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American Morning
Mesereau Speaks Out; Timeline for Iraq Withdrawal
Aired June 14, 2005 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
On the day after Michael Jackson is found not guilty, we go inside the verdict. Jurors explaining their decision and we'll talk to Jackson's star attorney, Thomas Mesereau, about the strategic moves that set Michael Jackson free.
In Iraq, deadly attacks in two cities. Twenty-four people killed, dozens more hurt by insurgent bombs.
And in Aruba, the first two men arrested in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway freed from jail, back with their families, as the search for that young woman continues on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody.
8:00 in New York.
The Michael Jackson verdict the story of the day today.
O'BRIEN: And we begin with that this morning.
We talk to the man who was truly the backbone of the Michael Jackson defense team.
Lead attorney Thomas Mesereau joins us from Santa Maria in California.
Nice to see you, sir.
Thanks for talking with us.
THOMAS MESEREAU, JACKSON'S ATTORNEY: Thank you for inviting me.
O'BRIEN: My pleasure.
We really should start with congratulations, I guess. Victory on all counts.
Can you point to one thing where you felt that that was the one thing that really connected with the jurors, that won the case for you?
MESEREAU: Well, I think their entire case, they being the prosecution, was built on nonsense. It was not built on the truth. Michael Jackson is innocent and they tried to make something out of nothing and they failed.
O'BRIEN: Well, the jurors found him not guilty, but even the jurors themselves, some of them, said that they were uncomfortable with the sleep-overs that Michael had with young boys. One juror said -- and we talked to him in our last hour -- that he believes Michael Jackson probably has molested children and he hopes that he has learned his lesson from this trial, essentially.
Does that diminish victory for you in any way?
MESEREAU: No. Michael Jackson has not molested anyone. He's been too nice to a lot of people that took advantage of him. And he didn't just let boys in his room, he let families come in and out of his room. He let them play and stay over. And basically he was just too open and too nice to too many people, and that will change.
O'BRIEN: The strategy was to chip away -- and we'll get back to that will change in just a moment, because I want to follow-up on that -- but first the strategy in the courtroom was to chip away at the mother and the accuser, as well. There are risks, as we've been told by many analysts, in doing that. The accuser a cancer patient; his mother, as well.
Were you concerned about that and walking that line?
MESEREAU: I was not, because I thought their whole case was bogus. And it was not just a question of cross-examining those particular witnesses. They put on a lot of other witnesses who had no credibility and we exposed them.
O'BRIEN: There are reports that you hired a private investigator with instructions to essentially focus on the mother and make sure that he could figure out if there were any cracks in his story -- in her story, rather. That was obviously very successful in this case.
Is that typical, something you always do?
MESEREAU: Well, you always hire a good private investigator. We had a number of them who were very good -- Scott Ross and Jesus Castillo are excellent private investigators and they were not just hired to look into the mother, they were hired to look into the entire case. And they found problems with all the prosecutions' witnesses because their case was bogus.
O'BRIEN: Michael Jackson coming out of the courtroom, I had expected him, really, to be a little bit more jubilant and he looked very tired. He looked awful, honestly. Obviously the case is taking a huge toll on him.
How is he doing?
MESEREAU: Well, he's very relieved. He's very grateful. He's back with his children and his family. He now has a future in front of him. But he's exhausted. It's been a terrible ordeal for him, emotionally and physically.
O'BRIEN: You say he's got a future in front of him and a moment ago you talked about things that are going to change.
What specifically is going to change and what do you envision in his future?
MESEREAU: Well, he's -- as far as his entertainment career goes, I'm not the expert on that and I haven't talked to him about it. But as far as Neverland and his home, he's been too nice to too many people. You know, people get to Michael with a sad story about their life and he's so generous, he's so kind-hearted, he takes people in and does nice things for them and they suddenly decide they want to get rich off of Michael Jackson.
And that has to change. He has to be a lot tougher with who he lets into his life and who he allows to run around his home. And that will happen.
O'BRIEN: Does that mean that sleep-overs are over?
MESEREAU: Well, it means that he's going to be a lot more careful about who he lets into his life.
O'BRIEN: I'm not sure that you answered my question.
Does that mean that the sleep-overs are over?
MESEREAU: I don't know what you mean by sleep-over because he's allowed to have his own children in his room, he's allowed to have friends come into his room if he chooses. But he's not going to allow people like the ones who accused him of this to enter his life.
O'BRIEN: I guess what I'm specifically asking is have you had discussions with him about ending the visits by young boys who come into his room and spend the night, about how that may be...
MESEREAU: Well, it's not a question of -- well, you have misinterpreted what he has said in the past. He has allowed families to come into his life, not just young boys. Their parents were allowed to stay over. They did stay over. Everything was done with the parents' permission. They were allowed to come in and out of his room.
