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Michael Jackson's Trial on Child Molestation Charges Gets Going; Insurgents Claiming They Shot Down a British C-130 North of Baghdad

Aired January 31, 2005 - 11:33   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Daryn Kagan.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rick Sanchez. And here's what's happening in the news right now.

Michael Jackson's trial on child molestation charges gets going. It's in about an hour in Santa Maria, California; 750 potential jurors are expected at the courthouse this week for jury selection.

Those are live pictures we're looking at, by the way, which give you pretty much a sense of what you can expect there when Michael Jackson does show up. If it happens, by the way, you'll see it right here on CNN.

Moving on, Associated Press reports a federal judge will give some of the detainees held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba their day in court. The ruling said the military tribunal for the detainees is not constitutional. She based her ruling on last year's landmark Supreme Court decision on the matter.

A freight train carrying toxic chemicals derailed outside Pittsburgh this morning. Several cars ended up in the Allegheny river. One official says the train leaked some of its hazardous cargo. It's hydrogen chloride, by the way. It's forces some 200 people to be evacuated from their homes.

Also Kuwaiti police say that they've arrested an alleged terror cell leader, and five followers. His capture came after a nine-hour gunfight. Four militants were killed in the gun battle.

Insurgents are claiming today that they shot down a British C-130 north of Baghdad on Sunday. Ten British troops are presumed dead.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is following that story.

Barbara, good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn.

This story is becoming more complicated, literally by the minute. Within the last hour, the Arab television news channel Al Jazeera has shown a videotape that purports to show at tack on the British C-130 yesterday in Iraq, near Balad, north of Baghdad. CNN has not confirmed the validity of that videotape at this point, but separately, another group related to Ansar Al Islam has a statement on its Web site that it is claiming responsibility for this attack on the C-130, what it says is an attack. Of course The entire matter remains under investigation by British and U.S. military officials. The British government today is emphasizing it did not want to speculate on what brought down this C-130.

Earlier today, the British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, spoke on the floor of the House of Commons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK STRAW, BRITISH FOREIGN SECY.: The aircraft was flying from Baghdad International Airport to the Balad Airbase. The site of the crash has been secured, and we're investigating its cause. The house will understand that it would be wrong at this stage to speculate about possible causes. Ten United Kingdom service personnel were on board the aircraft and are, sadly, presumed killed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: But military sources are saying there are a couple of factors they are looking at very closely in the investigation. There are reports from the area that some sort of fireball was seen. There are also reports there was ground fire of some of sort in the area. Of course, none of that absolutely confirmed. It is factors that the investigators are looking at -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon. Thank you.

Top Democrats are taking on President Bush and his second-term agenda. Last hour they delivered a prebuttal to the president's State of the Union address. House minority leader Nancy Pelosi and state minority Senate -- make that Senate minority leader Harry Reid blasted the president over Social Security and the war in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D), MINORITY LEADER: With his re-election and with yesterday's elections in Iraq, President Bush has a golden opportunity to change course, to use his State of the Union address as a chance to come clean with the American people, to outline a stronger, clearer policy to succeed in Iraq, defend America from danger and advance the security and liberty of people around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Reid also criticized the president over the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Of course, President Bush gives the State of the Union address tomorrow.

SANCHEZ: He's already talking about the situation in Iraq, though, the president that is. He's calling the Iraqi elections a resounding success. He says U.S. efforts in Iraq are helping sow the seeds of democracy in the Middle East, the president's words.

White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is joining us now with more on the Iraqi election and the president's agenda henceforth -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rick, it really was even a surprise to the White House just how well those elections turned out. President Bush, just moments ago, attended a formal swearing-in statement of his Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings. This is a woman he's known her since the days of Texas, literally had a desk right down the hall from the president as one of his senior domestic policy advisers.

