this morning we are sharing with you the lives of those killed at ft. hood last week. their families and friends tell us about each of their unique stories. and -- >> mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall. >> and then it was taken down, marking the beginning of the end to the cold war and acute fears of nuclear war at the time. and celebrations getting under way today in berlin. we'll take a look at those. plus, don't take the escalator. take the old giant piano stairs instead. hop around a little. black keys, white keys. what do you like? commuters having fun playing the

piano while getting a little exercise. will fun lead to better health? all that this hour on "morning express." plus a little stair music shall we say. iran is now charging three u.s. hikers who crossed into the country illegally of espionage at this moment. that's from a senior iranian prosecutor. secretary of state clinton said there is no evidence to support the charges of espionage against shane bauer, sarah shourd, and josh fattal. the hikers' families say they crossed the unmarked border between iraq and iran by mistake here, releasing this video of them goofing off to show that they were innocent. of course that just coming in the last hour. we'll follow that story coming out of iran. the first hurricane, meanwhile, of the atlantic season has just been downgraded to a tropical storm. ida's winds dropped below 75 miles an hour, but it's still a strong storm and is headed for the gulf coast. it already caused a lot of flooding in nicaragua. it's due to make landfall near the alabama-mississippi state line tomorrow morning. forecasters saying watch out for flooding, rough surf, and

possible tornados if you're in that part of the country. louisiana has already declared a state of emergency. okay. bob van dillen, you've been tracking this for us last week, over the weekend, and now today. now downgraded. that's good news. >> that's some great news. and we've been watching all morning because it's encountering shear, richard, and basically what that means is it's moving up to the north, it's getting some wind coming up strong out of the southwest. once you get the thunderstorms on the inside of the circulation to begin to develop that shear effectively takes the thunderstorms away and blows it up to the north. so that weakens the storm. great news there. also, it's running into colder sea surface temperatures. you need about 80 degrees at the surface of the water to really sustain its strength. i don't think it's going to see that. it's going up to upper 70s right now. path of it still up to the north and i think the rain showers are going to be heavy at times, especially this morning through tonight. and we'll talk about that in just a little bit. richard. >> so it's petering out. >> it's beginning to lose a little bit of strength. which is great news. still a tropical storm, though, you can't take it for granted. a lot of wind, a lot of rain.

flood warnings are out there too. >> back with the weather for the rest of the nation in a little bit. >> you got it. ceremonies, meanwhile, are under way right now to mark the 20th anniversary since the berlin wall came down. a short while ago a group of world leaders symbolically crossed the first bridge that opened back in 1989. that's angela merkel, the chancellor of germany you saw there. there will be several other events including a huge concert tonight. the highlight will be knocking over huge dominoes. that represents the domino effect the wall had on the collapse of communism. and as i said moments ago the end -- the beginning of the end of the cold war. right now the supreme court is considering whether kids who commit crimes that do not involve killing should get tough sentences. the justices will hear arguments about whether it's cruel and unusual punishment to lock up a juvenile for life with no chance of parole. four years ago the supreme court ruled out the death penalty for anyone younger than 18. new this morning for you,

we've learned that cuesed ft. hood shooter is conscious and talking. a representative for an army hospital in san antonio where he's at right now says he's talking to hospital staff, but he would not say whether hasan has spoken to army investigators. a law enforcement official telling the associated press the fbi will probably look now into whether the suspect, major hasan, came into contact with two of the 9/11 hijackers. it says the hijackers attended the same virginia mosque where the funeral for hasan's mother was held in may 2001. also, the "washington post" reports that investigators are looking for any ties here between has sxn a radical islamic leader who preached at that mosque. also, those investigators are asking for help from anyone who was there during the shooting. that may have inadvertently left the scene with evidence such as firearm residue or shell casings. 16 of the victims are still in the hospital. seven are in intensive care as well. earlier we heard from a shoulder

who was shot in the hip, private first class joseph foster and his wife were asked did they ever think something like this could happen at the post? >> it's still home. i still consider myself pretty safe. this was something that couldn't be controlled. it was something that we couldn't predict was going to happen. >> we've heard incredible survival stories. but there is also the grim reality of what happens after the shootings. >> the part that was probably the most troubling was in the event that one of the parents may have been wounded or killed and having a youngster waiting there to be picked up and never getting picked up. and not being able to tell the school leadership which ones had been killed, which ones are wounded as we were sorting through that. >> throughout the morning we are focusing on the lives of those killed at ft. hood. you'll hear some of their heartbreaking stories in just a few minutes. the yeas are 220.

the nays are 215. the bill is passed. >> well, with a crackling voice you see there speaker pelosi announcing the vote. health care reform took a step forward late saturday night. the house passed its $1.2 trillion bill by just five votes. it does include a government-run plan to compete with private insurers, the so-called public option you've heard before. but there was also a last-minute compromise for conservative democrats. an amendment banning federal funding for abortions. only one republican voted for this bill. >> for this decision, even though it was unpopular for my own party, but it was the right decision for my district. so i've always been focusing on making the right decisions for the people of my district, whether or not it will cost me my political future. >> the senate debate could be much tougher.

republican senator lindsey graham said the house bill would be dead on arrival in the senate. last week senate majority leader harry reid refused to give a timetable for passing a senate bill, signaling he may be having trouble getting enough votes to do just that. seven years on after one of the most frightening killing sprees in u.s. history. d.c. sniper john allen muhammad will be put to death tomorrow night. he shot at least 20 people, five in one single day. ten people died. the shootings came as the country was still reeling after 9/11 and the anthrax letters. muhammad's accomplice lee boyd malvo is serving life in prison. stairs or the escalator? well, an advertising company figured it could make life a bit more fun for commuters by turning a subway staircase into a piano keyboard. ♪ left, right, right, left. this is part of the company's fun theory. they are trying to prove that if people have some fun in their lives they'll change their behavior for the better, get a little more exercise as well.

viral videos of the fun theory have become a hit on the internet. ♪ bob van dillen joins us. reminds me of "big." >> absolutely. >> but on a gargantuan scale. >> robert loggia doing it. remember that? he's fantastic. >> you also burn off a couple pounds doing that. state of emergency in louisiana. closing some schools. >> apparently, yeah. it's good news, too, because they're going to get the wind out there, they're going to get the rain, why even bother, credit even take the chance. eye want to show you something else we're following now, and that is the leading edge of the tropical storm. just offshore from mobile getting into the florida panhandle. also over the last hour or so plotting these winds, these are sustained winds, 28-mile-per-hour sustained winds in indian pass. that's right around florida. you get back down south of new orleans, 31-mile-per-hour sustained winds and these have been coming up steadily and slowly, though, for the last couple of hours. before when it first start td was in the 20s, now up to 30 miles per hour. the winds starting to come up there. also dolphin island, alabama, now you're having the water

coming over the western edge. they're asking if you want to evacuate this island do it now before the conditions deteriorate even farther. whatwhat about the rest of the region? we have tropical storm warnings. they've all been replaced by the hurricane warnings that were there before. some good news. now it's just a tropical storm warning. but you're still going to get the rain, the wind, the wave action that's going to start up in a couple of hours. here's a steady swirl in the action. that's the actual tropical storm. back up to the west rain south of houston. that's a trough of low pressure that's ahead of that cold front, and that cold front takes all that rain and siphons it across the western part of florida, alabama, mississippi, and louisiana and stretches it through georgia into the carolinas. notice the purple shading right there, richard. that is about eight inches of rain over the next 48 hours flood watches are in effect. and we'll talk about those coming up in the next half hour. >> and of course the concern out of lieu is that swell during katrina, right? it was just huge. >> not going to be anything close to that. obviously, it's a tropical storm. but still high tides are going to be up to maybe four, six feet above the average. >> thanks, bob.

