Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Motive for Murder?; Jackson Trial

Aired May 11, 2005 - 08:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: A new recall from General Motors to tell you about. Some 300,000 trucks and SUVs could have problems with their turn signals. Instead of flashing in the direction the driver is turning, the lights in front or back flash like a hazard warning. The company says it will notify drivers once replacement parts become available.
And Elizabeth Taylor making a grand exit for more than $12.5 million. A London jeweler purchased the 1963 acrylic portrait entitled "Liz" at Sotheby's auction house last night. The painting is one in a series that pop artist Andy Warhol made of Taylor, but the only one on a background. So $12.5 million, just a little bit of a change lying around.

HEMMER: add the red point and you pop it up to $12 million?

WALLACE: Exactly. The price goes up there.

HEMMER: I wish it were that easy.

Thanks, Kelly.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Kelly.

In Illinois, a prosecutor says he believes Jerry Hobbs acted alone when he killed his young daughter and her best friend on Sunday, but he doesn't know of a motive. A bond hearing is scheduled later this morning, and more details might come out then.

Chris Lawrence joins us now from the courthouse in Waukegan, Illinois.

Chris, first, let's talk about what exactly led police to Hobbs?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, his criminal background was definitely a red flag for investigators. He's got convictions going back 15 years. He had just spent time in a Texas prison, was released about four weeks ago, and then moved here to Illinois.

But the tipping point may have come when police asked Hobbs to take them back to the park and explain again how he found the bodies. They say his story didn't add up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL WALLER, LAKE CO. STATE'S ATTY.: What's standard in a homicide investigation is the family members are interviewed to find out associates and where the victim was and details of that nature. And Hobbs' reactions were atypical of a father whose daughter had just been murdered, and that piqued their interest. And some of his answers really didn't add up, and that led to further questioning, and ultimately to evidence that resulted in the charges.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE: They didn't get specific about what his reactions were, but we may hear more of that today, or later this morning at the bond hearing.

O'BRIEN: Chris, when you consider just how small the town Zion is, and how tightly knit this community is, just how are they doing?

LAWRENCE: It's been very tough. Not only for a lot of the parents, but for the kids. You know, you're talking about a lot of kids' classmates, 8, 9 years old. There was a prayer vigil held -- actually, two last night. One at each of the parents' homes of the little girls who were killed. People came out, they read poems, they prayed with the parents. It has definitely brought this town together; first in fear, in just being terrified that their own children could be in danger, and now in kind of this wave of relief that as horrible as this was, that someone at least is in custody, and that's giving a lot of relief to some of the parents who live here.

O'BRIEN: Yes, I would suppose so. What an upsetting story.

Chris Lawrence for us this morning. Chris, thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: Now to the Michael Jackson trial, at 27 minutes before the hour. The actor Macaulay Culkin could take the stand today. And Culkin, we know, was a frequent guest at Jackson's Neverland Ranch back in the earl 1990s. He denies, though, anything ever inappropriate happened between the two. So then how important is his testimony in the trial?

Back with us today, Attorney Anne Bremner is out in Santa Maria, California.

Welcome back, Anne. Good morning to you there.

ANNE BREMNER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good morning to you, Bill.

HEMMER: Size this up for us. What does the defense want to accomplish with Culkin on the stand?

BREMNER: Well, the defense wants to turn things around with Macaulay Culkin. Even though they've called two of the pattern- evidence victims that say nothing happened with Michael Jackson, there was a lot of baggage with those witness, including one that said he slept with Michael Jackson -- or it was said he slept with Michael Jackson 365 nights. So Macaulay Culkin has to come in and say, I wasn't abused, but also explain the world of Michael Jackson, that he's really a child and be loves to be around children. HEMMER: So Culkin will be, what, the third witness then who admitted to sleeping in the same bed with Michael Jackson?

BREMNER: Exactly.

HEMMER: How do jurors handle that information?

BREMNER: Well, you know, I think the jurors in the prosecution's case thought that this was an occasional thing, and with the '93 accuser, there were 30 days of overnights with Michael Jackson. But when they're hearing about 365 days and they've heard a roll call of special friends of Michael Jackson, and the prosecutor asked yesterday, the ranch manager, were there any special women friends, and he could only come up with Liz Taylor. And then he ultimately said Liza Minelli. And the prosecutor said, well, I guess we're up to two.

HEMMER: Take us back a little bit. When the prosecution was presenting its case, it presented evidence that talked about Macaulay Culkin. Does the defense have to rebut that evidence today?

