0:00

18 strangers, different walks

0:02

of life, different belief systems. Do

0:04

you all have one thing in

0:06

time? You heard the call of

0:08

Survivor. It's knowing that you're living

0:11

the best day of your life.

0:13

This is my season. I've never

0:15

went camping before. I'm going to

0:17

get knocked down. It's not going to

0:19

be as hard as who's in my

0:22

sister. Challenge yourself. Touch our

0:24

dreams. Survivor. New season now streaming

0:26

on Paramount Plus. And new episode

0:29

CVS. Now streaming what do you

0:31

know about the happy face killer?

0:33

He's my father So good to

0:35

see messy. Experience the thrilling new

0:38

series. He said he killed another

0:40

woman. Inspired by a true life

0:42

story. If I don't deal with him,

0:45

people never leave us alone. You don't

0:47

see how the birth is saying to

0:49

him. Annally Ashford and Dennis Quaid star.

0:51

I am not responsible for what

0:53

my dad did. Just going how

0:55

you hoped. Happy Face, new series

0:58

now streaming exclusively on Paramount Plus.

1:26

Good morning. I'm Jane Pauley and

1:28

this is Sunday morning. On this

1:31

final weekend of the month, March

1:33

Madness remains in full swing.

1:35

After today's games, the NCAA

1:37

men's basketball tournament will be

1:39

down to the final four.

1:42

For decades across America, filling

1:44

out a bracket before the

1:46

tournament starts has been a wildly

1:49

popular way for fans to get a

1:51

piece of the action. But as

1:53

our Ted Koppel will explain. That's

1:56

no longer the only game in

1:58

town. Driving,

2:00

losing the basketball game. Losing a

2:02

bet on the outcome of a

2:04

game is one thing, but... She'll

2:06

heave at the buzzer! She got

2:08

it! With the help of artificial

2:10

intelligence and an iPhone, you can

2:12

now bet on every play. You

2:14

can bet on the speed of

2:16

a pitch, a possession in a

2:18

basketball game. Sports have become the

2:20

equivalent of a non-stop slot machine.

2:22

Which is why some of the

2:24

next bets are being placed on

2:26

the outcome of the next point.

2:29

in a ping pong match in

2:31

the Czech Republic. That's ahead

2:33

on Sunday morning. As the

2:35

saying goes, you never want to

2:38

meet your heroes, but don't

2:40

tell that to music superstar

2:43

Brandy Carlyle, who grew up

2:45

idolizing Elton John and is

2:47

now collaborating with him.

2:49

They are talking with Tracy

2:52

Smith. Elton

3:00

John says his new album with

3:02

Brandy Carlisle is one of the

3:04

best things he's ever done and

3:06

one of the hardest. I wanted to

3:08

quit. You did want to quit? I

3:11

did want to quit, yeah. But she

3:13

helped him stick with it, just

3:15

like she always dreamed she would.

3:17

I've been in a band with

3:19

him since I was 13, he

3:21

just only found out. Elton and

3:23

Brandy. Later on Sunday morning. Lee

3:26

Cowan this morning gets personal

3:28

with Maria Shriver, who's

3:31

revealing herself like never

3:33

before. You'll meet her inner

3:35

poet. For much of my life

3:37

I was really tough on myself.

3:39

I was hard. I had a

3:41

really hard inner critic. I pushed

3:43

myself relentlessly. But

3:45

then Maria Shriver says, she

3:48

started writing poetry. Let's

3:50

see how the universe responds when

3:52

I pull back the curtain on

3:54

my soul. Yeah, let's

3:57

see a personal

3:59

peek into Maria Shripe,

4:01

the poet, ahead on Sunday

4:03

morning. Among the Washington institutions

4:06

President Trump is remaking from

4:08

the top down is the

4:10

Kennedy Center. Our colleague Nora

4:13

O'Donnell assesses the impact. Morocco

4:15

heads to Broadway for a

4:17

look at the show Death

4:20

Becomes Her, the latest in

4:22

a growing trend of movies

4:24

adapted for the stage. Plus

4:27

Faith Saley with thoughts about

4:29

all those corporate buzzwords in

4:31

the workplace. And more on

4:34

this Sunday morning for the

4:36

30th of March 2025. We'll

4:38

be back after this. March

4:53

Madness is in full

4:55

swing, which means plenty

4:57

of competition, school pride,

4:59

and increasingly gambling. Senior

5:01

contributor Ted Koppel explores

5:04

another kind of March

5:06

Madness, the growing legal

5:08

phenomenon of sports betting.

5:13

There they were in June

5:15

of 1990, some of the

5:17

grand pubas of professional sports,

5:19

testifying before a Senate subcommittee

5:21

on the dangers of legalized

5:23

gambling. Nothing has done more

5:25

to despoil the games Americans

5:27

play and watch than widespread

5:30

gambling on them. All tagly

5:32

a boo was commissioner of

5:34

the National Football League. Here's

5:36

how he summed up his

5:38

mission before the committee. It's

5:40

to protect the integrity and

5:42

the character of our games.

5:44

Legalized gambling and professional sports

5:47

were once regarded as a

5:49

deadly combination to be avoided

5:51

at all costs, but that

5:53

was then... This is now.

5:55

and unders. We end it

5:57

every time they throw the

5:59

ball, kick the ball, drip

6:01

of the ball. Maybe it's

6:04

not even a ball. Who

6:06

needs a ball? That's Wayne

6:08

Gretzki, off the ice. This

6:10

is the ultimate quarterback round

6:12

take. I think I know

6:14

we're here. What? Quarterback, high

6:16

school? Just one among many

6:18

superstars promoting sports betting. Ah

6:21

yeah. It all changed with

6:23

the 2018 Supreme Court decision.

6:25

moving what was once largely

6:27

limited to Las Vegas directly

6:29

to the phone in your

6:31

pocket. So far, 39 states

6:33

and Washington DC have legalized

6:35

sports gambling. These few days

6:38

of March madness are expected

6:40

to produce more than three

6:42

billion dollars worth of wagers.

