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CNN Live At Daybreak
Morning Coffey
Aired February 05, 2003 - 06:27 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And just when you thought Michael Jackson couldn't get any weirder, Jacko tops himself again. The self- proclaimed king of pop tells a British interviewer that he's "slept in a bed with many children." Jackson says it's not sexual, though. But authorities back here in the United States are, well, they're interested.
Our favorite legal analyst, Kendall Coffey, is on the phone from Miami this morning to talk more about this.
Kendall, U.S. authorities will be watching, because I guess "20/20" is airing this British special tomorrow night. "Dateline" is also going to have a special on Michael Jackson. And he says a number of strange things, like he sleeps with boys all the time.
And what can U.S. authorities do about that, if anything?
KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, there will be at least two sets of authorities looking at this very, very closely. There's going to be the child welfare officials in California looking for indications of potential harm to the welfare or health of children, not just other people's children, but what about Jackson's own?
But also the D.A.'s office, the same one that investigated molestation allegations 10 years ago, they're going to have the TV on, as well, this week, because there were no criminal charges brought 10 years ago. It was settled out of court. With everything he's saying now, there's going to be a lot of interest.
COSTELLO: So they really could reopen that old case of child molestation charges, huh?
COFFEY: Possibly, but even more to the point, if there are many children who are sleeping with Jackson, as he says, in a space, that's going to be many potential cases investigate...
COSTELLO: Well, he names one, too. He names the boy that he most recently slept with, non-sexually, of course.
COFFEY: Always in an innocent way. But authorities can be a lot more skeptical. And it doesn't always require for there to be criminal jurisdiction, the sort of egregious abuse or egregious molestation. If, in fact, children are feeling uncomfortable or offended by this contact and if the interest of the adult is indecent, that can be a crime even if you don't have the more traditional allegations of assault or abuse.
COSTELLO: It should be very interesting.
Kendall Coffey, thanks for your insight this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 5, 2003 - 06:27 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And just when you thought Michael Jackson couldn't get any weirder, Jacko tops himself again. The self- proclaimed king of pop tells a British interviewer that he's "slept in a bed with many children." Jackson says it's not sexual, though. But authorities back here in the United States are, well, they're interested.
Our favorite legal analyst, Kendall Coffey, is on the phone from Miami this morning to talk more about this.
Kendall, U.S. authorities will be watching, because I guess "20/20" is airing this British special tomorrow night. "Dateline" is also going to have a special on Michael Jackson. And he says a number of strange things, like he sleeps with boys all the time.
And what can U.S. authorities do about that, if anything?
KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, there will be at least two sets of authorities looking at this very, very closely. There's going to be the child welfare officials in California looking for indications of potential harm to the welfare or health of children, not just other people's children, but what about Jackson's own?
But also the D.A.'s office, the same one that investigated molestation allegations 10 years ago, they're going to have the TV on, as well, this week, because there were no criminal charges brought 10 years ago. It was settled out of court. With everything he's saying now, there's going to be a lot of interest.
COSTELLO: So they really could reopen that old case of child molestation charges, huh?
COFFEY: Possibly, but even more to the point, if there are many children who are sleeping with Jackson, as he says, in a space, that's going to be many potential cases investigate...
COSTELLO: Well, he names one, too. He names the boy that he most recently slept with, non-sexually, of course.
COFFEY: Always in an innocent way. But authorities can be a lot more skeptical. And it doesn't always require for there to be criminal jurisdiction, the sort of egregious abuse or egregious molestation. If, in fact, children are feeling uncomfortable or offended by this contact and if the interest of the adult is indecent, that can be a crime even if you don't have the more traditional allegations of assault or abuse.
COSTELLO: It should be very interesting.
Kendall Coffey, thanks for your insight this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
