I found an interesting interview of Nurse Cherilyn Lee (a listed possible witness) by Greta van Susteren of Fox News on 6 July 2009. Among other things, it gives information on Mike’s nocturnal habits which contributed a lot on why he couldn’t sleep. Below is the rush transcript. I have removed repetitive and extraneous words and corrected grammatical mistakes.
GVS When did you first meet him?
CL I met Michael Jackson in January 2009 at his home.
GVS How did you happen to meet him?
CL Through a very dear friend. He had a concern. His children had some coughing, a little runny nose going on, and he was very concerned about the children and want to make sure they stay healthy.
GVS Did you examine him at all? Did he need any medical care at that time, back in January 2009?
CL On January 2009, no. When I finished with the children, he said “Well, you know, what do you do? And I said, “Well, what’s going on with you? And he said, “Well, I’m just feeling a little tired. You know, I’m getting ready for this concert that we’re setting up, and the travelling. I’m just a little tired because I’m getting ready to start performing – practicing and getting myself ready for that. So, I’m just tired.” So I said, “Well, before giving you anything, let’s just do some lab work, see what’s going on,” because there’s many reasons why he could be tired. And so I did. I said, “Well, I can’t do it today.” So he said, “Well, can you come back tomorrow?” And I said, “Well, sure.” I mean, I find it an honor to come back, you know?” And I went back the next day and I asked him prior to fast for me and don’t eat any food after 12:00 midnight and I’ll see him the next morning. So I went back the next morning and drew his blood. He has very small veins, so it took a minute. So I drew his blood and told him that once I had the results back, then I’ll set up a nutritional program for him.
GVS Did he complain about not being able to sleep in those first couple of months?
CL He kind of said, you know, he wanted – he mentioned it, but kind of like “by the way” kind of thing. It wasn’t like, you know, I just have chronic insomnia and I just can’t sleep. It was moreso toward April. That’s when he asked me, “Well, do you mind spending the night with me? I have to show you that I can’t sleep, and I don’t think you really believe me.” I said, “I believe you.” He said, “Well, can you just come?” That was around April when he started bringing this up. So he said, “Why don’t you come watch me sleep?” So I said, “OK, I’m going to bring you some tea, and I had another homeopath and going to bring some other things – actually this was more of an herbal supplement which is very good for sleep. He said, “I can’t take anything with melatonin because it just doesn’t work very well for me.” I said, “OK, I’ll make sure it doesn’t have that in it.” Michael is a very smart man, very articulate, as you know, very well read, so he knew. And I said, “Why don’t you get in bed?” And he said, “Why don’t you come check my room and everything.” And so when I arrived in his room, I said the one thing that I was concerned about was I don’t see how he can sleep. There’s just too much lighting.
GVS Was this artificial light, or like sleeping in the daytime?
CL It was evening.
GVS So he had lights on in his room?
CL Yes, there were a lot of lights on.
GVS How many lights did he have on in his room? Could you read a book?
CL Yes, you could read a book with all the lights.
GVS But was he opposed to trying to do it with the lights off, because a lot of people stay in bed with the lights off.
CL I tried. I said, “Let’s just dim the lights. Let’s cut down on some of the music,” because he had classical music that was ongoing in the house itself.
GVS He played classical music?
CL Yes, he did. It stayed on all day.
GVS Did he ever say why he wanted the lights on when asleep?
CL I asked him. He said, “I have always slept with the lights on.”
GVS Was he afraid of the dark?
CL I asked him that too, and he said. He is not afraid with the lights off, but he like the lights on. And he like to have his DVD there and watching. He loved all the works of Walt Disney. So he had one of the tapes on, watching that along with the other music that was going on. It was a little overstimulating, but he said “I always sleep like this.” Some people feel they can sleep with the TV on but I said, “This is not a healthy way to sleep.”
GVS What Walt Disney stuff was he watching?
CL Donald Duck.
GVS Cartoons?
CL Yes.
GVS Is a 50-year-old man watching cartoons with the lights on unusual to you?
CL No.
GVS Not at all?
CL No, it wasn’t. I have been dealing with all sorts of people for a long time, and he liked the work. He liked the behind the camera. That’s what he found fascinating.
GVS So he was intrigued with artistry?
CL Yes.
GVS So did he refuse to turn the music and the lights off, he wouldn’t try that?
