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Showbiz Tonight
9/11: Five Years Later; `Death of a President`
Aired September 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: On the day we remember one of the worst events in history, 9/11, more controversy surrounding a movie showing President Bush getting killed. And we`ve got your first look at it.
I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CO-HOST: And the joy of birth for Anna Nicole Smith instantly turns to shock and sadness.
I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood.
A special edition of TV`s most provocative entertainment news show starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER (voice over): On this very special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, Hollywood remembers 9/11.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just the images of those planes hitting the building will stay in my mind for the rest of my life.
HAMMER: Tonight, the biggest stars share their emotional memories of that awful day, where they were...
JOSH HARNETT, ACTOR: I was on the phone constantly trying to get a hold of all my friends.
HAMMER: ... what they remember...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, it`s still kind of surreal.
HAMMER: An inspiration to honor those that lost their lives.
(on camera): SHOWBIZ TONIGHT at Ground Zero tonight as Hollywood remembers that terrible day five years ago.
(voice over): And Hollywood takes on the terrorists.
Tonight, the stunning secret of how the U.S. government has turned to some of the biggest names in Hollywood to help prevent more terrorist attacks.
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT goes behind the scenes to uncover the undercover program Washington is using to stay one step ahead of the terrorists.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Hello. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
ANDERSON: Hi there, everybody. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood, on the fifth anniversary of the day we`ll never forget.
HAMMER: Five years after the worst attack on America ever, Hollywood and the world remembered those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has been speaking with the world`s biggest stars about that terrible day. You`re going to be hearing their very powerful and emotional stories throughout the show tonight. And for all of us, watching television today just made it impossible to forget that 9/11 has changed the world in ways we could have never imagined.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER (voice over): Once again, five years later, the nation was united by the images and the memories as TV brought us the sights and sounds of tributes to the victims of 9/11.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Many family members are spending this time to reconnect, hug, comfort each other on this five-year anniversary.
HARRY SMITH, CBS NEWS: September 11, 2001 started out, as we say, as a beautiful day here in New York City. It ended, of course, in chaos.
HAMMER: Memories of the horrible morning America was attacked at home, reflections from the people in the middle of it all.
MATT LAUER, NBC NEWS: It was one of the most disturbing and emotional combinations of events that I had ever been a part of.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I remember rushing down to Ground Zero and seeing the papers -- you know, we were knee deep in papers -- and picking them up and seeing all the plans people had made.
HAMMER (on camera): Many shows broke into their coverage to listen to the achingly long list of the 2,749 names of the World Trade Center victims read right here at Ground Zero.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Glenn Karin Petit (ph).
HAMMER (voice over): Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, who was born nm New York and is starring in the Oliver Stone movie about 9/11, "World Trade Center," is just one of many stars sharing with SHOWBIZ TONIGHT how hard it is to relive this day.
MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL, ACTRESS: I think that the bravest and the most patriotic thing that any of us can do is to continue to grieve and honor the people who were hurt and killed in 9/11.
HAMMER: And the people who were in the thick of the chaos, like former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, who was with President Bush the morning of the attacks, told CNN`s Soledad O`Brien this morning about the moment he knew this was not just a plane accident.
ARI FLEISCHER, FMR. WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I got a second page telling me the second tower was hit, and I instantly knew it had to be terrorism. And I saw that you had that tape this morning, and I saw my face getting that report. And I just remember instantly from that moment and for the next many months it was just a terrible time of tension and a hard, heavy somberness to set in on everybody at the White House as we recognized right away that we were a nation that was headed to war.
HAMMER: It was moments like that on television that brought us back to that terrible day when the terrorists attacked.
The coverage, although somber, much different than the horror the world watch unold five years ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re back at 9:00 Eastern Time on this Tuesday morning, and we`re back with dramatic pictures of an accident has that happened just moments ago.
BRYANT GUMBEL, NBC NEWS: It`s 8:52 here in New York. I`m Bryant Gumbel. We understand that there has been a plane crash on the southern tip of Manhattan.
HAMMER: That`s really all anyone knew at that time. Then, 11 minutes later...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of our producers said perhaps a second plane was involved. And let`s not -- let`s not even speculate to that point, but at least put it out there that perhaps that may have happened.
HAMMER: One of Hollywood`s biggest stars, actor Josh Hartnett, lived in lower Manhattan just blocks from the World Trade Center. He left town a few days before the attacks and tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT he will never forget that day.
HARTNETT: I think I remember the same thing everybody else remembers because I was watching the same news coverage that everybody else was.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We now have two passenger planes within 18 minutes of each other smashing into the World Trade Center.
HARTNETT: My girlfriend and I at the time went over to her parents` house and sat in front of the TV there for about three days. I kept -- you know, I was on the phone constantly trying to get a hold of all my friends and people that I knew back in New York to make sure everybody was safe. You know, I live like five blocks away from the World Trade Center, so it was a -- it was a -- it was a scary time.
