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American Morning
Life on Death Row Begins for Scott Peterson; Robert Blake a Free Man This Morning
Aired March 17, 2005 - 08:00 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Life on death row begins for Scott Peterson, taken to San Quentin Prison just three hours ago.
Robert Blake a free man this morning, but he's got lots on his mind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT BLAKE, ACQUITTED OF MURDER: People have always said I'm crazy. And that's all right, just so I ain't a fool.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: He's not a fool, but how did he beat a murder rap? Inside his defense -- his attorney is our guest this morning.
And circus or showdown? Major league players forced to testify before Congress on the issue of steroids on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
O'BRIEN: Good morning.
Welcome back, everybody.
Bill Hemmer has got the day off.
Rob Marciano, though, is helping us out this morning, so thank you.
Appreciate it.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm enjoying it.
O'BRIEN: Well, thank you.
Other stories ahead, a new development in the search for 9-year- old Jessica Lunsford. Police are now trying to track down a known sex offender for questioning. We're going to take a look at what it will take to find him.
MARCIANO: Also, a story that's gained international attention. A young man beaten to death in a barroom brawl. Witnesses intimidated into keeping quiet. And we will meet the man's sisters, who are taking their battle all the way to the White House. O'BRIEN: We've been surprised by some of the success that they have had.
That story is ahead -- Mr. Cafferty.
MARCIANO: Hi, Jack.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Did we just see a picture of Robert Blake kissing his lawyer? How happy do you have to be to do that?
O'BRIEN: Really.
CAFFERTY: I mean...
MARCIANO: There's a lot of questions.
CAFFERTY: ... you have to, you've got to be really happy to kiss your lawyer.
O'BRIEN: Yes. He's really...
MARCIANO: You must have thought you were going to jail, that happy.
CAFFERTY: Coming up in the -- I don't know if that's even enough.
Coming up in "The Cafferty File," my absolute favorite story of the week is this one. It's about a third grader in North Dakota. Wait until you see this kid, who takes a page right out of America's past. What a great story.
The Twinkie as art form.
And Pale Male and Lola are about to become bird watchers.
O'BRIEN: Interesting.
All right, Jack, thanks.
MARCIANO: And Happy Saint Patrick's Day, Jack, again.
CAFFERTY: Oh, don't start up with that Saint Patrick's Day.
MARCIANO: A fellow paisano over there wearing the green. Everyone's Irish on Saint Patrick's Day, right, Carol?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I can't believe Jack didn't wear green.
CAFFERTY: See, I knew we'd get around to it. What did I say 10 minutes ago? How come you're not wearing any green?
O'BRIEN: It is a fair question, but we're going to move on anyway. CAFFERTY: It's not a fair question.
MARCIANO: And it is the news of the day, or part it, anyways.
COSTELLO: Exactly.
So I'll just take it away now, before Jack blows.
Now in the news, we have new pictures just into us of Scott Peterson. As you know, he's on death row, and he'll get there, oh, just about now. Here are the new pictures in to CNN. Do we have those pictures? They show Scott Peterson being transferred to San Quentin State Prison. Peterson was formally sentenced to death by lethal injection. The judge upholding the jury's decision in that case, calling the killings of Laci Peterson and her unborn son "cruel, uncaring, heartless and callous."
We're having a problem with the tape.
We'll get those pictures to you as soon as we can.
A Georgia beauty queen is off the hook for the shooting death of her boyfriend. Sharron Redmond, the former Miss. Savannah, admitted to shooting the man, but says she did it in self-defense. Redmond had faced life in prison if convicted.
And there is word of more possible allegations against Michael Jackson. The lead investigator has testified the probe against Jackson is ongoing and has suggested more people may come forward with allegations against the pop star. In the meantime, the judge says he'll hear arguments next week on whether to allow prosecutors to bring up past allegations against Jackson, including that testimony from an accuser back in 1993.
And an Alaskan wildlife refuge may soon be home to oil companies. The U.S. Senate votes 51-49 to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Congress still must approve the overall spending plan before drilling can actually start. Environmental groups say they'll keep fighting the measure -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Robert Blake is free to do as he pleases now that he's been acquitted of murder. His wife was killed in May, 2001, and he wants to put distance between himself and the cloud of suspicion that has hung over him ever since.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT BLAKE, ACQUITTED OF MURDER: I'm going to go out and do a little cowboying. Do you know what that is? No, you don't know what that is.
QUESTION: No.
BLAKE: Cowboying is when you get in a motor home or a van or something like that and you just let the air blow in your hair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The jury didn't believe the prosecution made its case against Blake. And that's most likely due to the work of lead defense attorney, Gerald Schwartzbach.
He's in Sherman Oaks in California this morning.
Nice to see you, sir.
Thanks for being with us.
M. GERALD SCHWARTZBACH, BLAKE'S ATTORNEY: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Your client this morning is a free man.
How is he doing?
SCHWARTZBACH: I suspect he's sleeping right now. But I think he's doing fine.
O'BRIEN: He literally said, in his remarks, of which we saw part right there, to the reporters who were assembled, that you saved his life.
