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CNN NEWSROOM

No Luck Finding Jimmy Hoffa; Paris Jackson Testifies; Morgan Spurlock Joins CNN.

Aired June 19, 2013 - 11:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Speaking of mobsters, it's mob day here at CNN, and I have this breaking news. Rats, no luck in finding the remains of Jimmy Hoffa. A big dig going down in Michigan. Everybody thought maybe this was the one. Gone through so many before. No. It's Oakland Township, and apparently nothing, nothing was turned up. Did everything they could to find the former Teamster boss. He disappeared back in 1975. Feds have been looking for him ever since.

Poppy Harlow has, too, so she went to Oakland Township, and it's a bust yet again, another bust.

I can't believe we have to go through this over and over again, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, imagine for his family, the Hoffa kids, and we can talk about that in a little bit. But this is a search, a hunt for the former Teamster boss that has confounded the FBI for almost four decades now, Ashleigh.

Just within the last hour, the Bob Foley, the FBI special agent in charge here, came out and told us, the media, who have been camped out here since early Monday morning, no Jimmy Hoffa remains in the field behind me, none at all. They've searched a plot about as big as an acre. They called this a diligent search over two-plus days, saying they are absolutely certain that no human remains are in that field.

Why did they come here? They came here because an 85-year-old guy named Tony Zerilli, an alleged mob underboss here in Detroit, admittedly a good friend of Jimmy Hoffa, tipped them off, went to the feds within the last year and said, he was taken here, Jimmy Hoffa, hit over the head with a shovel, buried alive.

The FBI says no. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT FOLEY, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Of course, we're disappointed. I mean certainly what we do in the FBI and with our law enforcement partners' endeavor to reach the conclusion of a criminal investigation. And at this point, with respect to the fact that we had no evidence uncovered, we're not at that conclusion, so certainly we're disappointed.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARLOW: Now the FBI said that they vetted this information, this tip, over and over again, over months as they went to other sources to confirm it. They have probable cause to come here. But we won't know the details, Ashleigh, maybe ever, of why they actually came here because the search warrant is sealed.

BANFIELD: You know, I've been in this news business for 25 years now and I can't even remember the number of stories like this that I've covered. We get all excited that, oh, someone's got a lead on Hoffa, only to have it turn out this way. If I'm counting, we're around four decades we've had to put up with this revisited story. Are his children that dashed by this? Aren't they used to this by now?

HARLOW: They are. So we had a chance to talk on the phone, our Susan Candiotti today, with Barbara Crancer (ph), the daughter of Jimmy Hoffa. I spoke to her on the phone on her yesterday, and she said I'm not hopeful, but I'm thankful to the FBI for trying. She said the same thing today after she heard the search was called off. She says she's always thankful, but they've been through it so many times they don't get their hopes up. Another thing she said, this was interesting, she said we were brought up strong, we will remain strong, and that's what he, our father, Jimmy Hoffa would have wanted. But yes, of course, they're disappointed. They want to know where their father was buried after he was murdered.

BANFIELD: I think so many of us do as well. It's become the unsolved legend everybody wants to know.

Poppy Harlow, thank you.

So coming up, some testimony you're going to want to see in Michael Jackson's wrongful death trial. His daughter, Paris, giving a rare glimpse into the pop star's life in a recorded deposition, but for the first time, you get to hear her and her narrative, what life was like inside their home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: "Daddy's little girl lost and devastated without her father." That's a quote. That's how Michael Jackson's daughter is being described by the personal chef in the Michael Jackson wrongful death trial. A confused teenager, who has refused to have any more birthday parties since her father died, and even, apparently, attempted to commit suicide earlier this month.

Have a listen to Paris Jackson in recorded testimony about their nanny.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PARIS JACKSON, DAUGHTER OF MICHAEL JACKSON: Going to get creeped out. No joke. Like, the doctor -- like I don't know, like when he would stay in a hotel or whatever, like, she would call like the hotel and say that she was his wife. Like, she was obsessed with him. She called, said she was his wife, and they'd let her in and he'd wake up and she'd be, like, in his bed. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Our entertainment reporter, Alan Duke, is live in Los Angeles.

