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Immigration Advocates Rally Across U.S.; Page Six Gossip Scandal
Aired April 10, 2006 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: I wonder who Stasia's (ph) talking to? Well, you think your phone bill is high. Try reaching out and touching this one: $218 trillion dollars -- that's trillion -- dollars. That's the bill a guy in Malaysia got, along with a notice to pay up or go to court. It's presumably a mistake, unless someone illegally used a phone line that belonged to the man's late father and talked non-stop to say, Neptune. The man nearly fainted when he saw that bill. But he says if the phone company wants to take him to court, he can't wait.
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PHILLIPS: We're going to take a quick break. More LIVE FROM right after this.
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PHILLIPS: Tony Harris, we continue to monitor all these protests across the country. You know, I'm starting to wonder, it's bringing so much attention to the issue -- but then I'm wondering if there will even ever be a resolution because it seems to get more and more complicated as these protests spread.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, you have the House bill that all of these protesting seem to be in strict opposition to. And you have the Senate compromise that fell apart at the end of last week. You've got to get a Senate deal, and then once you do that, the conferees have got to come together in the House and Senate and work out something. You're right. It's just a complicated thing here.
We want to take you to a couple of great shots that we have from Phoenix. Phoenix is -- Scotty (ph), on the left? Phoenix on the left, and Houston on the right. Demonstrations going on right now. And let's focus on these two. As you can see, a lot of folks in white shirts in most of these demonstrations today. And they were asked by the organizers to wear these white shirts. So what you have is this sea of white T-shirts.
It is a scene that is going to play itself out in about 50 cities, maybe more, 60 cities, throughout the country today. Thirty demonstrations in the South alone. Kyra, a coalition of made up labor, religious, civil rights and business organizations behind this event.
The specific objection -- now you've heard this time and time again, but let's lay it out again. Look at this wide shot. This is Phoenix. OK, the specific objection is to legislation approved by the U.S. House in December that makes it a felony rather than a civil offense to be in the U.S. illegally. Now, organizers are also asking for things here, Kyra: worker protection, civil rights measures, family reunification and immigration reform that lays out a path to citizenship.
But as you look at these demonstrations today moving from East to West, you have to wonder if Hispanics in this country, with these demonstrations over the past couple of weeks that have now broadened to include Asians, Pacific Islanders, Europeans, Africans, Pakistanis -- you have to wonder if the demonstrations have titled the scales in this debate in the direction of some kind of legislation that ultimately includes a pathway to citizenship, going right back full circle to where we started -- Kyra. Have a little a discussion.
PHILLIPS: Yes, just to complicate things. You know, at the beginning when we started talking about this, there were a number of politicians coming forward saying, look, the majority of these people don't even want to become citizens. They just want to be able to provide for their families.
HARRIS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Yet now, you're seeing more people coming forward since that issue has been brought up saying, no, you know, we want to be citizens, we want to live here. It's like there's so many...
HARRIS: Well, I mean who can figure out all...
PHILLIPS: Multi-faceted.
HARRIS: Exactly. Who can figure out the twists and turns of this? Clearly, what the folks want is a piece of the American dream, but the America that we live in has rules and laws that must be abided by. But -- so there you go. Just add another bit of complication to it. So, I mean, throughout the day, Kyra, you're going to talk -- you're going to see everything from skits and speeches and obviously the marches that you're seeing now. You've got walkouts. You've got product boycotts, some fasting going on.
PHILLIPS: Tony, I'm curious if there will come a point within the next week, two weeks, three weeks, month, I don't know, if you start to see more of the boycotts or walking out on the jobs or marching, if we will start to see an impact on our economy.
HARRIS: Economically. It's the point we kicked around a little bit just briefly last week. You see this many people who are real important to our economy who are taking all of that economic leverage into their hands and demonstrating it, walking away from jobs. At some point that is probably the strongest point that they will make. It's certainly the marches that are going on, but it's also being -- impacting the homes and all of the other businesses that count on this workforce to do the jobs.
PHILLIPS: Yes. I wonder when we'll be able to see hard numbers and see that type of impact. HARRIS: I'd like to see it.
PHILLIPS: The next side of the story.
Tony Harris, thanks so much.
If they make it to land, they can stay. If they're caught offshore, they go back. It's a policy this country has adopted for one group of illegal immigrants, those from Cuban.
CNN's Morgan Neill brings us the efforts of one man who has been trying for years to get one foot on American soil.
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MORGAN NEILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the point from which Alejandro Batista launched his boat heading for the United States. Well, at least a couple of times.
You see, he says he's tried to make it 18 times in all. He got as far as The Florida Keys last time, but Alejandro, along with 14 other Cuban rafters was picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard at old Seven Mile Bridge and sent home.
U.S. authorities have since reversed their decision so Alejandro can finally stop plotting his net getaway. His wife, Rasselyn, says he didn't always tell her when he was planning a trip, but it wasn't hard to figure out.
RASSELYN CASANOVA, BATISTA'S WIFE (through translator): To avoid making me sad and worrying me, he didn't tell me. When I saw him start to sell things, I told myself, OK, he's decided.
NEILL: Alejandro is so obsessed with making it across the water, he says he sold everything to finance his trips. He started off selling the refrigerator and the television, but before long, everything was on the block. The pipes, the bathroom, the walls, and finally the roof itself and it's taken a toll on their relationship.
They've separated twice. Once because he left just two weeks before their daughter was due.
(on camera): You might think Alejandro is crazy after trying not once or twice, but 18 times to reach the Florida coast. If so, insanity runs in the family. His brothers tried it seven times.
(voice-over): Now it looks like Alejandro might get what he's after.
