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American Morning

Week Two for Jackson Jury Deliberations; New Video Released of Hussein's Questioning

Aired June 13, 2005 - 09:30   ET

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

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


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. It's just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Bill Hemmer's taking a long weekend, but Ali Velshi is filling in for him. Nice to see you.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: And good to be here, thank you.

O'BRIEN: Coming up, we're going to have a live report from Santa Maria, California.

VELSHI: And the jury in the Michael Jackson trial getting back to work this morning there. Right now let's get another check on the headlines with Carol Costello -- Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you very much. Good morning, everyone.

"Now in the News," this just in to CNN. New pictures of Saddam Hussein being interrogated. We showed you some of them a sort time ago. Want to show you again. An Iraqi tribunal has released video of Saddam Hussein being questioned by a magistrate. He's apparently being asked about a massacre back in 1982 in which he survived an assassination attempt. Saddam Hussein was arrested back in December of 2003. Iraqi officials have said they would like to put Saddam on trial in the next few months.

In the meantime, there is more violence in Iraq. A car bomb kills two civilians and wounds five others in western Baghdad this morning. Iraqi police officials say the attack was aimed at a U.S. military convoy. And in a separate incident, a suicide car bomber targets an Iraqi police patrol in Tikrit. Three people killed, 11 others wounded.

Also, a developing story out of New York. Police now questioning a Middle Eastern man found with various sketches and maps of the city's subway system. Firefighters found the man and at least four others Sunday in a commercial building in Brooklyn. A fire department source said they were quote, "acting suspiciously." Several of the men fled, but officers managed to take one into custody.

And in the next hour, jury selection gets underway in a 41-year- old civil rights murder. 80-year-old Edgar Ray Killen is charged in 1964 murders of three civil rights workers in Philadelphia, Mississippi. The case was portrayed in the movie "Mississippi Burning." Killen was tried in 1967 for civil rights violations. That ended in a hung jury. He has said he is innocent. And the mother of a missing Alabama teenager is not happy with the investigation into her daughter's disappearance. Natalee Holloway's mother says three young men in custody know exactly what happened to her daughter, and she wants Aruban authorities to pressure them for more information. The young men were with Natalee the night she disappeared. Two other suspects are also in custody. And Holloway's mother says those two men actually should be let go.

VELSHI: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Yes, she thinks they're innocent and wants to focus on these other three.

VELSHI: These other three.

O'BRIEN: It's so interesting, the difference in the legal system in Aruba. Every time we do an interview, they continue to highlight that. It doesn't move as fast as it does here in the United States and there's much less made public...

VELSHI: Right.

O'BRIEN: ... to the general public.

COSTELLO: Yes, you get the feeling that somebody knows something they're not saying to the media.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Somebody knows where this woman is. And hopefully they'll be able to find her and hopefully she'll be alive. All right, Carol, thanks.

Let's turn to the Michael Jackson trial now. Jurors go back to work. In just a few hours, they're going to begin their second week of deliberations. CNN's Chris Lawrence is live for us in Santa Maria, California. Hey, Chris, good morning.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, coming up this week, we can expect more of the same. The jurors are going to be working. Fans, already about a dozen on hand. They will be yelling and screaming. And we wait. Anyone who says they can predict what this jury is going to do is probably just guessing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): If Michael Jackson's fans had their way, jurors would have needed six minutes to deliberate, not the six days it's taken so far. But the jury has to consider what 141 witnesses said and try to come to a unanimous decision on all 10 counts.

Sources tell CNN they passed several questions to the judge on Friday and asked to have portions of the teenaged accuser's testimony read back to them. The attorneys also had three meetings with the judge. DEBRA OPRI, JACKSON FAMILY ATTORNEY: It could mean anything. Nine days to acquit Robert Blake, so many hours to convict someone else.

LAWRENCE: Prosecutors accuse Jackson of sexually molesting a 13- year-old cancer survivor, giving the boy alcohol and conspiring to keep him and his family captive. Jackson denied the charges and pleaded not guilty. In deciding who they believe, jurors have had about 28 hours of deliberation so far.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they took two weeks, if they took three days, I would trust in it, because they're the ones that have been sitting in there every day.

