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Showbiz Tonight
Hollywood & Terror
Aired August 11, 2006 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
A.J. HAMMER, CO-HOST: Lindsay Lohan is fending off a stalker.
I`m A.J. Hammer.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CO-HOST: And the porn superstar at the center of a Hollywood divorce.
I`m Brooke Anderson.
TV`s most provocative entertainment news show starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER (voice-over): On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, terror plots and Hollywood.
Tonight, a startling look at how the stuff of movie and TV fantasy is now a harsh realty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The war on terror is as much a war of ideas and creativity as it is bombs and bullets.
HAMMER: But are the terrorists getting even more creative than Hollywood, or is Hollywood giving them ideas?
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT investigates.
He`s a cheating spouse`s worst nightmare. Meet Vinny Parco, private investigator.
VINNY PARCO, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Now, when there`s smoke, there`s fire.
HAMMER: Tonight, the super sleuth who got so good at catching cheaters, he got his own TV show.
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with the private eye.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Welcome to the weekend from New York City.
I`m A.J. Hammer.
ANDERSON: We have made it to Friday night. I`m Brooke Anderson.
And with everyone on edge over the latest terror threat, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is going to let you in on something. What if we told you the best weapon in the war on terror might be Hollywood? You`ve heard that, right? Hollywood. And what if we told you the government is doing just that, turning to Hollywood to hunt help to one up the likes of Osama bin Laden?
We`re not kidding you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER (voice-over): Separate passengers, each carrying one piece of a bomb. The ingredients on their own not enough to raise suspicion.
ANDERSON (voice-over): TV news shows spent the day dissecting what could have become the deadliest terrorist plot since 9/11, an alleged plan to blow up as many as 10 airplanes headed for America with a bomb made from common items such as a sports drink and some kind of consumer gel.
GRIFFIN: Inside the bathroom, the leader begins mixing the chemicals. Then he attaches an electronic trigger, until now disguised as a cell phone. Once the bomb is complete, the leader returns to his seat or wherever he deems to be the most effective spot and triggers it, killing himself and destroying the plane.
ANDERSON: Bombs made from sports drinks and hair gel used to bring down planes over the ocean? It all sounds like the plot of a big budget action movie, one that even moviegoers would have a hard time swallowing.
BRAD THOR, AUTHOR: So if you saw something like this in a movie, you would never believe it. It`s too simple. And that`s the route these guys are traveling. And that`s what makes them so terrifying.
ANDERSON: With terrorist plots becoming as outlandish and creative as Hollywood movies, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is asking a bold question. Should anti- terrorist agencies look to movie makers and other story tellers for ideas on how to fight an enemy that`s becoming even more imaginative? You may not believe it, but SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you the government is already doing just that.
THOR: A lot of people said that 9/11 was a failure of imagination.
ANDERSON: Best-selling thriller author Brad Thor tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT he was part of a unique government initiative.
THOR: The Department of Homeland Security set up something called the Analytic Red Cell program to bring creative thinkers from outside the beltway to help brainstorm potential terrorist snares exactly like the one we just saw foiled in London.
ANDERSON: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT contacted the Department of Homeland Security, which confirms the existence of this program.
The department tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "We are bringing people who are not part of the intelligence community together to give their thoughts creatively to help with terror." Homeland Security goes on to say, "This gives us insight into how terrorists potentially will think and out."
ED HARRIS, ACTOR, "THE ROCK": A battery of VX gas rockets is presently deployed to deliver a highly lethal strike on the population of the San Francisco Bay area.
ANDERSON: Intricate and deadly terrorist schemes have long made for gripping drama in moves like "The Rock," current TV shows like "24"...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "24": The San Gabriel nuclear reactor in full meltdown.
ANDERSON: ... and even in older movies like 1996`s "Executive Decision," a film with a plot that still resonates. Terrorists on a transatlantic flight try to detonate a bomb with a small electronic device.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They planned to use the DZ5 (ph) in the airplane together to detonate here over Washington.
ANDERSON: And there have been times when America has been unpleasantly surprised by the lethal imagination of terrorists. Remember the shoe bomber Richard Reid, who tried to detonate a bomb hidden in his shoe during a flight. And there was the 1995 attack on Oklahoma City`s Murrah Federal Building, destroyed by a truck packed with explosives derived from fertilizer.
And, of course, September 11th. As recalled in the 9/11 movie "World Trade Center," it was an attack as far-fetched as it was devastating.
NICOLAS CAGE, ACTOR, "WORLD TRADE CENTER": You`re prepared for everything, car bombs, chemical, biological, an attack from the top. But not this.
CAGE, "THE ROCK": If the rocket lander is in aerosol, it can take out the entire city of people.
ANDERSON: Michael Bay, director of big-budget action movies like "The Rock," tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that he has also brainstormed potential terrorism scenarios with the government.
MICHAEL BAY, DIRECTOR, "THE ROCK": There are so many easy targets. I mean, as being a film director of those action movies, I could come up with so many scenarios.
KEN ROBINSON, HOMELAND SECURITY EXPERT: The same type of creative mind that works out here is the same type of creative mind that works in a terrorist cell.
ANDERSON: Ken Robinson is a homeland security expert turned Hollywood insider. He lent his expertise to the recent NBC thriller "E-Ring," and he tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that, in light of what we saw in London, the government can learn a lot from Hollywood in the war on terrorism.
