Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Rock Concert Ends Abruptly When a Gunman Takes Over the Stage; Charges in NBA Basket Brawl
Aired December 09, 2004 - 06:00 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was staged, you know? I didn't believe it was a real thing that happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, but it was real. A rock concert ends abruptly when a gunman takes over the stage. Five are dead.
Charges in the NBA basket brawl. What happens next to the fans and the players who duked it out?
And the reporters become the story. How far does the law go to protect what journalists can tell you?
It is Thursday, December 9.
You are watching DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
Thank you for waking up with us.
I'm Carol Costello live from the Time Warner Center in New York.
Let's go right to the headlines now.
Five people, including the gunman, are dead following a shooting at a Columbus, Ohio nightclub heavy metal concert. Witnesses say a man jumped onstage and shot at the band Damageplan before shooting into the crowd.
The search continues this morning for six people lost in the crash of a Coast Guard rescue helicopter off the coast of Alaska. Four people were plucked from the water by another chopper. The six still missing are crew members from a freighter that ran aground in the area.
In Iraq, a car bombing in the northern city of Mosul seriously wounds one civilian this morning. Eyewitnesses say a U.S. military was near the site of that attack. But the military says no multinational forces were in the area at the time.
Closing arguments are scheduled for today in the penalty phase of the Scott Peterson trial. Peterson faces either life in prison without parole or the death penalty for the murders of his wife and their unborn child.
To the forecast center now.
Rob Marciano in for Chad this morning -- good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: We want to get more now on that nightclub shooting in Ohio. One witness says he thought it was part of the show. A man jumps onstage at a Columbus, Ohio concert and begins shooting at the band Damageplan. At least five people were killed, including the gunman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was right in the front when it happened. It was, I thought it was staged, you know? I didn't believe it was a real thing that happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Oh, but it was.
For the latest, we go to Columbus and our CNN assignment editor Steve Brusk.
He's on the ground in Columbus -- Steve, bring us up to date.
STEVE BRUSK, CNN ASSIGNMENT EDITOR: Good morning, Carol.
There's still crime scene tape up all over this nightclub on a busy street here on the north side of Columbus. It was about 10:00 last night, 30 seconds into the show, when all of a sudden a man dressed in a hockey jersey, according to witnesses, raced into the middle of the stage. No one knew what to make of it.
As you've heard witness after witness say, they thought it must have been part of the show, it must have been planned. They realized it wasn't when he pulled out a gun, when he fired at point blank range at the lead guitarist, shot him at least three or four times, according to witnesses, and then turned and began firing at the crowd, at other members of the band.
It was -- a police officer inside described it as a very horrific and chaotic scene -- people running for cover, trying to dive on the floor, trying to get away from the gunman, who continued to fire on the stage, at one point grabbing what police said was a hostage, wrapping his arms around the person while he continued to fire into the crowd.
It did not come to an end until a Columbus police officer who was on patrol in the neighborhood not far from here got the call of shots fired inside. Within two minutes he was on scene at this concert venue. He went around the back, was able to sneak into position on the stage, where he confronted the gunman and ultimately put an end to the rampage by firing at the gunman and killing him.
COSTELLO: So just this...
BRUSK: Four people...
COSTELLO: Just this one patrol officer gets out of his car and goes into the club on his own to take care of this situation?
BRUSK: That, it's a remarkable story from the Columbus police, who are describing this officer, who did not have backup at that point, who walked into a frantic situation and was, you know, according to one witness, very professional, just like you see on TV. He had his gun drawn. He came up, in a commanding voice ordered the man to drop the weapon. When the man did not, he fired and ended the situation.
COSTELLO: Steve, let's talk a little bit about this band, "Dimebag," because two of its members came from a more famous band called Pantera, very famous in the heavy metal community.
BRUSK: Yes, but the band...
COSTELLO: The guitarist you see, "Dimebag" Darrell, is one of the people shot from the band, right?
BRUSK: Several of the witnesses and many, many of the witnesses have identified "Dimebag" Darrell, who is extremely well known in the heavy metal community, as the guitarist who was shot by the gunman. The band Damageplan is, it's got two members of a more famous group, Pantera, who are part of the group. They travel around to concert venues like this around the country. They draw a very big crowd.
