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Campbell Brown
What Killed Michael Jackson?
Aired June 26, 2009 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: (voice-over): Tonight, here are the questions we want answered.
What killed Michael Jackson? Up-to-the-minute news on the investigation, the autopsy, the chilling 911 call.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not breathing, and we need to -- we're trying to pump him, but he's not...
911 OPERATOR: OK.
BROWN: Tonight, claims of daily doses of Demerol and other prescription drugs.
911 OPERATOR: Did anybody witness what happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, just the doctor, sir. The doctor's been the only one here.
911 OPERATOR: OK, so did the doctor see what happened?
BROWN: The only man who may know for sure, the doctor who was with Jackson when it happened.
Plus, Michael Jackson made history with his music and videos. But how did he go from this to this, the abuse, the plastic surgeries, the criminal accusations? A look at the demons that haunted the pop star until his death.
And what about the children? What will happen to them and the half-billion dollars in debt that Michael Jackson left behind?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is your only source for news. CNN prime time begins now. Here's Campbell Brown.
BROWN: Hi, everybody.
The headline around the world tonight, I don't have to tell you, Michael Jackson's death.
We're going to start with this live picture from Los Angeles. This is where crowds have gathered at the Walk of Fame to see Michael Jackson's star for themselves. It has been a scene that played out around the globe all day long.
Of course, the big question tonight, what exactly killed Michael Jackson?
And just a short time ago, we learned new details about Jackson's mysterious death, his autopsy just completed this afternoon.
Here, right now, Craig Harvey from the L.A. County Coroner's Office. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRAIG HARVEY, OPERATIONS CHIEF, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CORONER: There was no indication of any external trauma or any indication of foul play on the body of Mr. Jackson. And the Los Angeles Police Department has requested that a security hold be placed on the investigation of Mr. Jackson.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Tonight, new details of the final moments of Michael Jackson's life, a frantic 911 call summoning help to the mansion, as the king of pop lay unconscious. Listen carefully. Off in the distance, you can hear the doctors desperately trying to revive the dying star.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: Fire paramedic 33. What is the nature of your emergency?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, oh, I have a -- we have a gentleman here that needs help and he's not breathing. He's not breathing, and we need to -- we're trying to pump him, but he's not...
911 OPERATOR: OK, OK. How old is he?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's 50 years old, sir.
911 OPERATOR: Fifty? OK. He's unconscious? He's not breathing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, he's not breathing, sir.
911 OPERATOR: OK, and he's not conscious either?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not conscious, sir.
(CROSSTALK)
911 OPERATOR: OK. All right. Do you have him -- is he on the floor? Where is he at right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's on the bed sir. He's on the bed.
911 OPERATOR: OK, let's get him on the floor. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
911 OPERATOR: OK, let's get him down to the floor. I'm going to help you with CPR right now, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: We're on our way there. We're on our way. I'm going to do what I can to help you over the phone. We're already on our way. Did anybody see him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we have a personal doctor here with him, sir.
911 OPERATOR: Oh, you have a doctor there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, but he's not responding to anything. So, no -- no, he's not responding to CPR or anything, sir.
911 OPERATOR: Oh, OK. Well, we're on our way there. If your guy's doing CPR -- instructed by a doctor, he's a higher authority than me, and he's there on scene. Did anybody witness what happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, just the doctor, sir. The doctor's been the only one here.
911 OPERATOR: OK, so did the doctor see what happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doctor, did you see what happened, sir?
Sir, if you -- if you can please ...
(CROSSTALK)
911 OPERATOR: We're on our way. We're on our way. I'm just -- I'm just passing these questions onto my -- our paramedics while they're on their way there, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, sir. He's pumping. He's pumping his chest, but he's not responding to anything sir. Please...
911 OPERATOR: OK, OK. We're on our way. We're less than a mile away. And we will be there shortly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, sir. Thank you.
911 OPERATOR: OK, sir. Call us back if you need any help. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BROWN: And, tonight, there is breaking news. Los Angeles police say they want more answers from Michael Jackson's doctor and that they will talk to him again soon. Ted Rowlands is in L.A.
