SHOWBIZ TONIGHT
Sheen 9/11 Comments Spark Controversy
Aired March 23, 2006 - 19:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
A.J. HAMMER, CO-HOST: New information about the death of Princess Diana. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CO-HOST: I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. And a look at a workplace phenomenon, the office spouse. TV`s only live entertainment news show starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER (voice-over): On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, Charlie Sheen speaks out on a controversial theory that the government covered up what really happened on 9/11.
CHARLIE SHEEN, ACTOR: Taking over four commercial airliners and hitting 75 percent of their targets. That feels like a conspiracy theory.
HAMMER: Tonight, we dig even deeper. The host of the radio show on which Sheen leveled his startling allegations joins us live right here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Plus, the overwhelming response from you, the viewers.
Rebuilding communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Tonight, how a TV reality show is going in to fix what some say the government could not.
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HAMMER: Hello, I`m A.J. Hammer, live in New York City.
ANDERSON: And I`m Brooke Anderson, live in Hollywood.
A.J., it`s been incredible. Pretty hard to believe, actually, the response we got today to the incredible story SHOWBIZ TONIGHT broke last night. Actor Charlie Sheen`s startling claims that the government may be covering up what really happened on September 11.
HAMMER: So many e-mails coming in. We`ve been really overwhelmed today. Between the e-mails, the blogs, the web sites, everybody is writing and talking about it.
Charlie Sheen made the comments during a hard-to-believe interview on a radio show. And don`t move because in just a moment the host of the radio show, the guy who actually spoke with Sheen, is going to join me live here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. But first let`s get you up to speed on the latest developments.
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SHEEN: The more you look at stuff, especially specific incidents, specific events, in or around the fateful day, it just-- it just raises a lot of questions.
HAMMER: The questions Charlie Sheen is raising about the 9/11 attacks are raising a lot of eyebrows. Our e-mail inbox immediately started to overflow. And the coverage on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is getting a lot of attention.
The web site 9/11 Blogger calls SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s coverage, quote, "The first time a major news station has covered 9/11 questions in any reasonable format."
It all started with a radio interview Sheen gave to GCN Radio Network host Alex Jones, a cult hero of sorts to 9/11 conspiracy theorists. During the interview, Sheen made clear that he backs Jones` views.
SHEEN: We`re not the conspiracy theorists on this particular issue. It seems to me like, you know, 19 amateurs with box cutters taking over four commercial airliners and hitting 75 percent of their targets, that feels like a conspiracy theory.
HAMMER: Sheen also made another shocking suggestion: that we may not know the full story about the collapse of the World Trade Center.
SHEEN: I have a hard time believing that a fireball traveled down the elevator over 110 feet and still had the explosive energy to destroy the lobby like it was described.
I said, "Hey, call me insane. But did it sort of look like those buildings came down in a controlled demolition?"
If I was your age, I could only dream about my parents splitting up.
HAMMER: As the star of the sitcom "Two and a Half Men," Sheen is seen weekly by about 10 million people. And many of them may end up paying attention to his controversial comments about 9/11.
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HAMMER: As I mentioned the radio host who interviewed Sheen is Alex Jones of the Genesis Communications Network. Alex joins me live from Austin, Texas, to talk about Sheen`s riveting comments.
Alex, as I mentioned, the response that we got from doing this story last night absolutely shocking. So I want to know how it actually all came about. How did the interview with Charlie Sheen actually happen? Did you guys reach out to him? Did he call you? What was the deal?
ALEX JONES, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, just to make something clear, Mr. Sheen has amazing courage to do what he`s done. And he contacted me. He`s been watching my documentaries for years. He`s one of the most informed people that I`ve talked to in Hollywood on this subject.
Listen, for years Hollywood`s been on fire with people knowing the truth about 9/11. And I was the first to expose 9/11 on the day. In fact two months before I had intel that elements of the military industrial complex were going to carry out the attack. I said they`ll use bin Laden, the known CIS. That is their patsy to take the blame for attacking the towers.
So Mr. Sheen is only exceptional in that he has courage in going public. Courage that no one else in Hollywood had.
I mean, here`s a CNN poll from Anderson Cooper a year and a half ago where they said is the government covering up 9/11? Could they be involved? Ninety percent when the poll closed on CNN said this.
