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Body of Michael Jackson to be Taken to Neverland, Public Viewing Planned; Michael Jackson's Will to be Filed Today; Nurse Claims Michael Jackson Begged for Drugs; Fans Flock to Apollo Theater to Pay Tribute to Michael Jackson; Cities Growing During Recession; Controversial New Security Rules Proposed
Aired July 01, 2009 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: We're coming to the top of the hour now, on this Wednesday, July 1st. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.
Here's what's on the agenda this morning. The big stories that we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
A nurse who claims that she treated Michael Jackson is telling her shocking story to CNN this morning. Cherilyn Lee says back in April, Jackson begged for a powerful intravenous sedative that's used in operating rooms so that he could sleep. That nurse spoke exclusively to CNN overnight.
CHETRY: And details are also trickling out about Michael Jackson's will which could be made public later today. We're also learning that there may be a public viewing as well as a private memorial service at Neverland Ranch later this week. We're going to get more on that live from the Jackson family home in a moment.
ROBERTS: And it only took about eight months but Minnesota finally has a new junior senator and he could give Democrats the ultimate weapon in Washington. More on that coming up in just a minute.
CHETRY: We begin, though, this morning with developing news on the investigation into Michael Jackson's death. And a nurse who claims she treated Jackson is speaking out, making some shocking claims that Michael Jackson was desperately seeking a very powerful sedative. It's a drug primarily used in operating rooms and have very dangerous side effects.
Overnight, the nurse, Cherilyn Lee, sat down exclusively with our Drew Griffin. Their conversation is brand new this morning. It's something you'll see only here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Michael Jackson wanted a medical attendant to give him an IV drip of Diprivan just so he could sleep. CHERILYN LEE, NURSE WHO CLAIMS SHE TREATED JACKSON: Yes. Yes.
GRIFFIN: Scary.
LEE: Very scary. This is why he started doing it. I had this medicine before. It worked for me before. And I said, well, you know -- then he says the name, and I didn't understand.
I said, well, who gave it to you? My doctor. And he was so adamant, like he totally believed that his doctor said this is safe. He said this is --
GRIFFIN: Did he say what doctor?
LEE: He wouldn't tell me. I said who is the doctor? And if he gave it to you, where is he? I mean, why are you asking me? You know?
And he said, I don't know where he is. It was a long time ago. But I know this worked for me.
And he -- he actually sat there and he said, I'm telling you, when he put -- when I have that IV in my hand, when I have it in my hand, he just kind of went on -- when it drips in my body, the first drop, I'm asleep. And all I want to do is sleep.
You know, I've watched my children, they're sleeping. You know, I just want to go to sleep. I want to sleep eight hours so I can be refreshed the next day.
GRIFFIN: But don't you think it's odd he's asking for this super strong medicine?
LEE: Super strong. Yes, that was odd.
GRIFFIN: Without asking for a regular sleeping pill.
LEE: Yes. Well, this is -- and I said have you taken sleeping pills? He said they don't work. He said, I don't want those things, they don't work. I want it in an IV. I don't want pills. I don't want any pills.
GRIFFIN: You said no?
LEE: And I -- oh, my goodness, not only did I say no, I didn't know the medication. And I went to my office to get my PDR. So I said the physician's desk reference. It's just like the bible of medicine.
I said this medication is not good. He said I want to sleep. And I looked at him and that was the first time I got this chill through my body and I said, Michael, if you take that medicine, you might not wake up.
GRIFFIN: What was his response? LEE: He said, I need to have somebody here to just monitor me. I said, it isn't having someone monitoring you. You just don't need to have this.
He said if somebody stay here and monitor me with this IV, then I would be OK. I would be OK because they're going to be here 24 hours or 12 hours to monitor me so I could sleep eight hours.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Wow.
CHETRY: It's astounding what she's saying. And we're going to hear in just a few minutes a little bit more from Cherilyn Lee about this frantic call that she got from Jackson's security team she says last weekend and why -- why she's deciding to come forward now. She said she's not seeking fame, but she felt it was important to put it out there and try to set the record straight.
ROBERTS: Yes, exactly. So many people are saying so many different things.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: There are so many other new developments this morning as well surrounding the death of the pop icon. We could get our first look at a will that Michael Jackson apparently filed back in 2002.
We're also learning more about a public viewing being planned at the Neverland Ranch and when Jackson's body will be taken there.
Our Ted Rowlands is live for us outside of the Jackson family home in Encino, California. What's the latest on the will, first of all, Ted?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, the latest is the family has it, the family attorneys have a copy of this will. We do expect that that will be filed as early as this morning in Los Angeles court.
You remember two days ago when the family went to court, originally, they said in their petition that there was no will in existence. Well, now, they acknowledged they have a copy of it. And they say that they do expect that to be a major part of the probate process as it moves forward because it is the only will out there that has surfaced.
