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American Morning

Remembering Michael Jackson, His Legacy Then and Now

Aired June 26, 2009 - 08:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And meanwhile, yes, we are the top of the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes sitting in today for John Roberts.

COSTELLO: And I'm Carol Costello sitting in for Kiran Chetry. And welcome to this special edition of AMERICAN MORNING, we're remembering the life and legacy of Michael Jackson, the king of pop, dead at the age of 50. Here's the latest we know. An autopsy is scheduled within hours on the body of Michael Jackson. He collapsed at his L.A. home yesterday. It's believed he suffered cardiac arrest. But the exact cause of death we still don't know.

Jackson's passing leaving fans around the world in absolute shock.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MILO LEVELL, MICHAEL JACKSON CHOREOGRAPHER: Michael is a worldwide icon and he set a standard, and now I hope that people will cherish his legacy, and understand the lyrics of his music, the power of his choreography and the spiritual background of who he was.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was such a good guy inside, and he helped everyone he could. He was loved. Love is God and God is love. And that's what he's going to be -- loved. It's a sad day in L.A. today. It really is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Yes. Sad day in L.A. as you just heard her say. L.A. right now is where our colleague is. And Don Lemon.

And Don, yes, that's a place where people are mourning, as well. But that's going to be a focal point now as we move forward, essentially, an investigation into his death. Tell us what we're expecting and when we can expect something from this autopsy.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it's really a sad day, T.J., all over the world, not just here in Los Angeles. Michael Jackson was known and beloved all over the world.

We're supposed to hear about 7:00 or 8:00, we're told, just a short time ago that the L.A. County coroner will get started on Michael Jackson's body to see exactly what happened and what may have caused his death, 10:00 or 11:00 Eastern Time. Eastern Time.

I have some new information that I want to share with you that we are getting from folks here. I spoke with Dick Gregory just a short time ago, he is a close family friend and he's telling us that Michael Jackson was supposed to be practicing at the Staple Center -- at the Staples Center when this all happened.

And one of the people who was -- who had been watching there, one of the principals at the Staples Center said that Michael Jackson looked frail, did look frail during some of the practices, but when he performed, when he practiced that he was triumphant and boundless with energy.

Also new information about the health coming in. And this is according to the "L.A. Times." I want to show you this. The "L.A. Times" says according to the insurance agent that they hired for this production or for these concerts, they said in order for promoters to get insurance for the London shows, Jackson underwent a four-hour physical with an independent doctor this spring.

Randy Phillips, the chief executive of AIG Live, which is a promoter, said the medical screening uncovered no issues whatsoever. That's coming from the "L.A. Times" and they are quoting the person who was a promoter for that show.

Also hearing from a family spokesperson who said that he was concerned about Michael Jackson's prescription drug use after he had hurt himself. And he said he warned Michael and he warned the family, and this is a quote from Brian Oxman.

Brian Oxman said, "I warned them." He said, "Where there is smoke, there is fire. This is a case of abuse of medications." That is coming from a family spokesperson.

And, of course, we're going to find out from the coroner's office where Michael Jackson's body is right behind me, but in the meantime, as I said, the whole world is mourning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (voice-over): In death as in life, Michael Jackson draws a massive crowd. Outside the UCLA Medical Center, shocked and grief- stricken fans simply wanted to be near the King of Pop.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's hard to believe, and first thing that came to mind was he gave his life to people. And we, you know, we should have been able to take care of Michael better.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michael is such a good guy and it's so sad to hear that he died. And he was just coming back, he's an icon. You know, he's like our Elvis Presley. And it's really sad to hear that he's gone.

LEMON: Inside, some describe the surreal and chaotic scene with the sounds of Jackson's hit songs "Thriller" and "Beat It" echoing through the halls.

Thursday afternoon, Jackson collapsed at his home, his personal physician tried to resuscitate him and he was rushed to UCLA Medical Center.

JERMAINE JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S BROTHER: It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest in his home. However, the cause of his death is unknown until results of the autopsy are known.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's your L.A. County Sheriff rescue helicopter AR-5. Air Rescue 5...

LEMON: His body was flown by helicopter to the coroner's office where an autopsy is scheduled.

