Skip to main content
Search
Services


 

Return to Transcripts main page

SHOWBIZ TONIGHT

Oprah Helps Capture Child Molesters; Talk Radio Responds to Beating Victim; Roger Daltrey Dishes on The Who`s Career

Aired October 11, 2005 - 19:00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


A.J. HAMMER, CO-HOST: I`m A.J. Hammer.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CO-HOST: And I`m Brooke Anderson. TV`s only live entertainment news show starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HAMMER (voice-over): On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, Oprah gets them. Tonight, new details on how Oprah Winfrey helped the FBI catch suspected child molesters.

OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: We`re coming after you.

HAMMER: And SHOWBIZ TONIGHT investigates: does this change the way the media and law enforcement work together?

ANDERSON (voice-over): Also tonight, caught on tape. The video seen round the world. Now the victim speaks out.

ROBERT DAVIS, BEATEN BY POLICE: I don`t hold animosity against anyone.

ANDERSON: Hear the surprising things he said about the officers that hit him over and over. Was race really a factor?

HAMMER: And how they became The Who.

ROGER DALTREY, MUSICIAN: Every night was a party.

HAMMER: Candid talk with The Who`s Roger Daltrey. The legendary `60s British band on their famous rock operas and how they made The Who what everyone was listening to. It`s the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

PETE TOWNSEND, MUSICIAN: I`m Pete Townsend. If it happens today, it`s on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAMMER: Hello, I`m A.J. Hammer.

ANDERSON: I`m Brooke Anderson.

HAMMER: Tonight, Oprah on a mission. Because of her, two accused child molesters are behind bars before they could strike again.

ANDERSON: That`s right, A.J. Millions watched as she showed the faces and names of wanted child molesters, many of whom had been on the wanted list for years. The results were astounding, because of the power of the media.

SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s David Haffenreffer is live from the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT news room with that story -- David.

DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brooke and A.J.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children say one in five girls and one in 10 boys are sexually molested. It`s a problem they say is overwhelming in magnitude and largely unrecognized. But this thing, television, is changing all that, and one of the most powerful women on TV is taking it head-on.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HAFFENREFFER: She got angry...

WINFREY: I`m angry at the system. And I`m angry at us.

HAFFENREFFER: She made the plea.

WINFREY: I asked all of you to take note, to study their faces on Oprah.com and to call your local FBI if you recognized any of them.

HAFFENREFFER: It worked. Within 48 hours of her emotional impassioned plea on her show, two alleged child molesters were captured. William C. Davis and Niles Scott both had been at large for at least a year, captured because of Oprah.

She is the most watched woman on television, and the people who work tirelessly to rescue kids tell SHOWBIZ TONIGHT having Oprah alongside them is powerful.

ERNIE ALLEN, CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN: There`s probably no American who is more trusted or respected than Oprah and utilizing that credibility, utilizing the power of the media,

HAFFENREFFER: In the United States, there are some 563,000 convicted and registered sex offenders monitored by law enforcement and there are another 100,000 who are unregistered, at large, not being monitored. That`s the category William C. Davis fell into, until his photo aired on Oprah.

WINFREY: William C. Davis.

HAFFENREFFER: He was recognized immediately by a woman in North Dakota.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was watching the show and she showed a bunch of pictures at the end. And I know that guy.

HAFFENREFFER: She knew that guy because he used to be the maintenance man in her former apartment building and because he currently lived above one of her good friends who had three small children.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This was a relief. It was a -- yes! We got him.

HAFFENREFFER: It turns out Davis was wanted for alleged child molestation spanning more than a decade.

ALLEN: Clearly the media is more important than it`s ever been before. For example, what CNN did in helping find missing and displaced children as a result of Hurricane Katrina. What programs like "America`s Most Wanted" and others have done.

HAFFENREFFER: The second accused child molester behind bars because of Oprah, Niles Scott.

SCOTT WILSON, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: We considered Mr. Scott a dangerous fugitive. He was wanted for rape and kidnapping.

HAFFENREFFER: He was found in Belize, of all places, and was extradited back to Ohio, where two years ago, he had been arrested for raping his 10-year-old niece.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why were you hiding in Belize?

NILES SCOTT, ACCUSED CHILD MOLESTER: I was not hiding.

HAFFENREFFER: Turns out, he`d been released on bail and fled the country.

RALPH MARCHE: The system failed by leaving him out on such a low bond.

HAFFENREFFER: It`s a system that Oprah swears she will change.

WINFREY: I am going to spend my own resources, and I am going to work with law enforcement. And I`m going to change, with your help, the laws in this country, state by state by state by state.

HAFFENREFFER: And she`s serious because she was a victim herself, molested starting at age 4.

WINFREY: I know that this is what I`m supposed to do in my life. I know this. This is a full circle moment for me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAFFENREFFER: And for the women who made the call to the FBI that ultimately nabbed William Davis, Oprah rewarded them $100,000 total. Oprah will give out the same amount to anyone giving information to the FBI that leads to the arrest of a suspected child molester. Check out her web site, of course, over at Oprah.com -- A.J.

HAMMER: Thanks very much, David. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s David Haffenreffer, live in the news room.