The president thanking those in the audience, a bipartisan group of members of Congress, including Senator Ted Kennedy. Now as you know, Kennedy one of the harshest critics of the president, leading up both to Iraq elections and afterwards, saying that he believes that U.S. troops should be withdrawn right away.

President Bush this morning spent most of the morning working the phones, talking to world leaders after the Iraqi elections, calling key allies, as well as his harshest critics, spoke with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, thanking all of them for their statements of support, saying of course he looks forward to meeting with them face to face in just a couple of weeks when he travels to Europe.

Now the president, we're told, also spoke with the interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and President Ayawer (ph), saying of course that all of them agreed that this was really a blow to the terrorists, that this was important, and also reiterating, of course, that the U.S. would continue to work on training those Iraqi forces so that, ultimately, they would be in charge of their own security.

Now, Rick, as you can imagine, of course, the president will continue to make the case. This is going to be something that he'll be talking about in his State of the Union Address on Wednesday. We're told the president's going to spend this afternoon practicing a couple times in the family theater. He's on his 13th draft, we are told. Of course he's going to be looking at the Iraqi elections, using that really as a way to embolden the case, saying that he believes that his goal of spreading democracy around the world is in fact a realistic one -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: All right, Suzanne Malveaux, bringing us the very latest from the White House.

CNN, of course, the place to be for the coverage of the State of the Union speech. Tune in for complete coverage during primetime. We'll have it this Wednesday.

KAGAN: Huge strides are being made in the pediatric fight against AIDS. After the break, what pills, these pills in particular, have to do with AIDS rates dropping drastically among babies born here in the U.S. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: On to health news now, the U.S. has reached a milestone in the fight against AIDS, specifically when it comes to HIV and infants. The challenge now is that the spread and success to the rest of the world.

Senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has details in our "Daily Dose" of health news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): There is good news in the fight against AIDS when it comes to pediatric AIDS in particular. The United States may be on the verge of wiping out pediatric infant AIDS all together. Big story, big milestone in the world of public health.

Take a look at some of the numbers. In 1990, 2,000 babies around the country with HIV/AIDS. Fast forward 13 years now, that number is reduced by 0.9 percent, to 200 babies, even further over the last couple years. Again, the thought is that pediatric AIDS may be wiped out all together in the next few years.

Why is that? Well, part of it is just a good public health system in terms of routine counseling and testing of women, also add to that good medication, specifically AZT, which can strongly deter mother-to-child transmission.

Now also, just getting women tested, getting them to know their HIV status before they become pregnant, also a huge factor as well.

How good are the drugs? Well, the drugs can be very good. If you look at all of the maternal-to-child transmission, you'll find that 91 percent of pediatric AIDS cases are because the mother has transferred the virus to the child during the birthing process, during breast-feeding, during delivery. If you can reduce that by giving them medication from about 25 percent to 8 percent, with one medication, AZT. Two drugs can reduce it to 4 percent, three medications to 1 percent, and if you also do a cesarean section, 1 percent.

These medications can be toxic, no doubt, so most of the medications aren't given until about 14 weeks of pregnancy.

While the U.S. has made great strides in the fight against pediatric AIDS, the rest the world has a long way to go.

Still around the world, about 3 million children, more than that, actually with HIV/AIDS today. Most of those children living in Sub- Saharan Africa. Up to 500,000 deaths annually still from HIV/AIDS in children, and 15 millions orphaned due to AIDS.

So good news here in the United States, lots of work still to be done around the world.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: To get your daily does of health news online, logon on to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address is CNN.com/health.

SANCHEZ: You've heard of them, Song, JetBlue, Ted, and these new airliners when we look up, with all these interesting and fancy colors. What's it all about? We're going to be breaking it down for you. What's going on in the airline industry and how it affects you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

SANCHEZ: So you're trying to get a sense of this whole low-cost, low-frill new airlines out there with all the fancy colors. How do you decide among these budget carriers which is the best? "Executive Travel" has done some of the legwork for you.