AARON BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Again, we have reports that a plane has crashed in the Pittsburgh area. Associated Press is reporting that a plane -- it was ae plane that crashed at the Pentagon.
HAMMER: Singer John Legend tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT what he remembers.
JOHN LEGEND, SINGER: I was there in the city. I was working a corporate job at the time. I just hope it doesn`t happen, and I pray it doesn`t happen, but I fear it probably will again somewhere in America.
BROWN: That is extraordinary. The south tower of the World Trade Center has collapsed.
HAMMER: An extraordinary sight, indeed. One the nation shared in disbelief as they watched on television. A sight no one ever wants to see again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: And like so many other reporters, Ashleigh Banfield will never forget that day. Ashleigh, who`s now a news anchor for Court TV, was covering the story when the twin towers collapsed. She was right there downtown and she, like so many others, ran for her life.
Ashleigh joining me tonight on what must be a very difficult and reflective day for you, I`m sure.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, ANCHOR, COURT TV: Oh, it was a strange day.
HAMMER: Describe for me when you were down there and that tower came down, what you heard, what you saw and what was running through your mind.
BANFIELD: Well, the strange thing is, I recall it being silent. Now, I know it`s not possible it was silent, but I think that`s the way your mind plays tricks on you when you`re -- when you`re terrorized. But I do remember looking straight up.
My head was tipped back almost in a yoga position, I was looking so straight up at tower number two as it fell. And my first thought was, "That`s remarkable." And then my second thought obviously was, "This is coming straight at me. I`ve got to go. I`ve got to run."
And I don`t know how many steps I got, probably three, four steps, before the debris cloud hit pretty hard. And it was complete pitch blackness. It was impossible to breathe. I grabbed what I was wearing and pulled it over my mouth and realized, if I don`t get an air pocket soon, this is it, and what an idiot I was for doing that.
HAMMER: So you did fear for your life, in fact?
BANFIELD: Yes. No, I definitely know what that feels like now. When people I cover on television tell me, "I thought I was going to die," it always sounds so melodramatic, but it truly is a feeling that is hard to match in any other sort of instance in life. And that was one of them. And then of course the next was, how do I survive, get out of here...
HAMMER: Yes.
BANFIELD: ... find somewhere to ride out this mess?
HAMMER: We`re seeing some images from you down there covered with soot and debris on that day. It, for better or worse, made you famous. It made you a known household name when you were down there covering it. And I know you had these very instinctive reporter instincts.
Would you have done anything different now that you`ve had a little time and perspective looking back on it?
BANFIELD: Yes, I don`t know, because everything is so different. And that was -- there was no framework, no blueprint that any of us could have sort of followed that day.
So I have a 10-month-old child now, so perhaps I will weigh some of the calculated risks differently and create another formula for my decision-making. No, I do remember thinking, "This is foolish, I should never have come this close."
At the same time, I also went to Afghanistan right afterwards, and that was not the smartest decision for someone who might be a mother or father. And those who are covering Iraq today are in constant danger every day.
HAMMER: And you traveled the world covering the war on terror after that happened. And much like the images we saw today, over and over again on television, it really flashed me back to what was going through my mind in those weeks following 9/11. But it also reminded me of the fact that, I don`t know, it feels to me like we`ve become a bit desensitize to terror and to this kind of tragedy by seeing it on TV over and over.
What do you think?
BANFIELD: Well, we have this mantra, the war on terror, the terror alert. There is just so much in our lives now that we sort of perform in a perfunctory way without thinking about it.
So, yes, I think in a way we`re desensitized to it. And I think until we sort of have some resolution to this crime that was committed...
HAMMER: Yes.
BANFIELD: ... we`re probably going to feel a little -- that things are a little unjust.
HAMMER: As we were discussing, it would be good to see Osama bin Laden`s trial on Court TV in a couple of years.
Ashleigh Banfield...
BANFIELD: And if it happens, I`ll be there, baby.
HAMMER: ... I appreciate you joining us on this difficult day.
BANFIELD: Thank you, A.J.
HAMMER: And make sure you look for Court TV`s "On Native Soil," the documentary of the 9/11 Commission report. It`s now out on DVD.
ANDERSON: Now Hollywood remembers 9/11. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has been speaking with some of the biggest stars about that terrible day five years ago. They really opened up to us, reflecting and giving us some inspiration for the future.
We`ll be bringing you their emotional words throughout the show.
First, we hear from actor Michael Clark Duncan. Here`s what ran through his mind when he flipped on the TV five years ago today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL CLARK DUNCAN, ACTOR: I was living in the marina, and I think one of my friends called me and said we were being attacked that day. And he told me to turn on the news. And when I turned on the news, I -- just the images of those planes hitting the building will stay in my mind for the rest of my life.