First and foremost, do we know what doctor she's referring to? The only doctor that seems to be sort of a star in this whole story is Conrad Murray. Are they suggesting the nanny was sleeping with Conrad Murray?

ALAN DUKE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: No. And it wouldn't have been in that time period because -- I don't know. But that was unclear and it he was kind of odd. It was really talking about then in nanny and why she was let go.

The content of what Paris said was not that significant in the trial. What was, was the fact that they played it and, in fact, that is basically their announcement that we're bringing Paris into the trial. The AEG Live lawyers have previously said they weren't going to say if they were. I can tell you that the Jackson lawyers have told the court they're not going to allow Paris Jackson to be brought into the courtroom. Even though she's one of the plaintiffs, her doctor says she can't come. She's in a hospital after the suicide attempt three weeks ago, so they're going to have to rely on her video deposition done over two days in March.

And I can tell you, in that video, there will be some very, very serious allegations made by Paris Jackson and also by Prince Jackson when he testifies live, and we hope to bring that to you soon.

BANFIELD: So, do we have any sort of sneak peek? Do we know in advance through any kind of discovery what sort of allegations these kids could make, whether they're in previously recorded depositions as Paris' is or those other children showing up live in the courtroom?

DUKE: Michael Jackson confided in his two oldest kids quite a bit. Prince was almost like his assistant, his number two, writing his e- mails for him, that sort of thing. He was so close to him, going to meetings. Michael Jackson was very frightened, according to his kids -- and they're going to talk about this in their testimony -- how Michael Jackson was afraid of the AEG Live executives promoting and producing his concert. In the last weeks he was terrified. There was some testimony yesterday that the chef said, she saw him very frightened and scared of the AEG Live CEO.

So yes, they're going to talk about how terrified they were. And they're going to tell us what their father said, what he thought the AEG Live executives and one of his former managers planned to do to him, and it's going to be shocking.

BANFIELD: Oh. Alan, you know, it's just distressing to see her, knowing she's in that hospital room now. And our thoughts go out to her and her family, and hope she recovers well.

Alan, thank you. So as the other children, in their words, start to come into play in this case, just what kind of light can be shed? As Alan just mentioned, well, they suggest their father was scared of AEG. But how powerful are kids when they get on a stand or weigh in in court? Our legal talk continues after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: So who is responsible for the death of Michael Jackson? Who is going to end up paying big or who's not going to pay a cent?

Want to bring in Paul Callan, Midwin Charles, back again.

Paul, let me start with you.

What does the Michael Jackson family need out of these three children if they are going to put them through all of this, whether it's on a taped deposition or up there on the stand, what information do they need out of them to prove their case, which is AEG killed our beloved Michael?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: There's only one thing they're looking for, and that is enormous sympathy. They've lost their father. He was a wonderful father, and he's been taken away by this big, bad corporation that was just in it for the money. That's A. There are some collateral things. I think they're going to show that even the kids saw that Michael Jackson was deteriorating while working for AEG, suggesting that AEG executives should have known this themselves if these kids could see that their father was deteriorating.

BANFIELD: Sympathy is a very powerful thing in a courtroom.

But, Midwin, if you're going to be the defendant and you need to cross examine a witness, how on earth do you cross examine these adorable children who were so young when all of this happened?

MIDWIN CHARLES, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It's really hard. As Paul said, these kids are the ones that were there, they were at the forefront, and they were familiar with what Michael Jackson looked like, what he was eating, how his physical appearance was, medication that he took, and so from the defense perspective, what they have to do is just try to show that Dr. Conrad Murray was the one who had direct contact with Michael Jackson, and who decided that Michael Jackson should take Propofol, and that they had absolutely nothing to do with it, and would not have any way of knowing.

BANFIELD: All right. Midwin Charles, Paul Callan, thank you both. The trial continues and the developments, fast and furious. We'll continue to watch this one.

