Martin, Ben Tracy
xfdcb CBS-EVENING-NEWS-01
<Show: CBS EVENING NEWS>
<Date: June 25, 2009>
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<Time: 18:30>
<Tran: 062501cb.401>
<Type: SHOW>
<Head: EVENING NEWS for June 25, 2009, CBS>
<Sect: News>
<Byline: Katie Couric, Bill Whitaker, Kelly Cobiella, Wyatt
Andrews, David Martin, Ben Tracy>
<High: Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died today.>
<Spec: Death; Michael Jackson; Farrah Fawcett>
ANNOUNCER: This is the CBS EVENING NEWS with Katie Couric, reporting tonight from Washington.KATIE COURIC, CBS NEWS ANCHOR: And good evening, everyone. We're beginning tonight with late news from Los Angeles. The L.A. Times is reporting that pop star Michael Jackson has died. Paramedics had been called to his home today. They found him in cardiac arrest, not breathing, and rushed him to the hospital.
Bill Whitaker is in Los Angeles with the very latest. Bill, what can you tell us?
BILL WHITAKER, CBS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Katie, startling news here this evening. As you were saying, the L.A. paramedics got a 911 call at about 12:21 this afternoon from Michael Jackson's posh house in Bel-Air. They rushed to the house and found him in cardiac arrest, not breathing. They took him by ambulance to the nearby UCLA Medical Center, where, shortly after his arrival, it was announced that he was in a coma. His family members rushed to be by his side, but just a short while ago, at 3:15 Pacific time, Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, was pronounced dead -- Katie.
COURIC: Bill Whitaker in Los Angeles. Bill, thank you very much.
Michael Jackson had an extraordinary career and a troubled life marked by incredible highs and terrible lows. Once again, here is Bill Whitaker.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITAKER: Michael Jackson always said he identified most with Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up.
Jackson was the boy who burst onto the music scene with his brothers in the 1960s. The Jackson 5 quickly went from their home town of Gary, Indiana to the top of the charts.
By about age 11, he was the most popular member, but he left the group in his 20s to moonwalk his way to superstardom, becoming one of the most popular people on the planet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you all right?
WHITAKER: Jackson's 1982 album, Thriller, still is the top-selling album of all time worldwide, and Michael Jackson was the top performer in the world through much of the 1980s. But somewhere along the way, Jackson went from the King of Pop to wacko Jacko. Some say it started with an accident during the filming of a TV commercial that burned his scalp severely and led to a dependence on prescription painkillers. He became an increasingly reclusive and odd figure. Married briefly to Elvis Presley's daughter, then to his skin doctor's assistant. A father of three, despite ongoing speculation that they could not be his natural children. He sparked one of his many scandals when he dangled one of the children over a balcony, causing concern over his parenting skills.
All of those scandals paled to the ongoing suspicion of child abuse. He paid one boy more than $20 million to make his allegations go away, but it happened again one day in November 2003.
THOMAS SNEDDON, FORMER SANTA BARBARA COUNTY DA: Within a very short period of time, there will be charges filed against Mr. Jackson, multiple counts.
WHITAKER: The charges stemmed from this documentary in which Jackson stated again his belief that having young boys in his bed was completely natural.
MICHAEL JACKSON: It's very right. It's very loving. That's what the world needs now.
WHITAKER: Much of the world saw it differently. Jackson was arrested, handcuffed, booked, and eventually stood trial. The court case was a surreal spectacle befitting Jackson's bizarre way of life, including dancing on top of SUVs, pajamas worn to court, and a string of celebrities walking in and out of the courthouse in Santa Maria, California.
JACKSON: Please keep an open mind and let me have my day in court.
WHITAKER: But the inconsistent testimony from the boy and his family members, including a truly bizarre five days on the stand from the boy's mother, convinced the jury Jackson was not guilty.
Still, the acquittal never completely put to rest the questions surrounding Michael Jackson, a curious figure who leaves behind a legacy of staggering musical genius and stunningly bad judgment. A master of memorable performances and a man whose real life remains a mystery.
Michael Jackson also leaves legions of fans with an ongoing fascination with the one-time and some would say forever King of Pop.
Bill Whitaker, CBS News, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COURIC: Incidentally, Michael Jackson was preparing for a concert series in London that was to begin July 8th. Tickets to those 50 concerts sold out in just four hours. We'll have more on this story later in the broadcast.
