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Showbiz Tonight
Britney`s Psych Eval
Aired January 04, 2008 - 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: Britney Spears shocker. She`s rushed to the hospital and her kids taken away. I`m A.J Hammer in New York.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CO-HOST: That`s right, A.J. It`s been a total mob scene out here. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. TV`s most provocative entertainment news show starts right now.
HAMMER: On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, an absolutely jaw-dropping Britney Spears shocker. She`s rushed to the hospital. Police called to her house; Britney is wheeled out on a stretcher. Tonight, we`ve got the late-breaking details. What happened? Will Britney lose her kid for good? And this controversial question - should we even be surprised about this meltdown? Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has got this covered like no other entertainment news show - Britney`s stunning hospital drama.
(MUSIC)
HAMMER: Hello, I`m A.J. Hammer broadcasting tonight and every night from New York City.
ANDERSON: Hi there, everyone. I`m Brooke Anderson, coming to you from Hollywood where tonight, Britney Spears is under lock down - no, not in a jail cell, but in a hospital.
HAMMER: Yes, Brooke. I know you certainly can agree that we can hardly describe exactly what this day has been like.
ANDERSON: Oh, you`re right about that, A.J. I have been up all night covering this. And I can tell you that Britney may have had the ultimate meltdown.
HAMMER: And I can also tell you that SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has covered this like no other entertainment news show from the dramatic rush to the hospital to the battle for Britney`s kids that also played out today. It began late Thursday night and has not let up since.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Britney in trouble, in the hospital.
JO PIAZZA, CORRESPONDENT, "NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": Paramedics taking her out of her home on a stretcher.
HAMMER: Without a doubt, it is the most disturbing sight we`ve seen in Britney Spears` long and public collapse.
PIAZZA: I think it was a terrifying moment.
HAMMER: A dispute over Britney`s two kids turns into a tense police standoff at her home. The apparently out-of-it pop star is strapped into a stretcher and taken into a Los Angeles hospital. Her two young sons are also carted away from the horrifying scene.
GILLIAN SHELDON, SUPERVISING PRODUCER, "TMZ.COM": If this isn`t bottom, I don`t really know what is.
HAMMER: It all ends with Britney Spears in a hospital, reportedly for her own safety. She appears likely to lose her kids for good. And everyone`s saying what`s becoming frighteningly obvious - Britney Spears is in serious, serious trouble.
PIAZZA: This feels like Britney`s last stand. This is the last scene in the movie.
HAMMER: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT takes you through the whole frightening ordeal which began Thursday evening at Britney`s home in Beverly Hills. She was having her monitored visitation time with her two sons, two-year-old Sean Preston and one-year-old Jayden James.
SHELDON: Clearly something has gone very wrong with Britney`s mental state.
HAMMER: But as TMZ`s Gillian Sheldon tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT things went south when it came time to turn the kids over to her ex-husband Kevin Federline who has permanent custody.
SHELDON: Federline`s bodyguard showed up to pick them up as has been routine, and she reportedly wouldn`t let them go. She freaked out - for lack of a better term - locked herself in the room.
The police were called. They came in to peacefully enforce the court order. There were several news choppers above plus countless police cars, several fire trucks, several ambulances, plus you can only imagine how many paparazzi and video crew. It was a complete madhouse, absolute bedlam. She was wheeled out in a gurney, put into an ambulance with her hands and feet shackled, acting very strangely.
HAMMER: Acting strangely is right. We see Britney kicking as she`s being wheeled out of her house. But then, look at these shocking photos of Britney on the stretcher. We see her smiling. That`s right, smiling as EMTs load her into the ambulance.
SHELDON: Clearly having a major, massive meltdown.
HAMMER: As we see in this video from Hollywood.tv, there is a mob scene as the ambulance pulls away. Thankfully, Britney`s children were eventually taken from the house. Britney was taken here at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. In this video from Hollywood.tv, we see a glassy-eyed Britney wheeled into Cedars-Sinai.
Her ex, Kevin Federline, arrived later to take the two kids home with him. It had already been a rough week for Britney. The third legal team Britney she`s used in her custody battle asked the court for permission to dump her. And just hours before the craziness at her house, Britney showed up two hours late for a court-ordered deposition at the office of K-Fed`s attorney.
PIAZZA: Obviously, it did not go well. And maybe she was clinging to having the kids one last time, because she knew she had doomed herself with those lawyers.
HAMMER: And as Britney`s problems landed her in a hospital reportedly for a psych evaluation, TMZ`s Gillian Sheldon tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, this may have been an epic meltdown, but it wasn`t surprising.
SHELDON: People who know her say that this has been coming for a long time. She`s been unraveling. The custody battle has been very had on her. And her mental state has been deteriorating for a while.
HAMMER: And now, it seems that the decline of Britney Spears has entered a horrifying new stage.
