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American Morning

Michael Jackson's Nurse Speaks Out; Cash-Strapped States Facing Budget Deadlines; Ousted Honduran President Vows Return; Hispanics, Blacks Have Highest Unemployment Rates; New Attention on Concierge Doctors; New Interest in Jackson Memorabilia

Aired July 01, 2009 - 08:00   ET

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

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up to the top of the hour. Thanks very much for being with us on the most news in the morning. It's Wednesday, it's the first day of July. And you know what that means?

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: It means...

ROBERTS: It's Canada Day. It's Canada Day.

CHETRY: I forgot. Three more until our Independence Day in the United States.

ROBERTS: Yes. Folks north of the border, north of the 49 are celebrating today.

CHETRY: Good.

ROBERTS: It's Canada Day.

CHETRY: How about it? Congrats, guys.

Well, here's to tell the agenda this morning. These are the stories we're going to be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.

A nurse who claims that she cared for Michael Jackson is speaking out. Cherilyn Lee telling CNN, the pop star begged for a dangerous sedative used in operating rooms so that he could sleep. Cherilyn Lee is going to be joining us live in a couple of minutes along with Sanjay Gupta.

ROBERTS: California state shut down overnight. Lawmakers could not find $24 billion they needed to fix the state's budget. Several state governments facing budget deadlines could end up doing the same thing over the next few days. Could your state be next? We're live in Washington with the latest on that.

CHETRY: Officials from North and South American countries are demanding those behind a coup in Honduras return ousted leader President Jose Manuel Zelaya to power in three days. The country's attorney general, though, says that if President Zelaya returns, he'll be thrown in jail.

So, is this country on the brink? And what could that mean for South America's future?

ROBERTS: All of that coming up, but we begin this hour with major developments in the investigation into Michael Jackson's death.

A nurse who says she treated Jackson back in April tells CNN, Jackson was desperately seeking a very powerful sedative. It's typically used in operating rooms to sleep. She says that she warned him it could kill him.

Her name is Cherilyn Lee, and she joins us now live from our bureau in Los Angeles.

Cherilyn, good to talk to you.

We've been watching some of the interview that you did with our Drew Griffin overnight. And I wanted to just drill down on a particular point here.

You say that Michael Jackson suffered from persistent insomnia.

How bad was it? How desperate was he to get some help?

CHERILYN LEE, REGISTERED NURSE, CLAIMS SHE TREATED JACKSON: He was very desperate. He was so desperate.

First of all, good morning.

ROBERTS: Good morning to you.

LEE: He was so desperate that he would just cry out for something. This was like in April when he started doing this. And he said, "I really just need something that's going to help me to sleep." And when -- he was very persistent about it. And I said, well, let's try natural products. Let's try, you know -- let me assess your room that you sleep in. See if there's too much lighting, too much other stimulants in the room. But he said he's used to sleeping with lights on. He's used to doing all these things.

But when he brought up this medication, I didn't know what it was. And so I made a phone call.

ROBERTS: Right. And just to stipulate, the medication he brought up is Diprivan. It's also called Propofol. It's a very powerful sedative. It's typically used in operating rooms to get people under anesthesia.

I've had it a couple of times. Had some shoulder surgery, leg surgery. Puts you out very quickly.

So, anyway, so you didn't really know what it was. You said you made a phone call?

LEE: I made a phone call to a dear friend who was a physician and asked him, what was it. And he said that's a very serious drug. It's mainly used in ICU and operating rooms. And he was just in ICU. And so I went back, and I told Michael, because I was at his house, I said, look, this is a very serious drug. At first I wondered, did he understand what he was telling me. And he said, yes, I know exactly what it is. I've had it before. And I said, this is not a safe medication. He said, no, my doctor assured me that it's safe. There's no side effects, he said. "It is safe." I said, Michael, it isn't.

And the only way that I thought I really could convince him was to go back to my office and get the PDR, the "Physician's Desk Reference," and show him in the medical book exactly what would happen to him. Well, he didn't want to read this himself, so -- he was having a meal, a dinner.

And I said, Michael, you know, this medication -- I'm going to read some of these symptoms. And they're very serious. And the bottom line, it can cause death. And I don't even think he heard me very well even when I said it then. He just kept pointing to his hands, because he knew about it. You know, more so than I did.

ROBERTS: Yes. Yes. Well, as you said, he had used it before, and I think where you were about to go is it is administered through intravenous. So, he had actually had somebody give him this drug?

LEE: Exactly, because he knew. He said, I want it through drop. I want it IV. And because I know that the first drop when I look at it, and I see the first drop hit my vein, I'm asleep, and I sleep very well. And I just need sleep.

(CROSSTALK)

ROBERTS: Yes. I mean, they tell you to count backwards from ten when they give it to you. And typically, you get to about five and you're gone.

