MORNING REPORT - News from Nov. 7, 2000

TV & MOVIES

Extending Babs’ Platform: Rosie O’Donnell on Monday aired a four-minute clip of a speech by her friend Barbra Streisand endorsing Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore. O’Donnell reportedly faced objections to the plan from her producer, Warner Bros., with sources telling Reuters that Warner finally backed down after O’Donnell said she would not renew her contract if the company blocked the speech. O’Donnell’s talk show pact expires in two months. O’Donnell reportedly offered to air Streisand’s comments--made at a Gore fund-raiser--after Streisand expressed disappointment with a Barbara Walters interview in which the singer’s political views were edited. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. issued a statement Monday saying it “always will support Rosie in her desire to voice her opinion on her show,” adding that it merely hesitated because it felt “an obligation to notify our stations of the political material” and needed to check with counsel to ensure the Streisand clip wouldn’t violate any “legal equal-time issues.”

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Tube Notes: CBS’ biographical miniseries “Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis” finished a distant fourth in its time slot Sunday--behind, in descending order, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” “Saturday Night Live’s” preelection special and the eighth-season premiere of “The X-Files.” Introducing Robert Patrick as a new character, “The X-Files” attracted an estimated 15.6 million viewers, its biggest audience since February. . . . ABC has ordered six more episodes of its Wednesday Andre Braugher medical drama, “Gideon’s Crossing.” Meanwhile, the network has pulled its Friday sitcom “The Trouble With Normal” at least through November, and it’s unknown whether the program will return later.

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Another Rushdie?: A French filmmaker who made a documentary critical of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein told police he has received death threats because of his film. Taking a cue from “Satanic Verses” author Salman Rushdie, Joel Soler, 32, said he was going “into hiding” after someone splattered red paint on the front of his Hollywood home last week, set fire to a trash can and left a note in his mailbox that read: “In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate, burn the satanic movie or you will be dead.” Police are investigating. Soler, a freelance journalist, said he used tape smuggled out of Iraq to create “Uncle Saddam,” an unflattering portrait of the Iraqi president’s personal life, including interviews with some of his inner circle.

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Celebrating Democracy: Zubin Mehta on Sunday became the first international music star to visit the new Yugoslavia since the country’s recent shift to democracy, leading Belgrade’s Philharmonic in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony. “I am so proud that you invited me,” Mehta told the audience, noting that he chose the music for the occasion because of its “great inner sense of destiny and victory . . . of spirit.” President Vojislav Kostunica, who beat Slobodan Milosevic in September elections, attended the concert and later met with Mehta, who wished him success.

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Met Winners: Los Angeles tenor Peter Jeon, 28, won the finals of the Metropolitan Opera Western Regional auditions, held Saturday at USC. The singer takes home $4,300 and will represent the region in the national finals in New York City in the spring. Sharing second-place honors were soprano Lillian Roberts, 23, of Las Vegas, and baritone Gregorio Gonzalez, 27, of San Diego. Placing third was basso Wojciech Piotr Bukalski, 33, of Santa Barbara.

POP/ROCK

A Teaser: Madonna hasn’t toured since 1993, but she gave what may have been a short preview for a tour expected early next year when she gyrated on stage for hundreds of fans at New York’s Roseland club Sunday night. But the event was far from a concert, as Madonna sang just a handful of songs from her new album, “Music,” before the standing-room-only crowd. “I’m so happy to be on stage again!” shouted the singer, who was dressed in a black tank top and gold sequined pants, looking fit less than three months after giving birth to her second child. Madonna’s publicist, meanwhile, said no specific dates or cities have been set for the singer’s expected tour.

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Good Behavior Required: Whitney Houston won’t have to face marijuana possession charges in Hawaii as long as she stays out of legal trouble for three months. A judge in Kailua-Kona, where airport security allegedly found half an ounce of marijuana in Houston’s bag as she prepared to board a flight in January, agreed to delay acceptance of Houston’s no-contest plea for three months as long as she meets the probation-like restrictions; at that time, prosecutors would drop the charges. Houston had faced up to 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.