Janet Libert is the magazine's editor and she joining us now from Time Warner Center in New York this morning.

I guess we should begin with, what is a low-cost carrier?

JANET LIBERT, "EXECUTIVE TRAVEL" MAGAZINE: You know, originally a low-cost carrier was defined by their radically low prices, which they could offer because they had some very low operating expenses. So what you saw were point-to-point flights. You saw just one kind of aircraft. The amenities that they offered their customers were pretty scaled back. There was no first class, no frequent-flyer program, definitely no food. These airlines also had a very good relationship with their employees. So their labor costs were relatively low. What we've seen in the last five years is a radical growth in these low- cost carriers.

Out of the 200 flights that fly every week in the U.S., 20 percent are operated by low-cost carriers. So what's happening is, low-cost carriers and mainline legacy carriers are really striving to keep costs low, but also they're really looking very much more like each other.

SANCHEZ: And that's why it seems like in the future, we're going to be seeing more airlines appearing like these low-cost carriers. That's why we see song appearing in Delta's horizons and Ted appearing in United horizons. Why do they do so well, though?

LIBERT: You know, low-cost carriers really do well because of their low fares, and that's what's really driving their growth and their success. In fact, the only three -- only three airlines earned money this year, and they were all low-cost carriers, JetBlue, Southwest and Airtran. And so it's really, really about the fares.

But also what low-cost carriers have done is redefine the aviation marketplace. They're offering much better service. They have very hip marketing, and it's also interesting to note that customers, when they get onboard a low-cost carrier, really their expectations are relatively low, but once they see the service and they see the great insides of these aircraft, they're so happy and surprised.

SANCHEZ: Let's go through some of them real quick, if we can, because I think our viewers would be interested. Start with Airtran.

LIBERT: Airtran is one of the few low-cost carriers that actually offers a business-class seat. So you can upgrade to business class on Airtran. They also have or are about to install XM Satellite Radio, which is new and interesting onboard an aircraft.

SANCHEZ: The mack daddy out of New York seems to be Jetblue, right?

LIBERT: You know Jetblue, aggressive, aggressive growth plan. They plan to add 18,000 new employees in the next five years, and they are really known for their onboard live television, and that's really very hip, and they've done a lot of really great things on the marketing side for that.

SANCHEZ: Never heard of this one, but it's on the list, Independence Air. Where do they fly out of?

LIBERT: You know, Independence Air is one of the newest low-cost carriers. They're flying out of Dulles Airport, outside Washington D.C., and they're really targeting the governmental market there, and they have fun announcements by celebrities like Dennis Miller and James Carville. So that's Independence Air.

SANCHEZ: And then finally, Song and Ted, which are the big airlines way of saying, we can do this, too.

LIBERT: Absolutely right. And the airline industry is so, so competitive. What the legacy carriers are doing is offering a low- cost element. So Song is Delta's. You can earn Delta miles when you fly Song. It's about fun. Their uniforms are designed by Kate Spade. They have bright colors inside. They offer you opportunities to go yoga and palates. It's great fun.

And Ted is out of Denver, and that's United's low-cost carrier.

SANCHEZ: Live TV, that's a hit, and apple martinis apparently do pretty well there as well.

LIBERT: Anything that will differentiate you.

SANCHEZ: Hey, Janet, thank so you much. That's great information that people can use.

LIBERT: Thank you.

KAGAN: Let's see if there's a difference in the weather coming up. We'll check the nation's forecast next. Also coming up in the next hour on CNN, Arab reaction to the Iraqi elections. Wolf Blitzer will speak with the secretary general of the Arab League.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: And we have a live picture now from Santa Maria, California. Singer Michael Jackson arriving at the courthouse where he will face child molestation charges. As jury selection begins today at this trial, Jackson arriving with less of an entourage than he has for previous court appearances. That is simply a matter of seats, and a shortage of seats. So many people called in to be perspective jurors here, that the judge in the case reserving the seats for the people that need to be in the courtroom.

