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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Drug Enforcement Administration Joins Jackson Death Investigation; U.S. Military Launches New Offensive in Afghanistan
Aired July 01, 2009 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, breaking news that federal drug authorities are now involved in the Michael Jackson investigation, also, new developments tonight concerning Jackson's doctor, all of this on a day that saw a will filed that is short, specific, and, in many ways, striking. We will have more on the will in a moment.
First, Drew Griffin, he has been working the investigation angle. With the late details, he joins us now.
What have we learned?
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Just got this tonight, that the DEA has been asked to join this, a federal law enforcement source telling us that they joined the investigation to look at whether prescription deaths were involved in this death.
A source said that the DEA would be looking at various doctors involved with Jackson, their practices and possible sources of supply. I did ask about that specific drug, Diprivan, or propofol. Propofol is the name of Diprivan.
Oddly enough, that's not a controlled substance, and not under the DEA's authority. But it's not unusual, number one, for the DEA to be involved with this. And, number two, if the investigation, even though it may center on that drug, it wouldn't be unusual for them to be brought in to look at that drug and to keep track of it, because what the DEA does is see if there enough abuse of this one particular drug, they may eventually add it to the controlled substance...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: So, with the DEA involvement, the -- the -- the scene becomes even more important, what drugs they may have found, what paraphernalia, if any, they may have found in the Jackson rented home?
GRIFFIN: What -- what -- why you bring the DEA in, because they have the authority now to see what was prescribed to Michael Jackson. The federal rules about all the privacy and the doctor issues are -- are negated.
They're able to see, oh, here's a drug. It's prescribed by a doctor. Now we can go question the doctor. We can see the doctor's records. We can see the amounts of prescriptions that were involved.
The DEA controls all of that to see where the flow, the supply, whether that supply was unreasonable in this case. Again, we still don't know what, if any, drugs were in Michael Jackson's system. But we do know that the DEA is now involved with the LAPD, assisting the LAPD in this.
COOPER: And, again, we may not know this. This is all new information we're learning. Do we know how far the DEA would look back?
I mean, there have been allegations. You know, we had Dr. Deepak Chopra several days ago, who said -- said that Michael Jackson asked him, I think it was back in 2005 or so, for -- for drugs like OxyContin.
Would -- would the investigation go back farther to see what other involvement other doctors might have had with Michael Jackson?
GRIFFIN: You know, quite frankly, I -- I don't know the answer to that.
COOPER: Right.
GRIFFIN: I don't know if they're only limited to the drugs that were found in the house, the drugs that may have been found in his body and where they come from, or whether or not this investigation now goes back to 10 years or so.
I do know that, in past investigations, the DEA has followed or opened up investigations, and gone after doctors, supplying drugs to even other people that weren't involved in the actual crime. You will remember Chris Benoit, the wrestler...
COOPER: Right.
GRIFFIN: ... involved in a murder/suicide. Well, that doctor was eventually charged with distributing steroids and other drugs far beyond Chris Benoit.
COOPER: There's also news on -- on Dr. Murray, who is the physician hired by Michael Jackson, paid for by -- with AEG...
GRIFFIN: That's right.
COOPER: ... who was there at the scene of the death. His car had been taken by authorities. It has now been released?
GRIFFIN: That's right. It is authorized for release by the LAPD. We're not sure what that means. All we do know is that that car must be now be no longer part of the investigation. Whether anything was confiscated or taken or seized from inside the car, we don't know.
But, at this point tonight, the LAPD has basically released the car. The doctor can come and pick it up.
COOPER: I think a lot of people would think that authorities have sealed off the house that Michael -- where Michael Jackson had this incident.
But that hasn't been the case. I mean, they were there initially on the scene, and then they left for two days. Members of the Jackson family came and went. I believe they took items out. And then authorities went back in two days later, right?
GRIFFIN: It does seem strange to us. A lot of things do. And I really wish we could talk directly with these detectives to see what was going on.
But you're absolutely right, Anderson. They developed information over the weekend, while the Jackson family was in that house with moving trucks moving stuff in -- or, basically, moving stuff out, tampering with what would be a crime scene if there was a crime committed there.
And then they went back with that information on Monday to get more stuff, two bags of evidence, whatever it was there. That leads to questions about whether that crime scene was secure and, also, quite frankly, why they didn't take the stuff on Friday.
COOPER: They certainly didn't view it as a crime scene at the time. And, if it does become that, that will be an issue that gets brought up in court, no doubt.
(CROSSTALK)
GRIFFIN: I think will we just have to wait and see how this investigation plays out, what, if any, charges are brought up, and what the thinking was at the time.
But, you know, common sense would dictate that you would either secure the crime scene, secure at least the bedroom or the bathroom or the medicine cabinet or something, so that, when did you go back there and get those drugs, you know for certain that those are the same...
COOPER: Right.
GRIFFIN: ... drugs that were there when Michael Jackson may have used them.
COOPER: A lot we simply don't know at this point.
Drew Griffin, appreciate the latest update on the DEA.
A lot more happening today -- a Jackson family spokesman releasing a statement saying there will be no viewing of any kind at Neverland Ranch up in Santa Barbara County. Beyond that, he would only say that word of a public memorial would be forthcoming.
