tv Capital News Today CSPAN October 19, 2009 11:00pm-2:00am EDT
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>> right now on "showbiz tonight," the balloon boy saga soars to new heights of outrage. a sheriff said the whole thing was a hoax cooked up by the family to get a reality show. >> it has been determined that this is a hoax. that it was a publicity stunt. >> if it's true, how did the family pull it off? major outrage over whether the parents put their kids in danger. tonight "showbiz tonight" has
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the late break balloon boy bombshells. cougar alert. even before courteney cox's show cougartown, cougar was a household word thanks to demi moore and madonna. is the word demeaning meaning she's a predator. is it time for the word to be extinct? the latest star to bare it all in "playboy." marge simpson. does cartoon nudity cross the line or is it just plain funny? tv's first most provocative entertainment news show starts right now. i'm aj hammer broadcasting tonight and every night from new york city. hot air hoax? talk about a dramatic turn of
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events. the balloon drama that had millions of people glued to their tvs has taken a new turn. the whole wild ride was an incredible stunt orchestrated for a shot at reality tv fame. but that is just the beginning of this shocking spectacle. tonightry hear new evidence that richard heene may have been plotting this hoax for months. were his kids used as pawns. no question that these bombshells made for big news breaking today. it started as a nail biting realtime drama. >> a little boy who literally floated away. >> it became a national punch line on "saturday night live." >> it's not news. >> i was on the news for a whole day. >> that are doesn't make you news, balloon. >> what if i said i had a boy inside me? >> the story of a boy trapped in
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a run away balloon is deflated. >> it is determined this is a hoax and it was a publicity stunt. >> this alleged balloon caper is now a full-blown criminal case. >> everyone is expecting that there will be charges brought against them. >> colorado police said they expect to charge richard heene and his wife for duping the world into thinking their 6-year-old son, falcon, was trapped in this run away balloon. turns out he was nowhere near it. the family is fighting back. >> the sheriff having a press conference saying they are guilty does not make them so. >> the heenes' new attorney said they deserve the presumption of innocence. he add they should not be arrested in front of their boys. >> it's child abuse to slap the cuffs on a couple of parents and haul them off to jail in front of the kids. >> "showbiz tonight" can tell
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you they want to talk to a researcher who worked with heene and claims the scientist is obsessed with two things. getting famous and aliens. the researcher, robert thomas makes claims in a story he sold. the incredible storm chasing heenes of colorado. >> every since the family appeared on wife swap, richard has been obsessed with getting a reality show of his own. heene was cooking up a scheme to get attention for that reality show and involved launching a mysterious balloon that the media would go nuts over. sound familiar? >> richard said how much do you want to bet we could facilitate some sort of a media stunt that would be equally profound as that of roswell and do so nothing more than a weather balloon and controversy.
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>> the researcher said unlike the alleged hoax we saw, heene's proposal did not involve his kids. that alleged scheme unraveled when falcon suggested on "larry king live" that the whole thing was an act. >> you said that we did this for a show. >> now the future of those kids is becoming a big concern. >> we are hearing that children's protective services are investigating, but police assures us that the kids are not going to be charged. >> the attorney said no one should be worried about the kids. >> they seem to be perfectly normal, happy, well-adjusted kids who are being insulated as much as possible. >> if this unconventional family of veterans and storm seekers were indeed plotting to get famous, they definitely succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. but now the question becomes,
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how much will their newfound infamy cost them? this alleged balloon hoax could cost them dearly, but how in the world could they have pulled the wool over the eyes of so many people? why has the apparent stunt sparked outrage. joining me from hollywood is an entertainment journalist and here in new york, the fantastic jane velez mitchell, author of this fabulous book, i want. my journey from addiction to a simpler and honest life. you and i have been working this thing for a long time. i don't know about you, but i have never seen nor imagined one person going through such lengths and being so reckless for a hoax. what was your reaction when you heard the colorado sheriff said we believe we have been duped by the heene family? >> you think? a lot of us came to that conclusion as soon as we heard the boy had been found inside
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the home. very fishy indeed. now it turns out that the sheriff's department as early as friday thought it was a hoax and they perpetrated a hoax on reporters saying they believed the family because they wanted to gain the family's trust so they could do an investigation over the weekend. interviewing them separately and going into the house and taking computer equipment. they announced it is a hoax. the reason people are outraged is because we became emotionally invested. when i saw that saucer go up and i thought there was a little boy in there, my heart went out to him, as did everyone across the country wondering is he going to die or is he going to fallout? we became invest and when we found out it was a hoax, we became extremely betrayed. there is a sense of betray american league and outrage that a parent would exploit a child this way. it's obscene. >> obscene and obscene what
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officials did when we thought there was a 6-year-old boy hanging in the balance. let me run through the massive effort by colorado officials for the hoax. denver international airport shut down. two national guard helicopters were used. dozens of officials in two counties ended up chasing an empty balloon and we feel that got destroyed too. an extraordinary ordeal and if it was all for a reality show, not hard to understand why so many people are so ticked off. >> yeah. a lot of people are ticked off and understandably so. at the same time a lot of people are entertained. this is the number one topic on twitter and facebook and morning show and radio shows. everyone is talking about this and fascinated by it. people want more of this. >> twisted as it is, when you think about it and the world and culture we live in, it's understandable that he wanted his 15 minutes of fame. what upset so many people,
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including "the view" cohost that a 6-year-old boy was at the centerpiece of this plot. watch it. >> you know what makes me upset, whoopie is there is a picture where we thought the little boy fell out of that balloon. i think everybody and i'm taking as a mother, your heart went out and people were praying for this family and shedding tears because they didn't know if the boy had died. >> people as she said were angry that the heene kids in addition to the fact that he was used for the plot was trotted out in front of cameras and forced to lie. what do you think should happen to the heene kids if the parents are charge and arrested in this thing? >> what got me was when the poor boy threw up not once, but twice when he was being grilled. imagine how conflicted wanting to be loyal to his mom and dad and not wanting to lie.
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what horrible values these parents if this is a hoax are teaching these kids. essentially telling them lie to pursue fame. i don't think they should be victimized twice and taken from their parents. they seem remarkably well-adjusted despite the fact that they have this cookie, nutty professor, although i'm not a professor father. to take them out of the home forever would be to turn this into a major league tragedy. what i think is they should prosecute the dad, not prosecute the mother and have them remain in the custody of the mother or some other family member. >> the public at large the not feel satisfaction unless they throw the book at the dad unless this does prove to be a hoax. i urge you not to go anywhere. move over, jon and kate, sinara, octomom. will this go down as the most
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outrageous reality show ever? that's coming up at the bottom of the hour. alleged balloon boy hoax. is it ever okay to put kids in reality shows? go to cnn.com/showbiztonight. got more to say? e-mail us. >> courteney cox's hit show cougar town has done a lot more for the cougar image. >> hell with it. hey, kid! pow! >> live that scene. hold on a second. is using the word cougar to describe an older woman with a younger man offensive. is it time the word becomes extinct. also, i never thought i would see the day when marge simpson of all animated people would pose for "playboy." does cartoon nudity cross a line or is it funny? is the hollywood honeymoon over for president obama from late night comedy to stars speaking
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>> you made barack obama angry. you make him angry, he turns. he turns into the rock obama. >> the rock obama? >> don't be alarmed. the rock obama like barack obama only stronger and more angry. >> pretty good with that. duane johnson as the rock obama on "saturday night live." president obama's very funny alter ego.
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welcome back to "showbiz tonight." is president obama's hollywood honeymoon over? from late night laughs to stars speaking out, there may be a lover's spat with the president. here's brooke anderson. ♪ at least >> from serenades to screams. >> obama. i know you are listening. are you listening? >> from softballs -- >> how cool is it to fly in air force one? >> to parodies. >> when you look at my record, it's clear what i have done so far. that is -- nothing. >> president obama took office with a sky high approval rating in hollywood, but he is starting to hear voices of discontent. >> we need change now. >> singer lady gaga attacked him at the national equality march in washington for failing to get
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congress to change the don't ask don't tell policy. michael moore bashes the cabinet picks in his film. >> the love story had pretty biting things to say about o bam amp. >> he is hearing criticism on afghanistan and health care reform. >> it wouldn't have been my choice to start the debate where he did like begging for a public option. >> among stars who continue to back him, there is impatience. >> i along with million was others wish for -- be bold. >> everyone is angry at him right now. >> the biggest difference for the president may be in late night. hosts once accused of going easy on him no longer are. >> when are i call your name, come up and claim your nobel peace prize. >> almost like the writing staffers who are waiting for something to hang their hat on. >> the managing editor believes despite the recent bashes, he
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has the entertainment community in his corner. >> that was brookanerson. we did reach out to what has officials for comment. they said the president addressed complaints that he has not done anything since taking office. he said he never said it would be easy and he is just getting started. he has been overrun with people calling in about the alleged balloon boy hoax. we got a call from joyce saying the parents should pay the price. >> i think it was a hoax and think the family should be made to pay a fine and all the expenses of the police and all them being involved. trying to help him. they just wanted a reality show out of this. >> thank you, joyce. we heard fromenance fre new york and she said the whole thing is sickening. >> i believe it's a hoax. i saw this family on wife swap.
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definitely very strong and emotional. i do believe they are trying to get themselves in the lime light and it's a terrible thing to put people through because we were so worried about this little boy. >> the phone lines are open all the time. leave us a voice mail so we can play your call and post it on our home page. set your web browser to cnn.com/showbiztonight. >> there is a lot of back and forth on the balloon boy story today. >> this is a hoax. that it was a publicity stunt. >> absolutely no hoax. >> hoax or not from the tapes to the pictures on live television that captured the nation's attention, i'm asking, is the balloon boy's story the most unbelievable reality tv show
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ever? >> also, cougars under attack. is the word cougar demeaning for older women who go for younger men and is it time for the word to be extinct? and elizabeth hasselbeck back on "the view." i'm with her on the set and she told a hilarious story about sending a picture to her family that showed a lot more than she intended. now the showbiz news ticker and more stories from the newsroom making news right now.
