Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

ENTERTAINMENT

Changing of the Guard: Charging that CNN has “damaged the United States of America quite seriously,” retired U.S. Maj. Gen. Perry Smith, the cable news outlet’s military analyst since the Persian Gulf War, has resigned to protest the network’s airing of allegations that U.S. troops used nerve gas against American defectors in Laos in 1970. “When there’s something on CNN of a military nature, there’s an assumption by at least part of the military audience that I have approved this,” said Smith, who flew 130 combat sorties over Laos during 1968 and ’69 and said he never heard of lethal gas being used. A CNN spokesman said Smith “leaves with our respect” and added that CNN is still investigating the nerve gas story but has “more than 200 interviews and eight months of research” to back up its report.

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Drug-Free Challenge: Veteran music producer Sir George Martin (a.k.a. “the fifth Beatle”) has challenged record companies to boycott artists who take drugs. Speaking to a London conference of police chiefs, Martin, 72, accused pop stars and the fashion industry of glamorizing drug use and putting young people at risk. “I can hear some record company executives saying, ‘You must be out of your mind. Do you want to ruin our business?’ But [what’s more important] . . . the youth of this country or their bottom line?” Martin asked. He especially criticized Noel Gallagher of the British group Oasis for portraying drug use as normal. Gallagher said in a much criticized interview last year that taking drugs was “like getting out of bed and having a cup of tea in the morning.” Record companies said they take the drug issue seriously, but they showed little immediate sign of responding to Martin’s challenge.

QUICK TAKES

A 13-year-old accused of gunning down classmates in Jonesboro, Ark., was influenced by violent rap music he played repeatedly before the March shooting, his English teacher told lawmakers Tuesday. Mitchell Johnson listened “over and over” to gangsta rappers, including Tupac Shakur and Bone Thugs ‘N Harmony, and sang along to lyrics about “coming to school and killing all the kids,” teacher Debbie Pelley told a Senate panel debating the effectiveness of advisory labels on music. . . . Rapper Master P’s “MP Da Last Don” is the nation’s No. 1 album for the second straight week after selling nearly 218,000 copies last week, according to SoundScan. Brandy’s new album, “Never Say Never,” sold nearly 160,000 copies to debut at No. 3. . . . The American Cinematheque will honor Arnold Schwarzenegger for his “enduring career as one of the world’s best-loved film personalities” at its 13th annual Moving Picture Ball on Sept. 12 at the Beverly Hilton. Previous honorees include Eddie Murphy, Bette Midler, Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise and John Travolta.