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CNN Live At Daybreak

Terror Arrests; Insolvent Star?

Aired June 09, 2005 - 05:00   ET

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

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


VALERIE MORRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It's Thursday, June 9. A fifth terror arrest in Lodi, California. That arrest and more on those already charged. Was a holy war in the making?
Also, two suspects but little evidence. The search for a missing Alabama teenager resumes on the Caribbean island of Aruba.

And Michael Jackson's dollar dilemma. The pop star has millions in assets but faces a major cash crunch.

ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.

MORRIS: Good morning, everyone. I'm Valerie Morris, in for Carol Costello today.

We're going to have more on that terror arrest in just a moment.

Also ahead, would a hefty toll keep you from driving during rush hour? Well, in England they're willing to give it a try.

And later, from surfboards to skateboards, how the love of surfing inspired a whole new extreme sport.

But first, "Now in the News," President Bush will make a sales pitch to extend the life of the Patriot Act today. He also wants to expand the subpoena powers of the FBI. He'll make his case during a trip to Columbus, Ohio.

Donald Rumsfeld is talking about giving U.S. troops a limited role in helping to stop the fighting in Sudan's Darfur region. The defense secretary is at NATO headquarters in Brussels today.

In the Midwest, severe weather. And it could get worse. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, has issued a moderate risk for severe weather tomorrow for parts of the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma and Kansas.

And when we speak of weather, we think of Chad.

Good morning, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Valerie. All eyes -- welcome to the morning show, by the way.

MORRIS: Thank you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MORRIS: Thanks. We'll be checking back, of course.

MYERS: OK.

Time now for our CNN "Security Watch."

A fifth arrest has been made in the suspected terror case in Lodi, California. The FBI says two of the men were planning to carry out a holy war against the United States. We get more on this story from CNN's Peter Viles in Lodi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Federal agents searched houses in rural northern California after an alarming disclosure. A 22-year-old born in California allegedly admitted he was trained to kill Americans at an al Qaeda training camp in Pakistan. Twenty-two-year-old Hamid Hayat and his father Umer are being held in Sacramento County Jail on charges they lied about the son's activities.

KEITH SLOTTER, FBI: We believe through our investigation that various individuals connected to al Qaeda have been operating in the Lodi area in various capacities, including individuals who have received terrorist training abroad with the specific intent to initiate a terrorist attack in the United States and to harm Americans and our institutions.

VILES: In an affidavit, the government says the younger Hayat admitted the following: that he spent six months at an al Qaeda-run training camp in Pakistan, that during weapons training photos of President Bush were used as targets, and that he specifically requested to come back to the United States to carry out his jihadi mission. Two other men, leaders at a mosque in Lodi, are being held on immigration violations. Hayat's lawyers warns against jumping to conclusions.

JOHNNY GRIFFIN III, FATHER'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think it's important for everyone to push the pause button. He's only charged with making a false statement.

VILES: But already, attorney Johnny Griffin is receiving angry e-mails.

GRIFFIN: "Understand how appalled I am at the fact that you chose to represent al Qaeda operatives who confess taking training courses to kill Americans."

VILES: In the working class neighborhood of Lodi, where the elder Hayat lived and drove an ice-cream truck, neighbors were stunned.

KARINO MURILLO, NEIGHBOR: He was very friendly with the kids. He never did anything to led us to believe he would be planning something like this. VILES: Federal officials say they have been tracking Hamid Hayat for sometime. He had been on a no-fly list, but after questioning by the FBI, was allowed to reenter the United States in late May. Days later, he was brought in for further questions and a lie detector test that led to his arrest.

Peter Viles for CNN, Lodi, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MORRIS: A Florida doctor who is accused of plotting to help al Qaeda will face those charges in New York. Dr. Rafiq Sabir was arrested last month along with another man for trying to aid terrorists. They are both U.S. citizens. A federal judge ordered Sabir to be transferred from Florida to New York for trial.

A man allegedly upset over missing his stop caused an Amtrak train to be stopped and search. Police, the FBI and a bomb technician searched the train outside San Francisco but found nothing. The man told the crew that the train would fall into the sea.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most up-to-date information on your security.

The airline industry is changing fast. Low-cost carriers are expanding, while traditional airlines are looking for ways to cut costs. And now the Transportation Department reports FAA safety inspections just aren't keeping up with the changes. And add this to the mix: the FAA may have 200 fewer inspectors because of budget cuts.