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a big day on "the view." elizabeth hasselbeck back. i was right there on the view set and i spoke with elizabeth. first, you have to hear this story that elizabeth told on the show today. >> when your baby smiles for the first time, i reached for the i phone and i was feeding him and he had this huge smile and it was the cutest picture and i forward it to everyone. my mom, my dad, tim's dad and my
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other brother and i send it to myself. i get hole from the hospital and i open the photo and see my cute little guy. my nipple is in the photo. >> a great seinfeld on the episode right there. i asked her about the experience of having a 3rd child is different than the first two. >> you think it will be more difficult and challenging and other ways you think i know what i'm doing and this will be easy. the 2nd is not that true. the 3rd doesn't know they are the 3rd child and they won't be easier because they are number three. >> he was sick for a while with an infection and had to spend time in the hospital, but elizabeth said he is fine now. showbiz facebook page roaring with comments and we are asking whether you think the word
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cougar is offensive and demeaning to women. you will see the comments on the facebook page. i think cougar is offensive. why is there no name for men who rob the cradle? michelle said a grown and sexy woman looking for a young relationship, i think the word is sexy for us older women. >> also follow us on twitter so you can get breaking news alerts. sign up for facebook and twitter pages at cnn.com/showbiztonight. this is what's coming up at the bottom of the hour. is it time for the word cougar to be extinct? what do you think? i have the great debate. the balloon boy sag amp. >> this is a hoax. it was a publicity stunt. >> absolutely no hoax. >> from the 911 tapes to the drama that played out. is the balloon boy saga the most unbelievable reality show of all time? and marge simpson poses for
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>> this is a hoax. it was a publicity stunt. >> absolutely no hoax. >> now on showbiz tonight, the balloon family shocker. the dramatic 911 calls and the unbelievable video. "showbiz tonight" investigates, is this alleged hoax the most unbelievable health show of all time? >> madonna, demi moore, courteney cox. people love calling them cougars s. this degraying to older women who like younger guys? should we ban that word? tonight "showbiz tonight" asks should cougars become extinct?
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the marge simpson controversy. is her posing nude for "playboy" a bad idea? more stories from the "showbiz news ticker." tv's first most provocative entertainment news show continues right now. welcome back to "showbiz tonight." it is 30 minutes past the hour. broadcasting tonight and every night from new york city. they are declaring this fiasco the most outrageous reality show ever. the way this story unfolded with the new developments today, you could not have written a more outrageous script. the caper is a criminal investigation and authorities say they believe the heenes started planning this hoax months ago. the sheriff said this whole plot was orchestrated so the family
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could get a shot at reality tv fame. tonight the family is fighting back. they said they are innocent and there has been no hoax. they could face felony charges and that could mean jail time for the balloon parents. what happens to the kids? with all the spectaculary is nan begans over the past few days, "showbiz tonight" asks, will the alleged elaborate plot work? will they get their own reality show? joining me tonight in hollywood is an entertainment journalist and wendy murphy who is a contributor for the daily beast. if this proves to be true, i have to say i can't believe what an outrageous plot they were able to cook up. when we saw that silver jiffy pop balloon careening supposedly with a small child inside, nobody could take their eyes off their tvs. you have to admit, the
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astounding visuals, all the whackiness that ensued set the stage for the most outrageous reality show ever. >> yeah and i'm sorry to say i was one of the idiots who bought into it. i wasn't one of them, aj. i'm angry. okay, they played us and they played me. they were doing it for fun. you know what, an awful lot of people got hurt in their hoax. if they get a reality show out of this, i think half the country and i will lead the pack, will throw their tvs in the toilet and have reached a new low. >> we have to lead that revolution. i want to look at the plot points and this is already made for the show. you have the flying saucer and a supposed stow away 6-year-old kid and a self-described storm
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chasing father and a family that had two controversial appearances on wife swap and an airport shut down and the national guard scrambling to help and right there is the start. the only thing we are missing is dancing and dramatic weight loss. it is the perfect reality show. >> ryan seacrest is the host. the kardashian's dream of this publicity. richard heene is crazy b but also a genius. the guy is a genius. not just the stuff you mentioned, but ufos and past socials and viral videos are circling. this guy has all his angles covered. everything. >> that's one of the reasons we are so angry. the sheriff himself said he used his kids in the alleged hoax because he wanted to get a reality show. people are saying he exploited his kids and we see it all the
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time using kids to gain fame in reality shows. nothing new. some would say he didn't do anything wrong. this is america now and people do it all the time. >> aj, just because other idiots do it, didn't make it right for this guy. one of the problems is it does make it seem okay between octomom, yon and kate and this because it happened in a big way in the recent past makes it seem more normal. the truth is, we don't have enough laws in place to protect children from exploitation even at the hands of the parents and the people that are supposed to love them. shame on him. he's not a genius. he's a bad father who should lose custody of his children. he doesn't deserve awards. he should be prosecuted. i would put him in jail and make him pay back the expenses he forced us to lay back. i take the kids away to make
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sure they are okay. he made them barf on television. you think that makes you a genius? i don't think so. >> i'm there with you for most of that. i don't think that he made his kids barf on television. i think the experience did. >> that's not what i meant. >> i'm giving you a hard time about that. >> let's talk about the sheriff who added to this outrageous drama of the whole story. friday he said in a press conference, he believed the family was telling the truth and said we should believe them too. it turns out that was a part of the sheriff's ploy to get the truth out of the family. everyone's jaws dropped when on sunday the sheriff revealed this whopper. it has been determined this is a hoax and it was a publicity
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stunt. we believe we have evidence at this point to indicate that it was a publicity stunt done with the hopes of marketing themselves. the outrageous drama right there. >> reality show writers try to come up with ways to make a show good. richard heene did it. i have to disagree with wendy. people are going to rush to their tvs and these folks get a reality tv show. they had every element and we are talking about the entertainment basis. this is a different discussion. based on the entertainment factor, this guy is gold. you need to sign him quick. >> turns out that richard and his wife met in acting school. they have been jonesing for their own show for sometime now. if this turns out to be a hoax,
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it makes it more remarkable to watch theatrics knowing that they didn't need an acting school. maybe they are good actors if this is a hoax. the ladies of the view were told maybe this was the best tryout ever. >> this guy is 48 years old and doesn't have a gig. he's looking for a gig. >> i won't support him. >> bravo will give him a show and all those other networks. >> i know you wouldn't watch, but with all of the anger surrounding this family, i'm kind of thinking any network would have to be nuts to offer them a reality show. >> you know, i think we do have standards. i have to believe although we all got sucked in, most of us and felt for what was potenti potentially a kid in danger. you tear at our heart strings
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and i hope we never become so cynical, we assume the stories might be a hoax. given them a show and rewarding the behavior, people have the power to say no to this guy. you can think he came up with a clever idea, but that doesn't mean you have to give him a prize. i put him in jail and make him get a job at mcdonald's. we should be asking the question how come if everybody thought it was a great hoax, how come the cops didn't figure it out faster? with cnn, they cracked the case, not csi. that's a problem. >> we did see that. they have the answer that got the ball rolling and here we are now. thanks, guys. appreciate it. we have been asking you to sound off. balloon boy hoax. is it ever okay to put kids in reality shows? you know how i feel about this. you can vote. e-mail us at "showbiz tonight" at cnn.com. let's move o. so many people love to throw around that word,
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cougar to describe people like madonna and demi moore and courteney cox. courteney cox has a show called cougar town. >> hey, kid! pow! >> courtney is 40 something and looks great, but is that word offensive? is it time for it to go? it's the new cougar debate. next. maybe it's time for the sound effect to go too. have you seen marge simple and her "playboy" spread. i had to take a look and a lot of people are very fired up. is it an animated cartoon of mom posing naked wrong or no big deal? whit me houston almost ended up snaked with a good old fashioned wardrobe malfunction. this is "showbiz tonight" on hln. time for the showbiz news ticker and more stories from the newsroom making news right now.
quote
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>> whitney, yes, you did. whitney houston was a little bit of a wardrobe malfunction during x factor, a popular british talent show. her dress kept coming undone while she was singing. she has a million dollar smack down back stage. this episode of x factor turned out to be the highest rated ever. you think? i'm a.j. hammer and we have a cougar fight. an all out war and cougars are trapped in the middle. ever since courteney cox's show debuted, the term cougar has come under scrutiny. is it so bad to call women over 35 unmarried and interested in younger men cougars? marge simpson naked on the cover
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of "playboy." what would homer think about this? what do you think about this? are you out ramed or is it in good fun? joining me tonight is cooper lawrence and author of the cult of celebrity. a psychologist expert from mom logic.com. i want to begin with this cougar controversy. there is a column from andrea who writes passionately about the term and she said this word needs to go away. here's what she is writing about. the very word turned generations of hot babes overnight from sex objects into the butt of jokes. it turns smoldering lust from something dirty into something nasty and skanky. wendy, i want to know if you think andrea has this right. i think the poster couple for a cougar relationship, it doesn't seem to describe them as accurately.
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we always called men dogs and they need to have equality. i don't think being a cougar is necessarily any power. it's a pretend power for a woman. >> it has this negative contation until cougartown, the show came around. they had fun with it and you think about it, courteney cox plays a cougar on television and real life too. her husband is 11 years younger. cooper lawrence, should people have a problem with the term cougar, cooper? >> a.j. hammer, i have a problem because it's meant to be derogatoryy and not a compliment. you don't say hey, cougar. you look at it like there is something wrong with it it. that's the problem. the word is not empowering and it wasn't coined by women. i think women are individuals. if you want to date somebody younger, go for it without having to live up to a stereotype. >> naturally our fans are fired
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up over the cougar controversy today. as soon as we posted this on facebook, our wall was jumping with comments. let me get to a couple. i think it's cool for an older woman to date a younger man and the term is sexy. sexy women want it all, wendy. does it take away from it to be called a cougar? >> dwroeng takes away from their sex appeal, but it takes away from their full identity. listen, aj, any woman in her 40s, these guys have loaded guns that shoot at any target. is it saying that your derriere hasn't gone to the south of france? really, ladies. are you smart? emotionally secure and are you able to nurture your children and the world or just able to get a young gun. so what?
