Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Michael Jackson's Physician to Meet with LAPD Detectives; Investigating Michael Jackson's Death; Turmoil Continues in Iran

Aired June 27, 2009 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDIRKCA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: More information just in. We get confirmation now that the attorneys representing Dr. Conrad Murray, who was the personal doctor of Michael Jackson, the attorneys are telling CNN, telling our Ted Rowlands, they will indeed be meeting with the LAPD detectives not long from now. They're in Los Angeles as it pertains to what may or may not have taken place involving Michael Jackson at his estate.

Dr. Murray has been his personal attorney (sic), but through the attorney, Dr. Murray has said that he is very upset as are millions of people across the world it's a human tragedy and he's upset, "obviously over the loss of Mr. Jackson but he is not a suspect in the death of Mr. Jackson." So, we'll delve into the investigation, the potential custody battle and the debt that Michael Jackson's death leaves behind in a full hour devoted to Michael Jackson, "Death of a Legend," right after this.

Dan Simon is in Los Angeles. Dan, what can you tell us about what Jackson's doctor is saying and what about him hiring an attorney?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, let me just sort of set the stage of where I am, I am outside of Jackson's rented mansion in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles. And we have seen moving trucks here this morning. The trucks left a short time ago. They were here maybe for about three hours.

Obviously suggests that the Jackson family has made preparations to have his things removed. Also, we saw some of Jackson's siblings inside the house. We're told that Michael Jackson's brother Randy was here as well as his sister Rebbie.

In the meantime, Fred, in terms of the investigation, obviously police still looking at a couple of different things. We are told that Jackson's personal physician has hired a Houston-based attorney. That attorney as well as the doctor involved in this case are going to be meeting with the Los Angeles police department later this afternoon. We are told that the doctor is not the subject of any sort of criminal investigation. We're told that he is cooperating fully but that meeting going to be taking place later this afternoon. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right. Dan Simon, thanks so much. Our Ted Rowlands also in Los Angeles. He actually had a conversation with some of the attorneys representing Dr. Murray. And what more is being said, Ted? TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, Fredericka, you know, for the last day and a half, two days, there's been a lot of speculation about Dr. Conrad Murray. This is Jackson's personal physician, a cardiologist who was in the Holmby Hills house when Jackson was being resuscitated and when that 911 call was made. You can hear the doctor in the background performing what we assume was CPR on Michael Jackson at the time during that call.

We haven't heard from him, what we have heard is that the LAPD was looking for him. Well, today we finally got some answer as to where he has been. He has been in Los Angeles, according to his attorneys. And he's been waiting for an attorney from Houston to come out to Los Angeles to go with him for an LAPD interview.

A quote from Matthew Alford who is representing Dr. Murray in part with his partners in Houston. He said, this is quote from Alford talking about Murray. "He's upset as are millions of people across the world. It's a human tragedy and he's obviously upset over the loss of Mr. Jackson. He is not a suspect in the death of Mr. Jackson. We intend to cooperate fully."

I asked him if he could shed any light on treatments Dr. Murray had given to Michael Jackson especially before Michael Jackson's death. And he basically did not give us much. Saying, "I have no information as to what if any treatments or course of treatments he was doing for Mr. Jackson at all." But he did say they are cooperating and they plan to meet with LAPD detectives this afternoon here in Los Angeles.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ted Rowlands, thanks so much from Los Angeles. I appreciate that. A lot of outpouring taking place outside the home of Michael Jackson's parents. That's where we find our Kara Finnstrom in Encino. Kara.

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka, as you mentioned, this is a the Jackson family home. It's where the Jacksons had been known to gather. We have been seeing a number of people going in and out. Jermaine Jackson just went into this compound about a half an hour ago. I want to show you just across the way, you can see a vigil has been set up there. It's been round the clock. And I just spoke with a Los Angeles police officer who estimates about 900 people have probably been in and out of this area today. Leaving fond remembrances, pictures, flowers.

I want to bring in one of those people right now, This is Maria, and Maria you brought your camera with you today, and I just want to show folks, if you can hold it up for me. Let's turn it around here. She took a picture of herself across the way and Maria, you were telling me you want to share this with your family in Brazil.

MARIA: Yes. We love him.

FINNSTROM: And you said he was so important to you and a lot of people around the world because of his outreach. Explain that to me again.

MARIA: Well, he's a very caring man for everybody. I'm sorry.

FINNSTROM: OK. It's OK.

MARIA: And everybody in Brazil loves him like everybody else. So I'm sorry.