14 people died in the ft. hood shootings. they expected to face danger overseas, not at a texas army base. we're sharing some of their stories today with you.

well, michael jackson's father's asking for money now from the late singer's estate. his attorney filed court documents on friday asking for an unspecified allowance. michael jackson's will did not say anything about his dad, but the documents say joe jackson has been relying on michael's support for many years. michael said his father was abusive, but joe jackson denies that. cnn.com and oprah are teaming up for the biggest oprah's book club event ever. go to cnn.com/oprahbookclub to read experts from "say you're one of them." watch oprah's video blogs or file an ireport and share your thoughts. plus register for the book club event happening on the new cnn.com tonight at 9:00 eastern. the government says the official unemployment rate is

now a little more than 10% but it's actually much higher than that. money expert jen westhoven is here with more. because that number came out on friday. >> right. >> they said it ticked up. double digits now. >> yeah. >> but it could be bigger than that is what you're saying. >> well, and we have so many people who are ready to say it doesn't feel like 10%, it feels worse than that. so we really want to say, you are right. you've got to remember that the way they count the official number, they can't really count everyone. so we're going to give you the sort of behind-the-scenes as to why you say hey, there's more than that. that's because anybody who stopped looking for work, they can't be counted, right? because if you're not actively looking you're probably not going to get a job. so they can't really count you in terms of people who are unemployed but out there and looking. but you know, when jobs are very scarce the way the job market has been lately it can be very discouraging, you know, week after week, in some cases month after month to be told no. so some people do get discouraged and drop out. now, another reason you wouldn't get count sd if you're

underemployed. maybe you're working part-time because you have to but you really want a if you-time job but you're still counted because you're working part-time. so if you did include all those people, unemployment would be more like 17%. and that's the highest we've seen since the great depression, when it was about 30% according to some numbers from the "new york times" and labor department. >> 1 out of 6 people, then. if you've got six people in a room, most likely one of them is out of a job. >> yeah. that's a lot of people we're talking about. and that's people who are able to work. >> right. able to work. >> let's get you some news. just in time for the holidays. we've seen a lot of price wars. we've talked about books. we've talked about toys. the latest? dvds. if you buy them online. that's some good news in a bad economy. walmart got things rolling. target and amazon kind of jumped in. we're not talking about junky movies like "ishtar." >> you actually note name of that. >> the new star trek, harry potter, "night at the museum."

>> i want to be inside even more. locked up. just watching dvds. >> back to you. >> thanks a lot, jen. a college soccer player has been given the boot for her actions on the field. but is there a double standard in sports when it comes to, ooh, punishment? that's the discussion. and it hit our facebook page over the break.

president obama and the first lady will attend a memorial service tomorrow for the 13 people killed at ft. hood. and we're taking a closer look this morning at some of their stories today. first off, captain john gaffaney was a 54-year-old army reservist from san diego. he worked for two decades as a

psychiatric nurse before deciding to re-enlist. but he had to fight to get back in the army because of his age and hearing problem. >> everyone knows that loved him here that he was doing what he wanted to. he wanted to be where he was. he was driven to make a difference. >> gaffaney bought his wife a puppy to keep her company when he learned about his upcoming year-long deployment. another soldier who lost his life at ft. hood was specialist jason hunt. the 22-year-old was recently married. hunt's sister says he joined the army in 2006 because he wanted to be part of something greater than himself. >> i just want to say that, you know, because it didn't happen overseas or it didn't happen in a combat situation doesn't make him any less a hero because my brother was the kind of person to jump in front of a bullet for somebody. and i really feel like, you know, i don't know the details but i know my brother and i know he was very brave in this

situation. >> specialist hunt had re-enlisted for another six years. he was set for his second deployment to iraq. we will share two more stories for you in the next 30 minutes. three people were killed today when a suicide bomber blew up a police checkpoint in pakistan. it happened in the region where the military has been trying to clear out militants. police saying the bomber detonated when police stopped him. five others were wounded. militants are stepping up bomb attacks all over pakistan. officials call it revenge for the military offensive. and of course, this has been just one of a spat of different attacks over recent months. we have an update on a women's soccer player who got a little physical on the field. and when you see the video, aw little physical might be a little understated. >> a little understated, yeah. well, we're trying to be a little bit diplomatic. >> i understand. >> to her credit, she has apologized. but in the meantime elizabeth lambert of new mexico has been suspended indefinitely for punching, hitting, pulling ponytails and various acts that

have no business on the soccer field. while she said it was out of her character. now, this team's season is likely over. but as a junior the suspension could carry over to next year. so not entirely symbolic. meanwhile, we were talking about this guy, florida's brandon spikes, who tried to gouge out a player's eyes. he got suspended for half a game. and then he was the one whoened his suspension to a full game. guy gets one game, girl gets indefinite. is there a double standard for men and women in sports? here's what you're talking about on our facebook page. denise says, "no, i don't think there is a double standard. football is a full contact sport. this girl looked like she weans joig hurting other players." meanwhile, cliff said "i think it is indeed a double standard and shows that college football has become more about money than anything else." cnn.com click on the facebook icon. the tb it can bucs sporting their hideous creamsicle throwback uniforms from the '70s. here's the irony. when they wore these unis from

1976 to '96 they stunk. 18 losing seasons. were basically a laughing stock in the nfl. they bring them back, they get their first win in 2009. >> go figure. and a washington player wants an opposing team's coach investigated for starting a fight with him on the sidelines. that is falcons head coach mike smith. deangelo hall of the smith says smith was getting into it with him and told him he was going to kick his butt. looks like he actually took a swing at him. hall says he'll find a complaint. smith says he was just trying to restore order. three-time cup champion jimmie johnson's hopes for a big win took a big hit with this crash. he was okay even though he hit the wall pretty hard. he finished 38th but he's still first place in the standings. meanwhile, kyle busch was dominating the race the entire time, and then ran out of gas, allowing his brother kurt to pass him on the final lap and win. that's going to be an awkward thanksgiving. and that's a look at sports. >> running out of gas. almost inexcusable, but as we know, it's down to every last ounce. >> and it sometimes happens.