We talked to several people who traveled from hours away to come to this show, many dressed like their heroes on the stage. Several told us that "Dimebag" Darrell was one of their idols, that they had been following his career for 20 years. And we talked to one man who literally was dressed in the same outfit that he was wearing onstage tonight, one of his -- one of the things that he was famous for in his concerts.
COSTELLO: Steve Brusk reporting live for us from Columbus, Ohio.
Thank you.
In other news across America this morning, investigators in Maryland believe more than one person is responsible for the fires set as a housing development on Monday morning. A total of 19 fires were deliberately set using incendiary devices. Police also increased their reward to $82,00 for information leading to a conviction in the case.
Employees at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California are mourning the loss of three colleagues this morning. The workers were killed when a commuter van plunged off a foggy mountain road on the way to Pasadena. The remaining seven people in the van were injured, two of them critically. And Mike Tyson, he's in trouble with the law again. This time it's a misdemeanor criminal damage charge. The boxer was arrested for allegedly jumping on the hood of a car last month outside of a Scottsdale, Arizona nightclub. He was released, but must appear in court in the next 10 days. Tyson has been training for a return to the ring in March.
Players five, fans seven -- that's the prosecutor's score so far and the number of people charged in last month's basket brawl in Detroit. The prosecutor has been dissecting the video for weeks, this video. This is what we're talking about. Yesterday came the charges. Most are now facing misdemeanor counts of assault and battery. But two spectators could get serious jail time if they're convicted on felony charges. One is accused of throwing the chair, and that would be John Green. He's accused of also throwing the cup that supposedly started the fight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID GORCYCA, OAKLAND COUNTY PROSECUTOR: One obvious factor that's very prevalent throughout the course of what transpired is that for every thrown cup or liquid substance, the melee seemed to have escalated. And, in fact, it probably was the major inciting reason why there was confrontation between players as well as fans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: But some fans' lawyers are crying foul, saying hang on, my client's the little guy. Let me begin more specific. This is a quote from Green's lawyer, Sean Smith. He calls the charges against his client "outrageous and the worst kind of politics" and said the prosecutor "was caving to the big business of basketball by picking on the little guy."
So now we know the strategy Mr. Smith is going to use in court.
Kendall Coffey is our legal analyst.
He joins us live now from Miami -- good morning.
KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Good strategy?
COFFEY: I guess. But, you know, it's pretty hard when it's all on the videotape. I mean talk about busted, as you pointed out, the five Pacers are not realistically facing jail time on those kind of misdemeanor charges. But two of the fans, one of whom threw a chair, has a criminal record and was charged with a felony. And then the other fan, the one who you just described his lawyer said picking on the little guy, who threw the cup which started the whole thing, also has a criminal record.
Those two fans are ones that are most likely to end up in jail.
COSTELLO: So you really think they'll get serious jail time? Because some people think they won't by the time it all ends up in court.
COFFEY: I don't think anyone's going to be breaking rocks in the hot sun over this thing. But from now, at least, the prosecutor is sending signals that at least a couple of people could be in jail. I mean, I think we're talking weeks or months rather than years.
COSTELLO: You know, most, though, are charged with misdemeanors. Some might call that a slap on the wrist.
Did the prosecutor have any choice in this matter?
COFFEY: I think he went by the book. You know, what you try to do in these high profile cases is somehow divorce yourself from all the hoopla and say if this were sort of a bad Saturday night in a local bar, what would I do with the charges?
And, you know, realistically, Carol, I don't think you would be hammering folks with a bunch of felony charges. You would be charging them with misdemeanors, especially if, as you had here, you've got the videotape, which pretty much seems to tell the tale.
COSTELLO: Oh, you're not kidding.
So do you think this will stop such behavior at games in the future?
COFFEY: Well, I think the lawsuits are just beginning. Talk about an early Christmas gift for lawyers. In fact, two of the fans that were charged filed lawsuits already. More are coming. There's going to be continuing grief between the NBA and some of the players, who are contesting the suspensions. Still more possible litigation.
I think they're going to do everything they can to avoid this kind of thing happening again.
COSTELLO: Kendall Coffey live in Miami.
Thank you.
Still to come on DAYBREAK, if you want to watch, you've got to pay. And that makes the cable companies really, really happy. Coming up in our "Business Buzz," how much money are they making off of your viewing habits?
And when journalists make headlines -- what's at risk for reporters who say mum's the word?
And then, how will the small print in the 9/11 reform bill affect the way you fly?
