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Baseball Fan Falls to His Death; Remembering Betty Ford; Will and Kate in the U.S.; "News of the World" Ends

Aired July 09, 2011 - 19:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Right now on this broadcast:

A tragic reminder for baseball fans to be careful.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We ask that each of you join the Oakland Athletics, the Texas Rangers, and all of Major League Baseball as we observe a silent moment of reflection and respect for Brownwood --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: A man falls to his death after catching a ball for his son. Tonight, I'm going to talk to a Dallas sports anchor and the man standing next to Shannon Stone when he fell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVIE NICKS, ROCK N' ROLL LEGEND: As far as I'm concerned, Betty Ford saved my life. I went to Betty Ford in the end of 1985 for cocaine addiction. And I --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Stars remember Betty Ford, the outspoken former first lady and advocate for addiction recovery.

A British invasion the royal couple William and Kate visit California. We're going to take you there live.

And what is this all about?

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

LEMON: I'm going to explain all that, straight ahead.

I'm Don Lemon at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. The news starts right now.

And we're going to begin with this tonight. In Arlington, Texas, a father and son out for a night at the ballpark. Then, a shocking tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPORTS ANCHOR: That's why there was time taken. Wow!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: This is 39-year-old Shannon Stone, he reached for a ball only to fall head first over the railing dropping about 20 feet and sadly to his death. His 6-year-old son right next to him, seeing the whole thing happen.

A man beside Stone, his name is Ronnie Hargis, tried to pull him back, but he just couldn't. The player that tossed Stone the ball Josh Hamilton, beside himself now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH HAMILTON, RANGERS OUTFIELDER: He's definitely in my mind and my heart. Like I said, I can't stop praying enough for him, and my family is, and, you know, I just can't imagine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Who could?

The Rangers' organization took a moment of silence the day after.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We ask that each of you join the Oakland Athletics, the Texas Rangers and all of Major League Baseball as we observe a silent moment of reflection and respect for Brownwood Texas firefighter Shannon Stone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: You know what? This isn't the first time a fan has fallen at the Rangers' ballpark. Another man fell from the second deck a little more than a year ago. He dropped 30 feet and fractured his skull. But incredibly, he lived.

Joining us now by phone is Ronnie Hargis. He is the man who tried to hold on to Shannon Stone that fateful day at the ballpark. And then also, Joe Trahan, he's a sports anchor for Dallas affiliate WFAA.

So, Ronnie, I'm going to start with you. Thank you so much for joining us. I know you just must be in shock right now.

RONNIE HARGIS, TRIED TO SAVE FALLING FAN (via telephone): It's difficult to take. I mean, you go to a ballpark to watch a game, and this happened.

LEMON: Yes. Explain to us what -- it appears, we can see what happened in the video, but you were right next to him. And there's the picture, you are there. That's you in the white baseball cap, right?

HARGIS: Yes, it is it.

LEMON: So, you see him going over, and then what do you do?

HARGIS: Well, my first instinct is to reach out and grab him. I tried to grab him, I couldn't catch him, he went down. As he went by me, I tried to grab him again and I missed and it looked like in slow motion as he was going to the ground. I mean, there's nothing I could do except watch him fall.

LEMON: You know, the family has asked us not to run the video, and we have. We're going to abide by their wishes. So, there's a freeze -- so he stumbles over and then we freeze it. We're going to abide by their wishes. And the mom, of course, and the wife are just saying that they are shocked.

His 6-year-old son watched it. Do you know what happened to the son? You were right there next to him?

HARGIS: Well, I was watching Mr. Stone on the ground because he was motionless. When I turned around to check on his son, the person behind me that was sitting there had grabbed the boy and was holding the boy in his arms.

LEMON: That drop in the stadium, tell us -- we've been saying it's about 20 feet. But explain to us as you're looking down from where you were sitting, what is below you? How far down is it?

HARGIS: It's probably close to 20 feet from the top of the rail. It's probably 18 to 20 feet down.

LEMON: Has anyone -- did anyone say anything or notice when you sit there? Did you feel uncomfortable at all? Do you feel there should have been netting there, or does it seem like a normal stadium to you?

HARGIS: Yes. You know, I've been to ranger stadium a million times, we didn't think of anything. I mean, no danger, no nothing. I mean, you know, it -- you realize if they would have put nets up there or something, and a foul ball would have got caught in the net some drunken guy would get out there on the net and try to get a foul ball, you know?

LEMON: It's just horrendous to watch and think about this, especially his 6-year-old son. I imagine that's been the only thing on your mind. Does it good over and over about what you could have done? How you could have grabbed him? Does it replay over and over in your mind?