So you see Michael Jackson, walking into the courtroom, followed by his attorney, Thomas Mesereau Jr. Much more coverage on this ahead from Santa Maria.

SANCHEZ: It seems to happen without incident this time. He didn't stand on top of cars. He didn't dance, didn't do the umbrella thing.

KAGAN: Well, the last time when he did that, it was when he was leaving. So the day is young in California.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Want to get back to our developing story out of Santa Maria, California. Michael Jackson arriving at the courthouse there.

Miguel Marquez is there on the scene -- Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here we go, Daryn.

Mr. Jackson arrived in plenty of time for his first court date, just a few minutes ago. He was met by his lawyers, a couple of his lawyers, Tom Mesereau Jr., and Susan Ewe. She works for him in his law fire. Mr. Jackson jumped out of a black Suburban and the crowd went insane, as you can kind of hear right there. An umbrella was popped open for him, and they all walked to the courtroom. He didn't do much, other than acknowledge the crowd and wave to the crowd, and let them know that he knew they were there, and walked into the courtroom.

He is wearing white today. He was not surround by other family members wearing white, as has been the practice, because there's not enough room in the courtroom; 150 jurors will go in each session today, tomorrow, and then on Wednesday, until they get through 750 jurors, and they're going to select from those the 12 men and women and eight alternates that will eventually judge Mr. Jackson. So there just wasn't room for the family.

I talked to a family spokesperson a short time ago, and she said that family flew in from all over the world for this date and didn't find out until the last couple of days that they would not be allowed in the courtroom, and they were none too pleased, I can tell you.

Mr. Jackson will be in the courtroom. Starts in about a half hour from now. He'll be in there probably until lunch, maybe they'll have a morning break, maybe until about noontime here, and then he will come out again for lunch, and then go back in, and then finally leave this afternoon, whenever the last juror has been talked to and the judge dismisses us for the day -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Miguel Marquez, live from Santa Maria, California, thank you.

MARQUEZ: It has begun.

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 January 31, 2005 - 11:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Daryn Kagan.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rick Sanchez. And here's what's happening in the news right now.

Michael Jackson's trial on child molestation charges gets going. It's in about an hour in Santa Maria, California; 750 potential jurors are expected at the courthouse this week for jury selection.

Those are live pictures we're looking at, by the way, which give you pretty much a sense of what you can expect there when Michael Jackson does show up. If it happens, by the way, you'll see it right here on CNN.

Moving on, Associated Press reports a federal judge will give some of the detainees held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba their day in court. The ruling said the military tribunal for the detainees is not constitutional. She based her ruling on last year's landmark Supreme Court decision on the matter.

A freight train carrying toxic chemicals derailed outside Pittsburgh this morning. Several cars ended up in the Allegheny river. One official says the train leaked some of its hazardous cargo. It's hydrogen chloride, by the way. It's forces some 200 people to be evacuated from their homes.

Also Kuwaiti police say that they've arrested an alleged terror cell leader, and five followers. His capture came after a nine-hour gunfight. Four militants were killed in the gun battle.

Insurgents are claiming today that they shot down a British C-130 north of Baghdad on Sunday. Ten British troops are presumed dead.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is following that story.

Barbara, good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn.

This story is becoming more complicated, literally by the minute. Within the last hour, the Arab television news channel Al Jazeera has shown a videotape that purports to show at tack on the British C-130 yesterday in Iraq, near Balad, north of Baghdad. CNN has not confirmed the validity of that videotape at this point, but separately, another group related to Ansar Al Islam has a statement on its Web site that it is claiming responsibility for this attack on the C-130, what it says is an attack. Of course The entire matter remains under investigation by British and U.S. military officials. The British government today is emphasizing it did not want to speculate on what brought down this C-130.