Well, Chad Myers, you can let us know if the skies are friendly as far as the weather's concerned.

MYERS: Well, you never know. You know? There's so many other things going on here.

MORRIS: Such as?

MYERS: Everybody's trying to make money.

MORRIS: Yes.

MYERS: Or some of these air carriers are trying to make any money at all, they're losing billions of dollars. They're trying to cut some things, but, boy, are they cutting the right things?

Here's one thing that kind of scared me a little bit. One low- cost carrier which remained unidentified in the report added 56 more planes and tripled its destinations, yet reduced the number of mechanics by 14 percent.

MORRIS: That's not a good thing.

MYERS: That seems a little scary to me. But the FAA did not identify those changes as risks.

MORRIS: Wow.

MYERS: They said that they had enough mechanics to cover it. Well, if they had enough mechanics for 20 planes...

MORRIS: All right. Let's take their word for that.

MYERS: ... they had enough mechanics for 20 planes, now they have 14 percent less. Now they have 40 planes. I kind of want my guys out there working on my plane, don't you think?

MORRIS: Yes, I don't like that math at all.

MYERS: No, exactly. So the email "Question of the Day," Valerie, government and airlines, bail out or stay out? Remember Lee Iacocca and Chrysler and how well it did and how well it's done? Well, can we do that with the airlines or not? Just stay out of it and let the chips fall where they may? And they may fall.

So here we go. Email us, DAYBREAK@CNN.com. We'd love to know what you think after this report -- Valerie.

MORRIS: All right, Chad.

Ben Mutzabaugh, he's the travel reporter with "USA Today." He's going to have more on this in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

More news "Across America" this morning.

A discrimination suit against the Plaza Hotel in New York City has been settled. Muslim and Arab-American employees claimed managers harassed them following the September 11 attacks. Management agreed to pay $525,000 to about a dozen employees.

Former Baylor basketball player Carlton Dotson has pleaded guilty to murdering his teammate. Now he could face life in prison for shooting Patrick Dennehy in the summer of 2003. Police found Dennehy's body in a field near the Baylor campus.

A judge says the city of St. Augustine, Florida, must fly gay pride flags for a week. Gay rights leaders sued the city after being told they could not hang the flags for a gay pride celebration. They say they were told their group had no historical significance.

Still to come, while we wait for a verdict in the Michael Jackson, the pop star worth about half a billion dollars has a cash flow problem. Ali Velshi has that in just four minutes.

And talk about toll roads. We're going to tell you about Britain's pay-as-you-go scheme for its congested roadways. Details live from London in 32 minutes.

On the big screen, the story of two guys who stumbled literally onto a multimillion-dollar industry. Sibila Vargas on "Lords of Dogtown" in 46 minutes from now.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MORRIS: Now a follow-up on actor Macaulay Culkin's drug charges. The former child star has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of possession of medication without a prescription and marijuana. He was given a deferred sentence. Oklahoma police found a half-ounce of pot and some antidepressant Xanax pills in a car that Macaulay was riding in last September.

The jury in the Michael Jackson case will try again for a fifth day to reach a verdict. Meanwhile, lead attorney Tom Mesereau issued a terse statement, saying that he has the final say on what can be said about Jackson. Sources tell CNN his comments may be aimed at Jackson's own spokeswoman.

But while they wrangle over Jackson's public voice, it may be his financial situation that is even more troubling. CNN's Ali Velshi takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Well Aly Bruner bought an old suitcase used by Sammy Davis Jr, he had no idea it would turn out to be a modern day treasure chest.

ALY BRUNER, MICHAEL JACKSON FAN: This glove was in a Ziplock bag. And I opened it up and my jaw hit the floor, because I knew what it was.

VELSHI: Bruner is a professional collector. He dug around and learned that the glove was a gift from Michael Jackson to Sammy Davis Jr. Last year, Bruner tried to cash in on Michael Jackson's popularity.

BRUNER: I originally put it on eBay for $3 million with the actual hope of it obtaining that type of a figure.

VELSHI: But bidders told Bruner -- so he dropped the price to just under $300,000. And when that didn't work, he upped it by 100 grand. Still, no bite.

BRUNER: A lot of buyers that are Michael Jackson fans, they're feeling remorse. They're feeling sorrow. Their hearts are being torn apart that they're not really in the market to buy anything.

