no evidence of abuse before the shooting and that Winkler was in financial trouble. The day Matthew Winkler died the couple had a bank appointment to discuss what prosecutors say was Mary Winkler's deposits of fraudulent checks. You can tune in tonight for a legal roundtable on this controversial case, a civil rights attorney and a former prosecutor join Rick Sanchez live in the NEWSROOM to discuss the verdict and predict the punishment. That is at 10:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
NGUYEN: Well, this story will have you scratching your head. It was supposed to be the voyage of a lifetime, sailing around Australia, but instead a mystery developed. Families and would-be rescuers now just running out of hope.
Dea Clark has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEA CLARK, AUSTRALIAN ABC CORRESPONDENT: After a 10-hour journey, the Kez 2 (ph) was towed back to port in Townsville early this morning, its dingy still attached. At first glance, police boarded the catamaran hoping to find some clue as to why the crew disappeared with the engine and computers still running. The yacht was spotted by a customs plane three days ago. A rescue team reached the boat yesterday. Data extracted from its GPS indicates the men left the boat in rough conditions within the first 24 hours of their voyage last Sunday.
ROY WALL, POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: Later on during the day, it appears that it has just been tracking in a slightly different direction and probably consistent with what the wind and the tidal flow would take it.
CLARK: Missing are 56-year old skipper Derek Batten (ph) and brothers Peter and James Tunstead, both in their 60s. Relatives arrived in Townsville last night hoping for more information.
SHANE TUNSTEAD, SON OF MISSING SAILOR: We heard that they lowered someone down onto the boat to search the boat and found no one and that's all we have.
CLARK: Shane and Grant Tunstead say their father James had been looking forward to a trip of a lifetime, sailing the recently purchased catamaran back to western Australia.
GRANT TUNSTEAD, SON OF MISSING SAILOR: Dad was like a little kid at Christmas he was so excited.
SHANE TUNSTEAD: I actually spoke to him about a half an hour into the sail. That was the last we heard.
CLARK: But this afternoon, any hope that the men would be found alive dimmed as a massive air search was called off.
WALL: The expert medical advice that we have now is that there's very little hope at all.
CLARK: Police say they've yet to decide whether to resume further searches tomorrow.
Dea Clark, ABC News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, Alec Baldwin's voicemail message to his daughter has got a lot of people talking. Take a listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
BALDWIN: I'm going to let you know just how I feel about what a rude little pig you really are. You are a rude, thoughtless little pig.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, hello to you, too. What could have possibly caused such an angry rant? Up next, the long and ugly battle over a child of a Hollywood divorce. HOLMES: Also, the Senate's leader has a message for the White House. He didn't leave in on voicemail and he wasn't that angry about it, but the message was the war is lost in Iraq. Now opponents of Harry Reid firing back. We'll tell you how when the CNN NEWSROOM continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: A little bit of Jessica Simpson for you on an Alec Baldwin story. That's OK. We'll make the connection because it is a public affair. Alec Baldwin airing his side of the story. The actor issues another statement about the release of that angry phone message to his daughter. We have those details in just three minutes.
TJ HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: I'm glad you told me. I didn't recognize the song. I couldn't make the connection.
NGUYEN: I was doing my best.
HOLMES: Thanks for bringing it together for me. Thank you so much and thank you all for being here. Welcome back. I'm TJ Holmes.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: We're going to go from Hollywood to business as usual in Washington, harsh words coming from one top Democrat. Now some Republicans are seeing red as they get ready to square off again next week over war funding. A troop withdrawal timetable is at the heart of the standoff. CNN congressional correspondent Andrea Koppel has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Not once but twice on the same day Democratic leader Harry Reid went farther than he'd ever gone before.
SEN. HARRY REID (D) MAJORITY LEADER: As long as we follow the president's path in Iraq, the war is lost.
KOPPEL: A blunt assessment of the war in Iraq which Reid likened to Vietnam. He compared President Johnson's decision to send tens of thousands of U.S. troops off to war even though Reid said Johnson knew the war could not be won to a similar decision made this year by President Bush and his war cabinet.
REID: Now I believe, myself, that the secretary of state, secretary of defense and you have to make your own decision as to what the president knows, that this war is lost.