FINNSTROM: That's OK. A lot of emotion out here, Fredricka, a lot of fans who have come obviously from far away places. She's here in the U.S. but again she's going to be mailing this picture to her family in Brazil.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kara Finnstrom, thank you so much, right outside the home of Michael Jackson's parents' home there in Encino. Let's go to New York where there are lots of tears as well as lots of smiles. People are outside the Apollo Theater where they remember the Jacksons making their public debut on the Apollo Theater stage. And that's where we find also find our Susan Candiotti. Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And you also see a mix of emotions here at the Apollo Theater. Over my shoulder is kind of a tribute set up with flowers, with candles, with photographs of Michael Jackson. They have been playing music. They have been chanting Michael's name here and maybe if we're lucky during this live report, we'll see people dancing again.

I don't see them doing it at the moment, but let's remind you of a little bit of history here. It was during an amateur night in 1969 when Michael Jackson and his brothers as the Jackson 5 made their debut on the stage in their pre-star days. And they were so popular as the story goes, the crowds went wild. They got a standing ovation and in those days those were tough to come by. Because these audiences at the Apollo Theater on amateur night are pretty tough. You can hear them chanting now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael, Michael, Michael.

CANDIOTTI: Since then, Michael Jackson came back here again to perform in 2002 at a democratic fund-raiser and they're planning a lot more after that. You've been in the crowd here, I know you'd like to say something. Do you have a favorite song of his that comes to mind?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of them. All of them. There's not even one that I don't like. All of them I love.

CANDIOTTI: How hard do you think it will be to go on -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't even know. I don't even know. I'm getting chills right now. I don't know.

CANDIOTTI: OK. Here comes the dancing. I don't know if we have enough time I could show it to you, Fredericka. You let me know if we're running out of time and I'll throw it back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Susan Candiotti, thanks so much outside the Apollo Theater there where people are celebrating the life and the legacy of Michael Jackson. All right. Somebody who was in close proximity to Michael Jackson fairly recently just in 2007 actually conducted an interview for "Ebony" magazine. And here's the cover that was on "Ebony" magazine. It was entitled "Michael 25 years after "Thriller"."

Bryan Monroe conducted that interview. And he joins us now from Chicago. Good to see you, Bryan.

BRYAN MONROE, EPIC RECORDS: Good to see you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Well, tell me what that moment was like, a, hey, I'm getting ready to interview Michael Jackson. That's something that every reporter wants to do simply because he's so difficult to nail down as an interviewee. So how did that come about?

MONROE: Well, we did a lot of planning and preparation for it. You know, we were negotiating with his people over the course of about nine months. And we had a team there, creative director, another writer, our director of photography. We did this across three days, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. And for instance on Monday, we did the big photo shoot at the Brooklyn Museum across several different sets there. And he was really energetic and fun. Almost frenetic because it was the old Michael. He was doing his dance moves and everything.

WHITFIELD: I was going to say, we saw some clips of that -

MONROE: Yes.

WHITFIELD: And he was - I mean, that's how he was at ease and it was up to the photographer to try and nail down a moment, because all his classic dance moves. That was him in front of the camera. Were you surprised by that?

MONROE: I was also surprised by - he was very nice to everyone. He would greet the security guard and the camera assistants, and you know everyone part of the shoot. And then the next day, we had a sit down with him and we only thought we would get about 15 or 20 minutes. So I had all the questions laid out, trying to get through as many as we could. Ended up we had close to two hours. We almost couldn't shut him up.

WHITFIELD: Really, so what happened?

He's a very private person. I understand why you thought only 15 minutes. What made him talk for two hours and what did he cover?

MONROE: We spent a lot of time talking about the creativity. You know, he was one of the most thoughtful people and steady people that I've interviewed. He talked how his music and how his creativity was inspired by the classic artists like Tchaikovsky and Mozart as well as people as Ray Charles. I remember he told me - I was going back and listening to the interview. And let me see he told me about when he was a little kid, he said I'm a guy who used to sit in my living room and listen to my father play Ray Charles. My mother used to wake me up at 3:00 and say Michael, he's on TV, he's on TV. "I would run to the TV and James Brown would be on TV." I said "oooh, that's what I wanted to do."

WHITFIELD: Wow.

MONROE: And he was inspired by so many different people.

WHITFIELD: James Brown inspiring a whole lot of artists but Michael Jackson inspiring so many artists as well. Did he talk about what that responsibility, you know, felt like or how that fell on his shoulders that he would be so iconic that he would be somebody that so many artists would emulate?

MONROE: Well, you know, he did talk about both responsibility and the joy he got out of pleasing and communicating with his fans. You know, he was very respectful of his fan base and appreciated. I think that's part of the reasons why he was planning this comeback concert in London. I think part of it was to raise a little money but also to really give back to his fans the music that they love. And that's one thing throughout all the controversy and all the other drama, the music and his creativity is going to one of the things that's really going to linger.