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET REPORT) COSTELLO: Time now for a little "Business Buzz."
You're channel surfing late night, desperately fighting insomnia. You cannot escape that silly little ad from your local car dealership. That ad is working.
Carrie Lee joins us live from the Nasdaq market site to tell us how well it's working -- good morning.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.
Good morning to you.
We can relate to trying to get to bed early, right?
Well, now that cable viewership is topping viewership for the big networks, their ad sales are starting to climb, as well. Interesting trend. Television advertising is a $60 billion industry and while national advertising on the big networks still dominates -- they win about half of all ad spending -- local cable ads take just 8 percent of the pie. But PricewaterhouseCoopers says this is starting to change.
Ad sales climbed 12 percent this year, to $5.4 billion, and by 2008, they should top about $7 billion. So we are seeing more and more ad companies go to cable. And a lot of big businesses are seeing cable now as a way to target specific audiences, specific local audiences. They can use one ad, tweak it several ways and tap into people in different types of communities.
So a trend that's happening, Carol, and it could very well continue this way going forward. You know, advertisers are always looking for new ways to make more money.
COSTELLO: New and clever ways.
Also, we hear of some news from the music industry. I hear Jay-Z is joining the ranks of, you know, people like P. Diddy.
LEE: That's right. Def Jam Recordings. Jay-Z is going to become the company's new president and CEO. This is going to take place on January 3. He's going to continue to run his own record company, Rocafella Records, but Jay-Z moving on up in the music world. And he's already pretty high up there as we speak now -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes. I don't think he needs the money.
LEE: Oh, well, you know, a very ambitious man.
COSTELLO: Yes.
Carrie Lee live from the NASDAQ market site.
Thank you.
He refused to reveal a source. Now he could go to prison for it. TV reporter Jim Taricani will be sentenced up to six months today after his conviction on criminal contempt. Taricani refused to tell authorities who gave him an FBI videotape showing a Providence City, Rhode Island official taking a bribe. The reporter says he asked his source to come forward, but the source refused.
Today, however, that very source will testify at Taricani's hearing. We'll keep you posted, we'll keep you posted on that.
In another case involving reporters and sources, there were appeals but no decisions. Judith Miller, from the "New York Times," and Matthew Cooper from "Time" magazine, faced a federal appeals court to avoid spending 18 months in prison. Both refused to reveal their source in the Plame affair. You remember, Valerie Plame was a CIA operative whose name was revealed after her husband was openly critical of the Bush administration.
Now it may sound like Judith...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDITH MILLER, "NEW YORK TIMES": I believe the central issue for me as a reporter is still the public's right to know. Can people feel comfortable to come to Matt and to me and to other journalists and know that we will protect their sources and do we have as much right to some kind of qualified privilege as a psychotherapist? And I was encouraged by that line of questioning today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That was Judith Miller you heard speaking. And although it may sound like she's getting a raw deal, it's just not that simple. Nothing is, is it?
Kelly McBride is the ethics group leader at the Poynter Institutes.
She joins us live from St. Petersburg, Florida this morning.
Good morning.
KELLY MCBRIDE, POYNTER INSTITUTE: Good morning.
How are you?
COSTELLO: I'm fine.
You know, Floyd Abrams, Miller's attorney, had this to say about the case. He said: "This is a frontal attack on the ability of journalists to promise confidential treatment to sources. A time will come when some of the best and the most important journalism will be blunted and ultimately stopped."
That's pretty strong.
Do you agree with that? MCBRIDE: I do. I do agree with that. It is critical that journalists can use confidentiality as a tool in reporting because the most important role of the press in a democracy is the watchdog role, keeping track of the powers that be and what they're doing with their authority. And confidentiality is meant to protect low level employees, whistleblowers, if you will, who would suffer great harm if their identities were revealed. And the public would not know many, many stories if it wasn't, if the reporters didn't have this privilege.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, Kelly, this case is so confusing because Miller, the "New York Times" reporter, and Cooper, the "Time" magazine reporter, face a judge. The columnist who actually printed Plame's name, Robert Novak, is not up before any court.
Why?
MCBRIDE: Well, I don't get that. I am not sure. And because we only see a partial -- a portion of these proceedings, we don't know if Novak has cooperated with the prosecutors and therefore he's not facing the same sanctions.