And coming up, we`re going to speak live with Marc Klaas. He`s a father who wished the media could have done more when his daughter, Polly, and this was a horrific case that you might remember, who was abducted and ultimately murdered by a child predator.

ANDERSON: And also, A.J., on Oprah.com, folks can find pictures of a number of accused predators, as well.

All right. You might be surprised by this one. Tonight, shocking words from the victim of Saturday`s gruesome New Orleans police beating which, of course, was caught on tape. Sixty-four-year-old Robert Davis told CNN`s "AMERICAN MORNING" today that he doesn`t hold any grudges and doesn`t think race played a part, but he does feel that a mounted patrolman at the scene, who is black, should have stepped in to help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

R. DAVIS: I don`t hold animosity against anyone. I want to thank our new police chief for his quick action. I really do. I mean, that`s the first time I`ve known it to happen, but I also want to have the officer who was on that horse, who was black, by the way, I`d like to have him suspended because I feel that he had some complicity in the situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Davis, who is a retired schoolteacher, suffered fractures in his cheek and might need eye surgery. You saw his eye was a bit busted up there. Police say he was drunk and resisted arrest. Davis denies that. The officers involved have pleaded not guilty to battery.

HAMMER: Well, as we just heard tonight, we now know what the New Orleans police and beating victim Robert Davis are saying. But what`s the buzz around America on talk radio right now? We`re going to find out right now.

And just a heads up, some of the video we`re going to be seeing through the course of this segment is a bit disturbing.

Joining us live from Fargo, North Dakota, syndicated radio talk show host, Ed Schultz of "The Ed Schultz show." And live from Dallas, Texas, Mark Davis, radio talk show host of "The Mark Davis show" on WBAP.

Mark, I want to start with you and hear what your listeners are saying. Do they think that the police in New Orleans were justified in this instance?

MARK DAVIS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, it`s hard to say that they were. I mean, if New Orleans cops can`t handle a drunk guy on Bourbon Street, it`s going to be a very, very long, cold winter.

The first thing that I think that people across America are going to be saying is, God bless Robert Davis for his level of accommodation. The New Orleans cops did, indeed I believe way overstep the bounds, but the wheels of justice are starting to turn.

Mr. Davis could easily use this as an opportunity to play into the Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton race-baiting wing of America. He didn`t do it. I applaud him for his composure, and I hope that justice is done for him because he`s done a great job to help justice move ahead with cooler heads.

ANDERSON: Big Ed Schultz, I want to move on to you. Are you hearing similar things from your listeners today?

ED SCHULTZ, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, A.J., what we`re hearing is that there simply is no sympathy and very little patience with what these police officers did to this man.

You can`t have law enforcement officials in this country, whether it be New Orleans or anywhere else, going around beating up senior citizens who have got AARP cards in their back pocket.

This man was encouraged to go back to the city of New Orleans by the mayor, and this is what greets him after he asks a police officer what time is the curfew.

And this is out of hand. Whether it`s racist or not can be played out in the arena of public opinion, and I`m sure that there will be some people who want those questions asked.

I agree with the other host that Robert Davis is definitely doing the country a favor and helping the recovery of New Orleans by saying that race was not an issue here. But the fact is, there`s got to be social justice here. I commend the officers who are leading the way new in the New Orleans Police Department by taking the action as quickly as they did. They`ve got to do that, they had to do that and hopefully, they can move on from this.

But clearly, this videotape is horrifying. It`s grotesque. I had a lot of callers today who were former law officers calling saying there`s no way they could support or condone these actions.

HAMMER: And of course, as you mentioned, the issue of race has come up and the victim, Robert Davis, has said himself -- he said it this morning on CNN -- he doesn`t feel it`s race related. Mark, what are your listeners saying about that, though? Do they themselves think race does play a factor here, because it certainly raised some red flags?

M. DAVIS: It certainly does. The imagery of white cops flailing on a black guy takes us all back to Rodney King. But not every police beating is the same. And it is impossible to jump inside these heads and know whether it definitely was or definitely was not racially motivated.

Ed made an interesting point there about looking for, quote unquote, "social justice." That can be a dicey area. What we need is real good old fashioned clear-eyed criminal justice. And if these cops committed a crime, which I think they obviously did in overstepping the bounds of responding to a drunk and disorderly, that would be one thing.

Evidence that it was racially motivated may be hard to come by, and I think there are two bat things we can do. Presume that it absolutely was or presume that it absolutely was not.

HAMMER: OK, now, I want to move to another part of the story...

SCHULTZ: Well, I`ll tell you, I spoke with the attorney -- I spoke with the attorney today for Mr. Davis. There`s no blood test here. There`s no evidence that this man was drunk. And that`s why I bring up the point of social justice here. You can`t have cops doing this stuff on the beat unless they absolutely know what they`re dealing with.

HAMMER: Ed., are your listeners chiming in, saying the same thing that you`re finding out? Are you hearing this from your listeners?

SCHULTZ: Absolutely, absolutely. They -- I am sharing this with the listeners. This is how they`re responding. They don`t condone this at all, and they want justice on this.

