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Paula Zahn Now
Actress Kirstie Alley Restarts Career; Funeral Held for Prince Rainier of Monaco; Parents and Teenage Drinking; Power of the Positive Pulpit
Aired April 15, 2005 - 20:00 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everybody. Thanks so much for joining us tonight.
A growing problem in suburbia, teenage drinking parties at home while parents look on.
And a superstar televangelist who is putting a smiling face on religion.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN (voice-over): A new kind of preacher with a twist on the scriptures.
JOEL OSTEEN, JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES: That we will see promotions, bonuses, that you will open up doors that no man can shut.
Mega-churches, mega-crowds and the gospel of success.
JOANNE JONES, FOLLOWER OF OSTEEN: Very blessed. Very blessed.
ZAHN: No politics, no hellfire. Tonight, Joel Osteen and the power of the positive pulpit.
And teenagers drunk and driving, coming from a party where the parents were home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not hosting a party.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's kids here. They're intoxicated.
ZAHN: Suburban America's tragic little secret. Parents and teenage drinking, a private home or a public danger? Where do you draw the line?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: We begin tonight with the hottest TV program in the world. You heard me right, in the world. It is on cable networks, on the top stations in America's largest cities, in 100 countries, Europe, Canada, Australia, even Asia. It is numero uno everywhere. And the only desperate housewives or husbands you'll find are the ones in the congregation. They're desperate for love and faith and the smiling, upbeat Christianity preached by a real American idol.
Here is Judy Woodruff.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
J. OSTEEN: This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today...
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's the new age preacher who brandishes his Bible as the ultimate self-help book with God as every man's personal financial adviser.
J. OSTEEN: We just thank you that this year will be a year of your unprecedented favor, that we will see promotions, bonuses, that you will open up doors that no man can shut.
WOODRUFF: A simple, straightforward message that turned this unassuming Texas pastor into America's No. 1 rated televangelist, with millions of fans worldwide.
(MUSIC)
WOODRUFF: From the pulpit of Houston's nondenominational Lakewood Church, before the largest and one of the most racially diverse congregations in the country, Joel Osteen preaches a user- friendly Gospel of prosperity and optimism.
J. OSTEEN: And if you believe it, shout amen. Amen. Amen.
WOODRUFF: Lakewood Ministries is a family business. There is Joel's mother, Dodie.
DODIE OSTEEN, JOEL'S MOTHER: Did you know people will deceive you? They will fail you. But Jesus never will.
WOODRUFF: His brother, Paul, his glamorous wife, Victoria, who's become nearly as big a celebrity as her husband.
VICTORIA OSTEEN, WIFE OF JOEL: So, if you need a little boost in the area of joy today, open your heart.
WOODRUFF: Looming large over the sanctuary, the shadow of the late televangelist John Osteen.
JOHN OSTEEN, EVANGELIST: Ha-ha, devil.
CROWD: Ha-ha, devil.
WOODRUFF: Who, in 1959, founded Lakewood in an old abandoned feed store. Forty years later, when he was too sick to preach himself, John Osteen asked his son to take over.
But Joel, a shy college dropout, hesitated. More comfortable behind the camera than in front of it, he wasn't sure his place was at the pulpit. But ultimately he answered the call. This was the first sermon he ever preached.
J. OSTEEN: If I'm really bad and you don't enjoy it, when you walk out of here, you can say, you know, that boy has nowhere to go but up.
(LAUGHTER)
WOODRUFF: He was so nervous, he wore his father's shoes.
J. OSTEEN: I did. I wore it for first year I spoke, that whole year of 1999. And I don't really know why I did it. I just did it and it just felt right.
WOODRUFF: In that first year, he says, Lakewood's membership exploded, booming from 6,000 to 20,000. Today, it hovers around 30,000.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How you doing?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Enjoy. Thank you.
WOODRUFF: Friday night in Sunrise, Florida, deep inside a cavernous arena, Joel Osteen prepares to morph into a spiritual rock star. He spends a little quiet time alone, prayer time with the family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Father, I prayer a anointing on Joel. I pray, Father, that it would be easy for him to minister.
WOODRUFF: Then it is time to face another sellout crowd.
Danillo and Marie (ph) Claveria and their friends, Don and Joanne Jones, drove three hours to see Osteen. That afternoon, they are among the more than 600 fans lining up to get him to sign his best- selling book, "Your Best Life Now."
DANILLO CLAVERIA, FOLLOWER OF OSTEEN: His messages are down to earth. Instead of being biblical or scriptural, they are more of a daily activities that you do.
JONES: How are you?
V. OSTEEN: Good. And you?
WOODRUFF: A heady day for Joanne Jones, meeting the Osteens, worshipping among the thousands, emotions spilling out.
JONES: Very blessed, very blessed that God allows me to be part of him. I'm just very touched tonight. He's human. And he's just so blessed and inspired by the lord.
WOODRUFF: And there is a practical side to the Osteen family message. Joel's sister, Lisa, spread that word in Florida.
LISA COMES, SISTER OF JOEL: Pray that you would open up the doors for them to have well-paying jobs, with full benefits, Father, in the name of Jesus.
WOODRUFF: Osteen says the lord speaks to anyone who is willing to listen.
J. OSTEEN: We don't have to make hearing from God and staying in his will some super spiritual or even some difficult thing. We just got to learn to follow our heart.
WOODRUFF: But critics say it is all just cotton-candy Christianity, tasty, but little substance. There is no fire and brimstone at Lakewood, no talk of sinners or Satan, no talk of politics, abortion, gay marriage.
J. OSTEEN: I don't know if I want to go there, you know? I mean, I just -- you know, I'm for the -- I don't even know where to go. I haven't really addressed it much.
WOODRUFF: Nothing at Lakewood that is not upbeat. And that's just how Joel Osteen likes it.
J. OSTEEN: So many negative things pulling us down and, you know, there are so many reasons to get discouraged and just to get caught in the routine of life. You know, you got to realize that, you know what, there are good things in store. God has a great plan for each one of us.
WOODRUFF: Joel Osteen is a rich man. With his books selling so well, the church says he's forgoing his $174,000 salary. In all, Lakewood reports bringing in $48 million last year. And Osteen is using that money to make the biggest church in the land even bigger.
J. OSTEEN: Well, this is going to be the 16,000 seats.
WOODRUFF: The church is moving into Houston's Compaq Center. The Houston rockets play here, the Rolling Stones, too. And before long, Joel Osteen expects to fill all 16,000 seats four times a week.
J. OSTEEN: I think that, one day, that we could have a congregation at our new facility of 100,000 people.
We're on the winning side, like we're singing about.
WOODRUFF: Big dreams for the smiling preacher whose optimism knows no bounds.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Judy Woodruff reporting for us tonight.
Joel Osteen -- or Osteen, that is -- is scheduled to preach his first sermon in Houston's Compaq Center, the converted basketball arena, on July 16. As for his continuing tour across the nation, Osteen's ministry just added a second event in Chicago next month. The first one was sold out.
Just ahead, it is Friday night in America. And chances are, somewhere kids are drinking and in many places under adult supervision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAN ANTSEN, SUPPORTS HOUSE PARTY LAW: I think they're probably thinking that they're providing a safe environment. But I don't know there is really a safe environment for illegal drinking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: After too many tragedies, the controversial crusade to hold parents accountable.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: All right, it's time to be honest now. Did you ever sneak a drink when you were under age? Well, legal or not, it is happening all over the country. Lots of nods here in the studio tonight. So, some parents think, if their kids are going to party, it is safer for them to do it at home.
But, as you're about to see, serving alcohol to teens in the privacy of your home could be a deal with the devil.
Here is Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A Sunday night in November, four years ago; 17-year-old Paul Riggs was at the wheel of his truck, unconscious, pinned to a tree, just two blocks from his home.
DEBBIE RIGGS, MOTHER: We heard the sirens, because it was only two blocks from our house.
KAYE: Paul had been drinking and speeding, no seat belt, no chance, no goodbye. Paul never regained consciousness. He died three weeks later.
Paul and his younger brother, who survived the crash, were returning from a party, a house party where the parents were home and alcohol was served. The parents told police and CNN they didn't know alcohol was being served. They said they were upstairs sleeping. The night of the crash, police charged the couple's 15-year-old daughter with furnishing alcohol to minors.
RIGGS: With that many kids in the house, they should have been aware of what was going on.
KAYE: But at the time, if police couldn't prove parents provided the alcohol, they couldn't be charged. For two years, following her son's death, Debbie Riggs lobbied the Kansas legislature, demanding stiffer penalties for parents, whether they or their teenager actually serves the alcohol to minors.
This past summer, Debbie's crusade paid off with the passage of Paul's Law. Parents in Kansas can now be charged with a misdemeanor, jailed for six months, and fined hundreds of dollars. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not hosting a party.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's kids here. They're intoxicated.
KAYE: The new law is aimed at parents like this man, Terrell Kline (ph). Police raided a party at his home two months before Paul's Law took effect. They couldn't touch him then. How did police learn about the party?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just take a deep breath and blow in that until I tell you to stop.
KAYE: This 16-year-old was stopped, suspected of driving drunk. She admitted to police she had been drinking and told them about the party at Kline's house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much have you had to drink tonight?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been home all night long? Does that matter?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you've been home all night long, then you know what's going on here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been up in my room.