6:44

The NCAA is sufficiently concerned

6:46

about player safety. It's taken

6:48

out ads warning losing gamblers

6:50

not to harass the players

6:52

Only a loser would harass

6:55

college athletes after losing a

6:57

bet That's because you can

6:59

now bet on essentially anything

7:01

that may happen in the

7:03

course of the men's and

7:05

women's basketball tournaments She'll heave

7:07

at the buzzer! We now

7:09

have accessible on every phone

7:12

computer and tablet betting on

7:14

every single micro event in

7:16

every sporting event conceivable. Online

7:18

sports gambling is a fundamentally

7:20

different and more dangerous product

7:22

than ever could have been

7:24

imagined. Harry Levant has been

7:26

warning about what he sees

7:29

as a growing public health

7:31

crisis. Before we sat down

7:33

to do this interview I

7:35

looked on my phone you

7:37

can bet on ping pong

7:39

from the Czech Republic on

7:41

an average Wednesday morning. I'm

7:43

not really placing a bet

7:46

on the game. You're placing

7:48

a bet on the game.

7:50

On a micro event within

7:52

the game, we could do

7:54

it within 15 seconds. Tell

7:56

me what that micro event

7:58

is. The result of every

8:00

point in a... punk contest

8:03

between two players no one's

8:05

ever heard of. That's what

8:07

younger and younger people are

8:09

betting on. Not trying to

8:11

beat anybody. I'm trying to

8:13

make it safe. Levant learned

8:15

his lessons the hard way.

8:17

Is a recovering gambling addict?

8:20

Gaming addiction took my mind,

8:22

my soul, body, and conscience.

8:24

You were a lawyer. I'm

8:26

a disbarred aware. He had

8:28

been stealing from his clients

8:30

to cover his gambling debts.

8:32

Levant caught a break with

8:34

a sympathetic judge who... recognizing

8:37

his addiction, placed me on

8:39

probation for eight years, and

8:41

ordered me to continue my

8:43

treatment and said, this doesn't

8:45

have to be the end,

8:47

you can do something of

8:49

this one day. People are

8:51

getting hurt. He's now a

8:54

licensed therapist treating other gambling

8:56

addicts. It's an expanding universe,

8:58

he says, close to a

9:00

hundred and fifty billion dollars

9:02

worth of legal sports bets.

9:04

placed last year alone. Hey,

9:06

you people of legal betting

9:08

age. The industry's best customers

9:11

are young men. A Siena

9:13

College Research Institute poll shows

9:15

that almost half of men

9:17

between the ages of 18

9:19

and 49 have an active

9:21

online sports betting account. That

9:23

actually raises an interesting question.

9:25

In theory, you have to

9:28

be 21. in theory. However,

9:30

I know a lot of

9:32

people that are under the

9:34

age of 18. They're 16,

9:36

15, and they're openly in

9:38

school talking about all the

9:40

wages they got. That's Sean

9:42

Andrew and Brian. No last

9:45

names here. They are recovering

9:47

gambling addicts in treatment with

9:49

Harry Levant. How did they

9:51

do that? Parents, information, siblings.

9:53

Usually it's a social security

9:55

number, it might be a

9:57

driver's license, then they're taking

9:59

on that identity. betting is

10:02

happening on illegal or unregulated

10:04

sites, but the legal sites

10:06

haven't solved the problem either.

10:08

Show me. And gambling addiction

10:10

at any age, as Sean

10:12

recalls, can be devastated.

10:14

This was my bed. When I was

10:17

in the teeth of it, it's all

10:19

that mattered. My marriage didn't matter. My

10:21

job didn't matter. My daughters

10:23

didn't matter. Gambling was the

10:26

only thing that mattered. Sounds

10:28

familiar. Yes sir. Winning

10:30

was nice, losing less

10:33

so, but what counted

10:35

was the action. Live

10:37

betting online anytime anywhere. Automatic. Algal

10:39

rhythmic, powered by machine learning and

10:41

AI. There's always something to bet

10:43

on. I found out some cricket

10:45

matches are three days because I

10:47

bet on one and the same,

10:49

dude. I was waiting for it

10:52

to end. I did the same

10:54

thing. I've had my phone in

10:56

the shower with me multiple times.

10:58

I got a waterproof case on

11:00

my phone just so I could

11:02

go in the shower. I did.

11:04

With the live betting, there's no

11:06

casual person betting on every play.

11:08

That's where I... go that

11:10

it's catered to the gambling

11:13

addict. What all three

11:15

men describe is an

11:17

addiction every bit as

11:19

all consuming as drug

11:21

addiction and even more

11:24

consequential. One in

11:26

five problem gamblers

11:29

will attempt suicide.

11:31

That's the highest rate

11:33

of any addiction. You

11:35

considered suicide? I

11:39

was going to

11:41

give it a shot.

11:43

I was calm about

11:46

it. I accepted

11:48

it. I wanted

11:51

to do it. I

11:53

personally had a

11:56

letter written out.

12:00

So yes,

12:02

it was

12:04

going to

12:07

happen and

12:10

thankfully my

12:12

dad called

12:15

the authorities

12:18

up here

12:20

and just

12:23

before I

12:26

could in

12:29

my life. I got a

12:31

knock on the door. The

12:34

American Gaming Association, the industry's

12:36

trade group, declined our request

12:38

for an interview, but in

12:40

a statement said, it encourages

12:42

responsible gambling, allowing betters to

12:45

set limits on their wages,

12:47

deposits, and playing time. We'll

12:49

play some money lines in

12:51

real time. The sports books

12:53

offer the number for a

12:56

problem gambling helpline. And if

12:58

you look carefully, it's right

13:00

there, at the bottom of

13:02

this ad, promoting gambling. Here's

13:04

the harsh reality. The biggest

13:07

losers are some of the

13:09

sports books best customers. The

13:11

companies are enjoyable entertainment for

13:13

an overwhelming majority of people.

13:16

But their business model. over

13:18

80% of their profits are

13:20

made from the 15% of

13:22

people who are gambling the

13:24

most. This Sunday is all

13:27

win and no risk. Which

13:29

is why Harry Levant says

13:31

the gambling industry encourages players

13:33

to keep going with so-called

13:35

bonus bets. Bet $5 and

13:38

get $150 in bonus bets,

13:40

guarantee. Including what's known as

13:42

a reload bonus. When a

13:44

person's account has gone to

13:46

zero, the gambling companies offer

13:49

them. If you read the

13:51

posit right now, we'll give

13:53

you 50% additional credits to

13:55

continue gambling. You've already lost

13:57

money, put more money in,

14:00

and we'll give you some...