I think that was the greatest catastrophe of our generation to ever happen to the United States. And it`s -- it`s something that I hope never, ever happens to anyone again, because I can`t imagine to have been on one of those planes, what they were going through, or the people trapped in the buildings that had about 10 seconds to make -- how are you going to die? Are you going to jump off from 99 feet or are you going to go through the fire.
I mean, you just -- you can`t imagine. And my heart goes out to all those families who lost loved ones.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Powerful words from Michael Clark Duncan. And we`re going to have more stars remembering 9/11 in a bit, including Josh Hartnett, Laurence Fishburne and Harvey Keitel and Maggie Gyllenhaal, who both caused some 9/11 controversy.
HAMMER: Also coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, it`s the movie that`s causing a ton of controversy on this painful day, and that`s because it shows President Bush getting assassinated. Tonight we`ve got your very first look at "Death of a President."
And Hollywood takes on the terrorists. Tonight, the stunning secret story of how the U.S. government has turned to some of the biggest names in Hollywood to help prevent more terrorist attacks.
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT goes behind the scenes to uncover this undercover program.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURENCE FISHBURNE, ACTOR: We live in the post-9/11 world. This is the world we live in. This is the world that a lot of people in other parts, in other countries of the world, have been living in this kind of world for 35 years. And we have now joined that part of the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: On the eve of the fifth anniversary of September 11th, a highly controversial movie premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. It`s about the fictional assassination of President Bush in 2007. The movie is called "Death of a President," and SHOWBIZ TONIGHT was all over this story when news of the film first broke.
CNN entertainment and SHOWBIZ TONIGHT producer J.D. Cargill is in Toronto tonight. He got to see the very first screening of the movie.
J.D., to say interest in this movie is high would be an understatement. I understand it was like a mob scene there last night.
Thanks for joining us on the phone, by the way.
J.D. CARGILL, CNN ENTERTAINMENT & SHOWBIZ TONIGHT PRODUCER: Hi. Hi, Brooke.
Yes, that description is actually quite perfect. You know, the screening was scheduled for 8:30 last night. I got there about an hour early.
When I got there, there was already a line of at least 100 people ahead of me. By the time we were let in, 20 minutes late, there were at least 200 behind me. So many people had arrived late, they had to create a fence of security guards, a human fence to stop people from trying to sneak in and push their way in.
There was screaming. Publicists were yelling at people to go wait in line. It was -- it was a mad house.
ANDERSON: So people were just clamoring to try to get in to see this movie that everyone has been anticipating.
Now, everybody has been wondering, J.D., do you actually see President Bush get shot? You were one of the first to see the movie. What can you tell us about the portrayal of this fictional death?
CARGILL: Yes. The answer, yes, you do. You see him get shot.
Very quick. You see two quick bullets hit him, blood marks on his chest. It all happens very fast.
Mania ensues as soon as it happens, obviously. He falls to the ground, they rush him, you know, to a limo. It happens as he`s leaving where he`s just given a big speech in Chicago.
And it was just -- you know, it`s done in a documentary style, even though it`s a fictional film, and so it, you know, all looks as if these cameras are right there on the scene. And it was -- it was really -- it was a show-stopping moment. There wasn`t an audience member that wasn`t really focused in at that point.
ANDERSON: Yes. What was the audience reaction when that occurred?
CARGILL: You could have heard a pin drop in the room at that point. Every single eye was on the screen.
It does happen very fast. The filmmaker did not choose to dwell on it. You know, it`s not in slow motion. They didn`t take any sort of dramatic effect cues (ph) there. They just -- it happened fast.
Every audience member was just in awe. They were just...
ANDERSON: It sounds like it made quite an impact. And when you e- mailed us last night with your first notes in your reports, you noted that at one point you felt sick to your stomach.
Why? Did you find it that disturbing?
CARGILL: Yes. I was, you know, writing notes down during the -- during the film so that I could remember exactly, and I would make little notes on how I felt.
That point actually wasn`t when -- when the actual assassination happened. Later, later, when they announced he had died -- and there is a montage of news report, anchor after anchor, reporter after reporter, all saying the words, "The president of the United States has been killed, the president of the United States has been shot."
When this happened, it just -- it just -- I don`t know. I mean, regardless of what your political views are, regardless of where you stand, you know, in the world of politics...
ANDERSON: Yes.
CARGILL: ... and what line you`re on, you can`t help but hear those words and be disturbed.
ANDERSON: Yes. It just gives me chills, you just saying that, J.D. And it is a highly controversial film and we will, indeed, be following this story.
J.D. Cargill, CNN entertainment and SHOWBIZ TONIGHT producer, at the Toronto Film Festival.
Thanks for your insight. We appreciate it.
