will help gibson kill her. mel gibson put out a public letter to eszterhas today in reaction to the nine-page letter saying the greater majority of the facts as well as the statements and actions attributed to me in your letter are utter fabrications and gibson said i'll acknowledge like most creative people i'm passionate and intense. gibson said that he was disappointed with the delivery delay on eszterhas's script and said, i did react more strongly than i should have i promptly sent you a written apology, the colorful words of which you apparently now find offensive. joining me now, sharon waxman, the editor of the wrap.com, who broke the story. sharon, i have to tell you, as soon as i read this, i forward ed it to a screenwriter friend of minute who worked with mel gibson and read everything in the letter and said, yes, this is the kind of thing i heard. this makes sense to me. he wanted to add to your file. he said the theme in here that you constant lly hear is how ha it is to be mel gibson. here is a qu

gibson denies estherhouse's allegations. in a letter he sent to estherhouse and also provided nbc news gibson writes the great majority of the facts as well as the statements and actions attributed to me in your letter are utter fabrications. i would have thought a man of principle as you purport to be would have withdrawn from the project regardless of the money if you truly believed me to be the person you describe in your letter. gibson says he apologized for what he called his intensity and said he is pressing on with the project without estherhouse's screen play. in 25 years of script development i have never seen a more sub standard first draft or a more significant waste of time. he says estherhouse is upset because warner brothers rejected the screenplay, adding, the decision not to proceed with you was based on the quality of your script, not on any other factor. >> if you believe joe estherhouse he wrote a brilliant script mel gibson didn't like because he quote hates jews. if you believe mel gibson estherhouse wro

>> that's correct. >> did he see the motion picture by mel gibson? >> he did. >> what did he have to say about that? >> he found a real human being wouldn't survive 20 minutes into the movie because it's so violent, there's such brutality is brought on on jesus' body and not realistic from a medical perspective. >> meaning he would have never have made it on the top of the hill. >> he wouldn't even have made it to the bottom of the hill. >> that raises the question on whether the assertion made by mr. gibson that he's following scrupulously the gospel text is true, it would seem to indicate that what your father see are the excesses of the movie are the incomtibility of the portral in theovie with basic science raises a point that mark describes it that the synoptic goss members, matthew, mark, luke and john, do not suggest the basis for the extreme, the savagery that we see in the motion picture, correct? >> not at all. you can really only find one lines in the gospels about jesus being lashed and whipped. and all that scourging that we see in the f

but we begin this half hour with mel gibson in the hot seat once again, a screenwriter claims that gibson went on hateful anti-semitic rants and derailed a project they were working on together. we're going to talk to that writer exclusively in just a moment. first we have "today" national correspondent amy robach joining us with the story. >> ann, good morning to you. talk about a vicious war of words. it began when joe eszterhas teamed up with mel gibson to make a film about a jewish wash yore. the collaboration turned very ugly and even scary, says the writer. now the two hollywood heavy weights are going after one another. new troubles for mel gibson. >> he's moving from famous to infamous. >> reporter: in this nine page letter famed screen writer joe eszterhas fired off directly to gibson. he writes, i've come to the conclusion that the reason you won't make the maccabees is the ugliest possible one, you hate jews. >> joe eszterhas has lambasted mel gibson in this extraordinary, multipage letter. >> reporter: eszterhas says gibson regularly used slurs to describe jews. it all began l

go does gibson has have a case here? >> reporter: his argument, laura, he has a right of privacy in his own home and invited the guy in. frankly, i guess the guy knew mel gibson's records, he's gone on rants before. to record him in his own home is just a basic human violation. i don't know costa rican law but that his people are looking at costa rican law right now to find out if there is a case. and the bigger issue is where does all of this leave mel gibson now with a rant like this, which is really, really crazy and we have the whole thing on our website and that is almost primal ranting and the issue is did he say all of the other things he said about jews and about john lennon that are not on tape or did joe make it up and that is still open for debate and i don't think the chapter here is closed. the issue is whether mel gibson's career came to an end. >> and give us an idea, to, for those who haven't heard the rant. a quick idea of what he said in them? >> he talks about how he would kill oxsan awhile having sex

