Apollo Theater Tribute to Michael Jackson; Michael Jackson's Money; Pride, Fear, Death on Iraq's New Day
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Let's take you live now to Harlem, New York. Michael Jackson fans lining up for his last show time, shall we say, at the Apollo. Doors open this hour for a very special tribute. We'll have more on that in just a moment. And Los Angeles police advancing the investigation there. They are now piecing together the singer's complicated medical history, trying to track down all the doctors who have treated him and all the meds that they might have prescribed. Also today, some last-minute updates from the Jackson camp on Michael's memorials and possibly his final will. We're following every angle for you. Correspondents live on both coasts. Well, some tears but a lot of smiles from Michael Jackson fans on the other side of the country. Thousands of people already lining up right now outside the Apollo Theater in Harlem for a very special tribute that's getting under way. And of course our T.J. Holmes is live outside the Apollo Theater, right there. You can probably see him in the middle of the crowd. Give us away,</s>T.J. T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK. You got me now, Kyra?</s>PHILLIPS: I got you now, pal.</s>HOLMES: You can spot me down here. But you get an idea of the scene. The Apollo marquee is right there. I'm just going to set the scene for you here. And just check out the crowd that has been gathering since actually last night. Not that many last night, but still, they started doing this last night. I've been here for the past few hours, and it has continued to grow. Now, this Apollo Theater is on 125th here in Harlem. If you start to take it -- Polly (ph) is going to pan to her right here and take you down the street. All the way down to the end of the street is Adam Clayton Powell, where 125th connects. The line goes all the way to the end of the street. And now we're not sure how many blocks up that it goes into Harlem. But the line literally is now wrapping around the block here. We don't know how many blocks it goes down. I see young and old, black and white. We have people here from Africa, from different parts of the states here in the U.S. Many people have driven to be here. It was important enough for them to be here to be a part of this moment. What they're going to be a part of, Kyra, a lot of people heard of the Apollo, maybe never been to it, but it is really a centerpiece of black culture and art. And it is the heart of Harlem where we are, an historic black community here. But this is where Michael Jackson made his New York debut as a part of the Jackson 5 back in 1967 at the age of nine. There's actually a lady in the crowd here who claims she was here for that first concert that he made. A lot of these people -- again, young folks love his music. The older folks love his music. But this is something that -- I saw a mother and daughter bonding over this. You know, it's often a generational gap, but this is one thing that brings folks together. I'm going to talk to Cathy here, Cathy Carter. Cathy, you saw a Michael Jackson -- a Jackson 5 concert not long ago. Well, I shouldn't say not long ago.</s>CATHY CARTER, FAN: A long time ago.</s>HOLMES: But why be here? Why be a part of this today? It's hot out here, for one thing. And it's a madhouse, and fanatics and fans and whatnot. But why?</s>CARTER: Because I love Michael. And I felt I grew up with Michael from back in the '70s. When I first saw Michael at Memorial Field in Mt. Vernon, New York, and I was no more than a teenager myself, I felt since then I have grown up through the music with Michael. I'm not too much younger than him, about two years younger than Michael. And I appreciate his music, and I just love him. So I wanted to be here to honor his memory.</s>HOLMES: How did you take it? That's the only other thing I'll ask you, just how did you take the news when you heard about his passing?</s>CARTER: When I heard about his passing, I was driving with my daughter and my granddaughter, and I just busted out and started crying. All I could do was cry because I felt like I lost a family member. That's how dear Michael was to me.</s>HOLMES: Well, Cathy Carter...</s>CARTER: I felt I lost a family member.</s>HOLMES: Well, she is one of several. Cathy Carter, thank you. But Kyra, again, she is one of several...</s>PHILLIPS: T.J., where did Cathy see the Jackson 5? Where did she see the Jackson 5?</s>HOLMES: She said it was at Mt. Vernon.</s>PHILLIPS: Mt. Vernon. OK.</s>HOLMES: Yes, Mt. Vernon is where she saw it, but she thought it was -- early '70s is when she saw him. So he was certainly a little older by then. But still, the Jackson 5 were still together. A lot of people here have those stories. They expect here, Kyra, to start letting people in around 2:00, which is right now. They are going to let them in, 600 people at a time. They get to see a video, other tributes. Music is going to be playing the whole time. You hear "Ben" playing behind me just from some store here in Harlem right now. But it's going to be a long day. It is expected to go to at least until 8:00. It is a hot Harlem day, as well. You see an ambulance there. It came because a few people are starting to get sick with all this heat. They've been out here for hours and hours. There's only so much water to go around. So, a long day, but a lot of people not giving up their spot in this line for anything -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: Now, T.J., when doors open and they get to start moving through there, do we get to go inside to the Apollo and see what it's like inside?