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Nancy Grace

Investigators Probe Michael Jackson`s Aliases

Aired July 17, 2009 - 20:00   ET

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

JEAN CASAREZ, GUEST HOST: Breaking news tonight. As the mystery and investigation surrounding the sudden death of pop superstar Michael Jackson heats up and expands, reports tonight show that investigators are not just looking into Michael Jackson`s drug use but his alleged aliases and fake names that may have been used to score drugs. Reports swirling the California attorney general`s office is looking into dozens of doctors.

And tonight, you will hear a previously unreleased, never-before-heard Michael Jackson song. Also tonight, as we wait for toxicology results, is possible drug abuse the result of a 1984 Jackson commercial gone horribly wrong? We have extraordinary footage of Michael Jackson on fire. Was this pain the start of his downward spiral? What did he go through at that time?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL JACKSON: I`m doing well and I am strong.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a gentleman here that needs help. And he`s not breathing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s not the bad health that possibly killed Michael Jackson, it`s the fact that he was taking this drug, propofol and Diprivan, that may have stopped his heart.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have a celebrity, and you have yes people around them who are going to get them this. No one`s going to tell them no. It`s just a bad cycle, isn`t it, as we see it played out, looks like, with Michael Jackson.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were blinded by the fame, blinded by the glitter and blinded by being close to a superstar.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael`s dermatologist, Klein, said he is not surprised that police found numerous bottles of prescription drugs in Jackson`s home. He says the singer had struggled with addiction before.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The investigation seems to have a very narrow focus right now, focusing on prescription drugs and whether or not they contributed to Michael Jackson`s death, and of course, which doctors supplied them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`ve got doctors who allegedly overprescribed or abused or used aliases.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He tried to get it any way he could. He went through friends, associates, any time he met anyone. He was like any other addict. He used any means necessary to get these drugs after that incident.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: And tonight, we need your help as investigators desperately scramble to find 2-year-old Andrew Christiansen, allegedly snatched after child protective services was supposed to take him to safety. Tonight, his mother is in custody, but she is allegedly not cooperating.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Law enforcement asking the public for help to find a beautiful 2-month-old baby who`s vanished. Cops say little Andrew Christiansen was supposed to go into the custody of child protection services, but instead he disappeared, allegedly taken by his own parents, parents who cops say had previous domestic violence incidents and other investigations into the stability of the baby`s home. Cops tracked down Andrew`s mom, but Andrew and his father, Nicholas Christiansen, nowhere to be found.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Good evening. I`m Jean Casarez of the legal network In Session, in for Nancy Grace tonight. Thank you so much for joining us. The mystery surrounding pop superstar Michael Jackson is expanding. Will we see criminal charges?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a personal doctor here with him, sir.

911 OPERATOR: Oh, you have a doctor there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. But he`s not responding to anything, to no - - no -- he`s not responding to CPR or anything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The LAPD hasn`t ruled out homicide.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Knowing what we know and what we`ve learned about possible doctor shopping, all of these different prescription drugs...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s another report out from TMZ that`s suggesting that Michael Jackson`s attorney (SIC), Dr. Conrad Murray, is at the center of the investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They`re reporting that Dr. Conrad Murray made what they`re calling incriminating statements to authorities when he was interviewed just a few days after Michael Jackson died. We know he was at the house, and he says that he performed CPR on Michael Jackson. We also know that he was interviewed twice by investigators. And his spokeswoman told me, quote, "Whatever was said during the interview was not made public at all. It`s part of an ongoing investigation. So unless they" -- meaning TMZ, which was reporting this -- "were sitting in the room, it is bogus."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was saying that she thinks his behavior has been extremely suspicious. He disappeared from the hospital. And then the next time she looks around, after she`s been to see her brother`s dead body, the doctor`s cleared off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The LAPD told me just the other day that the investigation is ongoing and it has not been determined if it`s criminal yet.

JOE JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON`S FATHER: I wasn`t there, and I don`t know what they gave him.

I don`t like what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Let`s go straight out to Natisha Lance, who is live in Los Angeles. Natisha, what is the latest in regard to the information coming out today in regard to prescriptions allegedly written in alias names but for Michael Jackson?

NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: That`s right, Jean. What we`re hearing now is that Michael Jackson may have had many aliases. And we also know that when that -- the room that he was staying in at that home in Holmby Hills, there were many pill bottles that were found at the home, with various names on them. We`ve also heard from various bodyguards of Michael Jackson who have said that they were requested to get prescription drugs for Michael Jackson, and many of them ended up leaving the job because they ended up denying to do so.

