record as opposed to listening to the download. they want to be here with the body, with the person, with where his memory was located, and therefore feel that they've touched something of a phenomenon, of a legend. >> will we ever see a pop icon like this in our lifetime? >> it's not even possible. media is so fragmented, things are so spread out, that michael jackson was a unifying figure and gave the world a global icon of overcoming divisions of race, class, gender, sexual orientation and alike. >> how fitting that the most watched television performance was his performance of the super bowl in 1993. today could overshadow that. >> bigger than ever, and even in life. >> well, michael eric dison, great to have you this morning. >> thanks for having me. >> and that is going to do it for us. we are going to say good-bye here on american morning. but please keep it on cnn, our coverage continues now and

throughout the day as well as on cnn.com. thanks so much. and i'll see you back in new york tomorrow. >> i know you're going to get on a flight very soon, but you're going to be. you'll be watching that memorial service. back here from new york tomorrow. thanks so much for joining us on the special edition of american morning, cnn's special coverage continues now with heidi collins. the final good-bye to the king of pop. we have team coverage of the michael jackson memorial from los angeles. thousands of fans will get into the staples centers, millions more will watch on tv or online. we'll talk to some of them about their memorials and their memories of michael. and the investigation into the singer's death goes on. dr. sanjay gupta has the latest on that. tuesday, july 7th. good morning, everybody, i'm heidi collins, you are in the "cnn newsroom." this morning, we do have an awful lot going on. in fact, we're watching other very big stories, as well, around the world. first off, president obama as

you well now is in russia. he's wrapping up his second day there. we'll have the latest on that trip. sarah palin who you see there with drew griffin is talking about why she made the decisions that she made. we'll have the latest on that story, as well. and finally, in afghanistan this morning, a deadly helicopter crash east of kandahar, three coalition soldiers are dead. we'll find out what happened there. but this morning, we do begin with michael jackson. we want to go out to los angeles now and our own don lemon is at the staples center this morning where the public memorial service for michael jackson will be held in just a few hours from now. don, good morning. >> hey, good morning. and you know what? it looks like it started hours ago because, heidi, people have been out here since yesterday. those people who came to pick up their tickets. i want to tell you what we know right now before we move on and tell you about this event. the gates are just opening at the staples center for the thousands of fans who are going to be here for this huge memorial service, a massive

memorial service. they believe it is going to be the biggest sendoff for a celebrity ever. now, as for the investigation into michael jackson's death, police with the help of the dea are trying to piece together jackson's prescription drug history. we'll have more on the medical investigation in just a few minutes for you. but in the meantime, we're covering all of the angles for you. ted rowlands where the private ceremony will be taking place. kara finnstrom is watching at the center, and dr. sanjay gupta has more on the medical information. we're going to start with you, ted. >> reporter: it's a huge police presence. we are expecting the family to start arriving within the next few hours for an 8:00 pacific time, what they are calling gathering. we don't know any more details than that. last night, family members were out here, as well gathering and there was also a hearse out here last night. again, not a lot of details. the family is being very private

about this portion of their celebration, if you will, of michael jackson's life and their mourning process. we haven't been told officially whether or not michael jackson will be buried here today. maybe there's also a possibility and a lot of speculation that the body could be moved from here and actually go to staples center as part of the public memorial. a lot of questions at this point, but what we do know is that security here is very intense, every car coming in and out of here is being pulled over and checked and the public access road has been completely closed off. don? >> all right, ted, thank you very much for that. ted, i want to -- we have these blue bands and as i got in here this morning, security was checking them as close as you can get, i had to walk about five or six blocks. how tight is security over where you are? >> it's extremely tight, don. in fact, there are dozens and dozens of police cars that are surrounded around this general area, some are inside the mortuary, many are on the outside street. this is the main thoroughfare,

this road that goes -- a lot of commuters use it to get into hollywood and that has been completely sealed off as a precaution. so i would say extremely tight. mirroring basically what you're seeing down at staples center. it's in place here, as well. >> ted rowlands, thank you very much for that. michael jackson's mother lost her bid to control michael jackson's state. instead the judge named two men as executors, katherine jackson's attorney says his client has concerns about handing over the keys to her son's kingdom. john branka is one of two men who controls the estate. he told me he just wants to carry out michael jackson's final wishes. they will be in charge until august when another hearing is scheduled. >> the judge basically implemented michael's plan by appointing the two people he wanted to be executors as special administration until august 3rd.

michael's will very specifically provides that a certain percentage go to charity and the rest of his estate is split between his mother and his children, and that's clearly what we intend to do. >> reporter: all right. that is bruce weitzman. as we said earlier, police outside the perimeter set up here at the staples center, started opening the gates to fans a few minutes ago. and kara finnstrom has more on the crowd. it's not just fans, but we're also expecting a lot of celebrities, a lot of people here, aren't we? >> reporter: we are, and john, let me pan across the street. you can see the crowd starting to grow. this couple came up by limousine service, and just crowds over here. we've got media, fans that have come out, it's continued to grow throughout the morning and right across the street, you can see where the barricades are set up. and down the street here is where you are at the staples

center. you can see the police presence out here, there were 300 officers when we arrived a couple of hours ago and that number would continue to grow until about -- they reached a force of about 3,000 at the time the memorial begins. we've got lots of fans out here, as we mentioned, and i want to bring in a mother and daughter who actually have coffee in their hands because they haven't slept overnight. you came out here from texas. tell us why you are such die hard michael jackson fans. >> i grew up with him. his dancing is like ice, and i cannot -- it's hard to be here in one way but i'm so excited to be here and be part of it. >> reporter: now you said there's been some confusion about exactly where you're supposed to go, what time, all of that this morning. tell us what happened since you got those tickets. >> we got the tickets yesterday and we were at the hotel at like midnight and just nothing, we didn't know what time to be here, where to go, where to park, kind of back and forth, putting it on the internet.

it was kind of, but we figured it out and now we're here. >> reporter: and thank you so much both of you. we've been hearing that from a lot of the fans out here. a little bit of confusion about where they're supposed to go, what they're supposed to do. many of them getting out here early because they want to make sure they get in there and get their seats for that memorial. >> i've never seen anything like this, getting here this morning in the car was very difficult because they blocked off the exits from the interstate, which is about a mile away. talk to me about the security perimeter around the staples center this morning. this is really unprecedented. >> reporter: yeah, well you see right behind me here, this is the closest point to the staples center. this is about half a block. in some areas the perimeter is two or three blocks out. the first thing they said where's your media credentials? do you have a wristband? they're closely checking anyone that is approaching that pr perimet perimeter.

