let's bring back thelma gutierrez, from cnn. she is in phoenix. thelma, have you had a chance to go to the apartment complex and talk to some of the people who know of this incident who lived nearby the girl and where the incident took place? >> reporter: yes, i did, mike, i was there yesterday. and we went in with the liberian refugee, he also runs an organization to help refugees. when we went in, it was very interesting, because what he explained to us is that it's a very tightly knit community. these are people who call each other brother and sister. they're neighbors, brother and sister. and they raise each other's children as though they're their own. initially, when the children were -- the boys were arrested, the mother of the victim had come out and said that she wanted these boys released. she was actually at the perpetrators' home and consoling the mother. he explained to me that the reason that all of this happens is that they are very tightly knit. very close community. people there are tized by this event. they say they escaped liberi

here's cnn's thelma gutierrez with the woman behind "man in the mirror" for "showbiz tonight." ♪ to maker ♪ ♪ and i'm asking him to change his ways ♪ >> reporter: she wrote "man in the mirror" 21 years ago. >> quincy jones, i was with his publishing company and he wanted a song to finish out the "bad" album. i wanted to write a song that made him feel like he had something to say important to the world. and i think he let me know that i did exactly that. >> reporter: what did he say to you? >> he said "man in the mirror" is one of my favorite songs of all time. >> reporter: what was it like when you actually heard him sing your words? >> i remember the first time i heard the song on the radio. i got goose bumps. i pulled over to the side of the road on the freeway and i turned up the radio as loud as it would go and sat there with tears streaming down my face. it was such a moving, emotional movement. >> reporter: what will you miss the most? >> his voice, his laughter. >> reporter: what has the world lost? >> music. we lost the music. >> reporter: so she sang as a tribute to her friend

thelma gutierrez, cnn, california. >>> how about this? is the best time to start a business? how the down times could be a personal boone. >>> the recession is dragging to an end and many financial experts believe it's the perfect time to start a small business. in this week's "money and main street" we meet a decorated out-of-work military vet looking for a financially sound way to follow her dream and become her own boss. here is susan candiotti from our sister station cnn. >> reporter: after the last lay-off in february, laurie started rethinking her options. >> i started thinking i'm tired of going through this. >> reporter: though her aging husky is too old to need grooming, cody inspired her to set her sights on opening a dog grooming business in the upscale atlanta suburb of peach tree city. money was tight so she swallowed her pride and opened a fruit stand. >> it's not doing anything like i hoped it would do, but it's more money than i had last week. >> reporter: fruit is only bringing in a few hundred dollars a week. compared to

thelma gutierrez reports. >> thank you! >> you're welcome. >> reporter: veronica lee could barely contain herself. she just learned this morning, she won the golden ticket. >> i checked it this morning, and it was there. like, i had the e-mail, saying that, you know, that i had got it. >> reporter: what did you do? all weekend long you were excited and -- >> i screamed, i jumped up and down, i woke up all the kids in the house. >> pick any lane. they're all open, sweetheart. get your tickets and you're out of here, baby. >> reporter: the single mother of three from burbank, california, told me her win is bittersweet. she was looking forward to seeing michael jackson in concert. >> it's sad that he's not there, but i'm just happy to, like, be here. to be able to finally get the tickets. >> reporter: you're so emotional right now. tell me what's going through your mind? >> he was like the greatest, you know, musician that i think ever will be on this earth. >> reporter: how long have you been a fan of michael jackson? >> sinc

thelma gutierrez, cnn, pasadena, california. >> how about this, the recession is the best time to starts. we'll explain how the down times could be a personal boon. the dog days of summer may actually be the best time to start a business. >>> you know, unemployment is high, the recession is dragging to an end, and many financial experts believe it's the perfect time to start a small business. in this week's "money and main street," we meet a decorated out of work military vet looking to find a financially sound way to follow her dreams and become her own boss. here is susan candy t candiotti cnn. >> reporter: in the eight years since she retired from the air force, lori lawrence has had three different jobs. she quit one and was laid off twice. after the last layoff in february, she started rethinking her options. >> i started thinking, i'm tired of going through this. what would i really enjoy? >> reporter: though her aging husky cody is too old to need much grooming anymore, cody inspired her to set her sides sights on a dog grooming business. but money was tight so she swallowed her

we'll go to thelma gutierrez outside the jackson encino home. thelma, describe the scene there. >> reporter: tony, i can tell you it was a very impressive sight just a few minutes ago. there was a huge motorcade. you saw 16 vehicles, including two limousine buses with a bunch of unmarked black suvs all leaving the jackson family home. you take a look and you can see the aftermath. this road right up to the entrance of the house was completely closed down. a very, very strong police presence out here. they have put barricades up along the road to keep the road open so the motorcade can leave. now they have opened it up and you can see all the fans now pouring into the area waiting to sign cards and to leave flowers, that kind of thing, right in front of the family's house. again, a very impressive sight, very well orchestrated, tony. we saw jermaine jackson, who pulled up in one of the limousines, he waved to fans and the car pulled behind the gate. we saw latohya jackson as well. we are told they sent out advisories to the neighbors in the upsale