it's a strategic move that they make, and sometimes it fails. >> thanks, rafer. appreciate it. you might remember the 13-year-old boy who ran away with his mom to avoid chemo. find out how he's doing after months of court-ordered treatment for cancer. y8

hurricane ida has now been downgraded to a tropical storm. we learned this within the last 45 minutes. it's headed now for the gulf coast. it could make landfall late tonight nevertheless. forecasters saying ida could cause flooding, rough surf, and even tornados from eastern mississippi to the florida panhandle. louisiana has already declared a state of emergency. we'll get an update with bob van dillen on that shortly. ceremonies are under way right now to mark the 20th anniversary since the berlin wall came down. a short while ago a group of world leaders symbolically crossed the first bridge that opened in 1989. angela merkel there, the chancellor of germany, you can see in the center. the wall's collapse was the

beginning of the end for communism in europe. many believe the end of the soviet union as well. it could be a tense meeting tonight twnt president obama and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. you might remember here netanyahu rejected president obama's demand that israel stop building settlements in the west bank. president obama has said it is a necessary step to restarting peace talks with the palestinians. >> now it falls on the united states senate to take the baton and bring this effort to the finish line on behalf of the american people. and i'm absolutely confident that they will. >> a lot happened this weekend on health care. president obama yesterday speaking, as you saw there, congratulating the house after it narrowly passed a $1.2 trillion health care reform bill. it calls for a public option which might not get enough support to survive in the senate version as they try to put their two ideas together. a senate vote has not been scheduled yet. those are some of the stories we're following for you on this monday.

hopefully, you're having a great start to your week. you know the accused ft. hood gunman major nidal hasan is in critical but stable condition and just this morning there are growing signs he may is been embracing extremist ideas about islam. classmates at a military college say they complained about what they believed were his anti-u.s. views, including a presentation that justified suicide bombing. senator joe lieberman says he'll start an investigation into this. >> in the u.s. army this is not a matter of constitutional freedom of speech. if hasan was showing signs, saying to people that he had become an islamist extremist, the u.s. army has to have zero tolerance. he should have been gone. >> we also want to take some time to remember people who were killed at ft. hood. one of those was 62-year-old michael cahill. he was the only civilian victim in this. he had worked there for six years as a physician's assistant. and before that he was a rural doctor and served in the

national guard and army reserves. cahill's children say they do not want people to discriminate against muslims because of the alleged shooter's background. >> this is just a man, an american man who had issues and problems and did a horrible, unspeakable act. but being so angry at one group of people because of this, that's not going to bring my dad back. >> cahill was at ft. hood last thursday to give checkups to soldiers like specialist kham xiong, the 23-year-old from st. paul, minnesota was preparing for his first deployment. his sister says he was a loving husband and a father of three. >> he was just a loving person. a person that has no enemies. none at all. so it's so hard to let him go because he was such a good person. >> she says specialist xiong would have deployed to afghanistan in january. his younger brother is already

there, serving with the marines. a truck driver died when he lost control on a new s-curve detour on the san francisco bay bridge. the highway patrol said he went over the side of the bridge, fell 200 feet. it was still dark when he tried to make the turn at about 50 miles an hour. this is the first fatality at that curve. but the "san francisco chronicle" reports that there have been 42 crashes there in the last two months. about 500 people turned out to remember the 11 women found dead at a house in cleveland. they marched with candles after a memorial service to the house where the women were found. anthony sowell lives there. he's accused of murder and rape. one of the seven bodies identified here so far, taletia forson. her mom was there last night and said this. >> as we stand here in front of this home where they found your daughter, what is that like for you? >> it's hard.

because i want to burn it down. i really would like to. it's very hard. that's why i won't look at it. >> why won't you look at it? >> because i know my baby was in there and she got killed in there. you know, and it's hard. >> again, the man accused in this case is anthony sowell, a registered sex offender. his dna is now being entered into a national database to see if he's connected to any unsolved cases. sowell's lawyer requested he be put on a suicide watch in jail. and now to this. at least 124 people have died, and dozens are missing after floods and mudslides in el salvador. as many as 7,000 people may have lost their homes. a landslide on the side of a volcano is said to have swallowed a village. earlier reports blame tropical storm ida, which was then a hurricane. forecasters are now saying it was a pacific weather front that caused this. and talking about ida, bob van

dillen is back here again. weak in the knees, ida is. >> it's starting to lose a little bit of its punch. which is good news. it was anticipated, too, richard, because it's running into more shear, which is wind that's going to blow the thunderstorms apart just a bit. it's also going over some relatively cooler sea surface temperatures. all good news. it means it's winding down just a little bit. remember, it was a category 2 storm just yesterday. now it's just a category 1 now. tropical storm. 70-mile-per-hour sustained winds. you see the path of that as it moves up to the north. >> hey. there you are, bob. where did you go? what's going on here? >> oh, there he is. right over there. >> not to make light of the situation. >> it was the camera, obviously. we're just joking around. >> let me show you what's happening with the path. we'll continue to go up north. it's going to pick up a little steam forward momentumwise but look at the path, makes landfall sometime after midnight tonight around the pensacola area and then bends hard to the right and falls apart and gets absorbed with a bigger cold front that's moving in from the west. but i want to show you the leading edge of the rain, heavy stuff is just offshore from the

panhandle, zoom on in toward the mobile area, the area toward dauphin island. the rain ahead and it's only going to pick up over the next several hours. tropical storm wind warnings are the inland ones with winds gusting to over 30-mile-per-hour sustained too. you're looking at the ranges to the south, that's the rain shield itself. the cold front going to draw all that rain up over the gulf of mexico over the next two days as much as eight inches of rain in central parts of alabama in towards georgia, back in toward south and north carolina too. and that's really going to be a problem for you. we have flood watches in effect because of all the heavy rain. so we'll look at this again tomorrow morning. d.c. tower cam, here's what it looks like traveling up here. one more nice day. it's going to be about 75 today. winds will pick up later this week as remnants in the extratropical low move in through the region. watch for rain showers for you to end the week and we'll talk about that in just a minute. >> how's that for the modern equivalent of getting the hook? he's been talking for ten

seconds. get him out of there. good stuff. >> all right, buddy, we'll see you. a man walked into his own funeral. shocked relatives tried to jump out of the funeral home's windows after seeing the man alive. perhaps they were scared. pretty crazy stuff, bob. it happened last week in brazil on the holiday known as the day of the dead. on top of that. perhaps they jumped out of the windows. family members and friends had mistakenly identified a bod gary a car crash. bob, this is another funny part about the story. the man said he spent the night drinking at a bar the night before at the -- near the crash site. later the body was correctly identified as another man from the neighboring town. >> that's crazy. >> but jumping out of the window. >> oh, yeah. i would too. you can only bring him down with like a silver bullet or -- no, no, that's the werewolf. >> they're working on that. that wore a stake in the heart is what they're thinking. powerful memories of anybody.95 came rushing back this weekend. the nation took a big step to honor the passengers on flight 93 who fought back against the hijackers.

