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Backstage with Will Ferrell

February 22, 2008 11:41 PM

Producer Melinda Arons reports on tonight's interview with comedian Will Ferrell:

I love politics.  But even in an election year as fascinating as this one, it's nice to take a break from electoral math and post-debate spin and just do something fun.  That's always been a great thing about Nightline....you get to do the hard-core current events stuff and then switch to something hilarious.

And if you want hilarious, you need look no further than Will Ferrell.  As a huge fan of "Anchorman," "Old School," and Ferrell's Bush impression on Saturday Night Live, I made my bosses promise to let me out of the political grind for a couple of days when we secured an interview with Ferrell.

Thus I found myself sitting in a women's locker room in the middle of a snowstorm in Kingston, Rhode Island.  The backstage at the University of Rhode Island event center were converted into a sort of quasi-greenroom and dressing room for Will and his merry band of fellow jokesters, including Will Arnett (I border on Kathy Bates "number one fan" status with that one), and three up and coming comics for a comedy tour tied to Ferrell's new movie "Semi-Pro."

The first thing that struck me about Ferrell was that he's really tall. Most movie stars are depressingly short when you meet them in person.  Ferrell is 6'3".  The second is that he is incredibly nice and laid back. I'd heard he was one of the nicest celebrities around, and was pleasantly surprised to find it to be true. He instantly puts people at ease.   The third is that it's not an act.....he's just really funny.  Everything he says reminds you of your funniest friend, the one who's always cracking you up at work.

Sarcastic without being mean.  Goofy without being stupid.

At one point, I was talking to Will Arnet backstage at the show's rehearsal, asking if he'd be willing to let us talk to him on camera about Ferrell.  At that point Ferrell came over to us and our cameraman followed.  Accustomed to ducking out of the shot, I started to run away. But Ferrell and Arnett caught me.  They took a tensa-barrier (the flexible guardrails used for security lines at airports) and roped me in, making me part of what I can only describe as menage a improv.  They started to pretend like they were New England cops (Will Arnett asked if we wanted anything from "Dunky," aka Dunkin Donuts) dealing with a rogue audience member (me).  It was probably the hardest I've laughed in years.  Unfortunately for me, the cameraman caught the whole thing.  At the time I felt like a total idiot for laughing so hard and not being able to think of a witty line to participate in the shtick. Now that I look at the tape I'm grateful.....you don't mess with guys like that when they're doing their thing. Nothing I could have said would have been as funny as them engrossed in their own back and forth.

In all my celebrity shoots I've never had anyone do anything like that...they're usually so guarded and wary of journalists.  It really was more fun than anyone should have at work.

February 22, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Guns & The Stars & Bars

February 21, 2008 5:20 PM

Producer Howard Rosenberg reports:

Randy Laird is a pro-gun activist who wears some of his political views on the back of his shaved head: a prominent tattoo of the Confederate flag. Not that you should infer from the "Stars & Bars" waving proudly above Laird's not-too-redneck that he's embracing anything other than the accoutrements of his fellow Harley-riding pals from the Renegade Classic Biker Outlet Store in Houston.  "I hope you won’t be offended,” Randy Laird implores, “but the whole back of my head is a Confederate flag." 

Laird, who describes his occupation as "disabled Vietnam Veteran," actually roared onto the TV screen at a demonstration on the street outside of Pasadena, Texas resident Joe Horn's house.  Horn is the retired computer manager who shotgunned to death two men—illegal immigrants it turns out—who burglarized his next door neighbor's home on a bright Wednesday afternoon last November, and who has become a central player in the on-going debate in Texas about whether deadly force is justified to protect property. 

The shooting prompted Houston activist Quanell X—head of the city's New Black Panther Nation—to organize a demonstration on the street of the quiet suburb where Horn lives.  When Quanell X announced he was leading a protest to Horn's house, Randy Laird was incensed.  So Laird gathered a few of his friends from Renegade—a lively apparel shop featuring leather vests, jackets, pants and tee-shirts denouncing Hillary Clinton and Jane Fonda.  They quickly mounted a counter-demonstration and were joined by a hundred or so local residents and onlookers.  The result was a collision of perhaps 200 people, waving signs and trying to out-shout each other. Each time Quanell X began to speak through his bullhorn, Laird and his fellow bikers would twist the throttles of their motorcycles and rev the engines to drown him out.