ROBINSON: Filmmakers, television producers are able to think outside the box and think -- ask the question of, "What if?" What if this scenario were to occur? How would it play out? And they`re able to free-think on that.
ANDERSON: So, as terrorist plots get more frighteningly complex, we are beginning to see that a dash of Hollywood-style imagination can be an effective weapon against terrorism.
THOR: The war on terror is as much a war of ideas and creativity as it is bonds and bullets.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: And joining us tonight, the two guys you just saw in our story.
From Chicago, homeland security expert and best-selling author Brad Thor.
And from Hollywood, TV executive producer and counterterrorism expert Ken Robinson.
Nice to see you both.
ROBINSON: Hey, A.J.
THOR: Hi, A.J.
HAMMER: Hey there, Brad.
So, you were a part, as we just saw in our story, of this government group, which I just find wild that it even existed, that basically helped officials come up with some of the outrageous ways terrorists could possibly attack. This week`s news certainly classifies as outrageous, terrorists using bombs in a Gatorade bottle.
Was this the kind of scenario you guys were cooking up?
THOR: It`s very akin to what we were talking about in the Analytic Red Cell program, A.J. Obviously, I can`t give specifics, but we were looking at any and all possibilities that terrorists could -- could carry out on the United States, whether domestically or from abroad. And the big thing was, is, let`s look at the big, complicated ones, and then let`s also look at the real small ones, things that people might not think about because they just seem too easy.
HAMMER: Well, it`s funny, because we saw you say in our story this plot almost seems too simple for Hollywood.
Now, Ken, you have created TV shows about CIA counterintelligence. Could you have actually walked into a studio in Hollywood and sold this plot as a script, or would it have been rejected for just being too unrealistic, we would have had to suspend this belief?
ROBINSON: Quite often you have that happen out here, where an executive in development may disbelief that because most of these plots are so simplistic. Remember, the terrorist wants to go after the soft underbelly of America, and they want to do that in a way that creates theater. And so many people do see something so simplistic, and they don`t see it as a threat, when actually it is the clear and present threat because it`s so simple to pull off.
HAMMER: And on the flip side of the simplistic, Brad, we have shows like "24" and other shows that have extraordinarily detailed plots with terrorists in various scenarios of how they want to inflict harm.
In terms of those very detailed plots and the types of things we see on shows like "24," how realistic are they?
THOR: Well, you know, the one thing we`ve talked about before, A.J., is that they don`t get solved in 24 hours. But drama is what Hollywood is all about. That`s the excitement that people want to see. They want that dramatic -- that big nuke that`s gone missing that the terrorists have gotten a hold of.
And in realty, the terrorists are "keeping it simple, stupid." They`re looking for the easiest way to hit us, and hit us hard.
HAMMER: And what can we learn from what we see on TV about how government operatives are really fighting terrorism, other than, as you mentioned, it doesn`t get solved in 24 hours? But is the fight we see dramatized fairly realistic?
ROBINSON: I think it is.
THOR: It is very realistic.
HAMMER: Go ahead, Brad.
THOR: What you`re seeing is down -- you are seeing people go down to the wire on a lot of these plots. What we saw in London, they decided they had been watching it for a while, but they had to pull the plug because this thing was getting very close to them pulling the trigger on it.
HAMMER: You know, Ken, we often hear in the news conferences, the press conferences coming out of the White House, we don`t want to give out too many details, because we know the terrorists are watching. I mean, this is the age of media. We know that al Qaeda is watching CNN and taking notes.
Should we worry that terrorists are perhaps watching the drama we are putting out on television and in movies out of Hollywood and taking notes and getting ideas?
ROBINSON: That`s a debate that happens often in the writers` room. It`s what we call the do-no-harm theory, how far can you take a story without doing harm and giving a step-by-step plan?
But if you look at the Internet and you look at the virtual reality world that these terrorists move in, they call it distance learning, because they no longer have to have an Afghanistan, they no longer have to have a sanctuary. Now they can spread their information, their ideas, their ideology all over the Internet. And these ideas have been on the Internet for years.
HAMMER: Yes. And we know they are paying attention.
Homeland security expert and best-selling author Brad Thor, and TV executive producer and counterterrorism expert Ken Robinson, I thank you for joining us tonight.
ROBINSON: Thank you.
HAMMER: And be sure to check out Brad`s latest book. It`s called, "Takedown: A Thriller."
ANDERSON: Now we want to hear from you about it. It is our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day."
War on terror: Do you worry Hollywood plots give terrorists ideas?
Go to CNN.com/ShowbizTonight. Send us an e-mail at ShowbizTonight@CNN.com.
HAMMER: Well, tonight, a Hollywood legend is speaking out about Mel Gibson`s mess. Actor Kirk Douglas wrote a guest column for the "Daily Variety" Web site, and in it, the devout Jew addresses Gibson`s ant-Semitic rant during his recent DUI arrest.
Douglas says, "Gibson`s apology didn`t seem genuine and seemed to include Jews as an afterthought." He also cited an ancient Hebrew saying that, "When wine comes in, truth goes out." Douglas writes, "Within the deep recesses of his mind, there apparently lies a cancerous sore of hatred for the Jews. Whether it is about self-hate or hatred of others, lets` face it, Mel is in a mess."