LAWRENCE: The first full week is over, a second about to begin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: And those jurors are being guided by nearly 100 pages of jury instructions. It's a lot of very detailed language and legal jargon, but the judge wanted to make sure he was covering all his bases to lessen the chances of any appeal -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Quick question for you, Chris. We heard that Raymone Bain was fired, as well. And of course, she was the spokesperson for Michael Jackson so we've been talking to her a lot. What circumstances of her firing?

LAWRENCE: Well, apparently the spokesperson spoke too much. There was a -- there's a gag order in effect that prohibits any of the attorneys or representatives from speaking to anyone. And she was speaking all the time and Thomas Mesereau had to come out and say, no one speaks for Michael Jackson, other than me. And there was a statement released on Jackson's Web site on Friday saying that she had been let go.

O'BRIEN: All right. Just another twist and turn in this case. Chris Lawrence for us this morning. Chris, thanks -- Ali.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VELSHI: Well, still to come, a preview of the markets in "Minding Your Business."

O'BRIEN: And then after this weekend's big boxing match, heavyweight champion Mike Tyson says his career is down for the count. We're going to talk to our "90 Second Pop" panelists about that, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Forty-two years ago this month in Jackson, Mississippi, civil rights activist Medgar Evers was gunned down in the driveway of his home by a white supremacist. There is now a new book sharing the story of his life in his own words. It's called "The Autobiography of Medgar Evers." It's written his widow Myrlie Evers Williams, who is my guest now here in studio here in New York.

Nice to see you.

MYRLIE EVERS WILLIAMS, WIDOW OF MEDGAR EVERS: Thank you.

HEMMER: And good morning to you.

Before we talk about the book and reflections on Medgar, recently the body of Emmett Till was exhumed. He was gunned down in 1955 at the age of 14.

EVERS-WILLIAMS: Yes.

HEMMER: As that investigation continues, because at one point two men were accused of his murder. They've since died. Can this family get closure some 50 years later?

EVERS-WILLIAMS: I certainly think so. Medgar Evers was very involved in the investigation of Emmett Till's case, played a very active role in that, and certainly with his demise, when the third trial came up, we were requested to approve of the exhuming of his body.

For us, it was a part of the closure process. Our youngest son, who was three at the time, saw his father killed, and was quite a bit older, of course, and he was there when the casket was opened. It was necessary to be able to find additional evidence to prosecute that case.

When Medgar's murderer was deemed guilty, so many of us were freed from the result of that, and there have been anywhere from 18 to 23 civil rights cases that have been reopened, and some convictions since that particular period of time. And people said to me, let it go. It's too old. It's never too old for justice to be served.

HEMMER: I think as long as you're here and just listening to you and the emotion you pack in your answers, is that you weren't going to allow that to happen?

WILLIAMS: I certainly was not going to do that, because it was a promise that I had made. We both knew that Medgar's life was on the line. We also knew close to his assassination that time was near, but it speaks to the dedication of a person. Medgar did not choose to be a martyr. He wanted to live. He wanted to see his children grow up, but believed so thoroughly, and I know it sounds corny, but in this country that he fought for in World War II. He believed so strongly that his people deserved to be first-class citizens. He believed so strongly that people of all races, creeds and colors could come together and make America a better place.

HEMMER: You just said something there in your answer about the fact that he wanted to live. You write something in this book that refers to one of the final conversations you had with him, where he talked about perhaps it's necessary to die. Did that conversation take place, and if so what was the thinking behind that.

WILLIAMS: Oh, no. It certainly did. Not once, but many times. Medgar felt that if he were chosen, I guess I can say, to die, that his death would do some good, because perhaps it would awaken people to the evils, and that there's someone who was, if I may use the words that Manning Marable, a doctor at Columbia University used, "a servant leader," and I objected to that term so very much. The servant meant Mississippi and all of the other -- but it's someone who cease a need to give oneself to a cause and work for that.

HEMMER: Myrlie Evers-Williams, nice to see you.

WILLIAMS: Thank you.

