Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Jackson: Free Man; Aruba Suspects Freed; Saddam on Tape
Aired June 14, 2005 - 8:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Michael Jackson is a free man, not guilty in his trial. But some jurors still carry some suspicion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael Jackson probably has molested boys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Why did the jury set him free? Inside the verdict this hour.
Also, a day of terrible violence for unsuspecting Iraqis. Bombings in two towns, killing two dozen and injuring many, many more.
And from Aruba, two men first arrested in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway are free again. Can they still help in the investigation? That's ahead this hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
HEMMER: Good morning, everybody. Back to the Michael Jackson fallout. "The New York Daily News" and the New York -- you don't see this very often here in New York City. Same headline, two different newspapers.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: On occasion.
HEMMER: "Boy Oh Boy" is the headlines here from "The Daily News" and "The Post." So getting reaction again from the verdicts from yesterday.
O'BRIEN: Making the front page really here, of course, and everywhere around the globe.
HEMMER: Who do you think was cheating off the other one, do you think?
O'BRIEN: I think, you know, great minds think alike is the theory we should go with this morning.
HEMMER: Right answer.
O'BRIEN: Let's get a look at the headlines this morning with Carol. Good morning, again.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Great minds think alike?
O'BRIEN: I'm being kind.
COSTELLO: You are.
Good morning, everyone.
"Now in the News," two deadly insurgent attacks in Iraq. The first targeting a police station in a town near Baquba. The coordinated bomb attack and mortar attack killed five people.
Two hours later, a suicide bombing outside of a bank in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. At least 19 killed there, 90 others injured.
In Afghanistan, a roadside bomb wounds four U.S. troops and an Afghan interpreter. The team was on a routine patrol in the southeastern part of the country. The military says none of the injuries are life-threatening.
This morning, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is launching a campaign on behalf of three special election initiatives. Governor Schwarzenegger announced Monday that he would call a special election in November. He wants voters to consider three measures which would include changing the way the state budget is balanced. Some Democrats say the election will be costly and a distraction from the real issues.
And President Bush in Pennsylvania today to promote his Social Security plans and help campaign for a fellow Republican. First on the agenda, a fund-raising lunch for Senator Rick Santorum, who's in a tough re-election battle. And then it's off to Penn State, where the president will s peak at a Future Farmers of America Convention, pitching private investment accounts.
So he's certainly not giving up.
O'BRIEN: That has been a tough sell, though, hasn't it? You don't really hear that much about it going well very often.
All right. Carol, thanks.
HEMMER: Michael Jackson was expressionless as he left the courtroom Monday after being acquitted on all 10 charges against him. Not even a smile as he left the court. Just a few small waves to fans. Will there be more today?
Let's check outside the Neverland Ranch. Chris Lawrence is there.
Chris, any activity today so far? It's, what, 6:00 in the morning your time in California? CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bill, in the last two hours we've seen a lot of trucks coming into the ranch here. But we don't know if they're deliveries, visitors, or people just coming to work.
Defense attorney Tom Mesereau says Michael Jackson hasn't been eating or sleeping much lately, but he did spend the night here at home exhausted and a little bit relieved. At some point he will have to move on and start to rebuild his image.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE (voice-over): After almost four months on trial, Michael Jackson leaves court physically and financially weaker, but he goes home a free man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's famous. We don't really convict famous people. He's Michael Jackson. He sang "Beat It." I mean, come on.
LAWRENCE: The jury's verdict left no doubt to the 10 counts against him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury, in the above-entitled case find the defendant not guilty of a lewd act performed on a minor child.
(CHEERING)
LAWRENCE: Conspiracy, not guilty. Molesting a child, not guilty. Giving alcohol to a minor, not guilty.
JUROR NUMBER 10: We expected probably better evidence, you know, something that was a little more convincing, and it just wasn't there.
LAWRENCE: Jurors said they questioned the credibility of the accuser and his mother, because she let her son spend so much time in Jackson's bedroom.
JUROR NUMBER 10: What mother in her right mind would allow that to happen or, you know, just freely volunteer your child, you know, to sleep with someone.
LAWRENCE: Prosecutors say they're disappointed, but won't apologize for bringing the case.
THOMAS SNEDDON, PROSECUTOR: We don't select our victims, and we don't select the families they come from.
LAWRENCE: One of the jurors told CNN he can't believe Jackson slept in the same bedroom with children for so many days without anything happening.
RAYMOND HULTMAN, JUROR NUMBER ONE: I feel that Michael Jackson probably has molested boys. I cannot believe that, after some of the testimony was offered, I can't believe that this man could sleep in the same bedroom for 365 straight days and not do something more than just watch television and eat popcorn. I mean, that doesn't make sense to me, but that doesn't make him guilty of the charges that were presented in this case, and that's where we had to make our decision.
LAWRENCE: And with that decision final, defense attorney Tom Mesereau left court quickly.