The prosecution tried to misinterpret and misconstrue what Michael Jackson did. And they failed, as they should have.
O'BRIEN: So then you're saying the sleep-overs with family members is over.
How about the sleep-overs with specifically young boys? Over, as well, I guess is my question that I'm trying to get to?
MESEREAU: Michael Jackson will do what he's allowed to do in his own home, but he will be very careful who he allows into his home.
O'BRIEN: All right, Thomas Mesereau joining us this morning.
Thanks a lot.
We appreciate it.
And congratulations on your victory.
MESEREAU: Thanks for having me.
I appreciate it.
O'BRIEN: You want to be sure to join Larry King tonight, 9:00 p.m. Eastern. He's going to talk with Thomas Mesereau, as well, in an exclusive prime time interview.
Time to get right to the headlines with Carol Costello -- good morning again.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to both of u.
Good morning.
Now in the news, at least 24 are dead in the latest round of violence in Iraq today. A coordinated bomb and mortar attack near Baqubah killing five people. But most of today's casualties came after a suicide bomber struck outside of a bank in the city of Kirkuk. At least 19 people were killed, 89 others injured, in that attack.
We'll talk more about the future of Iraq just ahead.
A recent outbreak of cholera in Afghanistan's capital may soon reach epidemic proportions. This according to a health expert, who says more than 2,000 cases have been detected and at least eight people have died. But Afghanistan's health ministry says there are only about 300 cases and no fatalities.
Cholera is a major killer in developing countries, spread mainly through contaminated food or water.
A man reportedly questioned by New York police for having sketches of the city's subway system apparently had nothing of the sort. An NYPD spokesman Monday told CNN the man was found with various subway maps, but later a high level police source said that simply was not true. Firefighters say they found the suspect and four other acting suspiciously in a commercial building in Brooklyn.
To Aruba now, where two suspects in the case of a missing Alabama teenager are now free. They were arrested June 5, but never formally charged. The two men work at a hotel near where Natalee Holloway was staying. Three other suspects remain in custody in connection with the case. The search for Natalee, who went missing on May 30, goes on -- Bill.
HEMMER: Carol, thanks.
Eight minutes now past the hour. From Washington, legislation calling for a timetable for withdrawal of troops from Iraq, U.S. troops, set to be introduced this week. There's a House Republican out of North Carolina, Walter Jones. He's pushing for that timetable.
The White House is saying such a move would send the wrong message.
CNN military analyst Retired General Brigadier David Grange in our D.C. bureau -- General, welcome back.
Good morning to you down there in Washington.
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE, U.S. ARMY (RETIRED), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning to you.
HEMMER: You don't like this idea of a timetable, do you?
Why not?
GRANGE: Well, Bill, I don't like it because what happens in any kind of an operational environment, there are -- the unknown is a norm. I mean they have -- things happen that you don't plan for and if you have a time line that's locked in, you cannot adjust to what's going on around you, the situation at hand. And so you can't adjust in order to complete your mission.
HEMMER: Well, the president says this would only aid the insurgency.
Do you agree with that? In other words, they would lie low for a period of time and just wait for their opportunity after U.S. troops were to get our or lessen their neighbors?
GRANGE: Well, it's been proven in former conflicts that what the enemy will do with a time line is just that, they'll lay low, wait out the force or they'll take advantage and shape the conditions to their advantage, as units are, let's say, redeploying out. They'll time their operations to effect the outcome.
And so they do both of those -- wait and shape.
HEMMER: And which conflict would you point to in the past that would suggest that is true?
GRANGE: Well, I've seen it -- well, you go back to Vietnam. You can see it in places like conflict around Beirut between warring factions and forces that come in from the U.N. You can see it in Bosnia just how different factions manipulate the situation. And it's -- and for guerrillas, for insurgents who have protected warfare, it's one of their tactics.
HEMMER: Yes, this congressman, Walter Jones, is suggesting already that Iraqis should be able to go ahead and defend their own country, saying he believes they can do it at this point.
Based on what you've heard in Washington, back home in Illinois, are the Iraqis ready for that?
GRANGE: I don't think they're ready yet and the reason being is because not all the people are convinced that the government in place right now has the credibility, has the means to protect them, to establish rule of law, to provide a free market economy, etc. And so what's happening is the training to get an army to become one that supports a democratic governance, that supports the people instead of taking advantage of the people, instead of being corrupt, takes a while. It's more than just training people how to shoot, move and communicate. It's changing the culture of the military to support the people, and that takes time.
HEMMER: You know, General, can you make an argument today as to when it is right to go ahead and set a timetable?