HAMMER: From one controversial film to another, ABC went ahead and aired its controversial 9/11 miniseries last night with some edits, but former president Bill Clinton is still ticked off. Clinton was furious with "The Path to 9/11" and wanted ABC to pull it because of some of its scenes being entirely made up.
Even star Harvey Keitel told SHOWBIZ TONIGHT exclusively that he thought some of it should have been changed.
ABC did take out some stuff, including shots that implied Clinton was too distracted by the Monica Lewinsky scandal to go after Osama bin Laden. However, that sentiment still remained.
ABC also ran this disclaimer. It ran three times, saying, "The Path to 9/11" is a "dramatization and contains some fictionalized scenes."
By the way, the Giants-Colts football game beat it in the ratings. Part two of that miniseries airing tonight.
ANDERSON: Well, this is what our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day" is about. And we`ve been getting a huge response so far.
9/11 movies: Do they have an obligation to get the facts right?
Go to cnn.com/showbiztonight and send us an e-mail -- showbiztonight@cnn.com.
HAMMER: Well, I took that very question to the streets today. I went down to Ground Zero here in New York City. And when I spoke with people right across the street from where the World Trade Center was knocked down five years ago, it didn`t surprise me that I couldn`t find anyone who feels that altering the truth when telling the story of 9/11 is in any way defensible.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Personally, I don`t believe it is because there`s enough on both sides. And I also don`t believe in doing that on this weekend.
There are many aspects to question, but there is enough good to be mentioned, there is enough horrible things to mention. And I don`t understand why there is a reason to alter the truth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never. No. Absolutely not. Never is it OK. I think that integrity is everything, and I think too many people just don`t tell the truth as often as they should.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never. I don`t think it`s OK to change the nature of history, especially, you know, for media or dramatic purposes. I think that what happened on 9/11 was dramatic enough.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: As I said, it did not surprise me at all that I could not find one person to say, "Oh, yes, it`s a good idea to make stuff up on what happened on 9/11." As Brooke mentioned, the results to our voting on the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day" remarkable and very one-sided. We will have those results coming up in just a little bit.
ANDERSON: Also, stars have felt many -- have many heartfelt things to say about the 9/11 anniversary.
Here`s some more of our Hollywood remembers 9/11. Will.i.am, part of the Black Eyed Peas, he talks about how the events of that terrible day inspired the band.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILL.I.AM, BLACK EYED PEAS: We were in San Francisco recording "Elephunk," and it was the last day we were recording. And after 9/11 we changed -- we threw away all those songs, you know, and started over, and the first song we recorded after that was, "Where`s the Love?"
That song was written because of that. You k now, we went on tour two days after 9/11 and just the vibe of what we experienced going to different places, especially New York, coming back two weeks after it and performing at SOB (ph), that`s what -- that`s what America felt like. It felt like that song.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And we`ve got some more emotional words from stars coming up later on in the show. Music`s John Legend and two celebs who have been at the center of 9/11 controversies, Harvey Keitel, who spoke exclusively with SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, and Maggie Gyllenhaal, on how they remember 9/11.
HAMMER: Also coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, Hollywood takes on the terrorists.
Tonight, the stunning secret story of how the U.S. government has turned to some of the biggest names in Hollywood to help prevent more terrorist attacks.
And the joy of birth for Anna Nicole Smith turns to shock and sadness.
Coming up, the tragic story of what happened to the former "Playboy" playmate and reality show star during what should have been a happy moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: 9/11 at the top of everyone`s minds today, but there are some other stories out there.
A very happy moment for Anna Nicole Smith followed by a very devastating one. She gave birth to a baby girl in the Bahamas on Thursday, but yesterday TMZ.com reports her 20-year-old son Daniel died suddenly in her hospital room. He was there for the birth of his sister. No cause of death yet, but local newspaper "The Nassau Guardian" is reporting that he might have had a heart attack.
A private funeral for Steve Irwin was held over the weekend in Australia. Family and friends gathered at the zoo his family owned. There is some talk that he might be buried there but it hasn`t been confirmed. A public service is scheduled for later this week. Irwin was killed last week from a stingray sting.
Something a bit more upbeat. Katie Couric has beat the boys. In her first week in the anchor chair, "The CBS Evening News" was the number one rated evening newscast for the week, ahead of Brian Williams and Charlie Gibson.
And those are tonight`s "Hot Headlines."
HAMMER: Well, coming up, what you may not have known about United Flight 93. That, of course, was the plane full of passengers that fought back against hijackers on 9/11.
ANDERSON: And the stunning secret story of how the U.S. government has turned to some of the biggest names in Hollywood to help prevent more terrorist attacks.
Plus, we`ve also got this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I kept trying to call home, but the line was tied up with concerned friends who were calling my wife.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: What it was like inside the Pentagon at the moment Flight 77 flew into it. A new dramatic story from someone who was there. He`s one of our very own CNN reporters.
