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CNN Saturday Morning News
Michael Jackson's Initial Autopsy Report Says There Was No Foul Play; South Carolina Governor Apologizes to His Cabinet; Death Row Inmate's Case Could Be Listened to by the Supreme Court
Aired June 27, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING for this June 27th. Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks for starting your day with us.
OK. First up this morning, questions are swirling over the death of Michael Jackson and the role his personal doctor played. We're going to be joined by Jesse Jackson, a family friend, shortly.
HOLMES: Also, it's a death row inmate's possible last chance to convince a court that he's innocent -- not just any court we're talking about here, we're talking about the Supreme Court, that may be his last chance. Members of his family here live with us this weekend with a big day coming up on Monday. They hear from the Supreme Court.
NGUYEN: Also, the heat is on across the Midwest. Some cities could see temperatures in the 100s today. Reynolds Wolf joins us with the latest on that. But first we want to get to those new developments this morning in the death of pop super star Michael Jackson.
Here's what we know. A Los Angeles coroner says Jackson's remains were removed from the coroner's office early this morning Eastern time and taken to a mortuary. Assistant chief coroner Ed Winters says the Jackson family asked that the location not be made public.
Now in an initial autopsy report, the coroner's office says there are no indications of foul play in Jackson's death and no indications of trauma. A complete report won't be available for weeks, so -- but Michael Jackson did go into cardiac arrest at his home in Los Angeles on Thursday as you recall and then was later pronounced dead at the hospital. All right. So, the LA coroner also has ordered more tests. Let's see if we can get more on that specifically.
HOLMES: Susan Roesgen outside the coroner's office there in LA. What are they going to be looking for going forward here, Susan?
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J., what they're going to be looking for more of I think you could say is more specifics on what sort of drugs were in Michael Jackson's body. And I say that because the coroner did say last night that there were prescription drugs in Michael Jackson's body. But this is not the toxicology report. That toxicology report will take at least a month and so that's when they're going to know really if there were some sort of drugs in Michael Jackson's system that might have contributed to his death.
The coroner also said last night that there was no obvious sign of any kind of trauma to Jackson's body, nothing that would really suggest what would have led to the cardiac arrest or the heart attack. And as Betty mentioned earlier, the family talked to the coroner. They didn't want anybody to know where the body was taken and the coroner said he won't say anything. He will respect their wishes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRAIG HARVEY, CHIEF CORONER, LOS ANGELES CO: The cause of death has been deferred, which means that the medical examiner has ordered additional testing, such as toxicology and other studies. There was no indication of any external trauma or any indication of foul play on the body of Mr. Jackson.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: And again, the coroner said to folks last night that the body was taken to an undisclosed funeral home at the family's wishes. Now, you know, the big thing that everybody wants to know, T.J., as we've been talking about is what could have led to the cardiac arrest?
We do know that the "LA Times" is reporting, T.J., that the day before the death that on Wednesday, Michael Jackson had a full rehearsal, a full concert rehearsal for his upcoming what would have been his upcoming comeback concert dates in London and at that rehearsal, nobody said that they noticed anything wrong. He seemed upbeat, excited, energetic. They just didn't see any sign that he was sick, T.J.
NGUYEN: Well, Susan, let me ask you this, can we gather any clues from those 911 tapes which have been released?
ROESGEN: You know, maybe the authorities can learn something. Really a dramatic 911 tape yesterday or rather on Thursday. You hear somebody, you don't know who it is in the rented mansion where Michael Jackson was staying, on the 911 call and he is so frantic to get somebody there, as you would be, of course, and he never says it's Michael Jackson, get over here.
Here you can listen to part of this really dramatic 911 tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, I have -- we have a gentleman here that needs helps. He's not breathing. He's not breathing and we need to -- we're trying to pump him but he's not ...
911 OPERATOR: OK. How old is he?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's 50 years old sir.
911 OPERATOR: 50. OK. He's unconscious; he's not breathing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. He's not breathing, sir.
911 OPERATOR: OK. And he's not conscious either?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, he's not conscious sir.
911 OPERATOR: OK. All right. Do you have -- is on the floor? Where is he at right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's on the bed, sir. He's on the bed.
911 OPERATOR: Let's get him on the floor. OK, let's get him down to the floor, help you with CPR right now OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need him ...
911 OPERATOR: We're on our way there. I'm going to do as much as I can to help you over the phone. We're already on our way. Did anybody see him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. He has a personal doctor here with him, sir.
911 OPERATOR: You have a doctor there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. But he's not responding to anything, to no -- he's not responding to CPR or anything.
911 OPERATOR: Oh, OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: Now, we know that that personal doctor was Conrad Murray. We know that he was Michael Jackson's personal doctor because AEG, the entertainment company that was promoting the concert tour that had hired Michael Jackson for the tour, also by contract had to hire Michael Jackson's personal physician. He did try to revive Michael Jackson there. As we know it was not successful.
But T.J., that doctor -- T.J. and Betty, that doctor is not under any kind of criminal investigation. The Los Angeles police have talked to him, but they say they do want to know more and they will continue to talk to him about what happened in Michael Jackson's final minutes.
NGUYEN: Yeah. Not only does the investigators want to know more, the family in fact wants to know more. They have not heard from that doctor, according to the Reverend Jesse Jackson. In fact we're going to be talking with him shortly. Since, you know, the last time that he was with Michael Jackson. There's a lot of questions still out there.
Susan Roesgen, joining us live today, thank you. HOLMES: And we will go ahead and turn right now to the Reverend Jesse Jackson to talk about that point. The family has a lot of questions, wants to talk to this doctor, still has not talked to this doctor who was with Michael Jackson right before he died. Reverend Jackson, we thank you for being here again. It's important to talk to you because you have been with the family, been talking to them with the past couple of days here, was with them yesterday.
Tell us first of all, here, there was an understanding that the doctor may have been with Michael Jackson the night before he died and then the next day, that's when all the problems started. Do you have any indication and heard anything from the family that believes something went down the night before that started causing the problems the day Michael Jackson died?
REV. JESSE JACKSON, JACKSON FAMILY FRIEND: You know, let me say, number one, the family has not had time to grieve, to deal with their wound and now these unanswered -- as of yesterday, the coroner had not talked with the doctor. The family had not talked with the doctor.
911, he's not breathing and not conscious, he is unofficially dead and the doctor who was apparently there, did not sign the death certificate, could not be found until perhaps late yesterday in the presence of a lawyer. So, the doctor's bizarre behavior here is triggering all these questions of suspicion.
HOLMES: But have you been given any indication that something was happening before, the night before? Does the family believe something happened the night before with this doctor?
JACKSON: They're not sure what to believe. What they really know is that Michael had passed a physical exam in good shape, practicing three to four hours a day in his dance routine and apparently was very healthy. And then there's this gap between his bed time 11:00 or something like that and the next day, of when we get the call that Michael is not breathing and apparently is unconscious and the doctor who may have been with Michael the night before, could not be found as of yesterday.
