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CNN Live At Daybreak

Martha Stewart Released From Prison; Update on Michael Jackson Trial

Aired March 04, 2005 - 06:30   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.


KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: And good Friday morning to you. From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Kelly Wallace, in today for Carol Costello.
"Now in the News."

Martha Stewart is home this morning. You're looking at live pictures of her estate in Bedford, New York. The domestic diva arrived at that New York home in the wee hours of the morning. She will be under house arrest for five months, but has plenty of work lined up. A live report is coming up.

A New York jury is expected to begin deliberations today in the fraud trial of former WorldCom chief Bernard Ebbers. He could be sentenced to 85 years in prison.

Gunmen killed a police chief in southern Iraq today. The al- Budair police chief was gunned down outside his home. One woman was wounded in the shooting. The gunmen escaped.

President Bush is heading on the road again today. He is pushing his Social Security plan in a 60-city, 60-day blitz. The president will be in New York in about four hour and at the University of Notre Dame this afternoon.

To Chad again at the weather center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WALLACE: Well, as we have been telling you all morning, Martha Stewart has her freedom back, at least some of it.

CNN's Kareen Wynter is outside the prison in Alderson, West Virginia, where Stewart spent five months.

Good morning -- Kareen. What's the feeling there?

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the feeling here is still the excitement following her release earlier this morning at 12:30 Eastern Time here in West Virginia. I'm not sure, Kelly, if she's getting a lot of rest with all of this excitement. She's home now. I'm not sure if she's sleeping in her own bed. But she's once again back under her own roof.

If you think back to last fall when Stewart reported here to prison, she did so under a cloud of secrecy, carefully alluding all of the reporters who were waiting out here. But this time, on her release, she didn't plan a great escape.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WYNTER (voice over): Martha Stewart's close-up shot with the media and the world. Sporting a stylish gray poncho and a smile, Stewart, with daughter Alexis by her side, boarded a chartered jet. Destination: home.

The celebrity homemaker-turned-felon has spent the last five months behind bars, working as an orderly. In a recent issue of "Martha Stewart Living," the magazine's editor-in-chief also revealed Stewart exercised her creative skills by teaching a nightly yoga class to inmates, decorating the prison chapel for a memorial service and crocheting.

As for what now awaits Stewart, there's no shortage of offers. A new magazine column, two TV shows, a daily and lifestyle, and her own version of "The Apprentice." She's teamed up with famed producer Mark Burnett.

MARK BURNETT, REALTY SHOW PRODUCER: I got involved with Martha at her worst time. I saw that she'd come back.

WYNTER: Stewart is also coming back to five months' house arrest she'll spend inside her luxurious Bedford, New York, estate. She'll have full access to phones and the Internet to work out of her home and can conduct business 48 hours a week off the estate.

SUSAN LYNE, MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMEDIA: She's been missed here. She's a fountain of ideas.

WYNTER: And once again, she'll be all over television and the magazines, only now not because of any crime.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

After her house arrest is complete, Stewart still isn't off the hook. She'll be on probation for another year and a half -- Kelly.

WALLACE: Kareen Wynter, thanks so much, reporting from West Virginia this morning. We appreciate it.

Well, Martha Stewart has certainly had an eventful 24 hours. Accompanied by her daughter, Alexis, Stewart boarded her private jet outside of Louisburg, West Virginia, and flew home to New York. The lifestyle maven will spend much of the next five months confined to her home.

So, what is Martha Stewarts' public image now? Certainly not that of a standard ex-con.

Longtime pubic relations practitioner and CNN contributor Victoria "Torie" Clarke joins us from Washington.

Torie, good morning. I'm having some problems speaking.

VICTORIA CLARKE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning. How are you?

WALLACE: Good. Thanks for being here.

CLARKE: Sure.

WALLACE: Well, first, you had advised many people. Our viewers know you're a former spokeswoman at the Pentagon, advising Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. You've worked in many political campaigns. If you were advising Martha Stewart right now, what would you tell her to do?

CLARKE: Boy, keep doing what she's doing. You compare her to other CEOs, where their executives have gotten in trouble, and the contrast is amazing.

First and foremost, she told her own story. From the very beginning when the charges were first leveled, she found ways to communicate directly with people, directly with her supporters. She's moved past the problems as quickly as possible, you know, saying, I want to go to prison now rather than waiting through the appeals, so we can get past this.

And she planned for the future. She didn't drag this out forever. She said, OK, we're going to get past this, and let's focus on what's next for the Martha Stewart brand and for the products.

WALLACE: One thing I've been hearing from people I talk to in terms of as she moves forward and whether she needs to do any kind of makeover of her image is the word "humility." Many professionals think she needs to show in the weeks and months ahead humility. What do you say to that?

CLARKE: I think anybody who's paid attention to what's happened over the last five months has seen that. I'm sure more people will see it going forward. But if you read any of those letters she wrote from prison, or you read some of the things from other prisoners who were there, she was very humble, was doing all of the tasks and the chores that other prisoners had to do, did everything she could to help the people around her, clearly had some real sympathy for a lot of these women and the sentencing guidelines she thinks are too severe.

