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American Morning
Trial of Pop Star Michael Jackson On Hold While Singer Gets Over Flu-Like Symptoms; '90-Second Pop'
Aired February 16, 2005 - 09:30 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: First, let's get to headlines now with Heidi Collins.
Good morning.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, guys, and good morning, once again, everybody. Now in the news this morning, we begin in Iraq where a kidnapped Italian journalist is said to be pleading for her life. Newly released videotape shows the Italian woman clasping her hands together. This is an image from the tape, but it is not clear when the video was shot. The release of the tape comes as Italy is set to vote on its mission in Iraq.
The Food and Drug Administration putting a new plan into effect this morning for drugs that are already out on the market. The agency creating a panel to monitor medications for safety risks. This, as three days of hearings get under way in Washington on several widely used drugs with potentially dangerous heart risks. The painkillers being looked at include Celebrex and Bextra.
President Bush is pitching his Social Security plan to folks in New Hampshire today. In about an hour, the president is set to leave for Portsmouth. He's scheduled to address a crowd of some 2,000 people as port of a plan to win support for his Social Security proposals.
And the National Hockey League nearing its deadline. The league and the player's association have just an hour now -- an hour and a half that is, to reach an agreement on a salary cap. It's down to a fight over a measly $6.5 million. If no agreement is reached, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is scheduled to cancel the season.
I know you're not upset about that. Jack's not upset about that.
O'BRIEN: Well, I think, as you mentioned, a measly sum of $6 million, you think they could come together, because if they don't have the season, they're going to lose more than that over the next X number of years.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Think they'll get it done? Think anyone cares?
COLLINS: I don't know.
O'BRIEN: Yes, someone cares.
COLLINS: Now if there was a women's hockey league, then...
HEMMER: Now we're talking. You'd be on the desk.
O'BRIEN: They would have resolved it a long time ago.
HEMMER: That's right.
Thank you, Heidi.
I want to get you out to California right now. The trial of pop star Michael Jackson on hold now for about a week while the singer gets over some flu-like symptoms at a California hospital.
Miguel Marquez standing by live outside that hospital in Santa Maria.
Good morning, Miguel. What do you know about his condition?
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill.
Well, we know about the same thing we know yesterday, that we believe he is in the hospital here at Marian Medical Center in Santa Maria. The entire media encampment that was over at the courthouse has now moved here to the medical center, about a mile down the road, the only hospital in Santa Maria. Everything now on old, jury selection in his trial, until next Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at you guys, oh my God. Can I walk? He's sick. He's sick.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): Michael Jackson's brother, Randy, outside the hospital where the pop singer went after becoming ill on the way to court.
DR. CHUCK MERRILL, MARIAN MEDICAL CENTER: Mr. Jackson has been evaluated in the emergency department today for a flu-like illness with some vomiting.
MARQUEZ: The emergency room doctor said Jackson was being given fluids intravenously. He would go home when he was stable.
QUESTION: When is Michael coming out?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know that.
MARQUEZ: Earlier in the day, Jackson kept the judge, the attorneys and over 100 jurors waiting, when he failed to show up for court.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Behind me in court, several jurors were muttering and one of them said, six months of this? And his partner said, yes, can you believe it?
MARQUEZ: Jackson's defense team received a cell phone call shortly after they arrived at court, and informed the judge that the pop star had become ill.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The judge said at one point, he has all the symptoms that we all have when we get the flu.
MARQUEZ: Judge Rodney Melville informed the jury that Jackson's recovery would take three or four days after a lengthy conference call with the emergency-room doctor who admitted him and a lawyer for both the defense and the prosecution.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, you guys. We've got medical staff with a gurney coming through, come on.
MARQUEZ: Back at the hospital, one Jackson fan, seemingly so overcome, passed out, was put on a stretcher and wheeled into the emergency room.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: Now, behind me is the emergency room where Mr. Jackson was brought in yesterday. We expect, and suspect, that if he leaves today, that's where he will exit from. The judge in the courtroom yesterday went to great lengths to ensure that Mr. Jackson was, indeed, sick, and he seemed to be satisfied of that, and then went to great lengths to inform the jury of the reason Mr. Jackson was not there and why things had to be put off until next Tuesday, all of this for the flu, or at least something flu-like -- Bill.
HEMMER: Miguel, thank you for following that. A new twist again -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: The airspace around the capital and the White House is restricted, and sometimes planes wander into the area and authorities aren't able to reach them on the radio. So NORAD is testing a communication method that might be a little surprising to some.
Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us this morning.
Hey, Barbara, good morning.
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.
Well, as you say, since September 11th, NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, has had the top responsibility for protecting the nation's airspace. They've been flying those combat air patrols. They're very expensive, very manpower intensive. So last week, they tested some new technology to see if they could better control airspace.
What they did here at Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C. was test ground-based red and green laser lights, basically tested them against a small government airplane, a test plane that sort of wandered into restricted airspace under these test conditions. They flashed the red and green lights at the pilot of that test plane to see if it would work as a visual-warning system.