GRANGE: Well, what I would do -- you can't just say well, when the mission is accomplished we're going to leave. Well, of course. And I think if you do that in the administration in a flippant manner, that doesn't work either.
I think what you have to say is look, when we feel that we have trained a credible force or a part of a force, we'll move out maybe 50 percent. And we expect that to maybe be maybe at the end of 2005. We can start 2006. But to give a specific date, that's where you run into problems, because you're manipulating against by others that are trying to affect the situation.
HEMMER: General David Grange down in D.C. today.
Thank you, General.
We'll talk again.
GRANGE: My pleasure.
HEMMER: All right -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Just about 12 minutes past the hour.
It's time to check in on the weather.
Chad Myers is at the CNN Center in Atlanta this morning -- hey, Chad, how hot is it in Atlanta?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's actually going to be four degrees colder here than up there. They're going to get to 91 and the clouds are going to go around. You guys are going to get to 95. It's going to feel like 105. And, oh, wouldn't something like this feel good?
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: In a moment here, what lessons did Michael Jackson learn from his trial? The singer's spiritual adviser, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, will be our guest in a moment. O'BRIEN: And later, eight men -- eight women, rather -- and four men on the jury decided that Michael Jackson wasn't guilty. What does the rest of the country think, though, about the verdict? We'll take a look at that ahead as we continue right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS SNEDDON, PROSECUTED MICHAEL JACKSON: We were disappointed in the verdict, but we work every day in a system of justice. We believe in the system of justice. And I've been a prosecutor for 37 years and in 37 years I've never quarreled with a jury's verdict and I'm not going to start today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: You know, the trial is over, the verdict is in, Michael Jackson not guilty on all 10 charges. But his private life has been opened for all to see.
How will this experience change him?
Michael Jackson's spiritual adviser, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, is my guest now in Chicago.
Reverend, good morning.
REV. JESSE JACKSON, JACKSON SPIRITUAL ADVISER: Good morning to you.
HEMMER: When they talk about Michael Jackson's behavior with sleep-overs with young boys, is that something that you believe he will now look at as ill-advised, perhaps wrong, given the microscope and what he's gone through over the past year-and-a-half of his life?
JACKSON: Well, I've urged him to look at it and to not do it again. But while the sleep-overs were improper, they were not illegal. But the appearance there is of such he should never do that again. As he moves toward rehabilitating his life and career, he must not go down this road again.
HEMMER: When you tell him that, Reverend, how does he respond to you?
JACKSON: I think he understands now. Michael gives the appearance in conversation of being a bit, of being a bit naive in his love for children without end, a kind of seamless love. When he wrote and we are the world, he envisions a beyond the theme park in California, a theme park for children in Africa. So he has this kind of idealistic notion of how he relates to children.
But however ideal it may be, however innocent he may feel, he must know that the appearance of this behavior is unacceptable and therefore it can only get him in trouble.
HEMMER: But does he concede that he won't do it again?
JACKSON: Well, you know, we didn't go so deep into that. Obviously, he knew that he had put himself in a predicament that was almost life and career threatening. He was in this valley, in this crossfire between shall he go back to Neverland Ranch, you know, tonight, or shall he go to a 10 x 10 jail cell, which the sheriff had been exhibiting on, tonight?
And so we talked on yesterday morning. He called me and we talked about his options and what his challenges were. And so -- and that kind of valid moment, along with this real life threatening charges, where I think Michael comes out of this much more sober and much more mature and he knows he has some reconstruction to do physically, emotionally and to realize I think he's going to dedicate himself to that agenda -- to those agendas.
HEMMER: Reverend, he essentially has a new lease on life, acquitted on all charges from yesterday, all 10. I don't know when the next time you'll talk to him, but when you have that opportunity, how do you think Michael Jackson should now continue with his life? Does he stay at Neverland or does he take that chapter in his life and put it completely behind him? Does he move out of California? Does he go back on the road and try and sell music or do live concerts or -- what would your advice be to him?
JACKSON: Well, living in Neverland is not the issue. It's how one conducts one's self at Neverland. It is a splendid, palatial, 3,000-acre layout. This is a great place to live. I mean...
HEMMER: But it still has this attachment now to all these charges that we've just gone through for the past year.
JACKSON: But then the charges wilted in the face of a jury. I mean, you know, Michael is going through two trials, you know, simultaneously. There's been a courtroom trial and there's been a media trial. In much of the media he has been convicted even before he was indicted. And so relentlessly we've heard from Nancy Grace and O'Reilly. I mean he has been condemned without trial and convicted. And now that it's over and the questions will not go away, which means that though he's been acquitted, he's still on a kind of suspect list.
Therefore he must conduct himself in a way that he does not, in fact, fulfill any suspicions people may have.