The real blockbuster was the will dated seven years ago, filed today, a remarkably short and simple document for a man who had such a complicated family, financial and personal life. Detail on the will now from Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We now know more about what Michael Jackson wanted upon his death. This is his will, made public today.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: If it's possible to have a dramatic will, Michael Jackson has a dramatic will, because it settles some questions, but it raises a lot more. Who's going to get the money? Where is it all going to go?
KAYE: The document shows Jackson's fortune estimated at more than $500 million when the will was signed, July 7, 2002. That's the pop star's signature on the last page. His initials are scrawled at each paragraph.
(on camera): In the will -- and this key -- Jackson leaves the entire estate to the Michael Jackson Family Trust, a private trust where all his assets will be managed together. That trust is really what determines where the money goes.
(voice-over): CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin says the will only tells half the story.
TOOBIN: Trust documents may say, "I want money to go to my kids, to these relatives, to these charities."
KAYE: Jackson names his mother, Katherine Jackson, as guardian of his children. If she is unable or unwilling, he names singer Diana Ross. Ross and Jackson have a history. She was key to launching the career of the Jackson 5. She and Michael Jackson were lifelong friends.
TOOBIN: One of the many peculiar things about naming Diana Ross is that his mother is 79 years old. Diana Ross is 65 years old. So, the age problem for caring for young kids is not really addressed.
KAYE: Jackson's father, Joe Jackson, who the singer said used to beat him as a child, was not mentioned in the will. His father has denied abusing him.
His ex-wife and the mother of his two oldest children, 12-year- old Michael Jr. and 11-year-old Paris, was mentioned. The will reads: "I have intentionally omitted to provide for my former wife, Deborah Jean Rowe Jackson. She and Jackson divorced in 1998, and Rowe gave up her parental rights.
TOOBIN: The excluding of Debbie Rowe from the will suggests that he doesn't want to give her any money. But it is also possible that the trust may provide for Debbie Rowe. So, just because she doesn't get money in the will doesn't mean she doesn't get any money, period.
KAYE: Jackson's will did not specify where he wanted to be buried. We have confirmed he will not be buried at Neverland Ranch.
(on camera): But this Los Angeles cemetery could be one possibility, though no one here would comment. The Forest Lawn Memorial Park overlooks Disney Studios. If Jackson is laid to rest here, he would be in good company, so many stars are buried here, Lucille Ball, Gene Autry, and Bette Davis.
(voice-over): But, even when he is buried, the questions about Michael Jackson's life, and especially his final days, are unlikely to be put to rest with him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: So, Randi, we now know there's not going to be a viewing on Friday at the Neverland Ranch. Do we know anything more about when there may be?
KAYE: Well, let me check the watch, Anderson, because it changes every hour.
COOPER: Right.
KAYE: I mean, we have really been trying to keep up with this all day. As you know, earlier this week, we were told by the family that there would be some type of public viewing or memorial at Neverland.
Well, then, today, apparently, it's either too complicated or too costly, because the family released a statement now saying, there will not be any type of public service at Neverland Ranch. So, we're wondering, where is it going to happen? Well, there -- then we word that maybe it would happen at the Staples Center here in Los Angeles, maybe at the Coliseum.
COOPER: Which is a facility owned by -- the Staples Center is owned by AEG, which is...
KAYE: Right.
COOPER: ... the company that was doing the concerts in London.
KAYE: Right.
But the Coliseum says they are not having one there. They have nothing on the schedule. And the Staples Center apparently has the circus starting on -- on Monday, July 6, so they said: Absolutely not. If it's any time after that, we can't do it either.
So, really, the short answer or the long answer, depending on how you look at it...
COOPER: We don't.
KAYE: ... is, we don't know.
COOPER: All right. Randi Kaye, appreciate that.
Jeffrey Toobin joins us now, CNN senior legal analyst, a longtime reporter of the Jackson saga. Also, attorney and probate specialist Chuck Baumer is going to be here. We're going to be taking your questions a bit later in the program. And we will tell you how to text them to us shortly. Jeff, I want to start with you. The executors of the will said that the most important element for Michael Jackson was -- was Jackson's desire that his mom become the legal guardian for his kids. So, is it cut and dry? Will those wishes, without a doubt, be honored, or does the court have to approve it?
TOOBIN: Well, the court does have to approve it.
But there doesn't seem to be anything standing in the way of the court approving it, because there doesn't seem to be another plausible guardian for the kids. And, given the fact that this was clearly Michael Jackson's intent, I -- I -- at this point, I don't see any reason why she wouldn't be approved.
COOPER: Chuck, Diana Ross is named as a successor guardian. Would she have known in advance about that?
CHUCK BAUMER, WILL/PROBATE ATTORNEY: She -- in general, I would advise -- always advise my clients...
COOPER: To ask.
GRIFFIN: ... to tell people they name as guardians, to ask them, to make sure that they want to take that position on and that responsibility.
COOPER: And is that cut-and-dry? I mean, is that something that could be challenged if...
BAUMER: That one is...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: ... if members of the Jackson -- if something untoward happened to Katherine Jackson, if she passes at some point, could members of the Jackson family request that -- that the kids stay with them?