This man was not intoxicated. He hadn`t a drink in 25 years. And I`d like to know where the media got that information that he was intoxicated.

M. DAVIS: That information was from the police. That information -- the information came from the authorities on the scene. I don`t know whether to believe them or disbelieve them.

SCHULTZ: Exactly.

M. DAVIS: But I would suggest that listening to his attorney may not be the most unbiased source.

HAMMER: All right, guys. Well, I think we`re going to have to leave it at that and I`m sure this will be...

SCHULTZ: Well, his attorney`s known him for 20 years.

HAMMER: ... a topic for talk radio, and it will be on the minds of Americans for some time to come. And we`ll be talking about it on your particular shows. Ed Schultz, Mark Davis, thank you both for joining us on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

Well, it`s a big heated subject for debate on everybody`s minds, as I mentioned. We`d like to know what you`re thinking on this. And it`s time for you to sound off at our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. New Orleans beating: does the videotape tell the whole story? If you`d like to vote, go to CNN.com/ShowbizTonight. Got more to say, our e-mail address is ShowbizTonight@CNN.com. We`re going to read some of your thoughts later in the show.

ANDERSON: Well, this is an amazing story, A.J. An actor overcoming incredible odds and living out his dream. He`s dyslexic and a success in two TV shows. Find out how he does it, coming up live.

HAMMER: Is inspiring.

Plus, the Beatles sang, of course, "All You Need is Love," but there seems to be no love lost between Yoko Ono and Paul McCartney. What Yoko said about McCartney`s music. It`s a real zinger, and it`s coming up next.

ANDERSON: That`s good singing, by the way, A.J.

Also, another band of the British invasion, The Who. Singer Roger Daltrey talks about their wild times in the swinging `60s and countering counterculture. It`s the interview you`ll only see on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. That`s coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Brooke Anderson.

Tonight, another whiff of that old, bad blood between Yoko Ono and former Beatle Paul McCartney.

Yoko was accepting an award in London on behalf of her late husband, John Lennon, when she told the story of how John once woke her in the night, wondering why musicians covered McCartney`s songs more than his.

Well, Yoko`s answer, "You`re a good songwriter, it`s not `June with spoon` that you write. You`re a good singer and most musicians are probably a little bit nervous about covering your songs."

Hmm, that Yoko never holds back.

Well, just days ago on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, Lennon`s first wife shared bitter memories of the first time she found John and Yoko together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CYNTHIA LENNON, FORMER WIFE OF JOHN LENNON: The lights were on, the curtains were drawn. This was about 4 p.m. in the Afternoon. Walked in. The door was open. I shouted and I wondered where Julian was and I said, "John." And I went into the sun room, and they were sitting cross-legged on the floor. Totally -- well, they were dressed in toweling robes.

HAMMER: She was wearing your robe. That must have been shocking.

LENNON: Yes. The whole thing was too shocking. It was...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: I`d say it was probably pretty shocking. Yoko and McCartney have clashed in the past over song-writing credits.

HAMMER: Tonight, The Who. They were the thinking man`s band to the `60s generation. Together, Roger Daltrey, Pete Townsend, the late John Entwistle and Keith Moon energized and electrified audiences around the world.

Well, now the band is releasing a new live DVD set that showcases their 11-year rock operas "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia." I got the chance to speak with lead singer Roger Daltrey all about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HAMMER (voice-over): This is The Who. Four Brits that made it to the big time in the 1960s, singing about their disgust with the establishment.

SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is bringing you these rarely seen clips of live performances of The Who`s monumental rock operas "Tommy," and "Quadrophenia."

Both masterpieces are now on DVD, and I was right there with lead singer Roger Daltrey, who revealed to me what it was like to be The Who during those amazing times.

(on camera) The band worked on "Tommy" when you guys really needed a hit.

DALTREY: We could have gone on being that kind of pop band that has the yearly hit which we`d been previous, the first four years previous to "Tommy." But we had a manager that was kind of fearless. We had this thing about music, you dare to be different, dare to be dangerous. And he taught us to be fearless.

And in 1968, recording "Tommy," and having the audacity to call it an opera, that was pretty fearless in those days.

HAMMER (voice-over): "Tommy" is the album that changed things for The Who, both commercially and financially. It was at first a huge gamble. It cost more than 36,000 pounds to record in London studios. Now, even if you exchanged it into dollars, it was an enormous amount of money back in the `60s.

(on camera) When you guys performed "Tommy" at Woodstock, that performance is largely credited with putting you on the map, putting you on the radar, for people internationally. But I`ve also read that the Woodstock performance didn`t go so great for you.

DALTREY: I find it very difficult to be objective about it. Subjectively, it wasn`t one of our best shows, no. By the time we got on stage at Woodstock, we`d been up for 24 hours. God knows what we`d been drinking.

It was redeemed by the power of the audience. The stars of Woodstock were the audience. And it did put us on the map.

We did The Whole of "Tommy" at Woodstock and "Tommy" in its entirety was like, it used to run for about 55 minutes. I remember singing, "See Me, Feel Me," and as I got the into the end refrain, the last lines, the sun peeked over the horizon at the back of the crowd, the early morning sun, and it was extraordinary. It was like God`s light show. We couldn`t have been more lucky.

