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Showbiz Tonight
Correspondent Ed Bradley Dies at Age 65
Aired November 09, 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, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT ANCHOR: Stunning news tonight, 60 Minutes" correspondent Ed Bradley dies at age 65. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
BROOKE ANDERSON, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT ANCHOR: And I`m Brooke Anderson. TV`s most provocative entertainment news show starts right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT the gloves are off. In this corner, Britney Spears. In this corner, Kevin Federline. Britney and Kevin`s divorce gets downright nasty. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with late-breaking details on the knockout custody battle. Plus, Britney and Whitney. Why these two may have plenty in common after dumping their bad boys.
Dying to be thin, starving for affection. A riveting and disturbing documentary goes inside an eating disorder treatment center and tells the unbelievable stories of young girls wasting away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`ve always been overweight and I`m never going to be thin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tonight, the filmmaker behind "Thin" and the interview you will see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
HAMMER: Hello, I`m A.J. Hammer.
ANDERSON: Hi there everyone. I`m Brooke Anderson. We are in New York tonight with the startling news of the death of Ed Bradley. Ed Bradley, the award winning "60 Minutes" correspondent died today in New York of Leukemia. He was 65-years-old. The news was shocking, to say the least, and today the tributes poured in for Bradley, an intensely private man, who moved easily between hard hitting journalism and Hollywood heavy weights, a man whose work can only be described as groundbreaking.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON (voice-over): Ed Bradley`s legendary career began in the streets of Philadelphia where he covered race riots in the 1960s for local radio. By 1967 his talents led him to WCBS radio in New York. He was one of just three black employees there.
ED BRADLEY, "60 MINUTES" CORRESPONDENT: But in the end, it was just one more plan that didn`t work.
ANDERSON: Just a couple of years later, Bradley was promoted by CBS News and sent to the thick of it all, the Vietnam War. He was almost killed there, injured there by a mortar round.
Bradley later went to Washington, where he became CBS`s first black White House correspondent.
BRADLEY: Ed Bradley, CBS News, the White House.
ANDERSON: In 1981 he joined the jewel of the tiffany network, "60 Minutes."
BRADLEY: Didn`t act as if terrorism was an imminent and urgent problem, was it?
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: Of course.
ANDERSON: Those who knew him say Ed Bradley was a serious journalist, who didn`t take himself too seriously. He was a natural talent, who lit up the television screen. That talent came through in the hundreds of interviews he did, with everyone from Oklahoma City Bomber Timothy McVeigh, to celebrities like Denzel Washington.
BRADLEY: I read that you get 20 million a film now.
DENZEL WASHINGTON, ACTOR: I heard you make that kind of money too.
ANDERSON: The sad news of Ed Bradley`s death came as a shock across America. Even most of his colleagues had no idea he was even sick. Katie Couric, who started working alongside Bradley this summer, broke the news in a special report.
KATIE COURIC, CBS ANCHOR: And Ed Bradley, long time CBS News and "60 Minutes" correspondent died this morning at Mount Sinai Hospital here in New York.
ANDERSON: The White House was even stunned.
TONY SNOW, PRESS SECRETARY: Our thoughts and prayers not only with Ed`s family, but all of his colleagues at CBS.
BRADLEY: What is your response to the allegations that were brought by the district attorney in Santa Barbara, that you molested this boy?
MICHAEL JACKSON, ENTERTAINER: Totally false.
ANDERSON: Ed Bradley`s award winning first rate journalism set him apart from his colleagues just as much as his earring. Liza Minnelli convinced him to pierce his ear after an interview they did together in 1986.
BRADLEY: Essentially you`re saying that it couldn`t have been you because you weren`t there and you have a paper trail to back that up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was impossible. It was impossible for it to have happened.
ANDERSON: One of Bradley`s last "60 Minutes" segments was a blockbuster investigation of the Duke University lacrosse rape case. Bradley told his bosses he wanted to do the story, despite his rapidly deteriorating illness.
With a Lifetime Achievement Award, a Peabody Award and 19 Emmies, Ed Bradley`s youthfulness and thoughtful approach to reporting and life will surely be missed the world over.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Bradley is survived by his wife, Patricia Blanchett (ph). Dan Rather, Bradley`s friend and colleague, sent this statement to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "With the passing of Ed Bradley we have lost on of America`s best. As a compassionate, sensitive person, as a gentle, but strong man, as a lover of life and a great professional, he was an example of all a conscientious and dedicated journalist can be."
HAMMER: Well, tonight we have a very distinguished group right here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT to remember Ed Bradley`s life. Joining us from Washington tonight, Bob Schieffer, host, of course, of CBS news`s "Face The Nation," also in Washington, "Washington Post" columnist and host of CNN`s Reliable Sources Howard Kurtz. With he me here in New York tonight our friend, legendary recording artist Aaron Neville, who was a very good friend of Ed Bradley`s. I appreciate you all being here on this sad, sad day.