Police are also launching an investigation and plan to talk to Jackson's relatives and friends. But stress there is no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

LT. GREG STRENK, LAPD: The Los Angeles Police Department handles death investigations every day. Robbery homicide was assigned to this because of the high profile nature of it. Don't read into anything as it relates to my team being here.

LEMON: But talking to CNN, a family attorney painted a much darker picture saying he believes Jackson was abusing medication.

BRIAN OXMAN, JACKSON FAMILY ATTORNEY: The people who have surrounded him have been enabling him. If you think that the case of Anna Nicole Smith was an abuse, it is nothing in comparison to what we have seen taking place in Michael Jackson's life.

LEMON: A life filled with controversy, a career on the verge of a comeback.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And that comeback was supposed to start on July 13th at a concert that was going to kick off in London. You guys were talking to Jeffrey Toobin about the debt that Michael Jackson has. Staggering debt, $400 million or more.

This tour was supposed to pay him $1 million a day and it was going to go on for at least three years and hopefully was going to wipe out some of that debt. Promoters had hoped to make $450 gross, $450 million on these shows, most of them sold out. They already had to refund $85 million. T.J. and Carol.

COSTELLO: It's just so sad. You know you mentioned Brian Oxman, the Jackson family attorney. We're going to have him on probably around 8:30 Eastern Time to talk more about this idea that Michael Jackson could have been hooked on prescription pills and hopefully he can enlighten us more.

You know you said he likened Jackson's death to the death of Anna Nicole Smith. And as we know she was hooked on prescription drugs and had many different kinds of drugs in her system after she died.

HOLMES: And the story there was everybody around her was helping her to find a way to get her these drugs. Oxman saying that story pales in comparison to what's going to come out about Michael Jackson.

COSTELLO: Although there's such a confusing information coming up.

HOLMES: Yes.

COSTELLO: You heard the "L.A. Times." They quoted that Michael Jackson got a physical before he was going to launch this concert tour and the physical turned up nothing disturbing. So we want to bring in our Dr. Sanjay Gupta to ask him about that, and if that says anything about the situation at all.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think that's actually a very important piece of information that Don Lemon was just telling us about the "L.A. Times."

So he had this thorough physical that sounds like it was pretty exhaustive, four-hour physical. It probably would have uncovered some sort of a long standing condition with his heart. In fact, that was the problem.

I mentioned this to you earlier, Carol, when they do this autopsy, they're going to be looking for big things first. Were there some deformity of the heart? Was there some blockage in some of the blood vessels going to the heart? Was there some underlying abnormal rhythm of his heart? They're going to look for all those things.

It sounds like, at least, Carol, from what you're saying and the "L.A. Times" is reporting that there was nothing uncovered at this exhaustive physical. So that starts to eliminate certain possibilities as to what caused a sudden cardiac arrest.

COSTELLO: So, what could have caused it then?

GUPTA: Well, it's -- you know, if you look at people on average, 50-year-old man who has this sort of problem, could it have been a heart attack that caused an abnormal rhythm of the heart? That's a possibility. Could it be some medications or other chemicals within the body that caused some of his electrolytes to become out of balance?

You mentioned earlier people who are malnourished or who are -- have some sort of eating problems, sometimes their electrolytes can get out of balance. It is a long list, long laundry list, possibly, of things that can cause sudden cardiac arrest.

One thing that's important to keep in mind and, you know, the medical examiner will probably say this, as well, is that you're going to have the autopsy today. It could be days or weeks until you get some of the toxicology results back. Figuring out how much of various medications, for example, may have been in his blood and his urine and the tissues of his body.

But even then, Carol, you may not have a direct definitive cause and effect sort of answer at the end of all of this. He may not be able to say here's what actually led to Michael Jackson's death. We just may never have that answer.

COSTELLO: Well, we'll certainly have some clues because the autopsy is supposed to take place around 7:00 or 8:00 California time in the West Coast.

HOLMES: On the West Coast. Yes.

COSTELLO: And that's just a few hours from now here on the East Coast, and supposedly by late afternoon, we should get word of some of these results. But, of course, we'll keep our audience posted.

Thank you, Sanjay.