Douglas got that right. Douglas suggests Gibson seek out some spirit guidance to deal with his feelings.
ANDERSON: Coming up, how would you like $12 million for bluffing?
HAMMER: Sure.
ANDERSON: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with a big win at the World Series of Poker.
HAMMER: Also, he wished he had "Jessie`s Girl." Now we`ve got him. Eighties pop legend Rick Springfield joins us...
ANDERSON: Woo hoo!
HAMMER: ... with the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
We`ve also got this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PARCO: This case started out with a wife trying to protect her husband`s dream and ended with a nightmare of a love affair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Got a cheating spouse? We`ve got a private investigator. Vinny Parco, the detective who is so good at what he does, he has his own TV show.
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with the private eye who may be watching you.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Tonight, for Friday night, TV`s most provocative entertainment news show is on.
I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
And it`s time now for a little story that just made us say, "That`s ridiculous!"
You win a championship, you`re entitled to your prize, right? Well, especially if it`s the World Series, right here. We`re talking about this, the World Series of Poker.
The tournament wrapped up early this morning, and former Hollywood agent Jamie Gold took top honors. He bluffed his way to a first-place prize. That`s a bigger purse than the winners of Wimbledon, the Kentucky Derby, Indy 500 and the Masters, combined.
Are you ready for this? Gold took home a cool $12 million.
That`s pretty cool for him, but we`ve got to say, $12 million for playing cards...
ANDERSON: Ooh.
HAMMER: ... now, "That`s ridiculous!"
ANDERSON: Yes, it is.
All right.
Moving now to tonight`s "Showbiz Showcase," the new movie "Ghost Rider," based on the Marvel comic and starring Nicolas Cage, Cage`s role could not be any more different than his current movie, "World Trade Center."
In "Ghost Rider," Cage sells his soul to save his father`s life. Years later, he cuts a deal to get his soul back, but in return he must agree to become the ghost rider of supernatural agent of justice.
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has your first look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "GHOST RIDER")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "GHOST RIDER": You should be taking a dirt nap after that rag doll today.
CAGE, "GHOST RIDER": I got lucky.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Luck don`t cover it, J.B. (ph). You`ve got an angel looking after you.
CAGE: Maybe sometimes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The story goes that he`ll be normal during the day, but at night, in the presence of evil, the rider takes over.
CAGE: I`m the only one who can walk in both worlds.
(END VIDEO CLIP, "GHOST RIDER")
ANDERSON: "Ghost Rider" hits theaters next February.
HAMMER: All right. I want to break out your parachute pants and grab your Rubik`s Cube. It`s time now to go back to the `80s.
Now, it may be nostalgia, or a love affair with all things cheesy, but whatever it is, we are craving it. There are shows dedicated to the `80s, and fashion trends recycling the `80s look. There is even a tour with the top `80s acts, and it is coming to a city near you.
It`s called "We are the `80s." Headlining that show, none other than Rick Springfield, not part of the cheesy...
RICK SPRINGFIELD, ACTOR, SINGER: Yes, I know. I was thinking, what is that?
HAMMER: ... part of the equation.
You know, I`m saying that and I`m thinking, my guest is sitting right here. And that`s not what I meant.
Rick, welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
SPRINGFIELD: Thanks a lot.
HAMMER: Now, before we get into this, do you have any idea of the significance of this week in Rick Springfield history? Before you answer, take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPRINGFIELD (SINGING): Now I wish that I had Jessie`s girl. I wish that I had Jessie`s girl. Where can I find a woman like that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: There it is, basically the song that put you on the map this week 25 years ago. It was spending it was spending its second week at number one in the United States.
SPRINGFIELD: Really? Wow.
HAMMER: Yes. You didn`t know that.
SPRINGFIELD: No, I didn`t know that. We do have a 25th anniversary, a "Working Class Dog" reissue, because I knew it was 25 years. I didn`t know it was this week, though.
HAMMER: Well, take me back to this week 25 years ago.
SPRINGFIELD: I don`t remember it.
HAMMER: Not at all?
SPRINGFIELD: Yes, I remember -- I remember I was rehearsing in a little sound stage when my then manager came in and said that we just went to number one with some very cheap champagne. And it was -- but it was -- it tasted good.
HAMMER: And this was when you were on top with "General Hospital" as Dr. Noah Drake, right?
SPRINGFIELD: Yes. Well, it was just starting. It was really just starting.
"Jessie`s Girl" was a very, very slow climb to number one. It took...
HAMMER: Yes, because you guys released it in May, I think.
SPRINGFIELD: Yes. Yes. Yes. It took a long time, but it was one of those songs that just seemed to stay. You know? And thanks to movies and things like that, it`s still -- it`s, you know, still pulling in new fans.
I guy I know, a deejay, was standing in line at a movie theater and there was this little 12-year-old girl singing "Jessie`s Girl." And he said, "Where did you hear that song?" And she said, "Oh, it`s a new song from this movie."
HAMMER: Right. Right.
SPRINGFIELD: You know, "I just heard."
HAMMER: And it`s just one of your 17 top 40 hits. You`ve sold 20 million albums. Most of that happened during the `80s.
Do you mind being sort of the face of pop for the `80s?