14:02

credits to chase your losses.

14:04

It's called a reload bonus.

14:06

A reload bonus. They seem

14:08

very sinister. They seem very

14:11

purposeful. They seem designed to

14:13

keep you in action. I

14:15

had a patient once referred

14:17

to reload bonuses as the

14:19

neighborhood dope dealer giving me

14:22

$10 extra in my bag

14:24

because they knew I was

14:26

a little delon out that

14:28

week. If your bet doesn't

14:30

win, at least it didn't

14:33

cost you anything. And for

14:35

what the industry describes as

14:37

its most loyal players, they

14:39

offer VIP programs. Andrew had

14:41

his own VIP host. So

14:44

what they tell you it's

14:46

for is to make your

14:48

gambling experience better. In reality,

14:50

if I went a day

14:52

without depositing or playing, I

14:55

would get a text or

14:57

email. And what would the

14:59

email say? Where have you

15:01

been? Here's a profit boost

15:03

or bonus that you can

15:06

use to get you back

15:08

in the game is the

15:10

one they love to say.

15:12

The best was we missed

15:14

you. We missed you, absolutely.

15:17

The gambling industry says only

15:19

1% of adult Americans have

15:21

a severe gambling problem. That

15:23

may be a low estimate,

15:26

but even 1% represents 2.5

15:28

million American adults. We end

15:30

where we began, back in

15:32

1990, with Stephen Greenberg, who

15:34

was then deputy commissioner of

15:37

baseball before a Senate subcommittee.

15:39

When gambling is permitted on

15:41

team sports, winning the bet

15:43

may become more important than

15:45

winning the game. 35 years

15:48

ago they were looking into

15:50

the dangers of what might

15:52

happen. Today hundreds of billions

15:54

of dollars later the evidence

15:56

is all around us. 18

16:03

strangers, different walks of life, different

16:05

belief systems. You all have one

16:07

thing in common. You heard the

16:09

call of Survivor. It's knowing that

16:11

you're living the best day of

16:13

your life. This is my season.

16:15

I've never went camping before. I'm

16:18

going to get knocked down. It's

16:20

not going to be as hard

16:22

as losing my sister. Challenge yourself.

16:24

Touch your dreams! Survivor. Survivor. New

16:26

season now streaming now streaming on

16:28

Paramount Plus and new episodes. Now

16:31

streaming what do you know about

16:33

the happy face killer? He's my

16:35

father He's so good to see,

16:37

Messie. Experience the thrilling new series.

16:39

He said he killed another woman.

16:41

Inspired by a true life story.

16:44

If I don't deal with him,

16:46

people never leave us alone. You

16:48

don't see how the birth is

16:50

saying to him. Annally Ashford and

16:52

Dennis Quaid star. I am not

16:54

responsible for what my dad did.

16:57

Just going how you hoped. Happy

16:59

Face, new series now streaming exclusively

17:01

on Paramount Plus. For

17:04

decades Maria Shriver has lived her

17:06

life squarely in the public eye

17:08

But now she's revealing herself in

17:10

ways we've never seen before We

17:13

get chapter and verse from our

17:15

Lee Cowan You're kind of a

17:17

California girl though. I guess I'm

17:19

a guy I always say I'm

17:22

going home to Washington. I'm going

17:24

home to the Cape or I'm

17:26

going home to Boston, and so

17:28

I don't know I'm a little

17:30

bit of everything You might know

17:33

Maria Shriver because of her famous

17:35

family or because of her famous

17:37

former husband. Maybe, you know, her

17:39

is First Lady of California, a

17:42

network news journalist or a women's

17:44

health advocate. In fact, you may

17:46

think you know all about Maria

17:48

Shriver, but you don't, she says,

17:51

because until recently, she didn't even

17:53

know who she was herself. I

17:55

got separated and I found myself

17:57

in my mid-fifties thinking like, okay,

18:00

what do I do now? Where

18:02

am I going? Who am I?

18:04

I just sat down and looked

18:06

out the window and started writing.

18:08

And out it came. What came

18:11

out? Poetry. They are everywhere the

18:13

fragments of me, in the closet,

18:15

in the drawer, in the ceiling,

18:17

looking down. The fragments of me

18:20

are all over the land. People

18:22

say like, oh, poetry, don't, you

18:24

know, I don't know about poetry.

18:26

And I'm like, why not, just

18:29

give it a chance. I am

18:31

Maria, out this week, is an

18:33

unflinchingly public account of a very

18:35

private journey. Reading it, I almost

18:38

felt like at some moments I

18:40

was like intruding in your innermost

18:42

thoughts. It's a pretty vulnerable thing

18:44

to put that all out there.

18:46

Yeah, it is. And I'm scared

18:49

about it a little bit. Yeah.

18:51

You begin talking about your, as

18:53

a child, your life, kind of

18:55

in the Kennedy shadow, that being

18:58

Maria was kind of Kennedy adjacent.

19:00

I didn't want to go through

19:02

my life being asked which Kennedy

19:04

I was. I wanted to figure

19:07

out who I was aside from

19:09

the hair and the teeth that

19:11

everybody just kept pointing to. She

19:13

was just 12 when her uncle,

19:16

Robert F. Kennedy, was gunned down.

19:18

She was even younger when her

19:20

other uncle, President John F. Kennedy,

19:22

was assassinated in doubts. I grew

19:24

up with that city being like,

19:27

whoa. That word pulls the trigger,

19:29

rips through my house like the

19:31

wind. I said, one day I'll

19:33

go to you, yell at the

19:36

air, at the building, at anyone

19:38

who was there. Years past, the

19:40

pain didn't. It wasn't something that

19:42

anybody really talked about, so I

19:45

just... didn't talk about it either.

19:47

And nobody asked how you were

19:49

doing or? Not that I'm aware

19:51

of. I grew up in a

19:54

family that soldered on and I

19:56

think there's a lot that's admirable

19:58

about that, but I think there's

20:00

a lot. that then you never

20:02

get to know about yourself. It

20:05

seems as if before she was

20:07

running through the forest of her

20:09

big life, and now at age

20:11

69, she's stopping at individual trees.