And, Ted, of course, this was the doctor who was with Jackson when he went into cardiac arrest. Police have a lot of questions for him, don't they?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Campbell.
And they had difficulty contacting him today. They did interview him initially Thursday night, but had difficulty today, to the point where they informed the media that they were looking for him. However, the Los Angeles Police Department now says detectives have made contact with him and they will be meeting with him in -- quote -- "near future."
But, obviously, what they will want to know is the particulars leading up to Michael Jackson's death. What happened at the scene at the house, and, then, what happened prior to his death? According to a source close to the family, this doctor, who practices in Las Vegas and in Houston, Texas, came on board over the last few months, staying many nights with Michael Jackson at the home where he rented in West Los Angeles and had been a new sort of fixture in the Jackson camp over the last few months.
BROWN: And, Ted, there has been, of course, lots of speculation about the drugs that may have been involved here. And I believe we have a picture of Jackson. This is the last picture of Jackson on the stretcher. How long will it be before we know whether drugs were the cause?
ROWLANDS: Well, one thing we did find out today, which was interesting, is that Michael Jackson was, by the coroner's own announcements, under prescription drugs, was using prescription drugs at the time of his death.
They say the toxicology reports will take four to six weeks. They are thinking about four weeks before we will know definitively what, if any, effect that had in Jackson's death.
BROWN: All right, Ted Rowlands for us tonight from L.A. -- Ted, thanks very much.
As police investigate his death, fans, of course, celebrate Michael Jackson's life. And here is the mini-"Mash-Up" of what was a worldwide tribute today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The outpouring -- everyday fans, famous friends, and world leaders paid tribute to Jackson's talent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the streets of Hollywood, where they flocked to the Walk of Fame star, to the halls of Congress, where lawmakers observed a moment of silence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For Jackson's fans, that shock spread worldwide.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael Jackson
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael Jackson.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michael Jackson, the king of pop.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will billed as a mass (INAUDIBLE) by Michael Jackson fans.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love his song where he said, beat it, beat it. I love his song. I love (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jackson's former wife, Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of that other King, Elvis Presley, writes: "Our relationship was not a sham. I do believe he loved me as much as he could love anyone. And I loved him very much."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He lived every wrong decision that he made. It's done. It's over. Now he needs his accolades for what he gave us and how good he made us feel.
LIZA MINNELLI, ENTERTAINER: And I'm sure, when the autopsy comes, all hell is going to break loose. So, thank God we're celebrating him now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: President Obama didn't put out a statement on Michael Jackson's death. His press secretary, though, says that the president remembers Jackson as a -- quote -- "spectacular performer," though aspects of his life were sad and tragic.
Did prescription drugs kill Michael Jackson? Our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta joining us live next with the very latest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: The coroner in Los Angeles says it is going to take at least a month to determine what killed Michael Jackson. One person who may know the answer, the doctor who was with him as he slipped out of consciousness who worked to revive him in his final hour.
Listen, again, to the 911 call from Jackson's home.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we have a personal doctor here with him, sir.
911 OPERATOR: Oh, you have a doctor there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, but he's not responding to anything. So, no -- no, he's not responding to CPR or anything, sir.
911 OPERATOR: Oh, OK. Well, we're on our way there. If your guy's doing CPR -- instructed by a doctor, he's a higher authority than me, and he's there on scene. Did anybody witness what happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, just the doctor, sir. The doctor's been the only one here.
911 OPERATOR: OK, so did the doctor see what happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doctor, did you see what happened, sir?
Sir, if you -- if you can please ...
(CROSSTALK)
911 OPERATOR: We're on our way. We're on our way. I'm just -- I'm just passing these questions onto my -- our paramedics while they're on their way there, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, sir. He's pumping. He's pumping his chest, but he's not responding to anything sir. Please...
911 OPERATOR: OK, OK. We're on our way. We're less than a mile away. And we will be there shortly.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BROWN: All right.
