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CNN Live At Daybreak

Bob Hope Passes USO Baton to Wayne Newton

Aired October 25, 2001 - 06:56   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The United Services Organization, better known probably to you as the USO, is still in the business of entertaining the troops.

But as CNN's Paul Vercammen reports, the aging Bob Hope will no longer be front and center.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB HOPE, ENTERTAINER: Well, men, I bring you great news from the Land of Liberty, it's still there.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The USO baton or microphone has been handed off from 98-year-old Bob Hope to 59-year- old Wayne Newton.

DOLORES HOPE, BOB HOPE'S WIFE: I think it's great. He's a wonderful young man and very capable of carrying on that charm.

VERCAMMEN: Newton has long belted out tunes for the United Services Organization, first performance at age 8 before President Truman.

WAYNE NEWTON, ENTERTAINER: Now of course there's certainly more of a profound need for the USO than maybe there has been since Vietnam.

VERCAMMEN: Newton's upcoming road trip is the first major USO tour since the September 11 attacks. He starts November 12 with shows in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Korea and Bahrain. Retired General John H. Tilelli Jr., president of the USO, says more stops might be added.

GENERAL JOHN H. TILELLI JR. (RET.), PRESIDENT AND CEO, USO: Yes, there is new urgency. We're trying to figure out new ways to take care of the men and women that have deployed. We're trying to find out how -- what do commanders want us to do into these new areas.

VERCAMMEN: Tilelli adds security will be tightened for the tour to protect the growing list of celebrities. The USO reports Shaggy, a former U.S. Marine and Gulf War veteran, is joining Newton's holiday tour as is Peter McNicol from "Ally McBeal", Bo Derek, Jessica Simpson, plus the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders.

NEWTON: It's going to be a real tough tour for me having to look at all these pretty girls and knowing that they're going over there for the guys that we're going to entertain to.

VERCAMMEN: For decades, USO tours have provided such inspiration from Jayne Mansfield to Raquel Welch, a touch of home in the flesh.

(on camera): All celebrities volunteer for their entertainment tours of duty. The USO is a nonprofit charity. It operates 117 centers worldwide for U.S. military personnel and their families.

(voice-over): Some U.S. troops overseas can soon say danke schon to Newton in person.

TILELLI: He did not jump on the bandwagon after the crisis. He volunteered to do this 10 months ago, and we've been working out the details for the last 10 months.

VERCAMMEN: Newton is following Hope's footprints in the sand.

HOPE: This is really something out here. I've got sand in places where I didn't even know I had places.

(LAUGHTER)

VERCAMMEN: Paul Vercammen, CNN Entertainment News, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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