20:14

Moments, she writes. You look at

20:16

those moments like little stones. You

20:18

turn them upside down and right

20:20

side up. You stare at them.

20:23

Look for what you saw and

20:25

what you missed. One of those

20:27

stones glittered with Hollywood magic. Her

20:29

marriage to Arnold Schwarzenegger, later California's

20:32

governor. I had been with Arnold

20:34

since I was 21. I had

20:36

gone straight from my parents to

20:38

him. Years later though, that once

20:40

glittering stone pulled her underwater, when

20:43

the two divorced. Shame filled my

20:45

body. Cumiliation filled my soul. Every

20:47

inch of my being crumbled. And

20:49

that's where she says she'll leave

20:52

it. I don't believe in kind

20:54

of talking behind other people's backs

20:56

in public. It's just never been

20:58

my jam. And I'm in a

21:01

good place with Arnold and that's

21:03

really important to me. I usually

21:05

stand in the back because I

21:07

come here a little late. I'm

21:10

not always the first person in

21:12

the pew. It's been here at

21:14

St. Monica Catholic Church in Los

21:16

Angeles, where her faith has gotten

21:18

her through many a challenge. I

21:21

don't know anybody who hasn't, you

21:23

know, so then I just take

21:25

my focus off him and move

21:27

to Mary. She minored in theology

21:30

at Georgetown and actually considered being

21:32

a nun. Then I heard that,

21:34

you know, they didn't have sex

21:36

and they had to take a

21:39

bar. I'm like, I'm out. She

21:41

eventually landed in the secular world

21:43

of journalism, first here at CDS.

21:45

And I'm Maria Shiver, today is

21:48

Thursday, April 3rd. Then later at

21:50

NBC. We will have those stories

21:52

and of course a lot more

21:54

here on Sunday today. It was

21:56

high profile. In the late 80s

21:59

there were... lot of female news

22:01

anchors, certainly not pregnant

22:03

ones. And I was anchoring with Garrett

22:05

Utley, a steam journalist, and he

22:08

had never sat next to somebody

22:10

who was throwing up during commercial

22:12

breaks. And he was just like,

22:14

you know, kind of like, mmm. She

22:16

forged ahead in a man's world, much the

22:19

way she says her mother. Eunice

22:21

Kennedy Shriver tried to do as well.

22:23

She was formidable. She was fierce.

22:25

Yet she grew up in a

22:27

family where the men were the

22:30

focus and they were the first

22:32

row, so to speak. I got

22:34

a sense that you just didn't

22:36

feel like you were kind of

22:38

seen truthfully, I guess. Yeah,

22:40

I don't think. I think my

22:42

mother, you know, was... focused on

22:44

her work, she was focused on

22:47

her brothers. I have no doubt she

22:49

loved me, I have no doubt she wanted

22:51

to push me 24 7 and she

22:53

did. Did that experience change

22:55

the way you decided to

22:58

be a mom? Oh yeah, 100% my

23:00

door was always open. I just hope

23:02

that my kids know that they were,

23:04

makes me cry, but you know, the

23:06

priority of my life. You know, I

23:08

hung with them and I had time

23:11

with them and time for them.

23:13

Eunice Shriver died in

23:15

2009. Her father, Sergeant Shriver,

23:17

just a few years later,

23:20

after a long battle with

23:22

Alzheimer's. Ever since, Shriver,

23:24

who grew up in

23:26

Camelot, found that that

23:28

disease was the dragon

23:30

she wanted to slay.

23:32

Every 66 seconds, another

23:34

brain will develop Alzheimer's

23:36

disease, and two-thirds of

23:39

those brains belong to

23:41

women. She founded the women's

23:44

Alzheimer's movement at the

23:46

Cleveland Clinic. So let's come

23:48

together and do this for every

23:50

single woman. And push the Biden

23:53

administration for a comprehensive plan

23:55

to fund research at all

23:57

kinds of women's health issues.

23:59

as half the population deserve

24:01

answers, not just on Alzheimer's,

24:04

but on endometriosis, on menopause,

24:06

on migraines, on osteoporosis, on

24:08

MS. She has used her

24:10

public voice for all kinds

24:12

of causes all her life,

24:14

but her poetry, she says,

24:16

is her private voice. Life

24:19

hasn't turned out exactly the

24:21

way I thought, but I

24:23

sit here today in love

24:25

with my life, deeply grateful.

24:27

I'm at peace, and really

24:29

spend a lot of years

24:31

not at peace. Some people

24:33

would say, who know me,

24:36

well, you're not at peace,

24:38

you're restless, and you're driven,

24:40

and all that sort of

24:42

stuff. But I'm really content

24:44

with my life, and I'm

24:46

proud of myself, finally. Survivor

24:51

48 is here and alongside it we're

24:54

bringing you a brand new season of

24:56

on-fire. The only official Survivor podcast. If

24:58

you're a Survivor super fan, you won't

25:01

want to miss this deep dive into

25:03

every episode where we break down how

25:05

we design the game, the biggest moves,

25:07

your burning questions. It's the only podcast

25:10

that gives you inside access to Survivor,

25:12

that nobody else can. Listen to on-fire

25:14

the official Survivor podcast with me,

25:17

Jeff Probst, every Wednesday after the

25:19

show, wherever you get your podcast.

26:36

What do I see?

26:38

That's the question I'm

26:40

most afraid of. One

26:42

that asks me what

26:44

I'm really made of.

26:47

That's Merrill's Streep in

26:49

the film, Death Becomes

26:51

Her. An updated theatrical

26:53

version of the movie

26:55

is now on Broadway.

26:58

which as Moraka explains

27:00

is one of the

27:02

latest examples of a

27:04

relatively new trend from

27:06

screen to stage. I

27:09

just want you to

27:11

do one thing hell.

27:13

You brought this on

27:15

yourself. Madeline! The 1992

27:17

cult film Death Becomes

27:20

Her. about the intense

27:22

rivalry of two women

27:24

and their quest for

27:26

eternal youth is notable

27:28

both for its Oscar-winning

27:31

visual effects, and its

27:33

cast of Aylisters. Okay,

27:35

so Merrill Street, Goldie

27:37

Hahn, Isabella Rossellini. I

27:39

mean, these are three...