Well Bob, I know you worked with Ed Bradley for years. You guys were great friends. Were you just as shocked as everyone else to learn of Ed`s death, because when the news came on the wire today, we hardly could believe it.
BOB SCHIEFFER, CBS "FACE THE NATION": Well, Ed had been sick. He had been in the hospital about ten days ago. They told us it was for pneumonia, but quite frankly, he had underwent open-heart surgery a couple of years ago and, in my view, he never really got over it. He just didn`t look well in recent years. The last time I saw Ed was the day that I stepped down from the anchor chair in New York. He came by that morning to wish me well, and I just thought at the time, Ed just doesn`t look well, but we lost a good one today.
HAMMER: We sure did. And I know Aaron, you and your brothers were very, very close with Ed Bradley. You called him the fifth Neville. He`s the godfather to your niece. You said you spoke with him just --
AARON NEVILLE, SINGER, "BRING IT ON HOME": I called him two days ago --
HAMMER: Couldn`t get a hold of him?
NEVILLE: No, I couldn`t leave him a message. I didn`t know he was sick.
HAMMER: Which is astounding and something that obviously he felt the need to feel very close to the vest. He was a very private man in so many ways. I know you guys used to jam with him. He`d jump up on stage with you. Share with us a very fond memory you have of Ed Bradley.
NEVILLE: For years we called him the fifth Neville brother. He would come up and play the tambourine or cow bell or whatever, you know. And one time we did a thing, a song about a diamond of the "60 Minute" man, you know, and he came up and sang that with us. He was on a video we dad back at Storyville (ph), from years back, with Dennis Quaid and Bonnie Raitt and John Hiatt (ph). He was just -- 2004 he was at the jazz fest in New Orleans and my wife Joey (ph) told, Ed you don`t look good, you know, you don`t look too good. And he said, I feel all right, but he came back to New York and that`s when he had the triple bypass.
HAMMER: I remember even a dozen years ago running into Ed down there at the jazz fest. He used to go as often as he could. Howard, of course, we all know Ed was a pioneering journalist. He was the first black correspondence for CBS News, but not only a great news man. He was just a classy guy. That`s what you hear everybody saying. How do you remember him, Howard?
HOWARD KURTZ, THE "WASHINGTON POST": He had a very dignified air about him. You didn`t read about his private life in People Magazine. The focus with Ed was always on his journalism. And, you know, what a remarkable range he showed over the years. I mean from covering Vietnam to doing investigative work, to chatting up celebrities, to doing some of these award winning, prime time special documentaries, like one that he did on jury discrimination. I think that`s what I will remember most of all.
And I think that he is a guy who has become pretty famous and pretty affluent. Could have dialed it back and phoned it in and just done the big interviews, and yet here he was just a few weeks ago, while he was obviously very sick, although we did not know it, doing that tough story on the Duke rape investigation.
HAMMER: And part of his demeanor that we all got to know, which really drew out the answers from some difficult interview subjects, his calmness. And Bob, I have seen where you have referred to Ed as a gentle giant. Tell us something about him we might not know.
SCHIEFFER: Well, he was not the kind of reporter in a interview that would reach and grab you by the throat, like Mike Wallace would, but he could put people at ease. He could make them be themselves and sometimes that was to their advantage; sometimes it was to their disadvantage. He knew how to, kind of, sneak up on you, but he did these wonderful stories. He was a great observer of the American scene. And I have to say one other thing and what I remember about Ed Bradley. He was the single coolest guy I ever new.
HAMMER: He was an incredibly cool guy and that brings us back to the music thing, because it wasn`t just a hobby for him. This was a real passion for him.
NEVILLE: Oh yes, he would have fun. You know, he would come up on stage and play with us. I met him through my brother Art. Him and Art were good friends. I got to know him. He would call me big brother. I`d call him big brother. You know, he was just cool, you know. And when he put the earring on TV, I said, oh man, you cool.
HAMMER: And back to what Bob was just saying, about, you know, how he got involved with the stories. I had the very good fortune of actually being in a story that he did about a dozen years ago. Ed was reporting on a summer camp program I worked for, for children and family effected by HIV and AIDS. This is 12 years ago, so keep that in mind. And what struck me was that Ed got personally involved in the story, and he was really interested in furthering people`s awareness of the situation.
Howard, this is so true of so much of what he did. He took his work very personally. He wasn`t just out there covering the story, right?
KURTZ: Yes and I think viewers sensed that. Because, you know, it`s hard to hide from the camera. But I also think that when we use the journalistic shorthand, like first black correspondent on CBS, it doesn`t quite capture the magnitude of what he did. When he joined "60 Minutes" in 1981, I can count on one hand the number of prominent African-Americans who were on network television at all. So, through that long career, he really was a pioneer and trail blazer and an inspiration to a lot of young African-Americans, not just people in the journalism business. And yet he carried that very lightly. He never limited himself as a kind of reporter who specialized in race-related issues. He did a little bit of everything and he did it with a lot of class.