HEMMER: Take care of your health, OK.

WILLIAMS: Thank you so much.

HEMMER: The book is called the autobiography of Medgar Evers. Great to see you here in New York.

WILLIAMS: Thank you.

HEMMER: All right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Some new information and some new images rather this morning of Saddam Hussein being interrogated. The Iraqi tribunal has released videotape of the former Iraqi dictator being questioned by a magistrate.

Jennifer Eccleston in Baghdad with more this morning. Jennifer, good morning.

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

That's right, an Iraqi judge has questioned former President Saddam Hussein about the killings of dozens of men from a Shiite village where he survived an assassination attempt in 1982. Iraq's special war crimes tribunal released the film of Saddam, and also other members of his administration, being questioned by an investigative judge of the tribunal. Now that judge said the questioning -- he said this is CNN, is an ongoing process.

Now a few weeks ago, the government said, in an effort to speed up Saddam Hussein's prosecution, that Iraq will put the former dictator on trial in connection with 12 of the best-documented crimes among the more than 500 allegedly committed by the former president. A spokesman for the prime minister said there was no time to waste in preparing for the trial and said that the government was confident that court proceedings would begin within two months, and as a result of that, there was a notice from Iraq's special tribunal there, stressing their independence, and they said that no timeframe has been set for the beginning of the charge. And just a little background about those charges, by whittling them down to 12, the spokesman said it would help ensure that the former president would receive a death sentence, which is available in Iraq under its criminal code, and one that as actually drafted under the rule of Saddam Hussein, and last July of course, he was arraigned here in Baghdad on several broad counts. These included the assassination of political opponents, the 1988 gassing in Halabja, and then the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and also suppressing the Kurdish and Shiite uprising in 1991 after the Gulf War -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Jennifer Eccleston for us this morning, reporting on this new videotape that's just come in to CNN that has apparently been released by the Iraqi magistrate, some of the questioning of Saddam Hussein.

Jennifer, thanks -- Ali.

VELSHI: Soledad, and as we get more information on that, we'll be following it on CNN, you might see some of that on "CNN LIVE TODAY" coming up next with Daryn Kagan.

Daryn, what are you working on this morning?

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: You can bet we're going to have a lot more on that Ali. Also coming up at the top the hour, whether you are a homeowner or you're out there looking for a home, everyone is talking about the so-called housing bubble. So is this the time to buy, sell or stand pat? We have your top-five tips to help you beat the bubble.

Plus, penguins are on the march. These black-and-white birds are stars of an amazing new documentary. We have some very special feathered guests coming up on "CNN LIVE TODAY."

KAGAN: Yes, Ali, I will be partying with penguins.

VELSHI: You're going to penguins on -- like, are you going to be interviewing penguins? You'll have real penguins on?

KAGAN: I will have a real penguin in these hands, yes.

VELSHI: That is cool.

KAGAN: And I'll be tough. I'm not going to go easy on the penguins.

VELSHI: No, you're not going to tough on the penguin. No one can be tough on a penguin, Daryn.

Good to see you, and we'll be watching for the penguins.

KAGAN: All right, you got it.

VELSHI: All right, still ahead, you're mailman is getting a new stop on his route, not to pick up letters, but to pick up stamps. You'll want to hear about this. Stay tuned. More AMERICAN MORNING coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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 really -- you're liking that?

SMITH: It's tremendous.

SHAW: That is the best movie I've seen in so long.

O'BRIEN: You guys, thanks very much. Appreciate it -- Ali.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: Soledad, we are following a story of these pictures that coming in from Iraq, apparently released by the Iraqi tribunal right now. These are new to CNN. They are just in. Clearer pictures of Saddam Hussein being interrogated as part of the investigation that is not yet part of his trial.

Now, Iraqi government officials have been wanting to put Saddam on trial within the next few months, before -- before an election, but tribunal officials have said that the timetable for that has not been set.

In the meantime, they have released these interrogations now. It's interesting, because you are actually seeing people other than Saddam Hussein without their faces blocked out. So we will continue to follow what is being released.

