this is the heart of the american dream. love it or hate it, this is it. love it or hate it, this is it. ♪ -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening, i'm anderson cooper. it's been more than four years since michael jackson's death. four years since katherine jackson lost her son and his children lost a father. and the question still remains, who's responsible for the death of michael jackson? the family believes concert promoter aeg live is to blame. aeg live says it was michael jackson's own decisions that led to his death. after months of testimony from those closest to the superstar, the decision now rests in the hands of 12 california jurors. don lemon reports. >> what day is today? >> it's christmas. >> exactly. what does christmas mean?

blanket, what does christmas mean? >> love. >> love what? >> family. >> who's your family? >> you. >> me and people who love you. >> it was a side of michael jackson the world had rarely seen until now. for months a jury inside this courtroom has watched private home videos. ♪ seen personal photos and listened to testimony from experts, friends, and family. now it's up to jurors to decide whether concert promoter aeg live is responsible for the death of michael jackson. michael jackson's mother, katherine, and his children filed an 18-page complaint against aeg live, the company behind jackson's planned "this is it" concerts. before the trial began i spoke to jackson family attorney kevin boyle about the family's lawsuit.

why is mrs. jackson and the kids suing aeg? >> what i can tell you about the lawsuit is it's very simple and it's that aeg defendants are negligent in their hiring, retaining, or supervising of dr. conrad murray, which led to the death of michael jackson. >> guilty of the crime of involuntary manslaughter. >> conrad murray, the doctor found guilty in the pop icon's death, is appealing his involuntary manslaughter conviction. he was convicted of giving michael jackson a deadly dose of propofol, a powerful surgical anesthetic. if a jury decides that murray isn't solely responsible for jackson's death and that aeg live is also liable, it could cost the concert promotion company a lot of money. cnn's alan duke has been covering this case since jackson's death. >> the jackson's hired an

expert, a cpa who had worked with major artists for decades, to estimate what would michael jackson possibly with a reasonable certainty have earned had he not died june 25th, 2009. from touring and merchandise sales just on the "this is it" tour would have been $1.5 billion. >> this isn't his final days. >> aeg live attorney marvin putnam believes this case is about one thing and one thing only. did aeg live negligently hire dr. conrad murray? as the trial got under way he told me that the company never even employed murray. >> even had he been hired by aeg live, he certainly wasn't hired negligently. there were no indications in any measure that there was a problem with dr. conrad murray. to be a negligent hire it isn't just that you hired but you had to hire knowing there was a problem. and aeg live had no indication at any point that there was a problem with conrad murray. >> cnn legal contributor sunny

hostin has been following the case. >> aeg live's defense is pretty interesting. it's listen, we didn't pick conrad murray. michael jackson picked conrad murray. michael jackson had a history of drug abuse. he had a history of this kind of behavior. and he single-handedly chose the person that would help him with his addiction. >> i spoke with aeg live's president and ceo randy phillips three years ago about similar allegations. in that interview phillips said the decision to hire conrad murray and pay him $150,000 per month was solely michael's choice. >> he stared at me with this very deep stare and he said, "you don't understand. my body is what fuels this entire venture. and like barack obama, i need my own physician with me 24/7. okay? that's not negotiable."

>> phillips believed michael had a very personal reason for taking on the scheduled 50 concerts. >> i said, why now? because i had been chasing him to come out of retirement and get on the stage and perform live for three years. this was, you know, like a mission of mine. a quest. and he said to me, very interesting, was very poignant, he said, "i'm doing it now because my kids are old enough to appreciate what i do." >> michael's children have played a major role in this case. his oldest son, prince, took the stand in june. >> prince jackson made an impact on the jury, perhaps most importantly in humanizing the loss of michael jackson as a father. he described the life, the birthday parties. he described the fun, and he described the sadness. and the jury listened very closely. >> the kids saw their father as he lay lifeless in his bedroom.