27:42

Very... Open comers. Yeah,

27:44

I'm sorry, who? There

27:46

are under studies in

27:48

our previous Broadway shows,

27:50

yeah. In fact, these

27:53

are three of the

27:55

stars. of the Broadway

27:57

musical version of Death

27:59

Becomes Her. You could

28:01

get really hung up

28:04

on the fact that

28:06

some of the greatest

28:08

actresses of all time

28:10

played our roles. Megan

28:12

Hilty inhabits the Merrill

28:15

Street role of Madeline

28:17

Ashton, an actress of

28:19

a certain age. But

28:21

the thing is we're

28:23

not recreating their performances.

28:26

We're recreating this story.

28:31

Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child

28:33

takes on the role of

28:36

a mysterious sorceress played by

28:38

Isabella Rossellini in the movie.

28:40

She's actually come to see

28:42

it, right? She did come

28:45

to see it. What was

28:47

that like? I did not

28:49

know that I would feel

28:51

kind of like... One of

28:54

those wobbly things at the

28:56

car dealer my body just

28:58

left itself It's been fun,

29:00

but we gotta go I

29:03

think I'm done with it

29:05

and two-time Tony nominee Jennifer

29:07

Samard in the role of

29:09

Helen Sharp played by Goldie

29:12

Hahn Belives the movie is

29:14

a natural as a Broadway

29:16

musical the dark humor in

29:18

the show lends itself to

29:21

a musical because it's very

29:23

dramatic. The movie is dramatic

29:25

and so it's perfect for

29:27

stage. I'm gonna have you

29:30

back and dropped in a

29:32

dead. It's almost operatic. It's

29:34

so heightened that it's perfect

29:37

fodder for musical. Director Christopher

29:39

Gatelli knew that a successful

29:41

transfer to the stage meant

29:43

translating memorable moments from the

29:46

movie. Like

29:50

the spectacular tumble Merrill's street takes

29:53

down an ornate staircase. We spent

29:55

weeks in the room with a

29:57

staircase. throwing mannequins down the stairs,

30:00

throwing balls with hair down the

30:02

stairs, throwing, like, if you could

30:04

throw it down the flat stairs,

30:07

we literally did it. The solution?

30:09

A fall guy, in this case,

30:12

an Olympic gymnast, does the stunt

30:14

for hill team. It really excited

30:16

me because he does this feat

30:19

every night, no wires. It's literally

30:21

like a human going down the

30:23

staircase, kind of free fall. Judging

30:26

from its response, the audience relishes

30:28

being in on the joke. It

30:30

feels like an ocean of waves

30:33

of laughter. Most of those, like,

30:35

huge waves are in response to

30:37

how things have been translated from

30:40

the movie to the stage. I

30:42

think it's a laughter of respect

30:44

that we got it right. Like,

30:47

they're probably wondering, how are they

30:49

going to do that? And we

30:52

did. Yeah. Drink that potion, and

30:54

you'll never grow even one day

30:56

older. Death becomes her is just

30:59

the latest in a long line

31:01

of Hollywood movies, turned into Broadway

31:03

musicals. But the traffic used to

31:06

move in the opposite direction, plays

31:08

like the Philadelphia story. Please don't

31:10

go Mr. Connor. As a writer

31:13

this ought to be right up

31:15

your street. Don't miss a word.

31:17

And stage musicals like The Sound

31:20

of Music were turned into hit

31:22

movies. Back then, movies were rarely

31:25

turned into Broadway shows. I think

31:27

Broadway felt that the Hollywood source

31:29

material was second rate, that it

31:32

was kind of low rent, and

31:34

not really worthy of the theater

31:36

on Broadway. Lawrence Maslon is a

31:39

professor in the graduate acting program

31:41

at New York University. That started

31:43

to change in the 50s when

31:46

you had better movies, frankly, in

31:48

the 40s, and one of the

31:50

first... Broadway musicals based on a

31:53

screenplay is Silk Stockings, which is

31:55

based on Billy Wilder's Ninochka. That's

31:57

not too shabby, a movie. Still,

32:00

if a movie made it Broadway,

32:02

most... likely its title did not.

32:05

For example, the film All About

32:07

Eve became the musical Applause. Then

32:09

along came Disney, with movie titles

32:12

that were major draws for theater

32:14

goers, and a trickle of Hollywood-to-Broadway

32:16

adaptations became a roar. The

32:21

Lion King, when it opened, was

32:23

such a theatrical reinvention of something

32:26

that it captures the imagination to

32:28

this day. I mean, I have

32:31

to say, I nominate the Lion

32:33

King adaptation as the biggest risky

32:35

move and one that just paid

32:38

off. You know, the proof is

32:40

in the pudding because the film

32:42

of Lion King... Since it's been

32:45

released, it's made slightly under a

32:47

billion dollars worldwide. The stage version,

32:49

which is making money even as

32:52

you and I are talking, has

32:54

made more than $12 billion. The

32:56

Lion King illustrated how finding the

32:59

perfect balance between the familiar and

33:01

new is essential. The Adams family

33:03

was a musical a few years

33:06

back. What's more well known about

33:08

the Adams family than their signature

33:11

song. And they purposely, when they

33:13

started in Chicago, didn't want to

33:15

use it, they were like, no,

33:18

we're our own thing. And people

33:20

started, like, walking away in intermission

33:22

with these long faces. And I

33:25

completely get it. Had I been

33:27

in the audience without that, I

33:29

don't know, I would have rioted.

33:32

Right. Right. In

33:34

the case of Death Becomes Her,

33:36

a story about aging that hasn't

33:38

aged well, some rewrites were in

33:41

order. In the movie, Streeps and

33:43

Hans characters rip each other new

33:45

ones in pursuit of a slouch

33:47

played by Bruce Willis. I will

33:49

not speak to you till you

33:51

put your head on straight. I

33:54

think a stage version of Death

33:56

Becomeser allows the creative team to

33:58

take somewhat dated... misogynistic material and

34:00

cut and paste it or tailor

34:02

it a little bit so that

34:05

it's palatable. I really should push

34:07

you if we're being authentic. Jennifer

34:09

Samard and Megan Hilti believed that

34:11

focusing on their characters friendship was

34:13

key. If you just hate someone,

34:15

you cut them out. Yeah, what

34:18

is that phrase? The opposite of

34:20

love is not hate, it's indifference,

34:22

and we are not indifferent to

34:24

one another. And ultimately, we do

34:26

discover how much we love each

34:29

other. The formula seems to be

34:31

working. Michelle Williams can sense it

34:33

from the stage during the opening

34:35

number. I love feeling the energy

34:37

of the audience, and I'm able

34:39

to go back and tell people.

