ellen's wife also stopped by the "oprah" show and revealed things about how she fell for ellen and how she knew she was the one. >> when did you know she was the one for you? >> when i first laid eyes on her. but it took me three years to actually tell her how i felt about her, because i was on "ally mcbeal" at the time and not living as an openly gay person, and i was closeted and very afraid if i talked about being gay it would be the end of my career. and i was not about to date the most famous lesbien in the world. i felt weak at the knees, and i was overwhelmed with how i felt. >> portia adds it took her ten months after that to ask ellen out. >>> and i just checked the facebook wall. there is a raging debate going on. so much is posting stuff about how chris brown commented on rihanna's first interview. sign up for our facebook page and twitter breaking entertainment news alerts at cnn.com/showbiz tonight. >>> jennifer lopez in the fight of her life against her ex-husband. j lo trying to stop him from releasing a sex tape of her. >>> making news today, levi johnston, shocking inf

ellen? sarah palin? maybe even first lady michelle obama. the great debate on tv's most provocative entertainment show at 11:00 eastern. >>> a church in arizona has been told to stop feeding the homeless. now the aclu offered to help crossroads united methodist. again, they were told to stop feeding the homeless because neighborhood started to complain. homeless were caught relieving themselves in the area. some of them were apparently camping out in people's backyards. this month a judge ruled the church was violating a city ordinance by serving meals in a residential area. so why not just feed the homeless somewhere else. the pastor told us that this is a city wide ordinance so if the church moves, it can actually set a precedent for other churches in phoenix so that's why they're going this route. the church hasn't decided whether it it will accept help from the aclu but an appeal is set for next month. until then the church will keep feeding the needy. what do you think about this? is this pushing the rule of law too far? maybe you under

i mean, ellen? sarah palin? maybe even first lady michelle obama?se are some of the names out there. the great debate on tv's most provocative entertainment news show at 11:00 eastern and pacific. >>> formal charges have been filed against mario mcneill, the 29-year-old man pictured in a hotel video with 5-year-old shaniya davis. we now know he is charged with first-degree murder and the rape of this child. this 5-year-old little girl. >> you heard it here live on hln's nancy grace last night. nancy getting really emotional there as police announced new charges in the disappearance of shaniya davis. mario mcneill is scheduled to be in a north carolina courtroom in just a couple of hours now. a search warrant says he picked up 5-year-old shaniya from in front of her mother's home the morning of november 10th and drove more than 30 miles to a hotel in sanford, north carolina. surveillance video from that tuesday shows him here, carrying the 5-year-old into the building. and monday her body was found six miles from the hotel. now, authorities believe s

also, the surprising just revealed thing that ellen and oprah have in common. plus, ellen's wife opens up with details how they met. this is "showbiz tonight" on hln. now the "showbiz news ticker." >> you eat these healthy foods you are going to grow up big and strong just like me. >> well, and me. i'm still growing. >> i can't wait to eat the food we grow. >>> now on "showbiz tonight," j.lo's sex tape shocker. tonight, jennifer lopez's fight to keep her ex-husband from releasing a video of her. and speaking of sex tapes, carrie prejean in the hot seat. >> you have been called absolutely terrible names but there are people who say they want to call you on the carpet when they feel you're being a hypocrite. >> the controversial beauty queen answers the tough questions about her sex tape, why she made it and why she calls it the biggest mistake of her life. >>> and jon and kate plus lohan? bizarre details about jon gosselin's court fight featuring a train wreck cast of characters including lindsay lohan's dad. more stories breaking from the "showbiz news ticker."

. >> ellen got in the halloween spirit today by gracing the cover of "o," sort of.ne of ellen's running jokes this season was begging oprah to be on the cover of "o." it looks like oprah's been listening. >>> welcome back to "showbiz tonight." i'm brooke anderson. did you see this? it's the guitar guy versus united airlines. first, united airlines broke musician dave carroll's guitar. hi musical youtube video about the whole incident became an internet sensation. and now, in an unbelievable stroke of bad luck, united lost the guy's luggage on a different flight. but he's not yelling about it, he's singing. here's cnn's jeanne moos for "showbiz tonight." >> reporter: one thing we're all united on, when baggage handlers mess up a guy's guitar -- ♪ you broke my taylor guitar >> reporter: he writes a song about it, the airlines should try not to lose his luggage the next time. ♪ because united breaks guitars ♪ >> reporter: dave carroll got famous for putting his complaint about united on youtube this summer. ♪ you broke it, you should fix it ♪ >> reporter: and although

