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Italy's Borrowing Costs Hit Record High; Islamists in Egyptian Elections; Inquest Into Gary Speed's Death; Britain Warns Iran; Sports Round-Up; The Case of Dr. Conrad Murray; LA Judge Gives Conrad Murray Maximum Sentence in Death of Michael Jackson; Online Reaction to Conrad Murray Sentence; Medical Ethics Issues from Murray Case; Gateway: Timing is Everything at Zurich Central Station; Going Green: Solar Plane Leaves No Carbon Footprint; Parting Shots of Geezer Brawl
Aired November 29, 2011 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Italy's cost of borrowing hits a record high as Europe's finance ministers scramble to contain the crisis. Tonight, why it's crunch time for one of Europe's biggest economies.
Live from London, I'm Becky Anderson.
Also tonight...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE MICHAEL PASTOR, L.A. COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT: He has absolutely no sense of remorse, absolutely no sense of fault and is and remains dangerous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Michael Jackson's doctor is sentenced to four years in prison for involuntary manslaughter. We ask a medical ethics expert, will this case have an impact on celebrity medicine?
And the sky is the limit -- the first aircraft in the world that can fly without fuel.
Well, the pressure is building for European leaders to nail down their plans to weather this growing financial storm. They need to act fast. Today's borrowing costs in vulnerable Italy reached record levels. Well, Eurozone finance ministers arrived in Brussels on Tuesday for what is a -- a two day summit. Within the past few hours, they approved the next installment of record rescue funds for Greece. And they are expected to finalize details to bolster the European bailout fund.
Well, they will no doubt be keeping a close eye on Italy's rising bond yields. Today, the country paid a record 7.56 percent of an auction of 10- year bonds.
Back at the start of the month, remember this, they were at just over 6 percent. They've peaked above the 7 percent mark several times now. And that is significant. That is the level at which other troubled economies, like Portugal, Greece and Ireland, had to ask for bailouts.
Well, reports are surfacing tonight of a document defeated by The European Commission and the European Central Bank with a dire warning. It reportedly says that ongoing high interest rates could turn Italy's liquidity crisis into a solvency crisis.
Well, Richard Quest, my colleague, joins me now. And it is crunch time for Italy. It's one thing to have a liquidity crisis, another to have a solvency crisis, isn't it?
RICHARD QUEST, HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Yes. And this report, which is supposedly -- which we haven't seen a copy of, but between the ECB and the Commission, which has been provided to the European finance ministers, will make extremely worrying reading, for this simple reason.
Until now, it's been a question of whether Italy and the banks have enough money slow -- sloshing around.
Can they fund themselves on an ongoing basis?
However, at 70 percent plus, then you end up with a solvency crisis. And that means you've got to recapitalize. That means you've got to bail out. That means the country simply doesn't have enough money, not that it just can't borrow.
ANDERSON: Well, those weary men and women who are meeting tonight in Brussels are looking at the bailout fund and looking at how they can leverage it, make some money here worth a lot of money here.
QUEST: Oh, but look...
ANDERSON: But let me -- I just want to put this to you.
QUEST: Yes?
ANDERSON: Italy is due to commit something like $187 billion into that bailout fund. They can't even afford to pay their bills at the end of the month, or may not be able to.
QUEST: Absolutely. I mean this is the whole -- this is the whole farce of the EFSF. You have got taxpayers funding the bailout through this mechanism from countries that haven't got enough money to start with. And nor are they likely to hit the $1 trillion, $2 trillion that they require.
This -- in terms of leverage. This fund is simply not going to manage to reach the necessary amounts that will be required to be a full scale fire, if you like...
ANDERSON: Sure.
QUEST: -- a...
ANDERSON: Firewall.
QUEST: -- firewall around -- thank you.
Now, there was a very serious warning today from somebody, the Polish foreign minister, Radek Sikorski. Yesterday, he said that he feared German inactivity in dealing with this problem more than German power, if you like, in Europe. It was a startling statement.
And when he joined me earlier this evening, I discussed with him the really very serious question, it's all about credibility.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RADOSLAW SIKORSKI, POLISH FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER: We have a short- term problem and an important medium-term problem to fix. Short-term, we need to save the Eurozone by whatever technical means. Medium-term, we also have to change the treaties to make Europe more governable, and thereby restore credibility, because this crisis is not only about debt, it's really about credibility, whether Europe can work in the long run.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: He bristled when I pointed out afterwards that they actually didn't have any credibility left. I mean you know from -- what number -- what bailout plan are we on?
What recovery plan are we...
