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CNN Live At Daybreak

President Bush's Niece to be Released From Jail Today

Aired July 19, 2002 - 06:14   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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: An update now on President Bush's niece, Noelle Bush. The daughter of Florida Governor Jeb Bush will be released from jail later today. She has been behind bars since Wednesday for violating her court ordered drug treatment plan.

We're going to get the latest now from Dana Rice. She's with our affiliate station WFTV in Orlando, Florida.

Good morning, Dana, thank you for getting up early for us this morning. Tell us what's the latest with Noelle.

DANA RICE, WFTV REPORTER: Well, good morning.

Jail administrators are not releasing a lot of information about the conditions of her release from jail here in Orange County. And we are told this will not be a typical release because usually when inmates actually come out of jail here, we want to show you, they can come out of this garage area right here. But of course jail administrators are expecting several members of the media to be here. They're telling us there are several different exits they might be using to take her out.

But she will be heading to court here in Orange County later this afternoon. Court administrators tell us they have had media interest in the case as well from all over the world, from as far away as Colombia.

Here's a little bit of background on what happened this week. A judge sent Noelle Bush to jail on Wednesday after officials at the drug treatment center where she was staying said they found her with prescription pills. Police arrested the 24-year-old in January and accused her of trying to use a fraudulent prescription to buy an antianxiety drug.

Now a successful stay at the center could allow Bush to avoid prison time and actually wipe her record clear of these charges. At the hearing this afternoon, the judge could either order her to perform community service or he could ask her to serve more jail time. He could also kick her out of the program and order her to be prosecuted on those original charges. We're told it is most likely that she will be allowed to return to the program and continue her stay at the treatment center.

We are also told that her brother, George P., is going to be here today for the hearing. We're told he'll be speaking with reporters, as well as Noelle Bush's attorney will be speaking with reporters after this hearing. One camera will be allowed inside the hearing. And of course as you can imagine, there will be many members of the media here to pick up on that feed from the courtroom.

Reporting live in Orange County, I'm Dana Rice, back to you.

CALLAWAY: All right, thank you, Dana.

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