HAMMER: Bob, I got to wrap it up, but I would love to get your final thoughts.
SCHIEFFER: Well, I think Howard is exactly right. And what people don`t know about Ed is how many people he mentored, how many people he helped. Not a celebrity that put his name on a charity, but when he knew somebody needed help, he made sure they got it. Ed Bradley was a man. He was a fine man.
HAMMER: Bob Schieffer, Howard Kurtz, Aaron Neville, I really appreciate your being with us, sharing your thoughts and incite on truly a remarkable journalist and man, tonight on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
ANDERSON: Still ahead, our series SHOWBIZ Weight Watch continues with a disturbing look into an eating disorder clinic. The woman who made the riveting documentary called "Thin" joins us on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, coming up. We will also have this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kevin has about as much of a chance of getting the kids as I have a chance of starting for the Lakers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Yes, the gloves are off in Britney and Kevin`s breakup. Coming up, the fight for the kids, the money, the property. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT takes you inside the divorce, on the way.
ANDERSON: Plus, why did a deer go to Target? To save a few bucks, of course. And it`s all caught on tape -- sorry about that -- coming up next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT for Thursday night. This is TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York and it`s time now for a story that made us say, that`s ridiculous.
So, I bet you`ve always wondered where do bargain savvy wild animals do their shopping? Well, at Target, of course. Check this out. A deer actually ran into a Target store in Iowa and dashed into the clothing section. Perhaps he was fawning over the new Isaac Misrahi (ph) line. The deer eventually found a door and the deer ran out the door before animal control could get there. But, I personally think it makes perfect sense for a deer to go to Target. Maybe he wanted to save a few bucks, you know, save a little doe. Maybe he went shopping with his aunt (INAUDIBLE). A deer in Target, that`s ridiculous.
ANDERSON: That was terrible A.J. Now to the celebrity breakup. Everybody is still talking about Britney Spears filing for divorce from ex back up dancer and aspiring rapper Kevin Federline. Now Federline has filed his response to Britney`s divorce filing. And you won`t believe what he`s asking for, custody of the couple`s kids. And now the singer who once sang "Hit Me Baby One More Time" may be preparing to hit K-Fed with one nasty custody battle.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON (voice-over): Forget all the Whitney and Bobby comparisons. In their divorce battle Britney Spears and soon to be ex-husband Kevin Federline may soon get compared to another couple, Kramer versus Kramer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want my son.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can`t have him.
ANDERSON: Like Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep in that Oscar winning movie, Britney Spears and Kevin Federline appear on the brink of an all out war for their two baby boys, Sean Preston and Jadon James (ph). TMZ.com broke the news of the Britney-Kevin divorce and its managing editor says it could get ugly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let the battle begin.
ANDERSON: Britney Spears happily hit the ice and went ice skating in New York City soon after filing for divorce from Federline. She`s asking for sole custody of the couple`s two children.
But while Britney was hitting the ice, little did she realize that she may be skating into a battle with her soon to be ex. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has for you K-Fed`s legal response to Britney`s divorce petition. Get this, he wants the court to give him, and not Britney, sole and legal custody of the kids. TMZ.com`s Harvey Levin is blunt about K-Fed`s chances.
HARVEY LEVIN, TMZ.COM: Kevin has about as much of a chance of getting the kids as I have a chance of starting for the Lakers.
ANDERSON: When Federline stopped by SHOWBIZ TONIGHT for his last big interview before Britney filed for divorce, he talked to me about his parenting philosophy.
(on camera): How are you not going to spoil those little ones?
KEVIN FEDERLINE, RAPPER: Well, I know I`m not. I don`t know about her. I think it`s going to be one of those things where daddy is the disciplinarian and mommy is giving you everything behind daddy`s back.
ANDERSON (voice-over): It was Federline`s knack for partying, instead of parenting, that reportedly was a factor in his split from Britney.
LEVIN: The reality is she has had these kids 24/7. And as for him, it seems to me the nanny has had more involvement than he has.
ANDERSON: So why is K-Fed bothering? Levin believes K-Fed may really be after something else.
LEVIN: The oldest trick in the book is you ask for custody and then say, you know, I`ll drop that if you ante up a little bit more money in the property settlement. Absolutely, he is going to try and show that she`s not a real good mother.
ANDERSON: Britney`s mothering skills have landed her in the tabloids more than once, including when she was photographed driving with her baby incorrectly in a car seat or without one at all.
LEVIN: He will bring up the car seat, but I think he`s going to bring up how they partied together, or at least threaten to.
