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American Morning

Martha Stewart Released From Prison; Key Evidence in Michael Jackson Matter

Aired March 04, 2005 - 07:00   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. First pictures of Martha Stewart just after her midnight release from prison, boarding a private jet for home.
Key evidence in the Michael Jackson matter. An eyewitness account of what passed between the singer and children.

Fuel problems? No problem here. Steve Fossett's personal account of his historic flight. Is the next great adventure already in the works, on this AMERICAN MORNING?

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING, with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

HEMMER: We've made it to Friday. Good morning, everyone. 7:00 here in New York. Good to have you with us.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We have made it to Friday. Happy Friday, everyone. I'm Carol Costello, in for Soledad O'Brien today.

HEMMER: We are getting right to the big story that happened around midnight last night. Martha Stewart arrived at her 153-acre, $16 million estate in Bedford, New York about 2:30 a.m. No public appearance yet, but the prison release, the private jet, then arrival back home, all part of a carefully planned strategy. Martha's one of our big stories this morning.

COSTELLO: She is. There was a lot of speculation about what five months in prison would do to the 63-year-old Stewart. How would she look in her first appearance? Well, there you see her. She looked great. Very slim, wearing jeans, she was wearing a poncho, some high heeled boots. Our "90-Second Pop" panel will talk about Martha's makeover.

HEMMER: Already some jokes about people trying to bang down the door at the prison to get in; 63 years old she is and looks terrific. Healthy and happy.

COSTELLO: I think she had someone come in and do her hair, though, because I don't think they have blow dryers in prison.

HEMMER: Maybe more than that.

Here's Jack Cafferty, too, this morning. What's happening?

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Who cares? COLLINS: Oh, come on!

CAFFERTY: Who cares? A 63-year-old convicted felon that the world is stopping turning on its axis to pay homage to because she got out of the joint for lying to federal prosecutors. Who cares?

"The Cafferty File" today, because it's Friday will a free-for- all. You can talk about whatever you want. One of the things we're going to look at though is what other world records are in need of breaking? There are a lot of them out there, in light of the guy who went around the globe in the funny-looking airplane, which -- Carol's not buying this whole story about the fuel leak. You think there might be a weasel deal in there, don't you?

COSTELLO: That was our first thought, that this was -- because no one was paying attention to the flight.

CAFFERTY: They were all focused on Martha getting out of the joint, and this thing would have come down to Salina, and nobody would have noticed. But when they said, oh, there's a fuel leak, it's like they got a little press.

HEMMER: And the hits on their Web site went up bigtime, too.

CAFFERTY: I don't care about Martha. I just want to be on the record telling you about it.

HEMMER: Back to Jack's favorite story of the morning that starts our morning today, the release of Martha Stewart.

Deborah Feyerick been following that story throughout the night. She was there when Martha Stewart boarded the plane for home. She's with us this morning.

Deb, good morning.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Well every detail of Martha Stewart's release was orchestrated, right down to the bodyguard and the positioning of the SUV right near the cockpit. But boy, orchestrated or not, what a picture.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK (voice-over): Her first photo-op was not at the prison, but on the runway, at Greenbriar Valley Airport. Martha Stewart smiled, waved and looked relaxed, wearing jeans, boots and a gray knit shawl. Her daughter, Alexis, was at her side, as dozens of cameras captured a slimmer, seemingly happier Martha.

She boarded the private jet with a small box of personal belongings. It was 1:00 Friday morning, 30 minutes after she left Alderson Prison in an SUV with tinted windows.

A statement posted on her company Web site, also around 1:00 in the morning, read, in part, "The experience of the last five months in Alderson, West Virginia, has been life altering and life affirming. You can be sure that I will never forget the friends that I have met here, all that they have done to help me over these five months, their children and the stories that they have told me. Right now, as you can imagine, I am thrilled to be returning to my more familiar life. My heart is filled with joy at the prospect of the warm embraces of my family, friends and colleagues. Certainly, there is no place like home."

And that's where she headed as her plane lifted off in the frigid night air for an hour-long flight back home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Stewart vowed not to forget the women she met here in Alderson, calling many of them extraordinary. Usually, she's been getting up at 5:00 in the morning, over the last five months. You can bet this morning, she'll be sleeping in -- Bill.

HEMMER: Deb Feyerick, thanks, there this morning.

According to a CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll conducted last week, Americans polled are feeling more sympathy now for Martha Stewart than when she was first indicted back in 2003.

Our senior legal analyst is Jeffrey Toobin, back with us this morning.

Good morning to you.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.