CASAREZ: Well, Natisha, how many doctors do we think are being investigated now for writing these prescriptions?

LANCE: Right now, they are looking at about five doctors. However, the attorney general`s office is looking at dozens of doctors who may have been involved in getting prescription drugs for Michael Jackson.

CASAREZ: Dozens of doctors writing prescriptions allegedly in the names of aliases.

Let`s go out to a very special guest -- so honored to have him -- Dr. Joshua Perper, coming out of Broward County, Florida, forensic pathologist, the medical examiner for Broward County.

You have such a wealth of knowledge that you can impart to us. You did perform the autopsy of Anna Nicole Smith. We did wait for a very long time until your results became public, results of the autopsy, the toxicology results, what you determined to be the cause of death for Anna Nicole Smith. Tell us what Los Angeles coroners are doing right now, because we are waiting for the results. Who did you interview during this time, to give us a look at what they may be doing?

DR. JOSHUA PERPER, BROWARD COUNTY CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER: Well, there are a lot of really astounding similarities between the death of Anna Nicole Smith and death of Michael Jackson. And in both cases, one of the drugs which was used, at least (ph) in Anna Nicole Smith, was an unusual drug, chloral hydrate, which is not used usually as a sleeping pill. And in the case of Michael Jackson, it`s also a drug which is called diisopropylphenol, or propofol, which is, again, not used as a sleeping drug, and it`s used in anesthesia.

So basically, at this time, because I understand that the medical examiner in Los Angeles asked for an additional delay in the toxicological examination, most likely, they did not find so far sufficient amounts of the drugs, or perhaps not enough explanations for the death as the result of a chemical overdose. So they have to expand it and try to enlarge the toxicological analysis, or to do additional special tests in order to make a determination what drugs caused his death. And obviously, propofol is a major suspect, although other drugs might be involved, as well.

CASAREZ: When you look at Diprivan, how long does it stay in the system? Because we don`t know exactly when the testing was done, do we?

PERPER: No, that`s a drug which is broken down or metabolized extremely fast. The half life of the drug is about two hours, and sometimes in rare cases, longer, up to 24 hours. So this means that within two hours, the concentration, the amount of the blood -- of the drug in the blood is dropping by 50 percent. So the longer the person survive, the smaller the amount of concentration of the drug.

However, if he was a chronic user and used large amount of drug, I think it`s a very good probability that they would find the drug in the blood. The action of the blood is really taking place within seconds, within 40 seconds or so. And the actual -- actual action is over in a few minutes, but the drug is still then distributed in tissue, so it doesn`t enter the blood and affect the brain.

CASAREZ: One more question before I go on. There is toxicology testing. Is there even more sophisticated toxicology testing that they could be doing now at this point?

PERPER: It`s possible that they try to come with more precise or better estimates of the actual concentration of the drug, so they may use more sophisticated technique than the usual one. And as I said, that`s a very unusual drug which we see very rarely as a case of an overdose.

CASAREZ: All right, let`s go to Lou Palumbo, former Nassau County police investigator, now a private investigator. The issue that -- the investigation is now expanding into alleged impropriety with physicians writing prescriptions for drugs in the names of aliases. We know that is a felony in California. It can be because of Anna Nicole Smith and the doctors. Howard K. Smith -- Howard K. Stern was charged recently in that case. They go to an Internet database in California. How can that help determine what doctors wrote what prescriptions in what name?

LOU PALUMBO, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Well, basically, the database, what it will do is it will identify for any doctor in the state who`s dispensed a controlled substance. And through the process of elimination and tedious legwork, they`ll go prescription by prescription, if necessary. They`ll break it down into regions. They`ll create almost, like, a grid and narrow it until they can focus in on the physicians that they believe were complicit in dispensing drugs to him inappropriately.

CASAREZ: And that can take a long time, I think. You know, the way I look at it, I think we have several investigations going on at this point.

Let`s go out to the attorneys, Jason Oshins, defense attorney out of New York, Joey Jackson, defense attorney out of New York. And Patricia Saunders, clinical psychologist, we`ll get to you in just a second. To our attorneys. I see various levels of investigations going on now because there is an investigation into writing prescriptions in bogus names. That could be a felony under the California Health and Safety Code, especially, when it`s a conspiracy. And then there`s also a investigation into the cause of death. There`s multiple layers to this, right?

