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Michael Jackson's Will Names Katherine Jackson, Then Diana Ross as Guardians

Aired July 01, 2009 - 14:32   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The president of the United States there holding his town hall meeting in Virginia to push his health care plans. He took questions from the audience and also from folks all around the world via YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. We're going to take a quick break. More from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.

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PHILLIPS: Pushing forward. The latest now on Michael Jackson and the developments. We're following up on reports about the singer's health and medical issues and those pending toxicology tests. The LAPD investigation focusing on prescription drugs taken from the home that had somebody else's name on them. Then there's the legal wrangling that's going on. This is new today. A 2002 will signed by Jackson has been filed with the Los Angeles court, and one detail in particular is quite the blockbuster. CNN's Don Lemon live from L.A. with the details -- Don.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra, I can one-up you on the court wrangling. You said that the will was just in. Also just in, there was an ex parte hearing about this will just moments ago, trying to get the executors of this will in place right away so that they could be able to handle Michael Jackson's assets and his estate.

The judge said, you know what, there's no rush on this. We'll wait until Monday when that hearing is scheduled and supposed to take place in the first place. They'll wait until Monday. So, right now, Katherine Jackson is still in control of Michael Jackson's assets. So, the legal wrangling goes on and on.

Meantime, I want to show you -- I showed you last hour, Kyra, this -- the will, Michael Jackson's will, 2002, July 7th. The very interesting parts of it, where he says, you know, "I Michael Jackson," as wills always go, "resident of California, I declare that this is my last will, and I hereby revoke any former wills and codicils made by me."

Then it goes on to say, "I appoint John Branca, John McClain and Barry Siegel as co-executors of this will. In the event of any of their deaths, resignations, inability, failure or refusal to serve or continue to serve as co-eexecutor, the other shall serve and no replacement need be named."

Then, it goes on to say, "I hereby give to my executors full power and authority at any time or times to sell, lease, mortgage, pledge, exchange or otherwise dispose of the property, whether real or personal, comprising my estate upon such terms as my executors shall deem best."

The interesting thing, too, here is that he says that these executors can reinvest any earnings, any property, anything that they have and do with it basically what they will. Then, it goes on talking about the children. Michael Jackson says in his will, "If any of my children are minors at the time of my death, I nominate my mother" -- I nominate my mother -- "Katherine Jackson, as guardian of the persons and estates of such minor children. If Katherine Jackson fails to survive me or is unable or unwilling to act as guardian, I nominate Diana Ross as guardian of the person and estates of such minor children."

So I don't know what that means. If something happens to Katherine Jackson, does that mean Diana Ross will get the children? Who knows? But it also says in this will, Kyra, that Debbie Rowe, no provisions to be made for who Michael Jackson says is the mother of his children and his former wife. And his father, Joe Jackson, Kyra, also not in this will.

PHILLIPS: OK. Don Lemon, live from L.A., thank you so much.

And you know, we've also been covering health care all afternoon as the president just finished up his town hall meeting. We've taken some time to focus on the health care of our vets. And coming up, you're going to meet one family that's dealing with an issue they hope the military pays attention to, because it's affected their family in a pretty tragic way.

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PHILLIPS: Coming home, now what? Well, for Staff Sergeant Eddy Dane, it was a question that he never got to answer. All afternoon, we've been focusing on health care, taking a special look at our veterans' care, the increase in PTSD, alcohol abuse and suicide plaguing our military.

After serving 15 years in the Marines and Army, 37-year-old Eddie Dane (ph) became one of our most recent casualties of this mental war. Eddie (ph) committed suicide last week. His parents say he was strong, everyone loved him and they had no idea that he was suffering so much. He served in Kosovo, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq but lost the battle at home.

Eddie did not get the care that he needed to save his life.

Charlen and Dan McLean, buried their son (ph) this week. They join us live from Manchester, New Hampshire with a very important message to our military.

I appreciate you both for being with me today.

DAN MCLEAN, FATHER OF EDDIE MCCLAIN: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Charlen, let's start with you. Did you ever realize your son was suffering so much that he was contemplating suicide? CHARLEN MCLEAN, MOTHER OF EDDIE MCCLAIN: That was an invisible thing for us. We never -- everybody has issues. But usually, you talk them out and that's what happens.

He was happy to go to his new position. He had just got married. He thought he would start a new life. Things changed from there. His wife never came from the Philippines and ongoing, he -- sometimes that connection that you have with somebody gets more dull, and it must hurt inside when things like that happen.

PHILLIPS: So everything was building up, the stress of the military, the fact that he couldn't be with his new wife. Tell me about -- I think this is what really struck me. The last conversation you had with him. What did he tell you? Then tell me what happened the next day.

