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CNN NEWSROOM

Michael Jackson Family in Court Today; Killer on Loose in Northern California; B Strong for Boston

Aired April 29, 2013 - 11:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


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ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Almost four years after Michael Jackson's death, the lawyers for his family and his concert promoter are going head to head in a California courtroom today. The opening statements scheduled to start this morning. It is expected to be a trial full of drama and celebrities and maybe even a whole bunch of new details that can't come out in criminal court.

Casey Wian has more on this case.

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CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Jackson was in the last weeks of rehearsal for what was to be his grand comeback. The exhausted 50-year-old died in 2009.

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WIAN: Dr. Conrad Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for giving Jackson the fatal dose in an effort to make him sleep. He's in prison. The company that promoted the comeback tour, AEG Live, is fighting legal claims by Michael Jackson's mother and children that they share responsibility for his death.

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PIERS MORGAN, HOST, PIERS MORGAN: What do you think caused his death?

KATHERINE JACKSON, MOTHER OF MICHAEL JACKSON: I don't know. All I know is they used Propofol and they shouldn't have used it, and they used the wrong setting. That's all I know and that's what caused his death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JODY ARMOUR, PROFESSOR, USC LAW SCHOOL: The gist of the plaintiff's claim against AEG is that you have controlled Dr. Murray and you used your control over Dr. Murray to pressure him into taking unnecessary and excessive risks with his patient Michael Jackson leading to his death.

WIAN: AEG's attorney says there was never a signed contract with Murray.

MARVIN PUTNAM, ATTORNEY FOR AEG: He was chosen by Michael Jackson. He would be Michael Jackson's doctor alone. This was only being done because Michael Jackson asked for it. Michael Jackson was the only person who could get rid of him at will.

WIAN: Potential witnesses include Jackson's teenage children, Prince Michael and Paris. Quincy Jones could testify about the millions of dollars Michael Jackson could have made if he had lived.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: Casey Wian joins me now live from Los Angeles.

Casey, a big question, if the doctor in this case is going to take the stand and talk.

WIAN: Ashleigh, his testimony would be very valuable in determining in who he thought he was working for. He's said, if he's called to the stand, he said he will take the Fifth because the appeal of his manslaughter conviction is under way. Instead, the jurors will hear from a lot of other witnesses.

You can see the photographers behind me. There's a lot of star power on the witness list. Some of the witnesses include, Prince, Spike Lee, and Diana Ross -- Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: Casey Wian live in Los Angeles.

I want to bring in our legal panel, former prosecutor, Sunny Hostin and attorney, Danny Cevallos.

Danny, there was a document that was unveiled last week that came from the Jackson family. It stated AEG had a contract with Conrad Murray whereby AEG would provide specific medical equipment. It's not your run of the mill check your blood pressure. It was a CPR machine, saline, catheters and other medical equipment. Does that give you any insight?

DANNY CEVALLOS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It does. What was the contractual arrangement between AEG and the doctor? This is not a typical doctor-patient relationship. AEG was intimately involved in the supervision of this doctor. If they were contractually obligated to provide CPR and other equipment that would show they were aware of a risk and they were aware they were supposed to supervise the treatment. These are all factors that compel a potential finding that AEG was not only the contractual employer of the doctor, but that they failed to supervise the same doctor.

BANFIELD: Now with this wrongful death civil case, there's a potential to get a lot more, let's say, details that wouldn't have been allowed into the criminal case. Why is that and what might we expect to hear?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST & FORMER PROSECUTOR: The standard is certainly different. In a civil case it is a by a preponderance of the evidence, a mere tipping of the scales. We hear we may hear something about the alleged child molestation charges, we may hear family members getting on the witness stand and testifying. This has drawn so much attention. I have to tell you though I wonder what a jury is going to do with this. I expect many of them have heard about Conrad Murray and they might think the person that's responsible has already been found guilty.

BANFIELD: Interesting.

(LAUGHTER)

That makes for edge-of-your seat viewing.