Here now to talk about what might have caused Jackson's death is CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, forensic scientist Lawrence Kobilinsky also joining us, and CNN senior political analyst Jeffrey Toobin with me as well.
Sanjay, let me start with you on here.
Deepak Chopra, who was Michael's friend for -- for some 20 years, told CNN today that he was taking multiple medications, including OxyContin and Demerol. If that, is, in fact, true, just give us a sense of what these drugs -- they're narcotics -- what do they do to your body.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are all sorts of different dosings of these sorts of medications.
There are therapeutic dosing, meaning you're taking it for the indicated purpose of pain. You can have toxic doses, or you can have fatal doses. With those types of medications in particular, they -- they're called respiratory depressants.
They slow down your breathing, to the point where you're just not taking enough air, enough oxygen more specifically. And, as a result, you're not pumping oxygenated blood through the body. And that is what sort of causes the problem. That can cause a cardiac arrest and that can cause a lot of other problems in the body as well. So, that's one class of.
There are other classes of drugs which affect the heart directly. So, there are all sorts of drugs they're going to be looking at, Campbell.
BROWN: But this could have the wrong combination or an overdose could have killed him?
GUPTA: Yes, I think that that's something they're certainly going to be looking in.
Now that the autopsy is done, and they have ruled out things that are obvious, say, foul play, some sort of external trauma, some sort of obviously catastrophic injury that was the obvious cause of death, then you're really, a lot of your investigation will now focus on the toxicology.
I will say, Campbell, there was a couple interesting things about that 911 tape you just played. For example, the doctor, as you mentioned, was with Jackson. Did he notice something before Jackson became unconscious?
Also, Jackson was in bed at the time that the 911 call was made. That suggests that he just didn't collapse to the ground. And, also, the doctor was performing CPR while Jackson was on the bed, which most CPR training says that you should have the person on a hard surface.
So, the reason I bring that up, a lot of this just isn't quite making sense still, Campbell. I think there's details that still need to be figured out.
BROWN: Dr. Kobilinsky, let me get your take on this.
You know, the toxicology test results in six to eight weeks is what we were told today. What exactly are investigators looking for in all this?
DR. LAWRENCE KOBILINSKY, PROFESSOR OF FORENSIC SCIENCE, JOHN JAY COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Well, first of all, it's not going to take six to eight weeks. This is a high-profile case.
And I assure you they're going to speed up their testing. They're looking for opiates. They're looking for stimulants, licit drugs, illicit drugs, depressants. They're going to look at the whole gamut, because it's quite possible that the drugs that are in his system by themselves are not fatal, but, when taken in combination, you have what is called a synergistic effect.
And that could result in all of those things that Dr. Gupta just mentioned. So, they're going to be looking for all of those things taken -- taking into account the -- the physical observations. There will also be microscopic analysis.
There will be microscopic analysis of the various organ systems, the lungs, the heart, and other tissues, the brain especially. And probably, in about two or three weeks, they will have a definitive cause and manner of death, because, at this stage, all we had is the preliminary report.
We don't even have a manner of death. What I mean by that is either accident or, well, you know, therapeutic misadventure, which is more than just an accident.
BROWN: And you agree with Sanjay, based on the circumstances, what we're -- what at least we understand at this point, that it doesn't add up on some level?
KOBILINSKY: Well, you know, until we have all the results together and we can look at the big picture, we're not going to know exactly what happened. It's possible that his doctor gave him administered a drug because of chronic pain, gave him a normal dose of Demerol.
But, perhaps, you know, the deceased, perhaps Michael decided to take some drugs on his own.
BROWN: Right.
KOBILINSKY: People do that. They take other drugs. And the doctor may not have known about it.
So, everything could be on the up and up, but the result is a fatal dosage of more than one drug.
BROWN: Recognizing, Jeff, that we don't know a lot of information right now, ABC News, though, is reporting that Michael was heavily addicted to OxyContin.
If that's the case, could the doctors who prescribed this be held criminally libel?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Well, criminally, civilly, they could disciplined by the Medical Association of California.
