LiLo thinks she shouldn't have to pay for new lawyer

Video: Will jail and rehab save Lohan?

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2. Transcript of: Will jail and rehab save Lohan?

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   ANN CURRY, co-host: Back now at 8:11 with more now on the fall of actress Lindsay Lohan , who was sentenced to 90 days in jail and a 90-day stint in a substance abuse program. She has been in rehab before, so might it work this time? Here's NBC's Lee Cowan .

   Ms. LINDSAY LOHAN: You know, and honestly, it did wake me up. Yes, of course it scared me.

   LEE COWAN reporting: For all her courthouse visits, all her mug shots, all her DUIs , Lindsay Lohan 's almost routine run-ins with the law have rarely been this dramatic.

   Ms. LOHAN: I respect you and I've been taking it seriously.

   COWAN: It was sobering, to say the least , for her and those watching.

   Ms. REBECCA DANA (Senior Correspondent, The Daily Beast): I mean, when she's crying in front of a courtroom, how can you not feel sad for this little girl ?

   COWAN: She may have been crying, but after the hearing close-up pictures revealed an expletive painted on her middle finger aimed directly at the judge, suggesting a different emotion. Rock bottom may be the place where healing begins. And while Lohan may not think she's hit that low, the judge did.

   Judge MARSHA REVEL: She's ordered to report to probation and she's ordered to do a 90-day inpatient substance abuse program.

   COWAN: The inpatient abuse program was for Lohan 's health and safety, the judge said, and is leaving it up to a doctor to decide just which program works the best. She's no stranger to ritzy rehab. She's been three times, twice at two different California treatment centers know the world over. But relapses followed check-out almost every time.

   Dr. HOWARD SAMUELS (Addiction Specialist): Relapse is a part of the recovery process. The only problem with relapse, are you going to live through it? That's the issue.

   COWAN: Dr. Howard Samuels , the CEO of The Hills Treatment Center in Hollywood , says court-ordered rehab may be the best thing to happen to Lindsay since " The Parent Trap ." He thinks it may save her life. But it's not some magic elixir.

   Dr. SAMUELS: It's not the treatment or the individual that's going to save the addict alcoholic, it has to be the addict alcoholic has to be ready to be saved. Then the person has a chance at true recovery.

   COWAN: And Lindsay 's fans are waiting, seemingly ever-patient.

   Ms. DANA: We love a Hollywood story. Here is a girl with so much promise, with so much beauty, with so much raw talent who has been in the gutter for a long time.

   COWAN: Most agree there is only one direction to go from here. And for Lindsay Lohan , up may finally look better than down. For TODAY, Lee Cowan , NBC News, Los Angeles .

   CURRY: All right, Lee Cowan , thank you so much . Well, longtime television host Pat O'Brien has reported on countless stories like this and has survived his own public struggle with alcoholism. Pat , good morning. Great to see you.

   Mr. PAT O'BRIEN (Television Host): Hi, Ann . How are you? Good morning.

   CURRY: I'm great. Well, listen, you know, Lindsay Lohan has admitted that she's addicted to alcohol, Pat , as you well know. So watching her plead with the judge, many people are seeing what they think is a performance. Based on your experience, Pat , what do you see?

   Mr. O'BRIEN: Well, I see a woman, a girl, a young lady , who is in serious, serious trouble. And I 've watched Lindsay throughout this whole thing. In fact, a few years ago I actually confronted her and said, `Are you going to be OK?' Well, she's not OK. And that's a woman right there, a young lady -- a very good actor, by the way -- who is in serious, serious trouble. And this judge did her a huge favor because it was either this or die, in my opinion. And believe me, she was on a journey to death. And now she's on a journey hopefully for recovery.

   CURRY: That's a very stark statement, either this or die. And yet we just heard the expert, Pat , say in the piece we just saw that this is not an elixir, that 90 days in rehab is not necessarily going to fix her in terms of alcoholism. What do you want to say about that, based on your experience?