PIAZZA: She`s always been crazy in this, "Hey, I`ve left my underwear at home" kind of way. "Hey I`m shaving my head down on Fairfax Boulevard kind of way. But now it seems like Britney may actually be a danger to herself and to others.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Ah, Britney Spears in peril tonight. So could this be Britney`s ultimate meltdown? With us tonight in Hollywood, Ken Baker, west coast editor of "Us Weekly" magazine. Also tonight in New York, Jane Velez- Mitchell, investigative journalist and author of this book, "Secrets Can Be Murder."
Jane, Ken, what a day this has been. And first, I want you to look at these terrifying really and bizarre photos of Britney Spears, strapped to a gurney, being carted off to the hospital. She`s still in the hospital tonight as we know for psychological examination. Ken, she looks restrained in these photos - restraints wrapped around her ankles on that stretcher. What have you heard about that?
KEN BAKER, WEST COAST EDITOR, "US WEEKLY" MAGAZINE: Well, what we`re told is that she didn`t want to go to the hospital. It was determined by the authorities that she needed to go to the hospital. She needed to be checked out, that she wasn`t of sound mind. And indeed, they took her down to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and as we said, she got there a little bit before midnight and has been there ever since.
We expected her to be there at least 72 hours. Why? Because she is considered as a special needs patient. She is totally being observed. She is under psychiatric evaluation. And she did not want to be there.
Now, there may be deep-seated psychological reasons why maybe she did want to be there, some cry for help. But consciously, no; Britney Spears did not want to go. But I`m told not only was she smiling and then laughing and then looking sad and confused. It was just described by someone who was there who told us that she was absolutely, completely psychotic looking. So it just really was a disturbing scene last night.
ANDERSON: Very strange and on the surface, it did seem like she was resisting. In some of the videos, you can actually see her kicking pretty strongly. And, Jane, you know, when police picked her up, one officer said that she appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance. That would be very scary if true, because a judge has ordered her that she was never to be under the influence when she was around her children. Isn`t that right.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: That`s absolutely right. But first, I have to say that this is a woman clearly in crisis, and as such, she deserves our compassion. All our commentaries should come from that compassionate stance tonight. She is obviously in tremendous emotional pain.
Yes, the police said she appeared to be intoxicated. And let`s face it, it was about a year ago that she went through rehab. She did 30 days of rehab. Now, once an addict, always an addict. Yet this fall, a judge ruled that evidence indicated that she had engaged in habitual and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol. So you just don`t stop that without a program.
There has been no evidence she has been in a program, going to 12-step meetings. So it`s almost impossible for even the most motivated person to stay sober by themselves with no help from a 12-step program. How was she supposed to do it?
We will not know whether she was under the influence until these test results are in. We may, in fact, never know the results of those tests. So we have to just really put our hearts out there and say if she is an addict, let`s hope this is bottom. Let`s hope she gets help.
ANDERSON: Yes, and that it doesn`t get worse. And like you said, she certainly needs the help from others. And she`s actually getting a lot of support from her family now. Her father, Jamie, was at the hospital earlier this morning, her brother on his way. We are told that her mother is, quote, "on her way." Ken, but my question here is, where were they before now?
BAKER: Well, Britney has effectively in the last year of her life, has shut out everyone who was once close to her. She no longer has a manager. She doesn`t have a publicist. She doesn`t even have bodyguards anymore. She doesn`t trust anyone. She shut out her mom, her sister, her dad. Now, everyone`s coming here to support her.
But before this, she completely shut out everyone. She isolated herself and I think that`s been a big part of the problem, is that she`s been alone - spent a lot of time in isolation. She`s been surrounded by this guy Sam Lutfi and everyone is sort of curious about what his motivations are and how he plays into all this.
And clearly, she was a woman who was alone and desperate and we saw that all playing out last night. And I agree with Jane - it`s very sad. But I`ve got to point out for the last three months, ever since she was told by the judge that he deemed her a habitual, continuous, frequent user of drugs and alcohol, she has been tested twice week - or supposed to have been tested twice a week. None of those tests to date has come back positive. Now these are random tests that are given twice a week, and none came up positive.
ANDERSON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) those questions of stability.
(CROSS TALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Can I jump in here, Brooke for one -
ANDERSON: Go ahead, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. I agree with what Ken is saying. We do have to give her the benefit of the doubt because of those random tests. And TMZ is reporting that this is a mental problem, not a problem with drugs or alcohol. I raise the issue possibly it`s prescription medication. Perhaps she was anguished and she was given by a doctor some prescription meds and may have used too many or used them improperly.
ANDERSON: Jane, do you think, very quickly, that the presence of her family around her, the presence of people whose relationships have been tenuous could be a distraction and could hurt this situation
VELEZ-MITCHELL: No. I think family is always a good thing. Pile it on, everybody. Cousins, come on in there and give her support.
