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American Morning

Interview with Ayman Gheith, Kambiz Butt, Omer Choudhary, Brett Newkirk

Aired September 17, 2002 - 09:33   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: Three medical students at center of that terror scare in South Florida last Friday say they want to reclaim their dignity. They were stopped along Alligator Alley, Interstate 75 in South Florida. After a waitress in North -- Georgia, that is, told police she thought she overheard the men planning to bring something down. No charges have been brought against the trio, but as a result, the hospital where they were going to intern asked them not to come after all.
Earlier, we spoke with the three students about what that Georgia woman thought she heard that triggered the alert. You are just going to meet now Ayman Gheith, Kambiz Butt, Omer Choudhary, and their attorney, Brett Newkirk. Here is what they had to say earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AYMAN GHEITH, MEDICAL SCHOOL STUDENT: I don't know what she overheard. We were talking about our future plans, going to Miami, finding a car for Omer, finding apartments because we started on Monday. I had to find a day care center for my nephew, and that was the gist of the conversation. We were very excited about starting, finally, in the hospital. You know, that was it. That was the whole thing. I don't know...

ZAHN: Omer, much has been made of what you all were saying about this car, that you wanted to, at some point, deliver to Miami. Can you just tell us exactly what you said?

OMER CHOUDHARY, MEDICAL SCHOOL STUDENT: We were talking about buying a car. I was the only one who didn't buy a car, the other two did. So our plan was -- my plan was to buy a car once I get to Miami, and in case I didn't find one then, I was going to get one in Kansas City and have it shipped down, so that's what I was talking about, bringing the car down to Miami, and that was what the whole "bringing it down" conversation was about.

ZAHN: So, Kambiz, is it possible what Eunice heard was just "bringing it down in Miami," which led her to believe that possibly you were going to be involved in bringing some kind of building down?

KAMBIZ BUTT, MEDICAL SCHOOL STUDENT: She heard "bringing it down" and "do you have enough to bring it down." Omer mentioned that he has connections, so she probably heard those key words and she misconstrued what we were talking about. ZAHN: Ayman, did you at any time tweak her, because there are those who say that it became clear to you that she was staring at you, that that made you all uncomfortable, and then maybe you played with her a little.

GHEITH: Well, actually we didn't -- like I said, when we found out that all of this was happening, we didn't even know who the -- you know, they told us somebody had called. We couldn't figure out who it was because there was nothing out of the ordinary regardless of where we were. So when we saw her on the TV, actually, we did recognize her. We were like, Oh, that's the lady that was sitting right next to us, but there was no interaction with her at all. I mean, we acknowledged that she was there, but so was -- many other people around us as well. But there was nothing to indicate that she was shocked or anything at all, from her or from anybody else around for that matter, and that's what happened.

ZAHN: So Ayman, are you accusing her of lying about what she overheard?

GHEITH: You know what, I mean, when I got out, when they let us go, I had about a hundred cameras in my face, and they said "lying," "lying," I said "lying." That is not what I'm saying. What I am saying is that before you jump -- this one phone call could jeopardize the rest of our lives. This one phone call because she picked up one or two words out of an hour-long conversation that we had. We are sitting in the balance now. So, I'm not calling her a liar, out of her fear, out of her -- as soon as she looked at us, she saw us, she painted us in a certain light, and now it is just a matter of filling in phrases. So I don't know -- it is not a lie, I don't know. I mean...

BRETT NEWKIRK, ATTORNEY: The amazing thing is these young men have no animus towards this woman whatsoever, and so when he says not lying, he doesn't want to cast dispersions on her. They have kind feelings towards her. I was in the green room at CNN last night when they were informed that she was in the hospital, and they -- each and every one of them, had looks of caring on their face about that. They just want people to take a step back, take a step back and put a filter on the fear that they feel in these hard times, and not make judgments just based upon the way people look. Take a step back and say, listen -- look and listen to who we really are.

ZAHN: But the truth is, it is Eunice Stone right now who feels embattled. She feels her credibility is being questioned here, and here is what she had to say about the accusation that she may have colored what she had heard -- let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EUNICE STONE, SHONEY'S PATRON: I have heard them say that I added salt and pepper to my story. Well, no, I didn't add any salt and pepper. I'm not in the habit of going around cooking up trouble and telling lies.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ZAHN: Kambiz, is there anything she heard that could have been construed as a threat?

BUTT: Absolutely not. I mean, she had said, you know, we mentioned 9/11, we mentioned 9/13. I mean, these dates were never even brought up in our conversation at all. I really do think she had to add those statements to complete her story, because just to say that they said "bringing it down" or "connections" is not enough. So I think she did add these phrases just to complete her story.

ZAHN: All right, gentlemen. We are to leave it there this morning. Brett Newkirk, Ayman Gheith, Kambiz Butt, and Omer Choudhary. Thank you very much for your time this morning.

GHEITH: Thank you.

BUTT: Thank you.

