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American Morning
Steroids Investigation; 'Person of Interest' ID'd; Behind the Blake Verdict
Aired March 17, 2005 - 09:00 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Congressional hearings on steroids in baseball getting under way in just an hour. Is the league's new get-tough policy tough enough? Lawmakers want to know.
The verdict that stunned the experts. Robert Blake found not guilty of murder and speaking out about his life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT BLAKE, ACTOR: I'm going to get a job. I'm broke. Right now I couldn't buy seed (ph) for humming birds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: That's not all he said. He also said he's going to go cowboying. We'll explain.
And what could be the final stop for Scott Peterson checking into San Quentin on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. Bill Hemmer's got the day off. He's taking a little vacation. But Rob Marciano has been kind enough to come up from Atlanta and help us out.
Appreciate it.
ROBERT MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: It's been fun. Thanks for having me.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
Well, some big developments and trials to talk about for Robert Blake, for Scott Peterson, also in that other high-profile legal case, the Michael Jackson trial. We're going to get a unique look at what's happening behind the scenes when we talk to the man who prays with the singer he says every morning. That's the Reverend Jesse Jackson.
MARCIANO: And a new development in the search for 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Police now looking for a convicted sex offender. We'll find out why police say they really need to find this guy.
O'BRIEN: Mr. Cafferty's got the "Question of the Day."
Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
The Senate has voted to look for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. But the vote was very close. It was only 51-49. Do you think it's a good idea or not? AM@CNN.com.
O'BRIEN: Jack, thanks.
Let's get right to Carol. She's got the headlines this morning.
Good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.
"Now in the News," this just in to CNN, President Bush is getting ready to announce his pick for U.S. trade representative. CNN has just learned the president has chosen Republican Congressman Rob Portman of Ohio. If confirmed, he will replace Robert Zoellick. A formal announcement is expected to take place at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. CNN will of course bring that to you live.
In California, Scott Peterson is now on death row. Just hours ago Peterson was transferred to San Quentin. He's set to die by lethal injection. A judge formally sentenced him to death, upholding a jury's decision in that case.
The U.S. Senate is expected to take up a measure today which could help keep Terri Schiavo alive. She's the brain-damaged woman at the heart of a right-to-die dispute in Florida. The House has approved its own version of the bill. It allows the case to be heard in federal court. Without intervention, Schiavo's feeding tube is set to be removed tomorrow.
And Martha Stewart back in court. She just arrived at the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. Stewart's lawyers are appealing her criminal conviction. There you see her going into the courthouse now.
A three-judge panel can either uphold the guilty verdict or order a new trial. Stewart has already served her prison sentence and has started the portion of her house arrest. So this hearing is more a symbolic fight to clear her name.
Back to you.
Complicated, though. Because she already served time in prison and...
O'BRIEN: I'm sure she...
MARCIANO: She just wants to be on TV more.
O'BRIEN: I'm sure she feels she didn't do it and she's going to fight to clear her name. I think there's lots of people who disagree with her on that.
All right, Carol. Thanks.
Well, a hearing about steroids in baseball begins in Congress in just about an hour. A half-dozen major league players and the baseball commissioner are expected to testify.
Ed Henry is live at the Capitol for us this morning.
Ed, good morning. Just what is the committee hoping to gain or learn today?
ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
There are two key questions that this committee wants to zero in on. The first is how widespread is steroid abuse in baseball.
One of the witnesses, Jose Canseco, suggested it's rampant. And some of the fireworks today will come from the fact that Canseco will be sitting at the same witness table as two of the people he's accused of using illegal steroids, Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro.
Now, the second question is going to put baseball officials rather than players on the hot seat, including commissioner Bud Selig. And that is, how tough is baseball's new testing and punishment policy on steroids?
The baseball -- the Major Leagues have suggested that it's very tough. But some lawmakers are saying that it is riddled with loopholes and that baseball has misled the Congress and the public about the details of the plan. Here is Congressman Chris Shays.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. CHRIS SHAYS (R-CT), VICE CHAIRMAN, GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE: They're exempt from antitrust laws, they're not exempt from the laws. We're talking about players that are revered, worshiped, adored by our kids, respected by adults. And the bottom line, we're talking about drugs. These folks said they had a policy to deal with the issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Chris Shays referred, of course, to the antitrust exemption that baseball got back in the 1920s that allows it to operate like a monopoly. That's one of the reasons why baseball, in fact, has now all of a sudden started cooperating with this investigation after initially suggesting that they might fight it all the way to the Supreme Court.
The chairman of this House committee, Tom Davis, has suggested that Congress could take the exemption away, could also take some coveted tax breaks away from baseball if they do not cooperate with the investigation. And the bottom line here is, with those threats and the threat of potential contempt of Congress, charges if they didn't cooperate, baseball is finally stepping up to the plate -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: It will be interesting to start listening in on those hearings when they happen. Thanks, Ed. Appreciate it.
The hearings begin in just about an hour this morning, 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. And CNN will keep you up to date as testimony progresses throughout the day -- Rob.