VELSHI: Back in the day when the only thing bad about Jackson was this -- a glove like Bruners became the most valuable piece of rock star clothing ever sold.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $15,000.

VELSHI: That's about $30,000.

(on camera): Aly Bruner is definitely a Michael Jackson fan, although he may have come about that in an unusual way one day when he opened the suitcase and found the glove inside. He knows that this glove has taken a financial hit, because of what Michael Jackson is going through right now. But he's not in a cash crunch like Michael Jackson is. And he ready to wait to get the value for this glove that he wants.

(voice-over): But it's not just the value of the glove that's at risk, Jackson's lenders say his entire fortune is at risk. He may have earned more than half a billion dollars over his career, but today, he's having trouble pays the bills.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is not broke, because he is still asset- rich. He has assets that are valuable.

JACKSON: Those assets are music catalogs. Jackson owns half of Sony APT which controls 200,000 songs, including most of Elvis' and the Beatle's hits. He also owns a catalog of his songs called My Jack. Whenever any of these songs play, Jackson makes money.

BRETT PULLEY, FORBES: My Jack It's worth $150 million. Sony's publishing business is worth between $900 billion and $1 billion, 50 percent of which is Michael's

VELSHI: Add Neverland, estimated to be worth at least $25 million and Jackson's assets come out to at $600 million bucks. So why does he owe anyone anything? Because like so many of us, the king of pop has a cash-flow problem.

No new hits meant new sources of money. But the lavish spending continued. So Jackson started borrowing to finance his lifestyle. By 2000, he owed Bank of America a quarter of a billion dollars.

And he used his music catalog and his stake in all those Beatles and Elvis hits and collateral. The bank told CNN that as Jackson's situation worsened, it feared that Jackson might default. So to lower its risk, Bank of America did what banks typically do in similar situations, it sold the loans, in this case, to a hedge fund, a private investment group.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a point about, I don't know, five or six weeks ago when he missed a $300,000 payment

VELSHI: If Jackson continues to miss payments the hedge fund could force him to sell his share of the music catalogs and pay off the loans. That would wipe out his income, and he still has some pretty big expenses, like his legal bills.

BRUNO DELGRANADO, MUSIC PRODUCER: Michael Jackson's legal fees have ran north of $20 million in the last few years because of all the lawsuits that keep coming up and keep popping up every couple weeks.

VELSHI: Lawsuits filed by potential business partners, accountants, lawyers, former employees, and concert promoters.

Speaking of suits, Jackson had more than 60 outfits made for the trial, never wearing the same one twice. Now, he's got to cut costs or he's got to figure out a way to make more money from what remains of his legend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be very hard for Michael Jackson to resurrect his careers. It's impossible to recapture that. Nobody's done it before. If he can, it he will be the first, but it's close to impossible.

VELSHI: Back in Idaho, Aly Bruner's not worried about Michael Jackson's fortune, but he's hoping that the pop star's fame and name will help him cash in on his treasure.

BRUNER: Once the smoke clears, there will be a collector down the road that will cherish this the way it should be.

VELSHI: Ali Velshi, CNN, Chalice, Idaho.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MORRIS: Your news, money, weather and sports. It is now 5:18, almost 5:19. And here's what's happening all in the news this morning.

On the island of Aruba, a judge ruled there is enough evidence to hold two men in connection with the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. The Alabama teenager disappeared May 30. An extensive land search resumes this morning.

Janice Rogers Brown is headed to federal court as a judge. The Senate, by a 56-43 vote, confirmed the California Supreme Court Justice to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

In money, HealthSouth, the rehabilitation hospital chain, will pay $100 million to settle civil charges with the SEC. The company overstated earnings by $2.7 billion from 1996 through 2003.

In culture, Tom Cruise is ready to take on another impossible mission. He has agreed to a deal with Paramount Pictures to star in "Mission Impossible 3." Filming starts in July, with an expected release date of May 5, 2006.

In sports, the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez smacked his 400th career homerun in record time. A-Rod is more than a month away from his 30th birthday. He passed Ken Griffey, Jr. as the youngest to reach the 400 homer milestone.

And in weather...

MYERS: There you go. Valerie, good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MORRIS: All right, Chad.

And still to come, we're going to hear what Russell Crowe told Dave Letterman about his phone-throwing incident in New York this week. You won't want to miss it.