BAUMER: They could.
The court will always take deference to what the testator, Michael, asked for. But it is not cut-and-dry.
At some point, possibly, Debbie Rowe might want to step back in to the two older children. But, right now, since Katherine's named and has been appointed already, it is much more likely that she will be appointed guardian of the three children.
COOPER: And, by all accounts, I mean, anybody who has been following this story and everyone who knows Michael Jackson says that is exactly what he would have wanted. They have been saying that for days. And, certainly, that is what his will indicated today.
Jeffrey, Chuck, stay with us. We're going to talk more. I want to talk about the -- the money in Michael Jackson's estate. He was reportedly deeply in debt when he died, but a massive spike in music sales may change all that in a hurry, certainly over the long term.
Text us your questions for Jeff and Chuck to 94553. Your message has to start with the letters A.C., then a space, then your name and the question. If you don't include A.C. first, with a space, we can't receive the text.
Also tonight, later, breaking news: the massive American military operation under way in Afghanistan. Michael Ware joins us live with the latest on where it's happening and why the Pentagon considers this so crucial -- that and more tonight, as we're live from Los Angeles.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: And we are in Los Angeles tonight, where Michael Jackson's will today was filed, just five short pages, the initials "M.J." by many of the paragraphs on the will -- Katherine Jackson nominated as guardian of his three kids, Diana Ross the backup, Deborah Rowe, birth mother of the two oldest kids, specifically excluded, father Joe Jackson not mentioned at all.
Probate specialist Chuck Baumer is with us, and CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin joins us as well.
So -- so, Chuck, the money went to a Jackson family trust. And we don't know the details of what that trust means, right?
BAUMER: And one of the reasons you establish a trust is to keep the details private, and not make them public.
With a will, everything is public, and we will know all the details, unless they're able to convince the court to review things in what's called in camera, outside the public screening.
COOPER: And you have looked at the will. You think it's a very thoughtful will.
BAUMER: Yes. I think it's a thoughtful will from -- and one of the interesting things about the will is, normally, you initial at the bottom of a page and not every paragraph.
Somebody might have thought there would be a will contest because he didn't name the family. So, they wanted it clear that he named -- he had everything in -- of his intent is clearly spelled out: "Yes, I read this paragraph. Yes, I agree with it."
COOPER: And, Jeff, he also named executors to -- to his will.
TOOBIN: And these are real serious professionals.
You know, all of us who have followed the Jackson saga all these years have seen a lot of real third-rate people, people who really just didn't have any quality, except an ability to leach off Michael Jackson. But the author of this will is John Branca, who is one of the leading entertainment attorneys in L.A. These are people who really know what they're doing. And this will illustrates it. It's a professional will. It -- it's very hard to imagine how it could be challenged. And, you know, the grownups are in charge this time.
COOPER: And -- and, Chuck, it's -- it's...
BAUMER: That's totally right.
COOPER: It's a will that looks to Michael Jackson's future, because he will have a future in the music business.
BAUMER: He has a huge future.
It is like -- you know, you can compare it to any very, very famous star, like Elvis. When they pass away, their future goes on forever, because everybody remembers it. They're talking about he has -- still has fan clubs.
COOPER: Right.
BAUMER: He sold out, they said on the radio, the million tickets in England in like a day?
COOPER: Yes.
We -- and we have got a text question sent in by a viewer, Lilibeth (ph). She asks, 'Can anyone contest a will?"
Jeff, I will ask that question to you. Can anyone -- there's so many people involved in Jackson's life. Could this will and trust be legally challenged by other people? I mean, could Debbie Rowe, for instance, challenge -- challenge it? Or even, you know, if there was a sperm donor involved in -- in any of this, could that person challenge this?
TOOBIN: Well, anybody can walk into court and say, "I have a right to Michael Jackson's money."
The question is, can they successfully challenge it? As far as I can tell, there are no grounds for anyone to successfully challenge this will. It seems to be thoughtful, complete. He included some people, excluded others. That's certainly his right to do.
So, I -- I -- I think it's always possible there could be litigation, but, at least at this point, I don't see any basis for -- for someone who could win a case.
COOPER: So, at this point, Chuck, do we know who is in control of -- I mean, is there -- is there one person -- you liken it to when a king dies...
BAUMER: Yes.
COOPER: ... and lots of people are kind of competing for control. Is there somebody who's in charge... BAUMER: Well, we have...
COOPER: ... of Michael Jackson's empire?
BAUMER: We have two groups competing right now, the two gentlemen named as executors and the family, because the family objected to admitting the will to probate and appointing them as temporary executors of the estate.
That's one of the things that will be thrashed out Monday in court. If the judge -- it is quite possible that the judge will say, here, we have a valid will.
The attorneys filed papers today saying everything needs to be started immediately. They wanted all the powers likened to what an individual could do with the assets. So, it's much more likely than not that they will be -- wind up being in control after Monday.
You never know what a judge is going to do. But, you know, as Jeffrey says, it is a valid will.
COOPER: We will be following it.
Chuck Baumer, appreciate your expertise. Thank you very much.
BAUMER: Thank you.