JASON OSHINS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Absolutely. You know, there really are. I mean, you`re dealing with an iconic man right here. I mean, he`s world-renowned. Everyone`s going to be as thorough as they possibly can be. And as Detective Palumbo, told you, they`re going to scour all the records. They`re going to check with manufacturers. They obviously have a finite list of doctors who were involved with him, and they`re going to keep pushing that until they come up with some more answers for their questions. Absolutely.

JOEY JACKSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: And Jean, there`s really two -- there`s really two layers here. One is administrative, in that the doctors certainly are going to have to be accountable for what they prescribed. And administratively, they face the loss of license. And the second and more severe layer, of course, that`s the criminal investigation as to whether they could be deemed criminally culpable for death.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON`S FATHER: He was the biggest superstar in the world, and they`re just now recognizing it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: AEG told CNN Jackson passed a five-hour medical exam in preparation for his tour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All I know is the Michael Jackson that hugged me and said good night was a healthy, vibrant human being.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I hear people saying that Michael was in great shape and that he was raring to go, I know this is untrue. And they know it was untrue, as well. Michael was not in good physical shape and Michael was not raring to go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In response to allegations that AEG refused to make Jackson`s schedule easier, Randy Phillips (ph) told us Jackson had agreed to 50 shows, adding he needed the money. Rowe (ph) believes Jackson was weakened what he calls the singer`s addiction to prescription drugs.

MICHAEL JACKSON: I`m doing well and I am strong. As you may already know, after my tour ended, I remained out of the country, undergoing treatment for a dependency on pain medication. This medication was initially prescribed to soothe the excruciating pain that I was suffering after recent reconstructive surgery on my scalp.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rowe (ph) told me just one week before Michael Jackson died, he spoke with some of his family members about getting him help, including his father, Joe Jackson, and his brother, Randy. He said they all agreed to get Jackson into rehabilitation. But they never had the chance. He died before they could even make a move.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: I`m Jean Casarez of the legal network In Session, in for Nancy Grace tonight. Video has come out that has been sheltered for 25 years. It was in 1984 that Michael Jackson had such a critical, critical injury as he was filming a Pepsi commercial. We want to warn you that this video that you`re about to see is very, very graphic. It`s very, very disturbing. It`s hard to watch, but it`s important to watch because this may be the reason as to why Michael Jackson developed such a serious addiction to drugs, an addiction that he admitted in video.

You see him walking down the steps there. He doesn`t even realize that his head is on fire. It`s reported that he felt a burning sensation, thought it was the lights. And then all of a sudden, as you can see, he realized something was wrong. Everyone came in to help him. The fire department was standing by.

And when he raised up, we saw something that Michael Jackson allegedly wanted the public to see in 1984. He wanted the public to see that his head was burned, that it was very, very seriously burned. There is his scalp right there.

To Melanie Bromley, west coast bureau chief of "US Weekly." You are out in Los Angeles right now, and that is a clip obtained by "US Weekly" of the Pepsi commercial tape showing how severe Michael Jackson`s injuries were when his hair caught on fire. You got this clip, I assume, after Michael Jackson died?

MELANIE BROMLEY, "US WEEKLY": Yes. We obtained this clip recently, yes. And it`s 25 years old, and it`s still shocking to watch, and especially knowing what we know now about his addictions and how long his addictions went on. You look at this tape, and it`s kind of haunting to think that this could have been where it all began.

CASAREZ: Sure. And what more have you learned about his addictions that allegedly emulated (SIC) from that injury?

BROMLEY: Well, what we know is that he suffered second and third degree burns from this commercial that went wrong. And because of that, he was prescribed pain medication. And this was when he was first prescribed it. So this is kind of when it -- when it all began. It was also when he started having reconstructive surgery on his scalp in order to be able to repair the damaged skin. So it`s also when he started to make some sort of changes to his physical appearance, as well.

So it kind of -- you can pinpoint this as the moment that really was, in a sense, the beginning of the end. It`s when he started on pain medication. It`s also when he started having surgery.

CASAREZ: To Brad Lamm, board-certified interventionist, Changesomeoneyoulove.com. Why didn`t a rehab facility work for Michael Jackson?