Earlier today, the British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, spoke on the floor of the House of Commons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK STRAW, BRITISH FOREIGN SECY.: The aircraft was flying from Baghdad International Airport to the Balad Airbase. The site of the crash has been secured, and we're investigating its cause. The house will understand that it would be wrong at this stage to speculate about possible causes. Ten United Kingdom service personnel were on board the aircraft and are, sadly, presumed killed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: But military sources are saying there are a couple of factors they are looking at very closely in the investigation. There are reports from the area that some sort of fireball was seen. There are also reports there was ground fire of some of sort in the area. Of course, none of that absolutely confirmed. It is factors that the investigators are looking at -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon. Thank you.

Top Democrats are taking on President Bush and his second-term agenda. Last hour they delivered a prebuttal to the president's State of the Union address. House minority leader Nancy Pelosi and state minority Senate -- make that Senate minority leader Harry Reid blasted the president over Social Security and the war in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D), MINORITY LEADER: With his re-election and with yesterday's elections in Iraq, President Bush has a golden opportunity to change course, to use his State of the Union address as a chance to come clean with the American people, to outline a stronger, clearer policy to succeed in Iraq, defend America from danger and advance the security and liberty of people around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Reid also criticized the president over the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Of course, President Bush gives the State of the Union address tomorrow.

SANCHEZ: He's already talking about the situation in Iraq, though, the president that is. He's calling the Iraqi elections a resounding success. He says U.S. efforts in Iraq are helping sow the seeds of democracy in the Middle East, the president's words.

White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is joining us now with more on the Iraqi election and the president's agenda henceforth -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rick, it really was even a surprise to the White House just how well those elections turned out. President Bush, just moments ago, attended a formal swearing-in statement of his Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings. This is a woman he's known her since the days of Texas, literally had a desk right down the hall from the president as one of his senior domestic policy advisers.

The president thanking those in the audience, a bipartisan group of members of Congress, including Senator Ted Kennedy. Now as you know, Kennedy one of the harshest critics of the president, leading up both to Iraq elections and afterwards, saying that he believes that U.S. troops should be withdrawn right away.

President Bush this morning spent most of the morning working the phones, talking to world leaders after the Iraqi elections, calling key allies, as well as his harshest critics, spoke with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, thanking all of them for their statements of support, saying of course he looks forward to meeting with them face to face in just a couple of weeks when he travels to Europe.

Now the president, we're told, also spoke with the interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and President Ayawer (ph), saying of course that all of them agreed that this was really a blow to the terrorists, that this was important, and also reiterating, of course, that the U.S. would continue to work on training those Iraqi forces so that, ultimately, they would be in charge of their own security.

Now, Rick, as you can imagine, of course, the president will continue to make the case. This is going to be something that he'll be talking about in his State of the Union Address on Wednesday. We're told the president's going to spend this afternoon practicing a couple times in the family theater. He's on his 13th draft, we are told. Of course he's going to be looking at the Iraqi elections, using that really as a way to embolden the case, saying that he believes that his goal of spreading democracy around the world is in fact a realistic one -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: All right, Suzanne Malveaux, bringing us the very latest from the White House.

CNN, of course, the place to be for the coverage of the State of the Union speech. Tune in for complete coverage during primetime. We'll have it this Wednesday.

KAGAN: Huge strides are being made in the pediatric fight against AIDS. After the break, what pills, these pills in particular, have to do with AIDS rates dropping drastically among babies born here in the U.S. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: On to health news now, the U.S. has reached a milestone in the fight against AIDS, specifically when it comes to HIV and infants. The challenge now is that the spread and success to the rest of the world.

Senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has details in our "Daily Dose" of health news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): There is good news in the fight against AIDS when it comes to pediatric AIDS in particular. The United States may be on the verge of wiping out pediatric infant AIDS all together. Big story, big milestone in the world of public health.