But I mean, I'm curious, Cherilyn, you're a nutritionist, you're a nurse, registered nurse. But you don't have prescribing authority or prescribing privileges.

Why would he ask you for Diprivan?

LEE: He asked me if I could find someone for him. He said, "I will pay them anything. If you can find me an anesthesiologist or another doctor, a nurse practitioner" -- I'm a physician assistant also --, but he asked me, he said, "can you find me a doctor? I don't care how much money they want. I don't care what it is they want. I want this drug. I want this medication."

(CROSSTALK)

He didn't say "drug." He said, "I want this medication to sleep."

ROBERTS: Right. But he did have this personal physician whom he was paying $150,000 a month. Would he not procure it for him?

LEE: You know, I didn't know anything about him. You know, three months ago, I knew nothing of him.

ROBERTS: And any idea why he didn't go back to the doctor who gave it to him before?

LEE: I have no idea. I asked him, I said, why don't you go back to -- who gave this to you? I wanted to know the name of the doctor. He wouldn't tell me. He just said, I had it a long time ago. He said, and I really need to have it now.

ROBERTS: Do you have any suspicions that he finally got a hold of it?

LEE: Well, when he called me, I had not seen him for three months. When he called me on Father's Day early afternoon and was telling me his symptoms, well through the staff there, and he said -- you know, I mean, the staff was very, very anxious and said, you know, Michael wants to know if you can come out and see him right away. He wants to know can you see him right away. He's not feeling well.

And I could hear Michael in the background, Mr. Jackson, and he was saying, "One side of my body is real cold and one side of my body is real hot. And I don't know what's wrong. I don't know what's wrong." And immediately I said, you know, Michael, I'm in Florida. You need to go ahead and go to the hospital. You know, this is -- it's very serious at this point. You need to go to the hospital.

Again, I hadn't seen him in three months, but this is a call that I received on Sunday.

ROBERTS: Right.

LEE: And I had great suspicions on Sunday, because I had already read over some of the symptoms.

ROBERTS: Yes.

One of the symptoms can be tingling as well and burning, too, upon injection.

Hey, our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is also there in the bureau with you.

I want to bring Sanjay in, because I know that he's got some questions for you as well.

Sanjay, you heard what Cherilyn had to say.

What do you think?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the things about this drug that's so important, John, as you sort of mentioned, it does act very quickly. And what's also important about this drug, as soon as you stop it, it stops working.

So, this is a drug that you really have to give in a continuous sort of form. Otherwise, it doesn't do its job. It doesn't act as a sedative.

I just wonder if Cherilyn, if you -- I mean, this would have to be something you'd have to be given continuously. Did he talk about having someone monitor him while he would get the drugs or be continuously infusing it or watching over him? Did he talk about sort of how this would all work to you?

LEE: He asked me if I could find someone that would stay there and monitor him. That's why he felt he would be safe. I said, no one will do this in your home. This is not a safe drug. And I don't know if anyone -- and no one should be giving this to you in your home. It's very unsafe.

ROBERTS: And Doc...

LEE: But he felt...

ROBERTS: Doc, what kind of monitoring do you need to have when you're using a drug like Propofol, Diprivan as its known?

GUPTA: Well, what can happen is that, in lower doses, it can be used as a sedative.

By the way, a lot of people know this is Propofol. Colloquially, it's known as milk of amnesia. It is a creamy white looking substance and it caused you to fall asleep and also to be very forgetful. To forget things that are about to happen to you. In higher doses, John, as you mentioned, it can be used as an anesthetic.

So, it goes from being a merely a sedative to something that basically shuts down your breathing, and you have to put a breathing tube in in the operating room and the ICU for the drug to still be safe. So, that's what you have to be monitored for. Someone's oxygenation levels. Making sure they're still breathing, looking at their cardiac rates.

And, again, as I mentioned, you have to titrate this medication very carefully based on that monitoring. So those are sort of things that I think anyone would look for.

ROBERTS: Not to connect these two things together, but respiratory depression as you said is a side effect of this drug. We do know that Michael Jackson was not breathing when he was found by his doctor. Right?

GUPTA: That's right. And what can happen sometimes is respiratory depression can lead to cardiac arrest. You're just not getting enough oxygenated blood through the body. So, those two things can go together.

ROBERTS: Right.

And Cherilyn, we just want to ask you, you have remained in the background for a long time here.

Why have you decided to come out and speak so publicly about this now?

LEE: Well, when I heard they were doing the autopsy, you know, I didn't know for sure if this was the med. I know he asked me for it. I felt Sunday there was a problem, a serious problem, Father's day.

I advised him to go to the hospital. Like I said, I was in Florida for a few days there. I just kept -- well, I tried to reach out to him. I didn't receive a call back. But the reason I decided to step out, because there was so many indications showing that he was on drugs. And, you know, I didn't feel that was the case.

