we are pushing forward with the next hour of newsroom with melissa long. >> we are pushing forward on president obama's agenda in m moscow, starting off with handshakes and ending with a new arms control deal. the wheels are in motion for tomorrow's michael jackson memorial extravaganza, tickets are going out and fans are flying in and the city of los angeles is wondering what it's in for. six days, five murders, one suspect. 20,000 reasons to take a really good look at this sketch. a serial killer's sudden rampage in a small town in south carolina. i'm melissa long and you are in the cnn newsroom.

president obama and medvedev, the two men say they basically hit the reset button for washington and moscow relations and agreed a number of issues, cutting back on nuclear weapons, allowing the u.s. to ship weapons over russian land for the war in afghanistan and setting the stage for future cooperation, that doesn't mean the eagle and bear totally see eye to eye. >> i won't pretend that the united states and russia agreed on every issue. we've had frank discussions and there are areas where we still disagree. fribs for instance we had a frank discussion on georgia and i reit rated my belief that the sovereignty must be respected. we do agree no one has an

interest in renewed military conflict. in going forward we must speak candidly to resolve the differences peace fully and constructively. >> jill joins us now live from moscow. the two counterparts, how do they seem to be getting along? >> reporter: they are. you'd have to say the relati relationship between the two presidents is going well. there were some things they didn't get agreement on and one of those was actually that missile defense system. they were not able to work that out. but the relationship seems to be getting off to a very good start. they had met before in london in april. the other question that will be interesting is what happens tomorrow when president obama meets with prime minister vladimir putin, who of course, used to be the president. some people here and the united states think that prime minister putin is still calling the shots in russia.

and an interesting question came up at the news conference on who exactly is in charge. let's hear how president obama answered that one. all right. looking forward to hearing more about that. also, want to ask you a little bit more about the lighter side of that diplomatic trip overseas, the president traveling on to italy after russia. right now traveling with the first family. what experience have they had, what role is michelle obama playing in washington? >> it's interesting, this is one of first trips by presidents in which they had a whole family with two children. the schedule as we know it, there will be a dinner tonight here in which the presidents, president obama and michelle will go out to the residence of president medvedev and have dinner. then tomorrow they'll go out to the residence of prime minister putin and have breakfast. and then later on a lunch with

president medvedev. and then michelle obama will go separately to an orphanage and to a hospital. we also understand that the children will be going to a folk dance festival here. back to you. >> what a great opportunity for the first family there for the little girls there in moscow. foreign affairs correspondent jill dougherty. thanks so much. live now to washington, d.c., we're hearing from harry reid from nevada. in a moment we'll hear from al franken arriving in washington, d.c. after the long holiday weekend. official swearing in ceremony coming up this week for al franken after eight months. now the official senator from the state of minnesota. once again, al franken will be at the podium momentarily. coming to an end. al. >> thank you, mr. leader.

i want to thank the leader for all of your support during and after the campaign and i look forward to working under your leadership. a lot has been made of this number 60, the number i'm focused on is the number two. i see myself as the second senator from the state of minnesota. minnesotans are practical people. they want to make sure the work we do here in the senate makes sense. and that the decisions we make for the future have a strong return on investment. minnesotans want a rational health care system that provides health care for all americans, that is accessible and affordable, gets the cost down.

minnesotans want an economy that works for working families and that means jobs. it means decent day's wage for an honest day's work and means protecting people's retirements. americans want a new energy policy that creates jobs that addresses climate change and that is going to wean us from our dependance on foreign oil. and minnesotans want their kids to have an education that prepares them for a 21st century economy. i am going to work day and night to make sure that our kids have a great future and that america's best days lay ahead. i'm ready to get to work.

thank you. >> we're going to have my -- tomorrow after the luncheons, a lot of questions will be asked then and a lot of questions will be answered. al and i are taking no questions now. >> thank you, everybody. >> brief comments from marharry reid and the senator-elect after the november election and contentious recount battle with norm coleman. also, while al franken was talking about focusing on education during his term, he also will be talking about the supreme court because he has been assigned to the senate judiciary committee. that means he'll be there for sotomayor's confirmation hearings for the supreme court. those hearings scheduled to begin one week from today.

michael jackson's family and fans pushing their interest forward today in court. also on the streets, the great ticket rush is underway in los angeles. winners of the online lottery to attend the jackson memorial claiming the tickets today at dodgers stadium as the city is deploying police, busy blocking off streets and planning for tomorrow's crowds, the acting mayor says she would love the jacksons to kick in on the cost. no reaction yet on that one. also waiting for their reaction to a probait judge's decision that just came down against the family wishes, granted interim control of the assets to two co-executers named in the singer's will from 2002. those preparations are continuing for tomorrow's memorial. investigators are digging deeper into the details of his death. a judge signed new search warrants yesterday. ted joins us live from the staples center in los angeles

with the latest on that part of the story. >> reporter: well, melissa, the fact that the search warrants were signed means that obviously the death investigation continues and it is being taken very seriously in moving forward in a way that most obviously death investigations don't go, where you don't have search warrants typically on a death investigation. this is a different story. obviously they are looking at doctors and other people who are around michael jackson in the weeks and months leadering up to his death and looking at prescribed medications and comparing it to what was found in the home and what will be found in jackson's body through the toxicology rulgts results which should already be in. we're looking at the staples center which tomorrow is the large public memorial. people that got tickets over the lottery system are getting the tickets and wrist bands here.

the reason for the wrist bands is because there's a lot of fear of counterfeit and people coming down to this area of los angeles and downtown. what they are trying to do is to i am plor people to stay away. there are people gathering here. police presence is fairly significant. there is a plaque here that people are signing, a canvas that has been up and people are sort of drawn to that. also here in huge force, media from across the world be anchoring their coverage of tomorrow's memorial event here at staples center. and it is an incredible scene outside of staples center right now where the media is gathering here. risers have been put up in anticipation for tomorrow's event. we have been told by the family, jermaine jackson says there will be a morning event, a private memorial service following that starting at 10:00 here at staples center and the adjacent

nokia theater then the public memorial event that will be teleadvised worldwide. that event is expected to draw millions and millions of viewers tomorrow. ted, thank you. as we've been reporting a judge granting control of jackson's he state to the two men he named as co-execut co-executers. he arranged jackson's smartest business deal buying the business catalog and also represented 29 acts in the hall of fame, the other executer jackson has named has been a family friend for 40 years and helped to launch janet jackson's career and co-founded interscope records, eminem, sheryl crow and dr. dre.