since their father's death prince, paris, and blanket's lives have gradually become more open to the public. after years of hiding behind masks and being guarded from the media by their father. >> there's no question from all of the witnesses who saw michael with his three children during the years that he had them that he was a loving, caring, attentive father, carrying his children with him to meetings, traveling the world with them. it was pretty clear in the testimony that they were his world. >> good night, daddy. ♪ >> jackson's attorneys introduced pictures and videos into evidence giving jurors a rare look at michael and his children behind the scenes. also on the witness list, daughter paris jackson.

but then -- >> more breaking news this hour. >> more drama in the jackson family. >> paris jackson, the 15-year-old daughter of pop icon michael jackson was rushed to a hospital in los angeles. ♪ >> paris jackson was supposed to come into court and testify in person. however, just over a month into the trial and before she would be called, she tried to kill herself. >> there's no question about that, that his daughter, paris jackson, was absolutely devastated by his death, so much so that she tried to kill herself. >> while paris underwent treatment throughout the summer, jurors continued to find out more about michael's last few months. >> this jury has had a front row seat literally to a very intimate show revealing the pain and life and the joys of being michael jackson and his family.

>> the best defense sometimes, lawyers think, is blame the victim. but it has to be part of the defense here and it has to be michael jackson was addicted to drugs way before we got involved with him. >> michael, michael. >> michael. >> the defense tried to paint michael jackson as a drug addict. >> they brought out a long parade of doctors, who had given michael painkillers or had used propofol on michael jackson. he was a grown man and as a grown man he knew precisely what he was doing. and so that's why the drug abuse could be relevant and related to that many people in mr. jackson's life have indicated that one of the reasons for his ongoing addiction, one of the places where it became really, really a problem for him was in 1993 around the time of the first accusations about him and a young boy and then again later

in mid-2000 around the time of his trial. >> fame, drugs, manslaughter. coming up, the jacksons are forced to relive the painful memories of losing the pop icon they loved. >> no one in the world is happy about having a family member die and having to pursue a lawsuit about it. and particularly when children are involved. it's just not a happy thing. >> but next -- >> not conscious. he's not breathing? >> yes, he's not breathing, sir. >> the day the world lost an icon. >> he's on the bed. he's on the bed. >> let's get him down to the floor. we'll have to do cpr right now. okay? >> and the events that led to his death. "are you okay mom?" "yes i am" (nervous) (screaming) "never again grace elizabeth" life insurance from new york life can help your family

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as the sun rose above the exclusive los angeles hills, inside michael jackson's mansion, the entertainer began the morning of june 24th, 2009 doing what he loved -- preparing for a show. >> now do it slow. >> he and i would start about noon or 1:00 at his home. we'd dance a few hours and stretch. >> you have to have a full attitude. you have a half attitude. >> travis payne was michael

jackson's long-time choreographer. >> we were on a journey with michael that was going to return him to the stage he loved so much. i know we were eight days away from leaving for london. ♪ all i want to say is that >> the stage is where michael was most at ease. on stage there was no one better. ♪ since age 5 he had electrified audiences around the world with hit songs like "i want you back". and the world appeared ready to welcome him back. it had been 12 years since jackson's major performance. the king of pop was poised to regain his throne. >> this is it. this is the final -- this is the final curtain call. >> according to the contract with concert promoters aeg, michael was to perform 50 concerts at the o2 center in london over a nine-month period.

>> i'll be performing the songs my fans want to hear. >> but was michael physically up to the challenge? both michael and aeg had a lot on the line. >> it was his comeback. it was his renaissance, his rebirth on stage. after so many years of being out of the spotlight, a lot of people were wondering if he could pull this off. >> this is it, and see you in july. >> but there were questions about whether jackson was ready. kenny ortega, the director for "this is it," called a private meeting at jackson's home. aeg's ceo randy phillips attended the meeting. >> kenny was concerned that he wasn't coming to enough rehearsals, that he was taking it a little too nonchalantly. and michael explained that he needed kenny to build the house and then he would come in and paint the front door. >> on the afternoon of june 24th jackson arrived at the staples center in downtown los angeles.

