CNN WOLF BLITZER REPORTS
Rumsfeld to Stay; Thompson Steps Down
Aired December 3, 2004 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST:
...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: California law enforcement officials today returned to Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch. They say this latest search of the sprawling estate is in connection with Jackson's child molestation case.
CNN's Miguel Marquez is in Los Angeles. He's following the story for us. He's joining us live -- Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, they started at 9:00 this morning.
And, as far as we know, we have producers on the ground there at Neverland Ranch. Investigators are still there, going through. We're trying to figure out what exactly they're still going through, but certainly they've gone through with this property quite a bit. This would be the third time that they have served a search warrant on Neverland Ranch.
Last year, November 18, they served two search warrants at the same time, went through Neverland Ranch there. We know that Mr. Jackson is obviously charged with five counts of lewd acts against a minor, one count of conspiracy and four counts of giving a minor an intoxicant in order to assist in those lewd acts.
A source close to Mr. Jackson says that this is highly irregular, this search, especially with the trial looming. January 31 is the date that Santa Barbara County Superior Judge Rodney Melville has decided is the day that jury selection will start in this case, also the fact that the judge, that same judge, ordered lawyers, both sides, to turn over their witness lists by this Monday the 6th, and also ordered the district attorney to turn over all of his evidence, all discovery, to Jackson's defense lawyers also by this Monday the 6th.
So it seems that this search warrant and this search is coming in right under the wire as to when this judge wants to have both sides have all of the evidence shared with one another, so that they can get this to trial as soon as possible.
A lawyer for Jackson's parents, Joe and Katherine Jackson, released a statement a short time ago saying that Mr. and Mrs. Jackson believe that this serves as nothing more than the continuing harassment against their son, particularly because of the late date of it. What exactly they're looking for, it's not entirely clear, but whether or not investigators are trying to tie up an investigative lead or if there's a new investigative lead they have that brought them to Neverland today -- Wolf.
BLITZER: I suspect we'll know seen enough.
Miguel Marquez, thanks very much for that reporter (sic).
Source: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/041.../03/wbr.01.html
Rumsfeld to Stay; Thompson Steps Down
Aired December 3, 2004 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST:
...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: California law enforcement officials today returned to Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch. They say this latest search of the sprawling estate is in connection with Jackson's child molestation case.
CNN's Miguel Marquez is in Los Angeles. He's following the story for us. He's joining us live -- Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, they started at 9:00 this morning.
And, as far as we know, we have producers on the ground there at Neverland Ranch. Investigators are still there, going through. We're trying to figure out what exactly they're still going through, but certainly they've gone through with this property quite a bit. This would be the third time that they have served a search warrant on Neverland Ranch.
Last year, November 18, they served two search warrants at the same time, went through Neverland Ranch there. We know that Mr. Jackson is obviously charged with five counts of lewd acts against a minor, one count of conspiracy and four counts of giving a minor an intoxicant in order to assist in those lewd acts.
A source close to Mr. Jackson says that this is highly irregular, this search, especially with the trial looming. January 31 is the date that Santa Barbara County Superior Judge Rodney Melville has decided is the day that jury selection will start in this case, also the fact that the judge, that same judge, ordered lawyers, both sides, to turn over their witness lists by this Monday the 6th, and also ordered the district attorney to turn over all of his evidence, all discovery, to Jackson's defense lawyers also by this Monday the 6th.
So it seems that this search warrant and this search is coming in right under the wire as to when this judge wants to have both sides have all of the evidence shared with one another, so that they can get this to trial as soon as possible.
A lawyer for Jackson's parents, Joe and Katherine Jackson, released a statement a short time ago saying that Mr. and Mrs. Jackson believe that this serves as nothing more than the continuing harassment against their son, particularly because of the late date of it. What exactly they're looking for, it's not entirely clear, but whether or not investigators are trying to tie up an investigative lead or if there's a new investigative lead they have that brought them to Neverland today -- Wolf.
BLITZER: I suspect we'll know seen enough.
Miguel Marquez, thanks very much for that reporter (sic).
Source: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/041.../03/wbr.01.html