Return to Transcripts main page
Live From...
Panel Investigates 9/11 First Responders; Box Office Looking Green
Aired May 18, 2004 - 15:00 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.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to LIVE FROM. I'm Betty Nguyen. Miles and Kyra are off today.
Here's a look at the headlines.
Responding to America's worst terrorist attack, today, the independent commission investigating 9/11 is looking at what went right and what went wrong. The committee cited a number of communications problems it says hampered emergency efforts and may have contributed to the high death toll.
The lights on Broadway will be dimmed tonight in a tribute to Tony Randall. The actor died in his sleep at NYU Medical Center Hospital last night. He was 84 years old. Perhaps best known for playing the fastidious Felix Unger on the TV sitcom "The Odd Couple." Randall also had a successful stage and film career.
Pulling the plug on Martha, at least for now. The producers of "Martha Stewart Living" have announced the TV show will go indefinite hiatus when the current season ends in December. Stewart was convicted in March of lying about why she sold ImClone stock. She'll be sentenced on June 17.
Hitting the road for the holidays? Despite the high price of gas, AAA is predicting nearly 31 million people will drive 50 miles or more from home over the holiday weekend, Memorial Day weekend, that is. That is up 3.4 percent from last year. Overall, summer travel sales are said to be booming because of an improved economy and fewer security worries.
We begin this hour two years, eight months, and seven days post 9/11. A mile and a half away from ground zero, it's a second look at New York City's first-responders, who an independent panel finds were hamstrung by poor communications and a lack of coordination on that terrible day.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve following the hearings in Manhattan.
Hi, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Betty.
Commissioners that the hour are hearing from the present commissioners of fire and police and also the head of emergency management. In their statements to the commission, they've been outlining all the steps that they have taken since 9/11 to try to ensure that if there is another terrorist attack, they will be in a better position to respond.
Some of the things they've done include communications improvements, improvements in sharing of information, also improvements in training, communications certainly the major issue here today. There were failures of communication on 9/11 and missed communications that many people feel cost lives. The question has been, have things been improved? Have things been improved as much as they could be?
The former police commissioner Bernard Kerik addressed this. He said even today the greatest technology doesn't exist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNARD KERIK, FORMER NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Go to any of the communications companies out there. Go to the best. Go to Motorola. Go to the best there is. Show me one radio, show me one radio that they will guarantee you, this radio will go through that metal, it will go through the debris, it will go through the dust. You will have 100 percent communications 100 percent of the time.
There is none. There is none. It's been 2 1/2 years. Show me one today. Everybody's looking at it. There is none.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: Issues of command-and-control are also getting close scrutiny here, whether longstanding tensions between the fire department and the police department impeded response efforts on 9/11.
One of the commission members weighed in, John Lehman, called the command structure a scandal not worthy of the Boy Scouts. That drew a sharp retort from the former fire commissioner, Tom Von Essen. He said that sort of criticism was ridiculous. He and the former police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, both said that their departments worked well together, had over thousand of incidents.
And certainly everyone who's testified today said that they did the best job possible on 9/11 under extraordinarily difficult circumstances which certainly had never been anticipated.
The commission emphasizes that its intention here is not to find fault. What it's trying to do is find out what went wrong so they can make fixes to the system -- Betty, back to you.
NGUYEN: Jeanne, we've heard a lot about what went wrong. Are they talking much about the progress that's been made?
MESERVE: Yes.
This panel in particular is going to be talking a lot about the progress that's been made because these are the people who are in office now, who can talk about how far things have come since 9/11. I just listened to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly talk. He was talking about the significant investment that they've made in counterterrorism efforts. They have this Operation Atlas in effect here in New York City.
That's a team that pays special attention to critical infrastructure and points of entry to the system. It costs about $1 million a week to operate that, so a lot of discussion of what they've been doing since 9/11. The question is, is it enough?
NGUYEN: CNN's Jeanne Meserve in New York, thank you.
Also receiving worldwide attention, tomorrow's court-martial proceedings tied to the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. The U.S. military certainly has its work cut out determining what role the soldiers played in the matter and ensuring the world court of public opinion that it will pursue justice.