everyone on this side. also everywhere around here, there are all kinds of no parking signs. i don't know if you can pan across the street there. there's one on a tree over there. but nobody allowed to stop and loiter. everything very secure. >> all right, kara, thank you very much. as kara said, it's a big perimeter just getting underway. huge celebrities going to be here. teddy riley is standing there, reverend jesse jackson, ken sunshine is here, we're going to speak to those people coming up here on cnn. that's it for now. i'll be back at the bottom of the hour with more. and also special coverage coming up at noon eastern here on cnn. back to you in atlanta, heidi. meanwhile, michael jackson's memorial today is bittersweet for the millions of fans looking for closure as to why he died. i want to go ahead and bring in our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta working on this story all week long. and the week prior, quite frankly. sanjay, are officials getting

any closer now to determining -- we know what the cause of death was, but as to why that happened? >> well, you know, my guess is they probably already know. these tests do come back relatively quickly. a lot of focus, obviously, as you know, heidi on the toxicology tests. and it does take some days for those tests to come back. my guess is they have those results for those tests and they're trying to piece it together with everything else that goes into an autopsy. for example, looking at the various tissues in the body, examining them in the microscope, whether it be the brain or liver, and trying to piece this together. if you ask them the official response is it's still in process two or three weeks away, but that's sort of how this works. >> originally something like 6 to 8 weeks, i think everybody knows if you need to rush those results you can go faster than that. specifically, though, diprivan we've been hearing about, will the toxicology reports zero in on that? >> it's very interesting, actually, and i've got -- as a starting point i have to tell

you i've never even heard about this happening where you have to check for this in a nonmedical setting because it's always used in hospitals. it's safe to say it's not part of any routine toxicology test. coroners and anesthesiologists to check on this, everybody's scratching their heads because it has a half-life. a medication that disappears. >> doesn't stay in the body. >> so if you haven't taken samples very, very quickly, you may not be able to test for the exact substance. what i hear is it breaks down into byproducts and you can measure those potentially and sort of piece this altogether. but that is going to be an interesting thing. and my guess for most coroners something they haven't come against previously, checking for this hospital substance that you can't write a prescription for, it was given by iv, usually continuously and disappears from the body. >> by an anesthesiologist. you let me know. our chief medical correspondent

dr. sanjay gupta thank you. >> my pleasure. and stay with us for all day coverage of michael jackson's memorial. you can also follow us at cnn.com/live. a strong russia is good for america. president obama gets that message across in moscow. ed henry talks one on one with the president. cnn severe weather center. we have more thunderstorms rumbling across the south. 6 inches yesterday across portions of north carolina. that stationary boundary is going to stay there, it is stationary, rain will continue to pour hoefr places that have seen a lot of rain thus far. but it will keep them cool. the northeast remains cool. today a better chance of thunderstorms than you did yesterday, how long will this pattern last? we'll talk about that more later in the show. s it? (voice 1) traffic's off the chart...

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president obama reiterating his call for a reset in u.s.-russian relations. in a commencement address at a moscow graduate school of economics. mr. obama in the second day of a week-long overseas trip which takes him to italy next for the g-8 summit. ed henry spoke to the president a short time ago and is joining us now from moscow. good morning to you, ed. what did you talk with the president about? >> reporter: well, good morning, heidi. we started with russia. the president right now at a business summit with the russian president medvedev. but he earlier had his first face to face with the russian prime minister. the former president vladimir putin who many believe is the real power here. asked the president about their private meeting, and the president used a very interesting adjective describing putin saying he was unsentimental, which would suggest they are not quite as warm as he had with the russian president, that maybe it's a little tougher with the prime

minister. but the president was quick to add that he believes that he can do business with mr. putin he believes they can agree on some areas like stopping nuclear weapons from spreading around the world. one of the hot spots, obviously, iran, i also asked about vice president biden's comments over the weekend which would suggest that the u.s. would standby and not stop israel from launching a strike against iran's nuclear sites. i asked, is that a green light? the president made some news. >> are you giving israel a green light? >> absolutely not. and i think it's very important that i'm as clear as i can be. and our administration is as consistent as we can be on this issue. i think vice president biden stated a categorical fact, which is we can't dictate to other countries what their security interests are. what is also true is that the

policy of the united states to try to resolve the issue of iran's nuclear capabilities. in a peaceful way through diplomatic channels. this is a tough job, and nobody's under any illusions that it'll be easy and i've always said that we, the united states, preserve the right. and i as commander in chief reserve the right to take whatever actions are necessary to protect the united states. >> now, i also asked the president about his plans to have outreach maybe direct diplomatic talks with iran. is that difficult right now given the disputed election given signs from iran that maybe they don't want to sit and talk. the president acknowledged that is a problem, but said, look, my policy is basically a door of opportunity, it's now up to the iranians whether or not they want to open that door. heidi? >> so you were able to talk with him on all of these different fronts. i am very curious to know what this will mean when he returns from moscow on the iran front.

what likely is the next step here? >> reporter: well, certainly the u.s. is still pressing to try to get iran to the table. the president went on in the interview and we were posting a lot of it at cnn.com so people can get more of it there saying look, we're giving this opportunity to the iraniansious it's basically ball in their court. so they're going to try to continue to reach out, but also, talk about putting pressure, maybe down the road more sanctions before the u.n. but the president said he's under no illusion this is a tough diplomatic situation. >> we'll be watching closely when he comes back from the g-8. great interview, thanks so much. ethnic tension still running high in western chooi nachlt one day after 156 people died in the worst riot there in decades. chinese state media report the government-imposed curfew across xinjiang until 8:00 p.m. tomorrow. earlier today, muslim women in

head scarves protested saying their husbands and sons had been arrested. there are also new reports of protestors attacking people on the streets again today. we'll follow that story for you. meanwhile governor sarah palin speaking out for the first time since her bomb shell announcement that she's resigning. cnn's drew griffin caught up with her in a remote part of alaska. taking its rightful place

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she's alaska's governor for 19 more days. but sarah palin says just because she's leaving office early does not mean she's a quitter. our drew griffin caught up with the governor on her family fishing trip. he is back in anchorage now, and that was an interesting spot for an interview, drew. good morning. >> reporter: yeah, good morning. we got the call about 1:00 yesterday afternoon to get out to dillingham, alaska, the governor would give us ten minutes. we had to find it, it's about an hour and 15 minutes from here in anchorage. but we did find her and asked her about this whole idea that she's being labeled a quitter, you know. half way through this first term as governor she bows out, insistinsis insists she's not a quitter, but what about the sudden dropping

off of the political map? she said there was nothing sudden about it, it was all planned coming for months. >> reporter: the reason that we're, i'm sure all here is because we're left with so many questions. a sudden, abrupt, she cashes it in and quits. is that really how it was? >> no, it was a long and deliberative internal process deciding how best will our state progress? everything changed august 29th in alaska, the date i was tapped to run for vp. that was obvious. a new political blood sport came into being in our state. and when i returned from the campaign trail, i'm trying for those months to not allow the distractions to paralyze our administration, and yes, conditions pretty tough in terms of the opposition research that had bombarded alaska and never let up over these months. >> the political tags, the

ethics complaints that she says are unwarranted that have weighed her down, all of these things culminating in a kind of ineffectiveness, or what she felt might be ineffectiveness for the rest of her term as governor, which is why she bowed out. and deliberately now, the term we're getting, deliberately picking july 3rd as her exit date. >> july 3rd was deliberate, that's a good catch because that was the eve of independence day. yes. >> reporter: that was your declaration of independence? >> well, it was a declaration of come on, alaska, let's move forward. i am willing to step aside and allow our state to progress. i love alaska that much. i don't want to hamper its progress and its potential and our path on reaching our destiny. our destiny is to contribute more to the u.s. to provide that energy independence and that national security aspect. i don't want to get in the way of that. and i'm willing to step aside and fight for what's right on a different path.