rehearsals for "this is it" often ran late into the night. on the surface, the man many say was born to perform never looked better. but beneath the surface concerns from the very moment the concert tour was announced. jackson was pushing himself to the brink. >> i was thinking how is he going to do these shows? >> record producer rodney jerkins. >> 50 dates at 50 years old? that's a lot of dates. and i was -- i kept saying i hope he gets a physical trainer, someone to really work him out, to make sure he's healthy and prepared. >> jermaine jackson says his little brother was ready. >> i mean, he could have did 200 shows. >> i talked to jermaine following a band rehearsal. >> i felt that he could do it

because of the way the shows were spaced out and it wasn't like every day. ♪ see, like when we first started we were doing one-nighters where every day you're in a different place, riding the bus and you're sleeping on top of each other. that's tough. but this was -- and you didn't have to take the stage, now you were in one location. >> i think that night he finally accepted down deep in whatever the inner reaches of an artist's soul are that he could do this. ♪ all i want to say we were walking to our cars, and he put his arm around me at the staples center, and he said, "thank you for getting me here. now i know i can do it and take it from here." >> but hours later -- >> yes. he's not breathing, sir. >> okay. and he's not conscious either? >> no, he's not conscious, sir. >> okay. [ siren ] >> a 50-year-old man in distress.

that man was michael jackson. >> michael jackson, the king of pop -- >> was taken to the hospital. and there were rumors -- >> he was apparently administered cpr in the ambulance. >> fans around the world hoped and prayed. but the music megastar would not survive. >> my brother, the legendary king of pop, michael jackson, passed away on thursday june 25th, 2009 at 2:26 p.m. >> the los angeles county coroner would rule jackson's death a homicide. the cause of death, acute propofol intoxication. propofol, a powerful anesthetic administered by michael jackson's personal physician, dr. conrad murray, on june 25th, 2009. murray would be charged with involuntary manslaughter. coming up, what happened in the final hours of michael jackson's life? and who was responsible? [ male announcer ] campbell's angus beef & dumplings.

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♪ opening statements are just minutes away in the trial of michael jackson. >> knx 1070's john barry is live at the courthouse in downtown l.a. >> on september 27th, 2011, conrad murray, michael jackson's

doctor, would go on trial. >> if seats become available, you're on standby. >> outside the los angeles criminal courthouse jackson's international stardom took center stage. inside courtroom 107 a jury of seven men and five women took their seats. hln's ryan smith was watching. >> this is the death of michael jackson. and it's not just that he's a famous star. it's that someone lost their son. you know, their brother, their father. >> district attorney david walgren laid out the prosecution's case. >> michael jackson trusted his life to the medical skills of conrad murray. that misplaced trust in the hands of conrad murray cost michael jackson his life. >> to help prove their case

prosecutors presented two very different portraits of the pop legend. ♪ from a vibrant singer, dancer and entertainer on stage to a completely different person behind the scenes. >> to michael jackson -- >> then midway through opening arguments, a stunning moment. >> the voice of michael jackson as he had never been heard before. >> when people leave my show, i want them to say he's the greatest entertainer in the world. >> jackson sounded fragile, impaired, incapable. >> you may be seated. >> and that's just what kenny ortega feared. ortega was directing the most anticipated show in decades, with a star he feared wasn't up to it.

but murray insisted he was in charge of his health. >> he said i should stop being an amateur doctor and psychologist and allow michael health to him. >> those were the words of conrad murray? >> that was close. >> on june 25th that meant helping jackson get to sleep. based on the affidavit, dr. murray's efforts to get jackson to sleep began with a ten-milligram tablet of valium at 10:00 p.m. it didn't work. according to the affidavit, dr. murray injected him with another drug, a sedative. that didn't work either. murray told investigators at 10:40 a.m. he gave the pop legend 25 mill xwramz igrams of propofol, a powerful surgical anesthetic, finally putting jackson to sleep.