HOLMES: What has the coroner told the family about Michael Jackson, about his body, about the shape the body was in and also the result of that autopsy?
JACKSON: Well, at this point, it's very incomplete and that's why I talked with attorney (INAUDIBLE) McMillan last night who is attorney for the family. They need an independent autopsy to get even more answers to basic questions that are now being driven by the gap between when Michael was last seen alive when he was pronounced dead the day before yesterday.
HOLMES: And Reverend Jackson, we talked a little bit about already earlier this morning, but there's been people out there, including Brian Oxman who used to work with the family and attorney, also Deepak Chopra who worked with Michael Jackson, suggesting that yes in fact, he was abusing prescription drugs and that there were people around him that enabled him in doing so. But you're saying that the family does not believe Michael Jackson had any issue with prescription drugs or otherwise?
JACKSON: No. You know, the issue is not about if you were or were not taking, say, Vicodin or Tylenol. The issue is not that. The issue is that did the doctor, for example, give him a shot of something to induce sleep and it induced the cardiac arrest. We just do not know.
HOLMES: But you're making a suggestion, are you suggesting that the doctor had done that in the past or something like that with Michael Jackson?
JACKSON: No, I'm not suggesting. All we know is that on one day Michael is downtown practicing his dance routine in apparent good health. Something happened that night in the doctor's presence with the doctor present and we hear this next call.
For example, how long had he stopped breathing? How long had he been unconscious? We don't know the answer. If the doctor had made themselves available to the coroner and to the family we'd have a lot of answers that we just don't have now. We're going into more and more speculation. What we do know, T.J., is that what was an inquiry is now an investigation.
HOLMES: All right and we need to let you go here, Reverend Jackson, but do tell me, you said again that the family still has not talked to this doctor. Have they made attempts to get a hold of the doctor? Do we know if the doctor has made an attempt to get a hold of the family?
JACKSON: Oh, the doctor knows where the family is. They do want to talk to them. Let me say T.J. briefly that when I talked with Mrs. Jackson and the father Joe yesterday, they are grief stricken. They've lost their son. That's been lost in this.
As she talk between her tears, she said, I've lost my baby. Michael was such a good son. I do not know what happened. And she was befuddled sitting there. Joe was (ph) in response to Michael's career around the world. They cannot get closure until they know what happened in the last hours of their child's life. They don't know that nor does anyone and we all deserve to know.
HOLMES: All right. Reverend Jackson, we appreciate your time, some important questions there, but helping us get insight since you have been talking to the family. Reverend Jackson, from Chicago today, we appreciate you. Have a good one.
JACKSON: Thank you.
NGUYEN: And this just in to CNN. Want to show you a sign there outside the Apollo Theater in Harlem, not only do you see the, in memory of Michael Jackson, but we are hearing that there is going to be a tribute at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, the same place where Michael Jackson performed as a child, that tribute being on June 30th on Tuesday starting at 2:00 p.m.
They're going to welcome some 600 visitors at a time to enter the theater and pay their respects. Music will be played. There will also be a video tribute. The people will enter for about 45 minute cycles until 8:30 p.m. So again, a Michael Jackson tribute at the Apollo Theater where he performed as a child on Tuesday, starting at 2:00 p.m.
All right. So want to ask you this, who is sorry now? South Carolina's governor said he's sorry again. Some people are calling it the apology tour. We have the apology politicians have been waiting for.
HOLMES: Also, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, she's got a new accessory, folks. You can probably see it there. We will show you how she is continuing to get her work done, despite a broken elbow.
NGUYEN: And the man who made Michael Jackson a star speaks out about the mystery surrounding his death.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: President Obama is one step closer to getting a clean energy bill. The legislation backed by the White House passed the House late yesterday by a slim margin, just seven votes. The president spoke about the vote and the bill in his weekly web address.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've seen other countries realize a critical truth, the nation that leads in the creation of a clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy. Now is the time for the United States of America to realize this too. Now is the time for us to lead. The energy bill that passed the House will finally create a set of incentives that will spark a clean energy transformation in our economy.
It will spur the development of low carbon sources of energy, everything from wind, solar and geothermal power to safer nuclear energy and cleaner coal. It will spur new energy savings like the efficient windows and other materials that reduce heating costs in the winter and cooling costs in the summer. And most importantly, it will make possible the creation of millions of new jobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, top Republican John Boehner was vocal in his opposition on the bill on the House floor. And today in the Republican's weekly address, Boehner says the newly passed plan will drive up prices for food, gas, even electricity. The bill is expected to face a tough test in the Senate.
HOLMES: Diplomats from around the world are signing Hillary Clinton's cast. You are seeing a picture here. The Secretary of State, she's meeting there yesterday with the crown prince of Bahrain and also Bahrain's top defense forces commander, you'll see the new accessory there. We're starting to get some shots of it. She's wearing that cast on her arm, on that right arm. You remember she fractured that elbow after she fell in the State Department garage last week. The work continues, though.
NGUYEN: South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has apologized to his cabinet for the furor created by his marital infidelity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. MARK SANFORD (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: I wanted generally to apologize to every one of you all for letting you down. I've been making legislative calls throughout the morning and yesterday afternoon on my way back up from Sullivans, apologizing to them, saying I'm sorry. But I owed that to you all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Sanford and his wife separated about two weeks ago. And Jenny Sanford told the Associated Press that she learned about her husband's affair with a woman from Argentina earlier this year. Sanford has agreed to reimburse the state for part of a trip to Argentina in which he saw his mistress.
HOLMES: And we have to note here, I have heard from several women on this story, we have seen over the years ...
NGUYEN: People are talking.
HOLMES: We've seen over the years politicians wherever they be had to come out and confess about an affair.
NGUYEN: She's right there standing next to them.
HOLMES: The woman will be there when they apologize in the press conference. They are loving Miss Sanford because she's come out and says, his job, his career is not my problem. I got to worry about my family. And many people are saying, you go girl, essentially and do your thing. So this ...
NGUYEN: It's getting very interesting. There are those calls for him to resign. The question is should he? Will he? But we know one thing, he's going to reimburse part of that money. But people are upset too, that you're spending taxpayer dollars on a trip where you met your mistress.
HOLMES: Reynolds, what do you think? Just kidding. Reynolds, just kidding, don't answer. Reynolds is here to talk weather and nothing else. Good morning.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Put the weather man on the spot. Goodness gracious.
NGUYEN: Tell us the weather in Argentina.
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NGUYEN: Hello, everybody. Welcome back. It's Saturday, some of you want to get outside and enjoy the weather. You may not be enjoying it that much. It feels like a heat wave in some places.
HOLMES: Feels pretty good. I like the heat.
NGUYEN: You like the heat.