THOMAS MESEREAU, DEFENSE ATTY: Justice was done. The man's innocent. He always was.
LAWRENCE: Having convinced the jury that Jackson did nothing wrong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: Now, the jury foreman did say from now on, Michael Jackson's got to be a lot more careful about how he conducts himself around children. And just this morning, Tom Mesereau said he'll never put himself in such a vulnerable position again -- Bill.
HEMMER: Chris Lawrence, thanks, at the Neverland Ranch -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: In Aruba now, two men released from custody there. They were the first suspects named in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. Three other men are still being held.
One of those released, Abraham Jones, talked to CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were you surprised when you heard the news tonight that you'll be going home?
ABRAHAM JONES, RELEASED SUSPECT: Not really. I mean, I had a good lawyer and I was telling the truth. And I'm innocent. So it didn't come as much of a surprise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: That brings us right to John Zarrella. He's live in Palm Beach, Aruba, this morning.
John, good morning. What led to the release of the two men?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, there had been a lot of pressure that had been building for their release. There apparently was no real evidence against them. The two security guards had worked at a nearby hotel. They had maintained their innocence for quite some time.
They had been picked up on June 5. In fact, even Natalee Holloway's mother had been lobbying, saying that the two men should be released. There was supposed to have been a hearing today to discuss that release, but last night, late in the evening, the government, the prosecutors, decided to go ahead and release the two security guards. Now, earlier this morning on AMERICAN MORNING, Natalee's mother spoke with Soledad. And Natalee's mother says she's pleased with the course the investigation is taking.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, DAUGHTER MISSING: This moment, right now, I feel like that we are working in a collaborative effort, and I feel like now I can say that, from the family, to the FBI, to the local authorities, to the Aruban government, to the United States government, I feel like we are now all in this investigation. And I do feel like we are beginning to proceed forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: Now, the three young men who are still in custody, they have been arrested. They are being questioned. They may have been the last three people to have seen Natalee Holloway, claiming that they dropped her off at a hotel near the Marriott here on the night that she disappeared.
And the investigation -- and the search continues. Natalee's family continuing to search daily in different locations, where they are getting tips. But so far, nothing has turned up as to where Natalee Holloway is -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: John Zarrella for us in Aruba this morning. John, thanks -- Bill.
HEMMER: Now to Iraq, Soledad, where the daily violence could be slowing the start of Saddam Hussein's war crimes trial. But there was another significant step taken on Monday when a silent videotape was released showing Saddam being questioned by an Iraqi judge. It's only one of the rare times we have seen him over the past year.
Here's Jennifer Eccleston live in Baghdad.
What's the importance of this videotape, Jennifer?
JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, I think it's fair to say that in releasing the videotape, the Iraqi tribunal wanted to show the Iraqi people that the investigation is ongoing and that they're working hard to bring Saddam Hussein and senior members of his regime to justice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ECCLESTON (voice-over): Who is right about what this new video of Saddam Hussein tells us? Does the former Iraqi dictator look relaxed and confident, as one observer wrote, or does it show a man who appears a shadow of his former self, as another wrote?
There does seem to be agreement on one aspect of his appearance. When you examine the last video we saw of him nearly a year ago last July, and put that side by side with these latest pictures, on the right, there's a difference in the face. He now has heavy bags under his eyes. Back then, he seemed tan. He looked physically fit, healthy. So healthy many Iraqis said he looked too good, perhaps living a better life than they were.
His demeanor was at times combative, feisty, often referring to himself as the current president of Iraq. Is he still combative? Hard to know, since this time, the audio was not released, although one lip-reader detected the judge saying, "Answer the question, answer the question."
And speaking of the judge, Raid Juhi is no longer making any effort to protect his identity. In last July's video, we only caught glimpses of him, but pictures of his face got out. Anyone in Iraq determined to harm him knows who he is. But Judge Juhi is open about his identity for another reason. "There is something very good," he was quoted last summer, "in Iraqis being able to see that Saddam has to face the authority of the judge of an ordinary man like me."
And so from his days in power to the moments after his capture 18 months ago, to his first court appearance last July, to this latest videotaped appearance, Iraqis and the world await the next phase, the beginning of the actual trial. And that is still a mystery.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ECCLESTON: Many Iraqi legislators have expressed an interest in starting the trial sooner. They hope that a speedy trial would shore up public faith in Iraq's political order, new political order, while dealing a psychological blow to the insurgency -- Bill.
HEMMER: Jennifer Eccleston, thanks, live in Baghdad -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: A look at the weather again this morning. Chad Myers at the CNN Center with the latest forecast for us.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: In a moment here, the man behind Michael Jackson's huge legal victory yesterday. Tom Mesereau is our guest in a moment.
O'BRIEN: Plus, where did the prosecution go wrong? And the one witness that rubbed some jurors the wrong way. Trial watcher Anne Bremner joins us live with more on that.
