michael and branca had a separation, a long separation.ael jackson's life. he has a stellar career. don't take that away from him. many lawyers have stellar careers that are not the trustee for michael jackson. >> larry: i've got it. bronx, new york, hello. >> caller: hello. yes. i was calling about blanket. being that debbie has visitation rights to both her older children, will blanket be included in these activities so he don't feel left out being that he don't have a mother nor father right now? >> larry: will who be included? >> will blanket be included in the visitation. >> larry: i'm sorry. i didn't hear her. >> it will depend if that's in blanket's best interest. i don't think that's anticipated. he has never met debbie rowe and she is not blanket's mother. >> larry: how long will this go on? >> we hope it's resolved soon. we have meetings with special administrators and frankly i think they're decent people who want to do the right thing. it's very sensitive. >> larry: there's no villain in the piece? >> there are no villains in t

branca, who gets to be the handler of the funds?arge, but they've got 60 days, how do you read it? >> well, i read it this way. branca and maclaine are in charge. >> larry: for 60 days? >> for 60 days, i'm sure something will be worked out with mrs. jackson. it may be here, she may want to appoint somebody. i think they're going to try to work that out. mrs. jackson is one of the loveliest women in the world, i think she's going to make the greatest grandmother ever. i had two grandmothers, i can pick another one, i'd want to be her grandchild. whether she wants to personally haggle with movie companies and record companies is another thing. >> larry: what do you think of the branca companies? >> yeah, michael liked them. he wouldn't have put them in there -- >> larry: do you think they can work together with mrs. jackson? >> yeah, absolutely, about absolutely. they can work with her. >> larry: joe jackson and leonard rowe were on this show and joe said that they seemed to have not imply, they said that michael was being controlled.

clarify for everybody, katherine jackson claimed the current executors lawyer john branca, john mcclain, keeping her in the dark about things. basically, she needs to know more. are they fit and able to administer and make decisions for michael jackson's estate? russell, any headway on that? >> there was a lot of discussion during today's court hearing and the judge said he wanted to encourage a free flow of information and encouraging that all along. today he kept stressing that phrase. so today would make a lot of headway because they're going to continue the hearing on the probate issues regarding who has permanent control of the estate till monday. between now and then, we can expect fights whether depositions will be taken and documents exchanged. >> jennifer, how much can katherine jackson be contest that branca and mclain are the executors without her violating the no contest clause in michael's will and she's out of her 40%? >> she can make waves. let's put it that way. what i think is interesting in this case is that there was talk today, my understanding from the reports is th

branca, john mclean, both seem to be good business minds. when we come back, we'll talk about the worth of michael jackson's estate. we'll get kim in on the conversation as we talk about it being worth upwards of $2 billion. that's not surprising, especially if there's a vault of unreleased music. that would sell like hot cakes. we'll take your calls on all that, 1-877-tell-hln. >>> welcome back to "prime news" on hln. continuing our conversation on michael jackson, we talked about the custody of the kids, a judge, they're going to have a hearing on monday. the experts are saying the deal is done. it is just going to be rubber-stamped. katherine jackson, michael's mom, gets sole custody. debbie rowe, the biological mom, we're told the kids will have visitation rights. sandy is with us in west virginia. sandy, go ahead. >> caller: yes. i'd like to know who determines what's in the best interest of a child? is it the people who have never even laid eyes on these children to know who these children bond with? because the grandparents' love is a

on august 3rd, a judge extended the tenure of lawyer john branca and producer john mclean as the estate's administrators until october 2nd. jackson mother, katherine jackson, is also seeking to gain some kind of control over her late son's estate. >> well, times are certainly difficult for many during this worse financial crisis in recent memory, but if there's anything we have realized during the recession it is to work with what you have and to have a backup plan ready. >> as christine nelson reports, the becoming more relevant things now more than ever. ♪ >> reporter: teresa is a performer, a vocal coach and a mother. to make more money while exploring her creative side, she's become a face painter, too. >> it's really a creative outlet for me. i enjoy it. the kids enjoy it. puts a smile on everybody's face. >> reporter: she has a post-recession plan for h life, and that includes plotting ways to build her businesses. >> i'm not going to get stuck. i refuse to do that. i'm going to look to the future. >> reporter: she's on the right track, according to executive coach susan steinbrecke

. >> reporter: but an attorney for branca and mclane accuse her of trying to rewrite her son's will. less contentious, the custody of michael jackson's children. the judge has put his staff of approval on the deal, giving katherine custody, while allowing debbie rowe, mother of the two oldest, visitation. >> today's result 5 1/2 weeks after the training death of michael jackson eliminating uncertainty and offers some stability to the lives of these children. >> reporter: under the agreement, a therapist would help reintegrate rowe into their lives. >> i think you're going to see that therapist involved in a very significant way to facilitate the relationship, if it can be facilitated. >> reporter: in her first interview with geraldo rivera, she also expressed concerns that her husband joe jackson be kept away from children. >> i don't know why they're saying he is not being allowed in the house. i don't understand that. >> reporter: katherine also says she doesn't believe her son died of natural causes. what it was, though, she can't say. carla wohl, los angeles. >>> the lawyers for