The Pasadena police had a squad of riot police at the ready, but there was no violence.  Laird explained that he and his friends were there for a reason: "We feel very strongly that as Americans," he said,  "someone has to step forward and stop the protest of burglars coming into our home, killing our families and stealing our property.  We have the right, under our Constitution, we believe to protect ourselves, and our families.  I assure you that if someone comes to my house, I would do the same thing Joe Horn did.”

Joe Horn's case is not so clear cut though.  In Texas, the so-called "Castle Law" that went into effect last September, extends the traditional right of a citizen to be secure in their home—or in their "castle," for the statute is based on English common law—to anywhere a Texan has a lawful right to be: in a vehicle, in the workplace or conceivably, at a shopping mall.  And the statute also eliminates the obligation of a person to "retreat" if possible before using deadly force and strengthens protections against civil suits that might be brought by the families of those killed.  The potential problem in the Horn case is that the men he fatally shot were robbing his neighbor's house and posed no imminent threat to him if he just stayed in his home, as a 911 dispatcher told him to do more than a dozen times.

Still, Randy Laird says the law has made Texas a safer place for him, his children and his wife Jannis, who is the vice president of a local bank.  "I think it’s made people more at peace," he said.  "I believe they feel like they have the opportunity now to show that they mean business.  You come in my house and I’m gonna shoot you."

Watch "Nightline" tonight for the full story.

February 21, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Shooting Hoops in Kosovo

February 18, 2008 6:21 PM

On this day when the World looks at Kosovo's declaration of Independence from Serbia, here’s an observation from a reporter's notebook of ten years ago, jotted down in Pristina after US and NATO Forces pushed the Serbs out of Kosovo in June of 1999.  For more past Nightline coverage of the crisis in Kosovo, click here.

Gerry Holmes reports:

We had been in Pristina for about 5 weeks following NATO's entry and Serb Forces' exit.  The coverage had gone from round the clock to an occasional piece every other day and we welcomed a little break from our house in Pristina where we filed our pieces. 

Two of our local fixers (one Serb and one Kosovar-Albanian) asked a producer and I to play some two on two pick up basketball.  Sounded like a great way to unwind and get some exercise after the previous weeks' work.

We found a high school black top with baskets still up (the nets were mostly torn, but still clinging to their rings).  We could still see smoldering smoke floating through the air behind the basket up a hill in a neighborhood where Serb houses had been burnt down the night before.  A quiet, but eerie and surreal atmosphere for a pick up game. Things were calming down in town, but only in that most fragile and uncertain way.   

We started to play.  And that's when I realized we were part of a one on one game (Serb versus Kosovar Albanian) and we were their two foils.  These guys could play ball.  They had an intensity on every step, shot, and even occasional foul, as they engaged with each other as if they had been NBA all-star rivals for years. 

They had talent and had honed their skills on the playgrounds of the Balkans with an eye to the Pantheon of American ballplayers seen on screens all over the world - and you could see that American influence in their game.  Their moves were dazzling.  The Serb had an aggressive, muscle based game with strong drives to the basket.  Drive after drive the points kept adding up.  I would get an occasional assist.  His opponent was piling up the points with flawless outside shots that just kept sinking.  Beautiful arcs and moves so fast, you couldn't get a hand on his shots. 

What emerged was a fun, energetic - at times tense- pick up game that spoke volumes to me in that one moment about the possibility of some sort of reconciliation someday.  It was my first glimpse of the incredible talent that has come out of the Balkans and onto the NBA courts in recent years, and I was in struck then by their talent and healthy sense of competition on that court, that day. 

I've lost touch with them both, but I wish them well on this day and who knows, if Kosovo is recognized by the International community someday, maybe those remarkable talents I witnessed will play out in a championship round of basketball at the Olympics….Kosovo-Serbia for the Gold.  Maybe…someday.                   

February 18, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Internet Gun Store Owner: 'We Need Real Answers'

February 16, 2008 11:31 AM

Melinda Arons reports:

When I first read that the same Internet company that sold the Virginia Tech shooter Seung Hui Cho his guns also sold the NIU shooter magazines and a holster, I literally gasped. My initial thought was that the site needs to be investigated and possibly shut down. It sounded like an anonymous, unchecked way for violent criminals to get weapons -- the definition of a dangerous loophole.

I called the Internet company, assuming they'd be defensive and not want to talk to us, but instead the owner Eric Thompson could not have been nicer, and was sincerely distraught that his products had anything to do with these crimes. Thompson argues that "anybody that would like to think that stopping Internet sales of sporting goods is going to stop the process and make it harder for criminals to come into weapons and accessories for weapons is just fooling themselves and putting a band-aid on a problem where we need real answers and real solutions. We sell over 40,000 different products to police officers, to government agencies, to government agents and I would love to believe that our products have saved many more lives than have ever been lost."

