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American Morning

Michael Jackson Will be Arraigned Today

Aired January 16, 2004 - 08:14   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.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Michael Jackson's arrival today for a court appearance is expected to be a media feeding frenzy. He will be arraigned today on child molestation charges.
Joining us now from Santa Maria, California, CNN's Charles Feldman -- hi, Charles.

CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi.

Good morning, Heidi.

A media frenzy, indeed. In fact, there are already about, oh, 50 or so fans of Michael Jackson gathered for this arraignment later this morning. I spoke to one young woman who came all the way from Fresno, California and another gentleman who came all the way from Louisiana with some friends from Texas. And they say they're going to be here throughout, even if necessary, the weekend, to support Michael Jackson, because they say they just don't believe the charges against him, which, of course, are extremely serious -- Heidi.

COLLINS: What can you tell us, Charles, about the addition of legal counsel that we've been talking about this morning for Jackson's defense team?

FELDMAN: Yes, Heidi, that's the big story today is the addition of Benjamin Brafman, who is a very high powered attorney from New York City who has now joined, at least initially, as co-counsel. Now, a very well placed source tells me that part of the reason for that is that there is concern in Michael Jackson's camp that Mark Geragos, who is the main counsel, who also, you know, represents Scott Peterson, there's concern, I'm told, in Michael Jackson's camp that should Mr. Peterson end up being convicted, that that could rub off on a jury in the Michael Jackson case. And because of that concern, Benjamin Brafman was brought into this case, mainly with the intervention of Johnnie Cochran, the attorney who, of course, represented O.J. Simpson and who once worked along with Mr. Brafman -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Interesting.

All right, Charles, tell us what's going to happen after the arraignment.

FELDMAN: Well, the arraignment, of course, it is expected that Michael Jackson will plead, or his attorney will plead for him, not guilty to the charges against him. And then, as is normally the case, a date will be set for a preliminary hearing, usually several weeks or even months away. And in most cases, especially high profile cases such as this, those dates have a habit of being pushed more into the future.

So, whatever date we hear this morning is not likely to be the actual date for a preliminary hearing -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, live from Santa Maria, California, CNN's Charles Feldman.

Thanks, Charles.

Well, as you know, hundreds of fans are converging on Santa Maria for Jackson's arraignment.

Earlier, I spoke to Firpo Carr.

He's a friend of the Jackson family.

He will be joining today's rally.

I asked him how he thinks Jackson is handling the pressure now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIRPO CARR, FRIEND OF JACKSON: He is cautiously optimistic and, of course, he knows he's innocent. So ultimately he feels that this whole thing will work out and we are confident that that will be the case.

COLLINS: What do you make of the addition of Ben Brafman to Jackson's legal team? Is that helping, in your opinion, to boost his confidence a little bit?

CARR: Absolutely. Whenever you have an innocent person, in this case, Michael Jackson, who is trying to prove his innocence, and that's unfortunate, because the constitution of the United States says he should be presumed innocent -- but unfortunately, because of bad press, so to speak, in some quarters, he is presumed guilty. And this young, unfortunate young man with cancer is presumed to be the victim, his victim, the victim of Michael Jackson, if you will.

So when you have the addition of this gentleman to the legal team, then that bolsters his position, namely that he's innocent and his team welcomes it.

COLLINS: All right, well, we know something that you are very involved in, and that is the support rally today that will be going on during the arraignment.

What's the purpose for this? Is it for Michael? Is it for the television cameras? Or is it P.R.?

CARR: Well, it's for Michael. Any type of moral support one gets when they're faced with a dilemma, when they're faced with something that Michael is faced with, every bit of moral support that one can muster is very much appreciated. So these fans have voluntarily come out here. They were not coerced or even invited, for that matter. They wanted to be here and, of course, Michael and his family very much appreciates their support.

COLLINS: And we know that you know Michael Jackson very well, obviously.

How important is this kind of support to him? Does he really need this?

CARR: Oh, of course. Absolutely. When you have a multinational, multi-racial fan base who comes to your aid, as it were, then it's very much appreciated. It's like any one of us, if we are down or if we are accused of something that we didn't do and we have family and friends who come to our aid and encourage us, then of course we are encouraged. We appreciate that. Well, Michael is no different. He very much appreciates his fan base.

COLLINS: How many people do you expect to show up?

CARR: Well, some are saying around 10,000 or more. So we know that there will be quite a few out here and every single fan, once again, the ones who are here and the ones who are out there in the world watching this on television, they all are very much appreciated by Michael Jackson and his family.

COLLINS: We also know that the prosecution has filed for a gag order.

I'm just wondering if you agree with Jackson's defense team that there not be a gag order put in place?

CARR: Absolutely. I agree with his defense team 100 percent that there not be a gag order put in place. I find it ironic that the prosecution, including Sheriff Jim Anderson, would have a P.R. firm assisting them, or at least accepting the help of this P.R. firm, presenting their case, if you will, before the world, showing video and then they have the audacity, if you will, or the nerve to say hey, listen, we need a gag order for the other side.

I find that stunning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: A friend of the family, Firpo Carr.

And we just want to remind everybody, that arraignment taking place at 11:30 Eastern time, at 8:30 Pacific time. Of course, we'll have it right here on CNN.