BRAD LAMM, INTERVENTIONIST: Well, I -- that`s such a great question. And I`ve had clients that have gone to treatment four and five times. You know, sometimes families will call me and they`ve gone through this so many times. And sometimes you just don`t know what the math is. You don`t know when the miracle will happen. But I just encourage family members to keep trying to help and step in and separate their loved one from the addiction because when you`re addicted to the type of medications that it`s reported Michael Jackson was addicted to, it`s really hard to stop and it`s even more difficult to stay stopped.

CASAREZ: To Dr. Joshua Perper. What did Michael Jackson actually go through pain-wise with second and third degree burns?

PERPER: Well, most likely, he had physical burns of the second or third degree, certainly third degree with destruction of skin, if he needed reconstructive surgery. And it`s very painful. One of the most painful type of pain is that of burns. And people who experience that know that.

CASAREZ: And would the skin on your head be more sensitive than skin on other areas that is uncovered?

PERPER: Well, the skin on the head is a bit thicker, but it`s still sensitive, as the skin in other areas. It`s thicker than in other portion of the body, but it`s still very sensitive to pain. There are a lot of pain receptors in the skin.

CASAREZ: All right. To Dana in Delaware. Good evening, Dana. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good evening. Thanks for having me.

CASAREZ: You`re welcome.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is, do you think now, with all of the suspicions around these doctors who prescribe all of these addictive medications, that maybe now there can be new laws made (INAUDIBLE) how these doctors prescribe medications or better enforce the existing laws concerning how the doctors can prescribe all these medications (INAUDIBLE)

CASAREZ: It`s a great question. We`ll touch on it when we come back from break. And I think one issue is Diprivan is not a controlled substance. Should it be? We`ll look at that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: We have got some breaking news coming in to Headline News right now at this hour. Walter Cronkite has died. The most trusted name in America, a newsman that we all watched, grew up with, Walter Cronkite has died at the age of 92. We will have more information on this as it becomes available.

Back to Michael Jackson, the investigation into his death, the investigation into the cause of his death. I want to go to the attorneys right now, Jason Oshins, defense attorney out of New York, Joey Jackson out of New York, esteemed defense attorney, also. I myself -- I called the drug -- the DEA today, the Drug Enforcement Administration, to ask them some questions about Diprivan. And what I found out was that, as we may have known already, it is not a controlled substance at this point.

But they said that they are involved in the investigation in Los Angeles in regard to the death of Michael Jackson for two reasons. Number one, that they have so much expertise into doctors and issues of medications. But number two, that they have been looking to make Diprivan a controlled substance for two years now and they want to look at this case to help determine if they should do that.

To Jason Oshins. There are a lot of federal laws that cannot be brought against any doctor at all because this is not a controlled substance.

OSHINS: Well, you know, a couple of issues that we`re talking about. One was the question that was just asked by the caller in terms of the laws that are in effect. There are significant laws that are in effect. And you talk about enforcement, but that only comes forward when a situation like this comes to light. And certainly, it crystallizes the need, perhaps, in the manufacturer`s mind, to have this as a controlled substance just to prevent this type of situation from happening.

CASAREZ: Joey Jackson, your thoughts?

JACKSON: Yes. Sure. I mean, I think it`s not because of its lack of availability. In other words, it`s generally used in a hospital. It`s used when it`s supervised by doctors. But certainly, to the extent that it could bring about potential prosecution or save lives, it needs to be considered in terms of that.

CASAREZ: And that`s one thing the DEA said to me, that it has not -- they have not found widespread abuse in it, but it is growing. And that is one reason why they want to look at this case as a prototype.

Let`s go out to Theresa, caller Theresa.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

CASAREZ: Hi. Good evening.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good evening. My question is, do you think at the custody hearing that the judge is going to ask for DNA testing on the kids and Debbie Rowe and the dermatologist of Michael Jackson, who claims is the father? Because what`s going to happen if Katherine gets custody of the kids and she has a heart attack, falls over and dies, God forbid? What`s the psychological effects these kids are going to have on all this?

CASAREZ: OK, that`s a very good question because it is presumed that the people that are on the birth certificate of the child are the parents, but that`s a rebuttable presumption. Let`s go out to Jason Oshins, defense attorney. What do you think?

OSHINS: You`re head-on on that. But that`s only going to come up if someone asserts the fact that they are the parents of that child. That`s when it`ll show up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A nurse who worked with the superstar is making some pretty shocking claims. She says that Jackson suffered from severe insomnia and claims that she rejected his request for an extremely strong sedative called Diprivan.