Thompson went on to echo the NRA's argument that if students could arm themselves on campus perhaps these shooters wouldn't inflict as much damage. He's a firm believer in the mantra that guns don't kill people, people do, and someone intent on killing will get weapons no matter what. He insists that his company and everyone else he knows in the firearms industry abides by the letter of the law, and that it's no easier to buy a gun on the Internet than at a store, simply cheaper. It's true that both Cho and Kazmierczak got their weapons legally.

Thompson's websites, www.topglock.com and www.gunsource.com represent the fundamental conflict in the gun debate. For those who believe strongly in the Second Amendment, there is no reason why firearms should be any more difficult to buy on the Internet than any other product. But when two young men decide to massacre their classmates within one year and use the same website to do so, it has to give you pause. Unfortunately, using the same Internet seller may only be the beginning of the similarities between these two disturbed students.

February 16, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)

The Two Cop Couple

February 15, 2008 10:24 AM

Last night we aired a story on two police partners who fell in love on the job together and got married.  Read more about it here.  Brian and Irene Michaud fight crime together in the tough Tenderloin District of San Francisco, but still manage to make time for romance.  So what did they do for Valentine's day?

Producer Shani Meewella reports:

Brian paid for a Spa trip for Irene, and planted flowers in her car as she came out of her treatment.  He was hiding in a nearby store to see the look on her face.  Irene bought Brian a musical card that when opened played "Can't fight this feeling anymore," by Reo Speedwagon.  It was their day off from fighting crime.

February 15, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

'Castle Law' Stirs up Controversy

February 14, 2008 12:41 PM

Tonight we'll be airing a piece on a controversial law in Texas called the "Castle Law," which gives homeowners increased authority to take action against intruders.  The law has been causing a stir since two incidents in the last two years where homeowners fatally shot burglars.  One of these homeowners was retired computer technician Joe Horn, who shot two burglars last November after being urged by a 911 dispatcher not to.

For Valentine's Day we'll be airing a piece on unique love story: a husband and wife who are also police partners in one of San Fransisco's toughest neighborhoods, the Tenderloin.  To our knowledge, they are the only married police partners in the country.  John Berman spends time with the two as they balance fighting crime during the day and caring for their family at night.

We'll be rounding out the show with a piece on the new first lady of France, Carla Bruni.  The Italian songwriter, singer and supermodel is raising eyebrows in the French press.

February 14, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (12) | TrackBack (0)

Inside the Clemens Steroid Hearing

February 13, 2008 4:17 PM

We're working on putting together a piece tonight on the Roger Clemens steroids hearings taking place on the Hill right now. Producer Karin Weinberg is in the hearing and sending us updates throughout the day. Here are some of her observations.

Karin Weinberg Reports:

It's a circus. Lines of fans outside for only a handful of seats. Fans with Yankees jerseys. Some of the committee members seem genuinely star struck, fans of Clemens. One committee member asked Clemens what uniform he'll wear when he gets into the Hall of Fame.

Dan Burton was the big Clemens defender who said he did not believe Brian McNamee -- Clemens' trainer who said he injected him with human growth hormone -- and asked him how Roger Clemens plans to get his reputation back if it isn't true. Burton said in this country you are "innocent until proven guilty."

Elijah Cummings was hardest on Clemens, and asked the most pointed questions. For Cummings, it came down to good guy Andy Pettitte.  Cummings said the person he believes most is Pettitte.  He asked Clemens, "Why would McNamee lie about you, Clemens, but tell the truth about high use in Pettitte and Knoblauch?"  Cummings said to Clemens, "It's hard to believe you, sir. You're one of my heroes, but it's hard to believe you." Very powerful.

February 13, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Congrats to Our Editors

February 12, 2008 7:51 PM

The White House Photographers Association announced the winners of its annual awards today--and three of our Washington based editors were honored.

In the long form category, Eric Wray won second place for Evangelical Teens (watch it here).

In the magazine feature category, Gordon Swenson won an Award of Excellence for No Impact Man.

And in the sports category, Mike Proser won an Award of Excellence for a piece on the Iditarod.

Congrats gentlemen!

February 12, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

The Potomac Primary

February 12, 2008 12:34 PM

We just finished our daily 11 a.m. conference call. Here's what we're planning on tonight:

The Democrats and Republicans are fighting it out in three more contests tonight: Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.  And because of the proximity they have to each other, today's contests are getting all kinds of nicknames: the Potomac Primary, the Chesapeake Contests, the Crabcake Primary, etc, etc.