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>> this is coming from monica s who wrote i think we need to get over it. when women date younger men. it's okay when men do it. how about saying the men who get the young err men have rocking bodies and are plain hot. the term cougar is outdated. there you go. that's more your point cooper and dem. madonna and courtney not a cougar. they are having the time of their lives. no harm, no foul. just get rid of the word? >> even the pressure to look a certain way. you have to be a hot woman over 40. if you weren't a hot 20 year old, you won't be a hot 40-year-old. now there is another level to live up to. >> speaking of hot women, another contversy that is burning up. marge simpson's debut in "playboy." she's from the simpsons and
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featured in "playboy" magazine. wendy, can we put up the photos and these are amazing pictures. is it just out ramuous or all in good fun? >> marge, marge, marge. the simpsons are famous for chronicling all our times and culture and all comedy is tragedy viewed from across the street. what is left for a woman who has no identity as a wife and mother. when we got feminism, we have the right to look doudy and get a wife and mother. marge has to be hot now and posing for "playboy"? what's up with that? >> you know a a cartoon, right? thanks for being here tonight. >> drew barrymore's confessions about her father. opening up in a new interview. you are not going to believe what she claims her father, the late john barrymore did while she was in rehab when she was a teenager. now the "showbiz news ticker,"
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more stories from the newsroom making news right now. what some of the top stars in hollywood are up to. it is paula abdul. you know paula walked away from "american idol" everybody has been talking about it. she has been laying low. tonight i can tell you she might be heading to vegas, baby. listen to what paula abdul just told us. >> i have many, many different opportunities in las vegas. which, you know, i have been offered for years. but the timing is right.
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because i have tv projects i am doing. and a lot of different things. things that are very exciting that, that i get to continue to live my dream now. you know? i have always been wanting to help, i always said if i made it in this business i am going to help people. i have done everything by myself. >> say what you want, her heart is in the right place. if he goes to vegas, watch out wayne newton. this is "showbiz tonight." on hln.
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sthaningss thanks, charles. in a revealing new interview with cnns anderson cooper, drew says her dad, john barrymore was rarely around. drew went into rehab when she was 13 years old. shockingly even while she was battling these painful demons her own father wasn't able to support her. in fact he was more concerned about his problems. >> when you were in rehab, your dad called you. >> uh-huh. >> he was calling to ask you for
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money? >> great dad. yeah. yeah. he would ask me for money on birthdays and inappropriate times. then i just wrote him off like, you're not a father the i just learned you cannot emotionally invest in people who are not attainable. >> well after she got out of rehab at 15, drew went on to legally emancipate herself from her parents sheft has come a long way. drew out with the first film she directed. called "whip it." and got ebb good reviews. drew barrymore helped e.t. phone home the i am wondering if maria shriver thinks all this outrage over her phoning some one while driving is out of the world. the wife of california governor arnold schwarzenegger who signed a law banning using cell phones without a headset while driving in his state. maria got caught a few times breaking the law. maria on the "today" show hosting a series about women in america the not discounting how is important that is.
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watch maria squirm when the "today" show crew went there. >> anything else happening. >> oh, got a call? is that your cell phone? >> oh. >> here we go. >> is your cell phone some where. >> i don't have a cell phone anymore. >> what happened? >> i don't have a cell phone. >> a hands-free device. >> we should explain to people. >> of all the things i have done in my life this has gotten the most attention. >> everything is okay. you don't do that anymore. >> no. no. >> no. hands-free. >> maria said she terminated her cell and donated it to a charity that supports women, victims of domestic violence. on friday we asked you to vote on our "showbiz tonight" question of the day. moments ago on this piece of paper the final results came to me, balloon family do they deserve their own reality show. completely one-sided as you see here. 2% said yes.
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98% said no. lot of angry e-mails too. kevin in indiana writing the balloon family i believe was a hoax. i do not understand why it took the family 30 minutes to call 911 unless they wanted the balloon to have a chance to get out of control. barbara from new york. i think the family that played the alleged hoax should pay back every penny spent for no reason. that's it for "showbiz tonight." thank you for watching. i'm a.j. hammer in new york. catch "showbiz tonight" on the 11s --
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tonight, the bubble bursts in the balloon boy story. the kid's father may be a pr dream come true, but as a parent, is he a nightmare? and white house is busy shouting down fox news, sarah palin is busy posting her resume online. but will quitting her last job hurt her prospects? and joining me in the student, marcus buckingham, author of "find yourstrongest" -- "find your strongest life" on what really makes women happy. can you really talk about this on a family show?
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all this and more, tonight. it looks like it's just a matter of time now before criminal charges are filed against richard heene. he's the colorado dad who allegedly cooked up this hoax involving his son and a giant balloon. with me via satellite is perry carsovello, an actor who has worked with heene. hi. we only know richard heene from "wife swap." we don't know that much about him. since you know him from a previous incarnation -- what did you think watching this balloon saga play out? >> first off, i first read this on my cell phone when i was selling outside the u.p.s. story in the marina, in marina del ray, california. and as i'm reading this story about a 6-year-old kid that was kidnapped by a -- i say kidnapped by a flying saucer. that was, that was lost, kidnapped, whatever the heck you want to call it. but that got lost by this flying
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saucer, i said, straight out, this is a hoax. then i heard the name heene -- >> you did? >> then i read the name heene and i had to read farther. and then i realized, uh-oh, it can't be. >> why? >> oh, it is. it is. it is him. >> when you knew him -- >> and then i realized -- go ahead. >> when you knew him as an actor and a construction worker, did he seem a little bit loony? >> a little bit? joy, please! >> yeah. >> joy, you're giving him a little break here. a little bit? you saw -- you saw what he did on "wife swap." >> yeah, i did. >> he's that and then some. okay, my dear. >> let me tell you something, the wife is just as nutty as far as i can see. >> she's -- excuse me. >> go ahead. >> i said to somebody earlier today, i said, she's like a string. she's got no backbone. she's got no backbone, whatsoever. >> but she's also a rageaholic from what i've seen on "wife swap."
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the two of them are raging all the time. >> oh, yes. >> those three children, are you afraid for them? >> i'm totally afraid for them. joy, my dear, i've known these guys -- i knew richard before he married myaumi. richard was a nut on construction sites, telling them to bring this tool her, that tool there. he was crazy with everything that he did. >> i'll tell you something, perry, thank you for being with us, but i think the guy's going to get a reality show out of this. thanks, perry, for doing that for me. now to my panel, social associate professor of psychiat psychiatry, dr. gail saltz, cnn legal analyst, lisa bloom, and comic and journalist, brian ballthatczar.
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what a name. brian ballthatczar. that's quite a name. it's alliteration and everything. lisa, they're now saying this is a hoax. are there going to be criminal charges filed or what? >> i think so. it is unusual the sheriff would come out and say that before they've been arrested and before any charges have been filed. but we're looking at felony, maybe misdemeanor charges, up to six years behind bars, potentially, if he's convicted. >> but don't you think, gail, that it's overkill at this point? should he go to jail? really. >> i think the issue is recouping the money and discouraging other people from doing something like this for the purposes of getting a reality show. but if you want to think about the kids' well-being, and ill hope everybody would be thinking of the kids' well-being first, you want to send a strong message to the parents that this is illegal, it's not okay, and there will be repercussions. unfortunately, the kids were dragged the drama and they got the message, it is okay to break the law. >> i love that the kid threw up.
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it's so incredibly freudian. he lies and then he pukes. >> and look at when he throws up. he throws up when his dad is asked, is this a hoax, and he's expected to go along with the lie, and he can't. >> he threw up on two morning shows. and the parents didn't bow out of the second one. throw up on tv once, shame on me. throw up on tv twice, shame on you. you've got to stop the interview. >> didn't george bush use that? >> exactly. >> but if they go to jail, i think it would be very bad for the children. i think it's a stupid, crazy story, but i have to give this guy credit. it's like a pr stunt beyond belief. >> it's a reflection of what's happening in society now, which is just horrendous. which is the number one thing that everybody wants is fame. even being infamous -- >> why?! why do people want fame so much? what happened to money? >> good point! what happened to money? well, apparently with fame, you do get money. you get two for one. but look, we're all somewhat narcissistic at heart. and the problem -- >> is that an american thing or
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is that around the world? >> well, america is more so. we are very individualistic society. we are not a culture of, for the better of the culture, which has its up side and its down side. the downside is we're seeing that it's all now about rudeness, about aggression, about fame at any cost. and we've got these lousy, lousy role models for the next generations. >> i think he got a taste. "wife swap" gave him a taste of some recognition, some fame, and he needed more. he couldn't get enough. and he managed to accomplish the impossible. he makes jon gosselin look like a good father. >> don't you think that those of us who make a living on television have to be careful criticizing people who want to be on tv? >> duh! >> and they wouldn't necessarily go to jail. first time offenders on low level charges, they would do community service. wouldn't there be justice if they were digging ditches. >> the community service is the reality show. brilliant idea. >> you could be the executive producer.
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to add fuel, gawker.com has released details of the e-mails between heene and a friend have been revealed where heene discussed a balloon hoax a month ago. he said, this will be the most significant ufo-related news event to take place since the roswell crash of 1947 and the result will be a dramatic increase in local and national awareness about the heene family, our reality series, as well as the ufo phenomenon in general. do you think he wants a job? >> this is "grandiosity." grandiosity, he drank his own kool-aid here. >> his ego is bigger than the balloon, and both are deflated now. >> but what about forcing the kids to be part of the lie and forcing the kids to lie to the police and to lie to the media. >> it's so damaging. these children are young. they don't have a fully formed super ego. they are developing their moral compass. this is the time where you have to be telling kids, this is right, this is wrong, and do as i do, not do as i say. so this really tampers with their moral development. to go on and be shocked, if your kid commits a crime as an adult when this is what kind of a parent you were. >> you don't consider him innovative and creative in a certain way?