Let's listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLAKE: He'll never be rich and he'll never be famous, because he don't know nothing about money and he has no idea what to do with you people. But by god he can save lives, and that'll keep him warm on any cold night in his life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: I saw a big grin on your face when you heard what he was saying there.
What do you make of those remarks?
SCHWARTZBACH: Well, Robert was very kind and obviously very appreciative. But I became a lawyer to -- in order to -- many years ago, in order to do something socially productive with my life and this is my most recent experience with that.
O'BRIEN: He might be wrong about the fact that you're never going to make any money. I wouldn't put any bets on that.
What was he like as a client?
SCHWARTZBACH: Robert was fine as a client. The first time we met we had an instant rapport. I was -- I thought I'd be meeting with him for an hour, we actually spent four hours together. He's a complicated man and he's had a lot of life experiences. But so have I. And, as I said to him when we first met, in any relationship there are hills and valleys and you just have to persevere and hopefully through those, you know, the difficult times, you strengthen the relationship. And that's what's happened.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about strategy. You never put him on the stand. Why not?
SCHWARTZBACH: Because I didn't think the prosecution could and did prove their case. And I didn't believe that there was a necessity to put him on the stand. And whenever you do put a client on the stand, there's -- although the jury is instructed that the burden of proof is on the prosecution, there's a tendency to perhaps switch the burden onto the defendant. And I just didn't think it was necessary in this case.
O'BRIEN: He's 71 years old. He now says that he is broke. The victim's family is pursuing a wrongful death suit against him.
Will you be the attorney in that case, as well?
SCHWARTZBACH: I have not been involved in that case as of this date. Whether I will in the future, I'm not certain.
O'BRIEN: Gerald Schwartzbach is the attorney for Robert Blake.
Thank you.
We'll be talking to the attorney for Bonnie Bakley's family ahead on AMERICAN MORNING -- Rob.
MARCIANO: Soledad, Florida police are searching for a convicted sex offender for questioning in the disappearance of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Forty-six-year-old John Couey is being described as a person of interest in the case. Jessica Lunsford was reported missing last month, last seen in her own bedroom.
CNN's Sara Dorsey is live at Citrus County police headquarters -- Sara, they call him a person of interest.
What are the police interested in?
SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Rob, not a suspect at this point, just a person of interest. And basically that means they just want to talk to him at this point. But he is a convicted sex offender and the one interesting part, the police say, is that he was staying in a home near the one Jessica Lunsford disappeared from, and he wasn't supposed to be there.
He also has an extensive rap sheet that goes back 30 years. And in 1991, he actually admitted to fondling a little girl. And those things, along with others, the sheriff told us this morning, is what makes them want to talk to him so badly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF JEFF DAWSY, CITRUS COUNTY, FLORIDA: We do believe when you put all the pieces together, he raises some tremendous concerns for us. And that's the reason why we've made him a person of interest. The fact that he wasn't supposed to be at the residence, the fact that one of the relatives lied to us, the fact of his criminal record, him leaving under an alias, and that coupled with the fact that he knows he wants to speak with us, he's now avoiding us, really does raise some red flags. And we need to get to him, interview him so that we can either eliminate him from the investigation or really make him a focal point of this investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORSEY: Now, to explain a little about what the sheriff meant, police went knocking on that door looking for Mr. Couey and a family member told them he never stayed there. In fact, it came out later that that was, in fact, a lie. Also, he told some people that the police would be looking for him and then his niece bought him a bus ticket to Savannah, Georgia under a different name.
Police have since looked for him in Savannah. Law enforcement agents there got a hold of him in a Salvation Army, questioned him, but then had to let him go because they didn't have jurisdiction -- Rob.
MARCIANO: Sara, since releasing his name, are the police any closer to finding where John Couey is?
DORSEY: Well, unfortunately no. Right now they say that they are getting some leads, not from the area that they believe he is in. But so far, none of those leads seem to be panning out. And right now we seem to be exactly where we were when they released his name last night.
MARCIANO: Fair enough.
Thanks, Sara.
Sara Dorsey live for us in Citrus County, Florida -- Soledad, back to you.
O'BRIEN: Some of baseball's top players and executives will testify on Capitol Hill today about the use of steroids in major league play. And as young players no doubt look up to their professional idols, you can bet that many parents and coaches are paying attention to today's developments in Washington, D.C., especially as doctors say that the number of young athletes using steroids is increasing.
Here's CNN's Dan Lothian.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the boost 17-year-old Taylor Hooten of Plano, Texas thought he needed in order to take his baseball skills to the varsity level.
DON HOOTEN, FATHER: Taylor was on the starting lineup in his junior year.
LOTHIAN: He says his son started taking steroids, just like nine other student athletes at this competing high school have admitted doing.
HOOTEN: I've had the kids in our area, in Plano, tell me that at least a third of the young men that are showing up on Friday night to play football are juicing.
LOTHIAN: Sports medicine experts like Dr. Lyle Micheli of Children's Hospital in Boston say steroid users are getting younger and younger because of increasing pressures.
DR. LYLE MICHELI, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, BOSTON: Some of these kids are not in a position to draw the line. They just will do whatever it takes, they think, to compete.
