Celebs Help Build Homes for Hurricane Victims; May-December Romances Flourish in Hollywood
KARYN BRYANT, CO-HOST: I`m Karyn Bryant.</s>A.J. HAMMER, CO-HOST: I`m A.J. Hammer. TV`s only live entertainment news show starts right now.</s>HAMMER (voice-over): On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, a remarkable effort to help hurricane victims. The stars come to New York`s Rockefeller Center as it`s turned into a construction site. Tonight the back breaking job in New York City that will change lives 1,000 miles away.</s>BRYANT (voice-over): The `60s pop group The Cowsills search for one of their own. First, a desperate phone message as Hurricane Katrina moves in. Then video on CNN.com provides a clue. Tonight Bob Cowsill, live on the search for his brother, Barry.</s>HAMMER: Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, did they really tie the knot? She`s 52; he`s only 27. And they`re not the only stars with the May- December thing going on. Tonight, Hollywood romance: does age really matter?</s>SELA WARD, ACTRESS: Hi. I`m Sela Ward. If it happened today, it`s on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.</s>BRYANT: Hello, I`m Karyn Bryant.</s>HAMMER: I`m A.J. Hammer. An extraordinary effort to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina from the ground up and right outside the studios of "The Today Show" in New York City.</s>BRYANT: It began this morning with big stars, a lot of hammers, nails, lumber and more than a little sweat and tears. Our David Haffenreffer is live with the story in the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT news room -- David.</s>DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Karyn and A.J., it`s been exactly one month since Katrina struck, and in time for that sad occasion, Rockefeller Plaza in midtown Manhattan has been renamed Humanity Plaza, courtesy of "The Today Show." There, celebrities and regular volunteers are pitching in by hammering nails and building houses to help those along the Gulf Coast who have lost their homes.</s>KATIE COURIC, CO-HOST, "THE TODAY SHOW": Changing lives one house at a time. To help those left homeless, Rockefeller Center becomes Humanity Plaza.</s>HAFFENREFFER (voice-over): A New York City landmark is now a construction zone as America`s Gulf Coast rebuilds, thousands of miles away volunteers and celebrities are working tooth and nail to build homes for victims of Hurricane Katrina, and SHOWBIZ TONIGHT was there.</s>COURIC: I`ve got a tool belt. I`ve got my handy tape measure. I got some nails.</s>AL ROKER, CO-HOST, "THE TODAY SHOW": You don`t want to break a nail.</s>COURIC: And most importantly my powder and lip gloss.</s>HAFFENREFFER: At New York`s Rockefeller Plaza, a well equipped Katie Couric and "The Today Show" are co-sponsoring the home building drive with Habitat for Humanity and Warner Music Group. This week on "The Today Show," we`re watching them build homes in a box that will be taken apart, trucked to the Gulf Coast and rebuilt. Celebrities are turning out to help out.</s>EDIE FALCO, ACTRESS: I heard about this watching "The Today Show," and it feels like the most tangible way to help out.</s>HAFFENREFFER: Edie Falco of "The Sopranos" told SHOWBIZ TONIGHT she was thrilled to pick up a hammer and join this construction job. Other celebs, such as Carson from "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and Donald Trump sidekick George Ross from "The Apprentice" showed up as well. Edie told me that star involvement can bring attention to this noble effort.</s>FALCO: I`m never quite sure how it helps to be a celebrity hammering nails, because most anybody can do this, but I would love to think it does help.</s>HAFFENREFFER (on camera): You were doing it rather well a minute ago. We were spying on you. You didn`t hit your thumb once. Have you had any - - much experience in the building.</s>FALCO: Not my first barbecue, let`s say.</s>HAFFENREFFER: And celebrities aren`t just raising hammers to help build these houses. Some are also raising microphones, names like the Ryan Cabrera, the Goo Goo Dolls, Tracy Chapman and others.</s>HAFFENREFFER: During "The Today Show," Josh Groban sang an old Charlie Chaplin song, "Smile," to provide an inspirational message to the volunteers.</s>HAFFENREFFER: And later blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd showed up and played for the volunteers, who all appeared to be having a good time helping out a good cause. (on camera) What`s your take as you look around at all the activity here today?