KOPPEL: It's a message Reid says he delivered in person to Mr. Bush on Wednesday, one that touched a nerve according to a Democratic aide who told CNN the president, quote, visibly stiffened his back.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R) TEXAS: Well, I don't know what Harry Reid is talking about.
KOPPEL: As word of Reid's comments reverberated across the capital, Republicans went on the attack.
CORNYN: Senator Reid is playing to the worst elements of the anti-war left that's part of, unfortunately, his political base.
KOPPEL: House Republicans plan to devote the GOP's Saturday radio address to further criticism of Reid.
REP. PETE HOEKSTRA (R) INTELLIGENCE CMTE: What message has he sent to al Qaeda? Well, that's perfectly clear. He believes that al Qaeda has won and that America has been defeated.
KOPPEL: Look for Republicans to continue the drumbeat next week. That's when the House and Senate are set to vote on a final version of the emergency war funding bill which, if it contains a deadline or a goal for U.S. troops to withdraw, the president has vowed to veto it. Andrea Koppel, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Do want to give you this programming note. Memorial Day weekend is five weeks away, but we need your help now to honor the men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice for their country. So send us your photos and video of the loved ones your family has lost from wars present and past and tell us about them. Let us know how your family has coped. There are two ways to reach us. Log on to cnn.com/ireport or you can e-mail us directly at ireport@cnn.com.
HOLMES: In Africa the death toll is rapidly growing in Somalia as troops battle Islamic insurgents in the capital of Mogadishu. Reuters now reporting that at least 73 people have been killed so far today. That's according to medical staff and residents. That's in addition to at least 113 people that human rights groups say have been killed in the last three days of fighting. The insurgents are trying to oust Somalia's interim president. Ethiopian troops are helping Somali forces in that fighting.
Also in Africa, a close call in Nigeria as the country holds a historic vote. Police say attackers tried but failed to blow up the national election headquarters in the capital of Abuja. The driver aimed a fuel tanker at the building, put a rock on the gas pedal and apparently jumped out but the truck veered into a street lamppost and did not explode. This happened just hours before Nigerians went to the polls to choose a new president.
People of France choosing a new president as well. They are casting their ballots today and tomorrow and paring down a field of 12 candidates. Socialist Segolene Royal (ph) is vying to become France's first female president. Polls show she and conservative Nicolas Sarkozy (ph), a former interim minister, will likely advance to the final runoff. The winner will take over from Jacques Chirac who has been president since 1995.
NGUYEN: Let's talk about this now. Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, once one of Hollywood's hottest couples, now they are engaged in one of the nastiest custody battles out there. The bad blood well, it turned worse this week after someone leaked an angry voice mail message Alec Baldwin left on his daughter's voice mail. He is apologizing on his website in a statement that reads, I'm quoting, I'm sorry for losing my temper with my child. I have been driven to the edge by parental alienation for many years now. I am equally sorry that a court order was violated which had deliberately been put under seal in this case. So how did they get here? CNN's Randi Kaye reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An explosive Alec Baldwin lashes out at his young daughter and it's caught on tape.
ALEC BALDWIN: You are a rude, thoughtless little pig. I don't give a damn that you're 12 years old or 11 years old or that you're a child. You have humiliated me for the last time with this phone.
KAYE: That nasty phone message left by Baldwin for his daughter is the latest chapter in one of tinsel town's nastiest divorces. The tape was released by the website tmz.com. For years Baldwin and actress Kim Basinger have been locked in a very bitter, very public custody battle over their daughter Ireland.
KIM BASINGER, ACTRESS: We're getting through it, and it has taught me -- it's been an invaluable education.
KAYE: That was Basinger in 2006 and this is Baldwin airing the couple's dirty laundry on "The Today Show" the year before.
BALDWIN: Sometimes if you have one litigant and someone who can't move on and they like to argue, they like to fight and they've got the wrong lawyer, the thing is just interminable, it never ends.
HARVEY LEVIN, TMZ MANAGING EDITOR: On the Richter scale, this is absolutely a 10 with a tsunami following.