From Baghdad, here's CNN's Harris Whitbeck.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A makeshift courtroom at the Baghdad Convention Center ready for the first of several military courts- martial in the Abu Ghraib abuse cases. There will be lots of room for the press and live simultaneous translation into Arabic. The coalition authorities realize they have to convince public opinion, particularly in Iraq, they are serious about bringing prison abusers to justice. But a day before the special court-martial of Specialist Jeremy Sivits and the arraignment of three others, few in Baghdad seem ready to believe justice will be served.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): While the Americans knew about the torture of the Iraqi detainees before this date, it is a game to help Bush win the elections.
WHITBECK: This shopkeeper says the court-martial will be justice a show and that the those who ordered the abuse are the ones who should be put on trial.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It should be Iraqi court, not an American, to try the officers in charge. Not the soldiers who executed the orders.
WHITBECK: Sivits is expected to plead guilty to charges of mistreatment of prisoners and dereliction of duty while he was a prison guard at Abu Ghraib. In a pretrial hearing known as an Article 32 in military justice terms, he stated abuse took place, describing, for example, an incident in which a prison guard would strike a detainee with a baseball swing and hit the wounds of detainees. For military court officers, the challenge is in conducting the proceedings under intense scrutiny.
CAPT. ROSE BLEAM, MILITARY JUSTICE OFFICER: We're not looking at the most expeditious manner of conducting these courts-martial. The challenge for all parties involved is to make sure that these courts- martial are conducted as if there is no media attention, as if no one else is looking and scrutinizing what we're doing.
WHITBECK (on camera): But the bigger challenge will be in convincing Iraqi public opinion that the American military court system will result in justice, not easy in a country where confidence in the U.S. is not really high.
Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Tributes today to a fallen leader in Baghdad. President Bush's man in Baghdad, Paul Bremer, says the plan to restore power to Iraqis will not be altered by the killing of Izzadine Saleem. The Iraqi Governing Council chief was killed yesterday by a suicide bombing at a military checkpoint outside coalition headquarters.
Also in Iraq, more tests today on an artillery shell used as part of a homemade bomb that may have been loaded with sarin gas. Coalition officials say initial field tests indicate that it did contain chemicals used to create the deadly nerve agent, but in many cases the field tests are not considered conclusive. U.S. soldiers who found the device have been treated for possible contamination.
It was a low-rated sitcom that ran for only five years. And Tony Randall worked on countless other productions on radio, on stage and on screens big and small. Yet Tony Randall will forever be known as Felix Unger on "The Odd Couple" when it debuted in 1970. It was canceled in 1975, the same year that Randall won an Emmy for playing Felix.
And it almost didn't happen at all. In 2001, Tony Randall told CNN's Larry King he had to be convinced to take the role that became his signature.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")
LARRY KING, HOST: How did you two get this part? All right we all know "The Odd Couple" was written originally, the Neil Simon play. It starred Walter Matthau and Art Carney. The film starred Walter Matthau and Jack Lemon. How did the television show come together, Tony?
TONY RANDALL, ACTOR: I'm damned if I know, I really don't. Garry Marshall was at Paramount, and came to see me and asked me to do it. That's all I knew.
KING: You liked it right away? Let's do it?
RANDALL: No, I had to be talked into it. And then we had to find an Oscar.
KING: So, you were first, they hired you first.
RANDALL: Yes
KING: Jack, how did you get it?
JACK KLUGMAN, ACTOR: Let me tell you, now I replaced Walter Matthau on Broadway years before we ever did this. So. when Garry Marshall called me, I thought he'd seen me do it on Broadway and that's why he wanted me. He said, "No, I never saw you." I said, "So why did you want me?" He said, "Well, I saw you in 'Gypsy' and Ethel Merman was singing to you, and she was spitting all over you. And I said, 'You know, that's a good actor, he's not showing that she's spitting all over him,'" That's why he hired me."
KING: And the amazing thing about that show is it wasn't a hit, right?