After winning five contests over the weekend, Obama is expected to do well today.  According to recent polls, the junior senator from Illinois is leading by nearly 20 points in both Virginia and Maryland.  ABCNews' David Wright has been following the Obama campaign and he'll have the latest tonight on the Democratic race.

Yesterday we told you we'd be running an update on a story from last year on teenagers who are struggling with prescription drug abuse.  We decided to go with another story later in the day, but today we'll have that prescription drug abuse piece we promised you.

And finally, Jake Tapper will take a look at those viral political ads and their spoofs that get passed around the internet.  You've seen them -- there's Obama Girl and Huckabee Girl.  Yes We Can and No We Can't.  Leave Britney Alone and Leave Hillary Alone.  The list goes on and on. Tune in tonight to see how it all comes together.

February 12, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

Tom Lantos' Legacy

February 11, 2008 4:15 PM

We learned today that Representative Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress, passed away at age 80.  Lantos was also a superdelegate supporting Sen. Hillary Clinton.  Upon hearing the news, co-anchor Terry Moran wrote this in an email to our political unit.

Terry Moran Reports:

It is true his legacy goes beyond this campaign: Tom Lantos was a statesman of the old school: one of the truly great advocates for human rights in the U.S. Congress, a founder of the Human Rights Caucus and a reliable ally for human-rights activists around the world.

Except, perhaps, in the Palestinian Territories, where critics claim he overlooked Israel's human-rights abuses. He may not have been completely pure. No one is. But the world is probably a more just place because Tom Lantos was in it- -  and that's a pretty good legacy to leave behind.
 

February 11, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)

Prescription Meds: New "Gateway Drug?"

February 11, 2008 12:36 PM

Today we are juggling a few different stories to air tonight. We'll be doing an update on a story we aired last year on a group of teenagers struggling with addiction to prescription drugs. A recent study conducted by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America says that one in five teens has abused prescription drugs to get high, a statistic that suggests the prescription pills may be replacing marijuana as as the so called "gateway drug." Co-anchor Cynthia McFadden looks into this startling trend and checks in with some of the teens profiled on their progress and the challenges they faced.

Ahead of the "Potomac Primaries" tomorrow (Maryland, Virginia, the District) we'll also be looking at Hillary Clinton's campaign, which just underwent a shake-up this weekend after Patti Solis Doyle stepped down as campaign manager. After losing five states to Obama this weekend, we're going to see where she stands in a race much closer than her campaign anticipated.

We are also keeping our eye on a developing story on Detroit's mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, whose romantic involvement with former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty could become more legally complicated today if an appellate court panel decides to release documents linked to text messages between the two. The Detroit Free Press reports that these documents could show that the two lied under oath at a trial last summer about their romantic involvement. A whistle-blower lawsuit against Kilpatrick was initially filed by former Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown and former officer Harold Nelthrope, who alleged they were fired or forced to resign for investigating claims that Kilpatrick used his security unit to cover up the affair. We'll keep you posted as this and other stories develop.

February 11, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Hip H20 at 40 Bucks a Pop

February 08, 2008 4:38 PM

John Donvan Reports:

As we're doing a story on the mystique of pricey bottled water tonight…true story: I started my TV career in a little town in Maine called Poland Spring, just like the water.

In fact -- the water in the bottles is from the same underground water system as the water that comes out of every well and faucet in town. It's just what there is. In fact, come to think of it, I used to SHOWER in Poland Spring water. What's that, 12 or 15 gallons at a time? What would that cost if it came in bottles? No wonder I felt like a million bucks back every morning (and greetings to my old station…WMTW…an ABC affiliate).

February 8, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Buried Treasure

February 06, 2008 6:48 PM

Neal Karlinsky will have a piece on "Nightline" tonight on a new gold rush in Arizona.  John Donvan remembers doing a similar piece in 2003 on a die hard treasure hunter who was searching for Gold he suspected was buried by confederate soldiers in the Civil war. Watch it here.

John Donvan Reports:

X marks the Spot. That's the name of a piece I reported back in 2003 about a man named Bob Brewer, who has spent a good chunk of his adult life hunting for gold he now believes was buried by diehard Confederates during and after the Civil War in the hopes of someday funding a new rebellion. 

Bob, as the story explains, served in the Navy in Vietnam before coming back home to small town Arkansas. He was also a teacher for a time. But he became a treasure hunter after figuring out, he says, that his own family had been part of the conspiracy and that somewhere out in the hills beyond his home there was a fortune waiting to be dug up.