SPRINGFIELD: Yes. I mean, you know, I -- we`re never much -- for me, it`s very much looking forward. Like, I have never been the kind of guy to put platinum records on the wall. I mean, for me, once the record was recorded, it was done, and whatever happened, happened. And we do a lot of new songs. We do all the old songs, of course.
HAMMER: Because, of course, you are touring with Eddie Money, an icon from the `80s.
SPRINGFIELD: Yes. Yes.
HAMMER: Patty Smyth from Scandal.
SPRINGFIELD: Scandal.
HAMMER: Mike Reno from Loverboy.
SPRINGFIELD: Right.
HAMMER: So, you know, it is the generation you`re associated with.
SPRINGFIELD: Oh, I know I mean, I`m not -- I`m not saying it never happened, because I`m very proud of it. You know, I mean, I`m very proud of it.
But also, you know, you always -- everyone is always trying to, like, bring you back to that point, where the whole reason that I tour is because of -- we`re doing new songs.
HAMMER: Moving forward.
SPRINGFIELD: And I -- you know, I love the connection. But we have a great live show.
I have the most incredible band. It`s the most powerful band I`ve ever played with. And it`s -- the show is a very, you know, hot and sweaty show. And it`s -- but we -- you know, I came from the `80s, I guess, basically.
HAMMER: Well, what is it about that decade, though, that we love so much? Because, really, we`re so nostalgic about it, as I mentioned.
SPRINGFIELD: Yes, I know. I think -- I think -- I think your window for here -- for accepting new music is very short.
I think it` from, you know, the beginning of the teen years until maybe very late teens or early 20s, when you get a career, you get family. And then I think it closes. And I think because the world is so -- just so messed up, and I think people are looking for comfort, and they go on back to the times when they felt, you know, alive and on top, and it was, you know, basically when you were a kid.
HAMMER: Now, speaking of being a kid, I mean, that was 25 years ago. Here you are, if I may say, in two weeks I believe you`re turning 57.
SPRINGFIELD: Fifty-seven, yes.
HAMMER: Could you have imagined when you were 32 years old, 25 years later? Are the groupies still showing up?
SPRINGFIELD: Yes.
HAMMER: Are you seeing any of the groupies you were seeing back in the early `80s? The same people?
SPRINGFIELD: I see a lot of -- a lot of hard-core fans. I see a lot of fans who say, you know, things like, "I`ve been following you since I was five." That freaks me out.
HAMMER: Yes, I`m sure.
SPRINGFIELD: But there`s also -- we`re seeing a lot of young kids coming. You know, because of the different movies, the songs have been in "General Hospital." I`ve been back on "General Hospital" for...
HAMMER: You have. And we hear you`re ripping off your shirt in the encore, too. So apparently...
SPRINGFIELD: I`m sorry to be so cheesy.
HAMMER: ... you`re still having a lot of fun.
Rick Springfield, thank you very much for coming back to join us here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
And you can catch Rick along with Loverboy, Eddie Money, and Scandal on "We Are the `80s" tour. So check out wearethe80s.com. That has all the cities and dates, or you can grab the CD, which is in stores now.
ANDERSON: Ripping his shirt off. Wow. OK.
We want to remind you that SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is now on seven nights a week. That`s right, we are bringing TV`s most provocative entertainment news show to your weekend. Be sure to check us out, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, Saturday and Sunday, 11:00 p.m. Eastern. That`s 8:00 Pacific.
HAMMER: Well, he`s public enemy number one. We sit down with Christiane Amanpour, whose CNN special has unparalleled access to Osama bin Laden.
ANDERSON: And is Lindsay Lohan in danger? There`s a reported stalker on her trail. We`re going to tell you what he wants and what the actress` camp is doing to keep her safe.
We`ve also got this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PARCO: He`s expecting you to leave him because you thought he was broke, when in reality, to leave with his mistress and you`re cash.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Meet the private investigator who is so good at busting cheating spouses, they gave him his own TV show.
He`s Vinny Parco. And he could be...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Sad news tonight in the annals of TV. Veteran televisions personality Mike Douglas has died. Douglas died today on his 81st birthday in a Florida hospital. He had been treated on and off after becoming dehydrated on a golf course a few weeks ago.
Douglas began his career as a singer and provided the vocals for Prince Charming in the animated Disney film "Cinderella." "The Mike Douglas Show" was nationally syndicated. IT ran for two decades until 1982.
Everyone from Tiny Tim, to Tiger Woods, Richard Nixon, to The Rolling Stones, was on the top-rated daytime talk show.
He will be sorely missed.
ANDERSON: He will, indeed.
OK. Everybody knows his name, but who really knows anything about Osama bin Laden? We asked CNN`s Christiane Amanpour, whose TV special has never-before-seen access to the terror mastermind.
HAMMER: And Carmen Electra has officially filed for divorce, but has a porn star gal pal of Dave Navarro`s come between their so-called amicable split?
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT finds out.
Plus, we`ve got this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PARCO: This case started out with a wife trying to protect here husband`s dream and ended with a nightmare of a love affair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Got a cheating spouse? We`ve got a private investigator. Vinny Parco, the detective who`s so good at what he does, he has his own TV show.
Vinny Parco coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT for Friday night. It is 30 minutes past the hour. I`m A.J. Hammer. We are in New York.