>> saying michael jackson is a pedophile that doesn't deserve the attention he's getsing. the republican, peter king says there was nothing good about jackson. accuses the media of disgraces itself with the coverage of jackson's death. >> this guy was a pervert, child molester. he was a pedophile and to be giving this much coverage to him day in and day out, what does it say about us as a country? we're too politically correct, no one wants to stand up and say we don't need michael jackson. >> jackson was tried on child molestation charges on acquitted. you had the opportunity to talk to representative king? >> reporter: we did. we spoke with congressman king earlier this morning and asked him about the fact you mentioned, that michael jackson had been acquitted in 2005 of molestation charges. we asked him about his statement he posted on youtube.

here is how he responded. >> whether or not he was convicted of a precise crime by his own admission and cases he settles, lawsuits he settled against him is an admission he act the inappropriately -- >> congressman king defending his statements he posted on youtube. we asked him why he did this. he said he had been at a couple of parades over the weekend, fourth of july parades and seen veterans and public serve ants and questioned why they weren't getting more attention. he felt it was his duty to come out and question the extensive coverage of michael jackson, he felt someone should say enough is enough. also, just want to point out, the jackson family spokesman told cnn that the family is preparing for jackson's funeral and will not dig fi king's

comment with a statement. >> those that live in the state of new york would be familiar with him. others may not be. i know he's a long-time congressman. >> he is a nine-term republican congressman from new york. he lives out on long island. he had been talking about potentially running for the senate. this, of course the challenge senat senator. saying the chance of running is less than 50%. >> former washington mayor marion barry is in trouble with the law again. we will tell you why.

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live from kabul with the latest. >> reporter: that's right, melis melissa, six u.s. troops have been killed today. four in northern afghanistan, considered one of safest part in the war on terror here in afghanistan. two other u.s. troops were killed in southern afghanistan. we're not clear if it was part of operation chan jar, been going on for the past few days and new push where thousands of u.s. marines have come down to the south to help secure the area. we're hearing of another -- international security assistance force in eastern afghanistan but still not yet clear if that too was a u.s. soldier. melis melissa. >> let me ask you about the major offensive. i know it's extremely rugged. >> reporter: it's a very rugged

terrain, melissa. we were there a couple of months ago and hope to go there soon. what it is, it's a very an area that didn't have very much inif a structure. a place where the taliban have taken the lead the past few years, areas the u.s. marines and afghan soldiers and british troops are going that they weren't able to before because they didn't have the manpower. now they are trying to get to those areas and make it past certain obstacles they faced in the past. right now they say that they are clearing and holding certain areas but we have to wait and see what the taliban are going to do. first they hide then come out with tactics an ieds being a big one. >> you have to talk about how the organization is funded and at the core of this operation, afghanistan, of course, poppy fields, the opium producing poppy fields. >> reporter: you're absolutely right. the poppy fields are abundant

especially in this province. once known as a bread basket of ago. the agricultural industry was booming for food and vegetables and wheat. now it's the drug trade and it's also criminal gangs running down there. some of them hidden within the afghan government and this is why the afghan people have been turning to the taliban because they didn't trust much of their own government or police force. this is another thing that the u.s., the coalition force is trying to change, trying to bring the afghan government back to the people. >> atia, thank you. also, a warning for the west from iran's supreme leader. saying western governments are meddling in iranian affairs. iran is blaming the united states and other countries for the unrest.

rejected charges of vote fraud calling the re-election of president mahmoud ahmadinejad, quote, a lasting and pure truth. a plane carrying ousted president zelaya. he vowed to make another attempt to return to honduras today or tomorrow. forced him into exile more than a week ago but the united states and organization of american states still considers him the legitimate president. >> security forces open fire on zelaya's supporters outside of the airport on sunday. at least one person was killed. steve mcnair, a warrior, hero on the football field, a generous man who gave to his community, his sudden and violent death now spotlighting a part of his life the fans didn't see. take 2 extra strength tylenol every 4 to 6 hours?!?

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hope you had a wonderful long holiday weekend. back to business. let's check in with reynolds wolf. a good day for parts of the country to keep the umbrella handy. >> absolutely. we talk about the holiday quite often. today i guess we're getting a little bit of a res pit from the intense heat, including texas. i know it says 92 for dallas. they were in the triple digits. there's a reason why temperatures are a little cooler right here. you would imagine there has to be some kind of frontal boundary, something that's providing the cloud cover. sure enough that's what we're seeing, the moist air coming in from the gulf of mexico. right along the stationary front we're going to have a good chance of scattered showers and storms, possibly flash flooding and maybe severe thunderstorms along the i-10 corridor, we see

pretty decent showers coming down in parts of dothan. could cause slick spots on i-10. that's not the only place where you have the potential for rough weather. going back to the four corners, could deal with storms and big sky country, filled with a lot of clouds and possibly a rumble of thunder and maybe the potential of large hail into the afternoon. for the rest coast, relatively dry, hot with highs going up to 109 in phoenix and 107 in veg ago near the strip. 59 in san francisco. 83 in chicago. we wrap it up in washington, d.c. with 85. that is a wrap on the forecast. we'll send it back to you. >> i love watching you play with the technology you have. you make it fun. >> it's all magic, mang magic

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michael jackson's family and fans are tending to the final details for the king of pop's memorial scheduled for tomorrow. the great ticket rush is underway in los angeles. winners of that online lottery to attend the jackson memorial claiming the tickets today at dodger's stadium. the city is busy deploying police and blocking off streets and planning for tomorrow's crowds. the acting mayor says she would love the jacksons to kick in on the cost. we have no reaction yet on that one. we'ring for the reaction from the probate judge. granting interim control to two co-executers named in the singers well dated 2002. a town gripped by fear. five people are dead and police are frantically searching for a serial killer. gaffney is 50 miles southwest of charlotte.

the community is on edge today. sheriff's deputies say they have evidence linking all of the deaths which have consumed this town of 13,000 residents over the past nine days. they are searching for the suspect in this sketch. the sheriff is urging residents to be vigilant and cautious. >> people are using caution, be cautious until we do catch this murderer. >> the latest victim a 15-year-old abbi tyler died after being shot thursday along with her dad at the family furniture and appliance store. her dad died at the scene. this has rattled the normally town of gaffney. residents have guards up and guns handy. james taylor joins us live. thank you for your time today. >> you're welcome, thank you. >> with the sheriff urging

residents to be vigilant and cautious, what are residents doing to be cautious and try to help out in the search? >> well, the residents be being cautious by staying in groups, keeping their doors locked and not allowing strangers in and by being vigilant. i would echo what they are saying, urge the citizens to be cautious and vigilant and use good common sense, one of keys to this issue. >> i know you have a very close knit small community. 13,000 people. about 50,000 from what i've read in the county itself. do you know whether or not anyone has a connection to the suspect or whether this person could be an outsider? >> you know, i think law enforcement currently is looking at all the options. and they are not releasing a lot of that information. they are working as a task force, as a team.

i think every option is on the table as far as leads that they are investigating. >> you mentioned how hard the law enforcement teams are working. i know law enforcement teams from south carolina and north carolina are part of this investigation. you're also a city administrator dealing with this as the mayor is on holiday. >> the mayor is currently out of town. we're keeping in contact by phone. we talk constantly. and my role is to oversee the day to day operations and i continue to do that. >> tell bus your community, about what this is doing in your town and that fear or feeling you have and your friends and family have. >> of course there's a feeling of sadness and of fear as we talked about earlier. we still have city functions that must go on. we still have fire department that's must respond. municipal solid waste workers that must collect household

garbage. business is going on in the community but there is certainly a shadow that's over this community as the residents are fearful and they are said. these families that have been touched. their lives will never be the same. it's a small community, everyone knows someone who has been touched by this tragedy. that puts a shadow of sadness over everything that we do in this community, even as we try to carry on the normal functions of government and business. >> i'm sure it's so challenging to do that because of this intense investigation and because you are so close knit, that shadow of sadness that lingers today. >> thank you so much, we appreciate your time. >> thank you. south carolina republican leaders will get on a conference call this evening talking about governor mark sanford he returned to work after a weekend visit with his family. his future has been on shaky ground since he admitted an extra marital affair.