The news about Michael Jackson came just a short time after we learned of the death of another entertainer, Farrah Fawcett. Fans placed flowers on her star on the Walk of Fame after longtime boyfriend Ryan O'Neal confirmed she had died in a Santa Monica hospital.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How is she doing?
RYAN O'NEAL: Farrah's gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's gone, Ryan? How are you doing? OK?
O'NEAL: I'm not OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COURIC: Farrah Fawcett was once one of the biggest stars on television. Young girls idolized her. For boys, she was a modern-day pinup girl. But perhaps her greatest role was a model of bravery as she stood up to cancer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You thinking what I'm thinking?
FAWCETT: Gotcha.
COURIC: Her arresting good looks and those blond locks made Farrah Fawcett an instant celebrity. Just two weeks after leaving her home state of Texas, she had a modeling deal in Hollywood and became the new it girl in commercials.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And best of all, you can say, you've showered with Farrah Fawcett.
COURIC: Her clean-cut looks and casual style epitomized an era.
O'NEAL: All of those things put together with that flaming head of hair, you know, in the beginning was a good start for her.
COURIC: But there was more to Fawcett's head than hair. She wanted an acting career. And in 1976, Charlie would make this angel an international celebrity as private investigator Jill Monroe.
FAWCETT: Well, what do you think?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like your energy.
COURIC: And that year, she had plenty of it to spare. Married at the time to Lee Majors, the six-million dollar man, Fawcett would double that number with a poster. Her image in a one-piece red swimsuit sold an estimated 12 million copies and became as emblematic of the '70s as disco. Despite the attention, the poster made her self-conscious about her smile.
FAWCETT: Even growing up, I didn't like the smile. It just seemed like I had a lot of teeth.
COURIC: Hoping for some less-toothy dramatic roles, Fawcett surprisingly quit Charlie's Angels after just one season. She struggled at first to find success on the big screen, but won over critics in her roles as a rape victim in Extremities and earned an Emmy nomination for gut-wrenching portrayal of an abused wife in The Burning Bed.
After her divorce from Lee Majors, Fawcett began dating actor Ryan O'Neal. The two have been romantically linked ever since and have one son together, Redmond, born in 1985.
Though Fawcett was a star for three decades, she never got used to the attention, especially from the tabloids.
After being diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006, it pained her to read the headlines. She tried to find meaning in her illness.
FAWCETT: I'm holding on to hope that there is some reason that I got cancer.
COURIC: The reason, she decided, was to share her experience with others. She filmed her journey in a documentary called Farrah's Story, with the help of friend Alana Stewart.
ALANA STEWART, FRIEND: I think this show could very well be her legacy. I think it's her gift to the world.
COURIC: That golden hair that made her famous was gone as she neared the end, but she maintained the same winning smile, even though she thought it was imperfect.
FAWCETT: I never think, really, gee, what else would I have done? I have no regrets. My life, I'm very blessed.
Good-bye, Charlie.
COURIC: Farrah Fawcett was 62.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COURIC: Now to the latest on the scandal involving South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. The governor said today he will reimburse the state for at least one of his visits to Argentina to see his mistress. Meanwhile, calls are growing louder for Sanford to resign. Kelly Cobiella has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY COBIELLA, CBS CORRESPONDENT: Governor Mark Sanford stayed out of sight today at his beach house, trying to make peace with his wife Jenny and his four sons, but back in the state capital, he's taking hits from the right...
STATE SEN. LARRY MARTIN (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: We're embarrassed. I mean, we're embarrassed or our state.
COBIELLA: ... and the left. Some Republicans are calling for his resignation, as are some Democrats.
STATE REP. TODD RUTHERFORD (D), SOUTH CAROLINA: He left 4.5 million people in the lurch when he decided to go down to Argentina.
COBIELLA: Many critics say his worst political offense was this, leaving the state without a word. That's the governor walking through the Columbia airport last Thursday, bound for Argentina.
On the street, many voters are furious.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's a disgrace. I think he ought to be ashamed of himself. I think he's an embarrassment to our country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think he really deserved the office. I pray for him, but I've lost confidence.
COBIELLA: Argentine media are reporting that Sanford's mistress lives in this apartment building in Buenos Aires, a 43-year-old divorced mother of two named Maria Belen Shapur. That's not been confirmed by the governor or anyone close to him, and it's still not clear how the two first met, only that the relationship turned romantic last year. Sanford visited Argentina last June on a state-sponsored trip.