HARGIS: Oh, definitely. You know, I had my glove in my hand and it was below him. You know, if I didn't have a glove on n my hand, I might have got -- may have been able to get both hands on him, grabbed him by the breaches, or slowed him down, knocked him off a little bit or something. I mean, I go over it every day since then, every minute, I just -- I don't know what I could have done.

LEMON: You didn't know him personally, you guys were just sitting there next to each other at the game. That's how you met. Have you spoken to any -- HARGIS: Right, well, this was a rainout game from May 11th. We had the same tickets. His son and his wife were there on the first game. And I got to meet his son. His son was so pleasant. You know, most kids jump up and down, he sat there like a good kid and watched the game.

The reason his dad wasn't there the first time, he was fighting fires in west Texas. That's where I'm from. I'm from west Texas, from Holly, Texas. We were talking about that, and that's how we got to talking to each other.

LEMON: Yes. You know, this can happen to anyone, as I saw this video, I was horrified by it, when I think of his little son there -- do you have any warning? Do you have any advice for fans? Because, obviously, it's a freak accident, right? But there are so many people who are going to ballparks and who are at ballparks right now. What do you say to those folks?

HARGIS: Well, what can I say? You watch your kids as much as you can, like, if you're sitting somewhere where there's a foul ball coming hard, you watch the batting all the time to make sure they don't get hit. You keep your kid in the seat.

His kid was in the seat the whole time. He never got up, he is a great kid. And his dad wanted to get a ball. It was a brand new glove. They bought that glove that morning before the ball game, brand new glove. He wanted to get a ball for his boy.

And when Josh Hamilton throws you a ball, that's the most exciting thing in the Ranger game is Josh Hamilton throwing you a ball. Just be aware of your surrounding.

LEMON: Yes. Thank you, Ronnie Hargis. We appreciate it.

I want to go to Joe Trahan.

And, Joe, you're the sports anchor for Dallas affiliate WFAA. The stadium has been inspected. I think in the inspection they said nothing was wrong, and they didn't think it would lead to any changes.

But do you agree with that? How could it not lead to some sort of changes there?

JOE TRAHAN, WFAA SPORTS ANCHOR (via telephone): Well, Don, you are correct, by the way, that they inspected the building. And those railings in that area actually exceeded code for what could be built in a ballpark of this size.

Now, as far changes that will happen, I just got off the phone with the communications chief with the Rangers, John Blake. And they are right now in the exploratory phase of what they will do next. They're meeting with city leaders, contractors, building architects.

I think they realize they will have to make some sort of change. But I've been told whatever change could be made, they want to make sure it's done right. I brought up the possibility of some sort of netting, and I was told, listen, that would be an easy stopgap solution, but they want to make sure they don't just go that route and put something up there that could cause even more harm.

So, there's work being done behind the scenes as we speak to try to make sure that a tragedy of this magnitude does not happen again.

LEMON: How are people dealing with this, Joe?

TRAHAN: Well, you know, it's interesting because everyone deals with tragedy different. And this is a community that really wrapped its arms around the Rangers last year when they had their incredible run to the World Series, when they beat the Yankees on the way to the World Series, this community really embraced this team big time.

And so, all these people will have to become Rangers fans. The hardcore Rangers fans that were there before, they happen to deal with this. And they're dealing with it in their own ways. Some people opted not to take their kids to the ballpark the next day.

But there was a significant group of people who decided to take their kids to the ballpark, because they wanted to make sure that they would go there and contribute to the fund that the Rangers have set up in Mr. Stone's honor.

LEMON: Joe Trahan, sports anchor for Dallas affiliate WFAA -- thank you, Joe. We really appreciate it tonight.

And, of course, our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Stone's family and his friends tonight.

I want you to listen to this now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICKS: As far as I'm concerned, Betty Ford did save my life. I went to Betty --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Rock n' roll legend Stevie Nicks reacts to the death of Betty Ford. Next, we'll take you live to Los Angeles for more reaction and look back at the former first lady's legacy and impact on so many others.

And polo, anyone? Prince William saddles up during the royal's visit.

And if you want information to the stories we're recovering, and you want to react to them, send us some information to social media. Twitter, Facebook or CNN.com/don is our blog, and Foursquare. And that's my book, "Transparent," anywhere books are sold, you can get it.

But before we go to break, I want to ask you this -- a bit of trivia since we're talking about -- we had been talking about Sudan all day today, the world's newest country. Let me test your world knowledge. Before this weekend that was the last country to win -- what was the last country to win its independence? Before this weekend, what was the last country to win its independence? Here's a hint for you, the country declared its independence just three years ago.