There are a lot of possibilities. But the parallel that keeps occurring to me, August 1977. Elvis Presley in Graceland died in actually fairly similar circumstances, at home, just simply keeled over with a stew of prescription medicines in his system that finally overwhelmed him.
The doctor in that case wound up being prosecuted, wound up being -- losing his medical license. Certainly, that's something that the authorities are going to look at in California, but, in fairness, we're a long way off from that moment now.
BROWN: And Lisa Marie Presley actually wrote on her blog that he was obsessed, that Michael Jackson was obsessed with how Elvis had died, and it was something that they talked about a lot. And he even predicted, according to her blog, that he would end up the same way.
TOOBIN: You know, so much of what comes out of the so-called Jackson camp is sort of this prepackaged P.R. stuff.
I thought Lisa Marie Presley's statement was fascinating today, because it was genuine. It was real. It was grief-stricken, but knowing about Michael Jackson. It was a long, real statement. And I thought that parallel to her father, Michael Jackson's, would-be...
BROWN: Was chilling.
TOOBIN: Absolutely -- would be father-in-law was really chilling.
BROWN: Jeff Toobin, thanks very much.
Jeff is sticking around.
And to Sanjay and Dr. Kobilinsky, appreciate your time tonight. Thanks, guys.
So, how did Michael Jackson morph from adorable child sensation to this surgery-scarred adult who is dead at 50? We will talk about that. How did we get here?
We're also joined by Drew Pinsky, Deepak Chopra, as well, and others who knew the music legend. And we will be hearing his music throughout the hour. We will play some for you now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Michael Jackson lived nearly his whole life in the public eye. So, we all saw his transformation over the years from this fresh-faced kid to someone almost unrecognizable.
What happened to Michael Jackson? And was his troubled childhood to blame? Jackson, himself, spoke about how his father abused him.
Listen to this. This is from his controversial 2003 interview with Martin Bashir.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL JACKSON, ENTERTAINER: He practices with a belt in his hand. And if you miss a step, expect to be -- we were terrified of him, terrified. I can't tell you. I don't think he realized to this day how scared, scared, I mean scared, so scared that we -- I would regurgitate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: In an interview with the BBC, Michael's father, Joe Jackson, admitted to whipping his son.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael's on record as saying that you beat him with switches and belts.
JOE JACKSON, FATHER OF MICHAEL JACKSON: I never beat him. I whipped him with a switch and a belt. I never beat him. You beat somebody with a stick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's also been written that you would tease Michael and call him "Big nose." J. JACKSON: Did he say that? If he said that, I don't recall calling him "Big nose." If I did, it was out of a joking situation. So, you know, whatever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: So how did all of this affect Michael Jackson?
Here with us right now is Bryan Monroe. He's the former editor of "Ebony" and "Jet" magazines. And he did the very last sit-down interview with Michael Jackson in 2007. Also with us, Dr. Drew Pinsky, who is an addiction specialist and host and executive producer of "Celebrity Rehab" on VH-1.
Drew, let me start with you. The tapes, they are hard to listen to. And they tell us, I guess, a lot about the reasons for his transformation, don't they?
DR. DREW PINSKY, AUTHOR, "CRACKED: PUTTING BROKEN LIVES TOGETHER AGAIN": Well, yes.
Childhood trauma is one of the more common things we deal with in this country today, both in mental health and in the medical -- in medical care. The fact is that early experiences, experiences early in life, have a disproportionate effect that -- everything else that follows.
And things such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, abandonment shatter the child's brain's ability to regulate, and they leave very severe injuries, things such as physical preoccupations, pain and addiction. In my world, you're sick enough with addiction to need to see me, there's a 100 percent probability of precisely the kind of trauma that Michael Jackson is talking about here.
BROWN: Bryan, you had, as I said, the last interview with him. He was telling you about his immortality in that interview. But give us a sense, I guess, psychologically how he seemed to you. Did he seem stable?