34:42

It's a good one. We've got

34:44

a good one. This

35:00

morning, Nora O'Donnell takes a

35:02

closer look at those sweeping

35:05

changes of foot for a

35:07

storied Washington institution. So you

35:09

want a little picture like

35:12

this? President Trump is taking

35:14

center stage at the Kennedy

35:16

Center for the performing arts.

35:19

We make a lot of

35:21

changes, including the seats, the

35:23

decor, pretty much everything. Needs

35:26

a lot of work. He's

35:28

directing many of those changes

35:30

as the new chairman of

35:33

the board. Out are all

35:35

of President Joe Biden's appointees,

35:37

replaced with Trump allies. It's

35:40

a very big part of

35:42

the fabric of Washington, DC,

35:44

and we're going to make

35:47

our capital great again, just

35:49

like we're going to make

35:51

our country great again. The

35:54

Trump White House says an

35:56

overhaul is needed because the

35:59

Marquis Arts Center is, quote,

36:01

woke and broke. Is the

36:03

Kennedy Center broke? The Kennedy

36:06

Center has... the most complicated

36:08

financial model and that is

36:10

true of every non-profit arts

36:13

organization. We did a lot

36:15

of really great things that

36:17

I really love. Last month,

36:20

Deborah Rutter was fired as

36:22

president of the Kennedy Center

36:24

after serving for more than

36:27

a decade. The institution has

36:29

a budget of 268 million

36:31

dollars with 43 million from

36:34

the federal government. In 2023,

36:36

it had a six million

36:38

dollar surplus. Is the Kennedy

36:41

Center supposed to be a

36:43

money-making profitable enterprise? Right. We're

36:45

a non-profit organization. The answer

36:48

is no. It's not intended

36:50

to make money. Its budget

36:52

comes mostly from donations. Billionaire

36:55

businessman and former chairman David

36:57

Rubenstein has given more than

37:00

$100 million. He too was

37:02

fired last month. to have

37:04

us both leaving at the

37:07

same time, does cause me

37:09

some worry because of the

37:11

sense of understanding of structure,

37:14

decision making, how we go

37:16

about interpreting our mission, all

37:18

of those kinds of things.

37:21

Art knows no national boundaries.

37:23

The Kennedy Center for the

37:25

Performing Arts was founded in

37:28

1971 as a national cultural

37:30

center and memorial to President

37:32

John F. Kennedy. It's annual

37:35

honors ceremony, which airs on

37:37

CBS. Theater. Theater. And dance.

37:39

But now, conservatives charge. And

37:42

dance. But now, conservatives charge,

37:44

it's too liberal. High. High

37:46

lighting three drag events. But

37:49

now, conservatives charge, it's too

37:51

liberal. Was it a mistake

37:53

to host drag shows? I

37:56

don't think so. I believe

37:58

that everybody in America... the

38:01

opportunity to be seen and

38:03

to be seen at your

38:05

National Cultural Center. The shows

38:08

that he's referring to are

38:10

three of the 2,000 performances

38:12

that take place at the

38:15

Kennedy Center. What do you

38:17

think the focus on those

38:19

three shows was about? I

38:22

cannot actually imagine. Drag has

38:24

been around for centuries. Shakespeare.

38:26

Performed. In Drag. The

38:29

original Shakespeare. President Trump boycotted the

38:31

Kennedy Center honors during his first

38:34

term after criticism from honorees like

38:36

Norman Lear. So what does the

38:38

new chairman have planned now? In

38:41

audio obtained by Sunday morning, he

38:43

suggests a new host. A king

38:45

of ratings, right? Whether we like

38:48

it or not, that king of

38:50

ratings. So if I was the

38:52

host of the honors. And we'll

38:55

go slightly more conservative if you

38:57

know what with some of the

39:00

people. What kind of people does

39:02

President Trump want to honor? They

39:04

were a list of people. I

39:07

remember the name of Parroti, remember

39:09

the name of Andrea Bochelli, they

39:11

wanted to do about something about

39:14

Elvis Presley. Paolo Zamppoli, longtime friend

39:16

of the president, has been on

39:18

the board since 2020. What kind

39:21

of ideas do you have to

39:23

make the Kennedy Center better? Well,

39:25

we're on the Potomac River. We

39:28

could have a little marina where

39:30

in the weekend boats can come

39:32

out there. Nice cafes, nice location

39:35

where they can spend a weekend

39:37

there and make it like a

39:39

destination. Other things that I suggested

39:42

is the tour branch franchised around

39:44

the world. Another idea, sending art

39:47

to the International Space Station. My

39:49

idea was to have not Michelangelo,

39:51

not the Picasso, but you know

39:54

living contemporary artists to create this

39:56

very small piece of art. One

39:58

can be displayed inside the ISS.

40:01

One can be thrown in Leo,

40:03

low orbit. that can circulate in

40:05

the orbit and one can be

40:08

auction on the ground of the

40:10

Kennedy Center because they didn't raise

40:12

money. There are some artists who

40:15

feel like they won't be welcome

40:17

at the Kennedy Center. Artists who

40:19

are gay or lesbian, LGBTQ. I

40:22

don't think the press have anything

40:24

to against this kind of people.

40:26

I don't understand what these things,

40:29

inclusion or this walk like this.