The answer, after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Before the break I gave you a little quiz. Prior to this weekend's independence celebration in South Sudan, what was the last country to gain independence? The answer 2008, the Republic of Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. The U.N. upheld that declaration, and Kosovo became the world's newest nation.

Before "Celebrity Rehab" or public announcements of seeking treatment, there was Betty Ford. The wife of former President Gerald Ford was among the first to speak openly about her addiction problems and earned more respect from the country for doing it.

Yesterday, the former first lady died at the age of 93.

CNN's Larry King joins us now by phone to tell us about his experiences with the first lady and what he remembers about her.

Hi, Larry.

LARRY KING (via telephone): Hi, Don.

LEMON: She was a trailblazer when it came to addiction and treatment?

KING: Yes, she was extraordinary. I had the honor of knowing her for many years. The first time I interviewed her when she was a congressman's wife. And, then, of course, when he was elevated to the vice presidency after the embarrassment of Agnew, and then he just made president by Nixon, took over. And she became an extraordinary figure on the American scene.

She came forward with her battle with alcoholism, with her battle with breast cancer. She was some kind of lady.

And she put a different kind of first lady on the map. I think I interviewed -- I guess the last time I interviewed her must have been four or five years ago. Her last four and five years have been sheltered following his death, and she was quite frail.

But you remember always, you know, you can't use the word rehab, which now is part of the American scene, the word rehab without saying Betty Ford. In fact, Albert Brooks once had the funny line of saying, where did Betty Ford go?

LEMON: Right.

KING: You think about it, she is -- rehab is Betty Ford.

LEMON: You're exactly right. As we were talking about this today. I said, before it was sort of -- you didn't talk about addiction or alcoholism or anything, and it was -- it was a stigma to go get treatment. After that, I know it sounds weird, but in Hollywood, sometimes, it is -- you know, you can go and it's kind of cool to go for some young celebrities because of Betty Ford. I mean, how many lives did she save in Hollywood?

KING: There's a joke that the interstate five has a lane for people just going to Betty Ford.

But she lived a glorious life. She had a great family. In fact, there was -- one of the best moments in all the years I did on CNN was when Gerald Ford described what her intervention scene was like, when the whole family gathered around to tell their mother and wife that she's an alcoholic, and she had to accept that, and then come forward with it.

I think she'll be remembered a long time. There's a special place -- America has a special place for people like this. And Betty Ford owns a little piece of it.

LEMON: Larry, you said that was one of the last times you talked to her, when did you do that interview?

KING: Well, I know they played a clip the other night from 2003, I thought I did one after that, but the mind-boggles after a time.

LEMON: Yes.

KING: I know it was one of her last interviews she did.

LEMON: Yes, I'm glad you reminded me of that, because I'd like to see that clip and hear what the intervention was like. We'll look for that in the archives.

(CROSSTALK)

KING: One of the interviews with Gerald Ford, I had many, was the description of that intervention.

LEMON: Yes. Larry, we appreciate you joining us. Thank you, sir.

KING: Any time, Don. And don't forget my special tomorrow night.

LEMON: Yes, we will be watching. It's Harry Potter, and we will be promoting it. So, Larry, thank you so much, sir. We'll talk to you soon, OK?

KING: Thank you, Don. Always a pleasure.

LEMON: All right.

And just in the last hour, with the details for two services for Betty Ford were announced. Our Thelma Gutierrez is live in Palm Desert, California.

Thelma, I understand we know more about the first lady's cause of death right now. What are you hearing? THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don. In fact, Greg Willard, who was a close personal friend of the Ford family, came out just a few minutes ago and he told us that the former first lady died of natural causes. She died at the Eisenhower Medical Center at 3:30 local time yesterday here in California. And she had her children by her side.

He also laid out, Don, very detailed plans for a funeral. There will be two funerals. One here in the Coachella Valley, in the desert, which is where the Ford's spent their retirement years. Another in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which is where the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum and Library is located, also where President Ford is buried.

Now, both of those funerals, Don, will be private. But there will be viewings in both cities, Tuesday night, also Thursday night in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for the public to come and pay their respects. Tuesday night here in Coachella Valley, and then Thursday night in Grand Rapids, Michigan -- Don.

LEMON: So, listen, I know there's always -- when it comes to these events, who gets to be the pallbearers and all of those things. How are the eulogists and other people in the funeral selected?

GUTIERREZ: Well, this was so interesting to me, Don. What Mr. Willard said, Mrs. Ford was very much involved in the planning of her funeral. This has been going on for years, and they had talked about it. They talked about who she would use to eulogize her. So, she chose those people.