LOTHIAN: Earlier this month in Madison, Connecticut, six athletes from Daniel Hand High School were charged with possessing steroids. One is accused of selling the pills, bought, police say, while on a family trip to Mexico. An alert teacher turned them in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was paying close attention to both the actions and the words of the students.
LOTHIAN: Other school districts are now responding aggressively to this problem. But CNN found teens who aren't deterred by threats or harmful consequences.
(on camera): And where better to find out what teens are saying about steroid use than on the Internet? Chat rooms drowning with dialogue, some of it graphic, from young men who say they're 15, 16, 17 years old, and they're upset with building the perfect body. Like this one, who says he's willing to try almost anything.
(voice-over): One complains of the bad job he did injecting himself. Another describes how he bled more than usual. This one brags about the attention he's getting from girls impressed with his new overnight physique. And a complaint from one about his bad acne, a result of juicing.
Acne, doctors say, is just one of the milder side effects, which can range from mood swings to liver problems to growth issues.
MICHELI: For kids taking this, say, in middle school, when you're still growing, they may lose growth in the process.
LOTHIAN: But back in cyberspace, where teens often obtain steroids, this apparent adult sings the praises of juicing, saying concerns are overblown.
Tell that to the father of Taylor Hooten. The Texas 17-year-old committed suicide in 2003. His family blames depression linked to steroid withdrawal.
Some of America's young athletes redefining the meaning of the phrase no pain, no gain.
Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
O'BRIEN: According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, 2- 1/2 percent of eighth graders and 3-1/2 percent of high school seniors have taken steroids. The House committee hearings begin at 10:00 this morning, Eastern time. And you want to stay with CNN throughout the day for the very latest developments in this story.
Well, the powerful story of five sisters and their fight for justice. How the brutal killing of their brother has taken them on a long journey from Belfast to the White House.
MARCIANO: And the untold story of the Scott Peterson investigation. A new book reveals shocking new clues on how Laci Peterson may have died.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: The family of a murdered Belfast man is taking their fight for justice all the way to the White House today. Robert McCartney's sisters and fiance plan to tell President Bush about Robert's brutal killing at the hands of IRA members. On Wednesday, the sisters got support from several senators during a visit to the Capitol.
Ed Henry has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Their story is so powerful that reporters from around the world descended upon the McCartney sisters. So many journalists squeezed into the sisters' meeting with Senator Edward Kennedy that the furniture had to be moved to a hallway. The sisters hope all of the attention will bring justice for their murdered brother.
CATHERINE MCCARTNEY, ROBERT MCCARTNEY'S SISTER: We hope that this does produce results on the ground for this family, because until it does, we cannot move on.
HENRY: Back in January at a Belfast bar, Robert McCartney got mixed up in a brawl with several members of the Irish Republican Army. He was brutally killed, his head pummeled by steel pipes and his stomach split open by a butcher's knife. The killers then locked down the bar and told all of the witnesses to keep their mouths shut. But they couldn't lock down these sisters, who are furious about the cover-up, as well as the crime. Now they want the IRA to cooperate with the investigation and give up the killers.
MCCARTNEY: We don't believe that peace and violence can co-exist in Ireland. And that Robert's murderers being brought to justice will be a clear signal to those in Ireland that they have chosen peace.
HENRY: Key Irish-American politicians are issuing blunt warnings to the IRA and have refused to meet with Gerry Adams, the leader of its political wing.
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: And that a Democratic party today, that are part of a Democratic West, do not and should not and cannot have private armies, and cannot be involved in criminality and violence.
HENRY: Leaders of the peace process, like Congressman Richard Neal, are particularly frustrated that members of the IRA killed a fellow Catholic.
REP. RICHARD NEAL (D), MASSACHUSETTS: It's time to get all the guns out of Irish politics. It's time for the paramilitaries on all sides of the divide to march into history.
Ed Henry, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
O'BRIEN: Two of the McCartney sisters join us this morning from Washington.
Paula and Catherine McCartney, welcome to you.
Thank you for talking with us.
C. MCCARTNEY: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Catherine, let's begin with you.
Five sisters have come together to find justice for your brother.
Did you ever think, though, that your fight and your struggle would take you all the way to the White House?
C. MCCARTNEY: No, we didn't think it would take us to the White House, although I did say from the very start of this, when we realized about the cover-up, that I would go to the White House. We realized at the start that if those in Ireland were not going to solve this problem, that we would have to go farther afield to receive justice.
O'BRIEN: Paula, what specifically are you hoping to get out of your meeting with the president today?
PAULA MCCARTNEY: Well, we're hoping that President Bush will bring all his influences to bear on the -- particularly on Sinn Fein, who we believe have the power to deliver these murderers and to get justice for Robert.
O'BRIEN: Catherine, what kind of message do you think it sends when Gerry Adams, the leader of the IRA's political wing, is not going to be at the White House when you are invited to the White House?
