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American Morning

Sniper Story

Aired September 16, 2003 - 09:23   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Just about a year after the sniper attacks that terrorized the D.C. area, the man who led that investigation, Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose, telling his story now. Moose came to personify the search for the shooters who killed 10 people and wounded three others last fall. His decision to write about that experience ultimately forced him to resign from that post. His book is called "Three Weeks in October: The Hunt for the Serial Sniper." It's in stores now. And Charles Moose, the chief, is here to talk about it.
Nice to see you a year later. Good morning to you.

CHARLES MOOSE, AUTHOR, "THREE WEEKS IN OCTOBER": Good morning. Good to see you.

HEMMER: John Allen Mohammed, Lee Boyd Malvo being tried for murder. If convicted, should they die?

MOOSE: Well, certainly they are subject to the death penalty, and certainly I wish the prosecutors there in Virginia the best, and I think they'll do their job.

HEMMER: Is there anything in this book that could hurt their case, trying to prosecute it?

MOOSE: Well, certainly, the case will be presented in front of a jury. People will be given evidence. And there is not any group of people that come to it totally sterile. But certainly it's not my intent to hurt anything the prosecutors are doing.

HEMMER: But do you believe, given in a capital punishment case, that the punishment here should be death?

MOOSE: Well, certainly the punishment, death is -- that is the law in Virginia and certainly that is a possibility.

HEMMER: You write in your book, you say, "It's the story of how I went from being a lionized for helping bring the snipers to justice to being vilified about writing a book about it. " You've had this question I'm certain in the past week. The problem a lot of people had about you writing the book is they didn't think a public servant should profit from a tragedy of a year ago. How do you respond to that criticism?

MOOSE: Well, certainly life is very interesting. We all have different opinions, different ideas. Life would be very boring and dull and boring if we didn't. And so that's OK. And it would be nice if everyone agreed with each and everything I did and said, but that's not likely.

HEMMER: But you love being a police officer, right?

MOOSE: Yes, I loved working there in Montgomery County, but that needed to come to a close. And my ability to re-enter the profession is still out there. I may do something at a university. I may do something in the private sector.

HEMMER: Why do you say it had to come to a close in Montgomery County? Why?

MOOSE: Well, certainly the decision is about choices. I made a choice that telling the story about local, state and federal law enforcement working together. You make a choice. That's more important to tell that story than to stay there and have that conflict.

HEMMER: I see a different side of it. Tell me if I'm wrong. Were you happy there? Were you happy working there in that part of the country?

MOOSE: Yes. If I wasn't happy, then you do something else. Life is too short to just live and be sad.

HEMMER: What explains the contentious nature of this relationship you had throughout this investigation with the media and with reporters down there in Montgomery County?

MOOSE: Well, certainly as a person trying to do a job, people need to report the news, report the facts, but when you venture into actually conducting investigation and possibly interfering with the investigators, then that's not acceptable.

HEMMER: So you thought the media was actually interfering.

MOOSE: Certainly on some occasions, that was the case.

HEMMER: Here's what I saw. I saw a guy who was trying his damndest to get this case solved, a guy who was working 24 hours a day to try to make sure the people in his community were safe, but then I also saw a side of you -- because we were with each other every day -- that would snap or take off on a person here or there. Is that just the personality that is Charles Moose?

MOOSE: Well, certainly honesty, being direct with people, is very important. And so if you call it snapping, then that's what it was.

HEMMER: OK. Well, we'll take that as a definition of snapping and honesty.

I want to play a piece of videotape here for our viewers. It was the day a young boy was shot on his way to school. You came out to address the media. There was a tear that rolled down the side of your face, and you say in this book, and again in other comments you made since then, that you did not anticipate this personal reaction. Why did it come out this way?

MOOSE: Well, certainly I have a lot of passion, and so what you saw was real emotion, I guess. I could be a better actor and hide that, but that's what I felt, felt it, dealt with it and moved on. But certainly, again, that's that honesty, that's that truth.

HEMMER: You say you confided in your wife every night when you went home. Did you have someone within the department you could talk to also?

MOOSE: One of the things, after being a police chief for 10 years, you really confide with people to a certain level. But ultimately, no one to the level of my spouse and my best friend.

HEMMER: Did you think you had friends in that county?

MOOSE: Definitely.

HEMMER: You did?

MOOSE: Yes.

HEMMER: Well, thanks for sharing. And good luck to you. And Oahu is in your picture I understand. Certainly a way away, aren't you.

MOOSE: We don't know, but certainly you get an opportunity to make an investment. It's like my wife's favorite place in the world, so that made sense, going to do some more work, do some things in the Washington metropolitan area. When we can get there, we will. Otherwise, being mainland is still very important.

HEMMER: Good luck to you, all right. I'm certain our paths will cross again.