KAYE: Kline denied knowing anything about the girl police thought was driving drunk or anything about this young man, apparently too drunk to hold himself up. Police nabbed him trying to sneak out the back door.
(on camera): This is where Kansas meets Missouri, State Line Road. On this side, in Kansas, parents can be arrested if teenagers are caught drinking in their home. Just across the border in Missouri, that's not the law. But it could be soon.
(voice-over): Already here in Missouri, dozens of towns and one county have passed ordinances, putting pressure on the Missouri legislature. A statewide campaign, Those Who Host Lose the Most, appears to be catching on.
(on camera): When you think about parents who think this is OK or adults who think it is OK to serve alcohol to minors in their home, what do you think they're thinking?
J. ANTSEN: I think they're probably thinking that they're providing a safe environment, but I don't know that there is really a safe environment for illegal drinking.
KAYE (voice-over): Jan and Elizabeth Antsen live in Lee's Summit, Missouri, which just passed an ordinance banning adults from serving alcohol to minors.
ELIZABETH ANTSEN, SUPPORTS HOUSE PARTY LAW: It is just one more step to make parents away that it is not right to host those parties. KAYE: John Picerno also lives in Lee's Summit. He says he hasn't served alcohol to teenagers at his house, but wouldn't be opposed to his teen daughters going to a house party elsewhere. He trusts his daughters wouldn't drink and drive.
JOHN PICERNO, OPPOSES HOUSE PARTY LAW: And you're criminalizing this behavior for parents, as i said earlier, who may have never done anything wrong other than this in their entire lives.
KAYE (on camera): Do you think it is a parent's right to serve alcohol?
PICERNO: In my home, I think that I can do what I want in my home. I mean, I don't want the government coming in and telling me what I can and cannot do.
KAYE (voice-over): Adults aren't the only ones who can't agree on the issue.
(on camera): How many of you have been to a party where alcohol was served that was hosted by parents?
(voice-over): Listen to these students from Missouri's Smithville High.
BRAD FISHER, SMITHVILLE HIGH SCHOOL: I think that parents hosting parties sends a really mixed message to youth. They don't understand all the different things that can happen to them. It isn't just drinking. It is alcohol poisoning. It is assault. It is rape.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you're at someone's house, you feel the security of, well, I don't have to drive back home, because you can just stay there. When you're just in the middle of a turnaround and you have to drive home, it is kind of like, well, am I going wreck and die?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is more of an element of control when the parents are there, though, because the kids aren't going to get completely out of hand.
KAYE: Parents were home the night of Paul Riggs' accident. Still, a young man got behind the wheel with an open vodka bottle in his lap and a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit. Nobody, teenager or adult, stopped him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: It's hard to have to think about this, but it happens all the time. Randi Kaye reporting.
Something else to think about. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, kids who drink illegally at home are more likely to drink illegally in other places and more likely to abuse alcohol as adults.
Coming up, ladies, he's 47, a charming prince and filthy rich. Some reports put his inheritance at $2 billion. He also happens to be the world's most eligible bachelor. Is his Grace Kelly out there somewhere?
(LAUGHTER)
ZAHN: First, 17 minutes past the hour -- you laugh, Erica, but there are a lot of women that would love to get on a plane now to Monaco to meet the lovely prince.
ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think I know a few of them, too.
(CROSSTALK)
HILL: I just hope I get an invite to the wedding.
(LAUGHTER)
ZAHN: We'll go to the wedding.
HILL: There you go. There you go, at least to cover it, if nothing else, Paula.
Well, in other news, we turn to a somewhat more serious story at this hour, a Utah man now agreeing to a plea deal in a murder case which you'll remember was highly publicized last summer. In exchange for admitting to killing his wife in their Salt Lake apartment, Mark Hacking will get between six years and life in prison. Prosecutors say Hacking killed his wife, Lori, after she discovered he had lied about enrolling in medical school.
And during a heated debate over the fate of Terri Schiavo, her parents frequently claimed her husband, Michael, mistreated the brain- damaged woman, wasn't qualified to be in charge of her care. But documents released today by Florida's Department of Children and Family Services conclude there is no evidence to support such claims. Terri Schiavo died on March 31, after her feeding tube was removed over her parent's objections.
And Amtrak is canceling all high-speed Acela express trains between Washington and Boston, citing brake problems. Definitely want to have those working. Acela runs 20 percent of the weekday service on Amtrak's flagship Northeast Corridor. So, an estimated 10,000 passengers had to make other plans today. A spokesman says routine inspections uncovered cracks on many of the fleet's brake rotors.
Of course, you would rather have those working, though.
And that's the latest from Headline News now -- Paula, back to you.
ZAHN: Thanks so much, Erica. See you in about a half-hour or so.
And time for all of you out there to pick the person of the day. Your choices, civil rights trailblazer Rosa Parks for once again standing up for her rights and actually negotiating a settlement with hip-hop act OutKast and its record company, ending a lawsuit alleging unauthorized use of her name. The money is going toward civil rights education. Ray Kroc for opening the first McDonald's franchise 50 years ago today in Des Plaines, Illinois, and for revolutionizing American commerce, while supersizing our appetites and, in some cases, our waistlines. And A-Rod, Alex Rodriguez, for saving an 8-year-old boy from getting hit by a truck in Boston, enemy territory for this superstar Yankee.
Vote on our Web site, CNN.com/Paula. The winner at the end of the hour.
Up next, an actress who is definitely ready for her closeup.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRSTIE ALLEY, ACTRESS: I'm shooting angles of my butt from the ground up which would make Paris Hilton look like a cow. I'm doing everything I can to self-deprecate and make fun of myself and make myself look like a jerk. So, everybody is fair game, as far as I'm concerned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Go, Kirstie.
Up next, we zoom in an all sides of the actress, Kirstie Alley's story.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: Fat actress, two words that normally add up to career suicide in Hollywood. But that was before Kirstie Alley's new reality sitcom, "Fat Actress," took her from has-been to fat city. It is an incredible turn for a whom has who has seen spectacular success and terrible tragedy.
Here' tonight's "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS," Kirstie Alley, and she's coming on strong.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEY: America is fat. We're fat.
ZAHN: Kirstie Alley is fat, funny and feeling fabulous.
ALLEY: I'm having a ball. I'm having the best time of my life.
ZAHN: Alley's dramatic weight gain made her a constant tabloid cover girl. The 54-year-old comedienne admits to tipping the scales at more than 200 pounds, but now she's flaunting her full figure and getting the last laugh.
ALLEY: People say to me, well, what do you think about the tabloids? They either crush you or you create something new for yourself that you think is funny and you go with what you have.
ZAHN: Kirstie decided to poke fun at herself and the tabloids with her show "Fat Actress."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FAT ACTRESS")
ALLEY: Look, John Goodman has got his own show. And Jason Alexander looks like a frickin' bowling ball. And how about James Gandolfini? He's like the size of a whale? He's way, way, way, way fatter than I am.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: The outrageous Showtime series is loosely based on Alley's life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FAT ACTRESS")
ALLEY: I need my fat pants.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: It is the story of a portly out-of-work actress who is trying to lose weight and keep her career.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FAT ACTRESS")
ALLEY: God!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEY: I'm shooting angles of my butt from the ground up which would make Paris Hilton look like a cow. I'm doing everything I can to self-deprecate and make fun of myself and make myself look like a jerk. So, everybody is fair game, as far as I'm concerned.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FAT ACTRESS")
ALLEY: Wait up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRENDA HAMPTON, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "FAT ACTRESS": She can find the humor in the darkest situations. And maybe some of our situations are too dark for people. But she's just very funny.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FAT ACTRESS")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I have an offer for you.
ALLEY: A job offer?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: It's from Jenny Craig.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ZAHN: But don't shed any tears for Kirstie. Three months after she shot this scene, Alley really did become the spokesperson for Jenny Craig. And now she's laughing all the way to the bank.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FAT ACTRESS")
ALLEY: I lost 15.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT PARKER, VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING, JENNY CRAIG: The jokes on the show came first. It is kind of a funny story. We had Kirstie on our radar for a long time. Once we got serious in terms of our negotiations, she let us know about it. We thought was in good humor.
ZAHN: Although Kirstie's gimmick is her girth, Alley wasn't always heavy. In fact, just the opposite. She originally earned her Hollywood reputation as a sexy starlet. In her book, "How to Lose Your Ass and Regain Your Life," Kirstie writes about her naturally slim figure and her willingness to flaunt it.
Just one look at the photos in her book and it is easy to see that Kirstie's been a showoff ever since childhood.
KATHY NAJIMY, ACTRESS: She is completely eccentric, truly, creatively, emotionally, in her personal life, in her career. She is literally one of a kind.
ZAHN: Kirstie Alley was born January 12, 1951 in Wichita, Kansas, the middle child of Robert and Lillian (ph) Alley. Kirstie's father owned a lumber company. Her mother took care of the family. Kirstie was outgoing and rebellious.
TOM CUNNEFF, "PEOPLE": She used to sneak out of the house with no makeup on when she was a teenager in high school in very plain clothes and then change into a vamp in the back of her friend's car before they would go out to using fake I.D.s to get into bars and ride on the back of motorcycles with guys.