HOLMES: Meanwhile, we've lost another cultural icon yesterday. Farrah Fawcett, she died in Santa Monica after nearly three-year battle with cancer. The actress, best known for her role on "Charlie's Angels", recently shared her personal battle with cancer in a public documentary. Farrah Fawcett was 62 years old.

Also to Iran now where state television there is reporting that an aide to opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi is now banned from leaving the country because of his role in arranging the illegal protest. Since the deadly unrest began two weeks ago, 11 of Moussavi's campaign workers have been detained.

Also a day after Governor Mark Sanford confessed to an extramarital affair, South Carolina's first lady, his wife, is saying she'll be just fine with or without her husband. She was speaking to reporters yesterday when Jenny Sanford said her husband's career, that is not her problem, and she's not concerned about that right now. Right now she is worried about their four kids.

It's 10 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: That was one of the best videos of all time right there.

Welcome back to this AMERICAN MORNING where we are talking about Michael Jackson, his life, his legacy, his career. Also his troubles this morning, but the outpouring of grief is coming from family and friends, also of fans.

The King of Pop was 50 years old when he died yesterday.

Our Dan Simon is live along the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. Early out there, Dan, we've been talking to you for the past couple of hours. But still every time we come to you, there's somebody around, fans around, even at that early hour out there.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, still plenty of folks around, T.J., and this is just -- you know, one of several sites around the country where people will be paying their respects to Michael Jackson outside here, Hollywood Walk of Fame.

A very prominent position on the Walk of Fame outside of the Grauman's Chinese Theatre. You can see a couple of people here just sort of taking everything in. You can see the flowers and the balloons and the candles and somebody who came out here very early and who has been pretty emotional is Neka (ph).

You're from San Francisco, and you flew in last night just to be here. Tell us what's going through your mind.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm still a little overwhelmed because we all have to pass sometime, obviously, but this is just so unexpected and you know, just went before his time. So I'm still in shock.

SIMON: What did Michael Jackson mean to you? We've heard, you know, things from various people, you know, such a great entertainer. People talked about the humanitarian aspect to his life. What did he mean to you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of that and more. Entertainment factor is tertiary if anything. With all of the problems in the world today, war and injustice, and there's so much happening that's negative.

It's just really inspiring and moving to see a person who does so much -- you know so selflessly, and he's inspired me to do volunteer work and get involved with a non-profit organization, travel the world and I've met so many people all over. I've been to six continents, you know, all over the world because of him.

SIMON: So that's just sort of a sampling of the kinds of things that you're hearing out here, T.J., and, again, we're expected to see a lot of people out here today. We're hearing that people are already assembling outside of the Jackson family home in Gary, Indiana, or at least where Michael Jackson was born.

This will probably be, you know, sort of the biggest demonstration, if you will, where people are coming to pay their respects to Michael Jackson.

T.J., back to you.

HOLMES: Thoroughly expect that one and many others around the country to grow today.

Dan Simon, for us out in Los Angeles. Thank you so much.

COSTELLO: You know, we've been wondering a lot about Mr. Jackson's children. Who will get custody? Well, we're going to interview Brian Monroe from "Ebony" magazine. He has the last interview that Michael Jackson ever gave. The kids were at that interview and he got a chance to see how Michael Jackson interacted with his children. We're going to talk about that after a break. It's 16 minutes past.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Michael Jackson, as we know, spent much of his life in the public eye. It's practically all of it. But he was a fiercely private man, rarely giving interviews, but his last one he gave in 2007. And he gave it to Bryan Monroe who joins us now. He was editorial director of "Ebony" magazine at the time.

Bryan, good morning. Appreciate you being here to talk about this. Just as we know, he doesn't talk much. Why did he want to talk to you at the time?

BRYAN MONROE, FORMER EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, EBONY & JET: You know, he was -- it was at the time when the 20th anniversary of "Thriller" was happening and so he was talking about the creativity and the process that went into making that historic album. And it was really a fascinating conversation.

You know people have a sense that he's quiet and shy. We only were supposed to have about 15 to 20 minutes to talk with him, almost an hour and a half to two hours later, he was talking. I had to shut him up.

HOLMES: So what happened to open him up like that? Because he is known for being a very shy guy.