BREMNER: Absolutely. They had two witnesses that talked about specific acts of molestation of Macaulay Culkin. He's got to come in and say none of that happened, and that Michael Jackson is really a child at heart, the patron saint of children, that he's somebody who loves to have water-balloon fights, and that's all it is. The sleepovers are innocent, as opposed to what the prosecution is saying, is 46-year-old men don't have sleepovers; think about it.

HEMMER: Let's talk about the star power. When Macaulay Culkin walks into that courtroom, do jurors react or respond to him in a way that might be favorable or unfavorable? Because there's been a lot of anticipation for him to take the stand, I believe.

BREMNER: Yes, and I think the jurors, you know -- some of the jurors have been sleeping a little bit, they've have been yawning...

HEMMER: Really?

BREMNER: Through some of the testimony the last few days. Yes, because it's almost like the defense has been treading water, getting ready for Macaulay Culkin. And maybe the jurors feel that anticipation, too, that there's something important coming up, you know, a coming attraction. And what we've had in the last few days, you know, has been very tedious, so I think they're going to be paying a lot of attention when he gets on the stand, because you know, he's the one we always hear about with Michael Jackson, and we know publicly he has denied, denied, denied molestation.

HEMMER: So you're saying there is a sense of anticipation then for this testimony that may come today?

BREMNER: Absolutely.

HEMMER: We'll watch it. Thanks, Anne. Anne Bremner out there in Santa Maria, California. Several hours away from court resuming today. Thanks -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, the runaway bride, Jennifer Wilbanks, has checked into a treatment program. A statement from her church's P.R. firm says that Wilbanks believes that in the facility she'll be able to face the issue issues that, quote, "played a major role in running from herself," as she described in a public statement released from her attorney and pastor last week. The district attorney says her decision to seek treatment will not affect his decision about whether he will press charges.

HEMMER: You know, the expression, it's been a long day, right? A day does not get much longer than it does in Barrow, Alaska, 300 miles above the Arctic Circle. When folks get up there in the morning, they'll be looking forward to a day that will last three months. That's because the sun rose Tuesday at around 3:00 a.m. local time. It doesn't set again until August. In winter, it reverses the situation. Barrow is almost in complete darkness, the night there lasting from November to late January. This summer, they can play baseball 24 hours a day up there in Barrow, Alaska.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Another Web site enters the music download business, and it could mean some big savings for consumers. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business," just ahead.

HEMMER: Also, the fight for a good night's sleep. Listen up here if you're a victim. We're paging the good doctor for tips on beating insomnia. That's up after a break on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Sleep or lack of it. Millions of Americans suffer from insomnia, and as Sanjay tells us today, the stress and anxiety of that have some people desperately seeking solutions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): I need to get some sleep. I can't get no sleep.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Alison Woodward's almost nightly ritual for the past 20 years is maddening. She suffers from insomnia, a sleepless dance that results in hours upon hours of tossing and turning or simply lying there, like a corpse. On a good night, Alison might get four or five hours. But on nights when insomnia strikes, it's closer to two.

ALISON WOODWARD, INSOMNIAC: The way I look at it is that, you know, you sort of have a disease, you're suffering from illness. It doesn't stop your life, but it just makes it difficult. .

GUPTA: As a dance instructor, that means difficulty motivating herself and her students, or concentrating, things most of us take for granted. And years of not being able to fall asleep, waking up bleary-eyed, definitely takes its toll. GARY ZAMMIT, SLEEP SPECIALIST: Even one hour of sleep loss can have an impact on next day functioning. When you add that up over time, there is a cumulative effect that leads to greater and greater impairment, greater dysfunction during the day.

GUPTA: So Alison paid a visit to Gary Zammit at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in New York, who offered sage advice.

ZAMMIT: I would recommend that you avoid daytime naps. Another thing that could be addressed, clock watching. We know that people who are watching the minutes tick by on the clock will become hyper- aroused. Finally, set a regular bedtime and a regular rise time.

GUPTA: After a couple of days, we checked in to see if Alison's newfound sleep plan had worked.

WOODWARD: The past two nights, I did sleep -- I wouldn't say really well, but I think I slept a little bit longer.

GUPTA: So what's left? For Alison, drugs aren't her first choice. She's tried Ambien and several over-the-counter drugs. No lasting results. Still, desperate for sleep, Alison agreed to a sleep make-over with Dr. Anna Krieger (ph) from the NYU Sleep Disorders Center. First and most important step...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keep your environment more towards sleep.