It is a little -- you know, from 2002, one of the things in that will, we're told, is that the children -- Michael Jackson's wishes for his children are that his mother, Katherine, take care of them. That is a huge thing that the family, of course, has petitioned for as well. Those proceedings going on. But the bottom line is there's a will, and the Jackson family has acknowledged they've seen it and it appears to be valid.
ROBERTS: One of the other big developments that we're following here, Ted, its reports of a big public viewing at the Neverland Ranch. What's the latest on that?
ROWLANDS: Well, the latest is it's getting late. It's Wednesday morning now. We've been told that on Thursday morning that Michael Jackson's body will go from Los Angeles up to the Neverland Ranch, and that there'll be some sort of public viewing into the weekend and then some sort of private memorial service tentatively scheduled for Sunday.
Now, Jackson's family attorneys say that nothing has been set in stone and they are still working out the details. But it appears that Neverland Ranch is going to be in the mix here in terms of the memorial service for Michael Jackson.
ROBERTS: What's the thinking on the funeral? I heard potentially Sunday?
ROWLANDS: For the private funeral?
ROBERTS: Right.
ROWLANDS: Yes. That's been laid out there. But, again, the family attorney last night says that none of this had been set in stone. But it appears, though, they're ramping it up for a public ceremony of some sort, possibly a viewing, and then a private ceremony after that on Sunday after the fourth of July.
ROBERTS: All right. Ted Rowlands for us this morning in Encino. Ted, thanks so much for that.
CHETRY: Well, thousands lined up in the spot where it all began. Fans came to the world-famous Apollo Theater in Harlem for a poignant celebration of Michael Jackson's life.
The superstar was only 9 years old when he made his debut there winning Amateur Night. Jackson and his brothers once did 31 shows at the Apollo in a week. They got paid $1,000 for that at the time.
Our T.J. Holmes is there for the tribute. And, you know, it's funny, Amateur Night, that's a tough crowd. If you can get them to cheer for you during Amateur Night at the Apollo, you got it made. But it was --
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": They made that point yesterday. It was pointed out. They said, you know what, today you got this "American Idol" and all this stuff. You get to text in your vote. You know, you had a crowd, you had to get in front of them.
CHETRY: Right.
HOLMES: And you need to perform.
CHETRY: And they either booed you off the stage or they loved you.
HOLMES: And Amateur Night continues to this day. They're doing Michael Jackson tributes again tonight for Amateur Night. But yesterday, I mean, Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, Billie Holiday, before we knew those names, before the world knew those names, those had to play (ph) in the Apollo. The same goes for Michael Jackson. And that is why it was so important for thousands to be there yesterday.
They didn't come to cry. It wasn't a solemn scene. It wasn't a sad scene. Let me show you what it was.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (voice-over): Thousands of people but just 600 at a time filed through Harlem's legendary Apollo Theater on Tuesday to celebrate Michael Jackson's life and legacy. Some cried, some laid flowers. Everybody danced.
JUSTIN AUSTIN, MICHAEL JACKSON FAN: I'm here to support Michael and just have his legacy live on because his music will never die, never die. He was a wonderful man.
GREG PACKER, MICHAEL JACKSON FAN: I came out, celebrate the life and legacy of Michael Jackson and to remember all the good things that he did in his life and the good music he brought to us.
SHARLOT ADRIND, MICHAEL JACKSON FAN: I want to pay tribute to someone whom I loved ever since he was knee high.
JACKSON FIVE: ABC easy as 1-2-3.
HOLMES: Jackson was only 9 years old when the Jackson Five won the Apollo's Amateur Night contest back in 1967.
REV. AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: You are our Michael then. You are our Michael now. You'll be our Michael forever.
BILLY MITCHELL, APOLLO THEATER HISTORIAN: He is our legend. Michael started here with these people, but he became world renowned.
HOLMES: Fans waited hours. Some waited all night long for a chance to pay their respects to the King of Pop.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael Jackson? Oh, Lord, I thank God for Michael Jackson the way he left us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michael Jackson will never die. That he's going to live right here forever.
ADRIND: You can still feel the love that you have and giving it out to everybody. And I'm so (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And really guys, that was kind of the thing we saw yesterday as well. Of course, Michael Jackson, world renowned. People all over the world love him. But yesterday it was almost like the community there -- the black community reclaiming this man. And there was at times even a rift, seemingly, at least, with the black community that, oh, he's going off and he's forgetting where he's from. That kind of an attitude. No. Yesterday, it was all Michael Jackson.
We helped launch him. We were with him every step of that journey. We never left him. And it was really a sense of he's ours (ph).
CHETRY: You know, it will also be interesting to see how many people go out there if there is indeed a public viewing of Michael Jackson at Neverland Ranch.
HOLMES: Oh, wow. I can't imagine what that's going to be like. I mean, just yesterday -- and again when James Brown -- they did the same thing with James Brown at the Apollo. But James Brown, they brought his body there to the Apollo. So those lines were unbelievable down the road as well.