ANDERSON: The fifth.
QUEST: The fifth one. And each time, they tell us it's going to get better.
Well, the time is seriously running out and the canary in the mine this time is Italy...
ANDERSON: Yes.
QUEST: -- if those rates don't come down.
ANDERSON: All right, well, European leaders, Richard, and I know, have struggled to agree on a battle plan. Like I say, it's not the first, second...
QUEST: Yes.
ANDERSON: -- third or fourth. This is the fifth to protect the region from contagion.
QUEST: Right.
ANDERSON: Stay with me.
CNN's Nina dos Santos visited Winston Churchill's war rooms in London earlier today to explain how rising borrowing costs are Europe's number one enemy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As the Eurozone debt crisis goes from bad to worse, the region's leaders have conceded that they're facing the most serious situation since World War II.
Well, it was at this very desk deep under the streets of London in the cabinet war rooms that the then British prime minister, Winston Churchill, helped to steer Allied forces to victory in 1945.
Now, behind this desk is a map of Europe. This is the region which, at that time, was divided, but now stands united under the banner of the European Union. Seventeen out of those 27 member states in the EU now share the same currency, which means they're part of the Eurozone.
But that also means that they share some pretty severe financial problems that economists say aren't going away any time soon.
Greece is the epicenter of the Eurozone's sovereign debt crisis. Two bailouts later, well, this issue is not confined just to its shores. It spread well beyond its borders toward places like Portugal in the west and also Ireland in the northwest, which also got price out of the world's bond markets and therefore had to appeal for a bailout themselves.
And now, the debt crisis has well and truly washed up on the shores of core European countries like, for instance, Italy. This is the Eurozone's third largest economy, but it has the world's fourth largest debt pile. And with bond yields soaring a number of times beyond that 7 percent cutoff point beyond which economists say it just becomes too expensive to service a debt pile like that on the open markets, with fears that countries like Italy may need a bailout themselves.
And it's not just Italy that is facing these kind of problems. Spain, as you can see, further to the west, also has its own problems. In fact, its own finance minister had to say that the country will not be needing a bailout after its borrowing costs soared.
And other Eurozone countries, which are better savers, let's say, and have their finances more in order, are still facing spiking borrowing costs, for instance, the Netherlands. Even Austria saw its borrowing costs rise.
And now there's concerns about France and also Germany, the two strongmen of Europe, and exactly how they're going to help other Eurozone countries to solve their financial woes, because these kind of financial issues threaten the stability not just of the economic bloc, but also of the single currency itself.
When it comes to contagion, there's no place to hide.
Nina dos Santos, inside Churchill's bunker under the streets of London.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, there was no euro at that time. And perhaps there should be no euro now.
Who knows?
And, Richard, these leaders have been banging on, looking for answers to what is a real crisis. The Americans don't like it. The Chinese don't like it.
What's the solution here?
QUEST: The solution is unpalatable left and right. Germany is going to have to foot the bill. That's going to have to be massive transfers of wealth from the northern countries to the southern countries and everybody is going to have to give up some sort of sovereignty.
But there's one thing to bear in mind tonight. This crisis has now moved into a deeper, more serious moment. What we saw over the last, say, two months, three months, were the flashes of -- of -- of anger hyperbole.
But now we've got the slow burning embers of a full scale potential collapse.
The euro, as a currency, is not going away. What will happen or what could happen or what may happen is the currency -- the countries that use it will be very different.
ANDERSON: Good luck, Mario Monti.
What a job.
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: I'm prime minister. I think...
QUEST: He wanted it.
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: I'm not sure he did, did he?
I don't know.
Richard, thank you.
QUEST: All right.
ANDERSON: Richard Quest with us this evening.
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD live from London.
Still to come, a political awakening in Egypt after the Arab spring. We've got the latest on the second day of historic parliamentary elections.
Also, why the man accused of killing 77 people in Norway is unlikely to serve time in prison.
And looking for answers into the shocked death of a Welch football hero. New details emerge in the Gary Speed case.
A lot more coming up here on CNN.
Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: A very warm welcome back.
You're watching CNN, the world's news leader.
And this is CONNECT THE WORLD.
I'm Becky Anderson.
Welcome back.
Well, the former leader of Ivory Coast is reportedly on his way to the International Criminal Court in the Hague. These are pictures of Laurent Gbagbo at the time of his arrest in April. Since then, has been living under house arrest. But today, an attorney for the former president told Reuters that he was served a warrant and is now on a flight to the Netherlands.
Well, the ICC is probing allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity amid the violence that erupted following last year's disputed presidential election.