And when I heard they were going to do a second autopsy, then I felt, you know what? They probably will find the medication now. Because they didn't find it on the first.

ROBERTS: Doc, you've got anything else that you're curious about here?

GUPTA: Well, you know, the interesting thing is obviously, John, you mentioned you've had this medication before for shoulder surgery. We know Michael Jackson had several operations in the past. I wonder if he had come in contact with this medication in a hospital setting, originally.

Cherilyn, do you know when he was asking you, did he say that he had received it in his home or somewhere outside a hospital?

LEE: Well, you know, he was basically concerned again with his insomnia. He said "I remember, yes, being in a hospital, and while hospitalized they gave me this med and I was able to sleep really good. And I had the best sleep that I ever had." So, yes.

ROBERTS: Well, Cherilyn Lee, thanks very much for being with us this morning.

Doc, just one question because we are waiting the results of the autopsy...

LEE: Thank you.

ROBERTS: ... the toxicology reports as well. Will there still be evidence of Diprivan if he did manage to get a hold of it?

GUPTA: I made a lot of calls in this last night trying to figure this out. If it's not part of a routine tox screen, if you go to an emergency room, an E.R. doctor will screen you. It's not part of an E.R. tox screen. But the answer that came back to me as I talk to some of the more sophisticated labs is they can check for this. They took tissue and blood and urine at the time of the autopsy, the initial autopsy, so it should or could show up in those specimens -- John.

ROBERTS: All right. Sanjay Gupta for us at the bureau in Los Angeles.

Sanjay, thanks so much. GUPTA: Thank you.

CHETRY: So, meanwhile, as the mystery about what caused Michael Jackson's death continues, so does what happens to what he's left behind -- his three young children, ages 7, 11 and 12.

And also, his estate. All of his personal effects and all of the future assets. And so a lot of questions about that. We're going to be joined in just a moment by Londell McMillan. He is the Jackson family attorney. So, we're going to speak to him about some of those issues.

It's 12 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Michael Jackson did have a will. And according to a lawyer for the family, they had seen the document. So this begins a long process of probate, determining whether that will is valid legally speaking.

And also untangling the many assets, as well as debts of Michael Jackson's estate.

Jackson family attorney L. Londell McMillan joins us now.

Thanks so much for being with us this morning, Mr. McMillan.

L. LONDELL MCMILLAN, ATTORNEY, JACKSON FAMILY: Good morning.

CHETRY: So, first of all, can you clear something up for us?

When you say Jackson family attorney, are you representing Katherine or are you representing Katherine and Joe, both of Michael's parents, or who exactly in the family?

MCMILLAN: I represent Ms. Katherine Jackson and Mr. Joe Jackson.

CHETRY: One of the things -- one of the reasons that I ask is that in this 2002 will from what we've learned about it, his mother is named as the primary beneficiary as well as his three children. But his father is not.

What do you make of that?

MCMILLAN: Well, I'm not really prepared to discuss the intent of Mr. Michael Jackson as reflected in the will or discuss the will until the will is submitted and until the will goes through probate. We'll have to respect that there is a court process for the validation of any documents that purports to be the last will and testament of a decedent.

What we do know is that after the filing of the petitions for both custody and the petitions for special administration to oversee the personal assets of Michael Jackson on behalf of Mrs. Katherine Jackson and the family, we did receive a will. We're reviewing it in due course, as well as looking to make sure that there are no other wills or other documents that may reflect Mr. Jackson's intentions with respect to how he chooses to leave his estate.

However, our priorities right now are less on the business and property undertakings of Mr. Jackson, and more so on securing the best interests of the children, making sure that we can bury Mr. Jackson with the dignity that he deserves, and also focusing on the more immediate matters that pertains to the family having the space and the time to heal and for the world to appreciate the wonderful legacy of Mr. Michael Jackson.

CHETRY: Right. And, certainly, all of that is understandable. This is a tough time for the family. But they are still moving forward legally, you know, out of necessity. One of the things that you mention was the children. And in the petition that you filed with the court, Katherine Jackson is granted sole temporary guardianship. Why wasn't Joe Jackson also on that petition?

MCMILLAN: Well, Ms. Katherine Jackson is the caretaker and the matriarch of this family. It's very well known that she is one of the most, I guess, revered, loving mothers. She's been the grandmother and guardian of so many of the members of the Jackson family. She lives here in California on a permanent basis. And no one would ever question the fact that she is the best person in the world. And certainly, the person that Mr. Michael Jackson will most likely want to have guardianship over his children.

CHETRY: Right. No, I understand that. But she's technically still married to Joe Jackson even though apparently they maintain separate homes. He's most of the time in Las Vegas, and she's most of the time at the family house in Encino.

But why wasn't Joe Jackson also on that petition for guardianship if they're still married?