Of course, Michael Jackson's body wasn't there at the Apollo yesterday. But still, as I was explaining earlier, 125th is where the Apollo is. The line went down to 135th. We're talking ten blocks, a hot, hot day.
And then they got drenched. There was a storm. We had to shut down our live truck for a while, the Setra (ph), because the storm was so bad.
CHETRY: Yes, it was bad.
ROBERTS: Yes.
HOLMES: So they were standing on it. They stayed in it. And just about all of them got to go in yesterday.
ROBERTS: Some good memories there.
HOLMES: Yes.
ROBERTS: T.J., thanks so much for that.
CHETRY: Nice to see you.
HOLMES: All right.
ROBERTS: Also new this morning, former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Al Franken is heading to Washington. The state's highest court ruled him the winner of Minnesota's Senate race after months of recounts and challenges. Franken's opponent, incumbent Republican Norm Coleman, conceded yesterday. This gives Democrats that magic number, a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the Senate.
The governor of South Carolina revealing more intimate details about his life. In an interview with "The Associated Press," Governor Mark Sanford says he crossed the line with a handful of other women during his marriage but not to the point of actually having sexual relations.
Sanford also went on to say that his mistress from Argentina is his soul mate, but he's trying to fall back in love with his wife. The state's attorney general is looking into the governor's travel records to see if any state money was used to pay for his dalliance.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he's checking with lawyers to change the way service members are discharged for violating the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. Gates says that he is especially concerned about members of the Armed Forces who are ousted by jilted lovers or other third parties. This comes just one day after President Obama reaffirmed his pledge to overturn that law.
CHETRY: Well, we told you a little bit earlier when we heard from her, a nurse who claims she treated Michael Jackson back in April then he asked her for this powerful sedative that's usually only given in hospitals in operating rooms.
Well, now, she talks about the warnings she gave Michael Jackson saying it could kill you. In her own words when we come back.
It's 12 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." U.S. officials say that a North Korean ship they've been tracking for more than a week now has turned back around and is heading home. Officials said that they think this ship is carrying weapons that are banned under U.N. sanctions. The Navy started tracking that ship after it left port two weeks ago.
Well, if you were planning on picking up a hot chocolate, although in this weather, I don't know why you would be, at Dunkin' Donuts on the way to work. Keep on driving, they say, because the chain is not selling hot chocolate. Would you in July?
ROBERTS: No, I would be thinking ice coffee.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: Way to go, or a latte or mocha. But any way, because of salmonella concerns linked to the dried milk in the hot chocolate, they're saying that none of their products have been contaminated but they're all doing it as a precaution.
Well, for the tenth day in a row, just in time for your Fourth of July travels, gas prices are down again. AAA reporting that the national average for regular unleaded is just over $2.63 a gallon today.
ROBERTS: Well, there are major developments this morning in the investigation into Michael Jackson's death. A nurse who claims that she treated Jackson back in April says he was desperately seeking a very powerful sedative that's used typically in operating rooms to sleep.
She says that she warned him that the drug could kill him. She also says she got a frantic call from one of Jackson's aides four days before he died. She talked about that exclusively with our Drew Griffin late last night. Here's some of it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHERILYN LEE, NURSE WHO CLAIMS SHE TREATED JACKSON: Last Sunday night, I was in Florida at a medical convention. They called me and said, "Michael wants to see you. It's urgent. He really wants to see you." And I can hear him in the background. Tell her -- tell her that half my body is cold, half my body is hot. And I'm like --
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Who calls you? Who --
LEE: The security.
GRIFFIN: Who is that?
LEE: Right now, I'd rather not say names.
GRIFFIN: And you're hearing -- the call is from the home.
LEE: Yes.
And he said, please, please. He's telling -- I said, you know, I can't come, Michael, I'm in Florida. And I didn't even tell him I was in the E.R. I said you need to go to the hospital. You need to go to the hospital.
He was so adamant about -- I will pay any amount of money for someone to help me to sleep. And I said, you don't have to pay me anything. But you don't do this. But he was so adamant.
I don't care what it's going to take. I'll pay any amount of money to get eight hours' sleep. That was my last conversation with him.
I said, you know, Michael -- instead of, you know, I just -- it's just something came over me and I got tears in my eyes and I've haven't had these tears ever since that day. And I said, something came over me and I said, Michael, you keep wanting to sleep. You keep saying you want to be knocked out and sleep but what about waking up tomorrow?
GRIFFIN: You think somebody took that payment, don't you?
LEE: That was my first thought.
GRIFFIN: You know, this is Michael Jackson investigation.
LEE: I know.
GRIFFIN: Half the people that are watching this are not going to believe you.
LEE: I know that.
GRIFFIN: They're going to think, this woman is just seeking fame. She's making this up.