C. MCLEAN: He called us and he talked to both of us, my husband and I. He told us he was going to get separated from the service, that because he had that DUI, the second one, that they were going to release him. But he also said that he was going to have 45 days of extra duty, 45 days confined to barracks and an inpatient alcohol treatment plan before they would release him to come home.

PHILLIPS: So, Charlen, just to give a little background, we should tell folks he was struggling with depression. He was struggling with PTFC, and that led to the abuse of alcohol. So he finally called you and said, "Okay, Mom, I've dealt with the alcohol issue. I am going to get this treatment." And then tell me what happened.

C. MCLEAN: Well, he just told us he loved us and everything, and then he talked to my husband and they discussed a few things also, about the economy and all that. He hung up. We just thought we would be hearing from him when we knew -- a couple more steps down the way when he knew he was coming home.

Then, the next morning, they found him. He didn't show up for duty. So they went in there and they found him.

PHILLIPS: And, Dan, the phone rang or did somebody come to the door?

D. MCLEAN: I was out in the yard reading the newspaper, and a black van pulled up the driveway and two Marines got out of it.

PHILLIPS: Did you have a feeling you knew what this was about?

D. MCLEAN: I knew what it was when they got out.

PHILLIPS: Tell me how you were feeling at that moment as they approached you, and what did they say to you and what did you do?

D. MCLEAN: They asked for Charlen. Because she is his mother. We went in the house, sat down and got the news.

PHILLIPS: Charlen, how did you handle it? C. MCLEAN: Terribly. I just thought that it was impossible that something like that could happen. We had just talked to him. He had plans to come home. He had plans for his release. He wasn't happy about it. We knew that. He's a Marine. He wanted to be a Marine for life. That's why he stayed so long.

He was the happiest when he was either training people or in theater, you know. He was a great Marine. Everybody really cared for him a lot.

PHILLIPS: I know that both of you have a message to the military and other parents and even commanders on the ground about how important it is to recognize when a man or a woman there in the battlefield is suffering. Dan, what is it that you want to see moving forward for our men and women in uniform so they don't end up like your son?

D. MCLEAN: Well, I think they are proud men when they come home. They are not going to admit that they are in pain. We've got to find a way to help them.

PHILLIPS: Charlen?

C. MCLEAN: If they would just realize that these big, strong, proud men, that when they go there, that it is different when they come back. If the stigma wasn't...

PHILLIPS: Oh, gosh, we apologize. We lost our connection there via satellite. I hope we can find out why that happened. You are listening to Charlen and Dan McLean, as they have been dealing with the suicide of their son, hoping that the military pays attention to what happened to Charles Eddie Dane.

So, we lift up his spirit and everything that he did for our military hoping that as we move forward, the military will do more. If you do know someone in the military that needs help, the military has a number of good Web sites you can turn to. Defense Centers of Excellence has a site specifically for psychological help. The Army has a specific suicide prevention site. There are private groups as well. Taps.org helps military and their families. And the CommunityofVeterans.org specifically serves Iraq and Afghanistan vets.

If you missed any of those, you can log on to my blog at CNN.com/kyra. Once again, we think about the McLean family and their son, Eddie, as they go through a really tough time and bury their son.

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PHILLIPS: In California, the budget crisis gets even worse. The state will now have to issue IOUs after lawmakers failed to approve a stop-gap plan before a midnight deadline. That's when the state's new fiscal year got underway without a budget to cover operating expenses. Lawmakers are at odds on how to deal with a shortfall of more than $24 billion.

The question everyone is asking in South Carolina. Will governor Mark Sanford hang on or step down after his affair with a woman in Argentina?

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PHILLIPS: And the motor city, money's so tight the school district may file for bankruptcy just to get by. Detroit public schools will enter the next school year some $259 million in the hole. That could mean nearly 700 more job cuts, unpaid furloughs for workers, more school closings. And for those that remain, larger classes. They're also exploring other options, including expanding the number of charter schools and selling off the district's assets.

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PHILLIPS: South Carolina's Republican Governor Mark Sanford facing growing pressure to resign over his affair with a woman from Argentina. Right now 12 of 27 Republican state senators are calling for Sanford to quit. Some others in the party say it's just a matter of time before Sanford heeds the call. Sanford recently spent nearly a week visiting his mistress in Buenos Ares. He also admitted to having inappropriate relationships with other before the affair. Right now, he says that he is working to try to save his 20-year marriage.

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PHILLIPS: If you have a credit card backed by CitiGroup, brace yourself for a bigger bill. The company is jacking up rates for some 15 million of its cardholders. That puts Uncle Sam in a tight spot. The government holds a big chunk of CitiGroup's shares. The Treasury Department wants the company to do well so it can pay back its bailout funds. But the Obama administration has been quite vocal about pushing banks to slash credit card rates for consumers.

That does it for us. We will see you back here tomorrow.

Rick Sanchez back in the house.