You`re watching a very special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT as Hollywood remembers 9/11.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: "Hollywood Remembers 9/11." It`s 30 minutes past the hour. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
ANDERSON: And I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood.
SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has been speaking with the biggest stars about what they remembered about that terrible day. And throughout this show we will be sharing their emotional and powerful memories.
But first, you may remember that when the attacks of 9/11 happened, entertainment was the last thing on anybody`s mind. But soon there were questions: will there ever be irony in comedy again? Would anyone want to watch a silly movie? And would anyone be interested in watching a TV show or movie that deals with terrorism?
In our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT special report, we`re asking: How did 9/11 change entertainment?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: We have reports that a plane has crashed in the Pittsburgh area.
ANDERSON (voice-over): It`s so obvious it almost doesn`t need to be said: on that September day five years ago, everything changed.
And just like we knew almost immediately that this country would never be the same again, a lot of us - like this moviegoer - wondered if this country would ever be entertained the same way again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are movies going to be as violent? Are you going to show big explosions?
ANDERSON: But over the five years after the defining tragedy of our time, 9/11 and terrorism have made their way into our movies. Like "United 93"...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do we get into the cockpit door?
ANDERSON...and our TV shows, like "24."
KIEFER SUTHERLAND, ACTOR: The bombing this morning was diversionary.
ANDERSON: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is asking: How much has 9/11 changed the way we are entertained?
In those sad, shell-shocked days after 9/11, it certainly was easy to think we`d never laugh the same way again. In the first broadcasts after the attacks, two of our leading funnymen, Dave Letterman and Jon Stewart, were in no mood to be funny...
DAVID LETTERMAN, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": If you live to be 1,000 years old, will that make any sense to you?
ANDERSON...and were wondering if they ever could be funny again.
JON STEWART, "THE DAILY SHOW": Our show has changed. I - I don`t - I don`t doubt that.
MARC PEYSER, "NEWSWEEK": Right after 9/11, the big prediction was that irony was dead - people were not going to be as edgy.
ANDERSON: But pretty soon, Letterman and Stewart began making jokes again.
Now, the real-life disaster that was 9/11 is showing up in our movies. First in "United 93"...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s a lot of us. We`ve got to do something.
ANDERSON...and then in Oliver Stone`s "World Trade Center."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE), evacuate the tower.
ANDERSON (on camera): It`s still an open question whether our entertainment was fundamentally affect by the 9/11 attacks themselves. But there is no denying that entertainment was and still is affected by what came out of the 9/11 attacks: the war on terror.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Michael Horn (ph). I would like to read to you the USA Patriot Act.
ANDERSON (voice-over): A movie examining and criticizing the war on terror, Michael Moore`s "Fahrenheit 9/11," hit theaters and went on to become the biggest-grossing documentary of all time.
And the war on terror has revived protest music.
(SINGING)
ANDERSON: Acts like Eminem, Green Day and Neil Young are protesting with their music, as Young himself told SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
NEIL YOUNG, SINGER: Living with war and having a conscience is what we`re doing.
JOE LEVY, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: The real question is, How do we conduct this war on terror? And in the rock-and-roll world, well, people wish that we`d had a more measured response in Iraq - well, or no response in Iraq, really.
ANDERSON: And the impact can be seen on TV, with shows like "The Unit" and especially "24," which deal almost exclusively with fighting terrorism.
SUTHERLAND: You couldn`t break them. I did.
ANDERSON: The celebrated hero of "24," Jack Bauer, fights terror using violence, torture and other questionable means. That kind of moral ambiguity is something we`ve wrestled with in the real-life war on terrorism.
PROF. BOB THOMPSONS, SYRACUSE UNIV. POP CULTURE EXPERT: However you might not approve of Jack Bauer if he were a real agent and his constant disenfranchising people of their civil rights, it sure is great fun to watch him get the job done.
(MUSIC)
ANDERSON: So five years after 9/11, we`re still laughing at "The Daily Show."
STEWART: Is comedy the last bastion of social criticism in this country? Or is it a series of fart jokes with politicians` names sprinkled in?
ANDERSON: And we don`t mind seeing stuff blown up on TV or in movies.
(EXPLOSION)
ANDERSON: So what SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you is that the most striking thing about entertainment since 9/11 is how little has dramatically changed.
THOMPSON: If this nation`s culture was so fickle, was so vulnerable, that in one single day`s events - as horrible as those were - it could have changed 180 degrees, that`s not a sign of a healthy culture.
LEVY: Right after September 11, you couldn`t imagine that we would spend time thinking or caring about Paris Hilton. But we do - some of us more time than we`d like.
ANDERSON: But even if nothing has really changed dramatically, it`s clear that the entertainment world and all of us remain forever affected by the attacks of 9/11.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Now if it seems like we`re seeing 9/11 movies really soon after the tragedy, here`s some perspective: back in the 1940s, they were making World War II movies while the war was still going on.