HOLMES: Glad to have the heat.
NGUYEN: It's easy to say when we're sitting in the air conditioning. Reynolds Wolf joins us now with a look at the weather outside. Hey Reynolds.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WOLF: If you're looking for flavors or at least some good ideas on what to do this weekend, why not try out Tucson, Arizona? Got some great ideas for you for this weekend getaway.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF (voice-over): Forty miles from Tucson, Arizona, is an historic artist town off the beaten path but right on budget for a weekend getaway.
STIRLING KELSO, TRAVEL + LEISURE: Tubac has a blossoming arts culture. There are a number of galleries around the area and there's a heavy Spanish influence since it's just 10 minutes from the Mexican border.
WOLF: Tubac was found in 1752 and not much has changed since then. Adobe storefronts and patios still line the streets. Food and art is inexpensive and natural beauty is everywhere.
KELSO: It's also famous for the Tumacacori historical National Park.
WOLF: The park includes three Spanish missions. The most visited is San Jose Tumacacori, a must-see in southern Arizona.
ANITA BADERTSCHER, PARK RANGER: You can feel the history, you can feel the people there. You can feel what it was like.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. We appreciate our Reynolds Wolf with that report there.
Coming up, you know -- did you hear Reynolds yelling?
NGUYEN: In the background.
HOLMES: Reynolds said thank you, back there. We're talking about the king of pop. He has ruled the charts for decades but now he is ruling on the web. All kinds of web tributes popping up. Also some trivia, all in honor of Michael Jackson.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Michael Jackson's death quickly became one of the biggest stories of all time on the Internet.
NGUYEN: CNN.com is packed with interactive features to help you learn about the legendary performer and actually share some of your thoughts. Our Josh Levs joins us now with how you can go about doing exactly that.
Hey, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, guys. I've never seen anything like this for one entertainer ever. It's amazing what cnn.com has put together. Let's zoom in. I want to start of with this. This is a spread over the years from "Life" magazine, life.com. We have this whole spread for you at our Web site here. Check out this cover from September 1971. The magazine sold for 50 cents at the time.
Let me just bang through some of these. You can see more with the siblings. You can see some iconic shots of him when he started to do some of his own performing and became a soloist, Quincy Jones. He's there with Brooke Shields.
So they have this really extensive spread that takes you through Michael Jackson's years, along with some stars, also controversy surrounding him. Some of the most iconic, most famous moments including some that you saw in the news right here on CNN, some amazing pictures here.
Let me take you through some other features that we have got going at cnn.com as well. We're going to go over here where it says test your Michael Jackson knowledge and it has a quiz. You can see how much you really know about the king of pop here. And here we take you through a timeline. You can click on any year here, 1955, 1963, if my clicking would work. There you go. It takes you through some of the big moments in his history.
Also, before I go away here, Betty was just mentioning, lots of ways for you to weigh in. We got a couple I'm going to show you here. One is ireport.com which has been flooded. We've got hundreds more overnight. We're going to look through your i-reports today and guys as you know. on our blog, cnn.com/newsroom. A lot of people writing us here.
Here's one Amina (ph) who wrote I was devastated to hear the news. I've been praying that people are kind in their opinions and sentiments regarding Mr. Jackson's passing. It's a sad day in America. We've lost a symbol of peace and hope around the world.
Quickly, let's go to the graphic. I want to show you all some of the places you can weigh in. You got cnn.com/newsroom which is our newsroom blog there. Just click Betty or T.J.. You'll find us. You have my Facebook and Twitter pages, both cases slash Josh Levs CNN. Every time I get off the air all day, I'm running over to the computer, updating that, looking at your latest tweets, your Facebook postings. We're going to be sharing them on the air today as well. So there you go guys, busy day online for cnn.com. We're trying to follow it all right here.
NGUYEN: As it is always. OK, thank you, Josh.
Troy Davis, he remains on death row waiting, wondering if the highest court in the land will step in and hear his case after decades of hearings recanted testimony and questions surrounding the murder of a Georgia police officer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTINA CORREIA, TROY DAVIS' SISTER: Almost 20 years I've been trying to get somebody to listen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: We are listening this morning and maybe the Supreme Court could be listening and you can too. Troy Davis' sister here, to make the case for her brother's innocence. There she is. We'll be talking about the big day coming up on Monday.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: A death-row inmate's last chance to convince a court that he is innocent. His family is here to make his case.
Welcome back, everybody on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: Good morning to you all, I'm T.J. Holmes. Glad you could be with us. Several stories to get to, going to get to Troy Davis in a second, but some updates on the Michael Jackson situation.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. A Los Angeles coroner says Michael Jackson's body has been moved from the coroner's office and then taken to an undisclosed mortuary. An initial report, the coroner's office says there are no indications of foul play or trauma in Jackson's death. But officials say there are indications that Jackson was using prescription drugs at the time of his death. Jackson went into cardiac arrest at his Los Angeles home on Thursday and died.
HOLMES: The France jetliner that crashed into the Atlantic has ended (sic). The Brazilian military said it is unlikely any more bodies will be found. Searchers found the remains of 51 of the 228 people aboard Flight 447 when it went down on June 1st. The search continues for the flight data recorder from that doomed jet, but time, however, is running out. The underwater locater beacon for those recorders operates for only 30 days.
For 18 years, he has been on Georgia's death row. How long he lives, if he lives, now in the hands of the Supreme Court. Justices could rule any day now on whether Davis gets a new trial. The battle has been fought, it has been long and hard fought. Here's why and here's what's changed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do we want?
CROWD: Justice!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When do we want it?
CROWD: Now!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am!
CROWD: Troy Davis!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are!
CROWD: Troy Davis!
REP. JOHN LEWIS, (D) GEORGIA: I said it before, and I'm convinced now more than ever before, that he is an innocent man.
HOLMES (voice over): But for 18 years, the courts have ruled otherwise, upholding Troy Davis' death penalty sentence. Now there may be only one step left for the convicted cop killer, the U.S. Supreme Court.
BEN JEALOUS, NAACP PRESIDENT: We have -- we are dealing with a case in Georgia, Troy Davis, of a man who appears to be stone-cold innocent. This country is still willing to put to death on procedural grounds.
HOLMES: Davis landed on Georgia's death row for shooting off duty Savannah Police Officer Mark MacPhail, news crews and witnesses seemed abundant that night in August of 1989.
This footage shows a fellow police officer doing CPR on MacPhail in the back of an ambulance. Yet, after the trial, seven of the prosecution's nine key witnesses changed their stories. Several claimed police forced them to name Davis, one of those witnesses is Monty Holmes.
MONY HOLMES, WITNESS: They were trying to get me to say that he did it, but he didn't do it.
HOLMES: Over the years, support for Davis has grown, with the help of Amnesty International. Pope Benedict, Bishop Desmond Tutu and former President Jimmy Carter have all called for a new trial. Even the former FBI director William Sessions joined forces with other retired judges, justices and prosecutors to ask the Supreme Court to send the case back.