   Mr. O'BRIEN: Well, you can't -- you can't order somebody to get sober. You don't get sober until you want to get sober. I mean, what this does normally -- and I thought it was a pretty harsh sentence. A lot of people will say she got the Hollywood treatment. No. You know, three consecutive 30-day sentences. But you can't just say, `You go get sober, stop drinking.' It's a brain disease, Ann , and it's a horrible -- it's not funny. It is not funny. And everybody will say, `Oh, the party is over and ha-ha-ha-ha.' But this is a brain disease, and if you don't deal with it and find out what's going on with yourself, you are going to die or it's going to be a horrible, horrible ending.

   CURRY: OK, so if for no other reason, why is it possible that a celebrity who's surrounded by publicists and managers -- I mean, not to -- not to, you know, say anything disparaging about them -- but how is it possible for a young woman in this situation, if you're saying it's a situation of life and death, of a brain disease, how is it that they don't stop her from doing things to make the situation worse? Including, for example, this moment in court that we saw a picture of her fingernail in what appears to be a diss to the judge.

   Mr. O'BRIEN: Yeah. You're being too kind, Ann. You know, the fingernail, the finger, fingernail deal is typical alcoholic behavior. I might have been guilty of some of that at some point. But, you know...

   CURRY: Mm-hmm.

   Mr. O'BRIEN: ...that's typical. But, you know, what killed Elvis Presley ? Not what killed Elvis Presley , who killed him? Elvis had people surrounding him and nobody ever said no. And I think the people surrounding Lindsay Lohan , her posse, so to speak, she -- they should've said, no. Come on. I mean, when I was in trouble -- and my situation was completely different than this. I had one embarrassing moment. But, you know, at least I had people around me -- you know, a loving fiancee, a loving ex-wife, loving friends, you know, some of those friends of mine are right there in your control room...

   CURRY: Hm.

   Mr. O'BRIEN: ...who helped me get through this and who said, `You know what, Pat ? You've got to do something.' And I finally listened. She -- her people around her are pretty much -- they're not to blame, but they're part of this story.

   CURRY: Hm.

   Mr. O'BRIEN: They should have said, `No, let's go.' And if they'd have done this years ago, she'd be starring in a movie right now somewhere.

   CURRY: She has talked about -- in court she said to the judge, `It's about my life, it's about my career.' So if what you're saying is true, you know, she has got to hit rock bottom . And if she does, is there a chance that her career could come back from all of this? I mean, whatever you want to say about Lindsay Lohan , she is a supremely talented young woman .

   Mr. O'BRIEN: Well, the problem with -- yeah. First of all, what we hope -- what I hope doesn't happen is that the rock bottom doesn't hit while she's driving a car and rock bottoms her way through a family of four somewhere. That's, you know, the problem . So we hope that she takes care of this. As far as this career is concerned, a lot of people don't bring this up is that the probably is not that she's -- you know, she could probably get a job. The problem is insuring her. She has such a history of being late, not showing up, this and that and the other thing, that, you know, the studios, you know, they're going to spend millions of dollars on an actor, they want to make sure they show up. Now, drugs and alcohol on a stage set, not really a big problem in Hollywood , it happens every day. But showing up is a problem in terms of, you know, if you don't show up -- like if you don't show up for work, Ann , you got a whole group of people there that don't have anything to do there. So, I mean, it's the insurance problem that's going to kill her -- not kill her, but hurt her career.

   CURRY: Hm.

   Mr. O'BRIEN: But, you know, I really hope she gets help and takes this seriously for a change.

   CURRY: Well, I know that Robert Downey Jr. came back, and let's hope -- keep our fingers crossed for Lindsay . Pat O'Brien , great to speak to you this morning. Thanks for getting up early.

   Mr. O'BRIEN: Robert Downey Jr .'s the poster boy in this. It can happen.

   CURRY: All right.

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