MONROE: You know, he was relaxed. We had spent three days with him. We're in New York, at the Brooklyn Museum, doing the photo shoot where he was very loose, very energetic. You know he was a thin man, but was -- still had that energy, he would do his dance moves.

And so when we sat down to do the interview, he just wanted to talk about the music and his creativity, and in the process, he took to go and make that album and the other albums. It was a fascinating conversation.

HOLMES: And you talked about him being loose and energetic. I'm sure a lot of things you saw behind the scenes were a surprise to you. What else, I guess, did you get insight into that you would have never known had you not got to spend this much time with this man?

MONROE: Well, one of the interesting things was he is a father. During the interview, he had his son there, Blanket, Prince Michael Jackson II. And when we came into the room, Blanket greeted us and -- you know they're staying in the hotel rooms, he had a little candy dish. And he offered us, I think, it was a peppermint candy from the candy dish.

And he said, hey, would you like one? I said, no, I'm good. And Michael turned to him and said, all right, Blanket, go sit down. And so Michael turned -- Blanket went down and sat, watched TV and watched cartoons like any other six- or seven-year-old.

And we sat down and had the interview, but the relationship between father and son, at least from my vantage point, was genuine.

HOLMES: Do you think -- I guess, that's what people never got to see. And maybe you were surprised by it, but there's so much surrounding him and just the spectacle in the public. But behind the scenes, he was just a dad in some respects, was just a kid who was offering some candy.

I mean, he was very much normal in ways that people never really thought about him being normal when they see him publicly.

MONROE: Yes, you know, he was very expressive. You know one of the interesting things, we talked through, remember the Motown 25 performance...

HOLMES: Yes.

MONROE: The "Billie Jean." We actually had that on my laptop and we sat and talked it through. He walked me through shot by shot.

HOLMES: Wow.

MONROE: Frame by frame, everything he did. And then ended up talking about how he saw himself through his own mortality.

HOLMES: And one last thing here. You talk about his own mortality here. There was a quote he gave you about dying. His own death. I want you to share that with us.

MONROE: Well, you know, he talked towards the end of the conversation. He liked to reference great creative forces from Leonardo da Vinci and others and he said something interesting. I'm going to read it from the interview.

He said, "I always want to do music that influences and inspires a generation. Let's face it, who wants mortality? I want to be immortal. You want what you create to live. And I give my all to my work because I want it to live." And I think, you know, his music will live on.

HOLMES: There's no question about that. The music will live on even though the world has lost this icon. Michael Jackson dead at the age of 50.

Bryan Monroe, again, the man who got the last interview with Michael Jackson. Extraordinary time you got to spend with him there. Bryan, we appreciate you being on this morning to talk about it.

MONROE: Thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: It was an interesting quote, isn't it? Immortality. That's exactly why we're going to have a special this Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 Eastern on CNN. Don Lemon is going to host from Los Angeles. Be sure to join us this weekend for an hour-long special on Michael Jackson's legacy.

It's 23 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: T.J., you got me wondering. So what happened to the woman in that video?

HOLMES: You see? I was just about to say I thought I was really young when that came out and I thought that woman was so good looking in that video. (LAUGHTER)

What did happen to her?

COSTELLO: Yes. Let's look her up. And we are talking about Michael Jackson's music this morning and his death. Welcome back to the most news in the morning. We also have the latest developments on his death.

We know that the autopsy is going to start in a couple of hours, and by late afternoon maybe we'll have some clues. But in talking about Michael Jackson, he was much more than just a music superstar. He was a phenomenon.

Alina Cho is here now with the life and death of an American icon.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know it's so ironic, you know. The news is so sad and yet the music is so uplifting.

HOLMES: Right.

CHO: You know to hear it this morning it really lifts your spirits.

Good morning, guys, you know, so many superlatives to describe Michael Jackson's entertainment career. He was the king of pop, an icon, and during his 40-year career, Michael Jackson sold more than 750 million records. He had 13 number one hits and was twice inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.

He was adored by fans everywhere and inspired a new generation of singers, some who weren't even alive when Jackson was first starting out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHO (voice-over): Michael Jackson burst on to the scene as the 10-year-old front man of the Jackson 5. He spent more than four decades making music. Success with his brothers was followed by a string of hit solo albums. "Off the Wall," his first solo release, sold seven million copies and made him a bona fide pop star.