HEMMER: Also, a bit later, Michael Jackson's future. Can the king of pop revive his career? And if so, what's his next move?
Back in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: A clean sweep for Michael Jackson. Acquittal across the board yesterday. Here he is leaving court on Monday afternoon.
Back to Santa Maria. Criminal defense attorney Anne Bremner back there inside the courtroom for the verdict yesterday. Anne, welcome back. Good morning out there.
ANNE BREMNER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hey.
HEMMER: 6:15 in California. I want to play a few pieces of interviews that have come down over the past 24 hours that show the jurors and kind of the logic they used to arrive at their verdict from yesterday. The first one has three jurors talking, and there's one specific point that I want to pull out of this after we listen now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAULINE COCCOZ, JUROR NUMBER 10: What mother in her right mind would allow that to happen? You know, just freely volunteer your child, you know, to sleep with someone? And not just so much Michael Jackson, but any person, for that matter?
SUSAN RENTSCHLER, JUROR NUMBER 4: A lot of the witnesses looked over at us from time to time, but then they'd look back. But she didn't take her eyes off of us. So that was a very uncomfortable feeling.
ELANOR COOK, JUROR NUMBER 5: I disliked it intensely when she snapped her fingers at us. That's when I thought, don't snap your fingers at me, lady.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Let's put this in context. The last two women were talking about the accuser's mother on the stand. Were you in court for any of her testimony, and did anyone pick up on what the jurors clearly point out as a reason for as to why they deliberated and reached the decisions they did?
BREMNER: Bill, I was in court for testimony, and I actually did the pool briefing for the international pool as the legal analyst during her testimony, and I said before she testified they shouldn't call her as a witness and they should not pursue the conspiracy count. And then when she testified, I said, you know, there was a circus outside court, there was a circus inside court, and there was a circus in her head.
You know, what they gained from calling her was so far outweighed by what she took away. And I said that back at the time, and I say it now.
HEMMER: But Anne, I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt here...
BREMNER: Yes?
HEMMER: ... but did you pick up on this whole sense of communication that she was having with the jurors, staring at them, essentially...
BREMNER: Oh, yes. Yes.
HEMMER: ... while she was giving her answers? Did that strike you as unusual or odd in any way?
BREMNER: That was one of -- one of many of the odd things in her testimony. I mean, she would -- she would listen to the question and then turn and look at the jury every single time. And then she would say, when Thomas Mesereau was asking questions, "Don't listen to him. He's trying to fool you." And "No, no, no, no, no," and look at the jury, "it wasn't a full body wax."
It was bizarre. She was a very strange witness, and the jurors, you know, that was the turning point, it sounds like, for their decision, because Thomas Mesereau argued, if you don't believe this family beyond a reasonable doubt, you must acquit. And that's what they decided.
HEMMER: One more point on the accuser's mother. If the prosecution doesn't call her, does the state take the chance of having Mesereau put her on the stand?
BREMNER: Sure they do, but then -- but then what the argument is, if you lose the conspiracy count and you just go with what this case always was, a molestation case, then you say, well, why did they call her? Because she was always ancillary, and she was the centerpiece of the defense case. We knew that from opening statements on.
HEMMER: OK. I get it. All right.
Next point now. Juror number one, his name is Raymond Hultman. He was on our show earlier, but he had this to say several -- I think it was last evening, in fact, with Larry King. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAYMOND HULTMAN, JUROR NUMBER 1: I feel that Michael Jackson probably has molested boys. I cannot believe that after some of the -- the testimony was offered, I can't believe that -- that this man could sleep in the same bedroom for 365 straight days and not do something more than just watch television and eat popcorn.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: So that's about a 15-second comment from him last night with Larry King. If we read between the lines, is he suggesting or saying that the state just simply did not prove the case with the evidence presented?
BREMNER: Absolutely. And in Scotland, they have a verdict called "not proven." And I think that's what this jury said.
He was saying, where there's smoke there's fire, but there's no fire here. There's just the smoke. And, you know, the state had momentum at the end of the case, but it was too little, too late, and they weren't able to prove to this jury guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
HEMMER: You know, I think the momentum you're talking about is when they played that sheriff's interview that was taken about two years...
BREMNER: Yes.
HEMMER: ... before this thing went to trial. Juror number one on our show earlier today was telling Soledad that that sheriff's interview had a significant impact on him, but then when he went into the room to deliberate, he clearly changed his mind.
BREMNER: Well, the thing about this case is, you know, it looked like an acquittal or a mistrial, a hung jury, almost all the way through the case. And until the defense case, which is ironic, because Debbie Rowe was great for the defense. Of course the mother was great for the defense.
But that 365-day testimony, or nights, sleeping with one boy, came in the defense case. So I think that gave the jury pause.
HEMMER: One more comment here. Right charge, wrong family? Do you buy that or not?
