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American Morning
Michael Jackson Verdict Watch; Tropical Depression Arlene
Aired June 13, 2005 - 07:29 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: Welcome back, everybody. It is almost exactly half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Bill Hemmer has got a long weekend, but Ali Velshi has been nice enough to fill in for him this morning.
Nice to have you.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: It's my pleasure to be here again. Good morning.
Coming up, a look at the Michael Jackson deliberations. We enter another week without a verdict. In a few minutes, we'll talk to Anne Bremner about what's happening and reports that the jury has been asking some questions.
O'BRIEN: Oh, that's interesting. First, though, let's get right to the headlines with Carol Costello.
Good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.
"Now in the News."
Three car bomb attacks in Iraq this morning. At least two civilians were killed and five others hurt after a blast in western Baghdad. In Samarra, a suicide car bomber attacked an Iraqi police patrol. An Iraqi police source said at least two were killed and at least five others wounded. And 3 people were killed and 11 others wounded in Tikrit when a suicide car bomber targeted an Iraqi police patrol there.
Jury selection begins this morning in a 41-year-old civil rights case. Eighty-year-old Edgar Ray Killen is charged with the 1964 murders of three civil rights workers in Philadelphia, Mississippi. The case was portrayed in the movie "Mississippi Burning." Killen was tried on federal civil rights violations back in 1967, but that case ended in a hung jury. Killen says he's innocent.
The mother of the missing Alabama teenager, Natalee Holloway, is not happy with the way authorities in Aruba are handling her daughter's disappearance. She believes three suspects who were with her daughter the night she went missing know exactly what happened. In the meantime, investigators say a substance found in a Honda seized from those three suspects is not blood. Holloway disappeared on May 30. President Bush meets with leaders of five African countries this morning to discuss democracy and trade agreements. Over the weekend, the U.S. and other leaders in the G8 agreed to eliminate more than $40 billion of debt owned by 18 percent of the world's poorest nations. The president also plans to urge Congress to give duty-free status to goods from poor countries in sub-Saharan Africa. And, of course, maybe he'll have some public remarks after that meeting. We don't know. If he does, of course, we'll bring them to you.
O'BRIEN: All right, Carol, thanks a lot.
VELSHI: The Michael Jackson jurors are set to resume deliberations this morning. Eight women and four men have met for more than 28 hours. That's over a six-day period.
Attorney Anne Bremner is in Santa Maria, California, up very early for California time.
And good to see you. Thank you for being with us.
ANNE BREMNER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good to see you. Thanks.
VELSHI: So, you kind of speculated, as did many last week, that we might see some action on Friday. We didn't get that. But the jury, I guess, asked for transcripts or asked for some read-backs of testimony. Now, I can't keep my notes straight when they're right in front of me. Do they not take notes, get to take notes, or get to take those transcripts into the jury room with them?
BREMNER: Well, they take notes. Last week, I said the end is near, and I wasn't just talking about the signs out front here. But we didn't know then that they were starting to ask questions and ask for read-backs. Yes, they take notes. Yes, they take them in the jury room. But they don't get the transcripts. They have to ask the judge for a read-back, and that has to be done with the lawyers and the judge.
And so, CNN broke this last week on Friday, Ted Rowlands, that they have had three sessions with the judge on Friday, where they went back and heard the accuser's testimony read back and had some other questions. So that's slowing the deliberations down. It indicates that they're looking very closely at the accuser's testimony and the evidence.
VELSHI: It's still a long trial. I think we're getting into 14 weeks now. They went into that first week, and I think there was some speculation that the trial ended faster than people thought. There was some speculation that so might the deliberations. Does it mean something one way or the other, if you're an odds maker on this one, that it's taken this long?
BREMNER: What it means, conventional wisdom is this: A very short deliberation means acquittal generally, like O.J. Simpson. A longer time -- and this isn't too long, it's a reasonable time -- could mean a guilty verdict. But then when you go way too long, you're looking back again at a potential acquittal, a not guilty or a hung jury.
But this is steady as they go. I mean, they've had a long case, a lot to consider. And we did hope for a verdict last week, but early this week wouldn't surprise me.
VELSHI: And tell me about the read-backs. I would have assumed that if the jury is getting testimony read back that it's sort of administrative; that everybody doesn't need to be there. But I have since learned that it's typical for the accused to be around when that read-back happens. That didn't happen this time. Michael Jackson wasn't in court for the read-back. Is there any significance to that?
BREMNER: A lot of attorneys want to have their client present so the jury can take another look at them, because as they deliberate, you want them to be reminded about your client and have them look them in the eye as they're going through deliberation. But it's typical in this case that he's not here for procedural matters. He hasn't been here for motions. He hasn't been here for read-backs. He's up at Neverland.
VELSHI: Let's talk a little about this whole flap about who speaks for Michael Jackson. I guess Ramone Bain was fired last week as the spokesperson. What's going on there? And does that matter at all to this whole process?