In a statement today, another admission. The governor said, I made a mistake while I was there in meeting with the woman who I was unfaithful to my wife with. I'm going to reimburse the state for the full cost of the Argentina leg of this trip.
GOV. MARK SANFORD (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: And we developed a remarkable friendship over those eight years.
COBIELLA: Sanford says this is the first time he's cheated on his wife in nearly 20 years of marriage. In a statement, Jenny Sanford said,
I believe Mark has earned a chance to resurrect our marriage.
They have four sons together. The oldest, 17, the youngest just 10. Jenny Sanford helped build her husband's political career, but in recent years has suggested she wants him to focus more on his family.
TOM DAVIS, LONGTIME FRIEND OF GOV. SANFORD: I think that the South Carolina people have a tremendous capacity for forgiveness. Now, I think the South Carolina people also have a fine nose for hypocrisy. And so the next few days are going to tell the tale.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COBIELLA: As it turns out, Governor Sanford will be back to work tomorrow. He's called a cabinet meeting for half past noon. And late today, as he left his beach house, reporters were able to ask him if he plans to resign. He said no, Katie.
COURIC: Kelly Cobiella in Columbia, South Carolina for us tonight. Kelly, thank you.
Meanwhile, here in Washington today, a high-profile lawsuit and a ruling from the Supreme Court. It's the case of an Arizona school girl who was strip-searched for drugs. The court ruled the search violated her constitutional rights. Here's Wyatt Andrews.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WYATT ANDREWS, CBS CORRESPONDENT: In a major victory for student privacy, the Supreme Court said the strip search of Savana Redding, then a 13-year-old eighth grader, was unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment.
SAVANA REDDING, STUDENT: I'm glad that it's almost finally over and I can just continue on with my life. I'm really happy, though, with the decision today.
ANDREWS: The search happened when Savana, who was suspected of hiding prescription Ibuprofen, was sent to the nurse's office and had to pull her bra and underwear away from her body to prove she was not concealing pills.
In an 8-1 opinion, Justice David Souter said schools need more facts before strip searching a teenager, that officials had no reason to suppose Savana was carrying pills in her underwear.
Her age also made a difference, with the court ruling that adolescent vulnerability intensifies the intrusiveness of the search, a search the opinion calls degrading.
STEVEN SHAPIRO, LEGAL DIRECTOR, ACLU: And I think that the court got it. I think they understood how traumatic and humiliating an experience this was for Savana or for any child in -- put in that situation.
ANDREWS: But Justice Clarence Thomas, the only justice to find the search was legal, complained that the ruling now allows judges to second- guess the measures school officials take to maintain discipline and ensure the safety of the students.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREWS: This ruling, we should point out, is not a complete ban on all strip searches. Instead it's more a warning that without very strong evidence a student is hiding these drugs close to the body, strip searches of teenagers can't be justified. Katie.
COURIC: Wyatt Andrews. Wyatt, thank you.
And still ahead here on the CBS EVENING NEWS, tensions rising. North Korea's new threat to the United States.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COURIC: The president of Iran told the president of the United States today to, in effect, butt out. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said President Obama should apologize for saying he was appalled and outraged by Iran's crackdown on protesters. Opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi insists he won the disputed presidential election, and on his web site vowed to continue his challenge. State media, meanwhile, reported today that eight members of a pro-government militia have been killed in street rioting in addition to 17 protesters.
Also overseas, North Korea continues to defy the world by moving ahead with its nuclear program. Today, the Communist government put out a threat to the United States. From the Pentagon, here's our national security correspondent David Martin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MARTIN, CBS CORRESPONDENT: North Korea staged another mass rally, this time to celebrate the start of the Korean War nearly 60 years ago and make blood-curdling threats of nuclear retaliation in the event of another war. But the real drama is unfolding off the coast of China, where the U.S. Navy is tracking a North Korean freighter suspected of carrying arms. A U.N. resolution calls for all nations to intercept North Korean arms shipments, and though it may look like no contest between a billion- dollar American warship and a North Korean rust bucket, the U.S. is facing a dilemma.
JACK PRITCHARD, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY TO NORTH KOREA: Do we know for certain that this is what we want to do at this point in time? And the answer may be no. It may be this is not the right ship.