Syracuse University pop culture professor Robert Thompson tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that when it comes to national emergencies and tragedies, Americans absorb them very quickly. And that comes through in our entertainment.
HAMMER: And now a rare inside look at how Hollywood is helping to prevent another terrorist attack like the one we experience in 9/11.
One of the most closely guarded secret programs the government established post-9/11 was called the Analytic Red Cell Program. It`s a program of creative thinkers, including some big-time Hollywood heavy hitters who basically dream up ways to prevent terrorism. It is rarely discussed, and it does continue today.
Joining us tonight from Dallas, Brad Meltzer, best-selling author and a member of this secret Red Cell program.
Brad, thanks for joining us.
BRAD MELTZER, ANALYTIC RED CELL PROGRAM: Thank you for having me.
HAMMER: I love this; I`ve always been fascinated from the little I`ve learned about this. It`s like right out of a spy movie.
What - what basically happened? You got a call. They said, Hey, you`re a best-selling author. We need you to come fight the terrorist.
How - how`d this come about?
MELTZER: Yes - no, it`s the oddest phone call you get. You pick up the phone and they say, It`s the Department of Homeland Security, and we`d like to use your brain to come think outside the box. Would you like to do it? And of course, you immediately think it`s one of your friends playing a prank on you, but you realize very quickly it`s serious, and serious business for the government.
They look for people - and they have plenty of people who are thinking inside the box, so to speak, and - and following the regular protocols. But they said, You know what? We need people who can think differently, who are thinking actually opposite of the way we`re thinking. And so they bring together people like myself - I`m a novelist. They bring directors. They`ve brought people who are chemists and psychologists and pair them up with Secret Service agents, FBI agents and even people from the agency to try and see what we can come up with when we all get in the room together.
HAMMER: And you are clearly qualified for the job. You know, you write these political thrillers with these outside-the-box scenarios that you come up with. You do that for a living.
But apparently, an FBI agent actually found a copy of one of your books during a raid on a terrorist`s house? Is that - is that right?
MELTZER: Yes. It was not exactly what you`d expect when someone says they like your work.
The FBI raided a guy who was a money launderer and I think a drug dealer. And on the top of his pile of things on his desk was a copy of my novel "The Millionaires."
HAMMER: Wow.
MELTZER: Now the book is all about laundering money, and the guy was arrested for money laundering. So I can only imagine that that`s when I got the call, soon after that.
HAMMER: That`s kind of freaky, huh?
MELTZER: Well, my job is to stay as a novelist. My job is to stay ahead of the news. I have to beat the news. If I show you in one of my thrillers that something that`s already happened, then I haven`t entertained you; I haven`t surprised you.
HAMMER: Exactly.
MELTZER: So my job in every single novel is how can I stay at - one step ahead. And I - if I`m going to show you the secret tunnels under the White House, I`m going to go there. So...
HAMMER: And that - and that`s why...
MELTZER: ...they came in and said that.
HAMMER: And that`s why you`re in this particular program.
So give me a small bit of insight into how this work. Do - do you kick back in a room together behind a locked door, I - I imagine with the curtains down? They order some pizza, and you just come up with these ideas?
MELTZER: Yes, what they do is they - they bring us their - I`ve done it a couple times, and we`ve done it two different ways. One time they`ll split you into groups, and they`ll give you a target and say, Here`s the target, how would you attack it? And I may come up with my scenario, and then the Secret Service agent will say, No, no, no, we should also do this, because here`s the - here`s the place where you can get in easier.
And then the chemist will say, You know what? We should use a different chemical, because the chemical you were thinking of actually goes - dissipates in the air too easy. And within 10 minutes, we`ve destroyed major cities.
HAMMER: Wow.
MELTZER: And - and although terrorists aren`t sitting around in nice offices in Virginia with wipe-off boards, you better believe that`s what they`re doing, the same exact thing. They`re trying to figure out how to kill us.
HAMMER: That ...
MELTZER: And we obviously are doing our best to - to try and figure out and anticipate what they`re doing.
HAMMER: Those must be some wild conversations. And - and I know you learned some of - among some of the fascinating stuff that you learned being a part of the Red Cell program, you actually were able to work into your new novel "The Book of Fate."
Like what?
MELTZER: Yes, well, for instance, one of the things I was doing was I was sitting there with a Secret Service agent, with an FBI agent and with a CIA agent. And I just kept thinking to myself, You know, the way that power used to work from the different agencies, that we would always make sure that those powers were separate, those agencies were separate. Suddenly we were bringing them together.
And that`s what we do right now. And everyone always says it`s great to bring them all together. But there are people who will say, You know what? We shouldn`t do that; there are no checks and balances anymore.