RANDALL: "The Odd Couple?"
KING: Yes.
RANDALL: We were on for five years, and we were in the bottom 10 for five years.
KING: Why did they keep you on?
RANDALL: There was a guy named Marty Starger at the network, and he liked us and he kept us on.
KING: On ABC, right?
RANDALL: Yes.
KLUGMAN: It was also cheap.
RANDALL: There aren't people like that around anymore.
KLUGMAN: It was also very, very cheap.
KLUGMAN: I mean, we couldn't ask for a raise because they'd fire us, and we had the whole thing, the whole show, license and everything, was $125,000 a show. The kids on "Friends" make more in three days, each one, than we made in five years of doing "The Odd Couple." That's why they kept us on cheap.
RANDALL: And certainly more than Neil Simon made. He didn't make anything.
KING: He sold it off, right?
RANDALL: He didn't realize when he sold the rights to Paramount to make the movie, that he was selling the television rights.
KING: The hit became in reruns, right?
RANDALL: And Jack always predicted it. He said someday we'll be back in reruns and they'll find out how good we are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE," two people who knew Tony Randall best, his widow, Heather Randall, and his "Odd Couple" sidekick and friend Jack Klugman. That's tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Gas prices still going up. Is it time to open America's Strategic Oil Reserve?
And meet the parents. "Shrek"'s back with his new bride and some big shoes to fill at the box office this summer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: No matter where you live in the U.S., gas prices are skyrocketing. Democrats want the Bush administration to tap into the country's Strategic Oil Reserve, but the White House isn't budging.
Our Allan Chernoff picks up the debate and what it can mean for your wallet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Strategic Reserves lie more than 2,000 feet underground in huge natural caverns along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana; 660 million barrels of oil. Everyday, the government adds another 100,000 barrels, even as the price of oil traded here in New York has jumped to an all-time record high.
RICHARD SCHAEFFER, ENERGY DIRECTOR, ABN-AMRO: The closer we get towards the election, with prices staying as high as they are, I think the likelihood of a release to some percentage is the high possibility.
CHERNOFF: With oil above $40 a barrel and gasoline topping $2 a gallon, some industry executives are calling for the government to help by releasing reserves.
The petroleum reserve is supposed to be for emergencies. But President Clinton opened the oil tap in the fall of 2000, temporarily pushing prices down, shortly before the presidential election.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The overriding purpose for our action is to increase supply and help consumers make it through the cold winter. Families shouldn't have to drain their wallets to drive their cars or heat their homes.
CHERNOFF: The Bush campaign criticized the action. President Bush's Energy Department says the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is off limits. That's the way it should be argues the energy lobby.
JOHN FELMY, AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE: There is no good argument for releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It's our insurance policy so that if we do have physical disruptions of supply, we can fill that void with oil from the SPR.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: Traders say if the president were to change his policy, it would be a psychological jolt to the energy market that could send prices quite a bit lower. But it certainly is not the only factor that can push oil prices down. In fact, today they were off by more than $1 a barrel on speculation OPEC may increase its production and also an announcement from Nigeria that it will sell an additional six million barrels of oil on the market -- Betty.
NGUYEN: But I don't guess we'll see a change at the pump anytime soon, huh?
CHERNOFF: Not necessarily. We would have to see a significant drop in the futures market for gasoline stations to actually start dropping their prices. It would have to be sustained for a little bit before they'd cut back, before they would lower their prices.
NGUYEN: Yes, it is going to take some time. Allan Chernoff in New York, thank you.
(FINANCIAL UPDATE)
NGUYEN: He is big, green and pals around with a talking donkey. "Shrek" is back. Will he wow audiences the second time around? That's next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SHREK 2")
MIKE MYERS, ACTOR: It's a bit early to be thinking about that, isn't it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SHREK 2")
(CHEERING)
EDDIE MURPHY, ACTOR: Why don't you guys go ahead? I'll park the car.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: You'll be seeing a lot of green this summer both on screen and at the box office thanks to "Shrek 2." It's poised to become one of the season's blockbusters, with kids and their parents ready for more fairy tale spoofing.