GUPTA: Using the bedroom as only a place to sleep, not exercise or watch television, and going in there only when she's very sleepy. Other tips Dr. Krieger offered: keeping a worry book by the bed to write out any worries or stress that may be keeping Alison awake at night. And getting dark shades for her windows, so not even faint light can shine on her at night.

After two makeovers, Alison's sleep is still not ideal, but she's determined to implement elements from both sleep plans, because she's tasted what good sleep is like and she'll do anything to get that feeling every night.

WOODWARD: I can't believe how fantastic I feel. And sometimes I stop and I think, my god, I mean, there are people that sleep well every night, have no trouble, you know, get good eight hours of sleep and I guess they feel like this all the time.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Good luck, Alison. She's not alone, either. According to the National Sleep Foundation, more than 70 million Americans suffer from either chronic or acute insomnia. Good luck -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Hey did you see Sanjay as a guest last night on the CBS late show -- "Late, Late Show," rather, with Craig Ferguson? Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRAIG FERGUSON, HOST, "LATE LATE SHOW": Are brain surgeons really smarter than regular folk? Are you really, really, very, very smart?

GUPTA: No. I mean, you know, with all due respect to all my colleagues, I think that -- one of my attendings, one of my professors always said you could teach a monkey how to operate. Now what makes a good -- no, seriously.

FERGUSON: That's one smart monkey, my friend.

GUPTA: But what makes a good doctor, a good brain surgeon, I think, is compassion and spending time with your patients, all the things that make a good doctor, period.

FERGUSON: Well, monkeys are compassionate, right?

GUPTA: Yes, they're just good -- right -- with their hands.

FERGUSON: They throw crap at you.

GUPTA: They throw crap, quite literally.

FERGUSON: Apparently, they -- their own crap, they throw at you.

GUPTA: Has this happened to you?

FERGUSON: It did happen to me last week, actually.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: What do you think? Monkey, Gupta? You taking Gupta.

O'BRIEN: That was funny.

Coming up this morning, look out I-Tunes and Napster, there is a new online music provider. Andy is "Minding Your Business" this morning with details, up next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, they're at it again. My hunch is they're doing it just because they like to. Andy Serwer's "Minding Your Business." The Stones are touring yet again.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" COLUMNIST: They are, Jack. Kicking it off yesterday at the Juilliard School of Music in Manhattan. The Rolling Stones announcing their tour starting this August at Fenway Park up in Boston. Mick and Keith are both 61, Jack, which I think is...

CAFFERTY: Don't be making a lot of fun of people who are over 60. SERWER: Early 60's.

CAFFERTY: I could jump all kind of ugly with you over that.

SERWER: Look at that. They're going. I hung out with them in '02-'03 when they were starting out that last tour, did the cover story about them. And at that point -- this is the story I did back then. And they were -- I called them "The Billion Dollar Band." They'd made a billion dollars en toto throughout the career, selling records and doing tours.

The last tour, they made an additional $300 million. And so the beat just goes on. You're right, you know -- people say, oh, they're just doing it to get rich. They charge $100 a ticket. That's true. But they're like sharks. You know, they got to keep doing it to survive, kind of thing. I mean, it really, you know...

HEMMER: Well, you think on a personal level, not a professional level?

SERWER: Both. They just -- they just got to keep playing. I mean, they get off on it, you know, playing to these full houses and stuff. And they try to think of new things like playing Fenway and stuff like that.

CAFFERTY: The great medical miracle of the 21st century is how Keith Richards is still alive.

SERWER: Yes. He is a lot of fun to hang out with. He will say absolutely anything.

O'BRIEN: Really?

SERWER: Yes.

HEMMER: Don't you think Charlie Watts just looks bored out of his mind?

SERWER: Well, he's always been like that.

O'BRIEN: He hasn't changed his expression.

SERWER: He's a calm, cool and collected guy. And Keith, of course, lives out in Connecticut. He's kind of a suburban dad these days, which is funny, but true.

CAFFERTY: Close to a detox center.

SERWER: Yes. He would laugh at that.

CAFFERTY: Of course he...

SERWER: He would love that.

Let's talk about Yahoo! a little bit. They're going to be rolling out an online music business today to compete against Napster and Apple. Here's how it works. $60 subscription model or $6.99 a month, plus the 99 cents a song. You know, I really can't stand this kind of way of doing it, because if you let your subscription expire, then the songs are no good anymore. So, you know, Apple's just so much easier. You pay 99 cents. They have this market locked up. And you know, they're not compatible with the other people's businesses either.

CAFFERTY: I have these eight-track cassettes.

SERWER: Yes. Real haggards.

O'BRIEN: Where do you play them?

