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Nation in brief

Jackson: Being a celebrity makes you a target

By wire services
Published February 4, 2005

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Michael Jackson said in a television interview scheduled to air Saturday that many of the news reports about him are "fiction" and that his celebrity makes him a target.

Jackson was barred by a gag order from talking about the molestation charges he faces. But he said in a wide-ranging interview with the Fox News Channel's At Large w/ Geraldo Rivera program that he believes the truth about him will ultimately come out.

"The bigger the star, the bigger the target. I'm not trying to say I'm the super-duper star, I'm not saying that," Jackson said in the interview, which was taped two weeks ago. "I'm saying the fact that people come at celebrities, we're targets. But truth always prevails. I believe in that."

Excerpts of the interview were released Thursday by Fox. The interview was Jackson's first since he was indicted in April on charges of molesting a boy and plying him with alcohol. Jackson's lawyers and prosecutors are scheduled to begin questioning potential jurors Monday.

Jackson also said he designed his Neverland estate as a place where he could enjoy the childhood activities he missed while he was a child star.

"It gave me a chance to do what I couldn't do when I was little," Jackson said. "We couldn't go to movie theaters. We couldn't go to Disneyland."

TETERBORO, N.J. - Federal investigators Thursday tried to determine whether it was ice on the wings that caused a corporate jet to careen across a highway.

About 20 people were taken to the hospital after Wednesday's crash at Teterboro Airport. A passenger in a car that was hit by the plane was in critical condition.

A 16-member team from the National Transportation Safety Board was examining possible causes, including whether ice formed on the wings or tail of the Bombardier Canadair Challenger CL-600. Ice can harm a plane's aerodynamics.

CAPE CANAVERAL - An Atlas 3 rocket lifted off into space Thursday carrying a secret military payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, the agency that oversees the nation's spy satellites.

The launch was the sixth and final mission for the 170-foot Atlas 3 rocket, which has been replaced by the Atlas 5, a larger, more powerful rocket designed to reduce costs and provide reliable access to space for heavier military cargoes.

[Last modified February 4, 2005, 00:19:15]