But there are those who feel just as strongly that Davis is a cold-blooded killer. Savannah Police Major Everett Ragan headed the homicide investigation. He has not returned calls from CNN, but two years ago he told us he stood by the arrest.
MAJ. EVERETT RAGAN, SAVANNAH POLICE DEPT.: There's no doubt in my mind we arrested the right person.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, three times the execution date has been set and this is likely, and some observers feel, it is Troy Davis' final appeal. His sister Martina Correia has fought long and hard to prove her brother's innocence. He is running out of time, we believe. She joins us here now.
Ma'am, thank you for being with us here.
MARTINA CORREIA, TROY DAVIS' SISTER: Thank you.
HARRIS: Are you of the belief, as well, that you think Monday could be it? Do you think that's the last chance? Or you will keep fighting no matter what they do at the Supreme Court?
CORREIA: I will keep fighting no matter what they do. I know the Supreme Court has to make a decision up or down, whether they'll take the case. But we still have other options with the local district attorney in Chatham County, Larry Chisholm, and other things going on, so we're going to fight until we can't fight anymore.
HOLMES: What do you think your chances are with the new district attorney, a new guy in place there now?
CORREIA: He ran on accountability, openness, fairness, and he talks about, you know, cases that weren't done right, that were black and white, so all we're asking him to do is uphold his campaign promises. That when you see doubt, not only do you have, you know, a focus as a district attorney to prosecute the guilty, but make sure free are not in prison, in jail, or executed.
HOLMES: Something that struck me. I have seen you on TV before, and this is the first time I've had a chance to meet you. And it struck me when I met you, a little while ago, I don't know what I was expecting, but I walk in, a big day coming up on Monday and you are in a better mood this morning than I am. You just seem to have this upbeat and pleasant demeanor about you. I know it's been a long 18 years in dealing with this fight, but how do you kind of block out what's happening, and what's been going on with your brother, and still keep the disposition that you keep?
CORREIA: Because I know he's innocent. And because I have faith in a higher power than just people that are making these decisions. You know, Troy has faced execution three times. I don't think anybody's had to do that before. We have had to say good-bye to my brother three times. There's a possible fourth.
But we keep fighting because there's never been a case like this probably in U.S. history where you've had seven out of nine eyewitnesses that have recanted their testimony. They didn't just recant, be they recanted years ago, but nobody would listen. Nine new witnesses come forward. The thing about it is that you have to have faith because eventually somebody will listen to this. When you have people on both sides of the fence that are saying stop, you cannot execute someone with so much doubt, there's a problem in our system when we choose finality over fairness.
HOLMES: You mentioned the three times you've had to say good-bye to your brother. That is unbelievable to try to think of. But even after saying good-bye, I'm sure you had to have thought each of those three times this is it. It's kind of tough to keep faith and think that something is going to come in last minute. How can you put into words and take somebody into that experience of having to say bye, and three separate times you thought you would never see your brother again?
CORREIA: I didn't go in there thinking I wouldn't see my brother because I thought somebody was going to intervene, because I knew was Troy is innocent. But my brother, he has this prayer of faith that if you tell the truth and you do the right thing, there will be intervention. He believes that. And so where he can be and he can focus on that, then we can fight out here for him. And I mean, hundreds of thousands of people around the world are supporting him and that's why we fight.
HOLMES: I do want to put something up and show our viewers, of course, there are many people who do believe your brother to this day is guilty of this crime he was convicted of, including the mother of the police officer who was killed. I'll put something up she has said which is that, "All the evidence and everything brought out then proved him guilty. But after 20 years of your yelling, I'm not guilty, he is convinced he isn't guilty. I am convinced he is." Again, that's the mother of Mark MacPhail, the officer there. Want to put up what she says.
Let me -- last question here before I let you go. Do you get a sense, or do you buy it, because so many people who are associated with the case, the district attorney, the officers, do you get a sense that they really are following the letter of the law, or that it's to the point now they would be almost just embarrassed that all their work and what they did to put this man in jail and on death row could some kind of way be overturned?
CORREIA: I think that they made a mistake and this case shows a lot of prosecutorial and police misconduct. No physical evidence, no DNA, nothing linking Troy to this crime, no ballistics. Everything was negative. No matter what people say, we have the documents.
And so I think that sometimes people don't want to go backwards because they have to admit mistakes. And because this case has been bungled so much, but I believe that my brother's innocence, his life shouldn't be expendable. No court has ruled against Troy totally. It's always with a split decision with the judges. So, even the judges have doubts.
So when you have doubt, you can't kill people in this country. Look at the amount of people who have been exonerated and the courts have turned them down. Troy Davis is innocent and I think people need to understand that.
HOLMES: We're going to get into some more about the legalities of it, but is your brother any different this time - I know you talk to him every other week, you see him actually. Is he any different leading up to this decision? There have been so many court decisions and big days. Is he any different this time around?
CORREIA: Well, you know, he's always concerned. He is more concerned about my family and my son and my mother, than he is about himself. Because he said that, you know, with God's protection all he can do is take his physical presence. But he's going to keep fighting.
HOLMES: All right. I know you will as well. We'll be talking to you and also your son a little later. Martina Correia, the sister of Troy Davis.
Betty, I'll hand it back over to you. We hear from her a little later.
NGUYEN: All right. Both sides of this case agree on one thing, if the Supreme Court denies Davis' request for a new trial he will likely face a speedy execution. We've asked attorney and law professor Avery Friedman to join us this morning and go over just that.
Avery, thanks for being with us. You've reviewed this case. Let's go over just -- I'm being told that we have lost his shot. We're going to try to get Avery back on the other side of this quick break, and we'll be delving into the rest of this story. Stay right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, brewing up a new future, an American coffee company is making inroads in Rwanda. Yes, 15 years after the genocide there.
HOLMES: Our Richard Lui takes a look at a small company making money and making a difference.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD LUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A simple cup of coffee can change lives. Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee Company imports its coffee from Rwanda providing jobs for farmers still trying to recover from the 1994 genocide.
JONATHAN GOLDEN, LAND OF A THOUSAND HILLS: I had the inkling that said if we were able to pay the growers over there a living wage, bring the coffee over here, the American public could enjoy coffee, and at the same time help people in Rwanda.
LUI: Jonathan Golden, a part-time Anglican priest, started the company more than three years ago.
GOLDEN: I got a small loan, $20,000 line of credit, and bought a roaster off eBay and we were in business.
LUI: Golden started selling coffee to churches and restaurants. Now owns two Land of a Thousand Hills coffee shops in the Atlanta area.
GAIL TANKERSLEY, CUSTOMER: Something small, that we can give, is huge to somebody else.
LUI: The company also helps widows of the genocide start their own businesses and farmers buy bikes to transport coffee.