ANDERSON: Yes, we are. Welcome to the weekend. I am Brooke Anderson. This is TV`s most provocative entertainment news show.
All right. If you think your spouse is cheating on you, you better listen up to this: we have a private investigator who is so good, he`s got his own television show now. Vinny Parco joins us coming up.
HAMMER: Maybe Vinny Parco could have been of some help to Carmen Electra. I don`t know.
ANDERSON: Maybe so.
HAMMER: If you haven`t heard, Carmen Electra and Dave Navarro, the rocker, are splitting up.
ANDERSON: It`s so sad.
HAMMER: They`re getting a divorce.
Now, Carmen is citing "irreconcilable difference." Dave Navarro now says he is involved with porn star Jenna Jameson. "Irreconcilable differences" indeed. We get to the nitty-gritty of that story coming up in just a few minutes.
But first tonight, some experts that this week`s terrifying terror plot to blow up planes over the Atlantic Ocean points to just one man: Osama bin Laden. Nearly five years after 9/11 and despite a worldwide hunt to take down public enemy number one, we really don`t know much about him still.
I had the chance to speak with CNN`s chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour, who got never-before-heard-of access to bin Laden`s friends, family and people who fought with him for an upcoming CNN special.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: In doing this special, all that you learned about Osama bin Laden -- does it shock you that this man still has not been caught?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It does shock me, because there was an opportunity, and this comes quite -- quite clearly in the documentary. And we know this, that at the Battle of Tora Bora, December 2001, basically Osama was allowed to get away and fight another day.
Now that is the background to the fact that he`s still out there, he`s still a threat. And that`s we`ve done this documentary, because we need to know as much about the enemy as possible.
Clearly he`s aligned himself as an enemy of the West, of certain policies, of certain countries and their citizens and their government. And this is becoming a bigger and bigger threat, and we`ve seen it not just against America, but against other parts of the world.
So to know more about this person we thought really important. And that`s why we did it.
HAMMER: And it really seems that you do have us better understand exactly who this man is, exactly what makes him tick.
And I`m curious, walking away from it -- because certainly you uncovered some things we may not have known before. What surprised you the most? What really made you say, I never know that about this man?
AMANPOUR: Well, look, I am still very much open to surprise, because I`ve never met him. And very few people have had a huge amount of time with him.
So what I thought was good about the fact that we talked to so many people who knew him at certain points in his life was to be able to put pieces of the puzzle together from those who knew him. And what surprises, I think, me, is just the arc of his life.
I mean, he was a pretty unassuming sort of shy, reticent young boy of a wealthy, privileged family. And suddenly he becomes this virulent person with a virulent ideology, and with huge amount of power. Because it`s not just the killing that he`s done -- doing, but it`s the recruiting, the sort of rallying of certain masses in the Islamic world.
And I thought that, you know, some of the things that we saw, for instance, for the first time on television, we had obtained the minute of the actual meeting in which al-Qaida was formed in Pakistan all those years ago. And I think, you know, little details like that that come out, plus just the -- the story of his life through the eyes of the people who knew him, I think, was interesting.
HAMMER: One of the things that always strikes me when I`m watching you work, and particularly in this particular documentary, in uncovering all of this information, you`re dealing with some characters whom some would consider to be very nefarious, very shady.
And I told you this when I saw you last time here in New York, I worry about you when you`re out there. You`re always in the most dangerous parts of the world.
So what`s going through your head when you`re approaching and sitting down with these shadowy people?
AMANPOUR: Well, I will just say that, you know, Daniel Pearl, "The Wall Street Journal" journalist who was beheaded, was with the -- one of the first journalists to be a victim of this absolute brutality. That always does go through your head when you`re following this kind of story.
Now, not to say that we put ourselves in that kind of situation. We weren`t going down back alleys investigating, you know, these kinds of terrible people. But you always think about, you know, Are you knocking on too many doors? Are you causing too many waves?
But, you know, luckily, luckily everything was fine, and we talked to people who are talk to us, even though some of them had not talked before on -- on -- certainly not on America television. And I think that, you know, the danger level was luckily less than it could have been had we been following a news story.
HAMMER: And the tagline to the show is, "Know Your Enemy." And that`s really what it`s all about it, isn`t it?
AMANPOUR: That`s what I think.
You know, some people might say, Well, are you trying to put a human face on him? And my answer is, It`s not about putting a human face on him. It`s about knowing this human being, knowing this person who has declared himself an enemy. And you have to be equipped with knowledge while you try to deal with that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: You`ve just got to watch this exclusive special; it is fascinating. Never before has a television documentary put together so many people who know bin Laden -- 21 people to be exact. Christiane Amanpour`s two-hour documentary, called "CNN PRESENTS: In the Footsteps of Bin Laden" will air on August 23 on CNN.
ANDERSON: While new fears of terrorism are on the minds of everyone tonight, there are still plenty of questions about the 9/11 attacks. A new documentary narrated by Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank and Kevin Costner called "On Native Soil" puts shocking new information out there from the families who helped to launch the 9/11 investigation commission.
Joining us now, Mary Schiavo, a former Department of Transportation inspector general and contributor to the film.
Mary, good to see you. Thanks for being here.