CHOUDHARY: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Brett Newkirk>


Aired September 17, 2002 - 09:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Three medical students at center of that terror scare in South Florida last Friday say they want to reclaim their dignity. They were stopped along Alligator Alley, Interstate 75 in South Florida. After a waitress in North -- Georgia, that is, told police she thought she overheard the men planning to bring something down. No charges have been brought against the trio, but as a result, the hospital where they were going to intern asked them not to come after all.
Earlier, we spoke with the three students about what that Georgia woman thought she heard that triggered the alert. You are just going to meet now Ayman Gheith, Kambiz Butt, Omer Choudhary, and their attorney, Brett Newkirk. Here is what they had to say earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AYMAN GHEITH, MEDICAL SCHOOL STUDENT: I don't know what she overheard. We were talking about our future plans, going to Miami, finding a car for Omer, finding apartments because we started on Monday. I had to find a day care center for my nephew, and that was the gist of the conversation. We were very excited about starting, finally, in the hospital. You know, that was it. That was the whole thing. I don't know...

ZAHN: Omer, much has been made of what you all were saying about this car, that you wanted to, at some point, deliver to Miami. Can you just tell us exactly what you said?

OMER CHOUDHARY, MEDICAL SCHOOL STUDENT: We were talking about buying a car. I was the only one who didn't buy a car, the other two did. So our plan was -- my plan was to buy a car once I get to Miami, and in case I didn't find one then, I was going to get one in Kansas City and have it shipped down, so that's what I was talking about, bringing the car down to Miami, and that was what the whole "bringing it down" conversation was about.

ZAHN: So, Kambiz, is it possible what Eunice heard was just "bringing it down in Miami," which led her to believe that possibly you were going to be involved in bringing some kind of building down?

KAMBIZ BUTT, MEDICAL SCHOOL STUDENT: She heard "bringing it down" and "do you have enough to bring it down." Omer mentioned that he has connections, so she probably heard those key words and she misconstrued what we were talking about. ZAHN: Ayman, did you at any time tweak her, because there are those who say that it became clear to you that she was staring at you, that that made you all uncomfortable, and then maybe you played with her a little.

GHEITH: Well, actually we didn't -- like I said, when we found out that all of this was happening, we didn't even know who the -- you know, they told us somebody had called. We couldn't figure out who it was because there was nothing out of the ordinary regardless of where we were. So when we saw her on the TV, actually, we did recognize her. We were like, Oh, that's the lady that was sitting right next to us, but there was no interaction with her at all. I mean, we acknowledged that she was there, but so was -- many other people around us as well. But there was nothing to indicate that she was shocked or anything at all, from her or from anybody else around for that matter, and that's what happened.

ZAHN: So Ayman, are you accusing her of lying about what she overheard?

GHEITH: You know what, I mean, when I got out, when they let us go, I had about a hundred cameras in my face, and they said "lying," "lying," I said "lying." That is not what I'm saying. What I am saying is that before you jump -- this one phone call could jeopardize the rest of our lives. This one phone call because she picked up one or two words out of an hour-long conversation that we had. We are sitting in the balance now. So, I'm not calling her a liar, out of her fear, out of her -- as soon as she looked at us, she saw us, she painted us in a certain light, and now it is just a matter of filling in phrases. So I don't know -- it is not a lie, I don't know. I mean...

BRETT NEWKIRK, ATTORNEY: The amazing thing is these young men have no animus towards this woman whatsoever, and so when he says not lying, he doesn't want to cast dispersions on her. They have kind feelings towards her. I was in the green room at CNN last night when they were informed that she was in the hospital, and they -- each and every one of them, had looks of caring on their face about that. They just want people to take a step back, take a step back and put a filter on the fear that they feel in these hard times, and not make judgments just based upon the way people look. Take a step back and say, listen -- look and listen to who we really are.

ZAHN: But the truth is, it is Eunice Stone right now who feels embattled. She feels her credibility is being questioned here, and here is what she had to say about the accusation that she may have colored what she had heard -- let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EUNICE STONE, SHONEY'S PATRON: I have heard them say that I added salt and pepper to my story. Well, no, I didn't add any salt and pepper. I'm not in the habit of going around cooking up trouble and telling lies.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ZAHN: Kambiz, is there anything she heard that could have been construed as a threat?

BUTT: Absolutely not. I mean, she had said, you know, we mentioned 9/11, we mentioned 9/13. I mean, these dates were never even brought up in our conversation at all. I really do think she had to add those statements to complete her story, because just to say that they said "bringing it down" or "connections" is not enough. So I think she did add these phrases just to complete her story.

ZAHN: All right, gentlemen. We are to leave it there this morning. Brett Newkirk, Ayman Gheith, Kambiz Butt, and Omer Choudhary. Thank you very much for your time this morning.

GHEITH: Thank you.

BUTT: Thank you.

CHOUDHARY: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Brett Newkirk>