MARCIANO: Soledad, Florida police are searching for a convicted sex offender for questioning in the disappearance of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Forty-six-year-old John Couey is being described as a "person of interest" in the case. Jessica Lunsford was reported missing last month, last seen in her own bedroom.
CNN's Sara Dorsey is live at Citrus County Police headquarters with the latest.
SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rob.
John Couey is not a suspect. Law enforcement agents say he's just a person they want to talk to, because he is a convicted sex offender and was living very near the home where Jessica Lunsford disappeared three weeks ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DORSEY (voice-over): The Citrus County sheriff wants to question this man, 46-year-old John Couey, in the case of missing 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Law enforcement officials say he is a person of interest. He is also a convicted sex offender with an extensive rap sheet who was living within eyeshot of the home where Jessica was last seen.
SHERIFF JEFF DAWSY, CITRUS COUNTY, FLORIDA: And you see the things that started to add up as we started to look at this individual. Sexual offender, OK, he has changed his residence. He is across the street.
DORSEY: Couey's criminal record includes 24 arrests over three decades on charges ranging from burglary to indecent exposure. He pleaded guilty to fondling a child in 1991.
The sheriff's office got word Couey was headed to Savannah, Georgia, and tipped off police there. Couey was located at a Salvation Army shelter and questioned by officers but allowed to go free because Savannah police had no jurisdiction.
BUCKY BURNSED, SAVANNAH-CHATHAM POLICE: With misdemeanor warrants -- and that was a misdemeanor warrant -- they will set a radius, an area. In this case, I believe it was 75 miles within which they would extradite an individual if they're apprehended. And we were well outside of that -- of that perimeter.
DAWSY: It is getting more and more interesting to us as time goes on here. We still think he's in that immediate area. DORSEY: Jessica was last seen February 23, sleeping at home where she lived with her father and grandparents. Even though Couey lived nearby, Jessica's father Mark Lunsford said he's a total stranger.
MARK LUNSFORD, JESSICA LUNSFORD'S FATHER: Me and my parents were looking at it. And we're like, wow, we've never even seen him before. I have no idea who he is.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DORSEY: And the Lunsford family may not know who this guy is, but the sheriff certainly does. He said a number of things aren't adding up here, including that this man's family actually lied when the sheriff went to ask a few questions.
You know, if he ever live there, they said no. That came out later that he had been staying there.
Also, his niece purchased him that bus tick tote Savannah under a different name. He told his friends here before he left that law enforcement would be looking for him. All of those things put together has peaked the sheriff's interest here -- Rob.
MARCIANO: OK, Sara. We'll be -- hopefully they'll find this guy. Sara Dorsey live for us in Citrus County, Florida.
Soledad, back over to you.
O'BRIEN: Thanks, Rob.
Well, now that Robert Blake is a free man, he says he wants to do a bit of traveling. A jury on Wednesday found him not guilty in the 2001 murder of his wife Bonny Lee Bakley. He burst into sobs at the news, but outside the courtroom a more jubilant and talkative Blake told reporters what he intends to do next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLAKE: I'm going to go out and do a little cowboying. Do you know what that is?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
BLAKE: No, you don't know what that is. Cowboying is when you get in a motor home or a van or something like that and you just let the air blow in your hair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Well, Blake's not going to do "cowboying" for too long. He's got to be back in court in July. Bakley's relatives are going ahead with a wrongful death lawsuit against the actor.
Eric Dubin is a Bakley family attorney.
Nice to have you. Thanks for talking with us.
ERIC DUBIN, BAKLEY FAMILY ATTORNEY: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: First, how is the family doing in the wake of this verdict?
DUBIN: Devastated. Everybody in the family knows who committed this crime. We feel that Bonny was murdered twice, once in the car and once in the public's eye for Mr. Blake to beat a murder rap.
So we're looking forward to July. I'm going to put him on the stand. And it's going to be a different game. And hopefully I can wipe that smile off his face.
O'BRIEN: Jurors said that they just didn't believe the stuntmen who had testified in the case. The prosecution wasn't able to really string it together for them. Doesn't that just make your case so much harder to try to prove?
DUBIN: No. Well, number one, the jurors pretty much said they felt he did it, but the reasonable doubt standard was just too much to meet.
O'BRIEN: Some said they thought he was innocent.
DUBIN: True. Fair enough.
But in my opinion, the reasonable doubt standard gets elevated for a celebrity. And I believe in America, fame and money will buy you freedom.
When it comes to my case, I can put Robert Blake on the stand. I can have an easier burden of proof. I plan on proving Robert Blake to be a murderer in July.
O'BRIEN: He has said in some of the comments he made outside, he said, I'm broke, essentially. Let's listen to a little bit more of what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLAKE: If you want to know how to go through $10 million in five years, ask me. I'm broke!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know.
BLAKE: I need a job!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Do you think that he was saying that because of the wrongful death suit against him? Some people have raised that issue, that it's a kind of a convenient time to talk about no money when essentially that's what you're going for here.
