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JCPenney, Macy's in Court; Researchers Cure Girl, 2, of HIV; Letters to Whitney Houston; Promoter Accused in Michael Jackson Case; LearJet Unable to Land Circles Airport

Aired March 04, 2013 - 13:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Half a billion dollars, all from Martha Stewart pots, pans, sheets, towels. Macy's and JCPenney are in court and fighting over who gets to sell Stewart's housewares. Not a friendly fight either. This comes eight years to the day after she left prison in West Virginia after being convicted of lying to investigators about selling stock.

Our friend, Christine Romans, here to join us.

Isn't there enough Martha Stewart to go around? What's going on?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: She had an agreement with Macy's. This is a contractual dispute. Macy's is suing Martha Stewart and her company, saying, look, when she got out of prison, we signed this big deal with her, we took her from ex-convict again. A lot of people -- that's the image -- five, eight years ago, that was the image of Martha Stewart. Now, she is again the -- in part, because you can buy her stuff at Macy's. Ad it has a good selling line for Macy's. But then, Macy's CEO testified last week that he got a call from her one day and said, I'm going to be selling my products also at JCPenney. He said, you can't do that, you have an exclusive contract with us. And she said, no, I'm going to. That's what this whole suit is about. Can she sell products in sort of a Martha Stewart in-store store at JCPenney or not.

I talked to a lot of people about the Martha Stewart brand and the Martha Stewart business. Michael Kupinksi, director of research at Noble Financial Capital Markets, this is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL KUPINSKI, NOBLE FINANCIAL CAPITAL MARKETS: Particularly, Macy's believes that they were given exclusivity on certain products and certain product lines. And what Macy's is trying to do is make sure those products are not sold in JCPenney's, which they view as a major competitor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Certainly, Martha Stewart is someone whose brand is about neat and tidy. Her business dealings, looking a little messy, will be and are being aired in court. She is going to testify tomorrow. This is what her company told us, her company told us, quote, "This is a contractual dispute. The contract is written to allow MLSO, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, to sell a broad range of products in JCPenney. Our objective is to bring our product to as many customers as possible."

E-mails from the Penney's CEO and Terry Lundgrin (ph), CEO of Macy's, said he hung up on Martha Stewart and has not spoken to her again. He was sick to his stomach, he says, when he found out his friend and business partner had gone behind his back.

BERMAN: The real action is between Macy's and Penney's.

ROMANS: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. It's just an interesting trial, so we'll continue to watch it.

BERMAN: Fantastic. A lot of contracts, a lot of lawyers.

ROMANS: But would we really be so interested in a contract dispute if it weren't two household names, JCPenney and Macy's and Martha Stewart?

BERMAN: I think it's the towels and sheets that make it so interesting.

ROMANS: Egyptian cotton.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: Absolutely.

Christine Romans.

It's very soft.

(LAUGHTER)

Our thanks to you.

Moving on now, more than 1.1 million people live with HIV in the United States. The keyword is "live." Researchers say they've been able to find a cure for a 2-year-old girl. What that could mean for others fighting the disease. Stay with us.

Plus, the FBI releases letters sent to Whitney Houston. How an admirer tried to extort money from the late singer.

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BERMAN: Researchers say a 2-year-old in Mississippi has become the first child ever to be cured of HIV.

Elizabeth Cohen is here with Dr. Hannah Gay.

Elizabeth, that sounds remarkable. The word there, "cure," is really a wonderful word to hear in this case. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: John, in medical journalism, we don't use the "C" word that often, but doctors are using the term "cure," or "functionally cured," which I'll get to in a minute, to describe what happened here.

So let me explain what happened in the case with this child. This is the case of a child who was born in Mississippi to an HIV-positive mom, and the baby was also, it turned out to be -- the baby was also HIV positive. And then what happened next was the doctors, including the doctor who is here with me, put the baby on HIV drugs. She was on those for approximately 15 months. Then the mother stopped giving her those drugs. She was off the drugs for about five months before she came back to the doctor. And so the doctor, Dr. Hannah Gay, who we're going to hear from in a minute, she retested the baby and the baby was HIV negative. She and her colleagues said, oh, my goodness, how could this have happened. They called in other experts who confirmed she was HIV negative.