BREMNER: A lot of people were speaking for Michael Jackson last week. Jesse Jackson was here for three days. And the question was: Was it Jackson on Jackson and which Jackson? And also Ramone Bain, of course, has been a spokesperson throughout.
Thomas Mesereau always stands with every witness and says, "I'm Thomas Mesereau, and I speak for Michael Jackson."
And there's a French word for lawyer, and it's avacat (ph). And what that means is, you stand in the shoes of your client. That's what Thomas Mesereau does. Only one person should speak for Michael Jackson. And that's Thomas Mesereau, and I think that's what happened. Too many mixed messages out here.
The judge was -- the jurors are right here behind me in an outdoor pen, where they take breaks. It's a stone's throw. It's really close. The judge pipes Musak into there, because there are press conferences right on this side of me, fans out here, and 3,000 members of the press milling about.
VELSHI: Well, you realize if this goes on much longer, we're just going to turn those cameras around, and it's all going to be about a conversation about what you guys are talking about. Anne, good to see you. Thank you for being with us.
BREMNER: Nice to see you. Thanks.
VELSHI: Attorney Anne Bremner in Santa Maria, California, this morning -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: An earthquake along Southern California's most active fault has people there a little bit shaken. The small town of Anza is closest to the epicenter. The moderate quake measured 5.6. It did little damage. Surveillance cameras at the casino there captured the shaking at 8:41 a.m. local time on Sunday. People ran out of the building as it shook. It was similar to the quake back in 2001, also on the San Jacinto fault. A 6.6 magnitude quake rocked the area back in 1987.
In Florida, Tropical Storm Arlene turned out to be more of a scare than anything else. It's a tropical depression now. But nerves were on edge this weekend in northwest Florida, because Arlene followed the same path as last year's destructive Hurricane Ivan.
Bob Franken has our report this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The beachgoers were back to the sun and stand and waves as if the storm hadn't happened.
Jim and Betty Timms were back home in their RV. Actually, they drove it back to what's left of their home on Santa Rosa Island, part of the widespread destruction left not even nine months ago by the deadly winds of Hurricane Ivan.
JIM TIMMS, HURRICANE IVAN VICTIM: We did not need this other little tropical storm to come through and make it a little bit more difficult to get things going.
FRANKEN: Many went to the beaches Saturday to watch the turbulence. But officials say that, for the most part, residents and visitors alike heeded the warnings to get out of potential harm's way. Mild though Arlene was, she still poured salt water on the raw wounds left by Ivan.
J. TIMMS: After Ivan, so many people are so, you know, nervous about any kind of wind and rain and water that they don't want to stay out here.
FRANKEN: They didn't. They took off at the first word of a storm. In fact, that's why they chose to live in an RV.
BETTY TIMMS, HURRICANE IVAN VICTIM: So now we know that, you know, we can just unhook everything and leave when we need to.
FRANKEN (on camera): They plan to stay, rebuilding the house here, where they lived through four hurricanes since 1996, even though the existence on a barrier island like this is predictably precarious.
J. TIMMS: There aren't many places in the world that you'll find the topography that you have here. It's just gorgeous. It also has turned out to be a very good investment.
FRANKEN (voice over): More proof that what matters is location, location, location, even when it's sometimes dangerous, dangerous, dangerous. Bob Franken, CNN, Santa Rosa Island, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Now a tropical depression, as you mentioned.
Let's check right back in on the weather.
(WEATHER REPORT)
VELSHI: Well, the undisputed queen of women's golf was able to hold off the superstars of the future this weekend. Sweden's Annika Sorenstam winning the LPGA championship, her second major of the year and her sixth tournament win. Sorenstam hit a final round 73, to finish 11 under par. Now that beat 15-year-old American amateur Michelle Wie by just three shots and 18-year-old American Paula Kremer. She shared third place with Britain's Laura Davies. Laura and Annika, I think, can rent a car of that group. The rest of them can to be driven there by their folks.
O'BRIEN: The 15-year-old needs a mom or dad to take her.
VELSHI: Yes.
O'BRIEN: That's great. Still to come on this AMERICAN MORNING, new reports this morning that the nation's fourth-largest airline might be destined for bankruptcy.
VELSHI: And "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" kills at the box office. Our "90-Second Pop" panel on Brad and Angelina's weekend win. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: It's time for our pop quiz here on AMERICAN MORNING: Which airline isn't bankrupt? Yet another airline tailspins toward bankruptcy as business-class fares take off.
Gerri Willis is in for Andy Serwer, and she is "Minding Your Business" and going to remind us that there are, in fact, some major airlines that are not in bankruptcy.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, count Northwest Airlines among them, Ali. But they could be in chapter 11 here soon, too. May file for bankruptcy. That's certainly the talk today.