So listen I have my own syndicated show. I`ve done 4,000 radio interviews in the last 4 1/2 years. Almost no one calls in and disagrees now. We have the majority view and we have the evidence.
And bottom line, there are declassified U.S. government documents like Operation Northwoods that ABC News reported on back in 2000. Operation Northwoods. Google it.
And in there the U.S. government -- an element of it -- said we want to hi-jack jets by remote control, crash them and blame it on the Soviet Union in Cuba. Now that was decades ago. This is why we believe this.
Then you look at the official story. The firefighters, the police, hundreds of them saying there were bomb in the buildings. They were told to shut up. You look at building seven, detonators going off. You can see the explosion.
HAMMER: And Alex, a lot of this is what Charlie Sheen was covering. I`m actually just curious. Did he reach out to you guys? Is he the one who put the call into you and how he wound up on your show?
JONES: Sure. Sure. He called me a few weeks ago and said that -- said that he loves this country. He has nothing to gain from this. In fact it`s dangerous for him to do.
HAMMER: Sure, sure.
JONES: He said, "I love this country and my kids so much that I`m going to do this, Alex."
And I said, "God bless you" because now it makes for other Hollywood people who`ve got major pull who know the truth to start going public.
HAMMER: And dangerous indeed to do. Because a lot of what he said makes a lot of people sort of sit back and say, "Whoa, I don`t know about that."
And what`s really important here. You may not agree with everything that Charlie Sheen had to say. I personally think it`s a good thing that he did go on your show, so he could go public with his point of view. Because it does get people talking.
You know, there are a lot of people who may look at this, however, and say there just goes another Hollywood nut job shooting off his mouth.
JONES: Listen -- listen...
HAMMER: I imagine that you think, though, having a Hollywood actor on your side is a good thing and, as you mention, may bring some more people to the table talking about this.
JONES: Sure, sure. If you knew some of the Hollywood names that are aware of 9/11. We`re talking some of the biggest people.
HAMMER: Any you can tell us about that you`ve been in contact with?
JONES: No, I can`t. Because -- because people in Hollywood contact me because I have integrity, and I`ve been in a few films and they know me. And they know I keep my mouth shut.
You know, it was kind of like back in high school. I learned to keep my mouth shut about girls I was dating and all the girls started liking you.
Look, it`s really simple. Let`s understand this, OK? Nine-eleven was an inside job. It was a self-inflicted wound. And -- and what Charlie Sheen is doing is just amazing, and he can only be commended for it. And all he`s calling for is a real investigation.
I go further at InfoWars.com and PrisonPlanet.com. We lay out how it happened and what took place.
And it`s not just Charlie Sheen I`ve interviewed. CNN has interviewed some of these people, the only network that I`ve seen doing it. You guys have interviewed. There have been physics professors that have gone public. There have been the heads of mining colleges that have gone public.
George Bush Sr.`s top CIA adviser who briefed him and Ronald Reagan, one of the highest little guys at the CIA, says our government is clearly involved in carrying out terror to blame it on foreign enemies.
Did you know that on CIA.gov they admit that they carried out terror attacks in 1953 to blame it on Mohammed Mozadek (ph) in Iran as a pretext to overthrow Iran?
HAMMER: Alex -- I`m going to rein -- all good stuff and all stuff that needs to be talked about. But I`m going to rein you back in here to the topic at hand.
JONES: Sure.
HAMMER: One thing that I think is interesting. You know, as I mentioned we`ve gotten this overwhelming response. The e-mail has not stopped coming in. Most of the e-mail I`ve been getting has been supporting the fact that we are bringing attention to something that is rarely talked about in mainstream media.
JONES: Yes, sir. You have courage. No one else has done what you`re doing.
HAMMER: And I appreciate you saying that. So the question is why? Why have so many of the major media outlets not talked about these alternative theories that exist behind 9/11? Why is that?
JONES: Mark Twain said that, "In the beginning a patriot is a scarce man, hated and feared and scorned. But in time when his cause succeeds, the timid join him, because then it costs nothing to be patriot."