HEMMER: You met with her before she went to prison, so you know her a bit better than most people. Based upon what you've seen so far last night and the public appearance, talk about when it might happen, what's your best guest?

TOOBIN: It's going to be all about her business now. I've never met a person who is more focused, more personally identified with their business than Martha Stewart. This is her life's work. That's what she calls it, and she is going to devote every waking hour to restoring her business.

HEMMER: So this is now what she's facing: confined to house arrest for five months, also allowed out 48 hours every week for things like work and things like food, and also must wear this tracking device. She also has to see a probation officer within 72 hours. What happens then?

TOOBIN: Well, that's when the conditions are spelled out to her. That's when the probation officer explains that you only have 48 hours; even though she's already been informed of this by her attorneys, the probation department has to do it. That's also when she'll be fitted for the ankle bracelet and the precise contours of where she can go. Remember, she is on 150-acre estate. Alderson Prison was only 98 acres. Her estate is bigger than the prison. So she's going to have to have some, you know, restrictions within her estate. She's not going to be able to just wander the fields. That's the kind of stuff that's going to worked out.

HEMMER: Back to this point about 48 hours a week, where she's allowed to work, is that a lot of time?

TOOBIN: Well, I mean, for most mortals, it's a pretty standard amount of time. However, she could keep working at home. She can be on the phone, she can do e-mail. It's just that she physically has to be in her home, except for those 48 hours.

HEMMER: You mentioned her estate. You think it's significant that she chose to go back to that location?

TOOBIN: Very.

HEMMER: Why?

TOOBIN: She devoted much of her early career to her home in -- on Turkey Hill Road in Westport, Connecticut. That was the old Martha. That was where she shot her old show. Bedford, remember when I met with her, she was excited about the process of renovating it. She paid $16 million for it a few years ago, but it was basically just a shell. She's been renovating a series of houses on that. That's going to be her life's work for the next decade or two. That's -- it's interesting, the past and the future. Bedford's the future.

HEMMER: Quickly, your thoughts on her image and how she rehabs that. She's 63 years old, she's lost weight, says she's worked out and is healthy as a result of her time in prison, and clearly has a different perspective. As we can her getting on the plane now, kissing the pilot, or the steward of that jet before she gets on board.

TOOBIN: You know, I don't think 63-year-olds really change their personalities much. You know, she is going to be the same person that she was, perhaps a little humbled, a little wiser, but you know, the core of who Martha Stewart is and the fact that she cares about home making and is a perfectionist, come one, that doesn't change at 63.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jeff. Talk to you later.

Later tonight, we'll have a special edition of CNN's "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS, Martha's makeover, 8:00 Eastern with Paula Zahn, right here on CNN -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Bill.

When testimony reassumes this morning in Michael Jackson's child- molestation trial, the sister of Jackson's accuser will return to the witness stand. Miguel Marquez live in Santa Maria, California with more on what she's told jurors so far.

Good morning.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol. We heard from a very composed 18-year-old yesterday. It was a very long day of testimony, but the prosecution bit by bit building their case against Michael Jackson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Michael Jackson, interested and frustrated after a day of testimony by the teenage sister of his accuser. She told a packed courtroom that she saw Jackson and her brother drinking one time at his Neverland Ranch.

ANNE BREMNER, LEGAL ANALYST: Right now, you know, there's evidence in this case that he supplied alcohol to minors, to the complainant. But there has to be a tie.

MARQUEZ: The tie prosecutors want to make, Jackson serving alcohol to the alleged victim and the subsequent molestations of the then-13-year-old cancer patient. Jackson has denied all allegations.

RAYMONE BAIN, JACKSON SPOKESWOMAN: It's very difficult when, you know, you're hearing things about yourself and you want to stand up and say, oh, that's not true, or oh no, that's wrong.

MARQUEZ: The accuser's sister said Jackson told the family not to watch the controversial Martin Bashir documentary, "Living With Michael Jackson." Prosecutors contend that was one of 28 separate acts of conspiracy which they say Jackson orchestrated.

BREMNER: And where she did was what -- you know, corroboration, corroboration, corroboration.

MARQUEZ: The 18-year-old college freshman testified that while on a private plane from Miami to Los Angeles, she saw Jackson and her brother passing a Diet Coke can, sipping from it, and whispering, but saw no alcohol. She also said that on more than one occasion, Jackson was alone with her brother in a bedroom behind closed doors.

But was she believable?

