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American Morning

Helder Awaiting Transfer from Reno, Nevada

Aired May 10, 2002 - 09:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: "Up Front" this morning, Luke Helder the pipe bomb suspect, will soon be heading from Reno, Nevada to Iowa, the first state where charges had been filed against him.

Here's one of the strangest parts of the story: as we first reported on "AMERICAN MORNING," a Reno sheriff quoted Luke Helder as saying he was planting the bombs to make the pattern of a smiley face on the map. A pattern, of course, he couldn't complete. Take a look at this.

The first 18 bombs were arranged in two circles across three states: Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. That could have been the eyes. And then the final two bombs found in Colorado and Texas form an ark that could have been the beginning of a smile.

CNN's Martin Savidge joins us now from Reno, where Helder is currently waiting to be transferred -- good morning.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Paula.

Luke Helder has a plane to catch. We anticipate he's going to be leaving in a few minutes. He won't be getting any frequent flier miles.

His first stop is going to be Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and what is going to be a long legal odyssey for him. But, first, let's talk about what happened here yesterday. An emotional family reunion, I guess, is the way you describe it.

His parents flew all the way from a very small town in Minnesota, they arrived here at the detention facility in Reno. Had about two hours inside the building, but only about a half-hour to talk to their son, and that was conducted over a telephone looking through a glass partition. It was said to be highly emotional.

All of this was a deal apparently worked out in those last frantic moments during the high-speed chase that ended in Reno. Luke, apparently on the cell phone to the FBI, had two conditions for his surrender. Number one, he not be tackled; number two, that he be allowed to meet with his parents yesterday. Obviously he was fulfilling that end of the bargain.

The parents have left and now he is leaving. His court date in Cedar Rapids, Iowa is scheduled for 4:30 Central Time, that is 5:30 Eastern Time. Initially, he faces two counts there. They're fairly serious.

On the first count, he could get a maximum, if found guilty, of up to 40 years in prison. The second count, he could get up to life in prison. So you can see in Iowa alone he faces a world of legal hurt.

And other federal jurisdictions now lining up like aircraft landing at O'Hare and Iowa and Illinois now, Nebraska. And there are other federal charges that are expected. So he could be spending a lot of time in courtrooms, a lot of time on the road, and potentially a lot of time behind bars -- Paula.

ZAHN: Martin Savidge, thanks so much for the update.

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