families of those killed on united flight 93 were on hand for a groundbreaking for a permanent national memorial. it will honor the crew and passengers who died september the 11th in pennsylvania. >> i was thinking of my daughter, deorah, who was the passenger on flight 93, and you know, what she would think of about today. and she would be very happy and proud that people will have a permanent memorial to come to and remember her and her fellow passengers. >> organizers say they will push to make sure the memorial is completed by september the 11th, 2011. that is the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

the days of mortgage companies hitting you with unexpected closing costs maybe coming to an end. jen westhoven is looking out for you. and yeah, we get these estimates, and they're like this big, and then you go to sign and they're like -- >> that's right. >> -- that big. >> yeah. and you're sitting there at the table, and suddenly they want hundreds or thousands of dollars more or you can't close. >> first born. >> it feels like that. anybody, if you've ever bought a home, you know that that is the dreaded moment where they come up with this list of suddenly there is extra fees, extra charges, you've got to pay all this more money. well, the "washington post" reports good-bye to the closing shock because come new year's day new federal rules are going to kick in and they are tough on the lenders. a lot of the fees that tend to rise, they are going to be locked in. your new hud statement is going to let you directly compare too from the closing costs to that good faith estimate they gave you at the start, which is going to make it easier to argue. and they're also going to let

you see other offers too, what other closing costs are like. basically, very consumer-friendly. that's a good trend. now, maybe this isn't a good trend. or maybe this isn't a trend. sorry. hold on. but some good news at the gas pump. prices have dropped back for four days in a row now, right? you've been seeing a relentless move higher over the last three weeks or so. aaa says the national average is now 2.66 a gallon. so that's unleaded regular. but almost 20 cents higher than they were a month ago. still nice to see them falling back a little. although with the hurricane oil prices are shooting up. so we may see them rise higher in the next few days. christmas. maybe you started thinking about holiday gifts. well, barnes & noble has a new electronic book reader called the nook. people want it so much that it's on back order. according to the "wall street journal," if you go online to preorder it it will say you're not going to get it until mid-december. a lot of people, they say, who order it will get the nook when it first becomes available november 30th. and so that's a little bit of

competition for the kindle from amazon. >> yeah, death of the kindle. and the market's looking really good. >> yeah. and you can see it there. there's the dow, up more than 100 points. over the 10,000 mark. >> 10,000, yeah. >> and what's happening is they're having the meeting of the 20 big nations, the g-20 that's happening, i believe it's in london, and basically almost all the countries said we are going to keep these stimulus efforts, we know it costs a lot but we're going to keep all these separate economies breathing. and that's what's helping the market. >> great. and so we'll get ourselves out of this recession hopefully by -- if those stimulus packages do work. >> it's counterintuitive, spending your way out of it. >> thanks, jen. >> i absolutely agree. >> it's going to be a huge story. yeah. your views. that starts in about an hour and 15 minutes. you've warmed up in the morning, you've done your exercise, you've got your coffee. you can then discuss some of the major issues from about noon to 5:00 eastern time. the question today that richelle carey will be talking about, is it cruel and unusual punishment

to sentence a child to life in prison? that's what the supreme court is delving into just this morning. and it's also our "your views" question. richelle carey. this is a very complicated story. >> it is. >> kind of listen to the details. >> the sticking point is sending them to life in prison for a crime less than murder. less than killing someone. the supreme court is going to be focusing on a couple of cases today involving young men serving life in prison without the possibility of parole, which one was a 13-year-old who was convicted of raping an elderly woman. a horrible crime. no one disagrees about that. another is a 16-year-old in prison for armed robbery. there's about 100 kids in prison who were children when they served the crime, serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for crimes that did not involve killing someone. and that's what the court is going to decide, is that cruel and unusual punishment? a little bit of background. in 2005 the supreme court ruled that the death penalty for anyone under the age of 18 is

unconstitutional. and kind of to give you an idea of where some of the justices' minds were at that time, at that time justice anthony kennedy said that a greater possibility exists that a minor's character deficiencies will be reformed. so his thinking at the time is maybe we shouldn't be going down this path because a young person can possibly be reformed and maybe he's going to be thinking, especially if they have not committed murder. but justice groups, victims' rights groups are saying we don't want to go soft on crime, this is not a path we want to go down because they say you're going to be putting innocent people's lives at risk. we want your views. should the court system be able to sentence children to life in prison for serious crimes that do not involve killing someone? e-mail us at cnn.com/hln. call us right now at 1-877-tell-hln. text us at hlntv. also jump into my facebook page. just search richelle carey hln and jump into the discussion. whenever you talk about crime and young people, people are going to get passionate. >> that's right. get your voice on air with richelle. >> absolutely. >> thank you. >> you bet. would you feel safe if your airline pilot took a nap

mid-flight? wait till you hear about a push for controlled naps inside of the cockpit.

and the good times just keep

on rolling for new orleans as their team the saints is the talk of the nfl. rafer weigel, interesting stuff here with that team. >> yeah, and it's very exciting. as they say, lace yay les bon temps roulez. let the good times roll. it's nice the people of new orleans have something genuine to cheer about as the saints are just on fire. they won their eighth straight game against carolina in a come pr hind win to stay undefeated. they are having the best year in the franchise's 43-year history, and now they're talking super bowl, which they've never been to even though their home, the superdome, has been host to many. meanwhile, the only other unbeaten team in the nfl is peyton manning's indianapolis colts. they beat the houston texans in dramatic fashion. they were up 20-17 with one second left. houston with a chance to tie it. here it is. >> and it is no good! he missed it! he missed it! colts win! colts win! colts win! >> oh, that's got to hurt. kicker chris brown misses left. the colts have now won 17 straight regular season games.

all right. i've got some rather disturbing video to show you and it's your alma mater, richard. the good news is california's javid best is out of the hospital after this fall. the team's loss to oregon state out of the hospital. he suffered a concussion. >> a lot of people very concerned. >> if he's got a concussion, he should miss more than one game. andre agassi told "60 minutes" his hair started alling out when he was only 17. that's when he started wearing a wig. the biggest nightmare before the french open, he said he washed the wig and it started to fall apart and that was a bigger concern than winning the patch. >> the first time i ever really prayed for anything, as it related to a result, i was praying not for the win, but for my hair to stay on. >> were you afraid that it was just going to fly off? >> scared the heck out of me. i kept envisions what this would be like if my hair just flew off. >> not holding back at all.