C. MCCARTNEY: Well, I think the Bush administration had made their decision before what happened to Robert. For us, we think that the message that is more important than that is that is if justice is delivered in our case, then the people of Ireland are going to feel that peace is not just going to be something that is signed on a piece of paper, but it's a reality on the streets. And that is the message we are going to be bringing to President Bush, that justice for us is also justice for Ireland.
O'BRIEN: After your story got attention, members of the IRA came to you and said, if I'm not mistaken, we will execute the man who killed your brother. And you turned them down.
Why?
C. MCCARTNEY: Well, from the beginning we wanted these men to appear in court. We believe that these men, they are accountable to us, but they are also accountable to the whole of Ireland. Everyone deserves a fair trial. Shooting people is not a fair trial. These people have to come in front of a court to see what part they played and the court will decide. We want justice, not revenge.
O'BRIEN: Paula, I have read that you and your sisters and your whole family know who the killers are, in your own minds, that you pass them in the streets.
What's that like for your family members?
P. MCCARTNEY: Well, it's very distressing when this happens. I mean Robert's partner, Regine, has to go around to the school every morning to bring Robert's oldest son to school. She comes home every morning in tears, the whole experience is so distressing...
O'BRIEN: Because she is...
P. MCCARTNEY: ... to see these people walk around just...
O'BRIEN: So because they are passing her on the street on a daily basis?
P. MCCARTNEY: That's true. Yes.
O'BRIEN: Are you worried, the two of you, that you could become the targets of the IRA because of your mission?
P. MCCARTNEY: No, we're not worried about that at all. And the fact that our love for our brother Robert is more -- has, you know, far outweighs any fear that we may have felt.
O'BRIEN: Paula McCartney and Catherine McCartney, good luck in your search for justice.
We certainly wish you all the very best.
Thank you for talking with us.
C. MCCARTNEY: Thank you.
P. MCCARTNEY: Thank you.
C. MCCARTNEY: Indeed.
O'BRIEN: Rob.
MARCIANO: Soledad, Robert Blake doesn't mince words when it comes to people who didn't back him during his trial. The vindicated actor's very angry, and, some would say, entertaining comments, that's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: We are back.
Drilling for oil on the docket.
Jack is here with the Question of the Day.
CAFFERTY: Yes, President Eisenhower was the guy who set this Arctic National Wildlife Refuge aside as a national park back in, I think, 1950 something or other. And the specification was that it could only be ever tampered with if they changed that. And then when they changed it in 1980, the provision was they couldn't drill for oil unless Congress voted specifically to do that.
Well, they're on their way. The Senate voted yesterday to open a 19 million acre tract to oil exploration. Supporters think that drilling in the wildlife refuge is a matter of national security, critical to reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Opponents argue drilling will damage the ecologically fragile coastal plain, America's largest wildlife sanctuary.
Remember what happened with the Exxon Valdez, what a pretty thing that was?
The question is should they be drilling up there or not?
Richard in Florida writes: "Yes, I fully support drilling for oil in the Refuge and offshore in Florida, also. I'm fed up with environmentalists who place the economic welfare of our nation second to concerns over animals."
Mike in Flower Mound, Texas: "Allow drilling in the Anwar is a good idea. But charge a significant percentage of the value removed as a reserve for potential environmental disasters."
Did I ask if we remembered the Exxon Valdez? I think I did.
Brenda writes: "How convenient for the Bush family and the prince of Saudi Arabia to work together to get the prices so high for oil that they now get the votes they wanted to allow drilling in Alaska."
And Gene writes: "Why not ruin more ecosystems in the name of oil and greed? Other nations are reducing theirs by being part of the Kyoto Protocol. Now we can get even fatter and drive bigger SUVs. Two Hummers in every garage. Five 20 pound genetically mutated chickens in every pot." MARCIANO: Oh goodness.
CAFFERTY: That's it.
O'BRIEN: What is the predicted value of the oil that's in the Anwar?
CAFFERTY: Well, they don't know until they go down there and figure out how much is there.
O'BRIEN: Oh, they don't. It's a guess.
CAFFERTY: The potential total number of barrels, as I have read, is somewhere in the billions. But in terms of reducing our dependence on foreign oil, the experts predict it will reduce that dependence by no more than 2 percent. The other point is it'll be 10 years from the day they stick the first drill bit in the ground until the first drop of this particular product dribbles out of the gasoline pump. So, for...
MARCIANO: We're not there quite yet and I guess the short answer is it's not going to give us a whole lot of oil.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's...
CAFFERTY: Well, and...
MARCIANO: Percentage wise.
CAFFERTY: ... you know, the Chinese are using -- everybody on the planet is using it. The population is growing. It's a finite resource. Maybe we ought to be trying to figure out how to get more than eight miles to a gallon of gasoline for our cars and how to make fuel out of things like corn, which we could -- which can be done. The problem is you've got these oil companies. The biggest corporation in the world is Exxon. And, you know, as long as there's bucks to be made from this black gold, ain't nothing else going to happen. They could make tires in Ohio that get 100,000 miles, but they don't, because then you wouldn't have to buy as many tires, would you?
MARCIANO: Capitalism has its drawbacks.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jack, thanks.