DUBIN: Yes, and I was standing two feet away from him and holding up a picture of Bonny at the time. So he knew I was there, and it may have been towards me.
O'BRIEN: Is it true? Is he broke? $10 million in...
DUBIN: Oh, I don't believe a word he says. He told Bonny he had cancer when he was trying to convince her to have an abortion. So he's a known liar.
It's not about money, it's about justice, making sure he never profits off Bonny's murder. And just getting some kind of justice for these kids. That's going to be my mission.
And clearing all the lies that have been told about Bonny for years now. It's really devastating for the family. But it's not over.
O'BRIEN: One would imagine -- I mean, her reputation was dragged through the mud. And now a lot of it, to some degree, I think it is fair to say, was somewhat deserved. She had a tough background.
How do you think that played a role in what the verdict was?
DUBIN: Well, honestly, the Bonny bashing was more outside the courtroom than inside. It was pretty clear early on the jury did not want to hear that Bonny deserved to die, which was the implied message the Blake lawyers were getting out there.
What I want you to know is all these things that you know about Bonny have come from Robert Blake or Robert Blake's lawyers, either telling the hit man why she deserved to die or to beat a murder rap. They're not true.
Bonny was a mother of four. She sold nude photos. And I don't think that's a crime. I don't think that's worthy of the death penalty.
And if someone has a problem with nudity in LA, there's a lot of targets. Might as well go to the "Playboy" mansion and go to town.
O'BRIEN: You've said that it was the fact that he was famous that he got off. You don't think it's the fact that the prosecution had what some people have called a pathetically weak case?
DUBIN: Oh, absolutely not. I thought it was one of the strongest circumstantial cases I've ever seen.
I think if it's you or me or the average person, they're in prison right now. He told six people he wanted her dead, and she was killed the same way he wanted her killed.
He hated her, he had motive, means and opportunity. He was the only one there. He has no alibi.
I thought it was a strong case. But again, for celebrities the question seems to be obviously he did it, but you think they're going to meet their burden of proof. It becomes a game. O'BRIEN: I guess if you think it was a strong case, then you blame the jurors for not being able to connect the dots? You don't blame the prosecution for not putting a connectable case together?
DUBIN: No. First of all, the prosecution and the detectives are amazing individuals. And Shelly Samuels (ph) Detective Ito (ph) and Tindall (ph) are some of the most amazing people I've ever met.
I think they ran into a celebrity situation. And I really do believe in these celebrity trials the burden of proof gets elevated to not so much reasonable doubt, but "I need to be sure so I can go tell the world what I did was right."
O'BRIEN: How do you avoid that in your trial?
DUBIN: I have an easier burden of proof. Mr. Schwartzbach told the jury in his closing, even if you think he probably did it, that's not enough. In my case, probable is enough.
O'BRIEN: Eric Dubin, good luck with your case. Thank you for talking with us.
DUBIN: Thanks, Soledad. OK.
O'BRIEN: Appreciate it -- Rob.
MARCIANO: Soledad, it's 13 minutes past the hour. Time for another weather check. Chad Myers at the CNN Center with the latest forecast.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Straight ahead this morning, the Reverend Jesse Jackson joins us. He talks with Michael Jackson every morning. We're going to talk to him about that.
MARCIANO: Also, the man believed to be Brian Nichols' fourth victim. David Wilhelm's friends share memories of a man they say was an inspiration.
O'BRIEN: Plus, Dr. Gupta on a deadly bacteria lurking in gyms and locker rooms around the country. We'll explain later on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Today in California, Michael Jackson will continue to fight charges that he sexually molested a teenage boy. Jackson's been getting the support of his family each and every day in court.
That's his dad Joe right there.
Somebody else who has been standing by the pop star's side is the Reverend Jesse Jackson. He's been praying with the singer. Reverend Jackson joins us from Los Angeles.
Nice to see you, Reverend Jackson. Good morning to you.
REVEREND JESSE JACKSON, RAINBOW PUSH COALITION: Good morning. You know, I've known this family since 1968 since all of them were children. And it is a strong religious family, so with Michael and his mother, we do pray and counsel virtually every day.
O'BRIEN: What do you say to him?
JACKSON: Well, to hold fast with his faith. When you're going through a storm, you have to have something within to hold you on.
Michael is very resilient. While he looks kind of delicate on the outside, such a nimble dancer, he's a very strong person. And he feels very wronged by the prosecutor.
After all, the prosecutorial sensationalism really took this thing to another level. He gave the press advanced notice and went into Neverland with 70 people and ransacked his house and tore up his furniture and the like. And then a huge international press conference. And "Are there any other witnesses out there? Come forth."
This was unusual behavior for a prosecutor. And so it has taken this thing to a level of sensationalism that an attempt to try this in the newsroom rather than the courtroom. He feels very wronged by that, but he's fighting back.
O'BRIEN: So he's either been horribly wronged or he's guilty of a really horrific crime. Do you have a sense of his innocence or his guilt? What do you believe?