WHITFIELD: Berry Gordy of Motown had said that when the was very young, he said you know what, "I want to be one of the biggest stars." And pretty prophetic. I mean, he lived up to that dream. Did he talk to you at all about - I know this was 2007 but did he talk to you about one day wanting to perform again on a huge stage like this planned 50 concert tour in London?

MONROE: He did. And surprisingly enough, I went back and checked, he told me the opposite?

WHITFIELD: Really. He said no, I'm done, forget it?

MONROE: He said - well he said he wasn't up to another world tour again. He had done the big concerts -

WHITFIELD: Why, why?

MONROE: It was grueling. And in fact, he made a comment about James Brown. He said I don't want to go out like James Brown died. I don't want that to kill me like it killed him. But instead, he did love to perform. He loved to do stage show, maybe a big show here and there but not a world tour again. So I guess the interesting thing about London, it wasn't as much a tour as everybody came to him. He didn't have to go anywhere. But he was still preparing for that the day before he died, during the rehearsals and everything for that show.

And you know, he was a consummate workaholic and perfectionist. He told me about getting ready for the Motown 25 show and how he planned all the camera shots and all the choreography. And in fact, he told me --

WHITFIELD: Which very few people knew. The camera shot, he wasn't just worried about the choreography, you know, how he would be dancing on stage and what everybody else will be doing, but the camera shots, that's a lot of control.

MONROE: Yes. He was very much in control of all aspects of his creativity and his music and of his business. You know, there was sort of Michael Jackson performer and then there was Mr. Jackson, the businessman. You know, he had of course the interest in the Sony ATV catalog which was all the Beatles and Elvis and now Eminem and the everyone else plus his own Mijac publishing arm. And that's where a lot of his assets are and that's where the value is to his estate.

WHITFIELD: Wow, this must have been heart stopping for you to dig up these notes, to know that you were in the room with greatness and who would know that just two years after that interview, that very powerful interview that now we would be talking about his untimely death.

MONROE: You know, it's sad, but as you're playing the music in the background and showing the videos and for a whole new generation that is rediscovering Michael Jackson through the sales on Amazon and iTunes and really understanding the power of his music.

WHITFIELD: All right. Bryan Monroe, thanks so much. And thanks for remembering that moment that you had, a brush with greatness just two years ago during that interview for "Ebony." Thanks you for joining us from Chicago. Appreciate that.

MONROE: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Good to see you.

All right. The estate, his three children, his debt. How will all of this be handled? Our legal mind Avery Friedman will be with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

WHITFIELD: All right. You know the music and you know this video, "Billie Jean." And here's some remarks for someone who knew him well since he was a little one in his debut. Diana Ross saying "I can't stop crying, this is too sudden and shocking. I am unable to imagine this. My heart is hurting. I am in prayer for his kids and the family."

And take a look at these images just coming out within the last two hours or so. Vans that are outside the home that Michael Jackson has been renting. It's unclear whether family members are helping to pack up and remove personal assets of Michael Jackson or if investigators are looking into the untimely death of Michael Jackson are responsible for these moving vans.

Let's find out from our civil rights attorney and law professor Avery Friedman who is joining us this hour to give us an idea. Avery, alarming images for you to be seeing at this juncture when it's still unclear, L.A. coroners say they still don't know the exact cause of death. And moving vans at the property?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Yes, isn't that extraordinary, Fredericka?

WHITFIELD: It really is. What could it mean?

FRIEDMAN: Well, it could mean several things. Number one it could simply be something that has been previously planned. It could very well be having something to do with the investigation by law enforcement, about what happened here. There may be efforts on the part of the family, trying to just end this part of the agony

WHITFIELD: How can they do that? If it is say the family who says we want to, you know, look out for personal assets, knowing that investigators will be meeting with the doctor through his attorney later on today.

FRIEDMAN: Right.

WHITFIELD: It would seem that this is even though no one has declared it to be a crime, it is an active investigative scene. So I would imagine that investigators want everything to stay the same.

FRIEDMAN: Yes, you know, it should be secured, to be honest with you. It's extraordinary what's going on right now. As you see these images of what's going on and these things being moved out, it just makes a complicated situation even more complicated.

WHITFIELD: Yes. But at the same time, we are talking about Michael Jackson. We are talking about people who might want to take advantage of -

FRIEDMAN: Well, sure.

WHITFIELD: The family situation. The fact that he has died and so maybe the family says we want to protect his asset bas because there are others who might want to take advantage of.