Well, it's being hailed as a democratic triumph for a country at the heart of the Arab spring. Two days of voting are now over in Egypt, where millions took part in the first round of elections to choose a lower house of parliament. The voting was largely peaceful and the turnout was high, about 70 percent, by one estimate.
The ruling military council calls it a success.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. ISMAIL ETMAN, EGYPT'S SUPREME COUNCIL OF THE ARMED FORCES: The elections took place in a respectable manner. And it reflects the awareness of the Egyptian people. The voting was transparent. Everyone gets their rights and the results are according to the ballot box. The box speaks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, we won't know a final result until January, but the election is expected to bring a long-awaited reversal of fortune for political Islam.
Ben Wedeman looks at what the Muslim Brotherhood stands to gain from their first ever freely contested election.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twenty-nine -year-old Amna Abdel Aziz, an office worker and mother of three, has come to cast her ballot. Like so many others, this is her first time. She's voting for the Freedom and Justice Party, the newly formed political wing of the once banned Muslim Brotherhood, likely to win the largest share of votes in Egypt's parliamentary elections.
"If the Muslim Brotherhood run the country," she says, "they'll fix everything -- health, housing, jobs, girls who walk around with their hair uncovered, girls who walk around in the wrong clothing. God willing, they'll fix everything."
This is one voter's opinion, not necessarily reflecting the position of a group that even when it was banned under Hosni Mubarak, was careful to steer a middle course, trying not to alarm less religiously inclined Egyptians while building up broad support among Egypt's poor, with charitable and social activities.
The Brotherhood's critics say it's a wolf in sheep's clothing.
(on camera): For more than 80 years since its founding, the Muslim Brotherhood struggled using fair means, and sometimes foul, to reach the corridors of power. And now, with these elections, their moment may have arrived.
(voice-over): They savor this sudden reversal of fortunes.
"At this time a year ago, in 2010, in this exact place, we were being beaten and dragged on the ground to stop us from voting," recalls supporter Abdel Aziz Zayed (ph). "But now, the future before us is great."
The uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak has been a boon for the Brotherhood. No longer watched and sometimes pursued by the authorities, its members have been working even harder at the grassroots level to consolidate support.
Outside almost every voting station in Cairo, Brotherhood members have set up tables where they help people confused by a complicated electoral list. They don't tell people who to vote for, but the fliers on the table are a less than subtle hint.
The party's leaders are quick to reassure their fellow Egyptians -- Christians, secularists and liberals -- that they pose them no threat.
ISSAM AL-ARIAN, MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD LEADER: They are our friends, our neighbors, our citizens. And they have the same rights and duties. And nobody can deny that they -- if they oppose us, they are participating in building this country and correcting our mistakes if we commit a mistake.
And it's very important for a democratic system.
WEDEMAN: the power that they have sought for so long may test such magnanimity.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Cairo.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, Britain is warning Iran of consequences after the U.K. embassy in Tehran was stormed by an angry mob of students earlier today. Now, the protesters were demanding that the U.K. ambassador be expelled immediately.
Ralitsa Vassileva now looks at what is behind the row.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chanting, "Down with Britain!" a mob of angry, stone-throwing Iranian students stormed and ransacked the British ambassador in Tehran. The students pulled down the British flag and waved a picture of the queen, protesting new sanctions against Iran and demanding the British ambassador be sent home immediately.
WILLIAM HAGUE, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: The United Kingdom takes this irresponsible action extremely seriously.
VASSILEVA: The Iranian parliament voted Sunday to expel the British ambassador and downgrade relations with the UK.
Iran's Foreign Ministry later expressed regret for the protest and said it will take action through legal channels against those involved.
Analysts see the incident as part of a regional power play ahead of the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq at the end of the year.
REVA BHALLA, INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Iran is waiting very patiently to fill that power vacuum. And that's eliciting a number of reactions around the region, all by those players who are very concerned about a more influential Iran in the region. And that's exactly why we're seeing signs of the covert war intensifying in the lead-up to this withdrawal.
VASSILEVA: The protest coincides with growing concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions. The Western sanctions were imposed after a U.N. nuclear watchdog report published new evidence Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon, a charge Tehran vehemently denies.
The U.K. condemned the attack and urged Iran to honor its international duty to protect diplomatic staff. It is advising British nationals in Iran to stay indoors and keep a low profile in what it calls "a fluid situation."
Ralitsa Vassileva reporting.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, calling his actions a disgrace to the medical profession, a Los Angeles judge has ordered Michael Jackson's doctor to serve four years in jail. Now, the sentence comes three weeks after a jury found Conrad Murray guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the pop star's death. It was the maximum penalty allowed.