JACKSON: Well, first, he's legally presumed innocent. He says -- and I certainly have no other reason to believe anything else but that he is innocent. And between the prosecutorial zealotry on the one hand, and the -- and the witnesses falling apart, it appears he's even more innocent in the eyes of the public as well.
O'BRIEN: Well, as they say, everybody gets their day in court. We'll see how it ends up.
I'm curious to know, though, the day that we saw Michael Jackson on the stand and the back problem and rushing from the hospital so he ended up being in court in his pajamas, there are many people who said, wow, this is a sign that it's starting to get to him, that he's starting to crack. Was that your assessment at all?
JACKSON: He's under an extraordinarily amount of pressure and yet he's handling it very well. He did have a back problem, some back spasms. He was at the hospital, that's documented.
He did leave there under the threat by the judge he would be fined if he did not show up in court. And so in some (UNINTELLIGIBLE) he was leaving the hospital. What I also found quite strange is that while the issues about molestation, the issue of whether he is broke or not, suggests that maybe the scene behind the scene is about -- is about money. And there's a real fear, a real concern that the fight with Sony about Michael owning that catalog which includes all the Beatles' songs, there's a bigger issue here than the issue of molestation.
So I think that when this trial is over, there will be an ongoing struggle as he fights to clear his name and gets to the heart of the fight.
O'BRIEN: Are you saying that the trial itself to some degree is some kind of red herring, that this is fabricated in a way because of some other issue here? Explain that for me.
JACKSON: Well, the family certainly suggests and feels that in the end that this really is about the money. It really is about the fight with Sony over the catalog.
O'BRIEN: But not the money from the family of the accuser. You're saying the money that's involved in this very obviously expensive and financially lucrative catalog, including the -- that Sony has. So explain that connection to me.
JACKSON: That's right. So since this is about molestation, why did the issue of money and his economic status even get into the picture? Except this was the original fight and the kind of bigger fight is that.
At least that's how the family feels. It's how Michael feels. But he feels strongly that he will be relieved of these charges as this goes on.
In the meantime, as I counsel with him and we pray with his family virtually every day, he's holding up with amazing strength and resilience. I just want, as we would in any case, for this to be handled more in the courtroom and not just in the newsroom.
You've got all these charges against priests for molestation. We're not seeing anybody invade churches, invade the homes of the parishes. We've seen a lot of this, but the sensationalism, the kind of prosecutorial zealotry and misconduct seems to undermine something called fairness and reasonableness.
O'BRIEN: I hear what you're saying, but at the same time I think it is fair to say that he's possibly the most famous human being in the world. And I think that's where you get some of your sensationalism.
JACKSON: Well, that does not take one above or below the law. I mean, one accused Rush Limbaugh in dealing in drugs, which he admitted, but he was given dignity and due process, which Rush deserved, I might add.
But (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the case of these priests who have finally faced the (UNINTELLIGIBLE). They've been given dignity and due process.
Michael Jackson deserves no less than any other American citizen. He has a popular standing, notwithstanding.
The idea of a prosecutor going through your home with 70 people to invade it and ransack it and have a big press conference, that was a trial in the newsroom before it even got to the courtroom. That is unreasonable.
O'BRIEN: Reverend Jesse Jackson talking with us this morning. Nice to see you. Thanks for your time.
JACKSON: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, Robert Blake's acquittal stunned many people, some legal experts as well. Ahead, some of the jurors tell us how they came to their decision.
That's on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Let's check in now with Jack with the "Question of the Day."
CAFFERTY: The Senate voted yesterday 51-49 to open the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration. Think it's a good idea?
Some people do because we need more oil, I guess. Some people don't because it's a wildlife refuge. And we're getting a ton of mail. We got 1,000 e-mails probably this morning.
Rick in Kansas City writes: "Ask the biologists, sportsmen and commercial fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico. The drilling platforms and oilrigs in the offshore areas of Texas and Louisiana are a great fishery and have created habitat which would otherwise have not existed."
Johnny in Mississippi, "This administration seems more intent on continuing its close and suspicious association with big business and the oil industry and less interested in developing a permanent solution to the energy problem."
Mark in Maryland writes: "If having more oil is the issue, at what point does it become viable to restart the U.S. wells that were shut down when oil was cheap in the '80s?"
And on a subject we reported on in "The File," Hal in Missouri writes: "Jack, if that baby hawk isn't named after you, then there's no justice in the world. You pretty much single-handedly got the ball rolling on that hawk story. And I bet there wouldn't even be a baby were it not for your dogged reporting. It is amazing to see that you love nature in spite of what it did to you."
(LAUGHTER)
CAFFERTY: Thanks, Hal, I think.
O'BRIEN: Kind of.
MARCIANO: You're an animal lover.
O'BRIEN: Except for that very last part, that was a kind of a nice letter.
CAFFERTY: Yes. Well, he has a point, I guess.
MARCIANO: Thanks, Jack.
O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, legal experts saying they're stunned by the Robert Blake verdict. The jurors tell us how they made their decision.