What's going on there? Well, Northwest faces many of the pressures that other airlines do, including weak pricing, high fuel prices, pressure from discounters. And, of course, on Capitol Hill last week, the company saying that they need help paying their pension obligations. They want those laws changed so they can pay less.
Ali, this stock is down 42 percent. Its debt has been downgraded to junk. It's really having a very difficult time. And, of course, this is the fourth-largest airline in the country. VELSHI: And investors have always gambled on these airlines and sometimes won. When they get really low and they get to this stage, a lot of people think, well, you know, you can double your money on stocks like this.
WILLIS: Well, I'm not making those bets today.
VELSHI: Yes, I know.
WILLIS: But, yes, some people do bet on them.
VELSHI: What else is going on?
WILLIS: Well, Northwest, because of this, is cutting airline fares for business travelers -- or raising, pardon me. Just the opposite. Fifty dollars each way. They announced this Friday. And now, we're seeing a lot of airlines climb on board as well. Continental, United also doing the same. So, we've seen nine fare hikes, Ali, this year. This is the tenth. These companies are trying to claw back some revenue here with the fare hikes.
VELSHI: This is where they can make money.
WILLIS: That's right.
VELSHI: The fare hikes for business class, because those are the people who continue to have to travel.
WILLIS: And that just passes the cost on through to business, adds to inflation ultimately.
VELSHI: All right, Gerri Willis, thank you so much.
WILLIS: You're welcome.
VELSHI: Soledad.
O'BRIEN: A pretty shocking story to tell you out of North Carolina. Surgical tools washed in hydraulic fluid were used on nearly 4,000 patients last year. Regulators for two North Carolina hospitals discovered the mix-up. Elevator repairmen apparently filled some empty barrels with hydraulic fluid. And those barrels, marked as detergent for surgical tools, were then accidentally sent to the hospitals. Surgical staff thought the instruments were kind of slippery. Doctors say the patients aren't in any kind of danger, but some patients report lingering health effects.
Still to come this morning, iron Mike Tyson quits his fight and says he's retiring for good. We're going to ask our "90-Second Pop" panel about Tyson's final fight -- maybe. Next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Hey, welcome back, everybody. It's time for another episode of "90-Second Pop," starring Sarah Bernard from "New York" magazine. Kyle Smith, "New York Post" film critic, the author of "Love Monkey." We'll ask him more about that at another time. And Jessica Shaw from "Entertainment Weekly."
Good morning. Nice to see you guys.
JESSICA SHAW, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Let's get right to it, Kyle, starting with Mike Tyson. He was supposed to make this comeback. Not much of a comeback when you lose in a big humiliating way, right?
KYLE SMITH, "NEW YORK POST": No, you know..
O'BRIEN: Is that mean? Should I not have said that?
SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: Well, it's true.
SMITH: Yes, nice guys finish last. But sometimes it's a pleasure to see that total jerks don't do too well either. Mike Tyson's career ends ignominiously Saturday night. He's in a fight against the totally unheralded Irishman Kevin McBride. And Tyson is an embarrassment in the ring. He tries to head-butt McBride. There is a blow below the belt. And he tries to break McBride's arm at one point.
O'BRIEN: Which, you know, I don't know that much about boxing, but that's all illegal, right?
BERNARD: Yes.
SHAW: It's apparently illegal.
O'BRIEN: Who knew?
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: We know it's a rough sport, but even that's ridiculous.
SMITH: You know, if they made a movie out of Mike Tyson's life, it wouldn't be "Cinderella Man," it would be Prince Charmless.
BERNARD: Oh!
SHAW: I don't know. It feels like his whole life has just been one big scandal. I don't even remember any of the good fights that he's done. I remember, you know, his very, you know, tormented marriage to Robin Givens, biting the ear.
BERNARD: Yes, all I can remember is the ear. I mean, once you bite Evander Holyfield's ear off, like, forget it.
SMITH: Right.
O'BRIEN: It follows you for the rest of your life, doesn't it? He was trying to make a lot of money, actually, because he owes millions and millions of dollars. SMITH: He's $40 million in the hole. He had $300 million. He's earned $300 million. Where did it all go? He certainly didn't spend it on anger management training.
BERNARD: But, you know, what's unbelievable? The math in this fight. The purse was $5 million, but 2 million went to his creditors, 750,000 went to an ex-wife. The IRS took some. He got basically nothing in the end.
SHAW: He got like ten bucks at the end of the day.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's talk about the next thing: movies. "Mr. and Mrs. Smith."
SHAW: Yes.
BERNARD: Yes. What's that movie about? I've never heard of it.
O'BRIEN: It did really well. But, you know, some people said that it's all hype and actually not that much substance. But the viewers didn't care. They loved it.
SHAW: Yes. I mean, that movie made, you know, $51 million, which is about 10 million more than the studio thought it would make. On the flip side of that, "Cinderella Man," tanking. It dropped pretty much 50 percent. So...