Thank you.

My next guest is an Oscar nominee. How about that? Now, he's one of us, here at CNN. Morgan Spurlock, the true "INSIDE MAN," is going to join me on set to talk about his brand new show that's premiering and he starts off with weed. How is that for a tease?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: If you ask me, he's the world best "Inside Man." Morgan Spurlock, he was known for "Super Size Me" and a million other things. And now he's going to be known for his ability to sniff out good weed.

Have a look at the premier, a little snippet coming up on Sunday night. Take a peek.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MORGAN SPURLOCK, ACTOR: So I'm locked in the back of a blacked-out van somewhere in northern California, being driven to an undisclosed location where they grow vast amounts of marijuana. There's some other stipulations that we have to follow now. We can't show any of the people who work there. We can't show any of the people who work there, their faces. We can't show any hands or body parts. This isn't sketchy at all.

We're driving to a building right now. Hear the dogs?

(BARKING)

SPURLOCK: They're closing the doors so that we won't know where we are. They're getting out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: What happens next? Don't leave me there.

(LAUGHTER)

Morgan Spurlock, "INSIDE MAN."

First of all, you had me at body parts.

SPURLOCK: Good.

BANFIELD: Then at creepy.

SPURLOCK: Good.

BANFIELD: We're about 11 minutes to lunch time, as we have our conversation, we could have a bite to eat.

SPURLOCK: Yeah.

BANFIELD: So I brought a little bit of some of your favorite things.

SPURLOCK: Oh, see. Look at this. All this stuff that I could never eat.

(LAUGHTER)

All this stuff that I would never indulge in. BANFIELD: Big Mac for two and a couple of big tall Cokes. Of course --

SPURLOCK: That is all you.

BANFIELD: Everybody knows you --

SPURLOCK: That is all you.

BANFIELD: -- from "Super Size Me." I want to watch as you stare this down. I know you like the smell, right?

SPURLOCK: The minute I smell it, my mouth does start watering.

(CROSSTALK)

They're not even like real.

(LAUGHTER)

It's not even like a real French fry.

BANFIELD: Do you want one.

SPURLOCK: I do not. The best part about this, if you put this under the seat of your car, in five years, it'll still look just like this.

BANFIELD: And smell it.

SPURLOCK: And still smells like it.

BANFIELD: I'm going to prop it up right there.

SPURLOCK: If the world ended today, they would find this pile of food. They would find our corpses and this pile of food. Nothing will have decomposed, except you and I.

BANFIELD: I watched "Super Size Me." I was revolted by everything that happened to your body, and I still eat it all the time.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: You know what's going on.

SPURLOCK: It's almost like, as you eat it, since it doesn't decompose, it's just making you last forever.

(LAUGHTER)

That's what it is. It's going to be great.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: Let's talk pot. The first episode is great.

SPURLOCK: It was a lot of fun. It's a great show. It's about medical marijuana. They were saying there's no way to legalize this. It's a terrible idea. I went to work in Maryland. I went there and became your weed connoisseur. I worked behind the counter. I was the dope guy. I was your dope man.

(LAUGHTER)

I was behind the counter,

BANFIELD: Did you learn anything that you didn't know?

SPURLOCK: I tell you what I expected going in is it was a place getting the people up with Hindu Kush and a little purple Erkle and a little crazy train.

(CROSSTALK)

SPURLOCK: They were wasting things as I worked there.

BANFIELD: You're cagey on me.

SPURLOCK: I tell you what I expected going in, it was a place for a bunch of stoners, would go get their card and go, dude, now I'll go get my weed. Government says so.

(CROSSTALK)

That's kind of what I thought.

SPURLOCK: But you go there and here are these people who had been -- in our nation, we lock to medicate people. You go to the doctor, here's a pill for this, here's a pill for that. I was meeting people on six, seven, medication and they were all strung out and addicted. They started going to this clinic and started taking medical marijuana and are now off that medication. I met men who went to Afghanistan with massive PTSD who couldn't have relationships with families and hold down a job. Once they went on the medication, now they are completely normal and have great relationships with their families and friends.