Now, NORAD officials tell us this is all still in the test phase. They're going to work with commercial pilot to ensure that it can all be very safe before they would ever deploy it. It could take sometime, because all of this comes at a time when aviation officials had been warning pilots of course about many incidents of laser lights being flashed at pilots in an attempt to do them harm. And NORAD says this test program will be perfectly safe, but in places like Washington D.C., it's very complex airspace.
As you can say, nobody can fly over the White House, nobody over here at the Pentagon, over Capitol Hill. So when small planes wander into these restricted areas, they're looking for a very safe, effective way of warning the pilots they're in the wrong place and they have to turn around and go back. This test program expected to take sometime -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Yes, kind of an unusual choice there.
Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us this morning. Barbara, thanks -- Bill.
HEMMER: "Baby 81" is back in his parent's arms now. A Sri Lankan court returned the 4-month-old to his real family today. He was swept away from his mother's arms by the December tsunami. When he was found alive, nine Sri Lankan couples had claimed him. DNA testing, though, have confirmed who the parents really are and they are certainly delighted, but plan to keep their celebration low key out of respect for families who lost children in the tsunami. Baby 81, a symbol for so many out of Sri Lanka.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: In health news, your daily cup of joe may be more than just a little pick me up, it may be a life-saver as well. A new study of 90,000 Japanese indicates coffee may actually help prevent the most common type of liver cancer. The researchers say test subjects who drank coffee daily had half the liver cancer risk of those who didn't drink it all.
Well, the more patients you see, the better doctor you become, right? No, not according to a new study. It says younger doctors often provide better care than older, more experienced colleagues.
Joining us this morning, Dr. Harry Fisch with the Columbia University Medical center in New York.
Nice to see you. Thanks for talking to us.
DR. HARRY FISCH, COLUMBIA UNIV. MEDICAL CENTER: Nice to see you.
O'BRIEN: This seems completely contradictory. I mean, first thing you do when you run out to find your doctor is someone who's experienced, who's done a zillion surgeries, who's delivered a million babies. So isn't this report, the study, essentially saying, no, inexperienced is the best?
FISCH: Well, it's not really true. No, the recommendations of the study are fine. That is as we get older, longer out of medical school, we do need to have continuing medical education, keep on learning. But the reality is the conclusions of the study may not be perfect.
O'BRIEN: Walk me through the study. It's called a "med- analysis." What exactly does that mean?
FISCH: Well, it's sort of a med-analysis where they looked at study in the literature over a 40-year period to determine whether a knowledge-based information is really maintained as physicians get older. And the issue there is -- they looked at all sorts of studies. The main issue is, as you know, as you get older, you may not be able to take tests as well as younger people. So there are some confounders, some things that really can adversely affect the conclusions of the study.
For example, if you were to take an SAT test today...
O'BRIEN: I'd ace it today.
FISCH: A 16-year-old may do better than you. What does that say? It says they can do better on exams, but not necessarily as capable as you are, and as experienced as you are.
O'BRIEN: Are there any general medical fields, or general medical areas where actually younger doctors do better, that it's not sort of this contradictory thing?
FISCH: Well, it may be progression from the technical experience you get right out of medical school, the knowledge and the professionalism and the humanistic approach to medicine as you get older. There are certain surgeries that may lend itself more to a younger doctor. There are new surgeries such as laprascopy, where a small incision is made, a tube is placed in the belly, and it requites a lot more experience. It's a new procedure that younger doctors may have more experience there, but that doesn't mean they make better doctors.
The older doctor, while may not be able to perform technically that surgery as well, may have a better experience in understanding when to operate and when not to operate.
O'BRIEN: So at the end of the day, if you're looking for a surgeon, or obstetrician, or whatever, do you want to look for number of surgeries or numbers of babies delivered? I mean, is that how you would advise patients to find these doctors?
FISCH: Absolutely. It's all based on experience. If there's a new procedure and you have an older doctors who's up on that, that's fine. But in general, it's all experience.
O'BRIEN: Dr. Fisch, nice to have you, thank for talking to us. Appreciate -- Bill.
HEMMER: Get a break here.
In a moment, if you've got this old painting of the poker playing dogs in the attic, you will not believe how much it might be worth. Andy has that in a moment here.
Also, in "90-Second Pop," think you've heard it all about the breakup? Get ready for Brad and Jen, the book. We'll explain that novel in a moment as well.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: What are they waiting for? They're waiting for this thing right here. Honestly. It's time for another shot. It's "90- Second Pop."
Good morning to Andy Borowitz from Borowitzreport.com.
Good morning, Drew.
ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Good morning.
HEMMER: Jessica Shaw from "Entertainment Weekly."
Jess, how are you doing?
JESSICA SHAW, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": Good.