ANDERSON: Show her -
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s what she needs right now.
ANDERSON: Yes. Show her your love and support. Jane Velez-Mitchell, Ken Baker, thank you both.
BAKER: Thanks.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you.
HAMMER: Well now, we want to get your thoughts for our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. And here`s what we are asking tonight, "Britney Spears hospitalized: Do you think she`s finally hit rock bottom?" Let us know at CNN.com/ShowbizTonight. Our e-mail address, showbiztonight@CNN.com. You can send us something from your desktop or your laptop or your Blackberry, or you cellphone. Just tell us whatever is on your mind.
HAMMER: All right. Here`s another big question. Will this be the last straw in her custody battle? Is Britney going to finally lose her two young boys to Kevin Federline for good? I`m going to put this tough question to people who really know this legal stuff. And I`ll do that next.
And what about those kids? I mean, no matter how well they`re shielded from all of what`s going on, it has got to be so traumatizing for them. The are definitely the biggest little victims from this entire mess. So coming up, you won`t want to miss a revealing look into what Sean Preston and Jayden James are going through.
ANDERSON: Hey, also ahead, Will Smith caught up in a big controversy, allegedly for calling Adolf Hitler a, quote, "good person." Well, tonight, he`s getting a much-deserved absolutely unprecedented apology. Coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Take a look a these unbelievable pictures. This was the scene at Britney Spears house late Thursday night. Police called, Britney`s kids taken away. And then she was rushed to the hospital, taken away from her house in a gurney, complete chaos.
Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York. Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has been covering Britney`s hospital drama like no other entertainment news show. And now, we can also tell you that both Spears and her ex Kevin Federline lawyers were in an emergency court hearing today. They are battling over the custody of their two boys, two-year-old Sean Preston, of course, and one-year-old Jayden James.
Joining us to talk about Britney`s big legal battle, we have a New York true TV "Hollywood Heat" host, Ashleigh Banfield. Always good to see you, Ashleigh. Also in New York, Sunny Hostin, CNN "American Morning`s" legal analyst. Sunny, good to have you here as well.
Britney, already as we know, had limited visitation rights. So, what do you think, Sunny? Is there anything that you can think of that would actually convince a judge to let her have more custody any time in the near future, if ever?
SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL ANALYST, CNN "AMERICAN MORNING": It`s going to be very, very difficult, A.J. I mean the bottom line is we`ve seen this downward, downward spiral for her. They had 50-50 custody, then 70-30. And she had very, as you mentioned, limited, limited visitation rights.
The only thing that I can think of perhaps if she`s committed, perhaps if she goes through extensive rehab program, she may, may have a chance at having her children back, at least on a limited visitation basis.
But it`s going to be a very, very difficult thing. And I think that`s why they`re probably at this closed hearing. They`re considering suspending those visitation rights or perhaps indefinitely.
HAMMER: And if you look back at the history of this whole custody battle, nothing has gone right for Britney. Nothing at all. She has already been criticized by the judge more than once for her erratic behavior. And he actually warned her that if the kids` lives were ever deemed to be in jeopardy, the kids would be taken away from her.
So, Ashleigh, given what happened last night, you know, Britney virtually holding the kids hostage, it seems that that really fits into the warning the judge issued.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST, "HOLLYWOOD HEAT": Yes. You know, nothing is going right for Britney rightfully so. I mean she is the creator of this demise. She is the one who has behaved like an absolute child. She is the one who has done ridiculous things, foolish things, goes off to Starbucks and gas stations daily, knowing full well that there will be a phalanx of paparazzi. She is the one who has put her children`s lives in danger by driving around without a license and being involved in a hit-and-runs.
So, I`ve got to say I don`t feel very sorry for Britney because of her behavior up to this point. I feel sorry for these two kids who have been subjected to this garbage. But what Sunny says is right; indefinitely doesn`t mean definitely. If she gets stripped of her visitation rights, it can always turn around, A.J.
The most important thing in this whole story is that the well-being of the children is respected. And judges say children have the right to see their parents if those parents are good people. And if Britney becomes a good person, she can be a parent again.
HAMMER: Sure. And of course, if she is dealing with mental issues, mental illness, anything like that has led to this erratic behavior. You know, as we stated earlier in the program, I do think we have to proceed here with a good deal of compassion for whatever is going on. But yes, the good welfare of the children is first and foremost.
And obviously, if anybody could use a good lawyer right about now, it is Britney Spears. And we know that just this week, her third set of lawyers quit on her because she refused to listen to anybody. Sunny, you know, when you think about it, she`s become like this legal pariah. How can she possibly even find anybody who`s going to want to work with her now?
HOSTIN: Well, you know, what`s interesting, A.J., her lawyers currently are the same lawyers, because while they moved to withdraw as her counsel, that motion as far as I know has not been granted. And so my guess is that perhaps the judge is going to force them to remain with her.