But you're right, Miller and Cooper used their judgment about the material and decided that it was not worthy of publication. As journalists, we get a lot of tips and when you're trying to decide whether to publish them or not, you think about the motive of your source. And I suspect that both of them, as well as half a dozen other journalists who got the same tip, suspected that the motive of the source was not necessarily informing the public and serving the public good, but there was some type of political motive behind the request for anonymity and decided that it was not a judicious use of confidentiality.
COSTELLO: Interesting. You know, the public seems not to care about this issue much. I mean there is no great outcry. Imagine if Woodward and Bernstein were forced to reveal who Deep Throat was years ago.
MCBRIDE: Yes...
COSTELLO: I mean...
MCBRIDE: You know, I think the public doesn't have a lot of sympathy for journalists for a couple of reasons. One is, as journalists, I think we have overused confidential sources. Almost every story coming out of Washington, D.C. has some degree of anonymous sourcing to it. And I think the public looks at most stories with confidential sources and thinks the reporters are merely making it up or perhaps being lazy or perhaps being used as political operatives. And so as journalists, I think we would have a lot more sympathy if the public could see that we used this tool to their interests, rather than to our own.
COSTELLO: Kelly McBride from the Poynter Institute, joining DAYBREAK this morning.
Thank you.
Airport contraband and a lot of other items are addressed in the new intel reform bill. So how will your travel life be affected?
Also ahead, want to spread the wealth along with the holiday cheer this year? The dos and dont's of giving money as a gift.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: That was a beautiful shot.
The intelligence reform bill is on its way to President Bush's desk. It is forcing airports to keep a closer eye on your luggage. That's one of the things contained in that bill.
To explain what it all means to air travelers, we're joined by usatoday.com's Ben Mutzabaugh from Washington.
Good morning, Ben. BEN MUTZABAUGH, USATODAY.COM AIRLINE REPORTER: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So how will this intelligence reform bill affect us when we head to the airport?
MUTZABAUGH: Well, most of the changes will be behind the scenes and won't be seen firsthand by travelers. Most of the first impacts will be just shaping policy and sort of bringing it into a clearer focus for the people who are making changes that dictate security at airports.
But there will be some changes. One of the most notable, no butane lighters are now allowed to go past security. And, but one of the more interesting changes is that after the whole list of complaints about passengers who say they've had luggage stolen by screeners, there will now be cameras installed in areas where luggage leaves passengers' hands so that A, it can monitor employees to deter theft, but in incidents where it still might happen, now it gives passengers some avenue of recourses to say hey, my luggage was stolen. And now authorities can go back and see where along the way that might have happened.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, that's interesting to me, because that has nothing to do with terrorism.
MUTZABAUGH: Well, that's -- that was my first thought, too. But it's -- I talked to Kevin Mitchell of the Business Travel Coalition and there are some ways that it does. If you get someone who could sneak past the security system in other ways, maybe with false documents or somehow get behind security lines that isn't supposed to be, they could also plant things in luggage. And, of course, it could be anything that's just innocent that they're trying to smuggle, but it could also be dangerous, such as a bomb or some other weapon.
So...
COSTELLO: OK, I'll buy that. MUTZABAUGH: ... it is a theft deterrent, but it could also help in those areas, as well.
COSTELLO: Let's get back to the butane lighter for just a second, because you say those are now banned, but you're allowed to bring matches still on board a plane, aren't you?
MUTZABAUGH: You are allowed to bring matches. I think four packs is the maximum, or four individual books of matches you can bring on board with you.
COSTELLO: Why?
MUTZABAUGH: But butane lighters are now off limits. That issue of butane lighters was pressed by Senator Dorgan of North Dakota and Senator Wyden of Oregon. They cited FBI reports that said that the alleged shoe bomber, Richard Reid, would have probably been successful in his effort to ignite his, I guess shoe bomb on his Paris to Miami flight, if he had had a butane lighter and could have kept a flame going long enough to ignite his bomb.
So I guess it was a little, it was sort of an after thought in security, but they paid attention to that one particular incident and said hey, it might be small, but it's something we can prevent in the future.
COSTELLO: See, you never know where these things really come from.
Ben Mutzabaugh...
MUTZABAUGH: There's always a source.
COSTELLO: ... from usatoday.com.
Thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
MUTZABAUGH: Thank you.
COSTELLO: We will continue our discussion on the nation's security with our political analyst, Ron Brownstein. That happens in just a moment.