LEE: I don't need fame. I do not need fame.
GRIFFIN: Why are you coming forward with all of this?
LEE: I'm coming forward because the more I watch the news and the more they kept saying drugs, and I'm thinking -- this is not drugs.
GRIFFIN: When you say this wasn't drugs --
LEE: It wasn't the drugs they're saying. The Demerol, the this, the that. It wasn't that.
GRIFFIN: You think it was the drug he was after?
LEE: Yes. Well, I could not be certain about that, but this is my thought. And even though I've warned him about it, I mean in detail warned him about it, he kept saying he wanted to have somebody there that can watch him and medically supervise him. That's what he said.
And I said, even so, this is not a drug that you would use in a home. This is not a drug for sleep. This is something that -- you know, it's something you don't want to do because you may not wake up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Cherilyn Lee talking to our Drew Griffin last night. Lots more ahead in the Michael Jackson investigation coming up on the "Most News in the Morning."
It's 19 minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Twenty-two minutes past the hour right now.
Christine Romans is here "Minding Your Business." And as a result of what we've been seeing in these tough economic times, some shifts in where people are moving and where people live.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The 2008 population information just out from the Census Department has some really interesting statistics that show that that suburban sprawl of the past ten to 15 years may be on hold here.
You remember the housing boom and relocating and building and jobs way out in the suburbs and the ex-surbs was the name that we started hearing about way out even past the suburbs. But the big cities are seeing the growth in population right now. That's where the diversity of jobs is, that's where people are trying to find jobs. That's where people are staying, frankly, because, in many cases, they can't sell their house and the like.
So what we have seen is New York, L.A., Chicago, a lot of other towns are growing quite quickly. New York and Chicago, interestingly, because of more babies being born there. But in L.A., San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, that's because of immigration. Those gateway cities are keeping their people. They're not moving out on to the suburbs anymore.
These towns are the fastest growing cities. Gilbert, Arizona, Round Rock, Texas. Gary, North Carolina, McKinney, Texas. Four of the top ten growing, fastest growing cities percentage wise are in Texas. I don't know what's going on in Texas. But Texas seems to have low unemployment rates and some cases and the cities are growing pretty quickly.
New Orleans, Louisiana, its population grew 8.2 percent. It's not back up to where it was pre-Katrina and Rita, the 2005 hurricanes that devastated that town, but some strong, fast growth in New Orleans as well.
CHETRY: It's a great sign.
ROBERTS: You've got a "Romans' Numeral" for us this morning. We're talking about growth and, you know, negative growth. And here's an interesting number.
ROMANS: 14.9 percent. This is about Detroit, folks. Now Detroit's population, it fell slightly. 14.9 percent is our number here. And it has to do with, I guess, one of the reasons why that population is falling.
CHETRY: It's unemployment.
ROMANS: That's right. Detroit unemployment is the highest of the big cities -- 14.9 percent. This is the number that came out from the Labor Department late yesterday. It caught a lot of people's attention, folks, because this is one of America's big cities with such a high unemployment rate.
And we want to tell you that we talked to the person who's running the Detroit public schools and he told us that he's considering filing for bankruptcy for the public schools. It just shows you when you have such high joblessness, such big problems in a big city what that can mean. We're going to be watching the fate of the Detroit public schools as well. But very difficult times for some of these cities and towns that are just so strapped right now.
CHETRY: Sad situation for sure and one that many states are facing as well.
ROMANS: That's right.
CHETRY: They're having trouble meeting their budget gaps. ROMANS: That's right. And that's a big story that's going to affect everyone. I mean, you're probably going to get less services and you're paying more. So, that kind of hits your bottom line.
CHETRY: Christine, thanks.
ROBERTS: You know, every time you go through the airport, you have to go through security, right? Take your shoes off. You can't put the shoes in a bin now anymore. You got to put them directly on the conveyor belt.
All the security for commercial aviation, but what about general aviation? What if terrorists decide that they're not going to fly commercial? They want to fly some other aircraft.
Jeanne Meserve looking at that coming up for you straight ahead.
Twenty-five minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's been hit before. And now a new report due out today says high profile buildings in New York City need tighter security and more should be done to guard them against terror attacks. Specific buildings are not named. But according to "The Associated Press," the NYPD report does advise builders to position glass facades away from nearby landmarks and put tighter restrictions on blueprints and floor plans.
But what if terrorists decide not to fly commercial? For years, some top federal officials have been asking that question. And now, they are considering closing loopholes for private jets by doing things like fingerprinting pilots and banning golf clubs. But is this going too far?
Our Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve joins us live this morning with that. Jeanne, what's going on with general aviation here?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: John, you know, Michael Chertoff, the former secretary of Homeland Security, worried a private aircraft could be used to smuggle a nuclear weapon. And those kinds of fears generated new proposals for securing general aviation. But pilots are not happy and that is putting it mildly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice-over): Bob Hawkins has been flying for 50 years and he has had it with the Transportation Security Administration.