KAYE: TMZ's managing editor Harvey Levin won't say how he got the recorded rant, but calls the Baldwin/Basinger breakup Hollywood's ugliest split, each publicly trashing the each other.
LEVIN: She's accused him of having an explosive temper, being unreasonable, being abusive. He's accused her of being psychologically unstable, addicted to various things. They have slung the mud every which way.
KAYE: But it wasn't always like this.
COURTESY HOLLYWOOD PICTURES: This is the happiest day of my life.
I always love these days.
KAYE: The Baldwin-Basinger love affair began in 1991 on the set of the romantic comedy "The Marrying Man." They wed two years later and had a child. On screen they had continued success with 1994's "The Getaway" but off screen trouble was brewing. LEVIN: When things were good, they were passionate, and you know what, they are still passionate. The passion has just turned from love to hate.
KAYE: The marriage ended in December 2000 when the couple separated. A month later Basinger filed for divorce. It was granted the following year. Until now the couple has shared custody of their daughter Ireland, but in response to Baldwin's phone message, a judge has forbidden him from contacting his daughter until a hearing in June. Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right. So let's dish some dirt about the fallout from this tape and the nasty custody battle between Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger. Tom O'Neil from "In Touch Weekly" is with us this morning and we all know how nasty this divorce and custody battle has been, so is anyone truly surprised at this tape?
TOM O'NEIL, "IN TOUCH WEEKLY": Not anybody who has followed his outbursts in the past. Keep in mind it was just last year on Broadway that an actress who was in a show with him quit because she said she couldn't stand his violence, that he had punched a wall and was throwing things at cast members. He's been penalized by judges for attacking the paparazzi in the past, and let's keep in mind that Kim Basinger has accused him of such physical violence, beatings, that she claims that she's had back troubles to this day and that she confesses that was so irate over his rages that she fantasized about his death and wanted to go on killing sprees.
NGUYEN: Oh, my.
O'NEIL: This is the stuff they say in public, Betty. It's unbelievable.
NGUYEN: Can you imagine what's said in private. This phone message wasn't even supposed to be out there which leads me to ask you this. Yes, Alec Baldwin looks bad about saying what he did in that phone message to his little daughter, but doesn't Kim Basinger look just as bad if she indeed did leak this?.
O'NEIL: Yes, of course, I think, but I think people outside looking in can't help but empathize with this little girl. He doesn't even know how old his daughter is. He's saying -- first of all he says I don't care if you're a child.
NGUYEN: If you're 11, you're her dad. You should know.
O'NEIL: There's so many shocking things on so many levels. You can understand an outburst like this if it's between ex spouses having a fight but to direct it at a little girl in her developmental years I think is really cruel. In the separation agreement that they struck years ago, Alec had to install a special phone in his daughter's bedroom that would just be for their conversations so when that phone rings she knows it's daddy and apparently she doesn't want to answer it. NGUYEN: I want you to listen to something because last year Alec Baldwin spoke with Larry King and take a listen to that conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What kind of father are you?
BALDWIN: Oh, I think I'm like a lot of men I know. I'm kind of a slave to my daughter whenever my daughter's around.
KING: Tell me about it.
BALDWIN: Yeah. When my daughter is around, I just --
KING: She owns you.
BALDWIN: I just do whatever I tell her to do. The deal I have with her, we'll go to the store. I joke with her, I say, we'll go to the store and she will want to go buy things and she's not greedy, you know. She's not gluttonness in any way. She's a very reasonable kid. She's a great person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: So what do you know about Baldwin's relationship with his daughter?
O'NEIL: I don't think any of us really know the truth here. He gets custody of her two weekends a month. So they see each other. They have these phone visits that are scheduled at specific times. Apparently she's not picking up when she should. He's not allowed to call the daughter at 6:30 at night. This is how specific it all gets and as part of the original custody agreement, he had to take anger management classes after he split with Kim Basinger so in other words, he's admitted that there are emotional problems he has dealing with his ex and his daughter. Boy, we'd love to hear the kid's side of things.
NGUYEN: You would. Here's the thing though, despite what people will say about Hollywood marriages and divorce, usually would you agree, that they typically keep their kids out of the spotlight, out of the mud-slinging?