ANDERSON: So, it looks like K-Fed and Britney are headed into battle. And like so many divorce cases, this could boil down to two issues, money and children.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Money, of course, is a big issue in this divorce. It`s been widely reported that Britney and Kevin have an iron clad prenuptial agreement, which would only give Kevin just a tiny part of Britney`s estimated $100 million fortune.
HAMMER: Well, let`s talk about that, because the gloves may be off, but no matter how ugly it gets, someone has to be gracefully orchestrating all the movements for both Spears and Federline. That job, of course, left to the lawyers. Who better to guide us through it all than divorce attorney Nancy Chemtob, of the firm Chemtob, Moss and Forman, and famous celebrity divorce attorney Raoul Felder. Thank you both for being here tonight.
Now, Brooke just said it again, we have been hearing an awful lot about this iron clad prenup. Raoul is there really such thing as an iron clad agreement in this case?
RAOUL FELDER, CELEBRITY DIVORCE ATTORNEY: Well, you know, everybody began worrying when Donald Trump`s agreement was attacked by Ivana and they said Donald Trump, with his 400 lawyers, has trouble with the agreement. What about me? The guy around the corner did it? The truth is prenuptial agreements are alive and well and living in America, if they are properly prepared. The reason people sue is because it`s the only lawsuit in the history of the world that if you sue and lose, you are back with the deal you bargained for. So, you might as well sue. And you don`t want to place somebody in a position like the Bob Dylan song, "If You Ain`t Got Nothing, You Got Nothing To Lose." And that`s what Federline is in.
HAMMER: Yes, I mean, exactly. What has he got to lose, really? It`s already pretty much gone, as of this point. So Nancy, we are also hearing that this prefab is not really a good piece of paper, as far as Kevin Federline is concerned. Some of the details that TMZ.com is throwing around is that he could perhaps get a 20 percent cut of their $10 million Malibu Mansion, so about two million bucks there. Maybe about $250,000 or less for one year of spousal support. Does this all sound pretty much about right for how long they were married, just a couple of years?
NANCY CHEMTOB, CHEMTOB, MOSS & FORMAN: It does because when you do a prenuptial, and for something that`s iron clad, as people are saying, there has to be consideration for him signing off on an agreement that would already figure out exactly how much he were to get, if they were to get divorced. The big question here is, even in an iron clad prenuptial agreement, one thing that`s not concerted is the amount of spousal, I`m sorry, child support that he would receive. So, therefore that`s why, why not go for custody. This way maybe I can get child support.
HAMMER: Well, yes, and let`s talk about the custody, because that is something that Kevin is counter-suing for. Raoul, he is saying he wants sole custody and that he basically wants physical custody of the kids. Going back to what you were saying, is it more likely than not that this is just a ploy to get some kind of settlement?
FELDER: Sure, because this let`s lots of dirt into the proceeding. When you are talking about custody, all kinds of behavior, and lord knows what behavior he has about her. We know about his behavior. So, it`s a leverage to get some more money out of the situation, usually. Look, the truth is, if they examine both these people as potential parents, you might get custody.
HAMMER: Yes, and all bets are off, as far as the dirty laundry. We have heard rumors of a sex tape actually being out there. But really, let`s be serious for a second Nancy, is there really any chance this guy we call K-Fed, now K-Fed-ex, could possibly get custody of these two children, sole and physical custody.
CHEMTOB: One of the most interesting things is where has he been since this whole divorce came out. We all know that Britney and Kevin have been in New York since Friday. If he really wanted custody, he should have gotten on a plane back to California, picked up the two children. But the most interesting thing about this entire divorce is that there hasn`t been one picture since Friday with either parent with the children. So, at the end of the day, it`s really going to come down to what`s in the best interest of the children. And in this situation it points to Britney.
HAMMER: Nancy Chemtob, Raoul Felder, it was good to see you both. I appreciate your insight tonight. Also coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, Britney and Whitney. They have a lot in common these days, now that both are shedding their bad boy. So, what`s it going to take for them to make a come back? We are going to get into that at 31 minutes past the hour, here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
ANDERSON: Coming up, a brand new development in the case of a woman who says Bill Cosby sexually assaulted her. We`re going to fill you in next.
HAMMER: Plus, as we`ve been talking about, Britney dumping her bad boy. But really, what attracted her to this guy in the first place? We are going to be taking a look at the allure of the Hollywood bad boy, coming up. We will also have this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hate me. I`ve always been overweight. I`m never going to be thin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: A disturbing and riveting look at young women who are dying to be thin. A filmmaker goes inside an eating disorder clinic where girls are wasting away. That filmmaker is here, just ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Bill Cosby has settled a lawsuit with the woman who says he drugged and sexually assaulted her. The details of the settlement are being kept quiet. A joint statement simply says that the plaintiff and Cosby have resolved their differences. The woman says that Cosby assaulted her at his home in Philadelphia back in 2004. She went to police a year later, but prosecutors didn`t file criminal charges, so she filed a lawsuit. In legal papers Cosby denied the allegations.