At the time we met him, Bob was pretty sure he knew some of the various burial spots and hinted that he'd already pulled in a fairly good haul. It was tricky, because he didn't want actually to show us any of what he was hinting he'd found. Producer Ted Gerstein and I spent a fair amount of time out there with Bob, watching him dig.

Well, fake dig, actually, because Bob was worried that we or someone watching our piece might want to steal the gold that was out there. So he was poking at a hole in the ground where again, he was hinting he'd found something, but wouldn't say. Ted Gerstein, bless his wisdom and clear-sightedness, suspected the whole thing was a little nutty, given especially that Ted thinks most conspiracy theories are a little nutty. I was more generous, and found Bob actually really smart, well-read and well-traveled for a guy who kept calling himself a "hillbilly." Anyway, it was a fun journey.

February 6, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

A Dangerous Trend: Prescription Drug Addiction

February 06, 2008 5:50 PM

Howard Rosenberg Reports:

The determination by the New York medical examiner that 28-year-old actor Heath Ledger "died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone (Oxycontin), hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam (Xanax) and doxylamine," won’t come as much of a shock to those struggling with addiction.   It appears that no one drug was taken in excess in Ledger’s case and the examiner concluded that "the manner of death is accidental, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications."

The use and abuse of prescription pharmaceuticals among young people is an ever-growing and troubling trend that Nightline began documenting two years ago in our series, "Pharm Country."  Back then, anchor Cynthia McFadden, heard the first-hand tales of teenagers at a residential drug treatment program in Houston called The Right Step about their use of over-the-counter cold remedies and prescription drugs like oxycodone (Oxycontin) and alprazolam (Xanax) stolen from their parents' medicine cabinets.

Last weekend, the Partnership for a Drug Free America unveiled a new ad campaign during the Super Bowl targeting prescription drug abuse.  The ad campaign comes on the heels of the latest "Monitoring the Future" survey by the White House Office of  National Drug Control Policy and the University of Michigan that indicated  "more teens abuse prescription drugs than any other illicit drug, except marijuana — more than cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine combined. In the Partnership’s annual tracking study, 1 in 5 teens reported abusing a prescription pain medication, and the same number report abuse of a prescription stimulant or tranquilizer."

That trend is seen first-hand by The Right Step counselor Ernest Patterson, who told Nightline just last week that, "most of the kids that come here have actually experimented with Xanax.  That’s the one drug that I see a lot of the kids here that they get it off the streets or, or even sometimes the medication is prescribed to their parents, and they’re able to get into the medicine cabinet or to their mom’s purse, and they’re taking medication and they just take it illegally." 

Dr. Jason Powers, an addictionologist and The Right Step medical director, explained that while alcohol and marijuana used to be the "gateway" drugs among his teen patients, in the past few years, that’s changed. "It’s scary because kids now a days are using heavy prescription drugs which are just as dangerous if not more so than street drugs as their gateway drugs. So their first exposure to a life of addiction sets them back." 

Powers says that it is a dangerous trend especially because teens are experimenting with prescription drugs earlier.  "The disease of addiction starts earlier the earlier in age that you experiment.  So a 13-year-old trying Oxycontin is going to have those brain changes a lot more rapidly than a 21-year-old trying his first drink."

Nightline will continue our Pharm Country series in upcoming programs

February 6, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (68) | TrackBack (0)

The Evangelical Vote

February 06, 2008 1:47 PM

We mentioned earlier that we were going to be looking at Huckabee's surprise showing last night.  While Huckabee's success last night was no doubt bolstered by evangelicals, polls suggest that despite what many in the media have been saying, evangelicals are not necessarily a unified voting block.  Our polling director Gary Langer points out that last night "evangelicals were not monolithic," and that in many ways their vote split among Huckabee, McCain, and Romney, suggesting that their agenda is perhaps broadening past traditional social issues like abortion and gay marriage.

John Donvan responded to this subject in an email to our political unit:

In many ways, it's long been a mistake to describe evangelicals as capital-E Evangelicals -- as a monolithic block of voters, consumers, thinkers, worshippers, or whatever. There has always been greater diversity in evangelical ranks than the one-word label suggests, and while use of that label may simplify life for pollsters, the habit has made it easy to miss the point. There is no "Evangelicals," but rather people who are evangelical, and now we may see some voting results that underline this.

February 6, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Tornadoes, Gold Rush and the "Huckaboom"

February 06, 2008 12:49 PM

Today we'll be keeping an eye on the tornadoes that have torn through the south, killing 48 people. We are going to check in with our crew in Tennessee for the latest on this tragedy.