CHERILYN LEE, MICHAEL JACKSON`S ALLEGED FMR. NURSE, SAYS HE PLEADED FOR DANGEROUS DRUG: He said I really just need something that`s going to help me to sleep. And when he -- he was very persistent about it.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: There are reports that police found Diprivan, a powerful anesthetic in Michael Jackson`s house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s not a drug that`s usually prescribed. It`s an anesthetic. So right now the DEA is looking at lot numbers and trying to narrow where the bottles that they found at Michael Jackson`s homes that he was renting, where they came from, what hospitals, what facilities they came from. And if that`s the case, then you have to examine the doctors that are in those medical units.

DR. PANCHALI DHAR, M.D., BOARD CERTIFIED ANESTHESIOLOGIST, AUTHOR OF "BEFORE THE SCALPEL": Generic name is propofol, brand name in Diprivan, both interchangeable. Same drug supplied in vials like this. Drawn up into a syringe.

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Isn`t there a way to find or to track where the propofol came from?

DHAR: It`s very difficult to track. It goes from the manufacturer to wholesalers, to distributors. There were middlemen involved in this, and if they were supplying Michael Jackson with this Diprivan in his house, there was some kind of middleman involved because you would need buckets of this to be asleep for 72 hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JEAN CASAREZ, GUEST HOST: I`m Jean Casarez of the legal network "In Session" in for Nancy Grace tonight.

I want to go out to Ian Halperin, he is the author of a brand new book, "Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson."

Ian, thank you for being with us tonight. This book has to have come out in the last week, right?

IAN HALPERIN, AUTHOR OF "UNMASKED: THE FINAL YEARS OF MICHAEL JACKSON": Yes. It did. And it was on the press, obviously. We pulled it the day he died, and then we released it.

But first off, peace to Walter Cronkite. Rest in peace.

And I ought to say, Jean, we have a major crisis developing tonight, because I have learned that there have been leaks from the reports to journalists and this is improper. And what we need is a proper police investigation.

I think the world at large is tired of seeing LAPD do these high- profile investigations for celebrities and get them wrong. And stuff has been leaking out about a homicide, a possible criminal probe, I think we might have to start right over and this report that`s going to come out in the next couple of weeks might not even be credible.

CASAREZ: Well, what do you think is going to come out in the next couple of weeks?

HALPERIN: Well, I`m not a coroner, I`m not a cop. I just want to see a fair investigation. I want to see the police do due diligence. And there`s been a lot of misconceptions. You alluded to the Michael Jackson video tonight about his last days.

Well, today I met with the legendary publishing icon in New York, Judith Reagan, who told me even a few years ago she refused to give Jackson a deal -- a publishing deal because he was too weak then.

And I`ve said all along he should not have been getting ready for a 50-day concert tour. He should have been in a hospital getting proper medication and proper attention, and unfortunately the enablers around him disregarded that.

They had dollar signs in his eyes. And today, there`s a dead man and there`s three children without a proper game plan. And we`ve got to get to the bottom of this ASAP.

CASAREZ: Ian, here`s what I want to ask you. You have a very large book that`s come out. Hundreds of pages on Michael Jackson. Did you meet Michael Jackson?

HALPERIN: Yes, I did. I met him several times.

CASAREZ: When? And the question was answered.

HALPERIN: Almost a couple of years ago. I met him several times in crowds when I was doing my investigation. But I also went undercover as a hair stylist at one point. And I found Michael Jackson to be the most personable, amenable, one of the greatest person -- people I ever met. No ego whatsoever.

And it`s a strategy the way this has all been dealt with. We have a dead man. We have three children right now without proper parents. And I urge California Child Welfare to step in immediately, not let them go to Debbie Rowe who`s almost practically said she`d auction them off if she could make a buck.

And then you have the Jackson family who`s hinted they want to steer them into a career of show business. I hope and pray.

CASAREZ: All right. I don`t think we have official statement from Debbie Rowe at this point. She is the biological parent of the children, but I want to ask you about your book. Because at the conclusion of your book, you talk about that someone close to Michael Jackson told you two hours after Michael Jackson died that he had not wanted to live any longer. Talk to us about that.

HALPERIN: Well, the problem there, Jean, was the fact that Michael realized he could not do these 50 days. Michael Jackson is the greatest performer ever. His standard of performance is extremely high. He`s always promised he would never perform less than 100 percent.