HEMMER: And B.J. Sigesmund, staff editor for "Us Weekly" and the group that is responsible for this, the "Brad and Jen" book.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: Hang on now. What's going on with this book here, B.J.?
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Well, we had so much to say about Brad and Jen that we decided to do a book. Actually two of our senior writers spent five days working night and day. We locked them in their office to write this book, "Brad and Jen."
HEMMER: Wait. It took them five days to write the book.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
BOROWITZ: Actually, my question is, what took you guys so long?
SIGESMUND: It's 200 pages long, and it basically starts before Brad and Jen knew each other. It goes all the way through how they met through their agents, how Jen was nervous when Brad first called her, and then, of course, through the lavish 2000 ceremony, et cetera, et cetera.
HEMMER: Why do we care, or do we?
BOROWITZ: I don't get it. I mean, I understand, you know, they're like the hottest, sexiest couple in the world. But now that we have Charles and Camilla, why?
HEMMER: Yes, but they're old news.
SHAW: I have to say the big losers are Nick and Jessica. BOROWITZ: Right.
SHAW: Where are all of the magazine covers about their marital troubles now?
HEMMER: Hey, Jess? Seven bucks can be yours.
"Saturday Night Live" this weekend, prime-time players from 1975 through 1980 are coming back. These were the golden years.
BOROWITZ: Yes. Belushi, Aykroyd, Gilda, they're all there. I mean, I guess the one question is whether this is going to reflect badly on the current version. I mean, the current version...
HEMMER: Do you think it will?
BOROWITZ: I don't know. It's hard not to in a way, because, I mean, I think they're great people on now, like Tina Fey, who is obviously brilliant, and there are some really good people. But...
HEMMER: Tina Fey. I think "Weekend Update" is doing as well as they have done in years.
BOROWITZ: Yes.
SHAW: But no one is going to watch it. It's opposite "Desperate Housewives."
BOROWITZ: Yes. I mean, I think if they wanted to make the current cast look good, they would have maybe aired a show called "Saturday Night Live," the Joe Piscapo years.
SHAW: Or the Anthony Michael Hall years.
BOROWITZ: Oh. I think it was just one year actually.
SIGESMUND: This is all territory that has been covered before in books. I mean, there have been two books written about the first five years of "Saturday Night Live." But it's something about seeing the original skits, you know...
HEMMER: Yes.
SIGESMUND: ... and seeing those originals that we all grew up with and fell in love with and were so cool. I mean, I think it's going to do very well.
HEMMER: We'll see on Sunday night. Chris Rock is talking.
SHAW: Yes.
HEMMER: And talking to "Entertainment Weekly."
SHAW: He is to my colleagues.
HEMMER: He's going to host the Oscars in about, what, a week and a half.
SHAW: Yes.
HEMMER: What is he saying that's making so many headlines?
SHAW: Well, he made some headlines, because he called award shows idiotic. And he said what straight man would watch the Oscars? And there were all of these rumors that Gil Cates (ph) was going to pull him, the producer Gil Cates (ph), and replace him.
BOROWITZ: They were actually going to replace him with Paul McCartney. I heard that.
SHAW: Exactly. But you know what? This is the best thing to happen to the Oscars. Like, finally some scandal to get people to tune in, because it's not -- people aren't all that jazzed about tuning into the Oscars this year. So I think it's great.
SIGESMUND: And also...
HEMMER: He's pushing the PR button and he's getting a lot of headlines in the process.
SHAW: Absolutely. He's working on his schtick (ph). What's the problem?
HEMMER: Everybody is going to tune in to see, what, if he drops a bomb, right?
SHAW: Yes, exactly.
SIGESMUND: And why did they hire Chris Rock if not to push the envelope, to bring a little bit of edge, to cut through all of the hype and say it like it is? It just makes perfect sense.
BOROWITZ: Well, he's very funny and that is a serious break with Oscar tradition. So we'll have to see how that plays out.
HEMMER: And the only thing better would be to get an autograph from Brad and Jen.
SHAW: Oh, if only.
BOROWITZ: Check out the cliff notes also.
HEMMER: Thanks, Andy, Jess, B.J. Good to see you.
Here's Soledad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Thanks, Bill. Andy has proof positive that poker- playing dogs really are a work of art. He's "Minding Your Business," up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Some paintings of canines fetching a high price. That and the action on Wall Street this morning. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." Hello.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Hello. All about the dogs, Soledad, today.
O'BRIEN: Gone to the dogs.
SERWER: Yes. Let's talk about Wall Street, kind of a doggy situation down there. Stocks trading down 33 points this morning. Nervousness over the report of the bomb going off in Iran. We'll obviously be covering that today on CNN. Coke is bucking the trend. They announced better than expected earnings. That stock was up two and a half percent.
Yes, a big day yesterday for the dogs. Of course we had Carly (ph) winning Westminster Kennel Club last night. I miss Josh, though.
O'BRIEN: Josh was cute.