MCMILLAN: Because Mrs. Katherine Jackson is the right person.

CHETRY: OK.

Like to ask you a little bit about what you think going forward in terms of whether or not there's going to be any type of challenge to the custody of these children once it's worked out by Debbie Rowe who carried two of Michael's children, the 11- and 12-year-old girl and boy.

MCMILLAN: There's been much speculation about that, but we have absolutely no reason to believe that there is going to be any custody challenge, and we're looking forward to making sure that there will be none.

The children are taken care of. They are with Mrs. Jackson now. And that all parties involved and concerned will be certain that this is the best way to have these children grow up in a loving environment with Mrs. Jackson and the family of Michael Jackson, along with many other young, beautiful children at or around their ages. CHETRY: All right. And I want to ask you about this, because I'm sure you've heard. And we just talked to Cherilyn Lee, a registered nurse who has treated Michael Jackson. She said he suffered from extreme insomnia, and that he had actually begged for the drug Diprivan, which is an intravenous sedative often used in operating rooms, so that he could get some sleep. And there's also a report that that drug was found at Jackson's residence.

Do you know anything about this? Or what can you tell us about these claims out there about this powerful sedative?

MCMILLAN: Well, I know nothing about this particular claim. And I would be very careful to put too much weight or credibility on hearsay comments coming from third parties at this particular time.

There's a medical examination that is going to be presented at some point. And I think we should wait for that. But to give credibility to hearsay information from third parties is just not appropriate on any level as far as I'm concerned.

CHETRY: All right. And, you know, there is some reporting that this drug was found in his home. Do you know, or have you been told, what medications were found or taken from the Jackson family home by investigators?

MCMILLAN: I do not know what medication was found or taken. But what I do know is that there are a number of reports and examinations under way. And we'll have to wait for them, and then we'll be able to be able to evaluate them at that time. I think that's only appropriate, and I think that's the responsible way to go forward.

CHETRY: You guys certainly have a lot of issues on your plate. I want to thank you for taking the time to talk to us this morning.

Jackson family Attorney Londell McMillan, thank you.

MCMILLAN: Thank you. Have a good day.

CHETRY: You, too.

Twenty minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: California lawmakers ended their session late last night without finding $24 billion that the state urgently needs to close its budget shortfall. And California is not alone. Several states are staring down deadlines and some state governments could even have to shut down. So what does it mean for you and your family if your state has gone bust? Elaine Quijano is live in Washington for us this morning.

July the 1st always causes some heartburn in state capitals, even more so this year?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, John. In most state capitals, today, July 1st, marks the start of a new fiscal year. It's also a financial day of reckoning, the deadline to pass balanced budgets. And in some states, the recession is forcing some painful choices.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO: Across the country, state governments are scrambling to pay the bills. In Illinois, a $9.2 billion deficit.

GOV. PAT QUINN (D), ILLINOIS: Our state is really suffering its most difficult financial crisis since 1880.

QUIJANO: In California, an eye-popping $24 billion shortfall.

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: Our wallet is empty, our bank is closed and our credit is dried up.

QUIJANO: And in Pennsylvania, a $3.2 billion gap.

GOV. ED RENDELL (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Make no mistake, it's the financial crisis that caused this.

QUIJANO: In the midst of the recession, state tax revenues dropped off sharply, leaving state budgets deep in the red.

JON SHURE, CENTER ON BUDGET & POLICY PRIORITIES: Unlike the federal government, the states can't run on a deficit. They can't print money. So when they have a shortfall between needs and available revenue, they really have to scramble.

QUIJANO: That means schools, teachers, health care, all in danger.

TODD HAGGERTY, NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF STATE LEGISLATURES: Well, you've seen that these budget gaps are so large that the states are facing. Pretty much anything and everything is on the table.

QUIJANO: Including cuts in programs that help the elderly and veterans, tax and fee increases, layoffs of state employees, and even partial government shutdowns.

Experts say the federal government is providing some relief. On average, they say states are using money from the economic recovery plan to cover roughly 40 percent of their budget shortfalls.

SHURE: There is no silver bullet in this. The stimulus package, which was unprecedented relief from the federal government for the states, was aimed at solving about 40 percent of the state's budget shortfall. It's doing that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO: Now, experts say states will be facing these same problems through 2010, maybe even beyond that. Why? Because even though the national economy may be showing some signs of recovery, states take longer because unemployment eases only gradually. And, John, that is where states get their revenue.

ROBERTS: They certainly do, yes. Elaine Quijano for us this morning in Washington. Elaine, thanks so much.

It's now coming up on 26 minutes after the hour.

The ousted president of Honduras is vowing to return to his country tomorrow. If he tries to do that, what will the results be? We're checking in with the former vice president of Costa Rica coming up on the Most News in the Morning. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Twenty-eight minutes after the hour. Checking our top stories.