the committee could ask for sanford's resignation or do nothing. another arrest for former washington mayor marion barry and this time the charge, stalking. police say a woman flagged down an officer over the weekend and pointed out barry in a nearby vehicle. the spokes person says the charge is baseless. he served six months in prison after a 1990 cocaine arrest and in 2005 pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor tax evasion charges and remains on probation. the man probably most closely associated with washington's role in the vietnam war has died. robert mcnamara served as defense secretary under kennedy and johnson and harshly criticized for escalating the war. he wrote a book and admitted that u.s. policy on the war was wrong. mcnamara served as president of

the world bank and died early today at his home. he was 93. choking black smoke, clogging the sky line in western china. at least 140 people are dead, 800 others injured after a weekend of riots. as emily chang reports, it was ignited by rising tensions between ethnic muslims and the chinese. >> reporter: protesters command eared the streets in northwestern china screaming and chanting and swelling. these pictures from the state run media. throngs left the market stand in the city's district to join in. riot police responded swiftly pushing the crowds back. the witness, an american studying says that's when the crowds turned violent throwing rocks and vegetables and setting vehicles on fire. >> they were slap smashing car windows and bus windows that have been evacuated once things

got really heavy and tear gas. i heard several bouts of gunfire and explosions. >> reporter: police reportedly fired shots over the crowd. the riots quickly hit chinese blogs. photos were online. they cannot be independently verified by cnn. in the end state media reports 140 people killed, more than 800 injured. the capital of the xinjiang province where half of the people are almost muslim. there's a long history of tension. around the olympic a bombing killed 16 police. the chinese government called blamed what they call weaker separatists. >> they believe everyone in the government is evil and the state believes these are terrorist individuals being driven from the outside. >> reporter: the chinese

government says the latest protests were master minded by activists outside the country, saying the violence is a preeliminated organized violent crime and inty gated from abroad and carried out by outlaws in the country. many protesters said they are angry about how the chinese government handles another incident in southern china at the toy factory. state run media reports an ex-employee started a rumor that men raped two chinese women. it led to a massive brawl and ended with two killed and may have ignited this bloody outpouring of pent up frustration. emily chang, cnn, beijing. there are new worries about ab outbreak over a long-time preventible disease, not in a third world country, in brooklyn. not long ago, this man had limited mobility.

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cases of measles in brooklyn. none of these people were vaccinated. so here people are getting sick for a disease that they could have been vaccinated against. the measles isn't just a new sans, it kills children at a disturbingly high rate. measles cases have been going up over the past couple of years. a lot of people are scared of the vaccine. they think it can cause autism, which it can't. we're seeing more and more people not getting vaccinated against measles. in 2004 there were 37 cases in the u.s. that jumped to 66 cases. three years later 140 cases in 2009, 25 cases so far. so if that trend continues hopefully we'll see the numbers come down. >> people have been scared of vaccine but not getting your own child vaccinatedside one thing but it puts others at risk. >> baby under the age of one

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a bankruptcy judge has approved the sale of general motor's assets to the new gm saying he had no choice, otherwise the company would face liquid case. here's what it means. taxpayers will have a 60% stake in the company.

chevy cadillac and gmc will remain. the others will be sold off. last week we told you how states across the country are scrambling for new sources of revenue in order to make up for the budget short falls. this week, we're going to tell you how some of them are trying to do so and it could hurt so many of us when we plan to do something more than have a staycati staycation. here's more. this is going to frustrate a lot of people planning a trip. >> no question about it and the frustration is mounting. the reason why states are hurting is because we, the consumers are spending less. how do they make up for the shortfalls? they tax us. one of ways they'll be taxing us, seeing lots of states all across the country is with hotel rooms. for instance, hawaii, the hotel room taxes there will increase 1% to 8.75% and drop another 1%

in july of next year. nevada will see a 3% rate hike. think about what the housing market, the real losses it's seeing there. that's expected to bring in 200 million annually for the state. we're seeing big hikes in new hampshire. new york city where the hotel was already high. 14.75%. most states saw the fiscal calendar end sou they are trying to balance their budgets once again. we understand why they are doing it. budget short falls, at the same time, aren't hotels already struggling to get people to stay overnight? >> excellent point. in fact, there are some consulting surveys out there that say, this is the worst year ever for the u.s. hotel industry. 2009 will go down for that. 2010 not going to be great either. the reverse side of that, while

taxes are going up, room rates are going down. one survey pkf consulting says afrmg daily room rates will decline more than 10%. this year will decrease another 3% and next year. so shop around. you may be able to find a good bargain. >> may be able to find it online or by sweet talking when you make a phone call. >> that works too. >> susan, thank you. how do you bid a farewell to a cultural icon? one who has been a household name more than 40 years? next hour we'll look at what it is to say good-bye to the king of pop and what type of elaborate preparations are underway in los angeles. plus, the big apple selling part of itself to raise money. your next subway ride might be brought to you by a foreign bank. and the fbi says it is not

investigating outgoing alaska governor sarah palin. the bureau hardly ever rumors b it was necessary this time. just the latest turn in the palin political road. we're working to find out, of course, what's around the next curve. always a surprise. cnn senior political correspondent, candy crowley, joins us live from washington -- from new york, i apologize. you're on the move today. nice to see you. there has been so much talk over the weekend since this late afternoon friday announcement which was pretty much last minute as well from what i understand. there really weren't many people there at palin's home in wasilla, alaska. any clarity as to why she has made this decision? >> reporter: if there is clarity, i haven't found it yet. i have to tell you that. i think there were still over the weekend, i think we saw conservative pundits on tv, we saw a lot of traffic on conservative blogs and there is still all this speculation, what's really the reason,

because it was such a kind of outside the box decision, i think is probably the best thing we can say about it. so listen, there are two schools of thought at this point. one is that she did it because she wants to be able to campaign in the lower 48. it is very, very tough to get to the rest of the united states from alaska, even to go give a speech, so this would free her up if she indeed wants to have a 2012 run. the other school of thought is she's had it with politics. everybody still, no matter which side you're on in that, what's interesting to me is the bulk of the commentary and the bulk of the conversation on the internet has been either way you go, choosing to resign to get to that end certainly seems like a risky way to go. >> speaking of online, i know governor palin also connects with her followers through twitter, through facebook. what is she saying about the coverage and what is she saying about her decision? >> reporter: well, she is saying that she quit for the very

