President Obama's African Journey; Jackson Insider Speaks Out
ERICA HILL, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: Anderson is in Ghana tonight where as soon as Air Force One touched down in the capital city of Accra, President Obama made history. He has been to Africa before, but not as President. And unlike any President before part of his heritage is on this continent, specifically in Kenya.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have family members who live in villages -- they themselves are not going hungry -- but live in villages where hunger is real. And so this is something that I understand in very personal terms and if you talk to people on the ground in Africa, certainly in Kenya, they will say that part of the issue here is the institutions aren't working for ordinary people.</s>HILL: Mr. Obama speaking there in Rome ending his G-8 Summit stay with a papal audience at the Vatican. Now, the President giving Pope Benedict a letter from the ailing, Senator Ted Kennedy asking the Pontiff to pray for him. He is now though in Ghana where he will sit down tomorrow with Anderson for an exclusive interview. Anderson you're in Elmina right now where the President is headed tomorrow. And as I imagine a lot of excitement there waiting for him as well.</s>ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, to say the least. People here are incredibly excited. I mean, the streets are lined with posters, you'd see people walking around with T-shirts, with pictures of the President of Ghana and also of President Obama. A lot of people they all want to know where the President is going to be. Are they going to be able to get to see him and there's a lot of joy that the President chose Ghana to come. As you know, he has family in Kenya. He could have chosen to go there as he has three times in his life before becoming president. But he chose this country because the administration believes that Ghana is a thriving democracy. They've had some successful elections, they've had some economic growth. And they've been able to battle corruption in a way that many other African governments have not. And so they see this as a relatively successful model and one that they want to praise and kind of hold up as an example to the rest of Africa -- Erica.</s>HILL: For many Americans, though Anderson, I know there are parts of Ghana which are actually a symbol of parts of America's dark past, Cape Coast Castle, specifically. I know you're headed there tomorrow.</s>COOPER: Yes I actually spent part of Friday there as well. The President will be going to one of these castles with his wife and with his kids. And what's significant about these fortresses really is that parts of them are just dungeons and this is where hundreds of thousands, more than a million slaves, Africans who were enslaved were held before being shipped to the new world, being shipped to America, being shipped to the West Indies and Europe. And I went there today. And the president will be there tomorrow. And we'll speak to him on the site of one of these fortresses. But it is -- it is a sobering visit for anybody who goes there. And there are many -- many Americans -- many African-Americans who have come back and make that return. And we spoke to one of them today -- we'll have that a little bit later on in the program. But it is truly a chilling place to be -- to stand in one of these dungeons where hundreds of Africans who were enslaved were held, that many suffocated to death, were killed, brutalized. truly a sobering -- a sobering experience. And we'll have some of that as I said later on in the program -- Erica.</s>HILL: All right, we'll be checking in with you for that a little later Anderson, thanks. We want to turn now to some breaking news tonight: there is a new voice in the Michael Jackson story. It is 180 degrees different from those claiming Jackson was either physically fit enough or mentally ready for his grueling series of 50 comeback concerts. One of several developments tonight, including this musical memorial happening in Jackson's birthplace at Gary, Indiana. Father Joe Jackson attending; that and a custody hearing set for Monday now postponed for a second time. But first, we want to get to these fascinating new developments tonight, which center on Michael Jackson's physical condition. Was he, as some say, fit, free of needle marks, happy? Or was he as Randy Kaye has been uncovering, first all week a mess? She has more for us tonight.</s>RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If Michael Jackson had lived to begin his upcoming London shows this man says he likely would not have finished them.</s>LEONARD ROWE, JACKSON'S FORMER FINANCIAL ADVISER: I knew he wasn't ready to handle them. I knew it was something that he could not do. He also knew that.</s>KAYE: Leonard Rowe had known Michael Jackson for 30 years. He said Jackson hired him to handle the finances for his final tour but one look at him and Rowe had doubts.