You're watching DAYBREAK for Thursday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MYERS: You give concierges a bad name, I guess.

MORRIS: OK. Well, I think there's a reason for this. You know?

When we talk about actor Russell Crowe, Chad, it seems that he's a bit more contrite these days, two days after his arrest on those assault charges. Police, in fact, say that Crowe, of course, hurled that telephone at the concierge of a Manhattan hotel, hit the man in the face.

MYERS: Right. And needed stitches.

MORRIS: And needed stitches. The Oscar-winning -- the Oscar winner, I should say, had this to say on David Letterman. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSSELL CROWE, ACTOR: It wasn't just a thing that had come up. You know, we've had nine rooms in that hotel over a period of seven days.

DAVID LETTERMAN, "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": Right.

CROWE: And everybody was having the same problems. And, you know, I -- you know, without getting into the detail of it, the bottom line is, you know, I did something really stupid and don't wish to ever repeat that again. And, you know, actually, while we've got the moment, you know, I would understand that right at the moment that Nester (ph) and his family would be under a great deal of pressure, and I'd like to apologize to them directly for that as well.

LETTERMAN: These are the people involved in the incident?

CROWE: Yes.

LETTERMAN: Yes. Well, that's very gentlemanly of you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORRIS: Well, there you have it. You know what else? If convicted of assault, Crowe could actually face up to seven years in prison.

The big question was...

MYERS: Wow.

MORRIS: And, of course, you know what New York papers do with everything. The "Daily News" today says, "Eating Crowe." And it has a picture of the man.

MYERS: Can you hold it up?

MORRIS: Yes.

MYERS: Can you see the guy?

MORRIS: All right. Let me see. Here we go. There he is.

MYERS: Oh, look there. Oh.

MORRIS: I know. So Russell Crowe actually is saying he wants to apologize. He wants to apologize in person.

MYERS: Yes. That's going to cost him I think, though.

MORRIS: I know. What do you think -- one of the thing Dave Letterman asked him was, "Do you have an anger problem?" He said, "Yes, I do, man."

Well, we will see. Wonder what will happen with all of this, Chad.

MYERS: There'll be some money exchanged somewhere, I guarantee it.

MORRIS: I think you're right. I think you're right.

Meantime, though, over on the West Coast, there were some actual laughs on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" when Tom Cruise showed up. But they were laughing with him or at him?

MYERS: I think they were laughing at him.

MORRIS: Well, let's see. Of course he was talking about the new love his life, Katie Holmes.

MYERS: Right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Somebody said you had a girlfriend.

(LAUGHTER)

LENO: Do you know what I'm talking about? Is this...

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: You asking me about that?

LENO: Now look at you. Look at you. This is hilarious. I have known you for, what, 10 years, and this is like the silliest you've ever been.

(LAUGHTER)

LENO: Yes, there you go.

(APPLAUSE)

LENO: There you go. Very cool.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORRIS: I think he needs to get a grip. What do you think, Chad?

MYERS: Now, if he did that in his underwear, like he did in "Risky Business," now maybe he'd get some ratings there, right?

MORRIS: Oh, that's very good. You know, he's doing this jump thing on the couch stuff a little bit too much. He did the same thing on Oprah, and everything is going, what is up with this?

MYERS: You know, is it just me, or is he looking more and more like Andy Borowitz every day? What's with the hair? Dude!

MORRIS: That's a good one. That's a good one.

OK. What about our email?

MYERS: Well, we're getting a few in, although some of the -- some of the people here are maybe a little bit confused of what we're talking about. We're just not -- we're not talking about just giving money away.

This is the government getting in the business almost of keeping the airlines afloat. Bail out or stay out? I mean, we're almost in that same kind of position with railways.

I mean, do we really want to have the airlines almost owned by the government so that we can keep money going in and keep them dry, keep them going, or do we want the chips to fall where they may and the strong to survive? And then, of course, when that happens, then you lose a lot of maybe potential pensions because some of the stronger, bigger airlines have an awful lot of retired people that they're taking care of as well.

So the government and airlines, bail out or stay out? What's your opinion? DAYBREAK@CNN.com. Love to hear from you this morning. We'll go over them in a few minutes.

MORRIS: OK, Chad. Thanks very much.

And now here's what's all new in the next half-hour.