But that's just one of many flicks in the summer shoot. Film critic David Sterritt joins us from New York with us more on "Shrek 2."
Hi there. Hopefully, you can hear us.
You know, there are a lot of expectations out there about this movie. You've seen it. What do you think?
DAVID STERRITT, FILM CRITIC: (AUDIO GAP) was a tremendous success. But more important, I think that both that and this one are really drawing up a new kind of a blueprint for animations that appeal to really all ages. The traditional way of doing this in recent years has been to have a story that's basically for kids. It's a fairy tale kind of a thing and then you throw in a few little jokes or references, so that the grownups can sort of chuckle and congratulate themselves for being smarter than the kids.
I think that "Shrek" and even more maybe "Shrek 2" really all of the way through, they're telling a kid's story. It's a fairy tale story and it's very effective. But one of the major characters is a fairy godmother, but it's not the traditional kind of fairy tale fairy godmother. This is more like a Martha Stewart type. She's the head of FGM, Fairy Godmother Inc. And she uses all of her resources and her power and her magic potion factory as a way of -- of really getting what she wants, which is for "Shrek" to not have Fiona, the other ogre, as his bride, but rather have Prince Charming, who is her fair-haired boy, move into the picture.
So I think that the movie all of the way through has these two different levels, which is very clever of them. On one hand, this really is a fairy tale for kids. I think kids can get it. And on the other hand, it really is full of social satire that actually makes some sense and has some edge to it.
NGUYEN: That's why a lot of adults like it. Quickly, though, let's talk about this. Do you think it's better than the first one?
STERRITT: I think they're really about the same. I don't think this is one of the cases where the sequel is disappointing. Some critics disagree with me. But I think that it's about as good.
However, it has a problem. And the serious problem with it is that its message at the end is the old worn out, be yourself, true beauty is on the inside, rather than on the outside. And I think that's what finally weakens "Shrek 2" maybe a bit more than "Shrek" 1. They both kind of have that message, but it's even more kind of tired out now than it was before.
So I think it's a beautifully done movie and I think it really is for all ages. I think all ages will have a great time. I totally agree with you. There is going to be lot of green this summer from that movie at the box office. But, in the end, I only wish that its message were as original as its screenplay.
NGUYEN: Well, let's talk about Eddie Murphy and his role as the donkey. He cracked me up when I saw this for the first time. Is he just as funny this time around? Does he steal the show?
STERRITT: I think part of the point of that character is that he really is annoying and he really doesn't does get on your nerves. And you know what? He really annoyed me and he really got on my nerves like almost right away and I wanted him to go away.
NGUYEN: Really?
(CROSSTALK)
STERRITT: Yes, just like the characters did, only their they're in the story and I'm in the audience. And fortunately he doesn't keep this up through the whole movie. He sort of comes goes a little bit more. But in the beginning of the movie I thought, wow, this effectively irritating character is going to effectively irritate me into not liking this movie.
As time went by, though, again, his character became less important. And there's a new character, Puss-in-Boots, with the voice provided by Antonio Banderas, who is really a clever character. And, in fact, there's a joke in the movie: Oh, no, the annoying animal sidekick, that part's is already taken, is one of the jokes in the movie. But I'll tell you, Puss-in-Boots I think is a great improvement over the Eddie Murphy character.
NGUYEN: Well, this is a blockbuster. At least we're expecting it to be.
What about some of the other summer picks? And are we going to see a lot messages where it is going to be good for both teenagers, children and parents alike?
STERRITT: Yes, I suspect so.
Even a movie like "Troy" that's already out and which has an R rating is sort of an R over toward PG-13. You know, it's really, I think hoping to attract people of a lot of different ages.
And then there are more of the kind of teenage movies and especially teenage girl movies that have been so popular lately, including "Saved!," which puts a very original spin on this by...
NGUYEN: David?
STERRITT: Yes.
NGUYEN: We are going to have to leave it there. We are absolutely out of time, but a lot of movies this summer. Thanks for your information today from critic David Sterritt.