And what's their beef? Ranchers upset about the way the U.S. Department is promoting their product. It's made it all the way to the Supreme Court.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
99
Aired December 9, 2004 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was staged, you know? I didn't believe it was a real thing that happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, but it was real. A rock concert ends abruptly when a gunman takes over the stage. Five are dead.
Charges in the NBA basket brawl. What happens next to the fans and the players who duked it out?
And the reporters become the story. How far does the law go to protect what journalists can tell you?
It is Thursday, December 9.
You are watching DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
Thank you for waking up with us.
I'm Carol Costello live from the Time Warner Center in New York.
Let's go right to the headlines now.
Five people, including the gunman, are dead following a shooting at a Columbus, Ohio nightclub heavy metal concert. Witnesses say a man jumped onstage and shot at the band Damageplan before shooting into the crowd.
The search continues this morning for six people lost in the crash of a Coast Guard rescue helicopter off the coast of Alaska. Four people were plucked from the water by another chopper. The six still missing are crew members from a freighter that ran aground in the area.
In Iraq, a car bombing in the northern city of Mosul seriously wounds one civilian this morning. Eyewitnesses say a U.S. military was near the site of that attack. But the military says no multinational forces were in the area at the time.
Closing arguments are scheduled for today in the penalty phase of the Scott Peterson trial. Peterson faces either life in prison without parole or the death penalty for the murders of his wife and their unborn child.
To the forecast center now.
Rob Marciano in for Chad this morning -- good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: We want to get more now on that nightclub shooting in Ohio. One witness says he thought it was part of the show. A man jumps onstage at a Columbus, Ohio concert and begins shooting at the band Damageplan. At least five people were killed, including the gunman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was right in the front when it happened. It was, I thought it was staged, you know? I didn't believe it was a real thing that happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Oh, but it was.
For the latest, we go to Columbus and our CNN assignment editor Steve Brusk.
He's on the ground in Columbus -- Steve, bring us up to date.
STEVE BRUSK, CNN ASSIGNMENT EDITOR: Good morning, Carol.
There's still crime scene tape up all over this nightclub on a busy street here on the north side of Columbus. It was about 10:00 last night, 30 seconds into the show, when all of a sudden a man dressed in a hockey jersey, according to witnesses, raced into the middle of the stage. No one knew what to make of it.
As you've heard witness after witness say, they thought it must have been part of the show, it must have been planned. They realized it wasn't when he pulled out a gun, when he fired at point blank range at the lead guitarist, shot him at least three or four times, according to witnesses, and then turned and began firing at the crowd, at other members of the band.
It was -- a police officer inside described it as a very horrific and chaotic scene -- people running for cover, trying to dive on the floor, trying to get away from the gunman, who continued to fire on the stage, at one point grabbing what police said was a hostage, wrapping his arms around the person while he continued to fire into the crowd.
It did not come to an end until a Columbus police officer who was on patrol in the neighborhood not far from here got the call of shots fired inside. Within two minutes he was on scene at this concert venue. He went around the back, was able to sneak into position on the stage, where he confronted the gunman and ultimately put an end to the rampage by firing at the gunman and killing him.
COSTELLO: So just this...
BRUSK: Four people...
COSTELLO: Just this one patrol officer gets out of his car and goes into the club on his own to take care of this situation?
BRUSK: That, it's a remarkable story from the Columbus police, who are describing this officer, who did not have backup at that point, who walked into a frantic situation and was, you know, according to one witness, very professional, just like you see on TV. He had his gun drawn. He came up, in a commanding voice ordered the man to drop the weapon. When the man did not, he fired and ended the situation.
COSTELLO: Steve, let's talk a little bit about this band, "Dimebag," because two of its members came from a more famous band called Pantera, very famous in the heavy metal community.
BRUSK: Yes, but the band...
COSTELLO: The guitarist you see, "Dimebag" Darrell, is one of the people shot from the band, right?
BRUSK: Several of the witnesses and many, many of the witnesses have identified "Dimebag" Darrell, who is extremely well known in the heavy metal community, as the guitarist who was shot by the gunman. The band Damageplan is, it's got two members of a more famous group, Pantera, who are part of the group. They travel around to concert venues like this around the country. They draw a very big crowd.
We talked to several people who traveled from hours away to come to this show, many dressed like their heroes on the stage. Several told us that "Dimebag" Darrell was one of their idols, that they had been following his career for 20 years. And we talked to one man who literally was dressed in the same outfit that he was wearing onstage tonight, one of his -- one of the things that he was famous for in his concerts.