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>> are you kidding? are you saying that with a straight face? >> i mean, there's deranged innovative creative. >> i'll go with that. deranged and innovative. >> they take the kids storm chasing. joy, everyone else is going insid and battening the hatches, they're loading the kids up in a van and their going into the storm. shouldn't that be a red flag, there's something wrong with this family? >> and he did a rap video. with his three children. >> no! >> there's three children that has homophobic remarks in it. >> we can't say that word on television. >> the things these kids are lip syncing and saying in this video are hugely offensive. >> they did a what? >> a little rap video between the three of them where they're making homophobic remarks. it's a negative word for female genitalia. >> oh, no, they didn't. >> yes, they did. >> that's one of my favorite words. >> very bad word and to have your little kids being singing about this is so wrong. >> the attorney is saying that
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they shouldn't embarrass the parents in front of the kids, but don't they also have to learn that there's a consequence for doing these sort of things. >> yes, they do. >> yes, they do. >> they shouldn't have put the kids up to lie. that was a bad mistake. >> that's what's terrible. >> but how about the media focusing on it for hours and hours. i was up here in this studio, we were staring at it saying, the kid is dead, there's helium in there. we were like all crazy. >> you're right, joy, those tv shows that talk about the maroon -- balloon boy, something's got to be wrong with them, right. that's just appalling. >> it's jon and kate all over again. >> how could they be talking about the balloon boy? >> i'm looking for the wicker basket. i couldn't figure out where he could be in this balloon. >> and when they said he fell out, that didn't make any sense. >> that was awful. >> campbell said she was bawling in her office watching this and then cursing the kid when nay realized what a little not he was. >> we're wanting drama. we are looking for it.
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this is larimer county, colorado. and there is a little boy in this aircraft that you're seeing right now. a 6-year-old boy. and they're down to about 6,000 feet. what they're trying to do is get to this child. he floated away from his family's home on an experimental aircraft. >> okay. turns out this whole balloon boy
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story was a hoax. back with me are lisa bloom and brian balthazar. and joining us to discuss this and more is talk show host, wendy williams. okay, wendy, you're no stranger to publicity yourself. >> no. >> so what did you think of this story? were you drawn to it? >> yes. and so was my house full of people at the time. you know, one of the rare times after work we were entertaining, every tv was glued to it. and something smelled a little rotten when they found the boy and the boy was upstairs. you know, upstairs in a box in the attic. and then i had seen "wife swap." it used to be part of my regular lineup on friday nights when it came on regular tv, came on network, i was familiar with this family. and so yeah, everybody wants their 15 minutes of fame, so they got it. >> but who's really more to blame? the father and the crazy mother or the media for pushing this, like we're doing. >> the media. but, you know, you can put the carrot out there, you can dangle
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it, the parents took the bait, and so now there are going to be consequences and repercussions. >> i don't think it's the media's fault. >> thank. >> because we could otherwise be talking about health care, the cure for insomnia, or we could have this silver balloon flying through the sky with a kid in it. come on! which are you going to watch. every time there's a car chase on television or a helicopter that has a shot of something great, take it. we have 24 hours a day, i'm not going to say there are other networks, but there are tons of places to look for news. and if there's something interesting happening, i'm going to look. people look. >> let's change the subject. i think we've pummeled this to death. let's talk about this other guy, keith bardwell, why is justice -- white justice of the peace in louisiana who refused to marry an interracial couple. he says he's not racist and tried to explain himself on the "early show" today. >> had countless numbers of people that was born in that
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situation and that they claim that the blacks or the whites didn't accept the children. and i didn't want to put the children in that position. >> lisa, why is it his job to decide what's best for the children that don't even exist yet. >> i guess he's afraid the children are going to grow up to the president of the united states, right? >> or the greatest golfer that ever lived. >> it's outrageous. i have two biracial children, so i'm not going to pretend to be objective on this question. he's out of his mind, he's blatantly violating the law against racial discrimination by governmental officials. there was a wonderful supreme court case on this issue, called loving versus virginia in 1967, that says that people of different races can marry. it's unconstitutional to deny them the right to marry, end of story. >> so is he going to go to jail? >> i don't think he's going to go to jail, because it's not a crime, but i think he should lose his job immediately. he should have lost his job the day after this story broke. i don't know why he's still out
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there talking and defending himself. >> but if this was a white guy and an asian woman, he would have the same response? >> i was wondering. i was wondering if he would have a different response if it was a black woman and a white man. there's something about the threatening power of a black man, subtly, in this country that only black men and the women who love them, regardless of the woman's color, only we would know exactly what we mean. >> and to back that up, he said, 99% of the interracial relationships are a black man and a white woman. and he also said, joy, i don't discriminate when black people come to my house, i let them use my bathroom. >> what an idiot. >> that tells you everything you need to know about this guy. >> some of my best friends are jewish, that whole routine. but the couple wants him to be fired, but he's not stepping down. why are racists so stubborn? >> that's a good question. why, in 2009, does this guy still have a job? apparently, for 34 years this has been his policy and other
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couples have been discriminated against, they just didn't speak out. >> i was going to say, why is this, all of a sudden coming up. >> and this woman, by the way, is a military veteran. can you imagine, fighting for our country, coming home? >> it's like don't ask, don't tell, same thing. it's ridiculous. but limbaugh is also saying he's not a racist. it seems to be in the air. do you think that when he called the nfl football players, like the bloods and the crips, that that was a racist remark? >> that had definite undertones of racism, of course. >> undertones? >> yeah, yeah. racism is not dead in this country. we can have a black president, we can have, you know, black people making great strides, but on the other side of that, racism is so alive, so prevalent, as prevalent as sexism. and if you're a minority woman, you're a double minority. it's sufferable. joy, you know. you get sexual discrimination, ever? >> oh, yes, i have, i have over the years. >> still.
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>> you live with it in a way. there's not much you can do except for speak up. >> speak up. >> but that's so important. that's what's happening with the nfl. people are saying rush limbaugh is not acceptable. we don't care how rich he has, we don't care that he has 20 million listeners. you make these racial remarks, we don't want you here. >> but the bottom line is, they didn't want to lose viewers and support. because it's about money. >> maybe. but some people say, he wants to stir up controversy, wants to get better ratings. and they might get ratings if they had rush on, stir up the controversy. but they're taking a principled stand and i think that's the right thing. >> and they're an organization. they're entitled to make that determination. >> i'll be back with more wendy williams. but first, i've got one or two things left to say about this heene family. i'm not done. at the end of ""the wizard of oz," dorothy climbs back into a balloon to travel back to kansas, and she develops a huge gay following. that's a different story.
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"the wizard of oz" was fiction, and as it turns out, so is the balloon in the boy story. the whole thing was a hoax. just like the florida recount. you know i'll never let go of that story. the boy's father, richard heene, rhymes with weany, allegedly hid his 6-year-old son in the attic so the family could get a reality tv show. not for nothing, but when anne frank's hid in the attic, it was was to protect her from the nazis not how to get her on the real hausfraus of doosledorf county. richard heene says he's an inventor, and he invented a scam that fooled the entire country and all the major news media. and as a reward for wasting everyone's time, this genius might get his own reality show. and trust me. if his ratings are anything like the ratings this stunt generated, he'll be divorcing his wife, dating the nanny, and getting a book deal with a $2 million advance. now, that's a lot of balloons. and if he does end up with a reality show, what does he do for an encore? i mean, let's face it, it's
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how you doin' is the official greeting of the "wendy williams" mess. you don't say it like joey tribiani. you say it like this. i'm going to teach you and then we're going to go to the queen of sheeba. you dim your eyes like this. and when you get to the end of "doin'" you spread your bottom lip, i'll do it once, and then you can go to my website and take lessons. how you doing? >> that was a clip from the "wendy williams show." and i'm back with the lively talk show host. wendy, when you had spats with among others, tupac, whitney houston, jay-z, will smith and lil' wayne, my question is, do you ever fight with white
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people? >> i mean, i wasn't fighting with those people. joy, you know -- >> so what was it? i have notes here that say you did. lil' wayne, the bitch looked like a dude, her hair look ed glued. is he talking about you? >> he's definitely talking about me. >> i wouldn't be so thrilled like that. >> if it weren't for people saying things like that, maybe i wouldn't be here with you on your show. but you came from radio. you're on radio -- if you're on for a particular amount of time, you take phone calls and things like that. radio is just a different vehicle. television, it's a one-hour show, 44 minutes of programming, to those people and spats or what not, i wasn't fighting with anybody, i was entertaining. i was playing -- >> well, you were very popular in what you were saying, but you got into trouble. in 1995, you notoriously had rumors that tupac shakur was
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raped in prison. >> i read something from the "daily news," i was taken off the air for my radio station for 24 hours without pay. i read this directly from the news. but, you know, in that 23-year career, i've ended it on a high note. i'm being inducted into the radio hall of fame, the national one in chicago. >> that's nice. congratulations. >> on november 7th. and i've left radio now. and i devote my time to, you know, the tv show. >> aren't you afraid to say something like that about tupac? >> i didn't say it! the "daily news" said it. if i pick something up and i read it and i give credit to the "daily news." you know. >> you're more of a specific target than the "daily news." i mean, he can't exactly go up against the "daily news" as easily as one person. i'd be scared. >> but i wasn't -- >> you're fearless. >> and i am. i am. i mean, i've been through a lot in my career and i've been through a lot in my life, and i'm 44 -- 45 years old now. and i was just asked two days ago, what am i scared of. i said, nothing, and no one. i'm not scared of nothing, and no one, no circumstances, what not. i think that i have the resilience to push on to another
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day, regardless. >> well, you should be scared of whitney houston, because she said -- because you were talking about her alleged drug habits and she said, if this were back in the day in newark, i'd meet you outside, but not now, because i'm a lady with class. >> i'm from new jersey, i don't know nothing about going outside and fighting no one. you know what i mean? >> do you feel that now you're on tv, you have to be a little nicer to people than when you were on the radio, because you have to book the show. >> well, it wasn't that i was ever mean. i'm not a mean person. >> yeah. >> you can say the same things that i say, but because you're a white woman, you know, a new york city, you know, staple, somehow, you could say the same thing as me. they'll let you pass. >> not really. >> oh, yes, really. >> oh, no, don't -- >> oh, yes. cindy adams, armey archer, go back to hetta harper. we could say the same thing. >> i've got to go, baby. >> i really enjoyed this,
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it's really not pushing a point of view. and the bigger thing is that other news organizations, like yours, ought not to treat them that way and we're not going to treat them that way. we're going to appear on their shows, we're going to participate, but understanding that they represent a point of view. >> that's white house adviser david axelrod, blasting fox news on abc's "this week." the obama administration isn't shy about showing their disdain for fox. but is picking a fight with a tv network really a good idea? with me now, actress and comedian, janeane garofalo, an se cop conservative blogger and co-author of "why you're wrong about the right." let me start with you, janeane. do you think it's a good idea?