HAMMER (voice-over): Woodstock may have really put them on the map, but you it was Roger Daltrey`s intense live performances, Pete Townsend`s famous windmill-style of guitar playing and drummer Keith Moon`s antics that really drew fans and helped make the band`s thuggish working class image work.

DALTREY: Moon`s antics were legendary. And you couldn`t make up better stories. I mean, you name it, he did it. And he did it fearlessly with great aplomb.

HAMMER: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT caught up with Pete Townsend, who recalls the downside of playing guitar with so much enthusiasm.

TOWNSEND: I`ve slashed my hand from side to side in Madison Square Garden in the `70s. And luckily, the ice hockey medic was there, and he used a staple gun to staple it up and got me back on the stage within about 15 seconds.

I`d done all kinds of damage. I normally ripped my nail off.

DALTREY: We went from being your average bar band to being something, oh, where did that come from? Almost immediately. It was extraordinary.

It was party in time. Every night was a party. We were 22 -- between 22 and 30 years old. Far too much testosterone. Far too much money. And having far too much fun. It shouldn`t have been allowed.

HAMMER: In between the fun, though, there were hit songs, several of them. "Baba O`Reilly," "Won`t Get Fooled Again" and "Behind Blue Eyes," cemented the band on American radio.

But by the end of 1972, The Who were moving away from doing top 40 radio hits and in May 1973, they started recording their second rock opera, called "Quadrophenia." It was another Pete Townsend project, about a young man with four split personalities.

DALTREY: "Quadrophenia" at the time wasn`t even a very big hit. "Tommy" was a huge hit. But at the time of recording it, we were just doing a job and we thought, "This is really different. And how much more different can we make it?" So, it was all kind of, you know, "All right, we`ve pushed the boat out this far. Let`s push it out a bit further."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAMMER: Roger also told me that he still has a whole lot of fun doing what he does and the moment he stops having that fun, he`s not going to do it any more. Of course, there is so much more to the story of the Who, so if you need more, get yourself a copy of The Who, "Tommy and Quadrophenia" live with special guests. It will be in stores on November 8.

ANDERSON: Oprah uses her media muscle and cash to catch some of the most dangerous suspected child molesters. So will we see more media taking this approach? Child activist Marc Klaas joins us live.

HAMMER: Plus, how Reba MacIntyre is using her sitcom to help out real-life hurricane victims. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has your exclusive first look.

ANDERSON: And bad hair day? Well, Carmen Electra has some electrifying hair styles for you. It`s "Tuesday InStyle" on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. That`s coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: All right, everyone, it`s time now for "Tuesday InStyle." Tonight rocker chick Carmen Electra shows her softer side with some quick and easy hair styles for this month`s "Beauty Report."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLLY BLITZER, "INSTYLE" MAGAZINE: For this month`s "Beauty Report" for the October issue of "InStyle," we decided to take on Carmen Electra as our model and who better than Carmen to show easy and effortless salon- ready, red-carpet-ready hairstyles?

One of the looks that Carmen sports is a very chic pony tail. She said it`s the perfect cure for a bad hair day. It takes just three minutes and it doesn`t even involve any heated tools. Just a comb, a couple hair pins and voila.

Carmen really likes the symmetry of this look and she said growing up, she had a look alike, Marcia Brady, and you can see this is like an updated, sexy, Carmen Electra version of the Marcia.

In only four minutes, Carmen can transform herself from bed head to regal chignon. She actually described this look as regal. And all the hair stylist used was a little mousse, a little hairspray and a rat-tail comb.

Last but not least, Carmen showed us a half up, half down `do. It looks really funky and spunky and it looks like a lot of work was put into it. But really, this hairdo actually only involves one tool. It`s a hooked hair elastic, which the hair stylist taught us. It wrapped around the pony tail, can hold it in place very securely, and this is the secret to Carmen`s look.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: And to find out how can you get Carmen`s looks, pick up a copy of "InStyle" magazine on news stands.

Now, A.J., I`m not sure if that comes with a stylist or not.

HAMMER: I`m not sure.

Well, coming up, imagine having to read scripts but you`re dyslexic. We`re going to introduce you to an actor who has done it for a couple of successful television shows. His amazing story, live, coming up.

ANDERSON: And holy Smurf. We all remember those little blue cartoon characters. Well, they`re back on TV, but you may want to your kids away. We`ll tell you why, next.

HAMMER: And Oprah helps catch suspended child -- suspected child molesters, but how involved should the media be? Marc Klaas, whose daughter was tragically abducted and killed, joins us live in the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT continues in one minute. Hi, everybody. I`m Thomas Roberts with your "Headline Prime Newsbreak."

Bitter cold and rain are hindering efforts to get much-needed relief to victims of the massive South Asian earthquake. And the severe cold is making things even worse for the millions left homeless by the quake who are now living in tents or even the open air.

Government officials now say the informant in Iraq was lying about the alleged terrorist plot against New York`s subway system. The tip prompted officials to tighten security on the city subways last week.