reasons that she outlined. there were several of them, one of them being that there have been so much criticism that she is such a big target, that the state of alaska has had to pay for these investigations, which have turned up nothing, but yet she's unable to kind of push through her agenda. she says she already accomplished it. so there is certainly that. she repeated that but she also said that as usual, the media was going after her, that her resignation was not treated the same as others in similar circumstances have been, and this is a very good argument for her to make to the people who like her most. that is her conservative base, who have absolutely no love for the media, i can assure you, and this has always been a good selling point in terms of popularity and support for sarah palin to say the media's after me, and that's certainly how she feels at this point about the interpretation of why she resigned. >> before we wrap up, just to stress what we started our conversation with, the news of the fbi saying it's not

investigating possible public corruption. >> reporter: right. interesting, because the fbi doesn't ordinarily tell you what they're not doing, much less what they are doing. but i think this has become so powerful, again, on the internet that somehow, she was under fbi investigation so not only was the fbi feeling it had to say look, we're not, not only had it gotten that loud, but they also put her attorney out there to say listen, you be very, very careful what you report about this woman because we're prepared to see what legal redress we can have. they may not have any legal redress but they certainly, that was a strong push-back from her attorney about coverage of her. >> from new york, cnn senior political correspondent, candy crowley. thank you. an investigation that's short on answers, long on speculation. what led up to a sudden and violent death of a former nfl star who barely got to enjoy his post-career life?

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nashville's metro police say former nfl quarterback steve mcnair was, in fact, the victim of a homicide but they're not saying anything about the other victim in this case. it's mcnair's 20-year-old girlfriend. she was found dead near his body, one bullet wound to her head. cindy carter of our affiliate wzof the reports. >> reporter: metro police say 36-year-old steve mcnair and 20-year-old sahel kazemi were more than just friends. >> they apparently were involved in a dating relationship. >> reporter: the bodies of the former tennessee titan and kazemi were found inside this condominium on 2nd avenue in downtown nashville. >> we know steve mcnair was shot four times, twice in the head and twice in the chest. ms. kazemi was shot one time in the head. at the scene, a semiautomatic pistol was recovered from underneath miss kazemi's body. >> reporter: mcnair co-rented this condo with a friend and it was that friend who came across the body.

>> when mr. neely arrived, he used his key to get in and he saw mcnair and kazemi there in the living room area, and he just walked on through the kitchen, probably believing they were asleep. >> reporter: he contacted mcnair's friend, robert gaddy, who came to the crime scene and called 911. that was at 1:30 saturday afternoon but police say mcnair and kazemi died earlier that morning. ruling mcnair's death a homicide, but police aren't ready to call kazemi's death a suicide. >> no possibilities have been ruled out. all scenarios are still on the table. >> reporter: witnesses say the cadillac escalade co-owned by kazemi and mcnair was parked outside the complex the night before. mcnair apparently went out that night and returned to the condo early saturday morning after spending time at two bars, the blue moon lagoon and loser's. >> we'll be talking to staff and management of those establishments about what he did there, what conversations they may have overheard, who he

talked to, that type of thing. >> today, thousands of people are picking up their golden tickets, claiming their spot for michael jackson's big los angeles memorial tomorrow. the tickets, the i.d. wrist bands are being distributed at dodger stadium. it's going to be a full house for tomorrow's service but the city's not sure about how many other fans are l.a.-bound so they're deploying hundreds of police, establishing a perimeter around staples center. some or developments today. control of michael jackson's assets shifting now, at least for now. a judge handing over the situation to two co-executors named in the singer's will dated in 2002. we're also following up on house member peter king's criticism of the jackson media circus. among other things, he called the singer a pervert who we don't need. we're working every angle of this story for you. reporters and crews all over the country. candy crowley standing by in new

york with congressman king's comments. ted rowlands is live at the staples center, the site of tomorrow's memorial celebration. and the lottery winners have just a few more hours to pick up their tickets for the memorial. ted rowlands now joins us with more on the final preparations there. ted? >> reporter: well, the preparations here are definitely winding up, if you will, and you can see it looking around. there are some people here. they haven't completely cordoned off this area yet. that will take place tomorrow. some people have come out to staples center, they're signing a mural and hanging out to look at it. you can see an incredible presence in terms of media from around the world anchoring their coverage tomorrow in this worldwide event. they have set up grandstands, et cetera, to accommodate all of the media. it is quite an impressive sight because of the just sheer amount of interest that this story has worldwide. meanwhile, you mentioned dodger

stadium. that is where the real action is in terms of the folks that won this internet lottery. they have until today to get to town, pick up their tickets so that they can watch this memorial either here at the staples center or across the street at the nokia theater. some of the people when they pick up those tickets are extremely emotional. >> we are very excited. we loved michael jackson. he was an amazing talent. he will be forever loved and missed by everyone. so yes! we are going, baby! >> i just started crying because i'm happy to be here but then i'm so sad while i'm here, what reason that i won the ticket. so i just can't stop crying and i've never won anything in my life, and i won the tickets. it's like so surreal. >> reporter: melissa, those lucky folks that do have tickets will be able to obviously come down here and partake in it but

as you mentioned earlier, the l.a. police department is trying to keep everybody away from the downtown area that does not have one of those tickets or one of these wrist bands, which gains you access at least to the outside. then if you have a ticket, of course, you can go inside. so far, so good. they've had no security problems but they are out in force in anticipation of potential problems as we get closer to tomorrow. >> before we let you go, let's talk a little more about the investigation. i know we're waiting for the toxicology reports. i understand there is some new warrants issued as well. >> reporter: yeah. three search warrants have been issued in this death investigation. obviously, that's very rare. more in a criminal investigation would you find search warrants, et cetera, and extensive interviews but this is ramping up rather than down as we get towards that four to six week sort of window that the coroner thinks they need to have this final death report out. search warrants served, obviously they're looking at doctors and people that were around michael jackson in the weeks and months leading up to

his death. they'll compare the information they get from the toxicology report, see what was in michael jackson's body, what they found at his home, and make some determinations from there whether or not they could potentially press charges in the death of michael jackson. >> ted rowlands, thank you. now, what do the developments today mean for michael jackson's assets? we will be talking to an attorney who handles soul singer james brown's estate about the next level moves. also, all of this attention surrounding michael jackson seems to be causing a backlash. a new york congressman is calling on the media to stop covering jackson, saying there was nothing good about him. >> this guy was a pervert, he was a child molester, he was a pedophile and to be giving this much coverage to him day in and day out, what does it say about us as a country? i just think we're too politically correct. no one wants to stand up and say we don't need michael jackson. >> jackson was tried on child molestation charges in 2005 but was acquitted after a 14-week

trial. let's bring in cnn's senior political correspondent, candy crowley, from new york. when you listen to the congressman's comments, you also have to look at i think the day on the calendar, right? >> reporter: absolutely. and where he is. i mean, the fact of the matter is first of all, congressman king has never been shy about saying what he feels and the totality of his comment was really wrapped around this coverage seems wildly out of whack to who this person was and what his place is in our society, went on to say what about the policemen, what about the firemen, what about the people giving their lives every day in iraq and afghanistan, what about teachers. he was in front of an american legion hall as well. so obviously, making this point, he's a republican, he's a conservative and he clearly feels that michael jackson's private life certainly is troublesome, having gotten nine days of what he feels is adulation. we of course have the other side of this equation which is some people complaining that the entire coverage has been about

drug use and his previous brushes with the law and his paying off of one of his accusers, so he didn't have to go to court, that kind of thing. so it is certainly become sort of a test of how you really felt about michael jackson, what congressman king did say is look, he was a dancer and a good singer, but this is wildly out of proportion. as you say, he called him a pervert and pedophile, something that was never proven in court, of course. >> our cnn crew caught up with congressman king this morning. here's what he had to say this morning. >> we have i believe an obligation to define our culture at a higher level, to say this is crazy, this is insanity to be giving this type of coverage, this type of reverence, to this individual who i think was guilty of such a deviant lifestyle which affected innocent young kids. >> again, congressman king this morning commenting on what he had to say over the weekend. clearly not backing down, candy. any potential backlash?