So right now, as I understand it, she is represented. But I`ll tell you, I know my lawyer friend. She will find an attorney. The problem is that she has to find an attorney that is an expert in custody. And it`s a very different game from being let`s say a criminal attorney, or from being civil litigator. She needs a family law attorney, and she needs an attorney that is at the top of his or her game. My guess is that person is out there and hopefully she will find that person.
HAMMER: And it`s got to be somebody who`s on their side. So imagine the strangeness of the situation now. The lawyer that`s trying to get out of the situation is the one that`s having to do the hardest work for her at the moment.
HOSTIN: That`s right.
HAMMER: Britney being held in a hospital under this order we`ve been talking about, which confines people who could be seen as a threat to themselves or to others. Ashleigh, Sunny was talking about a moment ago. I would have to think that we are talking about long-term care for her to ever get better before courts are even going to think about giving her kids back. Do you see a court ordering long-term care, essentially having her committed?
BANFIELD: Well, it`s entirely possible at this point, though what you`re looking at is a situation where rights could be stripped - her parental rights could be stripped whether they go back at it for something entirely different. Or whether she decides she wants care is a whole other story. I mean really, Britney is the author of her own story.
And at this point I love how you`re talking about who her next attorney could be. And I`m going to jump one step further than Sunny and I`m going to say her next attorney needs to be a pretty good counselor. Because the only person who she should be talking to at this point, talking to in-depth, is an attorney. And if her attorneys right now say they can`t even communicate with her, this girl is an island.
HAMMER: Yes. She`s got to learn how to listen whatever is going on with her. Asleigh Banfield, Sunny Hostin, thanks so much.
HOSTIN: Thank you.
BANFIELD: Thank you, A.J.
ANDERSON: A.J., I`m a big believer in keeping families together. But here, I just don`t know if Britney`s boys are safe with their mom. I mean what is really going on inside her head? All right, coming up, we are going to put Britney on the couch. I know this is a little bit tricky. We`re not there with her. But I`ve got a couple of shrinks who have really been following her every move. We`ve got a revealing look at Britney`s state of mind, coming up at 40 past the hour.
HAMMER: Well, Brooke, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has all of the angles of this very shocking story covered. So what happens to her career now? Her new album - it got some decent reviews. The sales, not so good. Is she totally through? I`ve got a fired up coast-to-coast panel and they are coming up.
ANDERSON: Also, big Will Smith news. He was caught up in a huge controversy allegedly for calling Adolf Hitler a, quote, "good person." Well tonight, Will Smith is getting a much-deserved, absolutely unprecedented apology. We`ve got that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: On Monday, we will, of course, bring you all the very latest developments in this latest chapter of Britney Spears` saga. How long will she be in the hospital, and what happens when she gets out? Will she ever get her kids back? Much more, Monday on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
ANDERSON: Tonight, a well-known news service is issuing a stunning apology to Will Smith. World Entertainment News Network is apologizing for a, quote, erroneous and dangerous statement attributed to Will Smith about Adolf Hitler being a quote, "good person."
Here`s the back story. A Scottish newspaper, "The Daily Record," posted an interview with Smith where he reportedly said, "I think he (Hitler) woke up in the morning and using a twisted backwards logic, he set out to do what he thought was good."
World Entertainment News Network then posted its version of that "Daily Record" interview and reported this, "Will Smith has stunned the world by declaring that even Nazi dictator, Adolf Hitler, was essentially a `good` person."
So obviously they misquoted a misquote and Smith went ballistic, immediately issued a strong denial of both articles, quote, "It is an awful and disgusting lie. Adolf Hitler was vile, heinous, vicious killer responsible for one of the greatest acts of evil committed on this planet."
So, you see how all of this got out of control. World Entertainment News Network adds that it deeply regrets the stress this has caused Will Smith and his family.
HAMMER: Well, Brooke, obviously this is such a stressful time for Britney Spears, her family and her kids. I mean think about it. These two young boys have got to be so traumatized. No matter how much they have been protected from what`s going on, you know they have to have some idea what`s happening here. So what effect will this have on them? I`ve got a fired- up panel ready to get into that. We`ll do it at 45 past the hour.
ANDERSON: A.J., here`s the big question. What about Britney`s career? I mean her new album is out. It`s got pretty good reviews. But is this truly the end? Will she ever work again? That`s coming up. You`re watching SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s continuing coverage of Britney Spears` hospital drama.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, breaking Britney news. Britney is hospitalized after police are called to her house in a dispute over her children. So what happens now? What will the drug test show? Should we be worried about the kids? And what about Britney`s state of mind? Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with the late-breaking developments; it`s Britney 911.
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HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. It`s 30 minute past the hour. I`m A.J. Hammer, broadcasting tonight and every night from New York City.