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>> i wouldn't say he is picking a fight, and i wouldn't characterize that as blasting. but i would say fox news in general has always been very unkind to any democrat, whether they be in the white house or outside of it. i would agree with that. i don't see the value in fox news, in going on fox news for those people. it's a very -- >> you don't see the value? >> no, i don't see the value. there's no reason for somebody who has something substantiative to talk about to go talk to hannity or go talk to bill o'reilly or fox and friends or really any of their very obvious propaganda -- >> machine. >> machine. having said that, most mainstream news networks are wanting. most mainstream -- or if not all -- corporate mainstream news entities are subpar and tell versions of stories. but fox, i think, with roger ellis and rupert murdoch has a very clear mission statement. >> some people msnbc has a
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mission statement from the left. i think you would agree with that, right? >> right, and i think to janeane's point, they all suffer from some kind of bias. but the value of going on to a fox or msnbc is you're speaking to a huge swath of the country. and in obama's case, this is the very demographic he needs right now to get on board with health care and afghanistan. >> do you really think that they'll ever come on board with obama over at fox? those viewers? i don't even think they would ever come on board. >> well, if the obama administration would stop condescending and insulting and ignoring those people who don't like a public option, then, yeah, i think they would be more interested in hearing what he had to say, but they don't like being dissed, which is kind of what the white house is doing right now. >> i would disagree -- that's -- there's no condescension coming from the white house, and i would say the majority of the country supports a public option. fox's whole reason for being, if
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you will, is to obstruct and to try and make inroads with the average fox viewer is a fool's errand. there's no way any of those people are going to go -- >> as comedians, we don't go in front of audiences that hate us. >> oh, sure. >> it does happen. >> i don't deliberately do it. >> after a while, you say no. karl rove got his two cents in. listen to this. >> this is an administration that's getting very arrogant and slippery in its dealings with people. and if you dare to oppose them, they're going to come hard at you and they're going to cut your legs off. >> is he talking about the bush administration? >> no, he's not. talk about the pot calling the kettle. i mean, come on, even you, s.e., have to admit this is complete hypocrisy on karl rove's part? >> no, i don't think so. i think he's absolutely right. you don't silence the opposition. that's just not politically a good move. honestly, it really doesn't make a whole lot of sense for obama to completely censor an entir
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demographic or an entire media organization that speaks to a large demographic. >> but karl rove is responsible porpoisabl porpoisably, allegedly, firing the united states attorneys who were not loyal to bush. so that's really silencing a whole group of people, isn't it, very similar? >> well, there were some nuances to that story that i don't think we have time to really delineate. you know, here. but, no, i think -- it doesn't matter who's saying it. i think karl rove is right. i think this is a politically silly move. it doesn't look presidential. it doesn't make the president look serious. it makes him look a little whiney. >> well, as, of course we're going to disagree with each other. >> no! >> i mean, there's just no two ways around that we will take opposing sides of this. karl rove is the master of silencing critics, and yes, he is responsible for the attorney general firings without any nuance, in addition to, you know, attacking any dissenters for the bush administration. but there is no censoring going
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on. them saying they won't go on that show, some of them won't go on that show, has nothing to do with censoring. it's -- like i said, fox news is is a complete propaganda outlet. that is not to say other news outlets are good or -- in fact, they should all turn in their s.e.c. license. >> they seem to have the intention to be obscuring and obstructing the obama administration. i don't think that's the intention of cnn or msnbc -- >> during the bush administration, i think it was. i think it was. >> well, they were critical of it, but, of course, there were a lot of things to criticize. really a lot. >> i think fox is critical of the obama administration in ways -- >> but fox was not critical of bush. >> but it's filling a void. it's as a reaction to the lack of criticism, the lack of any vetting -- >> but don't call it fair and balanced. >> but you're talking about two different things. there are opinion shows on fox news like hannity and o'reilly and then there's hard news. i don't think anyone would call shepherd smith's show biased. it's straight news reporting. >> the only one i would go along
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with is chris wallace's show. he could have gone on chris wallace's show. i think that chris tries to be fair and balanced. >> i don't know. >> and he has juan williams, a democrat on the panel, then he has some of the other attack dogs. but there's fighting within the democratic party as well. progressives aren't just taking on the president. they're now taking on senate majority leader harry reid in nevada. listen. >> i'm your typical swing voter. i voted for republicans for president and i've voted for president obama. i also voted for senator harry reid many times. but in 2010, i'll only be voting on one issue. i'm watching to see if harry reid is strong and effective enough as a leader to pass a public health insurance option into law. >> okay. now, since reid is in trouble in nevada and i think 53%, 52% of nevadans are in favor of the public option, is he going to be forced now to vote to that to push the public option? >> one would hope. he is -- i don't understand why
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some democrats like harry reid are being as obstructionist as the republicans, when he is being weak, though, he should be called out. i agree with that. there's nothing wrong with infighting among parties. there should be. there shouldn't be any marching lockstep. >> it doesn't look like the public option is going to get any traction. the baucus bill hasn't got it in there. and i wonder how the democrats will do in 2010 if they don't get it? >> hopefully they would suffer for it, as they should. the public option should be in there. and there should be gracin -- is that his name? alan gracin, great guy, speaks with conviction and i don't know why there aren't more democrats -- there's a lot of great democrats, but a lot of them are too weak in the face of -- >> wussy. wussy. >> that's fine. >> and harry reid is a wussy. >> yeah, sure. >> he's a wuss. >> i don't like it. and in the name of so-called bipartisanship, which is a farce, there is, you know, there is no need to pursue
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bipartisanship with a group of people that have no interest in bipartisanship. and so, yeah, he should be criticized. >> jump in. >> i don't know. i think i agree bipartisanship is really a silly kind of goal. but at the same time, i -- >> why do you think it's a silly goal? >> because we're -- >> isn't that the idea? >> politics are polarizing. these are incredibly important issues. people feel very passionate about them. trying to come to consensus is watering down these issues. and no one wins when you try to please everyone. people should stick to their guns. and frankly, if nevada, and i don't know if this poll is entirely accurate, but if it is, if nevada wants a public option, as much as i detest, harry reid should vote for it. absolutely, he should represent his constituents. >> let's switch to miss sarah palin, the media and fox news darling. she's in the news. she posted her resume on the social networking site linkedn. why does she do this? she's looking for a job, right?
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>> i guess it would make sense then. being industrious and posting her resume. >> but she says that she's governor. she writes governor. >> but she was. >> that title lasts. >> that ship sailed. >> i don't know. was it a joke? >> no, are you kidding? i don't think she has that great a sense of humor that she would pull something like that. >> she's unconventional, she's on facebook a lot, she twitters. i think she's reaching out in every way that she knows how and people like to say she's crazy, but she generally proves out to be crazy like a fox. >> i don't think she's crazy at all. >> oh, well there are people who routinely call her crazy and a whole host of other names. >> would you call her crazy, janeane? >> no, i would say she's an intellectual incurious person with charisma. >> that's brilliant. very well put. but her favorability, popularity rates are going down. and is it possible her 15 minutes are up?
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>> no way, that's -- no. she's been out of the spotlight a little bit, writing her book. >> maybe that's why she's doing this. maybe she wants to be the next paris hilton. >> i think that's a little cheap. but mitt romney's been out of the spotlight and his favorability is down a little, and mike huckabee's is up because he's on fox all the time. i think this sort of ebbs and flows and once her book is out, her ratings will go up again. >> people call me and say, do you think she'll have a shot at the presidency? >> what do you say? >> i say, i lived through ronald reagan and george w. bush and i never thought those two mental midgets would ever become president, and they did. >> two of my heroes. two of my absolute heroes. >> you're so young and so bright. i hope -- you're doing an art installation. >> that's what people are saying. i must be joking somehow. >> she's very bright. >> i don't understand. >> it's totally sincere. >> thank you, girls. thank you, ladies. >> we're not girls. we're men.