Sunny Hostin, Danny Cevallos, thank you both.

Moving on in this day of incredible news, in northern California an 8- year-old girl has been killed and a rural community is on edge. She was stabbed to death in her own home and her killer is still on the loose.

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BANFIELD: In Valley Springs, California, an hour outside of Sacramento, there's a significant manhunt going on right now for the person who stabbed and killed an 8-year-old girl. Her name is Leila Fowler. She was pronounced dead on Saturday after her 12-year-old brother found her with, quote, "severe injuries" while they were out. He is not a suspect in this, but whoever did kill Leila did leave behind a trail of evidence.

CNN's Paul Vercammen joins me live now from Valley Springs.

First, before we get to the evidence, let's get to the security, Paul. There's a lot of security at Leila's school. Tell me what's happening.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we saw officers this morning on both foot and in their patrol cars right outside the school. High tension there. They have beefed up security there also. You can see on parents faces -- they told us they were scared. Some of Leila's classmates carrying bouquets of flowers.

BANFIELD: So what about this evidence? Obviously a crime scene would be processed pretty quickly in a case like this, but what have they found that they're, at least, telling us?

VERCAMMEN: Insiders say this could be somewhat of challenge. They have one, fingerprints, and the other DNA.

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CAPT. JIM MACEDO, CALAVERAS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: We did collect some fingerprints during that search and we collected what we believe to be DNA. Those prints and that DNA will hopefully be processed within if next week.

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VERCAMMEN: They would hope at some point to find a murder weapon, in this case, some sort of knife that led to this stabbing -- Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: Paul Vercammen, update us when you can.

In the meantime, a man with Tourette Syndrome and his dream trip to Puerto Rico denied, barred from a flight because he repeatedly uttered the word "bomb."

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BANFIELD: Now a case sparks both outrage and understanding from those with Tourette Syndrome as well as the airline industry. 19-year-old Michael Doyle was on the verge of taking a dream trip when he was suddenly ordered off the JetBlue flight. He has Tourette Syndrome that has frequent outbursts of thought that he tries to suppress. As they went through security, the one word Doyle was repeating unfortunately for him was "bomb." He says that was because he had been following the Boston bombing case and all of the developments on TV. I want you to listen carefully to this example.

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MICHAEL DOYLE, ORDERED OFF FLIGHT: I probably said bomb about 100 times in that terminal.

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BANFIELD: So the check occurred as Doyle was explaining when it happened. He had documentation of his condition. He was embarrassed and he doesn't want to fly ever again.

Former prosecutor, Sunny Hostin, and criminal defense attorney, Danny Cavallas, join me again.

I want to make sure I read what JetBlue has sent out. It says, "A customer on board flight 1347 on Thursday was scheduled to deplane prior to departure after using the word "bomb." After further investigation, the situation was deemed innocuous and the customer was offered re-accommodations on another flight." Apparently, Mr. Doyle turned down JetBlue's offer.

Danny, let me start with you.

A pilot has ultimate control of his vessel. Is there something wrong with what this pilot did and I'm going to add specifically given the last two weeks that this country has been embroiled with what happened here in Boston?

CEVALLOS: Well, yes, we had a tragedy happen in Boston, but that doesn't mean we should lose our minds. The federal law prohibits doing a hoax. The realty is just-- it is the result of a tick, a medical condition, he explained. I think there are a lot of problems with this. To the extent a pilot had over his ship, you can make that argument. This saying the word bomb can subject you to federal prosecution is nothing more than a myth that we've all bought into and just believed because we've been told it. The reality is they should have investigated and found that the word bomb itself does not mean bomb. And in light of Boston that shouldn't have been considered. That should be the condition on the day before Boston and the day after.

BANFIELD: I want to be super clear at this point, no federal prosecution has resulted from this, but he did get kicked off his flight. He said he was so embarrassed in his words he was treated like a kindergartner in front of the entire flight, he was embarrassed. With that as the pattern to go on now, Sunny, is this a possible civil case? Could he actually sue the airline over this? Or is this just all a case of communication breakdown?