SERWER: I liked Josh better. That was the one that won last year, kind of the funny -- the Newfoundland.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The big one?
SERWER: Yes, the big dog. Anyway, in conjunction with the dog show, Doyle's, the auction house in New York, every year now has an auction of dog art to coincide with the action down there at Madison Square Garden. And yesterday, they auctioned off a couple of my most favorite paintings. These are the dogs playing poker.
These are -- two of them went for $600,000. That's ten times more than the auction house expected. These paintings are kind of interesting. They're painted by a guy named Cassius Marcellus Coolidge, who made them in 1903 for a Saint Paul, Minnesota, ad agency. He painted 16 of them. And now they're worth a lot of money. You see these in tacky bars, in fraternity houses, the copies are often fuzzy. I know you've seen them. I love those paintings.
O'BRIEN: Like literally furry.
SERWER: Yes, they're furry.
HEMMER: You can also find those in Jack's basement.
(CROSSTALK)
SERWER: Jack likes them, too. He won't admit it.
CAFFERTY: No, I don't.
HEMMER: Back now to the "Question of the Day." CAFFERTY: Yes, these fuel efficient cars -- they don't pay as much gas tax as the big guzzlers do. So the government's thinking about replacing gas taxes with a tax by the mile on cars, penalizing those who buy these fuel-efficient vehicles. We want to know if you thought that was a great idea.
Misty in Florence, Alabama. There really is someone in Alabama named Misty, apparently. "This is a bureaucratic nightmare. To me this sounds like an oil-driven government trying to scare people out of buying hybrids." I think Misty has it figured out.
Jeff in Seattle writes: "A by-the-mile taxation system may have to become a reality. And While I'd prefer an odometer-based system, for privacy's sake, that would obviously be subject to massive fraud."
And Tina in Salem, Wisconsin: "Don't replace the gas tax, lower it. Then impose a tax based on vehicle weight." Here's a good idea. "The hybrid cars users will still benefit, the government will get their money and the Hummer drivers will have to pay their fair share."
O'BRIEN: Tina has brought together all the stories we've been discussing today.
CAFFERTY: That's why I'm here.
SERWER: We had that Maryland tax proposed.
O'BRIEN: For the hummer, yes.
CAFFERTY: That's why I'm here.
O'BRIEN: That's why you're here. Well, maybe we need Tina.
CAFFERTY: Just trying to help.
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Jack.
Well, once more, let's update those developments this morning in the Middle East. U.S. assistant secretary of state William Burns met today with Lebanese foreign minister. Burns is calling for implementation of a U.N. resolution that called for the immediate withdrawal of the 13,000 Syrian troops that are in Lebanon. The Lebanese ambassador to the U.S. on our show this morning, noncommittal on those troops, saying that question will be answered after the next Lebanese election.
Also today, Reuters is reporting Iran and Syria are forming a common front against challenges from the U.S. Again, the Syrian ambassador commenting about this again on our show, saying that Syria does not want to confront the U.S. and is actually trying to improve relations with the U.S.
HEMMER: Certainly a lot of story to cover overseas on that today. They'll get to it next hour, also. Also next hour, too, CIA director Porter Goss on the other side of the table today. The former Congressman appearing in a few minutes before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Daryn and Rick have live coverage when that starts. We're back in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Want to get to Aaron Brown quickly. A preview of what's coming up later tonight on "NEWSNIGHT" -- Aaron.
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Bill. Tonight on the program, veterans of the war in Iraq who say the critics have it wrong. And so do the boosters. So they've formed their own truth squad, Operation Truth, they call it, and they say they are breaking the silence about what really works and what doesn't work on the ground in Iraq. And we'll listen to them tonight. That and all the day's top news, morning papers, everything else that makes "NEWSNIGHT" "NEWSNIGHT." CNN tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern -- Bill.
HEMMER: 12 hours away. Thank you, Aaron, for that.
O'BRIEN: Still a topic at water coolers this morning, Sunday night's Grammy awards performance by Marc Anthony and J. Lo. Even Jay Leno is having some fun with the now notoriously bad duet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, "TONIGHT SHOW" HOST: Now, is it me or -- remember when Marc Anthony was singing to J. Lo? You know, I taped it and I played it back. I think one of J. Lo's old boyfriends showed up. Take a look.
(MUSIC)
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Now that's some good stuff, huh?
O'BRIEN: That was P. Diddy peeking in. That was very funny.
HEMMER: There is the thing that just crossed on the wires. J.Lo just canceled a European tour.
O'BRIEN: Really?
SERWER: Jack is crestfallen. Heidi is, too.
HEMMER: Apparently she's sick. She's staying in L.A.
O'BRIEN: She's sick, Michael Jackson is sick, it's going around.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: See, flu shots. Get them. We got to go.
O'BRIEN: Yes, we're out of time. Let's head down South. Daryn Kagan, Rick Sanchez, they're at the CNN Center, going to take you through the next few hours on "CNN LIVE TODAY." Hey, guys. Good morning.