BOB HAWKINS, PILOT: I find it a real pain in the tush. And I don't think it accomplishes anything.
MESERVE: Hawkins is upset about rules the TSA is proposing for non-commercial aircraft, even though they would not apply to the small plane he's flying but larger corporate and personal jets, generally those holding eight or more people.
If the aircraft weighs more than 12,500 pounds at takeoff, the TSA proposes fingerprinting the pilot and doing a background check, checking passenger names against terror watch list, and banning the same items prohibited from the cabin of commercial flights -- knives and guns, but also tools and even golf clubs. The aviation community is pushing back hard.
ANDY CEBULA, AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSN.: The equivalent of telling you you have to go through all kinds of security requirements to drive your car.
MESERVE: The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association enlisted celebrity pilot Harrison Ford to underline the high cost of the proposal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRISON FORD, ACTOR: Millions of jobs and large and small businesses depend on general aviation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: Aviation groups also argue that private planes are too small to be effective weapons and that security at general aviation airports is much improved. A recent report from the Department of Homeland Security inspector general seems to bolster their case, concluding general aviation presents only limited and mostly hypothetical threats to security.
But a TSA official counters, we don't know who is flying around where, what or who they're carrying, or what their intent may be. The previous secretary of Homeland Security said repeatedly general aviation had to be seen as a threat factor.
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, FMR. DHS SECRETARY: Not because of a specific threat, but simply because the difference between the security of commercial aviation and the security in general aviation has grown. And that difference creates a vulnerability.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: Now the TSA is talking with pilots and others and all sides say that the proposed security rules are likely to be modified before they're finalized. But I'll tell you, John, pilots like Bob Hawkins are not likely to be happy with any regulation that they perceive is interfering with their freedom to fly.
ROBERTS: Any idea, Jeanne, when this might go into effect.
MESERVE: No, they're in -- they're in discussions now. They say in a couple of months we're likely to see some sort of modified rules. And at that point, it's unclear whether it will be another proposed rule making or a final rule. So the timeline isn't exactly clear, John.
ROBERTS: Jeanne Meserve for us this morning in Washington. Jeanne, thanks so much.
MESERVE: You bet.
CHETRY: Thirty minutes past the hour. We check our top stories now.
Investigators say they believe they found the flight and voice data recorders of the Yemenia Flight 626. A French official telling a CNN affiliate that they have located the so-called black boxes, that they're pinpointed, but they're at this point, quote, "not very accessible." The plane carried 153 people. It crashed yesterday off of the southeastern African coast. And we now know that the sole survivor was actually a 13-year-old French girl. Earlier reports had a five-year-old child being the sole survivor.
ROBERTS: North Korea is keeping us guessing this morning. One of its ships that the U.S. has been tracking for more than a week has made a U-turn. The U.S. suspects that it could be carrying illegal weapons. Two U.S. officials tell the Associated Press that the vessel has been moving very slowly in recent days, something that could signal it was trying to conserve fuel.
CHETRY: And al Qaeda threatening to take revenge on France for its position on women covering themselves head to toe with the burka. That's according to a statement that's been posted on a radical Islamic Web site after French President Nicolas Sarkozy's controversial comment that the traditional Muslim garment was, quote, "not welcome in France." The statement appeared saying that French women are, quote, "poorly dressed and nude."
Well, more on a developing story now. One state shut down overnight. Your state could be next. With a $24 billion deficit, the California Senate shut down at midnight, and more government shutdowns are looming. Arizona, Mississippi, Pennsylvania all billions short in balancing their budgets. Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania is in the middle of one of those budget battles. The budget gap in that state $3 billion. And lawmakers there also missed their deadline late last night.
He joins us from Harrisburg this morning. Good to see you this morning, Governor Rendell.
GOV. ED RENDELL (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Good morning, Kiran.
CHETRY: So, you guys are facing, you know, a tough challenge that we're seeing in many of the states. You need to close a $3 billion shortfall. It was due last night. So, where does it stand this morning?
RENDELL: Well, we made a little progress in the last two nights of negotiation, but we're still pretty far apart. The choices are two bad choices between a rock and a hard place. Do we cut services or do we raise some revenue? And the public doesn't want to see revenue increases but they don't want to see service cuts so we're trying to affect a fair balance. We're trying - I proposed raising revenues for a short period of time, for three years, which is the time period I think it will take us to recover and get back to the economy we had before the crash.
CHETRY: Right. So one of the things that you want to do is you want to hike the personal income tax by 16 percent. You guys do have some of the lowest personal income taxes in the country, which is why a lot of people...
RENDELL: We're the second...
CHETRY: ... lowest right now. This would put you up to the fourth lowest. But still, that's why a lot of people move there had because they were able to make the most of their budget because of that. So, as you've taken a look at that option and you take a look at cutting services, I mean, what are you facing right now as you try to figure out whether or not there's going to be support for any type of tax increases?