In the meantime, let's turn it to business. Postage stamps are the latest craze in outsourcing. With that and an early check on Wall Street, Gerri Willis is in for Andy Serwer, and she is "Minding Your Business."

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am indeed, Ali.

VELSHI: Good morning.

WILLIS: Good to see you.

Today the market opened weaker than expected. We had expected something a little more positive than this, Ali. VELSHI: Hmm.

WILLIS: Dow Industrials down 27 points, as you can see right here. But one stock that is doing well today, Morgan Stanley. The CEO of that company, Phil Purcell, announcing his impending retirement. Stories in the other media today, particularly in "The Wall Street Journal," saying that he has been fired. In his letter, Phil Purcell said that he was retiring as soon as a successor could be found. That stock up 3.5 percent today.

VELSHI: Sure. This whole business about Phil Purcell has been weighing on them. So that will be something for Wall Street. And the markets will go up when people get to the work, because it's a little hot outside.

WILLIS: Everybody's -- summer's doldrums. Not a lot happens in the summer.

VELSHI: I really never thought about where postage stamps get printed or who prints them.

WILLIS: Washington, D.C., it says, Department of the Treasury. But not anymore. Ending a 111-year tradition, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing will no longer print stamps. The end of that long tradition coming just Friday. And tens of millions of dollars in savings.

VELSHI: Wow. All right. I guess they won't look any different for us. Still get to lick 'em! Gerri, thank you so much -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: I was going to say, moving on.

Coming up tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING, we continue our series "Just For Dad." Can the fears of fatherhood cause postpartum depression for dad? Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look, offers some tips for parents. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: And that is it. We are out of time. Ali, big thanks to you for helping out.

VELSHI: Pleasure to be here.

O'BRIEN: Bill Hemmer is back tomorrow. His long weekend is over.

COSTELLO: We'll wake up Ali tomorrow at the same time.

O'BRIEN: We'll call you...

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: It's fun to hang around with you guys.

O'BRIEN: Just for laughs. Thanks a lot. We appreciate it. We'll see you guys tomorrow morning. Let's get right to Daryn Kagan. She's at the CNN Center, going to take you through the next few hours. Good morning, Daryn.

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Aired June 13, 2005 - 09:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. It's just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Bill Hemmer's taking a long weekend, but Ali Velshi is filling in for him. Nice to see you.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: And good to be here, thank you.

O'BRIEN: Coming up, we're going to have a live report from Santa Maria, California.

VELSHI: And the jury in the Michael Jackson trial getting back to work this morning there. Right now let's get another check on the headlines with Carol Costello -- Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you very much. Good morning, everyone.

"Now in the News," this just in to CNN. New pictures of Saddam Hussein being interrogated. We showed you some of them a sort time ago. Want to show you again. An Iraqi tribunal has released video of Saddam Hussein being questioned by a magistrate. He's apparently being asked about a massacre back in 1982 in which he survived an assassination attempt. Saddam Hussein was arrested back in December of 2003. Iraqi officials have said they would like to put Saddam on trial in the next few months.

In the meantime, there is more violence in Iraq. A car bomb kills two civilians and wounds five others in western Baghdad this morning. Iraqi police officials say the attack was aimed at a U.S. military convoy. And in a separate incident, a suicide car bomber targets an Iraqi police patrol in Tikrit. Three people killed, 11 others wounded.

Also, a developing story out of New York. Police now questioning a Middle Eastern man found with various sketches and maps of the city's subway system. Firefighters found the man and at least four others Sunday in a commercial building in Brooklyn. A fire department source said they were quote, "acting suspiciously." Several of the men fled, but officers managed to take one into custody.

And in the next hour, jury selection gets underway in a 41-year- old civil rights murder. 80-year-old Edgar Ray Killen is charged in 1964 murders of three civil rights workers in Philadelphia, Mississippi. The case was portrayed in the movie "Mississippi Burning." Killen was tried in 1967 for civil rights violations. That ended in a hung jury. He has said he is innocent. And the mother of a missing Alabama teenager is not happy with the investigation into her daughter's disappearance. Natalee Holloway's mother says three young men in custody know exactly what happened to her daughter, and she wants Aruban authorities to pressure them for more information. The young men were with Natalee the night she disappeared. Two other suspects are also in custody. And Holloway's mother says those two men actually should be let go.