And that wraps up this edition of LIVE FROM.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 18, 2004 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to LIVE FROM. I'm Betty Nguyen. Miles and Kyra are off today.
Here's a look at the headlines.
Responding to America's worst terrorist attack, today, the independent commission investigating 9/11 is looking at what went right and what went wrong. The committee cited a number of communications problems it says hampered emergency efforts and may have contributed to the high death toll.
The lights on Broadway will be dimmed tonight in a tribute to Tony Randall. The actor died in his sleep at NYU Medical Center Hospital last night. He was 84 years old. Perhaps best known for playing the fastidious Felix Unger on the TV sitcom "The Odd Couple." Randall also had a successful stage and film career.
Pulling the plug on Martha, at least for now. The producers of "Martha Stewart Living" have announced the TV show will go indefinite hiatus when the current season ends in December. Stewart was convicted in March of lying about why she sold ImClone stock. She'll be sentenced on June 17.
Hitting the road for the holidays? Despite the high price of gas, AAA is predicting nearly 31 million people will drive 50 miles or more from home over the holiday weekend, Memorial Day weekend, that is. That is up 3.4 percent from last year. Overall, summer travel sales are said to be booming because of an improved economy and fewer security worries.
We begin this hour two years, eight months, and seven days post 9/11. A mile and a half away from ground zero, it's a second look at New York City's first-responders, who an independent panel finds were hamstrung by poor communications and a lack of coordination on that terrible day.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve following the hearings in Manhattan.
Hi, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Betty.
Commissioners that the hour are hearing from the present commissioners of fire and police and also the head of emergency management. In their statements to the commission, they've been outlining all the steps that they have taken since 9/11 to try to ensure that if there is another terrorist attack, they will be in a better position to respond.
Some of the things they've done include communications improvements, improvements in sharing of information, also improvements in training, communications certainly the major issue here today. There were failures of communication on 9/11 and missed communications that many people feel cost lives. The question has been, have things been improved? Have things been improved as much as they could be?
The former police commissioner Bernard Kerik addressed this. He said even today the greatest technology doesn't exist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNARD KERIK, FORMER NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Go to any of the communications companies out there. Go to the best. Go to Motorola. Go to the best there is. Show me one radio, show me one radio that they will guarantee you, this radio will go through that metal, it will go through the debris, it will go through the dust. You will have 100 percent communications 100 percent of the time.
There is none. There is none. It's been 2 1/2 years. Show me one today. Everybody's looking at it. There is none.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: Issues of command-and-control are also getting close scrutiny here, whether longstanding tensions between the fire department and the police department impeded response efforts on 9/11.
One of the commission members weighed in, John Lehman, called the command structure a scandal not worthy of the Boy Scouts. That drew a sharp retort from the former fire commissioner, Tom Von Essen. He said that sort of criticism was ridiculous. He and the former police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, both said that their departments worked well together, had over thousand of incidents.
And certainly everyone who's testified today said that they did the best job possible on 9/11 under extraordinarily difficult circumstances which certainly had never been anticipated.
The commission emphasizes that its intention here is not to find fault. What it's trying to do is find out what went wrong so they can make fixes to the system -- Betty, back to you.
NGUYEN: Jeanne, we've heard a lot about what went wrong. Are they talking much about the progress that's been made?
MESERVE: Yes.
This panel in particular is going to be talking a lot about the progress that's been made because these are the people who are in office now, who can talk about how far things have come since 9/11. I just listened to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly talk. He was talking about the significant investment that they've made in counterterrorism efforts. They have this Operation Atlas in effect here in New York City.
That's a team that pays special attention to critical infrastructure and points of entry to the system. It costs about $1 million a week to operate that, so a lot of discussion of what they've been doing since 9/11. The question is, is it enough?
NGUYEN: CNN's Jeanne Meserve in New York, thank you.
Also receiving worldwide attention, tomorrow's court-martial proceedings tied to the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. The U.S. military certainly has its work cut out determining what role the soldiers played in the matter and ensuring the world court of public opinion that it will pursue justice.