With the price of gold soaring in the stock market, we'll also be airing a feature on what has become a second "Gold Rush" in Arizona.  It seems that history is repeating itself and hopeful miners are setting out to capture their piece of the American Dream in the form of this precious metal.

We're also looking to take an angle on the election results last night to round out the show.  As of right now we are thinking of covering Huckabee's surprise showing last night.  He picked up key wins in the south including Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and his home state of Arkansas.  We'll keep you posted throughout the day.

February 6, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Behind the Scenes with the "Off-Airs"

February 05, 2008 10:29 PM

Mary Marsh and Leigh Simons Report:

Some of our busiest co-workers in the run up to Super Tuesday were the "off-airs," five ABC reporters who have spent every waking moment since last September covering the five leading candidates in the presidential election. They're the eyes and ears for ABC on the trail, capturing nuance instead of naptime.

We asked them to turn their cameras on themselves so you can see the very glamorous lives of our "off-airs." Last night we featured them on the show, but because of time constraints with the other pieces, we had to cut out a little more than we would have liked.  But since there are no time constraints on the web, we thought we'd give you the "Director's Cut" here.

Enjoy!

February 5, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

California Dreamin'

February 05, 2008 2:29 PM

Cynthia McFadden Reports:

It is still morning in Los Angeles -- a gorgeous, clear morning for voting.   So expect a big turnout.  In fact, over half a million new voters registered to vote today, so expect a super big turnout.
 
All the campaigns are California dreamin'.  We were in Long Beach last night where Mitt Romney swooped in for a very large, very noisy, very enthusiastic rally, planned at the last minute in reaction to improving poll numbers out here.   The crowd of a 1,000+ was thrilled by his message:  a tough talking, hard-headed, no nonsense push for conservative values and economic prosperity.  The biggest response came when the former Massachusetts governor vowed to end illegal immigration. 

Romney, as is often the case, was surrounded by members of his family, including the newest grandbaby -- a two and-a-half month old who behaved like an old campaign hand. Not a peep, even as the crowd stomped and hollered. 

Of course, the contest between senators Obama and Clinton is a real cliff-hanger and the chattering class is whopping it up.  This morning at the Four Season's dining room -- a place famous for its appeal to Hollywood movers and shakers -- you could hear the two names floating through the air drowning out even the talk  of yesterday's Oscars lunch. The fresh squeezed orange juice flowed, as did talk of Obama's  "wave" and Hillary's "roots."   In fact, the Clintons (both of them) have long-standing and deep connections here, especially in the Latino community -- and 20 percent of the eligible Democratic voters are Latino.  Polls say she has a 2-1 lead with Latinos and our experience downtown at a largest Latino market place bore that out.  We talked to dozens of Hispanic voters, all of whom said Clinton was their candidate.

But oh, Obama.  This is a town that knows star power and much of the  creative community is flocking to his side.   One campaign official told me yesterday that even Obama posters have gone viral with a slew of notable artists creating them and distributing them on their own.  There is definitely a sense that he may pull a major upset, which is really astonishing when you realize Clinton was 30 points ahead here not so long ago.

A note about tonight: you may be well advised to nap this afternoon if you want to stay up for the California results. Officials here say that they expect twenty percent of the paper ballots won't get counted tonight and that means there may well be no results until Wednesday, or very, very late tonight.  All the more reason to stay up for Nightline. 

Just a word about those paper -- "mail" -- ballots.  Clinton's folks think they will help her as they were mailed (and many people voted) right after her big win in New Hampshire and before Obama's tsunami-like gain.

I could go on, but as I am thumb-typing this on the trusty Blackberry, I will stop for now.  Okay, I admit it, I am sitting by the pool for perhaps the last peaceful moment of the day.  And with all due respect to Iowa and New Hampshire, it is nice to see the sun.

February 5, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

The Waiting Game

February 05, 2008 11:35 AM

We just got out of our morning meeting where we outline what we are planning to air each night. Being that we have this meeting 12 hours before our show airs, it is often difficult to predict how the news of the day will change our plan. 

So far, we don't have much of a plan because like everyone else, we will be watching election returns coming in, and those will determine what we report tonight.  Co-anchor Cynthia McFadden will be in Los Angeles, watching California's returns, and co-anchor Terry Moran will be in New York.  We'll be turning to our chief Washington correspondent George Stephanopoulos as well as our ABC political analysts for results and analysis.  It should be a close race particularly on the Democratic side where Obama and Clinton are polling within one percentage point of each other.  We will keep you updated as we hear more.