So this has great implications not just for this baby, but for other babies.

So we're joined now by Dr. Hannah Gay, who is a pediatrician in Mississippi.

And you treated this baby. When the mom came back in, the baby had been off drugs for five months and was HIV negative. What went through your mind?

DR. HANNAH GAY, UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI MEDICAL CENTER: My first reaction was to think it must be a lab error. So we retested and did several different types of tests and found out all those tests were negative.

At that point, I rather panicked thinking that, oh, my goodness, I've been treating a baby for a year who's not actually infected. But repeating tests showed that, in fact, she has been infected to begin with and we're not finding the replicating virus in her blood now.

COHEN: So when you then called in colleagues from the University of Massachusetts and from Johns Hopkins, and they came in and tested her. And what did they find?

GAY: They did some ultra sensitive tests, some tests only available in research labs and they found that there are traces of viral particles, but there are not replication-competent viruses, so there are no viruses that can create new virus and create disease.

COHEN: So, we have several people have asked me in the years to come, will this baby get HIV again because she has these little remnants still in her body. Is that possible?

GAY: That's still a possibility. We're going to be following the baby for a while to make sure that virus does not come back.

However, at this point, she's been off of medicines for quite a long time and still has no return virus and this is unique. We've not seen this other cases before.

COHEN: So, off of medicine for five months, but no virus in her body, except these little remnants. She's perfectly healthy now, correct? Am I right about that?

GAY: Yes.

COHEN: You're not treating her for HIV?

GAY: No.

COHEN: She's just like any other baby.

GAY: She's not being treated.

COHEN: Wow. That is really amazing.

So do we think it's just that this baby has an incredible immune system or do we think it's something about the treatment she got that explains this?

GAY: Our current hypothesis is because she started early, aggressive therapy, she started therapy at 30 hours of age, that we think that maybe we were able to prevent the viral reservoirs, or what I call the hiding places, from ever being seeded with virus.

COHEN: Dr. Gay, thank you so much. This is such important work that you've been doing. And we're going to be following up with you to see how this baby is doing.

So, John, this could have great implications for other babies with HIV. Maybe they don't need to be on drugs for life, maybe just a short period of time. That's the next step in this -- John?

BERMAN: Wonderful reason for hope.

Elizabeth Cohen, our thanks to you.

COHEN: Thanks.

BERMAN: Coming up at 4:00 eastern, a surrogate's unimaginable dilemma, offered $10,000 to abort the baby growing inside her. We're going to have the heartbreaking story today on "The Situation Room."

And it's said to be a smoking gun. An e-mail could tie a concert promoter to Michael Jackson's doctor. What this could mean for the wrongful death case against AEG Live.

Plus, the FBI releases new details about Whitney Houston's life. How she received ranting letters from admirers for years.

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BERMAN: Our breaking news right now. According to KTVI, a plane heading to Parks Airport in Illinois is preparing for a crash landing. Ambulances have been requested. The exact number of passengers, one report of eight people. We'll bring you more details as they become available. I don't think that's the plane. Stay with us right now. I'm not sure if that's the plane. We're expecting some kind of crash landing scenario, we're told. We are told this is the plane.

What happened was the plane flew by the tower for a visible, visual inspection. Inside the tower, they said the landing gear was not deployed properly. It was cocked off to the side there. They then determined the plane would have to make an emergency landing. They were preparing for a crash landing at this airport. They called in about four ambulances at least. We believe there are eight people on board that plane. We suspect it will try to land soon. We will follow it for you. Stay with us. We will bring you developments as they occur.

Meanwhile, it's being called a smoking gun e-mail. New court documents reveal an alleged connection between a concert promoter and death of Michael Jackson.

For more on this, let's go down to Nischelle Turner in Los Angeles.

Nischelle, this is part of a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Jackson's mother and children. What are Jackson's attorneys saying?

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: John, this has been going on since 2009. Michael Jackson's family had been pushing this theory since then.