So now what does he -- what must he do? A, the emotional relief; B, the back pain and spasms were very real, and, of course, he must work on recovering that and kind of getting his body back; getting his business in order. His business was never as threatened as the media said because he always had twice more assets than he did debt. But he is now in a position to restructure that, and then go on with his, what he really wants to do, which is to produce music and produce movies and entertain, which is what he does, and at that he's the best in the world.
HEMMER: Jesse Jackson, thanks for your time, again this morning here. JACKSON: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Well, from Santa Maria, California to Times Square in New York, people all across the country are reacting to the Jackson verdict. Do they agree with the jury? A look at that is up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Well, obviously Michael Jackson's fans agree. But what do other Americans around the country think of the verdict?
A CNN/"USA Today" poll conducted just hours after the verdict came down finds that nearly half say it was the wrong decision, 48 percent. Thirty-four percent say they agree with the jury.
In interviews with 635 adults, 67 percent say they are not pleased by the verdict; 27 percent say they are. And asked if they believed the verdict was affected by Jackson's celebrity status, 62 percent say it was a major factor; 17 percent say a minor factor; 18 percent said not a factor at all.
Did you watch or listen to the verdict? Forty-nine percent said they did, compared to 80 percent who tuned in for the O.J. Simpson verdict nearly a decade ago.
HEMMER: And Simpson's trial was televised, which could have had some impact there. This was just the audio feed coming out yesterday.
Listen, Jay Leno and David Letterman have been going at this thing for months right now.
O'BRIEN: It's been fodder for them, I think it's fair to say.
HEMMER: Mining their monologues, Monday they got the chance to weigh in on the verdict.
Here's a sample from last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO," COURTESY NBC)
JAY LENO, HOST: Good news for Michael Jackson -- not guilty on all 10 counts. Yes. The bad news, he's gone to Disneyland. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LENO: How does this make Martha Stewart feel? O.J. goes free, Robert Blake walks, Michael Jackson not guilty. She made a phone call, hello, is this my broker? Prison! She's in prison. One phone call.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, COURTESY CBS/WORLDWIDE PANTS)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST: This just in, Saddam Hussein would like his trial moved to Santa Maria, California.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: That's from last night.
They're looking for new material.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
HEMMER: I'm certain they will find it.
O'BRIEN: I'm sure they will.
HEMMER: Plenty of it straight ahead this week.
O'BRIEN: That was kind of funny, though.
Also on TV on Monday night, CNN Headline Prime's Nancy Grace. Nancy, you've been watching our show. You know she strongly and very often predicted that Jackson would do some prison time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: For everybody that's been watching the case, as we go to break, I'm having a little crow sandwich on the set tonight. And it's not going to taste good.
Be right back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: That was pretty funny.
HEMMER: It tastes like chicken.
O'BRIEN: She made it very clear -- yes, it looked like turkey if you asked me. She made it very clear where she stood.
HEMMER: Yes, she did.
O'BRIEN: We're going...
HEMMER: We're going to get the jury reaction, too. We talked to juror number one earlier today. In a moment here, we're going to continue this and explain their verdict from yesterday, find out which one witness stood out in their minds when it came to creating reasonable doubt.
That's ahead, too, when we continue, right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Get the latest news every morning in your e-mail. Sign up for AMERICAN MORNING "Quick News" at cnn.com/am.
Still to come this morning, we are "Paging Dr. Gupta" for our special series, Just For Dad. We all know about post-partum depression and new moms. But does it affect new fathers, too?
A look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: A sunny day in New York yet again today.
8:30 here.
Good morning, everybody.
It took the Jackson jury about 32 hours, what, about seven days in total?
O'BRIEN: Um-hmm.
HEMMER: Reaching those not guilty verdicts from yesterday.
O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, we're going to find out just how those jurors came to their decision. That's coming up this morning.
First, though, let's get another check of the headlines with Carol Costello -- good morning again.
COSTELLO: Good morning.
Good morning to all of you.
Now in the news, two deadly bombings north of Baghdad this morning. An explosion went off outside of a bank in Kirkuk. At least 19 were killed, nearly 90 others wounded in a suicide car bombing. And another attack near Baqubah left five people dead and four others wounded. The coordinated car bomb and mortar attack targeted an Iraqi police station.
Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, says al Qaeda's suspected number three has not given up any information on where Osama bin Laden might be hiding. Abu Farraj al Libbi was captured by Pakistani agents last month. He was later transferred to U.S. custody, but Musharraf says information from al Libbi has led to 14 arrests.
Two men held in the disappearance of an Alabama teenager are free this morning. Abraham Jones and Mickey John were released Monday night. They work at a hotel near where Natalee Holloway was staying in Aruba. The two were arrested June 5, but never formally charged. Holloway has been missing since May 30. Her mother had said she thought the two guards were innocent.