COOPER: And, Jeffrey Toobin, as well, thank you.
In case you want to read the will yourself, you can go to AC360.com right now. We have it there, along with more detail on many of the other stories that we're covering tonight.
There's been a -- a lot of talk about what drugs Michael Jackson may have been taking in the months and weeks and days leading up to his death, if any. We're going to know better about what drugs, if any, he may have taken when the autopsy results are made public.
But a nurse what says she treated Jackson several months ago claims he asked her for a powerful sedative called Diprivan. If you have never heard of it, there's good reason for that. Up next, Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows us how Diprivan compares to the kind of sleeping pills you may use and what you need to know about pills you might use.
Also ahead tonight, remember Bubbles the chimp? Ever what happened to him? Our own intrepid reporter John Zarrella has tracked him down. You will see how Bubbles is doing now.
And millions of Americans knew him as the man with the traveler's checks, but Karl Malden was also an acting legend -- more on his life and his passing, his remarkable career. Today, he died at the age of 97. We will have details of his life when 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: South Carolina's governor, Mark Sanford, changes his mind. Now he says he will not release financial records that show who paid for trips to see his mistress. We will have the latest on that ahead.
But, first, Erica Hill joins us a 360 news and business bulletin -- Erica.
ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya vowing to fly home this weekend, despite a warrant for his arrest -- the announcement coming just a day after he was in Washington for a meeting of the Organization of American States.
The OAS voted to give coup leaders to restore Zelaya to power, or risk suspension in the group. The Pentagon, meantime, also turning up the heat by suspending joint military operations with Honduras to protest the coup.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today declaring a fiscal emergency for his state -- now, that move will force lawmakers into a special session to tackle the $24.3 billion state budget gap.
Despite some positive spin from automakers, there's no denying the weak sales for the month of June, General Motors down 33 percent from a year ago, worse than expected -- both Toyota and Chrysler also lower than anticipated. Ford was the only major automaker to beat analyst predictions.
And veteran actor Karl Malden, who won an Oscar for his role in "A Streetcar Named Desire," has died. Malden will be remembered as a consummate. He excelled at plainspoken working-class roles and made in Hollywood, on Broadway, and TV. Karl Malden was 97, Anderson.
COOPER: I think about him in "On the Waterfront." He was so great.
HILL: An amazing actor.
COOPER: Coming up next -- yes.
And coming up next on 360: Michael Jackson and the dangers of using drugs to go to sleep. Did he have a history of using powerful surgical sedatives to sleep? If so, how are they different than the pills that millions of Americans use insomnia? Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us next for that.
And, later, remember Bubbles, Bubbles the chimp, Jackson's pet? Well, we have found him, and you will meet him. See where he is now -- coming up on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, until the autopsy results are complete, we won't know what drugs, if any, Michael Jackson had in his system when he died.
But a powerful fast-acting sedative called Diprivan, also known as propofol, has been brought up. The DEA is now involved. The news is breaking tonight that they're involved in the investigation.
Propofol, or Diprivan, was brought up by Cherilyn Lee, a registered nurse who said that she treated Jackson months ago, and that, at that time, he had begged her to give him Diprivan to cure his insomnia.
Now, Lee says she refused, telling him it was dangerous and could actually kill him.
You may be wondering what makes Diprivan, or propofol, so dangerous, and how is it different from sleeping pills or other sleep medications?
360 M.D. Sanjay Gupta explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Insomnia, Michael Jackson allegedly complained about it all the time.
CHERILYN LEE, REGISTERED NURSE: Because he was so adamant about, "I will pay any amount of money for someone to help me to sleep."
GUPTA: And, with that, he joined the nearly one in three Americans who complain of insomnia sometimes, pretty common, but the way he may have treated his sleeplessness, stunning.
(on camera): Have you ever heard of such a thing?
DR. ZEEV KAIN, DEPARTMENT OF ANESTHESIOLOGY CHAIRMAN, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE: I have heard about abuse of propofol within the health care settings. I have never heard about propofol being used, or Diprivan being used, to -- as a sleep aid medication.
GUPTA: If you had to sort of put this together, how could something like this happen?
KAIN: A very interesting question.
One of the possibilities is a mixup within the public about what is sleep and what is general anesthesia. So, when you go to the operating room for surgery, you undergo general anesthesia, which is a -- obviously, a physician-induced coma. When you sleep at night in your bed, that is going to sleep.
GUPTA (voice-over): But it's not.
And to understand how it's different, you need to look inside the brain. With an over-the-counter sleep med, the medication typically floods histamine receptors. With a prescription sleeping pill, Ambien, Restoril, Lunesta, they work by hitting even more areas of the brain, the hypothalamus, the brain stem, the cortex.
But propofol?
(on camera): So what is propofol exactly? KAIN: Propofol is a -- is a central nervous system depressant. It works on your brain. It basically puts the entire brain to sleep. It depends on the dose that you use, now. If you use a touch of propofol, then you can actually get a high from it. The more propofol you use, the more you get into general anesthesia.
GUPTA: Take a look at it. This is what it looks like. It almost looks like kind of milk. In fact, in hospitals, they refer it to as milk of amnesia.