</s>ROWE: The reason I thought he couldn't handle it is easy. First of all, I saw the shape Michael was in physically, Michael weighed it looked like to me 110, 115 pounds. He was 5'10".</s>KAYE: Rowe told me Jackson did not want to work that hard and did not want to go ahead with a grueling concert schedule. He said the singer told him he agreed to do ten shows but that the promoter, AEG, sold out 50. He said Jackson asked him to figure out a more doable schedule. Rowe says he asked AEG to cut back.</s>ROWE: I suggested to him that we do two shows a week but when I went to AEG, Randy Phillips, and spoke to him on the phone first, he told me basically to shove off. He didn't want to talk about it.</s>KAYE: Phillips denies they ever talked. AEG told CNN Jackson passed a five-hour medical exam in preparation for his tour and told 360 last week...</s>RANDY PHILLIPS, PRESIDENT & CEO, AEG LIVE: All I know is the Michael Jackson that hugged me and said good night was a healthy, vibrant human being.</s>ROWE: When I hear people saying that Michael was in great shape and that he was raring to go, I know this is untrue. And they know it was untrue as well. Michael was not in good physical shape and Michael was not raring to go.</s>KAYE: In response to allegations that AEG refused to make Jackson's schedule easier, Randy Phillips told us Jackson had agreed to 50 shows, adding he needed the money. Rowe believed Jackson was weakened by what he calls the singer's addiction to prescription drugs.</s>ROWE: Well, it was common knowledge to everybody that Michael was addicted to prescription drugs. You wouldn't have to be an MD to look at Michael and know that he was not in good physical shape. You could look at him. Physically, it wasn't there. And I knew when I looked at him and I told him he was underweight tremendously. And he said he just don't have an appetite.</s>KAYE: Rowe says he last saw Jackson three weeks before his death at a meeting at his home. He said Jackson was in his pajamas looking frail and thin. (on camera): Rowe told me just one week before Michael Jackson died he spoke with some of his family members about getting him help, including his father, Joe Jackson and his brother, Randy. He said, they all agreed to get Jackson into rehabilitation. But they never had the chance. He died before they could even make a move. (voice-over): Whenever Rowe saw Jackson he said the singer always wore long sleeves. Reports that his arms were covered in track marks suggesting heavy IV drug use did not surprise Rowe. What does surprise him is that those around Jackson on a daily basis didn't do more to save him.</s>KAYE: We reached out to the Jackson family for a comment regarding what Leonard Rowe told us tonight about Michael Jackson. But the family's representative told us there would be no comment tonight -- Erica.</s>HILL: Probably not a lot of surprise there, Randi. I know we got word late today that the custody hearing for Michael Jackson's children, which was scheduled for Monday, has been postponed a second time at the request of both his mother, Katherine, and Debbie Rowe. Any more insights tonight into whether or not Debbie Rowe, Jackson's ex-wife is actually planning to seek custody of the couple's two children?</s>KAYE: We have a little bit of information. I spoke with a friend of Debbie Rowe's who also happens to be a former business partner of Michael Jackson's. And he told me that he fully expects Debbie Rowe to go for custody. He said the fact that Joe Jackson -- Michael Jackson's father is talking about helping raise the children is really a problem for her since Michael Jackson had a terrible relationship with his father. This friend also told me that Debbie Rowe had said and I'm quoting here, actually he said this about her, "she is not just going to lay down and roll over," he said. So maybe they are trying to come to an agreement out of court and out of the public eye and that's why this hearing has been delayed. But we'll have to wait and see if this gets ugly.</s>HILL: All right, Randy Kaye in -- live for us in L.A., we'll checking in with you again in a little bit. And as always you can weigh in, you just have to log on to AC360.com, be a part of the live chat. I promise I'm going to log on in the next block. Up next though, there is a court hearing as we've just mentioned postponed. As Randy said though, it doesn't lessen the chance for fireworks in this battle for Michael Jackson's children. There are a lot of potential complications here. We're going to dissect those with "Inside Edition's" Jim Moret who will join us. And a little bit later, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Erin Brockovich, teaming up for a story about an environmental disaster that is mind-blowing, not only because of how little coverage it's getting but also because of just how badly these victims are hurting.</s>PAMELA HAMPTON, LIVES NEAR DISASTER SITE: Death. Cancer, everyone here deserves a future. You know?