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Obama Talks Jobs, Politics; The New Shutdown Threat; American Hikers Back in U.S.; Trial of Dr. Conrad Murray; Justice for James Byrd; Pastor Passes Out Money; "Nirvana Baby" Speaks
Aired September 25, 2011 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight -- the president tells America to man up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I expect all of you to march with me and press on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And even with the economy and jobs tanking, a prominent African-American leader makes a candid admission about black leaders, publicly criticizing a black president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is more difficult. Make no mistake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Plus, free at last.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been held in almost total isolation from the world and everything we love.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: After two years in an Iranian prison, an emotional homecoming for all three of those American hikers.
Hateful last words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no regrets.
LEMON: His Texas execution overshadowed by the one in Georgia last week. The question is, did America learn anything from James Byrd's dragging death?
And another trial of the century?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is it. This is the final curtain call.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Michael Jackson's doctor goes on trial this week. We introduce you to the jury deciding Conrad Murray's fate right here, right now CNN.
Good evening, everyone. I'm don lemon. Thank you so much for joining us. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
President Obama begins the new week on the West Coast. His trip amounts to a political two-for. He's raising millions in campaign cash from big money donors and is using his remarks to push for his jobs proposal.
The president started in Seattle a few hours ago. Then he headed to Northern California to tap the wallets in Silicon Valley.
Chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin is travelling with the president tonight, and she joins us now live from San Jose.
Jessica, good evening. What was President Obama's message to his supporters in his stops today?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Don. He is rallying his old Democratic donors trying to get that old energy back to the extent he can saying don't forget the energy, don't forget. Don't give up now. Listen to the message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I need you guys to shake off any doldrums. I need you to decide right here and right now. And I need you to talk to your friends and your neighbors and your co-workers. And you need to tell them, you know what, we're not finished yet. We've got more work to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: You mentioned he's raising millions. He has a total of seven fund-raisers on this west coast swing, Don.
LEMON: We've also seen President Obama have a sharper tone, Jessica, towards Republicans lately. Did he keep up that aggressiveness today?
YELLIN: He absolutely did. And, you know, one of the most effective tactics when you are trying to rally Democrats is to remind them of the alternative, which is Republicans. And one of his messages today I'm going to read it because we don't have it on tape.
He says of Republicans, quote, "The alternative I think is an approach to government that would fundamentally cripple America in meeting the challenges of the 21st century." Of course, talking about having a Republican in the White House.
This follows in line with his much more sharply partisan message we've heard from him in recent weeks. Ever since that debt deal fell apart and he ended up with the political acrimony we saw over the summer.
I can also tell you, Don, that speaking to well-placed donors that the president saw that his fund-raising base was not rallying during that debt deal. He was not being -- the campaign was not able to get the RSVPs, was not able to draw in the money they would have liked to have been able to draw in during the debt negotiation period.
But as soon as that was over, as soon as he came out with the American Jobs Act and as soon as Perry and Romney and all those guys started debating, , those fund-raising numbers started ticking up, and this is a message that seems to be working for them, Don.
LEMON: Jessica Yellin out West traveling with the president.
Thank you very much, Jessica.
In Washington tonight, lawmakers are at odds over spending again. And once again, we're facing a threat of a government shutdown. Lawmakers say a shutdown can be avoided but they still can't resist deflecting the blame to the other party.
Candy Crowley, the host of CNN State of the Union has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the third time this year, a congressional stare down threatens a government shutdown.
(on camera): Let me start with you, Senator Warner, and ask you if there is a point at which you think this is embarrassing.
SEN. MARK WARNER (D), VIRGINIA: Yes. It is embarrassing.
CROWLEY: Are we there?
WARNER: Can we once again inflict on the country and the American people the spectacle of a near government shutdown? I sure as heck hope not.
CROWLEY: The U.S. government runs out of money at the end of this week unless a temporary spending bill is passed on Capitol Hill. Inside the House version is money to replenish the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, which assists disaster victims. Tornadoes in Joplin, hurricanes in the northeast.