ZAHN: In 1969, Kirstie graduated from high school and began studying drama at Kansas State University. She dropped out after her sophomore year and married high school sweetheart Bob Alley.
CUNNEFF: They lived in Kansas City. And after they divorced a couple of years later, she went back to Wichita, where she grew up.
ZAHN: Kirstie stopped pursuing acting and became an interior designer. She was also developing an addiction to cocaine.
CUNNEFF: One day at a wedding, a friend of a guy she was dating took her into the bathroom at the wedding and just rolled up a $100 bill and said here, snort this line. And she did. And it started a pretty bad habit that lasted about two or three years.
ZAHN: In her book, Kirstie writes that she felt out of control and needed help. A friend visiting from California said Scientology could cure her. She gave Kirstie a copy of the book "Dianetics" by L. Ron Hubbard. After reading the controversial guide to mental health, Alley decided to give it a try.
In 1980, she literally packed up all her possessions, moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in the Scientology rehab program.
KELLY PRESTON, ACTRESS: It was Scientology that picked her up off the ground, shook her up. The whole Narconon program, which isn't Scientology per se, but it was based on a few of the principles that Hubbard did, that he wrote about, it saved her life.
ZAHN: Kirstie claimed she has never used cocaine again. She also credits Scientology with giving her the strength to pursue a career in acting.
CUNNEFF: Kirstie was taking acting lessons and one of the students in her class recommended her to another student who was directing a film called "One More Chance." She only made a few hundred dollars, not much, but she was on her way.
ALLEY: I said I want the lead in a major motion picture within a year and everyone said, you're nuts.
ZAHN: But, in 1981, producers at Paramount saw the student film and asked Kirstie to audition for "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." Alley's career was taking off. But then tragedy nearly destroyed her chance at fame.
When we come back, the phone call that changed Kirstie's future.
CUNNEFF: This may have been the toughest time in her life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
When we come back, the phone call that changed Kirstie's future.
CUNNEFF: This may have been the toughest time in her life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: Welcome back. Even before Kirstie Alley's early successes in the '80s, she survived a number of tragedies, cocaine addiction and a failed marriage. And just when she got the break she was looking for, another crisis was waiting in the wings.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN (voice-over): In 1980, Kirstie Alley vowed that she would be a celebrity within a year. In October 1981, she got her chance. Kirstie auditioned three times for a role in the second "Star Trek" movie.
While waiting to hear about the part, Alley's sister called with devastating news. Kirstie's mom was killed and her dad seriously injured when a drunk driver hit their car.
CUNNEFF: This may have been the toughest time in her life. She was supposed to go back for a fourth audition and told them she couldn't make it because she had to attend the funeral, and they said, that's OK, we'll postpone the audition, you just come when you get back. She got back, auditioned, they gave her the role. She was playing Lieutenant Saavik.
ALLEY: Project parabolic course to avoid entering neutral zone.
ZAHN: Playing the role of the Vulcan vixen gave 30-year-old Alley her first taste of the Hollywood limelight. Several months later, Kirstie was introduced to former Hardy Boy Parker Stevenson. On December 22nd, 1983, Kirstie married the handsome actor.
ALLEY: It gets you through the rough times, because when you're not having such a good time or you're fighting, you can look over and go, oh, God, you look good.
ZAHN: Kirstie starred in a number of mostly forgettable television and film roles.
But in 1987, her career took off. The brunette beauty got her big break when she replaced Shelley Long on "Cheers." The Thursday night comedy was one of TV's top rated and most loved shows.
ALLEY: Are you a man?
ZAHN: NBC's new bar hostess had a lot to live up to.
JAMES BURROWS, DIRECTOR, "CHEERS": When we showed up at the table for the first read of the first show that Rebecca Howe was in, she came dressed as Shelley Long, with a blonde wig and a little kind of -- I don't remember, a sweater or something that Diane wore. And it cut the tension. I'm sure it cut the tension for her, too.
ALLEY: Here you go.
ZAHN: Kirstie impressed the cast and critics as well. In 1991, she won an Emmy for her performance as the neurotic and hapless Rebecca Howe.
But more memorable than her award was Alley's racy acceptance speech.
ALLEY: I would like to thank my husband Parker, the man who has given me the big one for the last eight years. It just came to me as I saw my husband out there and his big blue eyes, and thought I should give him a tribute.
ZAHN: Kirstie and Parker seemed to be living the perfect life.
ALLEY: Hey, slow down!
ZAHN: Alley landed a starring role in the "Look Who's Talking" films, and earned multimillion dollar paychecks. The pair adopted two children and enjoyed a lavish lifestyle.
CUNNEFF: They lived in a 9,000 square foot home in Encino. They had live-in security, full-time chefs, homes in Oregon and Maine, $15,000 shopping sprees at FAO Schwarz. They were the ultimate Hollywood couple when you think about extravagant excess.
ZAHN: In 1997, Alley returned to series television.
ALLEY: I found a bra in the cushion of the couch.
ZAHN: In "Veronica's Closet," Kirstie played the owner of a lingerie company going through a messy divorce.
ALLEY: I left him.
ZAHN: Alley's life was imitating her art. By the time the show premiered, Kirstie and Parker separated. Alley was broken up, but tried to hide her emotions.
NAJIMY: I worked with her for over three years, and the fun far overweighed the sadness.
ZAHN: Yet off camera, the divorce made headlines.
CUNNEFF: Kirstie and Parker's divorce was one of the nastiest in Hollywood. In the court papers, he documents how he helped nurture her career. So he was asking for alimony and child support.
When they first met, he was the breadwinner. And she was this struggling actress. But by the end, she was the breadwinner and made $150,000 a week on "Cheers." Eventually, they reached a settlement and now have joint custody of their two children.
ZAHN: But even after their split, Kirstie remained a target for the paparazzi. She was dating "Melrose Place" hunk James Wilder, who was 13 years her junior. And even back then, any weight gain made tabloid headlines.
ALLEY: For 20 years of my career, I've been on the cover of the tabloids for being fat. I don't think most people know that. You know, if I weighed 140, I was on the cover of the tabloids being fat. 150, I was on the cover of tabloids. So it sells a lot of magazines for them.
ZAHN: As Kirstie became larger, the jobs offer got slimmer.
ALLEY: Of course you become more and more limited, because, well, let's face it, you know, love interests in movies aren't fat.
ZAHN: That's why Kirstie created "Fat Actress."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my Lord.
KELLY PRESTON, FRIEND: She wasn't getting another series, I guess, so she wrote her own. She's like, girlfriend, you know, and gets out there and turns it around, you know, and throws it on its face. Which is so Kirstie.
ZAHN: While Alley is betting that America will find fat fascinating, both Kirstie and her character have reason to shed the extra pounds.
ALLEY: I'm not going to have sex with any man. No man will want me when I look like this.
ZAHN: Alley says she hasn't had sex in four years. In an interview with "People" magazine, Alley insists she's not going to have sex while she's fat.
CUNNEFF: She's going to wait until she gets down to a weight she feels comfortable with, about 145 pounds, before she -- before she gets back in the sack.
ZAHN: And she hopes the weight won't be too long.
ALLEY: I lost 30 pounds. Hello!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: She certainly gets the last laugh every time around.
On Monday, we're going to introduce you to a man you probably heard about, but only in the past few weeks. His world view could change the world if he becomes the next pope.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARDINAL FRANCIS ARINZE: I don't feel any disability because I come from another culture. If anything, sometimes I feel I get more attention than I want, than I want.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Oh, you're getting plenty of it now. Are we looking at the future pope? Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze. "People in the News" Monday, here on "PAULA ZAHN NOW."
And coming up, a candle marker discovers a recipe for the sweet smell of success.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want you all to know, this is the scent of Jesus right here, in front of (INAUDIBLE). Jesus has been here. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Oh, yeah? Miracle or not, Jeanne Moos sniffs out the story behind the candle called "his essence."
And later, his serene highness, who just conveniently happens to be single and at a minimum worth $1 billion. Stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: In an age where everything is for sale, naturally things associated with Jesus are also up for grabs. But imagine buying the smell of Jesus? Well, don't imagine anymore. It is now available in hundreds of stores all over the country. It took Jeanne Moos to follow the scent.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These days they can make candles smell like anything from Wet Garden to New Baby. But get a whiff of this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is nice whatever it is.
MOOS: (on camera): It's the scent of Jesus.
(voice-over): Go ahead, look at me like I'm nuts.
(on camera): It is the scent of Jesus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.
MOOS (voice-over): They don't call this candle His Essence for nothing. In movies, we see what Jesus might have looked like.
(SINGING)
MOOS: And though bathing back then wasn't so thorough, now we experience his smell?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.
MOOS; Some were reminded of the what would Jesus eat diet. Not to mention the Bible bar, made out of seven foods the Lord calls good in the Bible. Now comes the His Essence candle based on the 45th Psalm, which speaks of Jesus' return saying all your robes are fragrant with Mir and Ailos and Cassia. Karen Tostarud read that and decided to turn those exact ingredients into a candle.
KAREN TOSTERUD, HISESSENCE.COM: This is from God. I have no doubt that it is. And I need to do it for him.
MOOS: Karen's husband teaches business at South Dakota University. The couple sold over 20,000 candles in four months.
BOB TOSTERUD, HISESSENCE.COM: It has been absolutely a -- a miracle?