And we're going to have much more on today's sentencing just ahead in a live report from Los Angeles.
Well, the man accused of killing 77 people in the Norway massacre has been declared insane. Forensic psychiatrists have found that Anders Bering Brevik suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. Under Norwegian law, that means he cannot be sent to prison. However, if convicted following his murder trial in April, he could be confined to a mental hospital for the rest of his life.
Well, Hillary Clinton arrives in Myanmar on Wednesday for what is an historic visit. It's the first time a U.S. secretary of State has visited the country, also known as Burma, in more than 50 years. Clinton will hold talks with the president and meet former political prisoner, Aung San Suu Kyi.
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN.
Up next, new details emerge on the baffling death of Welch sports hero, Gary Speed.
And a judge condemns Michael Jackson's doctor for practicing, quote, "money for medicine madness."
That coming up.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD live from London.
I'm Becky Anderson.
Welcome back.
Well, an inquest has opened into the death of Welsh football manager, Gary Speed. This is a tragic story.
The coroner briefly confirming some of the facts that have emerged over the past 48 hours before adjourning the case until the new year.
Now, family and friends of the 42-year-old footballer have been baffled by his apparent suicide.
Their question simply remains, why?
Well, let's get the latest on this case with Alex Thomas.
As I said, this is a desperately sad case -- Alex, what are we hearing from the -- from what was the hearing today?
ALEX THOMAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We thought we'd good evening more answers. As you say, just three letters in the word why, but a huge word metaphorically when it comes to this case. Everyone wants to know the answer to it.
But the Cheshire County coroner, the county where Gary Speed lived with his wife and two children, Nicholas Reinberg, opened the hearing into Gary Speed's death and then adjourned it within 10 minutes.
So all we found out is that it was confirmed his wife, Louise, found Gary's body on Sunday morning shortly before 7:00 in the morning.
A post-mortem into Gary's death confirmed it was death by hanging, although there was no confirmation that it was officially suicide, although a policeman did speak at the hearing and did make it clear and reiterated there was no suspicious circumstances. A full hearing will be held on January the 30th.
ANDERSON: Yes. This is really a tragic story.
All right. That's football.
Let's move on to Formula One. I know yet another former world champion has announced today that he's returning to the track.
THOMAS: Yes, I mean not a huge shockwave. But Kimi Raikkonen has said he's going to come back to to Formula One. But it does make it really interesting for the 2012 season, actually, that he -- Kimi is not the most charismatic of Finnish drivers, it's fair to say, but he did win the world championship in 2007. He's driven for Ferrari and McLaren, had a couple of years trying out rallying, where he was nowhere near as successful as he had been as an F1 driver, says his enthusiasm and motivation for F1 is back.
And now he will line up on the grid when the season gets underway in Melbourne, Australia alongside five other world champions. It will be Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, and, of course, Sebastian Vettel, who has won it the last two years.
ANDERSON: This is like the veterans lineup.
What's his motivation, do you think?
THOMAS: I was almost going to say money, but I that that's very harsh.
(LAUGHTER)
THOMAS: I'm sure money has got something to do with it. I think he went to rallying. He wasn't successful.
ANDERSON: Yes.
THOMAS: He knew he was a world champion F1. Clearly, he disagrees that people had said he'd lost his spark. But maybe he's going to return to F1 to try and find it a bit.
ANDERSON: Yes. Interesting.
Well, I was at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix the other day. For what it's worth, it's a -- such an exciting sport, at least watching the grid. It was (INAUDIBLE)...
THOMAS: It's a golden era for them now, isn't it?
ANDERSON: Oh, fantastic.
Lovely.
Alex, thank you.
Still to come, well, Alex back, of course, in an hour with "WORLD SPORT".
Still to come on CONNECT THE WORLD, his actions led to their loved ones' deaths, now Michael Jackson's family is speaking out about the sentencing of Dr. Conrad Murray.
Then, is it a bird of a plane or a new kind of aircraft?
Well, it is with a wing -- an impressive wing span and almost zero environmental impact. We'll show you how that works later in the show.
And frail they may be, but forgiving they are not -- find out what happens when two old football rivals meet at what should have been a quiet luncheon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN. I'm Becky Anderson in London. Time for a check of the headlines this hour.
Eurozone finance ministers have approved a $10 billion bailout payment for Greece. They'll head into the second day of their summit in Brussels on Wednesday, when they are expected to finalize plans for an enlarged European bailout fund.