40:31

The kennicent is acceptable for everybody

40:33

as to represent the agenda of

40:36

America. Not everyone agrees. One thing

40:38

you won't see is the musical

40:41

Hamilton. Producers canceled shows after President

40:43

Trump became chairman. I never liked

40:45

Hamilton very much and I never

40:48

liked it. There have been several

40:50

other high-profile cancellations and resignations. The

40:52

vice president was even booed at

40:55

a recent performance. You were a

40:57

part of the Kennedy Center leadership

40:59

during the first Trump administration. That's

41:02

right. And was there any involvement

41:04

in politics then? Never saw anything

41:06

like this. No. This is new

41:09

and it was quite sudden. Musician

41:11

Ben Folds is among those who

41:13

resigned after serving as the artistic

41:16

advisor of the National Symphony Orchestra,

41:18

part of the Kennedy Center. Let's

41:20

say I get in an artist

41:23

that has different views than the

41:25

president. Do they feel safe being

41:28

themselves? Do they feel safe saying

41:30

what they believe? They're not political

41:32

shows, but you can express what

41:35

you'd like to. And you think

41:37

that's no longer the case? Well,

41:39

I suspect it's no longer the

41:42

case. There is an instinct. an

41:44

authoritarian instinct that is true in

41:46

all authoritarian times in history. Take

41:49

control of the culture, take control

41:51

of the arts early on. We

41:53

reached out to the White House

41:56

and Kennedy Center for this story.

41:58

No one responded to our request

42:00

for interviews. What's the hardest part

42:03

about all this? I often go

42:05

back to Eisenhower's words, and we

42:07

were working towards something extraordinary. Now,

42:10

Deborah Rutter says, she hopes the

42:12

institution's founding message isn't forgotten. I

42:14

often go back to Eisenhower's words

42:17

and then Kennedy's words to think

42:19

about who are we. We believe

42:22

that all of Americans should be

42:24

seen and should feel welcome at

42:26

the Kennedy Center. Here is Faith

42:29

Saley with the latest buzz from

42:31

the American workplace. Hey team, huddle

42:33

up. I want to leverage this

42:36

platform and give an ROI on

42:38

your time. corporate buzzwords. We hate

42:40

them. They're a pain point, but

42:43

they never get downsized. Now, I'm

42:45

not here to suggest we on

42:47

board a holistic paradigm shift in

42:50

business jargon. I mean, we can't

42:52

boil the ocean, but we can

42:54

go for some low-hanging fruit. Buzzwords

42:57

are meant to pack pithy meaning,

42:59

to be dense. Let's put a

43:01

pin in that. We'll circle back

43:04

to it. Corporate cheerleaders want you

43:06

to think buzzwords create a culture

43:08

of inclusion, a flexicon to show

43:11

off team spirit. Flexicon is a

43:13

buzzword I just made up and

43:16

wanted to run up the flagpole.

43:18

But studies have shown that using

43:20

jargon impedes trust, like when HR

43:23

informs us our company is smart

43:25

sizing. How dense do you think

43:27

we are? You're firing us! Gen

43:30

Zeyers are especially vulnerable. They've grown

43:32

up getting instant answers from Siri.

43:34

But workplace culture isn't Googleable. So

43:37

young employees may lean in to

43:39

buzzwords and cling to them like

43:41

corporate life rafts. In fact, research

43:44

has shown that employees who feel

43:46

like their lower status tend to

43:48

use more jargon. And who can

43:51

blame you for feeling insecure if

43:53

you get layered? company slips someone

43:55

in above you like their long

43:58

underwear and your flesh that's no

44:00

longer fit to be exposed. There's

44:03

jargon that won't die like synergy

44:05

but new words buzz all the

44:07

time. Sorry I'll never get granular

44:10

enough to learn what a distributed

44:12

cloud is. Just sounds like lousy

44:14

weather. Look. Here's some radical candor.

44:17

I suspect buzzwords are really about

44:19

people using poetry to distract from

44:21

the fact that all they're doing

44:24

is trying to make money. Because

44:26

that's all most buzzwords are, metaphors,

44:28

ideas, growth hacks, figures of speech,

44:31

disruptive action item. Just speak real

44:33

human people words. If you love

44:35

metaphors so much, read poems. There's

44:38

some really good ones to unpack.

44:40

I mean, Shakespeare was a thought

44:42

leader and he didn't even future-proof

44:45

his content. Just compare your boss

44:47

to a summer's day and she'll

44:49

get rid of all that layering.

45:04

It's a musical collaboration more

45:07

than three decades in the

45:09

making. Sir Elton John and

45:12

Brandy Carlisle, now performing

45:14

together and talking about it

45:16

with Tracy Smith. But few

45:19

of them as devoted as

45:21

a young girl who first

45:24

heard his music more than

45:26

30 years ago. In

45:28

1992, Brandy Marie Carlyle was

45:31

a kid living in a

45:33

single-wide trailer in rural Washington

45:36

state. Captain fantastic. And to

45:38

her, Elton John was everything.

45:41

Young Brandy collected everything about

45:43

him she could get her

45:46

hands on. Records. The thing

45:48

I love about the... This

45:51

album is the orchestration. Photos.

45:53

Once on me and my

45:56

brother got in a massive

45:58

fight, look what he did.

46:01

Even an Elton John book,

46:03

she borrowed 33 years ago

46:06

and kept. I just looked,

46:08

the date is still on

46:11

here, Boulevard Park Library, May

46:13

10th, 1992. Wow. It's

46:15

all time stand. They're going

46:18

to have to come and

46:20

get it. Of

46:33

course, Little Brandy is now

46:35

music superstar brandy Carlisle. But

46:37

to a young girl coming

46:39

of age and struggling with

46:41

her own sexuality, Elton John

46:43

was a flicker of hope

46:45

in a confusing world. This

46:47

is an entire page covered

46:49

front to back. And it

46:51

says nothing but I love

46:53

Elton John. How old do

46:55

you think you were? Eleven,

46:58

twelve. It's insane. Look at

47:00

it now. I just can't

47:02

believe what happened in my

47:04

life to get me to

47:06

where I am now. It's

47:08

such a strange thing. It

47:10

makes you wonder. It just

47:12

makes you wonder. I do

47:14

love Elton John. As a

47:16

kid, she never dreamed she'd

47:18

actually get to meet him

47:20

one day. But sometimes dreams

47:22

have a funny way of

47:24

coming true. Ladies and gentlemen,

47:26

Brandy Collier! Now they're not

47:28

only friends, but collaborators. It's

47:30

much too late. It started

47:32

a few years back when

47:34

Brandy wrote to Elton out

47:36

of the Blue and asked

47:38

him to play piano on

47:40

her new record. Long story

47:42

short, he said yes, and

47:44

they grew to be the

47:47

best of friends. appearing together,

47:49

performing together, even vacationing together

47:51

with their families. Elton John

47:53

and David Furnish, who were

47:55

married in 2014, have two

47:57

kids, Zachary and Elijah. Brandy

47:59

Carlyle and Catherine Shepard wed

48:01

in 2012, and they have

48:03

two kids, Evangeline and Elijah.