ANDERSON: Britney spears has dumped her bad boy. But what attracted her in the first place? We are taking a look at the allure of the Hollywood bad boy, coming up.
HAMMER: Also tonight, our special series SHOWBIZ Weight Watch continues. Tonight, it`s a disturbing and riveting look at young women who are dying to be thin. A filmmaker goes inside an eating disorder clinic where women are literally wasting away. That filmmaker is here and she will join us just ahead in an interview you will see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(NEWS BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. It is 30 minutes past the hour. I`m A.J. Hammer. We are coming at you from New York City.
ANDERSON: And I`m Brooke Anderson. This is TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. A.J., tonight in the SHOWBIZ Weight Watch, we`re going to go inside the very disturbing, compelling stories of four young women, who are literally dying to be thin, wasting away before our very eyes in a riveting documentary called, appropriately, "thin" and the filmmaker of "thin," the director, is going to be with us, coming up in just a minute.
HAMMER: Tough images to look at indeed. But first tonight, the Britney Spears/Kevin Federline breakup thing has got us thinking, why exactly is it that ladies like the bad boys so much? You know, you look at K-Fed. He`s not exactly a poster boy for preppiness. He`s always wearing a tank top. He`s always out partying. Kind of rough around the edges, right? So, we rolled up our sleeves. We put on a leather jacket, hopped on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT motorcycle so we could find out why females flock to Mr. Wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER (voice-over): Ah, bad boys. From Jack Nickelson to Collin Farrell to Charlie Sheen. They are rugged, handsome, confident. They are oh, so irresistible, but also oh, so unattainable.
HILARY BLACK, EDITOR IN CHIEF, TANGO MAGAZINE: They really do make us feel so good. Why is it? Well because they are handsome, they are illusive. You know, we have this inability to possess them and I think that for a lot of women that the whole mystique.
HAMMER: Pop princess Britney Spears knows the mystique. She fell for a bad boy in a big way. She ditched her bubble gum image with squeaky clean Justin Timberlake for not so squeaky clean Kevin Federline, a smoker, a slacker and a fledgling rapper.
BLACK: Kevin Federline is a bad boy, who attained a status after he tasted fame. It affected his personality and made him into this alpha male, would be rock star.
HAMMER: Let`s face it, Mr. Wrong is nothing new. He`s been right for years now. Just go back and take a look at the classic Hollywood bad boy Warren Beatty. Beatty has been connected to a galaxy of beautiful women, from Joan Collins to Bridget Bardough (ph), a real love them and leave them kind of guy, a bad boy who many thought would never settle down. But wouldn`t you know, it just took the right woman. Enter Annette Benning.
BLACK: Warren Beatty was a bad boy his entire life and then when it came time for him to settle down, he picked a powerful, confident, acclaimed actress in her own right, who was exquisitely beautiful and, you know, she captured him. It was, I think, heartening for a lot of women to see that someone like Warren Beatty could be tamed.
HAMMER: Beatty could be tamed, but most bad boys can`t. Why is that? What is it about these guys?
BLACK: They are charming, they are charismatic, they are never boring. I mean, who can resist somebody who is just focused on you, focused on making you, for that moment, the center of the universe? I think that is often why Bill Clinton has been described as being such a lady killer, because when he`s talking to you, you`re the only person in the world and I think he`s kind of the ultimate bad boy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Well, now that Britney Spears has booted her bad boy, Kevin Federline, to the curb, we here at SHOWBIZ TONIGHT think Britt should do brunch with another music Diva, who finally ditched her dead weight, talking about Whitney Houston, of course, saying bye-bye to Bobby Brown. Britney and Whitney were really both at the top of their game before they got together with their bad boy. So can Whit and Brit return to Diva-dom? With us tonight to answer these questions, developmental psychologist Cooper Lawrence, and clinical psychologist Dr. Judy Kuriansky. Lovely to see you both there.
We just covered a mass of reasons why women are attracted to these bad boys. But let`s get into so me more. Cooper, is part of it the fact that these women are big stars and fame has a little something to do with it?
COOPER LAWRENCE, DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGIST: That`s part of it. You have to remember these are two women that developmentally at very young ages were pop stars and they went through all these years of being a pop star and they will keep it normal. And to them, bad boys seem normal.
HAMMER: But they are not normal. They are normal maybe to them, is part of the thinking, Dr. Judy, that maybe they can be changed? Maybe somebody like the pure, wholesome Britney Spears can perhaps tame this guy, K-Fed?
JUDY KURIANSKY, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes and all young girls feel that way. There`s a lot of young girls who are just like Britney and Whitney, who fall into that trap, thinking not only am I going to change his ways and make him into the good guy, but he`s going to give me an exciting life. The real key here that`s interesting is that the girls identify with that. They want their own wild side to come out, which is why the real solution to this, so that you don`t fall into the mess that they are both in, is to be who you want to be. And, you know, they got a little bad girl inside themselves too. Britney`s a little bad girl and so is Whitney, so.