GOLDEN: $1 per bag of coffee sold is invested, interest-free, into the micro loan programs.
We've sent over $30,000 of micro loans.
LUI: And Rwandans once separated by a bloody war are now working together.
GOLDEN: These people lost family members, but they've learned to forgive. That's a return on my investment I never imagined.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right, want to get you back to the Troy Davis case. He is accused of killing a Georgia police officer. After 18 years of court battles both sides of this case agree on one thing, if the Supreme Court denies Davis' request for a new trial, he will likely face a speedy execution. We've asked attorney and law professor Avery Friedman to join us this morning to go over this.
Avery, I know you've looked at the case. You know, let's review it for just a second because seven of the nine key witnesses have recanted their testimony. Does it seem like a new trial is fitting?
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, a new trial is fitting if the objective, --and I think it is the objective -is to get the ultimate truth. The question here is, do we really know what happened? The function of the remand, sending it back, is to get -- to find out what happened here.
I think what's significant, Betty, and I have to mention this, if you study the history of the case, when you look at what the supreme court of Georgia did, it was split four to three. Three black justices dissented, saying let's get to the truth. Four justices who were white saying there's sufficient evidence for a conviction. What is not stated here is there is an underlying racial issue on top of the ultimate justice issue.
NGUYEN: But now it's going to the Supreme Court. Do you expect the Supreme Court is going to take a ruling on this? FRIEDMAN: Well, this is a real Hail Mary pass. In the history of habeas corpus we've seen virtually all of them granted by the federal district court, some by the federal court of appeals, very few, a handful, in the past 100 years, by the U.S. Supreme Court. Very, very remote.
NGUYEN: It's difficult, but if the Supreme Court does not step in, what are the other options? Does Troy Davis have any other options?
FRIEDMAN: Yeah. The other option is to go back to the district attorney, to convince him that justice is served by his exercise of discretion, to let this evidence proceed. So it will all turn on the DA if the U.S. Supreme Court rules against this petition on Monday.
NGUYEN: What about the governor, can the governor of Georgia step in?
FRIEDMAN: No.
NGUYEN: No?
FRIEDMAN: It's the district attorney right now.
NGUYEN: That's the only thing?
FRIEDMAN: Uh-huh.
NGUYEN: Right now, hoping that the Supreme Court, at least the family is hoping, that the Supreme Court will step in and rule on this.
FRIEDMAN: Well, both sides should, Betty, because you really want the ultimate truth here.
NGUYEN: I got you. Let me ask you this, you've studied this. You're an attorney. How would you advise Troy Davis right now?
FRIEDMAN: Well, you know, there is some reason to hope that, in fact, you look at the breakdown, there are possibly five votes by the Supreme Court, if Anthony Kennedy, who's the swing vote, would be willing to say it's time to get to the ultimate truth here, let's remand it. But again, a very close call, I see 4-4-1. If that's what the vote is, that conviction is affirmed, as is the sentence.
NGUYEN: All right. Avery Friedman joining us live. As always, we appreciate your insight. Thank you, Avery.
FRIEDMAN: Sure.
NGUYEN: Iran's ruling Muslim clerics are promising to deal harshly with anti-government demonstrators. And one leading cleric says the judicial system should make an example of the protesters. Our Ivan Watson is at the Iran Desk, here at the CNN newsroom.
Ivan, Iran has really clamped down on most outside media, but what are you hearing?
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, be we did hear from this cleric, Ahmed Katamei (ph), at Friday prayers, speaking to a crowd of supporters of the regime. This is a hard-line cleric, slamming the West, slamming the opposition leaders, who have helped mobilize these demonstrations, accusing them of basically being traitors, working for the U.S. and Israel, and so on.
And then, we also have Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, today, speaking before Iranian state television, taking aim, again, at U.S. President Barack Obama, after Obama criticized Iran's bloody crackdown on these opposition demonstrators of the past week and a half.
Let's take a listen, Betty.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, PRESIDENT OF IRAN (through translator): We are surprised at Mr. Obama. Why did he enter discussions about Iran's election? Didn't he say he was after change? Why did he interfere? Why did he utter remarks, irrespective of norms and decorum?
They keep saying they want to hold talks with Iran. All right, we have expressed our readiness as well. But is this the correct way? Definitely they've made a mistake. They have revealed their intentions before the Iranian nation, before the world's nations, their mask has been removed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Now, Betty, I just want to frame this a little bit. Iran has a long history, the government has a long history, when it comes under pressure, experts say, it tries to externalize its problems. It tries to blame things on the West, ratchet up tension with the West, to try to distract problems -- again, this is many, many Iran experts I have been talking to, to distract domestic public opinion from the problems internally. I think that's probably some of what we're seeing here, Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. So let's drill down to the root here. Not just a struggle between Iran and the West or Iranian leadership and its opposition, it's really more than that, isn't it?
WATSON: Absolutely. Now, what we have been watching so much is the clashes in the streets, these demonstrators, trying to make their voice heard, being beaten, being killed in some cases. But what is going on behind the scenes is very, very important. Our viewers need to know that in addition to these demonstrations, there is a political power struggle under way here, between different factions that have been ruling Iran for the last 30 years.
And that's why this has been so interesting, for the first time really, we're seeing these groups of clerics, groups of political leaders, military leaders, who have been at the top of this regime, and they're now fighting it out. And we're watching this. We're trying to keep an eye on it. It is very confusing. But we'll definitely bring you up to date as to how these factions are maneuvering against each other, Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. Ivan Watson joining us from our Iran Desk. Thank you for that, Ivan.
Michael Jackson couldn't have been a dancing machine without Barry Gordy.
HOLMES: Yeah. The legendary creator of Motown, he's remembering the king of pop.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERRY GORDY, FOUNDER, MOTOWN: It's numbing, of course, it's been like that since it happened. And it's unbelievable. I can't figure it out. I can't understand it, but it happened, and we're here.
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Did you know of any health problems he had?
GORDY: Oh, I did know of his basic condition, you know. I think most people did. That he was very weak. And he was, you know, and -- a lot of stress, you know. He's had a lot of stress.
KING: He had a tough life, didn't he?
GORDY: Yeah.
KING: I mean, with all the good.
GORDY: It turned out to be a tough life. It turned out to be a tough life and the last several years has been really tough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Singer Tony Orlando, another long-time friend of Michael Jackson, says he actually met Michael when he was only 12 years old, and he had happier recollections of him.
NGUYEN: Yes. In fact we talked with Tony Orlando by phone earlier this morning to get some of his early memories. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN (On camera): What do you think of Michael Jackson, the man, as he grew up? The friendship that the both of you had, how did that grow?
TONY ORLANDO, SINGER: The thing that amazed me about Michael is that it was a very interesting kind of change in him, in that when he was 12 years old he was a very mature 12 years old. He was almost a boy-man. Then as he approached his adult years it reversed. He became a man-child.
