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American Morning
Fightin' Words
Aired November 26, 2003 - 09:07 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Jeff Toobin our legal analyst back with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning again.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi.
HEMMER: A couple things you've touched on this past week. You say there's more intrigue and more interest in this case already than you have seen since the O.J. days. Is that what you see?
TOOBIN: Those of us who cover these cases, it's the gold standard to use perhaps an inappropriate term, in terms of public interest is the Simpson case. And the degree of interest in this case, and the intrigue and the complications, and the intensity of the media interest, mostly in terms of intensity and media interest in the Jackson case is the closest to O.J. It's bigger than Kobe Bryant.
HEMMER: That's not an overstatement then?
TOOBIN: No, it's not. It's bigger than Kobe Bryant, bigger than Martha Stewart, and I think it's going to continue to ratchet up.
HEMMER: The other thing you talked about earlier today, you say Mark Geragos is, quote, unquote, trashing the kid, the 12-year-old boy. How do you see that?
TOOBIN: This is what was so interesting about this news conference yesterday. I mean, he had a very legitimate argument against this jet company that taped him, and Michael Jackson. It was really an outrageous thing for that company to do. And he successfully got a temporary restraining order, preventing the sale of any conversations between him and Michael Jackson.
But what was interesting about what he said was, he went from that perfectly legitimate attack to saying that the basis for these charges is money, that all the accusers are interested in here is shaking Michael Jackson down, extorting money from him, and you know when you're talking about a 12-year-old cancer victim, who is the chief accuser in this case, you know, I think there are some people who are going to say, we'd like to hear a little more before we dismiss this kid and his family as shakedown artists.
HEMMER: The other thing he talked about was the media. Really going after cable news networks, local stations in California. Listen to how he addressed that. A bit of a threat, whether it's hollow or not. Listen and we'll talk about it. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK GERAGOS, JACKSON ATTORNEY: There are people out there speaking who claim to know Michael Jackson, who claim to have worked for Michael Jackson who've never laid eyes on him. The press puts them on, without -- unblinkingly. That is not going to go on anymore. We will demand that any outlet, that any person who comes out, shows their bona fides before they're allowed to just repeat these scurrilous actions, and we will meet any accusation that's made with every legal avenue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: You said on that count yesterday at this time, nobody's on the side fighting publicly for Michael Jackson, And Geragos is the first one to come out with force yesterday.
TOOBIN: It was striking. Now by the way...
HEMMER: Has that strategy ever worked by the way?
TOOBIN: You can't sue people for putting on guests. I think as a legal matter, that is a hollow threat.
HEMMER: A bit of a deflection for now?
TOOBIN: But, I mean, He may be raising a legitimate point, that I have been struck by that people who claim to speak for Michael Jackson, friend of the family, you know, tangential people, who really don't seem to know what they're talking about. I don't think it's a legal matter, but as a journalistic matter, maybe some of our colleagues in the news business ought to...
HEMMER: Absolutely, are responsible to check it out before we go that way, too.
I know the other thing that confounds you, and we'll talk about it later if we get the opportunity, charges will not be filed until mid-December.
TOOBIN: Where are the charges? Here we are talking about this case, he's booked, he's publicly humiliated and there have been no charges yet.
HEMMER: Tom Sneddon knows that. Thank you, Jeff, talk to you later.
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 November 26, 2003 - 09:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Jeff Toobin our legal analyst back with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning again.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi.
HEMMER: A couple things you've touched on this past week. You say there's more intrigue and more interest in this case already than you have seen since the O.J. days. Is that what you see?
TOOBIN: Those of us who cover these cases, it's the gold standard to use perhaps an inappropriate term, in terms of public interest is the Simpson case. And the degree of interest in this case, and the intrigue and the complications, and the intensity of the media interest, mostly in terms of intensity and media interest in the Jackson case is the closest to O.J. It's bigger than Kobe Bryant.
HEMMER: That's not an overstatement then?
TOOBIN: No, it's not. It's bigger than Kobe Bryant, bigger than Martha Stewart, and I think it's going to continue to ratchet up.
HEMMER: The other thing you talked about earlier today, you say Mark Geragos is, quote, unquote, trashing the kid, the 12-year-old boy. How do you see that?
TOOBIN: This is what was so interesting about this news conference yesterday. I mean, he had a very legitimate argument against this jet company that taped him, and Michael Jackson. It was really an outrageous thing for that company to do. And he successfully got a temporary restraining order, preventing the sale of any conversations between him and Michael Jackson.
But what was interesting about what he said was, he went from that perfectly legitimate attack to saying that the basis for these charges is money, that all the accusers are interested in here is shaking Michael Jackson down, extorting money from him, and you know when you're talking about a 12-year-old cancer victim, who is the chief accuser in this case, you know, I think there are some people who are going to say, we'd like to hear a little more before we dismiss this kid and his family as shakedown artists.
HEMMER: The other thing he talked about was the media. Really going after cable news networks, local stations in California. Listen to how he addressed that. A bit of a threat, whether it's hollow or not. Listen and we'll talk about it. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK GERAGOS, JACKSON ATTORNEY: There are people out there speaking who claim to know Michael Jackson, who claim to have worked for Michael Jackson who've never laid eyes on him. The press puts them on, without -- unblinkingly. That is not going to go on anymore. We will demand that any outlet, that any person who comes out, shows their bona fides before they're allowed to just repeat these scurrilous actions, and we will meet any accusation that's made with every legal avenue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: You said on that count yesterday at this time, nobody's on the side fighting publicly for Michael Jackson, And Geragos is the first one to come out with force yesterday.
TOOBIN: It was striking. Now by the way...
HEMMER: Has that strategy ever worked by the way?
TOOBIN: You can't sue people for putting on guests. I think as a legal matter, that is a hollow threat.
HEMMER: A bit of a deflection for now?
TOOBIN: But, I mean, He may be raising a legitimate point, that I have been struck by that people who claim to speak for Michael Jackson, friend of the family, you know, tangential people, who really don't seem to know what they're talking about. I don't think it's a legal matter, but as a journalistic matter, maybe some of our colleagues in the news business ought to...
HEMMER: Absolutely, are responsible to check it out before we go that way, too.
I know the other thing that confounds you, and we'll talk about it later if we get the opportunity, charges will not be filed until mid-December.
TOOBIN: Where are the charges? Here we are talking about this case, he's booked, he's publicly humiliated and there have been no charges yet.
HEMMER: Tom Sneddon knows that. Thank you, Jeff, talk to you later.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