Take a look at some of the numbers. In 1990, 2,000 babies around the country with HIV/AIDS. Fast forward 13 years now, that number is reduced by 0.9 percent, to 200 babies, even further over the last couple years. Again, the thought is that pediatric AIDS may be wiped out all together in the next few years.

Why is that? Well, part of it is just a good public health system in terms of routine counseling and testing of women, also add to that good medication, specifically AZT, which can strongly deter mother-to-child transmission.

Now also, just getting women tested, getting them to know their HIV status before they become pregnant, also a huge factor as well.

How good are the drugs? Well, the drugs can be very good. If you look at all of the maternal-to-child transmission, you'll find that 91 percent of pediatric AIDS cases are because the mother has transferred the virus to the child during the birthing process, during breast-feeding, during delivery. If you can reduce that by giving them medication from about 25 percent to 8 percent, with one medication, AZT. Two drugs can reduce it to 4 percent, three medications to 1 percent, and if you also do a cesarean section, 1 percent.

These medications can be toxic, no doubt, so most of the medications aren't given until about 14 weeks of pregnancy.

While the U.S. has made great strides in the fight against pediatric AIDS, the rest the world has a long way to go.

Still around the world, about 3 million children, more than that, actually with HIV/AIDS today. Most of those children living in Sub- Saharan Africa. Up to 500,000 deaths annually still from HIV/AIDS in children, and 15 millions orphaned due to AIDS.

So good news here in the United States, lots of work still to be done around the world.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: To get your daily does of health news online, logon on to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address is CNN.com/health.

SANCHEZ: You've heard of them, Song, JetBlue, Ted, and these new airliners when we look up, with all these interesting and fancy colors. What's it all about? We're going to be breaking it down for you. What's going on in the airline industry and how it affects you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

SANCHEZ: So you're trying to get a sense of this whole low-cost, low-frill new airlines out there with all the fancy colors. How do you decide among these budget carriers which is the best? "Executive Travel" has done some of the legwork for you.

Janet Libert is the magazine's editor and she joining us now from Time Warner Center in New York this morning.

I guess we should begin with, what is a low-cost carrier?

JANET LIBERT, "EXECUTIVE TRAVEL" MAGAZINE: You know, originally a low-cost carrier was defined by their radically low prices, which they could offer because they had some very low operating expenses. So what you saw were point-to-point flights. You saw just one kind of aircraft. The amenities that they offered their customers were pretty scaled back. There was no first class, no frequent-flyer program, definitely no food. These airlines also had a very good relationship with their employees. So their labor costs were relatively low. What we've seen in the last five years is a radical growth in these low- cost carriers.

Out of the 200 flights that fly every week in the U.S., 20 percent are operated by low-cost carriers. So what's happening is, low-cost carriers and mainline legacy carriers are really striving to keep costs low, but also they're really looking very much more like each other.

SANCHEZ: And that's why it seems like in the future, we're going to be seeing more airlines appearing like these low-cost carriers. That's why we see song appearing in Delta's horizons and Ted appearing in United horizons. Why do they do so well, though?

LIBERT: You know, low-cost carriers really do well because of their low fares, and that's what's really driving their growth and their success. In fact, the only three -- only three airlines earned money this year, and they were all low-cost carriers, JetBlue, Southwest and Airtran. And so it's really, really about the fares.

But also what low-cost carriers have done is redefine the aviation marketplace. They're offering much better service. They have very hip marketing, and it's also interesting to note that customers, when they get onboard a low-cost carrier, really their expectations are relatively low, but once they see the service and they see the great insides of these aircraft, they're so happy and surprised.

SANCHEZ: Let's go through some of them real quick, if we can, because I think our viewers would be interested. Start with Airtran.

LIBERT: Airtran is one of the few low-cost carriers that actually offers a business-class seat. So you can upgrade to business class on Airtran. They also have or are about to install XM Satellite Radio, which is new and interesting onboard an aircraft.

SANCHEZ: The mack daddy out of New York seems to be Jetblue, right?