NGUYEN: Why was that, do you think?
ORLANDO: I just think that Michael missed his childhood. We've heard this time and time again. You know, but I think that Michael very much related to Disney, Peter Pan, to the flight.
NGUYEN: Was it escapism?
ORLANDO: Well, I think it was less escapism, and more trying to live something that you and I and most of us take for granted, and that is just our everyday childhood. I think that he wanted very much to be that little boy. And as he got older, it became more important to him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And Orlando says one of Jackson's hit songs "We Are The World" was ahead of its time. He says the spirit of that song is what's needed now.
HOLMES: From the CNN Center this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING on this June 27th. Hello to you all, I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks for starting your day with us. All right, so even though Michael Jackson earned $100s of millions over his career, he had been struggling with debt for years. We'll talk to the man who ran Epic Records.
HOLMES: Meanwhile, it is expected to be several weeks before we know the exact cause of Michael Jackson's death. An initial autopsy has been performed, but the coroner wants to run more tests having to do with possible drugs in his system. Let's get to Susan Roesgen now who is outside the Los Angeles coroner's office.
I guess, moving forward, what might they be looking for?
ROESGEN: T.J., they're going to be looking for drugs, obviously. Prescription medicine, maybe some prescription medicines that might in some way have contributed to Michael Jackson's death.
Now the coroner did say last night, at about 9:30, he came out very late, he said they had completed the autopsy, it was a routine autopsy, nothing out of the ordinary, but he said that in his initial results, there was no finding of any kind of blunt trauma, or anything else that would have possibly led to Michael Jackson's cardiac arrest. And he also said that there were prescription drugs -- they had been able to determine that there were prescription drugs in Michael Jackson's system.
The toxicology report that would really spell out what drugs and what effect it might have had on his body, won't come back for about a month. Here's more from the coroner last night here in Los Angeles.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARVEY: The cause of death has been deferred, which means that the medical examiner has ordered additional testing, such as toxicology and other studies. There was no indication of any external trauma or any indication of foul play on the body of Mr. Jackson.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: Now the coroner also said that the family asked him not to tell anyone where the body was taken. We know that the body was taken last night from the coroner's office here behind me to a funeral home, but we don't know where. That makes sense really, T.J. and Betty, because the family wants some privacy. But this is such a huge story.
I'll show you this morning's "Los Angeles Times" that just came out, three section fronts have the Michael Jackson story first, memorial in Encino where the family's home is. Then on the business section, people who are selling things, selling t-shirts and things here in Los Angeles. And then in front of the lifestyle section, you don't even need a caption for this, I think everyone recognizes the iconic silhouette of Michael Jackson's top hat, if you could see it, white socks, probably the one glove.
So people are remembering him, T.J. and Betty, remembering all the wonderful hits he had and also talking about what the strange and unusual and sad private life he had as well.
HOLMES: Susan, do we know -- we're starting to hear some rumblings about the family possibly wanting to do their own autopsy. Are you hearing that there as well? Any idea when that might happen?
ROESGEN: No, T.J., I haven't heard that. But I think that actually stems from some questions about the doctor, the last person to see Michael Jackson possibly alive. This is his personal physician who performed CPR on him at his rented mansion. But then Michael Jackson, you know, was taken to UCLA Medical Center where the doctors there worked for another hour to revive him.
So Los Angeles police have talked to his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray. They say he's been fully cooperative. He is not the subject of an investigation, but as you have reported here, T.J., already this morning, the family says they haven't talked to that personal physician. And so they have some questions. So maybe they are going to pursue this with their own autopsy. But I haven't heard that yet officially.
HOLMES: Yes, certainly not official there. You know, we're hearing all kinds of stuff right now, people trying to piece this thing together. Susan Roesgen, we appreciate you being on the scene for us and on the story this morning. Thank you so much.
NGUYEN: Well, the House has passed a climate change bill, but it wasn't easy. The White House backed bill all made it through by just seven votes. And it orders cuts in greenhouse gases and incentives for clean energy technology. President Obama talked about the bill and the house vote in his weekly web address released just this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: We've seen other countries realize a critical truth, the nation that leads in the creation of a clean energy economy, will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy. Now is the time for the United States of America to realize this too. Now is the time for us to lead. The energy bill that passed the house will finally create a set of incentives that will spark a clean energy transformation in our economy.
It will spur the development of low carbon sources of energy. Everything from wind, solar, and geothermal power to safer nuclear energy and cleaner coal. It will spur new energy savings like the efficient windows and other materials that reduce heating costs in the winter and cooling costs in the summer. And most importantly it will make possible the creation of millions of new jobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: President Obama says the bill brings new jobs, as you just heard there, but the republican opponents say there is another side to this story. That new taxes will make everything from gas to food even more expensive. In the republican response this morning, House leader John Boehner talked about their alternative.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), OHIO: house republicans have proposed a better way and all of the above strategy to clean up the environment, lower energy costs, and create more jobs. Our plan will increase environmentally safe energy production, promote the use of alternative fuels such as nuclear, clean coal and renewable energy technologies, and encourage increased efficiency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The Senate still has to vote on their own version of the bill.
Well, you know, a week after drama, turmoil hit the streets of Iran, we covered it right here, where do things stand right now? We're going to gauge that.
HOLMES: Also, Michael Jackson's final interview. He didn't talk a whole lot, but the last interview he gave, we'll talk to the reporter who got it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. Well, he's said to have racked up hundreds of millions in debt. Here to talk about his finances, of course, we're talking about Michael Jackson here, but joining us is Bruno Del Granado, once managed Epic Records. He worked with the king of pop on the "Bad" album and then on "Dangerous." And he joins us this morning from Miami.
Give me an idea of Michael Jackson, the man, and how he ran those finances? You knew him, you knew him well, is this a man who has been said to be a millionaire who spent like a billionaire?
BRUNO DEL GRANADO, FMR. MGR. MICHAEL JACKSON RECORD CO., EPIC RECORDS: Well, Betty, I worked with Michael Jackson's label in the late 80s, probably at the height of his career when he was generating approximately $100 million a year. In the early '90s he renegotiated his contract with Sony Music, the parent record company, for over a billion dollars.
So he was certainly the architect of his own destiny, financial and creative as wise. The last few years were not so good because he wasn't touring. Don't forget, an artist generates about 70 percent to 80 percent of his revenue on the road touring and he wasn't doing that. He hadn't done that since '96. So that's why the financial difficulties were certainly on top of him.
NGUYEN: Well, Bruno, I mean, how do you rack up that kind of debt? I mean, this is a man who's obviously very savvy. He's been in the business, he was in business for 45 years, how do you rack up that kind of debt and not know about it or not care?