BREMNER: Overall, I think credible, very matter of fact, very responsive, very respectful.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: So there was no knockout punch by this witness so far. The prosecution is still directly questioning her. But today, the cross-examination will begin of her once that is done, and it seems they are truly building a case against Michael Jackson. She's corroborated some key points that the prosecution wanted her to make.

COSTELLO: But as you said, the cross-examination is yet to come. A question for you -- I understand that the prosecution took the jurors on a videotaped tour of the Neverland Ranch. What were they trying to accomplish by that?

MARQUEZ: This was videotape taken on the day of the search, November 18, 2003, by Santa Barbara County sheriff's detective, or deputy, of Jackson's master bedroom and of parts of Neverland Ranch. They wanted to just familiarize them with the bedroom area of the ranch. It's a two-story bedroom area, filled with toys, and videos, DVDs, televisions. There are also mannequins all over, life-sized mannequins, everything from "Star Wars" characters to butlers, British, English, butlers, and that sort of stuff, all over Neverland Ranch. But they wanted to familiarize jurors with the master bedroom suite, the bathroom and the areas they're going to be talking about over the next several months -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Miguel Marquez, live in Santa Maria, California this morning.

HEMMER: Also from California, Carol, one man there in critical condition after a pair of chimps attacked him at an animal sanctuary. He's 62 years old. He was visiting another chimpanzee when two male chimps escaped from their cage. The man suffered extensive injuries to his face, and his body and limbs, and gruesome as well. Doctors say the chimps chewed off most of his face, and the man will require extensive surgery to reattach his nose. The animals were shot on sight, killed during the attack by a man living at the sanctuary, which may have saved the victim's life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CMDR. HAL CHEALANDER, KERN COL. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: If not for the reaction of an individual who was living at the residence of the sanctuary, things could have been quite different. The individual responded heroically, and dispatched both animals while they were attacking the victim.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: Also at this time, two older female chimps, they escaped as well, but they ran and hid. A bit later, they were recovered. No incident with the two females. Wow -- Carol.a

CAROL COSTELLO: I'm absolutely slightly nauseated after that story. That is something else. But I guess chimps are very strong, seven times stronger than human beings.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Who is behind the murders of a federal judge's mother and husband? Some people believe white supremacist Matthew Hale could be linked. What does Hale say? You'll find out what he says about the killings in a moment.

COSTELLO: Also, Mel Gibson goes to court. We've got details of his testimony against an alleged stalker.

HEMMER: And around the world on a single tank of gas. Cooped up in a plane for 67 hours, adventurer Steve Fossett tells us what it's all about. Back in a moment here, live in New York City on a Friday morning after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The white supremacist Matt Hale is talking, saying he hopes police catch the animal that killed a federal judge's husband and mother. This morning, that judge, Joan Lefkow, and her four daughters remain under federal protection.

Joining me now from Chicago, Wendy Cole, the deputy Midwest bureau chief for "Time" magazine.

Good morning, Wendy.

WENDY COLE, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good morning.,

COSTELLO: So Hale says only an idiot will do this, but he's going to be sentenced for arranging to kill Judge Lefkow. That's sort of a strange psychology, isn't it?

COLE: Well, clearly, the timing of this seems a bit odd, because he will be sentenced next month. And if you're looking for, you know, a bit of compassion from the judge, it seems the timing seems a bit suspicious, and you know, odd considering what he's up against just in one month.

COSTELLO: Well, in one month, he's already facing up to 40 years in prison.

COLE: Yes. Well, you know, it may -- we don't know for sure, of course, that's why the criminal investigation continues. But a likely scenario would be perhaps that somebody who is one of his followers is acting kind of as a lone wolf and may not really need a direct instruction from Matt Hale to do this. So that feels more plausible, that somebody associated with him, but may not have actually been him.

COSTELLO: Let's go back to his original quote and what he said to his mother. What specifically did he say?

COLE: I wasn't there for that. My colleague, Marguerite Michaels, was the first reporter that actually got the statement soon after Matt Hale spoke to his mother on his weekly phone call. But in a nutshell, you know, he denied, of course, having any involvement in it and said -- and condemned the killing and hoped that they would find whoever is responsible. But this is not a man who is known for complete honesty and integrity.

COSTELLO: No, exactly. He said that he couldn't believe any of his followers could do this too. I know all of his communications from prison are carefully monitored. He only gets 15 minutes at a time to talk to both his mother and father. But is it possible he could speak in code to his followers?

COLE: I suppose it's possible, but there's no evidence of that, and that's something investigators obviously will be looking into.

COSTELLO: And the other issue, there are reports that he's been moved to a more spartan cell, some of his privileges have been taken away. Does that point to the fact that investigators may be centering just on him?