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every time i turn around these days, there's a new study to tell me how unhappy i and my gender happen to be. the latest, over 33% of women are earning more than their husbands. now we're bringing home the bacon, frying it up, and are too afraid to eat it, unless we're on atkins. what's a girl to do? here to make sense of this is marcus buckingham, author of "find your strongest life." what the happiest and most
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successful women do differently. the studies are showing that women are less happy than we all were 40 years ago. >> yes. >> do women just complain more is that it? or what's the real story there? >> they complain more than men genetically, they would have been complaining more 40 years ago. i don't think it is that. it's probably a couple of things. first, women are harder on themselves than men. if you ask men, what do you think will help you be more successful, building on your strengths or fixing your weakness, the answer will be 50/50. if you ask will ebb that question, 73% of women say fix my weaknesses. >> so the men accept their flaws. >> they accept their flaws, they move on, they put them aside more and focus on the particular strengths they bring. women are harder on themselves and then feel guilt about not being all that they should be. if you compound that, that is a life, when you spend a lot of time thinking about who you're not. >> that's an interesting point. but women have more pressure on them, to look better, they spend more money and make less money. you know, we are constantly under pressure to have everything. the kids, the job, a lot of
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friends, a great social life. we have to know how to make a paella, it's really annoying. >> it is. there a a lot of different do h domains in which women are supposed to excel. feminism worked perfectly, because it gave women more and more choices and more and more domains in which you're supposed to excel. but the challenge there, if you've got a ton of choices, you have to make one and make sure you know the right one. for you, that puts an awful lot of responsibility on you to figure out, well, what are the right choices for me to make? what are the right definitions that i have for myself in terms of success. so some choice is good, a ton of choice can be incredibly stressful. >> what if you focus on the choice after you have three children? you really don't have the kind of time or facility to really pursue your dream. >> well, i think you have to start at the level, when we looked at the women in this book that bucked the trend. the women that were happy and were successful. they had kids, they didn't have kids, some were very successful, some had jobs, some didn't, but they were on a happiness or
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upward trend. and our focus was to say, what, despite all the differences in life choices that they made, what did they have in common? what did they share? whether they had three kids or not, they started with moments. they realized it was the moments in life that strengthened them. if you could figure out how to plug into life, it would find ways to give you the energy that you needed. you don't need to blow up your life and start again. if you've got three kids or a ceo, you start moment by moment, going, how can i imbalance my life this week towards those moments that invigorate me. >> so you basically would say, sweat the small stuff? >> absolutely. that's what you mean by that phrase. >> i was wondering what you were talking about. >> you look at the moments that matter most. you don't have grand dreams and visions. what its it -- do i get invigorated by feeling the emotions of other people? do i cry with people and laugh with people? love that? or do i love seeing small patterns in things and building them into bigger patterns? what are the specific moments of my life that invigorate me. >> i was interested in these myths that you say that we have. one of them is that at work
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women are relegated to lower level roles and they make less money. that is not a myth, that's a fact. >> actually, 37% of women are in management positions, 31% of men. now, at the senior most levels, still got about 17% of women versus the remainder being men. there is still some glass ceiling that remains to be cracked. and in terms of money, yes, it's actually about 80%, women earn 80% on the dollar. but most of the difference -- >> i think it's 77 cents, but who's counting. >> it's between 77 and 80. but that difference isn't really due to gender discrimination. when you look at what accounts for that difference, it's because in a 15-year time frame, women spend about twice as much time outside of the workforce because they interrupt their careers. as a result of that, their skills depreciate in the value of the market. >> that will make you unhappy. that fact alone could make you unhappy. >> it absolutely could. although money doesn't necessarily buy you happiness. >> oh, how wrong you are. how about this. women with more free time are less stressed.
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i can relate to that. because when i was trapped at exit 60 on the long island expressway during my first marriage, i had not much to do. because i really didn't have a focus, i didn't know -- i was so stressed out. if i don't have a little stress in my life, i am stressed out. >> maybe that's because of who you are, though. you're the sort of person that likes to be able to have some kind of freson, some kind of friction. >> i love a freson. >> with paella. exactly. exactly. i think in terms of where we are now, there are some myths about where we are, but i think in terms of where where we need to move to. almost like what you are saying here, to know what are the moments. you've just said, i like a little stress in my life. i could put ten women up against the wall and they would say, they hate stress in their life. their whole goal is to remove stress. >> right. but a little stress -- being a human being, you need a little stress on your life. evolutionarily, the neanderthals and cromagmans, had a little
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stress, otherwise we wubt be here. >> but what brings you stress will vary. >> and how you handle it. >> confrontation, you may be one of those people, the angrier you get, the more articulate you get. >> not really. >> there are some that love that kind of stress. others that are stressed by being intimate with someone >> kids want more time with their working mothers. if that is not true, then the women are off the hook. go to work, leave them with a nanny. >> this is what the study showed. they asked 1,00012th graders what do you want from your mom. >> the moms said they want more time. 10% of the kids said that. the kids actually said i want my mom to be less stressed and tired. >> i want to know what catch and cray de krad el means. buckingham next. come back. a minute.
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okay. we're back with guest, marcus buckingham. author of "find your strongest life." we're talking about how women can be happy without resorting to prozac. you have something in your book called a strong life test which i took. >> yes. >> how does the catching cradle figure into that? >> well, most the cliches is a woman finds balance. when you talk to the happiest, most successful one, they don't find balance. they find the moments in life that invigorate them. they pay more attention to them and unbalance their life to those.
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>> it's selfish in a way? >> it gives them strength to support everybody who relies on them. it's self-focus in a sense it gives you the strength to provide. >> the other thing you said that i like, you don't have to be a bad mother if you do what you want to do with the kid. if the kid wants to read science books and you're not interested in science books, then don't do that with the kid. if you feel like going shopping with the child, go shopping with the child. do what you want to do with the kid. i love that. >> tilt your life to what invigorates you. your kid doesn't want you have to purpose and goals per se. >> they don't want a miserable mother. >> they don't. >> i took this test, okay? >> a life test. >> i like this question. your friend at work steals your idea and passes it off as her own. what do you do? i recognized her need and let her take the credit. i got much more mature in my older years. >> this testament measures you on nine life roles. it gives you your top two.
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your top two were creator and teacher. creator is the person who goes, you know what? i don't need to bother with the fact she stole my idea. i have a ton of other ideas. you're looking for patents that underlie things. reconfigure those to create more. teacher is, looking for -- you're one of the people who sees small increments of growth in somebody else and you get a kick from that. they sense they're inquisitive but not for the purpose of being smart. people are drawn to someone like that. >> at a certain point in my life i was going to be a comedian or shrink. i chose comedian because it pays more. a neighbor tells you she heard from her son your teenage child is doing drugs. i picked, confront my child immediately and get him help. if someone tells me my child is doing drugs, that means i have not been paying attention to it and i want to know about it. >> that tells me something about you.
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there are a bunch of other things you could do. could defend your child against the person who told you about him. start with the child and figure out where they are at. that may seem like the only reaction that's right. for you it's the only reaction that's right for you. this test gives you choices and helps you figure out which are the choices are right for you. it's like an internal compass. helps you where you will draw strength from life. >> let's recap. don't balance. pick what you want and go for it. >> tilt your life toward that. >> find little things in life, catch them and cradle them. >> exactly. don't juggle. catch and cradle. juggling is about keeping everything at bay. throwing things up in the air keeping it at bay. if you spend your whole life like that you'll never hold on to anything long enough to feel it. >> don't play football with your kid if you don't want to play football. thank you all for watching. good night.
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breaking news tonight. live, colorado. the whole country on pins and needles. a little 6-year-old boy's life hanging in the balance and a beautiful silver space-like balloon soaring through the clouds. tonight, it apparently all ends in felony charges. that's right. police, sheriffs, national guard, volunteers, the faa, even a whole airport and commercial carriers trying to save the life of a 6-year-old boy. falcon heene. who his brothers and his parents say was trapped in that homemade
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balloon, racing through the sky. eyewitness reports emerge that something or someone falls thousands of feet to rough terrain near the colorado rocky mountains. after 60 miles of terror, the balloon lands. no boy. was he dead? was he injured? was he lying down some ravine with every bone in his body broken? oh, no. he was hiding in the family attic the whole time. blurting out on national tv, it was all, quote, for the show. on not one but two morning shows, that same child so nervous he vomits. when asked the same question. bye-bye reality show. hello cell block.
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>> it has been determined that this is a hoax. that it was a publicity stunt. we believe that we have evidence at this point to indicate that it was a publicity stunt done with the hopes of marketing themselves or better marketing themselves for a reality television show at some point in the future. >> did you hear us calling your name at any time? you did? >> you did? >> why didn't you come out? >> you guys said that we did
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this for the show. and tonight, a college football star on scholarship, university of connecticut, at a college dance, stabbed to death. who cut this all-american's life short? nobody knows? at a college dance, packed with students, nobody knows? nobody sees a thing? no way. tonight, who ended the life of 20-year-old football star jasper howard? >> a huskies homecoming dance party turns deadly. after an altercation ends in the stabbing death of star cornerback and father to be, jasper howard. >> jasper's autopsy results find 20-year-old jasper howard died of a single stab wound to the stomach. just before he was killed howard called his mom. >> i talked to him for a while that night. i talked to him.
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now i can't even talk to him no more. >> it happened after a fire alarm went off at a dance on the student center. this happened after midnight. hundreds of people ran out in the streets and a fight broke out. >> as far as what the altercation was about, that actually is a subject of continuing investigation. >> we have not identified a suspect in this case. however, we are pursuing active leads. >> i hope whoever did it turns himself in. he didn't deserve this. he didn't deserve it. and tonight, live, texas, a 3-year-old little boy in extreme danger. stolen from his own home after the boy's young mother found murdered on her bedroom floor. why? you know what? i don't care why. i just want to know, tonight, where is 3-year-old mitchell romero?
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>> an amber alert issued for 3-year-old mitchell romero, whose mother was found murdered inside the family home. police believe mitchell is in grave and immediate danger. >> after 6:00 denver city police arrived to 212 east tenth street to find veronica romero inside. >> the boy was last seen in the company of his father. inside a gmc yukon with texas license plates. romero, also the husband of mitchell's mother and victim, veronica romero. >> we've been talking to family members on both sides, so it's just a matter of time before we're able to talk to them. >> three of veronica's sister visited with police. a sister back at their home told us 33-year-old mario romero abused veronica in the past and said it's, quote, a sure thing he's her murderer. >> romero is considered a person
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of interest in veronica's murder. reports surface romero may be trying to take mitchell across the border. good evening. i'm nancy grace. thank you for being with us. live, colorado. the whole country on pins and needles. a little 6-year-old boy's life hanging in the balance. a beautiful, silver space-like balloon soaring through the clouds. tonight, apparently it will all end in felony charges. bye-bye reality show. hello, cell block.
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>> these people are actors. the way they met and established their relationship was in acting school in hollywood. so needless to say they put on a very good show for us. and we bought it. >> absolutely no hoax. i want your questions in the box. i'll get right back to you, okay? >> one of the guys told him it was for some tv show, so that's what he was referring to. >> oh. >> that's what he was referring to when he made that statement. >> i know i want to point out that the sheriff's office said last night that they believe your account of what happened but they do want to question you a little bit more. >> straight out to dan simon, cnn national correspondent, joining us from the heene home. dan, thank you for being with us.