but soon after all hell broke loose. to describe the scene firsthand -- >> alberto alvarez -- >> -- district attorney walgren turned one to of the first men to rush into jackson's bedroom. >> he was laying on his back with his hands extended out. i observed that his eyes were slightly open, or open, and his mouth was open. >> alvarez said murray was frantic and vague about jackson's condition. >> i asked dr. conrad murray what happened? and he said, "he had a reaction. he had a bad reaction." >> in the midst of the chaos, alvarez spotted jackson's children in the doorway. >> and they were right behind me and paris screamed out, "daddy." dr. conrad murray said, "don't let them see their dad like this." >> we heard about paris breaking down. very powerful visual. >> jim moret is chief correspondent for "inside edition." >> from the perspective of a

juror and as a parent, can you imagine seeing your own father lying there most likely dead with his eyes wide open? >> we have a gentleman here that needs help and he's not breathing. he's not breathing and we need -- we're trying to pump him but he's not -- >> okay. >> okay. how old is he? >> finally, at 12:22 p.m. alvarez called 911. as they waited for an ambulance, murray asked alvarez for more help. >> he reached over and grabbed a handful of vials and reached out to me and said, here, put these in a bag. >> when paramedics arrived, murray withheld critical information. >> did dr. murray ever mention to you having administered propofol to michael jackson? >> he never mentioned the word "propofol." >> not mentioning propofol, not

keeping medical records, throwing vials in bags. the prosecution was painting a picture of a doctor with plenty to hide. by day six d.a. walgren would also make clear that murray may have been distracted. >> my name is nicole alvarez. >> michele balda. >> sharday. >> three women described as murray's girlfriends. one, nicole alvarez, had a son with murray and even once met his famous patient. >> and how did it come about that you got to meet michael jackson? >> i'm still trying to figure that out myself. >> why is that? what is confusing about it? >> because it's michael jackson. >> it makes it sound like this is part of his game. hey, i'm going to take you over to meet michael jackson. it made him sound like a cad. instead of having his eyes on his patient, he's got his eyes on all these women you see, all

these beautiful women. >> on the day of jackson's death records show that murray talked to all three women. in fact, prosecutors say he was on the phone for 47 minutes during the exact time he should have been carefully monitoring his patient. a patient to whom murray supplied a deadly stockpile of drug. >> two bottles of lorazepam, lidocaine bottle -- >> and on day seven d.a. walgren added into evidence each vial and bottle found at jackson's house. >> dumazenol. >> one after -- >> 20-millimeter propofol bottle. >> -- another. >>ing removing the contents. he was previously each individually -- >> to take a patient with valium, lorazepam, midazelam and propofol and to leave them unattended in that state is medical abandonment.

>> jackson was officially pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. june 25th, 2009. a direct result, said prosecutors, of mistakes, delays, and recklessness by dr. conrad murray. when we come back, conrad murray speaks for himself. ♪ music life insurance from new york life can help your family keep good going.

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♪ he did not act as a medical professional using sound -- >> -- in mr. jackson's body -- >> for over a week dr. conrad murray listened as district attorney david walgren portrayed him as reckless. >> conrad murray abandoned michael when he needed help. >> then, on day 9, for the first time, jurors heard murray's own voice and his version of events in a police interview recorded just days after jackson's death. >> your name. >> conrad robert murray. >> it was jackson, murray said, who told him all about propofol and insisted he use it to ease jackson's crippling insomnia. >> he knew that that was the

only thing that worked for him. i constantly cautioned him. >> cautioned him and claims murray tried to wean him from the drug. still, jackson pressed for propofol on the day he died. >> he said, "i can't function if i don't sleep, so i agreed that i would switch over to the propofol. >> then murray said he sat at jackson's side. >> i monitored him, saw his oxygen saturation was stable. heart rate, everything looks stable. then i needed to go to the bathroom. then i came back to his bedside and i was stunned in the sense that he wasn't breathing. >> dr. murray not only admitted he gave michael jackson propofol in the hours before michael