BRYAN MONROE, CONDUCTED FINAL JACKSON INTERVIEW: Well, you know, he was very, very conversational. It was one of the things that struck me. I was prepared for someone who was shy and reserved.
But I was very surprised how talkative and energetic he was, almost frenetic at times, because he had so much he wanted to get off his chest. It was one of the last -- one of the first interviews he had done in quite a long time and had a lot to say about his own creativity.
But I was also struck -- looking back at how his relationship with his father, I was struck by now Michael's relationship with his children. Particularly, at the interview, he had his son there, Blanket, Prince Michael Jackson II.
And I think he was 5 or 6 at the time. When I came in the door, he greeted us at the door, offered us some candy from the candy dish. And -- but one interesting thing, when -- when the son reached out to shake our hands, he reached out with his left hand. And Michael, very dutifully, as a father, corrected him, said, no, the other hand, the right hand.
And then we shook hands, and he sat down and watched cartoons.
But the relationship there was -- you know, I'm a father. I have a son about the same age. And you could tell it was genuine. It was real. And there was not any tension that I saw. It was a father doing what a father should do in teaching the son the right way to shake someone's hand.
BROWN: It's such a contrast, Drew, to see both of those sides of him.
I want to play for you this song. I just want you to listen to this for one second, these disturbing lyrics. Listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
M. JACKSON (singing): Demerol, Demerol. Oh, God, he's taking Demerol.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BROWN: And this is a song called "Morphine" by Michael Jackson.
I mean, is this just a blatant cry for help?
PINSKY: Well, addicts generally -- if he's an addict, addicts don't generally cry for help. But maybe he's getting scared for himself, if he graduated to that medications, because I'm sure doctors told him that medicine is fraught with difficulties, seizures, cardiac arrhythmia.
Chronic pain patients don't usually graduate to that medication. So, you know, it's something that I'm sure he was aware had very severe consequences.
BROWN: And what do you think of these reports we have heard a lot today of people talking about how he was surrounded by enablers.
PINSKY: Well, I think that's what's...
(CROSSTALK)
PINSKY: Oh, I beg your pardon.
BROWN: No, go ahead, drew.
MONROE: No, go ahead. Go ahead, Doctor.
BROWN: And then I will get your take, Bryan.
PINSKY: I was saying, I was -- I think that's what Dr. Gupta was referring to, is like the situation at home sounds peculiar. Who are these people that are enabling the drug use? And there's no doubt that certainly he went for addiction treatment in the past. He's tried to do this.
And, yet, the world he lived in clearly didn't support the treatment of the addiction. It supported the abuse.
BROWN: But, Bryan, you saw no signs of this, right, no indication that he was aware of -- or he was not letting you, at least, be aware that he was struggling with something?
MONROE: No. You know, I didn't see it directly during the three days we spent with him.
But one thing that was interesting. And, you know, we may see more of this over the next few days. People close to his camp and around him, it was almost common knowledge that whoever he came in contact, whether you are a gardener, or security guard, or a doctor, you were asked to sign a confidentiality agreement.
They were passing them out almost like candy at anyone who came in contact and would do work with him. And it got to a point where many doctors, especially the top doctors, wouldn't sign those agreements, because you sign away all your rights.
And so they started looking for people that they could work with who would be willing to sign the agreements. And that didn't always mean the top -- the top-level folks to work with.
Now, we don't know anything about the physicians he was working with at the time. But it's something that I think, as more and more people feel free to talk about his -- their relationships with Michael, a lot more will come out.
PINSKY: Let me say, there must have been something else in that agreement, because, in this state and in this country, physicians can't even talk amongst themselves about a case unless the patient specifically gives us written consent to do so.
So, the need for confidentiality when you're interacting with the health care system is already in place. So, there must have been a lot else in those agreements than just confidentiality.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: All right, we have got to end it there, but many thanks for Bryan for coming back tonight. You were with us last night as well, Bryan Monroe of "Ebony" and "Jet" magazines, and Dr. Drew Pinsky as well. Thank you so much.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: So much has been said about Michael Jackson, but, over the years, we have heard relatively little from the man, himself. But he did emerge from time to time granting these blockbuster interviews. Tonight, you will hear Michael Jackson in his own words, as well as some remarkable moments from his final news conference. Also, Deepak Chopra, a close friend of the star's, he shares a very personal look at the demons that Jackson fought in those final months of his life. And, still amid the darkness, there was always the music.