From Baghdad, here's CNN's Harris Whitbeck.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A makeshift courtroom at the Baghdad Convention Center ready for the first of several military courts- martial in the Abu Ghraib abuse cases. There will be lots of room for the press and live simultaneous translation into Arabic. The coalition authorities realize they have to convince public opinion, particularly in Iraq, they are serious about bringing prison abusers to justice. But a day before the special court-martial of Specialist Jeremy Sivits and the arraignment of three others, few in Baghdad seem ready to believe justice will be served.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): While the Americans knew about the torture of the Iraqi detainees before this date, it is a game to help Bush win the elections.
WHITBECK: This shopkeeper says the court-martial will be justice a show and that the those who ordered the abuse are the ones who should be put on trial.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It should be Iraqi court, not an American, to try the officers in charge. Not the soldiers who executed the orders.
WHITBECK: Sivits is expected to plead guilty to charges of mistreatment of prisoners and dereliction of duty while he was a prison guard at Abu Ghraib. In a pretrial hearing known as an Article 32 in military justice terms, he stated abuse took place, describing, for example, an incident in which a prison guard would strike a detainee with a baseball swing and hit the wounds of detainees. For military court officers, the challenge is in conducting the proceedings under intense scrutiny.
CAPT. ROSE BLEAM, MILITARY JUSTICE OFFICER: We're not looking at the most expeditious manner of conducting these courts-martial. The challenge for all parties involved is to make sure that these courts- martial are conducted as if there is no media attention, as if no one else is looking and scrutinizing what we're doing.
WHITBECK (on camera): But the bigger challenge will be in convincing Iraqi public opinion that the American military court system will result in justice, not easy in a country where confidence in the U.S. is not really high.
Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Tributes today to a fallen leader in Baghdad. President Bush's man in Baghdad, Paul Bremer, says the plan to restore power to Iraqis will not be altered by the killing of Izzadine Saleem. The Iraqi Governing Council chief was killed yesterday by a suicide bombing at a military checkpoint outside coalition headquarters.
Also in Iraq, more tests today on an artillery shell used as part of a homemade bomb that may have been loaded with sarin gas. Coalition officials say initial field tests indicate that it did contain chemicals used to create the deadly nerve agent, but in many cases the field tests are not considered conclusive. U.S. soldiers who found the device have been treated for possible contamination.
It was a low-rated sitcom that ran for only five years. And Tony Randall worked on countless other productions on radio, on stage and on screens big and small. Yet Tony Randall will forever be known as Felix Unger on "The Odd Couple" when it debuted in 1970. It was canceled in 1975, the same year that Randall won an Emmy for playing Felix.
And it almost didn't happen at all. In 2001, Tony Randall told CNN's Larry King he had to be convinced to take the role that became his signature.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")
LARRY KING, HOST: How did you two get this part? All right we all know "The Odd Couple" was written originally, the Neil Simon play. It starred Walter Matthau and Art Carney. The film starred Walter Matthau and Jack Lemon. How did the television show come together, Tony?
TONY RANDALL, ACTOR: I'm damned if I know, I really don't. Garry Marshall was at Paramount, and came to see me and asked me to do it. That's all I knew.
KING: You liked it right away? Let's do it?
RANDALL: No, I had to be talked into it. And then we had to find an Oscar.
KING: So, you were first, they hired you first.
RANDALL: Yes
KING: Jack, how did you get it?
JACK KLUGMAN, ACTOR: Let me tell you, now I replaced Walter Matthau on Broadway years before we ever did this. So. when Garry Marshall called me, I thought he'd seen me do it on Broadway and that's why he wanted me. He said, "No, I never saw you." I said, "So why did you want me?" He said, "Well, I saw you in 'Gypsy' and Ethel Merman was singing to you, and she was spitting all over you. And I said, 'You know, that's a good actor, he's not showing that she's spitting all over him,'" That's why he hired me."
KING: And the amazing thing about that show is it wasn't a hit, right?
RANDALL: "The Odd Couple?"
KING: Yes.