He made that promise to himself and to his fans. And unfortunately, he needed proper medical attention and he said he didn`t think he could pull it off. And by not pulling off those 50 dates, he had hundreds of million dollars in debts. And he just felt this was the end. How was he going.

CASAREZ: All right. You wrote in the book, "He told me two hours after he died that, quote, `Michael was tired of living.`" Explain that.

HALPERIN: Well, what the source meant there was Michael was confused. He really did not know where to turn because of all the debts. He didn`t know how to dig himself out of it. He knew, and I said this the night his concert tour was announced. I said I`m not even buying my plane tickets.

I said this on British national television. I said these concerts would never happen. And Michael Jackson realized quickly -- that he was in a wheelchair wearing a surgical mask. They tried to prop him up with all kinds of drugs. These enablers have got to be brought to justice. A proper investigation has got to be done ASAP.

CASAREZ: To Firpo Carr, Jackson family friend, former family spokesperson, do you know Michael Jackson in these straits? Was he that sick the week before he died? Do we have, Firpo Carr?

FIRPO CARR, JACKSON FAMILY FRIEND, FORMER JACKSON FAMILY SPOKESPERSON: Yes. Hello? I`m here.

CASAREZ: Hi, Firpo.

CARR: Can you see me? Hi, how are you?

CASAREZ: I can hear you. Was he that sick in the weeks before his death?

CARR: Michael Jackson was a healthy person. You saw him there. But he would fluctuate in and out of good health and bad health or poor health. I like to say also that in regards to Michael Jackson, that he was a man who had a lot of weight on his shoulders.

True enough, his investigation by LAPD will be a good one. I`d like to defend them here, especially having worked for them. And having known the principles there, particularly Commander Kyle Jackson who`s in charge of robbery/homicide division. Also Chief William Bratton. These guys are topnotch guys and all have the best looking after this investigation.

But in regard to Michael Jackson, very specifically, I`d like to make the point that this man was, yes, he was a conflicted soul, but he was a man who cared a lot for his fans and he would give 100 percent and he wanted everyone, obviously, to be on their best behavior. He wanted the best for them.

CASAREZ: But, Firpo, he didn`t want to die, did he? He didn`t want to die because one of the causes of death that they`re going to look at is suicide. He didn`t want to die.

CARR: No, no, no, no. This was not a suicide. Forget that. No, forget that. That`s madness. He knew that he would not -- in fact, he kind of intimated that to me that he would not grow to be an old man in this system of things.

He just felt that, as Lisa Marie Presley said, after what I said which was similar that, hey, he would not grow old here. At the same time, this was not his time. This was not a suicide by any stretch of the imagination.

CASAREZ: Firpo, we want everybody to listen to a brand new song, previously unreleased of Michael Jackson. This is Michael Jackson`s unreleased song.

(MUSIC)

And that was a song that has previously been unreleased. We have not received confirmation from Sony. But it is a song that America recorded with a different name in the 1970s. They were given permission to allow Michael Jackson to record it. That is the song.

Let`s go to a caller right now. To Pam in Massachusetts. Hello, Pam, thanks for waiting.

PAM, CALLER FROM MASSACHUSETTS: Hi, Jean, how are you doing tonight?

CASAREZ: I`m OK, thank you.

PAM: Something is bothering about the day that he died with this 911 call. There have been conflicting reports. Number one, they said he was by himself when the doctor found him. Then they said that he collapsed in front of Blanket. OK? So what is this going to do to that child?

When they made the 911 -- who made the 911 call? Nobody`s ever discussed this 911 call to any great length. It doesn`t make any sense. They did not say the name of the patient who was Michael Jackson, which would have probably been much better for them to do.

Also, do you think there`s a possibility that the doctor put him under and could not bring him back so that`s why it took so long for this to happen?

CASAREZ: You know, you have some questions that are at the heart and soul of the investigation that is going on right now. A very, very good investigation, I believe, from Los Angeles County.

To Mary Margaret, senior news editor, RadarOnline.com. Response?

MARY MARGARET, SENIOR NEWS EDITOR, RADARONLINE.COM, COVERING STORY: We do know that it wasn`t Blanket. Prince might have been in the room. But in terms of who made the call, it was his bodyguard. And we do know there was a lag time between when people found Michael Jackson collapsed and when officials were called.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators scrambling to find 2-month-old baby boy Andrew Christiansen after he`s vanished. Cops say Andrew was supposed to go into Child Protective Custody but that`s when his parents disappeared. Andrew`s mom found days later but Andrew and his dad still missing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: I`m Jean Casarez of the legal network "In Session" in for Nancy Grace tonight.