Charles Moose. Thanks, chief.

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 16, 2003 - 09:23   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Just about a year after the sniper attacks that terrorized the D.C. area, the man who led that investigation, Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose, telling his story now. Moose came to personify the search for the shooters who killed 10 people and wounded three others last fall. His decision to write about that experience ultimately forced him to resign from that post. His book is called "Three Weeks in October: The Hunt for the Serial Sniper." It's in stores now. And Charles Moose, the chief, is here to talk about it.
Nice to see you a year later. Good morning to you.

CHARLES MOOSE, AUTHOR, "THREE WEEKS IN OCTOBER": Good morning. Good to see you.

HEMMER: John Allen Mohammed, Lee Boyd Malvo being tried for murder. If convicted, should they die?

MOOSE: Well, certainly they are subject to the death penalty, and certainly I wish the prosecutors there in Virginia the best, and I think they'll do their job.

HEMMER: Is there anything in this book that could hurt their case, trying to prosecute it?

MOOSE: Well, certainly, the case will be presented in front of a jury. People will be given evidence. And there is not any group of people that come to it totally sterile. But certainly it's not my intent to hurt anything the prosecutors are doing.

HEMMER: But do you believe, given in a capital punishment case, that the punishment here should be death?

MOOSE: Well, certainly the punishment, death is -- that is the law in Virginia and certainly that is a possibility.

HEMMER: You write in your book, you say, "It's the story of how I went from being a lionized for helping bring the snipers to justice to being vilified about writing a book about it. " You've had this question I'm certain in the past week. The problem a lot of people had about you writing the book is they didn't think a public servant should profit from a tragedy of a year ago. How do you respond to that criticism?

MOOSE: Well, certainly life is very interesting. We all have different opinions, different ideas. Life would be very boring and dull and boring if we didn't. And so that's OK. And it would be nice if everyone agreed with each and everything I did and said, but that's not likely.

HEMMER: But you love being a police officer, right?

MOOSE: Yes, I loved working there in Montgomery County, but that needed to come to a close. And my ability to re-enter the profession is still out there. I may do something at a university. I may do something in the private sector.

HEMMER: Why do you say it had to come to a close in Montgomery County? Why?

MOOSE: Well, certainly the decision is about choices. I made a choice that telling the story about local, state and federal law enforcement working together. You make a choice. That's more important to tell that story than to stay there and have that conflict.

HEMMER: I see a different side of it. Tell me if I'm wrong. Were you happy there? Were you happy working there in that part of the country?

MOOSE: Yes. If I wasn't happy, then you do something else. Life is too short to just live and be sad.

HEMMER: What explains the contentious nature of this relationship you had throughout this investigation with the media and with reporters down there in Montgomery County?

MOOSE: Well, certainly as a person trying to do a job, people need to report the news, report the facts, but when you venture into actually conducting investigation and possibly interfering with the investigators, then that's not acceptable.

HEMMER: So you thought the media was actually interfering.

MOOSE: Certainly on some occasions, that was the case.

HEMMER: Here's what I saw. I saw a guy who was trying his damndest to get this case solved, a guy who was working 24 hours a day to try to make sure the people in his community were safe, but then I also saw a side of you -- because we were with each other every day -- that would snap or take off on a person here or there. Is that just the personality that is Charles Moose?

MOOSE: Well, certainly honesty, being direct with people, is very important. And so if you call it snapping, then that's what it was.

HEMMER: OK. Well, we'll take that as a definition of snapping and honesty.

I want to play a piece of videotape here for our viewers. It was the day a young boy was shot on his way to school. You came out to address the media. There was a tear that rolled down the side of your face, and you say in this book, and again in other comments you made since then, that you did not anticipate this personal reaction. Why did it come out this way?

MOOSE: Well, certainly I have a lot of passion, and so what you saw was real emotion, I guess. I could be a better actor and hide that, but that's what I felt, felt it, dealt with it and moved on. But certainly, again, that's that honesty, that's that truth.

HEMMER: You say you confided in your wife every night when you went home. Did you have someone within the department you could talk to also?

MOOSE: One of the things, after being a police chief for 10 years, you really confide with people to a certain level. But ultimately, no one to the level of my spouse and my best friend.

HEMMER: Did you think you had friends in that county?

MOOSE: Definitely.

HEMMER: You did?

MOOSE: Yes.

HEMMER: Well, thanks for sharing. And good luck to you. And Oahu is in your picture I understand. Certainly a way away, aren't you.

MOOSE: We don't know, but certainly you get an opportunity to make an investment. It's like my wife's favorite place in the world, so that made sense, going to do some more work, do some things in the Washington metropolitan area. When we can get there, we will. Otherwise, being mainland is still very important.

HEMMER: Good luck to you, all right. I'm certain our paths will cross again.

Charles Moose. Thanks, chief.

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