MARY SCHIAVO, CONTRIBUTED TO DOCUMENTARY "ON NATIVE SOIL": Thank you. My pleasure.
ANDERSON: OK. Kevin Costner and Hilary Swank narrate this film. They had very specific reasons for wanting to take part: Kevin because he believes it`s a story that all Americans should know; Hilary because she wanted to help the families` voices be heard.
Why did you want to do it?
SCHIAVO: Because I don`t want anyone to ever forget the facts. And when the next terrorist attack comes, or the next threat that was foiled this week, I don`t ever want to hear those words again -- "Who would have thought?" And it`s important to capture this, and it`s important not to lose it, but to do it in a way that`s factual, that`s accurate. It`s a documentary.
ANDERSON: Well, this documentary dates all the way back to 1997, in fact. It begins -- Osama bin Laden tells former CNN correspondent Peter Arnett that he`s launching a jihad against the U.S.
All right. And then it goes up to that fateful day, of course, 9/11.
But are people going to be outraged when they learn the details of the 9/11 report, if they didn`t already know them when they see this? Are they going to be outraged about how the ball was dropped so many times?
SCHIAVO: Yes, there will be some outrage.
But it`s not outrage about, it`s just coming out now. It`s outrage about how many people had responsibility, and they failed to live up to those responsibilities. And that`s what`s really important to capture in a documentary, going forward in the future. It`s all about responsibility and who should have done things that they didn`t. And this will be shocking.
ANDERSON: Another thing that is truly shocking to me, and you shed light on this in the documentary -- that fateful moment when the terrorists passed through security at the airport, setting off the alarms, they were still allowed to pass through.
It`s unbelievable to me. What will see in this documentary about that?
SCHIAVO: Well, we will see who`s job it was; it was the airlines` job. It was a security company`s job. But also how they didn`t do what they were supposed to do. They were supposed to screen them; they were supposed to do random screening.
One of them had a packet affixed to the back of his pants, very clearly visible in the tapes that the 9/11 Commission had and wrote about. And we will see how they didn`t do any of the screening in the proper ways, and they didn`t even do random searches, which they were required to do. Just a shocking, literally dereliction of duties of the airlines and security companies.
ANDERSON: And this is about the state of security five years ago.
But talking about what`s going on today, what`s happening with the terror alerts, what`s happening in the airports. Nearly five years later, do you think we`ve really come that far?
SCHIAVO: Well, we haven`t come that far, and we haven`t come as far as we need to. But we have made some important changes. We now know who mans our passenger-screening departure lounges. We know they`re citizens. At least it`s run by government agencies, so they`ve had background checks.
But the attacks of this week -- we were very fortunate -- or the planned attacks. And had it not been for the British and Pakistani and other authorities, they couldn`t have been thwarted at the airport, because they found another loophole in security. And so it`s important every time to close that loophole and look for the next. And then we`ll -- finally, we`ll get there.
ANDERSON: What else will we see in this documentary that will be extremely eye-opening to many Americans?
SCHIAVO: Well, what`s going to be eye-opening -- of course, it`s in the documents, it`s in the papers of our country, but it`s not compiled in a watchable documentary that will really have an impact on people -- and that is, the path leading up to this, how much was known in 97; how much was known in 1990, 91, 92. We had Pan Am, then we had the Bojinka plot, which was uncovered. And I was the inspector general at DOT after both of those, and we had these massive security reviews. And we pronounced the security was far inadequate, and they needed to improve.
But there were objections by the carriers; there were objections by the government because of cost. And we seem to repeat the same mistakes.
ANDERSON: Sounds like a very revealing documentary.
Mary Schiavo, thanks for being here and for sharing it with us. We appreciate it.
SCHIAVO: Thank you.
ANDERSON: "On Native Soil," the documentary of the 9/11 Commission report, premieres on CourtTV August 21.
All right. Coming up, a big Hollywood couple breaks up, and you won`t believe who is at the center of it all. It`s absolutely shocking.
HAMMER: And is someone stalking Lindsay Lohan? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT investigates in tonight`s "Hot Headlines."
We`ve also got this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You expect me to leave him because you thought he was broke, when in reality, to leave with his mistress and your cash.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Meet the PI who may have his eye on you. He`s so good at busting cheating spouses he got his own TV show, "Vinny Parco, Private Investigator." It`s the interview you will see only right here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
HAMMER: Right now it`s time for the "Entertainment Weekly Must List," five things "E.W." says you have to check out this weekend.
First, see "The Descent." A group of girlfriends encounter blood- thirsty creatures when they get trapped in a mountain cave.
Next, "E.W." says to check out the Heartless Bastards` second album, "All This Time." It`s a melody of sweetness from this hot Cincinnati trio.
Then, curl up with "The Ruins" by Scott Smith. It`s a thriller all about two couples traveling in Mexico who stumble across a nightmare in the jungle.
"E.W." also says to catch Marvel`s warrior Blade on Spike TV.
And finally, check out the all-time classic "To Kill a Mockingbird." It`s out as an unabridged audio book.
And for more on the "Must List," pick up your copy of "Entertainment Weekly." You`ll find it out newsstands now.
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stand by, A.J. Pre-set Camera 1. Open his mike, dissolve 1, go.
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT for Friday night. TV`s most provocative entertainment news show is on.
