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American Morning

Stanley 'Tookie' Williams Executed by Lethal Injection; President Bush Still Working to Win Public Support for War in Iraq; Golden Globe Contenders Announced

Aired December 13, 2005 - 08:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
No last-minute reprieve for Stanley "Tookie" Williams. We're going to take you live to California for reaction from both sides to his highly controversial execution.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Miles O'Brien.

President Bush shifts gear as he heads on the road again, focusing today on Medicare. Can he change opinions on Iraq tomorrow? Live to the White House we go.

S. O'BRIEN: And just minutes ago, you heard them, the Golden Globe nominations announced in Los Angeles. Some pretty big surprises to tell you about. We'll fill you in on the categories just ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

M. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Last quarter here on our four-hour tour.

S. O'BRIEN: That's right. Be sure to join us at 6:00 a.m., which is when AMERICAN MORNING starts each and every morning.

Let's get right to our top story. It's our top story online, as well.

Stanley "Tookie" Williams died by lethal injection. It happened early this morning. This case, probably more than any other in recent memory, has been right at the center of the storm over the death penalty.

Let's get right to Kareen Wynter. She's in San Quentin this morning.

Kareen, good morning.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.

And this controversy is far from over, even in the face of something as final as an execution.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WYNTER (voice over): Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the gates of California's San Quentin Prison as Stanley "Tookie" Williams prepared to die. Supporters who witnessed his death expressed their outrage.

BARBARA BECNEL, WILLIAMS' FRIEND: As we left, we screamed in unison, "The state of California just killed an innocent man."

WYNTER: Williams was strapped on a table, his arms and legs secured, fastened by leather straps. When asked whether he had any last words, he did not.

Just after midnight local time, he was given a lethal injection inside a barren execution chamber. A group of observers stood in another room, where they watched his final moments.

KEVIN FAGAN, "SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE": And it seemed like toward the very end, he was trying to keep his head up.

Did you see this, too?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

FAGAN: He was trying to keep his head up as long as he could until the first drugs hit him.

WYNTER: Several legal maneuvers during the last 24 hours, including an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, failed. The former gang leader-turned-anti- gang-advocate was convicted of slaying four people in 1979. Williams has never admitted guilt or apologized for the murders.

LORA OWENS, STEPMOTHER OF WILLIAMS VICTIM: Apologizing, asking forgiveness, that's right in atonement. It doesn't get you out of a just punishment. He had the just punishment.

WYNTER: Governor Schwarzenegger wrote in a lengthy statement, "Without any apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal killings, there can be no redemption."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WYNTER: And despite the sheer number of people, protesters who packed the street leading into the prison, there were no reports of violence -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Kareen Wynter with an update from San Quentin this morning.

Kareen, thank you -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: With just two days to go before the Iraqi elections, President Bush is still working to win public support for the war.

Correspondent Dana Bash at the White House for us this morning.

And the president talking about Medicare today. But of course Iraq always on the agenda, isn't it?

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. As a matter of fact, Miles, here at the White House, as we speak, the president has some Republican senators for a briefing on Iraq. That's the latest in a series, and that is part of the private campaign on Iraq.

In public, the president has been trying to really strike a delicate balance. On the one hand, he is very much trying to talk up the elections this week in Iraq, saying that history will record this -- will record this as a turning point. But at the same time, he is also saying that the elections won't be perfect, trying to lower expectations for anyone who may think that these elections may bring immediately U.S. troops home.

Now, during that speech you're seeing there in Philadelphia yesterday, the president actually broke with practice and stayed to take some questions from the audience. One woman there asked him how many Iraqis have died in the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: How many Iraqi citizens have died in this war? I would say 30,000, more or less, have died, as a result of the initial incursion and the ongoing violence against Iraqis. We've lost about 2,140 of our own troops in Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, that was first time the president has actually talked about the cost in lives in terms of Iraq, but White House aides were quick to clarify that that was not an official government figure. In fact, it was something that President Bush picked up in news reports.

Now, Miles, as you mentioned, all of these speeches are aimed at turning around public opinion. We do have a new CNN-"USA Today"- Gallup poll that shows at least slightly the president's approval rating, when it comes to Iraq, has seen a little bit of an uptick.

There you see now 39 percent for his handling of Iraq, up from 35 percent last month. But look at this next poll. Fifty-eight percent of Americans still do not think that the president has a plan to achieve victory in Iraq, so that's nearly six in 10. The White House understands that they have a long way to go when it comes to that particular figure -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Dana, I can't recall since the president came into office him receiving questions from an audience that aren't scripted or vetted in advance.

BASH: You're absolutely right. I don't remember it at all.

You know, you mentioned scripted or vetted, remember during the fall of last year -- or I should say the winter -- the president went around talking about Social Security, had town hall meetings. Those were all scripted. Those were all very carefully orchestrated by the White House. This particular moment was something that the White House tried to get him out of what many people say is the bubble that he has been in, the fact that he looks like he's afraid to answer these questions. That's exactly what you saw.