Investigators say they believe they have found the flight and voice data recorders of Yemenia Flight 626. A French official telling a CNN affiliate the location of the so-called black boxes has likely been pinpointed but they're not very accessible. The plane carrying 153 people crashed yesterday off of southeastern Africa. And we now know the sole survivor was not a 5-year-old child as previously reported. It is a 13-year-old French girl.

CHETRY: North Korea keeping us guessing. One of its ships that the U.S. has been tracking for more than a week making a U-turn. The U.S. suspects it could be carrying illegal weapons. Two U.S. officials tell the Associated Press that vessel had been moving very slowly in recent days, something that could signal it was trying to conserve fuel.

ROBERTS: Al Qaeda is threatening to take revenge on France for its position on women covering themselves head to toe with a burqa. That's according to a statement posted on radical Islamist Web sites. The statement appeared after French President Nicolas Sarkozy's controversial comment that the traditional Muslim garment was not welcome in France. The posting responded by accusing French women of being poorly dressed and nude.

CHETRY: And a nurse who says she treated Michael Jackson is breaking her silence. Speaking just moments ago to AMERICAN MORNING, Cherilyn Lee telling us that Jackson begged for the powerful sedative Diprivan, saying that he felt it was safe and that he would pay a doctor anything so that he could have it to get some sleep.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: He said, yes, I know exactly what it is, I've had it before. And I said, this is not a safe medication. He said, no, my doctor assured me that it's safe. There's no side effect, he said. It is safe. He asked me, he said, can you find me a doctor? I don't care how much money they want, I don't care what it is they want, I want this drug.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: Well, our Dr. Sanjay Gupta tells us Diprivan is sometimes used in low doses as a sedative, but most often it is used during surgery.

ROBERTS: Well, the message is clear -- leaders from nations in North and South America are telling those behind the recent coup in Honduras, put your deposed president back in power. President Jose Manuel Zelaya is vowing to return. So what does it mean for the future of Honduras and Central America?

Joining me with more is Kevin Casas-Zamora. He's a senior foreign policy fellow with the Brookings Institution, also recently served as the vice president of Costa Rica.

Kevin, it's good to talk to you this morning. So, President Zelaya is vowing to return. Originally, it was going to be tomorrow. Now it looks like he's not going to go back until at least Saturday. But Roberto Micaletti, who has assumed the presidency there says if he sets foot in Honduras, he's going to be arrested, tried and thrown in jail. He's really playing hardball here

KEVIN CASAS-ZAMORA, SENIOR FELLOW, BROOKINGS INSTITUTE: Thank you for having me here, john. My sense is that President Zelaya's idea of returning to Honduras immediately is probably a bad idea, and it's likely to make a bad situation worse. I think that some groundwork needs to be laid out before that happens. And by groundwork, I mean that the return to Honduras of President Zelaya won't solve anything, in and of itself. There's got to be some kind of political deal brokered before the underlying issue is tackled, and the underlying issue is how to make Honduras governable.

Because in the end, it was not governable when President Zelaya was in power, and it is not governable now due to the immense international pressure that the new authorities in Honduras find themselves under.

ROBERTS: Yes. He was seeking changes to the constitution. He was trying to write them himself. He wanted another term in power. He has pledged that he's not going to pursue that any longer. Do you think that that might open the door for his return? Or is Micaletti hanging on so hard and fast to power he's never going to even let him back in the door?

CASAS-ZAMORA: My sense is that President Zelaya made all the right noises yesterday when he spoke at the general assembly of the U.N. and he indeed opened some avenues of dialogue and it remains to be seen whether the new authorities in Honduras are willing to respond in kind. If they don't, my sense is that the international community will keep cranking up the pressure and I really doubt that the new authorities in Honduras will be willing or able to pull off the North Korean or the Myanmar card...

ROBERTS: Right.

CASAS-ZAMORA: And remain as a pariah state for even seven months until the new government takes over. I don't think they'll be willing to do that.

ROBERTS: If they do, what's the effect in Central America? The president says he is very concerned about what happened there, he's called for President Zelaya to be reinstated. He says that we have to be careful about or worried about moving backwards to an area of military coups that changed governments in central America. We all remember what was going on during the 1970s and the 1980s, Nicaragua now taking a step backwards from democracy. So if the coup holds in Honduras, what's the net effect for central America?

CASAS-ZAMORA: It will be a terrible precedent. It will be a terrible precedent and that explains the very strong and coherent reaction that you - that we've seen all through the Americas, not only in Latin America. Because this is not only a question of Chavez, as some people have said, coming out very strongly against the coup. It's also President Lula from Brazil, President Calderon from Mexico, even President Obama, and that's quite remarkable because my sense is that this poses a golden opportunity for the U.S. to make a clean break with the past and come out very strongly on the side of democracy. So, yes, I mean the problem is that this situation in Honduras adds to a very volatile political situation in Central America. In Central America, it is really unraveling politically, in Honduras, in Nicaragua and in Guatemala, particularly.