Some stunning new details this morning on how Laci Peterson may have died. A new book reveals what a detective found in the couple's bedroom the night Laci was reported missing.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired March 17, 2005 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Life on death row begins for Scott Peterson, taken to San Quentin Prison just three hours ago.
Robert Blake a free man this morning, but he's got lots on his mind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT BLAKE, ACQUITTED OF MURDER: People have always said I'm crazy. And that's all right, just so I ain't a fool.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: He's not a fool, but how did he beat a murder rap? Inside his defense -- his attorney is our guest this morning.
And circus or showdown? Major league players forced to testify before Congress on the issue of steroids on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
O'BRIEN: Good morning.
Welcome back, everybody.
Bill Hemmer has got the day off.
Rob Marciano, though, is helping us out this morning, so thank you.
Appreciate it.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm enjoying it.
O'BRIEN: Well, thank you.
Other stories ahead, a new development in the search for 9-year- old Jessica Lunsford. Police are now trying to track down a known sex offender for questioning. We're going to take a look at what it will take to find him.
MARCIANO: Also, a story that's gained international attention. A young man beaten to death in a barroom brawl. Witnesses intimidated into keeping quiet. And we will meet the man's sisters, who are taking their battle all the way to the White House. O'BRIEN: We've been surprised by some of the success that they have had.
That story is ahead -- Mr. Cafferty.
MARCIANO: Hi, Jack.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Did we just see a picture of Robert Blake kissing his lawyer? How happy do you have to be to do that?
O'BRIEN: Really.
CAFFERTY: I mean...
MARCIANO: There's a lot of questions.
CAFFERTY: ... you have to, you've got to be really happy to kiss your lawyer.
O'BRIEN: Yes. He's really...
MARCIANO: You must have thought you were going to jail, that happy.
CAFFERTY: Coming up in the -- I don't know if that's even enough.
Coming up in "The Cafferty File," my absolute favorite story of the week is this one. It's about a third grader in North Dakota. Wait until you see this kid, who takes a page right out of America's past. What a great story.
The Twinkie as art form.
And Pale Male and Lola are about to become bird watchers.
O'BRIEN: Interesting.
All right, Jack, thanks.
MARCIANO: And Happy Saint Patrick's Day, Jack, again.
CAFFERTY: Oh, don't start up with that Saint Patrick's Day.
MARCIANO: A fellow paisano over there wearing the green. Everyone's Irish on Saint Patrick's Day, right, Carol?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I can't believe Jack didn't wear green.
CAFFERTY: See, I knew we'd get around to it. What did I say 10 minutes ago? How come you're not wearing any green?
O'BRIEN: It is a fair question, but we're going to move on anyway. CAFFERTY: It's not a fair question.
MARCIANO: And it is the news of the day, or part it, anyways.
COSTELLO: Exactly.
So I'll just take it away now, before Jack blows.
Now in the news, we have new pictures just into us of Scott Peterson. As you know, he's on death row, and he'll get there, oh, just about now. Here are the new pictures in to CNN. Do we have those pictures? They show Scott Peterson being transferred to San Quentin State Prison. Peterson was formally sentenced to death by lethal injection. The judge upholding the jury's decision in that case, calling the killings of Laci Peterson and her unborn son "cruel, uncaring, heartless and callous."
We're having a problem with the tape.
We'll get those pictures to you as soon as we can.
A Georgia beauty queen is off the hook for the shooting death of her boyfriend. Sharron Redmond, the former Miss. Savannah, admitted to shooting the man, but says she did it in self-defense. Redmond had faced life in prison if convicted.
And there is word of more possible allegations against Michael Jackson. The lead investigator has testified the probe against Jackson is ongoing and has suggested more people may come forward with allegations against the pop star. In the meantime, the judge says he'll hear arguments next week on whether to allow prosecutors to bring up past allegations against Jackson, including that testimony from an accuser back in 1993.
And an Alaskan wildlife refuge may soon be home to oil companies. The U.S. Senate votes 51-49 to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Congress still must approve the overall spending plan before drilling can actually start. Environmental groups say they'll keep fighting the measure -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Robert Blake is free to do as he pleases now that he's been acquitted of murder. His wife was killed in May, 2001, and he wants to put distance between himself and the cloud of suspicion that has hung over him ever since.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT BLAKE, ACQUITTED OF MURDER: I'm going to go out and do a little cowboying. Do you know what that is? No, you don't know what that is.
QUESTION: No.
BLAKE: Cowboying is when you get in a motor home or a van or something like that and you just let the air blow in your hair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The jury didn't believe the prosecution made its case against Blake. And that's most likely due to the work of lead defense attorney, Gerald Schwartzbach.
He's in Sherman Oaks in California this morning.
Nice to see you, sir.
Thanks for being with us.
M. GERALD SCHWARTZBACH, BLAKE'S ATTORNEY: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Your client this morning is a free man.
How is he doing?
SCHWARTZBACH: I suspect he's sleeping right now. But I think he's doing fine.
O'BRIEN: He literally said, in his remarks, of which we saw part right there, to the reporters who were assembled, that you saved his life.