HAMMER: Well, it`s funny, you say they are sort of drawn to these guys because they want to have a little excitement in their life. Yet, you look at Britney Spears, doesn`t look like she needs much more excitement.
KURIANSKY: It`s the inside excitement that they are talking about, the fact that they are cool and they could be hip. A lot of girls are brought up to be the nice girls and the good little girls and to behave and so they want to let that side out and the guys give them the opportunity to do that. So that`s why I say they do it themselves, then they don`t have to be attracted to the bad guys and then they can find a nice guy.
LAWRENCE: There is some validation about it, because if they want to feel like they are bad girls and a bad guy likes you, well then I must be a bad girl, because if he`s bad then I must be and we`re a perfect couple.
HAMMER: Yes, and Dr. Judy just mentioned OK, they moved through their bad boy phase and now they can look for the nice guy, and really, talking specifically about Britney Spears and Whitney Houston, how important is it now for them that they seek out the anti-K-Fed, the anti-Bobby Brown.
LAWRENCE: I think it`s very important. I think that it would be great for them, especially because they both have children and they want to be role models. So, what a great role model is if now they finally find somebody who really does reflect who they are inside and where they have gotten to developmentally, where they have come to. I think they probably will too, because they are the ones that kicked them to the curb and that`s what`s really important. And because, as mothers, it`s enough.
There`s like a straw that broke the camel`s back, because they both had, not only children, but the guys are children. They are even worse adolescents than the babies that they have. And so I think it`s partly an acknowledgement that Britney and Whitney have grown up a little bit, enough to say I`m not going to put up with this infant anymore, who is like an adolescent kid, who`s acting like the worst kind of teenager imaginable. So that`s a good sign that they can find a nicer guy, who is a little more mature, as long as their friends and the people around them help them.
HAMMER: And I imagine, and this may be something that some people watching at home can relate to, when you break up with a bad guy, people don`t have such a problem with it, as much as when you break up with a nice guy, right?
LAWRENCE: Right, because if you break up with a bad guy, it`s good for you. Break up with a nice guy, what`s wrong with her? Why did she break up with this fabulous guy that the rest of us deem valuable? So obviously there is something wrong with her. Whereas break up with a bad guy, it`s you`re in a better place clearly.
HAMMER: And shedding that dead weight is just going to help their career come back.
KURIANSKY: Well Britney and Whitney both need to grow up too and really settle down and, you know, really be mature women and mothers.
HAMMER: Well, the world will be watching, Dr. Judy. We`ll see if they can actually pull that off. Cooper Lawrence, Dr. Judy Kuriansky, I appreciate you both being with us tonight.
Grab your copy of Cooper Lawrence`s book, "Been There, Done That, Kept the Jewelry." Great title, and Dr. Judy Kuriansky`s book, "The Complete Idiot`s Guide to a Healthy Relationship," great title. Both in bookstores now.
ANDERSON: Reaction to the Britney/K-Fed divorce has been pouring into SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Last night we asked Britney dumps Kevin, did she do the right thing? Tons of votes. Here`s how it all broke down. Check it out, 96 percent of you say yes. Only four percent of you say no. Many of you have been writing in about our interview with Kevin Federline. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT got the last extended interview with Kevin before the divorce papers were filed. And just to refresh your memory, he told me that everything was fine at home. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP
FEDERLINE: You see all the negative stuff, but, I mean, everybody`s got to know that, like, behind closed doors, everything is, you know, is great. It`s not always what they say it is. You know, I mean, we`re people too. We are happy behind closed doors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Now, this really got El from Michigan upset. Here`s what she wrote, "why do celebs have to flat out lie to us? He may or may not have seen it coming, but don`t go on national TV and say such things and then announce two days later that you`re getting divorced. That is just so irritating. Coming up, more of your fired up e-mails reacting to the Britney Spears, Kevin Federline divorce. We`ve got our intern going through them right now, actually, and there are some doozies, believe me. Plus, we`ve also go this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hate me. I`ve always been overweight and I`m never going to be thin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Tonight, in the SHOWBIZ Weight Watch, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s on- going coverage of Hollywood`s obsession with body image, the shocking new movie about women battling eating disorders and literally dying to be "thin."
ANDERSON: And oh, what people will do to get into the Guinness Book of Records, painful, disgusting and totally ridiculous things, that`s next.
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HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York and it`s time now for another story that just made us say, that`s ridiculous. Wow, that was terrible. Say it happens to be Guinness World Records day and that means people are doing all sorts of disgusting, outrageous and downright stupid things, kind of like my cameraman does, just to get in the book of records.