February 5, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Obama Secret Service Star Struck by Robert De Niro

February 04, 2008 8:42 PM

Sunlen Miller reports:

At our first campaign event of the day today we were all surprised to see Robert De Niro come on stage to introduce Barack Obama. He gave a funny speech tackling the inexperience question head on. Obama took the stage and seemed happy to have De Niro’s support.

But he's not the only one - Obama said his normally cool secret service, became giddy at the sight of De Niro on the trail. His secret service agents - who normally don’t even crack a smile -  were suddenly elbowing each other when De Niro walked in.  Apparently everyone is star struck! Obama was also joined on the trail by Senator Ted Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy, who’s support, is politically crucial, but as far as his secret service is concerned- not quite as exciting.

February 4, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)

Hillary Clinton Wooing Women?

February 04, 2008 7:30 PM

As the clock ticks down the last 24 hours before Super Tuesday, Obama and Clinton or polling neck in neck in many of the big delegate states like California.  This places an extra importance on undecided female voters.  We checked in with off air reporter Eloise Harper who said that Sen. Clinton tailored many of her campaign events today towards those female votes.

Eloise Harper Reports:

Senator Clinton spent the final day before Super Tuesday placing an extra importance on women voters. She started out the day with twelve women sitting around a table discussing issues like healthcare and child care. The event was reminiscent of Clinton's event in Portsmouth, NH where she shed a tear, when asked "how she does it," and appealed to women across the state. The Senator is ending her day with a Town Hall Meeting that will air on the female-friendly Hallmark Channel. Unclear if this is a sign the campaign is nervous about women coming out tomorrow - or if they are trying to lock them in.

Senator Clinton will vote tomorrow morning in Chappaqua, NY with her husband. She will have her rally in Mid-Town Manhattan tomorrow evening.

February 4, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (12) | TrackBack (0)

Bill: Keeping "The Speech Short and the Day Packed"

February 04, 2008 6:22 PM

As we continue to check in with ABCNews' off-air reporters for tonight's piece, here's what's happening on the trail with Bill Clinton as he campaigns for his wife.

Sarah Amos Reports:

I'm sitting on the floor of Pacific University's arena in Stockton, CA waiting for a Hillary Clinton "Solutions for America" event hosted by President Bill Clinton to begin.  All week the President has been on-message, and today is no exception.  He's determined to reach voters across California, even if it means shortening his stump speech.  In Sacramento, Clinton talked for just 26 minutes.  Trust me, in nearly a month of covering Clinton I have NEVER heard him talk for just 26 minutes.  But it is all about reaching as many voters as possible today, so today's mentality seems to be to keep the speech short and the day packed.

And the crowds don't seem to mind.  California LOVES President Clinton.  He just took the stage in Stockton and the whole place erupted in applause.  "This state has been so good to me I want to begin by thanking you," Clinton just told the crowd.  Half these people are college students, which means they barely remember when Clinton was even in office, but by the looks on their faces it doesn't seem to matter. 

While the crowd is energized, it is clear that this week has taken its toll on those with the campaign and the few traveling press members (like me) who have done their best to keep up with President Clinton via commercial travel.  We've been across the country since last Tuesday.  We've been to two, sometimes three states a day.  That's a lot of time in airport security lines and a lot of meals from Chick-Fil-A, trust me. 

The press has seen a different side of Clinton this week.  A distant Clinton first off - no real press avails, no going to the rope line, no candid moments that we love to capture.  And secondly a well-behaved Clinton.  He doesn't take questions from the crowd or improvise his speeches.  He sticks to his stump, selling his wife as the best candidate for the presidency.  There have been a few digs at Ted Kennedy's role in No Child Left Behind (something that coincidentally started right after Kennedy endorsed Obama) and some confusion over how many candidates are still running for President (apparently there are only 4 candidates left between the Democrats and the Republicans, leaving it open to interpretation whether Huckabee, McCain or Romney dropped out in Clinton's mind).  But for the most part it has been a mild-mannered Clinton on the campaign trail.

Quite a change from my days with Clinton in Nevada and South Carolina, but then again in this election nothing seems to stay the same forever. I don't have a clue as to what new version of Bill Clinton will emerge after Super Tuesday, but I do know that I will be right there following him every step of the way. 

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Huckabee Down the Stretch

February 04, 2008 5:42 PM

On tonight's Nightline, we'll be doing a segment on the presidential contenders' final hours before Super Tuesday, using footage gathered by ABC News' off-air reporters.  We checked in with each of them before tomorrow's big vote.