gibson c.e.o. says federal authorities have his company in limbo. >> while we're waiting to even get charged, they have taken very aggressive action that has hurt our company significantly. >> what's more, it's been nearly three years since another raid at gibson. that time it was wood from madagascar seized. no charges from that raid either. michael mukasey, attorney general in the bush administration, says the case and delay are absurd. >> certainly three years since the 2009 raid and going on a year since the 2011 raid is more than enough time. this is not -- this is not brain surgery. >> neither the d.o.j. nor fish and wildlife would comment on the investigation or why it's taking so long. in the case of the indian wood the argument is simply over how much work was done overseas. the government argues because the wood was roughlily cut to size it was illegal to export. but the indian government is happy to export this, even calling it a finished musical instrument part. >> republicans and some

. >>> we all watched the explosions from mel gibson to halle berry. now, she makes it her mission to fix the problems of the powerful and the famous. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," april 4th, 2012. >>> good evening. i'm cynthia mcfadden. tonight, terror in the skies as severe storms cause turbulence at 30,000 feet. the same storm demolished dallas-ft.worth yesterday. tonight, we bring you one amazing story from out of the rubble. a grandmother who hung on to her infant grandson for dear life as the winds tore down the house about them. >> reporter: the same storm system that spawned 13 tornadoes in the dallas area tuesday caused more chaos today. this time, at 30,000 feet. a united airlines flight was jolted by turbulence this morning. the plane, originated in tampa, made a mergely landing in houston. at least three people had to go to a hospital, including this flight aten dent in a neck brace. >> you can hit turbulence and everything goes th

police say gibson punched the officer and then stole his cruiser. the trooper chased him to centerville. investigators say that when gibson stopped he grabbed a shovel from a nearby truck and started swinging. he is in police custody tonight. gibson faces several charges, including carjacking and assault on a police officer. >>> the space shuttle "discovery" is now on display at the smithsonian institution. it was a ceremony today as nasa turned "discovery" over to the air and space museum. it took only minutes for crews to pull the spacecraft into its new hangar. the thing weighs 200,000 pounds. "discovery" replaces the shuttle "enterprise" which looks different because it's never been in space. astronauts and museum officials report, though, that "discovery's" appearance is because of its 39 missions. >> it was certainly a vessel that took care of us, got us up into a very difficult place to reach, and brought us back safely. >> it's a big deal. it's an important piece of history to see. >> the "discovery" display is open to visitors at 10:00 tomo

months after a federal raid, some wonder if gibson will ever get its day in court. stay with us. hmmm. fohalf the calories plus vgie nutrition. could've had a v8. gives you a 50% annual bonus. and who doesn't want 50% more cash? ugh, the baby. huh! and then the baby bear said, "i want 50% more cash in my bed!" phhht! 50% more cash is good ri... what's that. ♪ you can spell. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? ha ha. ♪ fight both fast with new tums freshers! concentrated relief that goes to work in seconds and freshens breath. new tums freshers. ♪ tum...tum...tum...tum... tums! ♪ [ male announcer ] fast relief, fresh breath, all in a pocket sized pack. wow. this is new. yep, i'm sending the dancing chicken to every store in the franchise to get the word out. that could work. or you could use every door direct mail from the postal service. it'll help you and all your franchisees find the customers that matter most -- the ones in the neighborhood. you print it or we'll help you find a local

mel gibson has not gone off the rails he has jumped the track. i know we are kidding around and everything. let's face it. get to the bottom of it. it's racist rhetoric. it's something we started at the top of the show going, this is hateful, this is horrible. some of it is really funny. i don't mean the rhetoric. the fact that he's over the top. >> we got it. i have to move on. i want to get to this. the television show, "the bachelor" being sued. see if you, if you can tell why. look at this. >> oh, my god. >> will you marry me? >> the end is in sight. everything that i dreamed of could be coming true. thank you. >> will you accept this rose? >> thank you. >> will you marry me? >> oh, my gosh. yes. >> what do you think? can you figure it out? a lot of white faces there. in 23 seasons there has never been a black bachelor or bachelorette. now two african-americans are filing a class action lawsuit saying they didn't get their shot. do they have a point. >> this is outrageous. i can't believe there is a topic. there are absolutely no african-amer