One of those people will be former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. Now, the two were described as very, very good friends. And Mr. Willard said they were the deepest of friends. And so, she will eulogize her here in California.

LEMON: All right. Thelma Gutierrez, we appreciate it. Thank you.

British tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch comes to an end after a scandal. That report is next.

And we're going to take you live to L.A. for the latest on the British royal couple's visit to the U.S.

But, first, according to the U.S. Census, the Census Bureau, more than 10 million Americans are self-employed, some even become business owners before graduating high school.

CNN's education contributor Steve Perry introduces us to a couple in tonight's "Perry's Principles."

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STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): Mia Froome is not your typical 18-year-old. She's met the president, rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange and started her own business, Mama Nia's Vegan Bakery. Her cookies were even serve at an event at the famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. (on camera): You started a vegan cookie business in high school?

NIA FROOME, MAMA NIA'S VEGAN BAKERY: Yes, yes. The summer after tenth grade. My parents became vegan when my mom contracted breast cancer 11 years ago.

PERRY: So, at 15 year old, what did you know about business?

FROOME: Just what I learned in the month of NFTE.

PERRY (voice-over): NFTE stands for Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship. It's a nonprofit, inspiring low-income students to stay in school, by tapping into their interest to create businesses.

At NFTE's national competition last fall, Froome's bakery won the $10,000 grand prize.

Businessman-turned-teacher Steve Mariotti founded NFTE in 1987. He was inspired after he was mugged by some kids in New York City.

STEVE MARIOTTI, NFTE FOUNDER: If you can start teaching young people about basic income statements, record keeping, how to do a sales call, how to save your money -- I think that will have a dramatic impact on ending poverty.

BARBARA CAMPBELL, BUSINESSWOMAN: This is my logo.

PERRY: Barbara Campbell is long term proof of NFTE's success. She grew up in a rough New York neighborhood and started designing handbags at 16. Today, her business includes belt, jewelry, purses. But the slow economy has been tough on her.

CAMPBELL: It affected the stores that I was in. It affected my vendors. But once again, being part of this great program, NFTE, teaching me how to write a business plan, I was able to go back and really strategize a new approach.

PERRY: Steve Perry, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Caught you on the headlines right now:

The United States has officially recognized South Sudan as a new nation.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

LEMON: The new African nation celebrated its independence from Sudan today after a long and bloody civil war. President Obama says it's a reminder that after the darkness of war, the light of a new dawn is possible.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was there. Here's his reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I was here in January 2005 signing the agreement on behalf of the United States of America and President Bush. And there are a lot of people who wondered then whether or not it would really play out the way it was signed. And here we are six years later and it's worked.

What most impressed me about today was the fact that both presidents stood there together. And when they finally gave their individual speeches, both speeches were speeches of reconciliation.

SUSAN RICE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N: I think it's significant that both leaders were here today, they're sitting next to each other in that dinner that was supposed to be a lunch. And, you know, there are many tough, tough issues that need to be resolved. They've acknowledged their differences. They are both committed to wanting to have a partnership. Their nations are living side by side in peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Also there, Ambassador Susan Rice.

After 168 years now, the "News of the World" put its last issue to bed. The staff walked out of its offices for the last time today. The tabloids were shut down this past week by its owner, Rupert Murdoch.

Revelations about reporters hacking into voicemail boxes of thousands of people have enraged the British public. They've also hit too close to home for Prime Minister David Cameron, who had hired a former editor as his press secretary.

Meantime, Britain's most famous newlyweds are on a whirlwind tour of California today. Prince William spent the last hour playing polo in Santa Barbara.

The second in line to the British throne warned before the match that he wasn't a good loser, but he seemed ready to try the American version of the game. His new wife Catherine joined him at the match.

And our royal correspondent Max Foster joins us now from Los Angeles with the very latest.

You don't look like you're about to play polo there, Max?

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: No, I'm at the red carpet. There's a red carpet event a little later. I'm very much looking forward to that. And it's really nice to being in a hot tux in a blazing hot afternoon here in L.A. But this is what we do for work, isn't it, Don?

LEMON: Yes.

FOSTER: Anyway, I'm going to take you out to the polo now, the match just recently finished, and the prince won. He seems to be playing a tough game. And the duchess is about to award him with a trophy. Everyone's standing by for the kiss. Wouldn't they kiss? That's what speculators are worrying about in the media crowd.

Anyway, a little later on, they're going to be coming down here, a big event to promote U.K. interest, really. Young British talent hobnobbing with Hollywood A-listers. We're not sure who the A-listers are yet, but it hasn't been denied that J. Lo is coming. It hasn't been denied that Nicole Kidman is coming. But we'll have that for you a little later on.