(voice-over): Think of it as a turbocharged sleeping agent. It works by essentially putting the whole brain to rest. It is a medically-induced coma.
(on camera): How dangerous is this?
KAIN: As dangerous as it comes. You will die if you will give yourself or if will somebody gives you propofol, and you are not in the proper medical hands.
GUPTA: Can you write me a prescription for some propofol, and I can go get some?
KAIN: I don't think so.
GUPTA: Not possible?
KAIN: Not possible. Propofol is injected intravenously. It is not taken orally. So, I don't think that the pharmacy will give you intravenous propofol. You have to go to a hospital.
GUPTA: So, I really wanted to find out for myself, how easy is to get this particular medication? So, we came to this pharmacy in North Hollywood to find out.
If I came in with a prescription for propofol, is that -- I mean, could I get a prescription for propofol filled here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
GUPTA: Absolutely not?
(voice-over): Absolutely not, because this drug is not a sleeping medicine. It is a powerful sedative that should never be used outside of a medical setting. And, if used improperly, it can kill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Sanjay joins us now.
Sanjay, how long do -- do the effects of this drug last? Do we know?
GUPTA: A very, very short time.
COOPER: Yes.
GUPTA: And, so, this is a medication that has to be given continuously. You have an I.V. in. The medication is dripping in continuously, which makes it very interesting.
If you stop it, after two or three minutes, the person will likely wake up, and they won't have any effects of it anymore.
COOPER: So, someone would have to be monitored while they're -- they're on it?
GUPTA: Absolutely, get their oxygenation checked, their blood pressure, their heart rate.
But it brings up another interesting point. Because it -- you know, it disappears from the body so quickly, it is hard to detect.
COOPER: And there has been abuse of it, the doctor was saying, but among medical professionals? Is that...
GUPTA: Yes. He was talking about medical professionals and people who have gotten their hands on it other ways.
But, even this doctor, who is the chairman of anesthesia at a big academic center, had not heard of it being used outside the medical setting.
COOPER: Well, the DEA is investigating. That's the -- the big news today, Drew Griffin reporting.
We will -- we will just have to wait and see.
GUPTA: I just think it's so interesting, the fact that it disappears so quickly.
And, when this autopsy is done, are they going to even be able to find something like this? It is going to be an interesting question.
COOPER: We simply don't know. This is one nurse reporting this.
GUPTA: That's right.
COOPER: From several months ago. We frankly just don't know what this situation is.
GUPTA: Hard to say, yes.
COOPER: Thanks. We told you it would be weeks before the final autopsy results are available. To find out why toxicology reports may take so long to complete in a medical examination, go to AC360.com. You'll find all the answers there.
We're hearing from many of you tonight. Join the live chat, happening right now at AC360.com.
Still ahead, new calls for South Carolina's governor to resign. Can't stop talking about his mistress, though, and those records he said he would reveal to prove that he didn't use state funds to visit her, yes, he's not going to turn them over at all. The latest on that coming up.
Plus, an incredible survival story. Have you heard about this? A teenage girl clings to the wreckage of a jetliner that crashed into the ocean. More than 100 other passengers died. She seems to be the only, the sole survivor. How did she hold on for so long? We'll look at that, ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, tonight, as new details of Mark Sanford's affair emerge there are more calls for South Carolina's governor to step down. Sanford says he cheated on his wife and confessed to, in his words, "crossing the line" with other women several times. He's also refusing now to release his financial records about his trip to Argentina to see his mistress, something he said he would do.
Top state Republican lawmakers say he's lost the trust of South Carolinians and he should quit as governor. The pressure is growing for his to resign, but so far the governor is not budging, and he is still talking. Candy Crowley has the "Raw Politics."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After a day of public calls and private urging that he resign, Governor Mark Sanford is described by one South Carolina Republican as defiant, noting that Sanford's political career showed a willingness to fight lonely battles. The source, who has known Sanford for decades, said he'd be shocked if the governor resigned in the next few days.
"Honestly, I think he could go down in the ugliest, messiest way. It certainly would fit the profile."
GINA SMITH, "THE STATE": If there's anything the governor likes, it's a good fight. If anything is going to change here, it's going to have to come from the public.
CROWLEY: Several Republican sources contacted over the course of the day suggested the South Carolina governor wrote his own political obituary in the past 24 hours, with the needlessly detailed interview with the Associated Press, during which Sanford called his mistress his soul mate and called the relationship a love story, "a forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day."
Sanford also offered that he was trying to fall back in love with his wife, while revealing that he had crossed lines with other women but didn't have sex with them. "Have I done stupid? I have. You know, you meet someone. You dance with them. You go to a place where you probably shouldn't have gone."
In addition to details, there was a bizarre-o world feel to the governor's continued explanations. "If you come into connection with a soul that touches yours in a way that no one's ever had, even if it's a place you can't go, this notion of knowing that you know, for me, became very important."
And there was this description of his latest trip down to Argentina to see his mistress. "I got down on one knee and said, I am here in the hope that we can prove this whole thing to be a mirage."
No mirage back home, where the Sanford soap opera may be getting old. South Carolinians are chatting it up on the Web site of the Columbia newspaper, "The State."