Let's listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLAKE: He'll never be rich and he'll never be famous, because he don't know nothing about money and he has no idea what to do with you people. But by god he can save lives, and that'll keep him warm on any cold night in his life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: I saw a big grin on your face when you heard what he was saying there.
What do you make of those remarks?
SCHWARTZBACH: Well, Robert was very kind and obviously very appreciative. But I became a lawyer to -- in order to -- many years ago, in order to do something socially productive with my life and this is my most recent experience with that.
O'BRIEN: He might be wrong about the fact that you're never going to make any money. I wouldn't put any bets on that.
What was he like as a client?
SCHWARTZBACH: Robert was fine as a client. The first time we met we had an instant rapport. I was -- I thought I'd be meeting with him for an hour, we actually spent four hours together. He's a complicated man and he's had a lot of life experiences. But so have I. And, as I said to him when we first met, in any relationship there are hills and valleys and you just have to persevere and hopefully through those, you know, the difficult times, you strengthen the relationship. And that's what's happened.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about strategy. You never put him on the stand. Why not?
SCHWARTZBACH: Because I didn't think the prosecution could and did prove their case. And I didn't believe that there was a necessity to put him on the stand. And whenever you do put a client on the stand, there's -- although the jury is instructed that the burden of proof is on the prosecution, there's a tendency to perhaps switch the burden onto the defendant. And I just didn't think it was necessary in this case.
O'BRIEN: He's 71 years old. He now says that he is broke. The victim's family is pursuing a wrongful death suit against him.
Will you be the attorney in that case, as well?
SCHWARTZBACH: I have not been involved in that case as of this date. Whether I will in the future, I'm not certain.
O'BRIEN: Gerald Schwartzbach is the attorney for Robert Blake.
Thank you.
We'll be talking to the attorney for Bonnie Bakley's family ahead on AMERICAN MORNING -- Rob.
MARCIANO: Soledad, Florida police are searching for a convicted sex offender for questioning in the disappearance of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Forty-six-year-old John Couey is being described as a person of interest in the case. Jessica Lunsford was reported missing last month, last seen in her own bedroom.
CNN's Sara Dorsey is live at Citrus County police headquarters -- Sara, they call him a person of interest.
What are the police interested in?
SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Rob, not a suspect at this point, just a person of interest. And basically that means they just want to talk to him at this point. But he is a convicted sex offender and the one interesting part, the police say, is that he was staying in a home near the one Jessica Lunsford disappeared from, and he wasn't supposed to be there.
He also has an extensive rap sheet that goes back 30 years. And in 1991, he actually admitted to fondling a little girl. And those things, along with others, the sheriff told us this morning, is what makes them want to talk to him so badly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF JEFF DAWSY, CITRUS COUNTY, FLORIDA: We do believe when you put all the pieces together, he raises some tremendous concerns for us. And that's the reason why we've made him a person of interest. The fact that he wasn't supposed to be at the residence, the fact that one of the relatives lied to us, the fact of his criminal record, him leaving under an alias, and that coupled with the fact that he knows he wants to speak with us, he's now avoiding us, really does raise some red flags. And we need to get to him, interview him so that we can either eliminate him from the investigation or really make him a focal point of this investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORSEY: Now, to explain a little about what the sheriff meant, police went knocking on that door looking for Mr. Couey and a family member told them he never stayed there. In fact, it came out later that that was, in fact, a lie. Also, he told some people that the police would be looking for him and then his niece bought him a bus ticket to Savannah, Georgia under a different name.
Police have since looked for him in Savannah. Law enforcement agents there got a hold of him in a Salvation Army, questioned him, but then had to let him go because they didn't have jurisdiction -- Rob.
MARCIANO: Sara, since releasing his name, are the police any closer to finding where John Couey is?
DORSEY: Well, unfortunately no. Right now they say that they are getting some leads, not from the area that they believe he is in. But so far, none of those leads seem to be panning out. And right now we seem to be exactly where we were when they released his name last night.
MARCIANO: Fair enough.
Thanks, Sara.
Sara Dorsey live for us in Citrus County, Florida -- Soledad, back to you.
O'BRIEN: Some of baseball's top players and executives will testify on Capitol Hill today about the use of steroids in major league play. And as young players no doubt look up to their professional idols, you can bet that many parents and coaches are paying attention to today's developments in Washington, D.C., especially as doctors say that the number of young athletes using steroids is increasing.
Here's CNN's Dan Lothian.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the boost 17-year-old Taylor Hooten of Plano, Texas thought he needed in order to take his baseball skills to the varsity level.
DON HOOTEN, FATHER: Taylor was on the starting lineup in his junior year.
LOTHIAN: He says his son started taking steroids, just like nine other student athletes at this competing high school have admitted doing.
HOOTEN: I've had the kids in our area, in Plano, tell me that at least a third of the young men that are showing up on Friday night to play football are juicing.
LOTHIAN: Sports medicine experts like Dr. Lyle Micheli of Children's Hospital in Boston say steroid users are getting younger and younger because of increasing pressures.
DR. LYLE MICHELI, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, BOSTON: Some of these kids are not in a position to draw the line. They just will do whatever it takes, they think, to compete.