If your kids love skateboarding, you can thank the Z-Boys of Dogtown. We're going to take a look at this once underground sport that's now featured on the big screen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired June 9, 2005 - 05:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
VALERIE MORRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It's Thursday, June 9. A fifth terror arrest in Lodi, California. That arrest and more on those already charged. Was a holy war in the making?
Also, two suspects but little evidence. The search for a missing Alabama teenager resumes on the Caribbean island of Aruba.

And Michael Jackson's dollar dilemma. The pop star has millions in assets but faces a major cash crunch.

ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.

MORRIS: Good morning, everyone. I'm Valerie Morris, in for Carol Costello today.

We're going to have more on that terror arrest in just a moment.

Also ahead, would a hefty toll keep you from driving during rush hour? Well, in England they're willing to give it a try.

And later, from surfboards to skateboards, how the love of surfing inspired a whole new extreme sport.

But first, "Now in the News," President Bush will make a sales pitch to extend the life of the Patriot Act today. He also wants to expand the subpoena powers of the FBI. He'll make his case during a trip to Columbus, Ohio.

Donald Rumsfeld is talking about giving U.S. troops a limited role in helping to stop the fighting in Sudan's Darfur region. The defense secretary is at NATO headquarters in Brussels today.

In the Midwest, severe weather. And it could get worse. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, has issued a moderate risk for severe weather tomorrow for parts of the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma and Kansas.

And when we speak of weather, we think of Chad.

Good morning, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Valerie. All eyes -- welcome to the morning show, by the way.

MORRIS: Thank you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MORRIS: Thanks. We'll be checking back, of course.

MYERS: OK.

Time now for our CNN "Security Watch."

A fifth arrest has been made in the suspected terror case in Lodi, California. The FBI says two of the men were planning to carry out a holy war against the United States. We get more on this story from CNN's Peter Viles in Lodi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Federal agents searched houses in rural northern California after an alarming disclosure. A 22-year-old born in California allegedly admitted he was trained to kill Americans at an al Qaeda training camp in Pakistan. Twenty-two-year-old Hamid Hayat and his father Umer are being held in Sacramento County Jail on charges they lied about the son's activities.

KEITH SLOTTER, FBI: We believe through our investigation that various individuals connected to al Qaeda have been operating in the Lodi area in various capacities, including individuals who have received terrorist training abroad with the specific intent to initiate a terrorist attack in the United States and to harm Americans and our institutions.

VILES: In an affidavit, the government says the younger Hayat admitted the following: that he spent six months at an al Qaeda-run training camp in Pakistan, that during weapons training photos of President Bush were used as targets, and that he specifically requested to come back to the United States to carry out his jihadi mission. Two other men, leaders at a mosque in Lodi, are being held on immigration violations. Hayat's lawyers warns against jumping to conclusions.

JOHNNY GRIFFIN III, FATHER'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think it's important for everyone to push the pause button. He's only charged with making a false statement.

VILES: But already, attorney Johnny Griffin is receiving angry e-mails.

GRIFFIN: "Understand how appalled I am at the fact that you chose to represent al Qaeda operatives who confess taking training courses to kill Americans."

VILES: In the working class neighborhood of Lodi, where the elder Hayat lived and drove an ice-cream truck, neighbors were stunned.

KARINO MURILLO, NEIGHBOR: He was very friendly with the kids. He never did anything to led us to believe he would be planning something like this. VILES: Federal officials say they have been tracking Hamid Hayat for sometime. He had been on a no-fly list, but after questioning by the FBI, was allowed to reenter the United States in late May. Days later, he was brought in for further questions and a lie detector test that led to his arrest.

Peter Viles for CNN, Lodi, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MORRIS: A Florida doctor who is accused of plotting to help al Qaeda will face those charges in New York. Dr. Rafiq Sabir was arrested last month along with another man for trying to aid terrorists. They are both U.S. citizens. A federal judge ordered Sabir to be transferred from Florida to New York for trial.

A man allegedly upset over missing his stop caused an Amtrak train to be stopped and search. Police, the FBI and a bomb technician searched the train outside San Francisco but found nothing. The man told the crew that the train would fall into the sea.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most up-to-date information on your security.

The airline industry is changing fast. Low-cost carriers are expanding, while traditional airlines are looking for ways to cut costs. And now the Transportation Department reports FAA safety inspections just aren't keeping up with the changes. And add this to the mix: the FAA may have 200 fewer inspectors because of budget cuts.