SMITH: There's a lot of people who say they're suffering from TMI, too much information. They're not exactly clear why governor feels the need to give such exhaustive, detailed information about what's going on.
CROWLEY: Nearly every political barometer indicates Mark Sanford's days in the governor's office are numbered. In South Carolina's capital city, one of the few who apparently does not think that is the governor.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Governor Sanford's wife was not at his side, you may have noticed, when he confessed publicly, and she's been pretty tough in her public statements so far. So is Jenny Sanford the new role model for wives of unfaithful politicians? Go to AC360.com right now to read one opinion.
Coming up next, breaking news. A major U.S. operation in Afghanistan. Thousands of Marines move into the hot bed of Taliban violence. We'll talk to CNN's Michael Ware about the new strategy.
And we've tracked down one of Michael Jackson's long-lost best friends. Remember Bubbles the chimp? We'll show you where he is and how he is doing. What life is like for a chimp when his time in the spotlight has passed.
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COOPER: Coming to you tonight from Los Angeles, where we'll have more on the Michael Jackson investigation shortly.
But there's breaking news tonight out of Afghanistan to tell you about. U.S. troops have launched a major operation against Taliban fighters in the Helmand River Valley. It's in the southwest part of the country, a region that produces more opium than anywhere else in the world. It is the first large-scale test of the U.S. military's new counterinsurgency strategy. Some 4,000 Marines are involved.
Michael Ware joins me now from Baghdad. He's been covering the pull-out of U.S. troops there, a turning point this week in Iraq.
Michael, Afghanistan. Major operation, 4,000 American troops, Marines pushing through southern Afghanistan. How significant is this? MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is significant. I mean, this represents the new focus, both militarily and politically, on Afghanistan.
But I can tell you, Anderson, I lived for a year in Kandahar, which was the former capital of the Taliban. This area where the troops are moving in Helmand, I know it like the back of my hand. I was running around there in 2002. This is ominous terrain.
The Russians never took this territory. And I know that going up the valley where these troops are now, it's littered with the rusting hulks of Russian armor. This is not going to be an easy place to fight.
And I've seen some of this before. Some of this is reminiscent in different parts of Afghanistan. I remember way over in the east of the country going and living with the American Green Berets and some Marines in very small outposts in some of the most fiercest valleys on that part of the country. So in some ways this is the old made new again.
But I can tell you one thing, Anderson. Like I said, no one's ever taken this country off the hands of the commanders there. There's going to be one heck of a fight for this, Anderson.
COOPER: Well, 4,000 Marines, I give them good odds. The British have been fighting there this past year. It is a huge opium-growing area. Is this, though, a change in U.S. strategy? They're not just moving in. Their strategy right now is to move in and hold. Right?
WARE: That's right. That's right. And that's classic counterinsurgency, and we know that Centcom Commander David Petraeus literally rewrote the American manual on this kind of warfare. He applied it here in Iraq, and they're reapplying it in Afghanistan.
But, for example, in areas along the Afghan border, there has long been posts within Afghan villages, where we've seen the troops doing precisely this. Not just move in and clear but stick and stay. The hold concept of the clear, hold and build strategy of counterinsurgency.
It's the first time we're seeing such a devoted effort in this part of Afghanistan. I think what we'll see is, as these troops move in now in force, we'll now see them start to set up their little bases. I would suspect they'll receive little resistance initially. The insurgents there, the Afghan fighters who fought against the Soviets in the same valley, I suspect will just be sitting back and waiting and watching. And they'll wait for the little posts to be established, and that's what they'll start hitting, Anderson.
COOPER: Let's keep those Marines in the prayers tonight. Michael, you're been in Baghdad. Two days since the U.S. pulled back troops out of major cities. A big milestone. We've seen pictures of Iraqis yesterday dancing in the streets. How have they reacted and how are American troops reacting right now? WARE: Well, Anderson, this has really been a mixed bag of emotions across the spectrum from Iraqi to American. I mean, on the eve of this landmark handover, which was -- which is the end of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, there was tumultuous scenes among the Iraqis.
I went to a park here in central Baghdad. Literally hundreds of families picnicking, bands strolling about the park like mariachis. Young men singing and dancing, draped in Iraqi flags.
National television, state TV had a countdown timer in the corner of its screen, its anchors draped in national flags. For them, this is like popping the champagne cork on Iraqi nationality -- nationalism. They're such a fiercely proud people, and whether it was well intended or not on our part, they see this as the end of a foreign occupation, and they've been celebrating it that way.
They declared it a national holiday, indeed, National Sovereignty Day.
Among some in the American mission, that hasn't been easy to take. I know that some of the officials who were aggrieved that such a celebration, they felt, belied the American sacrifice in this country. Four thousand, three hundred and twenty-four American servicemen and servicewomen laid down their lives. And some felt that not enough due was being paid to that here in Iraq.
And I'd like to think that at least in America people paused and stopped on that day to think about that sacrifice, Anderson.
COOPER: Yes. It's a good point, Michael. We got a lot of e- mails from viewers, kind of angry at seeing those pictures, and saying they didn't see a lot of Iraqis saying "thank you." And that's something they would have liked to hear, certainly.