DEL GRANADO: Well, I think the last -- in the last couple of years, Michael was surrounded by a bunch of different advisors and I certainly think that he kind of lost financially and his advisors were leading him all over the place, you know, talking about doing theme parks in Dubai and China and eastern Europe and everything else and that certainly takes money.
People have been talking about his lavish lifestyle, but don't forget, you know, we all had the same lavish lifestyle. America in the last 15 years, we all thought we -- this party was never going to end and we were all living beyond our means. So he was basically mirroring what the rest of the country was going through.
NGUYEN: Well, you knew him. Do you worry about his children? Do you worry what will be left to them after the debt collectors take advantage of part of this estate?
DEL GRANADO: Yes. The last time I actually saw Michael Jackson was in 2002 in New York, right before the MTV Video Music Awards and he really was intent on making a big comeback internationally and that's what we talked about, you know, going outside the United States and restarting his career and bringing it back, bringing the success back to the States. There's going to be -- there's going to be a lot of vultures now who will be circling around to see what they can get from him or his estate, unfortunately.
He does leave a legacy of music. Yesterday we already saw that the iTunes top five album, digital album sales, were all Michael Jackson's albums. Amazon. There's going to be -- the estate is going to benefit tremendously from music sales.
NGUYEN: Well, he also owns part of the Beatles catalog. I think he paid what $47 million and people say it's worth billions.
DEL GRANADO: Yes. It was very -- it was a very canny move. Michael outbid Paul McCartney for that catalog. Paul McCartney offered $40 million, Michael paid $47 million for it. That was, what, 12, 14 years ago. And I think three years ago it was valued at almost a billion dollars. So it really speaks volumes of his talent for the business side of the music business as well.
NGUYEN: And maybe you know this, there's word that there was a rift between the two, Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson because of the fact that Michael Jackson did outbid him for that catalog. But there was word that, perhaps, he has put in his will that he would go ahead and give that back to Paul McCartney. Do you know anything about that?
DEL GRANADO: There have been rumors. Obviously there were rumors about the rift but in the last few years I think they patched up their differences. Because they were both very, very close 25 years ago. I wouldn't be surprised.
Obviously all eyes now are turned on the kids, on the family, and on the business side, on the shows that were supposed to take place in London starting the 13th of July, because everything was really, really bent on that series of shows that were going to start now in July and run through next year.
NGUYEN: And Bruno, we have also heard that not only was this tour, these, what, 50 concert dates in London, it was a way to make money, obviously, but at the same time, also hearing that Michael Jackson wanted to do this, specifically because his children had never seen him live in concert and they were old enough to really understand his work and just the art behind it.
DEL GRANADO: That was certainly a part of the reason, if you knew Michael Jackson, certainly part of the reason. He felt alive on stage more than anything. He always say that the stage was his home, his true home, and certainly that coupled with the fact that he was potentially going to generate over $150 million from these 50 concerts and that was going to be the spark to do other shows around Europe, rest of the world, and possibly come back to America. So he was hoping that was going to be the little spark that was going to restart his career worldwide.
NGUYEN: And very quickly, your final thoughts on Michael Jackson, the man, the person that you knew?
DEL GRANADO: We've certainly lost an icon, a cultural icon and we have to keep in mind that he was first and foremost a father and also a son and an uncle as well.
NGUYEN: All right. Bruno Del Granado, once managed Epic Records, joining us today and sharing some of his thoughts of Michael Jackson. Thank you for your time.
DEL GRANADO: Thank you very much.
HOLMES: Well, more threats by hardline leaders in Iran. The cleric with ties to the government warning protesters that they'll be dealt with firmly and will be made an example for others. Iranian security forces and militia members broke up planned protests this week using batons to beat demonstrators. The group human rights watch also says Iran's militia is carrying out brutal nighttime raids aimed at discouraging dissent. Iran's leader say they will not throw out the disputed election results.
NGUYEN: Well, there have been demonstrations against Iran's leadership outside of Iran as well. Our Ivan Watson is working the Iran desk here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Ivan, what are you following?
WATSON: Well, I would like to bring your attention to some video here. Betty, we can't work on the ground in Iran because of the Draconian restrictions on media there. We haven't seen any turmoil over the past 48 hours. We haven't confirmed anything like that. But what the reason I want to show you this YouTube video that we just recently found is because it shows an incident taking place, it gives us an insight into the drama that has been taking place certainly on the streets of Tehran over the past week and a half, from time to time.
Look at this, is very interesting. You have demonstrators here, some of them wearing the green of the main opposition candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, who has accused the government of rigging the elections in favor of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and they're actually trying to protect riot police here, those helmeted riot police with clubs, from some of the demonstrators.
It's a remarkable image. Especially because, as T.J. just mentioned, you had a hardline cleric speaking at Friday prayers to an assembly of hardline conservative supporters of the regime basically calling the demonstrators, the equivalent of terrorists and puppets of the west and calling for them to be harshly punished. So an interesting insight into some of those moments that we couldn't report on the ground over the course of last week and a half, Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Ivan Watson joining us live from the Iran desk. Thank you, Ivan.
Well, he was ready to relaunch his career. What did Michael Jackson have to say during what tragically turned out to be his final interview? We're going to talk with the man who conducted who conducted that interview for "Ebony" magazine.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well "Ebony" magazine is among several publications planning a special tribute to Michael Jackson. Bryan Monroe is a former vice president and editorial director for "Ebony" and "Jet" magazines. He joins us to talk about not what's coming up but what turned out, Bryan, to be the last interview that Michael Jackson did. You had it with him at "Ebony" magazine. This was in '07. He didn't talk a whole lot. Was it tough to try to convince him at least to talk to you?
BRYAN MONROE, "EBONY" MAGAZINE: Well, you know, he didn't do a lot of interviews, in fact, particularly after the ABC interview he shut down, but we were able -- I spent almost a year, about nine months negotiating with his people to get the interview. And in September 24th of 2007, on a beautiful sunny day in New York, actually across three days, we're at the Brooklyn Museum doing a great photo shoot and then the next morning, we met at his hotel, and spent what I thought was going to be about 15 or 20 minutes, it turned out to be close to two hours. One thing that surprised me is I couldn't shut him up. He was talking, very talkative, very energetic.
HOLMES: What happened there ...
MONROE: ... with his son.
HOLMES: Yes, I want to ask you. You said you were negotiating essentially with his people for all that time and after all that negotiation, you still were planning on getting only 15 or 20 minutes?
MONROE: Well, you know, you just -- at that time you didn't know what mood he was in or how much time you would get. He was very, very generous in the time. Part of it was because the Jackson family had a great relationship with "Ebony" magazine and founder Johnny Johnson and so it was important for -- if he was going to start his comeback to make a comeback with us.
HOLMES: What -- you said he got talkative. I guess you went in with a certain mission and things you wanted to talk about. But once you got there what did you find he wanted to talk about?