The remarkable thing is that basically Congress can't agree on something everyone is for funding FEMA. The crux of the matter is how and when to decide how to pay for it.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (D), SOUTH CAROLINA: The House version says that a disaster has to be dealt with. We're going to help people that have been affected by disasters, but we're going to start cutting the government in other places where the money is not so important.
CROWLEY: Senate Democrats have rejected the House version saying Republicans are proposing to pay for increased FEMA funds with cutbacks in programs that create jobs. Nobody's budging. Ergo stalemate, a looming shutdown and the politics that ensue.
SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R), TENNESSEE: I'll give the Senate Democratic leader most of the credit. He manufactured a crisis all week about disaster when there's no crisis. Everybody knows we're going to pay for every single penny of disaster aid that the president declares. And that FEMA certifies.
WARNER: One point about who to blame or not to blame on this current, hopefully non-shutdown is that there is a group. And I do believe it is mostly centered in the House in terms of some of these Tea Party Republicans who say on every issue we're going to make this a make or break.
CROWLEY: Pointing fingers about an impending shutdown can be good politics, but an actual shutdown is likely to hurt any politician in a 50-mile radius of Washington. Odds are good they'll figure this out. They have until Friday.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Also tonight, at long last, two Americans are spending their first night back in the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH FATTAL, FREED AMERICAN HIKER: After 781 days in prison, Shane and I are now free men.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Their imprisonment in Iran now over after more than two years. After they stepped off the plane in New York, they finally got to make some comments that they've waited nearly 800 days to get off their chests.
Our Susan Candiotti was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Back on U.S. soil, freed hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer came out swinging at Iran calling themselves political pawns and Iran's officials liars for calling them spies.
FATTAL: They do not deserve undue credit for ending what they had no right and no justification to start in the first place. The only reason we have been held hostage is because we are American. CANDIOTTI: And they disclosed how they found out their two-year ordeal was over. Last Wednesday in prison, they were inexplicably given street clothes, fingerprinted and taken to meet an envoy from Oman who told them --
FATTAL: He looked at us and he said, let's go home.
CANDIOTTI: Within hours, they ran off a plane in Oman and into the arms of their families, including the mother of Josh Fattal.
(on camera): What was that like for you?
LAURA FATTAL, JOSH FATTAL'S MOTHER: We were hooting and hollering and we were waving our scarves, and we just couldn't wait until they got down to us. I couldn't have asked for anything better.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): In prison, spending months in isolation with no diplomatic visits and being told lies about their families, they said they were haunted by cries from other prisoners.
FATTAL: We heard the screams of other prisoners being beaten and there was nothing we could do to help them.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): What was it like to hear the beatings and the screams?
SARAH SHOURD, PREVIOUSLY-FREED AMERICAN HIKER: Not being able to help another human being. Being completely impotent and unable to do anything to ease their suffering was something that I will never forget and will always be with me.
CANDIOTTI: And when they complained to their prison guards about their treatment --
SHANE BAUER, FREED AMERICAN HIKER: The guards would immediately remind us of comparable conditions at Guantanamo Bay. We do not believe that such human rights violations on the part of our government justify what has been done to us.
CANDIOTTI: Josh and Shane wouldn't take reporter questions asking for privacy for now. And as for Shane and Sarah's engagement we've heard so much about --
SHOURD: You know, I'd rather not.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): You'd rather not focus on it?
SHOURD: Yes, everyone knows we're engaged.
CANDIOTTI: Have you not set a date yet?
SHOURD: No.
BAUER: We want more than anything to begin our lives anew and with the new appreciation for the sweet taste of freedom. CANDIOTTI (voice-over): They thank supporters for that freedom but left the room without revealing any more details about their two- year ordeal.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: When we come right back here on CNN --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jesus Christ!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A gunman opens fire near a stadium full of children playing football. Tonight, we have new video of those kids taking cover from the bullets.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: I want you to pay close attention now. New video in to CNN of a police shoot-out with a gunman near a youth football game in suburban Seattle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there any exit? Is there any exit over here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're fine right now. We're all underneath the bleachers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: It's hard to hear, but you can hear the gunshots in the background there. Kids and parents scrambled for cover at the Issaquah High School Stadium as police confronted a man firing two rifles at a nearby elementary school.
