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Williams to Meet With Jackson

Aired February 13, 2004 - 14:33   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.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The scene may have been subdued today, but there's still plenty at stake in the Michael Jackson case. Mr. Jackson faces seven counts of child molestation and two counts of giving a child an intoxicating agent.
The singer has pleaded not guilty to the charges, but if his legal problems weren't enough to worry about, there's also word of money problems. What kind of pressure is he under?

We're going to talk to syndicated columnist and talk show host Armstrong Williams who's been asked to interview Jackson. Armstrong, let me be clear, are you interviewing a spokesman or are you interviewing Michael Jackson himself?

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: Neither. I'm just -- I'm going to meet with him, it's not an interview. I mean if I were to try to conduct an interview with him, it would compromise everything I've been talking about over the last week.

LIN: Yes.

WILLIAMS: You know, he called, he asked for a meeting. I'm going to sit down and talk to him in the name of balance, in the name of fairness. He said there's another side to the story, that he's being savaged in the media, he has been treated unfairly. He has seen me as one of the harshest critics...

LIN: Yes, you called him self-destructive, savagely irresponsible for sleeping with children. Why of any journalist he could call, why would he call you?

WILLIAMS: You know, that's a good question I've been asked. Certainly I can't answer that. But you know he called.

LIN: How did he sound?

WILLIAMS: He felt that I could be fair and he felt he could communicate and appeal to me.

An you know he did he appeal to me because I've got to tell you, since speaking to him I have been listening and reading and studying and just weighing everything that has been said.

He made it clear to me that people are speaking for him don't really know him, have no idea what they're talking about, that we're willing to put anyone on the airwaves to just talk about him. He said they talk about his finances, they talk about his family feuding. They just talk about everything and they have no idea what is gone on.

And he wanted to talk to someone in the media to tell the rest of the media, guys, slow down. Let us -- in the name of fairness and balance, let us try to look at both sides of the issue.

I would disavow anything I've said, Carol. But I've got to tell you this. I'm open minded, I'm willing to hear another side and I'm sit down and talk to him.

And, look, it's not about my writing something for my column because I'm not interested in that because then that serves my agenda.

My advice to him if I talked to him months ago, I would said he should never have had an interview with Ed Bradley and CBS. It may have done CBS and Ed Bradley a lot of good, bit it did no service to him. And for me asking to sit down with him would be the same.

What Michael needs to do is go under the radar screen, remain low key, not only work on his up and coming trial and these hearings, but he needs to work on his own personal persona and much of the credibility he's lost not only in the media but throughout his own circles.

I mean his showing up for court late did not help his cause, his getting on top of that SUV dancing feeds into the media circles. And he's got to get ahold of his life and the people who are advising him. And I think that is beginning to happen.

LIN: All right, all right. So take me into this room. All right, you're going there, you're meeting with the man. What will does he need to say in order to convince you that he was not savagely irresponsible by sleeping with children? That he did not molest this 14-year-old cancer patient?

WILLIAMS: Well, obviously, he feels without a doubt that he's innocent of molestation. I mean, he has admitted...

LIN: What does he need to tell you, one of his greatest skeptics? Because, you know what? He's got to be thinking if I convince Armstrong Williams, there's a whole world of people out there that might believe me then including the jury.

WILLIAMS: His goal should not be to try to convince me of anything. You know, his actions, I mean, there's an investigation that's pending...

LIN: But what does he need to say to you that is going to ring that bell in Armstrong Williams' mind?

WILLIAMS: I'll tell you what? I would like to know his moral compass, I would like to know his value system, I would like to know what he sees as right and what maybe he sees as wrong. I want to know why he feels it's no big deal and we get all worked up if he happens to sleep in the same bed with other kids.

I mean, does he still think that he's a kid that has never grown up? Does he still feel he's 14 or 15 years old? Has he been so sheltered that people have allowed him to get away with certain behavior that you and I would not condone?

I mean, I need to get into the way this guy thinks, what he believes in. And then -- because I sense that in the past that he's had people surrounding him who did not necessarily tell him the truth.

As far as I'm concerned, he has been gang raped for the last 30 years. That people have got money and power and access and they've benefited and look at what has happened to this man.

LIN: So now you think he's a victim of his own handlers and that's why he says the wacky things he says like it's all about love when a 45-year-old man sleeps with a child?

WILLIAMS: That's only part of it. I think many have contributed to it. Certainly he has contributed to it himself. Certainly people around him have contributed to it. Obviously if he had someone who was a strong spiritual force in his life, the kind of behavior and even his appearance I think would be different.

I mean he may not see anything wrong with it, but it's sad, it's sad, if you look at him. And you know, I'm not going out to judge him. I want to listen to him and I'm going to be honest for my value system.

Listen, I write a syndicated column. I'm on television. I try to convince people that I have the right kind of value system, the right kind of moral standards, no matter how much we may struggle. And I want to embrace and engage my value system against his.

LIN: I want to be in that room with you.

WILLIAMS: It will help me learn about him and why he is the way he is and yes believes the way he believes.

LIN: All right, what time is the meeting?

WILLIAMS: I don't know that yet.

LIN: Oh man. I've got your cellphone number. We're going to be calling you tomorrow.