But it was his follow-up effort, "Thriller," that made him the undisputed King of Pop.

BILL WERDE, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, BILLBOARD MAGAZINE: He is the biggest pop star of all times. If you look at the artists who have sold more records than Michael Jackson around the globe. It's Elvis Presley, it's the Beatles, and it's Bing Crosby, and that's it.

CHO: "Thriller" sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, had seven top 10 singles, and won eight Grammy Awards.

DAVID CAPLAN, ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR, PEOPLE MAGAZINE: It wasn't just about the music, which was amazing and has a distinct sound even for that era, but it became this cultural phenomenon. He was like this multimedia, multi-cultural, pop culture phenomenon.

CHO: His loyal fans worldwide helped Jackson set concert tour records and become the first artist to earn more than $100 million in one year.

WERDE: Michael Jackson was people's lives. I mean they lived Michael Jackson, they died Michael Jackson. They had -- you know, they had all of the paraphernalia. They had the jackets, they had the look.

CHO: He continued to have hit albums through the '80s and '90s, co-writing "We are the World" for African famine relief, and the album "Bad" set a record for a solo artist with five number one songs from a single album.

But his legacy goes far beyond his own success. His influence can be seen in many of today's pop stars. Some of whom were still in diapers when he captivated the world with "Thriller."

CAPLAN: Fans who weren't even born when "Thriller" came out, they're into Usher, they're into Justin Timberlake, and they get it. They see the connection and they appreciate why Michael Jackson is so relevant and important.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHO: Jackson was about to stage a big comeback, a concert tour that was set to kick off in London in just two weeks, if you can believe it. $85 million worth of tickets already sold, which really speaks to his staying power. And "Thriller," guys, that album incredibly still sells about 130,000 copies in the United States every single year.

Really incredible. And right now on Amazon.com, the top 15 best sellers, all Michael Jackson.

COSTELLO: You know, is it safe to say there will never be an artist who sells as many records as he did just because the music industry has changed?

CHO: Well, I mean, you know, it's hard to say, but I mean there's no denying. You know, you look at 13 number one hits, 13 Grammys, I mean he is an icon. You know you throw that word around, icon, a lot. He truly was an icon.

You were talking about the "Thriller" video coming out when you were a kid, a little scared watching. I mean, I remember feeling the same way. I mean, I had an enormous Michael Jackson poster in my bedroom. I remember the first time I saw him moon walk. I mean, those are really memorable moments in your childhood as you were growing up. And he was a part of that.

HOLMES,: Parents cut it off at the glove and the jacket. I couldn't get all that stuff.

COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: You had a glove? HOLMES: I did not have it. They wouldn't let me have a glove or a jacket.

COSTELLO: Smart parents.

CHO: You had to choose.

HOLMES: Yes. Right. Alina, we appreciate you. Thank you. And it is 31 minutes past the hour. Glad you all could be here.

Welcome to a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. A sad morning for really many folks in this country and around the world, still remembering the good times as well the good music of Michael Jackson, the life and legacy of this man. The King of Pop dead now at the age of 50. The exact cause of death unknown at this point. But the news of his untimely death set off spontaneous memorials and tributes around the world. Every corner of the planet, people knew this man, knew his music at some point. The autopsy is scheduled for sometime today. We might get answers to that autopsy by early afternoon, we're told, but listen to his brother Jermaine during a tearful press conference yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERMAINE JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S BROTHER: My brother, the legendary king of pop, Michael Jackson, passed away on Thursday, June 25th, 2009, at 2:26 p.m.. It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest in his home. However, the cause of his death was unknown until results of the autopsy are known.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And, of course, as we said that autopsy will take place in just a few hours. Hopefully by late afternoon they'll release some information so we may get a clue as to exactly how Michael Jackson died. Because all we know right now as you heard Jermaine Jackson say, it was cardiac arrest.

Also want to take a little time to hear more reaction from Jackson's fans. Tribute to Jackson pouring into our show site A.M. Fix and ireport.com. Here's just some of what you've been saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELISSA FAZLI, CNN IREPORTER: This is just a very sad day here in Hollywood, California. The Hollywood, California area. This is very, very sad.