so it's not retreat, it's progress. >> is she going to step aside for good? not run for president? not run for any other political office? she dodged the question three times. >> no? >> reporter: and in the end would only commit to being involved in public service. heidi? >> okay. all right. well, we will continue to follow this story, obviously. drew griffin coming to us out of anchorage, alaska this morning. drew, thank you. and we do have more coverage from the site of the michael jackson memorial. we'll be talking with a spokesman for the jackson family.

well, as you know, we are covering the michael jackson memorial and we'd love to know what you think. head over to our blog, if you would, to our question today is what is your favorite m.j. moment. you can go ahead and get into cnnnewsroom.com, click on my name, heidi, and let us know of your memories of michael jackson.

quickly now to the opening bell for this tuesday morning, july 7th. wall street stocks are set for a quiet start to the trading day after the dow gained 44 points yesterday, even though investors do remain pretty anxious over the global economic outlook. susan lisovicz at the new york stock exchange now with a preview of all of the day's action. hi there, susan. >> good morning, heidi. we're looking at a flat open this morning. we're in this news vacuum, we're a day ahead of the g-8 meeting, and also we're ahead of corporate earnings. why do corporation earnings matter? well, not only the numbers themselves, but what the second quarter brought, but what companies of all types and all sizes are saying about the second half of the year. are things going to get better? it's a big debate, everybody's talking about it on wall street, everybody's talking about it on main street, as well. in the meantime, analysts expect trading volume to be light while investors take a wait and see

attitude. the g-8's economic summit begins tomorrow, as i mentioned, leaders of japan, britain, france, germany, and other industrialized nations will meet in italy to talk about the global economic recovery. oil prices, well, they're recovering, they're pretty flat right now after falling sharply over the last several sessions. crude currently trading lower by 30 cents at around $63.80 per barrel. it's been dropping over the sense that maybe demand won't be so great. again, the debate over economic recovery. one day after laying out its plans to restructure, leer has filed for bankruptcy, the struggling auto parts maker, they have been weighed down by sharply lower demand from automakers along with heavy debt loads. and microsoft is warning users this morning that hackers are targeting a previously unknown flaw in windows xp and 2003

systems. they exploit the security home to install viruses or other software on a victim's pc. oh, goody. well, the first minute of trading, welm, we're not seeing hackers here, we're just seeing not a whole lot of anything. just slightly to the downside. we'll be watching it all for you and get back to you on any news that developments here. >> terrific. all right. susan lisovicz, appreciate it. thank you. >> you're welcome. let's get back now to our michael jackson memorial coverage. cnn's don lemon in los angeles this morning. hello, once again, don. >> reporter: hi, heidi, thank you very much. here's what we know right now when it comes to what's going to happen here in los angeles today. as we said, the gates opened about half an hour ago at the staples center for thousands of fans who are going to be here for this really just massive memorial service. now as for the investigation

into michael jackson's death, police with the help of the dea, they're trying to piece together jackson's prescription drug history so there's a lot to go on and a lot as far as the investigation. but today, today we are honoring the memory of michael jackson, this is a memorial service and a tribute. i want to welcome in now ken sunshine, he represents a number of high profile clients, including the jackson family. thank you so much for being with us. i know it's been are very busy time for you. this is -- i'm hearing this is going to be the biggest sendoff for any celebrity and possibly the biggest such event in history. >> it's kind of mind boggling. several billion people are going to watch this live across the world. when elvis died, it wasn't the digital age, john lennon, perhaps. but i don't think there's ever been a world entertainment figure like michael jackson who has reached throughout the world to absolutely every type of person, every demographic, it's unparalleled, and one of the things on behalf of the family,

their love and affection. >> reporter: i want you to take a look at the monitor because you see that video of michael jackson performing, this is the night before his death, and a lot of people say he looked healthy, he was dancing, you see him there with the guitar, it's really moving. when you see that and you hear all the -- about the investigation and drugs and what have you, what do you say to that? >> remember him what he was on stage and as the symbol of love and understanding. there's so much nonsense out there. and there's so much that beyond the scope of most people can understand, which is a majestic figure in cultural history. and remember him for the good times, the great effect he had on people. if anybody's been to a wedding or event where a michael jackson song came on. >> reporter: i don't think i've been to one where it didn't come on. >> and this is a captivating

person we knew for virtually his whole life. >> reporter: there are so many rumors and so many things out there that are not true as you know. we're hearing about investigations. you know anything is the family being briefed on the investigation at all? are they focusing mostly on the tributes right now? >> mostly on the memorial and mourning their son and brother. this is a family that's grieving. >> reporter: a memorial service, we understand there was a private gathering held last night at the cemetery with the family. >> from the beginning, we're just not commenting on anything private because it's private. and i'm going to maintain that throughout. >> reporter: it has been reported in some media organizations and we have been hearing that michael jackson's body will be here at the staples center. do you know anything about that? >> i cannot confirm and frankly whatever reports came in. if i counted the number of untrue reports that have been reported even on cnn, it's kind of mind boggling, but i'm not going to comment on any of them.

>> reporter: all right, thank you. we appreciate you representing the family and he represents a lot of high-profile people. we really appreciate it. today, well, you can participate in his memorial. our josh levs is in atlanta to tell us all about that. josh, you know, i've got my iphone here. i've got my blackberry, i'm sending videos and pictures, twittering people. everyone wants to know. >> yeah, in fact, people are going to be following your tweets throughout the day and on cnn.com. you were talking about how this is going to be so huge. i've never seen anything like this online. you're going to be amazed. let's just zoom in, the main place to go, cnn.com/michaeljackson. can't forget it, really easy to find. within that, we'll link you to all sorts of things. but one thing at the top is our video player throughout the day. it's hooked up with facebook, and i've shifted it a little bit over to the left so you can see the facebook system. basically we will have the entire video streaming throughout the whole event and

you can sign in here, communicate with everyone or just your friends, talk about michael jackson memories, it's the idea of a social community while you're seeing our full coverage of the event itself. and you can see i signed in up there at the top. a lot of people weighing in even though it hasn't begun. a few more features worth checking out during the day. first of all, one of our main stories talks you through events that are happening today in the memorial, including some of the stars, and you can see mariah carey, jennifer hudson, we also have going to be following photos for you, updating them throughout the event. if you're joining in later on, you want to see some of the events you missed, still photos as well as video. one more time i want to zoom in. there's another thing to check out. so many i-reports coming our way. i was looking at this, this is our main page, ireport.com where we're getting these. i clicked latest to see the latest ones. we've gotten from japan and south korea and some from around

the united states, as well. we continue to update these all day long and we'd love to hear your views and all of that will be easily findable in one place cnn.com/michaeljackson. keep checking it out, and we're expecting huge traffic today and we are ready for it. >> yeah, absolutely, josh. we really appreciate it. michael jackson -- reverend, you have been with the family since this happened, speaking to katherine jackson, and all of the family members. i want to ask you, though, that is one brave woman. i saw her the other day, she was coming out of the encino home and was on her way to court. she's focussed. >> she's devoutly religious, she has faith. her own understanding, and people of faith and crisis come, they're insulated, not isolated. she has an inner strength, she is the grand matriarch of this family. you cannot separate michael the

celebrity from the roots of this. i cannot get away from the gary story. the little white house on the side of the road, 11 people in four rooms, you know, six boys on bunk beds and the parents and the three girls. >> reporter: shifts for bathroom and eating. >> and out of that comes a father working two jobs, teaching music and dance, disciplinarian, mother making all of their uniforms. this is a great story. and leave very untarnished, no kids mishaps because they come out of a strong, strong family values, strong work ethic. >> reporter: i'm sitting here and looking at the monitors and there's video of michael jackson playing, and pictures playing, you're in chicago, close to gary, indiana. your kids, your children were friends with them, and looking at pictures of michael jackson, what goes through your mind when you look at all of that? can you believe we're here?