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Aired February 16, 2005 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: First, let's get to headlines now with Heidi Collins.
Good morning.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, guys, and good morning, once again, everybody. Now in the news this morning, we begin in Iraq where a kidnapped Italian journalist is said to be pleading for her life. Newly released videotape shows the Italian woman clasping her hands together. This is an image from the tape, but it is not clear when the video was shot. The release of the tape comes as Italy is set to vote on its mission in Iraq.
The Food and Drug Administration putting a new plan into effect this morning for drugs that are already out on the market. The agency creating a panel to monitor medications for safety risks. This, as three days of hearings get under way in Washington on several widely used drugs with potentially dangerous heart risks. The painkillers being looked at include Celebrex and Bextra.
President Bush is pitching his Social Security plan to folks in New Hampshire today. In about an hour, the president is set to leave for Portsmouth. He's scheduled to address a crowd of some 2,000 people as port of a plan to win support for his Social Security proposals.
And the National Hockey League nearing its deadline. The league and the player's association have just an hour now -- an hour and a half that is, to reach an agreement on a salary cap. It's down to a fight over a measly $6.5 million. If no agreement is reached, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is scheduled to cancel the season.
I know you're not upset about that. Jack's not upset about that.
O'BRIEN: Well, I think, as you mentioned, a measly sum of $6 million, you think they could come together, because if they don't have the season, they're going to lose more than that over the next X number of years.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Think they'll get it done? Think anyone cares?
COLLINS: I don't know.
O'BRIEN: Yes, someone cares.
COLLINS: Now if there was a women's hockey league, then...
HEMMER: Now we're talking. You'd be on the desk.
O'BRIEN: They would have resolved it a long time ago.
HEMMER: That's right.
Thank you, Heidi.
I want to get you out to California right now. The trial of pop star Michael Jackson on hold now for about a week while the singer gets over some flu-like symptoms at a California hospital.
Miguel Marquez standing by live outside that hospital in Santa Maria.
Good morning, Miguel. What do you know about his condition?
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill.
Well, we know about the same thing we know yesterday, that we believe he is in the hospital here at Marian Medical Center in Santa Maria. The entire media encampment that was over at the courthouse has now moved here to the medical center, about a mile down the road, the only hospital in Santa Maria. Everything now on old, jury selection in his trial, until next Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at you guys, oh my God. Can I walk? He's sick. He's sick.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): Michael Jackson's brother, Randy, outside the hospital where the pop singer went after becoming ill on the way to court.
DR. CHUCK MERRILL, MARIAN MEDICAL CENTER: Mr. Jackson has been evaluated in the emergency department today for a flu-like illness with some vomiting.
MARQUEZ: The emergency room doctor said Jackson was being given fluids intravenously. He would go home when he was stable.
QUESTION: When is Michael coming out?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know that.
MARQUEZ: Earlier in the day, Jackson kept the judge, the attorneys and over 100 jurors waiting, when he failed to show up for court.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Behind me in court, several jurors were muttering and one of them said, six months of this? And his partner said, yes, can you believe it?
MARQUEZ: Jackson's defense team received a cell phone call shortly after they arrived at court, and informed the judge that the pop star had become ill.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The judge said at one point, he has all the symptoms that we all have when we get the flu.
MARQUEZ: Judge Rodney Melville informed the jury that Jackson's recovery would take three or four days after a lengthy conference call with the emergency-room doctor who admitted him and a lawyer for both the defense and the prosecution.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, you guys. We've got medical staff with a gurney coming through, come on.
MARQUEZ: Back at the hospital, one Jackson fan, seemingly so overcome, passed out, was put on a stretcher and wheeled into the emergency room.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: Now, behind me is the emergency room where Mr. Jackson was brought in yesterday. We expect, and suspect, that if he leaves today, that's where he will exit from. The judge in the courtroom yesterday went to great lengths to ensure that Mr. Jackson was, indeed, sick, and he seemed to be satisfied of that, and then went to great lengths to inform the jury of the reason Mr. Jackson was not there and why things had to be put off until next Tuesday, all of this for the flu, or at least something flu-like -- Bill.
HEMMER: Miguel, thank you for following that. A new twist again -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: The airspace around the capital and the White House is restricted, and sometimes planes wander into the area and authorities aren't able to reach them on the radio. So NORAD is testing a communication method that might be a little surprising to some.
Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us this morning.
Hey, Barbara, good morning.
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.
Well, as you say, since September 11th, NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, has had the top responsibility for protecting the nation's airspace. They've been flying those combat air patrols. They're very expensive, very manpower intensive. So last week, they tested some new technology to see if they could better control airspace.
What they did here at Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C. was test ground-based red and green laser lights, basically tested them against a small government airplane, a test plane that sort of wandered into restricted airspace under these test conditions. They flashed the red and green lights at the pilot of that test plane to see if it would work as a visual-warning system.