And for the third time in a month, parts of L.A. are without power. The lights went out on about a thousand customers this morning, including City Hall. Some folks had electricity by noon, but hundreds are still in the dark.

The man seen on videotape being beaten by several New Orleans police officers says he does not think it is a racially motivated incident. But the 64-year-old retired school teacher denies police claims that he`d been drinking. Robert Davis says he hasn`t had a drink in 25 years.

That is the news for now. Thanks for joining us. I`m Thomas Roberts. We take you back for more of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. It is 31 minutes past the hour. I`m A.J. Hammer.

ANDERSON: And I`m Brooke Anderson. You`re watching TV`s only live entertainment news show.

Well, A.J., as we`ve been saying throughout the show, Oprah has really made it her mission to track down accused child predators. She`s using her show to do it, has had some success. Two accused predators are behind bars now.

Well, just in a couple of minutes, we`ll speak live with Marc Klaas, whose daughter Polly abducted and killed back in 1993...

HAMMER: Tragic story.

ANDERSON: ... a very tragic, horrific story. We`ll talk about the importance of the media in tracking down these accused child predators.

HAMMER: And onto an inspirational story. You`ve heard of dyslexia. It is a learning disability that affects people who have it in different ways.

It can make it very difficult to memorize. Well, we`re going to speak with an actor who not only, despite having dyslexia, has chosen to pursue his craft of acting but is actually having quite a good successful run with it.

ANDERSON: And the job there is memorizing the script.

HAMMER: Yes. So we`ll hear that story coming up in a minute, that and more.

But first, let`s get to tonight`s "Hot Headlines." SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Sibila Vargas joining us live from Hollywood with those.

Hi, Sibila.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, A.J.

The Rolling Stones are like sands through the hour glass making news tonight, choosing a soap opera to air their new video. The Stones have struck a deal with NBC to show the video, "Streets of Love," next Tuesday on the soap opera, "Days of our Lives."

Also tonight, a big Hollywood moment for Rod Stewart. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT cameras were there as the 60-year-old rocker was honored with a star on the Walk of Fame. Joining him for the festivities were his fiancee, Penny Lancaster. The couple is expecting a baby next month.

Tonight, the Smurfs are making international headlines, and it`s no laughing matter. Unicef is using the cartoon characters to raise awareness about children forced into warfare in Africa. The ad is on Belgian TV and shows a family of Smurfs devastated by bombs. It`s so upsetting it`s only being shown after 9:00 p.m. so children won`t see it.

And Oprah Winfrey`s latest mission has stunned the nation and the FBI. By reaching out to her TV audience, she helped put two accused child molesters behind bars within 48 hours of the broadcast. Viewers called in tips that led police to fugitives.

And those are tonight`s "Hot Headlines." A.J., first the Angels Network and now this. She`s an extraordinary woman.

HAMMER: Oprah doing the good work, once again. Sibila Vargas in Hollywood, thanks very much.

ANDERSON: And, A.J., Oprah`s crusade to use her show to find child predators has grabbed everyone`s attention. It`s quite a change from a decade ago, Marc Klaas knows all too well. His daughter was murdered by a child predator. Klaas is live tonight in San Francisco.

Marc, thank you so much for being here.

MARC KLAAS, FOUNDER OF BEYOND MISSING: Thank you.

ANDERSON: Of course, I cannot even begin to understand what you`ve been through, Marc. I`m so sorry for your loss. And let me ask you, when your daughter, Polly, was abducted in 1993, initially, no media involved. It was actually discouraged, right? Why?

KLAAS: Yes, absolutely. When Polly was kidnapped, an all-points bulletin went out in a very timely matter, but it stipulated that the information was not for press release.

Now, one of the jurisdictional agencies, or one of the agencies in an adjoining jurisdiction, interpreted that to mean that the information should not go out to the deputies in the squad cars because the press might be monitoring those frequencies.

Unfortunately, two of those deputies had Polly`s killer within an hour and, not knowing that there had even been a crime, they sent him on his way, helped him out of a ditch, and sent him on his way, instead of investigating him for a kidnapping.

So, certainly, things have changed tremendously. And beyond that, even at that time, the sex offender`s privacy was of primary importance. It was more important than the safety of children. So things have certainly changed.

ANDERSON: Absolutely. And, Marc, the only outlet you had was "America`s Most Wanted." How did having that exposure help with the search?

KLAAS: Well, it helped bring it some national attention to it. Now, we had plenty of local media, but "America`s Most Wanted" was the only national venue that was willing to talk about those kinds of issues in those days. And that, obviously, is because John Walsh is the host and his own son was kidnapped some years before.

ANDERSON: And as you say, times have changed. Here we are, more than a decade later, Oprah Winfrey using her show to capture the predators. She`s got a different audience, Marc, a lot of women, a lot of housewives. Does that help?

KLAAS: Well, you know, Oprah is probably the most respected woman in the United States. She is, you know, the grand dame of all media. And for her to pay attention to this issue -- and certainly it`s not the first time she`s gotten involved in crime and victimization -- but for her to pay attention to this issue and highlight it on her program, I think, is a quantum leap forward.

And it certainly brings it to everybody`s attention. Hopefully, more shows will follow suit.