All right, you have a good weekend, Armstrong. And we will be in touch to figure out how that conversation went, what you thought. Armstrong Williams, thanks so much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired February 13, 2004 - 14:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The scene may have been subdued today, but there's still plenty at stake in the Michael Jackson case. Mr. Jackson faces seven counts of child molestation and two counts of giving a child an intoxicating agent.
The singer has pleaded not guilty to the charges, but if his legal problems weren't enough to worry about, there's also word of money problems. What kind of pressure is he under?

We're going to talk to syndicated columnist and talk show host Armstrong Williams who's been asked to interview Jackson. Armstrong, let me be clear, are you interviewing a spokesman or are you interviewing Michael Jackson himself?

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: Neither. I'm just -- I'm going to meet with him, it's not an interview. I mean if I were to try to conduct an interview with him, it would compromise everything I've been talking about over the last week.

LIN: Yes.

WILLIAMS: You know, he called, he asked for a meeting. I'm going to sit down and talk to him in the name of balance, in the name of fairness. He said there's another side to the story, that he's being savaged in the media, he has been treated unfairly. He has seen me as one of the harshest critics...

LIN: Yes, you called him self-destructive, savagely irresponsible for sleeping with children. Why of any journalist he could call, why would he call you?

WILLIAMS: You know, that's a good question I've been asked. Certainly I can't answer that. But you know he called.

LIN: How did he sound?

WILLIAMS: He felt that I could be fair and he felt he could communicate and appeal to me.

An you know he did he appeal to me because I've got to tell you, since speaking to him I have been listening and reading and studying and just weighing everything that has been said.

He made it clear to me that people are speaking for him don't really know him, have no idea what they're talking about, that we're willing to put anyone on the airwaves to just talk about him. He said they talk about his finances, they talk about his family feuding. They just talk about everything and they have no idea what is gone on.

And he wanted to talk to someone in the media to tell the rest of the media, guys, slow down. Let us -- in the name of fairness and balance, let us try to look at both sides of the issue.

I would disavow anything I've said, Carol. But I've got to tell you this. I'm open minded, I'm willing to hear another side and I'm sit down and talk to him.

And, look, it's not about my writing something for my column because I'm not interested in that because then that serves my agenda.

My advice to him if I talked to him months ago, I would said he should never have had an interview with Ed Bradley and CBS. It may have done CBS and Ed Bradley a lot of good, bit it did no service to him. And for me asking to sit down with him would be the same.

What Michael needs to do is go under the radar screen, remain low key, not only work on his up and coming trial and these hearings, but he needs to work on his own personal persona and much of the credibility he's lost not only in the media but throughout his own circles.

I mean his showing up for court late did not help his cause, his getting on top of that SUV dancing feeds into the media circles. And he's got to get ahold of his life and the people who are advising him. And I think that is beginning to happen.

LIN: All right, all right. So take me into this room. All right, you're going there, you're meeting with the man. What will does he need to say in order to convince you that he was not savagely irresponsible by sleeping with children? That he did not molest this 14-year-old cancer patient?

WILLIAMS: Well, obviously, he feels without a doubt that he's innocent of molestation. I mean, he has admitted...

LIN: What does he need to tell you, one of his greatest skeptics? Because, you know what? He's got to be thinking if I convince Armstrong Williams, there's a whole world of people out there that might believe me then including the jury.

WILLIAMS: His goal should not be to try to convince me of anything. You know, his actions, I mean, there's an investigation that's pending...

LIN: But what does he need to say to you that is going to ring that bell in Armstrong Williams' mind?

WILLIAMS: I'll tell you what? I would like to know his moral compass, I would like to know his value system, I would like to know what he sees as right and what maybe he sees as wrong. I want to know why he feels it's no big deal and we get all worked up if he happens to sleep in the same bed with other kids.

I mean, does he still think that he's a kid that has never grown up? Does he still feel he's 14 or 15 years old? Has he been so sheltered that people have allowed him to get away with certain behavior that you and I would not condone?

I mean, I need to get into the way this guy thinks, what he believes in. And then -- because I sense that in the past that he's had people surrounding him who did not necessarily tell him the truth.

As far as I'm concerned, he has been gang raped for the last 30 years. That people have got money and power and access and they've benefited and look at what has happened to this man.

LIN: So now you think he's a victim of his own handlers and that's why he says the wacky things he says like it's all about love when a 45-year-old man sleeps with a child?

WILLIAMS: That's only part of it. I think many have contributed to it. Certainly he has contributed to it himself. Certainly people around him have contributed to it. Obviously if he had someone who was a strong spiritual force in his life, the kind of behavior and even his appearance I think would be different.

I mean he may not see anything wrong with it, but it's sad, it's sad, if you look at him. And you know, I'm not going out to judge him. I want to listen to him and I'm going to be honest for my value system.

Listen, I write a syndicated column. I'm on television. I try to convince people that I have the right kind of value system, the right kind of moral standards, no matter how much we may struggle. And I want to embrace and engage my value system against his.

LIN: I want to be in that room with you.

WILLIAMS: It will help me learn about him and why he is the way he is and yes believes the way he believes.

LIN: All right, what time is the meeting?

WILLIAMS: I don't know that yet.

LIN: Oh man. I've got your cellphone number. We're going to be calling you tomorrow.

All right, you have a good weekend, Armstrong. And we will be in touch to figure out how that conversation went, what you thought. Armstrong Williams, thanks so much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com