COLE: I suppose it's possible, but again, that's something we're just going to have to see how it unfolds, and nobody should really rush to judgment on this, because you know, it may take a bit of time, despite the enormous resources that the government is investing to solve this crime.

COSTELLO: Wendy Cole, the deputy Midwest bureau chief for "Time" magazine joining us this morning. Thanks, Wendy.

HEMMER: Well, 19 minutes past the hour now.

Attorneys for Robert Blake are expected to wrap up closing arguments today. The defense yesterday saying it's ridiculous to think the actor would have killed his wife in his own neighborhood while she waited in a parked car under a street light. They also called the prosecution's star witness a delusional drug addict. Blake is accused of shooting Bonny Lee Bakley back in 2001. If convicted, the former "Baretta" star could get life behind bars.

At the same courthouse, Mel Gibson took the stand to testify against his alleged stalker. The actor/director told jurors that Zach Sinclair came to his home five times and also confronted him in church. Sinclair is charged with one felony count of stalking. Gibson, who had a restraining order against the man, said Sinclair approached him during mass to pray together. If convicted, Sinclair could be sent to prison for about 16 months -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Oil prices are skyrocketing. Could gas prices be far behind? Andy's "Minding Your Business," next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone. Oil prices once again on the rise. Andy Serwer checks in, "Minding Your Business." All want to know what it means for the wallet.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: I'll tell you what it means for your wallet. It means you're going to be taking more money out of your wallet to pay for more expensive gasoline. The price of oil has been spiking this year, Bill, and it is going to mean higher gas prices very soon. Up more than 20 percent. See that? It touched $55 a barrel yesterday, matching the October high. What's going on here? Well, strong demand, cold winter, speculators are back in the market. And the fallout will be hitting us very soon. Right now, the national average for a gallon of gasoline, $1.93. Analysts expect that to climb 20 cents to 25 cents over the next couple weeks to get up to $2.16, which would be a record. Of course, inflation adjusted, still not as high as the 1980s. That's not much solace. OPEC says don't be surprised if a barrel of oil goes up to $80 next year. I don't think that's going to happen, but it's possible.

And listen to this, finally, just to wrap up here, a little quote from an oil analyst that I love, from the department of mixed metaphors: "It's not going to be like an raindrops. It's going to be like an anvil falling on consumers over the next 40 days." That's the price of gas.

HEMMER: Is that hyperbole, 80 bucks a barrel? SERWER: I think it is, a little bit, but they're to set the stage to get used to the price of a barrel of oil being around $50 and staying, I think.

HEMMER: Well, let's keep it there, send it back down.

Thank you, Andy.

COSTELLO: Hey, let's talk about Martha Stewart.

CAFFERTY: Let's not.

I'm getting some mail, though, as you might expect on the comments I made about the fact that I don't care about Martha Stewart and what she does, where she goes or when or anything else about her. But that's another subject.

23,000 miles, 67 hours is all it took to get Steve Fossett into the world record books. The 60-year-old billionaire became the first person circling the globe without stopping or refueling when his Globalflyer landed in Salina Kansas, yesterday. It wasn't a comfortable ride. He was stuck in a very small compartment in a flight suit. He lived on strawberry milk shakes, got no rest. But according to Fossett, the record-breaking flight fulfilled a major ambition. It's record No. 3 for this gentleman. He already holding records for circling the world solo in a balloon, and another by sailboat.

The question this morning, is what world record would you like to break? And it's Friday, so you can write about everything you want. We'll read some of the mail, including a couple things about M.S., not the disease, the person, a little later in the show. Well, come to think about.

HEMMER: Easy now.

How many hours has Jack Cafferty been on television?

CAFFERTY: Too many.

HEMMER: Is that a record.

CAFFERTY: I don't know. A lot, 42 years, something like that. I don't know, it's a long time.

You could rival Dick Clark. You could rival Regis Philbin.

HEMMER: You could rival Dick Clark. You could rival Regis Philbin.

SERWER: Gary Cooper you're going to bring up again.

HEMMER: No, not Gary Cooper.

CAFFERTY: Shouldn't we get back to Martha Stewart?

HEMMER: In a moment.

Thank you, Jack.

More to come right after the break here on AMERICAN MORNING.

Ahead on "90-Second Pop," it's Martha Stewart version 2.0 -- new image, new look. Who knew prison could do a body good?