And for "The Book of Fate," I went to the former head of the Secret Service, and I said to him, Listen, what do you think about this problem? I made them the villains in the new book. And he said to me, The scariest thing, Brad, is you`ve figured out what the next problem is probably most likely to be, which is not just a threat from outside, but a threat from inside, as well. And - and trust me, this is not the kind of night where you go home and sleep easier.
HAMMER: Brad, the book is fascinating, and the conversations and the work you do for the Red Cell Program, fascinating as well. And - and I appreciate you sharing it with us tonight.
Brad`s new novel is called "The Book of Fate." It`s available on newsstands now, and I appreciate you being with us.
ANDERSON: Just ahead on this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, Hollywood remembers 9/11. Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal shares her very moving feelings about that tragic day. What does she say we can all do to begin healing? That`s coming up.
HAMMER: Also head, gripping firsthand accounts from the families of "United 93" passengers. Find out how the loved ones they left behind are coping with their loss, and how Hollywood is helping them to do so.
We also have this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I kept trying to call home, but the line was tied up with concerned friends who were calling wife.
(BUSY SIGNAL)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: CNN correspondent Jamie McIntyre was inside the Pentagon when a plane crashed into five years ago. Coming up, hear his dramatic story in his own words.
This special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT continues, as "Hollywood Remembers 9/11."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN LEGEND, SINGER: This - it`s an interesting time, because you never know when something`s going to happen again. I - I don`t think we`ve - I don`t think we`ve put ourselves in that much of a better position to not let it happen again. It`s - it`s just a matter of, you know, I just hope it doesn`t happen. And - and - and I pray it doesn`t happen. But I - I fear that it probably will again somewhere in America. So I don`t know. Who knows? But we can`t live in fear, and we just got to keep going.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: "Hollywood Remembers 9/11." We`ve been speaking with some of Hollywood`s biggest stars about what they remembered about that terrible day, and how it`s changed their lives and their outlook.
Well even on this, the five-year of September 11, the controversy over what led to the attacks keeps growing. ABC just aired the second and last part of the hotly debated film "Path to 9/11." The Clinton administration wanted ABC to pull the thing altogether, saying that some of its scene were not based on the facts. ABC did not cancel it. Instead, producers shortened some of the disputed scenes, a move that Clinton - the Clinton administration officials was merely cosmetic, and didn`t change what they call "a misleading representation of the events that led to 9/11."
Now I spoke directly with Harvey Keitel, who stars in "Path to 9/11." And he told me exclusively that even he thought ABC should have changed the movie.
Beyond the controversy, I also asked Keitel how he remembers the vents of 9/11 unfolding five years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARVEY KEITEL, ACTOR: I was in Toronto for - for my then (INAUDIBLE), about to be interviewed when I found out.
HAMMER: And through the course of that day, and particularly - this is right in your neighborhood, where - where all of this was going down. What - what kind of things were you going through?
KEITEL: Well, everyone was certainly stunned by it. Everyone was shocked by it.
And I remember the woman who was interviewing me - we had begun the interview, and we both looked at each other, and decided we can`t continue. It was not right to continue, and we stopped.
HAMMER: How long after that did you come back home to New York?
KEITEL: It took us about four days to get back. You couldn`t get transportation out of Toronto back. So we - we were back on the fourth or fifth day.
HAMMER: And your reaction when you got to town and were able to get back down to your home?
KEITEL: Oh gosh, I don`t know, you know, what to say. Such an - the - the - the enormity of all, I don`t know that I can - that I can define it.
I happened to be down there - some detectives got me down there to see. We went down to try to offer help; we couldn`t get in. So then some detectives I knew had taken me and my wife in. And it was an inferno. That`s the only way you could describe it. Something you never imagined - could imagine.
And I remember the firemen, everyday seeing them and the grief written on their faces and the sweat and the dirt, the sadness, the smell in the air of the body - bodies and debris.
HAMMER: Something you live with everyday? Here we are five years later, but, you know - particularly for we New Yorkers, there`s a piece of it for me I know that`s always there.
KEITEL: It will be there for anyone who ever witnessed it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal stars in the 9/11 film "World Trade Center." She shared her thoughts on how we can all honor the heroes of 9/11.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL, ACTRESS: I think that the bravest and the most patriotic thing that any of us can do is not only to continue to grieve and honor the people who were hurt and killed in 9/11, which we will continue to do and which we are continuing to do, but also to look at the ways in which we as individuals can amend the way that we live and the way that we think about the world to help the situation in the world, which nobody is happy it.
I mean, I want peace and calm in this world as much as anyone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: "World Trade Center" has made more than $67 million, and it is still in theaters tonight.
ANDERSON: We can`t forget that it wasn`t just New York City that was affected by the horrific attack on 9/11. Today, Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld led the Memorial Service to honor the 184 people who died at the Pentagon five years go.
Less than an hour after the attack on the World Trade Center, American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon.