RANDALL: We were on for five years, and we were in the bottom 10 for five years.
KING: Why did they keep you on?
RANDALL: There was a guy named Marty Starger at the network, and he liked us and he kept us on.
KING: On ABC, right?
RANDALL: Yes.
KLUGMAN: It was also cheap.
RANDALL: There aren't people like that around anymore.
KLUGMAN: It was also very, very cheap.
KLUGMAN: I mean, we couldn't ask for a raise because they'd fire us, and we had the whole thing, the whole show, license and everything, was $125,000 a show. The kids on "Friends" make more in three days, each one, than we made in five years of doing "The Odd Couple." That's why they kept us on cheap.
RANDALL: And certainly more than Neil Simon made. He didn't make anything.
KING: He sold it off, right?
RANDALL: He didn't realize when he sold the rights to Paramount to make the movie, that he was selling the television rights.
KING: The hit became in reruns, right?
RANDALL: And Jack always predicted it. He said someday we'll be back in reruns and they'll find out how good we are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE," two people who knew Tony Randall best, his widow, Heather Randall, and his "Odd Couple" sidekick and friend Jack Klugman. That's tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Gas prices still going up. Is it time to open America's Strategic Oil Reserve?
And meet the parents. "Shrek"'s back with his new bride and some big shoes to fill at the box office this summer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: No matter where you live in the U.S., gas prices are skyrocketing. Democrats want the Bush administration to tap into the country's Strategic Oil Reserve, but the White House isn't budging.
Our Allan Chernoff picks up the debate and what it can mean for your wallet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Strategic Reserves lie more than 2,000 feet underground in huge natural caverns along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana; 660 million barrels of oil. Everyday, the government adds another 100,000 barrels, even as the price of oil traded here in New York has jumped to an all-time record high.
RICHARD SCHAEFFER, ENERGY DIRECTOR, ABN-AMRO: The closer we get towards the election, with prices staying as high as they are, I think the likelihood of a release to some percentage is the high possibility.
CHERNOFF: With oil above $40 a barrel and gasoline topping $2 a gallon, some industry executives are calling for the government to help by releasing reserves.
The petroleum reserve is supposed to be for emergencies. But President Clinton opened the oil tap in the fall of 2000, temporarily pushing prices down, shortly before the presidential election.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The overriding purpose for our action is to increase supply and help consumers make it through the cold winter. Families shouldn't have to drain their wallets to drive their cars or heat their homes.
CHERNOFF: The Bush campaign criticized the action. President Bush's Energy Department says the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is off limits. That's the way it should be argues the energy lobby.
JOHN FELMY, AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE: There is no good argument for releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It's our insurance policy so that if we do have physical disruptions of supply, we can fill that void with oil from the SPR.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: Traders say if the president were to change his policy, it would be a psychological jolt to the energy market that could send prices quite a bit lower. But it certainly is not the only factor that can push oil prices down. In fact, today they were off by more than $1 a barrel on speculation OPEC may increase its production and also an announcement from Nigeria that it will sell an additional six million barrels of oil on the market -- Betty.
NGUYEN: But I don't guess we'll see a change at the pump anytime soon, huh?
CHERNOFF: Not necessarily. We would have to see a significant drop in the futures market for gasoline stations to actually start dropping their prices. It would have to be sustained for a little bit before they'd cut back, before they would lower their prices.
NGUYEN: Yes, it is going to take some time. Allan Chernoff in New York, thank you.
(FINANCIAL UPDATE)
NGUYEN: He is big, green and pals around with a talking donkey. "Shrek" is back. Will he wow audiences the second time around? That's next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SHREK 2")
MIKE MYERS, ACTOR: It's a bit early to be thinking about that, isn't it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SHREK 2")
(CHEERING)
EDDIE MURPHY, ACTOR: Why don't you guys go ahead? I'll park the car.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: You'll be seeing a lot of green this summer both on screen and at the box office thanks to "Shrek 2." It's poised to become one of the season's blockbusters, with kids and their parents ready for more fairy tale spoofing.