So, if you've watched the last five months, you've seen it. I think going forward it will probably become very evident.

WALLACE: Yes. Going forward, do you think the expectation is that we can see Martha Stewart becoming a very public advocate for sentencing reform and prison reform? If you were advising her, would you tell her to get out front on that important issue?

CLARKE: Boy, if I were advising her, I'd tell her to focus very, very hard on the products. In the short run, there's going to be some huge public support that will certainly help the business. But over the long run it's going to be the quality of the products, whether people want them and use them, those sorts of things. And so, I think focuses very, very hard on the business. She has legions of people around her. She seems to have enormous energy and makes 48 hours out of every 24. So, I wouldn't be surprised if she did some work largely behind the scenes on the sentencing guidelines.

WALLACE: All right.

CLARKE: But it's interesting. She clearly found something that she thought was important.

WALLACE: Very quickly, Torie, what about oversaturation of Martha Stewart? Does she have to be careful of that in the months ahead?

CLARKE: I think so. You know, one TV show is a lot for anybody. Two TV shows plus the column. Trying to be all things to all people is a real danger.

WALLACE: All right. Torie Clarke, thanks for getting up early with us on DAYBREAK. We appreciate it. Good to talk to you today.

And for more on Martha Stewart, watch a special edition of "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" with Paula Zahn. That is tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 5:00 p.m. Pacific only here on CNN.

Well, the sister of Michael Jackson's accuser will be back on the witness stand when court resumes in just a few hours. In her testimony so far, the teenager told the court she saw empty liquor bottles in Jackson's bedroom, and that her family was told to avoid watching the now notorious documentary about Michael Jackson.

For more on the trial, we are joined by CNN's Miguel Marquez in Santa Maria, California.

Miguel -- thanks for getting up so early with us. Let me ask you first. You were watching court proceedings yesterday. How damaging so far was this testimony yesterday?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's not entirely clear in the end how damaging it will be, because the defense still has to cross her.

But she did corroborate key portions of what we expect her brother, who will be the star witness in this trial, to say; that is that she saw Michael with the boys at one point on Neverland, and he gave them and was drinking alcohol with them. She saw them on a plane back from Miami that they were passing a Coke can back and forth, and they were whispering to each other, sipping from the Coke can.

So, it seems to corroborate that there may have been alcohol, although she didn't say that there was. So, there are some key acts that she is able to corroborate.


Aired March 4, 2005 - 06:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: And good Friday morning to you. From the Time Warner center in New York, I'm Kelly Wallace, in today for Carol Costello.
"Now in the News."

Martha Stewart is home this morning. You're looking at live pictures of her estate in Bedford, New York. The domestic diva arrived at that New York home in the wee hours of the morning. She will be under house arrest for five months, but has plenty of work lined up. A live report is coming up.

A New York jury is expected to begin deliberations today in the fraud trial of former WorldCom chief Bernard Ebbers. He could be sentenced to 85 years in prison.

Gunmen killed a police chief in southern Iraq today. The al- Budair police chief was gunned down outside his home. One woman was wounded in the shooting. The gunmen escaped.

President Bush is heading on the road again today. He is pushing his Social Security plan in a 60-city, 60-day blitz. The president will be in New York in about four hour and at the University of Notre Dame this afternoon.

To Chad again at the weather center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WALLACE: Well, as we have been telling you all morning, Martha Stewart has her freedom back, at least some of it.

CNN's Kareen Wynter is outside the prison in Alderson, West Virginia, where Stewart spent five months.

Good morning -- Kareen. What's the feeling there?

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the feeling here is still the excitement following her release earlier this morning at 12:30 Eastern Time here in West Virginia. I'm not sure, Kelly, if she's getting a lot of rest with all of this excitement. She's home now. I'm not sure if she's sleeping in her own bed. But she's once again back under her own roof.

If you think back to last fall when Stewart reported here to prison, she did so under a cloud of secrecy, carefully alluding all of the reporters who were waiting out here. But this time, on her release, she didn't plan a great escape.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WYNTER (voice over): Martha Stewart's close-up shot with the media and the world. Sporting a stylish gray poncho and a smile, Stewart, with daughter Alexis by her side, boarded a chartered jet. Destination: home.

The celebrity homemaker-turned-felon has spent the last five months behind bars, working as an orderly. In a recent issue of "Martha Stewart Living," the magazine's editor-in-chief also revealed Stewart exercised her creative skills by teaching a nightly yoga class to inmates, decorating the prison chapel for a memorial service and crocheting.

As for what now awaits Stewart, there's no shortage of offers. A new magazine column, two TV shows, a daily and lifestyle, and her own version of "The Apprentice." She's teamed up with famed producer Mark Burnett.

MARK BURNETT, REALTY SHOW PRODUCER: I got involved with Martha at her worst time. I saw that she'd come back.