. >> larry: we wind up things tonight with thelma gutierrez at the los angeles grammy museum. son's death, the museum has extended an exhibition about his style. tell us all about it, thelma. what's happening? >> larry, i can tell you, if you're a fan, this is the place to be. look at the three jackets in front of me. michael jackson had these made for his own personal wear, that way you'd have a sports coat made to wear out to dinner. this jacket was actually inspired when he was walking down the street. he saw a gum wrapper, took the gum wrapper to his designer and said, make me a jacket. all of these items here, larry, were about to go down just last week when they learned that michael jackson had died. the exhibit had run its course. they were taking it down, they found out, and then instantly they had to scramble to get this exhibit back up. bob is the executive director here of the grammy museum. bob, tell me. how did you go about selecting some of these things? i understand michael jackson actually reached out to you. he said, i want to be included. >> really it was a cu

cnn's thelma gutierrez explains. >> i need hot water to clean all this up.reporter: kenny more son used to be a sue chef. within a couple of years, he lost it all because of a habit. >> reporter: you started with codeine and vicodin? >> yes. >> reporter: how many pills were you taking at the heighth? >> probably 20, 25 a day. >> reporter: he didn't buy his drugs on a street corner or get them from a dope dealer. he got them from a dentist, a medical professional he had never met before. according to the dea, 7 million americans are abusing prescription drugs. that's more than the number abusing cocaine, heroin and inhalants combined. >> reporter: if you have a medication that you are taking that was prescribed by a legitimate doctor or a dentist, how can you be a drug addict? it helps you to legitmize it. >> reporter: among addicts, dentist shopping is an open secret. you call them and tell them you have pain in your mouth. >> they will call in a prescription. >> reporter: one dentist didn't give you the prescription. what would you do then? >> i was going i

cnn's thelma gutierrez reports from los angeles. >> he wanted to be a police officer. >> devon was alwayss jj. >> reporter: devon bailey was just about to turn seven. he never had a chance. last week, devon died a violent death. this is a tragic story about a 6-year-old boy who tried to save himself from abuse. somehow, this first graders cries for helps went unanswered. the polite boy with a big smile lived a broken life. his biological father hadn't seen him since he was a baby. seven months ago, his mother said she was unable to care for him so she sent him to live here. neighbor, kevin davis, remembers the boy and saluted him. i said, hey, welcome to the neighborhood, little neighbor. he said, neighbor, that's what you are when you live next door to each other. he said okay. so i'm big neighbor, you little neighbor. so that's the way it is wa. whenever i come up, i would salute him and he would salute me back. >> reporter: on july 23rd, devon's battered body was discovered in the house. >> devon was in the bedroom lying on his back. >> he had bruising throughout his body and the top o

thelma gutierrez spoke with him. what happened, thelma?that father went with an elder from the liberian community. they met with cps yesterday. he says he wants his daughter back. he does want that child back. however, we can't disclose the exact contents of that meeting but we can tell you that cps says they will go through a very careful process before any reun i havefy kags takes place. >> everybody is concerned about that little girl. is she okay? is she doing well? can you tell us anything about her situation? >> i talked about someone with cps. i can only tell you that she is safe. she is getting the medical and psych lnlg cal attention that she needs. we can also say we talked to people in the community, we talked to police. their big concern is that you have a child who went through this terrible trauma. the people she would typically turn to for help, her mother, father, siblings, are the people who were taken away from her. what is in the best interest of this child, to be reunited with her family or remain in foster care, as she

cnn's thelma gutierrez caught up with a woman who did. thelma?porter: wolf, i'm standing at the entrance to dodger stadium and this long line of cars that you see behind me are people who are waiting to actually pick up their tickets. we talked to one woman who told us she felt like she just won the lottery. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. >> reporter: veronica lee could barely contain herself. she just learned this morning she won the golden ticket. >> i checked it this morning and it was there. like i had the e-mail saying that, you know, that i had got it. >> reporter: what did you do? all weekend long, you were excited? >> i screamed, i jumped up and down. i woke up all the kids in the house. >> get your tickets and you're out of here. >> reporter: the single mother of three from burbank, california told me her win is bittersweet. she was looking forward to seeing michael jackson in concert. >> it's sad that he's not there but i'm just happy to be here, to be able to finally get the ticket. >> reporter: you're so emotional right now. tell me

our cnn thelma gutierrez is investigating. what are you finding out?will be dealt with. i can tell you, the city of los angeles is facing a $530 million deficit and the governor just said today that the state is the fiscal state of emergency. so it is a fair question. who will foot the bill for this memorial service? >> reporter: city officials expect it to be the biggest memorial service los angeles has ever seen. an estimated 20,000 people inside staples arena. hundreds of thousands of more outside. how the area is secured and the massive crowds control will be up to los angeles police. it won't come cheap. taxpayers will have to foot a big chunk of the bill for public safety. >> we are under some very difficult financial times. >> reporter: los angeles city councilman who is on the budget and finance committee says the city is in a financial crisis with a $530 million deficit. >> people's lives are being affect affected. so we are saying we can't do any more this year, this coming fiscal year. >> reporter: how much will it cost taxpayers? no one is

>>> thelma gutierrez. thank you so much. live outside of the staples center.monroe. a cnn contributor, the former editor of both "ebony" and "jet" magazines and had the last sit-down interview with michael jackson before he died. he's going to weigh in on his state of mind, what he looked like, last wishes and foreshadowing to his mortality still ahead. you all want to run your businesses more efficiently, so we've brought in a team of experts to help. one suggestion is to make your shipping more efficient with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. call or go online for a free supply and up to $160 in offers from authorized postage vendors. shipping's a hassle! weighing every box... actually, with flat rate boxes you don't need to weigh anything under 70 pounds. if it fits, it ships for a low flat rate. ok, but i ship all over the country. you can ship anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. ship international, too. yes, but i ship hundreds of things, in all sizes. great, because flat rate boxes come in four sizes. call now and we'll send