BREMNER: You know, in retrospect I do. Celebrity justice can almost be an oxymoron, Bill. And, you know, the standard of proof is so much higher with someone -- you know, the most famous and most successful musician in the history of the world.
This family had -- you know, they were called actors. You know, liars, con artists. And that stuck.
Thomas Mesereau did a masterful job. I always said Mesereau was mesmerizing. And in this type of a case with this family, even with the apparent evidence, fingerprints on pornography and eyewitnesses at some of the events, it wasn't enough to carry the day. It could have been the wrong family, because they called the mother, and the mother was the centerpiece of the defense throughout this case.
HEMMER: Anne, listen, thanks for being the eyes and the ears for us throughout this trial.
BREMNER: It's been my pleasure.
HEMMER: You've bun pulling some monster hours out there in California.
BREMNER: Yes.
HEMMER: So a job well done to you. And thanks, Anne.
BREMNER: Thank you so much, Bill.
HEMMER: All right. Sure -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, finding holes in the nation's list of terror suspects. A CNN "Security Watch" is up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: A CNN "Security Watch" now, looking at the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center. The center put together a massive list of suspected terrorists, but a new report says there are some big problems with that list.
CNN security analyst Richard Falkenrath in our Washington bureau this morning.
Nice to see you, Richard. Thanks for talking with us.
RICHARD FALKENRATH, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: The data really is -- the database really is a series of merged databases. What exactly is on it?
FALKENRATH: Well, on it is about 237,000 names of people that the U.S. government have some reason to believe are terrorists or affiliated with terrorists who we need to be on the lookout for and watch out for. It's a very big database with a lot of different names in there, and it brings together what used to be over a dozen different watch lists from around the government.
O'BRIEN: It really is massive. And the report, in a nutshell, says progress is being made, but it does need some improvement.
This is what was said: "Instances they found where the database did not contain names that should have been included on the watch list. In addition, inaccurate or inconsistent information related to the persons was included."
"Inaccurate," "inconsistent" never good when you're getting an assessment of some part of your business. How big a problem is this really?
FALKENRATH: Well, it's a serious problem. And I think the inspector general is really doing his job in pointing out these problems with some of the underlying data.
But I tell you, Soledad, I've read a lot of inspector general reports, and this is one of the most complimentary that I've ever seen. This inspector general at the Department of Justice has really hammered a number of different programs. And by his standards, this program comes off doing pretty well.
O'BRIEN: Yes, by comparison, it doesn't look so bad. Let's read a little of what the inspector general, in fact, had to say.
He said this: "There's little room for error because a single name omitted from the database could result in a suspected terrorist successfully applying for a visa, being admitted to the United States, or failing to be identified when stopped for a traffic violation."
How huge do you think the implications are for mistakes like that in this database?
FALKENRATH: They're enormous. And that was really the lesson we learn on 9/11, where we knew about two of the hijackers in the intelligence community but didn't provide the information to the State Department. So they were able to enter the country under their own names and go through immigration and get a visa, and fly on the airplanes without any problem. And that is a completely unacceptable outcome.
Everyone recognized that as a huge failure. And the number one job of this list, this watch list, is to ensure that never happens again.
Now, the problem we're getting is maybe we're erring on the side of putting too many names in. And anything that is even remotely connected to terrorism is now being put on the list. And as a result, there is some corrupted data and there are a lot of people who get inconvenienced, who, you know, they're names happen to be the same as a terrorist and they get pulled over, or their flights get diverted, or whatever.
O'BRIEN: So then how do you fix these problems? Because as you point out, both of those mistakes are bad mistakes.
FALKENRATH: Yes, very bad mistakes. Well, the main way you fix this problem is you have a well-functioning agency with a clear mission and with the resources to get its job done. And that, I think, the inspector general basically says this center has.
They know what their mission is. They have some resources, and they have a pretty good watchdog. This inspector general looking over their shoulder, making sure they get it right at every little detail.
There are, as I said, 237,000 names in this list. In that, the inspector general identified 31 duplicates. That's pretty good, I mean, in the sense of a database that big with only 31 duplicates.
A more serious problem is when they've identified a handful, about a dozen cases, of a known terrorist whose name was not getting in the list. That is really very serious failure that they've got to fix inside this agency.
O'BRIEN: So, at the end of the day, your assessment is this list is making us all safer?
FALKENRATH: Yes. I think this is actually a success story in the government's response to 9/11. It's a clearly needed mission.
They stood up pretty quickly, as the report acknowledges, and they're getting the job done. They have a long way to go, there's no question. And they'll probably never make everybody happy all the time.
But I have evaluated many different government programs. This one comes out looking as a very well-performing program, compared to some others, unfortunately. O'BRIEN: A little good news there, then. Richard Falkenrath in Washington for us this morning.
Nice to see you. Thanks a lot.
FALKENRATH: Thanks, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: You'll want to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Bill.