JIMMY DEOL, CNN IREPORTER: My experience was "Thriller," and as a kid it captured my imagination. Michael, peace be with you. You will live. You will always live, like Elvis lives. God bless.

KAREN, CNN IREPORTER: My first exposure to Michael Jackson was the "Thriller" album. It was just the way he looked on that album. Laying back in his nice, white suit - I was like, there I was, just a preteen at the time and I fell in love with Michael Jackson. VOICE OF EGBERTO WILLIES, CNN IREPORTER: I grew up on Michael Jackson. I loved Michael Jackson. I hated Michael Jackson. I was ashamed of Michael Jackson. I was proud of Michael Jackson.

VOICE OF PETER MAIYOH, CNN IREPORTER: He was there before Tiger Woods, before Michael Jordan. Even before Barack Obama. He had done what nobody else has done.

VOICE OF RANY IBRAHIM, CNN IREPORTER: Regardless of his strange behaviors and questionable events that happened in his life, let's remember him as a great entertainer he was. Michael Jackson, you will always be remembered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Just looking at some more of your comments on our Web site because we want you to join the conversation and share your thoughts with us. All you have to do is go to our show Web site cnn.com/amfix. And there are many touching, touching comments on our Web site. So join in the conversation. It'll make you feel better, we hope, at least.

HOLMES: Yes. So coming up here next, we will continue to talk about Michael Jackson and his impact on the music industry, an impact like no other artist has ever touched this industry. Stay with us.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

COSTELLO: You know, friends of his, say Michael Jackson was most happy when he's performing and he sure looked happy in that shot. Hope he was happy at some point in his life. In his heyday, Jackson changed the way the music industry works. He was a global brand. He was a business power house.

Gerri Willis joins us now for the "Watching your Money" segment this morning. And you know, it's just impossible to believe that he could be $400 million in debt with all of the albums he sold and all of the money he made.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: That's right. You know, and before I get started, I really want to say, you know, a lot of people would say money is not the thing to be talking about today. But it was part of the, you know, contradictions we've been talking about with Michael Jackson. So successful on the one hand and as you say some 750 million albums sold worldwide. Very few people are in that class. That's a very small club and at the same time he dies with $400 million in debt.

Let's talk about some of the good side, some of the ups in his financial life. He owned rights to John Lennon, Paul McCartney's music, that was an asset that was evaluated at nearly $50 million at one time. Neverland, that ranch, he bought it for $14 million, and now it's worth some $97 million.

COSTELLO: But will it sell? Did it sell?

WILLIS: It went into foreclosure, he only owned a portion of that ranch at the time of his death. So, again, contradictions, complicated, his money problems actually drove some of his artistic decisions. This decision to have a comeback tour was really driven by the idea that he wanted to get rid of some of this debt, some $85 million worth of tickets were sold to what was going to be 50 concerts in London and really an extensive, extensive comeback tour. And the expectation was that, you know, this would go a long way to paying off some of his debt, some $115 million was expected to be raised.

But again, of course, as we know, this didn't happen either raising questions about whether, you know, consumers are going to get their money back, what's going to happen there? There's some insurance, but we're still waiting to hear about the autopsy report for details of his death, which should come later today. But again, a sad story.

You know, we hear about so many artists out there, so successful in one part of their life, less successful into translating that into their money life. You know, you expect people to be good at everything if they're really good at one thing, and it doesn't always happen that way.

COSTELLO: And as Jeffrey Toobin said, too many shady people around him, taking advantage of him.

HOLMES: Well, around him, was this a lot of bad business decisions as far as investments on his part or just the lavish lifestyle? You live like that, and have the Neverland Ranch, you've got to have the upkeep. You're going to run out of money if you live like that. So he put his money in the wrong place or he just spent like crazy?

WILLIS: Well, that and the legal issues, right? I mean, he had to defend himself and that was very, very expensive to mount those legal defenses, as Jeff Toobin was just explaining.

HOLMES: All right.

COSTELLO: Gerri Willis, thanks.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

HOLMES: All right. We're going to have more on the sudden death of Michael Jackson coming up. An autopsy expected in a few hours. We do want to update you on some other stories that are developing this morning, including over in Iran where Iranian state television says an aide to opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has been prevented from leaving the country.