The Jackson family contends the promoters insistence for Michael to hold these performances despite his frail health ultimately led to his death. And now, we're learning some details about this suit after a judge unsealed some of the trail's documents.

Now, attorneys for Michael's mother, Katherine, and his children, Prince, Paris and Blanket, discovered this e-mail in the wrongful death late against concert promoter, AEG Live. The e-mail, the family's lawyers are calling quote this smoking gun, is written by the AEG CEO 11 days before Michael's death. This e-mail points out that AEG paid Dr. Conrad Murray's salary and says quote, "We want to remind him what is expected of him."

Now, Conrad Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Michael Jackson. This is a big deal because the family is suing AEG Live for the rest of his earnings over his expected life. That could add up to billions of dollars in damages.

AEG Live is denying that they are responsible for Michael's death. They say there's no way they could have foreseen Dr. Murray would prescribe such dangerous drugs to Michael Jackson.

BERMAN: Again, a lot of money involved in this.

TURNER: Yes.

BERMAN: Nischelle, I have to make a tragic transition now to the death of another singer that everyone loved. The FBI has now released its file on Whitney Houston. In these documents, it was revealed there was a possible extortion attempt? Explain this to us.

TURNER: Yes. These files, John, are from Whitney Houston's heyday. And while they may not have risen to the level where she needed to hire a bodyguard, they remind us of the disturbing side of celebrity culture.

The FBI released 128 pages of information from the late 1980s and early 1990s. This included some disturbing fan letters, as well as this extortion attempt. We're talking about a back and forth between a letter writer and Whitney's father, John. This was in 1992. They're heavily redacted and don't reveal too much of anything, but the FBI report says an individual first threatened to reveal details of Whitney's private life to several publications unless they are paid $100,000. And in a later back and forth, it's raised to $250,000. Now, according to this file, John Houston arranged for the settlement and sent a confidentiality agreement.

The other letters in here, they are also disturbing but they don't seem to be truly dangerous. One obsessed fan sent her 79 rambling handwritten letters that expressed his love for her. And at one point, he said, if he didn't get a response, he might do something quote, "crazy."

Now, ultimately, the FBI didn't file any charges in any of these investigations. And for the most part, after a visit from the authorities, these people writing the letters promised to leave Whitney alone.

BERMAN: Nischelle Turner, our thanks to you.

Kind of a disturbing report there. But appreciate it.

TURNER: Yes.

BERMAN: So, according to our affiliate, KTVI, a plane heading to Parks Airport in Cahokia, Illinois, is preparing for a crash landing. Ambulances, they have been requested. Four ambulances, we're told. It's not clear how many people are on board. We have seen reports of eight people on board. This plane was having trouble with its landing gear. It is preparing for an emergency landing.

We'll keep an eye on this and bring you more details as they become available.

Stay with us. I think you're looking at the plane. You can see it in the scope right there. You can see the plane very faintly. There are pictures of it right there. Before, we saw it make some kind of a pass. Looked like its landing gear was down, but it may not have been up to snuff.

Originally, the pilot reported having some problems with the landing gear. They did fly down for a visual inspection. The tower took a look and said the landing gear was cockeyed, off to the side, certainly not suitable to make a landing. It was then determined they would have to try to land without the landing gear. We then saw a pass make a second pass toward the runway. It did not land there. Now, it is circling around again. And we're told by our affiliate, they will try to land again soon at some point. You can just make out that plane. It's a very faint picture of it right there in that circle.

We're still looking at it right there. It's a LearJet. Cahokia, Illinois, is just across the river from St. Louis in Missouri, the southern part of the state. You're looking at some of the emergency crews awaiting the landing right now. We are told they called in four ambulances, along with the other emergency vehicles standing there as well. You're looking at a map. As we said, it is in Cahokia, Illinois, near St. Louis, the St. Louis Downtown Airport. I'm not sure if that's the airport we're talking about here, if that's Parks Airport, Parks Airport or not.

Again, there are the emergency vehicles just waiting as this plane circles and prepares for a landing. It is a Learjet, the kind of jet people frequently use for private air travel. It can land in all kinds of airports, including smaller airports. The landing gear was having problems. We do not know if they have fixed those problems or that they will have to try to land without it.