48:05

And now the two legends

48:07

are about to release an

48:09

album they made together. It's

48:11

Brandy Carlyle's eighth studio album.

48:13

and Elton John's 33rd. They

48:15

recorded it here at Sunset

48:17

Sound in Hollywood. So you

48:19

two have sung together before,

48:21

but why did you decide

48:23

to do an entire album?

48:25

She's someone I wanted to

48:27

work with for so long

48:29

because I know how great

48:31

she is. I know how.

48:34

her voices and I knew

48:36

what she's capable of and

48:38

I wanted to push her

48:40

more and I wanted her

48:42

to push me more. So

48:44

I wanted to make a

48:46

record that was full of

48:48

energy and great songs and

48:50

it turned out really brilliantly.

48:52

I didn't even think of

48:54

them being there. Yeah, I

48:56

never saw one. It was

48:58

never a contrast thing that

49:00

they were there. I haven't

49:02

really seen the footage, but

49:04

a lot of people say

49:06

it's really, really, very moving.

49:08

So, and all of my

49:10

behavior is not so moving.

49:12

The corner. Okay. I was

49:14

a nightmare. You might just

49:16

kill it. Do. A nightmare!

49:18

It got tense at times.

49:21

But for brandy, it was

49:23

still the greatest show on

49:25

earth. It really felt like

49:27

I was watching Mozart, or

49:29

like one of the great

49:31

composers. stream of consciousness through

49:33

their entire body create music

49:35

in a way that I've

49:37

never seen and I was

49:39

so close I was like

49:41

I had a front row

49:43

seat This is one of

49:45

the greatest musical experiences in

49:47

my life. There's never happened

49:49

to me in my whole

49:51

career. The fact that Elton

49:53

got through the recording process

49:55

at all is remarkable. It's

49:57

never too late. For the

49:59

past year, he's been fighting

50:01

a severe eye infection that's

50:03

left him nearly blind, but

50:05

he says that all things

50:08

considered, he's doing all right.

50:10

Medically, I'm fit as I've

50:12

ever been. I have checkups

50:14

every month. But the eyesight

50:16

thing is a bit of

50:18

a bind, because I haven't

50:20

been able to watch anything

50:22

for about seven months. I

50:24

haven't been able to read,

50:26

I haven't been able to

50:28

watch television or anything. But

50:30

you know what? I've come

50:32

to the conclusion that if

50:34

we can't find a solution

50:36

to it, and this is

50:38

what it's like for the

50:40

rest of my life, then

50:42

I'm OK. I can still

50:44

play the piano, I can

50:46

still sing, which is a

50:48

gift. My life fantastic. It's

50:50

still the greatest gift that

50:52

anyone could have. These days

50:55

Elton John who turned 78

50:57

this past week is counting

50:59

his blessings but the final

51:01

track on the album really

51:03

struck a nerve when this

51:05

old world is done with

51:07

me co-written by longtime collaborator

51:09

Bernie Topen. I know you

51:11

were emotional in the studio

51:13

in the studio. singing that?

51:15

What got to you about

51:17

that? Well I started singing

51:19

and I thought the verse

51:21

was really beautiful but then

51:23

I had no idea what

51:25

was coming and when I

51:27

got to the chorus I

51:29

realized what was coming and

51:31

I just broke down and

51:33

I sobbed and I sobbed

51:35

and I sobbed and I

51:37

sobbed because it's about... my

51:39

death basically and when you

51:42

get to my age and

51:44

a certain age you think

51:46

about mortality because I want

51:48

to spend so much time

51:50

with my children and David

51:52

and my friends that you

51:54

want every single moment to

51:56

count and so this was

51:58

a song about I don't

52:00

want to die I want

52:02

to be with my children

52:04

all over David forever. And

52:06

so it really, it really

52:08

got to me. Release me

52:10

like an ocean wave. Return

52:12

me to the time. Elton

52:14

John might be a global

52:16

superstar, but there's no doubt

52:18

where his heart is. Is

52:20

there something that you're most

52:22

proud of? Yeah, my kids,

52:24

my husband. That's it. All

52:26

I want on my gravestone

52:29

is he was a great

52:31

dad. Nothing to do with

52:33

music. He was a great

52:35

dad. That's all I care

52:37

about. Their new album drops

52:39

this week. And for Brandy,

52:41

it's still a little hard

52:43

to believe. Do you feel

52:45

like sometimes you're just having

52:47

an out-of-body experience? Yeah, it's

52:49

so weird. Is it not?

52:51

It's brilliant. Like it's a

52:53

wonderful thing. I hope everybody

52:55

can take. some hope and

52:57

beauty and mysticism from the

52:59

fact that this happened. If

53:01

it could happen to 11

53:03

year old single wide mobile

53:05

home, Randy Carlyle, it could

53:07

really happen to anyone. What

53:09

is it cost to buy

53:11

a soul bike when you

53:13

die? What are the angels

53:16

gonna do? Thank

53:59

you for listening. Please join

54:01

us when our trumpet sounds

54:04

again next Sunday morning. join

54:07

us when

54:10

our trumpet

54:13

sounds

54:15

again, next

54:17

Sunday morning. It's

54:19

knowing that you're

54:22

living the best

54:24

day of your

54:26

life. This is my season.

54:28

I've never went camping before. I'm

54:31

going to get knocked down. It's not

54:33

going to be as hard as using

54:35

my sister. Challenge yourself. Check

54:37

your dreams! Survivor. New season

54:40

now streaming on Paramount Plus

54:42

and new episodes CBS. CBS

54:44

Wednesdays. Now streaming. What do you

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know about the happy face? Killer.

54:49

He's my father. He's so good

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new series. He said he killed

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life story. If I don't deal with

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him, people never leave us alone. You

55:01

don't see how the world's saying to

55:03

him. Annaly Ashford and Dennis Quaid star.

55:05

I am not responsible for what

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my dad did. Just going how

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you hoped. Happy Face. New series

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now streaming exclusively on Paramount Plus.