We need your help in finding a 2-month-old baby boy, a precious baby boy that is missing right now.

Out to Clark Goldband, Nancy Grace producer. Tell us what has happened?

CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY (via phone): Jean, law enforcement is very concerned out of Clark County, Washington for the welfare of 2-month-old boy Andrew Christiansen. He was taken by his parents in the Vancouver, Washington area sometime earlier this week.

What happened was his parents were supposed to turn the child over to CPS. Now, Jean, this was because of past violations including a home that was allegedly not fit to live in as well as the mom`s alleged meth use.

CASAREZ: And CPS, being Child Protective Services. What is -- the belief now is he was with both parents. The mother is in custody, right? So he`s not.

GOLDBAND: Exactly right, Jean. Mom, Shondra Christiansen, was in custody since Wednesday. She was picked up on a probation violation. Now the dad is Nicolas Christiansen. He`s 5`7", 190 pounds, brown hair, hazel eyes. Law enforcement thinks he may have his son, 2-month-old Andrew.

CASAREZ: All right. Well, let`s go out to Sgt. Scott Schanaker. He is the PIO, public information officer, of Clark County Sheriff`s Department.

Thank you so much for joining us tonight. We want to try to help you to find this little baby boy. What is the latest on the investigation?

SGT. SCOTT SCHANAKER, PIO, CLARK COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE, ON THE CASE (via phone): I was just updated by one of our detectives who said that he had some warrants that were generated out of Clark County for both the mother and father and this is for a couple of different charges, one of them being custodial.

The father was also issued a warrant for an assault in the second degree that was a domestic violence related issue, not with the mother but with a previous.

CASAREZ: Domestic violence on the child? Is that what you just said?

SCHANAKER: No, the father had a warrant issued for him for domestic violence charge against another individual.

CASAREZ: OK. All right. When was the baby last seen?

SCHANAKER: The 15th, I believe, when they were supposed to be handing the child over.

CASAREZ: Now, the mother is in custody, is that correct?

SCHANAKER: That`s correct. She was picked up down in an area called Layne County, Oregon, on an outstanding probation violation. She`s in our custody right now. Our impetus was to get these warrants from our jurisdiction signed so they could hold on to her without allowing her to be released.

CASAREZ: I assume she was not with the father of the child or the baby. Was she walking, was she in an apartment? Where was she when she was arrested?

SCHANAKER: Yes, I don`t know those answers. That was from a different state, different jurisdiction, obviously. Our concern was mostly that she was scheduled to be released today at 5:00 had we not have gotten the warrants. So we`re going to hold on to her for that. They`re going to hold on to her.

CASAREZ: What is your concern for this baby, Andrew Christiansen, right now?

SCHANAKER: Well, obviously, we just don`t know where he is or the father is. Shondra has been in jail for a couple of days and has not given any indication she wants to give information about the whereabouts of them. So that`s concerning.

It`s not an abduction type of a case. It`s simply CPS had determined that this was an unfit home for whatever reason at the time and it was going through a process with these folks. And they obviously decided to not go by what the agreement that they had with Child Protective Services.

CASAREZ: OK. We want everybody to hear and see the tip line right now. Let`s see if we can show that. If you know where this baby is, the number is 1-877-274-6311. Again. 1-877-274-6311.

Out to Patricia Saunders, clinical psychologist. What is the mindset of a parent that knows she should not be with his child at this point, that he should be with Child Protective Services?

PATRICIA SAUNDERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Someone who has really impaired judgment, Jean. That their judgment was bad enough that they didn`t fix the home environment, that was it was adjudicated or judged to be unfit, they didn`t do anything about it.

And this baby is really at risk with a dad who is on the run and may not be able to take care of him at all.

CASAREZ: Now obviously a 2-month-old baby does not know what is happening, right? There is nothing that could emotionally injure the little boy at this point, correct?

SAUNDERS: Not really. But there -- he could be at risk physically and in terms of negligence or possible abuse.

CASAREZ: Sure. Back to Sgt. Scott Schanaker, PIO at the Clark County Sheriff`s Office. The last time that the father was seen with the child, was he in a vehicle? Could he be near an interstate? Can you give us any more information so people out there, truckers out there that are listening to radio on this, could help find this child?

