FIRST OFF . . .

A San Bernardino man has filed a $65-million lawsuit accusing TV talk-show host Geraldo Rivera of harboring a fugitive by putting the man’s ex-wife on his show while there was a warrant out for her arrest in a child-abduction case. The lawsuit, filed in San Bernardino Superior Court, says Brian Otter’s ex-wife, April R. Curtis Brewster, 27, and their 4 1/2-year-old daughter appeared on the July 18 “Geraldo!” show. Brewster wore a wig but used her real name on the show, which dealt with the plight of mothers of allegedly abused children who have entered a so-called nationwide “underground railroad” to evade court orders and start new lives elsewhere. Otter, who has denied abusing his child, claims in the lawsuit that Rivera did not have the legal authority to put the youngster on the show and that he knowingly “concealed” Curtis “from law-abiding citizen(s) who were in a position to contact lawful authorities.” The suit seeks $65 million in general and punitive damages from Rivera, Tribune Entertainment Corp. of Chicago, and other Tribune employees. Rivera, who had not yet been served with the suit, said Thursday, “I don’t know whether or not we understood there was a criminal warrant out for her arrest (when she appeared on the program).” But he added that “the charges the woman made about her husband’s conduct were horrific . . . and if one-tenth of what she claims her husband did to her daughter is true, I did it gladly.”