Legal Battle Over Jackson's Children Looms Over; A Look Inside Neverland Ranch; New Video of Michael Jackson's Last Rehearsal Released
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good Friday morning to you. It's the third of July. It's a holiday today. So -- why are we here?</s>KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I know. And you were here last night covering for Campbell as well, huh?</s>ROBERTS: Just have to set a cot at my office and just stay there. Thanks for joining us on the "Most News in the Morning." I'm John Roberts.</s>CHETRY: Well, we're here because we're following a lot of developments this morning and we're going to be breaking down the top stories for you in the next 15 minutes. One is a potential bombshell regarding the custody of Michael Jackson's two older children. The singer's ex-wife, Debbie Rowe, says that she will fight for custody but her lawyers are telling reporters something different. Also, there are some new details of a public memorial for Jackson.</s>ROBERTS: This morning, CNN takes you inside Neverland, the fantasy home that Michael Jackson lived in for nearly 20 years. It's now vacant but still filled with so many memories for better or for worse.</s>CHETRY: Also right now, the first big test of President Obama's new strategy for the war in Afghanistan is under way. Thousands of U.S. Marines deep inside enemy territory the same time U.S. forces are desperately trying to rescue one of their own captured by insurgents in that country.</s>ROBERTS: But we begin with a number of major developments in the Michael Jackson investigation. This morning the legal battle over Jackson's children taking another twist. Debbie Rowe, Jackson's former wife and mother of his two eldest children, told the Los Angeles television station that she wants custody. But her lawyer told reporters that she hasn't quite made that decision yet. Meantime, a judge has pushed back a guardianship hearing scheduled for Monday. And this morning, the Jackson family firming up details for a public memorial in downtown Los Angeles. CNN's Kara Finnstrom is live outside the Staples Center in downtown L.A. And, Kara, what are the details of that memorial as we know them now?</s>KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jermaine Jackson did share a few details. It's Michael Jackson's brother. First off, we should say that he has also shared that the family will be holding a private memorial service for family and friends Tuesday morning before that massive public memorial is set to take place here at the Staples Center starting at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning. This is home to the Los Angeles Lakers and the Clippers. It seats some 20,000 people. We are told that 10,000 tickets will be given away to the public and a press conference is set for later this morning to share the details of it. Those tickets will be free, but fans are going to have to register for them. You also mentioned, you know, another major development. The lawyer for Debbie Rowe coming forward. Debbie Rowe, the mother of the two eldest Jackson children. He said yesterday that he just wanted to clarify that Debbie Rowe's position right now is that she hasn't made up her mind and has not decided whether she will seek custody of the children. What she told that L.A. TV station is that I do want my children. And he wouldn't really provide any further clarification of how you move from one statement to the other but simply said, standing by itself, it was a distortion of the truth. No final statement has been made. Now Debbie Rowe did give up custody of her children back in 2001. But two years later, she decided that she wanted to seek temporary guardianship. And a court ruling at that time said that her parental rights had been improperly terminated could open up the way for a custody battle. We can also tell you that the next court date now has been set for July 13. It's been moved back and this is a temporary guardianship court date. Right now, Katherine Jackson has temporary guardianship and the judge will decide whether that should remain so.</s>ROBERTS: All right. Kara Finnstrom for us this morning outside the Staples Center. Kara, thanks so much for that.</s>CHETRY: And meanwhile, the Jackson family says it is preparing to go to court over custody of the late singer's three children. Last night at a primetime exclusive, Jermaine Jackson told Larry King that the kids are right where they need to be, with their grandmother.</s>LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Do you think it's proper that she be responsible for the kids?</s>JERMAINE JACKSON, MICHAEL'S BROTHER: Yes, I think it's very proper because the way my mother raised us, the way we know how she's very just beloved, the joy and making sure that they'll be OK, I thought it was the right choice.</s>KING: What do you make of the ex-wife possibly seeking custody?</s>JACKSON: We'll see. Larry, the will is what it is. And the will was really written well. And it was executed by the executors and they did a great job. It's what it is.</s>CHETRY: And the topic also came up on "Anderson Cooper 360." CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin discussed whether Debbie Rowe has a strong case if she were to, in fact, try to fight for custody.</s>ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "AC 360": Clearly, this is what Michael Jackson wanted. We're not sure now what Debbie Rowe wants. What do you make of her sort of stepping in now saying, well, maybe she does want to fight for custody?