>> reporter: well, you know, certainly the people who feel that he's absolutely wrong about michael jackson, who idolize michael jackson, some of the people ted rowlands was just talking about, this certainly is going to cause backlash from that, but you know, he's also, we should understand, congressman king is in fact talking i'm sure for a lot of people, that you might have talked to in your private life. certainly i as a journalist sometimes get stopped by people going what is the deal here with all of this coverage, and i think if you look on the web, you will find, you know, both sides of this thing, enough. this is not a king, this is not somebody who fought for the country, this is a cultural icon so let's be done with it and move on to some important things. it's kind of, if you will, a cultural clash as well as just, you know, people looking at it saying enough is enough. >> thank you so much for putting so much perspective on this. cnn senior political correspondent, candy crowley. thank you. continuing to cover michael

jackson, his memorial is tomorrow, as you know. family, friends and fans are all saying good-bye. we hope you will join us as we celebrate the pop icon tomorrow morning, starting at 6:00 a.m. eastern, not only on television but also online at cnn.com/live. remember when the only button associated with the u.s. and russia had to do with launching nukes? now the button says reset. presidents obama and medvedev in moscow today agreeing to reduce nuclear stockpiles, also setting the stage for future cooperation. basically resetting a relationship that has been strained in recent years but that doesn't mean the sticking points are gone. >> i won't pretend that the united states and russia agree on every issue. as president medvedev indicated, we have had some frank discussions and there are areas where we still disagree. for instance, we had a frank discussion on russia -- on georgia, and i reiterated my firm belief that georgia's

sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected. even as we work through our disagreements on georgia's borders, we do agree that no one has an interest in renewed military conflict and going forward, we must speak candidly to resolve these differences peacefully and constructively. >> translator: i would like to emphasize in conclusion that our country would like to reach such a level of cooperation with the united states which would be realistically worthy of the 21st century. >> now let's go straight to cnn's foreign affairs correspondent, jill dougherty, who joins us live from moscow. >> reporter: you know, you would have to say that the key thing that these two leaders did here on the first day of their summit was that what's called a follow-on agreement to the start arms control agreement that's going to expire very soon, december 5th. they committed to completing that deal by the end of the year, and that is important,

because the start agreement really creates the entire structure for arms control between the two countries. another very key area was afghanistan. the russians giving permission to the united states to transit military material, equipment and personnel across russian territory into afghanistan. and then also, there were other areas not only arms and wars, et cetera, but on the relationship, creating a bilateral commission that would be headed by secretary of state hillary clinton and the russian foreign minister that will really look at the structure of the relationship, getting into things like energy efficiency, education, cultural things, health and others. but you'd have to say that both presidents agreed that the key thing that they did, if there was one accomplishment, it was in the nuclear area. here's president obama. >> first, we take an important

step forward to increase nuclear security and to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. this starts with the reduction of our own nuclear arsenals. the world's two leading nuclear powers, the united states and russia, must lead by example and that's what we're doing here today. we have signed a joint understanding for a follow-on treaty to the agreement that will reduce our nuclear warheads and delivery systems by up to a third from our current treaty limitations. this legally binding treaty will be completed this year. >> reporter: so tomorrow, tuesday morning, begins with a breakfast with the prime minister, who used to of course be the president of russia, then mr. obama will deliver a major foreign policy address. then finally, there are two parallel summits as they're being called by the americans, going on, one on business and one on civil society. mr. obama is expected to visit both of them. melissa?

>> that's jill dougherty with a beautiful backdrop there. thank you. we told you about an ongoing search for a serial killer in a small community in south carolina. five people have been killed. possible new development. let's check in with david mattingly who joins us from gaston county, north carolina. it's about 30 miles from the community of gaffney. what can you tell us? >> reporter: it's a very interesting turn of events where a couple houses away, are being held by police lines so we're at the scene of a police shooting that happened in the wee hours of the morning here in gaston county, north carolina. according to police, they attempted to serve a warrant after being called to this particular house on a possible robbery call. there was gunfire exchanged, a police officer was wounded in the leg and one man at the house was killed. now, a great deal of attention

is being paid to this man right now. we are looking at authorities from south carolina who are at the scene in north carolina, these are state and local investigators who have been involved in that hunt for the serial killer in south carolina. they are here at the scene looking at the possibility of does this man who was killed in this shootout, does he match the person we're looking for. there has been no sort of official announcement yet that they have made that match, but they are here, they are looking. we have talked to a neighbor across the street who says she saw this man go inside the house. he was a large heavy-set man wearing a baseball cap. as you remember, that is loosely part of the description of the man they were looking for. they also saw his vehicle parked in the driveway which was a light colored possibly ford suv which again loosely matches the description of the vehicle of

the suspect they were looking for. so at this point, this investigation from south carolina, this series of terrible murders in south carolina, has now moved to north carolina, to one particular house in gaston county. in fact, i'm standing here on the side of a two-lane road in the county of gaston. the police have it blocked off, no traffic coming or going here. there is a large number of resources brought to bear at this house, a lot of investigators wanting to see what they actually have in there, and wanting to know if they can finally answer the question, have they found their man. >> i know gaffney's a small community, some 13,000 people. these are small rural communities. we spoke to a city administrator earlier who talked about how fear has just consumed this community, and i'm sure it is a very similar situation where you are right now. >> reporter: every single person i talk to in gaffney today told me the same. they're looking over their shoulder. they were watching out for their neighbors. they were asking a lot of

questions. they were being very aware of the people around them, the circumstances around them. they are living in fear and they very much hope that this case will be coming to an end soon. so everyone very anxious to find out what they have here in north carolina so they can go back about their daily lives. at this point, we just went to a couple of businesses, we went to one diner in downtown gaffney. it was almost empty during the rush hour lunch. the owner there told me she was carrying a gun on her, something she rarely ever does. we went to a gun shop where people are buying guns for the first time for their own protection. so the random nature of these murders has spooked a whole lot of people in this area and they're all very anxious to see what's happening here right now in north carolina. >> big potential development from gaston county. david mattingly live on the line for us. hopefully we will have the opportunity to talk to you again as there are future developments. thank you. it took some eight months, again, eight months and some

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♪ you make a difference the ousted president of honduras blocked from returning to his country. we will tell you what he vows to do now.