O'BRIEN: Because you'd think you would say, you know, hype or publicity would get you some, you know, good viewership.
SHAW: Right.
O'BRIEN: And both of them had a lot of publicity.
SHAW: Well, "Cinderella Man" had bad publicity with Russell Crowe throwing a phone at someone.
O'BRIEN: Bad publicity.
SHAW: But, you know, definitely with "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," people wanted to know about Brad and Angelina. Everyone wanted an opinion, like, did it look like the sex scenes were real? Did it look like they were having an affair? And, you know...
BERNARD: This is not a documentary. I don't know why people keep saying that. It's not their relationship. It's like everyone's looking at that like it's a real thing.
O'BRIEN: They played hired assassins who are sent out to kill each other.
SMITH: You know, it's like...
O'BRIEN: Did you like it? Hate it?
SMITH: It has water cooler value. But this movie is like one of those designer handbags you buy in Chinatown. You know, it looks like a blockbuster. It ought to be a blockbuster. But when you take it home, the handle is going to fall off.
O'BRIEN: That happened to me with my fake Chanel wallet.
SMITH: In two days' time, you're going to see what a real summer blockbuster looks like when "Batman Begins" comes out.
O'BRIEN: You're liking that?
SMITH: It's tremendous.
SHAW: That is the best movie I've seen.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's talk a little more about Brad Pitt, because, of course, he actually is doing this mission to Africa. He went to Ethiopia to try to raise awareness. Do you think that this is the real deal? Or do you think he's just trying to get closer to Angelina?
BERNARD: Well, you know, this was such a smart marriage. It was Brad Pitt trying to do some things sincere, but take attention away from his personal life. And it was great for the charity, the one organization, because they obviously needed some high-profile boost. And it worked. After his appearance on "Primetime," it was like $120,000 they raised in a day. And all of these people signed the petition to support the program. I mean, it really did seem to have an effect.
And I think this might be the new way we're going to see celebrities do interviews. They'll come. They'll agree to the interview, but they'll bring their cause along. Like, for example, Sean Penn is actually now in Iran on assignment.
O'BRIEN: For the "Chronicle," right?
BERNARD: For the "San Francisco Chronicle." But I bet when he comes back, you know, if he has a movie coming out and someone wants to talk to him, they'll probably have to, you know, talk about what he's doing.
O'BRIEN: (INAUDIBLE) options. I mean, you know, as opposed to just doing it for yourself, say.
SHAW: I think the public is not going to react that well to, like, Sean Penn. I think people didn't like, you know, when he went on missions in the past. I think we as a public kind of want to see our celebrities look pretty at the Oscars and have kind of scandalous marriages.
O'BRIEN: But what if they really believe it? You know, because it seems like Angelina Jolie really truly has in her heart this mission in Cambodia.
BERNARD: I think that even if they don't believe it really, it's a great thing they're actually drawing attention to it. SMITH: I believe Brad Pitt when he says he cares about Africa. I also believe him when he says that his marriage to Jennifer Aniston was a complete success even though it lasted only four years. I also believe him when he says that Angelina Jolie did not break up his marriage. I believe everything he says because he's so darn pretty.
O'BRIEN: Ah, sarcasm from Kyle this morning.
SHAW: He's the real love monkey.
O'BRIEN: You guys, I thank you very much. Sarah Bernard, Kyle Smith and Jessica Shaw, our pop stars this morning. Thanks for being with us -- Ali.
VELSHI: Could you leave 10 seconds before saying the word "love monkey" and sending it over to me, Soledad?
Still ahead, Father's Day is coming up, so we're going to begin our series called "Just For Dad." We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" about how kids are changed by stay-at-home dads. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Still ahead this morning, the parents of a 13-year-old girl who is a cancer patient lose custody after refusing their daughter's radiation treatments. We're going to talk to them about their decision just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Natalee Holloway's mother demanding action in Aruba this morning as the investigation into her daughter's disappearance enters a third week. We have a live report with an update on the evidence in the case.
Insurgents launching new attacks in Iraq as the U.S. death toll approaches 1,700. This morning, new calls on Congress to get Americans out.
And a tribute for Ronald Reagan from the Old Guard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You couldn't be around him very long without becoming his friend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The Secret Service agents who knew Reagan best remembering their friend 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, everybody. Bill Hemmer has got the day off. But Ali Velshi has been helping us out.
Good morning.
VELSHI: Pleasure to be here, Soledad. Good morning to you.
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. Let's get right to the headlines this morning with Carol Costello.
Hey, good morning.
COSTELLO: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.
"Now in the News."
U.S. military officials are investigating an explosion in Afghanistan. A convoy traveling to Kandahar was apparently hit by a roadside bomb. At least four U.S. service members were injured in today's blast, one of them seriously.