LEMON: OK. So, you know, Max, they've barely been in California for 24 hours, but they've already had a jam-packed, as you Brit, schedule. What's on the agenda for tonight?

FOSTER: Yes, it's been an incredibly busy schedule. It's been like that for the last nine days. They still got several events to go. They got this one.

Tomorrow morning, they're going to skid row to meet young homeless people. And that's a big cause -- very close to William's heart as it was his mothers. And then in the afternoon, they're going to be meeting with some war veterans at a job fair.

And you'll see Catherine meeting military wives because she's going to get back and become a military wife after all of this. It's been an incredible few days for them. But I'm sure they're looking forward to going home and relaxing after all this.

But, L.A. has been a success so far, I'd say. It's been a little more hectic, with helicopters and police. It wasn't quite Canada.

LEMON: Listen, was that pink pants that he's wearing there on the red carpet?

FOSTER: Say again, Don?

LEMON: Was William wearing pink pants on the red carpet? It certainly looks like it?

FOSTER: We got a big security sweep going on right now, Don.

LEMON: We can see it. I thought you were able to see it. We can see it. Nothing wrong with that.

We were -- I was wondering if it's pink or white just from the video.

Listen, this is their first official trek abroad as a royal crowd, how are crowds receiving them?

FOSTER: Well, the crowd -- it's interesting, isn't it, because in Canada, everywhere you went, you had these enormous crowds everywhere, even in Quebec, which is anti-monarchy traditionally, had enormous. L.A.'s a bit different. I think I can explain this. I've spoken to lots of people that live there. There have been crowds. There are certainly lots of crowds out here. But not nearly on the level you get in Canada. But there's such fuzz (ph), particularly when you come around, you can see the sort of knee jerk attention they're getting everywhere they go. And all the TV networks and all the newspapers, full of it around. And there are crowds over there, but it seems as though they're being kept at a distance, like they weren't in Canada.

There aren't the opportunities here for the crowds to get up close and personal. And there's been some frustration about that. We've been talking on the last couple days about how this is a big clamp-down with the paparazzi as well. The police making clear that any paps on private grounds, anywhere near these venues, will be arrested immediately. So, much tighter operation here. They haven't had a chance to meet the crowds in the same way.

LEMON: All right. A very dapper Max Foster in Los Angeles. Thank you, Max. We appreciate it.

And speaking of Prince William and Catherine, next, we'll ask Maureen O'Connor how they're being received.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, HOST "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Very nice couple. While they're here in Los Angeles, when Kate said they're going to visit Skid Row. I guess they want to say hello to Sarah Ferguson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: That was Jay Leno there taking a shot at the Duchess of York as William and Kate visit California this weekend for the first time as a couple. The young royals are a feeding frenzy for the paparazzi back in England but will they find more respectful treatment now that they're here in the United States?

I want to bring in Maureen O'Connor, she's a staff writer for gawker.com. Maureen, how is the press and the paparazzi for a matter of fact treating Will and Kate?

MAUREEN O'CONNOR, STAFF WRITER, GAWKER.COM: Well, they're certainly interested in Will and Kate. But this is an impeccably choreographed script. They are only going to events in private locations and the police in L.A. are very adept at crowd control in situations like this, unlike for instance when they were in Canada for the last nine days and the feeding frenzy there was incredible to serve the crush of people trying to see them everywhere they went.

LEMON: Do you feel that they're connecting to the American people? I mean, you know, because they're playing polo. You know, some people may find it stuffy here, It's not exactly one of our most popular sports, and then they're in this beautiful setting in California?

O'CONNOR: Well, I mean, what else do you want to see Prince William do, really, right? You want to see him do something he's good at. He's going to play polo. That event, they actually charged - it was a charity event and they charged $4,000 for the VIP tickets. So at that price, you know, you want to see him do something he's good at. You don't want to see the British guy go strike a baseball.

LEMON: What's the reason for them coming here? What are they trying to accomplish?

O'CONNOR: Well, on the one hand, the royalty act like PR spokes models for the British empire. And you know, this is a time when a lot of people in Great Britain are starting to wonder why do we have this monarchy any more. So they have to make themselves useful and they have to project a sort of sense of professionalism and duty. So in America they're British interests. They're hosting an event for British film and television in Hollywood. They're going to events with military and with veterans.

But at the same time, everything they do, they're sort of trying to show their own subjects back home that they are doing something important, that they're really contributing somehow.

LEMON: So this is a publicity tour, so to speak?