CNN not been able to independently confirm this report given the restrictions on foreign press there in Iran. Since the disputed presidential election, at least 11 of Mousavi's campaign workers and 25 members of his newspaper staff have been detained.

Also, top U.S. and South Korean defense officials meeting today to discuss North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. The U.S. want international support for aggressive U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang which conducted a second nuclear test last month.

Also, in Washington today, President Obama meeting with German chancellor Angela Merkel. They're expected to discuss the Iranian government's crackdown on protestors. Also, likely to be discussed Germany's role in the war in Afghanistan and the global financial crisis. It's 42 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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COSTELLO: Michael Jackson was more than a recording artist, he was a choreographer as well as a businessman, quite a successful businessman despite his death. He owned the Beatles music publishing catalog and had a partnership with Sony Music. CNN contributor Hilary Rosen joins me now. She was also CEO of the Recording Industry Association. Good morning, Hilary.

HILARY ROSEN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: I didn't know.

ROSEN: I know, it's multiple lives. But listening to these musical snippets and everybody talking about him, I was obviously a fan and a business colleague. I remember in the early '70s driving to Florida with my friends to see the Jackson 5 at the Foutainbleu Hotel at Miami Beach. And I met him several times obviously later when I was in the music business, and he was just a phenomenon. I mean, there's really no other way to put it.

COSTELLO: You met him. Tell us about his personality. What was he like?

ROSEN: Well, he was extremely shy. I think people have talked about that before. And I would usually meet him in a business context or at a business industry event. And so he was shy but quite firm. When Michael Jackson was performing at an event, everything had to be perfect and he wouldn't come unless he was. But he really used his power, I think, in really extraordinary ways that people maybe forget. You know, at the height of his power after that hit album "Thriller," the greatest selling solo artist album in the world.

He then like two years later wrote "We Are the World" with Lionel Ritchie, and together with Quincy Jones assembled the greatest collection of recording artists to create this benefit for USA for Africa.

COSTELLO: You know, you talk about him being a perfectionist. There are some who say that really caused some of his problems because he could never make another album like "Thriller" despite those wonderful things he did afterwards. ROSEN: Yes. Well, he had a couple of more hits. Any other artist would have been happy with the sales of later albums like "Off the Wall" and others. You know, he just -- he never quite could capture that big hit again. And I think a part of him didn't only want to live off of his old hits, even though many people live off just two or three good hits. He was consistently trying to revise and re-record and revise and would go through producers and would rewrite. And had an extraordinarily tense relationship many times with his record labels because he just wouldn't deliver an album. It was never good enough.

COSTELLO: Yes, it took him years to deliver an album in the later years. When you knew him at the height of his power and you saw him in recent years, what went through your mind?

ROSEN: You know, I just have always felt that it was just a tragedy that he was so torn as an artist. And I think in many ways and I don't really know guilty or innocent in terms of his legal troubles, but the inability of he and many other artists to kind of come out and articulate their inner feelings and live in the world where there's so much public scrutiny and attention just, I think, drove him underground and it was incredibly sad.

COSTELLO: I know, I heard an interview he did with Barbara Walters where he said he was very hurt by headlines calling him whack-o, Jack-o. And he wondered why people are so mean. And you know, you look at these tabloid today and they're saying wonderful things about Michael Jackson, but you know, just a few short months ago, they were saying the most horrible things. So -

ROSEN: It is. The only nice thing about this in a way is that everybody's really remembering the good that he did and the music that he created and the love that he spread instead of focusing too much on the problems of the last few years.

COSTELLO: That's why we're playing his music this morning. Hilary Rosen, thanks for joining us. We appreciate it.

HOLMES: And some say that part of the problem was that Michael Jackson was surrounded by people who didn't really have his best interests at heart. We're going to be talking to a former Jackson family attorney who actually says those around him were enablers. Former Jackson attorney, we'll talk to him live. Stay tuned.

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HOLMES: Leave me alone, well that's something he never could get in life. We are remembering the life and legacy of the king of pop, Michael Jackson, all morning long. Autopsy scheduled within the next few hours. But there's one man, Brian Oxman, a former attorney for the Jackson family. He says Michael Jackson was surrounded by enablers who did not help him when he needed help. And Mr. Oxman joins me now this morning.