SERWER: Right in his car.

Finally, let's talk about the markets. Yesterday, kind of a bad one for investors. Stocks down across the board. Dow down 103 points. This morning at the opening bell, if there's a bustle in your hedge row, don't be alarmed now. That's because guess who's ringing the opening bell? Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin. I mean, it must be the week of aged British rock stars.

CAFFERTY: I told you to not be making fun of us old people.

O'BRIEN: Young and dynamic.

SERWER: I know, they might hit me with their crutch or something. Sorry.

CAFFERTY: All right, Wednesday, which means in "The File," it's time for "Things People Say."

"Asking anyone whether they're going to run for president in 2008 is like asking a 12-year-old if they're going to go to the senior prom." David Wade, speaking for John Kerry, the failed 2004 presidential candidate, who is thinking about a second try. Based on that quote, probably going to run.

"I think this guy is a loser." Harry Reid, the Senate minority leader, referring to our beloved president in a civics discussion with high school students in Las Vegas. He later called the White House to apologize.

SERWER: Nice.

CAFFERTY: "It was for a damn good reason I attacked him. He was found with another woman." Patsy Cisneros, the wife of New Mexico state senator Carlos Cisneros, on why she hit her husband in the head with a hammer.

O'BRIEN: I didn't know that.

SERWER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: "Let's put the cards on the table. I needed the money." This is Jane Fonda, explaining her decision to star in that ill-fated monster-in-law turkey movie with Jennifer Lopez. "The traitor and the Twit" would be the billing on the marquee.

HEMMER: Ooh.

CAFFERTY: And finally this: "If you ask me, I'd like to become the first female president. That would be really cool. The first thing I would do is redecorate the White House. It doesn't look very cozy." Jennifer Lopez.

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: On where her ambitious career might head in the future.

HEMMER: So she's not getting Jack's vote.

SERWER: No. Well, she'd have the secretary of the interior do it. Who is it who said that?

O'BRIEN: Gayle Norton (ph), and it said by Jessica Simpson.

CAFFERTY: And you know, the sad thing, we dwell on these people. We pay close attention to what they do, what they say, where they go, who they marry. All of us.

SERWER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: All of us.

SERWER: The media. You're doing it.

CAFFERTY: You and you and "90 Second Dribble" and all of us.

O'BRIEN: You.

SERWER: I'm doing Jimmy Page. I'm sticking with Jimmy Page and the Rolling Stones.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Who does that remind us of?

SERWER: And the taxpayers.

HEMMER: After nine years, the popular CBS family comedy "Everybody Loves Raymond" is saying good-bye now. Last night on "LARRY KING," the star, Ray Romano, explained the decision to stop now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAY ROMANO, "EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND": After seven years, we thought we had said a lot and we thought we did it all, and we thought maybe it's time now. And then we got talked into doing another year and -- we didn't get talked into it, but we knew the shows were still -- the quality was still there. After eight years, we could sense that we're running out of fresh ideas. That's all it was. It was creative. You know, the actors, everybody was great, the writers still wanted to do it, but we just wanted to leave while we were on the top and we thought if we went one more year, we might have been stretching it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Final episode...

SERWER: Ah. I'm shedding tears.

HEMMER: CBS at 9:00. And you, too!

SERWER: Just get coffee.

HEMMER: In a moment, an Arizona firefighter loses the winning Kentucky Derby ticket. That ticket was worth more than 800 grand, but thanks to a cashier who sold it to him, the story has a happy ending. We'll talk to both of them next hour on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Iraqi citizens trapped in a wave of violence today. Dozens killed in six separate bombings. And now, another attack coming in the last two hours.

The government of Georgia offers new information about a grenade found just 200 feet from President Bush. Was it a breach of security? A former Secret Service agent weighs in.

And the case against a father who's accused of killing his daughter and her best friend. The suspect heading to court on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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

HEMMER: Good morning everybody. 9:00 here in New York City. Good morning to you.

O'BRIEN: And you.

HEMMER: Sanjay's coming back in a moment here, part three n his series of crime scene investigators.

O'BRIEN: Also today Sanjay's talking about the TV show "CSI: Miami," goes behind-the-scenes, kind of showing off how art imitates life.

HEMMER: It's been an interesting series, too, to figure out how they all get that stuff together. Jack's back, too, talking about United.

