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CNN Live Today

Eric Rudolph Captured After Five Years on Run

Aired June 02, 2003 - 10:00   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Up first this hour on CNN, the capture of Eric Rudolph. We have CNN's unparalleled resources working the various facets of this developing story. Our Jason Bellini, outside the courthouse where this hour's hearing is being held. Our Mike Brooks is covering this investigation for us in the mountain town of Murphy, North Carolina. And CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin takes a look at the legal case now set in motion. We'll get him in just a bit.
But first, let's start in Asheville and Jason Bellini. Let's go to him right now -- Jason.

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Leon.

As you can see, people are gathering here on the steps of the federal courthouse; 10:00 is when the hearing began right inside. CNN correspondent Gary Tuchman is in there right now, and as soon as it's over, he's going to come out and tell us what went on.

Among the things we know that's going to go on, the judge is going to confirm that it is Eric Rudolph, one of the formalities here. We already know now that Attorney General Ashcroft has said that Alabama is going to be the first place where he'll go on trial.

And I have right here a statement that they just handed out from the attorney general. Let me read it to you real fast. He says in it that: "We expect the trial to be relatively short and straightforward. When the trial is complete, Rudolph will be transferred to the Northern District of Georgia to face a more complicated trial involving the three bombings there."

So, an exciting morning here. Rudolph arrived earlier today. We saw him getting out of a car. He arrived by helicopter. He's inside the courtroom right now -- Leon.

HARRIS: All right, thank you, Jason.

As he said, he is inside the courtroom, and so is our national correspondent, Gary Tuchman, and he's going to be inside monitoring the hearing this hour. As you may know, federal court, there are no cameras allowed inside. So, Gary will be listening. And as soon as the proceedings inside are finished, he's going to come outside and he'll give us the details in a live report. So stay with us. We'll have that for you as soon as it's able to happen.

In the meantime, let's travel 90 miles away now to Murphy, North Carolina. That is where Rudolph was captured, and as it turns out that may have been where he has been for the past five years. Investigators are now searching for clues to see how he did spend that time.

Let's go now to our Mike Brooks, who is a former veteran law enforcement agent himself. He's out there on the scene in Murphy, North Carolina, this mornings -- Mike.

MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Good morning, Leon.

About 7:15 this morning, Eric Rudolph was escorted from the Cherokee County jail here in Murphy, North Carolina, under heavy guard. He was escorted by an agent of the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the sheriff of Cherokee County, as well as the police chief of Murphy. They got into a Cherokee County sheriff's car, went to the airport, the Andrews Murphy Airport a short distance away, where he boarded a North Carolina Air National Guard Black Hawk helicopter for his trip to Asheville.

Now, Leon, there has been talk that he possibly had some help here in Murphy, North Carolina. That's been kind of a bone of contention with the people that live here. Earlier this morning, we spoke with the Murphy mayor, Mayor Bill Hughes, and he gave us his opinion to that comment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL HUGHES, MURPHY, NORTH CAROLINA: I don't think he was getting any assistance from people around here. The sort of thing that he has done in no way -- or allegedly done in no way adheres to the philosophy of people in this area. And I feel sure he had no support in here. He certainly had no sympathy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKS: Now, we've spoken with other people here in Murphy. Some of them say -- that they say, yes, they thought he had help. Others say no.

Just this morning a man came up to me and he gave me a drawing, and he said that we may see this drawing again. It's a drawing of a cabin with what looked like some mountains in the background, a front porch, and rocks alongside. I asked him what the significance of this particular drawing was, and he said, "You may hear it again." If we do -- "If you hear it again, I'll be back in touch with you." He said, "The only person that has this drawing are the FBI and you, Mike."

So, what the significance of this particular drawing is, are there people here that know more than what they're saying? That remains to be seen.

The FBI evidence response team will be back in the woods outside of Murphy here today. They're across the road from the Save-a-Lot store, where Eric Rudolph was arrested. Yesterday, they uncovered a possibly a tarp or a tent-like object underneath of a bridge. They've been searching the woods all day yesterday, and they'll be back there today looking for additional clues -- Leon.

HARRIS: Well, Mike, I'm surprised that they haven't found at least one place by now that they're convinced that he had actually been hiding out in. We know there are hundreds of old abandoned mines out in that area. Are any of your old former colleagues out there in the law enforcement agencies telling you anything at all about whether or not they have found any of the caves he may have been hiding in?

BROOKS: Well, I was talking to some of my sources yesterday, and they were saying, the FBI sources, and they were saying that they could not talk because the attorney general has put a gag order on this, and they're very strict about it. I asked them about it, just yes or no, and they said, Mike, you know we might have to take a polygraph if we talk to anybody, because there's a gag order. And they're being extremely strict and very tight-lipped about the case -- Leon.

HARRIS: All right, we can understand that. Considering the scrutiny this case is going to get, they want to make sure there are no technicalities that wreak havoc to their case. Thanks, Mike. We understand that. Mike Brooks reporting live for us from Murphy, North Carolina.

