To the Point

Michael Jackson and Celebrity Justice

Actor Robert Blake and record producer Phil Spector face murder charges in Los Angeles, but the real media circus is in Santa Maria, up in Santa Barbara County, where some 500 reporters have been credentialed for Michael Jackson's child-molestation trial. There's enough TV equipment to transmit a dozen signals around the world simultaneously. There are no courtroom cameras, but Jackson's providing the entertainment, showing up in jeweled waistcoats and moon-walking on top of a car. Is there a chance for justice in an environment like this? What's the message about celebrity culture and law? We talk to prosecutors and defense attorneys, an expert on television and popular culture, and a journalist who's followed Jackson legal troubles for an entire decade. Making News: President Bush Sends Budget to Congress Today Facing a massive deficit, President Bush says this year's priorities are winning the war on terror, protecting the homeland and growing the economy. So this year's budget contains massive reductions in farm subsidies, environmental protection, education and health care for poor people and veterans. Jonathan Weisman, who reports on economic policy for the Washington Post, has more on the President's budgetary proposal. Reporter's Notebook: Cuba Enacts Tough Anti-Smoking Regulations Cigar exports are vital to the Cuban economy. Fidel Castro used to be a cigar smoker, but he gave it up in the mid-1980's. Now, he wants other Cubans to do the same thing. Today, the government has adopted the world's toughest anti-smoking regulations--at least on paper. Stephen Gibbs, who reports from Havana for the BBC, looks at Cuba's 500 year-old tobacco culture.