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cnn has learned that judge sonia sotomayor's confirmation hearings for the supreme court will begin the 13th of july. that's one week from today. of course, those hearings take place before the senate judiciary committee. one of those committee members, senator al franken. senator-elect al franken of minnesota. he could be sworn in as early as tomorrow. he is in washington, d.c. right now and the funny man is all business. >> i am going to work day and night to make sure that our kids have a great future and that america's best days lay ahead. i'm ready to get to work. >> important to point out that franken will give democrats the filibuster proof 60 votes but two of their party's senators, byrd and kennedy, are sick and haven't voted in weeks. some republicans say there are enough independent democrats to keep the white house from having

a rubber stamp in the senate. with this story, here's jim acosta. >> our next senator, al franken. >> reporter: democrats are counting the seconds until live from washington, it's al franken. >> thank you. >> reporter: the former "saturday night live" comedian turned politician is about to hand his party 60 seats in the senate, if you include the two independents now aligned with democrats. franken, a harvard graduate who can do the math, is downplaying expectations. >> the way i see it, i'm not going to washington to be the 60th democratic senator. i'm going to washington to be the second senator from the state of minnesota. >> reporter: but that's not how others in the senate see it. >> what i think is it should be a game changer. >> reporter: it takes 60 senators to kill a filibuster so vermont's independent senator, bernie sanders, is challenging any wavering colleagues within the new democrat super majority to stick together and block any filibuster attempts aimed at health care. >> at the very least, what we

should be doing united is saying to the republicans you cannot filibuster a strong health care bill to death and if it turns out that there are only 52, 53, 54 people who vote for final passage, that's the way it is. that's a majority. >> reporter: but in that deck of 60, there are a few wild cards. take connecticut's joe lieberman, who told the "new haven independent" he's not sold on a democratic health care proposal that would give the public the option of joining a government plan. >> i'm skeptical of it, both in substance and in the politics. by the politics, i mean i think we're not going to get the votes to pass the overall bill if that becomes a condition of it. >> reporter: other democratic wild cards from red states in the west and south are also in the mix. which may explain why the white house knows 60 is not necessarily a magic number. >> we don't get everybody from every party on every vote. that includes the democratic party. >> reporter: not to mention the

fact that two prominent democrats have been battling illnesses and it's still unclear whether recent republican turned democrat arlen specter will even be a reliable vote. given all that, it may take some magic for the democrats to get to 60. jim acosta, cnn, washington. south carolina republican leaders will get on a conference call this evening to talk about governor mark sanford. he returned to work today after a weekend visit with family in florida. his future has been on shaky ground since he admitted an extramarital affair. the party executive committee could ask for sanford's resignation, could decide to censure him for his behavior or do nothing. the fbi says it is not investigating outgoing alaska governor sarah palin for public corruption. the bureau hardly ever comes out and squashes rumors but felt it was necessary this time because of all kinds of stories that are circulating online. palin announced last week she was resigning with 18 months left in her term. she kept a low profile since friday afternoon's announcement.

another arrest for former washington mayor marion barry. this time the charge, stalking. police say a woman flagged down an officer over the weekend and pointed out barry in a nearby vehicle. barry's lawyer says he's confident the charges will be dropped. barry served four terms as washington, d.c.'s mayor. still, a city councilman as well. he served six months in prison after a cocaine arrest in 1990 and then in 2005, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor tax evasion charges and remains on probation today. red ink. the cause of job cuts and layoffs across the nation. some new worries now about how the recession could be putting your personal safety at risk.

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some 100 firefighters and haz/mat crews are cleaning up after a stubborn fire at a meat packing plant in southeastern wisconsin. the five-alarm fire started late yesterday. it wasn't extinguished until a few hours ago. people living within a mile of the patrick cuddahey plant have been evacuated amid some fears that ammonia could leak from the

plant into the air. all plant workers have been told stay home. all across america, cities are facing serious budget shortfalls, leading to some pretty severe cuts. there is concern your safety could be at risk when the emergency services are on the chopping block. with this story, here's jeanne meserve. >> reporter: a 47-year-old man died in this flint, michigan fire in april. the first firefighters on scene attempted a rescue but because of recent cutbacks, didn't immediately have a pumper truck to douse the flames. >> if we had the water, potentially we could have made it up the stairs on the first trip. >> reporter: last month in alameda, california, a firefighter was injured, colleagues say, because cutbacks slowed the response. officials in both flint and alameda dispute that budget decisions had a significant impact on these tragic events, but the firefighters union maintains the communities all across the country are playing russian roulette by cutting fire services. >> we're seeing firefighters

furloughed, laid off, taken cuts in pay, cuts in benefits, stations are being closed, stations are being browned out. >> reporter: in atlanta, georgia, this fire house is one of five that have been shuttered. the firefighters union says the city has half the fire personnel it should. >> on any given day, we'll only have 140 firefighters on duty in the city of atlanta to protect the city with a daytime population well over a million and a half, which is a national scandal. >> reporter: a survey in january indicated 6% of cities had cut emergency services. though the number has almost certainly grown, experts say emergency services are almost always the last thing on the chopping block. >> the fact that you're seeing cities around the country making cuts to these services is evidence of the depth of the current recession. >> reporter: take prince georges county, maryland. >> we have to be fiscally responsible to citizens and residents and do the job and provide the services that we need to provide the best that we

can with the resources that we are provided with. >> reporter: county officials say public safety is not being jeopardized. >> currently, there is no staffing at this station today. >> reporter: but firefighters insist job and overtime cuts, furloughs and rotating station closures are increasing the risk to firefighters and the communities they serve. >> nobody's home. turn out the lights. >> reporter: the obama administration has proposed increasing grant money to pay for firefighting positions, but as communities' budgets gets tighter and tighter, more are expected to cut emergency services, which really can make the difference between life and death. a long holiday weekend, some people lucked out and had beautiful weather on saturday. what about the forecast for today, for the week? i know you're watching stormy skies. let me bring in our meteorologist reynolds wolf. you don't need an introduction. >> i'll just pick it up. you were talking about the holiday, lot of people taking an extra day off work today. if you happen to be up in new

york, seems like you have been really taking a break for much of the spring. it's like the never-ending spring. it's summer officially but take a look at the temperatures you have in new york today. the high expected to go up to about 83 degrees. that's actually warmer than it has been. this has been one of the coolest times, actually coolest months on record, that being june, with temperatures that were mostly in the 70s. right now, take a look at new york. little haze out there but not too bad. let me show you something else. later on today in spots like new york, you may be dealing with a few scattered showers because we have this frontal boundary right above parts of the great lakes. that's going to sweep its way to the east. as it does, you can expect an increase in cloud cover, possibly some scattered showers, maybe some thunderstorms, but certainly not of the magnitude of what you will see in parts of the southeast, especially along parts of the i-10 corridor. you have this stationary front, moisture coming in from the gulf combined with the area of low pressure and daytime heating could give us strong storms. that is exactly what we have been seeing in places like tallahassee, towards gainesville, even towards mobile and new orleans, heavy showers, storms moving on through.