CNN`s senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre was inside that very building at the time of the attack. Here`s his recollection of that moment five years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: It was just after 9:30, and my CNN office was filled with people watching what was happening in New York. Not everybody in the Pentagon has a TV on their desk.
I suddenly began getting computer messages from colleagues at CNN. Are - are you OK? Is everything all right? I thought, Why are they asking me that? I then looked up at CNN and I saw that my producer, Chris Plante, who had just arrived at work, was reporting by his cell phone that an aircraft had hit the people.
CHRIS PLANTE, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, a huge plume of smoke which continues to rise from the west side of the Pentagon.
MCINTYRE: I never heard or felt the impact; the building is that big.
I rushed out and back to get my first report on the air around 10:00, and I kept trying to call home, but the line was tied with concerned friends who were calling my wife.
(BUSY SIGNAL)
MCINTYRE: Finally, she called me just as I was about to go on the air. "I`m OK," I said, just as Aaron Brown was introducing me.
BROWN: Jamie McIntyre is there.
MCINTYRE: And I no sooner got started than he interrupted me.
(CROSSTALK)
MCINTYRE: And some people were...
BROWN: Jamie - Jamie I need you to stop for a second. There has just been a huge explosion - we can of - of billowing smoke rising. And I can`t - I - I`ll tell you that I can`t see that second tower.
MCINTYRE: And the bad day had just gotten much worse.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: It certainly did get worse. That was then.
Now the Pentagon has been repaired, and construction has begun on a memorial to honor those who lost their lives there.
HAMMER: Thirty minutes after one plane hit the Pentagon, another hijacked plane was still in the air. We remember United Flight 93 as "the flight that fought back." Passengers overtook hijackers, sending the plane crashing into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Earlier today, the president and Mrs. Bush led a memorial service honoring the 40 passengers and crew who died there.
I had the chance to sit down with family member Doris Gronlund, and United 93 producer Kate Solomon, and we talked about the new documentary featured on the "United 93" DVD about the families, and how the movie has actually helped in the healing process.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Kate, on the DVD, there`s a documentary about the families and the crew. Now in the film, we learned a lot about their lives. What - what else are we - are we going to learn about them that`s going to surprise us?
KATE SOLOMON, PRODUCED "UNITED 93: THE FAMILIES AND THE FILM": Well, I think, with - with a documentary, the families have been very positive and have done amazing things since. And often I think people look at the - the families and think, Oh - think of them as victims, and, Oh, those poor families.
But in fact, what I wanted to capture, having met them all, and known, you know, what lovely families and positive people they were was to try and capture some of that in the documentary, and to see what they`ve done since.
HAMMER: Doris, this has to be a very difficult day obviously. And it can never be easy to relive this day, relive September 11, as you`ve had to do over the last five years, four years.
But has being a part of "United 93" or seeing whatever else you`ve seen about September 11 - has it sort of helped you with your healing process?
DORIS GRONLUND, LOST DAUGHTER, LINDA, ON UNITED 93: Oh yes, I`m sure. I`m sure that that has had a great effect, because now we got into the movie and we saw what we had heard on the cockpit voice recorder, which was very difficult to listen to. But - but when we heard - when we saw the film, it made it real to us, real time. Those few minutes, they had to do what they did to bring that plane down.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: The limited-edition two-disc DVD features lots of bonuses, including Kate Solomon`s documentary, "The Families and the Film."
"United 93" is out on DVD right now.
You`re watching a special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "Hollywood Remembers 9/11." And we`ve been talking to some of Hollywood`s biggest stars about their memories of that tragic day.
And among them, Brian De Palma. He is of course a top Hollywood director. His latest film, "The Black Dahlia," opens this week. 9/11 was very personal to Brian, not only as a New Yorker, but also because his birthday is now that infamous day in history, September 11.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN DE PALMA, DIRECTOR: I was in Toronto going to a screening of "Hotel" or - and I can up to the - where the screening was, and everybody was looking at the television sets. And, you know - you know, I live in that area in New York City. So you just sort of - a tragic boom sort of come over you. And I just went home to my hotel room and - and now it`s very difficult to celebrate my birthday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: We have been asking you to vote on tonight`s SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day": "9/11 Movies: Do they have an obligation to get the facts right?" Keep voting at cnn.com/showbiztonight. Write to us, showbiztonight@cnn.com.
We`re going some of your e-mail responses just ahead on this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: "Hollywood Remembers 9/11."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back to this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: "Hollywood Remembers 9/11."
We`ve been asking you to vote on our "Question of the Day": "9/11 Movies: Do they have an obligation to get the facts right?"
The response so far has been overwhelming: a whopping 93 percent of you say "yes"; only 7 percent of you say "no."
HAMMER: Thank you for watching this special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: "Hollywood Remembers 9/11." I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
ANDERSON: And I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. Glenn Beck is coming up next, right after the latest headlines from CNN Headline News.
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