Police say the unidentified man had tried to break into a car at the school. Then tried to break into the cab of a piece of earth moving equipment on school property. Well, police converged on the scene killing the 51-year-old gunman before he was able to get near the football game. No one else was hurt.
This week begins one of the most high-profile and possibly gut- wrenching criminal trials you may ever witness. Dr. Conrad Murray, the man blamed for Michael Jackson's death will defend himself in court on charges of involuntary manslaughter. Opening statements begin Tuesday.
Tonight, CNN's Ted Rowlands gives us a preview of the case against the doctor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. CONRAD MURRAY, ON TRIAL FOR MICHAEL JACKSON'S DEATH: Your honor, I'm an innocent man.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The jury in the Conrad Murray manslaughter trial will have several questions to answer.
One, did Dr. Murray give Michael Jackson a lethal dose of Propofol. Prosecutors say there's no doubt. Murray and his attorneys say there is no way.
ED CHERNOFF, MURRAY'S ATTORNEY: There is no way that Dr. Murray would pump him full of enough Propofol sufficient for major surgery and walk out that room. It's not going to happen. That's not the doctor Dr. Murray is.
ROWLANDS: Murray claims the day Jackson died he only administered 25 milligrams of Propofol, far less than what was found in Jackson's body by the coroner.
(on camera): How did it get in him?
CHERNOFF: That's a good question. Ted, do you have any idea how it got in him?
ROWLANDS (voice-over): The defense is expected to argue that Jackson somehow gave himself the lethal dose.
(on camera): Could Michael Jackson have done it?
CHERNOFF: Is it possible for an individual to inject himself with a drug? Yes. Yes.
ROWLANDS (voice-over): Before Jackson died, he spent hours struggling to go to sleep according to a time line Murray gave police. Murray says he gave Jackson five doses of three different drugs between 1:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. At 10:40 a.m., he said he gave Jackson the Propofol.
911 OPERATOR: Did anybody witness what happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Just the doctor, sir.
ROWLANDS: 911 was called at 12:21. Emergency responders will testify they believe Jackson was dead when they arrived.
Another question jurors must answer is, was using Propofol, an anesthetic for surgery as a sleep aid, so reckless that Murray should be held responsible for Jackson's death?
(on camera): Doctor after doctor gets up and says, well, this should never be used outside a clinical setting, outside of a hospital or a clinic.
CHERNOFF: The fact that the circumstances may be unusual, may be demonstrated to be unusual, does not make it egregious. That alone does not make it egregious.
ROWLANDS (voice-over): Murray's defense will argue that Jackson was a drug addict and in horrible physical shape and that he was getting drugs from other doctors that Murray didn't know about.
Prosecutors plan to argue that Jackson was in good shape and planned to show this clip from the documentary "This Is It" of Jackson rehearsing just days before he died.
So now, more than two years after Jackson's death, a Los Angeles jury will be presented with the case and ultimately decide whether or not Dr. Conrad Murray should be held responsible.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And I will be in Los Angeles all week to cover the trial for CNN, and bring you the very latest from inside the courtroom. So stay tuned.
Ahead this hour -- unemployment crosses color lines. But should President Obama be doing more to reduce black unemployment? Some African-American members of Congress say yes. We're going to discuss it after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. The president is pitching his jobs plan on a daily basis. Republicans already are lining up in opposition. Meantime, African-Americans, his strongest supporters, have an unemployment rate approaching a 25-year high. At around 17 percent. Close to 17 percent.
Now is the president doing enough to help them, and could he do more?
I want to talk about it with CNN contributor and political anchor for New York One, Errol Louis. Errol is the co-editor of "Deadline Artists," an anthology of American newspaper columns."