President Bush is facing new pressure on his policy in Iraq. This time from members of his own party.
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 June 13, 2005 - 07:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. It is almost exactly half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Bill Hemmer has got a long weekend, but Ali Velshi has been nice enough to fill in for him this morning.
Nice to have you.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: It's my pleasure to be here again. Good morning.
Coming up, a look at the Michael Jackson deliberations. We enter another week without a verdict. In a few minutes, we'll talk to Anne Bremner about what's happening and reports that the jury has been asking some questions.
O'BRIEN: Oh, that's interesting. First, though, let's get right to the headlines with Carol Costello.
Good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.
"Now in the News."
Three car bomb attacks in Iraq this morning. At least two civilians were killed and five others hurt after a blast in western Baghdad. In Samarra, a suicide car bomber attacked an Iraqi police patrol. An Iraqi police source said at least two were killed and at least five others wounded. And 3 people were killed and 11 others wounded in Tikrit when a suicide car bomber targeted an Iraqi police patrol there.
Jury selection begins this morning in a 41-year-old civil rights case. Eighty-year-old Edgar Ray Killen is charged with the 1964 murders of three civil rights workers in Philadelphia, Mississippi. The case was portrayed in the movie "Mississippi Burning." Killen was tried on federal civil rights violations back in 1967, but that case ended in a hung jury. Killen says he's innocent.
The mother of the missing Alabama teenager, Natalee Holloway, is not happy with the way authorities in Aruba are handling her daughter's disappearance. She believes three suspects who were with her daughter the night she went missing know exactly what happened. In the meantime, investigators say a substance found in a Honda seized from those three suspects is not blood. Holloway disappeared on May 30. President Bush meets with leaders of five African countries this morning to discuss democracy and trade agreements. Over the weekend, the U.S. and other leaders in the G8 agreed to eliminate more than $40 billion of debt owned by 18 percent of the world's poorest nations. The president also plans to urge Congress to give duty-free status to goods from poor countries in sub-Saharan Africa. And, of course, maybe he'll have some public remarks after that meeting. We don't know. If he does, of course, we'll bring them to you.
O'BRIEN: All right, Carol, thanks a lot.
VELSHI: The Michael Jackson jurors are set to resume deliberations this morning. Eight women and four men have met for more than 28 hours. That's over a six-day period.
Attorney Anne Bremner is in Santa Maria, California, up very early for California time.
And good to see you. Thank you for being with us.
ANNE BREMNER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good to see you. Thanks.
VELSHI: So, you kind of speculated, as did many last week, that we might see some action on Friday. We didn't get that. But the jury, I guess, asked for transcripts or asked for some read-backs of testimony. Now, I can't keep my notes straight when they're right in front of me. Do they not take notes, get to take notes, or get to take those transcripts into the jury room with them?
BREMNER: Well, they take notes. Last week, I said the end is near, and I wasn't just talking about the signs out front here. But we didn't know then that they were starting to ask questions and ask for read-backs. Yes, they take notes. Yes, they take them in the jury room. But they don't get the transcripts. They have to ask the judge for a read-back, and that has to be done with the lawyers and the judge.
And so, CNN broke this last week on Friday, Ted Rowlands, that they have had three sessions with the judge on Friday, where they went back and heard the accuser's testimony read back and had some other questions. So that's slowing the deliberations down. It indicates that they're looking very closely at the accuser's testimony and the evidence.
VELSHI: It's still a long trial. I think we're getting into 14 weeks now. They went into that first week, and I think there was some speculation that the trial ended faster than people thought. There was some speculation that so might the deliberations. Does it mean something one way or the other, if you're an odds maker on this one, that it's taken this long?
BREMNER: What it means, conventional wisdom is this: A very short deliberation means acquittal generally, like O.J. Simpson. A longer time -- and this isn't too long, it's a reasonable time -- could mean a guilty verdict. But then when you go way too long, you're looking back again at a potential acquittal, a not guilty or a hung jury.
But this is steady as they go. I mean, they've had a long case, a lot to consider. And we did hope for a verdict last week, but early this week wouldn't surprise me.
VELSHI: And tell me about the read-backs. I would have assumed that if the jury is getting testimony read back that it's sort of administrative; that everybody doesn't need to be there. But I have since learned that it's typical for the accused to be around when that read-back happens. That didn't happen this time. Michael Jackson wasn't in court for the read-back. Is there any significance to that?
BREMNER: A lot of attorneys want to have their client present so the jury can take another look at them, because as they deliberate, you want them to be reminded about your client and have them look them in the eye as they're going through deliberation. But it's typical in this case that he's not here for procedural matters. He hasn't been here for motions. He hasn't been here for read-backs. He's up at Neverland.
VELSHI: Let's talk a little about this whole flap about who speaks for Michael Jackson. I guess Ramone Bain was fired last week as the spokesperson. What's going on there? And does that matter at all to this whole process?