FRIEDMAN: Remember, Michael Jackson had a multitude of management people, people who were basically hanging on, who knows the number of people who have been going in and out, maybe it's a smart thing to do, we don't know.

WHITFIELD: All right. Now, let's talk about the doctor. His personal doctor who has now secured an attorney and apparently the attorney will be meeting with LAPD detectives some time this afternoon. What will that conversation involve?

FRIEDMAN: Well, law enforcement has already made very clear at this point that the doctor is not a target of any criminal activity, but it's the appropriate thing to do to make inquiry. Now, I think most people, they would not be surprised to ultimately learn that drugs or drug abuse may be a function of that which may have caused the death, so it's the appropriate thing for law enforcement to do, good for the doctor, got legal counsel. I think the 100 percent cooperation has been represented is going to be manifested in this meeting this afternoon.

WHITFIELD: All right. Now let's talk about the family. And let's talk about whether there might be a will. And could it be if there is a will that it would be outdated? What makes a will not current, what makes it difficult for the family to proceed at this point?

FRIEDMAN: Well, that's a wonderful question, because of the changes that Michael Jackson went through, it's not unreasonable to assume that along the way the original will, if there was one, was modified and amended and the general rule is that the most recent will is probably the likely one that will govern the relationship of what happens with the Michael Jackson estate and equally important what happens to the rights of his three children.

WHITFIELD: Now, let's talk about there were other cases, everyone knows this that Michael Jackson was involved in, acquittals or even settlements.

FRIEDMAN: Sure.

WHITFIELD: There were also gag orders which meant nobody was to talk about the case. No one was to talk about testimony or the settlement. Now, is that buried along with the death of Michael Jackson?

FRIEDMAN: No. Here's the deal. The quid pro quo, the trade-off is you keep your mouth shut, we give you the money. That's what these civil resolutions were so the reality is if you received let's say x millions of dollars, are you going to take the chance of violating that gag order because if one does, the estate, Fredericka, has the right to pursue claims against those who violate those orders.

WHITFIELD: So the gag orders live even though-

FRIEDMAN: The gad orders live even though Michael Jackson does not.

WHITFIELD: interesting. We're going to talk about a lot more because we're going to have you back because there are so many legal -

FRIEDMAN: So many.

WHITFIELD: ... ramifications involving this. We talked a little bit about the kids, we'll talk more about the three children, what happens to him and you also alluded to the almost half million dollars in debt that Michael Jackson leaves behind.

FRIEDMAN: Half a billion. Half a billion.

WHITFIELD: Oh, half a billion. That's right. Half a billion dollars. Thank you for that math correction.

FRIEDMAN: Lots of money.

WHITFIELD: We're going to talk about what happens to that debt.

FRIEDMAN: We'll see you shortly, Fred. WHITFIELD: Is that passed on? Perhaps members of the estate. All right. Thanks so much, Avery. Appreciate that. Much more straight ahead on the death of Michael Jackson.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Music video right here with his sister Janet Jackson. The song "Scream."

In the meantime, this is what Usher has said upon the passing of Michael Jackson. He said "he broke barriers. He changes radio formats with music he made and made it possible for people like Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama to impact the mainstream world. His legacy is unparalleled, Michael Jackson will never be forgotten." That comment there from Usher.

All right. People have been expressing themselves in so many different ways. Not just celebrities but regular folks who just were simply fans of Michael Jackson. And Josh Levs has been keeping a close watch on how people have been expressing themselves through iReports.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We're getting so many iReports, Fred. We've got a team that's going through them. We can also share as many as possible with you. Quickly, let's zoom in on the board behind me. I want you all to see some of the latest in our i-report.com, Just go to the main page of I-report and you're going to see a lot about Michael Jackson. You're going to see all sorts of photos there. We have some that are coming to us from Los Angeles at the walk of fame where people have been gathered, making a vigil there. Check that out.

It's incredible what's been going on in the last few days. This is one from Poland over here. We're really getting them from all over the world and we're getting videos. I want it show you a clip now of a video from a fan, Epluribus Cunnigham, who said well, he one time got to meet Michael Jackson when he was a kid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EPLURIBUS CUNNINGHAM, I-REPOERT: I remember at one point he was singing a couple of songs and I yelled out his name and it was pretty close to the stage, he said hey, and he waved to me. I can remember that to this day. He will be missed. He was the king of pop. And we love you, Michael.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: OK. I guess that doesn't quite count as meeting but still it is really interesting. You can imagine how exciting that was for so many kids at the time, the chance to get up to close to this huge superstar. Not everyone is purely positive and purely celebrating everything about Michael Jackson as you can imagine. We got this from one of our frequent iReporters, Egberto Willies. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EGBERTO WILLIES, I-REPORTER: I grew up on Michael Jackson, I loved Michael Jackson. I hated Michael Jackson. I admired Michael Jackson. I was ashamed of Michael Jackson. I was sorry for Michael Jackson. I was proud of Michael Jackson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: It's an interesting mix there. That gets me to this graphic. I want to show you various places online where you can join our conversation. Go to the CNN NEWSROOM blog right here, CNN.com/newsroom. Just click on Fred. And also for a few days no, we had a discussion going on at my Facebook and twitter pages which is /joshlevscnn.