First, thank you for being here. You actually spoke of these folks who didn't help him. And he actually was over medicating and it had a lot to do with these drugs. Your quote exactly that the "Anna Nicole Smith case is nothing compared to what happened with Michael Jackson."

So, do we know, do you know exactly what he was taking, what kind of medication he was on?

BRIAN OXMAN, FORMER JACKSON FAMILY ATTORNEY: I am not discussed what the medications that he's on, because i think that's a matter for Michael's privacy, which should not be discussed. My main point has been that I talked to this family about it, I warned them, I said that Michael is over medicating and that I did not want to see this kind of a case develop, and in particular, in the Anna Nicole case, I said if that's what's going to happen to Michael, it's all going to break our hearts. And my worst fears are here. I do not know what the cause of Michael's death was, I don't know if it was cardiac arrest. I don't know if it's an infarct. I don't know if it's a congenital abnormality. We have to await the coroner's results and the toxicological screening to make sure that we know before we can say any kind of allegations to anyone.

HOLMES: Well, Brian, do you know, you say he was overmedicating, he was getting this stuff from somewhere. Was he surrounded by people who were doing everything they had to do in making sure they kept this medication close by when he wanted it?

OXMAN: He had over medication and it was a serious problem, and the exact people who were doing this I'm not going to point any fingers -

HOLMES: OK.

OXMAN: All I know is that I had warned that this was a problem and this is my worst fear. It is a nightmare.

HOLMES: Well, tell me, do you think - just an idea of his state of mind, was Michael Jackson incapable of making these decisions on his own? Was he incapable of realizing the damage he was doing to himself?

OXMAN: Well, I think that anyone who uses medications doesn't really understand what the impact of those medications are to their health or to their bodies. So Michael was no different than most people, we just do not know what the medications do. He was in pain. He had broken his leg, he had a fractured vertebrae. He definitely was in pain and that pain was chronic and he used medications to eliminate that pain.

And I don't think anyone who is in that position or condition really knows what the full impact is of those medications.

HOLMES: And the last thing here, give us an idea. And I know you're not naming names or anything, but just curious as to who he was surrounded by in these latter days and months and years of his life. It wasn't family members necessarily and maybe even friends, what type of people were around him?

OXMAN: I'm going to reserve that until I see the toxicology reports. I do not want to make allegations against any specific person.

HOLMES: Oh, no, not making a suggestion about that. Oh, no, no. Not making a suggestion about -

OXMAN: I made the warning.

HOLMES: OK.

OXMAN: I warned against the situation. And that's all I did, I thought it was severe, and my reference to Anna Nicole Smith, I thought it was severe and exceeded that severity.

HOLMES: But was he surrounded by friends and family, business colleagues? Just people mooching off of him. Who was he surrounded by in his later days?

OXMAN: I don't want to make finger pointing of any kind with respect to the folks. I want to see what the toxicology reports and the autopsy report has to say before we get into any of that. I only know that I was afraid that this would happen and lo and behold, here we are.

HOLMES: Well, you know what, it's unfortunate that your prediction did, in fact, come true. A lot of people were predicting an early demise. All too soon. People certainly saying today. Mr. Brian Oxman, I appreciate you taking the time with us today. I know it's a tough time for you, you spent a lot of time with his family and this man over the years. So, thank you so much for your time.

OXMAN: He was my friend. He was my friend and I'm going to miss him dearly.

HOLMES: All right. Again, thank you so much, Mr. Oxman, this morning. And we are just a few minutes from the top of the hour.

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Heroes.

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My name is Alfa Demmellash and I co-founded an organization that provide business education to women and minority entrepreneurs like my mom. We believe in your dreams and what that makes possible. We launched a school so that people could go in and really work on the hands-on management side of their business.

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COSTELLO: And just a reminder this weekend at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Don Lemon will have an hour long special called "Man in the Mirror" about the life, the legacy of Michael Jackson. So be sure to tune in, Saturday and Sunday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

HOLMES: For us now, I'd like to say, pleasure working with you here Carol, being here today, filling in, both of us. Right now we'll hand it over to CNN NEWSROOM with Heidi Collins.