O'CONNOR: Essentially. I mean, I think that they basically act like good will ambassadors at this point. They go, they - you know, they cheer people up and they work on charity events.

LEMON: All right. Maureen, I'm going to keep you around because boy oh, boy, there's more news, breaking news about Charlie Sheen. More of Maureen right after the break.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLIE SHEEN, ACTOR: How are you doing, guys? What's happening?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK. So Maureen, I'm watching, I think it was "The Daily Show" or something the other night. In the bottom left corner of the screen I saw that there was a new roast. And some might say that Comedy Central is scraping the bottom of the barrel for a celebrity roast here. Tell us about it.

O'CONNOR: They are going for the human embodiment of an easy punch line. Charlie Sheen next. Now - so you know, they're going to get a lot of jokes out of this, no doubt. But there is some sort of controversy. First of all, Charlie Sheen is at the bottom of the barrel, like you said. He's a pretty easy target. His ex-wife, Brooke Mueller, who successfully, she accused him of attacking her on Christmas day. He served time for a misdemeanor domestic assault with her. And she's already said if they make any jokes about her she wants to sue. So honestly, she's a pretty sympathetic character and I think everybody in Charlie Sheen's orbit is a little bit uncomfortable making all these jokes about some very undisturbing, sort of dark situations surrounding him.

LEMON: Yes, about addiction and all of that. Because these things are usually pretty raunchy, and I have to say, they're fun, they're not for kids. It's not even, I would say NC-17, it's usually rated X, in my opinion. But I mean, how are they going to get around that? I guess comedians can write around anything but just around the addiction. Because there are some issues that he needs to pay attention to and that aren't necessarily funny.

O'CONNOR: You know, I imagine that they're just going to go for it, and they're going to let this be - they're really just going to let this hang out as they sometimes do. Charlie's kind of been letting hang out already, doing his "Violent Torpedo of Truth" tour, which frankly people haven't liked that much, it's been kind of hit or miss.

So whether having other comedians on stage with him is going to help pull it together. You know, interestingly, doing this on the same night that the new "Two and A Half Men" with Ashton Kutcher premieres. So this is kind of Charlie's last moment to say "Screw you, CBS. I'm going to make my show elsewhere. And I'm going to compete with you directly."

LEMON: I think there's going to be huge ratings for it. Because as you said, they're going to go for it and Charlie is a good sport about it.

O'CONNOR: Yes.

LEMON: Self-deprecating humor, he's all for it, and not to mention the publicity.

Thank you, Maureen O'Connor.

O'CONNOR: Yes, of course. Thanks.

LEMON: All right. MTV, President Ronald Reagan, Rubik's cube. Remember Pac-man? They all defined the 1980s. How about the fashion and the hair and the music. Check it out.

What happened to my hair? Find out, coming up. I'm going back to the 80s.

I've lost my mind that's all I'll say.

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LEMON: All right. What do you remember about the 1980s? The hair, the clothes? Well, for many, it was the music, specifically hair rock bands. That music is being remembered and celebrated in America's Ultimate Recycling Bin, the Broadway stage, in "Rock of Ages." I had a chance to go backstage for an up close look at the cast, the show and, of course, all that hair. Are you ready? Let's go back to the '80s.

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LEMON (on camera): In this show, it's all about the hair. You can see that, the '80s. And what's more '80s than a mullet.

CONSTANTINE MARQUILIS, "DREW" OF THE "ROCK OF AGES": We're getting ready for a crazy night of rock 'n' roll in "Rock of Ages."

LEMON: So what should people know about this production, like why is it so popular?

ELICIA MACKENZIE, "SHERRIE" OF "ROCK OF AGES": Well, you know, it's the '80s, it's got to be that time where crazy rock, hair, make-up and clothing - it's just it's something people just love.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People have a sort of fondness for this era and as soon as they hear the songs they're brought back and you know, they're transfixed into this great time of their lives.

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MARQUILIS: It's the type of show people kind of were longing for in this down climate that we have.

LEMON: I love the cow bell. It's so '80s, the cow bell.

MARQUILIS: Yes. So many great songs in the show. There's a lot of mashups like that.

LEMON: Can you sing some of them?

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MARQUILIS: It's 1987 on the Sunset Strip. This set this looks like a simple one dimensional set, but it transforms into many different things. And it's depending on the lighting, we have this great LED screen back here, that you know, we do actually a live action shot during the show.

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LEMON: You got some Jack Daniels, you got the Ramones. You got a couple of (INAUDIBLE) onstage.

MACKENZIE: It's a really detailed stage, the audience doesn't see half of what we see on stage. It really brings us into character.