Jackson's song "Man in the Mirror" went number one in 1988. Listen.
(MUSIC)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(EXCERPT FROM MICHAEL JACKSON'S "THRILLER")
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: In the last years of his life, Michael Jackson was a man of mystery. But to understand his long strange life story, you've got to go back and hear his own words. So listen to tonight's newsmaker.
Here's Michael Jackson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(EXCERPTS FROM JACKSON 5'S "ABC")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Describe the performance that you put on.
MICHAEL JACKSON, KING OF POP: What I do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
JACKSON: Most of my songs are fast.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, what do you put into it?
JACKSON: Well, whatever I sing, that's what I really mean. Like I'm singing a song, I don't sing it if I don't mean it.
(EXCERPT FROM JACKSON 5'S "LET ME TELL YOU NOW")
JACKSON: I would do my schoolings for three hours with a tutor. And right after that I would go to the recording studio and record. And I would record for hours and hours until it was time to go to sleep.
So it would be nighttime. And I remember going to the recording studio. There was a park across the street and I'd see all the children playing and they'd be rooting and making noise and I would cry. It would make me sad that I would have to go and work instead.
Oh, there's a lot of sadness about my past life and you know, adolescence and my father and all of those things. It just made me very, very, very sad.
Nobody thought this would last.
They were chanting they want to see the baby. So I wanted to show them the baby. I'm not going to let him fall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you write a song?
JACKSON: I sit here and play some chords whatever and say I'm going to write the best song ever written and nothing happens. Something in the heavens -- and I have to say look, this is the time. That it's going to be laid on you. And this is when I want you to have it.
Now, I remember when I wrote "Billie Jean," I was riding in my car down Ventura Boulevard. All I said to myself beforehand, I want to write a song with a great bass hook, you know? And I just let it go, really and then several days later, you know...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where did that come from?
JACKSON: From above.
(EXCERPT FROM MICHAEL JACKSON'S "BILLY JEAN")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's going through your mind when you're dancing?
JACKSON: Not thinking. Thinking is the biggest mistake of dance you can make. You have to feel. You become the bass, you become the fanfare, you become the clarinet and the flute, the strings and the drums.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you're almost the physical embodiment of the music?
JACKSON: Yes, absolutely.
If you really want to know about me, there's a song I wrote, which is the most honest song I've ever written. It's the most autobiographical song I've ever written. It's called "Childhood."
(EXCERPT FROM MICHAEL JACKSON'S "CHILDHOOD")
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And Michael Jackson did his best to keep his own three children under wraps, sometimes literally. But what happens to them now and what happens to his millions of dollars of debt?
We're going to talk about that in a moment when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Michael Jackson, a superstar as a child, had three children of his own later in life. Unfortunately, this is how many remember him as a father; from 2002 when he dangled his newborn youngest son from a hotel balcony in Berlin. It was an episode that haunted him even after he apologized.
Perhaps trying to shield his kids, Jackson often had 12-year-old Prince Michael, 11-year-old Paris, and 7-year-old nicknamed Blanket wear masks or veils in public. Still, close friends insist he was a loving and caring father.
So the next big question, what happens to Michael Jackson's children? What happens to his money or his debt, I guess? As we've reported he was some $500 million in debt when he died.
CNN's senior legal analyst Jeff Toobin back with me now, also with us, CNN legal analyst, Lisa Bloom, and entertainment lawyer, James Walker who has worked with Michael Jackson's brothers.
Lisa, three kids, what's going to happen to them?
LISA BLOOM, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, first, the question is, is there a will? If there's a will, Michael Jackson's wishes will probably be honored unless somebody is there to contest it. After all, you can bequeath property; you can't bequeath a human being.
