ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES
Police find an infant girl taken from her murdered mother's body; A great white shark kills an 18-year-old surfer off the coast of Australia; Music therapy through a vibroacoustic bed appears to reduce pain in hospital patients; New Web sites offer live phone calls from Santa
Aired December 17, 2004 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, HOST
...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: You'd think Michael Jackson would want a lit less media attention these days. After all, he'll have plenty of it when he stands trial next month for allegedly molesting a young boy. But today, Jackson not only wanted some press, he invited it to a party at his Neverland ranch.
CNN's Miguel Marquez reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Jackson welcomes children to his Neverland ranch, something his public relations person says he does all the time. What's different this time? The media was invited to watch.
MICHAEL JACKSON: Welcome to my ranch.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michael!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you!
MARQUEZ: The visit comes days before a lengthy pretrial hearing, during which Jackson's legal team is expected to ask that the trial date of January 31 be pushed back by six weeks.
RAMONE BAIN, JACKSON SPOKESPERSON: I can't answer any questions with regards to his trial, and I'm sorry.
MARQUEZ: Jackson's spokeswoman Ramone Bain, says Jackson often has groups of kids to Neverland Ranch, but he usually doesn't greet them. He did this time, she says, because it's the last tour of the holiday season.
(on camera): Why allow the press into this particular gathering at this particular time?
BAIN: Because you've asked over the last several months.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): Jackson has been charged with, among other things, lewd acts against a child and conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: Now, while I was in there a short time ago, there was about 80 children and about three dozen adults supervising them. We were told there would be about 200 children there. It didn't seem that that many showed up. We asked to speak to many adults, and we were denied that, saying that we could speak to them later.
A producer and a photographer just came out. They were there all day with them. We were never allowed to speak to any of the adults there. They are still in there, enjoying their day at Neverland as the sun sets, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Miguel Marquez from California tonight. Thanks, Miguel.
Source: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/041.../17/acd.01.html
Police find an infant girl taken from her murdered mother's body; A great white shark kills an 18-year-old surfer off the coast of Australia; Music therapy through a vibroacoustic bed appears to reduce pain in hospital patients; New Web sites offer live phone calls from Santa
Aired December 17, 2004 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, HOST
...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: You'd think Michael Jackson would want a lit less media attention these days. After all, he'll have plenty of it when he stands trial next month for allegedly molesting a young boy. But today, Jackson not only wanted some press, he invited it to a party at his Neverland ranch.
CNN's Miguel Marquez reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Jackson welcomes children to his Neverland ranch, something his public relations person says he does all the time. What's different this time? The media was invited to watch.
MICHAEL JACKSON: Welcome to my ranch.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michael!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you!
MARQUEZ: The visit comes days before a lengthy pretrial hearing, during which Jackson's legal team is expected to ask that the trial date of January 31 be pushed back by six weeks.
RAMONE BAIN, JACKSON SPOKESPERSON: I can't answer any questions with regards to his trial, and I'm sorry.
MARQUEZ: Jackson's spokeswoman Ramone Bain, says Jackson often has groups of kids to Neverland Ranch, but he usually doesn't greet them. He did this time, she says, because it's the last tour of the holiday season.
(on camera): Why allow the press into this particular gathering at this particular time?
BAIN: Because you've asked over the last several months.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): Jackson has been charged with, among other things, lewd acts against a child and conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: Now, while I was in there a short time ago, there was about 80 children and about three dozen adults supervising them. We were told there would be about 200 children there. It didn't seem that that many showed up. We asked to speak to many adults, and we were denied that, saying that we could speak to them later.
A producer and a photographer just came out. They were there all day with them. We were never allowed to speak to any of the adults there. They are still in there, enjoying their day at Neverland as the sun sets, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Miguel Marquez from California tonight. Thanks, Miguel.
Source: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/041.../17/acd.01.html