Michael Ware, appreciate the reporting from Baghdad tonight. Michael, thanks.
We have new, disturbing reports out of Iran to tell you about, as well, tonight. In the wake of the deadly protests, we are hearing of hundreds more people detained.
And then there's the plight of a "Newsweek" correspondent. His name is Maziar Bahari, and he's been held by Iran since June 21st. The government says Bahari says he conspired against the country and worked to undermine the government. That's a charge they've made against many reporters and bloggers who they are still holding.
Reza Sayah is with us in Atlanta tonight. He was in Tehran during the bloodshed. Here's his report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Iranian government has finally acknowledged the arrest of Canadian-Iranian Maziar Bahari. The award-winning filmmaker and journalist had been missing for nine days. Iran's state-run news agency reported Bahari had confessed that western journalists in Iran were spies.
(voice-over) "Most western media are against Iran and therefore, the intelligence work by their reporters is undeniable," Bahari allegedly confessed. "It is possible that the West hires these reporters for getting information. But I believe that the Ministry of Intelligence's efforts to oversee foreign journalists' activities in Iran reduces the possibility."
CHRIS DICKEY, MANAGING EDITOR, "NEWSWEEK": I think we just have to dismiss the whole statement.
SAYAH: "Newsweek" managing editor Chris Dickey defends Bahari's work and is convinced Bahari's statement is a false confession.
DICKEY: We felt that basically it didn't have much to do with reality or with the truth. It's preposterous to suggest some of the kind of things that are suggested in that statement.
SAYAH (voice-over): Amnesty International say Bahari's alleged confession is part of the Islamic republic's strategy to intimidate the opposition and blame western powers for the post election turmoil.
HASSIBA HADJ-SAHRAQUI, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: We know from the people we've already talked to that people have been forced to make such confessions on TV where there is supposed to have acted at the instigation on some foreign powers.
SAYAH: Iran's state-funded press TV has broadcast several interviews with individuals who claim to be guilt-ridden protesters. "The international media made me do it," said this woman.
For the shooting death of 26-year-old Neda Agha Soltan, the CIA is to blame suggested one Iranian government official.
On Monday, President Ahmadinejad reportedly congratulated Iran's intelligence community for preventing a plot to topple the regime.
Amnesty International says as many as 1,000 people have disappeared since election day in Iran. With his purported statement, journalist Maziar Bahari is no longer among the missing. What we don't know is what happened to Bahari before or after his so-called confession.
Reza Sayah, CNN, Atlanta.
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COOPER: And we'll continue to follow what happens to him and the others who are being held in the days and weeks ahead.
Coming up next, an incredible story of survival. A 13-year-old girl may be the only survivor of a plane crash that killed more than 140 other passengers. She clung to wreckage in the seas for hours. How she held on, ahead.
We also caught up with Michael Jackson's former sidekick. Remember Bubbles the chimp? We'll show you what his life is like now. You'll see for yourself, ahead.
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COOPER: Tonight, connecting with one of Michael Jackson's old friends and perhaps one of his oddest: Bubbles the chimp. This clip from YouTube shows Jackson and his pet back in 1987, Bubbles there being -- getting some of the, I guess, tea that Michael Jackson was drinking.
Jackson and Bubbles apparently lived together, dressed alike. The singer would take him on tour, even out to parties. Sure, it may seem odd now, but remember, this was the 1980s. So hey, different rules applied.
Anyway, Jackson parted ways with Bubbles once the chimp got too big and too hard to control. Bubbles was then kept by an animal trainer until 2005 when he was sent to an animal sanctuary in Florida, and that's where we caught up with him. Bubbles is now 26 years old, and John Zarrella tracked him down.
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JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meet Bubbles. Other than Tarzan's cheetah, he may be the most famous chimpanzee in the world. Twenty-five years ago, he was Michael Jackson's pet.
PATTI RAGAN, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR GREAT APES: Probably the best tribute that we could pay to Michael Jackson here is to just take excellent care of Bubbles, because I know he loved Bubbles.
ZARRELLA: Patti Ragan is director of the Center for Great Apes outside Wauchula, Florida. For the last four years, Bubbles has lived here at the nonprofit sanctuary with 41 other chimpanzees and orangutans. Nearly all were circus performers, pets or in the movies.
RAGAN: They relax. They take naps together. They might go up in the top of the coop, or they might go out and shoot and lie under a tree in the tunnel system. They groom each other. And they fight, and they have arguments, too.
ZARRELLA (on camera): Like we do?
RAGAN: Yes.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Since Jackson's death, there have been so many stories about what happened to Bubbles, most flat-out wrong says Ragan. She decided to let us visit exclusively with him.
RAGAN: Hey, Bubbles. Hey. How's my boy?
ZARRELLA: He was clearly comfortable with our camera in his face.
Old habits are hard to break. He likes cucumbers for lunch and, of course, bananas. He likes making faces. Bubbles was born in Texas in 1983. It's not clear where. At about 8 months old, animal trainer Bob Dunne purchased Bubbles for Jackson. The two became inseparable. They posed for pictures with fans. Here, Bubbles posed with a picture of Michael. They ate together and went on tour together. This YouTube video shows the two during a press conference in Japan.