The United Nations Security Council is condemning a raid on the British embassy in Iran. Student demonstrators stormed the building. Iran's foreign ministry expressed regret. Britain calls the incident utterly unacceptable.
Polls have closed in the second day of Egypt's elections. A steady stream of voters turned out to cast their ballots. The vote proceeding relatively peacefully. It was the first round of voting for the lower house of parliament there.
And Norwegian police say the man accused of killing 77 people in a bombing and shooting rampage last July is insane. If found guilty at trial, Breivik could now spend the rest of his life in a mental hospital.
And a Los Angeles judge has given Michael Jackson's doctor the maximum penalty allowed for his conviction on involuntary manslaughter charges. Conrad Murray was sentenced today to four years in jail.
Those are the headlines this hour.
We're going to go live to Los Angeles in just a moment for reaction to that sentencing. First, though, a reminder of the case against Conrad Murray. Sandra Endo, now, takes us back to November the 7th, the day a jury delivered its verdict after a six-week trial. Have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAMMIE BENSON, JUDICIAL CLERK: We, the jury in the above entitled action, find the defendant, Conrad Robert Murray, guilty --
(WOMAN SCREAMS)
BENSON: -- of the crime of involuntary manslaughter.
SANDRA ENDO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Conrad Murray showed little emotion as he learned his fate. It took a Los Angeles nearly ten hours of deliberation to convict Michael Jackson's personal physician of involuntary manslaughter in the death of the pop star.
(CROWD SCREAMING)
ENDO: The verdict elicited cries of joy from the crowd of hundreds of Michael Jackson fans outside the courthouse. Murray was convicted of administering a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol to Jackson the day he died.
Prosecutors had a line of witnesses to testify to Murray's alleged attempts to cover his tracks on June 25, 2009, when he realized Jackson was in trouble.
DEBORAH BRAZIL, DEPUTY DISTRACT ATTORNEY, LOS ANGELES COUNTY: Did Conrad Murray every mention the word "propofol" to you during the time that you were at the location or in his presence?
RICHARD SENNEFF, PARAMEDIC: No, he did not.
ENDO: Throughout the trial, the defense tried to prove that Jackson self-administered the fatal dose of propofol without Murray's knowledge.
J. MICHAEL FLANAGAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: So you think it was a self- injection of propofol near the hour of -- between 11:30 and 12:00 that did it?
PAUL WHITE, MEDICAL EXPERT: In my opinion, yes.
ENDO: Murray was taken away in handcuffs. The judge ordered him held without bail until his sentencing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, that sentencing, of course, came just hours ago today. Four years behind bars is the maximum punishment allowed. CNN's Casey Wian joins us now live from Los Angeles. He's been covering this trial, obviously, throughout its -- throughout the time it's been going on. Casey, what was the reaction there to this sentence?
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of varied reactions, Becky. I was sitting right in front of the Jackson family, and as soon as the judge made it clear that he was going to sentence him to the -- Conrad Murray to the maximum four years, I turned around and looked at some of his siblings. La Toya smiling broadly and Jermaine was softly nodding as his head was bowed.
There was some frustration, though. Despite the fact that prosecutors were very happy that the judge did sentence him to the maximum, Dr. Conrad Murray is likely to only serve about two years in jail, and it'll be county jail, not the state penitentiary. And that's because the prison system here in the state of California is so overcrowded that they're actually going to release him early, and they've already said that. So, there's some frustration.
Prosecutors, though, were applauded by Jackson's fans after the sentence was read. They said that that was something that was very unusual, to see fans outside applauding the prosecution.
And one final note, Dr. Conrad Murray's girlfriend -- or one of his girlfriends who testified at the trial blew him a kiss before the sentencing began, and Dr. Murray blew a kiss back to his supporters after the sentencing was finished, Becky.
ANDERSON: All right. What happens to him tonight, Casey?
WIAN: Well, he's back in jail and we don't know exactly which jail he will be housed in and exactly for how long other than the fact that we know it's going to be for two years. There's been some speculation that he might be a candidate for early release, but officials here say that he is not at this time being considered someone who would be allowed to go home and wear an ankle bracelet.
The other interesting question that's out there, though, is that the prosecution submitted a request for restitution in the amount of $102 million. That's based on Michael Jackson's estate's estimate of what he would have earned for a series of concerts around the world and the cost of his funeral, which were nearly $2 million.
The judge put that decision over until January because he wanted to see more evidence of the actual expenses and how they were broken down, Becky.
ANDERSON: Wow. And so they say, the case goes on. Casey Wian for you out of Los Angeles this evening. Casey, thank you for that.