HOSTIN: Well, you know, Ashleigh, I always say you can sue anyone for any reason, right? I mean, our courts are pretty liberal in that sense. So he certainly can file suit. And maybe he will. We remember the pilots had kicked off folks dressed in Muslim garb and there were lawsuits that stemmed from those actions. I've got to agree with Danny on this. While the air carrier access act provides they can't carry someone because of their disability, you can't fly a plane by committee. Pilots have to make those difficult decisions. And federal regulations do allow to make those calls. And if there's a situation where a pilot feels that a passenger could be a safety risk, then the pilot has the perfect right to kick the person off the plane. So I think that what happened here was completely appropriate.

BANFIELD: All right. Sunny Hostin reporting for us and also Danny Cevallos. Thank you both for your legal perspective on that.

I want to turn everyone's attention to something very different for a moment. OK. The reason I have this Boston Red Sox logo on my head followed by "B" Strong, this is something that is raising a lot of money for this town and for those who are affected by the bombings. In fact, you may end up seeing this hat and this logo and this expression even if you live nowhere near Boston. I'm going to explain the brand, money, and how it is a wonderful thing for the people of Boston who two weeks ago had everything changed.

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BANFIELD: From the very first moments after the bombings in Boston this city rose up. We had heroic bystanders jumping in to help those injured and those in the attack vowing to come back stronger than ever. Strong, not just strong, Boston Strong. You hear that a lot and to punctuate that very point a company called 47 brands started making b strong hats, the one I've got on, with the proceeds going completely to the One Fund, that is the massive fund helping the victims of the attack.

Joining me now is Bobby D'Angelo, who is the co-owner of 47 Brand.

I met you a week ago today when I went into your store and saw these things literally flying off your shelves. At that point you had sold about $500,000 worth of these.

BOBBY D'ANGELO, OWNER, 47 BRAND: Yes.

BANFIELD: Where are you at now?

D'ANGELO: By probably Friday of this week we'll be over $1 million.

BANFIELD: So it's doubled in a week.

D'ANGELO: It's doubled in about eight days, yes. It's crazy.

BANFIELD: And at the time I believe that the One Fund was only about $1 million. And you represented about half of it.

D'ANGELO: Actually I think at that point I think the One Fund is a little more than that, but I mean, we were approximately 20 percent of it, something like that.

BANFIELD: And I remember asking you how on earth -- these came out literally the day after the bombings happened. And for anyone who might think that's really capitalizing on a tragedy, you did this at the request of the Red Sox. You provide their day after championship winning paraphernalia, you have the mechanics in place.

D'ANGELO: Exactly the same thing. If the Red Sox win the series in 2004, 2007, the night they win, we're making caps. The same thing happened. The Red Sox and mayor and major league baseball said we need to do something for the city. And after a tragedy it was like, OK, I'm in. I can't wait to be a part of this.

BANFIELD: So when I walk into your store there was a police officer among the multitudes. I think there might have been in the span of about 45 minutes I was in there 20 people had come in separately and asked for those hats. And they're $20. 100 percent of the proceeds goes to the victims fund. And you can't keep stocked.

D'ANGELO: No. For every day we sell out. And every day we remake in our factory in Boston, Massachusetts. In fact, demand got so bad we were shipping caps to California for an embroider to make in California to ship back to Boston to get them on the shelf.

BANFIELD: Let me tell you, I want you to know that this guy is losing a lot of money on this as well because his other products aren't selling because this product is selling.

I just want to shake your hand for doing this amazing work. You're sacrificing your own business for helping come back and helping the One Fund, Bobby D'Angelo.

D'ANGELO: Thank you. You look great in the hat.

BANFIELD: Thank you. I did buy mine.

You can check out the logo. You can help Boston. Go to 47brand.com. And you can order one for yourself as well.

Thanks everyone for watching. NEWSROOM continues after this short break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)