Now, NORAD officials tell us this is all still in the test phase. They're going to work with commercial pilot to ensure that it can all be very safe before they would ever deploy it. It could take sometime, because all of this comes at a time when aviation officials had been warning pilots of course about many incidents of laser lights being flashed at pilots in an attempt to do them harm. And NORAD says this test program will be perfectly safe, but in places like Washington D.C., it's very complex airspace.
As you can say, nobody can fly over the White House, nobody over here at the Pentagon, over Capitol Hill. So when small planes wander into these restricted areas, they're looking for a very safe, effective way of warning the pilots they're in the wrong place and they have to turn around and go back. This test program expected to take sometime -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Yes, kind of an unusual choice there.
Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us this morning. Barbara, thanks -- Bill.
HEMMER: "Baby 81" is back in his parent's arms now. A Sri Lankan court returned the 4-month-old to his real family today. He was swept away from his mother's arms by the December tsunami. When he was found alive, nine Sri Lankan couples had claimed him. DNA testing, though, have confirmed who the parents really are and they are certainly delighted, but plan to keep their celebration low key out of respect for families who lost children in the tsunami. Baby 81, a symbol for so many out of Sri Lanka.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: In health news, your daily cup of joe may be more than just a little pick me up, it may be a life-saver as well. A new study of 90,000 Japanese indicates coffee may actually help prevent the most common type of liver cancer. The researchers say test subjects who drank coffee daily had half the liver cancer risk of those who didn't drink it all.
Well, the more patients you see, the better doctor you become, right? No, not according to a new study. It says younger doctors often provide better care than older, more experienced colleagues.
Joining us this morning, Dr. Harry Fisch with the Columbia University Medical center in New York.
Nice to see you. Thanks for talking to us.
DR. HARRY FISCH, COLUMBIA UNIV. MEDICAL CENTER: Nice to see you.
O'BRIEN: This seems completely contradictory. I mean, first thing you do when you run out to find your doctor is someone who's experienced, who's done a zillion surgeries, who's delivered a million babies. So isn't this report, the study, essentially saying, no, inexperienced is the best?
FISCH: Well, it's not really true. No, the recommendations of the study are fine. That is as we get older, longer out of medical school, we do need to have continuing medical education, keep on learning. But the reality is the conclusions of the study may not be perfect.
O'BRIEN: Walk me through the study. It's called a "med- analysis." What exactly does that mean?
FISCH: Well, it's sort of a med-analysis where they looked at study in the literature over a 40-year period to determine whether a knowledge-based information is really maintained as physicians get older. And the issue there is -- they looked at all sorts of studies. The main issue is, as you know, as you get older, you may not be able to take tests as well as younger people. So there are some confounders, some things that really can adversely affect the conclusions of the study.
For example, if you were to take an SAT test today...
O'BRIEN: I'd ace it today.
FISCH: A 16-year-old may do better than you. What does that say? It says they can do better on exams, but not necessarily as capable as you are, and as experienced as you are.
O'BRIEN: Are there any general medical fields, or general medical areas where actually younger doctors do better, that it's not sort of this contradictory thing?
FISCH: Well, it may be progression from the technical experience you get right out of medical school, the knowledge and the professionalism and the humanistic approach to medicine as you get older. There are certain surgeries that may lend itself more to a younger doctor. There are new surgeries such as laprascopy, where a small incision is made, a tube is placed in the belly, and it requites a lot more experience. It's a new procedure that younger doctors may have more experience there, but that doesn't mean they make better doctors.
The older doctor, while may not be able to perform technically that surgery as well, may have a better experience in understanding when to operate and when not to operate.
O'BRIEN: So at the end of the day, if you're looking for a surgeon, or obstetrician, or whatever, do you want to look for number of surgeries or numbers of babies delivered? I mean, is that how you would advise patients to find these doctors?
FISCH: Absolutely. It's all based on experience. If there's a new procedure and you have an older doctors who's up on that, that's fine. But in general, it's all experience.
O'BRIEN: Dr. Fisch, nice to have you, thank for talking to us. Appreciate -- Bill.
HEMMER: Get a break here.
In a moment, if you've got this old painting of the poker playing dogs in the attic, you will not believe how much it might be worth. Andy has that in a moment here.
Also, in "90-Second Pop," think you've heard it all about the breakup? Get ready for Brad and Jen, the book. We'll explain that novel in a moment as well.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: What are they waiting for? They're waiting for this thing right here. Honestly. It's time for another shot. It's "90- Second Pop."
Good morning to Andy Borowitz from Borowitzreport.com.
Good morning, Drew.
ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Good morning.
HEMMER: Jessica Shaw from "Entertainment Weekly."
Jess, how are you doing?
JESSICA SHAW, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": Good.
HEMMER: And B.J. Sigesmund, staff editor for "Us Weekly" and the group that is responsible for this, the "Brad and Jen" book.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: Hang on now. What's going on with this book here, B.J.?