COSTELLO: Steve Brusk reporting live for us from Columbus, Ohio.
Thank you.
In other news across America this morning, investigators in Maryland believe more than one person is responsible for the fires set as a housing development on Monday morning. A total of 19 fires were deliberately set using incendiary devices. Police also increased their reward to $82,00 for information leading to a conviction in the case.
Employees at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California are mourning the loss of three colleagues this morning. The workers were killed when a commuter van plunged off a foggy mountain road on the way to Pasadena. The remaining seven people in the van were injured, two of them critically. And Mike Tyson, he's in trouble with the law again. This time it's a misdemeanor criminal damage charge. The boxer was arrested for allegedly jumping on the hood of a car last month outside of a Scottsdale, Arizona nightclub. He was released, but must appear in court in the next 10 days. Tyson has been training for a return to the ring in March.
Players five, fans seven -- that's the prosecutor's score so far and the number of people charged in last month's basket brawl in Detroit. The prosecutor has been dissecting the video for weeks, this video. This is what we're talking about. Yesterday came the charges. Most are now facing misdemeanor counts of assault and battery. But two spectators could get serious jail time if they're convicted on felony charges. One is accused of throwing the chair, and that would be John Green. He's accused of also throwing the cup that supposedly started the fight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID GORCYCA, OAKLAND COUNTY PROSECUTOR: One obvious factor that's very prevalent throughout the course of what transpired is that for every thrown cup or liquid substance, the melee seemed to have escalated. And, in fact, it probably was the major inciting reason why there was confrontation between players as well as fans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: But some fans' lawyers are crying foul, saying hang on, my client's the little guy. Let me begin more specific. This is a quote from Green's lawyer, Sean Smith. He calls the charges against his client "outrageous and the worst kind of politics" and said the prosecutor "was caving to the big business of basketball by picking on the little guy."
So now we know the strategy Mr. Smith is going to use in court.
Kendall Coffey is our legal analyst.
He joins us live now from Miami -- good morning.
KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Good strategy?
COFFEY: I guess. But, you know, it's pretty hard when it's all on the videotape. I mean talk about busted, as you pointed out, the five Pacers are not realistically facing jail time on those kind of misdemeanor charges. But two of the fans, one of whom threw a chair, has a criminal record and was charged with a felony. And then the other fan, the one who you just described his lawyer said picking on the little guy, who threw the cup which started the whole thing, also has a criminal record.
Those two fans are ones that are most likely to end up in jail.
COSTELLO: So you really think they'll get serious jail time? Because some people think they won't by the time it all ends up in court.
COFFEY: I don't think anyone's going to be breaking rocks in the hot sun over this thing. But from now, at least, the prosecutor is sending signals that at least a couple of people could be in jail. I mean, I think we're talking weeks or months rather than years.
COSTELLO: You know, most, though, are charged with misdemeanors. Some might call that a slap on the wrist.
Did the prosecutor have any choice in this matter?
COFFEY: I think he went by the book. You know, what you try to do in these high profile cases is somehow divorce yourself from all the hoopla and say if this were sort of a bad Saturday night in a local bar, what would I do with the charges?
And, you know, realistically, Carol, I don't think you would be hammering folks with a bunch of felony charges. You would be charging them with misdemeanors, especially if, as you had here, you've got the videotape, which pretty much seems to tell the tale.
COSTELLO: Oh, you're not kidding.
So do you think this will stop such behavior at games in the future?
COFFEY: Well, I think the lawsuits are just beginning. Talk about an early Christmas gift for lawyers. In fact, two of the fans that were charged filed lawsuits already. More are coming. There's going to be continuing grief between the NBA and some of the players, who are contesting the suspensions. Still more possible litigation.
I think they're going to do everything they can to avoid this kind of thing happening again.
COSTELLO: Kendall Coffey live in Miami.
Thank you.
Still to come on DAYBREAK, if you want to watch, you've got to pay. And that makes the cable companies really, really happy. Coming up in our "Business Buzz," how much money are they making off of your viewing habits?
And when journalists make headlines -- what's at risk for reporters who say mum's the word?
And then, how will the small print in the 9/11 reform bill affect the way you fly?
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET REPORT) COSTELLO: Time now for a little "Business Buzz."