We will stay on this story. Stay with us. We'll bring you the latest right after the break.

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BERMAN: You're looking at breaking news right now. That is a Learjet trying to land right now in Cahokia, Illinois, at Parks Airport. This jet, with as many as eight people on board -- we're not sure of the exact number -- was having trouble with its landing gear. After a visual pass, it was determined the landing gear was not properly deployed. It might have to try to land without it. Obviously, you can see some kind of landing gear out in this picture. so we're not sure if they have the problem fixed.

I'm joined now by our aviation consultant, Tory Dunn.

Tory, I do not know if you're looking at these pictures. Can you see the gear currently underneath this plane?

TORY DUNN, CNN AVIATION CONSULTANT: John, I can. I can see the gear that is out. Airport officials told us at this point that there is a problem with the landing gear. And really they're preparing for an emergency landing at this point. All the information we're getting, though, is coming from the airport. They told us it is a Learjet. They're preparing for a crash landing. We're also told there are eight people on board, and information is coming in, basically by the minute here.

You're taking a look at the plane right now. We do have reason to believe it was set to land at that airport anyway. And we have also heard that possibly it did a fly by, the control tower, and that's the point that they may have determined there was a problem with that landing gear there -- John? BERMAN: It does look like it has some kind of landing gear down there right now. And it does look like it is descending fairly rapidly in what would be a fairly normal landing pattern.

We will keep looking at this as it continues to go down right there.

They did call in all kinds of emergency vehicles. This is delay. This is not live. That explains it. This is not a live tape. This is delayed tape, five seconds ago, as it attempts to land, we think, at Parks Airport in Cahokia, Illinois, right now. There were problems with this landing gear. Emergency crews were notified of a possible emergency landing. That is a Learjet. We do not know who is on board, but we're told as many as eight passengers are there.

Now, it looks to be ascending, again, rising. That would indicate they're not happy with the landing pattern or with the gear that they have, the equipment they have right there.

Tory, this is now the second time we have seen them go down with some kind of gear deployed and rise up again. Any sense of what the procedures might be or why they might be doing this?

DUNN: Well, John, I can tell you they are probably obviously talking with airport officials on the ground there, trying to determine the best course of action here.

As you mentioned, we do know they have ambulances on the tarmac there, about four ambulances, also some of the safety equipment already out, definitely trying to make sure this landing is as safe as possible. Information, though, from the airport is that eight people are on that Learjet. There is some sort of problem with the landing gear. So now they're preparing for an emergency landing.

And it looks like, if you look at the tarmac down there, those are the ambulances. It looks like most of the other aircraft has been moved off of that runway there. Perhaps trying to clear the space.

And, John, we're working to get more information basically as we speak on the air right now.

BERMAN: And as we said, this plane has circled at least twice, at least twice to try to deploy its landing gear and then to land. The first time, it was determined by a visual inspection that there was something wrong. It was cocked off to one side, the landing gear was. They thought they might have to try to land without it. They has since gone down a second time, obviously, and tried to deploy the landing gear once again. Did not seem to be to the satisfaction of either the people on the plane or the people in the air traffic control tower. So what you saw was the landing gear go back up, retract back up into the plane, and the plane is now circling again. We do understand it will try to make a landing.

This is in Cahokia, Illinois, across the river from St. Louis. Now, our map right here labels it as St. Louis Downtown Airport. I was told it was Parks Airport. I do not know if it is one in the same airport or it is trying to land, but this gives you a sense of the general area in Illinois. Just across the river from St. Louis where this is all going on.

Again, just to bring you up to speed here, you're looking at an airport now where they're awaiting what could be an emergency landing of a Learjet with as many as eight people on board. They have called in emergency crews because there are problems with the landing gear. There have been at least three passes that we know of this plane has made so far to that airport, none to the satisfaction of either the people in the plane or the control tower.

One of the normal procedures that we have, Tory, when a plane is having problems with its landing gear, you know, we have seen planes land without it.