But eventually, when Bubbles got too big and strong, he was returned to animal trainer Dunne, where he lived until four years ago. That Jackson couldn't keep him is a perfect example, Ragan says, why chimps should never be pets. They get too strong.
RAGAN: This is one of the most successful and wealthy individuals at the time he had Bubbles, and it was not even appropriate for him to keep Bubbles after a certain age.
ZARRELLA: Jackson never came to visit Bubbles, but if he had...
RAGAN: Most of our chimps recognize their former owners, and they get very excited to see them. And I -- I am sure that he would have recognized him.
ZARRELLA (on camera): He would have gotten pretty excited to see Michael.
(voice-over) They might even have moonwalked together for old time's sake.
John Zarrella, CNN, Wauchula, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Wow. Remarkable, Erica. Erica, I don't know if you remember Sheryl Crow was on our program, I think it was last week, saying she had been on the "Bad" tour with Michael Jackson as a backup performer, backup singer, and that Jackson used to -- at that point, Bubbles was getting already kind of out of control. And he used to have to sort of poke Bubbles with a ballpoint pen, the end of one, to kind of make him pay attention.
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: To get him to calm down a little bit. It's amazing, too, that he would remember Michael Jackson all these years later.
COOPER: Yes, it is, yes. Yes, incredible that they remember their owners.
Erica, I know you're following a bunch of other stories for us. What else have you got in our bulletin?
HILL: Well, we'll start off with President Obama today, who held a health-care town-hall meeting in Virginia, where he repeated his calls to overhaul the current health-care system. He is calling for better service, more access to insurance. The president urged the audience to reject critics who say his plan is too expensive and call it a step towards socialized medicine. The 13-year-old girl who is the only survivor of the Yemeni jet liner that crashed in the Indian Ocean this week. Now headed home to France with a broken collarbone. Her father says she managed to somehow hold onto a piece of wreckage for more than 12 hours until she was rescued. The girl said she didn't feel a thing. Her mother is presumed to be among the 153 people who died in the crash.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates looking for ways to make the "don't ask, don't tell" policy to be, quote, "more humane" so some gays and lesbians could still serve in the U.S. military. In a transcript released by the Pentagon Gates says he wants to see what can be done for those who may have been outed by a jilted lover or out of vengeance.
And this definitely not for anybody with a fear of heights. Tomorrow the Sears Tower in Chicago -- check that out -- is opening new glass balconies. They're more like glass boxes. There you go. Suspended from the 103rd floor...
COOPER: Yikes.
HILL: ... how about a bird's eye view of the city below?
COOPER: Oh.
HILL: I think not. It's interesting. One of the...
COOPER: I hate heights.
HILL: One of the owners -- I do, too. One of the owners of the Sears Tower said he got a little queasy the first time he went out, but after 30 or 40 trips out there, he was fine.
COOPER: I would not do that, no way. Yes.
HILL: I'm with you. It's like that Grand Canyon thing, a little too creepy for me.
COOPER: Exactly. "The Shot" is next, Erica. One reporter has had enough with an apparently drunk Michael Jackson fan, and what he did is going to surprise you.
And at the top of the hour, also with the latest on the Michael Jackson investigation. Details of his will, who he left out of it, and the plans for a memorial as well as the questions about drug use. We'll be right back.
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COOPER: Erica, time for "The Shot." We've all had bad experiences on live television. People that think they're clever by waving behind you when you're doing a standup. Or trying to get into a live shot.
HILL: Not funny. Yes. COOPER: It's not clever. They're not the first person to try it. It always happens. I've wanted to hit folks now and then, I must admit. I haven't yet.
But a reporter named Steven Ryan apparently decided he'd had enough after a particularly belligerent passerby kept interrupting his live shot in Las Vegas. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People gather to listen to music. People like this. They listen to this stuff all the time, for example. They see this guy -- yes, you like Michael Jackson, too, don't you? Well, as you see, this guy is a little out of control right now, but you can't blame him for that. You know -- let's tell you a little bit more about Michael Jackson.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael Jackson.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So basically, the deal is...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Apparently unruly fan out there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: I love the reaction of the anchor team at KTNV. Just take a look at their eyes watching that. Yes. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's tell you a little more about Michael Jackson.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael Jackson.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So basically, the deal...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Horror. Sheer horror. You know, that reporter used to be a writer at Headline News when I worked there.
COOPER: Is that right?
HILL: It is, yes.
COOPER: Well, I feel for him. I mean, who hasn't wanted to do that? Have you every slugged anyone?
HILL: No. But I came really close this past new year's. I don't know if you remember, but yes.
COOPER: Yes, I do remember.
HILL: There were a few people that, really, I was quite done with. COOPER: Yes, yes. It was a long...
HILL: Bringing back lovely memories.
COOPER: You can see all the most "Shots" on our Web site at AC360.com. Also you can see "Beat 360" there.
Coming up at the top of the hour, plenty of reporters but no brawls, not yet. The latest breaking developments on the Michael Jackson investigation, now with federal drug authorities getting into the act. That and Jackson's will. More details ahead on 360.
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