You're channel surfing late night, desperately fighting insomnia. You cannot escape that silly little ad from your local car dealership. That ad is working.
Carrie Lee joins us live from the Nasdaq market site to tell us how well it's working -- good morning.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.
Good morning to you.
We can relate to trying to get to bed early, right?
Well, now that cable viewership is topping viewership for the big networks, their ad sales are starting to climb, as well. Interesting trend. Television advertising is a $60 billion industry and while national advertising on the big networks still dominates -- they win about half of all ad spending -- local cable ads take just 8 percent of the pie. But PricewaterhouseCoopers says this is starting to change.
Ad sales climbed 12 percent this year, to $5.4 billion, and by 2008, they should top about $7 billion. So we are seeing more and more ad companies go to cable. And a lot of big businesses are seeing cable now as a way to target specific audiences, specific local audiences. They can use one ad, tweak it several ways and tap into people in different types of communities.
So a trend that's happening, Carol, and it could very well continue this way going forward. You know, advertisers are always looking for new ways to make more money.
COSTELLO: New and clever ways.
Also, we hear of some news from the music industry. I hear Jay-Z is joining the ranks of, you know, people like P. Diddy.
LEE: That's right. Def Jam Recordings. Jay-Z is going to become the company's new president and CEO. This is going to take place on January 3. He's going to continue to run his own record company, Rocafella Records, but Jay-Z moving on up in the music world. And he's already pretty high up there as we speak now -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes. I don't think he needs the money.
LEE: Oh, well, you know, a very ambitious man.
COSTELLO: Yes.
Carrie Lee live from the NASDAQ market site.
Thank you.
He refused to reveal a source. Now he could go to prison for it. TV reporter Jim Taricani will be sentenced up to six months today after his conviction on criminal contempt. Taricani refused to tell authorities who gave him an FBI videotape showing a Providence City, Rhode Island official taking a bribe. The reporter says he asked his source to come forward, but the source refused.
Today, however, that very source will testify at Taricani's hearing. We'll keep you posted, we'll keep you posted on that.
In another case involving reporters and sources, there were appeals but no decisions. Judith Miller, from the "New York Times," and Matthew Cooper from "Time" magazine, faced a federal appeals court to avoid spending 18 months in prison. Both refused to reveal their source in the Plame affair. You remember, Valerie Plame was a CIA operative whose name was revealed after her husband was openly critical of the Bush administration.
Now it may sound like Judith...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDITH MILLER, "NEW YORK TIMES": I believe the central issue for me as a reporter is still the public's right to know. Can people feel comfortable to come to Matt and to me and to other journalists and know that we will protect their sources and do we have as much right to some kind of qualified privilege as a psychotherapist? And I was encouraged by that line of questioning today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That was Judith Miller you heard speaking. And although it may sound like she's getting a raw deal, it's just not that simple. Nothing is, is it?
Kelly McBride is the ethics group leader at the Poynter Institutes.
She joins us live from St. Petersburg, Florida this morning.
Good morning.
KELLY MCBRIDE, POYNTER INSTITUTE: Good morning.
How are you?
COSTELLO: I'm fine.
You know, Floyd Abrams, Miller's attorney, had this to say about the case. He said: "This is a frontal attack on the ability of journalists to promise confidential treatment to sources. A time will come when some of the best and the most important journalism will be blunted and ultimately stopped."
That's pretty strong.
Do you agree with that? MCBRIDE: I do. I do agree with that. It is critical that journalists can use confidentiality as a tool in reporting because the most important role of the press in a democracy is the watchdog role, keeping track of the powers that be and what they're doing with their authority. And confidentiality is meant to protect low level employees, whistleblowers, if you will, who would suffer great harm if their identities were revealed. And the public would not know many, many stories if it wasn't, if the reporters didn't have this privilege.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, Kelly, this case is so confusing because Miller, the "New York Times" reporter, and Cooper, the "Time" magazine reporter, face a judge. The columnist who actually printed Plame's name, Robert Novak, is not up before any court.
Why?
MCBRIDE: Well, I don't get that. I am not sure. And because we only see a partial -- a portion of these proceedings, we don't know if Novak has cooperated with the prosecutors and therefore he's not facing the same sanctions.