MOOS: Sure there are skeptics.
(on camera): This is the scent of Jesus.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, you're.
(LAUGHTER)
MOOS (voice-over): Yee who laugh, beware.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like, to make fun, don't think it is a good idea.
MOOS (on camera): You got me back.
(voice-over): So what does his essence smell like?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like the woods or something like that like, the outdoor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE; It is fruity.
MOOS: The candle has ignited controversy on the Web. His essence has been mocked and poked fun at. Though 10 percent of the profits will go to churches, the Tosteruds get messages accusing them of being more interested in greed than God.
(on camera): They even got a message saying they would burn in hell for putting Jesus in a jar.
(voice-over): One sure sign of success, His Essence has already been knocked off. Copied at a Web site that uses a similar name. And talk about marketing...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want you to know this is the scent of Jesus here in front of the Cafe Metro. Jesus has been here!
MOOS: What's next, critics ask? Noah's Holy Spring Water? His Essence Deodorant?
(on camera): Well, actually what is next is His Essence hand lotion. It goes perfectly with prayer.
(voice-over): Remember that other scent of a woman?
AL PACINO, ACTOR: She's wearing forest.
Ogilvy Sister Soap.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's amazing.
PACINO: Well, I'm in the amazing business.
MOOS: But even Al Pacino couldn't have guessed His Essence, a candle that really does smell to high heaven. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my goodness me. They're putting Jesus everywhere.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(LAUGHTER)
ZAHN: Hello! Was she trying out for Kirstie Alley's new show?
ERICA HILL, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: I think she might have been. First, when I heard her say spruce, I thought she had a little oomph, but that last comment, I tell you...
ZAHN: Little does she know 20,000 of those candles have been sold all over the country.
HILL: It is amazing. And as we have seen there is already a knockoff.
ZAHN: And all need to go Cafe Metro so we can see that guy do his thing.
HILL: I would like to see that.
ZAHN: So, what is going on in the rest the world?
HILL: Well, we're going start off with the FDA and a product we have been hearing a lot about. We're learning now the FDA is keeping in place a ban on products with higher doses of ephedra. Now this decision comes just a day after a judge threw out the agency's ban on lower doses of the once popular weight control diet supplement. That ruling applied to 10 milligrams or less.
You may recall the FDA pulled Ephedra off the market last year after its use was linked to heart attacks and strokes. Manufacturers, though, do insist it is safe when used as directed.
In Paris, a horrible scene this morning. An early morning fire filled the 6 story Paris Opera Hotel with thick smoke and flames, rendering the buildings only exit unusable for most floors. Many people jumped or fell from windows as firefighters tried desperately to reach them on ladders. At least 20 people were killed, half of them children. 53 others were hurt.
NASA is testing something new automated technology. The system could lead to an automated docking system for spacecraft. It is a satellite, known as DART, which was sent into orbit today. DART is designed to locate and rendez vous with another target satellite without any direction from the ground. DART is expected to complete some 50 preprogram sets of maneuvers including flying around the target satellite and moving in close and backing away. So, DART will be a little busy this weekend.
And that's the latest from headline news. Paula, have a great weekend.
ZAHN: You too, Erica. Thanks so much. See you Monday.
LARRY KING LIVE, though, is still with us. In about 12 minutes, his show will get under way.. Hi, Larry. Ready for the weekend? And what you doing tonight?
LARRY KING, HOST, LARRY KING LIVE: I'm ready, Paula. Tonight, we're going to look at the Prince Rainier funeral today with principles, many of whom were there: friends, biographers and the like as we look at the life and times of Prince Rainier and, of course, the late Grace Kelly. That's all ahead immediately following Paula Zahn.
Have a great weekend, Paula.
ZAHN: You don't know what you're missing here, Larry. 72 degrees on Sunday and everything is blooming. Of course, you're spoiled with that in California all the time.
KING: Paula. It is L.A. 72 is another walk in the park.
ZAHN: Well, enjoy it. We're just getting it about six months late. See you on Monday.
KING: Bye.
ZAHN: And speaking of the royals, he's not quite 50, not quite bald and not quite thin, but Prince Albert has a lot of things going for him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Gramunde's hey have real power in Monaco, which is something you cannot say of many reigning monarches these days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: One more thing, ladies, he's single. And he's estimated to be worth on a low side $1 billion, on the high side, $2 billion. Get ready to take notes. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: Time now to find out who's "The Person of the Day."
Is it civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks for not backing down in a dispute with hip-hop group Outkast over the use of her name? That would be A-Rod you're looking at.
Or the late Ray Kroc for opening the first McDonald's franchise 50 years ago?
Now you get find out why Alex Rodriguez was on the screen. He's now a Yankee, but he happened to save the life of an 8-year-old boy in Boston.
Your choice, the man on the screen, A-Rod. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN (voice-over): You don't have to be a baseball fan to appreciate a good deed. But you will appreciate it even more with a little context. Alex Rodriguez, A-Rod for short, jilted the Red Sox to become a multimillion dollar superstar with the New York Yankees, which makes him a persona non grata in Boston. He gets booed. He gets called names that we can't repeat. Bostonians loathe A-Rod, which makes what happened at this intersection in downtown Boston last Tuesday even more special. The sign had just turned to walk, and an 8-year-old Patrick McCarthy zipped right into the street.
GRACE BOCHICCHIO, BOY'S MOTHER: This man stopped and put his arm in front of him and said whoa, whoa, buddy, don't go.
PATRICK MCCARTHY, SAVED BY ALEX RODRIGUEZ: So, I stopped. And there's this moving car coming.
ALEX RODRIGUEZ, NEW YORK YANKEES: Right place, right time I guess for him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you see the car coming the whole time?
RODRIGUEZ: Well, I was going away from the car. And I was getting away from it, he was coming into the car. So it's just one of those incidents, that I put my arm in front of him and the car almost ran us both over.
MCCARTHY: I was overwhelmed that I saw my favorite player and I was just, like, it went -- happened so fast.
ZAHN: So are Bostonians feeling a little bit conflicted about A- Rod now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I thinks a piece of garbage.
ZAHN: Well, making peace between the Red Sox and Yankees is a pretty tall order.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I hate the Yankees. At the same level I love the Red Sox.
ZAHN: Saving a little boy's life is a home run. Alex Rodriguez is our "Person of the Day." We'll be right back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: A tiny enclave along the French Riviera today hosted kings, queens and presidents for the funeral of Prince Rainier. His serene highness led Monaco for 56 years, he died last week at the age of 81. Now his son, Albert II, is the principality's new monarch. He inherits a fairy tale setting amidst some loaded questions about his personal life.
Walter Rodgers explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): His Serene Highness Albert Prince of Monaco seemed more burdened than serene following his father's casket. American educated Albert Grimaldi, a billionaire, one of Europe's most eligible bachelors, a royal puzzle for Europe's royal watchers.
ROBERT JOBSON, ROYALS COMMENTATOR: In terms of getting to know who the real Prince Albert is, nobody I think apart from his closest friends really know that.
RODGERS: Here is what Albert inherits. A principality, three quarters of a square mile of prime real estate on the Mediterranean, boasting 40 separate banking institutions. Smaller than New York's Central Park, it's a little playground where the rich and famous stash their money. No income tax, no questions asked. A sunny place with some shady characters. Albert's been waiting 47 years to head up the family business. Albert recently told Larry King he was ready for the job.
PRINCE ALBERT: Obviously you're prepared in that to assume that kind of role. And that kind of leadership pretty early on.
RODGERS: He's the product of a fairy tale wedding, Hollywood actress Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier. Indeed from the day he was born, Albert was groomed for Monaco's tiny thrown. He cultivated a playboy image, swinger, sailer and world class bobsledder.
JOBSON: The reality is is the heir to the thrown, the one job you've got to do is produce an heir. And he hasn't done that. He hasn't got married.
RODGERS: Judging by his social life, Albert's just been too busy.
RICHARD FITZWILLIAMS, ROYALS COMMENTATOR: There's an extraordinary thing about Albert and his dating. Brooke Shields, Claudia Sheffer (ph), all these names have been identified with him. And he doesn't seem to have done very much with them.
SALLY CARTWRIGHT, "HELLO MAGAZINE": There are those who say this is his camouflage, that he actually is gay.
RODGERS: Albert says he is not gay and won't be a bachelor forever.
PRINCE ALBERT: Longer than most. But I met someone the other day who was happily married at the age of 50.
RODGERS: By law, Prince Rainier had to produce a male heir or Monaco would revert to France. Rainier changed the constitution, so now the monarchy can pass to Albert's sisters, just in case. Next in line is Princess Caroline, after her mother's death, she was Monaco's first lady. If Albert produces no heir, Caroline or her children become the royal line. Albert has another sister, Stephanie, the royal wild child. Who once ran away with a circus performer. In its comic opera setting, and despite its soap opera plot, the Grimaldi's have made Monaco work for more than 700 years. Albert's job will be to make sure that continues.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Going to have to work really hard at it, Walt Rodgers reporting.
A little warning about the legend of the Grimaldi curse. One of Monaco's early princes apparently jilted a woman with the gift for the black arts, and she cursed the family forever to short an unhappy marriages.
That's it for all of us here. Thanks so much for joining us tonight.