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Aired June 14, 2005 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
On the day after Michael Jackson is found not guilty, we go inside the verdict. Jurors explaining their decision and we'll talk to Jackson's star attorney, Thomas Mesereau, about the strategic moves that set Michael Jackson free.
In Iraq, deadly attacks in two cities. Twenty-four people killed, dozens more hurt by insurgent bombs.
And in Aruba, the first two men arrested in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway freed from jail, back with their families, as the search for that young woman continues on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody.
8:00 in New York.
The Michael Jackson verdict the story of the day today.
O'BRIEN: And we begin with that this morning.
We talk to the man who was truly the backbone of the Michael Jackson defense team.
Lead attorney Thomas Mesereau joins us from Santa Maria in California.
Nice to see you, sir.
Thanks for talking with us.
THOMAS MESEREAU, JACKSON'S ATTORNEY: Thank you for inviting me.
O'BRIEN: My pleasure.
We really should start with congratulations, I guess. Victory on all counts.
Can you point to one thing where you felt that that was the one thing that really connected with the jurors, that won the case for you?
MESEREAU: Well, I think their entire case, they being the prosecution, was built on nonsense. It was not built on the truth. Michael Jackson is innocent and they tried to make something out of nothing and they failed.
O'BRIEN: Well, the jurors found him not guilty, but even the jurors themselves, some of them, said that they were uncomfortable with the sleep-overs that Michael had with young boys. One juror said -- and we talked to him in our last hour -- that he believes Michael Jackson probably has molested children and he hopes that he has learned his lesson from this trial, essentially.
Does that diminish victory for you in any way?
MESEREAU: No. Michael Jackson has not molested anyone. He's been too nice to a lot of people that took advantage of him. And he didn't just let boys in his room, he let families come in and out of his room. He let them play and stay over. And basically he was just too open and too nice to too many people, and that will change.
O'BRIEN: The strategy was to chip away -- and we'll get back to that will change in just a moment, because I want to follow-up on that -- but first the strategy in the courtroom was to chip away at the mother and the accuser, as well. There are risks, as we've been told by many analysts, in doing that. The accuser a cancer patient; his mother, as well.
Were you concerned about that and walking that line?
MESEREAU: I was not, because I thought their whole case was bogus. And it was not just a question of cross-examining those particular witnesses. They put on a lot of other witnesses who had no credibility and we exposed them.
O'BRIEN: There are reports that you hired a private investigator with instructions to essentially focus on the mother and make sure that he could figure out if there were any cracks in his story -- in her story, rather. That was obviously very successful in this case.
Is that typical, something you always do?
MESEREAU: Well, you always hire a good private investigator. We had a number of them who were very good -- Scott Ross and Jesus Castillo are excellent private investigators and they were not just hired to look into the mother, they were hired to look into the entire case. And they found problems with all the prosecutions' witnesses because their case was bogus.
O'BRIEN: Michael Jackson coming out of the courtroom, I had expected him, really, to be a little bit more jubilant and he looked very tired. He looked awful, honestly. Obviously the case is taking a huge toll on him.
How is he doing?
MESEREAU: Well, he's very relieved. He's very grateful. He's back with his children and his family. He now has a future in front of him. But he's exhausted. It's been a terrible ordeal for him, emotionally and physically.
O'BRIEN: You say he's got a future in front of him and a moment ago you talked about things that are going to change.
What specifically is going to change and what do you envision in his future?
MESEREAU: Well, he's -- as far as his entertainment career goes, I'm not the expert on that and I haven't talked to him about it. But as far as Neverland and his home, he's been too nice to too many people. You know, people get to Michael with a sad story about their life and he's so generous, he's so kind-hearted, he takes people in and does nice things for them and they suddenly decide they want to get rich off of Michael Jackson.
And that has to change. He has to be a lot tougher with who he lets into his life and who he allows to run around his home. And that will happen.
O'BRIEN: Does that mean that sleep-overs are over?
MESEREAU: Well, it means that he's going to be a lot more careful about who he lets into his life.
O'BRIEN: I'm not sure that you answered my question.
Does that mean that the sleep-overs are over?
MESEREAU: I don't know what you mean by sleep-over because he's allowed to have his own children in his room, he's allowed to have friends come into his room if he chooses. But he's not going to allow people like the ones who accused him of this to enter his life.
O'BRIEN: I guess what I'm specifically asking is have you had discussions with him about ending the visits by young boys who come into his room and spend the night, about how that may be...
MESEREAU: Well, it's not a question of -- well, you have misinterpreted what he has said in the past. He has allowed families to come into his life, not just young boys. Their parents were allowed to stay over. They did stay over. Everything was done with the parents' permission. They were allowed to come in and out of his room.