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what's the latest, dan? >> reporter: well, i can tell you richard heene is doing something he doesn't normally do, nancy, keeping a low profile today. we saw him emerge from the house once with his entire family, got into a pickup truck. apparently drove to a grocery store. he's back in his home tonight. not making any statements. probably on the vice of -- on the advice of his attorney. in terms of how this all came to light, what we are hearing from authorities is that they wanted to bring richard heene in for questioning and did so -- used a little bit of trickery. they told him, come to the sheriff's station. we'll give you what's left of your silver balloon. heene drives over there. thinks he's going to pick up the balloon. lo and behold, the cops start questioning him. from what we understand, they administered a polygraph. we don't know the results. in any case, they questioned heene. their investigators came over to the house behind me and questioned the rest of the family. they questioned the wife and
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questioned the children and at that point after all the questioning was over, authorities were convinced it was absolutely a hoax. nancy. >> we are taking your calls live. joining us at the scene, ft. collins, colorado, cnn national correspondent, dan simons. to peter marcus, "denver daily news." peter, take me back to the very beginning. what happened? >> well, you know, the whole world was held captive. we thought little falcon was flying across the colorado skies in a flier saucer balloon and then this weekend, you know, we hear from the sheriff's department they're saying this whole thing was a hoax. >> i want to go to clark goldband, our producer on the story. a lot of people took a look at this thing and were convinced nobody could actually be inside of it. where was the boy the whole time? >> nancy, law enforcement investigators actually decided they wanted to contact aerospace engineers who used to work for the u.s. armed services to determine whether it could actually hold the 36 pound boy, falcon.
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at first, law enforcement searched that house at the very outset and did not find falcon. they admitted a few hours later maybe we didn't search that home as thoroughly as we should have. it turned out later falcon was then believed to be up in the crawl space or attic that whole time. however, since then the sheriff of larimer county has said it's not clear. falcon could have been somewhere else and come back, himself, to the home. >> dan simon, back to you, joining us at the heene home. dan, how did the whole thing crack wide open? >> reporter: you know, there was that interview last thursday on "larry king live, can "wolf blitzer was hosting and there was that question by the father, richard heene, to his son. said, hey, when you were up in the attic did you hear i calling your name? the boy says, yeah. he says, why didn't you come out? he says, well, we did it for the show. everybody saw that and it immediately raised suspicions on the part of law enforcement, everybody who, of course, was watching this.
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authorities grew suspicious. they wanted to question the heenes. they also put up a public front supporting the heenes and did that because they wanted to continue to have their trust. over the weekend, they brought in the heenes for question. they brought richard into the sheriff's station. they administered a polygraph at that time. then investigators came to the house, did another line of questioning and we don't know if there was confession or whatever was said. all we know is after those interviews took place, authorities came out and said it was a hoax. >> let's take a listen to what happened on national tv. >> did you hear us calling your name at any time? you did? >> you did? >> why didn't you come out? >> you guys said that we did this for the show. >> one of the guys told him it was for some tv show.
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so that's what he was referring to. >> oh. >> that's what he was referring to when he made that statement. >> i know, i want to point out that the sheriff's office said last night that they believe your account of what happened, but they do want to question you a little bit more. >> falcon? you okay there? >> uh-huh. >> you sure? >> he's tired. >> he's not quite awake. >> i feel like i'm going to vomit. >> oh. >> you okay, buddy? >> no. >> yeah, he's -- i think he's queasy. >> the child's so sick when he was asked that same question after his appearance, being interviewed by wolf blitzer on cnn, he vomits. on national tv.
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unleash the lawyers. sue moss, alex sanchez, anne bremner. anne bremner, high profile lawyer joining us out of seattle. what's your defense of parents that apparently put their child on the air? he blurts out, we did it for the show on cnn. then when he's asked that question again, he's so upset he vomits on national tv. on "today" and abc. >> nancy, i knew you were going to ask me that. it's a terrible situation. nobody died. it was a hoax. >> please answer the question. >> my defense is that we've got to see all the facts in the thing and life doesn't imitate art. it imitates bad tv.
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interviewed by wolf blitzer that we had the first ah-ha moment. >> did you hear us calling your name at any time? you did? >> you did? >> why didn't you come out? >> you guys said that we did this for the show. >> when wolf talked to the father and the father was asking him, you saw the one little boy look at the mommy like uh-oh. >> the fact he wanted his child to lie for him. that's the lesson he's teaching his child. that's the damage here. >> they are my clients. i heard a lot from them. obviously this is something the public rolls their eyes at unfortunately. but the presumption of innocence should be given to them.
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>> oh my god, oh my god, my son. if she lied to 911 about the life of her son, susan moss, alex sanchez, anne bremner. susan moss, what charges could they be facing? >> absolutely filing a false police report, also endangering a child and others. their parental rights might go up, up and away. or at least the time they'll be in jail which could be a maximum of 13 years based on the felonies they could be charged with. >> sanchez? >> you know, it's incredible. it's like the world has this couple convicted already. based upon the information i
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have seen and read, i don't see enough evidence at all which would justify an arrest at this point. maybe the police have information we're not aware of. based upon what i have heard, there was simply -- this case is based on speculation, on theory, and on suspicion. you come into court with evidence. >> let me refresh your recollection, alex. to you, peter marcus with "the denver daily news." what can you tell me between reported communications between a research assistant or prior employee with mr. heene many, many, weeks before regarding a stunt like this? >> yeah. i think that was obviously the big twist to come out of this today. is that gawker.com, this website, they say they purchased this story from a robert thomas who's a 25-year-old researcher, working with definitely richard heene on developing some sort of science-based reality television show.
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in their conversations richard had mentioned that he could establish some sort of a publicity stunt on the level of roswell. he's a bit of a ufo guy. and that, you know, could create quite a buzz, quite a stir for the reality show they had been developing. >> right. to dan simon, how long before this stunt actually occurred were these communications? >> reporter: communications between who, nancy? >> between the employee and mr. heene. >> reporter: you know, i really am not sure how long they were talking, but you know, one of the things i think is absolutely fascinating that we heard today is that this balloon, everybody has seen it, when you take a 37-pound boy, they had a physics professor come in and take a look at it. they said it's absolutely no way it could have lifted off the ground. another compelling moment to this bizarre case. >> as it turns out, those conversations about this stunt
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straight out to special guest joining us, mary schiavo, former u.s. department of transportation inspector general, also an aviation attorney. mary, thank you for being with us. the police, the sheriffs, national guard, volunteers, faa, the airport closed down, the commercial carriers. everybody cooperated to try to find this boy and save his life. the whole time the family allegedly did this as a stunt. >> that's right. and the faa certainly will have something to say about it. it's not surprising that they have joined the investigation and there are a number of things they will charge, but usually they can an do a civil penalty of fines. things like operating an aircraft without an air certificate, violating commercial airspace and constructing this aircraft without a proper license. so there are many charges they could bring against them. this will pale compared to the felony charges.
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>> to dr. leslie austin, psychotherapist. the boy is vomiting on national tv when pushed on these questions. do you think he was asked to lie? what does this mean about their custody? >> i can't say for sure if he was asked for lie, but he's certainly under stress. custody is a questions. i think it's scandalous what they're doing to this little boy. ddddddddddddd
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university of connecticut is mourning a star football player, soon to be dad. >> it all started around 12:30 sunday morning when someone pulled a fire alarm in the "u" forcing the crowd of more than 300 people, uconn students and others, outside. that's when a fight started between the two groups and 20-year-old howard and one other were stabbed multiple times. >> one of the victims who was stabbed has actually died. jasper howard of a uconn student. suspect remained at large.
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>> there was an altercation. he got stabbed in the stomach. he went through surgery. 4:00 i call, the doctor told me he didn't make it. i was here at home watching the game. i watched the whole game. after the game he called me and was very excited. i talked to him for a while then i talked to him and i can't talk to him no more. >> straight out to al jones with 1010 wins joining us at uconn campus. al jones, i don't understand how at a college dance, i mean, certainly you've been to a college dance before, at a college dance, a fight breaks out. the place is packed with
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witnesses. a star student scrubbed in sunshine, a good kid, gets stabbed to death. and nobody sees a thing? i don't believe that. >> well, there are some witnesses. they have talked to a number of students who were there. they also have another football player by the name of brian parker who was actually there and has helped them identify at least one person involved in the fight. that person was arraigned earlier today on charges of breach of peace and obstruction of justice. not charged in the stabbing, mind you, but held on $100,000 bail. they're asking for others students to come forward. there are security cameras around campus. it's the matter of, did they manage to catch some of the action on tape? >> to marlaina schiavo, our reporter, producer there also at uconn campus. marlaina, let me get something straight. has an eyewitness told police who did the stabbing? >> reporter: police have not
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said that any eyewitnesss have told them who did the stabbing, however, nancy, police have indicated they may know who this person is because they said they don't think it's a uconn student. now, how would they know that? they obviously have someone in mind that doesn't go to uconn but might be a part of this. >> marlaina, what do we know about this young man? >> reporter: we know, nancy, he comes from miami. he was on a full athletic scholarship. he was a star football player. he won this huge game that day. he was at the dance that night. we know that he came -- his mother said he came from miami, you know, to get away from the violence. unfortunately, that didn't happen the other night obviously. we also know he was a father to be. his girlfriend is pregnant. she's here right now along with his mother and that's what we know right now. >> take a listen to what police
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had to say. >> this is a dance, a scheduled and sponsored dance that was occurring at the student union. at 12:26 while the dance was going on, someone pulled a fire alarm pull station which evacuated the dance out on to the street. there were approximately in the neighborhood of 300-plus people who were attending the dance, and they were in the street. an altercation occurred and concluded with a stabbing of two individuals. >> my thought and prayers go out to his mother because as many of you know, the background where he grew up, through young childhood, through high school, to not only live through it but to get through it and be able to get a chance to get out of there was a miracle in itself.
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the idea of him coming all the way up to connecticut where his mother thought he was safe, that he would grow up into a better man and come back and support his family like he was planning on doing is heartbreaking. >> i just hope whoever did it turns himself in. because he didn't deserve this. he didn't deserve it. >> to marlaina schiavo, our producer at uconn campus. what more can you tell me, marlaina? >> reporter: i can tell you right now there's still a killer on the loose. no one is in custody for this crime. we also know that jasper died with -- the cause of death was one stab wound to the abdomen. obviously the manner of death is homicide.