>> and new mexico's women's soccer player elizabeth lambert, she was suspended indefinitely for her know anyny takedown and other out-of-control antics on the field. the season is likely over, but her suspension could carry over to next year. meanwhile, there was the guy, florida's brandon spooix trying to gouge out a player's eyes. he got for a suspended for a half game until he extended his own suspension. barry posted on our facebook page. he says, though, because her behavior seemed to be ongoing with multiple instances. candice said, one game suspension compared to an indefinite suspension? it is a double standard and the person who made that call needs to hear some backlash. and you've been giving us backlash and we appreciate it. >> thanks, rafer. >> thank you. usher is officially a single man again. court documents show the singer's divorce is finalized. usher has said he and tameka

raymond had been separated for more than a year. she said they were intimate as lately as june. they have two sons together. divorce papers did not reveal a custody deal. back on the market again. some moms to be don't even want dad hanging around the delivery room. y8

right now on "showbiz tonight," rihanna's unbelievable brand-new revelations about the night chris brown beat her. in an interview seen nationwide tonight, rihanna gives graphic, horrific details of what happened, the physical pain she felt. >> i was bleeding, i was swollen in my face. >> the emotional pain she felt. >> there was no person when i looked at him. >> plus, rihanna reveals if she still loves chris brown. sandra and jesse strike back against the porn star. tonight, sandra bullock's husband with a shocking warning to his porn star ex-wife. back off! leave sandra alone.

in the custody battle over his daughter. police, the dramatic new on-camera porn star interview that you will see here on "showbiz tonight." is sandra bullock the most provocative celebrity of the week? is it rihanna? what about josh duhamel? tonight, h"showbiz tonight" nams the most provocative celebrity of the week. tv's most provocative entertainment news show starts right now! hello. i'm a.j. hammer broadcasting tonight and every night from new york city. >> hi there, everyone, i'm brooke anderson coming to you from hollywood. and tonight, rihanna's beating tell-all. >> just minutes ago, the nation watched as rihanna told for the very first time the absolutely chilling details of what happened the night chris brown beat her up. in a special that just aired tonight on abc, rihanna revealed the disturbing story of how chris brown pounded her with his

fists the night before the grammys. and let me tell you, anyone who had any doubts that maybe it wasn't really so bad, that maybe, just maybe, what we've been hearing may have been exaggerated, well, let me just say, listen for yourself. because her terrifying story just revealed tonight made for big news breaking. >> i was battered. i was bleeding. i was swollen in my face. >> reporter: we've all seen the pictures and heard secondhand reports about the vicious beating rihanna suffered at the hands of her then-boyfriend chris brown. but "showbiz tonight" can tell you, nothing matches the chilling impact of having rihanna describe it in her own words. >> at one point, your mouth is filled with blood? >> yes. >> how did you think it was going to end? >> that's all i kept thinking the whole time? when is it going to stop? when is it going to stop?

>> reporter: rihanna told her horrific story to diane sawyer earlier tonight on abc's "2020." "good morning america" showed portion of the interview early this morning. >> listening to her voice, it was shaking at times. you knew how painful it was for her to recount this. >> reporter: the a-list couple were attending pre-grammy parties. but things took a violent turn. the two were driving in brown's rented lamborghini when rihanna says she saw a text message that a woman had sent chris brown. >> i couldn't take that he kept lying to me, he couldn't take that i wouldn't drop it. it escalated in him being violent towards me. and it was ugly. >> reporter: ugly is an understatement. police documents say that during the argument, brown punched rihanna, shoved her head against window, bit her, placed her in a headlock and told her, quote,

now i'm really going to kill you. >> he had no, no soul in his eyes. just blank. he was clearly blacked out. there was no person when i looked at him. my next option was to get out of the car and walk, start walking in a gown and a bloody face. >> reporter: rihanna was 20, chris brown was 19 at the time. they were the "it" couple of music. >> he was definitely my first big love. >> reporter: rihanna tells diane sawyer they fell for each other hard. >> the more in love we became, the more dangerous we became for each other. >> reporter: there was a lot of public outrage when rihanna briefly got back together with chris after the greating. but tonight, we heard rihanna reveal that she soon ended things once and for all. >> he didn't accept that very well. he -- obviously, he didn't want us to be apart.

but i know i had to make a decision for me. >> reporter: but in a startling revelation tonight, rihanna says she still loves brown. >> do you hate him? >> no. i don't hate him. at all. i actually love and care about him. i want him to do well. have a great career, have a great life and grow up. >> reporter: even as rihanna's interview aired tonight, so did a brand-new interview with brown. he told mtv how he looks back at that fateful night. >> you have to learn from your mistake, turn it into a positive and help other people with the situation. and at the end of the day, become -- become the person that you want to be. >> reporter: but even as chris brown tries to put out his side of the story, all eyes are now on rihanna, who after months of silence, is telling the world about the hell she went through. >> so was it a good idea for rihanna to reveal so many details about such a personal

tragedy? joining me tonight in hollywood, tanika ray, an entertainment journalist. and tonight in new york, marvette britto, a publicist and brand strategist. ladies, i personally think rihanna's brand-new interview that just aired tonight on abc was astounding, especially her detailed account of how she was beaten by chris brown. it was just chilling. tanika, i think it was a great idea that rihanna finally talk so specifically about the details of that night. what about you? >> i do think it was a great idea. i don't think that we could have bought her album and listened to her songs without getting these details. it was just -- we were way too curious about it. however, the point of detail that she went to was a little shocking. we're not used to celebrities really opening themselves up like that and being so raw. i'm not sure what kind of affect this is going to have on her career or chris', but she definitely goes there and i'm sure chris is going to have an answer. >> yeah, she does go there. and i think to omitt the ugly details would have, in a way,

glossed over how serious the situation was and what was so especially chilling to me was how rihanna described chris brown that night. watch how it was first revealed this morning on "good morning america". >> he had no -- no soul in his eyes. just blank. he was clearly blacked out. there was no person when i looked at him. >> just very open and honest about the entire thing. marvette, what's your take on this? a good idea to reveal such gruesome details of that evening? >> chris brown will have to work really hard to recover from this interview. she was revealing and more importantly, we finally heard from the victim, after nine long months. she was humble, honest, and you got the sense that she really didn't want to speak to hurt chris brown. she loves him. but this will do rihanna well and it's very damaging for chris brown. she told us what took place and

like tanika said, everyone has been curious. we could not move on with her or chris brown unless we knew the details. and she confirmed everything that we had been hearing for months. >> absolutely. now we know the truth. we've been getting a lot of passionate phone calls to our "showbiz on call" phone lines about this. nicole from louisiana doesn't think that rihanna should have spoken out about the beating. listen. >> caller: i think she really needs to keep her personal business her business. even though she's an entertainer, that has nothing to do with entertainment. we like her for singing. i don't need to know her personal life. and i still have a chris brown fan. >> nicole says she's still a fan of chris brown. but tanika, i'm thinking that when even his most ardent fans hear all of these disgusting details, how in the world can they still support him? >> that's what i'm questioning as well. sherri shepherd was on the view the other day saying that she had bought her nieces tickets to