CAFFERTY: Yes, United Airlines. A judge yesterday allowed the airline to default on its pension plan. $3.2 billion owed to a 134,000 employees. The obligation will now be turned over to the taxpayers, in the form of the federal government. Could it start a trend and is it a good idea? Am@CNN.com.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired May 11, 2005 - 08:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: A new recall from General Motors to tell you about. Some 300,000 trucks and SUVs could have problems with their turn signals. Instead of flashing in the direction the driver is turning, the lights in front or back flash like a hazard warning. The company says it will notify drivers once replacement parts become available.
And Elizabeth Taylor making a grand exit for more than $12.5 million. A London jeweler purchased the 1963 acrylic portrait entitled "Liz" at Sotheby's auction house last night. The painting is one in a series that pop artist Andy Warhol made of Taylor, but the only one on a background. So $12.5 million, just a little bit of a change lying around.

HEMMER: add the red point and you pop it up to $12 million?

WALLACE: Exactly. The price goes up there.

HEMMER: I wish it were that easy.

Thanks, Kelly.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Kelly.

In Illinois, a prosecutor says he believes Jerry Hobbs acted alone when he killed his young daughter and her best friend on Sunday, but he doesn't know of a motive. A bond hearing is scheduled later this morning, and more details might come out then.

Chris Lawrence joins us now from the courthouse in Waukegan, Illinois.

Chris, first, let's talk about what exactly led police to Hobbs?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, his criminal background was definitely a red flag for investigators. He's got convictions going back 15 years. He had just spent time in a Texas prison, was released about four weeks ago, and then moved here to Illinois.

But the tipping point may have come when police asked Hobbs to take them back to the park and explain again how he found the bodies. They say his story didn't add up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL WALLER, LAKE CO. STATE'S ATTY.: What's standard in a homicide investigation is the family members are interviewed to find out associates and where the victim was and details of that nature. And Hobbs' reactions were atypical of a father whose daughter had just been murdered, and that piqued their interest. And some of his answers really didn't add up, and that led to further questioning, and ultimately to evidence that resulted in the charges.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE: They didn't get specific about what his reactions were, but we may hear more of that today, or later this morning at the bond hearing.

O'BRIEN: Chris, when you consider just how small the town Zion is, and how tightly knit this community is, just how are they doing?

LAWRENCE: It's been very tough. Not only for a lot of the parents, but for the kids. You know, you're talking about a lot of kids' classmates, 8, 9 years old. There was a prayer vigil held -- actually, two last night. One at each of the parents' homes of the little girls who were killed. People came out, they read poems, they prayed with the parents. It has definitely brought this town together; first in fear, in just being terrified that their own children could be in danger, and now in kind of this wave of relief that as horrible as this was, that someone at least is in custody, and that's giving a lot of relief to some of the parents who live here.

O'BRIEN: Yes, I would suppose so. What an upsetting story.

Chris Lawrence for us this morning. Chris, thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: Now to the Michael Jackson trial, at 27 minutes before the hour. The actor Macaulay Culkin could take the stand today. And Culkin, we know, was a frequent guest at Jackson's Neverland Ranch back in the earl 1990s. He denies, though, anything ever inappropriate happened between the two. So then how important is his testimony in the trial?

Back with us today, Attorney Anne Bremner is out in Santa Maria, California.

Welcome back, Anne. Good morning to you there.

ANNE BREMNER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good morning to you, Bill.

HEMMER: Size this up for us. What does the defense want to accomplish with Culkin on the stand?

BREMNER: Well, the defense wants to turn things around with Macaulay Culkin. Even though they've called two of the pattern- evidence victims that say nothing happened with Michael Jackson, there was a lot of baggage with those witness, including one that said he slept with Michael Jackson -- or it was said he slept with Michael Jackson 365 nights. So Macaulay Culkin has to come in and say, I wasn't abused, but also explain the world of Michael Jackson, that he's really a child and be loves to be around children. HEMMER: So Culkin will be, what, the third witness then who admitted to sleeping in the same bed with Michael Jackson?

BREMNER: Exactly.

HEMMER: How do jurors handle that information?

BREMNER: Well, you know, I think the jurors in the prosecution's case thought that this was an occasional thing, and with the '93 accuser, there were 30 days of overnights with Michael Jackson. But when they're hearing about 365 days and they've heard a roll call of special friends of Michael Jackson, and the prosecutor asked yesterday, the ranch manager, were there any special women friends, and he could only come up with Liz Taylor. And then he ultimately said Liza Minelli. And the prosecutor said, well, I guess we're up to two.

HEMMER: Take us back a little bit. When the prosecution was presenting its case, it presented evidence that talked about Macaulay Culkin. Does the defense have to rebut that evidence today?