RENDELL: Well, I think the numbers in the end will drive this process as they will in the 32 states that haven't gotten a budget yet. And the numbers are pretty clear. When you suffer a shortfall of $3 billion plus in revenue, you've got to do something. And so many - so much of what we spend as a state is mandated. So, for example, an entitlement, you go into our Medicaid program, you're eligible. We have to service you.
And obviously in a bad economy, more and more people are going to the Medicaid program. So much of our spending is mandated that there's just so much we can cut. And we are trying. Everybody is making a good-faith effort to cut as much as we can. But do we want to cut services?
The plan put out by the republicans which is still a billion and a half, a $1.5 billion short of balance, that plan would cut over $1 billion to public education at a time when Pennsylvania has made so much progress in our public education system. It would cut great programs like autism and cuts to mental health and mental retardation programs, things that are so important to the fabric of what we do, health care.
CHETRY: Right.
RENDELL: A significant cut to health care centers.
CHETRY: Well.
RENDELL: And those are things that we're trying to avoid. Our tax increase comes to for the median income in Pennsylvania, $4.80 a week for three years. And we think that's -- look I'm not minimizing it, but we think that's an acceptable price to pay to keep services at a level that Pennsylvania continue to make progress.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, you have a big challenge as you try to figure this out. You have nearly 80,000 state workers that have been told they're going to get partial pay on July 17 and July 21st, and after that their paychecks are going to be withheld entirely until this gets sorted out. They'll be paid retroactively after that. But that's a pretty bad scenario, it seems, for state workers. Well, it is except that we've been able to negotiate with credit unions and banks, no interest loans for our workers for up to six months to cover the shortfall for those who live paycheck to paycheck. We try to do the decent things even with our workforce. And look I'm not anticipating that four, five, six-month deadlock. But we try to consider the pressure our families or our workforce.
So, any Pennsylvania worker can go in to Citizens Bank, for example, one of the big banks in the state, and get a low-interest -- no-interest loan up to $15,000.
CHETRY: All right.
RENDELL: And that should cover them for a significant period of time.
CHETRY: We have a question though that your state was granted nearly $16 billion in federal stimulus money, $2 billion that was supposed to help with the budget gap. Why isn't that federal money helping more in these states like yours?
RENDELL: Well, it is helping. Yes and without it, I think we'd have to see 15,000 to 20,000 additional layoffs across the length and breadth of the state, not just state workers, but county workers, municipal workers who is without that money, there would be a shortfall all the way down the chain. So it's helped for us to restore a lot of layoffs. When the president says that he retained or created x amount of jobs, believe me, without the stimulus money, there would be massive layoffs. We're already going to have a thousand layoffs.
CHETRY: I know, you guys talked about creating or the White House stimulus plan talked about creating this 140,000 jobs in your state, in particular. And you said when it was passed and we had you on here that you were going to see that momentum. But you actually had unemployment tick up in May. So do you still have confidence that the stimulus is going to work? Is it not happening fast enough?
RENDELL: Well, first of all, the stimulus, as I said, it really won't take effect until July, August, September, and October. And you will see employment ramp up dramatically, particularly in construction and manufacturing who are the two sectors of our economy that were hit the worst, Kiran. You'll see a tremendous up tick in them, number one.
And number two, remember, these stimulus funds forced all layoffs and losing a job is right now the single thing that states want to avoid because not only does that family get put in to stress, but that's another taxpayer off of the rolls. So don't misunderstand that the stimulus hasn't done its job, at least initially it has in forestalling layoffs. Now we're going to see as construction really ramps up, we're going to see a tremendous level of job creation that I think is going to last for the next six to 12 months in a very significant effect.
CHETRY: Hopefully that will be the case as you said you're in a difficult position of either raising taxes or being forced to cut some services. Hopefully you guys will come to an agreement soon. Good to talk to you, Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania. Thanks for being with us this morning.
RENDELL: Thanks, Kiran.
CHETRY: Hard to pronounce.
ROBERTS: Not at all. I think it's easy to pronounce. Have you gotten a parking ticket in New York City?
CHETRY: Yes. Sadly.
ROBERTS: It's like a mortgage payment, right?
CHETRY: It's quite hefty.
ROBERTS: We were talking to the governor there about budget shortfalls. There are a lot of cities that are using parking tickets to make up for some budget shortfalls. The city of Washington, D.C. 600,000 people, $67 million they made off of parking meters, parking tickets and all of that.
CHETRY: Are you kidding me? You can't get your quarter in there before they give you a ticket.
ROBERTS: Apparently. It's bugging an awful lot of people. Carol Costello is taking on the topic coming up next. It's 39 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Parking tickets. Pretty much everyone's gotten one, right? A huge cash cow for cities that desperately need the money in these tough economic times. While they are generating big bucks, there's also a growing backlash. Our Carol Costello live in Washington this morning. And Carol, it's getting ugly out there.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm telling you. You know, John. I want you to know that I once got a parking ticket in D.C. while I was sitting in my car.