ANDERSON: When Oprah speaks, people listen. You`re right about that.

KLAAS: Absolutely.

ANDERSON: And we`ve seen parents of abducted kids become vocal publicly. How important is it for parents to get the media involved immediately?

KLAAS: Well, again, another good question. When we were -- when Polly was kidnapped, we were told to sit by the phone and wait for the ransom call to come in. And we were told that by even the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

What we found, though, very quickly was that parents going on TV can humanize their children in a way that gets people invested in it. Just look what Beth Twitty has done most recently with her daughter, Natalee Holloway.

But I think it`s also important for -- it`s just as important for the media to engage the parents as it is for the parents to engage the media. Because, working together, they can force law enforcement to put on an investigation that they might not otherwise feel is that important and ultimately resolve cases, ultimately resolve cases successfully.

ANDERSON: And, Marc, we`ve got about 15 seconds, but on television, we see Amber Alert for kids. In an ideal world, what should we see to alert us to predators?

KLAAS: Well, there should be -- I would think there should be a television station somewhere that just flips the pictures of these guys time after time after time. People wouldn`t look at it a lot, but they`d look at it. The faces are out there. A lot of these guys try to be anonymous, and it would certainly bring them to the forefront.

ANDERSON: All right. Marc Klaas live from San Francisco. Thank you so much for your time.

KLAAS: Sure.

HAMMER: Well, a deadly natural disaster has shaken the producers of the hit series, "Survivor." "Survivor: Guatemala" was shot months ago in that Central American country, long before last week`s devastating mudslides.

But, with the death toll now topping 2,000, the show`s producers are looking for a way to acknowledge that tragedy. Reports say they may include a message at the end of the next episode. They`re hoping that might raise some more money and some more donations for the relief efforts.

ANDERSON: And speaking of doing something for relief efforts, Reba McEntire is using her star power to keep the suffering of Katrina`s victims in the public eye. This week`s episode of "Reba" is all about the displaced people struggling to remake their lives after the storm. It all starts when Reba takes in a stray dog that survived the hurricane. When she tracks down the dog`s owner, she opens not only her heart but her home.

SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has your first exclusive look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on, baby. We got to get back to the shelter now.

REBA MCENTIRE, ACTRESS: OK, you know what? We have plenty of room. Why don`t you all just stay here with us, all of you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, no, Reba, that`s asking too much.

MCENTIRE: No, it`s not, really. Really, we can make room. Stay with us. Don`t go back down there to that shelter.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: The "Reba" episode about Katrina airs this Friday.

Reba`s co-star, Chris Rich, directed it. And he`s be joining us here live on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT this Thursday.

HAMMER: Earlier on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, we told you about that 64-year- old retired school teacher beaten by New Orleans police. Well, the whole episode, as you probably know, was caught on videotape. It`s been airing all over national television over the last couple of days.

We want to hear from you. The New Orleans police beating: Does the videotape tell the whole story? You can keep voting online at CNN.com/showbiztonight. You can also write to us at showbiztonight@CNN.com. We`re going to read some of your e-mails at 55 past the hour.

ANDERSON: Well, we`ve got an inspirational story coming up here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. The amazing success of an actor who needs to read piles of scripts but is plagued by dyslexia. Not only did he fight past it, he made it big. His amazing story, next in the interview you`ll only see on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

HAMMER: Also, Pamela Anderson takes it all off.

ANDERSON: Really?

HAMMER: And China is still in shock. We`re going to tell you why and what Pam`s up to this time.

ANDERSON: Plus, the gorgeous actress and swimsuit model who`s going from glamour to gaming. We`ll show you the radical new role she`s taking, coming up.

HAMMER: Time now for tonight`s "Entertainment Weekly" "Great American Pop Culture Quiz."

So tonight marks the 30th anniversary since "Saturday Night Live" first premiered. In honor of that, on October 11, 1975, when "SNL" first launched, who was the first guest host? Was it Candice Bergen, Buck Henry, George Carlin, or Steve Martin? Think about it. We`re coming right back with the answer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Tonight`s "Entertainment Weekly" "Great American Pop Culture Quiz." On October 11, 1975, when "SNL" launched -- wow, has it been 30 years -- who was the first guest host, Candice Bergen, Buck Henry, George Carlin, or Steve Martin?

He didn`t use the seven words you can never say on television, but it was George Carlin, "c," and a little extra credit. Instead of participating in sketches as current host do, Carlin performed stand-up in between them.

HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m A.J. Hammer.

Tonight, a Hollywood story about beating incredible odds. Aspiring actors certainly know the chances of making it in the cutthroat business of acting are slim. Well, imagine adding to those odds the struggle of being dyslexic.

Gbenga Akinnagbe beat all the odds with his success on Showtime`s "Barbershop" and HBO`s "The Wire." He`s even gone the extra mile just to memorize his lines. Gbenga Akinnagbe -- I think I got the name pronunciation correct...

GBENGA AKINNAGBE, ACTOR: You did. You did.

HAMMER: Spelling`s a little tough for me. Thank you very much for joining us here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.

AKINNAGBE: Thanks for having me.