BREMNER: Absolutely. They had two witnesses that talked about specific acts of molestation of Macaulay Culkin. He's got to come in and say none of that happened, and that Michael Jackson is really a child at heart, the patron saint of children, that he's somebody who loves to have water-balloon fights, and that's all it is. The sleepovers are innocent, as opposed to what the prosecution is saying, is 46-year-old men don't have sleepovers; think about it.

HEMMER: Let's talk about the star power. When Macaulay Culkin walks into that courtroom, do jurors react or respond to him in a way that might be favorable or unfavorable? Because there's been a lot of anticipation for him to take the stand, I believe.

BREMNER: Yes, and I think the jurors, you know -- some of the jurors have been sleeping a little bit, they've have been yawning...

HEMMER: Really?

BREMNER: Through some of the testimony the last few days. Yes, because it's almost like the defense has been treading water, getting ready for Macaulay Culkin. And maybe the jurors feel that anticipation, too, that there's something important coming up, you know, a coming attraction. And what we've had in the last few days, you know, has been very tedious, so I think they're going to be paying a lot of attention when he gets on the stand, because you know, he's the one we always hear about with Michael Jackson, and we know publicly he has denied, denied, denied molestation.

HEMMER: So you're saying there is a sense of anticipation then for this testimony that may come today?

BREMNER: Absolutely.

HEMMER: We'll watch it. Thanks, Anne. Anne Bremner out there in Santa Maria, California. Several hours away from court resuming today. Thanks -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, the runaway bride, Jennifer Wilbanks, has checked into a treatment program. A statement from her church's P.R. firm says that Wilbanks believes that in the facility she'll be able to face the issue issues that, quote, "played a major role in running from herself," as she described in a public statement released from her attorney and pastor last week. The district attorney says her decision to seek treatment will not affect his decision about whether he will press charges.

HEMMER: You know, the expression, it's been a long day, right? A day does not get much longer than it does in Barrow, Alaska, 300 miles above the Arctic Circle. When folks get up there in the morning, they'll be looking forward to a day that will last three months. That's because the sun rose Tuesday at around 3:00 a.m. local time. It doesn't set again until August. In winter, it reverses the situation. Barrow is almost in complete darkness, the night there lasting from November to late January. This summer, they can play baseball 24 hours a day up there in Barrow, Alaska.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Another Web site enters the music download business, and it could mean some big savings for consumers. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business," just ahead.

HEMMER: Also, the fight for a good night's sleep. Listen up here if you're a victim. We're paging the good doctor for tips on beating insomnia. That's up after a break on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Sleep or lack of it. Millions of Americans suffer from insomnia, and as Sanjay tells us today, the stress and anxiety of that have some people desperately seeking solutions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): I need to get some sleep. I can't get no sleep.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Alison Woodward's almost nightly ritual for the past 20 years is maddening. She suffers from insomnia, a sleepless dance that results in hours upon hours of tossing and turning or simply lying there, like a corpse. On a good night, Alison might get four or five hours. But on nights when insomnia strikes, it's closer to two.

ALISON WOODWARD, INSOMNIAC: The way I look at it is that, you know, you sort of have a disease, you're suffering from illness. It doesn't stop your life, but it just makes it difficult. .

GUPTA: As a dance instructor, that means difficulty motivating herself and her students, or concentrating, things most of us take for granted. And years of not being able to fall asleep, waking up bleary-eyed, definitely takes its toll. GARY ZAMMIT, SLEEP SPECIALIST: Even one hour of sleep loss can have an impact on next day functioning. When you add that up over time, there is a cumulative effect that leads to greater and greater impairment, greater dysfunction during the day.

GUPTA: So Alison paid a visit to Gary Zammit at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in New York, who offered sage advice.

ZAMMIT: I would recommend that you avoid daytime naps. Another thing that could be addressed, clock watching. We know that people who are watching the minutes tick by on the clock will become hyper- aroused. Finally, set a regular bedtime and a regular rise time.

GUPTA: After a couple of days, we checked in to see if Alison's newfound sleep plan had worked.

WOODWARD: The past two nights, I did sleep -- I wouldn't say really well, but I think I slept a little bit longer.

GUPTA: So what's left? For Alison, drugs aren't her first choice. She's tried Ambien and several over-the-counter drugs. No lasting results. Still, desperate for sleep, Alison agreed to a sleep make-over with Dr. Anna Krieger (ph) from the NYU Sleep Disorders Center. First and most important step...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keep your environment more towards sleep.

