Thing that ever happened to me. Im lester holt, and this is dateline. Josh mankiewicz with the totally true secrets of the bling ring. Welcome to hollywood. The land of the it girls and boys, the kingdom thats home to our special breed of american royalty, celebrities. We cant get enough of how they look, who they date, what they wear. For most of us, the fascination ends with reading about them in the tabloids. But one group took all of that to a new level, a criminal level. Maybe youve heard of them, the bling ring. At its core, teenagers who apparently cultivated two life skills, breaking and entering. These were kids so obsessed with celebrities, they literally wanted a piece of them, boldly going into the homes of hollywoods bold faced names. Now art is imitating life. Lets go shopping. This allamerican tale of envy, greed and the ability to tell gucci from chanel, but not right from wrong is the inspiration for a movie from director sofia copola, with Emma Thompson as one of the
if i represented any of the others who still have trials pending, i d be very nervous now that she cut a deal. all right. the very fact that there was such big celebrity names involved, do you think that had an influence ott case? you know, i think it did in a couple of different ways. certainly was in the media any time the case is in the media, those working the case on the law enforcement and prosecution side have a bit of a fire lit under them. otherwise, this is a typical breaking and entering. a serious crime, a crime glorified on the show pretty wild. but this is a very serious crime going into someone s home, removing property, trying on their clothes. she was allegedly wearing some of the jewelry in one of her earlier court hearings. this is very serious stuff. you have to have chutzpah if you re wearing the jewelry you stole at your court hearing. that s one word for it. you mentioned pretty wild. and for folks at home not following this ok, the really bizarre thing
americans less safe here at home? are they prompting terrorists like the times square bombing suspect to fight back by attacking america on our own shores? plus, we ve got an incredible survival story from the gulf oil rig blast. one of the first survivors to speak out. an oil rig worker who barely escaped with his life tells me about the gut wrenching choices he had to make on that hellish night. and in a case of reality tv gone bad, really bad, a celebrity wanna beis behind bars for a bling ring of thieves. a lot to get to tonight. we begin with your cheat sheet, the mash-up. the top story in the political world is the president s new supreme court pick, elena kagan has been known as a bridge builder. but her nomination is already generating plenty of debating back and forth. some kagan critics are focusing on her lack of any judicial experience. the president sees her other experiences, the first female dean at harvard law school as a plus. because kagan has ne
any problems? jeffrey toobin joins us. and later, crime and punishment. burglary caught on camera. the victim? some of the biggest hollywood names. some of the alleged crooks, teenagers and among them, a realtd show wannabe. a bizarre tale that could only happen in hollywood. first up, keeping them honest. birther movement. despite being largely disproven by the fact, it is back and never really went away. arizona legislators tried and failed to pass a measure to demand the president produces his birth certificate if he runs for re-election. in five other states, there is similar legislation pending. at the wall, some of the legislation in at least one state. this is from new hampshire. this is the house bill. name of the candidates shall not appear on the candidate unless the secretary of state has received certified copies of the birth certificates of the candidates. according to a recent washington post abc news poll, take a look at this. 20% or one in five surveyed
go shopping. but could a bunch of kids really break into the homes of paris, lindsay, and our accused burglars are now being treated like stars? you re not looking at jail time? no. i m doing great. thank you for asking, though. where l.a. confidential meets the hills. welcome to the bling ring. good evening. welcome to dateline. i m ann curry. it s a part of growing up, wanting to imitate your favorite celebrity. but for the teens you re about to meet, police say it wasn t enough to go to the mall and buy an outfit like lindsay lohan s or paris hilton s. these kids actually wanted to wear the celebrities actual clothes, jewelry and even makeup. police say they were willing to break the law to do it. here s josh maink awits. welcome to hollywood, where everything s sped up, overhyped, airbrushed and botoxed. where stardom is spawned by sex tapes, where celebrity and its spoils go to the bold an the shameless. this is where money talks and everything else walk