Well, the moment the judge announced his sentence, as you can imagine, social media sites were alive. Conrad Murray quickly became one of the most popular trends on the Twitter site. You can see here, it was a hot topic from the Americas to Europe and Africa.
Here's what some people said. This person tweeted, "Murray has no remorse or fault for MJ's death and is offended by being accused. Couldn't be more true. Judge, thank you."
Another one, Saagar Jethva, says, "I do not believe Dr. Murray was responsible for the death of Michael Jackson."
But this person tweeting, @JoJoWright, says, "Conrad Murray sentenced to maximum four years. Judge rips Murray to shreds, believes he is a danger to the community."
And Camilla wrote, "Had it not been Michael Jackson, I bet Dr. Murray wouldn't have gotten the maximum sentence. He's been blamed for the death of a drug addict." Interesting point.
Well, one prominent doctor says the case, indeed, raises important ethical questions about the practice of celebrity medicine. He also says it highlights the dangers of having only one physician on staff.
Arthur Caplan is director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania joining us this evening. Sir, thank you for joining us.
Firstly, is Camilla right when she tweets, does Murray's sentence really reflect the celebrity nature in this case, do you think?
ARTHUR CAPLAN, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR BIOETHICS, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: I don't. Becky, I think this doctor would have gone to jail. Anybody who used pro -- this drug, this powerful anesthetic drug that only should be used in a hospital under exquisitely sensitive supervision, you find that in a home and you're using it as a sleep aid, you're going to jail. It's gross malpractice. So, I don't think it was just because of Michael Jackson that he got a tough sentence.
ANDERSON: All right. But we've heard a lot of talk about an inverted comma, "celebrity medicine" today, and I want you to take us through this. First of all, is there such a thing as celebrity medicine? What's the industry around celebrities these days?
CAPLAN: You know, there is, Becky, people say, "Well, I'm going to hire my own doctor. I want privacy, I don't want anybody finding out if I have a particularly contentious or stigmatized disease." Some people do it for convenience.
But let's look at Dr. Murray. He's treating Michael Jackson, who's got a sleep problem. He's a cardiologist. He isn't even treating somebody in his own area of expertise. Even though Michael Jackson may say, "Look, I want you to get me to sleep, you do what it takes, and I'm going to pay you handsomely to do it," it's still lousy medicine.
So, whenever somebody brings up the idea, it'd be great to have your own doctor all the time, well, no one doctor is sufficient to treat everything. And you need someone to look over your shoulder once in a while in case you make a mistake or you're doing something -- your willingness to be with a celebrity is distorting your judgment.
I think it's always important to see more than one physician even if you're the richest person in the world --
ANDERSON: Sure.
CAPLAN: Even if you're the biggest celebrity.
ANDERSON: Well, then, how do you think this case will affect the practice of celebrity medicine?
CAPLAN: Well, I hope some of the celebrities and wealthy people take a lesson here and say, "If I have a sleep problem, I've got to get some sleep expertise. If I'm having a problem abusing drugs, I need an addict specialist. If I'm getting old, I need a geriatrician. One person can help coordinate this, but I can't just see one person."
The richest person in the world should be availing themselves of all these different experts. I wish that would happen. I'm a little skeptical it will.
Sometimes people basically say, "I like the guy who does what I tell him to do, and I like the guy who does it quickly, and that's what I want for my doctor." It isn't good medicine, but sometimes I think it's what celebrities sadly fool themselves into thinking is best for them.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. Arthur, we thank you for that. Your expert on the subject --
CAPLAN: My pleasure.
ANDERSON: -- this evening.
Well, just ahead on CONNECT THE WORLD, timing is everything at Zurich's main train station. Find out how special clocks keep the transport hub ticking in the last of our special series of reports. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, from Hamburg's port to Incheon's airport in South Korea, CONNECT THE WORLD's Gateway series over the past six months has taken you behind the scene of some of the world's busiest transportation hubs.
Well, this week is the final installment of that series, and we are at Zurich's central train station, where timing is everything. I went to find out how the station runs like clockwork.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON (voice-over): At the heart of Zurich sits the Hautptbahnhof. This railway station has been serving the city for over 150 years.
Functioning as a pace-setter for the entire Swiss rail network, the station is also a hub where major European routes intersect.
DANIELE PALLECCHI, SPOKESMAN, SWISS RAILWAYS: On the whole Swiss net, we have daily 960,000 passengers. We say if Zurich is working well, the whole net in Switzerland works well.