</s>HOLMES: Yes. We are actually the only network, the only camera that is going to be set up and can be live inside. So I am standing out here in the sun for you, Kyra, until it's time for us to go inside, until people start moving in. But really, this tells more of the story. I mean, you could show this picture and not even have to hear my voice and this would really tell you the story of what's happening in Harlem today. But yes, again, 2:00 is when they are supposed to start letting 600 at a time, we understand, that get to go in for a half an hour, 45 minutes, and enjoy it. Then they're going to shuffle the next group in, and that will continue until at least 8:00 tonight.</s>PHILLIPS: Well, T.J.,. you would probably like to meet this guy I'm going to interview, Bobby Schiffman. His dad actually owned the Apollo the day the Jackson 5 played in the amateur show.</s>HOLMES: Oh, wow.</s>PHILLIPS: Yes. And they actually went up to Bobby's dad and said, hey, we don't have enough money for our hotel. You know, could we get another gig here at the Apollo? And listen to this -- so Bobby said that the Jackson 5 played 31 shows in one week to make $1,000 to pay for their hotel, and the rest was history.</s>HOLMES: Wow. And the Apollo has come a long way since then. You talk about that in 1967, that was on an amateur night. That's been going on since 1934. And this Apollo still does amateur night every Wednesday night. It's happening tomorrow. It's going to be a tribute to Michael Jackson tomorrow as well. They are going to have a moon walking contest. So, that same spirit, that same thing that got the Jackson 5 started, continues to this day.</s>PHILLIPS: All right. Are we going to see you in that moon walking competition, T.J.?</s>HOLMES: You will not, Kyra. I knew you were going to ask. I was scared to even mention the competition.</s>PHILLIPS: I'm sure you can find a few in that crowd. All right. We'll check back with you, T.J. All right. One of the many questions that has popped up in the days since Michael Jackson's death is how could an entertainer who earned hundreds of millions of dollars be drowning in a sea of debt? We've got more now from CNN's Gary Tuchman.</s>GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A person with intimate knowledge of Michael Jackson's finances is very blunt, telling CNN the situation was just mayhem. The estimate -- that at the time of his death the "King of Pop" was roughly $400 million in debt. The 50 London concerts that were scheduled were going to bring in tens of millions of dollars for Michael Jackson. But that was only a fraction of the entertainer's debt. So, how did this happen? Only seven years ago "Forbes" magazine said he was worth $350 million. In part that was fueled by an extremely shrewd investment Jackson made two decades earlier.</s>ETHAN SMITH, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": He bought a company called ATV Music Publishing which held, among other things, the copyrights to 251 Beatles songs.</s>TUCHMAN: He spent about $37 million for the copyrights, and some say they may be worth more than $1 billion now, although Jackson sold half of it to Sony in 1995 to drum up cash. Up until his death, he was bringing in several million dollars a year in royalties and other fees from his own music. We talked with this man, Charles Koppelman. He was a financial consultant for Jackson between 2001 and 2004.</s>CHARLES KOPPELMAN, JACKSON'S FORMER BUSINESS ADVISER: We all know what an incredible artist he is but he's also was a unique businessman to make the decisions, and they were his, to identify assets and acquire them over the years. His Achilles heel unfortunately was his personal finances.</s>TUCHMAN: And that's putting it mildly, the person with knowledge of the current financial situation said, Jackson was spending $2 million a month on what he called B.S. Over the year, Jackson bought the Neverland ranch near Santa Barbara for just shy of $20 million. He spent many millions more on amenities and maintenance. And then he spent staggering amounts of money on legal challenges, including $20 million to settle a child molestation lawsuit. A decade later, after spending millions in legal fees, he was acquitted in another child molestation case. Despite all of that, his former financial consultant said Jackson was in OK financial shape as recently as 2004.</s>KOPPELMAN: We took about two months or so, and we were able to restructure all of his various loans, et cetera. We did that and it was efficient and effective.</s>TUCHMAN: But Jackson kept spending and spending, and the pop star who made so much money in his career churned through unimaginable amounts of it. With his death, his assets are still there, including his Beatles rights, but his spending is not.</s>KOPPELMAN: His untimely death as sad as it is -- and it is sad -- you know, to some extent there's a possibility that his children and his family will now be able to figure out how to maintain those assets for them all.</s>TUCHMAN: And if that happens, it's the most pitiful way for it to occur. Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.</s>PHILLIPS: And just in the last half-hour or so, the Jackson family confirming what's been reported about a 2002 will. It does exist, apparently, and the lawyers have seen it. We'll have more on that as we get it. Mega star, unforgettable hits. Dance moves that drove fans bonkers. A bizarre life, a premature death. So which king are we talking about here, the hip shaker or the moon walker? The "Hunk of Burning Love" or "The Man in the Mirror"? Two different men joined at the hip by history.