Plus:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALLE BERRY, ACTRESS: This project is important to me, for two really big reasons. One, Oprah Winfrey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Halle Berry teaming up with the queen of all media. But is the project worth the buzz? That's later on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired March 4, 2005 - 07:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. First pictures of Martha Stewart just after her midnight release from prison, boarding a private jet for home.
Key evidence in the Michael Jackson matter. An eyewitness account of what passed between the singer and children.

Fuel problems? No problem here. Steve Fossett's personal account of his historic flight. Is the next great adventure already in the works, on this AMERICAN MORNING?

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING, with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

HEMMER: We've made it to Friday. Good morning, everyone. 7:00 here in New York. Good to have you with us.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We have made it to Friday. Happy Friday, everyone. I'm Carol Costello, in for Soledad O'Brien today.

HEMMER: We are getting right to the big story that happened around midnight last night. Martha Stewart arrived at her 153-acre, $16 million estate in Bedford, New York about 2:30 a.m. No public appearance yet, but the prison release, the private jet, then arrival back home, all part of a carefully planned strategy. Martha's one of our big stories this morning.

COSTELLO: She is. There was a lot of speculation about what five months in prison would do to the 63-year-old Stewart. How would she look in her first appearance? Well, there you see her. She looked great. Very slim, wearing jeans, she was wearing a poncho, some high heeled boots. Our "90-Second Pop" panel will talk about Martha's makeover.

HEMMER: Already some jokes about people trying to bang down the door at the prison to get in; 63 years old she is and looks terrific. Healthy and happy.

COSTELLO: I think she had someone come in and do her hair, though, because I don't think they have blow dryers in prison.

HEMMER: Maybe more than that.

Here's Jack Cafferty, too, this morning. What's happening?

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Who cares? COLLINS: Oh, come on!

CAFFERTY: Who cares? A 63-year-old convicted felon that the world is stopping turning on its axis to pay homage to because she got out of the joint for lying to federal prosecutors. Who cares?

"The Cafferty File" today, because it's Friday will a free-for- all. You can talk about whatever you want. One of the things we're going to look at though is what other world records are in need of breaking? There are a lot of them out there, in light of the guy who went around the globe in the funny-looking airplane, which -- Carol's not buying this whole story about the fuel leak. You think there might be a weasel deal in there, don't you?

COSTELLO: That was our first thought, that this was -- because no one was paying attention to the flight.

CAFFERTY: They were all focused on Martha getting out of the joint, and this thing would have come down to Salina, and nobody would have noticed. But when they said, oh, there's a fuel leak, it's like they got a little press.

HEMMER: And the hits on their Web site went up bigtime, too.

CAFFERTY: I don't care about Martha. I just want to be on the record telling you about it.

HEMMER: Back to Jack's favorite story of the morning that starts our morning today, the release of Martha Stewart.

Deborah Feyerick been following that story throughout the night. She was there when Martha Stewart boarded the plane for home. She's with us this morning.

Deb, good morning.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Well every detail of Martha Stewart's release was orchestrated, right down to the bodyguard and the positioning of the SUV right near the cockpit. But boy, orchestrated or not, what a picture.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK (voice-over): Her first photo-op was not at the prison, but on the runway, at Greenbriar Valley Airport. Martha Stewart smiled, waved and looked relaxed, wearing jeans, boots and a gray knit shawl. Her daughter, Alexis, was at her side, as dozens of cameras captured a slimmer, seemingly happier Martha.

She boarded the private jet with a small box of personal belongings. It was 1:00 Friday morning, 30 minutes after she left Alderson Prison in an SUV with tinted windows.

A statement posted on her company Web site, also around 1:00 in the morning, read, in part, "The experience of the last five months in Alderson, West Virginia, has been life altering and life affirming. You can be sure that I will never forget the friends that I have met here, all that they have done to help me over these five months, their children and the stories that they have told me. Right now, as you can imagine, I am thrilled to be returning to my more familiar life. My heart is filled with joy at the prospect of the warm embraces of my family, friends and colleagues. Certainly, there is no place like home."

And that's where she headed as her plane lifted off in the frigid night air for an hour-long flight back home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Stewart vowed not to forget the women she met here in Alderson, calling many of them extraordinary. Usually, she's been getting up at 5:00 in the morning, over the last five months. You can bet this morning, she'll be sleeping in -- Bill.

HEMMER: Deb Feyerick, thanks, there this morning.

According to a CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll conducted last week, Americans polled are feeling more sympathy now for Martha Stewart than when she was first indicted back in 2003.

Our senior legal analyst is Jeffrey Toobin, back with us this morning.

Good morning to you.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.