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 June 2, 2003 - 10:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Up first this hour on CNN, the capture of Eric Rudolph. We have CNN's unparalleled resources working the various facets of this developing story. Our Jason Bellini, outside the courthouse where this hour's hearing is being held. Our Mike Brooks is covering this investigation for us in the mountain town of Murphy, North Carolina. And CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin takes a look at the legal case now set in motion. We'll get him in just a bit.
But first, let's start in Asheville and Jason Bellini. Let's go to him right now -- Jason.

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Leon.

As you can see, people are gathering here on the steps of the federal courthouse; 10:00 is when the hearing began right inside. CNN correspondent Gary Tuchman is in there right now, and as soon as it's over, he's going to come out and tell us what went on.

Among the things we know that's going to go on, the judge is going to confirm that it is Eric Rudolph, one of the formalities here. We already know now that Attorney General Ashcroft has said that Alabama is going to be the first place where he'll go on trial.

And I have right here a statement that they just handed out from the attorney general. Let me read it to you real fast. He says in it that: "We expect the trial to be relatively short and straightforward. When the trial is complete, Rudolph will be transferred to the Northern District of Georgia to face a more complicated trial involving the three bombings there."

So, an exciting morning here. Rudolph arrived earlier today. We saw him getting out of a car. He arrived by helicopter. He's inside the courtroom right now -- Leon.

HARRIS: All right, thank you, Jason.

As he said, he is inside the courtroom, and so is our national correspondent, Gary Tuchman, and he's going to be inside monitoring the hearing this hour. As you may know, federal court, there are no cameras allowed inside. So, Gary will be listening. And as soon as the proceedings inside are finished, he's going to come outside and he'll give us the details in a live report. So stay with us. We'll have that for you as soon as it's able to happen.

In the meantime, let's travel 90 miles away now to Murphy, North Carolina. That is where Rudolph was captured, and as it turns out that may have been where he has been for the past five years. Investigators are now searching for clues to see how he did spend that time.

Let's go now to our Mike Brooks, who is a former veteran law enforcement agent himself. He's out there on the scene in Murphy, North Carolina, this mornings -- Mike.

MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Good morning, Leon.

About 7:15 this morning, Eric Rudolph was escorted from the Cherokee County jail here in Murphy, North Carolina, under heavy guard. He was escorted by an agent of the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the sheriff of Cherokee County, as well as the police chief of Murphy. They got into a Cherokee County sheriff's car, went to the airport, the Andrews Murphy Airport a short distance away, where he boarded a North Carolina Air National Guard Black Hawk helicopter for his trip to Asheville.

Now, Leon, there has been talk that he possibly had some help here in Murphy, North Carolina. That's been kind of a bone of contention with the people that live here. Earlier this morning, we spoke with the Murphy mayor, Mayor Bill Hughes, and he gave us his opinion to that comment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL HUGHES, MURPHY, NORTH CAROLINA: I don't think he was getting any assistance from people around here. The sort of thing that he has done in no way -- or allegedly done in no way adheres to the philosophy of people in this area. And I feel sure he had no support in here. He certainly had no sympathy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKS: Now, we've spoken with other people here in Murphy. Some of them say -- that they say, yes, they thought he had help. Others say no.

Just this morning a man came up to me and he gave me a drawing, and he said that we may see this drawing again. It's a drawing of a cabin with what looked like some mountains in the background, a front porch, and rocks alongside. I asked him what the significance of this particular drawing was, and he said, "You may hear it again." If we do -- "If you hear it again, I'll be back in touch with you." He said, "The only person that has this drawing are the FBI and you, Mike."

So, what the significance of this particular drawing is, are there people here that know more than what they're saying? That remains to be seen.

The FBI evidence response team will be back in the woods outside of Murphy here today. They're across the road from the Save-a-Lot store, where Eric Rudolph was arrested. Yesterday, they uncovered a possibly a tarp or a tent-like object underneath of a bridge. They've been searching the woods all day yesterday, and they'll be back there today looking for additional clues -- Leon.

HARRIS: Well, Mike, I'm surprised that they haven't found at least one place by now that they're convinced that he had actually been hiding out in. We know there are hundreds of old abandoned mines out in that area. Are any of your old former colleagues out there in the law enforcement agencies telling you anything at all about whether or not they have found any of the caves he may have been hiding in?

BROOKS: Well, I was talking to some of my sources yesterday, and they were saying, the FBI sources, and they were saying that they could not talk because the attorney general has put a gag order on this, and they're very strict about it. I asked them about it, just yes or no, and they said, Mike, you know we might have to take a polygraph if we talk to anybody, because there's a gag order. And they're being extremely strict and very tight-lipped about the case -- Leon.

HARRIS: All right, we can understand that. Considering the scrutiny this case is going to get, they want to make sure there are no technicalities that wreak havoc to their case. Thanks, Mike. We understand that. Mike Brooks reporting live for us from Murphy, North Carolina.

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