Also, Laci Peterson's family faces down her convicted killer. Their emotional and heart-wrenching words are ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Aired March 17, 2005 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Congressional hearings on steroids in baseball getting under way in just an hour. Is the league's new get-tough policy tough enough? Lawmakers want to know.
The verdict that stunned the experts. Robert Blake found not guilty of murder and speaking out about his life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT BLAKE, ACTOR: I'm going to get a job. I'm broke. Right now I couldn't buy seed (ph) for humming birds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: That's not all he said. He also said he's going to go cowboying. We'll explain.
And what could be the final stop for Scott Peterson checking into San Quentin on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. Bill Hemmer's got the day off. He's taking a little vacation. But Rob Marciano has been kind enough to come up from Atlanta and help us out.
Appreciate it.
ROBERT MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: It's been fun. Thanks for having me.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
Well, some big developments and trials to talk about for Robert Blake, for Scott Peterson, also in that other high-profile legal case, the Michael Jackson trial. We're going to get a unique look at what's happening behind the scenes when we talk to the man who prays with the singer he says every morning. That's the Reverend Jesse Jackson.
MARCIANO: And a new development in the search for 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Police now looking for a convicted sex offender. We'll find out why police say they really need to find this guy.
O'BRIEN: Mr. Cafferty's got the "Question of the Day."
Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
The Senate has voted to look for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. But the vote was very close. It was only 51-49. Do you think it's a good idea or not? AM@CNN.com.
O'BRIEN: Jack, thanks.
Let's get right to Carol. She's got the headlines this morning.
Good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.
"Now in the News," this just in to CNN, President Bush is getting ready to announce his pick for U.S. trade representative. CNN has just learned the president has chosen Republican Congressman Rob Portman of Ohio. If confirmed, he will replace Robert Zoellick. A formal announcement is expected to take place at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. CNN will of course bring that to you live.
In California, Scott Peterson is now on death row. Just hours ago Peterson was transferred to San Quentin. He's set to die by lethal injection. A judge formally sentenced him to death, upholding a jury's decision in that case.
The U.S. Senate is expected to take up a measure today which could help keep Terri Schiavo alive. She's the brain-damaged woman at the heart of a right-to-die dispute in Florida. The House has approved its own version of the bill. It allows the case to be heard in federal court. Without intervention, Schiavo's feeding tube is set to be removed tomorrow.
And Martha Stewart back in court. She just arrived at the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. Stewart's lawyers are appealing her criminal conviction. There you see her going into the courthouse now.
A three-judge panel can either uphold the guilty verdict or order a new trial. Stewart has already served her prison sentence and has started the portion of her house arrest. So this hearing is more a symbolic fight to clear her name.
Back to you.
Complicated, though. Because she already served time in prison and...
O'BRIEN: I'm sure she...
MARCIANO: She just wants to be on TV more.
O'BRIEN: I'm sure she feels she didn't do it and she's going to fight to clear her name. I think there's lots of people who disagree with her on that.
All right, Carol. Thanks.
Well, a hearing about steroids in baseball begins in Congress in just about an hour. A half-dozen major league players and the baseball commissioner are expected to testify.
Ed Henry is live at the Capitol for us this morning.
Ed, good morning. Just what is the committee hoping to gain or learn today?
ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
There are two key questions that this committee wants to zero in on. The first is how widespread is steroid abuse in baseball.
One of the witnesses, Jose Canseco, suggested it's rampant. And some of the fireworks today will come from the fact that Canseco will be sitting at the same witness table as two of the people he's accused of using illegal steroids, Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro.
Now, the second question is going to put baseball officials rather than players on the hot seat, including commissioner Bud Selig. And that is, how tough is baseball's new testing and punishment policy on steroids?
The baseball -- the Major Leagues have suggested that it's very tough. But some lawmakers are saying that it is riddled with loopholes and that baseball has misled the Congress and the public about the details of the plan. Here is Congressman Chris Shays.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. CHRIS SHAYS (R-CT), VICE CHAIRMAN, GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE: They're exempt from antitrust laws, they're not exempt from the laws. We're talking about players that are revered, worshiped, adored by our kids, respected by adults. And the bottom line, we're talking about drugs. These folks said they had a policy to deal with the issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Chris Shays referred, of course, to the antitrust exemption that baseball got back in the 1920s that allows it to operate like a monopoly. That's one of the reasons why baseball, in fact, has now all of a sudden started cooperating with this investigation after initially suggesting that they might fight it all the way to the Supreme Court.
The chairman of this House committee, Tom Davis, has suggested that Congress could take the exemption away, could also take some coveted tax breaks away from baseball if they do not cooperate with the investigation. And the bottom line here is, with those threats and the threat of potential contempt of Congress, charges if they didn't cooperate, baseball is finally stepping up to the plate -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: It will be interesting to start listening in on those hearings when they happen. Thanks, Ed. Appreciate it.
The hearings begin in just about an hour this morning, 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. And CNN will keep you up to date as testimony progresses throughout the day -- Rob.