HEMMER: You met with her before she went to prison, so you know her a bit better than most people. Based upon what you've seen so far last night and the public appearance, talk about when it might happen, what's your best guest?

TOOBIN: It's going to be all about her business now. I've never met a person who is more focused, more personally identified with their business than Martha Stewart. This is her life's work. That's what she calls it, and she is going to devote every waking hour to restoring her business.

HEMMER: So this is now what she's facing: confined to house arrest for five months, also allowed out 48 hours every week for things like work and things like food, and also must wear this tracking device. She also has to see a probation officer within 72 hours. What happens then?

TOOBIN: Well, that's when the conditions are spelled out to her. That's when the probation officer explains that you only have 48 hours; even though she's already been informed of this by her attorneys, the probation department has to do it. That's also when she'll be fitted for the ankle bracelet and the precise contours of where she can go. Remember, she is on 150-acre estate. Alderson Prison was only 98 acres. Her estate is bigger than the prison. So she's going to have to have some, you know, restrictions within her estate. She's not going to be able to just wander the fields. That's the kind of stuff that's going to worked out.

HEMMER: Back to this point about 48 hours a week, where she's allowed to work, is that a lot of time?

TOOBIN: Well, I mean, for most mortals, it's a pretty standard amount of time. However, she could keep working at home. She can be on the phone, she can do e-mail. It's just that she physically has to be in her home, except for those 48 hours.

HEMMER: You mentioned her estate. You think it's significant that she chose to go back to that location?

TOOBIN: Very.

HEMMER: Why?

TOOBIN: She devoted much of her early career to her home in -- on Turkey Hill Road in Westport, Connecticut. That was the old Martha. That was where she shot her old show. Bedford, remember when I met with her, she was excited about the process of renovating it. She paid $16 million for it a few years ago, but it was basically just a shell. She's been renovating a series of houses on that. That's going to be her life's work for the next decade or two. That's -- it's interesting, the past and the future. Bedford's the future.

HEMMER: Quickly, your thoughts on her image and how she rehabs that. She's 63 years old, she's lost weight, says she's worked out and is healthy as a result of her time in prison, and clearly has a different perspective. As we can her getting on the plane now, kissing the pilot, or the steward of that jet before she gets on board.

TOOBIN: You know, I don't think 63-year-olds really change their personalities much. You know, she is going to be the same person that she was, perhaps a little humbled, a little wiser, but you know, the core of who Martha Stewart is and the fact that she cares about home making and is a perfectionist, come one, that doesn't change at 63.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jeff. Talk to you later.

Later tonight, we'll have a special edition of CNN's "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS, Martha's makeover, 8:00 Eastern with Paula Zahn, right here on CNN -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Bill.

When testimony reassumes this morning in Michael Jackson's child- molestation trial, the sister of Jackson's accuser will return to the witness stand. Miguel Marquez live in Santa Maria, California with more on what she's told jurors so far.

Good morning.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol. We heard from a very composed 18-year-old yesterday. It was a very long day of testimony, but the prosecution bit by bit building their case against Michael Jackson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Michael Jackson, interested and frustrated after a day of testimony by the teenage sister of his accuser. She told a packed courtroom that she saw Jackson and her brother drinking one time at his Neverland Ranch.

ANNE BREMNER, LEGAL ANALYST: Right now, you know, there's evidence in this case that he supplied alcohol to minors, to the complainant. But there has to be a tie.

MARQUEZ: The tie prosecutors want to make, Jackson serving alcohol to the alleged victim and the subsequent molestations of the then-13-year-old cancer patient. Jackson has denied all allegations.

RAYMONE BAIN, JACKSON SPOKESWOMAN: It's very difficult when, you know, you're hearing things about yourself and you want to stand up and say, oh, that's not true, or oh no, that's wrong.

MARQUEZ: The accuser's sister said Jackson told the family not to watch the controversial Martin Bashir documentary, "Living With Michael Jackson." Prosecutors contend that was one of 28 separate acts of conspiracy which they say Jackson orchestrated.

BREMNER: And where she did was what -- you know, corroboration, corroboration, corroboration.

MARQUEZ: The 18-year-old college freshman testified that while on a private plane from Miami to Los Angeles, she saw Jackson and her brother passing a Diet Coke can, sipping from it, and whispering, but saw no alcohol. She also said that on more than one occasion, Jackson was alone with her brother in a bedroom behind closed doors.

But was she believable?

BREMNER: Overall, I think credible, very matter of fact, very responsive, very respectful.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: So there was no knockout punch by this witness so far. The prosecution is still directly questioning her. But today, the cross-examination will begin of her once that is done, and it seems they are truly building a case against Michael Jackson. She's corroborated some key points that the prosecution wanted her to make.