ANDERSON: And I`m Brooke Anderson coming to you tonight from Hollywood. This is TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. All right. Let`s get you up to see it on the very latest. Britney was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles late Thursday night.
Police arrived at her house to mediate a custody dispute over Britney and Kevin Federline`s two sons. The children were returned to K-Fed who has primary legal custody. Britney is being tested at the hospital for alcohol and drugs and will undergo a psychological evaluation.
HAMMER: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s coverage of Britney`s emergency continues now with our fired-up coast-to-coast panel. Joining me tonight from Hollywood, west coast editor of "Us Magazine" Ken Baker. Also from Hollywood, founder of Fifteen Minutes PR, Howard Bragman. In New York tonight, investigative journalist and author of "Secrets Can Be Murder," Jane Velez-Mitchell. Also in New York, the founder of Spotlight Communications, Maggie Gallant. Gang, I appreciate you all being here.
I want to take a look one more time at the scene last night in front of Britney`s Beverly Hills home. It was like a head of state was going to the hospital. Police everywhere. Paparazzi swarming. Helicopters flying overhead. And at the center of it all, of course, we had one very distraught Britney Spears. We saw her strapped into a stretcher being hauled off to the hospital. Ken Baker, let`s start it up with you. It seems as though she was being taken by force from home.
BAKER: Well, you know, clearly, Britney has been self-sabotaging herself for a very long time. And you might remember back about 12 months ago - in fact, it`s going to be - in two or three weeks, it will be 12 months ago, that she shaved her head. Do you remember that? And everyone thought, "Oh my god, she has hit rock bottom. It can`t get any worse than this."
Then she went into rehab for 30 days, and then what happened? She went and partied her way into this spiral that led to what happened last night. And I think that she has been in control every step of the way. People are saying, "Oh, she`s out of control. She`s someone who needs to be told what to do. She needs some counseling.
But you know what? This has been going on for so long and it`s such a pattern. Where she is right now, in a hospital bed at Cedars-Sinai, it has been totally up to her. She has had every step of the way an opportunity to get off this wagon. But she hasn`t. She stayed on it and it`s only gone downhill.
HAMMER: And I`ve got to tell when I first heard the news and saw the images that we`re looking at right now, I thought, well, this story keeps writing itself in the fashion you`d expect. Let`s look some more at these particular photos that were snapped during what really such dramatic moments when Britney was forced from her home, put in an ambulance.
And we see her emotions running the gamut. We see her crying. We see her actually smiling. It`s pretty chilling. In fact, one police officer in the scene said Britney appeared to be under the influence which were pretty strong words to say under these circumstances. There are other reports that are saying it`s mental what`s going on here. Jane Velez- Mitchell, over to you. Whatever it turns out to be, obviously, she is seriously troubled.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Oh, absolutely. And our hearts go out to her. If you look at the range of emotions, it almost looks like somebody having a nervous breakdown, which may very well be what it was. And I think this deposition also plays a big role. Obviously, she`s very afraid of it. She has tried to side-step it every which way. And she sees that, you know, it`s now ringing on her. She has no way to run and nowhere to hide.
She`s afraid of what they`re going to ask her about her behavior, and perhaps afraid that when she does ultimately tell the truth, the kids will be taken from her. So this is a last-ditch attempt to keep the child. According to "People.com," she`s kept the child in her room. Police had to go in and barge through that door to get that child. So this is sort of a plea, a desperate act, "Let me keep my kids."
What she doesn`t realize is the best way to keep her kids is to really get her head on straight, do whatever kind of therapeutic and 12-step work she needs to do, so that she`s well-balanced and can be a good mom.
HAMMER: And you make a very good point about this coming on the heels of finally getting in albeit only for 40 minutes of giving somewhat of a deposition to Kevin Federline, her ex-husband`s lawyer. And you know, perhaps, and there is speculation that that might have been the thing that pushed her a bit over the edge.
Now, "People.com" also reporting that Britney Spears was put on a 72- hour mental lockdown after she essentially locked herself in a room with one of her kids and basically refused to come out. This is something called a 51-50 hold. It usually means somebody is considered to be a danger to themselves or others. Howard, given the way she`s been acting, should we at all be surprised that she may be considered a danger to herself?
HOWARD BRAGMAN, FOUNDER, FIFTEEN MINUTES PUBLIC RELATIONS: No. We should be surprised she is still alive right now. I`ve been talking with a lot of colleagues, psychologists, journalists, other PR people. She`s on a death spiral. And if she does not correct this behavior, she will not be with us in a year from now. This is as sad as you can imagine, A.J. It`s just tragic. And everybody in her life that matters to her - family, her help, her lawyers, her publicist - everybody is running away because they don`t want to be there when this bad, horrible thing happens.