as we get to the afternoon hours, what we might be seeing will be a chance of storms developing over parts of west texas into colorado, perhaps even into big sky country before the day is over. maybe even some large hail developing as well. now, for much of the four corners and west coast, very dry, also very warm. 109 expected high in phoenix, 107 in vegas, 78 degrees in los angeles, 85 in memphis and washington, d.c. with 85. that is a wrap on your forecast. back to you. >> thank you. continuing to follow the story of steve mcnair. a titan in more ways than one. a generous man, gave to his community, his sudden and violent death spotlighting part of his life that the fans didn't see.

we remember michael jackson tomorrow on television and online. go to cnn.com as well and follow our extensive coverage. some of iran's top islamic

clerics are at odds over tptal election and post-election violence. clerics and seminary students issued a statement over the weekend saying the june 12th election was skewed. the clergy, seen as a backbone of iran's religious establishment and that position goes against iran's supreme leader. some say the dispute is not going away any time soon. >> reporter: this face-off between religious powerhouses is really unprecedented and shows the division within the religious establishment. on one hand, you have iran's supreme leader, who is supposed to be the ultimate word on most matters, he's come out and stood squarely behind president ahmadinejad and said these elections are over and anyone who says otherwise is going against the regime. on the other hand, you have these very influential clerics saying no, this is not over. >> iran is threatening to put a

local worker for the british embassy on trial for taking part in the unrest. britain is warning iran there will be consequences if that happens. mexico's president could be losing punch with three years left in his term. preliminary results from sunday's midterm elections show president calderon's party losing seats in the lower legislative house. unofficial results released today give the opposition revolutionary institutional party a solid lead over calderon's national action party. clashes at the main airport in honduras after troops kept ousted president jose manuel zelaya's plane from even landing. the crisis that started with zelaya's arrest more than a week ago shows no sign of easing. karl penhaul is live from honduras. again, zelaya blocked from returning to his country. what is his next move? >> reporter: that really is the big question now.

we understand when he was unable to land here in honduras, he flew to el salvador and overnighted there, where he met with a number of latin american presidents. right now, for the last few hours, we have not been able to get any bead on where he is right now or what his plans are. we can't get in contact with his advisors either. we had heard earlier he may head back to washington to continue with the diplomatic push and meet once again with the organization of american states, but we hear on the ground here from protest organizers, his supporters, he will at one stage again during the course of this week try to come back. if he does, it's unlikely he will fly in once again. it seems much more likely he will try to cross across one of the border crossings there and to do that, he would have to be surrounded by his supporters. they in fact would have to draw up a human cordon around him to stop the interim government from trying to carry out their threat to arrest him. >> i know you had the opportunity yesterday to be at the airport. you were with his followers.

it was chaotic, it became deadly. what is happening in the streets today with his followers? >> reporter: we have seen a number of his supporters out on the streets today at the protests they held today. it was very much shorter than previous days. on the one hand, yes, after a week of protests against this coup, they are obviously tired, what some political analysts would say as well is if they don't see any signs of zelaya showing back up into the country, they may lose patience, disorganization may set in, although protest organizers right now are saying they hope that does not happen. the other thing that is happening, of course, is the body of that young man, a 19-year-old son of an evangelical pastor, son of a small coffee farmer, was taken back to his hometown about three and a half hours outside the capital and he, we are told, will be buried tomorrow. >> karl penhaul live for us from honduras. thank you. the streets are reportedly calm today in china's western

xinjiang region after a weekend of rioting. this is from sunday. at least 156 people are known to be dead. the figure is expected to go higher. more than 800 others were injured. protesters flipped over cars, set them on fire. the violence is seen as part of the deteriorating relations and increasing tensions between the chinese and ethnic muslims. national police aren't ready to call it a murder-suicide. from all accounts, the death of steve mcnair appears to be just that. the former tennessee titan shot four times, nearby, the body of his girlfriend of six months, iranian immigrant, sahel kazemi. the 20-year-old woman was shot once in the head, a pistol found under her body at mcnair's condo. kazemi's family members painted a picture of a young woman who thought mcnair was leaving his wife but nashville courts have

no record of divorce action. mcnair's wife, mechelle, hasn't spoken publicly but his brother did. >> it's very disturbing, you know, that a person of steve's caliber could just get caught like that, i mean, it's just bad. i can't really believe that, you know, that that happened like that without just him just putting up a fight or something like that. just hard to believe. the celebrity website tmz.com obtaining these photographs of mcnair and kazemi. family member tells a nashville newspaper that mcnair took the young lady on trips to florida, california and hawaii. police still want to see if there's any gun residue on kazemi's hands as well as who owns that gun that was found under her body. jurors in south texas get to see it firsthand this week, that cell phone video of the

developmentally disabled forced to fight each other for sport. the trial of four former employees of the corpus christi state school begin today. this is a story we have been following for a few months now. it came to light in march. the defendants were supposed to be caring for these people. prosecutors claim they forced those in their care to duke it out and again, for fun. ready to motor on. a judge approving general motors' restructuring plan. what it means for you, the taxpayer, and what it means for gm customers as well. so, katy kicked off the conference call... but we missed the first half trying to download the docs. which turned out to be the old-new docs... rather than the new-new docs. then bob dialed in from home and his... dog starts barking. so jen jumped in with her "two cents"... which katy missed because she was buying shoes online. and then i hit mute...

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los angeles is bracing for an influx of thousands and thousands of people. no one really knows how many people, for tomorrow's michael jackson memorial. l.a. city council woman jan perry joining us on the line with an update. thank you for your time. you there? maybe we don't have a connection. okay. oh, we just disconnected. we'll try to get jan back a little bit later. we were hoping to learn a little more about the final preparations and logistics surrounding the memorial tomorrow for the public at the staples center. a judge going against the wishes of michael jackson's

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is busy preparing for tomorrow's memorial service. again, thousands and thousands of people converging in los angeles to remember the pop icon. she's an l.a. city council woman, acting mayor, jan perry. we have you this time? >> yes, i'm here. >> thank you so much for your time. i know this is los angeles, you have enormous events all the time, but how does this one compare in terms of preparation and security and logistics to other events? and are you guys ready? >> well, i think that the police department appears to be more than ready, and they have been setting up for the last two days. looks very organized. a good plan in place. there is a perimeter around the staples arena and for those who do not have tickets, they will not be able to cross that perimeter so it's a good opportunity for crowd control and to mitigate any untoward situation. >> i know 8,750 names were chosen. those wrist bands, those credentials, are coveted. there are thousands of people that want to be there, that want

to say they were part of this memorial, but you're saying they're not going to have a chance to get even close. >> they won't be able to get close to the arena and there will not be any outdoor showing on any outdoor screens of the proceedings inside, so there really won't be anything to see. so the best thing to do is to celebrate in the comfort of your home. >> celebrate in the comfort of your home. hopefully watching here on cnn or cnn.com as well. i'm not sure if you are able to give us insight on a story, but what can you tell us about the burial of michael jackson? we are trying to figure out whether or not it is in fact happening tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. and the location. >> oh, i have no idea. i think you should either call forest lawn or a family representative but i don't have details on that. >> okay. there are local reports indicating -- >> i know. that's a mistake some wire service reported. that is an error and i do not