HEMMER: In a moment here, the next act for Michael Jackson, what the king of pop must do to rebuild his career. That's ahead after a break on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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 14, 2005 - 8:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Michael Jackson is a free man, not guilty in his trial. But some jurors still carry some suspicion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael Jackson probably has molested boys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Why did the jury set him free? Inside the verdict this hour.
Also, a day of terrible violence for unsuspecting Iraqis. Bombings in two towns, killing two dozen and injuring many, many more.
And from Aruba, two men first arrested in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway are free again. Can they still help in the investigation? That's ahead this hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
HEMMER: Good morning, everybody. Back to the Michael Jackson fallout. "The New York Daily News" and the New York -- you don't see this very often here in New York City. Same headline, two different newspapers.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: On occasion.
HEMMER: "Boy Oh Boy" is the headlines here from "The Daily News" and "The Post." So getting reaction again from the verdicts from yesterday.
O'BRIEN: Making the front page really here, of course, and everywhere around the globe.
HEMMER: Who do you think was cheating off the other one, do you think?
O'BRIEN: I think, you know, great minds think alike is the theory we should go with this morning.
HEMMER: Right answer.
O'BRIEN: Let's get a look at the headlines this morning with Carol. Good morning, again.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Great minds think alike?
O'BRIEN: I'm being kind.
COSTELLO: You are.
Good morning, everyone.
"Now in the News," two deadly insurgent attacks in Iraq. The first targeting a police station in a town near Baquba. The coordinated bomb attack and mortar attack killed five people.
Two hours later, a suicide bombing outside of a bank in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. At least 19 killed there, 90 others injured.
In Afghanistan, a roadside bomb wounds four U.S. troops and an Afghan interpreter. The team was on a routine patrol in the southeastern part of the country. The military says none of the injuries are life-threatening.
This morning, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is launching a campaign on behalf of three special election initiatives. Governor Schwarzenegger announced Monday that he would call a special election in November. He wants voters to consider three measures which would include changing the way the state budget is balanced. Some Democrats say the election will be costly and a distraction from the real issues.
And President Bush in Pennsylvania today to promote his Social Security plans and help campaign for a fellow Republican. First on the agenda, a fund-raising lunch for Senator Rick Santorum, who's in a tough re-election battle. And then it's off to Penn State, where the president will s peak at a Future Farmers of America Convention, pitching private investment accounts.
So he's certainly not giving up.
O'BRIEN: That has been a tough sell, though, hasn't it? You don't really hear that much about it going well very often.
All right. Carol, thanks.
HEMMER: Michael Jackson was expressionless as he left the courtroom Monday after being acquitted on all 10 charges against him. Not even a smile as he left the court. Just a few small waves to fans. Will there be more today?
Let's check outside the Neverland Ranch. Chris Lawrence is there.
Chris, any activity today so far? It's, what, 6:00 in the morning your time in California? CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bill, in the last two hours we've seen a lot of trucks coming into the ranch here. But we don't know if they're deliveries, visitors, or people just coming to work.
Defense attorney Tom Mesereau says Michael Jackson hasn't been eating or sleeping much lately, but he did spend the night here at home exhausted and a little bit relieved. At some point he will have to move on and start to rebuild his image.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE (voice-over): After almost four months on trial, Michael Jackson leaves court physically and financially weaker, but he goes home a free man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's famous. We don't really convict famous people. He's Michael Jackson. He sang "Beat It." I mean, come on.
LAWRENCE: The jury's verdict left no doubt to the 10 counts against him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury, in the above-entitled case find the defendant not guilty of a lewd act performed on a minor child.
(CHEERING)
LAWRENCE: Conspiracy, not guilty. Molesting a child, not guilty. Giving alcohol to a minor, not guilty.
JUROR NUMBER 10: We expected probably better evidence, you know, something that was a little more convincing, and it just wasn't there.
LAWRENCE: Jurors said they questioned the credibility of the accuser and his mother, because she let her son spend so much time in Jackson's bedroom.
JUROR NUMBER 10: What mother in her right mind would allow that to happen or, you know, just freely volunteer your child, you know, to sleep with someone.
LAWRENCE: Prosecutors say they're disappointed, but won't apologize for bringing the case.
THOMAS SNEDDON, PROSECUTOR: We don't select our victims, and we don't select the families they come from.
LAWRENCE: One of the jurors told CNN he can't believe Jackson slept in the same bedroom with children for so many days without anything happening.
RAYMOND HULTMAN, JUROR NUMBER ONE: I feel that Michael Jackson probably has molested boys. I cannot believe that, after some of the testimony was offered, I can't believe that this man could sleep in the same bedroom for 365 straight days and not do something more than just watch television and eat popcorn. I mean, that doesn't make sense to me, but that doesn't make him guilty of the charges that were presented in this case, and that's where we had to make our decision.
LAWRENCE: And with that decision final, defense attorney Tom Mesereau left court quickly.