And it`s time now for another story that made us say, "That`s Ridiculous!"
Oh, that was ridiculous.
Well, we`re going to Kansas City. Kansas City, here we come. And look what`s going on here: ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building and apparently he`s hitting the streets. He`s got the gold glasses on for the 19th annual Elvis Parade.
Now, KC claims this is the world`s largest. And as you can see, lots of sparkly polyester suits and sideburns at this particular parade. Now, Presley left the building permanently on August 16, 29 years ago.
You know, Brooke, we here at SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, we love the King.
ANDERSON: Aw, we love the King.
HAMMER: But we don`t say, Thank you. Thank you very much.
(CROSSTALK)
HAMMER: Am I being cynical? Is this just too much of a celebration?
ANDERSON: It`s a big celebration, but there are so many Elvis Presley fans. That`s what really astounds me. You know, who -- who -- who would`ve guessed there would have been a parade like this?
HAMMER: I would like to see you in those sideburns.
ANDERSON: Oh, likewise, A.J. Maybe we could do it together. Got us all shook up.
The world`s so-called largest Elvis parade? That makes us say, "That`s Ridiculous!"
All right. It`s your worst nightmare: your husband is working late and acting strange. Or you hear your wife`s been seen around town with a strange man. Is he having an affair? Is she cheating on you?
Private eye Vinny Parco got so good at busting cheating spouses he got his own TV show on CourtTV. It`s called "Parco, P.I."
And here with me now in New York is Vinny Parco.
Hey, Vinny. Good to see you.
VINNY PARCO, "PARCO, P.I.": My pleasure.
ANDERSON: All right. You`ve been doing this a long time. You investigated and discovered a lot of cheating spouses. And while the stories are different, is there a common denominator you find among all the infidelity cases?
PARCO: Yes. There`s always some little thing that bothers the spouse: staying out late, having dinner with friends when it`s really a girlfriend or a boyfriend. Things that are ordinary.
Now let`s face it, if someone`s married for 10, 15 years, they get to know the patterns of their -- their spouse. They know what they do; they know what they don`t do. And all of a sudden, something changes in the middle of the marriage or the relationship. And that`s what causes people to get suspicious.
And 95 percent of the time, they`re right.
ANDERSON: Well probably, one of the most infamous infidelity cases recently, Christie Brinkley and Peter Cook. Peter Cook admitted he had an affair with a 19-year-old woman.
Say before all of this happened, Vinny, that Christie called you up and said, Hey Vinny, I`ve got a suspicion. I think might be going on.
Where do you go from there? How do you start?
PARCO: Well, first thing I would ask her is, What -- what caused you to be suspicious? Well, he`s got a lot of business deals, a lot of business meetings. I think he`s an architect.
ANDERSON: Yes.
PARCO: And he`s got all these dealings with builders and developers. Well, we would check that out, see if it`s true. Maybe it is true; maybe he really is working. Maybe he`s not cheating.
In this case, we know he is.
ANDERSON: You would track his schedule.
PARCO: Right.
The other thing what would be -- I think he -- he met this girl in a toy store or something. She worked as a clerk or something like that. So you might want to go back and say, What`s that activity? Where -- where has he been doing lately? And she probably has been doing this particular business or this particular project.
I would investigate the project. Maybe there he would see a person that he shouldn`t be with.
ANDERSON: Does it get any more difficult when it does involve celebrities?
PARCO: Yes, it -- remember, celebrities go to great lengths to protect their privacy. They`re always worried about the paparazzi; they`re worried about this -- fans bothering them, stalkers. So for an investigator, you have to be really, really careful on how you do the investigation and what you -- and of course, you have to be greatly prepared.
ANDERSON: People picture P.I.s hiding in the bushes, doing things like that. Is that what goes on?
PARCO: Sometimes. Sometimes you have to do that.
But we have a lot of high-tech gadgets now.
ANDERSON: You do. That`s right.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: The tiny cameras that you can...
PARCO: Tiny cameras. We have one case -- as a matter of fact, we were doing this in the same area of Christie Brinkley and her husband -- different case, of course -- where we used a helicopter with a small camera. And we were able to see -- we were able to see inside the pool where the...
ANDERSON: Oh, pretty sophisticated.
PARCO: We try. We try.
You want to know something? Old-fashioned gumshoe work always works (ph).
ANDERSON: Well, a lot of people may be watching this, and think, You know what? I may have a suspicion.
What kind of information would someone need to get to you to get the case going? Or is suspicion enough?
PARCO: Well, I always ask them questions like, Well, what does your husband or your wife done -- now remember, women cheat, too. I don`t want you to -- we don`t want the guys...
(CROSSTALK)
PARCO: Like, 60-40 type of a thing.
(CROSSTALK)
PARCO: ...well, of a sudden, my wife is going to the spa everyday. She was a chubby woman, now she`s beautiful. She`s getting her hair done all the time. She`s really fixing herself up.
Well, maybe -- maybe she`s doing it for him. But all of a sudden, their sex life wanes. And all of a sudden, she`s not with him as much. And the activities that they did jointly, she`s doing alone. So all of a sudden the husband says, You know what? Maybe something is -- is wrong.
ANDERSON: So you take all that information, and then you go from there.
Well, Vinny Parco, thanks for being here and sharing with us your techniques on busting the cheaters. We appreciate it.