HAMMER: Now, dyslexia is a learning disability. And it is -- there are varying degrees of it, and it manifests itself in different ways. How does it affect and impact your life?

AKINNAGBE: Well, with me, my form of dyslexia, I omit words, invert words and letters, and so on. And it takes me a while to really take in the information, so I have to go over it several times and try to get it in several different ways.

HAMMER: So it must affect memorization, certainly...

AKINNAGBE: It does.

HAMMER: ... which is a big part of what you do for a living, acting on television. So how do you go about? You must have methodology to memorizing your lines.

AKINNAGBE: I just work harder at it. I mean, there`s really no way around it, just work harder at it. I used to just write lines over, and over, and over, and over again. And eventually, it gets in there.

But that was more of a technical way. And I needed something that was more visceral. So I just started memorizing the moments in a script, the moments in a monologue, and the lines would seem to come easier that way. I`d get into my body by doing something physical while I was learning my lines, so that helped a great deal. I`d run...

HAMMER: But you have to get specific, word, for word, for word.

AKINNAGBE: Yes.

HAMMER: It has to be incredibly tough.

AKINNAGBE: It`s still something I struggle with. It`s still something that I deal with on every project.

HAMMER: Have you ever consulted with other actors? I imagine there are many other actors who do have dyslexia, as well. Do you know of any, and how they go about their memorization?

AKINNAGBE: Well, a lot of them do the same thing. A lot of them -- it`s basically doing it harder, working at it better, you know, going over it again, and again, and again. Sometimes, I ask someone to read it to me so I can hear it from the outside.

Sometimes I will say it out loud, even having read it several times, so I can hear myself and compare it to what the thoughts I have of the script or the monologue in my head. And lots of times, they don`t match. So it`s good that I read out loud, so I can hear, you know, where I`m wrong.

HAMMER: And it`s worked out for you, as we mentioned. You`ve had success with "The Wire," which you`re filming right now, and with "Barbershop," which is running this weekend. But when you were starting out -- I`m thinking, god, you know, you have a big challenge ahead of you to try to make it doing this.

You know, I`m thinking, like, are you -- I don`t know, just seems -- were you nervous or the idea of pursuing acting? It seems like such a challenge. Why did you go for this as a profession?

AKINNAGBE: Well, I was so excited by it. I wasn`t worried as much about how hard it would be, especially with dyslexia. But I`m also one of those people who attacks my weaknesses. I attack those things that I think hold me back.

And I put them right in my line of fire, because I don`t want to carry that with me. So I`ll surround myself with books and practice every day. And when I realized it was a problem for me, I started reading more. So the more I read, the more I practice it, the easier it is. I can deal with it and so on.

HAMMER: Certainly a great challenge to rise to. I imagine there are people who are watching who may, you know, be dealing with dyslexia. Some people don`t tell other people when they have it. They`re looking at you right now and saying, "Well, that`s pretty cool."

What would you say to somebody who does keep this a secret and doesn`t think they could perhaps make it in any profession, you know, let alone acting, with the level of success that you have?

AKINNAGBE: Well, the truth of the matter is, you know, despite whatever hold you back, you can do whatever you want. I could become an English teacher and surround myself even more so with words. Go out there and don`t hold yourself back. You`re the only one holding yourself back. So dyslexia doesn`t have to hold you back. It really doesn`t.

HAMMER: Gbenga Akinnagbe, I appreciate you sharing your story with us here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, man.

AKINNAGBE: Thank you very much, A.J.

HAMMER: And you can catch Gbenga this Sunday on the season finale of "Barbershop" on Showtime.

ANDERSON: All right, everyone. This is a real shocker: Pam Anderson showing some skin again in China.

The star of FOX`s "Stacked" appeared topless on new phone cards as part of an anti-fur effort. It`s a joint campaign between People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and government-owned China telecom. Last year, the blond bombshell barely made it past Chinese censors. She had to tone down a similar ad for billboards.

Oh, and in case your Chinese isn`t up to snuff, the copy on the card says "Please Don`t Wear Fur."

OK. Moving now to the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT game room, she`s appeared in major motion pictures. She`s graced the cover of countless women`s magazines. And she`s modeled swimsuits in "Sports Illustrated." Still, it all just wasn`t enough for Josie Maran.

Tonight, for her next big project, she`s veering off in an unexpected new direction: video games. And she may bring a more female audience along for the ride.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSIE MARAN, ACTRESS/COVER GIRL: Stay focused. He`s roaring on a lot of power, so wait for him to shift first.

ANDERSON (voice-over): Josie Maran is going from glamour to gamer. You`ve seen Josie smiling on countless magazine covers, posing in "Sports Illustrated`s" swimsuit issues and acting in scary movies like "Van Helsing." Now Josie is taking her cover girl good looks into a new area, video games.

MARAN: I think they saw how bad ass I was in "Van Helsing" being a vampire so they thought, "Merge that together and we`ll have an amazing game."

ANDERSON: The, quote, "amazing game" in question is "Need for Speed: Most Wanted," the latest entry in Electronic Arts` top-selling series of high-octane street racing games.

MARAN: Be careful. He`ll drop paint if he has to.