VELSHI: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Yes, she thinks they're innocent and wants to focus on these other three.

VELSHI: These other three.

O'BRIEN: It's so interesting, the difference in the legal system in Aruba. Every time we do an interview, they continue to highlight that. It doesn't move as fast as it does here in the United States and there's much less made public...

VELSHI: Right.

O'BRIEN: ... to the general public.

COSTELLO: Yes, you get the feeling that somebody knows something they're not saying to the media.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Somebody knows where this woman is. And hopefully they'll be able to find her and hopefully she'll be alive. All right, Carol, thanks.

Let's turn to the Michael Jackson trial now. Jurors go back to work. In just a few hours, they're going to begin their second week of deliberations. CNN's Chris Lawrence is live for us in Santa Maria, California. Hey, Chris, good morning.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, coming up this week, we can expect more of the same. The jurors are going to be working. Fans, already about a dozen on hand. They will be yelling and screaming. And we wait. Anyone who says they can predict what this jury is going to do is probably just guessing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): If Michael Jackson's fans had their way, jurors would have needed six minutes to deliberate, not the six days it's taken so far. But the jury has to consider what 141 witnesses said and try to come to a unanimous decision on all 10 counts.

Sources tell CNN they passed several questions to the judge on Friday and asked to have portions of the teenaged accuser's testimony read back to them. The attorneys also had three meetings with the judge. DEBRA OPRI, JACKSON FAMILY ATTORNEY: It could mean anything. Nine days to acquit Robert Blake, so many hours to convict someone else.

LAWRENCE: Prosecutors accuse Jackson of sexually molesting a 13- year-old cancer survivor, giving the boy alcohol and conspiring to keep him and his family captive. Jackson denied the charges and pleaded not guilty. In deciding who they believe, jurors have had about 28 hours of deliberation so far.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they took two weeks, if they took three days, I would trust in it, because they're the ones that have been sitting in there every day.

LAWRENCE: The first full week is over, a second about to begin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: And those jurors are being guided by nearly 100 pages of jury instructions. It's a lot of very detailed language and legal jargon, but the judge wanted to make sure he was covering all his bases to lessen the chances of any appeal -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Quick question for you, Chris. We heard that Raymone Bain was fired, as well. And of course, she was the spokesperson for Michael Jackson so we've been talking to her a lot. What circumstances of her firing?

LAWRENCE: Well, apparently the spokesperson spoke too much. There was a -- there's a gag order in effect that prohibits any of the attorneys or representatives from speaking to anyone. And she was speaking all the time and Thomas Mesereau had to come out and say, no one speaks for Michael Jackson, other than me. And there was a statement released on Jackson's Web site on Friday saying that she had been let go.

O'BRIEN: All right. Just another twist and turn in this case. Chris Lawrence for us this morning. Chris, thanks -- Ali.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VELSHI: Well, still to come, a preview of the markets in "Minding Your Business."

O'BRIEN: And then after this weekend's big boxing match, heavyweight champion Mike Tyson says his career is down for the count. We're going to talk to our "90 Second Pop" panelists about that, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Forty-two years ago this month in Jackson, Mississippi, civil rights activist Medgar Evers was gunned down in the driveway of his home by a white supremacist. There is now a new book sharing the story of his life in his own words. It's called "The Autobiography of Medgar Evers." It's written his widow Myrlie Evers Williams, who is my guest now here in studio here in New York.

Nice to see you.

MYRLIE EVERS WILLIAMS, WIDOW OF MEDGAR EVERS: Thank you.

HEMMER: And good morning to you.

Before we talk about the book and reflections on Medgar, recently the body of Emmett Till was exhumed. He was gunned down in 1955 at the age of 14.

EVERS-WILLIAMS: Yes.

HEMMER: As that investigation continues, because at one point two men were accused of his murder. They've since died. Can this family get closure some 50 years later?