MARCIANO: Soledad, Florida police are searching for a convicted sex offender for questioning in the disappearance of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Forty-six-year-old John Couey is being described as a "person of interest" in the case. Jessica Lunsford was reported missing last month, last seen in her own bedroom.
CNN's Sara Dorsey is live at Citrus County Police headquarters with the latest.
SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rob.
John Couey is not a suspect. Law enforcement agents say he's just a person they want to talk to, because he is a convicted sex offender and was living very near the home where Jessica Lunsford disappeared three weeks ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DORSEY (voice-over): The Citrus County sheriff wants to question this man, 46-year-old John Couey, in the case of missing 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Law enforcement officials say he is a person of interest. He is also a convicted sex offender with an extensive rap sheet who was living within eyeshot of the home where Jessica was last seen.
SHERIFF JEFF DAWSY, CITRUS COUNTY, FLORIDA: And you see the things that started to add up as we started to look at this individual. Sexual offender, OK, he has changed his residence. He is across the street.
DORSEY: Couey's criminal record includes 24 arrests over three decades on charges ranging from burglary to indecent exposure. He pleaded guilty to fondling a child in 1991.
The sheriff's office got word Couey was headed to Savannah, Georgia, and tipped off police there. Couey was located at a Salvation Army shelter and questioned by officers but allowed to go free because Savannah police had no jurisdiction.
BUCKY BURNSED, SAVANNAH-CHATHAM POLICE: With misdemeanor warrants -- and that was a misdemeanor warrant -- they will set a radius, an area. In this case, I believe it was 75 miles within which they would extradite an individual if they're apprehended. And we were well outside of that -- of that perimeter.
DAWSY: It is getting more and more interesting to us as time goes on here. We still think he's in that immediate area. DORSEY: Jessica was last seen February 23, sleeping at home where she lived with her father and grandparents. Even though Couey lived nearby, Jessica's father Mark Lunsford said he's a total stranger.
MARK LUNSFORD, JESSICA LUNSFORD'S FATHER: Me and my parents were looking at it. And we're like, wow, we've never even seen him before. I have no idea who he is.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DORSEY: And the Lunsford family may not know who this guy is, but the sheriff certainly does. He said a number of things aren't adding up here, including that this man's family actually lied when the sheriff went to ask a few questions.
You know, if he ever live there, they said no. That came out later that he had been staying there.
Also, his niece purchased him that bus tick tote Savannah under a different name. He told his friends here before he left that law enforcement would be looking for him. All of those things put together has peaked the sheriff's interest here -- Rob.
MARCIANO: OK, Sara. We'll be -- hopefully they'll find this guy. Sara Dorsey live for us in Citrus County, Florida.
Soledad, back over to you.
O'BRIEN: Thanks, Rob.
Well, now that Robert Blake is a free man, he says he wants to do a bit of traveling. A jury on Wednesday found him not guilty in the 2001 murder of his wife Bonny Lee Bakley. He burst into sobs at the news, but outside the courtroom a more jubilant and talkative Blake told reporters what he intends to do next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLAKE: I'm going to go out and do a little cowboying. Do you know what that is?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
BLAKE: No, you don't know what that is. Cowboying is when you get in a motor home or a van or something like that and you just let the air blow in your hair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Well, Blake's not going to do "cowboying" for too long. He's got to be back in court in July. Bakley's relatives are going ahead with a wrongful death lawsuit against the actor.
Eric Dubin is a Bakley family attorney.
Nice to have you. Thanks for talking with us.
ERIC DUBIN, BAKLEY FAMILY ATTORNEY: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: First, how is the family doing in the wake of this verdict?
DUBIN: Devastated. Everybody in the family knows who committed this crime. We feel that Bonny was murdered twice, once in the car and once in the public's eye for Mr. Blake to beat a murder rap.
So we're looking forward to July. I'm going to put him on the stand. And it's going to be a different game. And hopefully I can wipe that smile off his face.
O'BRIEN: Jurors said that they just didn't believe the stuntmen who had testified in the case. The prosecution wasn't able to really string it together for them. Doesn't that just make your case so much harder to try to prove?
DUBIN: No. Well, number one, the jurors pretty much said they felt he did it, but the reasonable doubt standard was just too much to meet.
O'BRIEN: Some said they thought he was innocent.
DUBIN: True. Fair enough.
But in my opinion, the reasonable doubt standard gets elevated for a celebrity. And I believe in America, fame and money will buy you freedom.
When it comes to my case, I can put Robert Blake on the stand. I can have an easier burden of proof. I plan on proving Robert Blake to be a murderer in July.
O'BRIEN: He has said in some of the comments he made outside, he said, I'm broke, essentially. Let's listen to a little bit more of what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLAKE: If you want to know how to go through $10 million in five years, ask me. I'm broke!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know.
BLAKE: I need a job!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Do you think that he was saying that because of the wrongful death suit against him? Some people have raised that issue, that it's a kind of a convenient time to talk about no money when essentially that's what you're going for here.
DUBIN: Yes, and I was standing two feet away from him and holding up a picture of Bonny at the time. So he knew I was there, and it may have been towards me.
