How Liz Taylor, Michael Jackson and Marlon Brando escaped 9/11 in a hire car

Three of the world’s biggest stars embarked on the road trip after witnessing the collapse of the Twin Towers.

Driving more than 500 miles across the America, stopping only to eat at fast food outlets, no one appeared to recognise the stars in their midst.

Eventually the group arrived at an undisclosed location in Ohio where they believed they would be safe from terrorist attacks.

Jackson and Brando took turns to drive their modest hire car but the Godfather star annoyed his co-stars by insisting on pulling in at KFC and Burger King restaurants along the way.

Details of the fascinating but bizarre road trip were revealed by one of Jackson’s former personal assistants in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine.

The US publication claimed that Brando and Dame Elizabeth had been in New York on September 10 2001 to watch Jackson perform at Madison Square Garden.

The following day al-Qaeda terrorists slammed two passenger jets into the Twin Towers sending panic throughout the city.

With all the airports closed and fearing follow up attacks, Jackson hatched a plan to drive across America to a place of safety.

After picking up Brando and Dame Elizabeth, they set off in a hire car, driving more than 500 miles into the mid-west state of Ohio.

However one of Dame Elizabeth’s closest aides has disputed the story insisting the actress stayed in New York in the aftermath of the attacks, visiting the site of ground zero and praying regularly at a New York church.

Vanity Fair also revealed how the Oscar winning actress, who died in March aged 79, enjoyed listening to Britain’s Got Talent singer Susan Boyle when she was in her car.

Knicks try to solve puzzle

Exactly one month ago, Carmelo Anthony emerged from a tunnel at Madison Square Garden for his first game as a Knick waving to a raucous crowd that clearly believed happy days were here again. Not nine losses in his first 16 games, six of them in seven games to teams with losing records.

Not fourth-quarter meltdowns like the nine-point lead the Knicks blew in the final 7:26 Monday against Boston or the 11-point lead with 11 1/2 minutes left they squandered Friday in Detroit — to name just two.

Thus, happy days have become panicked days, the great expectations of ’Melo’s arrival already given way to some fear that the Knicks erred in getting him — even loathing from some fans that he might become Stephon Marbury II.

And now, if the Knicks don’t beat Dwight Howard and the Magic tonight at the Garden, their record falls below .500 for the first time since Nov. 27 (at 8-9).

Yet, in-house, the Knicks try to keep the atmosphere as mellow as possible with 12 regular-season games left to right the ship before their presumed trip to the playoffs (magic number: seven).

"I expected that we wouldn’t be collectively together after that trade," team president Donnie Walsh said Tuesday. "I also looked at the schedule in the month of March and saw if we’re trying to find ourselves, it [was] going to be difficult."

March features 18 games (including Monday’s rematch against the Magic, the make-up of the Nov. 2 asbestos-scare postponement), including six back-to-back sets — more than half the 11 back-to-backs the Lakers play all season.

Thus with what D’Antoni calls "no practice time," Anthony said, "Right now, we’re just figuring it out on the go.

"As long as we figure it out by the time the playoffs come, I’m not really too concerned about what’s going on right now and how it’s going on," ’Melo said.

Easy to say, hard to watch — especially when the Knicks’ recent problems have occurred on the side of the ball D’Antoni said didn’t worry him a month ago.

Offensively, despite two All-Star "closers" in Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire, the Knicks, particularly late in games, look at times as if they’re running around aimlessly.

Or standing.

"We’re still trying to get a grip on it," Stoudemire said.

"Remember, we started the year off this season with a bunch of new guys. We started off 3-8. Then, once we figured out the right floor spacing and the ball movement, how to space the floor and run the court, we went on a tear."

A 13-1, season-turning tear.

"Offensively, it takes time to get everything clicking," Anthony said. "I’m not too concerned about that. Offense is the easy part."

Not lately, a month after he arrived in the city where he wanted to play.

Still, D’Antoni said one month isn’t what the trade was all about.

"We did the trade for the future of the franchise," he said. "We think it’s going to work out, it’s going to be great. …

"It’s just a matter of getting there sooner than later."

Four lessons to take from the first Saturday in March

1. Thank North Carolina for putting the bracket more in flux -- and giving us some serious intrigue on the top lines heading into Championship Week. 

Ohio State and Kansas should be considered near-locks for the first two No. 1 seeds, and Duke would've been in good shape had it swept the Heels and won the ACC regular-season title. But now there are four teams -- Pitt, Duke, Notre Dame and BYU -- fighting for the final two No. 1s.

Pitt is in excellent shape, having captured the Big East regular-season title by grinding out a win over Villanova on Saturday. The only thing stopping the Panthers from being a total lock is that they lost two of their last five and only have one quality out-of-league win (over Texas). One Big East tourney win should do the trick. The Irish have even more at stake at Madison Square Garden, as they could make a run at a No. 1 by winning the whole thing, or even just reaching the finals. They have a killer résumé, with 10 top-50 RPI wins (including Pitt, Wisconsin, Georgetown and UConn twice) and zero bad losses. Duke meanwhile, needs to win the ACC tourney to feel truly safe as a top seed.