And one or two things that`s going to happen; she is going to take this moment and say, "This is a low point and I`m going to come out of it." Or she`s going to come out the same as before, and we know how the story is going to end. It`s going to have the same ambulances, but she`s not going to be moving or breathing or smiling.
HAMMER: Yes. And I`ve got to ask, Howard. As you`re talking to your high-profile colleagues out there in Hollywood - which I`m sure you`ve been doing as you said all day today, is anybody shocked by this?
BRAGMAN: No. Nobody`s shocked by this. It`s just sad there`s nobody - I`m glad she got the 51-50 hold, which is theoretically against her will because I`m not sure she`s capable of making these decisions, A.J. I don`t think she`s capable of being a good parent and a good mother in her current condition.
HAMMER: Well, as Britney was treated at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, her ex-husband Kevin Federline did arrive with the kids. Britney`s dad, Jamie, making what I determine to be a surprise appearance. Also one of Britney`s closed friends and her alleged adviser, Sam.
Maggie, let me go over to you, kind of begs the question where Britney`s mom has been during all this. There have been some reports that maybe she is now coming around. We`re thinking that obviously she`s probably spending some time with Britney`s pregnant 16-year-old little sister Jamie Lynn. I mean talking about having your hands full.
MAGGIE GALLANT, FOUNDER, SPOTLIGHT COMMUNICATIONS: This is a mom who has her hands full. Word is that she was heading down to Louisiana with Jamie Lynn. But now, the latest that we`re hearing is that she is heading out there to be with Britney in her time of need. I mean, who would have thought that we would have forgotten for a second that Jamie Lynn is 16 and pregnant to have this. I mean, clearly, she needs to be with her other daughter at this moment now, too.
HAMMER: And I hate to use the clich' "too little, too late," but Ken Baker, isn`t part of the problem that Britney`s family really has not been there for her?
BAKER: Well, the reason why they are not there is that they have been pushed away. I know for a fact that Lynn Spears, her mother, has made every effort possible this year to get that relationship back with Britney. And Britney has resisted it, has put her at arm`s length. And Ashleigh Banfield really said it earlier in the show. She said Britney Spears is an island, and that`s exactly what she`s created. And if she doesn`t get some life preservers, she`s going to drown.
HAMMER: It`s almost a real aside to talk about Britney`s career at this point but it really is an absolute mess. The just-released album not doing so well. It got some critical acclaim but she didn`t do any promotion for it. Jane Velez-Mitchell, is it fair to say that she`ll never be the superstar that we once knew and loved?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, never say never about anyone or anything in show business. But I really think, A.J., the problem is all about show business. The fact that this was a child star. She was never given the opportunity to have a real childhood. She was commoditized and turned into a business from a very early age.
And we know that child stars notoriously grow up to be troubled adults because they never get to experience their childhood. And they are always sort of immature and we`re seeing it play out again.
HAMMER: Yes, and in such a sad story book kind of a way. Thanks for all being here, Ken Baker, Howard Bragman, Jane Velez-Mitchell and Maggie Gallant. I appreciate it.
ANDERSON: So here`s one of the most disturbing questions in this whole saga, what about the kids? Sean Preston and Jayden James are so young. This has to be having a devastating effect on them to see what`s going on with their mom. Should we be worried? That`s next.
HAMMER: And what about Britney`s state of mind? There has been so much speculation about exactly what is going on with her, questions about perhaps bipolar disorder, maybe borderline personality disorder. What could actually be happening that is making Britney behave so erratically? We`re going to get into that. It`s something that you will not want to miss. Coming up.
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HAMMER: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s continuing coverage. Britney Spears hospitalized. Britney taken to the hospital in an ambulance late Thursday night after a three-hour custody dispute at her home.
Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m A.J. Hammer and this is TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. Well, the scene outside of Britney`s home was yet another dramatic chapter in her already troubled life. But SHOWBIZ TONIGHT also wants to know, what about her two young kids, two-year-old Sean Preston and one-year-old Jayden James?
Let us now go back to our fired up coast-to-coast panel. Gang, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT was there all day today as Kevin Federline`s lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan was right there at the courthouse trying to strip Britney of all visitation rights. No huge surprise there, but Jane, is there any reason that you can think of where Britney even deserves even partial custody of these kids?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: A.J., not right now. What these kids went through last night, undoubtedly traumatic. Even though they are only one and two and can`t understand what`s going on, they can feel the emotional tension and that has to be damaging.
But I will say, let`s remember this is a 26-year-old woman. Let`s not just write her off for the rest of her life. Let`s all remember what we were like, how immature we were, and I`m speaking for myself, when we were 26 years old. She still has the capacity to change. They say there is no mess you cannot clean up. If she deals with her problem and proves consistently to a judge over time that she`s not only clean and sober, but mentally well-balanced, perhaps in a year or two or three down the road, she can get these kids back.