COSTELLO: But as you said, the cross-examination is yet to come. A question for you -- I understand that the prosecution took the jurors on a videotaped tour of the Neverland Ranch. What were they trying to accomplish by that?

MARQUEZ: This was videotape taken on the day of the search, November 18, 2003, by Santa Barbara County sheriff's detective, or deputy, of Jackson's master bedroom and of parts of Neverland Ranch. They wanted to just familiarize them with the bedroom area of the ranch. It's a two-story bedroom area, filled with toys, and videos, DVDs, televisions. There are also mannequins all over, life-sized mannequins, everything from "Star Wars" characters to butlers, British, English, butlers, and that sort of stuff, all over Neverland Ranch. But they wanted to familiarize jurors with the master bedroom suite, the bathroom and the areas they're going to be talking about over the next several months -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Miguel Marquez, live in Santa Maria, California this morning.

HEMMER: Also from California, Carol, one man there in critical condition after a pair of chimps attacked him at an animal sanctuary. He's 62 years old. He was visiting another chimpanzee when two male chimps escaped from their cage. The man suffered extensive injuries to his face, and his body and limbs, and gruesome as well. Doctors say the chimps chewed off most of his face, and the man will require extensive surgery to reattach his nose. The animals were shot on sight, killed during the attack by a man living at the sanctuary, which may have saved the victim's life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CMDR. HAL CHEALANDER, KERN COL. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: If not for the reaction of an individual who was living at the residence of the sanctuary, things could have been quite different. The individual responded heroically, and dispatched both animals while they were attacking the victim.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: Also at this time, two older female chimps, they escaped as well, but they ran and hid. A bit later, they were recovered. No incident with the two females. Wow -- Carol.a

CAROL COSTELLO: I'm absolutely slightly nauseated after that story. That is something else. But I guess chimps are very strong, seven times stronger than human beings.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Who is behind the murders of a federal judge's mother and husband? Some people believe white supremacist Matthew Hale could be linked. What does Hale say? You'll find out what he says about the killings in a moment.

COSTELLO: Also, Mel Gibson goes to court. We've got details of his testimony against an alleged stalker.

HEMMER: And around the world on a single tank of gas. Cooped up in a plane for 67 hours, adventurer Steve Fossett tells us what it's all about. Back in a moment here, live in New York City on a Friday morning after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The white supremacist Matt Hale is talking, saying he hopes police catch the animal that killed a federal judge's husband and mother. This morning, that judge, Joan Lefkow, and her four daughters remain under federal protection.

Joining me now from Chicago, Wendy Cole, the deputy Midwest bureau chief for "Time" magazine.

Good morning, Wendy.

WENDY COLE, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good morning.,

COSTELLO: So Hale says only an idiot will do this, but he's going to be sentenced for arranging to kill Judge Lefkow. That's sort of a strange psychology, isn't it?

COLE: Well, clearly, the timing of this seems a bit odd, because he will be sentenced next month. And if you're looking for, you know, a bit of compassion from the judge, it seems the timing seems a bit suspicious, and you know, odd considering what he's up against just in one month.

COSTELLO: Well, in one month, he's already facing up to 40 years in prison.

COLE: Yes. Well, you know, it may -- we don't know for sure, of course, that's why the criminal investigation continues. But a likely scenario would be perhaps that somebody who is one of his followers is acting kind of as a lone wolf and may not really need a direct instruction from Matt Hale to do this. So that feels more plausible, that somebody associated with him, but may not have actually been him.

COSTELLO: Let's go back to his original quote and what he said to his mother. What specifically did he say?

COLE: I wasn't there for that. My colleague, Marguerite Michaels, was the first reporter that actually got the statement soon after Matt Hale spoke to his mother on his weekly phone call. But in a nutshell, you know, he denied, of course, having any involvement in it and said -- and condemned the killing and hoped that they would find whoever is responsible. But this is not a man who is known for complete honesty and integrity.

COSTELLO: No, exactly. He said that he couldn't believe any of his followers could do this too. I know all of his communications from prison are carefully monitored. He only gets 15 minutes at a time to talk to both his mother and father. But is it possible he could speak in code to his followers?

COLE: I suppose it's possible, but there's no evidence of that, and that's something investigators obviously will be looking into.

COSTELLO: And the other issue, there are reports that he's been moved to a more spartan cell, some of his privileges have been taken away. Does that point to the fact that investigators may be centering just on him?