ANDERSON: Here, the efficiency of the operations is a question of time.
ANDERSON (on camera): Switzerland is known for its iconic watch brand. You won't be surprised to learn that Zurich train station runs like clockwork.
ANDERSON (voice-over): The station's clocks themselves have become a symbol of Swiss punctuality. Their smooth mechanics mimic the smooth running of the trains.
The red second hand stops for one and a half seconds at the hour mark to make it easy to see when trains are leaving on the dot.
PALLECCHI: Part of the whole reliability is our -- we call it in German Nachtsystem. That means every train from every part of the country enters the Zurich main station before the full hour. And if you need to change the train, your train will leave seven minutes after the full. Every hour, the trains departing at the same time.
ANDERSON: The integrated timetable allows 3,000 trains to come in and out of the station every day. The system was implemented in the 80s and is now mostly computerized.
ANDERSON (on camera): This is the relay room at the control center at Zurich station where the switches and signals on even a regularly short journey, say Bern to Zurich, which takes 55 minutes. They're checked half a million times.
CHRISTIAN FLUOR, CONTROL ROOM OPERATIONS, ZURICH CENTRAL STATION: Even if it is computerized, you have to do a lot of work. All of the factors are important for a punctual system. The reliability of man and machine, of the trains, of the computer systems. And here, you have a view of what's happening.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Having been an engine driver for over ten years, Adrian Hofstetter knows a thing or two about punctuality.
Today, he's going to Zurich Airport, ten minutes away.
ADRIAN HOFSTETTER, ENGINE DRIVER, ZURICH CENTRAL STATION: The train arrives a little bit late, and we will take the delay with us. Doors are closed already. And we go.
Now, one minute late. But at the airport, we will be on time.
We have a lot of variety on our schedules. Many trains, many different routings. I can work by myself. I see Switzerland by day, by night. Every weather. It's very different.
And this tunnel brings us to Zurich Airport, the station Zurich Airport is in the underground.
ANDERSON: After a stop at the terminus station, the train is on time and ready to head back to Zurich.
HOFSTETTER: Here we're coming to Zurich main station, have to slow down the train to 30 kilometers per hour.
OK. Welcome to Zurich main station.
ANDERSON (on camera): Today, Switzerland's rail network is one of the densest in the world, and Zurich's Hautptbahnhof sits right at the center of that. And it's the efficiency of operations like those that we've seen here that keeps this European hub ticking.
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ANDERSON: You are watching CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN. I'm Becky Anderson. When we come back, flying on sunshine. We hear about this solar-powered plane that can even stay up in the dark.
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ANDERSON: Yes, indeed. All this week, CONNECT THE WORLD is Going Green and taking a closer look at the environmental challenges facing our planet.
Now, tonight, we are looking up, where thousands of planes leave carbon footprints every day, except for one, apparently. CNN's Ayesha Durgahee went to find out.
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AYESHA DURGAHEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With the same wingspan as a jumbo jet, the weight of a family car, and the power of a scooter, the Solar Impulse is one of a kind.
ANDRE BORSCHBERG, CO-FOUNDER, SOLAR IMPULSE: The airplane has no fuel, makes no pollution, and creates no CO2.
DURGAHEE: It has 12,000 solar cells across its wings, four electric propeller engines, each with a battery pack, with room for just one passenger, the pilot. It is the first aircraft in the world that can fly without fuel during the day and night.
BORSCHBERG: People just want to fly. We want to show what can be done with these technologies. We can keep our quality of life but reduce our energy consumptions, reduce our dependence on oil. We have to find technologies outside of this industry.
The company who builds the airplane had no experience in aviation. They used to build boats for the Americas Cup, for example. Omega, who is a partner, made and helped us to make new instruments, which we cannot find in other airplanes.
DURGAHEE: And the idea of Solar Impulse also came from outside the aviation industry. Bertrand Piccard made the fist balloon flight around the world in 1999, but only just. He nearly ran out of propane.
BERTRAND PICCARD, CO-FOUNDER, SOLAR IMPULSE: We almost failed because of lack of fuel, and at that moment, I made the promise that the next time I would fly around the world, it would be with no fuel at all, independent from fossil energy. And this is really how the vision of Solar Impulse was born.
DURGAHEE: It was not until Bertrand met Andre Borschberg seven years ago that he could begin to fulfill that promise. Now, both pilots are getting as much experience as possible handling the solar-powered aircraft.
PICCARD: You have two types of equipment. One is the normal way to steer an airplane, and then you have all the electronic links to the power with a computer that shows you at every moment how much energy you get from the sun, how much the batteries are loaded.