CL No. He said he has done everything. He said he’s done meditation. He’s done this, he’s done that and he just went down the list and he said nothing worked. He said the only think he knows will work is this IV and the Diprivan.
GVS That was the first time in April that he mentions it to you?
CL He mentions it to me and said, “Well, let’s just try this.” I didn’t know what it was, and that whatever it is, the IV is not something I know should be done at home. And he said, “Well, it’s a safe medicine.” I said, “I don’t think it’s safe. Let me just find out.” Even when I went back to his house and taken him the PDR, the physician’s desk reference, and said, “Look, this is something that is very dangerous and you don’t want to do this at home.
GVS So you showed it to him?
CL I showed it to him. He didn’t want to look at it. It’s a real thick, heavy book. I was trying to put it on his lap and let him read it. Bu he was busy with his DVD, looking at something else. So I said, “OK Michael, I will read you the symptoms. You have to know. I’m telling you the truth. I need you to believe me, trust me on this.” He said, “Can you find me an anaesthesiologist then to put me to sleep so I can get at least eight hours of sleep?” I said, “You don’t want to do this.” At that point, I was sitting there, actually we were having a meal together and I sat there. I just had the worst feeling. The sensation came over my body and I said, “Don’t do this, because if you want to be knocked out to go to sleep, my concern is, will you wake up?”
GVS June rolls around. Did you hear from him between June and let’s say, five days before he died? Did you hear from him at all?
CL Father’s Day.
GVS He called you, or you called him?
CL He called me.
GVS And what time of day did he call you?
CL It was in the afternoon. That’s when I received a call, when I was in Florida.
GVS Doe he make these calls himself, or does somebody else make them?
CL Somebody makes the calls.
GVS And says, what, hold for Mike?
CL He might physically himself, or someone would just call and say he’s going to be calling you, but is calling from a blocked number. I said that’s fine, and in a couple of minutes I was put to speak with him. This time someone else called and I showed my caller ID as i was on ER in Florida. I picked up the phone and answered it. And he said, “You know, Michael needs you to come see him. We want to know if you could please come today, right away.” I said I can’t, I’m in Florida. I said,”What’s going on?” And I could hear Michael in the background saying, “Please tell her what’s going on with me. Just tell her.” He said, “One side of my body is hot and one side of my body is cold. What should I do?”
GVS Have you ever heard that symptom before?
CL No, and I worked in emergency medicine and so, no. I have not heard that symptom before.
GVS So you thought that was unusual.
CL I know it was very unusual. And I was very concerned based on the facts of what I told him about the medicine.
GVS Is there any chance that he would have given himself an IV?
CL No, he was afraid of needles. He would never do anything to his body like that. There’s no way.
GVS There is no way he could have gotten the Diprivan and done it himself in your mind?
CL No.
CVS You’re certain?
CL I am certain about that. He didn’t want anything that was going to cause him pain. I had a cream called shea butter and I said, “Come on, Michael, let me just massage your hands because they are really dry and cracked. And he let me just do that. We started that back in February. And he was saying that it was a little painful because it was so dry. And then after that, I said, “Come on, let me do your feet.” And he would say, “No, you’re not going to see my feet.” As far as anything dealing with pain, no, never. I can’t ever see him doing anything like that.
GVS So he would let you do it as a professional, do the IV with the vitamin C?
CL Right.
GVS But you don’t think that he would have freelanced in the sense of giving himself an IV himself or something else?
CL Oh, no. No.
GVS Someone else did?
CL Actually, he would close his eyes for me to give him the vitamin C.
GVS So you think that is the cause of death, the IV, somebody else did it?
CL Yes, he would close his eyes. He didn’t want to look. He said, Please find a doctor to give me this medication so he can monitor me.”
GVS Some have said that they thought he was trying to avoid doing the concerts. Did he ever give you any indication that he...
CL No, not at all. He was so happy the night that he received a lot of awards for the “Thriller”. It was either that night or the night before because of lot of things came in from Holland and all those different companies. He was so excited during the concert. They were faxing and emailing him the music they want to hear. He had copies of it in his hand. He said, “Wow, this many people want to hear this song, this many people want to hear that song.” He was really excited, really looking forward. And moreso, because he said, “This is the first time my children are going to see me perform.”
The second part of the interview was on 7 July and talked about his relationship with his children.