A lot of people don`t have the courage that you have, A.J. A lot of people don`t have the courage of Charlie Sheen. They don`t have the courage of the German defense minister, Andre Van Bulow (ph), who two years ago went public...
HAMMER: What do you think is afraid of that`s going to happen to them?
JONES: They`re afraid of being beaten up by the hordes of neocon intimidators who try to go out there with their Gestapo Nazi tactics to try to bludgeon everybody with their blogs and radio shows to shut up.
But they`ve lost, pal, because people have learned that they`re a bunch of liars. They lied about WMDs. They lied about everything. And now their credibility is totally blown.
The new White House memo just came out where Bush is talking about staging the shoot down of American planes to get -- to blame it on Saddam. That`s public. That`s admitted.
HAMMER: Let`s talk about some public documents. Because obviously experts, government commissions, countless officials have all come out and supported what is the official line.
JONES: Yes, they call it Henry Kissinger independent.
HAMMER: Right. Well, we know that those documents are out there and that people are supporting them. So I guess what some people watching us tonight may be thinking is, well, why the heck should I be listening to Charlie Sheen or to Alex Jones and his web site on this matter?
JONES: They shouldn`t. They shouldn`t. They shouldn`t believe me. They shouldn`t believe you. They shouldn`t believe George Bush. They shouldn`t believe the Keane Commission where almost the entire commission has conflicts of interest and was appointed by Bush. You`ve got to love this. He appoints his own commission, and then the media calls it independent.
Did you know that the "9/11 Whitewash Commission" claims there were no columns in tower one and two when they had 47 of the biggest columns in the world up until that time? They won`t say why building seven had blast points going off down the side.
HAMMER: Well, Alex -- Alex, I`m afraid I`ve got to cut you off because we`re out of time. But as I said, it`s sparking debate. It`s getting people talking. And I appreciate you help bringing it up.
JONES: Thank you. Go to InfoWars.com, sir. Find out the truth at PrisonPlanet.com.
HAMMER: Alex Jones, live from Austin.
And as I mentioned we`ve gotten so many e-mails on the subject. We`ll read what some of you have to say coming up a bit later in the show.
Nine eleven also happens to be the subject of a new movie that`s coming out in theaters soon. And SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has your first look at "United 93." That`s coming up in a bit in the "SHOWBIZ Showcase."
ANDERSON: Plus, rebuilding communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Tonight how a TV reality show is going in to fix what some say the government could not.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m going to get the door for you, like I always do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
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HAMMER: Office spouses. Until desks do us part. In sickness and in health plans. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT investigates the phenomenon that`s all the buzz in the media. Is it OK to have a real wife and a work wife?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I am A.J. Hammer. You are watching TV`s only live entertainment news show.
We have gotten a tremendous response to the story that we brought you on Charlie Sheen`s comments about 9/11. We do want to keep hearing from you. It is our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Charlie Sheen speaks out. Do you agree there is a government cover-up of 9/11?
Let`s see the votes so far: 65 percent of you say yes; 35 percent of you say no, you don`t.
A couple of the e-mails we`ve received include one from Dylan in Texas, who writes, "There are so many unanswered questions, and all attempts at an investigation have been stonewalled by the government."
We also heard from Mike in Hawaii, who writes, "How could any sane person believe that our government attacked our own people?"
Do keep voting at CNN.com/SHOWBIZTONIGHT. You want to e-mail us more of your thoughts, we want to hear from you at ShowbizTonight@CNN.com. Those e-mails coming up later in the show.
ANDERSON: In tonight`s "SHOWBIZ Showcase" we`ve got your first look at the movie "United 93." The film is a real-time account of what happened on the fourth plane to be hijacked on September 11.
Heroic passengers fought back against the terrorists and spared what might have been the intended target, the White House. Take a look.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome aboard United Flight 93. We`re flying to San Francisco.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Runway is clear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Runway clear for take-off.
United 93. United 93. United 93.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honey, it`s me. My flight has been hi-jacked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two planes into the World Trade Center. We have to shoot that thing down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God. I think we`re heading to Washington.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to do something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re running out of time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s going to do something stupid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are a bunch of us here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take him down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to take back the cockpit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to go. They`re about to storm the cockpit. I love you.
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ANDERSON: "United 93" will be in theaters next month.