The White House certainly noted, Miles, that the president seemed to do a 180 in terms of his demeanor from the speech to the questions. He seemed much more animated. That did not go unnoticed here. It will be very interesting to see if they continue that practice -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, it will.

Dana Bash at the White House.

Thank you very much.

Lots of going on in Iraq. As a matter of fact, the voting has already begun. Carol has more on that.

Good morning, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Preliminary voting has begun, Miles.

Good morning to all of you.

Two major milestones to tell you about. This is the 1,000th day since the Iraq war began. And it's the second anniversary of Saddam Hussein's capture.

In the meantime, as Miles said, early voting is under way for parliamentary elections. Iraqi expatriates casting ballots, Iraqi security forces also voting early. They've been helping to step up security to try and prevent insurgents from disrupting the main elections, which of course take place on Thursday.

Hurricane Katrina evacuees still living in hotels are getting a break. A judge in New Orleans has ruled that FEMA must continue to pay their hotel bills through February 7. FEMA had extended their stay twice and had planned to stop paying the hotel bills on January 7, so that's a bit of bright news for a lot of displaced people.

And an update on a story we told you about before. Gay and lesbian groups are somewhat upset with the Ford Motor Company.

Ford said last week it will no longer advertise its luxury cars in gay publications. But now gay and lesbian groups are asking for it to reconsider. The American Family Association said last week it was canceling its six months boycott of Ford. The association accused Ford of being too friendly to gays.

We'll keep you posted.

A 37-year-old Georgia woman said she was pursued -- I know you've heard this story. Lisa Lynnette Clark -- there she is -- she married her 15-month-old boyfriend last month. Yes, I said 15. She says she told the boy no several times, but he managed to woo her with his charm and persistence. Clark's been indicted on charges of child molestation, statutory rape and enticing a child for indecent purposes. Despite those legal obstacles, she says she hopes to have a life with him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LISA CLARK, FACING MOLESTATION CHARGES: I'm happy, but -- and he's happy. But they don't want us to be happy. That would be asking too much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Clark is seven months pregnant with the teenager's child. And during that same interview -- we just showed you a little part of it -- she said she usually prefers older men. But again, he was so young and charming and pursued her endlessly.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, so what is older for her, 16? I mean, what does she mean?

COSTELLO: I don't -- I would suppose she means older than 37.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, OK.

COSTELLO: But...

S. O'BRIEN: That's a freaky story.

M. O'BRIEN: That's a big assumption I think we're making in this case. There's a major...

COSTELLO: Yes, but there's nothing the state of Georgia can really do because she's pregnant with his child. So I guess legally you are allowed to marry. But now they have these criminal charges attached. So I don't know how that's going to pan out in court.

S. O'BRIEN: And apparently they're able to keep them apart. I mean, he -- they're not together right now.

COSTELLO: His parents aren't too happy.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, exactly. No surprise there. Right?

COSTELLO: No.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. Carol, thank you.

Let's get back to Hollywood. Lots of excitement over the Golden Globe nominations. We had the announcements live right here on AMERICAN MORNING just a little while ago.

Let's get right to CNN's entertainment correspondent, Sibila Vargas. She's in L.A.

Hey, Sibila. Good morning.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

I'll tell you -- I'll tell you who's celebrating right now. That would be Mr. George Clooney. It looks like he may have even broken a record.

Remember, last year, Jamie Foxx was the man of the hour. He had three nominations, all in the acting categories. Well, it looks like George Clooney is doing extremely well with four nominations.

He's got a nomination for director for "Good night, and Good Luck." Also, original screenplay for co-writing "Good Night, and Good Luck." And also, it was nominated -- "Good Night, and Good Luck" was nominated in the best picture drama category. So of course he's going to be recognized as a producer.

"Good Night, and Good Luck," of course, being the story, a biopic of Edward R. Murrow and how he challenged Senator McCarthy back in the -- during the red scare.

This evening (ph), extremely passionate about this film. So it really paid off big time.

He also got a supporting actor nod for "Syriana," a political thriller about the global oil industry and all the corruption and intrigue surrounding that -- that -- that issue. So certainly a big, big day for him.

But I would have to say in the female category, not in the film, but in TV, I would say there's another big winner. And that would be Ms. Eva Longoria, who, of course, you remember last year -- I know you were talking about this, Soledad -- a lot of people said she was snubbed, she was not recognized. Marcia Cross, Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, her co-stars, were nominated. She wasn't.

Well, this year the ladies were nominated again, and Eva Longoria made the list. So this, of course, is very big news.

Mary Louise Parker, I have to also mention, got a nomination in the category for "Weeds."

So, you know, a big day, actually, for Clooney and Ms. Eva Longoria, and, of course, the ladies of "Desperate Housewives." They seemed to dominate.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, hard to swallow when all your co-stars get the nomination and you don't. So that was rectified, I guess this year.

Another surprise, I thought as well, Jake Gyllenhaal. You know, "Brokeback Mountain" got, what, seven nominations, I think? I mean, a number...