BREMNER: A lot of people were speaking for Michael Jackson last week. Jesse Jackson was here for three days. And the question was: Was it Jackson on Jackson and which Jackson? And also Ramone Bain, of course, has been a spokesperson throughout.
Thomas Mesereau always stands with every witness and says, "I'm Thomas Mesereau, and I speak for Michael Jackson."
And there's a French word for lawyer, and it's avacat (ph). And what that means is, you stand in the shoes of your client. That's what Thomas Mesereau does. Only one person should speak for Michael Jackson. And that's Thomas Mesereau, and I think that's what happened. Too many mixed messages out here.
The judge was -- the jurors are right here behind me in an outdoor pen, where they take breaks. It's a stone's throw. It's really close. The judge pipes Musak into there, because there are press conferences right on this side of me, fans out here, and 3,000 members of the press milling about.
VELSHI: Well, you realize if this goes on much longer, we're just going to turn those cameras around, and it's all going to be about a conversation about what you guys are talking about. Anne, good to see you. Thank you for being with us.
BREMNER: Nice to see you. Thanks.
VELSHI: Attorney Anne Bremner in Santa Maria, California, this morning -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: An earthquake along Southern California's most active fault has people there a little bit shaken. The small town of Anza is closest to the epicenter. The moderate quake measured 5.6. It did little damage. Surveillance cameras at the casino there captured the shaking at 8:41 a.m. local time on Sunday. People ran out of the building as it shook. It was similar to the quake back in 2001, also on the San Jacinto fault. A 6.6 magnitude quake rocked the area back in 1987.
In Florida, Tropical Storm Arlene turned out to be more of a scare than anything else. It's a tropical depression now. But nerves were on edge this weekend in northwest Florida, because Arlene followed the same path as last year's destructive Hurricane Ivan.
Bob Franken has our report this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The beachgoers were back to the sun and stand and waves as if the storm hadn't happened.
Jim and Betty Timms were back home in their RV. Actually, they drove it back to what's left of their home on Santa Rosa Island, part of the widespread destruction left not even nine months ago by the deadly winds of Hurricane Ivan.
JIM TIMMS, HURRICANE IVAN VICTIM: We did not need this other little tropical storm to come through and make it a little bit more difficult to get things going.
FRANKEN: Many went to the beaches Saturday to watch the turbulence. But officials say that, for the most part, residents and visitors alike heeded the warnings to get out of potential harm's way. Mild though Arlene was, she still poured salt water on the raw wounds left by Ivan.
J. TIMMS: After Ivan, so many people are so, you know, nervous about any kind of wind and rain and water that they don't want to stay out here.
FRANKEN: They didn't. They took off at the first word of a storm. In fact, that's why they chose to live in an RV.
BETTY TIMMS, HURRICANE IVAN VICTIM: So now we know that, you know, we can just unhook everything and leave when we need to.
FRANKEN (on camera): They plan to stay, rebuilding the house here, where they lived through four hurricanes since 1996, even though the existence on a barrier island like this is predictably precarious.
J. TIMMS: There aren't many places in the world that you'll find the topography that you have here. It's just gorgeous. It also has turned out to be a very good investment.
FRANKEN (voice over): More proof that what matters is location, location, location, even when it's sometimes dangerous, dangerous, dangerous. Bob Franken, CNN, Santa Rosa Island, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Now a tropical depression, as you mentioned.
Let's check right back in on the weather.
(WEATHER REPORT)
VELSHI: Well, the undisputed queen of women's golf was able to hold off the superstars of the future this weekend. Sweden's Annika Sorenstam winning the LPGA championship, her second major of the year and her sixth tournament win. Sorenstam hit a final round 73, to finish 11 under par. Now that beat 15-year-old American amateur Michelle Wie by just three shots and 18-year-old American Paula Kremer. She shared third place with Britain's Laura Davies. Laura and Annika, I think, can rent a car of that group. The rest of them can to be driven there by their folks.
O'BRIEN: The 15-year-old needs a mom or dad to take her.
VELSHI: Yes.
O'BRIEN: That's great. Still to come on this AMERICAN MORNING, new reports this morning that the nation's fourth-largest airline might be destined for bankruptcy.
VELSHI: And "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" kills at the box office. Our "90-Second Pop" panel on Brad and Angelina's weekend win. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: It's time for our pop quiz here on AMERICAN MORNING: Which airline isn't bankrupt? Yet another airline tailspins toward bankruptcy as business-class fares take off.
Gerri Willis is in for Andy Serwer, and she is "Minding Your Business" and going to remind us that there are, in fact, some major airlines that are not in bankruptcy.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, count Northwest Airlines among them, Ali. But they could be in chapter 11 here soon, too. May file for bankruptcy. That's certainly the talk today.