PARCO: My pleasure.
ANDERSON: And you can catch "Parco, P.I." Tuesday nights on CourtTV.
Well, you don`t need a private eye to find SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. TV`s most provocative entertainment news show is now on seven nights a week, including weekends. Be sure to tune in; SHOWBIZ TONIGHT Saturday and Sunday each and every night, 11 p.m. Eastern. That`s 8 Pacific.
HAMMER: Lindsay Lohan may have a stalker after her, and a porn star is smack-dab in the middle of what was once Hollywood`s hottest couple.
Those are just a couple of tonight`s "Hot Headlines." Let`s get up to speed with Harvey Levin, managing editor of the entertainment Web site TMZ.com. Harvey joins us from Glendale, California.
All right, Harvey. Let`s begin with the story that is such a train wreck, it really is one of those only-in-Hollywood kind of stories.
Carmen Electra has officially filed for divorce from rock star Dave Navarro.
Now Dave confirms he is involved with one of the biggest porn stars in the world, Jenna Jameson. Carmen cites "irreconcilable differences" for the split.
I think you`d have a hard time reconciling this, wouldn`t you?
HARVEY LEVIN, TMZ.COM: You know, it seems like a buzzkill to me when you start dating a porn star and you`re, you know, involved with somebody else. So, yes, you know, I`m guessing that there`s not a whole lot of hope.
HAMMER: And you got to love this too-hard-to-ignore part of this story. Their marriage, of course, was a TV series on MTV. This one was called "Til Death Do Us Part." Just recently, we had Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker split with his wife, Shanna Moakler after they starred in the reality series "Meet the Barkers." Then, of course, Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, they had "The Newlyweds" on MTV.
Can we officially call it an MTV curse, Harvey?
LEVIN: Well, you could an MTV curse, but my feeling about it is, is that bad if bad luck happens in threes, then people who go on VH1 have a lot to fear.
HAMMER: Yes, don`t talk about VH1 like that. I was on there for four years.
LEVIN: I know.
HAMMER: All right. Let`s move on to our next "Hot Headline" then -- a story that you guys broke at TMZ.com, in fact, that some may actually be stalking Lindsay Lohan.
What do you know about this?
LEVIN: Well, I`m hearing that it`s serious.
What happened is this: there was a notice posted at the studio where Lindsay is shooting "Georgia Rule" right now. And the notice basically says that an actress on the set has a stalker. We`ve confirmed that it was -- that it is indeed Lindsay Lohan.
What happened is, this guy has been sending letters, sending flowers and doing other things that have worried some of Lindsay`s security people. And they put a notice up, this guy is persona non grata there. But it is something that has been taken seriously.
HAMMER: You know, we are always goofing around about Lindsay and the various things she`s getting involved with. But this is serious stuff; could she really be in danger here?
LEVIN: You know, I`m not told danger. But I`m told there`s concern about this for some reason. The guy -- this guy who had written letters -- I know his name; I`m not going to mention it -- but he wrote his name on the letter and his phone number. So I know that his security staff is in the process, if they haven`t already gotten in touch with this guy.
HAMMER: And I`m sure they may be beefing up security around that set.
TMZ.com`s Harvey Levin, thanks as always for bring us up to speed with the "Hot Headlines," and having a good weekend, Harvey.
LEVIN: Bye, A.J.
ANDERSON: Last night, we asked you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day": "Reliving 9/11: Do the movies and TV shows make you anxious?" Forty percent of you say yes; 60 percent of you say, No they don`t make you anxious.
Here`s an e-mail got. Mary from Maine writes: "No more than murder mysteries, and I learned long ago not to attend them."
Mary, not going to those movies.
Stay right here. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And go, Carl (ph). Fade up Camera 3. Music under. Stand by, Brooke. Open her mike, dissolve Camera 1, go.
ANDERSON: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT for your Friday night. We are TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. I`m Brooke Anderson.
We`ve been asking you to vote on tonight`s SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day": "War on Terror: Do you really Hollywood plots give terrorists ideas?" Keep voting at CNN.com/ShowbizTonight. Write to us; there`s the address: ShowbizTonight@CNN.com. We will read some of those e-mails on Monday.
HAMMER: That`s right; we`re getting into the weekend. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is on all weekend long. But let`s find out what`s coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with your "SHOWBIZ Marquee."
And on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, shocking new O.J. Simpson videos. Why so many are so angry that these new tapes are out there. There`s even one of him getting a lap dance. Is O.J. himself upset about these tapes? That`s on Saturday and Sunday on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT this weekend.
And on Monday, stars who say "I`m not gay." Jake Gyllenhaal, Oprah Winfrey, Superman himself Brandon Routh. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT investigates how the gay rumors start, and why stars come out so strongly against the fact that they are not gay...
(CROSSTALK)
HAMMER: That`s coming up on Monday.
And it`s been so lovely having you here in New York. I wish you the best of luck flying back to Los Angeles this weekend.
ANDERSON: Oh, it`s going to be a challenge, but I`ll see if I can make it back home.
HAMMER: And that is it for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Thanks so much for watching. I am A.J. Hammer.
ANDERSON: I am Brooke Anderson. Join us again this weekend.
But first, Glenn Beck is next, right after the latest headlines from CNN Headline News.
END