GUPTA: Using the bedroom as only a place to sleep, not exercise or watch television, and going in there only when she's very sleepy. Other tips Dr. Krieger offered: keeping a worry book by the bed to write out any worries or stress that may be keeping Alison awake at night. And getting dark shades for her windows, so not even faint light can shine on her at night.

After two makeovers, Alison's sleep is still not ideal, but she's determined to implement elements from both sleep plans, because she's tasted what good sleep is like and she'll do anything to get that feeling every night.

WOODWARD: I can't believe how fantastic I feel. And sometimes I stop and I think, my god, I mean, there are people that sleep well every night, have no trouble, you know, get good eight hours of sleep and I guess they feel like this all the time.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Good luck, Alison. She's not alone, either. According to the National Sleep Foundation, more than 70 million Americans suffer from either chronic or acute insomnia. Good luck -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Hey did you see Sanjay as a guest last night on the CBS late show -- "Late, Late Show," rather, with Craig Ferguson? Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRAIG FERGUSON, HOST, "LATE LATE SHOW": Are brain surgeons really smarter than regular folk? Are you really, really, very, very smart?

GUPTA: No. I mean, you know, with all due respect to all my colleagues, I think that -- one of my attendings, one of my professors always said you could teach a monkey how to operate. Now what makes a good -- no, seriously.

FERGUSON: That's one smart monkey, my friend.

GUPTA: But what makes a good doctor, a good brain surgeon, I think, is compassion and spending time with your patients, all the things that make a good doctor, period.

FERGUSON: Well, monkeys are compassionate, right?

GUPTA: Yes, they're just good -- right -- with their hands.

FERGUSON: They throw crap at you.

GUPTA: They throw crap, quite literally.

FERGUSON: Apparently, they -- their own crap, they throw at you.

GUPTA: Has this happened to you?

FERGUSON: It did happen to me last week, actually.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: What do you think? Monkey, Gupta? You taking Gupta.

O'BRIEN: That was funny.

Coming up this morning, look out I-Tunes and Napster, there is a new online music provider. Andy is "Minding Your Business" this morning with details, up next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, they're at it again. My hunch is they're doing it just because they like to. Andy Serwer's "Minding Your Business." The Stones are touring yet again.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" COLUMNIST: They are, Jack. Kicking it off yesterday at the Juilliard School of Music in Manhattan. The Rolling Stones announcing their tour starting this August at Fenway Park up in Boston. Mick and Keith are both 61, Jack, which I think is...

CAFFERTY: Don't be making a lot of fun of people who are over 60. SERWER: Early 60's.

CAFFERTY: I could jump all kind of ugly with you over that.

SERWER: Look at that. They're going. I hung out with them in '02-'03 when they were starting out that last tour, did the cover story about them. And at that point -- this is the story I did back then. And they were -- I called them "The Billion Dollar Band." They'd made a billion dollars en toto throughout the career, selling records and doing tours.

The last tour, they made an additional $300 million. And so the beat just goes on. You're right, you know -- people say, oh, they're just doing it to get rich. They charge $100 a ticket. That's true. But they're like sharks. You know, they got to keep doing it to survive, kind of thing. I mean, it really, you know...

HEMMER: Well, you think on a personal level, not a professional level?

SERWER: Both. They just -- they just got to keep playing. I mean, they get off on it, you know, playing to these full houses and stuff. And they try to think of new things like playing Fenway and stuff like that.

CAFFERTY: The great medical miracle of the 21st century is how Keith Richards is still alive.

SERWER: Yes. He is a lot of fun to hang out with. He will say absolutely anything.

O'BRIEN: Really?

SERWER: Yes.

HEMMER: Don't you think Charlie Watts just looks bored out of his mind?

SERWER: Well, he's always been like that.

O'BRIEN: He hasn't changed his expression.

SERWER: He's a calm, cool and collected guy. And Keith, of course, lives out in Connecticut. He's kind of a suburban dad these days, which is funny, but true.

CAFFERTY: Close to a detox center.

SERWER: Yes. He would laugh at that.

CAFFERTY: Of course he...

SERWER: He would love that.

Let's talk about Yahoo! a little bit. They're going to be rolling out an online music business today to compete against Napster and Apple. Here's how it works. $60 subscription model or $6.99 a month, plus the 99 cents a song. You know, I really can't stand this kind of way of doing it, because if you let your subscription expire, then the songs are no good anymore. So, you know, Apple's just so much easier. You pay 99 cents. They have this market locked up. And you know, they're not compatible with the other people's businesses either.

CAFFERTY: I have these eight-track cassettes.

SERWER: Yes. Real haggards.

O'BRIEN: Where do you play them?

SERWER: Right in his car.