CNN's prime time continues, our look at Monaco's royal family, with "LARRY KING LIVE." Again, thanks for joining us tonight, have a great weekend.
END
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 April 15, 2005 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everybody. Thanks so much for joining us tonight.
A growing problem in suburbia, teenage drinking parties at home while parents look on.
And a superstar televangelist who is putting a smiling face on religion.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN (voice-over): A new kind of preacher with a twist on the scriptures.
JOEL OSTEEN, JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES: That we will see promotions, bonuses, that you will open up doors that no man can shut.
Mega-churches, mega-crowds and the gospel of success.
JOANNE JONES, FOLLOWER OF OSTEEN: Very blessed. Very blessed.
ZAHN: No politics, no hellfire. Tonight, Joel Osteen and the power of the positive pulpit.
And teenagers drunk and driving, coming from a party where the parents were home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not hosting a party.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's kids here. They're intoxicated.
ZAHN: Suburban America's tragic little secret. Parents and teenage drinking, a private home or a public danger? Where do you draw the line?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: We begin tonight with the hottest TV program in the world. You heard me right, in the world. It is on cable networks, on the top stations in America's largest cities, in 100 countries, Europe, Canada, Australia, even Asia. It is numero uno everywhere. And the only desperate housewives or husbands you'll find are the ones in the congregation. They're desperate for love and faith and the smiling, upbeat Christianity preached by a real American idol.
Here is Judy Woodruff.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
J. OSTEEN: This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today...
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's the new age preacher who brandishes his Bible as the ultimate self-help book with God as every man's personal financial adviser.
J. OSTEEN: We just thank you that this year will be a year of your unprecedented favor, that we will see promotions, bonuses, that you will open up doors that no man can shut.
WOODRUFF: A simple, straightforward message that turned this unassuming Texas pastor into America's No. 1 rated televangelist, with millions of fans worldwide.
(MUSIC)
WOODRUFF: From the pulpit of Houston's nondenominational Lakewood Church, before the largest and one of the most racially diverse congregations in the country, Joel Osteen preaches a user- friendly Gospel of prosperity and optimism.
J. OSTEEN: And if you believe it, shout amen. Amen. Amen.
WOODRUFF: Lakewood Ministries is a family business. There is Joel's mother, Dodie.
DODIE OSTEEN, JOEL'S MOTHER: Did you know people will deceive you? They will fail you. But Jesus never will.
WOODRUFF: His brother, Paul, his glamorous wife, Victoria, who's become nearly as big a celebrity as her husband.
VICTORIA OSTEEN, WIFE OF JOEL: So, if you need a little boost in the area of joy today, open your heart.
WOODRUFF: Looming large over the sanctuary, the shadow of the late televangelist John Osteen.
JOHN OSTEEN, EVANGELIST: Ha-ha, devil.
CROWD: Ha-ha, devil.
WOODRUFF: Who, in 1959, founded Lakewood in an old abandoned feed store. Forty years later, when he was too sick to preach himself, John Osteen asked his son to take over.
But Joel, a shy college dropout, hesitated. More comfortable behind the camera than in front of it, he wasn't sure his place was at the pulpit. But ultimately he answered the call. This was the first sermon he ever preached.
J. OSTEEN: If I'm really bad and you don't enjoy it, when you walk out of here, you can say, you know, that boy has nowhere to go but up.
(LAUGHTER)
WOODRUFF: He was so nervous, he wore his father's shoes.
J. OSTEEN: I did. I wore it for first year I spoke, that whole year of 1999. And I don't really know why I did it. I just did it and it just felt right.
WOODRUFF: In that first year, he says, Lakewood's membership exploded, booming from 6,000 to 20,000. Today, it hovers around 30,000.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How you doing?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Enjoy. Thank you.
WOODRUFF: Friday night in Sunrise, Florida, deep inside a cavernous arena, Joel Osteen prepares to morph into a spiritual rock star. He spends a little quiet time alone, prayer time with the family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Father, I prayer a anointing on Joel. I pray, Father, that it would be easy for him to minister.
WOODRUFF: Then it is time to face another sellout crowd.
Danillo and Marie (ph) Claveria and their friends, Don and Joanne Jones, drove three hours to see Osteen. That afternoon, they are among the more than 600 fans lining up to get him to sign his best- selling book, "Your Best Life Now."
DANILLO CLAVERIA, FOLLOWER OF OSTEEN: His messages are down to earth. Instead of being biblical or scriptural, they are more of a daily activities that you do.
JONES: How are you?
V. OSTEEN: Good. And you?
WOODRUFF: A heady day for Joanne Jones, meeting the Osteens, worshipping among the thousands, emotions spilling out.
JONES: Very blessed, very blessed that God allows me to be part of him. I'm just very touched tonight. He's human. And he's just so blessed and inspired by the lord.
WOODRUFF: And there is a practical side to the Osteen family message. Joel's sister, Lisa, spread that word in Florida.
LISA COMES, SISTER OF JOEL: Pray that you would open up the doors for them to have well-paying jobs, with full benefits, Father, in the name of Jesus.
WOODRUFF: Osteen says the lord speaks to anyone who is willing to listen.
J. OSTEEN: We don't have to make hearing from God and staying in his will some super spiritual or even some difficult thing. We just got to learn to follow our heart.
WOODRUFF: But critics say it is all just cotton-candy Christianity, tasty, but little substance. There is no fire and brimstone at Lakewood, no talk of sinners or Satan, no talk of politics, abortion, gay marriage.
J. OSTEEN: I don't know if I want to go there, you know? I mean, I just -- you know, I'm for the -- I don't even know where to go. I haven't really addressed it much.
WOODRUFF: Nothing at Lakewood that is not upbeat. And that's just how Joel Osteen likes it.
J. OSTEEN: So many negative things pulling us down and, you know, there are so many reasons to get discouraged and just to get caught in the routine of life. You know, you got to realize that, you know what, there are good things in store. God has a great plan for each one of us.
WOODRUFF: Joel Osteen is a rich man. With his books selling so well, the church says he's forgoing his $174,000 salary. In all, Lakewood reports bringing in $48 million last year. And Osteen is using that money to make the biggest church in the land even bigger.
J. OSTEEN: Well, this is going to be the 16,000 seats.
WOODRUFF: The church is moving into Houston's Compaq Center. The Houston rockets play here, the Rolling Stones, too. And before long, Joel Osteen expects to fill all 16,000 seats four times a week.
J. OSTEEN: I think that, one day, that we could have a congregation at our new facility of 100,000 people.
We're on the winning side, like we're singing about.
WOODRUFF: Big dreams for the smiling preacher whose optimism knows no bounds.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Judy Woodruff reporting for us tonight.
Joel Osteen -- or Osteen, that is -- is scheduled to preach his first sermon in Houston's Compaq Center, the converted basketball arena, on July 16. As for his continuing tour across the nation, Osteen's ministry just added a second event in Chicago next month. The first one was sold out.
Just ahead, it is Friday night in America. And chances are, somewhere kids are drinking and in many places under adult supervision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAN ANTSEN, SUPPORTS HOUSE PARTY LAW: I think they're probably thinking that they're providing a safe environment. But I don't know there is really a safe environment for illegal drinking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: After too many tragedies, the controversial crusade to hold parents accountable.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: All right, it's time to be honest now. Did you ever sneak a drink when you were under age? Well, legal or not, it is happening all over the country. Lots of nods here in the studio tonight. So, some parents think, if their kids are going to party, it is safer for them to do it at home.
But, as you're about to see, serving alcohol to teens in the privacy of your home could be a deal with the devil.
Here is Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A Sunday night in November, four years ago; 17-year-old Paul Riggs was at the wheel of his truck, unconscious, pinned to a tree, just two blocks from his home.
DEBBIE RIGGS, MOTHER: We heard the sirens, because it was only two blocks from our house.
KAYE: Paul had been drinking and speeding, no seat belt, no chance, no goodbye. Paul never regained consciousness. He died three weeks later.
Paul and his younger brother, who survived the crash, were returning from a party, a house party where the parents were home and alcohol was served. The parents told police and CNN they didn't know alcohol was being served. They said they were upstairs sleeping. The night of the crash, police charged the couple's 15-year-old daughter with furnishing alcohol to minors.
RIGGS: With that many kids in the house, they should have been aware of what was going on.
KAYE: But at the time, if police couldn't prove parents provided the alcohol, they couldn't be charged. For two years, following her son's death, Debbie Riggs lobbied the Kansas legislature, demanding stiffer penalties for parents, whether they or their teenager actually serves the alcohol to minors.
This past summer, Debbie's crusade paid off with the passage of Paul's Law. Parents in Kansas can now be charged with a misdemeanor, jailed for six months, and fined hundreds of dollars. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not hosting a party.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's kids here. They're intoxicated.
KAYE: The new law is aimed at parents like this man, Terrell Kline (ph). Police raided a party at his home two months before Paul's Law took effect. They couldn't touch him then. How did police learn about the party?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just take a deep breath and blow in that until I tell you to stop.
KAYE: This 16-year-old was stopped, suspected of driving drunk. She admitted to police she had been drinking and told them about the party at Kline's house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much have you had to drink tonight?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been home all night long? Does that matter?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you've been home all night long, then you know what's going on here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been up in my room.