Well, Chad Myers, you can let us know if the skies are friendly as far as the weather's concerned.

MYERS: Well, you never know. You know? There's so many other things going on here.

MORRIS: Such as?

MYERS: Everybody's trying to make money.

MORRIS: Yes.

MYERS: Or some of these air carriers are trying to make any money at all, they're losing billions of dollars. They're trying to cut some things, but, boy, are they cutting the right things?

Here's one thing that kind of scared me a little bit. One low- cost carrier which remained unidentified in the report added 56 more planes and tripled its destinations, yet reduced the number of mechanics by 14 percent.

MORRIS: That's not a good thing.

MYERS: That seems a little scary to me. But the FAA did not identify those changes as risks.

MORRIS: Wow.

MYERS: They said that they had enough mechanics to cover it. Well, if they had enough mechanics for 20 planes...

MORRIS: All right. Let's take their word for that.

MYERS: ... they had enough mechanics for 20 planes, now they have 14 percent less. Now they have 40 planes. I kind of want my guys out there working on my plane, don't you think?

MORRIS: Yes, I don't like that math at all.

MYERS: No, exactly. So the email "Question of the Day," Valerie, government and airlines, bail out or stay out? Remember Lee Iacocca and Chrysler and how well it did and how well it's done? Well, can we do that with the airlines or not? Just stay out of it and let the chips fall where they may? And they may fall.

So here we go. Email us, DAYBREAK@CNN.com. We'd love to know what you think after this report -- Valerie.

MORRIS: All right, Chad.

Ben Mutzabaugh, he's the travel reporter with "USA Today." He's going to have more on this in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

More news "Across America" this morning.

A discrimination suit against the Plaza Hotel in New York City has been settled. Muslim and Arab-American employees claimed managers harassed them following the September 11 attacks. Management agreed to pay $525,000 to about a dozen employees.

Former Baylor basketball player Carlton Dotson has pleaded guilty to murdering his teammate. Now he could face life in prison for shooting Patrick Dennehy in the summer of 2003. Police found Dennehy's body in a field near the Baylor campus.

A judge says the city of St. Augustine, Florida, must fly gay pride flags for a week. Gay rights leaders sued the city after being told they could not hang the flags for a gay pride celebration. They say they were told their group had no historical significance.

Still to come, while we wait for a verdict in the Michael Jackson, the pop star worth about half a billion dollars has a cash flow problem. Ali Velshi has that in just four minutes.

And talk about toll roads. We're going to tell you about Britain's pay-as-you-go scheme for its congested roadways. Details live from London in 32 minutes.

On the big screen, the story of two guys who stumbled literally onto a multimillion-dollar industry. Sibila Vargas on "Lords of Dogtown" in 46 minutes from now.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MORRIS: Now a follow-up on actor Macaulay Culkin's drug charges. The former child star has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of possession of medication without a prescription and marijuana. He was given a deferred sentence. Oklahoma police found a half-ounce of pot and some antidepressant Xanax pills in a car that Macaulay was riding in last September.

The jury in the Michael Jackson case will try again for a fifth day to reach a verdict. Meanwhile, lead attorney Tom Mesereau issued a terse statement, saying that he has the final say on what can be said about Jackson. Sources tell CNN his comments may be aimed at Jackson's own spokeswoman.

But while they wrangle over Jackson's public voice, it may be his financial situation that is even more troubling. CNN's Ali Velshi takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Well Aly Bruner bought an old suitcase used by Sammy Davis Jr, he had no idea it would turn out to be a modern day treasure chest.

ALY BRUNER, MICHAEL JACKSON FAN: This glove was in a Ziplock bag. And I opened it up and my jaw hit the floor, because I knew what it was.

VELSHI: Bruner is a professional collector. He dug around and learned that the glove was a gift from Michael Jackson to Sammy Davis Jr. Last year, Bruner tried to cash in on Michael Jackson's popularity.

BRUNER: I originally put it on eBay for $3 million with the actual hope of it obtaining that type of a figure.

VELSHI: But bidders told Bruner -- so he dropped the price to just under $300,000. And when that didn't work, he upped it by 100 grand. Still, no bite.

BRUNER: A lot of buyers that are Michael Jackson fans, they're feeling remorse. They're feeling sorrow. Their hearts are being torn apart that they're not really in the market to buy anything.