Finally, let's talk about the markets. Yesterday, kind of a bad one for investors. Stocks down across the board. Dow down 103 points. This morning at the opening bell, if there's a bustle in your hedge row, don't be alarmed now. That's because guess who's ringing the opening bell? Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin. I mean, it must be the week of aged British rock stars.

CAFFERTY: I told you to not be making fun of us old people.

O'BRIEN: Young and dynamic.

SERWER: I know, they might hit me with their crutch or something. Sorry.

CAFFERTY: All right, Wednesday, which means in "The File," it's time for "Things People Say."

"Asking anyone whether they're going to run for president in 2008 is like asking a 12-year-old if they're going to go to the senior prom." David Wade, speaking for John Kerry, the failed 2004 presidential candidate, who is thinking about a second try. Based on that quote, probably going to run.

"I think this guy is a loser." Harry Reid, the Senate minority leader, referring to our beloved president in a civics discussion with high school students in Las Vegas. He later called the White House to apologize.

SERWER: Nice.

CAFFERTY: "It was for a damn good reason I attacked him. He was found with another woman." Patsy Cisneros, the wife of New Mexico state senator Carlos Cisneros, on why she hit her husband in the head with a hammer.

O'BRIEN: I didn't know that.

SERWER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: "Let's put the cards on the table. I needed the money." This is Jane Fonda, explaining her decision to star in that ill-fated monster-in-law turkey movie with Jennifer Lopez. "The traitor and the Twit" would be the billing on the marquee.

HEMMER: Ooh.

CAFFERTY: And finally this: "If you ask me, I'd like to become the first female president. That would be really cool. The first thing I would do is redecorate the White House. It doesn't look very cozy." Jennifer Lopez.

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: On where her ambitious career might head in the future.

HEMMER: So she's not getting Jack's vote.

SERWER: No. Well, she'd have the secretary of the interior do it. Who is it who said that?

O'BRIEN: Gayle Norton (ph), and it said by Jessica Simpson.

CAFFERTY: And you know, the sad thing, we dwell on these people. We pay close attention to what they do, what they say, where they go, who they marry. All of us.

SERWER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: All of us.

SERWER: The media. You're doing it.

CAFFERTY: You and you and "90 Second Dribble" and all of us.

O'BRIEN: You.

SERWER: I'm doing Jimmy Page. I'm sticking with Jimmy Page and the Rolling Stones.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Who does that remind us of?

SERWER: And the taxpayers.

HEMMER: After nine years, the popular CBS family comedy "Everybody Loves Raymond" is saying good-bye now. Last night on "LARRY KING," the star, Ray Romano, explained the decision to stop now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAY ROMANO, "EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND": After seven years, we thought we had said a lot and we thought we did it all, and we thought maybe it's time now. And then we got talked into doing another year and -- we didn't get talked into it, but we knew the shows were still -- the quality was still there. After eight years, we could sense that we're running out of fresh ideas. That's all it was. It was creative. You know, the actors, everybody was great, the writers still wanted to do it, but we just wanted to leave while we were on the top and we thought if we went one more year, we might have been stretching it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Final episode...

SERWER: Ah. I'm shedding tears.

HEMMER: CBS at 9:00. And you, too!

SERWER: Just get coffee.

HEMMER: In a moment, an Arizona firefighter loses the winning Kentucky Derby ticket. That ticket was worth more than 800 grand, but thanks to a cashier who sold it to him, the story has a happy ending. We'll talk to both of them next hour on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Iraqi citizens trapped in a wave of violence today. Dozens killed in six separate bombings. And now, another attack coming in the last two hours.

The government of Georgia offers new information about a grenade found just 200 feet from President Bush. Was it a breach of security? A former Secret Service agent weighs in.

And the case against a father who's accused of killing his daughter and her best friend. The suspect heading to court on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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

HEMMER: Good morning everybody. 9:00 here in New York City. Good morning to you.

O'BRIEN: And you.

HEMMER: Sanjay's coming back in a moment here, part three n his series of crime scene investigators.

O'BRIEN: Also today Sanjay's talking about the TV show "CSI: Miami," goes behind-the-scenes, kind of showing off how art imitates life.

HEMMER: It's been an interesting series, too, to figure out how they all get that stuff together. Jack's back, too, talking about United.

CAFFERTY: Yes, United Airlines. A judge yesterday allowed the airline to default on its pension plan. $3.2 billion owed to a 134,000 employees. The obligation will now be turned over to the taxpayers, in the form of the federal government. Could it start a trend and is it a good idea? Am@CNN.com.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com