Entertainment Today: Showbiz News

REPORT: CUSTOMS STOPS DON JOHNSON WITH $8 BILLION

German customs officials are trying to figure out why 1980s TV icon Don Johnson had "financial instruments" worth $8 billion in his suitcase.

Officials are trying to determine whether there is a case for a money laundering investigation, a spokesman for the Customs Investigations Office in Cologne told media.

The New York Daily News says no charges have been filed, but U.S. Customs and tax officials have been told the "Nash Bridges" star had a suitcase filled with stock certificates, bonds, credit notes and checks when officials stopped his car at the Swiss-German border in November.

Johnson's spokesman Elliott Mintz confirmed the actor went through "a routine border check by customs officials. After a few minutes, they waved the car on." Mintz told the News the former "Miami Vice" star did not have securities.

"He does travel with extra cash, but it is unlikely he would have an extra $8 billion," Mintz said. "Don has done well for himself, but not that well."

The German news show "Aspect" reported when asked why he needed so much money, Johnson allegedly replied: "I am going to buy a car." A customs officer is said to have replied: "With that kind of money, you could buy the factory."

'ALL MY CHILDREN' GETS 17 EMMY NODS

"All My Children" led the field with 17 Daytime Emmy Award nominations Wednesday.

Barbara Walters, Meredith Vieira, Star Jones and Joy Behar, the co-hosts of ABC's top-rated morning chat-fest, "The View," along with several of daytime's leading actors and actresses, announced the nominations in 11 categories.

Following the Pine Valley saga with the most nominations was "Guiding Light," another daytime drama with 14 Emmy nods, followed by the classic children's program "Sesame Street" with 13 and the soaps "General Hospital" and "The Young and the Restless," each of which earned 12.

The most-nominated talk-show was "The View" with 10, which tied with the daytime drama "As the World Turns."

Newcomer "Dr. Phil" was nominated for two. Other favorites were "The Price is Right," which earned seven, tying with "Between the Lions," "Port Charles" and "Reading Rainbow."

"Live with Regis and Kelly" and "Martha Stewart Living" each got six nods. Surprisingly, "The Oprah Winfrey Show," only got tapped for four honors this year, tying with "Bear in the Big Blue House," "Clifford the Big Red Dog," "Days of Our Lives," "Our America," "Soap Talk," "The Wayne Brady Show" and "Win Ben Stein's Money."

ABC was the network with the most nominations 59.

The Lifetime Achievement Award this year will be presented to Art Linkletter, Emmy-winning former host of "Kids Say the Darndest Things.

The 30th annual Daytime Emmy Awards will be broadcast live on ABC on Friday, May 16, from New York City's Radio City Music Hall. Emmy Awards are presented to daytime television programs that are broadcast between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 p.m. The eligibility period for all awards was Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2002.

TRAVOLTA RECALLS FIRST BRUSH WITH FAME

It's been more than 30 years since John Travolta became a super-star, but he still remembers how his family reacted to his fame.

"(My mom) was hilarious. She took this fame thing to another level," the 49-year-old "Basic" star said of his late mother, Helen.

Illustrating his point, Travolta told reporters in New York when "Grease" and "Saturday Night Fever" were playing at the same time in the late 1970s, his elderly parents drove from movie theater to movie theater in New Jersey just to hear audiences sigh over their youngest child.

"My mother would go into the powder room and she would hear all the girls saying, 'Oh, my God! I love him!' And she would say as she's casually powdering her nose, 'Oh, really? I'll tell him.' And they'd say, 'What?!?'" he laughed. "Fans would come take shingles off the house and she invited them in! She'd have them do her hair. I'd come home and there would be a house full of strangers. There's Carolyn doing my mother's hair and Becky doing my mother's nails and I'd say, 'Mom, who are these people?' And she'd say: 'Oh, honey, they love you! Would you take a picture with them?'"