ALEJANDRO BATISTA, CUBAN BOATER (through translator): I just want to have a normal life, my home and my job and taking care of my wife and kids and going to my church, where I've been in the same denomination for 11 years. That's all I want in life, and I don't think that's hard in a place like the United States.
NEILL: Just a couple of weeks ago, he got permission from the U.S. to emigrate, and it appears likely he will soon get his travel papers here in Cuba. While Rosselyn and their daughter will have to wait for their chance to join him, it looks like Alejandro has just one last trip to make. Morgan Neill, CNN, Matanzas, Cuba.
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PHILLIPS: Heads up. If you're a registered voter in New Orleans but no longer live there, you have until Saturday to get back to Louisiana and cast your vote for mayor and city council.
A number of displaced New Orleanians are being bussed from Atlanta and Houston. Early voting stations are set up in New Orleans and nine other Louisiana cities. They'll be open all week except for Good Friday.
You always find scandal in the gossip columns, but one of the hottest columns in the country now has a scandal of its own. Page Six makes Page 1 when LIVE FROM returns.
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PHILLIPS: Whoever said there's no such thing as bad publicity never read Page Six in "The New York Post." Gossip-mongers never miss it, thus was born an alleged plot by a journalist/alleged would-be extortionist.
CNN's Carol Costello dishes up the facts and innuendoes in this report first seen on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."
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COSTELLO (voice over): In the world of celebrity gossip, "The New York Post" Page Six is an institution. As a gossip column, some say it can make or break careers. Some will do anything to get in it, others to stay out of it.
MICHAEL MUSTO, THE VILLAGE VOICE: Page Six is a destination read. "The New York Post" is the gossip Bible for a lot of people and Page Six is the first page they turn to.
COSTELLO: But now "The Post" finds itself the subject of scandal and Page Six has become page one news. One of its writers, Jared Paul Stern, is the target of a federal investigation, accused of trying to extort money from a California billionaire, Ron Burkle.
Stern allegedly demanded a $100,000 up front payment and an additional $10,000 a month. In exchange, Stern would not write negative stories about the billionaire. "The Post" suspended Stern pending the outcome of the probe. In a world where favors and freebies from free trips to designer handbags are often tolerated, this scandal shocks even gossip veterans.
DEBORAH SCHOENEMAN, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, NEW YORK MAGAZINE: In order to compete in the gossip world, you have to play by a different set of rules. And that often means by not playing by the rules. However, there's all different levels and gradations of that. But I think what Jared Paul Stern did was that he crossed the line, which was already murky.
COSTELLO: Stern paints a different picture, though. He saying he was set up by Burkle and that Burkle initiated the discussion about an investment in his clothing company. Stern told CNN he "definitely had this paranoid notion that Page Six was out to get him. He was out to destroy us. He'll find out it backfired on him."
In a statement to ABC, Burkle's spokesperson said the billionaire had no interest in investing in Stern's clothing company. "The Post" scandal comes in a new era of gossip, when celebrity sightings have been posted on the Web within minutes. So has celebrity gossip gone too far?
MUSTO: This is going to have to lead to a total purging of the bad stuff and the bad seeds doing unethical things in the gossip world for there to be a light at the end of the tunnel and gossip to live and everyone to be able to dish more ethically and with a lot more conscience.
Carol Costello, CNN, New York.
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PHILLIPS: Start off your morning right. Join Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien on "AMERICAN MORNING," beginning at 6:00 a.m. Eastern.
Straight ahead, entertainment news with Sibila Vargas. Sibila, what's on tap?
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, baby makes two for actress Gwyneth Paltrow. And want to know who are the best dressed couples in Hollywood? All that and more when LIVE FROM continues.
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PHILLIPS: She's already a proud mom to "Apple," but Gwyneth Paltrow and husband Chris Martin of course are still being fruitful and multiplying. CNN entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas has that and the day's other entertainment news. Hey, Sibila.
VARGAS: Hey. Well, I can tell you that the baby's name will not be "Orange," but it is a boy for actress Gwyneth Paltrow and husband Chris Martin of "Coldplay." Paltrow gave birth over the weekend. The 33-year-old Oscar winner and her 29-year-old husband named him Moses Martin. It's the second child for the couple. Paltrow and Martin also have a one and a half-year-old daughter, of course her name is "Apple." Congratulations to the parents.
And for weeks, the country watched news coverage of the Terri Schiavo case and you now can see that whole story play out on the big screen. A year after Terri Schiavo died, Hollywood is looking to film her story. A number of producers have optioned the rights to Michael Schiavo's just published book, "Terri: The Truth." They want to develop it as a feature film. Terri Schiavo died in March of 2005 after a year-long battle between Michael Schiavo and her parents over when it was appropriate to remove the braindead woman from life support.
Well shifting gears, when they step out together, they are dressed to the nines. Or at least that's according to "In Touch" magazine. The magazine has come out with its list of the best dressed celebrity couples. Now topping the list are Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon and her husband Ryan Phillipe. Second in line are Grammy winner Beyonce of "Destiny's Child" and rapper Jay Z. They always look good. In third are actors Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams of "The Notebook."
Now coming up tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," a gossip shocker. A startling scandal involving charges of extortion, a billionaire and one of the best known gossip sheets in America. And it's turning the world of gossip, upside-down. The latest developments tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" at 7:00 and 11:00 p.m. Eastern, on "Headline Prime." Back to you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Sibila.
Well she devoted a decade to her helpless spouse Christopher Reeve, only to face a pitiless killer after his death. Actress Dana Reeve, seen here with her teenage son Will, is being remembered today at a private service in New York. The invitation-only event is held at the New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway, one of many in which she performed in her career. Dana Reeve died last month, less than a year after announcing that she had lung cancer, though she was never a smoker. She was 44-years=old.
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