ROBERTS: All right. We'll definitely keep watching very, very closely. Kevin Casas-Zamora, it's good to talk to you, sir. Thank you for joining us this morning.

CASAS-ZAMORA: Thanks for having me.

CHETRY: Next to Michael Jackson's situation, one of the things that a lot of people have been asking about is what of this memorabilia, I mean so much memorabilia...

ROBERTS: There is tons and tons of it, isn't there?

CHETRY: Right. What's the value now after Michael Jackson's untimely demise and passing?

ROBERTS: More than it was before.

CHETRY: Absolutely. We'll we're going to talk more about that coming up. Thirty-five minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ROBERTS: The band. The band is? Scissor Sisters.

CHETRY: Oh, really.

ROBERTS: They're fun. They're a fun band.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: John's very good at this. CHETRY: He used to do this or something, you know.

ROMANS: Yes, exactly.

ROBERTS: There's pictures on the Internet, I understand.

CHETRY: Of you and Scissor Sisters?

ROBERTS: No! A picture of me and a few other people.

CHETRY: Very interesting hairdo.

ROBERTS: Freddie Mercury, Ozzy Osbourne.

CHETRY: See that.

Meanwhile, Christine Romans is with us every day "Minding Your Business." Today, she's talking about America's unemployment rate. It's heading towards 10 percent, unfortunately. But there are some groups where it is hitting even harder. As part of our special "Black in America" series, Christine Romans is breaking down jobless numbers for us by race. And there are some pretty big discrepancies.

ROMANS: There really are. In a perfect world, let's put it in perspective - in a perfect world, a 4 or 5 percent jobless rate means full employment. Anybody who wants a job can get one. At the other extreme, 25 percent unemployment like the Great Depression. Today in the richest nation in the world, where you fall in that spectrum may depend on your education and on the color of your skin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS (voice-over): This recession has laid bare some ugly statistics. More ugly for some than others. Here they are. Asians have the lowest unemployment rate, only 6.7 percent. Whites are next, 8.6 percent. Hispanic unemployment tops 12.7 percent. And for blacks, almost 15 percent, the highest since the 1980s.

Nicole Mason studies race and jobs at New York University.

C. NICOLE MASON, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY WAGNER: When we look at those numbers, it translates directly into money to pay their mortgage...

ROMANS (on camera): Right.

MASON: Food, you know, their ability to get health care, provide child care. All these things are really - these are the things that are behind the numbers.

ROMANS: There's been a recession for these groups long before this recession.

MASON: Yes.

ROMANS (voice-over): How long? Since the Labor Department started keeping those records in the 1970s. Black unemployment topped 20 percent in the 1983 recession, and the only time the gap between races narrowed was during the huge jobs boom of the 1990s. And now, joblessness is rising again for everyone. William Rogers was chief economist in the Clinton Labor Department.

WILLIAM ROGERS, FORMER CHIEF ECONOMIST, CLINTON LABOR DEPARTMENT: There's been a chronic 2-1 difference between black and white unemployment for several decades.

ROMANS: Economists have long been troubled by the question: Why?

ROGERS: Your rates are higher for a variety of reasons, from having lower levels of education, receiving less training, also facing difficult, more challenges in getting to the jobs. And then another issue is getting early job experience.

ROMANS: And how do we fix it?

MASON: When we look at reasons for this, we have to look at, you know, issues related to structural and institutional racism. We can look at the high levels of incarceration for black men. Black men not being allowed access to jobs with opportunities for career advancement, jobs that pay higher wages.

ROMANS: Over the past decade, millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost, eliminating one rung of the ladder to the middle class.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Economists who study this say there is no one single reason for such big structural disparities. And that's what makes it so hard to fix. William Rogers, the former chief economist at the Department of Labor, he says we need even more investments in training and education. We're just starting to move in that direction, he says.

Nicole Mason at NYU, she wants a specific plan for blacks and Hispanics to join the middle class and stay there. And she challenges the vice president's middle class task force to do that. But you guys, there's no question that tomorrow's big job support is going to reveal these structural disparities again.

ROBERTS: You're also tracking down another story, right? Involving credit cards this morning?

ROMANS: I am. This is a story that was first on the front pages of the "Financial Times" saying that Citigroup was raising rates on 13 million to 15 million credit cards, these are mostly Macy's, Sears, co-branded store credit cards because people who couldn't pay off their whole bill or had somehow fallen behind, they were raising those rates. Citi has confirmed to us that they are "adjusting their pricing in card terms for some customers" as part of their regular account reviews. The industry told us this is what happened. There are all these new rules, these tough new rules to protect, you know, card holders but we are likely to see your rates going up because they are adjusting for what they say is a higher cost of doing business now.