jackson died but he said, oh, sure, i've been giving it to him for weeks, every night for 60 days, so conrad murray's statement was critical because he gave -- it gave the police and the prosecutor everything they needed to charge him with a crime. >> to finish his case prosecutor david walgren turned to conrad murray's colleagues. >> shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god. >> i do. >> three doctors, three specialties, one conclusion. >> an extreme deviation. >> a far deviation. >> egregious violations in the standard of care. >> dr. stephen schafer, who literally wrote the book on propofol, counted 17 egregious violations by murray, any of which could result in death. >> the lack of electric o'cardiogram. the lack of breathing monitoring -- failure to call

911. >> yes. >> it was four days on the stand that left jurors fascinated and murray shaken. finally, after 16 days and 33 witness -- >> the people are prepared and would ask to rest at this time. >> thank you. >> it was conrad murray's turn to convince a jury. >> all the defense has to do is show reasonable doubt, so if they show you one alternative that's plausible to you, then essentially dr. murray could be acquitted. >> lead defense attorney ed chernoff had laid out that alternative days before in his opening statement. >> when dr. murray left the room, michael jackson self-administered a dose of propofol that with the lorazepam created a perfect storm in his body that killed him instantly. >> now to build his case, chernoff turned to cherilyn lee, a nurse-practitioner who cared for jackson in the months before his death. >> he said, "i have a lot of difficulty sleeping." >> jackson pressed her to give

him propofol, a drug she'd never heard of. >> he said, "doctors have told me it is safe. i just need to be monitored." i told him, "well, let's just try nutritional i.v. one more -- you know, try it again." >> but lee's remedy didn't work for jackson. >> well, he wasn't very happy that he didn't sleep longer. >> was he upset with you? >> he was a tad bit upset. he wanted to sleep longer and he said the nutritional components were not working. >> he was complaining when he got up, is that right? >> he said, "this is going to mess up my performance for the day. the only thing that's going to help me is depravan." >> finally chernoff turned it his own experts. >> i specialize in addiction medicine. >> dr. robert waldman reviewed records from his dermatologist. in the months before his death jackson got frequent treatments and lots of painkillers. >> i believe there was evidence that he was probably addicted to open opioids. >> for the jackson family they

were hard words to hear. >> they sat in that courtroom and listened to testimony that their son and brother was a drug addict, and often they had to leave but they were always there the next day. >> the addiction, the insomnia, the desperation were so great, said dr. paul white, that jackson swallowed powerful pills by the handful. >> it would be my guess that mr. jackson may well have taken three or four pills at a couple of different times. >> then white, a renowned anesthesiologist, demonstrated how he thought murray administered propofol. >> he would just inject very slowly. that's what dr. murray said he did. so that's certainly a very safe way to do it. >> murray, he says, gave jackson 25 milligrams of propofol. soon after, jackson himself administered the final dose. >> you think it was a self-injection of propofol that did it? >> in my opinion, yes. >> and then it all rested with the jury.

one charge, one man dead, and another man's freedom in the balance. >> the tension in this case is at a fever pitch. what's on the line in all of this? dr. murray could go to jail for four years if he's found guilty. on the prosecution side and especially for the jackson family it's, will michael jackson get justice? you know, will there be someone held accountable for what happened to this man? >> we're following the breaking news this hour. a verdict in the involuntary manslaughter trial of dr. conrad murray. >> we, the jury in the above-entitled action j. find the defendant dr. conrad murray guilty of the crime of involuntary manslaughter. >> coming up -- >> do you feel you did everything you could? >> claims that the promoters behind michael jackson's tour

were responsible for murray's negligence. >> is there a camera i can look into so the public can check if i'm telling the truth? not yet. ♪ [ male announcer ] guys don't put all this high tech gear on their face only to go home and wreck it with just any razor. upgrade to the gillette fusion proglide, precision equipment with less tug, less pull, for unrivaled comfort even on sensitive skin. so you can go get it. gillette -- the best a man can get. so you can go get it. google, glossophobia,ophobia? or speech anxiety, is the fear of public speaking. ♪ this is preeminently the time to speak the truth frankly and boldly.