DUNN: Right. You know, I mean, that could be a possibility here, but perhaps why we're seeing several different attempts at the airport is the plane is trying to circle around, maybe see if the landing gear will come down.

You know, I mentioned they're talking with air traffic controllers here, probably still trying to determine the best course of action because, as you mentioned, eight people on that Learjet. We don't really know the extent of just how bad the situation really is. With the landing gear, you mentioned that it was cocked of to the side. We are trying to get this information confirmed.

But if you look at what's going on down there, it looks like they're prepared for possibly a worst-case scenario, having ambulances on the tarmac, ready to go. You can also see emergency workers standing there in those vests getting prepared, some of the safety equipment.

And as I mentioned, one thing is to make sure this airport is clear, that you have people off of the runways. They know there are planes in the area. And in case there is a crash landing, they have to perform here, John.

BERMAN: All right, I do appreciate that right now.

We're hearing from St. Louis Downtown Airport now, which is, by the way, where the plane is currently circling. It is circling over St. Louis Downtown Airport in St. Louis, Missouri -- that a plane carrying at least eight passengers going round, round and around. The St. Louis Fire Department is standing by to assist once it does land.

It has been circling now for almost an hour, almost a full hour. There is no information about who is on board this plane at the moment. But it has been circling there for an hour. It made at least three passes, three passes by the airport, to get a look at its landing gear. The pilot reported a problem with the landing gear deploying. They then went down for a visual check. They took a look at it as close as they could from the air traffic control tower. It looked like the landing gear was off to the side. So they decided that it might have to make an emergency landing.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: Go ahead. DUNN: John, if I can actually interrupt here, we're getting information from the FAA saying this is a Learjet 45. Reported problems with the landing gear door. At this point, it is possible that they might be troubleshooting and also trying to come into the airport as normal. That's the latest information from the FAA there. Reported problems with the landing gear door, which is why we may have seen several different passes at the airport. Maybe they're trying different things on that plane to try to get that door fixed, to make a safe a landing as possible here.

BERMAN: Interesting, very interesting.

The last pass at least we saw three wheels down. Saw front wheel, it appeared to be down from my eye, also the two wheels on the wings, apparently a problem, Tory is reporting, just reporting here a problem with the landing gear door. They made three passes now to get some kind of visual confirmation about what's going on. They been notified they may need to make an emergency landing, emergency crews. The St. Louis Fire Department -- there have been landing gear problems. St. Louis Downtown emergency crews are on the scene right now anticipating the possibility of an emergency landing.

Can't see the plane in this picture right now. Our cameras have been able to pick it up several times as it comes in and attempts the landing. We're following this until that plane is safely on the ground. It is a Learjet.

Tory, one more time, what kind of jet are we looking at?

DUNN: Actually, I'm getting new information here as well. The markings on the plane appear to be those of a C-21 military aircraft, and that would be the military variant of a Learjet. Again, we don't really have any information as to who is on board this aircraft at this point. Just being told by the airport as well as the FAA that eight passengers currently on this plane. It's circling over the runways, nd the fire department in St. Louis is standing by to assist once that landing happens.

We know that this plane has been circling since about 1:00 this afternoon. But as far as the reported problems at this point from the FAA, saying it is a Learjet 45. Reported problems with the landing gear door. It's possible that they are spending this time troubleshooting, which is why we have seen it go by so many different times here. But this is definitely an emergency situation as you can tell by just all of the crews on the ground there, preparing for potentially what could be a bad situation or perhaps they troubleshoot this, they fix it and the plane gets on the ground safely.

BERMAN: You know, it is interesting, you did mention this is a C-21, the military version of this Learjet aircraft. You could see a star on that plane as it was circling, when it did get into view. We can't see it right now, obviously. Hopefully we'll see it again shortly.

We should just give you a sense of a location here again. This is the St. Louis downtown airport actually in Illinois, just across the river from St. Louis, Missouri, there. All part of a major metropolitan area.

I want to bring in my friend and colleague Brooke Baldwin, who is following this as well with us. She will bring us the latest as this plane does attempt to land. As many as eight people on board, having trouble with its landing gear.

Brooke.