KAYE: Kline denied knowing anything about the girl police thought was driving drunk or anything about this young man, apparently too drunk to hold himself up. Police nabbed him trying to sneak out the back door.
(on camera): This is where Kansas meets Missouri, State Line Road. On this side, in Kansas, parents can be arrested if teenagers are caught drinking in their home. Just across the border in Missouri, that's not the law. But it could be soon.
(voice-over): Already here in Missouri, dozens of towns and one county have passed ordinances, putting pressure on the Missouri legislature. A statewide campaign, Those Who Host Lose the Most, appears to be catching on.
(on camera): When you think about parents who think this is OK or adults who think it is OK to serve alcohol to minors in their home, what do you think they're thinking?
J. ANTSEN: I think they're probably thinking that they're providing a safe environment, but I don't know that there is really a safe environment for illegal drinking.
KAYE (voice-over): Jan and Elizabeth Antsen live in Lee's Summit, Missouri, which just passed an ordinance banning adults from serving alcohol to minors.
ELIZABETH ANTSEN, SUPPORTS HOUSE PARTY LAW: It is just one more step to make parents away that it is not right to host those parties. KAYE: John Picerno also lives in Lee's Summit. He says he hasn't served alcohol to teenagers at his house, but wouldn't be opposed to his teen daughters going to a house party elsewhere. He trusts his daughters wouldn't drink and drive.
JOHN PICERNO, OPPOSES HOUSE PARTY LAW: And you're criminalizing this behavior for parents, as i said earlier, who may have never done anything wrong other than this in their entire lives.
KAYE (on camera): Do you think it is a parent's right to serve alcohol?
PICERNO: In my home, I think that I can do what I want in my home. I mean, I don't want the government coming in and telling me what I can and cannot do.
KAYE (voice-over): Adults aren't the only ones who can't agree on the issue.
(on camera): How many of you have been to a party where alcohol was served that was hosted by parents?
(voice-over): Listen to these students from Missouri's Smithville High.
BRAD FISHER, SMITHVILLE HIGH SCHOOL: I think that parents hosting parties sends a really mixed message to youth. They don't understand all the different things that can happen to them. It isn't just drinking. It is alcohol poisoning. It is assault. It is rape.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you're at someone's house, you feel the security of, well, I don't have to drive back home, because you can just stay there. When you're just in the middle of a turnaround and you have to drive home, it is kind of like, well, am I going wreck and die?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is more of an element of control when the parents are there, though, because the kids aren't going to get completely out of hand.
KAYE: Parents were home the night of Paul Riggs' accident. Still, a young man got behind the wheel with an open vodka bottle in his lap and a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit. Nobody, teenager or adult, stopped him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: It's hard to have to think about this, but it happens all the time. Randi Kaye reporting.
Something else to think about. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, kids who drink illegally at home are more likely to drink illegally in other places and more likely to abuse alcohol as adults.
Coming up, ladies, he's 47, a charming prince and filthy rich. Some reports put his inheritance at $2 billion. He also happens to be the world's most eligible bachelor. Is his Grace Kelly out there somewhere?
(LAUGHTER)
ZAHN: First, 17 minutes past the hour -- you laugh, Erica, but there are a lot of women that would love to get on a plane now to Monaco to meet the lovely prince.
ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think I know a few of them, too.
(CROSSTALK)
HILL: I just hope I get an invite to the wedding.
(LAUGHTER)
ZAHN: We'll go to the wedding.
HILL: There you go. There you go, at least to cover it, if nothing else, Paula.
Well, in other news, we turn to a somewhat more serious story at this hour, a Utah man now agreeing to a plea deal in a murder case which you'll remember was highly publicized last summer. In exchange for admitting to killing his wife in their Salt Lake apartment, Mark Hacking will get between six years and life in prison. Prosecutors say Hacking killed his wife, Lori, after she discovered he had lied about enrolling in medical school.
And during a heated debate over the fate of Terri Schiavo, her parents frequently claimed her husband, Michael, mistreated the brain- damaged woman, wasn't qualified to be in charge of her care. But documents released today by Florida's Department of Children and Family Services conclude there is no evidence to support such claims. Terri Schiavo died on March 31, after her feeding tube was removed over her parent's objections.
And Amtrak is canceling all high-speed Acela express trains between Washington and Boston, citing brake problems. Definitely want to have those working. Acela runs 20 percent of the weekday service on Amtrak's flagship Northeast Corridor. So, an estimated 10,000 passengers had to make other plans today. A spokesman says routine inspections uncovered cracks on many of the fleet's brake rotors.
Of course, you would rather have those working, though.
And that's the latest from Headline News now -- Paula, back to you.
ZAHN: Thanks so much, Erica. See you in about a half-hour or so.
And time for all of you out there to pick the person of the day. Your choices, civil rights trailblazer Rosa Parks for once again standing up for her rights and actually negotiating a settlement with hip-hop act OutKast and its record company, ending a lawsuit alleging unauthorized use of her name. The money is going toward civil rights education. Ray Kroc for opening the first McDonald's franchise 50 years ago today in Des Plaines, Illinois, and for revolutionizing American commerce, while supersizing our appetites and, in some cases, our waistlines. And A-Rod, Alex Rodriguez, for saving an 8-year-old boy from getting hit by a truck in Boston, enemy territory for this superstar Yankee.
Vote on our Web site, CNN.com/Paula. The winner at the end of the hour.
Up next, an actress who is definitely ready for her closeup.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRSTIE ALLEY, ACTRESS: I'm shooting angles of my butt from the ground up which would make Paris Hilton look like a cow. I'm doing everything I can to self-deprecate and make fun of myself and make myself look like a jerk. So, everybody is fair game, as far as I'm concerned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Go, Kirstie.
Up next, we zoom in an all sides of the actress, Kirstie Alley's story.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: Fat actress, two words that normally add up to career suicide in Hollywood. But that was before Kirstie Alley's new reality sitcom, "Fat Actress," took her from has-been to fat city. It is an incredible turn for a whom has who has seen spectacular success and terrible tragedy.
Here' tonight's "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS," Kirstie Alley, and she's coming on strong.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEY: America is fat. We're fat.
ZAHN: Kirstie Alley is fat, funny and feeling fabulous.
ALLEY: I'm having a ball. I'm having the best time of my life.
ZAHN: Alley's dramatic weight gain made her a constant tabloid cover girl. The 54-year-old comedienne admits to tipping the scales at more than 200 pounds, but now she's flaunting her full figure and getting the last laugh.
ALLEY: People say to me, well, what do you think about the tabloids? They either crush you or you create something new for yourself that you think is funny and you go with what you have.
ZAHN: Kirstie decided to poke fun at herself and the tabloids with her show "Fat Actress."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FAT ACTRESS")
ALLEY: Look, John Goodman has got his own show. And Jason Alexander looks like a frickin' bowling ball. And how about James Gandolfini? He's like the size of a whale? He's way, way, way, way fatter than I am.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: The outrageous Showtime series is loosely based on Alley's life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FAT ACTRESS")
ALLEY: I need my fat pants.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: It is the story of a portly out-of-work actress who is trying to lose weight and keep her career.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FAT ACTRESS")
ALLEY: God!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEY: I'm shooting angles of my butt from the ground up which would make Paris Hilton look like a cow. I'm doing everything I can to self-deprecate and make fun of myself and make myself look like a jerk. So, everybody is fair game, as far as I'm concerned.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FAT ACTRESS")
ALLEY: Wait up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRENDA HAMPTON, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "FAT ACTRESS": She can find the humor in the darkest situations. And maybe some of our situations are too dark for people. But she's just very funny.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FAT ACTRESS")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I have an offer for you.
ALLEY: A job offer?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: It's from Jenny Craig.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ZAHN: But don't shed any tears for Kirstie. Three months after she shot this scene, Alley really did become the spokesperson for Jenny Craig. And now she's laughing all the way to the bank.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FAT ACTRESS")
ALLEY: I lost 15.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT PARKER, VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING, JENNY CRAIG: The jokes on the show came first. It is kind of a funny story. We had Kirstie on our radar for a long time. Once we got serious in terms of our negotiations, she let us know about it. We thought was in good humor.
ZAHN: Although Kirstie's gimmick is her girth, Alley wasn't always heavy. In fact, just the opposite. She originally earned her Hollywood reputation as a sexy starlet. In her book, "How to Lose Your Ass and Regain Your Life," Kirstie writes about her naturally slim figure and her willingness to flaunt it.
Just one look at the photos in her book and it is easy to see that Kirstie's been a showoff ever since childhood.
KATHY NAJIMY, ACTRESS: She is completely eccentric, truly, creatively, emotionally, in her personal life, in her career. She is literally one of a kind.
ZAHN: Kirstie Alley was born January 12, 1951 in Wichita, Kansas, the middle child of Robert and Lillian (ph) Alley. Kirstie's father owned a lumber company. Her mother took care of the family. Kirstie was outgoing and rebellious.
TOM CUNNEFF, "PEOPLE": She used to sneak out of the house with no makeup on when she was a teenager in high school in very plain clothes and then change into a vamp in the back of her friend's car before they would go out to using fake I.D.s to get into bars and ride on the back of motorcycles with guys.
ZAHN: In 1969, Kirstie graduated from high school and began studying drama at Kansas State University. She dropped out after her sophomore year and married high school sweetheart Bob Alley.