But that's just one of many flicks in the summer shoot. Film critic David Sterritt joins us from New York with us more on "Shrek 2."
Hi there. Hopefully, you can hear us.
You know, there are a lot of expectations out there about this movie. You've seen it. What do you think?
DAVID STERRITT, FILM CRITIC: (AUDIO GAP) was a tremendous success. But more important, I think that both that and this one are really drawing up a new kind of a blueprint for animations that appeal to really all ages. The traditional way of doing this in recent years has been to have a story that's basically for kids. It's a fairy tale kind of a thing and then you throw in a few little jokes or references, so that the grownups can sort of chuckle and congratulate themselves for being smarter than the kids.
I think that "Shrek" and even more maybe "Shrek 2" really all of the way through, they're telling a kid's story. It's a fairy tale story and it's very effective. But one of the major characters is a fairy godmother, but it's not the traditional kind of fairy tale fairy godmother. This is more like a Martha Stewart type. She's the head of FGM, Fairy Godmother Inc. And she uses all of her resources and her power and her magic potion factory as a way of -- of really getting what she wants, which is for "Shrek" to not have Fiona, the other ogre, as his bride, but rather have Prince Charming, who is her fair-haired boy, move into the picture.
So I think that the movie all of the way through has these two different levels, which is very clever of them. On one hand, this really is a fairy tale for kids. I think kids can get it. And on the other hand, it really is full of social satire that actually makes some sense and has some edge to it.
NGUYEN: That's why a lot of adults like it. Quickly, though, let's talk about this. Do you think it's better than the first one?
STERRITT: I think they're really about the same. I don't think this is one of the cases where the sequel is disappointing. Some critics disagree with me. But I think that it's about as good.
However, it has a problem. And the serious problem with it is that its message at the end is the old worn out, be yourself, true beauty is on the inside, rather than on the outside. And I think that's what finally weakens "Shrek 2" maybe a bit more than "Shrek" 1. They both kind of have that message, but it's even more kind of tired out now than it was before.
So I think it's a beautifully done movie and I think it really is for all ages. I think all ages will have a great time. I totally agree with you. There is going to be lot of green this summer from that movie at the box office. But, in the end, I only wish that its message were as original as its screenplay.
NGUYEN: Well, let's talk about Eddie Murphy and his role as the donkey. He cracked me up when I saw this for the first time. Is he just as funny this time around? Does he steal the show?
STERRITT: I think part of the point of that character is that he really is annoying and he really doesn't does get on your nerves. And you know what? He really annoyed me and he really got on my nerves like almost right away and I wanted him to go away.
NGUYEN: Really?
(CROSSTALK)
STERRITT: Yes, just like the characters did, only their they're in the story and I'm in the audience. And fortunately he doesn't keep this up through the whole movie. He sort of comes goes a little bit more. But in the beginning of the movie I thought, wow, this effectively irritating character is going to effectively irritate me into not liking this movie.
As time went by, though, again, his character became less important. And there's a new character, Puss-in-Boots, with the voice provided by Antonio Banderas, who is really a clever character. And, in fact, there's a joke in the movie: Oh, no, the annoying animal sidekick, that part's is already taken, is one of the jokes in the movie. But I'll tell you, Puss-in-Boots I think is a great improvement over the Eddie Murphy character.
NGUYEN: Well, this is a blockbuster. At least we're expecting it to be.
What about some of the other summer picks? And are we going to see a lot messages where it is going to be good for both teenagers, children and parents alike?
STERRITT: Yes, I suspect so.
Even a movie like "Troy" that's already out and which has an R rating is sort of an R over toward PG-13. You know, it's really, I think hoping to attract people of a lot of different ages.
And then there are more of the kind of teenage movies and especially teenage girl movies that have been so popular lately, including "Saved!," which puts a very original spin on this by...
NGUYEN: David?
STERRITT: Yes.
NGUYEN: We are going to have to leave it there. We are absolutely out of time, but a lot of movies this summer. Thanks for your information today from critic David Sterritt.
And that wraps up this edition of LIVE FROM.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