>> well, saying michael joseph jackson is dead is a lot to say. michael left us quickly. he was on an up note, filling out venues, was practicing diligently, for 25 years, he was dancing then, great physical shape, we were supposed to be in london today. and so there is the sadness of his swift transition, but the joy of the global response to michael in some sense news analysis of him just global redemption of michael as a musician. >> reporter: i've got to tell you that i was out shopping last night because i was in, actually, in chicago doing a story with you on prisons, and then went to a black in america event and got pulled here. so i went to target last night, i was shopping, luckily i had a suit. no, i'm good. and people from japan, from hong kong from africa, they were

wearing wristbands saying we got tickets to michael jackson, we're here, we flew all night to get here, and as you said, global response, i was floored just shopping and being in the supermarket. >> michael's impact was beyond local, national, we think we are the world, we are the nation. i was in russia about 25 years old, and when the -- all night long they were playing michael jackson, jackson 5, diana ross, supremes, motown. the political walls came down, even before, music was the conduit for the message of hope. >> and he did it. >> the only one that's ever did it. most records, most video, most cultural impact, most magic. >> reverend jesse jackson, thank you very much. really appreciate it. heidi, back to you. we're going to say that is it for here for now. but we'll be back at the top of the hour and i'm going to speak with a reporter to interview michael jackson, someone who

knew him, a lot of people who knew him very well. also our special coverage of the michael jackson memorial coming up at noon. you can also watch cnn.com/live. you heard our josh levs say that, also on twitter and facebook, as well. back to you in atlanta. >> thanks so much. we'll check back with you later on. a family takes the long trip home to bury their teenage son. it's a story you won't forget. you have questions. who can give you the financial advice you need?

where will you find the stability and resources to keep you ahead of this rapidly evolving world? these are tough questions. that's why we brought together two of the most powerful names in the industry. introducing morgan stanley smith barney. here to rethink wealth management. here to answer... your questions. morgan stanley smith barney. a new wealth management firm with over 130 years of experience.

another deadly attack in afghanistan. one day after troops were killed. the u.s. military said the soldier died today from injuries in a convoy in western afghanistan. yesterday two canadian air crew members and a british soldier were killed when a helicopter crashed during takeoff in a zabul province. seven americans were also killed in separate incidents. supporters of an interim government in honduras are planning a rally today. but the country's deposed president is not giving up on returning to honduras even if it means being arrested. jose manuel zelaya is expected to be in washington today. zela zelaya's plane was turned back on sunday while his supporters protested outside the capital's airport. cnn's karl penhaul reports on one protester who was killed.

>> reporter: a grieving sister curses the soldiers she believes shot her brother. they didn't have to kill him, she sobbed. they didn't have to shoot him. this is the spot where 19-year-old fell, marked by a pool of blood and handwritten tributes. he was one of thousands of supporters who turned out sunday hoping for the return of manuel zelaya, the honduran president ousted a week ago in a military coup. protestors lobbed rocks and tried to breakthrough the airport perimeter, the military opened fire with bullets and tear gas. in a statement monday the u.s. state department said it deplored the use of force against demonstrators, the

honduran military has issued no statement. this video shows the teenager dying in moments. he took a bullet to the head, a red cross official told cnn, his comrades loaded him on a truck, but it's too late. his sister, rebecca, went with him to the march, but they split up when the shooting started. i realized somebody had been shot, but i never imagined it was my brother. i realized a few minutes later when his friends told me, she says. he was unemployed, his father is a pastor and small-time coffee grower on the country side. his father says the whole family backed zelaya and trusted his social reforms would slash poverty. but business elite feared zelaya was orchestrating an illegal power grab to extend his presidency, set up a socialist regime. his father says it's a battle between rich and poor.

i'm going to bury my son and if this struggle continues, then we will join it. i'm proud because my son did not die a criminal, he died for a better honduras. as zelaya supporters continue to protest monday, they took donations from the burial. and his family loaded his humble plywood coffin aboard a pickup truck and set off on the long drive home. karl penhaul, cnn. relief in gaffney, south carolina, after a man suspected of killing five people dies in a shootout with police. investigators say 41-year-old patrick burris was a career criminal. he was shot to death by officers investigating a burglary complaint at a home in dallas, north carolina. that's about 30 miles from where the killing spree began on june 27th. investigators say they have evidence that places burris at the scene of the killings, but have no motive at this point. two people who were with him

were also taken into custody, but we don't know right now if they will be facing charges.

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we are starting a new series today to help you save make up on things you really need. our personal finance ed dor gerri willis is here to help us out with this. good morning to you. you say start with cell phones and credit cards, like get rid of them all? >> well, no. shop for them smarter, right? you say, i'm paying too much for this. a great place to find out if you are is billshrink.com. enter info about your phone usage and you'll get a list of other cell phone plans in the market plus how much you'll save annually by switching. if you are looking for a new cell phone, don't spring for insurance policy. you'll spend more for the policy than you'll ever get back if you damage your phone. avoid that. >> all right. what about cutting your car costs? because, obviously, that's a biggie. >> if you are driving around in a rust bucket, you may want to

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family. for more info, check out rxassist.com. partnership asis stance at pparx.org and needymeds.org. there's help out there for people. >> very good. gerri willis, we appreciate it. thank you. >> my pleasure. >> there's a whole lot going on in the next hour of "newsroom." cnn crews are in place to break it down for you. we'll begin with don lemon in los angeles. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. breaking news out of los angeles. we are learning about michael jackson's body. cnn has confirmed michael jackson's body will indeed be here at the staples center for the memorial service all coming up this hour. i'm ted roland at the forest lawn cemetery where soon michael jackson's family will be gathering for a private ceremony. we'll have details on that coming up at the top of the hour. all right, everybody, we'll stay on top of that story for you. we have a couple other reporters

there as well. we'll be following the story throughout the day as you can imagine right here on cnn. also, we are going to be looking at the cost involved in all of this. very interesting question, in fact, who is helping the city as it struggles to make ends meet? who is going to be paying for this bill? es... contain a nitrogen-enriched cleaning system... that seeks and destroys engine gunk... left by lower-quality gasoline. it protects engines from performance-robbing gunk. try new nitrogen-enriched shell gasolines. in a long line of amazing performance machines. this is the new e-coupe. this is mercedes-benz.