. >>> coming up, mel gibson is wanted and so are the kardashians. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. >>> plus the president moves in on territory normally reserved for nbc's brian williams. we'll explain. you're watching "early today." >>> welcome back. here's a look at your thursday forecast. two systems, a funnel system into the northwest bringing rain pap cutoff low sending moisture northwards. showers moving onshore already. and l.a., later in your day for your wet weather and, again, high pressure with all the warm weather and record highs pushing through the inner mountain west away from the west coast in the days ahead. well if you're watching us on knbc, nbc 4 in los angeles, in nearby pasadena. explore canvases created by the mesmerizing movements by the bodies of dancers at dance opera draw. armory center for the arts. i dpn coidn't come up with that >> bill, thanks so much. >>> now a look at your early morning entertainment headlines -- >>> despite his most recent meltdown caught on tape, apparently mel gibson

>>> y l banda macho lle al cine de la mano de mel gibson, y lo verán en primer impacto enterese en que area de

he is a great visual story teller. >> gibson is a nuty nut guy who is nuts. but can he or can his career be saved at this point? >> no. i mean, actually, he does kind of have a career. this is his career. it is like lindsay lohan. she has a career. it is crazy. >> has he out stripped his talent? >> yeah -- i mean i feel sorry for the guy. he said vial things and has vial beliefs, but there is something wrong with the guy. he is not well. when you look at something like that you are tempted to say -- it is fun to laugh at celebrities, but they are there for the grace of god like most of us. it is easy to become an alcoholic and lose your mind. >> that's true. this rant was reportedly sparked when he saw a picture of himself -- he looked in the mirror and thought he locked overweight and balding and was blaming this on his ex-wife. why do women do things like this to men? he was a totally normal guy until she hurt him. >> i will take the blame. it is all my fault. why does she do it? i don't know. >> bill, i want to go to you. you said gibson makes a good point

i guess mel gibson didn't like the script, so, joel responded by blasting mel gibson in a scathing nine-page letter which mel gibson responded to, reasonably, but now, the next volley is, an audio tape of mel going nuts. it's believed to have been recorded in december while joel and his family were staying at mel's house in costa rica. mel was unhappy, because not much work had been done on the script. enjoy. >> why don't i have a first draft of "the maccabees?" what the [ bleep ] have you been doing? i'll type it! i got to work, you are getting paid. i'm not! [ bleep ]. [ bleep ]. god! who wants to eat? who the [ bleep ] wants to eat? go have something to eat. hooray! [ bleep ]. [ bleep ]. [ bleep ]. >> jimmy: if you picture him doing in the braveheart outfit, it's really not that bad. say what you want about mel gibson, he really commits to a performance. that is some -- that must have been a fun dinner, right? i mean -- [ applause ] but i -- it's important to remember, folks, dinner isn't dinner without crescent rolls. >> what makes a special meal extra special? pills bury crescent dinner

mel gibson joins us live from los angeles. we hear gibson think the maccabe's projects that triggered a war with the screen writer is alive. that may not be the case. what do you know about this? >> a lot. i would have to say i am jealous when i talk about on your weather, but anyway. >> yeah. >> and this is the deal. i mean this is a mess. mel gibson is in another one of those things. joe esterhouse, the screenwriter for the project, wrote a nine-page scathing let or to him that got looked, accusing mel of making unbelievable comments. this has to do with the movie that got rejected by warner brothers, and it's terrible. i mean one of the things he said was that allegedly, he was glad john lennon was shot and killed, he hated -- hated john lennon's song "imagine" especially. on and on about oxsana and all sorts of things. mel seems to think this is about joe being bitter and his movie is alive and well and all of this stuff. it's not. can i tell you i know that warner brothers has not officially told him to take a hike, but t