O'BRIEN: Is it true? Is he broke? $10 million in...
DUBIN: Oh, I don't believe a word he says. He told Bonny he had cancer when he was trying to convince her to have an abortion. So he's a known liar.
It's not about money, it's about justice, making sure he never profits off Bonny's murder. And just getting some kind of justice for these kids. That's going to be my mission.
And clearing all the lies that have been told about Bonny for years now. It's really devastating for the family. But it's not over.
O'BRIEN: One would imagine -- I mean, her reputation was dragged through the mud. And now a lot of it, to some degree, I think it is fair to say, was somewhat deserved. She had a tough background.
How do you think that played a role in what the verdict was?
DUBIN: Well, honestly, the Bonny bashing was more outside the courtroom than inside. It was pretty clear early on the jury did not want to hear that Bonny deserved to die, which was the implied message the Blake lawyers were getting out there.
What I want you to know is all these things that you know about Bonny have come from Robert Blake or Robert Blake's lawyers, either telling the hit man why she deserved to die or to beat a murder rap. They're not true.
Bonny was a mother of four. She sold nude photos. And I don't think that's a crime. I don't think that's worthy of the death penalty.
And if someone has a problem with nudity in LA, there's a lot of targets. Might as well go to the "Playboy" mansion and go to town.
O'BRIEN: You've said that it was the fact that he was famous that he got off. You don't think it's the fact that the prosecution had what some people have called a pathetically weak case?
DUBIN: Oh, absolutely not. I thought it was one of the strongest circumstantial cases I've ever seen.
I think if it's you or me or the average person, they're in prison right now. He told six people he wanted her dead, and she was killed the same way he wanted her killed.
He hated her, he had motive, means and opportunity. He was the only one there. He has no alibi.
I thought it was a strong case. But again, for celebrities the question seems to be obviously he did it, but you think they're going to meet their burden of proof. It becomes a game. O'BRIEN: I guess if you think it was a strong case, then you blame the jurors for not being able to connect the dots? You don't blame the prosecution for not putting a connectable case together?
DUBIN: No. First of all, the prosecution and the detectives are amazing individuals. And Shelly Samuels (ph) Detective Ito (ph) and Tindall (ph) are some of the most amazing people I've ever met.
I think they ran into a celebrity situation. And I really do believe in these celebrity trials the burden of proof gets elevated to not so much reasonable doubt, but "I need to be sure so I can go tell the world what I did was right."
O'BRIEN: How do you avoid that in your trial?
DUBIN: I have an easier burden of proof. Mr. Schwartzbach told the jury in his closing, even if you think he probably did it, that's not enough. In my case, probable is enough.
O'BRIEN: Eric Dubin, good luck with your case. Thank you for talking with us.
DUBIN: Thanks, Soledad. OK.
O'BRIEN: Appreciate it -- Rob.
MARCIANO: Soledad, it's 13 minutes past the hour. Time for another weather check. Chad Myers at the CNN Center with the latest forecast.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Straight ahead this morning, the Reverend Jesse Jackson joins us. He talks with Michael Jackson every morning. We're going to talk to him about that.
MARCIANO: Also, the man believed to be Brian Nichols' fourth victim. David Wilhelm's friends share memories of a man they say was an inspiration.
O'BRIEN: Plus, Dr. Gupta on a deadly bacteria lurking in gyms and locker rooms around the country. We'll explain later on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Today in California, Michael Jackson will continue to fight charges that he sexually molested a teenage boy. Jackson's been getting the support of his family each and every day in court.
That's his dad Joe right there.
Somebody else who has been standing by the pop star's side is the Reverend Jesse Jackson. He's been praying with the singer. Reverend Jackson joins us from Los Angeles.
Nice to see you, Reverend Jackson. Good morning to you.
REVEREND JESSE JACKSON, RAINBOW PUSH COALITION: Good morning. You know, I've known this family since 1968 since all of them were children. And it is a strong religious family, so with Michael and his mother, we do pray and counsel virtually every day.
O'BRIEN: What do you say to him?
JACKSON: Well, to hold fast with his faith. When you're going through a storm, you have to have something within to hold you on.
Michael is very resilient. While he looks kind of delicate on the outside, such a nimble dancer, he's a very strong person. And he feels very wronged by the prosecutor.
After all, the prosecutorial sensationalism really took this thing to another level. He gave the press advanced notice and went into Neverland with 70 people and ransacked his house and tore up his furniture and the like. And then a huge international press conference. And "Are there any other witnesses out there? Come forth."
This was unusual behavior for a prosecutor. And so it has taken this thing to a level of sensationalism that an attempt to try this in the newsroom rather than the courtroom. He feels very wronged by that, but he's fighting back.
O'BRIEN: So he's either been horribly wronged or he's guilty of a really horrific crime. Do you have a sense of his innocence or his guilt? What do you believe?