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Well, we had so much to say about Brad and Jen that we decided to do a book. Actually two of our senior writers spent five days working night and day. We locked them in their office to write this book, "Brad and Jen."
HEMMER: Wait. It took them five days to write the book.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
BOROWITZ: Actually, my question is, what took you guys so long?
SIGESMUND: It's 200 pages long, and it basically starts before Brad and Jen knew each other. It goes all the way through how they met through their agents, how Jen was nervous when Brad first called her, and then, of course, through the lavish 2000 ceremony, et cetera, et cetera.
HEMMER: Why do we care, or do we?
BOROWITZ: I don't get it. I mean, I understand, you know, they're like the hottest, sexiest couple in the world. But now that we have Charles and Camilla, why?
HEMMER: Yes, but they're old news.
SHAW: I have to say the big losers are Nick and Jessica. BOROWITZ: Right.
SHAW: Where are all of the magazine covers about their marital troubles now?
HEMMER: Hey, Jess? Seven bucks can be yours.
"Saturday Night Live" this weekend, prime-time players from 1975 through 1980 are coming back. These were the golden years.
BOROWITZ: Yes. Belushi, Aykroyd, Gilda, they're all there. I mean, I guess the one question is whether this is going to reflect badly on the current version. I mean, the current version...
HEMMER: Do you think it will?
BOROWITZ: I don't know. It's hard not to in a way, because, I mean, I think they're great people on now, like Tina Fey, who is obviously brilliant, and there are some really good people. But...
HEMMER: Tina Fey. I think "Weekend Update" is doing as well as they have done in years.
BOROWITZ: Yes.
SHAW: But no one is going to watch it. It's opposite "Desperate Housewives."
BOROWITZ: Yes. I mean, I think if they wanted to make the current cast look good, they would have maybe aired a show called "Saturday Night Live," the Joe Piscapo years.
SHAW: Or the Anthony Michael Hall years.
BOROWITZ: Oh. I think it was just one year actually.
SIGESMUND: This is all territory that has been covered before in books. I mean, there have been two books written about the first five years of "Saturday Night Live." But it's something about seeing the original skits, you know...
HEMMER: Yes.
SIGESMUND: ... and seeing those originals that we all grew up with and fell in love with and were so cool. I mean, I think it's going to do very well.
HEMMER: We'll see on Sunday night. Chris Rock is talking.
SHAW: Yes.
HEMMER: And talking to "Entertainment Weekly."
SHAW: He is to my colleagues.
HEMMER: He's going to host the Oscars in about, what, a week and a half.
SHAW: Yes.
HEMMER: What is he saying that's making so many headlines?
SHAW: Well, he made some headlines, because he called award shows idiotic. And he said what straight man would watch the Oscars? And there were all of these rumors that Gil Cates (ph) was going to pull him, the producer Gil Cates (ph), and replace him.
BOROWITZ: They were actually going to replace him with Paul McCartney. I heard that.
SHAW: Exactly. But you know what? This is the best thing to happen to the Oscars. Like, finally some scandal to get people to tune in, because it's not -- people aren't all that jazzed about tuning into the Oscars this year. So I think it's great.
SIGESMUND: And also...
HEMMER: He's pushing the PR button and he's getting a lot of headlines in the process.
SHAW: Absolutely. He's working on his schtick (ph). What's the problem?
HEMMER: Everybody is going to tune in to see, what, if he drops a bomb, right?
SHAW: Yes, exactly.
SIGESMUND: And why did they hire Chris Rock if not to push the envelope, to bring a little bit of edge, to cut through all of the hype and say it like it is? It just makes perfect sense.
BOROWITZ: Well, he's very funny and that is a serious break with Oscar tradition. So we'll have to see how that plays out.
HEMMER: And the only thing better would be to get an autograph from Brad and Jen.
SHAW: Oh, if only.
BOROWITZ: Check out the cliff notes also.
HEMMER: Thanks, Andy, Jess, B.J. Good to see you.
Here's Soledad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Thanks, Bill. Andy has proof positive that poker- playing dogs really are a work of art. He's "Minding Your Business," up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Some paintings of canines fetching a high price. That and the action on Wall Street this morning. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." Hello.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Hello. All about the dogs, Soledad, today.
O'BRIEN: Gone to the dogs.
SERWER: Yes. Let's talk about Wall Street, kind of a doggy situation down there. Stocks trading down 33 points this morning. Nervousness over the report of the bomb going off in Iran. We'll obviously be covering that today on CNN. Coke is bucking the trend. They announced better than expected earnings. That stock was up two and a half percent.
Yes, a big day yesterday for the dogs. Of course we had Carly (ph) winning Westminster Kennel Club last night. I miss Josh, though.
O'BRIEN: Josh was cute.
SERWER: I liked Josh better. That was the one that won last year, kind of the funny -- the Newfoundland.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The big one?