LOTHIAN: Earlier this month in Madison, Connecticut, six athletes from Daniel Hand High School were charged with possessing steroids. One is accused of selling the pills, bought, police say, while on a family trip to Mexico. An alert teacher turned them in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was paying close attention to both the actions and the words of the students.
LOTHIAN: Other school districts are now responding aggressively to this problem. But CNN found teens who aren't deterred by threats or harmful consequences.
(on camera): And where better to find out what teens are saying about steroid use than on the Internet? Chat rooms drowning with dialogue, some of it graphic, from young men who say they're 15, 16, 17 years old, and they're upset with building the perfect body. Like this one, who says he's willing to try almost anything.
(voice-over): One complains of the bad job he did injecting himself. Another describes how he bled more than usual. This one brags about the attention he's getting from girls impressed with his new overnight physique. And a complaint from one about his bad acne, a result of juicing.
Acne, doctors say, is just one of the milder side effects, which can range from mood swings to liver problems to growth issues.
MICHELI: For kids taking this, say, in middle school, when you're still growing, they may lose growth in the process.
LOTHIAN: But back in cyberspace, where teens often obtain steroids, this apparent adult sings the praises of juicing, saying concerns are overblown.
Tell that to the father of Taylor Hooten. The Texas 17-year-old committed suicide in 2003. His family blames depression linked to steroid withdrawal.
Some of America's young athletes redefining the meaning of the phrase no pain, no gain.
Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
O'BRIEN: According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, 2- 1/2 percent of eighth graders and 3-1/2 percent of high school seniors have taken steroids. The House committee hearings begin at 10:00 this morning, Eastern time. And you want to stay with CNN throughout the day for the very latest developments in this story.
Well, the powerful story of five sisters and their fight for justice. How the brutal killing of their brother has taken them on a long journey from Belfast to the White House.
MARCIANO: And the untold story of the Scott Peterson investigation. A new book reveals shocking new clues on how Laci Peterson may have died.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: The family of a murdered Belfast man is taking their fight for justice all the way to the White House today. Robert McCartney's sisters and fiance plan to tell President Bush about Robert's brutal killing at the hands of IRA members. On Wednesday, the sisters got support from several senators during a visit to the Capitol.
Ed Henry has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Their story is so powerful that reporters from around the world descended upon the McCartney sisters. So many journalists squeezed into the sisters' meeting with Senator Edward Kennedy that the furniture had to be moved to a hallway. The sisters hope all of the attention will bring justice for their murdered brother.
CATHERINE MCCARTNEY, ROBERT MCCARTNEY'S SISTER: We hope that this does produce results on the ground for this family, because until it does, we cannot move on.
HENRY: Back in January at a Belfast bar, Robert McCartney got mixed up in a brawl with several members of the Irish Republican Army. He was brutally killed, his head pummeled by steel pipes and his stomach split open by a butcher's knife. The killers then locked down the bar and told all of the witnesses to keep their mouths shut. But they couldn't lock down these sisters, who are furious about the cover-up, as well as the crime. Now they want the IRA to cooperate with the investigation and give up the killers.
MCCARTNEY: We don't believe that peace and violence can co-exist in Ireland. And that Robert's murderers being brought to justice will be a clear signal to those in Ireland that they have chosen peace.
HENRY: Key Irish-American politicians are issuing blunt warnings to the IRA and have refused to meet with Gerry Adams, the leader of its political wing.
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: And that a Democratic party today, that are part of a Democratic West, do not and should not and cannot have private armies, and cannot be involved in criminality and violence.
HENRY: Leaders of the peace process, like Congressman Richard Neal, are particularly frustrated that members of the IRA killed a fellow Catholic.
REP. RICHARD NEAL (D), MASSACHUSETTS: It's time to get all the guns out of Irish politics. It's time for the paramilitaries on all sides of the divide to march into history.
Ed Henry, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
O'BRIEN: Two of the McCartney sisters join us this morning from Washington.
Paula and Catherine McCartney, welcome to you.
Thank you for talking with us.
C. MCCARTNEY: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Catherine, let's begin with you.
Five sisters have come together to find justice for your brother.
Did you ever think, though, that your fight and your struggle would take you all the way to the White House?
C. MCCARTNEY: No, we didn't think it would take us to the White House, although I did say from the very start of this, when we realized about the cover-up, that I would go to the White House. We realized at the start that if those in Ireland were not going to solve this problem, that we would have to go farther afield to receive justice.
O'BRIEN: Paula, what specifically are you hoping to get out of your meeting with the president today?
PAULA MCCARTNEY: Well, we're hoping that President Bush will bring all his influences to bear on the -- particularly on Sinn Fein, who we believe have the power to deliver these murderers and to get justice for Robert.
O'BRIEN: Catherine, what kind of message do you think it sends when Gerry Adams, the leader of the IRA's political wing, is not going to be at the White House when you are invited to the White House?
C. MCCARTNEY: Well, I think the Bush administration had made their decision before what happened to Robert. For us, we think that the message that is more important than that is that is if justice is delivered in our case, then the people of Ireland are going to feel that peace is not just going to be something that is signed on a piece of paper, but it's a reality on the streets. And that is the message we are going to be bringing to President Bush, that justice for us is also justice for Ireland.
