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CNN Live Today

Rowdy Fans

Aired November 25, 2002 - 11:19   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.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: You might say there's a lingering hangover this morning in several college towns around the country, thanks to rowdy football fans. There were post-game disturbances in Ohio, California, and Washington state. Perhaps, the most serious incident took place in Columbus, Ohio, where police fired tear gas and wooden pellets at these students to break up fans, after Ohio State's victory over Michigan.
Drunken crowds threw bottles and set fire to cars. At the Washington-Washington State matchup, fans unhappy with a game-ending call, showered the field with bottles and plastic souvenirs. And in Berkeley, California, several hundred Cal fans overran security and tore down the goal post, after UCLA beat Stanford. The game ended, even though there were 11 seconds remaining on the clock.

Well, police rounded up several dozen unruly fans, following the Ohio State-Michigan game and they're looking for more today.

CNN's Jeff Flock is in Columbus this morning, where cleanup is almost done. But you're still surrounded by a lot of debris, Jeff. There was a lot of damage.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the street sweepers have been through here, since we last talked, Carol, but as you can see, there's a lot of stuff in the street. This is a vestige of a bonfire that was out here last night. We can find all sorts of money in the street. Look at that charred dime I picked up there, an extra 10 cents.

As you point out, investigators are fanning through this neighborhood this morning, trying to get as much information as they can. I've got one of them with me. Mike DeFrancisco with the Columbus Fire Department. You're looking for people that you can charge that have not yet been charged, because you had about 50 arrests?

MIKE DEFRANCISCO, COLUMBUS FIRE DEPARTMENT: That's correct, sir. At this point, we've got a joint investigation with the Columbus Fire, Columbus Police, the campus area community partners and the university, as well as the community here, that were incensed by this act.

FLOCK: Got you.

DEFRANCISCO: We're trying to gather any information and identities of any persons responsible for anything, from flipping cars, starting things on fire, that were involved in the rioting. We're going to identify these people and take care of business.

FLOCK: Right. Now you're looking at both the images from television, as well as the newspaper images. And I want to come back live here, if I can. I've got Robert Caplan, who is a photographer -- actually, an intern from the Columbus Dispatch. You took these -- a lot of these images that are in a paper, Robert. Show me what you've got here. You've got, obviously, the front-page shot, which makes it looks like Columbus, in its entirety, was burning.

ROBERT CAPLAN, PHOTOGRAPHER, COLUMBUS DISPATCH: Yes, it was an amazing event. Rioting, that was the first image that I probably took that night. First, there was the -- nine cars on fire on 13th.

FLOCK: Got you. Now this one down here, and I'm going to ask Mike to come back in. We're looking at a kid here who has not been arrested yet, but what would you charge him with?

CAPLAN: My guess is that the Columbus Police will probably charge him with a breaking and entering charge, a vandalism charge or some sort of aggravated rioting charge.

FLOCK: Well, what about these kids here? This is right in the street where we stood. We just looked at some of the vestiges of this bonfire. These are kids that are burning, probably, their own property. Are you still going to charge this kid here?

CAPLAN: Exactly. He'll be charged with open burning for introducing contaminants into the atmosphere.

FLOCK: And Robert, give me some sense of what that was like out there. You were both out here. And as you do, I look at one of these images here, you were up close and personal with a lot of smoke.

CAPLAN: Oh, yes. That was a dumpster fire that happened in an alley. There were plenty of dumpster fires. You know, I was going from fire to fire to fire to fire. It's just a crazy atmosphere. I never seen anything like it.

FLOCK: You fear for your own safety?

CAPLAN: At one point, I did. There was an incident where a student tried to take my camera and my film away from me.

FLOCK: Obviously, if you're taking a picture like this of a kid who's kicking a door or window in, he's probably not happy that you've taken his picture.

CAPLAN: Right. That was the incident. It wasn't that particular individual, but there was another that did try to take my camera from me, broke my flash.

FLOCK: And Mike, before we get away, you're confident you're going to be able to bring charges against other kids who have not yet been charged in connection with this, as a result of pictures like this, as well as the video images we saw earlier? CAPLAN: Exactly. I actually have received information in the last 15 minutes of people that were actually responsible for flipping some of the cars over. I've actually got the one person's name that was hollering "one, two, three" on the video, "Now, roll it." He's there. We're going to get him and we're going to get a lot of these kids and we're going to put a stop to this.

FLOCK: Mike, I appreciate it. Robert, thank you for your perspective, as well, on the images. Quite a scene out here, Carol, a couple nights ago, and it is not over yet. As you heard, a lot of work to come from the fire investigators, as well as the police. .

LIN: Yep, and a lot of those kids are sobering up, I bet, this morning.

FLOCK: Finally.

LIN: Yep, they may have a hangover, but they're facing some time in court. All right, thanks much, Jeff.

