David Gest Goes 'On the Record'

This is a partial transcript from "On the Record," June 9, 2005, that has been edited for clarity.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: Joining us from Atlanta is long time Michael Jackson friend David Gest, welcome back David.

DAVID GEST, FRIEND OF MICHAEL JACKSON: Thank you, Greta.

VAN SUSTEREN: David, I know that you've spoken to a family member today. Can you give us an update on Michael Jackson and even on his health?

GEST: Well, I spoke to Tito today and he said, you know, Michael is very, very nervous and this has been a real strain on him as everybody can imagine and he is having a hard time sleeping. But he's praying for the best that he will be found not guilty.

And it's really been hard, Tito said, on Catherine Jackson. She is kind of at wit's end in a sense that she's just, you know, feeling the pressure of this and this is her, one of her baby children, who she loves and has been so close to all her life and she feels this has been just such an unfair hit on Michael Jackson by the district attorney.

VAN SUSTEREN: How does the Jackson family actually pass the day? I mean the media has been out there waiting for the verdict but, you know, the family waits not with the media of course and we all sort of sit on pins and needles. What do they do?

GEST: Well, Michael has a theater there so you can screen any movie, whether it's a new movie or an old movie and there's a lot to do there. There's horses. There's lots of animals. If you want to go horseback riding, there's lot of rides.

And he has a cook full time, so if you feel like having something to eat you can get that 24 hours. And then there's arcade games. And Michael likes to read a lot. People don't realize that about him but he reads a number of books per week and he's fascinated just about every subject.

VAN SUSTEREN: You know he looks so frail. When you talk about eating, David, every day he looked, he looked worse than the day before in terms of looking frail because he's so thin. Is he eating?

GEST: Tito said he's eating a little bit but who knows? He's never, ever been a real heavy eater. In fact, you know, when I think about eating the one place that we used to go when we were kids that Michael loved was Du-Par's Pancakes. He used to go through like two decks of pancakes of pancakes when we were kids.

We'd go over there after going to a concert, like the Four Tops or Stevie Wonder. We'd always hit Du-Par's in Encino or Laurel Canyon and that's one of his favorite places to eat.

VAN SUSTEREN: Do you know what kind of medical care he's getting when he goes over to the hospital on these hospital trips?

GEST: No, I don't but supposedly, Tito said, he has a very good doctor who is really looking after him.

VAN SUSTEREN: I admit that we in the media are not giving him a whole lot of privacy. You know we're dogging him every time anyone leaves, the prosecution, the defense, all of them, which probably makes it even more difficult for the prosecution and defense. David, thank you.

GEST: Thank you very much.

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