They are chopping concrete blocks, they are rolling around in plastic balls, as you see here. We even have the woman with the smallest waist. But check out this guy, he is breaking the record for stuffing the most rattlesnakes in his mouth, yes, horrible, ten rattlesnakes, actually. It has to be the nastiest possible of the record-breaking achievements. The guy obviously didn`t see "Snakes on a Plane." Actually, nobody really saw "Snakes on a Plane," but the point is snakes are pretty scary. So, putting them into your life, that`s ridiculous.
ANDERSON: That was better, guys. OK, now the SHOWBIZ Weight Watch. It`s our ongoing coverage of Hollywood`s obsession with body image. This is stuff that we cover like no other entertainment news show. Tonight, the heartbreaking, heart wrenching documentary called "Thin." It`s about some women who are battling dangerous eating disorders that could kill them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hate me. I`ve always been overweight and I`m never going to be thin.
ANDERSON (voice-over): She`s dying to be thin.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to be thin. I want to be thin.
ANDERSON: Britney suffers from the eating disorder Anorexia Nervosa. So do Polly, Alisa and Shelly. The new documentary "Thin" provides an intimate and shocking look at these four women and their battles with body image.
LAUREN GREENFIELD, DIRECTOR, "THIN": I want people to learn what it`s like to have an eating disorder, what the day-to-day reality is like. That it`s not the glamorous illness that we sometimes see in the magazines, that celebrities have.
ANDERSON: Photographer turned filmmaker Lauren Greenfield gained unprecedented access into a Florida treatment center. For ten weeks her cameras captured the gritty reality of the recovery process.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re going to drop dead at any time and you don`t realize that.
ANDERSON: Intensely private family therapy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel so weak compared to her, so stupid compared to her.
ANDERSON: Emotional group sessions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s so many thin girls and I`m not one of them and I can`t take it anymore.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s being so honest.
ANDERSON: Even heart wrenching art therapy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you think, looking at this now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I see problem areas.
ANDERSON: All caught on tape.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Lauren Greenfield not only directed the HBO documentary, but she has also been exploring the issue of body image through photography for more than a decade. Lauren Greenfield is with me tonight in New York. Hi Lauren, good to see you again. We first met at Sundance, where the film began. Nice to see you.
GREENFIELD: Thank you.
ANDERSON: OK, now we know that people who struggle and battling eating disorders get very skilled at hiding those illnesses. And here you are with unprecedented, exclusive access to this treatment center. Were you as shocked by the stories that you came across as I was when I watched the film?
GREENFIELD: The stories are very sad and in some ways shocking, but the way that we made the film was by spending a lot of time in the clinic and really getting to know people. We filmed it over a six-month period and we really had a lot of trust with the women, and we really got to know them very well on a personal level. So when you spend that much time in a place like that, the stories stop shocking you, because there is a lot of repetition. There`s a lot of commonality among people`s experience with eating disorders.
ANDERSON: Yes, the stories are very sad, and devastating at times. You profile four very dramatic cases. One of the women, Polly, tried to kill herself after eating two slices of pizza. It`s just mind-boggling. And I can bet, you know, that a lot of people watching at home probably can`t even comprehend that. But is it what the pizza represents that causes such despair? Maybe the loss of control?
GREENFIELD: Yes, it`s really not -- I mean, they say over and over again at the clinic it`s not about the food. It`s really about the underlying emotional issues. And even Polly says the pizza was the straw that broke the camel`s back. So, it`s not literally because of the pizza, but I think that does show the extent of the pain and suffering that the girls are going through and how they are using the eating disorder as a coping mechanism to numb out that pain, much in the same way one might use drug addiction or alcoholism.
ANDERSON: We spoke to actress Lindsey Lohan recently, a person who, herself, has been harshly criticized for being very thin at times. And she told SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that she watched the film. It made a big impact on her, had a big impact on her, and she spoke to you about it. Let`s listen to what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDSEY LOHAN, ACTRESS: It`s an amazing film and I`ve met with her and I would love to do something with her for the film and, you know, make it into, maybe, an actual, you know, feature, because I think it`s something important for people to know about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Have you met with Lindsay Lohan? Is it a possibility that a feature film could be made?
GREENFIELD: I actually don`t know about that, but I`m very flattered by her support and very much appreciate it. We met briefly at a screening of the film, and I was very moved by the way the film impacted her.
ANDERSON: Yes, it had a big impact on me as well. It`s hard to watch it and not be moved. And you say -- One of the things you say as a big misconception of people with eating disorders is the fact that it`s a glamorous illness. You know, young women, young girls see their favorite Hollywood stars, they see these images of girls just wasting away before their very eyes. How much of an impact do you think stars really have?
