L.A. Sheriff's Department Accused of a Cover-Up in Gibson's DUI Arrest
O'BRIEN: Did Mel Gibson get star treatment from the sheriff's department in Los Angeles when he was arrested on Friday on suspicion of driving under the influence? CNN's Brooke Anderson has details of his arrest, Gibson's apology, the alleged cover-up. Oh my goodness, do tell all.</s>BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh my goodness is right Soledad. This is really a shocking story. And not really because Gibson was arrested on suspicion of DUI but because of what he allegedly did and said when he was arrested. There are reports he spewed anti-Semitic slurs. Now we have those alleged comments and why the sheriff's department is being accused of preferential treatment.</s>ANDERSON (voice-over): Reverberations from Gibson's arrest are spreading through Los Angeles. Now the L.A. County Sheriff's Department is embroiled in reports they gave Gibson preferential treatment after he was arrested early Friday morning in Malibu, California, on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. The entertainment news website tmz.com reports authorities altered the arresting deputy's hand-written report, allegedly removing offensive comments Gibson made when he was arrested. TMZ alleges Gibson spewed obscenities and hurled sexist and anti-Semitic statements including, "F*****g Jews. The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." Gibson then, according to TMZ, turned to the deputy and asked, "Are you a Jew?" Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department will neither confirm nor deny the reports of Gibson's alleged statements, but told CNN the arrest occurred "without incident," clarifying what that means, "Every time somebody is arrested, something out of the ordinary happens, but guns don't always have to be drawn. Without incident means without force." He went on to say, "There has been no cover-up by the sheriff's department. Nothing has been sanitized. The job of the L.A. County Sheriff's Department is not to focus on what he said or didn't say, but to establish his blood alcohol level and concentrate on the facts." Mike Gennaco, who heads the independent group of attorneys who monitor sheriffs' department investigations, told CNN they are looking into the allegations of misconduct but said it's not unusual for there to be numerous versions of a report. "There certainly could be legitimate reasons for sending a report back and changing it. That happens all the time." CNN hasn't seen the official report, but has requested a copy under the California Public Records Act. Gibson released a lengthy statement through his publicist Saturday, calling his behavior belligerent and saying, "I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I apologize to anyone who I have offended. I disgraced myself and my family with my behavior and for that I am truly sorry." The Anti-Defamation League issued a statement Sunday, saying Gibson's apology was, "Unremorseful and insufficient." They went on to say, "It does not go to the essence of his bigotry and his anti- Semitism." The ADL is responding to reports that Gibson allegedly made anti-Semitic remarks, allegations Gibson did not directly address in his statement. Gibson's publicist, Allen Nierob, told CNN on Sunday he would not comment on whether Gibson had entered an alcohol rehabilitation program, nor would he address whether Gibson made anti-Semitic remarks during his arrest. He said Gibson's statement speaks for itself.</s>ANDERSON: Now the TMZ report also says that Gibson made a comment about a female deputy's breasts and there are allegations that Gibson told the arresting deputy that he owns Malibu and will spend all of his money to get even. Now, Soledad, the L.A. County Sheriff's Department told me that when they present their report to the district attorney nothing will be left out, that it will contain everything "lock, stock and barrel."</s>O'BRIEN: Right, but isn't the argument that the comments are irrelevant when you're talking from the sheriff's department perspective. In other words, what did he get on his breathalyzer as opposed to what he said, right?</s>ANDERSON: Well that's what the sheriff's department told me. Lock stock and barrel, they said that their job is not to look at what he did or didn't say but to operate on the fact. In fact his blood alcohol level was .12 and the legal limit in California is .08.</s>O'BRIEN: Interesting to see what we will be hearing next not just on the breathalyzer reading but on the other stuff, too. Brooke Anderson for us. Thanks, Brooke -- Tony.</s>HARRIS: The Godfather of soul, that's a transition for you. Looking to raise a little cash but first we're going to check the markets. Andy is here, "Minding Your Business." Andy, good morning.</s>ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" COLUMNIST: Good morning, Tony. All kinds of good stuff to get to. First of all the market has been as hot as the weather in New York City. Let's see what we've got going on here. Cooling off a little bit this morning though. The Dow is down 26 points. Yes, getting on to James Brown and other news here. James Brown has a brand new bag and Ashlee Simpson has a brand new nose. And they're both spelling controversy for these two stars. Let's talk about JB first of all. He is suing the financier who sold his music catalog to investors for $26 million in 1999. This is one of these so-called Boiee (ph) bond deals, where a musical artist sells the future revenue streams of his music, in this case "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", "I Got You," "I Feel Good", in exchange for cash up front. Now Brown is 73 years old, can you believe it, the hardest working man in show business is 73 years old, wants them back and he's got to raise $20 million or so to get it back. Interestingly, this catalog, the bonds were sold to Toto to TIAA Cref (ph) which is the retired teacher's pension fund, back in 1999. So all you retired teachers out there part of your pension money is coming from the royalties of "Hot Pants."</s>HARRIS: Hey!</s>SERWER: I'm so glad you're doing that and not me. Because you sound better.</s>HARRIS: I just wanted to make sure it was off camera. I wanted it to be a little sound effect. Was that okay?</s>SERWER: That was great.</s>HARRIS: All right.</s>SERWER: Hot pants.</s>O'BRIEN: Moving on to Ashlee...</s>SERWER: Moving on to Ashlee. Ashlee Simpson was on the July cover of "Marie Claire" magazine extolling that -- appreciating one's own body the way it is.</s>HARRIS: Yes.</s>SERWER: The naturalness of it all. And then she went out and got a nose job.</s>HARRIS: Nice.</s>SERWER: And the readers found out about this and were furious. They wrote back in the hundreds to the magazine's editor saying what a lot of malarkey this is. And in fact the new editor, Joanna Coles, agreed and she expanded the letter's section, printed all kinds of them and wrote in her own notes saying that she was dazed and confused by it. Fun story in the "New York Times" and it's all about marketing, marketing, marketing and that's kind of what makes the world go around in certain quarters of Manhattan right?</s>HARRIS: There you go. You said it.</s>SERWER: That's what we've got.</s>HARRIS: Very good. Thank you, sir.</s>O'BRIEN: Andy, thank you. Short break. Back in a moment. Stay with us.