And here in Atlanta, Goldie Taylor, editor-at-large for the Grio.com.
It's good to see both of you. So let's start with the president's speech at the dinner hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus last night. Before I'm going to play something from Emmanuel Cleaver.
Before I want to ask you, what did you think of the president's speech last night?
GOLDIE TAYLOR, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, THEGRIO.COM: I thought it was an interesting speech, but I thought it was a gutsy one. And depending on who you think he was talking to last night, he was rather right on base or dead off base. And so that remains to be seen. LEMON: Right on base or dead off base meaning?
TAYLOR: Meaning, if he was talking to the members of the CBC and telling them to get up off their keysters and get out into the streets, then maybe he was dead on. If he was talking to the American people, if he was talking to African-Americans about where their fight is, then maybe the comments were misplaced.
LEMON: Yes. Some people were a bit critical of it, Errol, because they said that for people who have been unemployed for a few years or have lost their homes to repossession, saying, you know, let's move. Stop complaining may not have been the right message.
ERROL LOUIS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I didn't hear him as a really aiming at anybody other than the black political leadership that was in the room there, frankly. I mean, but he was telling them to stop complaining. Stop criticizing and to work with him. He's going to need all of their help in their key districts in the swing states if he's going to get re-elected.
I mean, it was a pretty naked appeal to them to try and close ranks, and help him as he tries to mount this re-election bid. I don't know if he was asking the unemployed to do anything for him, other than to be a little patient with him.
LEMON: OK. So but before the dinner, I asked CBC Chairman Emanuel Cleaver if he finds it hard to criticize the president. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. EMANUEL CLEAVER (D), CHAIRMAN, CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS: I've been black all of my life. And I know that African-Americans are going to be careful about providing any comfort to those who would like to politically dismantle this presidency. And so, obviously, and unapologetically, we're going to be careful about things that we say that might reflect negatively on the president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. So the president again, that was before he spoke at the CBC last night.
Goldie, we have discussed this situation but the jobs situation isn't getting any better. Should African-Americans keep their criticisms private? I've spoken to people and they say, I'm surprised people just in general aren't marching in the streets when it comes to this economy and unemployment. So should African-Americans keep it private?
TAYLOR: I think African-Americans have got to begin acting in their own interest. If you look at African-American unemployment where it remains in double digit, it continues to decline while the rest of the economy begins to table off. I think that there are some real key issues there that we have got to be really concerned about. But last night's speech for the president with the CBC, he needs them. He frankly cannot win this election without them. You know, during the 2008 election, he had 67 percent or better turnout for African-American voters during the midterm elections the following two years, there was 37 percent African-American turnout. If that 37 percent only turns out again next year, this president goes back home to Chicago.
LEMON: Yes, and this is real talk, Errol. I think it's "The Washington Post" that I was looking at online and I think the headline says, President Obama courting black voters again or something like that. I'm paraphrasing.
LOUIS: Yes, I don't know that he ever stopped, actually. You know, one, he's been doing quietly over the last couple of few years is when a major policy initiative comes out, especially domestic policy, he'll convene members of the black press and sort of tell them, look, this is what this means for your readers and for your constituency. This is what it means in black communities.
I think some of the criticism, when Emanuel Cleaver says, you know, he would be complaining if it was some other kind of a president, you have to wonder, what specific policies are they talking about?
I mean, you know, the president has done a whole bunch of stuff and he's talked about a lot of it. You know, when you look at some of the things that maybe aren't pitched as, you know, to help black youth, but when he's putting money into community colleges, when he's putting money into failing high schools, many of which are in inner cities, he's doing what they have asked for. I'm not sure exactly what they are getting at. You know, maybe around some of the mortgage relief?
LEMON: Oh, I think that the quote was as, again a paraphrase, if it was Bill Clinton, Bill Clinton were president, he wouldn't stand for this or if 34 percent of white women were unemployed, we'd be marching in the streets. Again, that was the gist of what he had to say.