So he may have set aside a guardian for the children, that guardian would presumably be his mother or a family member. The big unanswered question is Debbie Rowe; she's the biological mother of the older two children.
BROWN: Right.
BLOOM: Did she sever her parental rights or not? If she did, she has no right to make a claim...
BROWN: And there's some questions about that right?
BLOOM: That's an open question right now. We really don't know.
But if she did sever her parental rights, it's the same as if that she's gone, deceased and she can't make a claim. If she didn't, she could make a custody claim for those kids.
BROWN: Jeff, do you think this is inevitably going to end up in court?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, if you look at Michael Jackson's last 20 years of life, virtually everything he did wound up in court in one way or another. He led an extremely litigious existence.
Certainly his unexpected death would be very likely to lead to all sorts of court challenges involving the money, perhaps involving the children.
And then there's the issue of Blanket and Blanket's uncertain mother. Who is the mother? He said that it was a surrogate relationship. But who knows if that's really true. BROWN: Does that then mean that the children could be separated, too, right?
BLOOM: It does.
TOOBIN: Certainly possible.
BLOOM: Debbie Rowe would have no claim at all to the third child. She's not biologically related to him, she's never spent any time with him.
BROWN: And there's no idea -- we don't know at this stage whether he had a will or not, right?
TOOBIN: We don't know, now most wealthy people have wills. Michael Jackson was weirder than most wealthy people, so if he didn't, it wouldn't be a huge surprise.
BROWN: Well, you, you worked with the family.
JAMES WALKER, ENTERTAINMENT ATTORNEY: Sure, sure.
BROWN: So also -- I mean, comment on -- because they will likely be involved...
WALKER: Sure.
BROWN: ...and certainly want to have a say in terms of what happens.
WALKER: Well, let me comment, I take a little exception to the last 20 years of his life being kind of crazy, I would point out that the publishing catalog -- we talked about the $500 million debt -- the publishing catalog, for your viewers at home, Michael might have still retained his songwriter's share.
Under the law and under the music industry Jeff, we have the songwriter's share and publisher's share. So he might be $500 million in debt to Sony or to one of the investors. However, his estate and heirs may inherit the entire 70,000; 100,000, whatever number of songs that his publishing company owned as a songwriter. So we don't know the value of that.
BLOOM: And that would generate royalties and perpetuity year after year after year...
WALKER: And the copyright law we're talking -- we're talking about 95 years.
BROWN: Today, apparently he's the number one song on iTunes, on everything. I mean...
BLOOM: Generating money for the estate.
JAMES WALKER, ENTERTAINMENT ATTORNEY: Campbell, I want to jump in here, too. What they were trying to do is what we call in the music industry a 360 deal. Had he done this tour if he got 50 dates at $85 million, there is nothing to say he wouldn't have done the same deal that Madonna, Jay-Z and other major artists are doing which is you sign a deal with Live Nation and you lock in a five, ten-year deal. They might have advanced him $500 million to $600 million to do the rest of his tours over the next 5 or 10 years. That's where this is going from a music industry standpoint.
The test was to do the first concerts to see if they would sell out, to see if he had a comeback as everybody was saying which I don't think he ever left. But to see if he had a comeback -- had those shows done well, clearly his entertainment lawyers would have walked in and said, lock us into a 360 deal where we do our concerts, our tours, our merchandising, our albums, everything with one company.
TOOBIN: Respectfully, that is dreamland. This guy was not going to follow through with these concerts. He has not done any legitimate -- he had not done any real entertainment work for over a decade. His life was falling apart. He was surrounded by thieves and jackals and blood suckers who wanted to work off of him. This was never going to happen.
WALKER: I take issue with it Jeffrey. I think if he got the support that we're seeing now in his death, I think he would have been fine. All these folks...
TOOBIN: But where were these people?
(CROSS TALK)
TOOBIN: It's fine to say nice things about him now that he's gone but where were they? They were trying to take money when he was alive.