. >>> coming up, mel gibson is wanted and so are the kardashians. your "first look" at entertainment. plus, more on the president's visit on "late night" as he slow jams the news with jimmie fallon. it's hilarious. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] what can you do with plain white rice? when you pour chunky beef with country vegetables soup over it... you can do dinner. four minutes, around four bucks. campbell's chunky. it's amazing what soup can do. but do you really? [ female announcer ] neutrogena® makeup remover erases 99% of your most stubborn makeup with one towelette. can your makeup remover do that? [ female announcer ] neutrogena® makeup remover. 14 clubs. that's what they tell us a legal golf bag can hold. and while that leaves a little room for balls and tees, it doesn't leave room for much else. there's no room left for deadlines or conference calls. not a single pocket to hold the stress of the day, or the to-do list of tomorrow. only 14 clubs pick up the right one and drive it right down the middle of pure mi

i love debbie gibson. straight from the 1980's. >> i love hard. i did not live very many years in the 1980's. -- i love her. >> every year, the parade brings floats and demonstrations from around the world and spectators, too. >> it is really great. >> exhilarating and a little something for everyone. >> katie couric joined our colleagues leon harris and alison starling at the parade this morning. to see more pictures, go to our website, wjla.com. >> it was wonderful. check out the website. coming up here on abc 7 news at 6:00 p.m. -- a somber way to remember. virginia state -- virginia tech students are remembering those who died. >> an important warning >> on monday, the commonwealth of virginia will remember the victims of the deadly shooting at virginia tech. >> the governor has called monday virginia tech remembrance day. >> more than 200 virginia tech alumni came together in the northwest d.c., running a 5 kilometer race at to the tragedy that brought their campus. >>this is one of the survivors. she

>> well, from my perspective, the hornet's nest was principally a fight of randall gibson's brigade and in reading a letter that i added to my collection here maybe two or three years ago written by one of the arkansas soldiers that was with randall gibson, he said that attacking that thicket, he kept referring to it as a thicket. and he said attacking that thicket was just hell, sheer hell. they failed in four times that he recorded in terms of charging the hornet's nest. but the hornet's nest, per se, was subject to, from what i can interpret, to the best of my recollection when i did the original research, basically on a piece meal basis until the flanking moments outflanked the hornet's nest on both sides. so, you find not a sustained massive attack against a hornet's nest with a particular type of fighting that would have occurred under those circumstances but really only isolated attacks, particularly those of gibson's brigade. >> we got time, unfortunately, for one more question but i do want to say that everyone will be here and please feel free to come up and talk to any of us

>> well, from my perspective, the hornet's nest was principally a fight of randall gibson's brigade and in reading a letter that i added to my collection here maybe two or three years ago written by one of the arkansas soldiers that was with randall gibson, he said that attacking that thicket, he kept referring to it as a thicket. and he said attacking that thicket was just hell, sheer hell. they failed in four times that he recorded in terms of charging the hornet's nest. but the hornet's nest, per se, was subject to, from what i can interpret, to the best of my recollection when i did the original research, basically on a piece meal basis until the artillery movements and the flanking moments outflanked the hornet's nest on both sides. so you find not a sustained massive attack against a hornet's nest with a particular type of fighting that would have occurred under those circumstances, but really only isolated attacks, particularly those of gibson's brigade. >>y is agreeing, so we have got time, unfortunately, for just one more question. but i do want to say that everyone will be her