What's going on there? Well, Northwest faces many of the pressures that other airlines do, including weak pricing, high fuel prices, pressure from discounters. And, of course, on Capitol Hill last week, the company saying that they need help paying their pension obligations. They want those laws changed so they can pay less.
Ali, this stock is down 42 percent. Its debt has been downgraded to junk. It's really having a very difficult time. And, of course, this is the fourth-largest airline in the country. VELSHI: And investors have always gambled on these airlines and sometimes won. When they get really low and they get to this stage, a lot of people think, well, you know, you can double your money on stocks like this.
WILLIS: Well, I'm not making those bets today.
VELSHI: Yes, I know.
WILLIS: But, yes, some people do bet on them.
VELSHI: What else is going on?
WILLIS: Well, Northwest, because of this, is cutting airline fares for business travelers -- or raising, pardon me. Just the opposite. Fifty dollars each way. They announced this Friday. And now, we're seeing a lot of airlines climb on board as well. Continental, United also doing the same. So, we've seen nine fare hikes, Ali, this year. This is the tenth. These companies are trying to claw back some revenue here with the fare hikes.
VELSHI: This is where they can make money.
WILLIS: That's right.
VELSHI: The fare hikes for business class, because those are the people who continue to have to travel.
WILLIS: And that just passes the cost on through to business, adds to inflation ultimately.
VELSHI: All right, Gerri Willis, thank you so much.
WILLIS: You're welcome.
VELSHI: Soledad.
O'BRIEN: A pretty shocking story to tell you out of North Carolina. Surgical tools washed in hydraulic fluid were used on nearly 4,000 patients last year. Regulators for two North Carolina hospitals discovered the mix-up. Elevator repairmen apparently filled some empty barrels with hydraulic fluid. And those barrels, marked as detergent for surgical tools, were then accidentally sent to the hospitals. Surgical staff thought the instruments were kind of slippery. Doctors say the patients aren't in any kind of danger, but some patients report lingering health effects.
Still to come this morning, iron Mike Tyson quits his fight and says he's retiring for good. We're going to ask our "90-Second Pop" panel about Tyson's final fight -- maybe. Next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Hey, welcome back, everybody. It's time for another episode of "90-Second Pop," starring Sarah Bernard from "New York" magazine. Kyle Smith, "New York Post" film critic, the author of "Love Monkey." We'll ask him more about that at another time. And Jessica Shaw from "Entertainment Weekly."
Good morning. Nice to see you guys.
JESSICA SHAW, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Let's get right to it, Kyle, starting with Mike Tyson. He was supposed to make this comeback. Not much of a comeback when you lose in a big humiliating way, right?
KYLE SMITH, "NEW YORK POST": No, you know..
O'BRIEN: Is that mean? Should I not have said that?
SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: Well, it's true.
SMITH: Yes, nice guys finish last. But sometimes it's a pleasure to see that total jerks don't do too well either. Mike Tyson's career ends ignominiously Saturday night. He's in a fight against the totally unheralded Irishman Kevin McBride. And Tyson is an embarrassment in the ring. He tries to head-butt McBride. There is a blow below the belt. And he tries to break McBride's arm at one point.
O'BRIEN: Which, you know, I don't know that much about boxing, but that's all illegal, right?
BERNARD: Yes.
SHAW: It's apparently illegal.
O'BRIEN: Who knew?
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: We know it's a rough sport, but even that's ridiculous.
SMITH: You know, if they made a movie out of Mike Tyson's life, it wouldn't be "Cinderella Man," it would be Prince Charmless.
BERNARD: Oh!
SHAW: I don't know. It feels like his whole life has just been one big scandal. I don't even remember any of the good fights that he's done. I remember, you know, his very, you know, tormented marriage to Robin Givens, biting the ear.
BERNARD: Yes, all I can remember is the ear. I mean, once you bite Evander Holyfield's ear off, like, forget it.
SMITH: Right.
O'BRIEN: It follows you for the rest of your life, doesn't it? He was trying to make a lot of money, actually, because he owes millions and millions of dollars. SMITH: He's $40 million in the hole. He had $300 million. He's earned $300 million. Where did it all go? He certainly didn't spend it on anger management training.
BERNARD: But, you know, what's unbelievable? The math in this fight. The purse was $5 million, but 2 million went to his creditors, 750,000 went to an ex-wife. The IRS took some. He got basically nothing in the end.
SHAW: He got like ten bucks at the end of the day.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's talk about the next thing: movies. "Mr. and Mrs. Smith."
SHAW: Yes.
BERNARD: Yes. What's that movie about? I've never heard of it.
O'BRIEN: It did really well. But, you know, some people said that it's all hype and actually not that much substance. But the viewers didn't care. They loved it.
SHAW: Yes. I mean, that movie made, you know, $51 million, which is about 10 million more than the studio thought it would make. On the flip side of that, "Cinderella Man," tanking. It dropped pretty much 50 percent. So...