HAMMER: Which is only going to happen with the proper help. And hopefully, she is on the road to that right now. One of the reports that`s out there as to how this whole thing started was that Britney had refused to hand over kids to Kevin Federline`s bodyguards last night when they showed up to pick them up per their usual arrangement. And then she actually locked herself in a room with one of the kids, basically in effect holding them hostage. Ken Baker, I cannot imagine how traumatizing this must have been for these kids.
Well, one of the most heartbreaking images of the last 24 hours has been the image of Jayden James in that car seat being driven away without a mom or dad in a car. It`s just heartbreaking to see that. But what`s also heartbreaking is - do you know four days ago, their father was photographed partying with Paris Hilton, holding a bottle of Jack Daniels and swigging it. And now he`s the guy who`s considered the savior, the one who`s sane and is providing stability. I think that it`s really just a sad situation when Kevin Federline is considered father of the year and taking care of these kids.
HAMMER: Yes. That`s a road we have traveled before. Let`s just think for a moment about all the incidents that have taken place over the last couple years involving Britney`s kids, her not buckling them in before driving. We`re seeing those pictures - subjecting them to the relentless flash of the paparazzi everyday and not even showing up for some of the custody hearings to get them back. Howard Bragman, over to you, does Britney really need a long-term hiatus from motherhood at this point?
BRAGMAN: She needs a lot of therapy. The days that the court said, "Kevin, you`re the primary caregiver for the kids," she was out partying. Any normal, rational person would be home, would be seeking therapy, counseling, lawyers, not going out to clubs at night.
She`s not getting it. There are deep, deep, deep problems here, A.J. And the kids need a break from her because inconsistent mothering and parenting, I suspect, is probably worse than almost no parenting.
HAMMER: Yes. Well, Maggie, I only have 20 seconds for you to answer this, but we talked about this before. Almost it seems like Britney doesn`t even want the kids right now.
GALLANT: Well, she definitely sends a message through the press every time she`s seen out partying when she`s supposed to be home with these kids. And either she`s known this from when she was a child. So this is just stuff that we`re seeing. So who knows what`s going on behind closed doors?
HAMMER: Maggie Gallant, Jane Velez-Mitchell, Ken Baker, Howard Bragman, I appreciate you all being here again tonight.
ANDERSON: There has been so much speculation surrounding what Britney is actually suffering from. Is it an alcohol or drug problem? Is it a mental break down, and will Britney get the help that she really needs now that she has been hospitalized.
In New York tonight, clinical psychologist, Dr. Judy Kuriansky. In Hollywood, Ken Seeley, lead interventionist from the A & E show, "Intervention." Also in Hollywood, psychologist Dr. Lillian Glass. Welcome to you all. And of course, we don`t know what the exact cause of this hospitalization is, but we know this is basically an intervention. Ken Seeley, what do they need to do in that hospital to help Britney?
KEN SEELEY, INTERVENTIONIST: Well, what they need to do, Brooke, is to keep her there. You know, they need to mandate long-term treatment for her. That`s the only thing that`s going to help this poor, sick young woman. As Howard was just saying she`s very ill. And if they don`t take this seriously, she is going to die. We`re going to be attending her funeral like we did with Anna Nicole.
And it doesn`t have to happen. We need to raise her bottom and make her feel that pain and take away her freedom as she has had happened today, and make that long-term if it needs to be until she gets appropriate help. That`s the only thing that`s going to help her.
ANDERSON: OK, take away her freedom. Dr. Glass, from the information we know right now, what do you think is going on in Britney`s head? The pictures of her in that ambulance seem to show a wild mood swing. In some, she looks terrified. In some, she has this almost bizarre smile on her face. What`s your take on that?
DR. LILLIAN GLASS, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, when you analyze the body language in those photographs, you can tell a lot. First of all, she`s frightened. You look at her and she`s stunned in some of those photographs. And then you look at her and she`s laughing. So she`s having a complete mood swing. And then she will be very angry, which is probably the case right now.
And in the hospital where she is right now, she doesn`t have the privileges. They`re not going to be manipulated by her. And so she really is going through a lot of changes, and most of them have to deal with the emotion of anger.
ANDERSON: I`m sure it`s a very difficult process for her to go through, but one that`s necessary. And you know, she`s been making decisions in her life since she was very, very young. Dr. Judy, if she is in fact in the hands of a psychiatrist in the hospital, do you think she`s even going to listen to anyone? Don`t forget, three legal teams have dropped her basically because she won`t listen.
DR. JUDY KURIANSKY, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: And in fact, I don`t think she can listen. When we say she`s out of control, this means that her brain is unstable. I have to protest all these reports that say this is not a chemical problem, it`s a mental problem. Well, guess what? The mental problem is a chemical problem at this point.
So she cannot decide what she wants to do. When we take a look at what are the diagnoses - this is what has to happen while she`s in the hospital. This is what we call layering. So she can have a narcissistic personality disorder, which I think she does have, which is it`s all about me; it`s all about Britney. We know that because it`s not about her kids.