The prosecution tried to misinterpret and misconstrue what Michael Jackson did. And they failed, as they should have.
O'BRIEN: So then you're saying the sleep-overs with family members is over.
How about the sleep-overs with specifically young boys? Over, as well, I guess is my question that I'm trying to get to?
MESEREAU: Michael Jackson will do what he's allowed to do in his own home, but he will be very careful who he allows into his home.
O'BRIEN: All right, Thomas Mesereau joining us this morning.
Thanks a lot.
We appreciate it.
And congratulations on your victory.
MESEREAU: Thanks for having me.
I appreciate it.
O'BRIEN: You want to be sure to join Larry King tonight, 9:00 p.m. Eastern. He's going to talk with Thomas Mesereau, as well, in an exclusive prime time interview.
Time to get right to the headlines with Carol Costello -- good morning again.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to both of u.
Good morning.
Now in the news, at least 24 are dead in the latest round of violence in Iraq today. A coordinated bomb and mortar attack near Baqubah killing five people. But most of today's casualties came after a suicide bomber struck outside of a bank in the city of Kirkuk. At least 19 people were killed, 89 others injured, in that attack.
We'll talk more about the future of Iraq just ahead.
A recent outbreak of cholera in Afghanistan's capital may soon reach epidemic proportions. This according to a health expert, who says more than 2,000 cases have been detected and at least eight people have died. But Afghanistan's health ministry says there are only about 300 cases and no fatalities.
Cholera is a major killer in developing countries, spread mainly through contaminated food or water.
A man reportedly questioned by New York police for having sketches of the city's subway system apparently had nothing of the sort. An NYPD spokesman Monday told CNN the man was found with various subway maps, but later a high level police source said that simply was not true. Firefighters say they found the suspect and four other acting suspiciously in a commercial building in Brooklyn.
To Aruba now, where two suspects in the case of a missing Alabama teenager are now free. They were arrested June 5, but never formally charged. The two men work at a hotel near where Natalee Holloway was staying. Three other suspects remain in custody in connection with the case. The search for Natalee, who went missing on May 30, goes on -- Bill.
HEMMER: Carol, thanks.
Eight minutes now past the hour. From Washington, legislation calling for a timetable for withdrawal of troops from Iraq, U.S. troops, set to be introduced this week. There's a House Republican out of North Carolina, Walter Jones. He's pushing for that timetable.
The White House is saying such a move would send the wrong message.
CNN military analyst Retired General Brigadier David Grange in our D.C. bureau -- General, welcome back.
Good morning to you down there in Washington.
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE, U.S. ARMY (RETIRED), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning to you.
HEMMER: You don't like this idea of a timetable, do you?
Why not?
GRANGE: Well, Bill, I don't like it because what happens in any kind of an operational environment, there are -- the unknown is a norm. I mean they have -- things happen that you don't plan for and if you have a time line that's locked in, you cannot adjust to what's going on around you, the situation at hand. And so you can't adjust in order to complete your mission.
HEMMER: Well, the president says this would only aid the insurgency.
Do you agree with that? In other words, they would lie low for a period of time and just wait for their opportunity after U.S. troops were to get our or lessen their neighbors?
GRANGE: Well, it's been proven in former conflicts that what the enemy will do with a time line is just that, they'll lay low, wait out the force or they'll take advantage and shape the conditions to their advantage, as units are, let's say, redeploying out. They'll time their operations to effect the outcome.
And so they do both of those -- wait and shape.
HEMMER: And which conflict would you point to in the past that would suggest that is true?
GRANGE: Well, I've seen it -- well, you go back to Vietnam. You can see it in places like conflict around Beirut between warring factions and forces that come in from the U.N. You can see it in Bosnia just how different factions manipulate the situation. And it's -- and for guerrillas, for insurgents who have protected warfare, it's one of their tactics.
HEMMER: Yes, this congressman, Walter Jones, is suggesting already that Iraqis should be able to go ahead and defend their own country, saying he believes they can do it at this point.
Based on what you've heard in Washington, back home in Illinois, are the Iraqis ready for that?
GRANGE: I don't think they're ready yet and the reason being is because not all the people are convinced that the government in place right now has the credibility, has the means to protect them, to establish rule of law, to provide a free market economy, etc. And so what's happening is the training to get an army to become one that supports a democratic governance, that supports the people instead of taking advantage of the people, instead of being corrupt, takes a while. It's more than just training people how to shoot, move and communicate. It's changing the culture of the military to support the people, and that takes time.
HEMMER: You know, General, can you make an argument today as to when it is right to go ahead and set a timetable?
GRANGE: Well, what I would do -- you can't just say well, when the mission is accomplished we're going to leave. Well, of course. And I think if you do that in the administration in a flippant manner, that doesn't work either.