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 16, 2004 - 08:14   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Michael Jackson's arrival today for a court appearance is expected to be a media feeding frenzy. He will be arraigned today on child molestation charges.
Joining us now from Santa Maria, California, CNN's Charles Feldman -- hi, Charles.

CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi.

Good morning, Heidi.

A media frenzy, indeed. In fact, there are already about, oh, 50 or so fans of Michael Jackson gathered for this arraignment later this morning. I spoke to one young woman who came all the way from Fresno, California and another gentleman who came all the way from Louisiana with some friends from Texas. And they say they're going to be here throughout, even if necessary, the weekend, to support Michael Jackson, because they say they just don't believe the charges against him, which, of course, are extremely serious -- Heidi.

COLLINS: What can you tell us, Charles, about the addition of legal counsel that we've been talking about this morning for Jackson's defense team?

FELDMAN: Yes, Heidi, that's the big story today is the addition of Benjamin Brafman, who is a very high powered attorney from New York City who has now joined, at least initially, as co-counsel. Now, a very well placed source tells me that part of the reason for that is that there is concern in Michael Jackson's camp that Mark Geragos, who is the main counsel, who also, you know, represents Scott Peterson, there's concern, I'm told, in Michael Jackson's camp that should Mr. Peterson end up being convicted, that that could rub off on a jury in the Michael Jackson case. And because of that concern, Benjamin Brafman was brought into this case, mainly with the intervention of Johnnie Cochran, the attorney who, of course, represented O.J. Simpson and who once worked along with Mr. Brafman -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Interesting.

All right, Charles, tell us what's going to happen after the arraignment.

FELDMAN: Well, the arraignment, of course, it is expected that Michael Jackson will plead, or his attorney will plead for him, not guilty to the charges against him. And then, as is normally the case, a date will be set for a preliminary hearing, usually several weeks or even months away. And in most cases, especially high profile cases such as this, those dates have a habit of being pushed more into the future.

So, whatever date we hear this morning is not likely to be the actual date for a preliminary hearing -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, live from Santa Maria, California, CNN's Charles Feldman.

Thanks, Charles.

Well, as you know, hundreds of fans are converging on Santa Maria for Jackson's arraignment.

Earlier, I spoke to Firpo Carr.

He's a friend of the Jackson family.

He will be joining today's rally.

I asked him how he thinks Jackson is handling the pressure now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIRPO CARR, FRIEND OF JACKSON: He is cautiously optimistic and, of course, he knows he's innocent. So ultimately he feels that this whole thing will work out and we are confident that that will be the case.

COLLINS: What do you make of the addition of Ben Brafman to Jackson's legal team? Is that helping, in your opinion, to boost his confidence a little bit?

CARR: Absolutely. Whenever you have an innocent person, in this case, Michael Jackson, who is trying to prove his innocence, and that's unfortunate, because the constitution of the United States says he should be presumed innocent -- but unfortunately, because of bad press, so to speak, in some quarters, he is presumed guilty. And this young, unfortunate young man with cancer is presumed to be the victim, his victim, the victim of Michael Jackson, if you will.

So when you have the addition of this gentleman to the legal team, then that bolsters his position, namely that he's innocent and his team welcomes it.

COLLINS: All right, well, we know something that you are very involved in, and that is the support rally today that will be going on during the arraignment.

What's the purpose for this? Is it for Michael? Is it for the television cameras? Or is it P.R.?

CARR: Well, it's for Michael. Any type of moral support one gets when they're faced with a dilemma, when they're faced with something that Michael is faced with, every bit of moral support that one can muster is very much appreciated. So these fans have voluntarily come out here. They were not coerced or even invited, for that matter. They wanted to be here and, of course, Michael and his family very much appreciates their support.

COLLINS: And we know that you know Michael Jackson very well, obviously.

How important is this kind of support to him? Does he really need this?

CARR: Oh, of course. Absolutely. When you have a multinational, multi-racial fan base who comes to your aid, as it were, then it's very much appreciated. It's like any one of us, if we are down or if we are accused of something that we didn't do and we have family and friends who come to our aid and encourage us, then of course we are encouraged. We appreciate that. Well, Michael is no different. He very much appreciates his fan base.

COLLINS: How many people do you expect to show up?

CARR: Well, some are saying around 10,000 or more. So we know that there will be quite a few out here and every single fan, once again, the ones who are here and the ones who are out there in the world watching this on television, they all are very much appreciated by Michael Jackson and his family.

COLLINS: We also know that the prosecution has filed for a gag order.

I'm just wondering if you agree with Jackson's defense team that there not be a gag order put in place?

CARR: Absolutely. I agree with his defense team 100 percent that there not be a gag order put in place. I find it ironic that the prosecution, including Sheriff Jim Anderson, would have a P.R. firm assisting them, or at least accepting the help of this P.R. firm, presenting their case, if you will, before the world, showing video and then they have the audacity, if you will, or the nerve to say hey, listen, we need a gag order for the other side.

I find that stunning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: A friend of the family, Firpo Carr.

And we just want to remind everybody, that arraignment taking place at 11:30 Eastern time, at 8:30 Pacific time. Of course, we'll have it right here on CNN.

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