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the death of michael jackson is on trial again. this time in a civil court. the jury heard opening statements in late april. his mother and his children filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging aeg lied. the promoter of michael's "this is it" concerts hired dr. murray and was responsible for his criminal actions. >> it'll be for the jury to decide -- >> kevin boyle is the attorney for katherine jackson. >> aeg were negligent in hiring, retaining or supervising dr. conrad murray and that that ultimately led to the death of michael jackson. >> aeg live claims that dr. murray was working for jackson and was not employed by the company. marvin putnam is a defense attorney for aeg live.

>> i can't quite understand how they're making the claim they're making given conrad murray's own statement two days after michael's passing. he said, "i was hired by michael jackson. i had worked for michael jackson for years." >> the jackson family claims aeg live instructed murray, quote, "not to look out for jackson's best interests but rather to do whatever medical procedures were calculated to get jackson to perform." their so-called smoking gun is an e-mail from aeg live co-ceo paul gongaware sent to the show director. the jacksons believe the e-mail proves aeg employed murray. >> it really is a sdmoeking gun it's probably one of the most important pieces of evidence that michael jackson's attorneys have that aeg supervised, directed, forced, employed dr.

conrad murray to provide michael jackson drugs so that he could perform. >> in a taped deposition played for the jury gongaware was confronted with the e-mail he sent. >> it says, "we want to remind him that it is aeg, not mj who is paying his salary. we want him to understand what is expected of him." did you write that e-mail? >> i don't recall. >> he came across as suffering some sort of executive amnesia, if you will. >> the jackson family in looking at that e-mail believes that aeg made it clear to dr. murray that he was supposed to make sure that michael jackson performed no matter what. >> hold for applause. hold for applause. slow umbrella, fade out.

>> show director kenny ortega e-mailed gongaware 11 days before michael's death with concerns about the singer's health. an emotional ortega read his e-mails to the jury. "there are strong signs of paranoia, anxiety and obsessive-like behavior. i think the very best thing we can do is get a top psychiatrist to evaluate him asap." >> at the end of ortega's several days of testimony the jury actually applauded. i've never seen that in a trial before. >> this picture of a frail michael jackson, taken less than a week before his death, was introduced into evidence. kenny ortega described michael's deteriorating health as they prepared for the concerts. >> the insight that he gave into what was happening with michael in his last weeks was incredible. about his deterioration, about how he couldn't remember his lyrics to his songs, about how

he wasn't getting the dances, and about the conversations with the aeg live executives about what to do about michael. it was very revealing and key in this trial. >> jackson's attorney called a sleep expert, dr. charles sizeler, to explain michael's rapid decline in health. dr. sizeler testified that the 60 nights of propofol infusions conrad murray admitted to giving the star robbed him of r.e.m. sleep, the deep sleep needed for the brain to restore itself. >> michael jackson likely went 60 nights, 60 days, two months without getting any real sleep. >> aeg attorneys argued michael jackson was a drug addict who sought out doctors who would feed his addiction like conrad murray. >> they brought out a long parade of doctors who had given michael painkillers or had used

propofol on michael jackson. >> the defense used the deposition of randy jackson, michael's brother, to argue that not only was michael addicted to drugs but he would have resisted any efforts at an intervention. >> aeg live said if the family can't help him, if the family can't stop him, how could we as concert promoters ever be expected to have done that? i think that was one of their strongest witnesses. >> michael jackson's two oldest children, prince and paris, were on the witness list to testify until -- >> paris jackson, the 15-year-old daughter of pop icon michael jackson, was rushed to a hospital in los angeles. >> in the midst of the trial, near tragedy. michael jackson's daughter, paris, was rushed to the hospital in june after cutting her wrists in an apparent suicide attempt. paris received medical attention and would no longer testify. however, jurors would still hear about her struggle through her