But I have to say this. The overall economy, it's starting to worry a lot of people. And I talked with conservative analyst David Frum. And he had some pretty dire things to say. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID FRUM, EDITOR, FRUMFORUM.COM: We are facing a global economic crisis. It's not just in the United States. Although things are -- we have enormous problems here as Americans continue to cope with the enormous debt load they piled up during the housing bubble. And as so long as consumers are weighed down by those debts it's hard to see how they find their footing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Errol, are we headed toward a global recession, and if so, is there anything the president can do to prevent it?
LOUIS: A lot of the signs are pointing to some really hard times ahead. I don't know if David Frum has really analyzed it the right way, frankly, though. I mean, if consumers hunker down and do what he seems to be suggesting like repay their personal debts, that leads you right into recession.
You know, the problem with recession, the definition of recession is that not enough people are spending. And when not enough people are spending, the stores start slowing down and the credit starts to dry up and the whole machine grinds to a halt. So what can the president do? The president can do what he's been trying to do which is sort of get the morale back, get some kind of stimulus going and hope that he can get somewhere with Congress.
LEMON: He's got to do it in 12 to 14 months.
TAYLOR: He's got to do it. He's got do it in a shorter time than that because this election is starting in earnest right now.
I don't think this country is going to be in any better shape should we have a Republican take control of the White House next year. In fact, I think we'll be in worse shape. But the fact is, you know, in terms of African-American wealth, it's dried up and evaporated with the fall of the housing markets over these years. And I think, to ask consumers to spend more when they've lost their homes, they haven't had jobs in 99-plus weeks, I think that's a misnomer.
You have got to make some real investments in small business. Make real investments for the middle class. You've got to make some real investments in, you know, infrastructure improvements. Things that will put people back to work so they have that dollar to spend at the grocery store. Today they don't have it, so they're not spending. This is not a confidence issue. This is a flat broke pocket issue.
LEMON: It has to be -- it has to go beyond rhetoric.
TAYLOR: It has to go beyond rhetoric.
LEMON: Yes. Goldie Taylor, Errol Louis, thanks to both of you. Great conversation. I appreciate it.
TAYLOR: Thank you for having me.
LOUIS: Good to see you.
LEMON: Coming up later this hour, are African-Americans hurting their own interests by hesitating to criticize President Obama? We're going to discuss it in our no-talking points segment. You want to see that.
Also, a black man tied to a truck and drag to his death. James Byrd's murder ignited anger across the country. With this killer now put to death, we talked with Byrd's sister and daughter about whether justice was served.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: On Wednesday we saw executions in two high-profile cases in two different states. But the media largely chose to focus on one and leave the other out of the headlines. Much of the country watched and waited to see whether Troy Davis would be put to death in Georgia. Questions in Davis' case inspired a massive, if unsuccessful campaign to save his life.
Lawrence Brewer, an unrepentant white supremacist had no such support. Brewer was one of three men convicted of lynching James Byrd in Jasper, Texas in 1998, dragging Byrd's body behind their truck. The crime horrified the nation and inspired hate crime legislation in Byrd's name.
I spoke with Byrd's daughter and sister and asked them whether they feel any sense of justice now that one of his killers has been executed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RENEE MULLINS, JAMES BYRD'S DAUGHTER: It made me relive the entire ordeal. It has been 13 years. I don't feel justice was served with the death penalty because I don't agree with it. Lawrence Brewer was given an option to take some drugs in his arm and go to sleep. My father wasn't given that option. He was gruelly tortured for three miles until he was dismembered. So with Lawrence Brewer being executed it doesn't sway me one way or the other.
LEMON: What would you like to see him done? What would you like to have had done rather than you don't believe in the death penalty?
MULLINS: I don't because -- only because there's some innocent people that may be executed wrongly. You might be put to death and you may be innocent. And so for that reason, I disagree with the death penalty. I would like him to live on in jail for the rest of his life and remember what happened to my dad.