And Fred, I'll tell you, we're hearing from a lot of people celebrating. And some people saying that it's getting too much attention. We' re going to share some of that mix later on this hour.

WHITFIELD: All right. Look forward to that. Thanks so much, Josh. Appreciate that.

LEVS: You got it.

WHITFIELD: In the meantime, people are expressing themselves, not just the I-report but around the world lots of different ways. People are turning out in huge numbers. There are candlelight vigils. There are tributes. There are gatherings by day and night. You're looking at Paris right people have flooded into the streets and just like you've seen here in the states, folks who try their best at dancing like Michael Jackson.

And then of course you see other tributes taking place in this fashion, in a much more so somber way, except for the dancer there. And of course, more impersonations, this time, you're looking at Mexico city. People there loving and adoring Michael Jackson, and trying to impersonate him with the Moonwalk there, playing his music as well. Lots of tributes taking place over the radio airwaves across the world.

All right. Much more on Michael Jackson, his impact on the music industry and on performers overall.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

WHITFIELD: All right. Michael Jackson's "Black and White" and also you see on the right-hand side comments from Justin Timberlake who says "he has been an inspiration to multiple generations and I will always cherish the moments I shared with him on stage and all of the things I learned about music from him and the time we spent together."

And we want to update you on all that's taking place, particularly in Los Angeles. The doctor who was hired as a personal doctor for Michael Jackson, he has obtained an attorney and we get direct confirmation from that attorney's office.

Here's the doctor right here, Dr. Conrad Murray, that Dr. Conrad Murray, as well as his attorneys will be meeting with LAPD detectives later on today in Los Angeles. However all parties involved, at least the attorney and Dr. Murray are saying that they are simply going to meet with and it is not because of anything more than a Q&A, not necessarily because of any wrong doing in the death of Michael Jackson.

And also look at this image that we saw earlier today. Moving vans, right there, moving into the property of Michael Jackson, the house that he has been renting. It's unclear whether family members wanted to secure certain personal items of Michael Jackson. It's unclear whether law enforcement, as part of their investigation in any way obtained material from the home and moving out. We'll try to get some clarity on that as information becomes available.

All right, well, let's talk about Michael Jackson. He left an imprint from music to marketing and no one seemed to do it any better than Michael Jackson himself. And two gentlemen who had close encounters with Michael Jackson are with us right now to explain a little bit more deeply about what they knew about him. We're talking about Shelley Berger, he's a former manager of the Jackson 5 and David Wild is "Rolling Stone" magazine contributing editor. Good to see both of you.

SHELLEY BERGER, FORMER JACKSON 5 FAMILY MANAGER: Hi, Fredricka.

DAVID WILD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, ROLLING STONE: Hi.

WHITFIELD: Well Shelley, let me begin with you because it's been a while since you've dealt with the Jackson family directly, right, about 10 or 15 years, since you've had direct contact with but give me an idea of how you've been able to perhaps reach out to the family in this very tough time.

BERGER: Well actually, Fredricka, I have not been able to reach out to the family. It has been what has gone on is just the extended family of the Motown, you know, I was with Smoky Robinson the other night. Otis Williams and I were together when we got the news about what had happened. And I think our feeling as far as the Jackson family is concerned is that we would like to wait until all this craziness is the word that comes to mind settles down so we can have our own personal time with them.

WHITFIELD: You talk about the craziness but do you feel like this is the tip of the iceberg because it is likely that it's going to be some time before there's some real clarity on his death and maybe even clarity about all the other things surrounding his life from how fragile, how able bodied he was, leading up to this 50 concerts or perhaps even his debt, massive debt that has been collected, all of that.

BERGER: Well, I choose to remember the 10-year-old that I first saw in a recording studio that knocked me on my backside, I said oh my god, this is Sammy Davis reincarnated, that's the Michael Jackson that I choose to think about.

WHITFIELD: Tell me about that impression. Tell me about that first impression of him, was it right, Berry Gordy said you know, I've got somebody I want you to meet.