LEMON: I feel like I should have a mullet.

MARQUILIS: Dude, there's plenty of it on the show.

MACKENZIE: Oh, yes.

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LEMON: What was I thinking?

All right. The final edition of "News of the World" rolled off the presses this weekend, the popular British tabloid taken down by a phone hacking scandal. You might be surprised at just how easy it is to hack a phone and how exposed you are. We'll tell you how to protect yourself coming up.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brooks must go! Brooks must go!

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LEMON: All right. Angry protesters outside the offices of Britain's "News of the World" newspaper. As we reported earlier, the immensely popular British tabloid is now shut down, after staffers were accused of hacking into voice mails to steal information.

Maybe you have an idea how your computer could be hacked. Maybe but how exactly does phone hacking work? We got the perfect person to tell you about that and that is tech reporter, Katie Linendoll. Our own personal tech geek here. She is not only smart, she's gorgeous. So listen, so how easy though is it for someone to hack into your phone like they did?

KATIE LINENDOLL, TECH REPORTER: Yes, I hate to shatter the illusion. Because when a lot of people hear phone hacking, they think that these journalists were out there with this overly complex technology and software systems. But actually it's incredibly easy to do a voicemail hacking. I had the opportunity to actually speak with John Herring. He is the CEO of Lookout. It is the top mobile security app. He spent 10 years with mobile security. And we really broke down all the different ways the "News of the World" reporters given the time line that we know of, actually hacked into the voice mails, so a few ways, and I want you to brace yourself. Because a lot of these are very low tech.

This is how they did it. First off, the first way is pretexting. Now pretexting is just a fancy word. There's a lot of allegations from staffers coming out, they actually called up the carriers and were like, "Hey, I forgot my PIN number and I need to grant access. And they actually did that. That's one way. Another way is to actually guess their PIN numbers. A lot of people during their time still carried the carrier's default PIN number. So they knew quickly what the PIN number would be.

Also people still turn to sequential numbers, 7777 or 1234 or they use their birthday which is really easy to guess. But we think the best way that this happened is to actually use caller ID spoofing. Now that might sound really techie but caller ID spoofing is actually a hack that's been around for quite a few years. It's very simple to execute. So how it works is caller ID spoofing. I can actually make a call and have any number show up on the phone. So, Don, if I were to call you and use caller ID spoofing I can have it show up as the White House. I can have it show up as President Obama. Or if I know you don't have a password on your voice mail, which to this day a lot of people still don't, I can actually call your phone with your number and trick it into giving me access and authentication directly to your voice mail. Caller ID spoofing sounds sophisticated. Very easy to execute.

LEMON: Well, I'll be. Really? I had no idea.

LINENDOLL: Yes, really. Go.

LEMON: Go ahead. Awkward pause. I had no idea that it was that easy.

LINENDOLL: I feel like I'm in Fallujah.

LEMON: I know.

LINENDOLL: Yes, I feel like I'm in Fallujah, the delays. It's horrible.

LEMON: It's in New York all the time we talk about. There's a delay. It's worse than Baghdad. We have this weird delay out of New York. Don't ask me why. Well, I guess we'll figure it out one day. So it's not high-tech tools. It's really unsophisticated tools that people can do. Where do they get this? And they can use spyware, right?

LINENDOLL: Yes. And that's the thing we need to think about. A lot of people associate computers with hacking. But what we don't realize now is our phone is a computer and especially now with the bevy of smart phones out there. You can go on to Google right now and put in my mobile spyware and you have an array of options to choose from. And I think we all need to be a little it more cautious and not so vulnerable. Not only can it track, can you hack into some of these voicemails, you can also track their location. You can take all their data which again a smart phone is invaluable these days.

But also, there's even software programs that I have you don't even have to be on the phone for somebody to tap in. You can actually with the phone sitting there activate their microphone and hear on all their conversations. So these are things that everybody needs to be aware of. Hacking into voice mail, I think, is just the tip of the iceberg and the array of options out there for mobile hacking in general.

LEMON: Is there anything fool proof that you can do to stop it besides than just not having a cell phone?

LINENDOLL: I know. There's a lot to think about here. And I'm going to try to get through as many tips as possible. Because I teamed up with Lookout and their security experts and also Bill Stackpole, he's a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology that specializes in this field to give you a number of different tips for mobile protection.

If first off, if you have voice mail get that four digit PIN and get a smart one. Don't use your ATM PIN, you're making it double vulnerable. Don't use 1234. Don't use 7777, sequential numbers, bad idea. Also, make sure when those updates come through on your phone that you're downloading them. It's not about downloading extra features. It's about patching security updates as well. And press techies out there, you know me on this one. Do not jail break your phone. I know there are cool features out there. Do not do it because it makes you more vulnerable. Also when you're making purchases, try to make sure that you are using a secure link.