THOMAS MESEREAU, DEFENSE ATTY: Justice was done. The man's innocent. He always was.
LAWRENCE: Having convinced the jury that Jackson did nothing wrong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: Now, the jury foreman did say from now on, Michael Jackson's got to be a lot more careful about how he conducts himself around children. And just this morning, Tom Mesereau said he'll never put himself in such a vulnerable position again -- Bill.
HEMMER: Chris Lawrence, thanks, at the Neverland Ranch -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: In Aruba now, two men released from custody there. They were the first suspects named in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. Three other men are still being held.
One of those released, Abraham Jones, talked to CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were you surprised when you heard the news tonight that you'll be going home?
ABRAHAM JONES, RELEASED SUSPECT: Not really. I mean, I had a good lawyer and I was telling the truth. And I'm innocent. So it didn't come as much of a surprise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: That brings us right to John Zarrella. He's live in Palm Beach, Aruba, this morning.
John, good morning. What led to the release of the two men?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, there had been a lot of pressure that had been building for their release. There apparently was no real evidence against them. The two security guards had worked at a nearby hotel. They had maintained their innocence for quite some time.
They had been picked up on June 5. In fact, even Natalee Holloway's mother had been lobbying, saying that the two men should be released. There was supposed to have been a hearing today to discuss that release, but last night, late in the evening, the government, the prosecutors, decided to go ahead and release the two security guards. Now, earlier this morning on AMERICAN MORNING, Natalee's mother spoke with Soledad. And Natalee's mother says she's pleased with the course the investigation is taking.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, DAUGHTER MISSING: This moment, right now, I feel like that we are working in a collaborative effort, and I feel like now I can say that, from the family, to the FBI, to the local authorities, to the Aruban government, to the United States government, I feel like we are now all in this investigation. And I do feel like we are beginning to proceed forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: Now, the three young men who are still in custody, they have been arrested. They are being questioned. They may have been the last three people to have seen Natalee Holloway, claiming that they dropped her off at a hotel near the Marriott here on the night that she disappeared.
And the investigation -- and the search continues. Natalee's family continuing to search daily in different locations, where they are getting tips. But so far, nothing has turned up as to where Natalee Holloway is -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: John Zarrella for us in Aruba this morning. John, thanks -- Bill.
HEMMER: Now to Iraq, Soledad, where the daily violence could be slowing the start of Saddam Hussein's war crimes trial. But there was another significant step taken on Monday when a silent videotape was released showing Saddam being questioned by an Iraqi judge. It's only one of the rare times we have seen him over the past year.
Here's Jennifer Eccleston live in Baghdad.
What's the importance of this videotape, Jennifer?
JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, I think it's fair to say that in releasing the videotape, the Iraqi tribunal wanted to show the Iraqi people that the investigation is ongoing and that they're working hard to bring Saddam Hussein and senior members of his regime to justice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ECCLESTON (voice-over): Who is right about what this new video of Saddam Hussein tells us? Does the former Iraqi dictator look relaxed and confident, as one observer wrote, or does it show a man who appears a shadow of his former self, as another wrote?
There does seem to be agreement on one aspect of his appearance. When you examine the last video we saw of him nearly a year ago last July, and put that side by side with these latest pictures, on the right, there's a difference in the face. He now has heavy bags under his eyes. Back then, he seemed tan. He looked physically fit, healthy. So healthy many Iraqis said he looked too good, perhaps living a better life than they were.
His demeanor was at times combative, feisty, often referring to himself as the current president of Iraq. Is he still combative? Hard to know, since this time, the audio was not released, although one lip-reader detected the judge saying, "Answer the question, answer the question."
And speaking of the judge, Raid Juhi is no longer making any effort to protect his identity. In last July's video, we only caught glimpses of him, but pictures of his face got out. Anyone in Iraq determined to harm him knows who he is. But Judge Juhi is open about his identity for another reason. "There is something very good," he was quoted last summer, "in Iraqis being able to see that Saddam has to face the authority of the judge of an ordinary man like me."
And so from his days in power to the moments after his capture 18 months ago, to his first court appearance last July, to this latest videotaped appearance, Iraqis and the world await the next phase, the beginning of the actual trial. And that is still a mystery.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ECCLESTON: Many Iraqi legislators have expressed an interest in starting the trial sooner. They hope that a speedy trial would shore up public faith in Iraq's political order, new political order, while dealing a psychological blow to the insurgency -- Bill.
HEMMER: Jennifer Eccleston, thanks, live in Baghdad -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: A look at the weather again this morning. Chad Myers at the CNN Center with the latest forecast for us.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: In a moment here, the man behind Michael Jackson's huge legal victory yesterday. Tom Mesereau is our guest in a moment.
O'BRIEN: Plus, where did the prosecution go wrong? And the one witness that rubbed some jurors the wrong way. Trial watcher Anne Bremner joins us live with more on that.
HEMMER: Also, a bit later, Michael Jackson's future. Can the king of pop revive his career? And if so, what's his next move?