BERGER: It was a bit more forceful than that. I had just come in off the road The Supremes and I had this telephone call waiting for me. And he said we just signed this new group and you're going manage them and we're in the studio right now so I need you to come down here and meet them. I said "Well, why do I have to come down to the studio? I know what to do. I'll just manage them." He said "No, no, no, you have to get down to the studio right now."

So I jumped in my car, went down to the studio and didn't realize that it was kids. And he said, "This is Shelley Berger, he manages Diana Ross, he manages The Supreme, he manages The Temptations, he manages Smoky Robinson, now he manages you. Show him what you can do."

WHITFIELD: And so they gave you a little performance right there?

BERGER: Oh my lord. I just was flabbergasted. I said my goodness, this is Sammy Davis reincarnated.

WHITFIELD: David, you know, you had an opportunity to see Michael Jackson as the adult performer. How did he make an impact, not just on the music industry but really as a performer, suddenly everyone wanted to do a music video like Michael Jackson, everyone wanted to perform and dance like Michael Jackson and sing, too.

WILD: I think on almost every level, Michael Jackson took music to a different level in terms of beyond the vocal talent that was a wow for Shelley and anyone who ever saw him, you then had the explosion of his solo success, the next wave at the time that he basically took MTV and helped that explode.

So he basically, I think he brought as a performer, as a video performer, as a singer, and as ultimately, unfortunately I think as a celebrity, he took everything to another level. And where sort of there were times he's been in kind of exile, I think that maybe a self-imposed partly exile, but now we can all sadly in his death we're all sort of remembering the impact that he had.

WHITFIELD: So many radio stations are having 24 hour tributes of his music, music video, they're playing his videos over and over again. And so many people have said, you know what, now that I see this compilation all at once, David, you kind of forget how powerful and indelible his music and his performance was. People are suddenly being reminded how great and impactful he was.

WILD: You know, my son, I have a young 11-year-old son, was actually at a camp next to where the hospital where Michael died in. He was very sort of upset by the helicopters overhead all day. And then on the next day when I was taking him to camp I played him a record that goes back to when Shelley was working with Michael, one of the earliest things, the flip side of "I Want You Back" which was this great Smoky Robinson song and my son said, wow. I think fundamentally we're all remembering the wow of Michael Jackson, not the sort of freak show celebrity, you know, sort of sadness that it descended to eventually.

WHITFIELD: Shelley, you talked about your impression of this young man, he was nine at the time he came to you?

BERGER: Yeah.

WHITFIELD: Or when you saw him in the studio. OK so you saw him, this wow kind of feeling you got from his performance. Did you think at that point, well, he had has very special, did you see that he would have the staying power, the endurance? Because let's face it, a lot of child stars after a certain amount of time, they aren't able to carry that through into their adult years. Were you able to look a that that far ahead when you saw Michael Jackson?

BERGER: Well, I don't really believe that you had to look that far ahead simply because my theory has always been anybody can pick a number one record. You just drop the needle which will show you how old I am on the record in the groove and you just know it is a smash.

The real record person is the one who can pick the top 20 record. Well Michael Jackson, you drop the needle, this was a person who offstage spoke you know a little above a whisper, on stage he was 40- years-old. I mean what people talk 15 or 20 years to learn instinctively Michael Jackson had that ability.

WHITFIELD: And David Wild, the next tour, 50 concert tour it was to be called, "This Is It," and he promised the crowd in London there that what you're going to see, well, this is it, this is something you've never seen before. Did you feel like he was going to be able to meet that expectation, surpassed everything we've already seen in Michael Jackson as we look here in his performance?

WILD: Well, you know, friend of mine who I work with, I work on the Grammys and Ken Olson (ph) produces was at the event and he said it was a moment that made him realize he could pull this off, he was going to pull this off, and I wouldn't bet against -- you never bet against a great talent like Michael Jackson and he truly was a great talent.

I think it would have been -- I tend to wonder if he would have pulled that if it would have been it. Because as we all know, how many farewell tours does your average superstar do? Shelley and I have done three or four farewell tours together and no one even likes us.

BERGER: This week.

WILD: Yes, exactly. And we're thinking of going back on the road. WHITFIELD: You've had a lot of repeat performance over the past few days, sadly enough as well. All right, David Wild, "Rolling Stone" magazine and former manager Shelley Berger, thanks so much and thanks for sharing your perspective on this American icon.

BERGER: Thank you, Fredricka.

WILD: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Michael Jackson's children, his tour and the legal battles next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Aww, Michael Jackson, "I Want You Back." And look to the right, comments from the publicist from Stevie Wonder saying, "Stevie is not available for any comment at the time being. He is emotionally distraught and chose to be quiet right now."