LIBERT: You know Jetblue, aggressive, aggressive growth plan. They plan to add 18,000 new employees in the next five years, and they are really known for their onboard live television, and that's really very hip, and they've done a lot of really great things on the marketing side for that.

SANCHEZ: Never heard of this one, but it's on the list, Independence Air. Where do they fly out of?

LIBERT: You know, Independence Air is one of the newest low-cost carriers. They're flying out of Dulles Airport, outside Washington D.C., and they're really targeting the governmental market there, and they have fun announcements by celebrities like Dennis Miller and James Carville. So that's Independence Air.

SANCHEZ: And then finally, Song and Ted, which are the big airlines way of saying, we can do this, too.

LIBERT: Absolutely right. And the airline industry is so, so competitive. What the legacy carriers are doing is offering a low- cost element. So Song is Delta's. You can earn Delta miles when you fly Song. It's about fun. Their uniforms are designed by Kate Spade. They have bright colors inside. They offer you opportunities to go yoga and palates. It's great fun.

And Ted is out of Denver, and that's United's low-cost carrier.

SANCHEZ: Live TV, that's a hit, and apple martinis apparently do pretty well there as well.

LIBERT: Anything that will differentiate you.

SANCHEZ: Hey, Janet, thank so you much. That's great information that people can use.

LIBERT: Thank you.

KAGAN: Let's see if there's a difference in the weather coming up. We'll check the nation's forecast next. Also coming up in the next hour on CNN, Arab reaction to the Iraqi elections. Wolf Blitzer will speak with the secretary general of the Arab League.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: And we have a live picture now from Santa Maria, California. Singer Michael Jackson arriving at the courthouse where he will face child molestation charges. As jury selection begins today at this trial, Jackson arriving with less of an entourage than he has for previous court appearances. That is simply a matter of seats, and a shortage of seats. So many people called in to be perspective jurors here, that the judge in the case reserving the seats for the people that need to be in the courtroom.

So you see Michael Jackson, walking into the courtroom, followed by his attorney, Thomas Mesereau Jr. Much more coverage on this ahead from Santa Maria.

SANCHEZ: It seems to happen without incident this time. He didn't stand on top of cars. He didn't dance, didn't do the umbrella thing.

KAGAN: Well, the last time when he did that, it was when he was leaving. So the day is young in California.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Want to get back to our developing story out of Santa Maria, California. Michael Jackson arriving at the courthouse there.

Miguel Marquez is there on the scene -- Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here we go, Daryn.

Mr. Jackson arrived in plenty of time for his first court date, just a few minutes ago. He was met by his lawyers, a couple of his lawyers, Tom Mesereau Jr., and Susan Ewe. She works for him in his law fire. Mr. Jackson jumped out of a black Suburban and the crowd went insane, as you can kind of hear right there. An umbrella was popped open for him, and they all walked to the courtroom. He didn't do much, other than acknowledge the crowd and wave to the crowd, and let them know that he knew they were there, and walked into the courtroom.

He is wearing white today. He was not surround by other family members wearing white, as has been the practice, because there's not enough room in the courtroom; 150 jurors will go in each session today, tomorrow, and then on Wednesday, until they get through 750 jurors, and they're going to select from those the 12 men and women and eight alternates that will eventually judge Mr. Jackson. So there just wasn't room for the family.

I talked to a family spokesperson a short time ago, and she said that family flew in from all over the world for this date and didn't find out until the last couple of days that they would not be allowed in the courtroom, and they were none too pleased, I can tell you.

Mr. Jackson will be in the courtroom. Starts in about a half hour from now. He'll be in there probably until lunch, maybe they'll have a morning break, maybe until about noontime here, and then he will come out again for lunch, and then go back in, and then finally leave this afternoon, whenever the last juror has been talked to and the judge dismisses us for the day -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Miguel Marquez, live from Santa Maria, California, thank you.

MARQUEZ: It has begun.

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