Kevin Chupka Reports:

Gov. Huckabee has been on a southern blitz visiting six states in the last four days.  Missouri, Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and his home state of Arkansas are very important states for the governor to succeed in tomorrow, and he's campaigned hard in them all.  As we flew to Memphis Sunday we chatted about Elvis and he told how his parents told him the story of seeing "The King" long before he earned the moniker, in Arkansas in the early 1950's.  Huckabee likes to fill his time as we jet set from city to city and state to state with casual conversation, or maybe a little nap.

Watch some of Kevin Chupka's interview with Gov. Huckabee here.

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In CA, Dems Court Hispanic Voters

February 04, 2008 3:29 PM

Cynthia McFadden Reports:

Here's what's what so far.

I'm in California -- just one of the 24 states poised to vote tomorrow in primaries and caucuses around the country.   Hispanics are a crucial voting group here -- now estimated at 15 to 20 percent of the eligible primary vote. 

We are just about to rendezvous with L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at Grand Central Market.  The market is in a downtown, heavily Hispanic neighborhood. We'll talk to folks here about who they plan to support and why.  The mayor is an active supporter of Sen. Clinton's. 

Later we'll go to Sen. Obama's headquarters to talk to Maria Elena Durazo.  She was the fifth woman on the stage at the Obama rally yesterday -- and while the four other women are famous -- Oprah, Caroline Kennedy, Michelle Obama and the First Lady of California, Maria Shriver -- it is Durazo who may be most important for Obama here.  She is the president of the influencial and heavily Hispanic L.A. County Federation of Labor.

More to follow...

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On the Trail -- With Computer Problems

February 04, 2008 3:07 PM

Well now that we've officially launched the Daily Line, let's put it to work.   Originally, we had planned to have Dan Green, a 'Nightline' Senior Producer, gather and send us some footage for the Nightline Webcast.  He's on the campaign trail there with Cynthia McFadden (anchor) and Max Culhane (producer).   Unfortunately, he's bumped into some computer problems. Thankfully, his Blackberry still works!

So how is our 'Nightline' team holding up?

OK. Computer hell - on the road and on the phone with IT.  My heads hurts but is working.  My computer is not.

Cynthia and Max are on their way to a Clinton event to see LA Mayor Villaraigosa, a campaign co-chair.

From the road, LA looks like any other day.  Sunny.  Breezy.  Plenty of traffic.

More to come.

...That's Dan Green leaving us on the edge of our seats.  We'll be back in a bit!

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Welcome to the "Daily Line"

February 04, 2008 11:56 AM

Hi. John Donvan here.

Back to the Future Forward in Reverse. Or, put another way:  About five or six years ago I wrote a memo to my then-superiors suggesting that it'd be a cool thing if Nightline established an almost live conversation with viewers via the Net, wherein we talked through the day about what we were thinking and planning and where we were heading, and at the same time took in your thoughts and perhaps answered some of your questions about what we had in mind. It was to be...in a word...a dialogue.

The idea went nowhere.

Except, now it's back. Today we are launching Nightline's Daily Line (we have a thing for "lines," right?) in which we will connect with you about this day we are in, what we are thinking and planning and where we are heading. And if you care to know more, or drop a comment, or stop us in our tracks...then please speak up.

As the day unfolds, meanwhile, as we shift gears or directions, one of us will come to this spot to let you know.

So...as for today:  A short time ago we concluded our morning meeting, which follows closely upon the more exclusive Nightline "leadership" meeting (the more senior people) and here's what's up: With Super Tuesday just one day away, viewers will see Nightline, anchored by Terry Moran. Cynthia McFadden will co-anchor from Los Angeles -- the thought being California is a hugely important delegate-laden state.

The other thing we have been doing is collecting from the ABC people who have been assigned to follow the various and once numerous candidates for these past several months. I am speaking of that class of people we call "off-air reporters." They are primarily (but not all) 20-somethings who lived on the campaign trail, their lives in a suitcase and their mission, as much as possible, to pierce the bubble surrounding each of the candidates. Tonight we are collecting some of the great little stories they never were able to tell -- in part because, being "off-air," they don't get to go on TV much; and in part, because what they have to tell did not necessarily fit the news of the day. But in truth, they were gathering the threads from which a wonderful campaign tapestry can be woven (or perhaps a nice scarf if this doesn't work).  Watch. It will be fun as well as nutritious.

Posted by John Donvan

February 4, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)