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so we have no idea who did this, but cops are eager to find out more information, nancy. >> okay. marlaina, i want to clear something up. first you told me that they think they know who did it. because that's not the impression i had at all. so if you would be so kind to clear up for me what exactly the status is, marlaina, because you've given me two completely different answers. it's my understanding that witnesses are not naming a killer. and they were all right there. do we have a composite? do we have a name? is anybody giving it up? >> reporter: no. not at all, nancy. that's what i said. no witnesses have given up the name. the only thing police have told us is they are pretty sure it wasn't a uconn student. they've narrowed it down to that aspect. no, there are no names flying around. there's been no witnesses that have -- not one witness has come forward to say this is who did it. >> out to the lines. p.j. in massachusetts. hi, p.j.
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>> caller: good evening, nancy. bless you and your family and your beautiful twins. >> thank you. thank you. >> caller: my twins just turned 3 and she's my only child and has 7. i'm just baffled that there is absolutely nobody that would come forward. how in the world can someone not come forward when there's all his so-called close buddies there with him? they had -- >> let's unleash the lawyers. susan moss, alex sanchez, anne bremner. to you, bremner. like when shukur was killed. he was killed on the street, on the vegas street. it has thousands of people on it, 24/7, 365. nobody saw a name. nobody can name who did it. no matter how much it was investigated. same thing here. nobody knows anything. nobody can give a name, nobody can give a good identification.
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that is b.s. think about it, think about it, anne, when i go home to those twins tonight, my prayer is i live to get them through school, to get them into college. here's this young man, he's making it. he's on a scholarship. he's finally making it. and then this happens. did you see his mother crying? there's a baby on the way. the mother, the baby and nobody will talk? i tell you what, if one of those witnesses were your client, anne bremner, all hell would break loose if i was on that prosecution team. let me tell you. >> that's the thing, nancy. you're so right. i've seen it in cases sense i was a baby prosecutor. hundreds of witnesses and no one saw a thing. homicide right in front of them. that horrible, horrible dynamic in these cases. hopefully someone is watching your show right now and sees and comes forward. somebody saw something. he was stabbed to death.
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>> to you, dr. perper. how could one stab wound inflect so much damage? >> because the stab wound to the abdomen can go upwards and can hit the heart or major blood vessel such as the aorta or major veins. one single stab wound which is deep enough and directed to the proper direction is going to cause death. >> i mean, look at it, doctor. look at this video of him. he's young. he's athletic. he's giving 200%. he's out there slugging it out on the field. he's attending classes. and this. to be stabbed to death at a dance. everybody, we are taking your calls. i want to give you the tip line. 860-486-4800. tonight, a mother's heart is broken. we are taking your calls. to tonight's safety tip. one in every four women will experience domestic violence.
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abuse often begins with threats, name calling, escalates to physical violence. beating, sex assaults or murder. if you're in danger, obviously, call 911. second, get guidance from any of the battered women hotlines in your area. once you leave the relationship, have a safety plan if you have children. confide in somebody who can help. family, friend. domestic violence hotline counselor. have a code word that alerts them you're in danger. come up with a safe house including a key to get in. keep documents in a safe place like order of protection, police reports, money, i.d., credit cards. children should know how and where to escape and how to call 911. for more info, go to safehorizon.org.
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a promise you, not only will he live on through his child's life, but he'll always live on through this team's heart and others. >> at least two of our guys when this took place, one had jasper in his arms and the other was pressuring where the wound went in and, you know, had blood, you know, on his hands and those two young men i know are pretty deeply affected, you know, right
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now. >> about 12:33 a.m., uconn police and general patrol were notified after a stabbing that just occurred off of hillside road in the area of the student union. the police officer investigating quickly determined there were two stabbing victims in close proximity to each other. >> howard and another student were stabbed and howard died. no suspect has been named. >> there was an altercation. he got stabbed in the stomach. he had went through surgery. 4:00 i call and the doctor told me he didn't make it. >> both stabbing victims were taken to area hospitals. one treated and released. howard pronounced dead hours after the incident in st. francis hospital in hartford, where his coach stood watch all night.
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a campus-wide alert was issued early sunday and uconn pd stepped up patrols around the campus in wake of the incident. they're working with state police on the investigation. >> back to dr. joshua perper. you were explaining how one stab wound could cause so much damage. >> well, if a stab wound is applied to the upper portion of the abdomen, there is a possibility that the track of the wound is going to be directed toward the heart, so the person may have a stab wound in the heart which may be fatal. in the same way, one of the major arteries of the body, the aorta, can be cut. this explains why the death could occur so fast and not able to assist the person because apparently there was medical assistance or assistance even very early after the incident
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occurred. >> to sergeant scott haynes, sheriff's officer, santa rosa county, florida. what do you make of the fact no one is coming forward with a name or description of the killer? >> in a situation like that, there was a fire alarm that was pulled. there was a lot of chaos going on. a lot of people were outside. so there was a lot of distractions. some people may not have been focusing their attention to something like that. unfortunately in stabbing situations there's no noise, there's no gun shots. there may be people who weren't aware this actually went on due to their attention diverted to other places. that does make it more difficult. there were obviously some people right there who know what happened. hopefully they'll come forward. >> sergeant, i'm sorry, somebody was speaking in my ear. can you repeat that again? sorry, i couldn't hear you. >> sure. the fire alarm that was pulled, that diversion, there was chaos from that. a large amount of people. with a stabbing situation there's no gunshot. it's a very quiet crime. the people who are in the
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immediate area may have known what went on, but this person, if he was taken by surprise, he probably didn't realize what happened right away. so some people may not even realize that they witnessed a stabbing until they hear about this on the news and maybe they'll start coming forward. there was a lot of things taking people's attention in other directions at the time. >> i want to go to dr. leslie austin, psychotherapist joining us out of new york. dr. austin, why is nobody coming forward? >> people may not have seen it or they may have been frightened. you need to let the police do their work and get a lot more details. somebody will say something somewhere soon enough and they'll find their man. >> we're taking your calls. sandy, ohio. >> caller: hi, nancy, my husband, mark and i don't miss a show. i have a two-part question if i could. are the college dances like the high school dances and you must
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attend there to go to the dance? >> i can tell you that right now. no. because there were non-students and college students there. go ahead. >> caller: okay. the second part is, was the fire alarm pulled to get everybody outside so this could happen? is that what they're thinking? >> good question. al jones with 1010 wins joining us at uconn campus. al, what do we know about the fire alarm being pulled? >> the alarm was pulled at 12:26. you had a lot of confusion. people leaving from different exits. you may have had 300 people coming out but not all to one collective place. i talked to one student who said there was a number of people arguing, pushing and shoving. if you think about it, nancy, if you shove somebody or stab somebody it's the same motion in the dark. the fact nobody saw the stabbing or have not told police about it is not that surprising. >> al, i've investigated many, many, many homicides, and more
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than i can even count. i find it very, very difficult to believe that nobody in a packed dance at college saw who took a knife and stabbed this young man to death. i don't believe nobody saw anything and i find it very hard to believe that no one is coming forward. to teresa in michigan. hi, dear, what's your question? >> caller: hi, nancy. i'm a big fan of your show. thanks for taking my call. >> thank you, and thank you for calling in. >> caller: i was wondering about the fire alarm pulled, too. would they have a camera on the person that pulled the fire alarm? sounds like it was a setup to get him outside. >> you know, teresa, i'm under the same thing. back when annie le was murdered, remember, at yale?
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the police kept saying there was no connection between the fire alarm and the murder. b.s. now, here with so many people there, i think it's more possible it wasn't connected, but al, didn't you say there was surveillance video? >> good. joining us from 1010, quickly, everyone, i want to tell you about a 3-year-old boy missing and his mom dead. take a listen. >> police are desperate to find be in immediate and great danger. mitchell romero's mother was found murdered in her home. mitchell was last seen with his father in a maroon yukon with texas license plates.
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>> to michael from woai, what happened? >> to bring you up on the latest, veronica romero was laid to rest today in denver city, a town of about 4,000 people. i talked to a worker and they said it's been at least a decade since there has been a murder in this city. her husband may have murdered her in cold blood and has their 3 year-year-old son with him. police are eager to speak with him.
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next on "showbiz tonight," new outrage over the alleged balloon hoax. are the kids in danger. >> a fight over the term cougar, older women with younger men. marge simpson's scandalous pictures in "playboy." at the top of the hour. >> back to michael with woai. you will have to excuse me, i have gotten a horrible cold from my son. michael, the mother is found dead in her bedroom floor by whom? >> by her sister and she may
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have been dead a couple of days before her sister found her there on the bedroom floor. >> michael, that is the most significant part of the puzzle to me. this guy apparently has gotten several days of a head start on police. >> have very easily he could have slipped across the boarder to mexico. the drive to el paso is about hours, very easy to do. the border passing is probably the busiest in the nation. there literally thousands of people streaming back and forth all day and easy to blend into the crowd. >> sheeba in illinois, i have 45 seconds left. what's your question and hello. >> caller: fixing to go through the terrible twos. >> i'm ready. >> caller: when was the last time the father was seen in that vicinity? >> good question. what do we know? >> the last time he was seen was last week.
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they don't finish he was with the child. they live together in the same house because earlier this year he pled guilty to beating her up. he is capable of doing anything to make him mad. lord only know what is he will do with the child when the child starts crying and asking where his mommy is. >> tip line, 806-592-3516. help us find this little boy in so much danger. let's stop and remember army national guard jeremiah holmes, 27 in maine, killed iraq. ordered the blonz star and purple heart. loved playing horseshoes and lost his mom at 13 to murder and did not live to see her killer brought to justice. leaves behind grandmother vivian and best friend kimberly and 6-year-old son, caleb.
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see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp eastern. until then, good night, friend. > i'm a.j. hammer and this is a "showbiz tonight" news break. here's what's coming up. the balloon boy saga soars to outrageous new heights. a sheriff said it was a hoax cooked up by the family to get their own reality show. >> is the word cougar demeaning to women and is it time for the word to be extinct? that is your "showbiz tonight" news break. the first most provocative
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