I think what you have to say is look, when we feel that we have trained a credible force or a part of a force, we'll move out maybe 50 percent. And we expect that to maybe be maybe at the end of 2005. We can start 2006. But to give a specific date, that's where you run into problems, because you're manipulating against by others that are trying to affect the situation.
HEMMER: General David Grange down in D.C. today.
Thank you, General.
We'll talk again.
GRANGE: My pleasure.
HEMMER: All right -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Just about 12 minutes past the hour.
It's time to check in on the weather.
Chad Myers is at the CNN Center in Atlanta this morning -- hey, Chad, how hot is it in Atlanta?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's actually going to be four degrees colder here than up there. They're going to get to 91 and the clouds are going to go around. You guys are going to get to 95. It's going to feel like 105. And, oh, wouldn't something like this feel good?
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: In a moment here, what lessons did Michael Jackson learn from his trial? The singer's spiritual adviser, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, will be our guest in a moment. O'BRIEN: And later, eight men -- eight women, rather -- and four men on the jury decided that Michael Jackson wasn't guilty. What does the rest of the country think, though, about the verdict? We'll take a look at that ahead as we continue right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS SNEDDON, PROSECUTED MICHAEL JACKSON: We were disappointed in the verdict, but we work every day in a system of justice. We believe in the system of justice. And I've been a prosecutor for 37 years and in 37 years I've never quarreled with a jury's verdict and I'm not going to start today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: You know, the trial is over, the verdict is in, Michael Jackson not guilty on all 10 charges. But his private life has been opened for all to see.
How will this experience change him?
Michael Jackson's spiritual adviser, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, is my guest now in Chicago.
Reverend, good morning.
REV. JESSE JACKSON, JACKSON SPIRITUAL ADVISER: Good morning to you.
HEMMER: When they talk about Michael Jackson's behavior with sleep-overs with young boys, is that something that you believe he will now look at as ill-advised, perhaps wrong, given the microscope and what he's gone through over the past year-and-a-half of his life?
JACKSON: Well, I've urged him to look at it and to not do it again. But while the sleep-overs were improper, they were not illegal. But the appearance there is of such he should never do that again. As he moves toward rehabilitating his life and career, he must not go down this road again.
HEMMER: When you tell him that, Reverend, how does he respond to you?
JACKSON: I think he understands now. Michael gives the appearance in conversation of being a bit, of being a bit naive in his love for children without end, a kind of seamless love. When he wrote and we are the world, he envisions a beyond the theme park in California, a theme park for children in Africa. So he has this kind of idealistic notion of how he relates to children.
But however ideal it may be, however innocent he may feel, he must know that the appearance of this behavior is unacceptable and therefore it can only get him in trouble.
HEMMER: But does he concede that he won't do it again?
JACKSON: Well, you know, we didn't go so deep into that. Obviously, he knew that he had put himself in a predicament that was almost life and career threatening. He was in this valley, in this crossfire between shall he go back to Neverland Ranch, you know, tonight, or shall he go to a 10 x 10 jail cell, which the sheriff had been exhibiting on, tonight?
And so we talked on yesterday morning. He called me and we talked about his options and what his challenges were. And so -- and that kind of valid moment, along with this real life threatening charges, where I think Michael comes out of this much more sober and much more mature and he knows he has some reconstruction to do physically, emotionally and to realize I think he's going to dedicate himself to that agenda -- to those agendas.
HEMMER: Reverend, he essentially has a new lease on life, acquitted on all charges from yesterday, all 10. I don't know when the next time you'll talk to him, but when you have that opportunity, how do you think Michael Jackson should now continue with his life? Does he stay at Neverland or does he take that chapter in his life and put it completely behind him? Does he move out of California? Does he go back on the road and try and sell music or do live concerts or -- what would your advice be to him?
JACKSON: Well, living in Neverland is not the issue. It's how one conducts one's self at Neverland. It is a splendid, palatial, 3,000-acre layout. This is a great place to live. I mean...
HEMMER: But it still has this attachment now to all these charges that we've just gone through for the past year.
JACKSON: But then the charges wilted in the face of a jury. I mean, you know, Michael is going through two trials, you know, simultaneously. There's been a courtroom trial and there's been a media trial. In much of the media he has been convicted even before he was indicted. And so relentlessly we've heard from Nancy Grace and O'Reilly. I mean he has been condemned without trial and convicted. And now that it's over and the questions will not go away, which means that though he's been acquitted, he's still on a kind of suspect list.
Therefore he must conduct himself in a way that he does not, in fact, fulfill any suspicions people may have.