DURGAHEE (on camera): And because the plane is so delicate and light, do you feel quite vulnerable when you're flying it?
PICCARD: Actually, I don't feel vulnerable. But I feel that it's a big responsibility to fly the plane when you know how many people worked to build it during the last seven years. There's a lot of preparation for each flight.
DURGAHEE (voice-over): The conditions have to be just right. Every five minutes, the wind speed is checked, with a team on hand until everything is in place.
DURGAHEE (on camera): We're about an hour away from takeoff, which gives the engineers some time to make some final checks, to check that everything that the -- in the cockpit is all right and the solar cells on top of the wings.
DURGAHEE (voice-over): With a budget of $134 million over ten years, Solar Impulse has the sponsors and the support to realize the goal of flying around the world without fuel in 2014.
PICCARD: An airplane like this has never been done before.
BORSCHBERG: When the Wright Brothers did the first flight in 1903, it took 25 years for Charles Lindbergh to cross the Atlantic. He did it alone. Another 25 years to have 100 passengers flying over the Atlantic.
DURGAHEE: As the Solar Impulse takes flight, Andre and Bertrand also want their place in history as pioneers in flight.
Ayesha Durgahee, CNN, Payerne, Switzerland.
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ANDERSON: And do join us this weekend when Philippe Cousteau takes us to one of the largest ecosystem restoration projects in the world. The Florida Everglades is a model for other habitat efforts around the world. That is our CNN special, "Going Green: Our Green Future," Saturday, 9:30 in London, 10:30 in Berlin here on CNN.
Well, finally, your Parting Shots this evening, and a punch-up almost 50 -- 50 years in the making as two legends of Canadian football show off their fighting spirit and amazing ability to hold a grudge. Jeanne Moos has the blow-by-blow account.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Throw the flag for unnecessary roughness. When two former football greats go at it over an ancient grudge, MC Ron James called it --
RON JAMES, COMEDIAN: A couple of septuagenarians duking it out.
MOOS: While others called it a "geezer fight." It started at a Vancouver luncheon when former quarterback Joe Kapp took a flower from a centerpiece and extended it to his rival, who responded:
ANGELO MOSCA, FORMER CFL DEFENSIVE TACKLE: Shove it up your (expletive deleted)!
MOOS: When Kapp swatted Angelo Mosca with the flower, Mosca used his cane to knock Kapp's glasses off, then Kapp decked him with a one-two punch.
Ironic that Mosca's new book is entitled "Tell Me to My Face." Even more ironic was the first word out of Kapp's mouth after the fight.
JOE KAPP, FORMER CFL QUARTERBACK: Sportsmanship!
MOOS (on camera): Mosca says once he was knocked down, Kapp still didn't stop.
MOSCA (via telephone): I'm 74 years old and I don't walk very good with a cane. And I had no balance. Down I went. When I went down, he kicked me.
MOOS (voice-over): See if you see it. Not that Mosca hasn't kicked a few guys in his days as a wrestler after retiring from football.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Angelo "King Kong" Mosca!
MOOS: But King Kong Mosca wasn't beating his chest after this one.
MOSCA (via telephone): I think it's absolutely ridiculous it ever happened.
MOOS (on camera): The grudge goes back 48 years. It was a Canadian Football League championship game.
MOOS (voice-over): Then quarterback Kapp was mad because Mosca made what was widely considered a dirty hit that knocked one of Kapp's teammates out of the game.
Fast forward almost five decades.
MOSCA (via telephone): I'm not going to sit there and have someone stuff a flower in my nose.
MOOS: Later, Kapp told a weird story, quoting the player Angelo Mosca injured 48 years ago.
KAPP: I named my dog Angelo. And I kicked the (expletive deleted) out of that dog every day.
MOOS (on camera): A couple of grumpy old football players. It's like a scene right out of the movie "Grumpy Old Men."
WALTER MATTHAU AS MAX GOLDMAN, "GRUMPY OLD MEN": You can shove that pole --
MOSCA: Shove it up your (expletive deleted)!
MOOS (voice-over): Only in "Grumpy Old Men," the weapon of choice was a fish rather than a flower.
KAPP: All I can do is apologize.
MOOS: Before the fight, Mosca offered his hand and Kapp ignored it. After the fight, it was the other way around. A YouTube poster summed it up this way: "Toothless, but still ruthless."
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
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ANDERSON: Oh, dear. I'm Becky Anderson, thank you for watching CONNECT THE WORLD. Up next, the world headlines and "BackStory" here on CNN after this very short break. Don't go away.
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