an allowance, the estate -- the two attorneys -- or the one attorney and the music executive, john brancaty much maintain the lifestyles they've been maintaining before. the judge agreed to give katherine jackson 100% of the requested amount made by the executors. the children, i think, are going to get around 83%. the judge saying some of the money was duplicitous, meaning some of the money that would go to katherine jackson would also be going to the children, so -- >> let's talk about that right now. because money at the heart, and it should be, of so much of this. peter odom, attorney out of atlanta. when you look at the trust document, what we have heard is that 40% of the estate is to go to katherine jackson, 20% to the children -- 40% to the children, and 20% to charities. the children that we have been watching all hour in this video are going to be very, very wealthy. katherine jackson has issues with the administrators of the estate. she wants to be a co-executor of this whole thing. the issue is not resolved yet. what do you think will happen? >> well, there's a clause in the w

wants to be named an executor of the estate, but in a will from 2002, jackson names attorney john brancave john mcclain as his executors. according to an attorney, jackson is concerned that branca is too tight with aeg, the promoters of jackson's concerts. >> there's no conflict. he doesn't represent aeg. he doesn't represent sony records. >> his advisers should be much more forthcoming from transparents, because at the end of the day, it's about what's in the best interests of michael jackson's children and his mother and other beneficiaries. >> reporter: the battle over jackson's millions or billions is likely to continue long after today's hearing. ben tracy, cbs news, los angeles. >> joining us now is cbs news legal analyst lisa bloom. lisa, good morning. >> good morning. >> what can we expect to hear in court today? what arguments should we expect to be heard? >> katherine jackson's attorneys are going to say the executors have not been forthcoming with her, that there are particular assets that she's been kept in the dark about, most especially that aeg concert contract has not bee

court filings show branca and mcclain have received $5.5 million from his former financial adviser. they've taken possession of much of his property and hope to finish several multi-million dollar deals soon. >>> the man who killed three people in a shooting rampage in a gym in western pennsylvania last week was questioned by police before the incident. police near pittsburgh say they questioned and searched george sodini just a week before the rampage. a bus passenger reported seeing a man with a grenade and sodini matched his description. he was let go because the witness couldn't identify him as the man. police won't say whether they found any grenades at sodini's home. sodini killed himself at the fitness club. >>> democratic senate claire mccass kill is holding two town hall meetings today. recently opponents of overhaul have disrupted similar town hall meetings across the country by loudly protesting the plan. in fact, a meeting last week outside st. louis ended in a brawl with six arrests. at mccaskill's first meeting today she tried to calm the crowd by telling them the plan

. >> reporter: one of the men in charge is john branca who helped turn around elvis presley estate.s is the top of the list of dead earnings celebrities. if all goes as planned jackson may surpass him. since his death he outsold every artist in albums and downloads. he is the highest selling artist after death since nielsen started tracking. from january 1st of this year until the week he died he sold 297,000 albums. compare that to 3.73 million three weeks later. in 2009 prior to the week he died fans downloaded 1.3 million of his songs. five weeks later it jumped to 8.5 million. he had the top ten albums on the billboard charts for two weeks, the first time any artist alive or dead has done that. this senior editor from forbes says the time is now for jackson's estate to cash in. >> right now michael jackson has his best shot ever because everyone is looking at it through rosie, tinted glasses. the further we get from his death the more the sunglasses are taken off. the value of his assets will go down. >> reporter: no doubt jackson's family and his creditors hope that doesn't hap

that she is being kept in the dark by the temporary executors of the estate, john mcclain and john branca, saying she hasn't been included in decisions, hasn't been able to look at documents and see various information. that's what we'll see tomorrow. what's interesting is that her lawyer is saying his estate is worth something like $2 billion. now the lawyers claim that he's worth about $500 million. that's a big difference. of course you want some involvement in an estate worth $2 billion for sure. >> yeah, understandably so. kim serafin, thank you very much from burbank. >>> stay tuned to msnbc all day tomorrow. we'll have the latest on the jackson hearing with live reports airing throughout the day. >>> let's go to politics now. this weekend, next your congress is heading home to tell you how to feel about health care reform. between lawmakers and the interest groups, the pitches run the gamut, everything from it's time to topple the evil health insurance empire to look out, the government is trying to tell your grandma how she should die. i i'm joined live from washington by eleanor

to the estate, pertain to the image of michael jackson, two former business partners of his, john branca and mclean. katharine jackson wanted to be an administrator and said these guys weren't in good favor with michael jackson at the very end. i obviously am especially since she's -- she gets 40% of the estate as written in michael jackson's will. the judge said, no, for now we're putting these two guys in control and then revisit the issue on august 3rd. that's what we're going to look at permanently how will it work out moving forward. also last week, alex, i don't know if you recall, katharine jackson asked the court for an allowance so she could have spending money for herself and michael jackson's kids. judge said no to that, too which surprised a lot of people but i think that was more about setting a press den. he's not going to make decisions early at will, you know if you ask, he'll take it if there's a court date in place, he'll address those thing on the date set forward. we'll be hearing about that, too. remember, michael jackson, though he has a lot of assets he wasn't extr

