Who's Really in Witness Protection?; Shonda Rhimes: Hollywood's "Fixer"; NYC Sandy Victims Get Hotel Extension
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Back to "The National Lead" and that story we first broke on CNN earlier today, two individuals identified as known or suspected terrorists entered the Justice Department's Witness Protection Program. According to the Justice Department inspector general, the U.S. Marshals for some time could not find them after they left the program. Now if you're like a lot of us, you learned everything you know about the witness protection program from movies and TV. But there's a lot the public doesn't know about the actual program because the actual program is really quite mysterious by nature.</s>TAPPER (voice-over): "Good fellas" and the occasional good guy who happened to see a bad thing.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm all right now. I'm trusted. I'm clean. On my kids, I'm clean.</s>TAPPER: The Witness Protection Program has always loomed large in the public imagination.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Jimmy. How are you?</s>TAPPER: Usually depicted as a haven for turn coat mobsters. But who really lives within the protected realm of the Witness Protection Program? Well, the public doesn't know for sure. That's sort of the point. Here is what we do know, according to the U.S. Marshals, the agency that runs the program, more than 18,000 men, women and children have been in witness protection. The marshals like to brag that not one of them has ever been harmed. The marshals also say the protection program provides 24-hour protection to all witnesses while they're in a high-threat environment. Witnesses receive financial assistance for housing, basic living expenses and medical care. The program provides for job training and employment assistance.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The subsistence may be minimal. It still adds up to millions of dollars a year.</s>TAPPER: Gerald Shur now retired founded the Witness Protection Program.</s>GERALD SHUR, FOUNDER, WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM: We may have to support them a little longer because their language will prevent them from getting jobs as quick as necessary. We may have to furnish translators when they go to see a doctor, but it can be done.</s>TAPPER: Deputy Marshals decide on a new location for the witnesses and their families and move them.</s>SHUR: This is a large country. Border to border we can find plenty of place to hide people.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They didn't tell us we were going until we got to the airport.</s>TAPPER: Henry Hill, the late mob informant who was the inspiration for 1990 film "Good Fellas" was also once a part of the Witness Protection Program. Henry Hill was reportedly convicted of other crimes while still in the Witness Protection Program and kicked out of it, a reminder perhaps that even if you're given a whole new identity, it's still you.</s>TAPPER: Of course, it's no doubt a surprise to many Americans to learn that known or suspected terrorists are in the program, but terror prosecutions are in the criminal justice system. Now it's time for the "Pop Culture Lead," after a rough week of White House controversies, don't be surprised if President Obama found himself asking what would Olivia Pope do? Of course, Pope is the fictional fixer from the hit TV show "Scandal" who proves week after week that no Washington problem is too hot to handle including her own taboo romance with the commander in chief. The primetime drama is a ratings powerhouse and it could draw its biggest audience yet tonight when the season finale airs proving why creator Shonda Rhimes was recently dubbed by "Forbes" magazine to be the hottest woman in American television.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Need I remind you, you stole this ride.</s>TAPPER (voice-over): Election rigging, waterboarding, backstabbing.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You should not have tried to screw me!</s>TAPPER: And bed hopping in the White House. Also known as just another day at the office for the characters on the hit TV show "Scandal." The series stars Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope, the head of a D.C. crisis management firm.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know what I always say, if it's serious, get Olivia on it.</s>TAPPER: In just two seasons "Scandal" has gained a loyal and huge following of fans. Last week Pope's forbidden love affair with the president helped reel in almost 9 million viewers.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The republic will burn --</s>TAPPER: Yes, if you're wondering who to thank for your insatiable appetite for all things Olivia Pope, look no further than Executive Producer Shonda Rhimes. I recently got a chance to sit down with the creative force behind ABC's smash hit. (on camera): So "Scandal" is based on legendary Washington, D.C. crisis management expert, Judy Smith, whose handled Monica Lewinsky.</s>SHONDA RHIMES: Yes.</s>TAPPER: What is it about Judy Smith story that intrigued you, that sold you?