i want to take a moment to get over to the severe weather center where rob is standing by. we are talking about nasty weather in the south, is that right? >> that's right. wilmington, south carolina, got six inches of rainfall there yesterday. they are dry right now with the action across the deep south, across the gulf coast. this is all a stationary boundary sitting here waving up and down a little bit, but generally speaking right up and down the coast is where you will see the storms paralleling throughout the day. it is very humid, but it will keep temperatures down to a moderate level. speaking of temperatures down, we have a relatively cool fall across the mideast. this wave is going to bring on thunderstorms. some could be strong later this afternoon. that pattern continues, although it will be own on and off dry

and wet conditions. 86 in d.c. 87 in atlanta. it could be hotter in those spots. 9 the in dallas. 99 in denver. as far as the pattern across the northeast, that is what we have seen all june long. it has been wet and cold. now it is a persistent trough keeping us cool at times with possible showers. tropical storm blanca is heading off to the northwest with 50-mile-per-hour sustained winds. that won't bother anybody. no hurricane storms so far on the atlantic side during the hurricane season. >> very good, rob. we'll check back later on. here's a look at the stories we are following for you today. president obama on the second day of his trip to russia. he met with former president and current prime minister vladimir putin today. the president wants to restrengthen ties between both countries and he wants to reduce the number of nuclear weapons. another deadly attack in

afghanistan. one day after ten nate to-led troops were killed. the u.s. military says a coalition soldier died today from injuries in a roadside bombing attack on a convoy in western afghanistan. and police say the woman who was found dead with nfl quarterback steve mcnair bought a gun that was found at the scene. they say sahel kazemi purchased the weapon two days before the double shooting. they are calling mcnair's death a homicide but have not said how kazemi died. this is priceless. i would never give it up for any amount. >> seeing an e-mail that said congratulations is like getting into college again, but it is even bigger. there are 1,000 colleges in the

united states or 10,000 colleges and there's one show ever, period, and it is to get here that is priceless. it feels like it is family. everyone is there for the same reason. you know, it doesn't matter who you are with, it doesn't matter -- any other problem, when you hear "beat it," when you hear "thriller," you are screaming m.j. >> the fact that the jackson family did this for the fans and actually put this together while they are in mourning, i want to thank them because i think it is really important. >> the mmg memorial is scheduled to begin three hours from now. fans are streaming through the gates. those are the lucky ones who got the coveted tickets to the event. the jackson family is gathering at forest lawn cemetery this morning. that's where the private service is taking place just about an hour from now. our don lemon is in los angeles

for us this morning at the staples center helping to cover all the angles of this story. dop, good morning once again. >> reporter: good morning. i wish you could see -- i'll show you at one point during the broadcasting, the crush of media. i have covered a lot of huge events but i have never seen this much media. look at that. you are looking at live pictures from the staples center. that's a small part of this. imagine if they would have been able to bring crowds in. people have been gathering here to honor the legacy of michael jackson. the family will be here a little later. even though jackson really seemed to shy away from the public over the past years, teddy riley knows all about that, why he shied about. as i talked to teddy -- we have breaking news. mmg's body will be here at the staples center. you said the reason behind that is -- >> the reason why is because it wouldn't be fair not to -- for

the fans who are here and will be here at the staples center, it wouldn't be fair for them to at least see a casket. i'm just hoping they don't open it, you know what i'm saying? because i feel like just him being in the perception with the performances, he'll be honored. we'll be celebrating his life. i think it will be great to do that, but i don't know about opening it. >> reporter: for those of you who may not know teddy, teddy was on "if 23 jackson street." you are also very good friends with michael jackson's brothers. there was a decision whether or not to drive the body here or to fly it in. ormgally, they were going to fly it in to not create chaos, right? >> what i was told is it will be flown in, but i think what i

have heard from some of the people here and some of the family members, it is going to be driven in. it would be dangerous to fly it in. they wouldn't know how to land it here. i just hope that, you know, everything is dope done right. i think it is more of a as n insurance thing. >> reporter: you have been speaking to the family for the past week or so now, how are they holding up? janet is going to speak today, the entire family will be here. tell us what we are looking forward to today. >> i'm sure you will see, hear the family members speak and a few of the friends speak. it is going to be something that is unexpected because as we celebrate him, you have people who were not expecting to come, but they are going to be here.

i'm sure if they were meaningful to him, they are going to ask them to come up. it will be a meaningful time. there's going to be a performance. >> reporter: a performance? by whom? >> well, by the dancers, something like that. they are actually going to be doing a thing -- i think there's going to be conducting with the band and some of the superstars are going to come up and sing some songs. we are just going to jam. >> reporter: and celebrate michael jackson's life, the legacy. what about the people who were involved in the london tour? are they going to be here to perform? >> i think they are going to be here and, as a matter of fact, the same band members are going to be here. he is the one that knows

everything. >> i have seen the michael jackson thing that everybody has seen. it will be done over and over. >> what i hope to see is that some of the young guys like chris brown, all those guys will be up there to do something. it will be crazy because michael really admired chris and usher. >> reporter: they got a lot from him. if you look at their performances, they get a lot from him. also, michael jackson really took a lot of, i think, one of his mentors was sammy davis jr. if you look at the hat and the black outfit. >> when i was working on the "dangerous" album and i first went into his frooift room, he had a collage of pictures. sammy davis jr., bing crosby and

sarah vaughan, a lot of the incredible legends from back in the '60s and '70s. >> reporter: he learned from them and then the younger people came along and -- yeah, they learned from michael jackson. you were on the air last week and got so emotional, you broke down. we had to end the interview. i had people reach out from me all over saying this guy was a great friend to mmg. why were you moved so much? >> well, because, you know, just that song, you know, i was trying to finish it. i can finish it now, but that song was the first song, people asked me and put me in a room with a piano, we wrote that song first. "remember the time." when you played that, it brought back all the memories of how we did it, just him and i. he did all of the melodies, how

he wanted it, and what i did is handed it over to bernard who wrote the song with us. bernard just put the words in the slot. he says, all the time melody is key. if you have a great melody, people are going to love it. that's why when they say he doesn't pronounce his words, it is sometimes true. >> reporter: it is who etic license, poetic license. teddy, we have to run. thank you so much for talking to us. come and talk to us after the service. i'll be in a suite watching this. i appreciate you sharing that information and give the best to the family. michael jackson's former producer and very good friend of the family. the jackson family is gathering for a private memorial service this morning. there was one last night as well. the one note is forest lawn cemetery, ted rolands is over there.