O'BRIEN: After your story got attention, members of the IRA came to you and said, if I'm not mistaken, we will execute the man who killed your brother. And you turned them down.
Why?
C. MCCARTNEY: Well, from the beginning we wanted these men to appear in court. We believe that these men, they are accountable to us, but they are also accountable to the whole of Ireland. Everyone deserves a fair trial. Shooting people is not a fair trial. These people have to come in front of a court to see what part they played and the court will decide. We want justice, not revenge.
O'BRIEN: Paula, I have read that you and your sisters and your whole family know who the killers are, in your own minds, that you pass them in the streets.
What's that like for your family members?
P. MCCARTNEY: Well, it's very distressing when this happens. I mean Robert's partner, Regine, has to go around to the school every morning to bring Robert's oldest son to school. She comes home every morning in tears, the whole experience is so distressing...
O'BRIEN: Because she is...
P. MCCARTNEY: ... to see these people walk around just...
O'BRIEN: So because they are passing her on the street on a daily basis?
P. MCCARTNEY: That's true. Yes.
O'BRIEN: Are you worried, the two of you, that you could become the targets of the IRA because of your mission?
P. MCCARTNEY: No, we're not worried about that at all. And the fact that our love for our brother Robert is more -- has, you know, far outweighs any fear that we may have felt.
O'BRIEN: Paula McCartney and Catherine McCartney, good luck in your search for justice.
We certainly wish you all the very best.
Thank you for talking with us.
C. MCCARTNEY: Thank you.
P. MCCARTNEY: Thank you.
C. MCCARTNEY: Indeed.
O'BRIEN: Rob.
MARCIANO: Soledad, Robert Blake doesn't mince words when it comes to people who didn't back him during his trial. The vindicated actor's very angry, and, some would say, entertaining comments, that's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: We are back.
Drilling for oil on the docket.
Jack is here with the Question of the Day.
CAFFERTY: Yes, President Eisenhower was the guy who set this Arctic National Wildlife Refuge aside as a national park back in, I think, 1950 something or other. And the specification was that it could only be ever tampered with if they changed that. And then when they changed it in 1980, the provision was they couldn't drill for oil unless Congress voted specifically to do that.
Well, they're on their way. The Senate voted yesterday to open a 19 million acre tract to oil exploration. Supporters think that drilling in the wildlife refuge is a matter of national security, critical to reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Opponents argue drilling will damage the ecologically fragile coastal plain, America's largest wildlife sanctuary.
Remember what happened with the Exxon Valdez, what a pretty thing that was?
The question is should they be drilling up there or not?
Richard in Florida writes: "Yes, I fully support drilling for oil in the Refuge and offshore in Florida, also. I'm fed up with environmentalists who place the economic welfare of our nation second to concerns over animals."
Mike in Flower Mound, Texas: "Allow drilling in the Anwar is a good idea. But charge a significant percentage of the value removed as a reserve for potential environmental disasters."
Did I ask if we remembered the Exxon Valdez? I think I did.
Brenda writes: "How convenient for the Bush family and the prince of Saudi Arabia to work together to get the prices so high for oil that they now get the votes they wanted to allow drilling in Alaska."
And Gene writes: "Why not ruin more ecosystems in the name of oil and greed? Other nations are reducing theirs by being part of the Kyoto Protocol. Now we can get even fatter and drive bigger SUVs. Two Hummers in every garage. Five 20 pound genetically mutated chickens in every pot." MARCIANO: Oh goodness.
CAFFERTY: That's it.
O'BRIEN: What is the predicted value of the oil that's in the Anwar?
CAFFERTY: Well, they don't know until they go down there and figure out how much is there.
O'BRIEN: Oh, they don't. It's a guess.
CAFFERTY: The potential total number of barrels, as I have read, is somewhere in the billions. But in terms of reducing our dependence on foreign oil, the experts predict it will reduce that dependence by no more than 2 percent. The other point is it'll be 10 years from the day they stick the first drill bit in the ground until the first drop of this particular product dribbles out of the gasoline pump. So, for...
MARCIANO: We're not there quite yet and I guess the short answer is it's not going to give us a whole lot of oil.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's...
CAFFERTY: Well, and...
MARCIANO: Percentage wise.
CAFFERTY: ... you know, the Chinese are using -- everybody on the planet is using it. The population is growing. It's a finite resource. Maybe we ought to be trying to figure out how to get more than eight miles to a gallon of gasoline for our cars and how to make fuel out of things like corn, which we could -- which can be done. The problem is you've got these oil companies. The biggest corporation in the world is Exxon. And, you know, as long as there's bucks to be made from this black gold, ain't nothing else going to happen. They could make tires in Ohio that get 100,000 miles, but they don't, because then you wouldn't have to buy as many tires, would you?
MARCIANO: Capitalism has its drawbacks.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jack, thanks.
Some stunning new details this morning on how Laci Peterson may have died. A new book reveals what a detective found in the couple's bedroom the night Laci was reported missing.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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