LEMON: OK. So, Renee, let me ask you this. You bring up something, because I want to know. Do you feel at all that the attention on the Troy Davis execution overshadowed? You are talking about people being put to death who are innocent, and a lot of people say that Troy Davis is innocent. Do you think it sort of overshadowed that execution of your father's killer and maybe by extension your father's story and his legacy on anti-hate crime legislation?
MULLINS: I don't -- I can't really tell you if it overshadowed it because I wasn't aware of the media or watching the newspapers. So I stayed away from that kind of stuff when this was in front of me. So I didn't read the papers or watch the news so I can't really say. But I am aware of what happened to Mr. Davis.
LEMON: I want to go to Betty now.
Betty, you have said in the past that you forgive Lawrence Brewer for what he did to your brother. And I want to play what he said in the days leading up to his death and I want to get you to respond to it. Take a listen.
BETTY BOATNER, JAMES BYRD'S SISTER: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE BREWER, EXECUTED FOR BYRD'S MURDER: As far as any regrets, no, I'm still -- I have no regrets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So this man killed your brother, landed himself on death row and here he is saying he has no regrets. Do you feel anything about forgiving him after hearing him say that?
BOATNER: Oh, yes, I do. I forgave him 13 years ago. And the reason why, if I did not forgive him, I would be like he were. And I (INAUDIBLE).
LEMON: So it doesn't matter what he said and how he felt and whatever...
BOATNER: No, it doesn't matter because it's just like someone to be eaten up with cancer and I refuse to let hate override me. So, yes, sir, I did forgive him.
LEMON: Do you still live in Jasper? Have race relations improved there in the 13 years since your brother was killed?
BOATNER: It had but lately tension have started back up.
LEMON: What do you -- how so?
BOATNER: We hired -- they hired a black chief of police here in Jasper, Texas.
LEMON: And so people are upset by that?
BOATNER: Yes, they are. Not all, but some.
LEMON: And so it's starting up again, you believe.
I want to go back to Renee now.
Renee, John William King is still on death row for your father's death. Do you want to see him -- his sentence commuted to life in prison?
MULLINS: Yes, I would want him to live on in memory of what happened to my dad and every day be reminded of why he's there, why he chose to do the things he's done, because it's a choice in life. You can do bad or you can do good. And it was just him, Brewer and Berry was very uneducated. And if people just educate themselves and believe in God, we won't have this type of crime happening against one another just because we're different.
(END VIDEOTAPE) LEMON: No date has been set for John William King, the other man sentenced to death for killing James Byrd.
The trial of Michael Jackson's doctor starts this week, but already, controversy. Is the court trying to send a message to Jackson fans to beat it?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The trial of Michael Jackson's doctor is set to begin this week, but there's already controversy. It is nothing to do with the case. It's about seating for Jackson's fans in the courtroom. I talked about that and other stories making news with HLN's Jane Velez- Mitchell.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: There's some controversy I hear about the number of seats in the courtroom for the family, for fans. What's going -- for the public, what's going on?
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST, HLN'S "ISSUES WITH JANE VELEZ- MITCHELL": Well, there are six seats designated for the public. They've got to get there at 7:30 in the morning and then there's going to be a lottery to determine who those six will be, and the Jackson fans are like, wait a second, that doesn't leave room for enough Jackson fans. And some believe that it's orchestrated to kind of keep the Jackson fans out of the courtroom.
But I do have to say, if I was part of the court system, I think maybe that's a good idea because we don't want anybody influencing the jury unduly. And they can even influence with their stares. A Jackson fan was thrown out of court the other day having a stare down with the defendant, Dr. Conrad Murray.
LEMON: OK, let's go to another -- this is another trial that I know you're going to be covering. The Connecticut family, the mother and two children brutally beaten and then killed. The father also beaten and then they were set afire. The father was the only one who survived. The first suspect was found guilty. Now the second person is going on trial. What can we expect from that?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, it's a horrific trial. This family has to endure going through this horror a third time. The first time when it actually happened, then the trial of the first defendant who was convicted and is on death row, and now the trial of the second defendant.