SCHANAKER: Well, what we know is that the vehicle that they were last seen in has been impounded down in Layne County. So it is unknown to us right now whether there is a vehicle.

CASAREZ: OK. So you don`t believe that he`s driving with the child anywhere or are you just uncertain at this point?

SCHANAKER: It`s hard to tell. The vehicle that they had when leaving Clark County is accounted for. So they don`t have access to that vehicle. So they could be in a borrowed vehicle or something like that that nobody knows about.

CASAREZ: All right. Well, as you can see, it`s right on the border of Washington and Oregon, the state of Oregon. Once again, the tip line, 1-877-274-6311. 2-months-old. Blue eyes and brown hair.

Let`s find Andrew Christiansen.

And tonight, "CNN Heroes."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Heroes.

FLAVIO CANTO, CHAMPIONING CHILDREN" I`ve never seen any place as beautiful as Rio de Janeiro. But it does have its dark side. There is violence all over.

JOAO VICTOR, WITNESSED HIS FATHER`S MURDER WHEN HE WAS 6 YEARS OLD (Through Translator): The bad things that happen here are the shootings.

CANTO: It`s the kids who have the toughest here.

VICTOR (Through Translator): Sometimes I get scared.

CANTO: They don`t have any options. Kids die every day from making the wrong choice. But every time I see it, the first thing that comes to my mind is potential.

My flame is Flavio Canto. I`m a Judo Olympic medalist, but the best part of my life is changing people`s destiny through sports.

I usually tell the kids that we can`t let ourselves get used to the violence that surrounds us. We have to find back somehow instead of fighting the streets. They learn how to use your energy in the right way.

VICTOR (Through Translator): I feel less afraid. I feel that Flavio helps me win lots of championships, and he helps me feel very proud of myself.

CANTO: Helping kids avoid the wrong choice is one of our goals. They don`t need to follow the destiny everyone told them they would have. They can change it. They`re the true heroes.

ANNOUNCER: CNN Heroes is sponsored by.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CASAREZ: And now a look back at the stories making headlines this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: I want to show you that video that many people believe is the inception of Michael Jackson`s addiction to prescription painkillers. This clip obtained by "Us Weekly," that Pepsi commercial taping shows how severe Jackson`s injuries were.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were blinded by the fame, blinded by the glitter and blinded by being close to a superstar.

GRACE: So the claim, Ian Drew, the editor of "Us Weekly," that he traveled the world trying to get drugs from various doctors and succeeded, it`s true?

IAN DREW, EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Absolutely. And he did it all the time in any way he could.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The "New York Post" is reporting Debbie Rowe, Jackson`s ex-wife, agreed to drop any custody challenge for 4 million bucks. Now her attorney denies it, says it`s completely false and Rowe doesn`t want Jackson`s money. She`s even asking for the "Post" to file a retraction.

GRACE: Bombshell level tonight charges that Michael Jackson was murdered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: La Toya Jackson sat down for four hours with this reporter last Thursday and began to discuss what she thought was, quote, "the murder of Michael Jackson."

SHERIFF DAVID MORGAN, ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA: A tragedy occurred in Escambia County with the murder of Byrd and Melanie Billings.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say the Billings were ambushed when two groups of men burst into their home killing them execution style.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who would kill a couple who opens their homes to special needs kids?

MORGAN: It`s my honor today to tell you we have found them and they`re in custody.

GRACE: A lot of people are writing and calling in wanting to know where the 16 children are. Where are they?

SGT. TED ROY, PIO, ESCAMBIA COUNTY, SHERIFF`S OFFICE, ON THE CASE: A lot of them are grown. The nine that were in the house were young and they`re with other family members right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Tonight let us stop to remember 30-year-old Marine Corporal Thomas Saba, Toms River, New Jersey, he was killed in Iraq. He was awarded the Purple Heart. He loved the movie "Braveheart," the sport racquetball and Tae Kwon Do.

He planned on becoming an elementary school teacher. He leaves behind his mother Barbara, his father Anthony, one brother, two sisters.

Thomas Saba, he is an American hero.

Thank you to all of our guests. But our biggest thank you is to you for being with us, inviting us into your homes this Friday night. See you tomorrow night, 8:00, sharp Eastern.

Good night, everybody.

END