MONROE: Well, you know, the peg of the story, the focus of the story was the 25th anniversary of "Thriller" but we really spent a lot of time talking about the creative process. He took me into the studio, took me back to when he and Quincy Jones were working on "Thriller." In fact, he told me this little story about "Billie Jean." He originally cut the demo for "Billie Jean" at his own house.
You know the background track, who, who, who, that was actually being sung by Janet Jackson and Randy Jackson in their home studio. He laid down the original. Then he told me he had this great way of describing his sense of music. The baseline for "Billie Jean" he called the protagonist and talked about the tension in the creation of the music of that song. He was very thoughtful.
HOLMES: Well, first and foremost I have to ask you not to sing again, but you said also he was there -- just giving you a hard time. Bryan, you said he was there, the story you tell about him being there with his son and you seeing him in a way that many people don't get a chance to. And sometimes might not even think of, first and foremost, he's a father.
MONROE: Yes, and that's the thing. You know, there's been a lot of talk over the last few days about the controversy and the background of Michael Jackson. But I don't want people to forget he was a father. He had three children. And those three children are now without a father. They will likely be taken care of by Michael's mother Katherine and even though Katherine is getting up in age, Michael's sister, Rebbie, will likely help raise the kids until they can get all this sorted out. When I was there, his son Prince Michael Jackson II, they call Blanket, greeted us at the door, offered us some candy, a little Lifesaver from the candy dish, and then when he reached out his hand to shake, Michael says no, not that hand, the other hand. Shake with your right hand. And it was an interesting interaction with the father and the son. This is Michael Jackson who was 50 years old. He was wearing reading glasses. It's hard to imagine him in that light.
HOLMES: Can you -- you know, we do all in this business, we go and we ask questions, we're trying to get a story, but at the same time you're in the room and you got something that not a lot of people ever got, which was two hours of just uninterrupted time and the attention from Michael Jackson.
Now looking back at this icon, who will be an icon and ever in our minds as this person, this figure, that picture we're showing right there, what is that like and what -- I guess simply went through your mind as well that hearing upon his passing and I guess the privilege, essentially, that you got to spend this time with this legend?
MONROE: Well, you know, I really thought about he as a man and he as his music. You know, I was sitting on the couch, we were sitting maybe a foot apart, and just talking and laughing. I went back last night and listened to the audio. You can find the audio up on the "Ebony" site, ebonymedia.com or at my site bryanmonroe.com. But we were listening to the audio and listening to how much fun he was having, talking about the creativity.
But also he was very serious and ended up, if you don't mind, he told me about how he thought about his own mortality. He said, you know, let's face it, who wants mortality? You want immortality. You want what you create to live. Like Michelangelo said I know the creator will go, but his work survives. That is why to escape death, I intend to bind my soul to my work. And that's how he wanted to be remembered. For his work.
HOLMES: Boy, some prophetic words there. And there is no question his music will live on forever. Bryan Monroe, again, got the last interview with Michael Jackson, didn't know it at the time it would be, but Bryan, we appreciate you over the past couple days really being with us, have been around talking about this interview a lot. We appreciate you giving us your time.
MONROE: Thanks, T.J.
HOLMES: All right.
NGUYEN: Very telling and as you said, very prophetic.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Those words.
HOLMES: Immortality of the music. The man can't live. NGUYEN: ... itself to the music. And he did. You know, everyone we spoke with today or have spoken with over the past few days, he's a perfectionist. He's a man that just really put his whole heart and soul into his music.
HOLMES: And it showed up in that music.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. All right. We're going to shift gears really quickly and talk about the weather outside. Because Reynolds Wolfe has been watching it very closely. What do you have today for us today, Reynolds?
WOLF: I've got people in Texas are probably wishing they could moon walk their way to some cooler temperatures.
NGUYEN: Or indoors at least.
WOLF: Exactly. Take a look at this, 102, the expected high for Dallas today, 98 degrees in Houston. When you have the humidity is going to feel so oppressive there for the next several days. We're going to tell you how long this is going to last and we're also going to talk about the issues in the tropics. Could see rough weather there in days to come. That's moments away right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOLF: Hi, everyone. So glad you joined us on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
We're going to take a look at your forecast starting off with what's been happening in the tropics. And things are getting a little active down there. We're going to have a tropical storm or a hurricane or a depression at this time, but we are watching this area of disturbed weather which is just to the southeast and east of Cancun.
This area of convection is expected to make its way to the north, possibly developing into something bigger, maybe a depression or a tropical storm over the next 12 to 24 to 48 hours as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico.
So the tropics are heating up but so are those air temperatures later on today, going up to 102 in Dallas, 100 in Memphis, 95 in Atlanta. You bring in the humidity, it's going to feel like it's well beyond 100 degrees in places like Stone Mountain.
Back over to Tampa and Miami, highs in the 80s but a chance of scattered showers into the afternoon. You might see some rain once again in New York with a high of 79 degrees, 87 in Chicago. Denver with 78. San Francisco and L.A., mainly into the 70s and 80s. 108 in Phoenix. They say it's a dry heat. It's still hot, folks.
Get ready also for a chance of some storms popping up into the afternoon for parts of the Midwest and into the mid Mississippi Valley. St. Louis back over to Kansas City right along parts of the i-70 border, you could see the rough storms. Also, northern plains same deal and for the Carolina coast, afternoon thunderstorms are really a possibility, still dry and warm as I mentioned in Texas. That is a look at your forecast.
You're watching CNN SATURDAY MORNING. We got a lot more just ahead. Sit tight. See you then.
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NGUYEN: All right. We've been seeing tributes to Michael Jackson from all around the world and there's one, though, that has a unique flair, shall we say. Take a look.
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HOLMES: OK. You might be wondering what's going on here.
NGUYEN: Why are they all wearing the same thing? Well, there's good reason for it.
HOLMES: And you may recognize them because this is the same group of prisoners.
NGUYEN: Prisoners.
HOLMES: Yes.
In the Philippines at a detention center who made a tribute to Michael Jackson with the "Thriller" dance that they all coordinated which was pretty well coordinated. Well, they have a "We are the World" tribute here as well. They actually practiced, Betty, for nine hours to do this and they got some professional help.
NGUYEN: Waving their hands?
HOLMES: Yes, I thought there was more to it.
NGUYEN: In fact, they had a professional choreographer who was hired to help them learn this hand waving edition.
HOLMES: Hand waving is difficult.
NGUYEN: But you know, as we mentioned, we've seen this before. And now the other dance, the one to the song "Thriller" was pretty well choreographed, I would say.
HOLMES: It was.
NGUYEN: But a fitting tribute, I would say, you know, the song and the choice of, considering they are looking back at the life and memory of Michael Jackson.
HOLMES: All right. Betty and I will be back, of course, at the top of the hour with more news and live here. But right now, we're going to hand it over to Gerri Willis and "YOUR BOTTOM LINE."