O'NEIL: Yeah, they usually do, and ever since these two split up in 2001 and 2002, it's been all about custody battles and these -- he accuses Kim of bribing and brainwashing his daughter with chocolate bars. He actually says things like this in public. It has gone on for years. T\he legal struggle alone over custody, he claims has cost him more than $1 million.
NGUYEN: Well, I was going to ask you very quickly. Is it going to affect his career, what we've heard on this tape?
O'NEIL: I think that's the key question. Right now he's having a career rebound. "30 Rock" propelled him back into the spotlight and "The Departed," he just won the Golden Globe. He just won the SAG award and now his TV show "30 Rock" is on the cusp of possibly being cancelled. It's been picked up next year but was taken off the air the last few weeks. It's the worst time for him. He's having a rebound now and this could make a terrible dent.
NGUYEN: I will tell you this. Tom O'Neil, I'll take your call any time.
O'NEIL: Thanks, Betty.
HOLMES: Well, so what do you all think about Baldwin's message to his doubter? You can e-mail us at weekends@cnn.com. We're going to read some of your responses coming up next.
NGUYEN: Plus, she was born a girl but she wants to be her school's prom king. Find out the school's reaction when CNN NEWSROOM returns right after this.
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HOLMES: It is prom night at Fresno High School in California. Students will dress up in their formal attire and party the night away and, of course, they will be finding out who will become the prom king and the prom queen, but at Fresno High School, there's a possibility that the king won't be a guy. Katherine Davis of our affiliate station KGPE reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHERINE DAVIS, KGPE: It's a rite of passage for high schoolers. For Cinthia Covarrobias prom means picking up a tuxedo instead of a dress
CINTHIA COVARROBIAS, FRESNO HIGH SENIOR: I wouldn't feel comfortable going in a dress or running for queen in a tuxedo.
DAVIS: So the 17-year-old senior decided to run for prom king at Fresno high. At first she says school leaders told her she couldn't do it, but the Fresno unified school district released this statement Friday saying quote, on advise of legal counsel, the Fresno unified school district will be taking no action to restrict any member of the student body from running for any title of nobility during high school prom coronation festivities.
COVARROBIAS: It was a big step, but I kind of got into it.
DAVIS: Covarrobias says she wants to enjoy her prom just like any other teenager. Critics say a girl running for king unfairly takes votes away from boys
STEVEN HER, FRESNO HIGH JUNIOR: Some people say that she shouldn't do it, but she really wants to do it and it looks like she's going good with it.
DAVIS: Junior Steven Her says he doesn't have problem with a girl giving the guys competition. HER: I voted for her.
DAVIS: You voted for her?
HER: Yeah. I voted for her.
DAVIS: And that means a lot to Cinthia.
COVARROBIAS: I'm actually very proud that people are supporting me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, six boys getting support as well. Six boys also vying for that honor of prom king.
NGUYEN: Learning the lessons of aging well. That's the key word there.
HOLMES: Yeah. It's up next. He's 93 years old, still working and still loving it. This famous cartoonist tells us his secret.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE SIMON, COCREATOR, "CAPTAIN AMERICA": The secret to being here, I talk to my characters. It's true. You can do that, and they don't answer back a lot, but if they -- if one ever does, I know it's time to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Wake up with Lance Armstrong tomorrow morning. That's right. He is joining CNN medical -- chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta for a special edition of "House Call" at 8:30 Eastern. The Tour de France legend and cancer survivor wants to get America moving towards a healthier lifestyle. So you can find out how right here on CNN tomorrow morning.