</s>JOEDY ISERT, HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: We`re having such a great time. This is just a super build. Things are moving along better than we expected.</s>HAFFENREFFER (voice-over): Their work is already having a touching effect. This morning, "The Today Show" profiled Jacquelyn Collins, a Louisiana mother who lost her home and was separated from much of her family after Hurricane Katrina.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m wearing down. I don`t know how much I`ve got left.</s>HAFFENREFFER: On live TV, "The Today Show" reunited Collins with her family, and Couric presented her with an even bigger surprise.</s>COURIC: In addition to my powder and lipstick that I keep in my tool belt, I`ve got something else, Jacquelyn, for you. This is a key, because this house is going to go back to Covington, Louisiana, right away, and you and your family can finally have a house. So let me give you this key. Congratulations. You guys are going to have a house.</s>HAFFENREFFER: An emotional scene which reminded celebrities and the volunteers of the true purpose behind this high profile effort.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right now it`s just a wall and we`re just building. But it`s so amazing to think that, like, we`re actually helping a person, to have an amazing end result.</s>HAFFENREFFER: Habitat for Humanity says it will keep Humanity Plaza up and running 24/7 until Friday evening, by which time it hopes to have shipped off about 60 homes to the Gulf Coast. There are two other sites working on this job as well, one in Jackson, Mississippi and the other in Los Angeles, California. All are seeking volunteers, celebrity and otherwise -- A.J.</s>HAMMER: So cool, David. And giving money is so good and important, but nothing beats getting in there and getting your hands dirty and doing something to help out firsthand. Thanks very much, David Haffenreffer. Still ahead here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, we`ve got the story of a guitarist for the `60s pop group the Cowsills, who made a desperate phone call during Hurricane Katrina and his family hasn`t heard from him since. Barry Cowsill`s brother and sister will join us live. That`s a bit later in the show.</s>BRYANT: Tonight two of the biggest stars in Hollywood are apparently husband and wife. After a secret under the radar wedding, Demi Moore has reportedly traded "I dos" with Ashton Kutcher and it`s got everybody talking about older women who love their men, even if they are ages apart. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Brooke Anderson is live tonight in Hollywood with the very latest. Hi, Brooke.</s>BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Karyn. Well, women, listen up. It seems as long as you have common goals, numbers don`t mean a thing. Ashton and Demi met two years ago through a mutual friend. The sparks flew immediately, and the rest, well, as they say, the rest is history.</s>ANDERSON (voice-over): There`s the happy couple. "People" magazine reports Demi and Ashton tied the knot Saturday night at their Beverly Hills mansion two years after they first started dating after meeting at a dinner party. Although there was still no confirmation this morning, it didn`t stop everyone from talking about it, including, of course, Regis and Kelly.</s>REGIS PHILBIN, CO-HOST, "LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY": Ashton and Demi tied the knot. According to "Us" magazine and "People," allegedly tied the knot.</s>KELLY RIPA, CO-HOST, "LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY": Allegedly, allegedly.</s>PHILBIN: It`s in every newspaper around the world.</s>RIPA: Again, we`d like to say...</s>PHILBIN: But we`re afraid if we don`t say allegedly, there could be a lawsuit.</s>RIPA: They`re going to sue us.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it`s great. Good for them.</s>ANDERSON: "People" tells us the couple exchanged vows in front of 100 close friends and family members, including Demi`s ex-husband, Bruce Willis.</s>JEFF CAGLE, SENIOR EDITOR, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Bruce Willis and Demi Moore have actually become really a poster couple for how to conduct yourselves after a divorce. He is very fond of Ashton. He remains very close to the kids. Ashton is very close to the kids. And Bruce appreciates that. I think that he`s thrilled that Demi didn`t, you know, find some lunkhead that he didn`t like.