Back in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: A clean sweep for Michael Jackson. Acquittal across the board yesterday. Here he is leaving court on Monday afternoon.
Back to Santa Maria. Criminal defense attorney Anne Bremner back there inside the courtroom for the verdict yesterday. Anne, welcome back. Good morning out there.
ANNE BREMNER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hey.
HEMMER: 6:15 in California. I want to play a few pieces of interviews that have come down over the past 24 hours that show the jurors and kind of the logic they used to arrive at their verdict from yesterday. The first one has three jurors talking, and there's one specific point that I want to pull out of this after we listen now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAULINE COCCOZ, JUROR NUMBER 10: What mother in her right mind would allow that to happen? You know, just freely volunteer your child, you know, to sleep with someone? And not just so much Michael Jackson, but any person, for that matter?
SUSAN RENTSCHLER, JUROR NUMBER 4: A lot of the witnesses looked over at us from time to time, but then they'd look back. But she didn't take her eyes off of us. So that was a very uncomfortable feeling.
ELANOR COOK, JUROR NUMBER 5: I disliked it intensely when she snapped her fingers at us. That's when I thought, don't snap your fingers at me, lady.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Let's put this in context. The last two women were talking about the accuser's mother on the stand. Were you in court for any of her testimony, and did anyone pick up on what the jurors clearly point out as a reason for as to why they deliberated and reached the decisions they did?
BREMNER: Bill, I was in court for testimony, and I actually did the pool briefing for the international pool as the legal analyst during her testimony, and I said before she testified they shouldn't call her as a witness and they should not pursue the conspiracy count. And then when she testified, I said, you know, there was a circus outside court, there was a circus inside court, and there was a circus in her head.
You know, what they gained from calling her was so far outweighed by what she took away. And I said that back at the time, and I say it now.
HEMMER: But Anne, I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt here...
BREMNER: Yes?
HEMMER: ... but did you pick up on this whole sense of communication that she was having with the jurors, staring at them, essentially...
BREMNER: Oh, yes. Yes.
HEMMER: ... while she was giving her answers? Did that strike you as unusual or odd in any way?
BREMNER: That was one of -- one of many of the odd things in her testimony. I mean, she would -- she would listen to the question and then turn and look at the jury every single time. And then she would say, when Thomas Mesereau was asking questions, "Don't listen to him. He's trying to fool you." And "No, no, no, no, no," and look at the jury, "it wasn't a full body wax."
It was bizarre. She was a very strange witness, and the jurors, you know, that was the turning point, it sounds like, for their decision, because Thomas Mesereau argued, if you don't believe this family beyond a reasonable doubt, you must acquit. And that's what they decided.
HEMMER: One more point on the accuser's mother. If the prosecution doesn't call her, does the state take the chance of having Mesereau put her on the stand?
BREMNER: Sure they do, but then -- but then what the argument is, if you lose the conspiracy count and you just go with what this case always was, a molestation case, then you say, well, why did they call her? Because she was always ancillary, and she was the centerpiece of the defense case. We knew that from opening statements on.
HEMMER: OK. I get it. All right.
Next point now. Juror number one, his name is Raymond Hultman. He was on our show earlier, but he had this to say several -- I think it was last evening, in fact, with Larry King. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAYMOND HULTMAN, JUROR NUMBER 1: I feel that Michael Jackson probably has molested boys. I cannot believe that after some of the -- the testimony was offered, I can't believe that -- that this man could sleep in the same bedroom for 365 straight days and not do something more than just watch television and eat popcorn.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: So that's about a 15-second comment from him last night with Larry King. If we read between the lines, is he suggesting or saying that the state just simply did not prove the case with the evidence presented?
BREMNER: Absolutely. And in Scotland, they have a verdict called "not proven." And I think that's what this jury said.
He was saying, where there's smoke there's fire, but there's no fire here. There's just the smoke. And, you know, the state had momentum at the end of the case, but it was too little, too late, and they weren't able to prove to this jury guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
HEMMER: You know, I think the momentum you're talking about is when they played that sheriff's interview that was taken about two years...
BREMNER: Yes.
HEMMER: ... before this thing went to trial. Juror number one on our show earlier today was telling Soledad that that sheriff's interview had a significant impact on him, but then when he went into the room to deliberate, he clearly changed his mind.
BREMNER: Well, the thing about this case is, you know, it looked like an acquittal or a mistrial, a hung jury, almost all the way through the case. And until the defense case, which is ironic, because Debbie Rowe was great for the defense. Of course the mother was great for the defense.
But that 365-day testimony, or nights, sleeping with one boy, came in the defense case. So I think that gave the jury pause.
HEMMER: One more comment here. Right charge, wrong family? Do you buy that or not?
BREMNER: You know, in retrospect I do. Celebrity justice can almost be an oxymoron, Bill. And, you know, the standard of proof is so much higher with someone -- you know, the most famous and most successful musician in the history of the world.