MARTIN: According to former State Department official Jack Pritchard, the U.S. has one, if not both hands, tied behind its back. First, the Navy cannot use force to intercept the Kang Nam. Second, it's not certain what the Kang Nam is carrying.
PRITCHARD: You're going to need some absolutely clear and irrefutable information.
MARTIN: Right now, all that's clear is that the Kang Nam has carried weapons in the past. It left port eight days ago and is only now off southern China, hugging the coast all the way. Depending on its route, it could take a month to get to its expected destination of Myanmar. Somewhere, perhaps Singapore, it will have to stop for fuel.
The U.N. resolution calls on any country the ship pulls into to inspect its cargo, but that is unlikely to happen unless the U.S. first tries to stop it on the high seas.
PRITCHARD: If we fail to take action, why would we expect another country to take action?
MARTIN: They'd see it as passing the buck.
PRITCHARD: Yes, they'd see it as passing the buck.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN: It's a small ship but a big deal, and the decision to interpret it is going to go all the way to the president. Katie.
COURIC: David Martin. David, thank you.
From cbsmoneywatch.com tonight, the government now says the economy was shrinking in the first quarter of this year at an annual rate of 5.5 percent. That's slightly better than earlier estimates. Meanwhile, another 627,000 workers joined the line for unemployment benefits last week, 15,000 more than the week before. They joined 6.7 million who were already collecting.
On Wall Street, stocks rallied today after a four-day losing streak. The Dow gained 172 points, the Nasdaq 37.
And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COURIC: In Houston today, financier Allen Stanford pleaded not guilty to a multi-billion-dollar investment fraud. Stanford was arraigned in federal court along with three executives of his defunct company. They're accused of stealing most of the $7 billion invested by their clients in an offshore bank in what prosecutors call a giant Ponzi scheme.
Here in Washington, the first family joined volunteers in reaching out to military families today, kicking off a new program called United We Serve. The president, first lady Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha helped load 15,000 backpacks with books, healthy snacks, and toys. They're all headed to children of the men and women of the armed forces.
And I'll be back with more of our top story, the death of pop star Michael Jackson. We'll have the latest from the UCLA Medical Center where he died.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COURIC: And we end tonight with an update on our top stories, the deaths today of two entertainers, Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. Fawcett's death was not unexpected. The former Charlie's Angels star died after a long battle with anal cancer. She was 62 years old. But the death of Jackson, who was 50, came as a tremendous shock. Ben Tracy is in Los Angeles. Ben, what's the latest?
BEN TRACY, CBS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Katie, we're here at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, and right behind me, this emergency room. This is where Michael Jackson was pronounced dead at about 3:15 local time this afternoon, and it's quite a scene here. A lot of people have already gathered at the hospital. We've seen a lot of people crying, a lot of fans. Weirdly enough, there is a fraternity house across the street that is actually playing Michael Jackson music right now, which has kind of led to a kind of surreal environment.
Now, obviously, this came at a very, very interesting time in Michael Jackson's life. He was just about to try to relaunch his career. He was heading to London for a series of 50 sold-out concerts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACKSON: These will be my final show performances in London. This will be it. This is it. And when I say this is it, it really means this is it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TRACY: Kind of frightening words from Michael Jackson there in London.
Obviously, today, he is now gone. We're told that the paramedics actually worked on him for 42 minutes trying to revive him, but ever since they showed up at his house, they say there was no pulse. They were not able to resuscitate him. They brought him here to the hospital, and tonight a lot of his fans and a lot of other just curious folks are gathering here to see what's happening. Katie.
COURIC: Ben, have any family members arrived at UCLA Medical Center? We understand that his mom was there just a bit ago.
TRACY: Yes, Katie. We did see a car drive through here about an hour ago with Catherine Jackson, Michael Jackson's mom. There were also reports, these are unconfirmed, that LaToya Jackson actually ran into the hospital crying. We're told tonight that his father, Joe Jackson, is actually in Las Vegas right now, but that he is aware of the situation. Katie.
COURIC: All right, Ben Tracy, thank you for the very latest on that story. And CBS News will bring you more about the death of Michael Jackson on a special broadcast tonight at 10:00, 9:00 Central.
And that is the CBS EVENING NEWS for tonight. With thanks to the Jones Day law firm for this window on the Capitol, I'm Katie Couric in Washington. Thank you for watching. I'll see you tomorrow from New York. Good night.
END
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