VELSHI: Back in the day when the only thing bad about Jackson was this -- a glove like Bruners became the most valuable piece of rock star clothing ever sold.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $15,000.

VELSHI: That's about $30,000.

(on camera): Aly Bruner is definitely a Michael Jackson fan, although he may have come about that in an unusual way one day when he opened the suitcase and found the glove inside. He knows that this glove has taken a financial hit, because of what Michael Jackson is going through right now. But he's not in a cash crunch like Michael Jackson is. And he ready to wait to get the value for this glove that he wants.

(voice-over): But it's not just the value of the glove that's at risk, Jackson's lenders say his entire fortune is at risk. He may have earned more than half a billion dollars over his career, but today, he's having trouble pays the bills.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is not broke, because he is still asset- rich. He has assets that are valuable.

JACKSON: Those assets are music catalogs. Jackson owns half of Sony APT which controls 200,000 songs, including most of Elvis' and the Beatle's hits. He also owns a catalog of his songs called My Jack. Whenever any of these songs play, Jackson makes money.

BRETT PULLEY, FORBES: My Jack It's worth $150 million. Sony's publishing business is worth between $900 billion and $1 billion, 50 percent of which is Michael's

VELSHI: Add Neverland, estimated to be worth at least $25 million and Jackson's assets come out to at $600 million bucks. So why does he owe anyone anything? Because like so many of us, the king of pop has a cash-flow problem.

No new hits meant new sources of money. But the lavish spending continued. So Jackson started borrowing to finance his lifestyle. By 2000, he owed Bank of America a quarter of a billion dollars.

And he used his music catalog and his stake in all those Beatles and Elvis hits and collateral. The bank told CNN that as Jackson's situation worsened, it feared that Jackson might default. So to lower its risk, Bank of America did what banks typically do in similar situations, it sold the loans, in this case, to a hedge fund, a private investment group.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a point about, I don't know, five or six weeks ago when he missed a $300,000 payment

VELSHI: If Jackson continues to miss payments the hedge fund could force him to sell his share of the music catalogs and pay off the loans. That would wipe out his income, and he still has some pretty big expenses, like his legal bills.

BRUNO DELGRANADO, MUSIC PRODUCER: Michael Jackson's legal fees have ran north of $20 million in the last few years because of all the lawsuits that keep coming up and keep popping up every couple weeks.

VELSHI: Lawsuits filed by potential business partners, accountants, lawyers, former employees, and concert promoters.

Speaking of suits, Jackson had more than 60 outfits made for the trial, never wearing the same one twice. Now, he's got to cut costs or he's got to figure out a way to make more money from what remains of his legend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be very hard for Michael Jackson to resurrect his careers. It's impossible to recapture that. Nobody's done it before. If he can, it he will be the first, but it's close to impossible.

VELSHI: Back in Idaho, Aly Bruner's not worried about Michael Jackson's fortune, but he's hoping that the pop star's fame and name will help him cash in on his treasure.

BRUNER: Once the smoke clears, there will be a collector down the road that will cherish this the way it should be.

VELSHI: Ali Velshi, CNN, Chalice, Idaho.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MORRIS: Your news, money, weather and sports. It is now 5:18, almost 5:19. And here's what's happening all in the news this morning.

On the island of Aruba, a judge ruled there is enough evidence to hold two men in connection with the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. The Alabama teenager disappeared May 30. An extensive land search resumes this morning.

Janice Rogers Brown is headed to federal court as a judge. The Senate, by a 56-43 vote, confirmed the California Supreme Court Justice to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

In money, HealthSouth, the rehabilitation hospital chain, will pay $100 million to settle civil charges with the SEC. The company overstated earnings by $2.7 billion from 1996 through 2003.

In culture, Tom Cruise is ready to take on another impossible mission. He has agreed to a deal with Paramount Pictures to star in "Mission Impossible 3." Filming starts in July, with an expected release date of May 5, 2006.

In sports, the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez smacked his 400th career homerun in record time. A-Rod is more than a month away from his 30th birthday. He passed Ken Griffey, Jr. as the youngest to reach the 400 homer milestone.

And in weather...

MYERS: There you go. Valerie, good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MORRIS: All right, Chad.

And still to come, we're going to hear what Russell Crowe told Dave Letterman about his phone-throwing incident in New York this week. You won't want to miss it.

You're watching DAYBREAK for Thursday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MYERS: You give concierges a bad name, I guess.