JACKSON: Well, first, he's legally presumed innocent. He says -- and I certainly have no other reason to believe anything else but that he is innocent. And between the prosecutorial zealotry on the one hand, and the -- and the witnesses falling apart, it appears he's even more innocent in the eyes of the public as well.
O'BRIEN: Well, as they say, everybody gets their day in court. We'll see how it ends up.
I'm curious to know, though, the day that we saw Michael Jackson on the stand and the back problem and rushing from the hospital so he ended up being in court in his pajamas, there are many people who said, wow, this is a sign that it's starting to get to him, that he's starting to crack. Was that your assessment at all?
JACKSON: He's under an extraordinarily amount of pressure and yet he's handling it very well. He did have a back problem, some back spasms. He was at the hospital, that's documented.
He did leave there under the threat by the judge he would be fined if he did not show up in court. And so in some (UNINTELLIGIBLE) he was leaving the hospital. What I also found quite strange is that while the issues about molestation, the issue of whether he is broke or not, suggests that maybe the scene behind the scene is about -- is about money. And there's a real fear, a real concern that the fight with Sony about Michael owning that catalog which includes all the Beatles' songs, there's a bigger issue here than the issue of molestation.
So I think that when this trial is over, there will be an ongoing struggle as he fights to clear his name and gets to the heart of the fight.
O'BRIEN: Are you saying that the trial itself to some degree is some kind of red herring, that this is fabricated in a way because of some other issue here? Explain that for me.
JACKSON: Well, the family certainly suggests and feels that in the end that this really is about the money. It really is about the fight with Sony over the catalog.
O'BRIEN: But not the money from the family of the accuser. You're saying the money that's involved in this very obviously expensive and financially lucrative catalog, including the -- that Sony has. So explain that connection to me.
JACKSON: That's right. So since this is about molestation, why did the issue of money and his economic status even get into the picture? Except this was the original fight and the kind of bigger fight is that.
At least that's how the family feels. It's how Michael feels. But he feels strongly that he will be relieved of these charges as this goes on.
In the meantime, as I counsel with him and we pray with his family virtually every day, he's holding up with amazing strength and resilience. I just want, as we would in any case, for this to be handled more in the courtroom and not just in the newsroom.
You've got all these charges against priests for molestation. We're not seeing anybody invade churches, invade the homes of the parishes. We've seen a lot of this, but the sensationalism, the kind of prosecutorial zealotry and misconduct seems to undermine something called fairness and reasonableness.
O'BRIEN: I hear what you're saying, but at the same time I think it is fair to say that he's possibly the most famous human being in the world. And I think that's where you get some of your sensationalism.
JACKSON: Well, that does not take one above or below the law. I mean, one accused Rush Limbaugh in dealing in drugs, which he admitted, but he was given dignity and due process, which Rush deserved, I might add.
But (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the case of these priests who have finally faced the (UNINTELLIGIBLE). They've been given dignity and due process.
Michael Jackson deserves no less than any other American citizen. He has a popular standing, notwithstanding.
The idea of a prosecutor going through your home with 70 people to invade it and ransack it and have a big press conference, that was a trial in the newsroom before it even got to the courtroom. That is unreasonable.
O'BRIEN: Reverend Jesse Jackson talking with us this morning. Nice to see you. Thanks for your time.
JACKSON: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, Robert Blake's acquittal stunned many people, some legal experts as well. Ahead, some of the jurors tell us how they came to their decision.
That's on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Let's check in now with Jack with the "Question of the Day."
CAFFERTY: The Senate voted yesterday 51-49 to open the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration. Think it's a good idea?
Some people do because we need more oil, I guess. Some people don't because it's a wildlife refuge. And we're getting a ton of mail. We got 1,000 e-mails probably this morning.
Rick in Kansas City writes: "Ask the biologists, sportsmen and commercial fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico. The drilling platforms and oilrigs in the offshore areas of Texas and Louisiana are a great fishery and have created habitat which would otherwise have not existed."
Johnny in Mississippi, "This administration seems more intent on continuing its close and suspicious association with big business and the oil industry and less interested in developing a permanent solution to the energy problem."
Mark in Maryland writes: "If having more oil is the issue, at what point does it become viable to restart the U.S. wells that were shut down when oil was cheap in the '80s?"
And on a subject we reported on in "The File," Hal in Missouri writes: "Jack, if that baby hawk isn't named after you, then there's no justice in the world. You pretty much single-handedly got the ball rolling on that hawk story. And I bet there wouldn't even be a baby were it not for your dogged reporting. It is amazing to see that you love nature in spite of what it did to you."
(LAUGHTER)
CAFFERTY: Thanks, Hal, I think.
O'BRIEN: Kind of.
MARCIANO: You're an animal lover.
O'BRIEN: Except for that very last part, that was a kind of a nice letter.
CAFFERTY: Yes. Well, he has a point, I guess.
MARCIANO: Thanks, Jack.
O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, legal experts saying they're stunned by the Robert Blake verdict. The jurors tell us how they made their decision.
Also, Laci Peterson's family faces down her convicted killer. Their emotional and heart-wrenching words are ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