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







Aired November 25, 2002 - 11:19   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: You might say there's a lingering hangover this morning in several college towns around the country, thanks to rowdy football fans. There were post-game disturbances in Ohio, California, and Washington state. Perhaps, the most serious incident took place in Columbus, Ohio, where police fired tear gas and wooden pellets at these students to break up fans, after Ohio State's victory over Michigan.
Drunken crowds threw bottles and set fire to cars. At the Washington-Washington State matchup, fans unhappy with a game-ending call, showered the field with bottles and plastic souvenirs. And in Berkeley, California, several hundred Cal fans overran security and tore down the goal post, after UCLA beat Stanford. The game ended, even though there were 11 seconds remaining on the clock.

Well, police rounded up several dozen unruly fans, following the Ohio State-Michigan game and they're looking for more today.

CNN's Jeff Flock is in Columbus this morning, where cleanup is almost done. But you're still surrounded by a lot of debris, Jeff. There was a lot of damage.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the street sweepers have been through here, since we last talked, Carol, but as you can see, there's a lot of stuff in the street. This is a vestige of a bonfire that was out here last night. We can find all sorts of money in the street. Look at that charred dime I picked up there, an extra 10 cents.

As you point out, investigators are fanning through this neighborhood this morning, trying to get as much information as they can. I've got one of them with me. Mike DeFrancisco with the Columbus Fire Department. You're looking for people that you can charge that have not yet been charged, because you had about 50 arrests?

MIKE DEFRANCISCO, COLUMBUS FIRE DEPARTMENT: That's correct, sir. At this point, we've got a joint investigation with the Columbus Fire, Columbus Police, the campus area community partners and the university, as well as the community here, that were incensed by this act.

FLOCK: Got you.

DEFRANCISCO: We're trying to gather any information and identities of any persons responsible for anything, from flipping cars, starting things on fire, that were involved in the rioting. We're going to identify these people and take care of business.

FLOCK: Right. Now you're looking at both the images from television, as well as the newspaper images. And I want to come back live here, if I can. I've got Robert Caplan, who is a photographer -- actually, an intern from the Columbus Dispatch. You took these -- a lot of these images that are in a paper, Robert. Show me what you've got here. You've got, obviously, the front-page shot, which makes it looks like Columbus, in its entirety, was burning.

ROBERT CAPLAN, PHOTOGRAPHER, COLUMBUS DISPATCH: Yes, it was an amazing event. Rioting, that was the first image that I probably took that night. First, there was the -- nine cars on fire on 13th.

FLOCK: Got you. Now this one down here, and I'm going to ask Mike to come back in. We're looking at a kid here who has not been arrested yet, but what would you charge him with?

CAPLAN: My guess is that the Columbus Police will probably charge him with a breaking and entering charge, a vandalism charge or some sort of aggravated rioting charge.

FLOCK: Well, what about these kids here? This is right in the street where we stood. We just looked at some of the vestiges of this bonfire. These are kids that are burning, probably, their own property. Are you still going to charge this kid here?

CAPLAN: Exactly. He'll be charged with open burning for introducing contaminants into the atmosphere.

FLOCK: And Robert, give me some sense of what that was like out there. You were both out here. And as you do, I look at one of these images here, you were up close and personal with a lot of smoke.

CAPLAN: Oh, yes. That was a dumpster fire that happened in an alley. There were plenty of dumpster fires. You know, I was going from fire to fire to fire to fire. It's just a crazy atmosphere. I never seen anything like it.

FLOCK: You fear for your own safety?

CAPLAN: At one point, I did. There was an incident where a student tried to take my camera and my film away from me.

FLOCK: Obviously, if you're taking a picture like this of a kid who's kicking a door or window in, he's probably not happy that you've taken his picture.

CAPLAN: Right. That was the incident. It wasn't that particular individual, but there was another that did try to take my camera from me, broke my flash.

FLOCK: And Mike, before we get away, you're confident you're going to be able to bring charges against other kids who have not yet been charged in connection with this, as a result of pictures like this, as well as the video images we saw earlier? CAPLAN: Exactly. I actually have received information in the last 15 minutes of people that were actually responsible for flipping some of the cars over. I've actually got the one person's name that was hollering "one, two, three" on the video, "Now, roll it." He's there. We're going to get him and we're going to get a lot of these kids and we're going to put a stop to this.

FLOCK: Mike, I appreciate it. Robert, thank you for your perspective, as well, on the images. Quite a scene out here, Carol, a couple nights ago, and it is not over yet. As you heard, a lot of work to come from the fire investigators, as well as the police. .

LIN: Yep, and a lot of those kids are sobering up, I bet, this morning.

FLOCK: Finally.

LIN: Yep, they may have a hangover, but they're facing some time in court. All right, thanks much, Jeff.

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