>> well, from my perspective, the hornet's nest was principally a fight of randall gibson's brigade, and in reading a letter that i added to my collection here maybe two or three years ago written by one of the arkansas soldiers that was with randall gibson, he said that attacking that thicket, he kept referring to it as a thicket. and he said attacking that thicket was just hell, sheer hell. they failed in four times that he recorded in terms of charging the hornet's nest. but the hornet's nest per se was subject to, from what i can interpret, to the best of my recollection when i did the original research, basically on a piecemeal basis until the concentration of artillery and the flanking movements outflanked the hornet's nest on both sides. so you find not a sustained massive attack against a hornet's nest with a particular type of fighting that would have occurred under those circumstances but really only isolated attacks, particularly those of gibson's brigade. >> jim is agreeing. so we've got time, unfortunately, just for one more question. but i do want to say that everyone w

congressman gibson. >> thanks, mr. chairman. i appreciate the strong leadership in the department of defense, both distinguished careers of the gentlemen with us today. and i'll talk about syria in a second. while i have the secretary. i'm curious to hear his feedback. i'm recently back from fort bragg, visiting with one of the subordinate commands of the special operations command, in previous work with general clapper in the intelligence community, and let me say up front that it's remarkable the level of teamwork that's going on out there. but yet i feel that we're lacking in terms of systemic codification of some of the very encouraging developments over the past decade, and i'm still hearing that it's not very often, but it can happen, that the intelligence community may be working a line of operation, special operations command may be working a line of operation and figuratively will bump into each other. i know there's efforts to bring stronger collaboration in terms of information sharing, but given your recent history o

congressman gibson. >> thanks, mr. chairman. i appreciate the strong leadership in the department of defense, both distinguished careers, the gentlemen with us today, and i'll talk about syria in a second. while i have a secretary i'm curious to hear his feedback. i'm recently back from fort bragg, visiting with one of the subordinate commands of the special operations command, in previous work with general clapper in the intelligence community, and let me say up front that it's remarkable the level of teamwork that's going on out there. but yet i feel that we're lacking in terms of systemic codification of some of the very encouraging developments over the past decade, and i'm still hearing that it's not very often, but it can happen, that the intelligence community may be working a line of operation, special operations command may be working a line of operation and figuratively will bump into each other. i know there's efforts to bring stronger collaboration in terms of information sharing, but given your recent history of --

gibson c.e.o. insists the company has done nothing wrong and the government's actions and lack of action have hurt their position as a global market leader. >> we were a domestic manufacturer. there are many manufacturers in china who don't have the same issues to deal with. so we are in a competitive disadvantage, long term, our business will suffer. and possibly severely. >> because it has not been able to import wood from india they switched to alternative including composite materials, plastic like material and we the customer dozen not leak those used in guitars so they afraid they will lose market share and the department of justice has also put a "stay," on a civil court proceeding where gibson appealed to get their wood back and we put all of this to the attorney general in the last years of the bush administration and he had one word. he said it's absurd. >> it is not fair. it is not smart. as i said, the first rule when you go out to enforce a law is engage your brain. obviously someone f

>> it's typical of mel gibson. every once in a while it happens. in this case it was his cocoa elaborator, bill who taped him and turned it in. when it's your own friends, you have to question it. i wish jodie foster would stop enabling the guy, tell him he's so great and get him some help. he blows up for no reason whatsoever. it's a problem, and i don't know why we're even talking about it. it's his problem. gheets to take care of it. there's nothing we can do to help. >> no, apparently nothing. >> did you hear them? did you hear them now? they sound like two drunken pirates out in costa rica where this was taped. i can't believe that that's the quality of the stuff that becomes like global news. we're not the only ones who can talk about it. they can talk about anything and it blows up into news cycle. it's amazing to me. >> i like the drunken pirates. that's very funny. i need to talk about something else. are you familiar with these dial services. you can chat with lindsay lohan's celebrity parents? >> so-called. >> would you ever call one? >>

kendis gibson joins us live with more. >> what a sad afternoon in prince george's county in clinton. we received word in the last hour and a half that the 6-year- old boy has passed away at a nearby hospital. i want to give you a sense of what the scene looks like. you can several members of the forensics team from prince george's county remain here at the scene. where they're standing right now is in front of the young boys and great-grandmother's house. the young boy was inside the house, as he normally is in the afternoon, when he happened to find the revolver and fired the gun. the great grandmother was there as well as two other children. the other children were not injured. the great-grandmother had to be taken out of this scene. here is more on what took place earlier today. [no audio] prince george's county police officials say in the meantime that began actually belonged to a 20-year-old boy who was living at the house but not related to the great-grandmother or the 6- year-old boy. that man has been taken away from the scene and is being questioned facing possible manslaugh