EVERS-WILLIAMS: I certainly think so. Medgar Evers was very involved in the investigation of Emmett Till's case, played a very active role in that, and certainly with his demise, when the third trial came up, we were requested to approve of the exhuming of his body.

For us, it was a part of the closure process. Our youngest son, who was three at the time, saw his father killed, and was quite a bit older, of course, and he was there when the casket was opened. It was necessary to be able to find additional evidence to prosecute that case.

When Medgar's murderer was deemed guilty, so many of us were freed from the result of that, and there have been anywhere from 18 to 23 civil rights cases that have been reopened, and some convictions since that particular period of time. And people said to me, let it go. It's too old. It's never too old for justice to be served.

HEMMER: I think as long as you're here and just listening to you and the emotion you pack in your answers, is that you weren't going to allow that to happen?

WILLIAMS: I certainly was not going to do that, because it was a promise that I had made. We both knew that Medgar's life was on the line. We also knew close to his assassination that time was near, but it speaks to the dedication of a person. Medgar did not choose to be a martyr. He wanted to live. He wanted to see his children grow up, but believed so thoroughly, and I know it sounds corny, but in this country that he fought for in World War II. He believed so strongly that his people deserved to be first-class citizens. He believed so strongly that people of all races, creeds and colors could come together and make America a better place.

HEMMER: You just said something there in your answer about the fact that he wanted to live. You write something in this book that refers to one of the final conversations you had with him, where he talked about perhaps it's necessary to die. Did that conversation take place, and if so what was the thinking behind that.

WILLIAMS: Oh, no. It certainly did. Not once, but many times. Medgar felt that if he were chosen, I guess I can say, to die, that his death would do some good, because perhaps it would awaken people to the evils, and that there's someone who was, if I may use the words that Manning Marable, a doctor at Columbia University used, "a servant leader," and I objected to that term so very much. The servant meant Mississippi and all of the other -- but it's someone who cease a need to give oneself to a cause and work for that.

HEMMER: Myrlie Evers-Williams, nice to see you.

WILLIAMS: Thank you.

HEMMER: Take care of your health, OK.

WILLIAMS: Thank you so much.

HEMMER: The book is called the autobiography of Medgar Evers. Great to see you here in New York.

WILLIAMS: Thank you.

HEMMER: All right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Some new information and some new images rather this morning of Saddam Hussein being interrogated. The Iraqi tribunal has released videotape of the former Iraqi dictator being questioned by a magistrate.

Jennifer Eccleston in Baghdad with more this morning. Jennifer, good morning.

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

That's right, an Iraqi judge has questioned former President Saddam Hussein about the killings of dozens of men from a Shiite village where he survived an assassination attempt in 1982. Iraq's special war crimes tribunal released the film of Saddam, and also other members of his administration, being questioned by an investigative judge of the tribunal. Now that judge said the questioning -- he said this is CNN, is an ongoing process.

Now a few weeks ago, the government said, in an effort to speed up Saddam Hussein's prosecution, that Iraq will put the former dictator on trial in connection with 12 of the best-documented crimes among the more than 500 allegedly committed by the former president. A spokesman for the prime minister said there was no time to waste in preparing for the trial and said that the government was confident that court proceedings would begin within two months, and as a result of that, there was a notice from Iraq's special tribunal there, stressing their independence, and they said that no timeframe has been set for the beginning of the charge. And just a little background about those charges, by whittling them down to 12, the spokesman said it would help ensure that the former president would receive a death sentence, which is available in Iraq under its criminal code, and one that as actually drafted under the rule of Saddam Hussein, and last July of course, he was arraigned here in Baghdad on several broad counts. These included the assassination of political opponents, the 1988 gassing in Halabja, and then the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and also suppressing the Kurdish and Shiite uprising in 1991 after the Gulf War -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Jennifer Eccleston for us this morning, reporting on this new videotape that's just come in to CNN that has apparently been released by the Iraqi magistrate, some of the questioning of Saddam Hussein.

Jennifer, thanks -- Ali.

VELSHI: Soledad, and as we get more information on that, we'll be following it on CNN, you might see some of that on "CNN LIVE TODAY" coming up next with Daryn Kagan.

