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CNN Live At Daybreak

Eric Rudolph in Court, and so it Begins

Aired June 03, 2003 - 06:10   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 COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Eric Robert Rudolph will get his first look at the inside of a Birmingham federal courtroom today, where he'll likely go on trial for his life. But only after meeting with his client a short time, the suspected bomber's attorney says Rudolph is innocent.
CNN's Gary Tuchman reports on that and more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After spending millions of dollars to find him, new expenses now to keep Eric Robert Rudolph safe, as he was transported to court. Flying aboard a Black Hawk helicopter amid intense security, he was taken 110 miles from Murphy, North Carolina, to Asheville, North Carolina, where a motorcade brought him to a federal courthouse, where he met up with his court-appointed attorney who got the case on Sunday night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is not guilty of the charges.

TUCHMAN: The federal government told Rudolph sitting in court in a bullet-proof vest that it wanted him sent to Alabama to stand trial, and after that to Georgia for another trial. Rudolph listened quietly with occasional whispers to his attorney, as the prosecutor spent 20 minutes reading the 21-count indictment involving four bombings, including the one in Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park, which killed one woman and injured more than 100 other people.

ROBERT CONRAD, JR., U.S. ATTORNEY: The court advised the defendant of his rights under the law.

TUCHMAN: Which included the right to plead guilty right away in North Carolina and not be extradited. Rudolph and his attorney chose not to do that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As far as I know, he wasn't anywhere near anything that happened. But I can tell you that nothing that he did was that sort of defiant, arrogant, it's their fault not my fault, you know, I'm in the army of God and they had it coming. I mean, nothing. Nothing. I mean, you know, he didn't talk -- he didn't talk like that.

TUCHMAN: The accused serial bomber spent the past weekend in a small county jail in Murphy a mile from where he was caught. His attorney says Rudolph has revealed to police the location of at least one of his hideouts. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think, you know, out of fundamental decency he told them where a campsite was, one or more campsites. And he was not armed. As far as I can tell from everything I've heard that he didn't have a gun at his campsite.

TUCHMAN: So, what did he have at the campsite? The attorney says he knows of one particular thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know that he had a copy of the biography of Gandhi at his campsite, I can tell you that much.

TUCHMAN: The attorney says the campsite was close to the grocery store, where Rudolph was caught.

Rudolph was quickly flown to Birmingham after the 30-minute court hearing, where legal proceedings could ultimately lead to him getting the federal death penalty.

(on camera): The frustrating search for Rudolph had been scaled back over the last couple of years. But with his capture, the investigation has now been ramped up, particularly in the effort to find out who, if anyone, assisted him over the last five years.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Asheville, North Carolina.

(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.






Aired June 3, 2003 - 06:10   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Eric Robert Rudolph will get his first look at the inside of a Birmingham federal courtroom today, where he'll likely go on trial for his life. But only after meeting with his client a short time, the suspected bomber's attorney says Rudolph is innocent.
CNN's Gary Tuchman reports on that and more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After spending millions of dollars to find him, new expenses now to keep Eric Robert Rudolph safe, as he was transported to court. Flying aboard a Black Hawk helicopter amid intense security, he was taken 110 miles from Murphy, North Carolina, to Asheville, North Carolina, where a motorcade brought him to a federal courthouse, where he met up with his court-appointed attorney who got the case on Sunday night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is not guilty of the charges.

TUCHMAN: The federal government told Rudolph sitting in court in a bullet-proof vest that it wanted him sent to Alabama to stand trial, and after that to Georgia for another trial. Rudolph listened quietly with occasional whispers to his attorney, as the prosecutor spent 20 minutes reading the 21-count indictment involving four bombings, including the one in Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park, which killed one woman and injured more than 100 other people.

ROBERT CONRAD, JR., U.S. ATTORNEY: The court advised the defendant of his rights under the law.

TUCHMAN: Which included the right to plead guilty right away in North Carolina and not be extradited. Rudolph and his attorney chose not to do that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As far as I know, he wasn't anywhere near anything that happened. But I can tell you that nothing that he did was that sort of defiant, arrogant, it's their fault not my fault, you know, I'm in the army of God and they had it coming. I mean, nothing. Nothing. I mean, you know, he didn't talk -- he didn't talk like that.

TUCHMAN: The accused serial bomber spent the past weekend in a small county jail in Murphy a mile from where he was caught. His attorney says Rudolph has revealed to police the location of at least one of his hideouts. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think, you know, out of fundamental decency he told them where a campsite was, one or more campsites. And he was not armed. As far as I can tell from everything I've heard that he didn't have a gun at his campsite.

TUCHMAN: So, what did he have at the campsite? The attorney says he knows of one particular thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know that he had a copy of the biography of Gandhi at his campsite, I can tell you that much.

TUCHMAN: The attorney says the campsite was close to the grocery store, where Rudolph was caught.

Rudolph was quickly flown to Birmingham after the 30-minute court hearing, where legal proceedings could ultimately lead to him getting the federal death penalty.

(on camera): The frustrating search for Rudolph had been scaled back over the last couple of years. But with his capture, the investigation has now been ramped up, particularly in the effort to find out who, if anyone, assisted him over the last five years.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Asheville, North Carolina.

(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.