SERWER: Yes, the big dog. Anyway, in conjunction with the dog show, Doyle's, the auction house in New York, every year now has an auction of dog art to coincide with the action down there at Madison Square Garden. And yesterday, they auctioned off a couple of my most favorite paintings. These are the dogs playing poker.
These are -- two of them went for $600,000. That's ten times more than the auction house expected. These paintings are kind of interesting. They're painted by a guy named Cassius Marcellus Coolidge, who made them in 1903 for a Saint Paul, Minnesota, ad agency. He painted 16 of them. And now they're worth a lot of money. You see these in tacky bars, in fraternity houses, the copies are often fuzzy. I know you've seen them. I love those paintings.
O'BRIEN: Like literally furry.
SERWER: Yes, they're furry.
HEMMER: You can also find those in Jack's basement.
(CROSSTALK)
SERWER: Jack likes them, too. He won't admit it.
CAFFERTY: No, I don't.
HEMMER: Back now to the "Question of the Day." CAFFERTY: Yes, these fuel efficient cars -- they don't pay as much gas tax as the big guzzlers do. So the government's thinking about replacing gas taxes with a tax by the mile on cars, penalizing those who buy these fuel-efficient vehicles. We want to know if you thought that was a great idea.
Misty in Florence, Alabama. There really is someone in Alabama named Misty, apparently. "This is a bureaucratic nightmare. To me this sounds like an oil-driven government trying to scare people out of buying hybrids." I think Misty has it figured out.
Jeff in Seattle writes: "A by-the-mile taxation system may have to become a reality. And While I'd prefer an odometer-based system, for privacy's sake, that would obviously be subject to massive fraud."
And Tina in Salem, Wisconsin: "Don't replace the gas tax, lower it. Then impose a tax based on vehicle weight." Here's a good idea. "The hybrid cars users will still benefit, the government will get their money and the Hummer drivers will have to pay their fair share."
O'BRIEN: Tina has brought together all the stories we've been discussing today.
CAFFERTY: That's why I'm here.
SERWER: We had that Maryland tax proposed.
O'BRIEN: For the hummer, yes.
CAFFERTY: That's why I'm here.
O'BRIEN: That's why you're here. Well, maybe we need Tina.
CAFFERTY: Just trying to help.
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Jack.
Well, once more, let's update those developments this morning in the Middle East. U.S. assistant secretary of state William Burns met today with Lebanese foreign minister. Burns is calling for implementation of a U.N. resolution that called for the immediate withdrawal of the 13,000 Syrian troops that are in Lebanon. The Lebanese ambassador to the U.S. on our show this morning, noncommittal on those troops, saying that question will be answered after the next Lebanese election.
Also today, Reuters is reporting Iran and Syria are forming a common front against challenges from the U.S. Again, the Syrian ambassador commenting about this again on our show, saying that Syria does not want to confront the U.S. and is actually trying to improve relations with the U.S.
HEMMER: Certainly a lot of story to cover overseas on that today. They'll get to it next hour, also. Also next hour, too, CIA director Porter Goss on the other side of the table today. The former Congressman appearing in a few minutes before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Daryn and Rick have live coverage when that starts. We're back in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Want to get to Aaron Brown quickly. A preview of what's coming up later tonight on "NEWSNIGHT" -- Aaron.
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Bill. Tonight on the program, veterans of the war in Iraq who say the critics have it wrong. And so do the boosters. So they've formed their own truth squad, Operation Truth, they call it, and they say they are breaking the silence about what really works and what doesn't work on the ground in Iraq. And we'll listen to them tonight. That and all the day's top news, morning papers, everything else that makes "NEWSNIGHT" "NEWSNIGHT." CNN tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern -- Bill.
HEMMER: 12 hours away. Thank you, Aaron, for that.
O'BRIEN: Still a topic at water coolers this morning, Sunday night's Grammy awards performance by Marc Anthony and J. Lo. Even Jay Leno is having some fun with the now notoriously bad duet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, "TONIGHT SHOW" HOST: Now, is it me or -- remember when Marc Anthony was singing to J. Lo? You know, I taped it and I played it back. I think one of J. Lo's old boyfriends showed up. Take a look.
(MUSIC)
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Now that's some good stuff, huh?
O'BRIEN: That was P. Diddy peeking in. That was very funny.
HEMMER: There is the thing that just crossed on the wires. J.Lo just canceled a European tour.
O'BRIEN: Really?
SERWER: Jack is crestfallen. Heidi is, too.
HEMMER: Apparently she's sick. She's staying in L.A.
O'BRIEN: She's sick, Michael Jackson is sick, it's going around.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: See, flu shots. Get them. We got to go.
O'BRIEN: Yes, we're out of time. Let's head down South. Daryn Kagan, Rick Sanchez, they're at the CNN Center, going to take you through the next few hours on "CNN LIVE TODAY." Hey, guys. Good morning.
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