mother and michael jackson's ex-wife, debbie rowe. >> it was hinted at with her brother's testimony, her grandmother's testimony. but it was directly said when debbie rowe, her mother, testified. she said, "i almost lost my daughter. she tried to kill herself." that dramatic moment it was clear the jurors knew that one of the results of michael jackson's death was the extreme sadness of his now 15-year-old daughter and her attempt to take her life. >> prince, michael's son, did go on to take the stand. he told jurors that his father would often cry after talking to aeg live executives and the pop icon feared for his life leading up to the concerts. >> it was very clear that prince felt that michael jackson felt

really pushed to the brink by aeg executives. he didn't trust them. ♪ they don't really care about us ♪ he didn't like them. and he heard his own father say while sobbing, "they're trying to kill me." >> another powerful witness, the matriarch of the jackson clan, katherine jackson. >> katherine jackson said she was there to speak up for her son. she says, "he's not here to talk for himself. i'm here for that." so through katherine jackson we were hearing michael jackson. >> michael's mother has been in court every day. >> katherine jackson is in her 80s. she's a grieving mother. and it's clear that it was a bit contentious. >> when she got her chance to go head to head with the defense, she took it. >> she argued with the aeg live lawyer, confronted him, and there were moments when as her lawyer said, she tried to deal

with it in a christian-like manner but sometimes she failed. >> through those closest to him, jurors were able to see a side of michael jackson hidden from the rest of the world. >> his mother, katherine jackson, his son prince and former wife, debbie rowe, they all provided emotional testimony, insights into michael's personality, his life, his fears. that was, i think, testimony that really captured the jury's attention. ♪ >> amidst the personal testimony, the jury saw intimate family photos and home video. jurors saw michael jackson grow from a young boy to one of the most celebrated entertainers of our time, performing songs like the jackson 5's "i want you back." ♪ oh baby give me one more chance ♪ ♪ to show you that i love you ♪ won't you please help me

>> and finally to a father himself. >> hi, my name is prince michael jackson, and i am my daddy -- and i'm daddy's baby. and i love my daddy. >> and i'm my daddy's baby. >> now that closing arguments have finished -- >> i'm sorry. he's addicted to drugs. >> they don't want to answer the questions. >> the jury now has the burden of deciding a case with more than a billion dollars at stake. will they decide aeg live shares the blame with conrad murray, or will they absolve the company of any responsibility? >> he was perfect. >> aeg live's president and ceo randy phillips maintains the company's innocence. >> for those people who say that aeg is ultimately responsible for michael jackson's death, how do you respond? >> i'm sad. it makes me sad that it devolves to that. aeg, all we did, we're just promoters. we put up a lot of money. you know, sometimes there aren't villains.

they're just unfortunate circumstances and accidents. and i'm not sure there is a real identifiable villain in this whole process. you know, i feel bad because i think it damages or muddies michael's memory. >> do you feel that you did everything that you could, everything aboveboard, everything right, handled it properly? >> absolutely. i feel 100% that what happened, you know, was a terrible accident. had it not happened. but whatever happened, okay? had it not and michael survived, i think we would have created entertainment history with these shows and he would have reclaimed his -- what he would like to say is his throne as the king of pop. that's what i think, i believe. >> katherine jackson claims the trial has never been about money. >> it was katherine jackson's decision to file this lawsuit almost three years ago. she was asked during her testimony why and she said, "i want to know what happened to my

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welcome back. after months of tense testimony, the latest legal showdown surrounding michael jackson's

death is nearing a close. at stake, more than a billion dollars. stay with cnn for continuing coverage of the jackson trial. i'm anderson cooper. i'm anderson cooper. thanks for watching. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com [ singing in spanish ]