COLE: I suppose it's possible, but again, that's something we're just going to have to see how it unfolds, and nobody should really rush to judgment on this, because you know, it may take a bit of time, despite the enormous resources that the government is investing to solve this crime.

COSTELLO: Wendy Cole, the deputy Midwest bureau chief for "Time" magazine joining us this morning. Thanks, Wendy.

HEMMER: Well, 19 minutes past the hour now.

Attorneys for Robert Blake are expected to wrap up closing arguments today. The defense yesterday saying it's ridiculous to think the actor would have killed his wife in his own neighborhood while she waited in a parked car under a street light. They also called the prosecution's star witness a delusional drug addict. Blake is accused of shooting Bonny Lee Bakley back in 2001. If convicted, the former "Baretta" star could get life behind bars.

At the same courthouse, Mel Gibson took the stand to testify against his alleged stalker. The actor/director told jurors that Zach Sinclair came to his home five times and also confronted him in church. Sinclair is charged with one felony count of stalking. Gibson, who had a restraining order against the man, said Sinclair approached him during mass to pray together. If convicted, Sinclair could be sent to prison for about 16 months -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Oil prices are skyrocketing. Could gas prices be far behind? Andy's "Minding Your Business," next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone. Oil prices once again on the rise. Andy Serwer checks in, "Minding Your Business." All want to know what it means for the wallet.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: I'll tell you what it means for your wallet. It means you're going to be taking more money out of your wallet to pay for more expensive gasoline. The price of oil has been spiking this year, Bill, and it is going to mean higher gas prices very soon. Up more than 20 percent. See that? It touched $55 a barrel yesterday, matching the October high. What's going on here? Well, strong demand, cold winter, speculators are back in the market. And the fallout will be hitting us very soon. Right now, the national average for a gallon of gasoline, $1.93. Analysts expect that to climb 20 cents to 25 cents over the next couple weeks to get up to $2.16, which would be a record. Of course, inflation adjusted, still not as high as the 1980s. That's not much solace. OPEC says don't be surprised if a barrel of oil goes up to $80 next year. I don't think that's going to happen, but it's possible.

And listen to this, finally, just to wrap up here, a little quote from an oil analyst that I love, from the department of mixed metaphors: "It's not going to be like an raindrops. It's going to be like an anvil falling on consumers over the next 40 days." That's the price of gas.

HEMMER: Is that hyperbole, 80 bucks a barrel? SERWER: I think it is, a little bit, but they're to set the stage to get used to the price of a barrel of oil being around $50 and staying, I think.

HEMMER: Well, let's keep it there, send it back down.

Thank you, Andy.

COSTELLO: Hey, let's talk about Martha Stewart.

CAFFERTY: Let's not.

I'm getting some mail, though, as you might expect on the comments I made about the fact that I don't care about Martha Stewart and what she does, where she goes or when or anything else about her. But that's another subject.

23,000 miles, 67 hours is all it took to get Steve Fossett into the world record books. The 60-year-old billionaire became the first person circling the globe without stopping or refueling when his Globalflyer landed in Salina Kansas, yesterday. It wasn't a comfortable ride. He was stuck in a very small compartment in a flight suit. He lived on strawberry milk shakes, got no rest. But according to Fossett, the record-breaking flight fulfilled a major ambition. It's record No. 3 for this gentleman. He already holding records for circling the world solo in a balloon, and another by sailboat.

The question this morning, is what world record would you like to break? And it's Friday, so you can write about everything you want. We'll read some of the mail, including a couple things about M.S., not the disease, the person, a little later in the show. Well, come to think about.

HEMMER: Easy now.

How many hours has Jack Cafferty been on television?

CAFFERTY: Too many.

HEMMER: Is that a record.

CAFFERTY: I don't know. A lot, 42 years, something like that. I don't know, it's a long time.

You could rival Dick Clark. You could rival Regis Philbin.

HEMMER: You could rival Dick Clark. You could rival Regis Philbin.

SERWER: Gary Cooper you're going to bring up again.

HEMMER: No, not Gary Cooper.

CAFFERTY: Shouldn't we get back to Martha Stewart?

HEMMER: In a moment.

Thank you, Jack.

More to come right after the break here on AMERICAN MORNING.

Ahead on "90-Second Pop," it's Martha Stewart version 2.0 -- new image, new look. Who knew prison could do a body good?

Plus:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALLE BERRY, ACTRESS: This project is important to me, for two really big reasons. One, Oprah Winfrey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Halle Berry teaming up with the queen of all media. But is the project worth the buzz? That's later on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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