But you're right, Miller and Cooper used their judgment about the material and decided that it was not worthy of publication. As journalists, we get a lot of tips and when you're trying to decide whether to publish them or not, you think about the motive of your source. And I suspect that both of them, as well as half a dozen other journalists who got the same tip, suspected that the motive of the source was not necessarily informing the public and serving the public good, but there was some type of political motive behind the request for anonymity and decided that it was not a judicious use of confidentiality.
COSTELLO: Interesting. You know, the public seems not to care about this issue much. I mean there is no great outcry. Imagine if Woodward and Bernstein were forced to reveal who Deep Throat was years ago.
MCBRIDE: Yes...
COSTELLO: I mean...
MCBRIDE: You know, I think the public doesn't have a lot of sympathy for journalists for a couple of reasons. One is, as journalists, I think we have overused confidential sources. Almost every story coming out of Washington, D.C. has some degree of anonymous sourcing to it. And I think the public looks at most stories with confidential sources and thinks the reporters are merely making it up or perhaps being lazy or perhaps being used as political operatives. And so as journalists, I think we would have a lot more sympathy if the public could see that we used this tool to their interests, rather than to our own.
COSTELLO: Kelly McBride from the Poynter Institute, joining DAYBREAK this morning.
Thank you.
Airport contraband and a lot of other items are addressed in the new intel reform bill. So how will your travel life be affected?
Also ahead, want to spread the wealth along with the holiday cheer this year? The dos and dont's of giving money as a gift.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: That was a beautiful shot.
The intelligence reform bill is on its way to President Bush's desk. It is forcing airports to keep a closer eye on your luggage. That's one of the things contained in that bill.
To explain what it all means to air travelers, we're joined by usatoday.com's Ben Mutzabaugh from Washington.
Good morning, Ben. BEN MUTZABAUGH, USATODAY.COM AIRLINE REPORTER: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So how will this intelligence reform bill affect us when we head to the airport?
MUTZABAUGH: Well, most of the changes will be behind the scenes and won't be seen firsthand by travelers. Most of the first impacts will be just shaping policy and sort of bringing it into a clearer focus for the people who are making changes that dictate security at airports.
But there will be some changes. One of the most notable, no butane lighters are now allowed to go past security. And, but one of the more interesting changes is that after the whole list of complaints about passengers who say they've had luggage stolen by screeners, there will now be cameras installed in areas where luggage leaves passengers' hands so that A, it can monitor employees to deter theft, but in incidents where it still might happen, now it gives passengers some avenue of recourses to say hey, my luggage was stolen. And now authorities can go back and see where along the way that might have happened.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, that's interesting to me, because that has nothing to do with terrorism.
MUTZABAUGH: Well, that's -- that was my first thought, too. But it's -- I talked to Kevin Mitchell of the Business Travel Coalition and there are some ways that it does. If you get someone who could sneak past the security system in other ways, maybe with false documents or somehow get behind security lines that isn't supposed to be, they could also plant things in luggage. And, of course, it could be anything that's just innocent that they're trying to smuggle, but it could also be dangerous, such as a bomb or some other weapon.
So...
COSTELLO: OK, I'll buy that. MUTZABAUGH: ... it is a theft deterrent, but it could also help in those areas, as well.
COSTELLO: Let's get back to the butane lighter for just a second, because you say those are now banned, but you're allowed to bring matches still on board a plane, aren't you?
MUTZABAUGH: You are allowed to bring matches. I think four packs is the maximum, or four individual books of matches you can bring on board with you.
COSTELLO: Why?
MUTZABAUGH: But butane lighters are now off limits. That issue of butane lighters was pressed by Senator Dorgan of North Dakota and Senator Wyden of Oregon. They cited FBI reports that said that the alleged shoe bomber, Richard Reid, would have probably been successful in his effort to ignite his, I guess shoe bomb on his Paris to Miami flight, if he had had a butane lighter and could have kept a flame going long enough to ignite his bomb.
So I guess it was a little, it was sort of an after thought in security, but they paid attention to that one particular incident and said hey, it might be small, but it's something we can prevent in the future.
COSTELLO: See, you never know where these things really come from.
Ben Mutzabaugh...
MUTZABAUGH: There's always a source.
COSTELLO: ... from usatoday.com.
Thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
MUTZABAUGH: Thank you.
COSTELLO: We will continue our discussion on the nation's security with our political analyst, Ron Brownstein. That happens in just a moment.
And what's their beef? Ranchers upset about the way the U.S. Department is promoting their product. It's made it all the way to the Supreme Court.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
99
