Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Minding Your Business: Tyco Gone Wild, the Videotape
Aired October 29, 2003 - 07:52 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Jurors in the Tyco trial saw a version of the party that is rather toned down.
Andy Serwer has got the details for you. You can just paint a picture of Michelangelo and streaming vodka, and you fill in the blanks, right?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Well, it's not that toned down, fortunately. I don't know if you've been a juror, Miles. I have. And trials are pretty boring, quite frankly. The jurors in this Kozlowski trial were sitting there fidgeting a little bit. But not yesterday. They were treated to a 20-minute videotape of this Roman motif party in Sardinia, now so famous.
We're just going to roll the tape here. These are some models oiled up striking poses, some muzak-like (ph) music in the background you hear.
And what's important about this, as you'll remember, of course, the whole point is that this is a $2 million party, a majority of which was paid for by Tyco. Kozlowski says there were a lot of people from the company there. Oh, yes. Like the corporate chef, like the corporate trainer -- whoa! Did you see that, Soledad? And there is Dennis right there with a couple of models. There are centurions there.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: So, the models also work for Tyco? Is that what you're saying?
SERWER: No, these were -- yes, right. There is that guy again, Soledad.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes.
SERWER: Wow!
S. O'BRIEN: He's an employee.
SERWER: He's sweet looking. Yes, there you go. Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: The Tyco cowboy.
SERWER: Now, there is Kozlowski with his wife, Karen. And you can just imagine what's going on in the courtroom.
S. O'BRIEN: He's got a good grip on him. SERWER: Yes. There we go. He said -- Kozlowski said in the video, it's going to be a fun week -- tennis, golf, eating, drinking -- all of the things we're best known for. That was a nice little line. There is Karen dancing away. Dennis is not that good a dancer.
This is Jimmy Buffet. We didn't think we were going to get this -- Jimmy Buffet doing "Brown Eyed Girl." There you go.
So, it was pretty amusing stuff. And, you know, Kozlowski basically, and his lawyer, are suggesting, oh, there really wasn't anything to this. You know, so what? It's a party. But it was -- you know, the toga party, made famous from "Animal House," I mean, it's a decadent thing, right? And it costs a lot of money, and it was paid for by the shareholders. That's the bottom line.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, this takes it to a new level, though.
SERWER: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: A toga party -- a seven-figure toga party.
SERWER: Yes, toga, toga, toga. Exactly.
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 October 29, 2003 - 07:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Jurors in the Tyco trial saw a version of the party that is rather toned down.
Andy Serwer has got the details for you. You can just paint a picture of Michelangelo and streaming vodka, and you fill in the blanks, right?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Well, it's not that toned down, fortunately. I don't know if you've been a juror, Miles. I have. And trials are pretty boring, quite frankly. The jurors in this Kozlowski trial were sitting there fidgeting a little bit. But not yesterday. They were treated to a 20-minute videotape of this Roman motif party in Sardinia, now so famous.
We're just going to roll the tape here. These are some models oiled up striking poses, some muzak-like (ph) music in the background you hear.
And what's important about this, as you'll remember, of course, the whole point is that this is a $2 million party, a majority of which was paid for by Tyco. Kozlowski says there were a lot of people from the company there. Oh, yes. Like the corporate chef, like the corporate trainer -- whoa! Did you see that, Soledad? And there is Dennis right there with a couple of models. There are centurions there.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: So, the models also work for Tyco? Is that what you're saying?
SERWER: No, these were -- yes, right. There is that guy again, Soledad.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes.
SERWER: Wow!
S. O'BRIEN: He's an employee.
SERWER: He's sweet looking. Yes, there you go. Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: The Tyco cowboy.
SERWER: Now, there is Kozlowski with his wife, Karen. And you can just imagine what's going on in the courtroom.
S. O'BRIEN: He's got a good grip on him. SERWER: Yes. There we go. He said -- Kozlowski said in the video, it's going to be a fun week -- tennis, golf, eating, drinking -- all of the things we're best known for. That was a nice little line. There is Karen dancing away. Dennis is not that good a dancer.
This is Jimmy Buffet. We didn't think we were going to get this -- Jimmy Buffet doing "Brown Eyed Girl." There you go.
So, it was pretty amusing stuff. And, you know, Kozlowski basically, and his lawyer, are suggesting, oh, there really wasn't anything to this. You know, so what? It's a party. But it was -- you know, the toga party, made famous from "Animal House," I mean, it's a decadent thing, right? And it costs a lot of money, and it was paid for by the shareholders. That's the bottom line.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, this takes it to a new level, though.
SERWER: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: A toga party -- a seven-figure toga party.
SERWER: Yes, toga, toga, toga. Exactly.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