(CROSSTALK)

SPURLOCK: Let's talk about the party value.

BANFIELD: Let's talk about the news. It's amazing. I think there's a lot of people who come up with conditions like I can't sleep, doc. Can you give me my script?

SPURLOCK: I have a lot of stress. How do I deal with that stress?

BANFIELD: Are they handing them out like water?

SPURLOCK: It's pretty easy to get a card. I got mine fairly easy.

BANFIELD: I heard you just have to say something like I'm having trouble sleeping.

SPURLOCK: It could be that or stress or insomnia.

BANFIELD: I love how you start with weed. That's pretty good stuff. What about the rest?

SPURLOCK: We go from that to guns. Guns, also a hot topic. Immigration, education. We do one about elder care and end-of-life care where I move in with my 91-year-old grandmother. I become her buddy.

BANFIELD: How did that go?

SPURLOCK: Once you move in with an old lady, funny things happen. It was pretty entertaining.

BANFIELD: So every Sunday night.

SPURLOCK: 10:00.

BANFIELD: 10:00.

SPURLOCK: Right here on CNN.

BANFIELD: By the way, how did all this come about? How did it end up you chose these topics and ended up at my table and speaking out?

SPURLOCK: Yeah. Your delicious table.

BANFIELD: You dare me to eat one of these?

SPURLOCK: You can eat whatever you want. It's your body.

BANFIELD: You absolutely will not eat one of these.

SPURLOCK: Your liver will be the one.

BANFIELD: I was going to try to get you to eat a Big Mac, but I had a feeling you were telling the truth.

SPURLOCK: I do love them but they're not food. It's not real food. It's like you're biting into beef plastic.

BANFIELD: They are very real.

SPURLOCK: It's like beef plastic.

(LAUGHTER)

SPURLOCK: Not made in a factory somewhere.

BANFIELD: I can't wait to see what you've got --

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER) BANFIELD: Nice to have you with us.

SPURLOCK: Nice to be here.

BANFIELD: Love your work. Morgan Spurlock, coming up, as I said, premiers this Sunday night, right here on CNN.

My mouth is full -- (inaudible).

We'll be right back.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: Some say that doctors make the worst patients, but in this particular doctor's case, her cancer diagnosis really motivated her to help other people who were dealing with the same kinds of things. I want you to meet Rebecca Johnson, Dr. Johnson in today's "Human Factor."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Her research got national attention.

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Cases of advanced breast cancer in younger women is on the rise. That's the alarming headline just published in the "Journal of the American Medical Association."

GUPTA: But it was Dr. Rebecca Johnson's own diagnosis of breast cancer at age 27 that motivated her to conduct the study in the first place.

DR. REBECCA JOHNSON, ADOLESCENT & YOUNG ADULT ONCOLOGY, SEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: When I was diagnosed, I was trying to figure out how common breast cancer was in young women. All the articles I read said breast cancer was rare in young women.

GUPTA: Dr. Johnson was a medical resident in 1995 when she discovered a lump in her chest. The biopsy confirmed it was a malignant tumor.

JOHNSON: I looked over at the surgeon and his eyes were huge, and I said, what. He said, I think this is cancer.

GUPTA: A mastectomy and four rounds of chemo quickly followed. She was in the unique position of being a patient where she worked as a doctor.

Today, Dr. Johnson heads the Adolescents & Young Adult Oncology program at Seattle Children's Hospital. Her patients are in their teens to mid-20s. JOHNSON: Take a deep breath.

GUPTA: When she's not at the hospital she's conducting research on cancer in younger people. She wants to give her patients vital information that she didn't have when she was in treatment.

JOHNSON: How are you doing today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm good.

JOHNSON: It's a chance to be able to do something for these patients that are having a hard time in a way that I understand very well. It's a tremendous opportunity.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: Thank you, Dr. Gupta.

And thank you for watching. AROUND THE WORLD is next.