[applause] >> ellen ruppel shell is a contribute to the atlantic monthly. she's the author history distal the hungry gene" and "a child's place." for more information visit ellenruppelshell.com. ♪ >> did you know you can view book tv programs online. go to booktv.org. type the name of the author, book or the subject in the upper left-hand corner of the page. select the watch link. now you can view the entire program. you might also explore the recently on book tv box or the featured programs box to find and view recent and featured programs. ♪ >> i fear i should begin with an apology. i spent the best part of the last three years particularly the last two intensively writing about a really nasty piece of work and there's little good to be said of general james wilkinson. what else can be said you would say for a man who combined a career as commander in chief of the united states army and that's how congress designated him commander in chief with his second existence as agent 13 in the spanish secret service. 11 years he commanded the nation's forces. he ga

today on the ellen show, ryan said he is excited that she is joining the idol team.ch this. >> it's fun to have a good friend on the show. i can't wait to see what the dynamic is like between you and cowell. everybody asks me. what's it going to be like with the two of you? no doubt, you are very quick. he's quick and not so shy. i can't wait. you look much younger next to him as well. i can't wait to see what it will be like. >> that's what everybody is looking forward to more than the judging. he is opinionated and i'm opinionated. i respect him. >> i don't have to do anything but sit back. we will have the results tomorrow night. >> sometimes she too mean. i respect his continue and i think he is right a lot of times, but that's not the way you say it. if he is rude, i will tell him. >> god answered my prayers! >> we don't have to wait much longer to see what the dynamic is really like. the new season will hit the airwaves in january. >> our facebook page is overflowing with the war of words with donald trump and the interview with the donald. people are writing a

ellen from california said shame on martha. >> regarding the idiotic comment made about sarah palin, would she be able to sell the number of books sarah palin is selling? no. would she give oprah winfrey the highest ratings in two years? no. how can she say sarah palin is boring. i wouldn't read martha stewart's book if she paid me. there, martha. >> ellen from california had it right when she said the interview scored over her biggest ratings in two years. hyla, why do you think she has it in so for sarah palin? >> i don't know. there is an ego factor. we know martha stewart has a big ego and a little bit of a chip on her shoulder and not afraid to go toe to toe with donald trump or whatever else she has a beef with. she likes to pick on this girl. good for her because now we are talking about both of them and giving them both publicity. >> martha is not playing nice at all. this girl is siding with martha stewart. >> caller: hooray for martha. she's great. she is dangerous. martha knows best. >> i have to say a lot of people hate, hate when big stars speak out like this. take a loo

ellen? >> nancy, she is desperate, deranged, and an excuse right now, especially carrying another child, an example of why there should be in a case like that of mandatory sterilization, this woman should not be having a child and should not have ever had the responsibility for the child she had. >> i can hardly take it. i want to go to a renowned guest. dr. joshua perper, chief medical examiner in broward county, author of "when to call the doctor." dr. perper, you have performed literally thousands, thousands of autopsies. have you performed an autopsy on a child that has been murdered and sexually molested? >> well, you have to make a very careful examination of the outside of the body for the presence of any injuries and make a determination what was actually the cause of death. s and many times those children are sometimes smothered. they are strangled. or they may be hit and beaten. and then it's most important to find out whether there was sexual assault. and in this particular case t

ellen, we're about out of time but we want to know. how do you hang in there in what do you tell the kids? >> i've adopted a tradition that allows the children to not have to have that shot into that's going on now. i don't buy christmas presidents. i wrap my walls with christmas presents. we put candy on the walls. we have little candies and dollar store toys and the kids play with those. then we take down all the walls. it's kind of like a tradition. we spend it as a family as they are supposed to be. >> not focused on things. >> the child gets a gift certificate. the day after christmas they get to go on a scavenger hunt and shop sales. >> i think this year people will have to come up with new traditions. they might find out they like them better than old ones. ellen, thank you so much. we'd like to hear your views in this tough economy. how do you explain to your kids in this tough economy. e-mail us at cnn.com/hln or comment on my facebook or text the words views, comments and name to hlntv. standard text rates apply. >>> all righ

people who exemplified the best, people like ellen thomas, who have stood up to pressure like matt cooper. it is a departure for jason blair, too. i hope he ends up glad he agreed to come. now before i give him a brief intro. a few program notes. he will talk for about 25 minutes. i hope the media folk did not take this wrong, jason has agreed to take questions afterwards. he will be available for press q&a. i will ask the press to continue. i will ask them, to let the reporters do their jobs. i hope that is ok. the last thing i want to do is muzzle the press. not a town meeting. if any the has been preparing a fiery denunciation, save it for another time and place bu. too often our brothers and sisters provide discourse in the media. please, refrain. he is in centerville, virginia. he was a reporter from "the new york times." he had a front-page story that he "had enacted a journalistic fraud." they said it was of a trail of trust. -- a betrayal of trust. it said that he mislead readers. he fabricated comment. he concocted scenes. he selected from across -- photographs the been the more

travolta was on ellen today.e thanked his fans for their support since the tragic death of his teen son, jett. >> one moment to thank each of you throughout this country and the world for all your support and all your love for our family. thank you very much. >> a lot of love. >> i feel it. >> john was there to promote his new movie, old dogs. his wife costars and his daughter ella blue makes her film debut. she joined her dad for her first tv interview. >> it's hard to watch yourself. did you find you were looking and say is that how i talk? >> well, kind of, but it was fun to see me. i was like yes! not only just my parents, but me up there too. >> yeah. that's pretty cool. i don't know how many other people can say they worked with their mom and dad in a movie. you have two big movie stars and do you know how cool your dad is? do you realize how cool he is? >> always. >> that's fantastic that you know that. >> so sweet. you can see ella blue with her parents in old dogs in theaters november 25th. >> all about