his concert and she didn't want to drill into them that he had done something really bad. i'm not sure what kind of mentality you have to have to still support a person that we all know beat someone, especially a woman. i'm not sure where people are going with this as far as not understanding rihanna. she has to come open with this. and for her, it's cathartic. everybody deserves a cathartic moment. and her private life being private. she would have loved to have done that if the photos weren't released, if the 911 calls weren't released. it would have been easy to do that. but as a celebrity, you do not have that option. >> yeah, she did not have that choice. and you mentioned sherri shepherd and what she told her fellow ladies of "the view." let's take a listen to that. she said that brown deserves a chance to bounce back from all of this. watch. >> my niece wants to go see chris brown, her and her three girlfriends, and i did buy tickets -- >> you bought the tickets? >> i bought the tickets. >> interesting. >> we've talked about this, had the discussion, and i feel that he has said he's sorry, he has said he is going to get help. he is paying the price for what

he has done. i think he deserves another chance. >> marvette, what do you think? can chris brown get passed this when people hear rihanna describe how brutal he was that night? >> chris brown can get past this. and he should get past it. it's just very damaging to finally hear from the victim. we're hearing from rihanna as to what took place. i mean, the timing of it is not the greatest. she's promoting an album, he's promoting an album. but the bottom line is we do need to hear it and it's not up to us to judge, but we do need to know the details in order for both of them to move past it. >> we do. and personally, i think he needs to really dig deep and do some soul searching before he's let off the hook. and tonight, another domestic violence shocker has led to an oprah show showdown. oprah got slammed for having bebe winans on his show. and today we have learned that oprah has done a remarkable and perhaps embarrassing 180. but is that fair? tanika, marvette, stay right there. we'll get to that hot debate in just a moment.

also tonight, the porn star speaks. today we got ahold of a brand-new interview with the porn star caught up in a nasty custody battle involving sandra bullock and her husband, jesse james. >> am i such a horrible person because of my tattoos and because i was in porn that we can't sit down for a cup of coffee? i know sharon osbourne isn't shy, but boy does she really rip into susan boyle. >> i like everybody to do well and even someone that looks like a slap [ inaudible ]. it's like, god bless her. a harry [ bleep ]! >> are you kidding me? sharon, i love you, but that is out of line. this is a brand-new interview making news today and you have to hear the rest of it. and josh duhamel and his alleged stripper scandal. rihanna's dramatic new confessions. and sandra bullock takes on the porn star. tonight, who will "showbiz

tonight" name the most provocative celebrity of the week? this is "showbiz tonight" on hln. time now for the "showbiz news ticker," more stories from the "showbiz tonight" newsroom making news right now.

welcome back to "showbiz tonight." i'm a.j. hammer in new york with brooke anderson in hollywood. tonight, oprah's show showdown. big oprah news breaking today on two fronts. oprah did an amazing and perhaps embarrassing about-face today after being called a domestic violence hypocrite. oprah has decided to edit gospel singer bebe winans out of a show she taped with him. winans was arrested back in february for allegedly pushing his ex-wife around. oprah was slammed for having him on after she so passionately slammed chris brown for beating rihanna. also breaking today, the startling news that we could be seeing the end of "the oprah winfrey show" as we know it. joining me in hollywood tonight, tanika ray, an entertainment journalist. with me in new york, marvette

britto, a celebrity publicist and brand strategist. all right, gang, let's begin with this explosive decision by oprah today to now cut bebe winans from her show. tanika, do you see this as an embarrassing about-face for oprah? >> you know, i don't think anything she does is embarrassing. but, yet, she did have to sort of swallow her pride a bit. he's a friend of hers and i'm sure she was trying to hook him up, but she has to stand on her principles and her morals and i think she did the right thing here. >> and what it came down to, a lot of people, understandably, just didn't get how oprah could possibly have bebe on the show after her warning to women after chris brown got arrested for beating up rihanna. >> yeah. yeah, it was definitely a little conflict and a little bit contradictory. but, you know, again she didn't know chris brown the way she new bebe and i'm sure she was hoping that it would never come up. and once it did, she did the right thing. i hope this goes away pretty fast. >> and let's take a look at that moment when oprah said that on her show. >> if a man hits you once, he will hit you again. >> that's right!

>> he will hit you again. i don't care what his plea is. >> marvette britto, are you with me, those words had to be ringing in oprah's ears and she had to do something about it. >> absolutely. she did the right thing. she didn't want to send mixed messages to her audience. she didn't want to be viewed as a hypocrite. and i agree, she knows bebe a little bit more intimately than chris brown, he's a friend. so chances are she got the back story and just felt comfortable moving forward with that. but once she realized that she was facing criticism and people weren't comfortable with it, she made the right decision and pulled him from the show. >> i think it was a smart move and i think people really will let i go now. let's move on, though, now to this startling report that oprah's show as we know it could be moving to the cable network that will bear her name that she's launching in 2011. oprah's people say she'll make a final decision on whether or not that's going to happen by the end of the year. tanika, point-blank, would she have to be out of her mind to leave her nationally syndicated show for basically a cable start-up?

>> she's not out of her mind. the only thing that's constant is change. and in order for her to evolve and get her network up and running, she's got to make bold moves. and if she has her show syndicated, who's going to go to the cable network and watch her? if she pulls her show off syndication, puts it on her network, that's a big huge boost for the beginning of her network. i think it's a wise decision. >> marvette, certainly a bold move, as tanika said, but a wise move? >> a wise move. oprah has to move a network and why not do it leveraging her own brand equity? she has brand equity beyond anyone on television so she'll use that to build her own network. >> and if oprah builds it, they will come. >> absolutely! >> tanika ray, marvette britto, i thank you both. >> thank you. brooke, as you well know, the "showbiz on call" phone lines keep on ringing. a lot of people are just so fired up about this brand-new rihanna and chris brown interview, well, both of them, that aired just today. >> that's right, a.j. we got a call into "showbiz on call" from crystal in canada who

thinks rihanna speaking out will definitely help others. >> caller: the rihanna thing, it doesn't just affect women and young girls. it affects young boys too. after what happened, my son started to react badly towards young girls. i believe that this may be change around some of the boys' ideas. i applaud her. i think that what she's doing is wonderful. thank you, rihanna, for standing up! >> thank you, crystal. >> and we urge you to call us at "showbiz on call." let us know what you think about this or anything at all. >> the "showbiz on call" phone lines are open 24/7. 1-888-sbt-buzz, that's 1-888-278-2899. tonight, james gandolfini goes all tony soprano and it's caught on tape. why did james get really punchy with a total stranger? forget about it! also this. >> i like everybody to do well, and even someone that looks like they slapped on [ inaudible ]. it's like, god bless her. a harry [ bleep ].