have information on that. >> okay. thank you so much for clarifying that for us as well. again, just wanted to speak with you briefly to get the final information on the preparations for tomorrow's memorial service at the staples center. that's jan perry, busy lady. she's not only an l.a. city council woman but also acting mayor as mayor villaraigosa is out of the area on holiday. thank you. also, a judge giving control of jackson's assets to the two men that have been named as co-executors of his will. entertainment attorney john branca and record executive john mclean will be responsible for protecting the estate from immediate losses. michael's mother, katherine jackson, had asked for branca to be removed from that role. joining me now to talk about this is an attorney, louis levinson. he was an attorney for family members of the estate of soul singer james brown as well. thank you so much for joining us and adding your perspective. >> thank you. >> again, we learned this morning that the judge in los angeles has granted immediate

control of the entertainer's assets to the two gentlemen i have just mentioned. you say you expected this to happen. >> well, yes. it's not uncommon for the judge to appoint the person nominated by the deceased. at this stage of the proceeding, the co-executors are going to be having limited authority to collect the assets and to pay limited bills. i don't believe they have the authority from the court to sell any assets, dispose of anything, or to enter into any contracts which is not uncommon. >> also, we understand that they have been named special administrators, the two men as well, until the 3rd of august. exactly what does that mean? what is their role? >> that's exactly what the term special administrator means. it's limited authority as the representative of the deceased's estate. it doesn't give them the authority that they would have if they were fully empowered as co-executors, which the court is going to consider or reconsider sometime in august.

>> i mentioned a moment ago michael's mother katherine had asked for branca to be removed from the role. do you have any insight on why that is the case? >> well, i had heard that there was an allegation that there would be waste or some loss to the estate if branca and mclean were appointed and certainly, that is the right of mrs. jackson to make that, but it would be my belief that she would have to establish that there was some evidence that they are likely to cause waste or loss of the estate before the judge would override the appointment of the named executors, branca and mclean. >> i want to get back to the basics with this estate, with this will, and michael jackson's young children. when will they have access, let's get back to the basics of how these trusts and wills even work. >> that's a good question. the estate is going to be in place for a long time collecting assets and paying bills and

doing the things that estates do before the assets or even some of the assets are partially distributed to the trust. the trust isn't going to receive those assets until the business of the estate which is separate from the trust, is accomplished or substantially accomplished, so the interests of the children will be not fully funded until sometime down the road. >> this is a will dating back to 2002. another one could feasibly surface. >> well, i'm surprised, really, with someone of the stature of michael jackson that seven years has gone by without making a will but it is possible. but if there were another will, i would expect someone will be presenting it to the court, because the idea is the last will and testament, not just a will, and the last one is the one that takes precedence. >> we mentioned you represented some of james brown's family during estate litigation. help us understand how this type of estate, this type of will, is

different than a will you may have, a will i may have. >> well, in the will of james brown, there was a considerable contest because there were questions in mr. brown's estate as to whether he had a spouse, there were questions about the validity of the will, there were questions about a lot of things which have all been resolved and the judge has approved recently a settlement making that settlement the disposition of the estate. it's pretty complicated there. in ordinary family will, most of the assets are left to a spouse, in this case, michael jackson did not have a spouse. after spouse, it's left to children. in this case, he did have children and therefore, he's made provisions. so in some ways, this is a pretty ordinary disposition. the only difference is, of

course, the size of the estate and the complexity of the assets in the estate. >> interesting. an ordinary disposition, you're saying, but certainly not an ordinary man. thank you so much. an attorney who has also represented family members in the estate of james brown as well. thank you for your time. i want to remind you to be sure to stick with us tomorrow around the clock coverage of michael jackson's memorial. family, friends and fans are celebrating the life and legacy of this worldwide pop icon and saying good-bye. michael jackson, the memorial, cnn all day starting on tuesday morning, on "american morning" at 6:00 a.m. eastern time. as always, team sanchez are back there, hard at work getting ready for the next hour of "cnn newsroom." what do you have on tap? >> working hard? let me check around. yeah, as a matter of fact they are. >> you're always hard-working. >> we got two things going on right now. first, we got the situation going on in north carolina, where there's a possibility that the serial killer, remember i just said possibility, i don't want to spook anybody here, i'm

not confirming that he's been caught, but it's starting to look like that could be a real possibility. five people have been killed. these are random killings in south carolina. over the last nine days. now suddenly, there's a shootout with police about a half hour away in north carolina. i think both police departments are talking to each other and there's a real possibility that this thing could finally end the fears of all these people who have been walking around and buying guns like crazy because they think there's a killer out there who is just killing people at random. we're also going to be covering the very latest out of honduras. there may be tensions between chavez and the people in honduras as well. and then, a follow-up on steve mcnair. this is a story that's got so many question marks. one of the premier nfl quarterbacks in the last decade suddenly dies and police haven't confirmed this yet, but it does start to look an awful lot like it may have been a murder-suicide. we'll have it for you. we have new information coming

up in just a little bit. back at you. >> thank you. coming up at the top of the hour. thank you, rick. we'll be right back. hi. number two, please. would you like that to hurt now or later? uh, what? sir, it's a simple question. do you want heartburn pain, now or later? these heartburn medicines make you choose... between hurting now or later. pepcid complete doesn't. it starts to neutralize acid in seconds... and keeps it under control all day or all night. sometimes you gotta make compromises, man. no, you don't... man. pepcid complete, works now and works later. now with a great new taste.

what do you think of this. they're selling the naming rights to baseball parks and football stadiums so why not subway stations? with this story, here's richard ross. >> reporter: the big news at this bustling brooklyn, new york subway station is its name. new york city has sold the name of the atlantic avenue-pacific street station to barclays bank. >> this is the first time we have ever succeeded in getting somebody to actually pay for a name. >> reporter: the signage isn't set but it may look like this. barclays, a british bank, in one of brooklyn's oldest public train stations? >> there's potential for a slippery slope that i can imagine when you start to sell branding name of government run or owned institutions. >> reporter: new york city transit like its subway performers needs money.

ridership has dropped as the global economy has gone off the tracks. >> transit systems all over the country and all over the world, we are facing budget deficits. >> reporter: many of the locals don't think barclays should be a sign of the times. >> what do you expect me to think? that's ridiculous. the whole country is just a branding nightmare. >> a london bank should not be the name of this train station. it's something that belongs in the public domain. >> reporter: a real estate developer working with barclays is paying $200,000 for 20 years for the naming rights. it's the underground branding for a planned barclay sports arena above the subway. some riders don't mind the switch. >> if they can do it, why not. >> trains run the same way. i couldn't care less. >> reporter: some do care and are committing the old name to memory. >> atlantic pacific. atlantic pacific. that's what i say now. that's what i'll always say. >> reporter: in the last century, new yorkers often had trouble reading anything in the subway because of graffiti.