</s>ANDERSON: Ashton and Demi have gotten so much attention, in part because of their 15-year age difference. She`s 42. He`s only 27. Their relationship blossomed right around the time that Demi was making her highly publicized return to big screen in "Charlie`s Angels: Full Throttle." The premier of that movie, seen here, was Ashton and Demi`s first public outing, and it happened with Bruce in tow. When Bruce stopped by SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, he told us at first it`s hard to get over anger and resentment but he and Demi had their three kids to consider, and now they all get along.</s>BRUCE WILLIS, ACTOR: People marvel at this, as if it`s some new invention that Demi and I get along and that I get along with Ashton and, you know, we kind of hang out together and we go on vacations together. And I suppose it is.</s>ANDERSON: While Ashton is younger than Demi, they are certainly not the only May-December romance in Hollywood. Take "Lost" star Naveen Andrews and actress Barbara Hershey, for example. She`s 57. He`s 36. Twenty-one years. At 49 years old, Geena Davis is 15 years older than her husband, Reza Jarrahy, who`s 34. Then of course there`s Cameron Diaz, who at 33 is nine years older than her boyfriend, Justin Timberlake. Older women, younger men, does it make the relationship more difficult?</s>SARI LOCKER, RELATIONSHIP EXPERT: If an older woman falls in love with a younger man and he loves her just as much, they`re going to have a wonderful relationship. If it`s based on common values, if it`s based on common goals, then the age doesn`t really matter.</s>ANDERSON: Actress Fran Drescher dated a younger man for four years and told SHOWBIZ TONIGHT she`s not done yet.</s>FRAN DRESCHER, ACTRESS: I had a great time, and I continue to date, you know, younger men. I think that it works out in many different respects. I like, you know, a lot of very contemporary music. I lock going to rock concerts and things like that. So I tend to end up having more in common.</s>ANDERSON: One thing that Demi and Ashton have in common is Kabbalah, which apparently was a theme at their wedding.</s>CAGLE: It was basically a traditional Jewish wedding with orthodox touches like the men and women sat on opposite sides separate from each other.</s>LOCKER: Ashton and Demi are both involved in Kabbalah. That`s something that brings them closer and it`s something that gives them views and values and a moral system that they both share.</s>ANDERSON: And now it`s time to look at the future, with Ashton now the stepdad to Demi`s three girls, who call him MUD, short for "my other dad."</s>ANDERSON: This was Ashton`s first walk down the aisle and Demi`s third. Before Willis, she was married to rocker Freddy Moore in the early `80s. And the AARP says one third of women in their 40s, 50s and 60s are dating younger men. One third. Karyn, back to you.</s>BRYANT: Right on! I have to say from experience, it`s the way to go.</s>ANDERSON: More power to them!</s>BRYANT: Brooke Anderson, joining us live tonight in Hollywood. And now we want to hear from you. It`s our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT question of the day. Demi and Ashton, their marriage. Does age really matter? You can vote at CNN.com/ShowbizTonight. You can send e-mail to us at ShowbizTonight@CNN.com. We`ll read some of your thoughts later in the show.</s>HAMMER: Well, a couple with a 10-year age difference is making news tonight but they aren`t getting together. They`ve broken up. "Sopranos" star Jamie-Lynn DiScala, who plays Tony Soprano`s daughter on the HBO series, and her husband/manager A.J. have reportedly split after two years of marriage. The 24-year-old actress and here 34-year-old husband were married back in July of 2003. "The New York Daily News" reported the split. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT called Jamie-Lynn`s people. They had no comment.</s>HAMMER: Some sad news to report tonight. Don Adams, who played Maxwell Smart on TV`s "Get Smart," has died. His sidekick, Agent 99 herself, Barbara Feldon joins us live next with memories of Maxwell.</s>HAMMER: Plus, Pam Anderson says her two sons and her mother are in danger, and she is taking action to protect them. So what`s she going to do? The answer in the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Legal Lowdown."</s>BRYANT: Plus, Denise Richards live. She has got a hot new show and is living a Hollywood life that has her under the paparazzi microscope. Denise Richards is next. It`s the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Now tonight`s "Entertainment Weekly Great American Pop Culture Quiz." What did John Belushi`s Bluto character from 1978`s "Animal House" become, according to the closing credits? Was it a congressman, a senator, president of a corporation, or dean? We`ll be right back with the answer.