what are you seeing at forest lawn? >> reporter: well, don, no sign of the family here yet at forest lawn. last night you mentioned they came here for a gathering as well. there was a hearse at that point, too. it is part of the gathering from last night. now that we know jackson's body will be going to staples center, that begs the question, will the body then be going with the family? that's probably a good assumption at this point. what we do know is at 8:00, witness the next hour, family members are going to gather for what they are calling a private gathering. from there they will be escorted, and there are enough police here to escort the president. they are going to escort the family and jackson's body to the staples center for the 10:00 a.m. memorial. heavy presentation presence here of security, but no family members here yet. we assume this will begin at the top of the hour. >> i have to say that the

gathering at forest lawn here last night may have been the only family gathering. stick by, if you see the family, let us know, but i hear there's a private gathering after this at an undisclosed location in beverly hills. we'll try to get that -- we'll get clarification on that. we have other team members standing by to get all the details on the jackson memorial, both public and private. that's the story from here. i'm headed inside the staples center here to get ready for the memorial. i'm be back later in the hour with that view, but now i'm going to throw it back to you. i wish you were here to share this with us. i know you were a great michael jackson fan. i wish you were here to witness this scene, heidi. >> it is certainly an event, no question about it. there are a lot of people behind you all hoping to get into place. a lot more people are not going to make it, unfortunately, because there has to be crowd control. the facility is only so big, but

we'll continue to follow it throughout the morning. as we get closer and closer, that's don lemon coming there to us live from the staples center. michael jackson is the hot topic on our blog this morning. we have been asking you to recall your favorite memories of michael jackson. what is your favorite m.j. moment? go to cnn.com/heidi to share your moments with us. we will certainly bring some of those comments to you in just a little while. i'm sure we do appreciate your participation in all of that. meanwhile, stay with us all day for the coverage of the memorial, celebrating the life of the worldwide pop icon as family, friends and fans say good-bye. michael jackson, the memorial, special live coverage all day today. vladimir putin may not be russia's president anymore, but she still has the power to get a face-to-face with president obama.

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day two of president obama's trip to russia. yesterday he meet with president

dmitry medvedev. henry spoke with president obama just a short time ago and he is live directly with us from moscow. good morning once again. >> reporter: good morning, heidi. what is interesting is the president is trying to navigate who is in charge here. he really department want to get in the middle of it, but then after the meeting with prime minister putin today, i sat down with a one-on-one with president obama and pressed him on this point. i said, look, before this trip you said mr. putin had one foot in the camp of the old way of doing business and one foot in the new way of doing business. what did you really mean? here's what the president said. >> in a lot of ways, prime minister putin is representing russia. he is very popular. russia is still, on the one

hand, processing the transition out of the cold war and the soviet union. on the other hand, they recognize and interest in modernizing and diversifying and recognizing that, i think, the economic power is going to be the most importance currency in the 21st century. i found him to be tough, smart, very unsentimental, i think he is a practical person. and to the extent that there are common interests like fighting terrorism, potentially nuclear proliferation, where he believes that working with the united states advances russian goals. i think he can be a potential partner. >> reporter: one of those nuclear hot spots the president talked about a lot during the summit is iran, of course.

i asked the president about the fact that vice president biden made comments over the weekend suggesting the u.s. wouldn't stand in the way if israel wanted to launch a preemptive strike against iran's nuclear site that caused alarm around the world about whether or not there could be an impending strike. the president made a little bit of news. are you giving israel a green light? >> absolutely not. i think it is very important that i'm as clear as i can be and our administration is consistent as we can be on this issue. i think vice president biden stated a categorical fact, which is we can't dictate to other countries what their security interests are. what is also true is that the policy of the united states is to try to resolve the issue of iran's nuclear capabilities in a peaceful way through diplomatic channels.

this is a tough job and nobody is under any illusions that it will be easy and i've always said that we, the united states, preserve the right, and i as commander in chief preserve the right to take whatever actions are necessary to protect the united states. >> reporter: now, i pressed the president on the point about opening diplomatic channels, direct diplomatic talks with iran, and it can be especially difficult right now given the fact that iran doesn't seem ready, prepared to sit down at the same table. the president acknowledged that is a problem right now but he sees it as a door of diplomacy and it is up to iran to open up that door. >> obviously, heavy topics there. we'll talk about the economy later on in the g-8. we appreciate that from moscow this morning. thank you, ed henry. not a quitter but a fighter. that's how governor sarah palin

describes herself two days after announcing her resignation. drew griffin caught up with her during a fishing trip in the remote part of alaska. >> i'm not going to take that comfortable path, i'm going to take the right path for the state. i'm going to let the state progress and i'm going to get out there and help people, help affect change in our state and positive change in our nation. that is my goal. helping to work for other people to do such a thing, and i don't need a title to do that and they don't need titles, either, to affect change, but i want to help people who want to fight for the right thing. >> reporter: you say it is the right road for alaska, is it dangerous to be labelled in this tough land of people a quit her? >> i'm certainly not a quitter, i'm a fighter. i'm going out there to fight for what is right without the constraints for what is surrounding me in the final months. anybody who lives in alaska will tell you, of course, our administration has been paralyzed. we spend most of our day fending

off frivolous losses. it is not a matter of retreating or quitting, it is a matter of progressing and forwarding a gooder positive ageneral day. that caught people off guard. wait a minute. that is out of the box and conventional. that's how we are as alaskans. that's how i am as a public servant, as a person very proud of my state, seeing great potential in my state, unconventional in the way we are getting things done but we are certainly getting things done. >> reporter: is this your unconventional way to run for president in 2012? >> as i said, i do not need a title. nobody does to affect positive change. >> reporter: are you running for political office? >> i can't see myself being out of public service because that is within me, it is the way that i'm wired. i desire to help. >> reporter: are you ever going to run for president? are you ruling it out? >> all options will continue to be on the table as they have been for me my entire life. i'm not going to close any door

that may be open for me out there, so all options are on the table. >> reporter: the governor plans to hand over her reigns to the lieutenant governor at the end of the month. millions of fans are bidding farewell to the pop artist today, michael jackson. one more! one more thing. all right. thanks. ( oboe/piano music playing ) announcer: why throw away your money? switch to sprint. save $360 a year with the everything data family plan and get the blackberry curve 8330 smartphone for just $49.99. deaf, hard-of-hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com. of the world's most revered luxury sedan. this is a history of over 50,000 crash-tested cars...

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michael jackson's memorial today is bittersweet for the millions of fans looking for closure as to why he died of cardiac arrest. let's go ahead and bring in our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay june ta working on this aspect of the story as well as many others. sanjay, everyone is wondering if officials are getting closer to determining what brought on the cardiac arrest, because we do know that to be the cause of death, but people, obviously, are still confused as to how that happened. >> yeah, my guess is, going out on a limb here, my guess is they already know. everyone is focusing on the toxicology because i don't think anything really obviously, no signs of trauma or foul play, as i mentioned, were found. they focused on toxicology. the tests do come, they take a

few days, but they have probably come back by now. they are finishing off the entire autopsy and looking at the issues in the brain and the liver, areas they focus on in these sorts of cases and piecing it all together. they probably already have a good idea already if not the answer. >> it is interesting because we were talking during the break, autopsies are not always made public. the family has to agree to that, right? i know that they, originally, requested their own private autopsy. what really does the public have to right to know and what are we likely to learn? >> well, you asked a great question. nobody has brought up this point as of yet, but we have no right to know anything. this is a family matter, for the most part, and the only way that the results of the autopsy will be released is if the family agrees to it. we do know the coroner's office expects the results to come back in four to six weeks. i don't know if they said they will release the results at that point, but just that they'll have the results finalized at that point. the second autopsy, the private

autopsy, for sure the family gets to control all the information there. it is all just their information. it is not going through a public coroner's office in that case. even with that autopsy, they may have already have a lot of the ands. a lot of the data may have come back. i think they are deciding what to do with all this. >> there's a question about it. keep us abreast on any developments. >> it is interesting because on famous people you expect we have all the details, but they still have their family private lives. >> it is really none of our business, really. dr. sanjay gupta, thank you very much. more on this story this morning, crowd control, security, the city's finest are in place. you see many of them right there in that live shot, but at what cost to los angeles? the city is $530 million in debt. we'll talk to a member of the mayor's staff. hi. number two, please.

