Morning Links: Cousin says Jackson looked 'peaceful' in coffin
A cousin who attended the private family viewing before Michael Jackson's memorial service Tuesday says his coffin was open and "He looked like himself. He looked like he just was laying there sleeping." David Fossett, 50, Jackson's cousin of the same age who who grew up with him and still lives in Gary, Ind., said, "He looked peaceful."
E!Online, still hot on the trail of what happened to Jackson's body after the Staples Center memorial service, says the gold-plated coffin was taken through an underground tunnel that links the center with the Nokia Theater, loaded into a van and taken to "refrigerated mortuary storage at an undisclosed location."
Dr. Conrad Murray, the doctor who was with Jackson when he died, says he is owed $300,000 for the weeks he spent working as Jackson's personal doctor. Murray was hired by Jackson's camp to accompany the frail singer in his planned 50-concert engagement in London.
Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi rejected a House resolution lauding Jackson as an American icon and international humanitarian. Pelosi said although members are free to use their speeches to "express their sympathy or their praise any time that they wish," she added, "I don't think it's necessary for us to have a resolution." Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas spoke at his memorial and showed a framed copy of the resolution she sponsored, but other members opposed it, including Rep. Peter King of New York, who blasted Jackson as a "pervert" and a "pedophile" in a YouTube video.
Britney Spears' ex-boyfriend, Adnan Ghalib, will stand trial on charges he struck a process-server with his car. Ghalib is accused of felony assault with a deadly weapon, battery and hit-and-run. Adnan will be arraigned later this month.
George Clooney visited the town of L'Aquila, Italy, which was devastated by an earthquake in April, and said he will act in a film to be shot there in the autumn. He said filming the movie, which he did not name, in the city in which more than 300 people died will boost the economy and "draw attention to this tragedy."
Jim Carrey is getting ready to entertain his first grandchild. The comedian, 47, is the father of Jane Carrey, 21, who is expecting her first child with her fiance. The baby should inherit musical genes -- Jane Carrey sings with the Jane Carrey band and fiance Alex Santana is with the rock band Blood Money. "I am very excited," the proud grandpa-to-be said in a statement. "Jane is going to be a great mom."
Emphatically not expecting is Raven-Symone, 23, star of "That's So Raven." A pregnancy -- or possibly even childbirth -- has been rumored, but her rep says it's not true. Reports even give the baby's name-- Liliana Pearman.
-- Anne Neville