CUNNEFF: They lived in Kansas City. And after they divorced a couple of years later, she went back to Wichita, where she grew up.
ZAHN: Kirstie stopped pursuing acting and became an interior designer. She was also developing an addiction to cocaine.
CUNNEFF: One day at a wedding, a friend of a guy she was dating took her into the bathroom at the wedding and just rolled up a $100 bill and said here, snort this line. And she did. And it started a pretty bad habit that lasted about two or three years.
ZAHN: In her book, Kirstie writes that she felt out of control and needed help. A friend visiting from California said Scientology could cure her. She gave Kirstie a copy of the book "Dianetics" by L. Ron Hubbard. After reading the controversial guide to mental health, Alley decided to give it a try.
In 1980, she literally packed up all her possessions, moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in the Scientology rehab program.
KELLY PRESTON, ACTRESS: It was Scientology that picked her up off the ground, shook her up. The whole Narconon program, which isn't Scientology per se, but it was based on a few of the principles that Hubbard did, that he wrote about, it saved her life.
ZAHN: Kirstie claimed she has never used cocaine again. She also credits Scientology with giving her the strength to pursue a career in acting.
CUNNEFF: Kirstie was taking acting lessons and one of the students in her class recommended her to another student who was directing a film called "One More Chance." She only made a few hundred dollars, not much, but she was on her way.
ALLEY: I said I want the lead in a major motion picture within a year and everyone said, you're nuts.
ZAHN: But, in 1981, producers at Paramount saw the student film and asked Kirstie to audition for "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." Alley's career was taking off. But then tragedy nearly destroyed her chance at fame.
When we come back, the phone call that changed Kirstie's future.
CUNNEFF: This may have been the toughest time in her life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
When we come back, the phone call that changed Kirstie's future.
CUNNEFF: This may have been the toughest time in her life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: Welcome back. Even before Kirstie Alley's early successes in the '80s, she survived a number of tragedies, cocaine addiction and a failed marriage. And just when she got the break she was looking for, another crisis was waiting in the wings.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN (voice-over): In 1980, Kirstie Alley vowed that she would be a celebrity within a year. In October 1981, she got her chance. Kirstie auditioned three times for a role in the second "Star Trek" movie.
While waiting to hear about the part, Alley's sister called with devastating news. Kirstie's mom was killed and her dad seriously injured when a drunk driver hit their car.
CUNNEFF: This may have been the toughest time in her life. She was supposed to go back for a fourth audition and told them she couldn't make it because she had to attend the funeral, and they said, that's OK, we'll postpone the audition, you just come when you get back. She got back, auditioned, they gave her the role. She was playing Lieutenant Saavik.
ALLEY: Project parabolic course to avoid entering neutral zone.
ZAHN: Playing the role of the Vulcan vixen gave 30-year-old Alley her first taste of the Hollywood limelight. Several months later, Kirstie was introduced to former Hardy Boy Parker Stevenson. On December 22nd, 1983, Kirstie married the handsome actor.
ALLEY: It gets you through the rough times, because when you're not having such a good time or you're fighting, you can look over and go, oh, God, you look good.
ZAHN: Kirstie starred in a number of mostly forgettable television and film roles.
But in 1987, her career took off. The brunette beauty got her big break when she replaced Shelley Long on "Cheers." The Thursday night comedy was one of TV's top rated and most loved shows.
ALLEY: Are you a man?
ZAHN: NBC's new bar hostess had a lot to live up to.
JAMES BURROWS, DIRECTOR, "CHEERS": When we showed up at the table for the first read of the first show that Rebecca Howe was in, she came dressed as Shelley Long, with a blonde wig and a little kind of -- I don't remember, a sweater or something that Diane wore. And it cut the tension. I'm sure it cut the tension for her, too.
ALLEY: Here you go.
ZAHN: Kirstie impressed the cast and critics as well. In 1991, she won an Emmy for her performance as the neurotic and hapless Rebecca Howe.
But more memorable than her award was Alley's racy acceptance speech.
ALLEY: I would like to thank my husband Parker, the man who has given me the big one for the last eight years. It just came to me as I saw my husband out there and his big blue eyes, and thought I should give him a tribute.
ZAHN: Kirstie and Parker seemed to be living the perfect life.
ALLEY: Hey, slow down!
ZAHN: Alley landed a starring role in the "Look Who's Talking" films, and earned multimillion dollar paychecks. The pair adopted two children and enjoyed a lavish lifestyle.
CUNNEFF: They lived in a 9,000 square foot home in Encino. They had live-in security, full-time chefs, homes in Oregon and Maine, $15,000 shopping sprees at FAO Schwarz. They were the ultimate Hollywood couple when you think about extravagant excess.
ZAHN: In 1997, Alley returned to series television.
ALLEY: I found a bra in the cushion of the couch.
ZAHN: In "Veronica's Closet," Kirstie played the owner of a lingerie company going through a messy divorce.
ALLEY: I left him.
ZAHN: Alley's life was imitating her art. By the time the show premiered, Kirstie and Parker separated. Alley was broken up, but tried to hide her emotions.
NAJIMY: I worked with her for over three years, and the fun far overweighed the sadness.
ZAHN: Yet off camera, the divorce made headlines.
CUNNEFF: Kirstie and Parker's divorce was one of the nastiest in Hollywood. In the court papers, he documents how he helped nurture her career. So he was asking for alimony and child support.
When they first met, he was the breadwinner. And she was this struggling actress. But by the end, she was the breadwinner and made $150,000 a week on "Cheers." Eventually, they reached a settlement and now have joint custody of their two children.
ZAHN: But even after their split, Kirstie remained a target for the paparazzi. She was dating "Melrose Place" hunk James Wilder, who was 13 years her junior. And even back then, any weight gain made tabloid headlines.
ALLEY: For 20 years of my career, I've been on the cover of the tabloids for being fat. I don't think most people know that. You know, if I weighed 140, I was on the cover of the tabloids being fat. 150, I was on the cover of tabloids. So it sells a lot of magazines for them.
ZAHN: As Kirstie became larger, the jobs offer got slimmer.
ALLEY: Of course you become more and more limited, because, well, let's face it, you know, love interests in movies aren't fat.
ZAHN: That's why Kirstie created "Fat Actress."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my Lord.
KELLY PRESTON, FRIEND: She wasn't getting another series, I guess, so she wrote her own. She's like, girlfriend, you know, and gets out there and turns it around, you know, and throws it on its face. Which is so Kirstie.
ZAHN: While Alley is betting that America will find fat fascinating, both Kirstie and her character have reason to shed the extra pounds.
ALLEY: I'm not going to have sex with any man. No man will want me when I look like this.
ZAHN: Alley says she hasn't had sex in four years. In an interview with "People" magazine, Alley insists she's not going to have sex while she's fat.
CUNNEFF: She's going to wait until she gets down to a weight she feels comfortable with, about 145 pounds, before she -- before she gets back in the sack.
ZAHN: And she hopes the weight won't be too long.
ALLEY: I lost 30 pounds. Hello!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: She certainly gets the last laugh every time around.
On Monday, we're going to introduce you to a man you probably heard about, but only in the past few weeks. His world view could change the world if he becomes the next pope.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARDINAL FRANCIS ARINZE: I don't feel any disability because I come from another culture. If anything, sometimes I feel I get more attention than I want, than I want.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Oh, you're getting plenty of it now. Are we looking at the future pope? Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze. "People in the News" Monday, here on "PAULA ZAHN NOW."
And coming up, a candle marker discovers a recipe for the sweet smell of success.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want you all to know, this is the scent of Jesus right here, in front of (INAUDIBLE). Jesus has been here. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Oh, yeah? Miracle or not, Jeanne Moos sniffs out the story behind the candle called "his essence."
And later, his serene highness, who just conveniently happens to be single and at a minimum worth $1 billion. Stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: In an age where everything is for sale, naturally things associated with Jesus are also up for grabs. But imagine buying the smell of Jesus? Well, don't imagine anymore. It is now available in hundreds of stores all over the country. It took Jeanne Moos to follow the scent.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These days they can make candles smell like anything from Wet Garden to New Baby. But get a whiff of this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is nice whatever it is.
MOOS: (on camera): It's the scent of Jesus.
(voice-over): Go ahead, look at me like I'm nuts.
(on camera): It is the scent of Jesus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.
MOOS (voice-over): They don't call this candle His Essence for nothing. In movies, we see what Jesus might have looked like.
(SINGING)
MOOS: And though bathing back then wasn't so thorough, now we experience his smell?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.
MOOS; Some were reminded of the what would Jesus eat diet. Not to mention the Bible bar, made out of seven foods the Lord calls good in the Bible. Now comes the His Essence candle based on the 45th Psalm, which speaks of Jesus' return saying all your robes are fragrant with Mir and Ailos and Cassia. Karen Tostarud read that and decided to turn those exact ingredients into a candle.
KAREN TOSTERUD, HISESSENCE.COM: This is from God. I have no doubt that it is. And I need to do it for him.
MOOS: Karen's husband teaches business at South Dakota University. The couple sold over 20,000 candles in four months.
BOB TOSTERUD, HISESSENCE.COM: It has been absolutely a -- a miracle?
MOOS: Sure there are skeptics.
(on camera): This is the scent of Jesus.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, you're.