>> i'm just totally in shock. sharon osbourne going off on susan boyle there. this is so wrong on so many levels. you have got to hear the rest of this interview, which is making news today. and it is time to name "showbiz tonight's" most provocative celebrity of the week. josh duhamel and the alleged stripper scandal? rihanna's startling interview just out tonight? or sandra bulllakock fighting w a porn star? this is "showbiz tonight" on hln. time now for the "showbiz news ticker," more stories from the "showbiz tonight" newsroom making news right now.

when sandra bullock and jesse james claim that you are a bad influence on your daughter, what do you say? >> now on "showbiz tonight," sandra bullock versus the porn star. the porn star speaks as sandra and her husband fight for custody of his daughter with his porn star ex-wife. a whole new battle in the war. also, sharon osbourne lashes out at susan boyle. sharon is not one to mince words. >> i like everybody to do well. and even someone that looks like they slapped on [ inaudible ]. it's like, god bless her. like a hairy [ bleep ]! >> so why is sharon saying such

mean things about one of the most beloved singers in the world? and "showbiz tonight" names the most provocative celebrity of the week. will it be josh duhamel, rihanna, or sandra bullock? and more stories breaking from the "showbiz news ticker," tv's most provocative entertainment news show continues right now. welcome back to "showbiz tonight." it is 30 minutes past the hour. i'm a.j. hammer, broadcasting tonight and every night from new york city. i'm brooke anderson, coming to you from hollywood. and tonight, sandra bullock versus the porn star, the sequel. >> tonight, you are about to see, caught on camera, the porn star strike back and sandra's husband, jesse james striking back. in a bombshell new interview, jesse james' porn star ex-wife is speaking out again, claiming bullock refuses to talk with

her, which is getting in the way of their custody feud with jesse over their 5-year-old daughter. you have got to hear her message for sandra. also today, a furious jesse james struck back at his ex-wife for dragging sandra into the middle of their family feud, basically saying, leave sandra out of this! but can the porn star win a battle with the husband of america's sweetheart? joining me tonight in hollywood, jim moret, the chief correspondent for "inside edition." always good to see you, jim. you got that brand-new bombshell interview with jesse james' ex-wife, janine lindemulder. she's fighting jesse and bullock over the custody of the child she had with jesse. sandra wrote a letter to the judge earlier this week laying out her plea for custody. lindemulder had a message for sandra when you interviewed her for "inside edition." let's take a look at that. >> sandra, yes, you're a wonderful movie star, but you're not too damn cool to have a conversation with regard to this 5-year-old child.

am i such a horrible person because of my tattoos and because i was in porn that you can't even sit down for a cup of coffee to get on the same page? that's my gripe. >> jim, it seems to me a cup of coffee not going to happen here. why is her gripe about sandra, not about jesse? >> because sandra wrote a letter to the judge saying, specifically, that the daughter would come into a room and her mother would be passed out from taking drugs. let me be really clear about something. i talked to janine lindemulder and she said, look, i'm no june cleaver. i know i've gotta toos, i've had a drug history, i'm clean now, i was a porn actress. i'm not any longer. am a great mom? i'm the best mom i can be. i love my daughter. i'm not looking for sole custody. i want shared custody. i think she's upset, as a mom, that her ex-husband, who she said broke up with her when she was 8 months pregnant, didn't want anything to do with her daughter for the first three years of her life now wants her completely. i think that's what has her

upset. and to say that sandra bullock is not a party to the lawsuit is a bit disingenuous only because sandra bullock put herself into the court action by writing the letter. sandra bullock wouldn't be the mom, she's a stepmom, but she would be the parent, basically, if jesse jackson gets sole custody. and also, janine is not suggesting in any way that jesse and sandra are not great parents. they can give her things that janine can't. >> and of course, you meant jesse james there, i don't mean to correct you. you said jesse jackson. >> oh, i'm sorry. >> jesse is making no bones about the fact that he is outraged that his porn star ex-wife is attacking sandra. and sort of backing up what you just said, in a brand-new statement today to people.com, he is saying, leave sandra out of it. sandra bullock is not a party to this litigation. mr. james' sole concern is for the safety, welfare, and best interests of his daughter. the proper forum to resolve this case is in the courtroom. as you've mentioned and we've heard this before, bullock has been helping raise this girl

with jesse since january. jim, when you spoke with jesse's ex-wife, did you get the sense in any way that she was threatened by sandra bullock? >> well, she knows -- no, she's never spoken to sandra bullock. she's never met her. she said that when jesse married her, she wrote a letter, welcoming her into the family, so to speak. the big strike against her is she recently got married to an ex-con, an ex-felony that she met in a halfway house. and she knows that that's probably the biggest strike against her. and as far as my misspeaking earlier, i like to give our friends at the soup something to run every week, so -- >> there you go. we appreciate you getting us some coverage there as well, jim. now, you have to admit, at least on paper, for people who aren't involved intimately in the legal wranglings of this case, janine has a lot working against her and she's been candid about it, but let's put it out there. she's just got out of jail after serving six months on tax evasion charge cans, she's

starred in over 100 porn films, admits to using drugs in the past and horrific behavior. and when you pit that against her ex-husband, jesse james and america's sweetheart, sandra bullock, i've got to bring in midwin charles, i want seems with all this baggage and going after america's sweetheart and her ex-husband, who do you think a judge will side with? >> it depends. at first blush, the baggage looks horrible, but you have to do an assessment what the conditions are in this household now. not ten months ago, now. is she in a safe environment? is she clean. being taken to school every day? eating three meals a day. there's an entire assessment that has to be done and you really shouldn't judge this ex-wife just because she's got the tattoos and didn't really have a wonderful background. the point is, is this place for the little girl in her best interest right now. and that is with her mother or jesse james and sandra bullock.

>> i think we need to look at more of jim moret's interview with "inside edition." this is where jesse's ex talks about the advantage she has in this fight. >> if they're giving her good love and an extreme wonderful life, who am i to step in front of that. but i am her mom. and i've got something a little extra that, you know -- i can't buy her a lot of things, but we have the bond. >> jim, you spent a fair amount of time with her. when you're sitting there across from her, do you get the sense that she thinks that she can win this thing? >> i think she -- well, i said, are you going to lose custody? and she said, there's not a chance. she said, i'm her mom. you know, coming between a mom and her child is something that you don't want to do. and i think that this is going to be a very hard fight for this woman, but she's going to give it all she's got. she's only got one day a week visitation right now. she just wants shared custody. it's -- it is an uphill battle, but we'll see. >> coming off of that, i want to

get a mother's perspective on this. brooke anderson, come on back in here. even though janine has all that baggage, do you feel some sympathy for her as a mother? >> in a way, i do, a.j., but another part of the interview and jim mentioned this briefly a couple of minutes ago, janine said in another part of the interview that she is the best mother that she knows how to be. and i think that is key here, because a lot of women did not have good examples set for them by their own mothers. and i don't know if that's the case with janine, but a lot of times, it is all they know. they have to be taught to be responsible mothers. so in a way, yes, i do feel sympathy, but at the same time, if she is a bad influence, which she has admitted, and no good for this child, then put the child in an environment where the people are going to do what's right by her. >> and that's exactly, obviously, as we've mentioned, with what the judge will be considering. so midwin, based on all that we know, where do you see this thing going? what do you think is going to happen in the end? >> i think in the end, they're going to have shared custody. i think jesse james and sandra

have an uphill battle in terms of proving the allegations that they've put forward in terms of the type of lifestyle she's currently living. and if they can't prove it, if they can't show in court that this really is a bad environment for this little girl, i think they're going to have to share custody. and i think -- i can see a court determining that that's in the best interest of this little girl. >> jim moret, i have time for yes or no, do you think that's what's going to happen here? >> i think there will be some form of shared custody. >> thank you for sharing that interview with us. jim moret. midwin charles, thank you as well. tonight, sharon osbourne is lashing out at susan boyle. >> i like everybody to do well. even someone that looks like they slapped on [ inaudible ]. it's like, god bless her. a hairy [ bleep ]! >> so we all know sharon is not one to mince words, but why is she saying such mean things about one of the most beloved singers in the world! also, james gandolfini may be having sopranos flashbacks.