</s>JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, this could get complicated because ordinarily the biological mother does have first claim. But this is to put it mildly not an ordinary situation. She's had virtually no relationship with the kids. Katherine Jackson apparently has had a relationship with the kids. But there's another factor here that we haven't mentioned yet that's very important. What do the kids want? They're 12, 11 years old. Blanket is 7. A judge will ask the three of them who they want to live with and that will have a big impact on the resolution of this case.</s>CHETRY: And Rowe has said that she was concerned about splitting up the three children. She also said she would accept custody of the youngest child but did not expect the court to actually go along with that. Meantime, Neverland Ranch, of course, was Michael Jackson's dream home. It was based on the fictional fantasy island in the story "Peter Pan." It had an amusement park there, a merry go round, roller coasters, even a zoo.</s>ROBERTS: But the property was nearly sold at auction. And last night during Larry King's primetime exclusive, we got a rare tour of Neverland. Here's CNN's Ted Rowlands with that.</s>TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Miko Brando, the son of the late actor Marlon Brando, spent much of the last 20 plus years at Michael Jackson's side. He was our guide taking us through Neverland Ranch. Miko, you spent a lot of time up here. This place is so big that obviously this isn't just for decoration. This train station was a real train station with a real train.</s>MIKO BRANDO, MICHAEL JACKSON'S FRIEND: A real train, steam engine train, a large one. He used it for years to get from the residence up to the theater and the zoo.</s>ROWLANDS: It's about a quarter mile away. (on camera): Michael would put on videos on each of the monitors.</s>BRANDO: Right.</s>ROWLANDS: Same video.</s>BRANDO: He'd put videos and cartoons, whoever wanted to see him, watch him on all the screens. He'd sit here and eat candy, eat all of those sweets he'd want. And the kids would just hang out here and watch videos all night long.</s>ROWLANDS: And this is just a minuscule part obviously of the compound here, one small portion of it where people would come and hang out. The outside, here's where the train would come through, Miko. This room is what?</s>BRANDO: This is the living room. The piano used to be over here with a bunch of photos on the piano. A castle he had built sitting over here. Living room chairs, furniture, sofa, the TV on the wall. He had a beautiful marble front here in front of the fireplace. He had the Oscar that he got standing on the right side of the fireplace.</s>ROWLANDS: The Oscar from --</s>BRANDO: "Gone with the Wind."</s>ROWLANDS: "Gone with the Wind" that he apparently paid $1.-some million for it.</s>BRANDO: Yes, sir.</s>ROWLANDS (voice-over): Inside the house, 13,000 square feet. As for Michael Jackson's bedroom -- (on camera): You're looking at the doors and you could see the locks on the doors, Miko. Privacy was key in this room, obviously.</s>BRANDO: Yes, he liked his privacy. When the doors were open, you know, it was OK. But when it's locked, he wants privacy. He had his privacy.</s>ROWLANDS: This is one of the bathrooms. There are two bathrooms in the suite. And this is the area where Michael Jackson also slept sometimes. There's a staircase up there with a small bedroom upstairs. You say he slept on both levels.</s>BRANDO: Yes. He slept wherever he felt like sleeping. He crashed out so he had a choice of two.</s>ROWLANDS: There's been a lot of talk about this closet. It is massive. And in the corner of it is a secret compartment or secret little area. And, Miko, you said this is sort of a safe room just in case.</s>BRANDO: Yes. This was just some place, you know, in case something ever happened. It will be -- went around.</s>ROWLANDS: When you look at the house now, Miko, it is unfurnished, obviously. Give us a sense how different it was fully furnished?</s>BRANDO: Oh, it was the place. I mean, I've seen a lot of houses in my life but this was the house.</s>ROWLANDS (voice-over): Ted Rowlands, CNN, at the Neverland Ranch.</s>ROBERTS: An interesting inside look there.</s>CHETRY: Sure enough. Is it going to turn to another Graceland? I mean, are they going to open it up to the public for thousands and thousands who loved Michael Jackson to be able to tour for themselves?</s>ROBERTS: The problem might be access, though, because there's just one little mountain road in and one road out. And, you know, Graceland, you've got pretty good traffic areas. So I don't know if the county will allow them to do that. But we'll see. I mean, there's going to be a lot of wrangling over so many things in the years to come. New this morning, President Obama gearing up for a visit to Russia and the G-8 summit in Italy next week. In an interview with "The Associated Press," the president warned Russia's government against using old cold war tactics when dealing with Washington. President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev also plan to discuss Iran's political situation and its nuclear program.</s>CHETRY: Pakistan now where U.S. missile strikes target militant hideouts in the lawless tribal area of South Waziristan. According to Pakistani security officials, at least 15 people are reported dead, more than two dozen others injured. The missile strikes again happening near the Afghan border.</s>ROBERTS: And the U.S. offensive continues in Afghanistan. Marines are pushing deeper into Taliban strongholds this morning. American troops have suffered their first casualty of this massive campaign. Gary Berntsen who is the CIA operative in charge of the operation against Tora Bora back in 2001 is coming up in just a couple of minutes to talk more about that offensive in Helmand province. Nine minutes now after the hour.