ROBERTS: A-ha. So they didn't - they didn't consider you to be stopped, they considered you to be parked?
COSTELLO: Exactly. They didn't tell me to move. They just slapped me with a ticket and she would not take it back. It was ugly.
ROBERTS: They do that in New York all the time.
COSTELLO: I know. You know, so - I guess it comes as no surprise that D.C. raked in $67 million in parking fines last year. It's a cash bonanza not lost on other cities. But guess what, all those tickets may mean green, but they come with a price.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): Washington is cashing in on your -- shall we say inability to park legally. D.C. issued 1,465,394 parking tickets last year. Collecting $67,311,140, in a city with just under 600,000 people.
LON ANDERSON, AAA MID-ATLANTIC: To say that D.C. has an aggressive ticket-writing campaign that's picking motorists' pocket will be an understatement.
COSTELLO: D.C. isn't the only city cashing in. Dallas took in $5.2 million, L.A., $120 million. New York, $624 million. So many parking tickets are being issued. For lawbreakers, it's become a sport.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like a risk taking thing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gambling, taking a risk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, you get away with it a lot of times and you get this false sense of security.
COSTELLO: And on TV, the tension between ticket giver and (inaudible) has become war.
Yes, there's a reality TV show on A&E called "Parking Wars."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, man, this is ridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, this one is broken. That one is broken. Look at -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That little [bleep]. Is a piece of [bleep] meter maid.
COSTELLO: The show shot in Philadelphia puts real life aggressive parking ticket agents against people who park illegally. It's meant cash for Philly and bad PR for the city, prospective tourists sending angry e-mails saying -
MERYL LEVITZ, GREATER PHILADELPHIA TOURISM MARKETING CORP.: Hey, you know, I was thinking of coming to Philly, but then I saw "Parking wars" and I don't want to be treated like that. I don't want my car to be treated like that. I'm never coming to your city.
COSTELLO: To try to cover the fear of aggressive ticketing, Philly came up with a marketing plan extolling cheap, easy, and free Philly parking for visitors. But there is no PR fear in Washington, D.C., parking officials have come up with yet another way to catch illegal parkers. They've mounted cameras on street sweepers to snap stop laws. That ticket will come in the mail and it will cost you $60.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: Think of that what you will. In Philadelphia, the people who dole out the tickets are working with the tourism folks to help outsiders understand they're not parking ticket Nazis. As for A&E show "Parking Wars," no comment on the controversy. But you will see it again in the fall after it wraps up production this time in Detroit.
ROBERTS: So what do they charge for a parking ticket there in the nation's capital.
COSTELLO: It depends. It depends on how long you've been illegally parked.
ROBERTS: How much was yours?
COSTELLO: You know, I don't remember. But I seem because this was a couple of years ago. But I seem to remember it was $75.
ROBERTS: Oh, wow. I thought New York was bad. You know, New York expired meter, $65, no standing, $115, double parking which goes on everywhere, $115.
CHETRY: But it's a double-edged sword. Because then sometimes you're trap in the middle of one of those narrow New York streets because you have seven people double parked unloading -
ROBERTS: True. Yes.
CHETRY: I don't know.
ROBERTS: So Carol, you should count yourself - I guess not lucky because you got a pricey ticket there. Pricey ticket.
CHETRY: Will chip in for it as your Christmas present if you want?
COSTELLO: Oh, that's so nice. Thank you.
CHETRY: You're welcome.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Carol.
ROBERTS: So what do you think about all of those meter madness. Carol has got more on the parking meter war zone at CNN.com/amfix. 46 minutes now after the hour.
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CHETRY: All right. This is my favorite music.
ROBERTS: It's almost like - you know what I would prefer than this, is that song by Yellow -
CHETRY: Which one? Oh. ROBERTS: In "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."
CHETRY: Oh, I know. Would you like a gummy bear? It was warm and soft in my pocket. All right. 49 minutes past the hour. A look at Atlanta this morning. It's partly cloudy. 74 degrees. But later, and this looks like later. It looks pretty sunny there now. It's going to be 93 degrees and sunny.
Rob Marciano checking things out for us. Did you ever pull a Ferris in school? Skipping school?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Oh, no. Come on.
CHETRY: Going to the Yankee game for the day? Dancing in the street?
MARCIANO: Heck, no.
For one thing my parents never went out of town. One of the many reasons why I was a deprived child. But I always went to class. And gummy bears. You know, I was getting gummy bears, very wholesome, Kiran.