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as we continue to cover the memorial for michael jackson today, we want to get out to selma gutierrez at the family's home in open see know where activity is taking place. good morning to you, selma. >> reporter: good morning, heidi. it appears that the convoy is set to begin any time now. we can tell you that there is a lot of activity out here. take a look right across the way here. this is the entrance to the jackson family compound. you can see that there are police who are staged right in front of it. up above there's a chp helicopter with newschoppers flying overhead. the road that comes into this home has been closed down. the only people who have been allowed to come close to the house are the fans that you see there behind the barriers.

many of these people have been here for the last four or five hours. we have seen a steady flow of suvs and limos and roles royces that have entered the come pound. we have also seen this very large convoy of unmarked range rovers and escalades that have been parked. we are told that several of the people who have come into this area, we believe in one of the cars, several people mentioned they saw jermaine jackson. he waved at the fans and then the car ducked down behind the compound. now, it is difficult to tell exactly who is in those cars, but you take a look down this road right in front of the jackson family house, and you can see a long line of suvs. again, already to start the convoy. we are told that the chp will escort the cop vou convoy to

forest lawn cemetery where they will have a private service. >> selma gutierrez for us there in encino, california. we do appreciate that, selma. in fact, you can't go anywhere in central california today without seeing police. the staples center is pretty well covered and selma just mentioned at the jackson family home as well. how much is this costing and can los angeles afford it? we have matt savo here with us. any idea off the top of your head or with the research you have been looking at how much all the security and emergency services and in case somebody gets ill, sanitation, i imagine there are a number of things you would need to be paying for as a city. what is it going to cost? >> reporter: well, that's right, obviously, this is an event as big as we have ever had here in los angeles. it is the city's obligation,

first and foremost, to provide public safety. we have all the officers at our disposal, firefighters, sanitation, paramedics, that's the number one obligation. it could cost the city several million dollars. it could be anywhere from $2 million to $3 million. that's the number one obligation that we are going to be looking at. >> i just wonder if you can elaborate on that. for the people in charge of the police, obviously, the mayor's office, you have to make sure everybody is going to be safe in an event like this, but what about the budget for the city. i mean, everybody knows california as a state is about $24 billion in the hole. the city of l.a., $530 million according to our records here at cnn. the debt is big and it is strong. where are you going to find the money? >> reporter: well, look, los

angeles, of course, is a world-class city. we are used to putting on world-class events, but that said, even though we are the entertainment capital of the world, we are not immune to the economic recession. what we are asking, we are asking michael jackson fans to help be a part of this event. we are asking them to contribute online and actually literally support this great memorial that you see behind us. essentially, nothing could tarnish this event more than having a public safety disturbance of any kind. we are committed to making sure that doesn't happen and we are asking fans of michael jackson to help contribute to a world-class memorial for a world-class superstar by helping contribute to keeping this place safe. >> now, is that the first place the mayor's office went to, the fans online to help pay for security and potentially

emergency services? have you spoke with the jackson family or perhaps aeg, the people promoting the upcoming concert of his? >> reporter: our understanding, aeg has -- is putting on this entire event. what we are concerned about is paying for all the other auxillary services. what we are asking, though, this is a unique event. we are in a unique time and we are asking all of those people who want to do something, want to contribute in some way to the memorial of michael jackson, we are providing them an option that they can help provide for the safety of this event so that it goes off without a hitch and without any kind of compromise to public safety, because, of course, that would tarnish the entire event. >> no question about that. we certainly wish all of the officers the best of luck out there today to make sure everybody stays safe. no matter the cost, we certainly will continue to follow-up on

that story. matt, we do appreciate your time on a busy day for you, the senior press secretary to the mayor of los angeles. stay with us on cnn all day as we bring you live coverage celebrating the life of the worldwide pop icon, michael jackson. family, friends and fans say good-bye. special live coverage all day today. a small town in south carolina relieved after police say a suspected serial killer is off the streets. how it all came to a dramatic end. kelly saunder's nature valley, the place that inspires her to go faster... and slower, elk mountains, colorado. where's yours? 100% natural nature valley granola bars. the taste nature intended. dddddddddddddddd

president obama is spending a second day in russia. he may have made with russian president dmitry medvedev first. ed henry spoke with the president just a short time ago and is joining us live in moscow. good morning to you once again, ed. >> reporter: good morning, heidi. there was a hefty agenda to cover here, and the president off camera and at the beginning of the interview, he acknowledges that back in the states the michael jackson funeral, the death of michael jackson is getting a lot of coverage, but he is trying to stay here, plod away on some of the big, big issues. so we covered a lot of ground. we started with russia, because, as you mentioned, the president had his first face-to-face meeting with vladimir putin, but we also covered iran, a delicate situation going on and playing

out right now. >> i think that in a lot of ways prime minister putin is representative of russia. he is very popular here and i think that russia is still on the one hand processing the transition out of the cold war and the disillusion of the soviet union. on the other hand, they recognize an interest in modernizing, diversifying and recognizing that, i think, economic power is going to be the most important currency in the 21st century. i found him to be tough, smart, very unsentimental, i think he is a practical person. and to the extent that there are common interests, like fighting terrorists, nuclear proliferation, where he believes

that working with the united states advances russian goals. i think he can be a potential partner. >> reporter: some iran an clerics talked about the government not wanting to be engaged and thumbing its nose at the democrating values. >> the events over the last few weeks have not just disturbed us in america, they have disturbed the world. violence tensions have been, i think, not only heartbreaking but really raising questions about the direction that iran an leaders want to take their country. it also raised issues of legit macy that vice president been resolved in their own country. we have to wait to see how the dust settles. right now we have to continue to speak out and bear witness to

the fact that the iran an people need to be treated with justice and fairness, but it certainly complicates our efforts because there's the possibility that those who are now in power in iran choose to retrench and dig in as opposed to open up. and that's where having conversations with russia, china, other countries that still do business with iran is so important. and it is something that i raise can i wantly consistently in conversations here. >> reporter: are you giving israel a green light? >> absolutely not. i think it is very important that i'm as clear as i can be and our administration is

consistent as we can be on this issue. i think vice president biden stated a categorical fact, which is we can't dictate to other countries what their security interests are. what is also true is that the policy of the united states is to try to resolve the issue of iran's nuclear capabilities in a peaceful way through diplomatic channels. >> reporter: so, it is interesting, you can hear the president really try to talk about the suggestion that the u.s. is giving israel a green light to launch a military attack against iran, but at the same time saying, look, if they are going to do something in their sovereign country, essentially, they can do it. these are serious negotiations going on right now. >> such heavy topics when you talk about nuclear proliferation. obviously, it is strange to then hear him comment on the death of michael jackson. you said that he was very aware, you asked him a question about