. >>> coming up, mel gibson is wanted and so are the kardashians. the early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. >>> plus the president moves in on territory normally reserved for nbc's brian williams. we'll explain. you're watching "early today." >>> welcome back to "early today." umbrellas need in virginia and upstate of south carolina, north carolina, shower activity heading through your region. this afternoon, chicago chance of showers, raining light fly minneapolis. warm air record highs possible today once again around kansas city, tomorrow cooling off with showers and thunderstorms from denver to kc. >>> if you're watching us on wbebh, nbc 2, fort myers, florida, art in the gardens, snakes and lizards eded a ediso and forward estates. >>> despite his most recent meltdown caught on tape, apparently mel gibson still isn't finished in hollywood. according to the hollywood reporter robert rod ri grez wants him to join the sequel to machete. >>> are you sick of the kardashians? >> no, more, i want more. >> keeping up kt kardashians

kendis gibson wrapping and then there's pamela. natasha brown participated as well as chris van cleve. oh my goodness. that was at the ronald reagan building in northwest. all proceeds going to charity. thank goodness. child help works to prevent child abuse and has a 24-hour crisis hot line. was all for a good cause. >> i just want to keep watching. >> that's a good way to start the day. >> it is for cox 56, 50 degrees this morning? . >> still ahead, ever since the hologram of the late robert tupac shakur, there are questions about who will be >> it's a big day for staysail discovery as it moves into its new home at the smithsonian museum in chantilly. >> remembering the man who made his mark on television. we have a look back at the life. >> to me the solution was easy. take off my

he looks like employee of the month when you look at the rants of mel gibson. more mel gibson this is thursday or friday, it's nothing. he has a history of angry outbursts. and ted nugent's was political rhetoric. mel is crazy, ted nugent not crazy. that's the difference. >> are you sure about that. >> am i sure ted nugent is crazy? i'm not sure if he's legally crazy, i might be prosecuted for that. alec baldwin -- women don't do this. like snooki, they get drunk, they fall down. you don't see these angry, crazy rants. this is something men do. >> let's let a woman speak to that. do women do this? >> no. if a woman is going to say something, she's going to make sure she's not being taped, first of all. it's going to be a cat fight in the bathroom, someone's weave might be left on the ground, but other than that, it's over. >>> folks at "the bachelor" being sued. see if you can tell why. >> oh, my god. >> will you marry me? >> everything i dreamed of could be coming true. >> emily, will you accept this rose? >> yes, thank you. >> will you marry me? >> oh, my gos

>> mel gibson's "juda maccabbee" in 3d. >> jimmy: well, that's -- some of our writers having a little fun today with their heritage. and one more thing, it's thursday night, time for our weekly tribute to the fcc where we bleep and blur things whether they need it or not. it is "this week in unnecessary censorship." >> we will suspend our campaign effective today. we are not done [ bleep ]. >> it's time to show the world that glwe're here to [ bleep ] you. >> always better to have a [ bleep ] in your mouth than a [ bleep ] on your shoulder. >> lindsay lohan is adamant she didn't [ bleep ] anyone inside a nightclub. >> wonderful [ bleep ]. i appreciate it. >> want to [ bleep ] me and i'm terrified. >> three things you don't know. she grew up on a farm in [ bleep ] [ bleep ] pennsylvania. >> maybe he's [ bleep ] and staring at the sun. i don't know. >> would that get him through nursing school? >> i [ bleep ] myself in the just on camera. if i could reach. >> not a big fan of the [ bleep ], you know, in the mouth. >> yes. >> no. >> [ bleep ] the animal. we got to. we got to be really ge