GREENFIELD: Well, I think that we are all affected by the images of the people that we admire and certainly the atmosphere that these pictures of very thin models and actresses create, has a -- creates a pressure for young girls. That said, I don`t think that`s why women get eating disorders. I mean, that`s a much more complex causality than that. I think what you see from the film and from the book is a very serious mental illness and much deeper than most people think, that it`s not this kind of superficial illness of vanity, that it`s a really deep rooted emotional and psychological illness.
ANDERSON: Very serious illness. And you have quite an eye opening documentary that you have made. Lauren Greenfield, great to see you again. Thanks for being here.
GREENFIELD: Thank you.
ANDERSON: And you can see Lauren`s documentary "Thin" on HBO, premiering next Tuesday, November 14th. And the companion book, "Thin," is in bookstores now.
HAMMER: As you may have heard Reese Witherspoon just filed for divorce from her husband of seven years, Ryan Filipe, and there are rumors actually floating around that he cheated, rumors that he has firmly denied. So, it seems a little ironic that his new film is called "Breach." Now the film is all about infamous FBI agent Robert Hanson, who was convicted of selling top U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union. And here`s your first look in tonight`s SHOWBIZ Show Case.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re going to be an agent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say it again, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re going to be an agent.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re being tasked to headquarters, where you will be riding the desk of an agent named Robert Hanson, considered our most knowledgeable analyst on Russian intel. He`s also a sexual deviant. This could be a huge embarrassment to the bureau. You`re going to keep an eye on him for us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell me five things about yourself, four of them true.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t think I would be much good at bluffing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That would have counted as your lie right there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anything you can tell me about him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure, take nothing personally.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know why the Soviet empire collapsed? Godlessness.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God expects you to live your faith, Eric, at all times.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t know what I`m supposed to be looking for. The guy doesn`t drink, goes to church every day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Faith, family, country, those are the things that matter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`ve come to admire him I see.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Respect him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have never cared about making headlines. I wanted to make history.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s a traitor, Eric. Started spying for the Russians in 1985. Good news is you`re in the middle of the biggest case we have ever run.
The damage he`s done to the U.S. government is in the billions. It might be years before we truly know how many deaths he`s been responsible for.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why don`t we just arrest him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can`t do that. Director wants him caught in the act.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What if he`s smarter than I am?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He spent the last 20 years out-thinking Russian spies. He`s smarter than all of us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you been in my briefcase?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t like being scrutinized. Have to do something about that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s parked outside your apartment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where were you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m telling so many lies now, I can`t keep them straight anymore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you finding this job stressful?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pray more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He knows the names of every source we have ever turned. Their lives are all at risk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need to know if I can trust you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who was calling you in the car?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put the gun down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need to know if I can trust you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: "Breach" will be in theaters in February of 2007. So, last night we asked you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Britney Spears is shocking everyone, including her soon to be ex-husband, by filing for divorce. Here`s how the question went. Britney dumps Kevin, did she do the right thing? Tons of votes, ton of e-mails.
It seems like almost all of you out there are glad that she is kicking him to the curb, with 96 percent of you saying yes, she did the right thing, four percent of you say no. Let`s look at an e-mail from one of those four percenters. Sean from Maryland actually thinks it`s the wrong move, writing "Brit made a terrible error. Dumping K-Fed now is useless. She is already so deep into it."
Now, Wayne from Tennessee kind of made us laugh with a different point of view, "I think she should have taken the advice of Bob Barker, who says `Remember to have your pets spayed or neutered.`"
Nice. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT coming right back.
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ANDERSON: We`ve been asking you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Britney`s divorce battle, should K-Fed get the kids? Keep voting, CNN.com/SHOWBIZTONIGHT. Write to us at this address, SHOWBIZTONIGHT@CNN.com. We are going to read some of your thoughts tomorrow.
And remember, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is the only entertainment news show that lets you express your opinion on video. So just look into your video camera or your or web cam and send us a piece of your mind via video e- mail. It`s really easy. Head to our website, CNN.com/SHOWBIZTONIGHT and you can learn how to do it. Remember, keep them short and sweet, 30 seconds or less. And then watch for your video e-mails right here, only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
HAMMER: Friday is almost here. Let`s see what`s coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT tomorrow.
Well, his name is Robert Ray, but in TV land he`s known as Dr. 90210. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT gets a very special inside look at this in-demand plastic surgeon as he nips and tucks some of the biggest names in Hollywood. We will do that tomorrow on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
Also spouses we love to hate, Britney Spears` Kevin Federline, Whitney Houston`s Bobby Brown, and the woman that many say broke up the Beatles, John Lennon`s widow Yoko Ono. Why they have always left a bad taste in our mouths. We`ll get into that tomorrow. That is it for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Thanks a lot for watching. I`m A.J. Hammer. We are in New York.
ANDERSON: Yes, we are in New York. Have a great night, everybody. I`m Brooke Anderson. Glenn Beck is coming up next, right after the latest headlines from CNN HEADLINE NEWS.
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