ROBERTS: Squeeze it on one hand...

CHETRY: That's right.

ROBERTS: And it comes out the other.

ROMANS: So, that Sears, Macy's card, take a very good look. If you have a co-branded card, and you have not paid your bill in full, your rates are probably going up.

CHETRY: Read the fine print.

ROMANS: That's so true.

CHETRY: Very fine print. Thanks, Christine.

Well again, for more stories of people stepping up, trying to take charge, create solutions, don't miss the documentary "Black in America 2." It premieres July 22nd and 23rd, only on CNN. It's 43 minutes past the hour.

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ROBERTS: Good morning, New York. Little hazy out there. Can I tell you? I hate this song. I really do. Seriously.

CHETRY: Let's get some more Scissor Sisters.

ROBERTS: Seriously. Scattered thunderstorms, 78 degrees coming up later on today. We had a big thunder boomer come through in about the 4:30 range yesterday. Only lasted a few minutes but, wow, it was a lot of fun. Rob Marciano down there in Atlanta tracking the weather forecast for today. Got extreme weather anywhere, Rob?

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ROBERTS: Thanks so much, Rob. Forty-eight minutes now after the hour.

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CHETRY: Fifty minutes past the hour. We have more on our developing stories this morning.

With all the attention on Michael Jackson's death and the doctor who was at his side at the end, there were some new questions this morning about celebrities' so-called boutique doctors. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is with us now with an inside look at health care and ethics and when you have you own doctor for hire. He's live in Los Angeles this morning.

How common is this practice of, you know, stars or people with a lot of money having doctors pretty much at their beck and call?

GUPTA: Well it is getting a lot more common. It's been around for over a decade now, but I think that a lot of people were sort of taken by surprise, as you said, Kiran, that this doctor had only one patient, in this case, Michael Jackson. He spent the night with him and he was very expensive. We want to take a closer look at exactly how this practice works.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice-over): Michael Jackson, medical mystery. Many believe this man, Dr. Conrad Murray, holds the answer. He is known in the medical community as a concierge doctor, boutique M.D., doctor to the stars.

(on camera): He had $150,000 a month doctor at his beck and call. Does that surprise you?

DR. CHERYL BRYANT-BRUCE, PERSONAL PHYSICIAN: No, not all.

(voice-over): Dr. Cheryl Bryant-Bruce would know. She's also a concierge doctor and charges up to $150,000 a year for 24/7 service anywhere in the world. She has at least 20 patients. I was curious to know what all that money buys you.

(on camera): What's the craziest thing you've ever done for a patient?

BRYANT-BRUCE: This young gentleman, he was in a panic because he decided that he might have an STD. And so I get called out into the middle of the night for an STD check. Only to find myself (INAUDIBLE) very interesting party.

GUPTA (voice-over): For another patient, she traveled to Cancun for a week. Why? The patient wanted her own doctor with her just in case. And this. Just a few minutes into our interview, Dr. Bryant- Bruce gets a call, and we get a glimpse into her life.

BRYANT-BRUCE: You know we can send the trainer with you. I understand that you're going on location and all, but we can send the trainer with you.

GUPTA (on camera): Did I hear you say you're going to send a trainer and essentially a masseuse to New York for that patient?

BRYANT-BRUCE: Yes.

GUPTA (voice-over): Most of her patients are famous and wealthy. They expect discretion. And that is why Dr. Bryant-Bruce wouldn't divulge too many names. But she did say supermodel Marisa Miller is a client, and she took us along on a visit with another patient.

(on camera): So, we're about to make a real live house call here. This is Dr. Brian Bruce does several times a day, going to see her patients wherever they may be. (voice-over): The patient is Jimmy Coco. You may have seen him on "E!." He is legendary for providing tans. You know, those world- class spray on tans. She checks him for strep throat, and then gives him an injection. In this case, the anti-inflammatory Toradol. But it got me wondering...

(on camera): Have you given shots of Demerol or OxyContin to your patients before?

BRYANT-BRUCE: I have, yes.

GUPTA: You know Dr. Conrad Murray? You know his background, you know the story, are you surprised that the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, had Dr. Conrad Murray as his doctor?

BRYANT-BRUCE: To be honest, actually I am. I am a bit surprised. Because he had access to anybody that he wanted and, you know, the fact that he did choose a specialist, and that he didn't appear to do his homework.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: I just want to be clear, what she's referring to at the end there with regard to Dr. Conrad Murray is that she believes that most of these concierge doctors should be family practice doctors as opposed to specialists like Dr. Murray was a cardiologist. That's what she was referring to when she said that she was surprised the Michael Jackson had chosen him. We should also point out, as you know, Kiran, that Dr. Conrad Murray's lawyers have said very explicitly he did not give Demerol or OxyContin to Michael Jackson as well, Kiran.