BLOOM: And his physical health and being sued by a pharmacy just two years ago for $100,000 for unpaid medications over two years. So he was paying $1,000 a week for prescription medications. Clearly there were enablers around him.
WALKER: Sure, like all of us.
BLOOM: There was a live-in doctor who is now questioned by the LAPD; being asked to be questioned by the police. There were a lot of people supporting a very unhealthy lifestyle at a minimum.
WALKER: Right. But we're dealing with solely the issue of Jeff saying the concerts wouldn't have worked and the last 20 years were so difficult.
I think the concerts may have worked, Jeff, and they may have brought him back in the sense of his concert profit-making ability. I think he would have washed out all his debt over the years to come had this concert tour got off the ground. But only God knows. We don't know.
TOOBIN: Never now.
BROWN: A question we will never have the answer to right now.
Fascinating discussion. James, thank you very much. And Jeff, Lisa, of course, as always.
One of his friends, Deepak Chopra, says that Jackson was taking strong painkillers prescribed by some very bad doctors. We're going to hear from Chopra, himself, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: New details emerging tonight about the many secrets of Michael Jackson. Some of his close friends are talking, shedding light on the star's self-destructive behavior. And one of those friends is Deepak Chopra who gave our Wolf Blitzer an honest portrait of Jackson's struggle.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEEPAK CHOPRA, MICHAEL JACKSON'S FRIEND: Ok. So after the trial in 2005, Michael came and spent a week with me. He stayed at my house, he came to our center.
At one point he suddenly asked me for a prescription. He knew I was a physician. I had a DEA license. He asked me for a prescription for a narcotic.
I said, "What the heck do you want a narcotic prescription for?" And then it suddenly dawned on me that he was already taking these and that he had probably a number of doctors who were giving him these prescriptions.
I confronted him with that. At first he denied it then he said he was in a lot of pain; he said he had back pain. I knew all the pain was muscle aches and pain and musculoskeletal pains from the stress that he was going through.
I said, "Michael, you don't need these drugs for that, there are so many ways to do it." For a while I lost him. I've had that happen with me with other celebrities in Hollywood.
There's a plethora of doctors in Hollywood, they're drug peddlers, Wolf, they're drug pushers. They just happen to be having a medical license. And I hope that this episode, today, this tragic death of a great human being will bring to light the huge problem we have in Hollywood with some of the medical establishments.
The celebrity doctors who not only initiate people into the drug experience but then they perpetuate it so that the people become dependent on them. I will be bold enough to identify these people at a certain time but I think the police should do their own investigation. I think this is something that really should be investigated because it's a disease.
The number one cause of drug addiction in the world, particularly in the United States, is not street drugs but medical prescriptions given legally by physicians.
BLITZER: Do you know what drugs he was taking specifically?
CHOPRA: Well, at one time I knew about OxyContin. I knew that he would get injections of Demerol and other narcotics. I was really desperate to try and help him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: The last public appearance Michael Jackson made was in March when he announced the London concerts that now, will, of course, never happen. It was a remarkable moment, though. Look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL JACKSON, POP STAR: These will be my final show performances in London. This will be it. This is it. When I say this is it, it really means this is it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Burned by legal battles. Beat up in the tabloids. We didn't see much of Michael Jackson lately. Then three months ago he announced plans for a blockbuster comeback. He did it in London, in front of several thousand fans. This was his last public appearance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACKSON: I love you so much. I love you so much. Thank you, all.
This is it. But I -- I just want to say that these -- these will be my final show performances in London. This will be it. This is it. When I say this is it, it really means this is it.
I'll be -- I'll be performing the songs my fans want to hear. This is it. I mean, this is really it. This is the final -- this is the final curtain call. Ok?
I'll see you in July. And -- I love you. I really do. You have to know that. I love you so much. Really. From the bottom of my heart. This is it. And see you in July.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: And that is it for us tonight.
LARRY KING LIVE is up next with Liza Minnelli, Usher, Quincy Jones and many other friends of Michael Jackson.
Have a good weekend, everybody, and good night.