A sentiment we've heard from a lot of celebrities who knew Michael Jackson closely and have said it's just been too difficult to speak. Among them Elizabeth Taylor who took quite a bit to speak, saying that she can't stop crying.

All right, well let's talk about the half billion dollar debt, the cancellation of concerts that might have put Michael Jackson in the black. And now what? For the custody of his three children, civil rights attorney and law professor Avery Friedman is back with us now from Cleveland. All right, a lot to cover. Let's talk about that half million dollar debt. What happens, ordinarily when someone dies and there's huge debt, does it automatically become part of the estate?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Yeah, that debt actually impacts significantly on the estate but I must say, Fredricka, that despite that debt, if you consider the copyrights that Michael Jackson and the estate now own along with The Beatles song catalog. The truth is and an explosion on iTunes and Amazon.com, the estate is actually going to increase in value.

WHITFIELD: It is generating money.

FRIEDMAN: It is, and you know what, if there's any good news at all it is that three children, although they've lost their dad will be cared for, will be protected financially.

WHITFIELD: Well, does that also mean what the language of the will might be. What if the language is outdated? What if that will is old before the children were born? The oldest child being 12? Would that complicate things?

FRIEDMAN: Not really because the fact is that there is an entitlement concerning the rights of children, but I don't think that's a realistic scenario. I think what has happened is that since the birth of the children, Fredricka, I think we have seen various codicils, various additions and modifications of existing wills and trusts so I genuinely believe the kids are going to be OK.

WHITFIELD: OK and I'm not going to put you in a position to try to predict who might get custody of the kids, because it ranges from the nanny, to maybe even Grandma Katherine Jackson, and who knows, maybe even an aunt or uncle, brother or sister of Michael Jackson.

FRIEDMAN: Or Ms. Rowe.

WHITFIELD: Or Ms. Rowe, that's right, the mother of the two eldest children. All right, well let's talk about the cancellation of the concerts, the promoter already putting out something like $75 million in which to get this concert going. It was expected to maybe make Michael Jackson $400 million to get him in the black. But what about all those people who bought tickets for the 50 concerts, sold out, what happens to them and the money that they invested?

FRIEDMAN: And you laid out a fortune to get a ticket and you're thinking am I going to get my money back? Well, you want to know something? The promoter right now, AEG, does not have the money to pay that back. They don't have the money. But what they do have more likely than not is insurance anticipating that this was going happen.

WHITFIELD: OK, Avery Friedman, thanks so much, sorry that segment is up, but you do so good of getting in it all in such a short amount of time.

FRIEDMAN: Get it right in there.

WHITFIELD: That's why we love to count on you.

FRIEDMAN: Love being with you.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Avery, appreciate it.

FRIEDMAN: All the best.

WHITFIELD: All right, well this has been our tribute hour to Michael Jackson, giving people who know him an opportunity and even our legal minds like Avery Friedman, kind of weigh in on what's next for the estate of Michael Jackson.

Well Don Lemon, my colleague is coming up next as well. He, too, has a special coming to us from Los Angeles, you're actually joining us from the rooftop there on Sunset Boulevard. Don, give me an idea of what we can expect.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, during our hours, Fred, we're going to be talking about all this new information that we're getting here just by being on the ground here in Los Angeles is really helping out our coverage and helping us to uncover new information.

We're going to talk about this doctor who was apparently with Michael Jackson during the last moments of his life. This Conrad Murray, where has he been all this time? Why hasn't he spoken to police? And what about this new information that he hired an attorney, a group attorneys from Houston, Texas? Now we are hearing that they're going to have a meeting very shortly and we'll bring that to you just as soon as we get it.

Also, there are moving vans outside of the Jackson home. Where is all that stuff going? And a second autopsy, a second autopsy and we believe it is a private autopsy, as advised by the Reverend Jesse Jackson for Michael Jackson's body.

And then again we're hearing word from family members and also from people who are close to the Jackson family that they are suspicious about people around Michael Jackson in the last moments of his life. And of course, Fred, tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern and 11:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN, "Michael Jackson: The Man in the Mirror." You don't want to miss this special that I'm going to bring to you. I have some very, very personal and thoughtful and heartfelt moments from people who knew him and also from some big stars, Smoky Robinson sings for us.

WHITFIELD: All right, Don Lemon, thanks so much, we look forward to that. And that special at 8:00 Eastern Time this evening. Thanks so much.

All right, Jackson's famous friends and his millions of fans struggling to come to grips with his death. More reaction from some who knew him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It's called the aware home and in this case, home is where the smart is. The house is actually a cutting edge lab where Georgia Tech researchers look at how we live now and how we might live in the future.