(LAUGHTER)
MOOS (voice-over): Yee who laugh, beware.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like, to make fun, don't think it is a good idea.
MOOS (on camera): You got me back.
(voice-over): So what does his essence smell like?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like the woods or something like that like, the outdoor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE; It is fruity.
MOOS: The candle has ignited controversy on the Web. His essence has been mocked and poked fun at. Though 10 percent of the profits will go to churches, the Tosteruds get messages accusing them of being more interested in greed than God.
(on camera): They even got a message saying they would burn in hell for putting Jesus in a jar.
(voice-over): One sure sign of success, His Essence has already been knocked off. Copied at a Web site that uses a similar name. And talk about marketing...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want you to know this is the scent of Jesus here in front of the Cafe Metro. Jesus has been here!
MOOS: What's next, critics ask? Noah's Holy Spring Water? His Essence Deodorant?
(on camera): Well, actually what is next is His Essence hand lotion. It goes perfectly with prayer.
(voice-over): Remember that other scent of a woman?
AL PACINO, ACTOR: She's wearing forest.
Ogilvy Sister Soap.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's amazing.
PACINO: Well, I'm in the amazing business.
MOOS: But even Al Pacino couldn't have guessed His Essence, a candle that really does smell to high heaven. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my goodness me. They're putting Jesus everywhere.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(LAUGHTER)
ZAHN: Hello! Was she trying out for Kirstie Alley's new show?
ERICA HILL, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: I think she might have been. First, when I heard her say spruce, I thought she had a little oomph, but that last comment, I tell you...
ZAHN: Little does she know 20,000 of those candles have been sold all over the country.
HILL: It is amazing. And as we have seen there is already a knockoff.
ZAHN: And all need to go Cafe Metro so we can see that guy do his thing.
HILL: I would like to see that.
ZAHN: So, what is going on in the rest the world?
HILL: Well, we're going start off with the FDA and a product we have been hearing a lot about. We're learning now the FDA is keeping in place a ban on products with higher doses of ephedra. Now this decision comes just a day after a judge threw out the agency's ban on lower doses of the once popular weight control diet supplement. That ruling applied to 10 milligrams or less.
You may recall the FDA pulled Ephedra off the market last year after its use was linked to heart attacks and strokes. Manufacturers, though, do insist it is safe when used as directed.
In Paris, a horrible scene this morning. An early morning fire filled the 6 story Paris Opera Hotel with thick smoke and flames, rendering the buildings only exit unusable for most floors. Many people jumped or fell from windows as firefighters tried desperately to reach them on ladders. At least 20 people were killed, half of them children. 53 others were hurt.
NASA is testing something new automated technology. The system could lead to an automated docking system for spacecraft. It is a satellite, known as DART, which was sent into orbit today. DART is designed to locate and rendez vous with another target satellite without any direction from the ground. DART is expected to complete some 50 preprogram sets of maneuvers including flying around the target satellite and moving in close and backing away. So, DART will be a little busy this weekend.
And that's the latest from headline news. Paula, have a great weekend.
ZAHN: You too, Erica. Thanks so much. See you Monday.
LARRY KING LIVE, though, is still with us. In about 12 minutes, his show will get under way.. Hi, Larry. Ready for the weekend? And what you doing tonight?
LARRY KING, HOST, LARRY KING LIVE: I'm ready, Paula. Tonight, we're going to look at the Prince Rainier funeral today with principles, many of whom were there: friends, biographers and the like as we look at the life and times of Prince Rainier and, of course, the late Grace Kelly. That's all ahead immediately following Paula Zahn.
Have a great weekend, Paula.
ZAHN: You don't know what you're missing here, Larry. 72 degrees on Sunday and everything is blooming. Of course, you're spoiled with that in California all the time.
KING: Paula. It is L.A. 72 is another walk in the park.
ZAHN: Well, enjoy it. We're just getting it about six months late. See you on Monday.
KING: Bye.
ZAHN: And speaking of the royals, he's not quite 50, not quite bald and not quite thin, but Prince Albert has a lot of things going for him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Gramunde's hey have real power in Monaco, which is something you cannot say of many reigning monarches these days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: One more thing, ladies, he's single. And he's estimated to be worth on a low side $1 billion, on the high side, $2 billion. Get ready to take notes. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: Time now to find out who's "The Person of the Day."
Is it civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks for not backing down in a dispute with hip-hop group Outkast over the use of her name? That would be A-Rod you're looking at.
Or the late Ray Kroc for opening the first McDonald's franchise 50 years ago?
Now you get find out why Alex Rodriguez was on the screen. He's now a Yankee, but he happened to save the life of an 8-year-old boy in Boston.
Your choice, the man on the screen, A-Rod. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN (voice-over): You don't have to be a baseball fan to appreciate a good deed. But you will appreciate it even more with a little context. Alex Rodriguez, A-Rod for short, jilted the Red Sox to become a multimillion dollar superstar with the New York Yankees, which makes him a persona non grata in Boston. He gets booed. He gets called names that we can't repeat. Bostonians loathe A-Rod, which makes what happened at this intersection in downtown Boston last Tuesday even more special. The sign had just turned to walk, and an 8-year-old Patrick McCarthy zipped right into the street.
GRACE BOCHICCHIO, BOY'S MOTHER: This man stopped and put his arm in front of him and said whoa, whoa, buddy, don't go.
PATRICK MCCARTHY, SAVED BY ALEX RODRIGUEZ: So, I stopped. And there's this moving car coming.
ALEX RODRIGUEZ, NEW YORK YANKEES: Right place, right time I guess for him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you see the car coming the whole time?
RODRIGUEZ: Well, I was going away from the car. And I was getting away from it, he was coming into the car. So it's just one of those incidents, that I put my arm in front of him and the car almost ran us both over.
MCCARTHY: I was overwhelmed that I saw my favorite player and I was just, like, it went -- happened so fast.
ZAHN: So are Bostonians feeling a little bit conflicted about A- Rod now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I thinks a piece of garbage.
ZAHN: Well, making peace between the Red Sox and Yankees is a pretty tall order.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I hate the Yankees. At the same level I love the Red Sox.
ZAHN: Saving a little boy's life is a home run. Alex Rodriguez is our "Person of the Day." We'll be right back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: A tiny enclave along the French Riviera today hosted kings, queens and presidents for the funeral of Prince Rainier. His serene highness led Monaco for 56 years, he died last week at the age of 81. Now his son, Albert II, is the principality's new monarch. He inherits a fairy tale setting amidst some loaded questions about his personal life.
Walter Rodgers explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): His Serene Highness Albert Prince of Monaco seemed more burdened than serene following his father's casket. American educated Albert Grimaldi, a billionaire, one of Europe's most eligible bachelors, a royal puzzle for Europe's royal watchers.
ROBERT JOBSON, ROYALS COMMENTATOR: In terms of getting to know who the real Prince Albert is, nobody I think apart from his closest friends really know that.
RODGERS: Here is what Albert inherits. A principality, three quarters of a square mile of prime real estate on the Mediterranean, boasting 40 separate banking institutions. Smaller than New York's Central Park, it's a little playground where the rich and famous stash their money. No income tax, no questions asked. A sunny place with some shady characters. Albert's been waiting 47 years to head up the family business. Albert recently told Larry King he was ready for the job.
PRINCE ALBERT: Obviously you're prepared in that to assume that kind of role. And that kind of leadership pretty early on.
RODGERS: He's the product of a fairy tale wedding, Hollywood actress Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier. Indeed from the day he was born, Albert was groomed for Monaco's tiny thrown. He cultivated a playboy image, swinger, sailer and world class bobsledder.
JOBSON: The reality is is the heir to the thrown, the one job you've got to do is produce an heir. And he hasn't done that. He hasn't got married.
RODGERS: Judging by his social life, Albert's just been too busy.
RICHARD FITZWILLIAMS, ROYALS COMMENTATOR: There's an extraordinary thing about Albert and his dating. Brooke Shields, Claudia Sheffer (ph), all these names have been identified with him. And he doesn't seem to have done very much with them.
SALLY CARTWRIGHT, "HELLO MAGAZINE": There are those who say this is his camouflage, that he actually is gay.
RODGERS: Albert says he is not gay and won't be a bachelor forever.
PRINCE ALBERT: Longer than most. But I met someone the other day who was happily married at the age of 50.
RODGERS: By law, Prince Rainier had to produce a male heir or Monaco would revert to France. Rainier changed the constitution, so now the monarchy can pass to Albert's sisters, just in case. Next in line is Princess Caroline, after her mother's death, she was Monaco's first lady. If Albert produces no heir, Caroline or her children become the royal line. Albert has another sister, Stephanie, the royal wild child. Who once ran away with a circus performer. In its comic opera setting, and despite its soap opera plot, the Grimaldi's have made Monaco work for more than 700 years. Albert's job will be to make sure that continues.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Going to have to work really hard at it, Walt Rodgers reporting.
A little warning about the legend of the Grimaldi curse. One of Monaco's early princes apparently jilted a woman with the gift for the black arts, and she cursed the family forever to short an unhappy marriages.
That's it for all of us here. Thanks so much for joining us tonight.
CNN's prime time continues, our look at Monaco's royal family, with "LARRY KING LIVE." Again, thanks for joining us tonight, have a great weekend.
END
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