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CNN Live Today

Tennis Family Tragedy

Aired September 15, 2003 - 11:16   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: Just last week, "People" magazine did a small profile on Yetunde Price. Todd Gold is the L.A. bureau chief for "People." He joins us now from Los Angeles.
Good morning, Todd. Glad to have you with us today.

Did you yourself get a chance to get to meet her at all?

TODD GOLD, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: No, I didn't, although I saw them together. They were at the ESPY Awards recently, and walked in, you know, right next to each other and sat together through the night.

HARRIS: Do you get a sense of how close this whole family is?

GOLD: Oh, yes. I mean, you could -- I saw Yetunde, you know, watching many of her sisters' tennis matches. She was regularly photographed in the boxes. The night of the ESPY Awards, they were laughing together, you know, not hand in hand, but, you know, trading secrets, laughing very close.

HARRIS: Have you had a chance to dig any details up yourself on what exactly did happen to her yesterday? Have you learned anything about this that we haven't heard yet?

GOLD: You know, what wasn't mentioned and what we're looking into today is a report that her companion, after the shooting, her companion drove her about 20 minutes to a relative's home in Long Beach and then called 911. So Yetunde had been shot, she was bleeding, she was traveling on the freeway, not to a hospital, but to a home, and then emergency medical personnel were called, and then she was taken to a hospital. So that critical hour of time passed before she was treated.

HARRIS: Any idea why that happened? In fact, I'm thinking you could stop anywhere along the way, if you had to get out of the area, because you thought you were threatened, you could stop at a pay phone along the way and call 911 from anywhere, couldn't you?

GOLD: Well, sure, and you should. And if you're shot, you could call right from that area. But, you know, if we're going to speculate, her companion was arrested on a parole violation for being in the vicinity of a shooting. Perhaps he was frightened and wanted to get as far away as possible for his own sake, and it cost Yetunde her life, you know. And then there's the very personal drama we'll be focusing on this tragedy that's rocked the Williams family and Yetunde's family. You know, she's the mother of three young kids who, as of yesterday, had not been told of her death. HARRIS: Wow. That's going to be a tough one there. That's a tough conversation to have to have with a young one, I can tell you that. Have you learned anything at all about the circumstances, what's going on? We've been hearing reports there was this argument, perhaps this may have been related to drugs somehow, some way. What do you know about that, anything at all?

GOLD: Well you know, we know the same thing that you reported, that police right now have more questions than they do answers. They've been investigating through the night. This is an area known for gang activity and drug-related crime. This specific house, an officer said, has been a place where drug activity, you know, has been regularly congregated. They have not made any arrests at this specific house before, so we were told, but obviously, you know, there are a lot of questions about what was going on at midnight in this area.

HARRIS: Real quick, Todd, what's "People" magazine going to do with this story now?

GOLD: You know, we're going to tell this terrible -- about the human effect of this terrible tragedy in the Williams family. And this is a very close, complex, loving, proud family that epitomizes the American dream, and that they're rocked by this tragedy shows how fragile it all is.

HARRIS: Very interesting. Good deal. Thanks, Todd. Don't go away, though.

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 September 15, 2003 - 11:16   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Just last week, "People" magazine did a small profile on Yetunde Price. Todd Gold is the L.A. bureau chief for "People." He joins us now from Los Angeles.
Good morning, Todd. Glad to have you with us today.

Did you yourself get a chance to get to meet her at all?

TODD GOLD, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: No, I didn't, although I saw them together. They were at the ESPY Awards recently, and walked in, you know, right next to each other and sat together through the night.

HARRIS: Do you get a sense of how close this whole family is?

GOLD: Oh, yes. I mean, you could -- I saw Yetunde, you know, watching many of her sisters' tennis matches. She was regularly photographed in the boxes. The night of the ESPY Awards, they were laughing together, you know, not hand in hand, but, you know, trading secrets, laughing very close.

HARRIS: Have you had a chance to dig any details up yourself on what exactly did happen to her yesterday? Have you learned anything about this that we haven't heard yet?

GOLD: You know, what wasn't mentioned and what we're looking into today is a report that her companion, after the shooting, her companion drove her about 20 minutes to a relative's home in Long Beach and then called 911. So Yetunde had been shot, she was bleeding, she was traveling on the freeway, not to a hospital, but to a home, and then emergency medical personnel were called, and then she was taken to a hospital. So that critical hour of time passed before she was treated.

HARRIS: Any idea why that happened? In fact, I'm thinking you could stop anywhere along the way, if you had to get out of the area, because you thought you were threatened, you could stop at a pay phone along the way and call 911 from anywhere, couldn't you?

GOLD: Well, sure, and you should. And if you're shot, you could call right from that area. But, you know, if we're going to speculate, her companion was arrested on a parole violation for being in the vicinity of a shooting. Perhaps he was frightened and wanted to get as far away as possible for his own sake, and it cost Yetunde her life, you know. And then there's the very personal drama we'll be focusing on this tragedy that's rocked the Williams family and Yetunde's family. You know, she's the mother of three young kids who, as of yesterday, had not been told of her death. HARRIS: Wow. That's going to be a tough one there. That's a tough conversation to have to have with a young one, I can tell you that. Have you learned anything at all about the circumstances, what's going on? We've been hearing reports there was this argument, perhaps this may have been related to drugs somehow, some way. What do you know about that, anything at all?

GOLD: Well you know, we know the same thing that you reported, that police right now have more questions than they do answers. They've been investigating through the night. This is an area known for gang activity and drug-related crime. This specific house, an officer said, has been a place where drug activity, you know, has been regularly congregated. They have not made any arrests at this specific house before, so we were told, but obviously, you know, there are a lot of questions about what was going on at midnight in this area.

HARRIS: Real quick, Todd, what's "People" magazine going to do with this story now?

GOLD: You know, we're going to tell this terrible -- about the human effect of this terrible tragedy in the Williams family. And this is a very close, complex, loving, proud family that epitomizes the American dream, and that they're rocked by this tragedy shows how fragile it all is.

HARRIS: Very interesting. Good deal. Thanks, Todd. Don't go away, though.

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