And what about BYU? Conventional wisdom, following this week's suspension of Brandon Davies and the ugly loss to New Mexico, was that the Cougars no longer had a shot at a No. 1 and might not even earn a No. 2. But they righted the ship to rout a bad Wyoming team on Saturday, and what if they dominate the Mountain West tournament in much the same way they did the regular season, sending a message that the loss of Davies isn't actually a big deal? BYU would be No. 3 in the RPI and own a sweep of the No. 4 RPI conference. If that's the case, it would have to receive the top seed and placement in Anaheim.

2. These three teams had the worst days on the bubble:

• Baylor. That home loss to Texas put the Bears off the bubble and into the NIT. Their résumé (RPI in the 70s, with two wins over Texas A&M and nothing else) is terrible, and they lost four of their last five heading into the Big 12 tourney. They'll need to pull off a miracle to get the league's automatic bid.

• Michigan State. The consensus among the preeminent bracketologists -- Andy Glockner and the like -- is that the Spartans are still in the Field of 68 after Saturday's loss to Michigan. But how safe are they, really? I'm worried about them if they don't win two games in the Big Ten tournament. They're 16-13 overall and 9-9 in the league, with one great win (over Wisconsin) on their résumé.

• Virginia Tech. Speaking of teams with weak résumés clinging to one good win ... the Hokies are once again on shaky ground heading into the ACC tournament. Saturday's loss at Clemson moved them to 19-10 and 9-7 in the ACC with an RPI in the high 60s. They have zero quality out-of-conference wins, one decent league win over Florida State and one big win over Duke -- that's it.

3. These three teams had the best days on the bubble:

• Butler. The Bulldogs aren't a lock to make the field after Saturday's win over Cleveland State in the Horizon League semifinals, but they do now have four wins over top-50 RPI teams (Florida State and Cleveland State three times), and have closed the season on an eight-game win streak. I think they're in as a 12 seed, potentially in one of the Dayton "First Four" games. And if it does come down to Butler vs., say, Georgia for one of the last spots, you wonder if the fact that the Indy kids were in last year's title game and were darlings of last year's tournament will matter. The committee will certainly say it doesn't matter at all ... but you still wonder.

• Michigan. The Wolverines still have work to do, but Saturday's win over Michigan State gave them a sweep of the Spartans, a .500 record in the Big Ten and at least a fighting chance of earning a bid if they beat Illinois in the 4/5 game of the conference tourney. Only if they win two games in Chicago, though -- and that would require an upset of Ohio State -- are they a lock.

• Alabama. The Crimson Tide are shaping up to be the most curious bubble case -- they're 12-4 in the SEC after beating Georgia on Saturday, but their RPI is in the high 80s and their out-of-league résumé is so laughable that the best win is over Lipscomb. Will the committee really exclude the team with the second-best record in a power conference?

4. At 30-4 and 19-1 in the Atlantic Sun, Belmont has done enough to earn a 13 seed -- rather than the 15 or 16 its league winner typically gets in the NCAAs. If the Bruins are properly seeded, they'll be by far the best upset pick in the 4/13 games.

Take a look at Belmont's efficiency, adjusted for competition, in the context of five other candidates for 13 seeds from current bracket projections (data from kenpom.com):

13 seed AdjOffEff (Rk.) AdjDefEff (Rk.) EffMargin/100P

Belmont 111.5 (41) 91.0 (22) +20.5

Charleston 112.3 (35) 102.0 (177) +10.3

Oakland 114.2 (22) 102.9 (200) +11.3

Princeton 103.9 (121) 96.1 (68) +7.8

Missouri St. 111.0 (47) 101.2 (157) +9.8

None of the other potential 13s are even close. Belmont's efficiency margin ranks 24th nationally, thanks to a decent offense and a stifling, high-turnover-percentage D. Now, consider Belmont in the context of potential four seeds' efficiency profiles:

Four seed AdjOffEff (Rk.) AdjDefEff (Rk.) EffMargin/100P

Syracuse 114.4 (21) 89.9 (16) +24.5

UNC 111.3 (44) 87.2 (4) +24.1

Louisville 110.7 (49) 87.7 (6) +23.0

Florida 114.4 (20) 92.5 (39) +21.9

UConn 112.4 (34) 91.9 (31) +20.5

St. John's 111.2 (46) 92.2 (34) +19.0

Belmont is actually more efficient than St. John's and even with UConn, which means Vegas might consider favoring the Bruins on a neutral court. Considering that these margins are per 100 possessions, and the average game is in the 60s, Belmont is theoretically within one possession of Syracuse, UNC, Louisville and Florida as well. The Bruins wouldn't need a massive stroke of luck to upset those teams -- they'd just need one or two more shots to fall than normal.