CHETRY: So are we just hearing - because it was an interesting look, she went to see somebody who thought he had strep throat. She ended up giving him an anti-inflammatory injection. But we've so often seen these concierge or boutique doctors associated with misuse of medication and I mean, you know, in some of these high-profile cases, questions on Anna Nicole Smith and now around Michael Jackson. So, is there almost a stigma attached to being one of these doctors that you know, that you're basically Dr. Feelgood if somebody can afford it?

GUPTA: They take a lot of flack -- I asked her about that -- from their own colleagues. And what's interesting about your question is I think it gets into those gray areas. Some of these patients are paying a lot of money. She has 20 clients, and each pay $150,000 a year. That's a lot of money. What exactly are you getting in return for that?

She said that, you know, she was very clear as far as narcotics goes. She draws some very straight lines. But, you know, if a patient comes to one of these doctors and says, look, I'm giving you all this money, I want you to give me a prescription for this, how exactly does that work? I do think that it is a gray area.

This is the sort of the extreme end of this, Kiran. People can get sort of concierge medicine for cheaper, $1,500, for example, where they're going to have better access to doctors. And like I said, this is a growing practice, but there are criticisms: Do these doctors order too many tests? And also, you know, if you're taking care of just 20 patients and there is a shortage of family care doctors, how does that work for the country as a whole as well - Kiran.

CHETRY: Yes. A lot of interesting medical questions that are raised there, ethical ones as well. But very interesting, Sanjay, that you were able to, you know, sort of get a firsthand look at how that works. Great to talk to you this morning.

GUPTA: Thanks, Kiran. You too.

ROBERTS: While he was alive, it seemed like every few months or so we would see an auction of Michael Jackson memorabilia, the gloves, the jackets, all of that. Well how much is that stuff worth today? We'll check in on that coming up. It's 56 minutes after the hour.

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ROBERTS: Live picture this morning outside of the Neverland Ranch, north of Los Angeles. That's where the Jackson family wants to hold the funeral services for Michael Jackson this coming Sunday. There's also word that there may be a public viewing of his body at Neverland later on this week, maybe Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Potentially tens of thousands of fans might go through there. They're just trying to finalize the details. We hope to get more information on that as the day progresses.

Michael Jackson's death has put him back on top. Right now he owns every spot on Amazon's best-selling albums list. Fans are combing used record stores, and posting collectibles on eBay as well. All of a sudden, one white glove is in again. Thelma Gutierrez shows us the Michael Jackson memorabilia frenzy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The black fedora from "Billie Jean." The rhinestone socks he danced in. And the glove, the jeweled glove. Now iconic. Priceless.

(on camera): This is Joe Maddalena. He owns the auction house that will be auctioning off "the glove" come October. What can you tell me about this glove? What's its story?

JOE MADDALENA, PROFILES IN HISTORY: This is from the 1984 Victory tour. There were two gloves that were made and they were used on the tour. There were two full-time people to take care of these gloves. You can imagine how important this was for the tour. This was the zenith of Michael Jackson's career and this is the most iconic piece of memorabilia.

GUTIERREZ: So, just a month ago, you're saying it would have fetched maybe $50,000, $60,000, today $250,000? MADDALENA: Or more. Easily.

Within your business when people of this stature die, their memorabilia has to be worth so much more...

MADDALENA: Absolutely.

GUTIERREZ: ... than when they were alive.

MADDALENA: Absolutely.

GUTIERREZ: By how much? Is there a way to quantify that?

MADDALENA: Maybe with Michael Jackson, five to ten times the amount? I think you're going to have a gigantic demand and a very small, small supply. Just because you have his autograph, you can't say, geez, it is worth $1 million. The fedora is cool. This is something he wore on stage and then gave to a fan. He wore hundreds of this. This is a cultural icon. All you need is this for an exhibit.

GUTIERREZ: Are there other coveted items that collectors will be looking for?

MADDALENA: The real serious collector is going to want things that he wore on stage. OK. The second thing is things he wore in the videos. Marilyn Monroe and James Dean and Elvis Presley are more popular now than they were when they were alive. The estates generate more money now in licensing than they did when they were alive.

GUTIERREZ: And you think the same will happen with Michael Jackson?

MADDALENA: Absolutely, positively. And something like this will liver forever because it is a piece of one of the greatest entertainers who ever lived.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ: Now, Michael Jackson was very generous. He was said to give a lot of items away, and one of the most coveted items is that fedora that he wore in "Billie Jean." That would fetch about $200,000, we're told.

John, back to you.

ROBERTS: All right. Thelma Gutierrez, for us this morning. Thelma, thanks so much.

CHETRY: All right. And time for us to say good-bye. Thanks for being with us. We'll see you right back here tomorrow. But right now here's "CNN NEWSROOM" with Melissa Long.