WYNTER: Stewart is also coming back to five months' house arrest she'll spend inside her luxurious Bedford, New York, estate. She'll have full access to phones and the Internet to work out of her home and can conduct business 48 hours a week off the estate.

SUSAN LYNE, MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMEDIA: She's been missed here. She's a fountain of ideas.

WYNTER: And once again, she'll be all over television and the magazines, only now not because of any crime.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

After her house arrest is complete, Stewart still isn't off the hook. She'll be on probation for another year and a half -- Kelly.

WALLACE: Kareen Wynter, thanks so much, reporting from West Virginia this morning. We appreciate it.

Well, Martha Stewart has certainly had an eventful 24 hours. Accompanied by her daughter, Alexis, Stewart boarded her private jet outside of Louisburg, West Virginia, and flew home to New York. The lifestyle maven will spend much of the next five months confined to her home.

So, what is Martha Stewarts' public image now? Certainly not that of a standard ex-con.

Longtime pubic relations practitioner and CNN contributor Victoria "Torie" Clarke joins us from Washington.

Torie, good morning. I'm having some problems speaking.

VICTORIA CLARKE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning. How are you?

WALLACE: Good. Thanks for being here.

CLARKE: Sure.

WALLACE: Well, first, you had advised many people. Our viewers know you're a former spokeswoman at the Pentagon, advising Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. You've worked in many political campaigns. If you were advising Martha Stewart right now, what would you tell her to do?

CLARKE: Boy, keep doing what she's doing. You compare her to other CEOs, where their executives have gotten in trouble, and the contrast is amazing.

First and foremost, she told her own story. From the very beginning when the charges were first leveled, she found ways to communicate directly with people, directly with her supporters. She's moved past the problems as quickly as possible, you know, saying, I want to go to prison now rather than waiting through the appeals, so we can get past this.

And she planned for the future. She didn't drag this out forever. She said, OK, we're going to get past this, and let's focus on what's next for the Martha Stewart brand and for the products.

WALLACE: One thing I've been hearing from people I talk to in terms of as she moves forward and whether she needs to do any kind of makeover of her image is the word "humility." Many professionals think she needs to show in the weeks and months ahead humility. What do you say to that?

CLARKE: I think anybody who's paid attention to what's happened over the last five months has seen that. I'm sure more people will see it going forward. But if you read any of those letters she wrote from prison, or you read some of the things from other prisoners who were there, she was very humble, was doing all of the tasks and the chores that other prisoners had to do, did everything she could to help the people around her, clearly had some real sympathy for a lot of these women and the sentencing guidelines she thinks are too severe.

So, if you've watched the last five months, you've seen it. I think going forward it will probably become very evident.

WALLACE: Yes. Going forward, do you think the expectation is that we can see Martha Stewart becoming a very public advocate for sentencing reform and prison reform? If you were advising her, would you tell her to get out front on that important issue?

CLARKE: Boy, if I were advising her, I'd tell her to focus very, very hard on the products. In the short run, there's going to be some huge public support that will certainly help the business. But over the long run it's going to be the quality of the products, whether people want them and use them, those sorts of things. And so, I think focuses very, very hard on the business. She has legions of people around her. She seems to have enormous energy and makes 48 hours out of every 24. So, I wouldn't be surprised if she did some work largely behind the scenes on the sentencing guidelines.

WALLACE: All right.

CLARKE: But it's interesting. She clearly found something that she thought was important.

WALLACE: Very quickly, Torie, what about oversaturation of Martha Stewart? Does she have to be careful of that in the months ahead?

CLARKE: I think so. You know, one TV show is a lot for anybody. Two TV shows plus the column. Trying to be all things to all people is a real danger.

WALLACE: All right. Torie Clarke, thanks for getting up early with us on DAYBREAK. We appreciate it. Good to talk to you today.

And for more on Martha Stewart, watch a special edition of "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" with Paula Zahn. That is tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 5:00 p.m. Pacific only here on CNN.

Well, the sister of Michael Jackson's accuser will be back on the witness stand when court resumes in just a few hours. In her testimony so far, the teenager told the court she saw empty liquor bottles in Jackson's bedroom, and that her family was told to avoid watching the now notorious documentary about Michael Jackson.

For more on the trial, we are joined by CNN's Miguel Marquez in Santa Maria, California.

Miguel -- thanks for getting up so early with us. Let me ask you first. You were watching court proceedings yesterday. How damaging so far was this testimony yesterday?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's not entirely clear in the end how damaging it will be, because the defense still has to cross her.

But she did corroborate key portions of what we expect her brother, who will be the star witness in this trial, to say; that is that she saw Michael with the boys at one point on Neverland, and he gave them and was drinking alcohol with them. She saw them on a plane back from Miami that they were passing a Coke can back and forth, and they were whispering to each other, sipping from the Coke can.

So, it seems to corroborate that there may have been alcohol, although she didn't say that there was. So, there are some key acts that she is able to corroborate.