And I think the big one I'm going to leave you with, Don, is really understanding what you're downloading. So many apps out there right now. I can't tell you how many are trying to get through and try to pretend that they're a banking app or that they're an app to protect you from anti-virus. And they're really just tricking you into that.

LEMON: Yes, got to be careful.

LINENDOLL: Bad, bad software.

LEMON: Yes. Got to be careful and don't say anything on your voice mail that you wouldn't want repeated somewhere else. Maybe that's an option as well.

LINENDOLL: Yes.

LEMON: Thank you, Katie. We appreciate it.

LINENDOLL: Good times, thank you.

LEMON: All right. Sorry about the delay.

"Harry Potter" final film is approaching. It debuts stateside in just a week. Now one actor from the cast reveals strange secrets about life in the billion dollar franchise. Details straight ahead.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Be strong.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Harry Potter.

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LEMON: Wow. What movie was that? I've never seen it. I'm joking. We're talking with the kids in the studio. The moguls are going mad for the last Harry Potter film to hit the United States. "The Deadly Hallows Part 2." Moguls, by the way, are non-wizards like you and me. Now the billion dollar franchise with British cast members ending, one of them confesses an American actually tried to adopt him. We'll get to that. But first, in the entertainment headlines. Rihanna's concert goes up in flames. So let's talk about all of it now with CNN entertainment reporter Ms. Shanon Cook. She joins me now. So Shanon, what happened at Rihanna's concert and did anyone get hurt?

SHANON COOK, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: No, nobody got hurt, thankfully. But what it looks like happened is a light above the stage actually caught on fire. And the entire venue had to be evacuated. We're seeing some i-report video here of the incident. 12,500 concert goers had to stream out of the venue. But like I said, no one was hurt. Rihanna wasn't hurt. She ran off the stage in good time.

And it was kind of a disappointing show all around, I think, for these concert goers because Rihanna was actually late to get on the stage. She kept the audience waiting for about an hour. So I think they must have felt a little short changed and then this, of course, the fire, the concert was cut short. So it's a good that via Twitter that Rihanna promised that she would return to Dallas and give them a full show. No one was hurt. It was probably kind of exciting, actually.

LEMON: You took the words right out of my mouth. I was going to say - I'm not sure if it was as interesting as a Rihanna concert but it's unique, let's put it that way.

All right. Let's change up a little bit here and talk about actor James Spader. He's going to be officially joining the cast of NBC's "The Office" next season. I was upset when "Boston Legal" left the airways because I liked watching him there. Now he's going to be in "The Office" -

COOK: Yes.

LEMON: Is he making up for Steve Carell's absence?

COOK: Well, obviously they wanted to draw a big star to this show to fill that sort of absence left by Steve Carell. Whether or not he's going to pick up for it. I don't know. I love James Spader. He's a brilliant actor and he did appear to the finale of the last season of the show. And the character he played in the finale is the character he's going to play going forward. He was kind of creepy. That show, the idea of that show is that Steve Carell brought this real sense of awkwardness to the show. And he wasn't creepy though. He wasn't dark. So Spader is bringing a completely different atmosphere. I think it's going to be a challenge for the cast. Will people watch? I think people will absolutely watch. But Spader is sort of dark, heavy, creepy, sort of sexually charged (INAUDIBLE) and might actually exhaust people and they might turn away after a while.

LEMON: He is amazing. I remember "Less Than Zero" is the first time I remember seeing him. And then "Sex, Lies and Videotape.

COOK: He's one of those - sorry.

LEMON: Really quickly. We just have a few seconds here. I want to talk about Harry Potter. COOK: Love this delay. Love the delay between New York and Atlanta.

LEMON: Yes.

COOK: Harry Potter.

LEMON: Yes.

COOK: One of the characters from Harry Potter, Tom Felden who plays Harry Potter's nemesis said, told the "Daily Mail" in the U.K. that this guy from the U.S. who is a huge fan sent him a note saying he wanted to adopt the actor.

LEMON: Five seconds, Shanon.

COOK: He actually said all the adoption paperwork and said sign it and sent it back and you will be my son.

LEMON: Thank you, Shanon.

COOK: Pretty creepy. Potter fans strange.

LEMON: Harry Potter. We want to remind you about Larry King's special. It's tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m., "Harry Potter the Final Chapter."

My thanks to Shanon and thanks to you for watching. I'm Don Lemon. I'm going to see you back here at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.