She can also have a borderline personality disorder. They can both exist at the same time which means that she can be very labile as we`ve seen, that she`s up and she`s down, she`s angry, she`s crying, she`s laughing. And it can be bipolar. And on top of all of that and on the bottom of all of that is the drug abuse. So all of those put together, are creating that she can`t make up her own mind. That`s why other people have to take over for her.
ANDERSON: Of course, the drug abuse and those sorts of things won`t be confirmed until we get the test results back. But I do want to talk about the support that she is receiving from her family. Her father showed up at the hospital earlier this morning. We are being told her mother is, quote, "on the way." Isn`t it the fact, though, that she`s kind of been estranged from them, distanced herself from them. Is that worrisome? Ken, very quickly, what can they do to help her state of mind?
SEELEY: Brooke, they`re the only ones that can help her right now because everybody else around her is "yes" men. They`re all yes men. They do it for their paycheck. So mom and dad have to step in and help raise that bottom. That`s what I do as a professional. We come in and we help raise that bottom so she feels enough pain. That`s what has to happen to her right now.
She hasn`t felt the pain. She`s in denial. So we have to knock down that wall of denial in a loving and respectful way because she`s a sick young woman. She`s not a bad person. She`s a sick person so they need professional guidance. Just like she needs professional help, the family needs professional guidance on how to knock down that wall of denial. And that`s how we`re going to get through Britney.
ANDERSON: No quick fix here. It`s a long term process and hopefully she will get the help that she needs. Ken Seeley, Dr. Judy Kuriansky, Dr. Lillian Glass, thanks for joining us.
KURIANSKY: Thanks.
GLASS: Thanks.
SEELEY: Thanks, Brooke.
HAMMER: Well, we`ve been asking you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Please sound off on "Britney Spears hospitalized: Do you think she`s finally hit rock bottom? Keep voting at cnn.com/showbiztonight. E-mail us at ShowbizTonight@CNN.com. You can use your desktop, your laptop, your Blackberry, your cellphone, whatever device you`ve got, whatever you want to tell us.
So when you think about a hot young Hollywood couple like Fergie and Josh Duhamel, their relationship is probably all about club-hopping and dancing on the tables. Right? Wrong. Think again. We`ll tell you what they really love to do next.
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ANDERSON: Tonight, "Making It Work." This is where we take a look at stars who find a way to build a strong relationship in Hollywood. Tonight, with the biggest names in music, Fergie and Mary J. Blige and how they make it work with the men in their lives.
Fergie and actor Josh Duhamel say that, you know, they just try to keep it real. Fergie has said they like to do things like sing living room karaoke and cook together. And she told SHOWBIZ TONIGHT the secret to their success is pretty simple. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FERGIE, SINGER: We communicate all the time - communication. Definitely. We have a good time together. We like each other. We are not at the clubs all the time. We`re not doing scandalous things. You know, we go fishing and we think we`re rowdy.
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ANDERSON: Fishing. Nice. All right. We also caught up with Mary J. Blige and her husband Kendu Isaacs. Blige has credited her husband with helping her break free from addiction and also abusive relationships. And they told us now it`s all about the basics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARY J. BLIGE, SINGER: It`s love. It`s genuine love and not being afraid to express yourself to the person in whatever way you need to, and just supporting them. And just getting over yourself to really accept somebody else in your life. That`s it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
KENDU ISAACS, MARY J. BLIGE`S HUSBAND: No, she nailed it. It`s exactly that. It`s honesty and love.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: They seem like such a terrific couple. Mary J. Blige and Kendu Isaacs celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary last month.
HAMMER: Well, on Thursday, we asked you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day, "Britney`s latest lawyer quits: Is she beyond help? Most of you think so, with 83 percent of you saying yes; 17 percent say no.
Among the e-mails we got one from Alicia in Florida who writes, "The only way she can get help is if she wants it, and she doesn`t really seem to care anymore."
Ann from Maryland writes, "Pain is a powerful teacher, and I hope she doesn`t give up during this very trying time in her life."
Let`s take a look at what`s coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. On Monday, we, of course, will bring you the very latest developments in the latest chapter of Britney Spears` saga. How long will she be in the hospital? And what happens when she gets out? Will she ever get her kids back? Plus, we go inside Britney`s strange relationship with the paparazzi who follow her everywhere to see why she does the things she does. We`re going to have much more Britney Spears news and that will be on Monday on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Brooke, what a day it has been. Thanks a lot for watching.
ANDERSON: And what a trying time for Britney Spears. You know, our thoughts are with her.
HAMMER: We will continue to pull for her. That`s it for SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
ANDERSON: I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. The latest from "CNN HEADLINE NEWS" is next. Take care.
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