O'BRIEN: Because you'd think you would say, you know, hype or publicity would get you some, you know, good viewership.
SHAW: Right.
O'BRIEN: And both of them had a lot of publicity.
SHAW: Well, "Cinderella Man" had bad publicity with Russell Crowe throwing a phone at someone.
O'BRIEN: Bad publicity.
SHAW: But, you know, definitely with "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," people wanted to know about Brad and Angelina. Everyone wanted an opinion, like, did it look like the sex scenes were real? Did it look like they were having an affair? And, you know...
BERNARD: This is not a documentary. I don't know why people keep saying that. It's not their relationship. It's like everyone's looking at that like it's a real thing.
O'BRIEN: They played hired assassins who are sent out to kill each other.
SMITH: You know, it's like...
O'BRIEN: Did you like it? Hate it?
SMITH: It has water cooler value. But this movie is like one of those designer handbags you buy in Chinatown. You know, it looks like a blockbuster. It ought to be a blockbuster. But when you take it home, the handle is going to fall off.
O'BRIEN: That happened to me with my fake Chanel wallet.
SMITH: In two days' time, you're going to see what a real summer blockbuster looks like when "Batman Begins" comes out.
O'BRIEN: You're liking that?
SMITH: It's tremendous.
SHAW: That is the best movie I've seen.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's talk a little more about Brad Pitt, because, of course, he actually is doing this mission to Africa. He went to Ethiopia to try to raise awareness. Do you think that this is the real deal? Or do you think he's just trying to get closer to Angelina?
BERNARD: Well, you know, this was such a smart marriage. It was Brad Pitt trying to do some things sincere, but take attention away from his personal life. And it was great for the charity, the one organization, because they obviously needed some high-profile boost. And it worked. After his appearance on "Primetime," it was like $120,000 they raised in a day. And all of these people signed the petition to support the program. I mean, it really did seem to have an effect.
And I think this might be the new way we're going to see celebrities do interviews. They'll come. They'll agree to the interview, but they'll bring their cause along. Like, for example, Sean Penn is actually now in Iran on assignment.
O'BRIEN: For the "Chronicle," right?
BERNARD: For the "San Francisco Chronicle." But I bet when he comes back, you know, if he has a movie coming out and someone wants to talk to him, they'll probably have to, you know, talk about what he's doing.
O'BRIEN: (INAUDIBLE) options. I mean, you know, as opposed to just doing it for yourself, say.
SHAW: I think the public is not going to react that well to, like, Sean Penn. I think people didn't like, you know, when he went on missions in the past. I think we as a public kind of want to see our celebrities look pretty at the Oscars and have kind of scandalous marriages.
O'BRIEN: But what if they really believe it? You know, because it seems like Angelina Jolie really truly has in her heart this mission in Cambodia.
BERNARD: I think that even if they don't believe it really, it's a great thing they're actually drawing attention to it. SMITH: I believe Brad Pitt when he says he cares about Africa. I also believe him when he says that his marriage to Jennifer Aniston was a complete success even though it lasted only four years. I also believe him when he says that Angelina Jolie did not break up his marriage. I believe everything he says because he's so darn pretty.
O'BRIEN: Ah, sarcasm from Kyle this morning.
SHAW: He's the real love monkey.
O'BRIEN: You guys, I thank you very much. Sarah Bernard, Kyle Smith and Jessica Shaw, our pop stars this morning. Thanks for being with us -- Ali.
VELSHI: Could you leave 10 seconds before saying the word "love monkey" and sending it over to me, Soledad?
Still ahead, Father's Day is coming up, so we're going to begin our series called "Just For Dad." We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" about how kids are changed by stay-at-home dads. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Still ahead this morning, the parents of a 13-year-old girl who is a cancer patient lose custody after refusing their daughter's radiation treatments. We're going to talk to them about their decision just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Natalee Holloway's mother demanding action in Aruba this morning as the investigation into her daughter's disappearance enters a third week. We have a live report with an update on the evidence in the case.
Insurgents launching new attacks in Iraq as the U.S. death toll approaches 1,700. This morning, new calls on Congress to get Americans out.
And a tribute for Ronald Reagan from the Old Guard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You couldn't be around him very long without becoming his friend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The Secret Service agents who knew Reagan best remembering their friend 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, everybody. Bill Hemmer has got the day off. But Ali Velshi has been helping us out.
Good morning.
VELSHI: Pleasure to be here, Soledad. Good morning to you.
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. Let's get right to the headlines this morning with Carol Costello.
Hey, good morning.
COSTELLO: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.
"Now in the News."
U.S. military officials are investigating an explosion in Afghanistan. A convoy traveling to Kandahar was apparently hit by a roadside bomb. At least four U.S. service members were injured in today's blast, one of them seriously.
President Bush is facing new pressure on his policy in Iraq. This time from members of his own party.
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