This family had -- you know, they were called actors. You know, liars, con artists. And that stuck.
Thomas Mesereau did a masterful job. I always said Mesereau was mesmerizing. And in this type of a case with this family, even with the apparent evidence, fingerprints on pornography and eyewitnesses at some of the events, it wasn't enough to carry the day. It could have been the wrong family, because they called the mother, and the mother was the centerpiece of the defense throughout this case.
HEMMER: Anne, listen, thanks for being the eyes and the ears for us throughout this trial.
BREMNER: It's been my pleasure.
HEMMER: You've bun pulling some monster hours out there in California.
BREMNER: Yes.
HEMMER: So a job well done to you. And thanks, Anne.
BREMNER: Thank you so much, Bill.
HEMMER: All right. Sure -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, finding holes in the nation's list of terror suspects. A CNN "Security Watch" is up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: A CNN "Security Watch" now, looking at the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center. The center put together a massive list of suspected terrorists, but a new report says there are some big problems with that list.
CNN security analyst Richard Falkenrath in our Washington bureau this morning.
Nice to see you, Richard. Thanks for talking with us.
RICHARD FALKENRATH, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: The data really is -- the database really is a series of merged databases. What exactly is on it?
FALKENRATH: Well, on it is about 237,000 names of people that the U.S. government have some reason to believe are terrorists or affiliated with terrorists who we need to be on the lookout for and watch out for. It's a very big database with a lot of different names in there, and it brings together what used to be over a dozen different watch lists from around the government.
O'BRIEN: It really is massive. And the report, in a nutshell, says progress is being made, but it does need some improvement.
This is what was said: "Instances they found where the database did not contain names that should have been included on the watch list. In addition, inaccurate or inconsistent information related to the persons was included."
"Inaccurate," "inconsistent" never good when you're getting an assessment of some part of your business. How big a problem is this really?
FALKENRATH: Well, it's a serious problem. And I think the inspector general is really doing his job in pointing out these problems with some of the underlying data.
But I tell you, Soledad, I've read a lot of inspector general reports, and this is one of the most complimentary that I've ever seen. This inspector general at the Department of Justice has really hammered a number of different programs. And by his standards, this program comes off doing pretty well.
O'BRIEN: Yes, by comparison, it doesn't look so bad. Let's read a little of what the inspector general, in fact, had to say.
He said this: "There's little room for error because a single name omitted from the database could result in a suspected terrorist successfully applying for a visa, being admitted to the United States, or failing to be identified when stopped for a traffic violation."
How huge do you think the implications are for mistakes like that in this database?
FALKENRATH: They're enormous. And that was really the lesson we learn on 9/11, where we knew about two of the hijackers in the intelligence community but didn't provide the information to the State Department. So they were able to enter the country under their own names and go through immigration and get a visa, and fly on the airplanes without any problem. And that is a completely unacceptable outcome.
Everyone recognized that as a huge failure. And the number one job of this list, this watch list, is to ensure that never happens again.
Now, the problem we're getting is maybe we're erring on the side of putting too many names in. And anything that is even remotely connected to terrorism is now being put on the list. And as a result, there is some corrupted data and there are a lot of people who get inconvenienced, who, you know, they're names happen to be the same as a terrorist and they get pulled over, or their flights get diverted, or whatever.
O'BRIEN: So then how do you fix these problems? Because as you point out, both of those mistakes are bad mistakes.
FALKENRATH: Yes, very bad mistakes. Well, the main way you fix this problem is you have a well-functioning agency with a clear mission and with the resources to get its job done. And that, I think, the inspector general basically says this center has.
They know what their mission is. They have some resources, and they have a pretty good watchdog. This inspector general looking over their shoulder, making sure they get it right at every little detail.
There are, as I said, 237,000 names in this list. In that, the inspector general identified 31 duplicates. That's pretty good, I mean, in the sense of a database that big with only 31 duplicates.
A more serious problem is when they've identified a handful, about a dozen cases, of a known terrorist whose name was not getting in the list. That is really very serious failure that they've got to fix inside this agency.
O'BRIEN: So, at the end of the day, your assessment is this list is making us all safer?
FALKENRATH: Yes. I think this is actually a success story in the government's response to 9/11. It's a clearly needed mission.
They stood up pretty quickly, as the report acknowledges, and they're getting the job done. They have a long way to go, there's no question. And they'll probably never make everybody happy all the time.
But I have evaluated many different government programs. This one comes out looking as a very well-performing program, compared to some others, unfortunately. O'BRIEN: A little good news there, then. Richard Falkenrath in Washington for us this morning.
Nice to see you. Thanks a lot.
FALKENRATH: Thanks, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: You'll want to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Bill.
HEMMER: In a moment here, the next act for Michael Jackson, what the king of pop must do to rebuild his career. That's ahead after a break on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