it, but to hear the president of the united states in this forum talking about the death of a pop star, it is very unusual, yeah? >> reporter: unusual, but i have to take the blame for that. i asked the president the question. at the end of the interview after covering the ground on russia and iran, clearly the president, and i would guess it is a safe fair guess, would prefer not to talk about michael jackson in this context, but you can't ignore the elephant in the room that while this is playing out around the states and around the world, this is a global event that people are paying attention to. the president said, bottom line, he was a cultural icon and he listened to him himself as a young kid. he remembers the song "abc 123." he said the reason why people are paying attention is because he broke through beyond many other entertainers along the lines of elvis and sinatra, someone who rose above. the president concluded by saying there was also a tragic

element to michael jackson's life and that's part of the story as well, heidi. >> a very lengthy answer. we do appreciate all the reporting. thank you so much, our white house correspondent traveling with the president in moscow, ed henry. relief in gaffney, south carolina, after a man suspected of killing five people dies in a shootout with police. investigators say 41-year-old patrick burris was shot to death by officers investigating a burglary complaint at a home in north carolina, 30 miles from where the killing spree started. police say burris was a career criminal. >> well, look at this, this is like a page 25 pages. at some point the criminal justice suspect has to explain why this victim was out on the street. we owe that to the victims in this case, we owe that to the citizens who lived in terror for days, and we owe that going

forward. somebody is going to have to explain why this individual who should have been away behind bars was out on the street. >> two people who were with burris were also taken into custody, but we do not know right now if they will face charges. paying tribute to the king of pop. millions of fans get ready to say good-bye. more coverage from the staples center in los angeles. it's fidelity's guidance -- it shows you ways to spend in retirement that can help your money last, whatever your plans. like, if we wanted to travel? husband: or start a business? advisor: yep. wife: or take some classes? sure. or find the best cheeseburger? the line isn't for everything. whatever your destination, fidelity has the people, guidance and investments to help you find your way. to walmart's unbeatable prices. unbeatable prices on groceries. unbeatable prices on the things

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quickly, we want togive you a live look right now of encino, california, where the motorcade looks to be there for the family of michael jackson's family. we believe they are preparing to head to forest lawn cemetery any minute now. we have not seen them come from the home, though we have aerial pictures coming to us from the affiliates in the area, but i imagine shortly they'll be getting into the cars and heading over to forest lawn cemetery. back now with more on the michael jackson memorial coverage. here's what we know right now. michael jackson's body will, in fact, be at the memorial service at the staples center. thousands of fans will also be there. as to the investigation into michael jackson's death, the police with the help of the dea are trying to piece together jackson's prescription drug history. our don lemon is at the staples

center in los angeles with the latest there. don, hello. >> reporter: hi to you, heidi. this is the first look inside the staples center here. they are just setting up. they have not started letting people inside yet, but you can see the lights have been turned down now. the stage is the only thing lighted. behind the stage there's a huge monitor that says in loving memory of michael jackson, the king of pop, 1958-2009. this place, you can see all the flowers, and, obviously, there are instruments on stage, drums and what have you, the people are going to be performing. we heard all the big name performers that will be here. i'm tell you about that in a bichlt i'll just show you what's happening here. the folks are setting up lighting, the sound system and the big cameras, this will be a huge production. dave, if you can go up to the monitors here at the staples

center, a lot of this will be scene because not everyone has a front row seat, right? the monitors that are at the top of the staples center is where people will be looking, the people up in the rafter seats as we call them here. all of the the suites in the upper area are some media, some people who have season tickets or what have you, they will be able to go and sit in those seats because they get first dibs on them, but the remainder of the seats, the thousands and thousands of people who we want online and did that lottery, they are going to be here and inside of the staples center. before i get to my guest, on the front of the "los angeles times" today it is michael jackson. it talks about michael jackson here at the top of this. there you go. i want to get to my guest in new york who knows everything going on here, the legacy of michael

jackson, he is the editor, i think it is the editor in chief of essence.com. did i get that right? >> managing editor. how are you? >> reporter: managing editor. it is hard to keep track of you, o'neal. in the time i have known you, we have talked about a lot of people and how a lot of folks got started, i never thought i would be reporting this early the death of michael jackson. it is surreal. >> it is surreal. the thing that everybody is kind of thinking and mourning is could this really happen? could michael jackson, the king of pop, the guy we all grew up with, the guy we remember doing the moon walk on the motown's 25th anniversary "thriller," could he be gone? for a lot of us, it puts our own mortality in context and reminds us of our lives and different aspects of our lives. i was in high school when "thriller" came on. >> reporter: hang on a second,

the jackson family has just moved and left encino. we have pictures of them to a private gathering that will be at the forest lawn cemetery. joe jackson, we saw video of him or live pictures of him waving to the crowd there from the encino home. you are looking at live pictures, you can see the motorcade there of the black cars, the black limos getting red the ready to bring the family here to forest lawn or the staples center. there was a confusion as to whether or not there will be another gathering at forest lawn because there was one last night, but it will depend on where the motorcade goes. we have learned michael jackson's body will be at the staples center. as we look at the live pictures, to be very honest, i have been looking at pew stud disand the reporting done on michael jackson, there appears to be a cultural divide. a few stud disshow two out of

three african-americans are following this closely. if you look at the number of people tuning in online, logging in, tuning in on television and reading about this, it shows a worldwide interest in it, but a cultural divide is here in america. >> well, yeah, it is very clear that to black americans, michael jackson is a hero. i think his death has the same type of impact that princess diana had or kennedy. this is huge. i think for black people in america, it is a very sad day because he really broke through a lot of racial barriers, he was very liberating to a lot of black americans and i think he did cross over worldwide. you know, you guys were just reporting on how obama was talking about, you know, him and russia. it is huge. the russians have already created a shrine for michael jackson. he has global impact.

>> reporter: you heard the president this morning answering questions and talking about the broad appeal for michael jackson and how he broke barriers in many ways and not just in music. we'll talk to you in a little bit. we are up against a break here and we have the breaking news here. i really appreciate you coming into cnn and sharing your memories of michael jackson. real quickly, in 15 seconds, do you have a special memory of michael jackson to share real quick? >> special memories of running home and sitting and waiting to watch "thriller" on mtv when i was in high school. it changed my life. >> reporter: thank you so much. the managing director of essence.com. we appreciate it. heidi, you can see the stage literally be set here and you see the jackson family leaving the compound in encino, california, making their way to forest lawn or here at the staples center. back to you, heidi. >> thank you so much. reporting live from the staples center there.

the family is on the way to forest lawn cemetery right now as we speak. you can join us around the clock for coverage of the memorial, celebrating the life of michael jackson as family, friends and fans say good-bye. michael jackson the memorial special live coverage all day today. i'm heidi cullens. cnn newsroom continues right now with tonemy harris. tony harris.

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