So now what does he -- what must he do? A, the emotional relief; B, the back pain and spasms were very real, and, of course, he must work on recovering that and kind of getting his body back; getting his business in order. His business was never as threatened as the media said because he always had twice more assets than he did debt. But he is now in a position to restructure that, and then go on with his, what he really wants to do, which is to produce music and produce movies and entertain, which is what he does, and at that he's the best in the world.
HEMMER: Jesse Jackson, thanks for your time, again this morning here. JACKSON: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Well, from Santa Maria, California to Times Square in New York, people all across the country are reacting to the Jackson verdict. Do they agree with the jury? A look at that is up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Well, obviously Michael Jackson's fans agree. But what do other Americans around the country think of the verdict?
A CNN/"USA Today" poll conducted just hours after the verdict came down finds that nearly half say it was the wrong decision, 48 percent. Thirty-four percent say they agree with the jury.
In interviews with 635 adults, 67 percent say they are not pleased by the verdict; 27 percent say they are. And asked if they believed the verdict was affected by Jackson's celebrity status, 62 percent say it was a major factor; 17 percent say a minor factor; 18 percent said not a factor at all.
Did you watch or listen to the verdict? Forty-nine percent said they did, compared to 80 percent who tuned in for the O.J. Simpson verdict nearly a decade ago.
HEMMER: And Simpson's trial was televised, which could have had some impact there. This was just the audio feed coming out yesterday.
Listen, Jay Leno and David Letterman have been going at this thing for months right now.
O'BRIEN: It's been fodder for them, I think it's fair to say.
HEMMER: Mining their monologues, Monday they got the chance to weigh in on the verdict.
Here's a sample from last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO," COURTESY NBC)
JAY LENO, HOST: Good news for Michael Jackson -- not guilty on all 10 counts. Yes. The bad news, he's gone to Disneyland. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LENO: How does this make Martha Stewart feel? O.J. goes free, Robert Blake walks, Michael Jackson not guilty. She made a phone call, hello, is this my broker? Prison! She's in prison. One phone call.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, COURTESY CBS/WORLDWIDE PANTS)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST: This just in, Saddam Hussein would like his trial moved to Santa Maria, California.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: That's from last night.
They're looking for new material.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
HEMMER: I'm certain they will find it.
O'BRIEN: I'm sure they will.
HEMMER: Plenty of it straight ahead this week.
O'BRIEN: That was kind of funny, though.
Also on TV on Monday night, CNN Headline Prime's Nancy Grace. Nancy, you've been watching our show. You know she strongly and very often predicted that Jackson would do some prison time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: For everybody that's been watching the case, as we go to break, I'm having a little crow sandwich on the set tonight. And it's not going to taste good.
Be right back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: That was pretty funny.
HEMMER: It tastes like chicken.
O'BRIEN: She made it very clear -- yes, it looked like turkey if you asked me. She made it very clear where she stood.
HEMMER: Yes, she did.
O'BRIEN: We're going...
HEMMER: We're going to get the jury reaction, too. We talked to juror number one earlier today. In a moment here, we're going to continue this and explain their verdict from yesterday, find out which one witness stood out in their minds when it came to creating reasonable doubt.
That's ahead, too, when we continue, right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Get the latest news every morning in your e-mail. Sign up for AMERICAN MORNING "Quick News" at cnn.com/am.
Still to come this morning, we are "Paging Dr. Gupta" for our special series, Just For Dad. We all know about post-partum depression and new moms. But does it affect new fathers, too?
A look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: A sunny day in New York yet again today.
8:30 here.
Good morning, everybody.
It took the Jackson jury about 32 hours, what, about seven days in total?
O'BRIEN: Um-hmm.
HEMMER: Reaching those not guilty verdicts from yesterday.
O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, we're going to find out just how those jurors came to their decision. That's coming up this morning.
First, though, let's get another check of the headlines with Carol Costello -- good morning again.
COSTELLO: Good morning.
Good morning to all of you.
Now in the news, two deadly bombings north of Baghdad this morning. An explosion went off outside of a bank in Kirkuk. At least 19 were killed, nearly 90 others wounded in a suicide car bombing. And another attack near Baqubah left five people dead and four others wounded. The coordinated car bomb and mortar attack targeted an Iraqi police station.
Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, says al Qaeda's suspected number three has not given up any information on where Osama bin Laden might be hiding. Abu Farraj al Libbi was captured by Pakistani agents last month. He was later transferred to U.S. custody, but Musharraf says information from al Libbi has led to 14 arrests.
Two men held in the disappearance of an Alabama teenager are free this morning. Abraham Jones and Mickey John were released Monday night. They work at a hotel near where Natalee Holloway was staying in Aruba. The two were arrested June 5, but never formally charged. Holloway has been missing since May 30. Her mother had said she thought the two guards were innocent.
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