Well, Dr. Gupta is also searching for ways to help you live longer and in his new book "Chasing Life" as part of his quest, Dr. Gupta talked with successful seniors about their secrets to a long life. In this morning's edition of "Life Lessons," the creator of "Captain America" remember that, lets us in on his formula for a healthy aging.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE SIMON. COCREATOR, "CAPTAIN AMERICA": I'm Joe Simon and I created "Captain America." Jack Kirby and I did the "Captain America" for the whole of 1941, and every issue was a sellout. We're movie directors. We were the script men and the pencillers. We were the colorers, the inkers, look at this and we had dirty hands. "Captain America" died. He still had his principles and people loved him. I couldn't understand the amount of letters and e-mails, people telling me how disappointed they were that -- that he's gone and when is he coming back,? He's still young and he ages well, I think. I was born in 1913. I've always been very active athletically. My secret is work. I think it keeps my mind going. My memory is very good. The secret to being here? I talk to my characters. It's true. You can do that, and they don't answer back a lot, but if -- if one ever does, I know it's time to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, I hope he sticks around for quite some time. "Chasing Life," the focus of Dr. Gupta's new book. You can catch all of Sanjay's hour-long CNN special "Chasing Life" which is this Saturday and Sunday right here on CNN and you can also find more information on the special's website at cnn.com/chasinglife.
HOLMES: An Indiana woman has plenty of reasons to celebrate, might even say Edna Parker maybe has about 114 reasons. That's how old she turned yesterday. There she is, a 114-year-old beauty. Yes. She's the oldest living American and believed to be the second oldest person in the world. She celebrated her birthday, as you can see, at a nursing home in Shelbyville, Indiana with balloons, tributes and a slice of carrot cake. She jokes that she's lived so long that she probably knew George Washington.
NGUYEN: There is a new record catch off the coast of Florida, the panhandle down there. It took 10 people in two boats to finally reel in this monster mako shark, see that, 13 feet and more than a thousand pounds. It is the fourth largest ever, so, TJ, what do you do with a 13-foot shark?
HOLMES: Carve him up and you can make steaks. I like to grill.
NGUYEN: Shark steak, maybe even one really big bowl of shark- finned soup.
HOLMES: That's why I don't go swimming. That's why I don't get in the ocean.
NGUYEN: It's a little frightening. Can you imagine swimming and seeing that thing coming up next to you? I think I would learn to swim awfully fast. We had a busy morning keeping track of all your e-mails coming in about the Alec Baldwin situation.
HOLMES: The situation is a warm way to put it, talking about that voice mail to his daughter. Was it temporary parental insanity or was Baldwin out of line when he called the 11-year-old a rude little pig?
NGUYEN: Veronica de la Cruz joins us now with some of those many e-mails that are crossing our path today. Hey there, Veronica.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN.COM: Hey there, Betty and TJ. We've been asking you guys all morning, do you think that Alec Baldwin should lose complete custody of his daughter over this tape that's been leaked to the media? We've received a ton of e-mail, but here's a sampling of what some of you are saying. The first one from Jim in Maryland who asks, can you replay the last 11 years of their life? If you can do that, I can be their judge. You've taken one instance to exploit. I hope if you are ever in the process of a divorce, no one holds a camera on your personal life.
And this is from M. Thomas who says he was an upset parent with very hurt feelings. There's so many dirt bags, deadbeat dads that could care less about being in their child's life.
Rose Culver in Utah says he has a serious anger issue. This happening on the heels of Virginia Tech, when we're trying to understand why the family of this shooter didn't reach out to help their child in trouble. As a parent you are responsible for helping your child develop their self-esteem and confidence in themselves. Calling them a useless pig is just unacceptable. No wonder Kim has kept him away. I would have done the same.
And finally this e-mail from Darrel in Georgia who says, I'm not sure the networks deserve custody of the airwaves. As harmful as it was to that child to get sent a voice mail from her father, the harm must have been infinitely amplified by having it blasted to the whole world. We're talking about an 11-year old child, regardless of how famous her father is. We all believe in freedom of the press, but some of us would like the press to show some compassion. And, again, you can keep sending us your e-mails at weekends@cnn.com. Betty and TJ?
NGUYEN: We've heard them all loud and clear.
DE LA CRUZ: Oh, yes, we have.
NGUYEN: A lot of people are saying, hey, it's none of your business. Why are we putting it out there, but other people say they have a definite opinion on this one too. Thank you Veronica.
HOLMES: Thank you, Veronica.
Coming up, saving yourself in a slumping housing market. Consumer advocate and real estate expert Clark Howard joins us in the next hour to tell you how.
NGUYEN: And which vehicles will protect you the most in a crash? Coming up at noon Eastern, results of a brand new report. You don't want to miss it. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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