MORRIS: OK. Well, I think there's a reason for this. You know?

When we talk about actor Russell Crowe, Chad, it seems that he's a bit more contrite these days, two days after his arrest on those assault charges. Police, in fact, say that Crowe, of course, hurled that telephone at the concierge of a Manhattan hotel, hit the man in the face.

MYERS: Right. And needed stitches.

MORRIS: And needed stitches. The Oscar-winning -- the Oscar winner, I should say, had this to say on David Letterman. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSSELL CROWE, ACTOR: It wasn't just a thing that had come up. You know, we've had nine rooms in that hotel over a period of seven days.

DAVID LETTERMAN, "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": Right.

CROWE: And everybody was having the same problems. And, you know, I -- you know, without getting into the detail of it, the bottom line is, you know, I did something really stupid and don't wish to ever repeat that again. And, you know, actually, while we've got the moment, you know, I would understand that right at the moment that Nester (ph) and his family would be under a great deal of pressure, and I'd like to apologize to them directly for that as well.

LETTERMAN: These are the people involved in the incident?

CROWE: Yes.

LETTERMAN: Yes. Well, that's very gentlemanly of you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORRIS: Well, there you have it. You know what else? If convicted of assault, Crowe could actually face up to seven years in prison.

The big question was...

MYERS: Wow.

MORRIS: And, of course, you know what New York papers do with everything. The "Daily News" today says, "Eating Crowe." And it has a picture of the man.

MYERS: Can you hold it up?

MORRIS: Yes.

MYERS: Can you see the guy?

MORRIS: All right. Let me see. Here we go. There he is.

MYERS: Oh, look there. Oh.

MORRIS: I know. So Russell Crowe actually is saying he wants to apologize. He wants to apologize in person.

MYERS: Yes. That's going to cost him I think, though.

MORRIS: I know. What do you think -- one of the thing Dave Letterman asked him was, "Do you have an anger problem?" He said, "Yes, I do, man."

Well, we will see. Wonder what will happen with all of this, Chad.

MYERS: There'll be some money exchanged somewhere, I guarantee it.

MORRIS: I think you're right. I think you're right.

Meantime, though, over on the West Coast, there were some actual laughs on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" when Tom Cruise showed up. But they were laughing with him or at him?

MYERS: I think they were laughing at him.

MORRIS: Well, let's see. Of course he was talking about the new love his life, Katie Holmes.

MYERS: Right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Somebody said you had a girlfriend.

(LAUGHTER)

LENO: Do you know what I'm talking about? Is this...

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: You asking me about that?

LENO: Now look at you. Look at you. This is hilarious. I have known you for, what, 10 years, and this is like the silliest you've ever been.

(LAUGHTER)

LENO: Yes, there you go.

(APPLAUSE)

LENO: There you go. Very cool.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORRIS: I think he needs to get a grip. What do you think, Chad?

MYERS: Now, if he did that in his underwear, like he did in "Risky Business," now maybe he'd get some ratings there, right?

MORRIS: Oh, that's very good. You know, he's doing this jump thing on the couch stuff a little bit too much. He did the same thing on Oprah, and everything is going, what is up with this?

MYERS: You know, is it just me, or is he looking more and more like Andy Borowitz every day? What's with the hair? Dude!

MORRIS: That's a good one. That's a good one.

OK. What about our email?

MYERS: Well, we're getting a few in, although some of the -- some of the people here are maybe a little bit confused of what we're talking about. We're just not -- we're not talking about just giving money away.

This is the government getting in the business almost of keeping the airlines afloat. Bail out or stay out? I mean, we're almost in that same kind of position with railways.

I mean, do we really want to have the airlines almost owned by the government so that we can keep money going in and keep them dry, keep them going, or do we want the chips to fall where they may and the strong to survive? And then, of course, when that happens, then you lose a lot of maybe potential pensions because some of the stronger, bigger airlines have an awful lot of retired people that they're taking care of as well.

So the government and airlines, bail out or stay out? What's your opinion? DAYBREAK@CNN.com. Love to hear from you this morning. We'll go over them in a few minutes.

MORRIS: OK, Chad. Thanks very much.

And now here's what's all new in the next half-hour.

If your kids love skateboarding, you can thank the Z-Boys of Dogtown. We're going to take a look at this once underground sport that's now featured on the big screen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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