Cool air driving down to the south and east. Actually 93 in Atlanta but its a dry heat. It's been pretty dry across this part of the country for the past couple of days but definitely cooler than normal across the northeast. This is what's happening. Everything rotating around this area of low pressure which really isn't moving very much. So temperatures 10, 15, in some cases 20 degrees below average back around Chicago. And the cause for instability will be across the northeast, and there are some thunderstorms that are rolling eastward.
(INAUDIBLE) and we'll advance. We do have a tornado warning that's just been issued by the National Weather Service down in south, in Hillsborough county just to the southeast of Tampa. So I just you to be aware of that.
And also an interesting note, there was an earthquake in Greece, in Crete, Greece, this morning. 6.4 magnitude. No reports of damage. Just offshore right where the Eurasian and African plates meet. So if you're planning a vacation in Greece, I think everything should be OK. But folks out there maybe woke up to a little bit of rumbling. John and Kiran, back over to you.
CHETRY: All right.
ROBERTS: Quite a big storm came through here yesterday afternoon.
CHETRY: It was - we thought we were going to lose power for a little while there.
ROBERTS: Have a candle, be in the dark.
CHETRY: I had my candle ready. And a lighter. ROBERTS: So, Rob, thanks so much for that.
MARCIANO: All right.
ROBERTS: See you in a little bit.
So of course, you know, we had Mark Sanford come back from Buenos Aires the other day, and talk about what was going on in his life. Now he's got this -- it's all coming out. Every bit of it. Candy Crowley's got it for us.
CHETRY: He's talking more about other indiscretions and how he feels about his wife now.
ROBERTS: So what's going on? Candy breaks it all down for us next. Coming up next. Nine minutes to the top of the hour.
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ROBERTS: He was living a lie. Now South Carolina's governor has come down with a case of brutal honesty. The combination of a wandering eye and a wagging tongue may get Mark Sanford in trouble with the law. South Carolina's attorney general is asking for a review of the republican governor's travel records. Our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley has got more on Sanford's latest confession.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran and John. You know that painful 18-minute news conference from the governor of South Carolina admitting to adultery? Well, things are now growing curiouser and curiouser and definitely growing worse.
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CROWLEY (voice-over): It turns out those three times the governor of South Carolina was with his mistress is more like seven. Also, he told the "Associated Press" there were other women with whom he crossed lines but didn't have sex. The explanation of which is this - "have I done stupid? I have. You know, you meet someone, you dance with them, you go to a place where you probably shouldn't have gone."
Governor Mark Sanford says he's still not resigning but following his initial teary confession of adultery, he's taken to giving confessional interviews, unhelpful to a man trying to hold on to power in a conservative state with heavy evangelical influence. Sanford told the AP his mistress is his "soul mate" but he's trying to fall back in love with his wife, that would be Jenny Sanford, the woman who may be holding the keys to the governor's office.
LEROY CHAPMAN, GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS EDITOR, THE STATE: She understands media and she understands what they can convey. And if, you know, he's to save himself, his term, she's going to have to be critical to that because she could certainly come to his rescue if she choose. CROWLEY: Mrs. Sanford may not choose. Her husband is insisting his involvement with his mistress was no tawdry fling but a love story, "a forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day." The "too much information" interview was also puzzlingly bizarre, on why he risked everything for this woman. "if you come into connection with a soul that touches yours in a way that no one's ever has, even if it's a place you can't go, this notion of knowing that you know, for me, became very important."
Sanford also reveals when his wife discovered the affair, she let him go to New York to end it with the other woman. He took a spiritual advisor with him. The advisor, Sanford and the mistress, went to church, had dinner and parted ways. Over the months the Sanfords went to a spiritual boot camp with other couples but in early June, Jenny Sanford asked him to leave. He went to walk the Appalachian trail - make that he went to Argentina to see his mistress, a meeting he described in the interview.
"I got down on one knee and said I'm here in the hope that we can prove this whole thing to be a mirage." No such luck.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: The governor is in deep political trouble with increasing republican calls for him to step down. There may be some legal trouble as an investigation continues into whether taxpayer money was used to fund any of these trips and one can only imagine what Jenny Sanford is thinking. Kiran and John?
ROBERTS: Candy Crowley for us this morning. At the same time though, there are some people who are postulating he maybe still has a shot at running for 2012. Yep.
CHETRY: You can knock me over with a feather.
ROBERTS: You know, America's the land of forgiveness.
CHETRY: It sure is.
ROBERTS: If he can do something good between now and then, people just love it when somebody who's knocked down gets back up to fight again.
CHETRY: Yes, you're right. Meanwhile, a lot of questions about what will become of Michael Jackson's estate, who will eventually take over raising his three children he left behind.
ROBERTS: Yes, a potential probate and custody nightmare coming up here.
CHETRY: Yes. We talked to Paul Callen (ph), a little while ago, the prosecutor, who says this could take years to unravel. And we're going to be speaking with Michael Jackson's family attorney Londell McMillan in just a minute. It's 57 minutes past the hour.
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