My character`s name is Mia. And I lure street racers into being the best and becoming number one on the black list.

ANDERSON: Maran`s leap to racing video games may seem radical for someone more used to runways than speedways. But Josie tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that the high-tech project was a big draw for her.

MARAN: Never been done before. They shot it like a movie, like a Hollywood movie, and so we did it against a green screen. And then they transferred that into like an animation, digital sort of effect.

ANDERSON: Josie has some big digital shoes to fill. The last "Need for Speed" game, which featured fellow model Brooke Burke, was the fifth best-selling video game of last year. Maran is hoping her "Need for Speed" will also set gamers` hearts racing.

MARAN: It`s pretty cool to be a part of, like, millions of guys` worlds for the next few months every day. That`s pretty cool.

ANDERSON: But don`t think only guys are invited to this race. Women make up an estimated 43 percent of video gamers. And they play as many hours per day as guys do.

Maran tells us this game has something for them, too.

MARAN: My character, Mia, is a strong -- she can kick butt, and she`s really smart, too. So I think that`s important.

ANDERSON: What`s also important -- Josie says this project appeals to her inner butt-kicker...

MARAN: I got to have a fight scene. And I got to beat some serious street racer up. You know, that was exciting.

ANDERSON: ... and her inner speed demon.

MARAN: I have a Volvo S60R. The "r" is key. It`s a 300-horsepower rocket. And I like to drive fast.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: She better wear her seat belt. "Need for Speed: Most Wanted" hits stores next month.

HAMMER: Were Martha Stewart and Joan Rivers old college buddies? Well, in today`s "Talk of the Day" moment, Martha and Joan reminisce about their good old days at Barnard College. And, as Joan points out, they mean old, on "Martha."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTHA STEWART, HOST, "MARTHA": And we have your picture from your yearbook.

JOAN RIVERS, FASHION EXPERT: Don`t show it.

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: There`s Joan.

RIVERS: And look at you. Some difference...

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

I loved it, because they truly -- and I was in the late `50s -- women were allowed -- Barnard girls were...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: Joan made me promise we wouldn`t tell the years of our graduation.

RIVERS: There`s nobody alive to remember where I really was.

(LAUGHTER)

My roommate`s name was Martha, too.

STEWART: Oh, really?

RIVERS: ... Washington.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: It`s good to be able to laugh at yourself, right?

Well, coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, when you think you`ve read it all about Britney Spears, here`s one you really won`t believe. In "Laughter Dark," why Britney`s baby and her new perfume definitely did not belong in the same headline. Stay with us.

HAMMER: But first, it is now time to see what you tuned into. Final Nielsen ratings just out today for last week`s shows. Here`s your first look at the network`s top five.

"CSI" was number one once again with just under 29 million viewers. And just like last week, "Desperate Housewives" right on its heels in the number two spot. Number three went to "Lost." In fourth place, "Without a Trace." And wrapping up the top five, "CSI: Miami."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Brooke Anderson.

It`s time now to take a look at the best in late night laughs in "Laughter Dark." Well, a frightened dog, a smelly wrestler, and Britney Spears all rolled together can only mean one thing, that it`s time for headlines on "The Tonight Show."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": "Dial in your shotgun. Learn how to use your shotgun." Oh, yes. Look at the poor dog. Could you move that a little to the left, please?

"Adam City Star Smells Title."

(LAUGHTER)

Police blotter, August 27th, suspicious activity. A caller reported seeing two people wearing camouflage in the 500 block of Sunnyside Lane. Police were unable to find them.

(LAUGHTER)

This is a -- this is the Associated Press. Did you know Britney Spears has a perfume coming out?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right, right.

LENO: Had a baby. "Britney Spears gives birth, releases fragrance."

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAMMER: That was the A.P.?

ANDERSON: That`s terrible.

HAMMER: They didn`t spell "Britney" right.

ANDERSON: They couldn`t get anything right.

HAMMER: They messed that up, too.

All right. Well, throughout the show, we`ve been asking you to vote online on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day." New Orleans beating: Does the videotape tell the whole story?

Well, the vote so far: 71 percent of you say, yes, it does; 29 percent of you say, no, it doesn`t.

Among the e-mails we`ve received, one from Tony in California. He doesn`t think we`ve got the whole story. "I have yet to see a clip of video showing what happened before the beating."

But Alison from Indiana disagrees. "Even had he been drunk, disorderly, this man could have been subdued without having been beaten."

You can keep voting at CNN.com/showbiztonight.

A lot has been made of that fact, but Miles O`Brien was putting the question to the police lieutenant this morning. What possibly could he have done to warrant what happened?

ANDERSON: Right.

HAMMER: And that is one of the questions that will continue on.

ANDERSON: And, of course, those images evoke strong feelings, no matter, you know?

All right. That`s SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m Brooke Anderson.

ANDERSON: I`m A.J. Hammer. Stay tuned for the latest from CNN Headline News.

END

Search
© 2007 Cable News Network.
A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map.
Offsite Icon External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pipeline Icon Pay service with live and archived video. Learn more
Radio News Icon Download audio news  |  RSS Feed Add RSS headlines