wait until you see what he did to a total stranger. and it's friday, that means it's time for "showbiz tonight" to name the most provocative celebrity of the week. will it be josh duhamel for the claims that he cheated on fergie with a stripper? rihanna for her new revelations just out tonight about chris brown beating her? or sandra bullock for her custody battle with a porn star. this is "showbiz tonight" on hln. let us know roll out the "showbiz news ticker," more stories from the "showbiz tonight" newsroom making news right now.

tonight, "showbiz tonight" names the most provocative celebrity of the week. the nominees, josh duhamel for the alleged stripper affair. rihanna for her explosive tell-all that just aired tonight about how chris brown beat her up. or will it be sandra bullock, caught up in a battle with a

porn star over a 5-year-old child. welcome back to "showbiz tonight." i'm brooke anderson in hollywood along with a.j. hammer in new york. first, ouch, sharon/susan smackdown caught on tape. sharon osborn's vicious attack on susan boyle. osbourne is slamming boyle for the way she looks. on the openy and anthony morning show on sirius xm radio that surfaced today, sharon said some unbelievable things about boyle. wait until you see this. joining me tonight in hollywood, leslie marshall, host of the leslie marshall show. also in hollywood mark malkin. leslie, mark, the moment susan boyle appeared on brita"britaint talen talent", no one ever said she was a beauty queen, but sharon osbourne took it to a whole new level. >> watch this. >> this great picture of susan

boyle, smiling, looking like a slap dogs. >> it really is a great shot. >> what a great line. that's a great line. do you love susan boyle? do you think she helped the show or not, or do not love her? happy that she's succeeding? >> oh, i'm happy -- i like everyone to do well, even someone that looks like a slap dogs. you go, girl. a hairy [ bleep ]. >> leslie, talk about vicious. what's wrong with sharon? >> well, sharon just put the cat back in cat fight, didn't she, brooke? i mean, this is beyond meow. first of all, not everybody can be or is a beauty queen. and i'm sure all of us won't look as hot when we're 90, 100 years from now, but this woman

has immense talent, immense talent. and i know there are people out there that would say, i would rather be brilliantly talented than beautiful, because that voice can just bring so much more than just a pretty face can. and i'm just really surprised, as a woman, that she would go there. >> me too. i'm shocked! it was a low blow. it was completely cruel and unnecessary. and sharon did not make the cut of our nominees for "showbiz tonight's" most provocative celebrity of the week, but some of our nominees are probably wishing they could crawl into a hole right about now. and i'm thinking josh duhamel, who's been making headlines this week for his alleged tryst with a stripper is wishing that he could disappear right about now. he's one of our nominees tonight. also on the list, rihanna for her dramatic new confessions. she shared every last painful detail about the chris brown beat her up with diane sawyer. the whole interview just aired hours ago on abc.

and make headlines this week over a nasty custody battle is sandra bullock, our next nominee for most provocative celebrity of the week. america's sweetheart getting slammed for getting in the middle of a fight between her husband, jesse james and his ex-wife's 5-year-old daughter. >> i think it's definitely rihanna. we have been waiting for so long to hear her side of the story. we have heard nothing from her own lips and we're finally hearing the dramatic, horrific night that chris beat her. that has to be it. that's what we've all been waiting for. >> yeah. i'm sure it was very tough for rihanna to be so forthcoming about it. leslie, do you agree with mark? >> i actually do. i would have to say rihanna blew me away. provocative in a good way, that she not only gave us all the details, but i think there were a lot of lessons to be learned

by young girls who look up to her, because she clearly talked about mistakes going back to him. i was proud of her. and i thought -- i thought the provocation was necessary. >> and she does want to be an example for young girls out there. well, before "showbiz tonight" names the most provocative celebrity of the week, i want to show you a few write-in nominees from our "showbiz tonight" facebook wall. yvonne r. writes, "nicolas cage for money problems. he should have stayed more involved with what was going on." lauren f. writes, "oprah for having an alleged wife beater on her show. she refused to have chris brown on her show. what a hypocrite." a couple of wild cards there, mark, do you have a wild card of your own? >> i think it's carrie prejean. you know, miss california. this is a woman who has an alleged sex tape. carrie has an alleged sex tape? if there is that sex tape, that is definitely provocative. >> i'll say that qualifies. leslie, how about you? >> i don't know. everybody has a sex tape

nowadays. am i missing out on something? i would have to say beyonce. you know, beyonce actually is so provocative the world is freaking out. she has this big concert in egypt, her posters are up and she looks so provocative and those in egypt where the women dress a bit more modestly are up in arms over her being so provocative. >> she may be showing a little bit too much skin for the conservative middle east. there was a fired up debate in our "showbiz tonight" newsroom about this, but the moment has finally arrived. who is "showbiz tonight's" most provocative celebrity of the week? the nominees, josh duhamel, rihanna, and sandra bullock. the winner in a very close vote, rihanna for her brand-new startling confessions. a.j., you and i have both been covering all of these stories all week long. any doubt that it's rihanna, hands down? >> no, brooke, this has been building for nine months. i'm with leslie there. provocative in a good way. everybody should be proud of her for being so inspiring and being so brave. >> absolutely agree with that. leslie marshall, mark malkin,

thank you both. as we move on tonight, james gandolfini went all tony soprano on someone again. wait until you see what the former it was all caught on tap. this is "showbiz tonight" on hln. somehow for the "showbiz tonight" news ticker, more stories from the showbiz news ticker making news right now -- it is time now for making it work now. this is where we find out how famous couples make their relationships survive in the spotlight. tonight, mary j. blige. mary jay and kendal isaacs married five years raising his two youngest children from a previous marriage. "showbiz tonight" caught up with mary j. at the premiere of

precious. she did a song for the movie. we asked how she balances her career with family. >> it just happens. i just try to like -- not be so self-centered when it comes -- as an artist, you can tend to be like, me, me, me, even if you're married with children. it works really good and balances out really well when you give of yourself completely and everything comes back to you. >> mary j. actually credits her husband for saving her life helping her overcome years af bus and addiction.