BRIAN JONES, AWARE HOME RESEARCH INSTITUTE: The overarching theme has really been health in the home and that's really where the future is for health care and the health care delivery.

PHILLIPS: Here, you'll find phones that help the deaf communicate with 911. Computers that recommend a healthy meal based on what's in the fridge. Even high-tech gloves that identify objects for the blind.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jell-O, raspberry flavor.

PHILLIPS: There are also motion sensors and cameras throughout the home. They record daily activity and send it to this digital picture frame connected to the Internet. Family members can use it to check in on the disabled or elderly remotely.

JONES: One of our areas of research has been in providing devices that can help older adults better communicate with their families.

PHILLIPS: No one lives in the Aware Home full-time and most of the products won't be available to the public for a few more years, but it may be a glimpse of a new way to live. Kyra Phillips, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: With so many paying tribute to Michael Jackson, this is how "Time" magazine is doing it. A special commemorative edition, that's the cover right there. You're listening to "Remember The Time" with Jackson there on the cover, the special commemorative edition to be on newsstands this Monday.

All right, Jackson's friendships reached across the music industry and really across the world. On CNN's "Larry King Live," his friends and his admirers expressed their grief and their appreciation for Jackson's very unique talent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BERRY GORDY, MOTOWN FOUNDER: He was great because one, he was talented, so talented. And he was a person who studied, he did research from that first audition, the other band members have work of course, they all had great precision, and I always thought -- and they were disciplined.

LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR: He's a perfectionist, Michael.

GORDY: Well, they were all disciplined. I give Joe and Katherine, his parents, always credit because when they came to us, we didn't have a disciplinary problem with them. They would be on time, they would do this. You know but Michael, sometimes during a song, you know, the other kids would be playing around with their instruments or having fun and Michael was always focusing.

LIZA MINNELLI, RECORDING ARTIST: He was constantly learning and growing, he just loved it. And he did change history. Nothing was the same after Michael and I'm afraid nothing is going to be the same ever really again. It won't be for me.

QUINCY JONES, PRODUCER (on phone): Michael's the most professional person I ever worked with in my life. Ever in every way, we used to set up a stand when he sang, he would do his dances and just have a spotlight on the stand, a pin spot on the stand and he would do his dances and do his twists and everything wells while he was singing, he was just absolutely amazing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: It's been so nice to hear so many people who knew Michael Jackson intimately talk about the legacy of this music man. Well, people have been talking, those who didn't know him well. They just simply knew his music, but they didn't know the man, they have been talking about him over the Internet. Social networking in so many different ways and our Josh Levs has been keeping close tabs on all that everyone has been saying and how they've been saying it.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, CNN.com, we've got this massive spike in traffic. The whole Internet did at the time the news broke and ever since. And now there's so much up here. I want to show you and then we're going to get to just what you were talking about, people weighing in.

Let's check this out. First of all, we have to the spread now, "Life" magazine, you were just talking about, magazine covers. Check this out. This sold for 50 cents in 1971, "Life" magazine. We have this spread up at CNN. And can you see Michael, he was this little child, look at how cute, it also just makes you think about the way he changed his appearance later on. So interesting.

By the way, people now trying to sell original copies of this for thousands on eBay. Let me zoom through a few more of these pictures. You're going to be able to see more of these iconic shots of Michael Jackson through the years, all from life, which we now have up at CNN.com. There he is with Brooke Shields. Really, each one tells a story, including some of the controversies, including some of the sadder times later on. But you can check it all out there on CNN.com.

Now lots of ways to learn, lot of information, test your knowledge of him. You can do a little quiz. You can also weigh in, and that's what we've got for you right here. CNN.com/NEWSROOM. Let me show you a couple of views. This is from Almekka who wrote us this. "I love you Michael, so much, and will always be one of your biggest fans. Rest in peace, the King of Pop, and I hope you work miracles up there in heaven."

But as I promised earlier, I'm also going to point out that there are people weighing in saying, hey, look, it's a little too much from Guddy. "I'm very, very sorry about the Michael J. and Farah too. I'm feeling very sorry for the family and for the fans. But please all media, enough is enough."

So we understand. You know, different views there, keep them coming. CNN.com/Newsroom. While you're there, you can learn a lot about the King of Pop and his legacy.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Josh Levs, and thanks too for people who have e-mailed, sent in their comments, iReports, e- mails, all that, and also thanks to our attorney Avery Friedman who was with us and journalist Bryan Monroe and former manager of Michael Jackson, Shelley Berger, as well as David Wild of "Rolling Stone." Thanks everyone who was part of this hour-long discussion looking into the man, the music, the legacy and now sadly the death of Michael Jackson.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield, Don Lemon is up next from Los Angeles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)