Daryn, what are you working on this morning?

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: You can bet we're going to have a lot more on that Ali. Also coming up at the top the hour, whether you are a homeowner or you're out there looking for a home, everyone is talking about the so-called housing bubble. So is this the time to buy, sell or stand pat? We have your top-five tips to help you beat the bubble.

Plus, penguins are on the march. These black-and-white birds are stars of an amazing new documentary. We have some very special feathered guests coming up on "CNN LIVE TODAY."

KAGAN: Yes, Ali, I will be partying with penguins.

VELSHI: You're going to penguins on -- like, are you going to be interviewing penguins? You'll have real penguins on?

KAGAN: I will have a real penguin in these hands, yes.

VELSHI: That is cool.

KAGAN: And I'll be tough. I'm not going to go easy on the penguins.

VELSHI: No, you're not going to tough on the penguin. No one can be tough on a penguin, Daryn.

Good to see you, and we'll be watching for the penguins.

KAGAN: All right, you got it.

VELSHI: All right, still ahead, you're mailman is getting a new stop on his route, not to pick up letters, but to pick up stamps. You'll want to hear about this. Stay tuned. More AMERICAN MORNING coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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 really -- you're liking that?

SMITH: It's tremendous.

SHAW: That is the best movie I've seen in so long.

O'BRIEN: You guys, thanks very much. Appreciate it -- Ali.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: Soledad, we are following a story of these pictures that coming in from Iraq, apparently released by the Iraqi tribunal right now. These are new to CNN. They are just in. Clearer pictures of Saddam Hussein being interrogated as part of the investigation that is not yet part of his trial.

Now, Iraqi government officials have been wanting to put Saddam on trial within the next few months, before -- before an election, but tribunal officials have said that the timetable for that has not been set.

In the meantime, they have released these interrogations now. It's interesting, because you are actually seeing people other than Saddam Hussein without their faces blocked out. So we will continue to follow what is being released.

In the meantime, let's turn it to business. Postage stamps are the latest craze in outsourcing. With that and an early check on Wall Street, Gerri Willis is in for Andy Serwer, and she is "Minding Your Business."

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am indeed, Ali.

VELSHI: Good morning.

WILLIS: Good to see you.

Today the market opened weaker than expected. We had expected something a little more positive than this, Ali. VELSHI: Hmm.

WILLIS: Dow Industrials down 27 points, as you can see right here. But one stock that is doing well today, Morgan Stanley. The CEO of that company, Phil Purcell, announcing his impending retirement. Stories in the other media today, particularly in "The Wall Street Journal," saying that he has been fired. In his letter, Phil Purcell said that he was retiring as soon as a successor could be found. That stock up 3.5 percent today.

VELSHI: Sure. This whole business about Phil Purcell has been weighing on them. So that will be something for Wall Street. And the markets will go up when people get to the work, because it's a little hot outside.

WILLIS: Everybody's -- summer's doldrums. Not a lot happens in the summer.

VELSHI: I really never thought about where postage stamps get printed or who prints them.

WILLIS: Washington, D.C., it says, Department of the Treasury. But not anymore. Ending a 111-year tradition, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing will no longer print stamps. The end of that long tradition coming just Friday. And tens of millions of dollars in savings.

VELSHI: Wow. All right. I guess they won't look any different for us. Still get to lick 'em! Gerri, thank you so much -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: I was going to say, moving on.

Coming up tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING, we continue our series "Just For Dad." Can the fears of fatherhood cause postpartum depression for dad? Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look, offers some tips for parents. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: And that is it. We are out of time. Ali, big thanks to you for helping out.

VELSHI: Pleasure to be here.

O'BRIEN: Bill Hemmer is back tomorrow. His long weekend is over.

COSTELLO: We'll wake up Ali tomorrow at the same time.

O'BRIEN: We'll call you...

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: It's fun to hang around with you guys.

O'BRIEN: Just for laughs. Thanks a lot. We appreciate it. We'll see you guys tomorrow morning. Let's get right to Daryn Kagan. She's at the CNN Center, going to take you through the next few hours. Good morning, Daryn.

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