</s>RHIMES: You know, what's fascinating to me wasn't just who she handled. But when she talks about her process and why she does what she does and how she handles these problems, there's something about it that sucks you in.</s>TAPPER (voice-over): "Scandal" viewers aren't just sucked in, they are clicked in. Episodes of "Scandal" often dominate social media chatter with fans tweeting and Facebooking every second of the jaw dropping action. (on camera): I read somewhere that you have the most engaged Twitter audience of any show.</s>RHIMES: I feel real excited how we managed to get this Twitter audience is crazy. Every Thursday night their goal is to break Twitter tweeting about the show.</s>TAPPER (voice-over): She's not kidding. On average "Scandal" generates 2,200 tweets a minute, proof perhaps that Rhimes has found a winning formula for primetime success.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, no. You need another surgeon for when we pull the rod out of his abdomen.</s>TAPPER: Rhimes also created the critically acclaimed medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" and its popular spin-off, which just ended its run, "Private Practice." (on camera): "Private Practice," "Scandal," what are you doing right that other people on television are struggling with?</s>RHIMES: If I knew what I was doing right then I probably wouldn't be able to do it. I don't know. I think it's fun.</s>TAPPER (voice-over): Unlike her first two shows, which tell the stories of dedicated physicians, "Scandal" gives Rhimes an opportunity to delve into her dark side.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will bring it upon you in a hail of fire and brimstone.</s>RHIMES: I was definitely interested in getting my hands dirty a little bit. It feels like you can get away with a lot more on television these days.</s>TAPPER (on camera): Do you ever feel like, well, I wish we were on AMC or Stars or HBO because then I could do such and such that you're not able to do on network.</s>RHIMES: You're going to get me in trouble but yes. I mean, I think there are times when I definitely feel like, God, they can do stuff on cable that we can't possibly do. What's interesting about doing it on network though is that I feel like I have to be more creative in a way. We have to have incredibly sexy sex scenes where we don't show anything. In a weird way, it forces you to find another way to go at it. That's been really fun for me.</s>TAPPER (voice-over): Rhimes said she did not watch a lot of TV growing up. The daughter of academics in Chicago, showbiz was not on her mind. But her creative along the edgy story lines have made "Scandal" a ratings champ. That's not all that sets it apart from its primitive competition. "Scandal" is the first network drama in nearly 40 years to star an African-American leading lady.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You having me killed by one of your boys isn't going to help with you and me. You get that, right?</s>TAPPER (on camera): Do you think that part of the success of the show is because you cast Kerry Washington, or do you think it doesn't matter, she's a beautiful, wonderful actress and the show succeeds on its own?</s>RHIMES: No, I think it's part of the success of the show. Part of the audience came for that fact and they've stayed because they like the show.</s>TAPPER (voice-over): Working with some of the biggest names in Hollywood may sound like a pretty decent day at the office for most of us, but for Rhimes, a major perk of working on a show like "Scandal" is getting to experience the life of an American president without actually having to deal with members of Congress.</s>RHIMES: It's very fun going into the oval office. There have been days when I waited until everyone has left and sat down a little bit.</s>TAPPER (on camera): Can I sit down a little bit?</s>RHIMES: Please.</s>TAPPER: If I were you, this is where I would do all my work.</s>RHIMES: They worked really hard to get it exactly right.</s>TAPPER: Right now I'm feeling this overwhelming of deja vu and waiting for President Obama to tell me to leave. (voice-over): Before the fake Secret Service came in to escort me away, I figured I'd ask for a spoiler alert about what lies ahead for the TV president and secret love of his life. (on camera): So you know whether or not the president and Olivia Pope end up together.</s>RHIMES: No.</s>TAPPER: You don't?</s>RHIMES: No. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don't. Now we're at a place where I'm just watching where they're going. I know what I'd like to happen, but we're following the story right now.</s>TAPPER: Again, the season finale of "Scandal" airs tonight at 10:00 p.m. on ABC. We wish our friend Shonda Rhimes the best of luck. Coming up, he's never held back before. We'll hear what he has to say now. Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum joins us. Later, after decades under an iron-fisted dictator, what does democracy taste like in Libya? Anthony Bourdain will tell us why transfats are feeling the birth of a new nation. Stick around for more of THE LEAD.