john branca and john maclean. so katherine jackson put herself forward saying she wanted to be part of this. we can go into more detail about this later. but there is a huge financial benefit to being one of those administers that would be in addition to being someone who's just a beneficiary of the will. so it's something that i think is definitely fair for katherine jackson to ask for and her attorneys, up until this point, haven't made an argument convincing for the judge. on august 3rd they'll be revisiting that. >> courtney hazlett, thank you so much. >>> let's go to the weather. in at least five northeast states, big cleanup number way. strong storms knocked down trees and limbs in beverly, massachusetts and knocked out power for nearly 30,000 residents there. the top u.s. commander in afghanistan is looking to change the strategy there. according to "the washington post," general stanley mcchrystal, who recently has taken charge of the u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan, is likely to ask for more combat tr

john branca estimates the estate could bring in $5 million by the end of the year between merchandiseand album sales and $100 million from the proceeds released in october. until the end of this year you're talking about $200 million for an estate. wipes out about half the death, $4 million. it's big money. >> there is tension, though, jim between the family in terms of they they want to handle this, right? specifically katherine jackson and the estate lawyers. >> katherine jackson keeps objecting to the two administrators. there's going to be a hearing monday and to hear who the permanent administrators will be. katherine jackson does not want the two administrators. claims they have a conflict of interest. they say we know the business better and this is what michael jackson wanted. that's the standoff right now. >> how important is timing in all of this? getting this done very quickly? >> campbell, it's very important. they have to seize the moment while everyone is still excited, looking for a tour, memorabilia. they need to close this deal with aeg. katherine jackson is saying th

yet this will states that john branca and john mclain are the executors. what do you make of that. >> i think what she's referring to are some of the business dealings going on behind the scenes. the autobiography coming out in october, that deal was done not with katherine jackson's say in any way, shape or form. there are other things that have to do with the concerts that she's not being included in. in the end of the day, it comes down to money, alex. if you're not one of the executors, you're not making business decisions. from where katherine jackson stands, she says listen, you two were on the outs with michael for a period of years. you happen to be on his will. i'm his mother, i want to help protect his image, too. i want a say? some of these business decisions. that's where that whole in the dark allegation stems from. while a judge have to sign off on any business decision that gets made, she's now part of the process leading up to that. >> courtney, we got the morning ahead. i'll ask you more questions next hour. thank you. >>> coming up in our

and today the judge may decide if branca and another man named in the will by michael jackson will go from temporary to permanent administrators of an estate i'm told is only worth about $100 million, not that previous estimate of $500 million. we are told perhaps a few of michael's siblings are coming. she wants to challenge who has that control without challenging the will itself if katherine jackson is the largest single beneficiary of that will. the two executors must keep her in the loop on any new deals they enter into, she claims they are apparently intent on keeping her in the dark for as much and as long as possible. she asked the judge to allow her to impose and enforce them to turn over documents before today's hearing. they tell the court that katherine jackson's demands have been invasive and they've been keeping her apprised daily of the developments. the estate says there's only been one new deal to talk about, the rerelease of the autobiography and any deal with aeg is subject to confidential agreement. it only wants to allow katherine jackson's team to see any contrac

. >> reporter: one of the men in chrge is john branca, who also helped turn around elvis'.es as planned, jackson may surpass him. since his death, he's outsold every artist in albums and downloads. in fact, he's the highest-selling artist after death since nielsen started tracking this stuff in 1991. the numbers don't lie. from january 1st of this year until the week he died, jackson told 297,000 albums. compare that to 3.73 million 5 weeks later. and in 2009, prior to the week he died, fans downloaded just 1.3 million of his songs. 5 weeks later, it had jumped to 8.5 million. also, he had the top ten albums on the "billboard" chart for two weeks. the first time any artist, alive or dead, has done that. this senior editor from "forbes" says the time is now for jackson's estate to cash in. >> right now, michael jackson's got his best shot ever, because everyone is looking at it through rhodey-tinted glasses, and the further we get away from his death, the more you'll see the sunglasses taken off. and so the value of his assets will actually go down. >> reporter: no doubt jac

. >> reporter: executor john branca said despite the debt there is a way out and they're following then they created with michael before his death. it includes books, movies, merchandise and the multitude of unpublished jackson songs. >> it seems to be a situation that's almost going to write itself in that michael jackson now is going to have a legacy, hugely in demand by the public. that's goi to be worth a substantial amount of money. >> reporter: and the executors tell us that they believe so much in the strength of the michael jackson brand that they are not going to sell off the sony atv music catalog to pay off debt. remember, that catalog contains thousands of songs from artists like the beatles and eagles and jackson owns that. and it is valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. david? >> so much money we're talking about, lisa fletcher this morning, thanks. >>> two notes from the sports world. the world's fastest man slattered another record. usain bolt bolted through the dash at 9.58 seconds. bested his time by 0.11 secon and check this out in golf i'm sure you have seek it