VARGAS: Seven nominations. It got the most nominations.

S. O'BRIEN: And he got nothing. And nothing for Jake Gyllenhaal?

VARGAS: He got nothing. Nothing for Jake Gyllenhaal.

That's really too bad, because everybody thought that this would be Jake Gyllenhaal's year. I mean, he did "Proof" this year, he also came out with "Jarhead." And he did such an incredible job in "Brokeback Mountain." He's getting incredible reviews for that.

So they thought for sure that he would actually either get a supporting actor nod or a best actor nod. But that wasn't the case.

However, like you said, "Brokeback Mountain" had seven nominations, including best director for Ang Lee. Of course, this is the director of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." And a lot of people think that he is due for an award. Best actor for Heath Ledger. And Michelle Williams, who, of course, just had a baby with Heath Ledger, also got a best supporting actress nod.

So "Brokeback Mountain" not doing too bad at all. In fact, doing the best.

Back to you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. A look at how it went. Sibila, thank you very much.

You know, she didn't mention the best performance actor in a musical, motion picture or comedy. There's one of the nominees, right there, Jeff Daniels. He's nominated as best actor for his role in "The Squid and the Whale."

Laura Linney also for best actress in the same, you know, similar female category.

Really, a remarkable film. He's going to come and talk to us in just about 30 minutes or so.

I'm curious to know, you know, do the actors stay glued to the TV and wait to see if their names are called, or is that -- I mean, nonchalant about it and just...

M. O'BRIEN: I think they have people watch.

S. O'BRIEN: They have their people?

M. O'BRIEN: They have people? I don't know. No, they're probably watching.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: Jeff Daniels, you know, for a Hollywood guy, not such a Hollywood guy. He lives in Michigan. You know, keeps it very normal.

M. O'BRIEN: He's one of my favorites, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, he's a terrific actor.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: We're going to talk to him about what all this is going to mean potentially and if he think he's going to win big down the road.

M. O'BRIEN: That would be good. I would be in favor of that.

S. O'BRIEN: We'll see. Yes, absolutely.

M. O'BRIEN: As if that matters. But I would be in favor of that.

Coming up, our series on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder continues. Many troops aren't getting the treatment they need when they come home from the war. So what is the military doing to help?

And later, our morning "House Call." Lasik eye surgery, it's been around for 10 years.

Do you need it, Soledad?

S. O'BRIEN: No, I don't.

M. O'BRIEN: No. I don't.

S. O'BRIEN: Perfect vision.

M. O'BRIEN: Perfect? Very good.

Maybe, however, you're worried...

S. O'BRIEN: When I wear my glasses.

(LAUGHTER)

M. O'BRIEN: We'll talk to a leading eye doctor about what you need to know. That's ahead as AMERICAN MORNING focuses on what you need to know, like a laser beam.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: As you have been hearing all morning, Stanley "Tookie" Williams, probably while you were sleeping, was executed at San Quentin Prison in California. It's the end of a long debate, but of course it's a debate which continues. And that is the whole subject of capital punishment in this country.

One of Tookie Williams' defense attorneys, Peter Fleming, joins us now. He witnessed the execution this morning.

Mr. Fleming, good to have you back with us. What was that like?

PETER FLEMING JR., WILLIAMS' ATTORNEY: Well, Miles, let me talk, first of all, we were -- I was sitting with Stanley in the holding cell yesterday afternoon at about -- I'd say about 1:00, when we got the governor's decision, which I found to be extraordinarily wrong- headed.

It struck me as pandering. It was anything but courageous. And what was most important to me and I think most important to Stanley, this situation presented an opportunity for the governor to reach out and tell the children to whom Stanley has been preaching and has been talking that he has...

M. O'BRIEN: Well, let's just share -- can we share...

FLEMING: ... he, as governor, you know, cares about the difficulties they face.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Let's quickly...

FLEMING: He missed that opportunity.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's just get a brief excerpt of the statement from the governor so we can talk about that.

FLEMING: Sure.

M. O'BRIEN: Among the things that he said in the statement, Governor Schwarzenegger, "Is Williams' redemption complete and sincere, or is it just a hollow promise? Without an apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal killings, there can be no redemption."

It leaves open the question, why, why, why, didn't your client, now that he's passed away -- it's a moot issue, of course -- why didn't he apologize?

FLEMING: Well, he didn't apologize -- he's not going to apologize for crimes which he did not commit. When I first met him, I said to Stanley, "You know, if you committed these crimes, you must confess them." And he said to my face -- and I believe him -- and the evidence is mounting that he is -- that he will be proven to be innocent.

M. O'BRIEN: But let's talk about this in the largest sense, though. Are you denying that Tookie Williams was a killer?

FLEMING: I have no evidence that Tookie Williams was a killer. There was a conviction.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, but, I mean, he was...

FLEMING: There was all the difference in the world -- if I could, just for a moment...

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

FLEMING: There is all the difference in the world -- and I'm in the business -- between a jury verdict and actual guilt. Just as there's all the difference in the world between an acquittal and actual innocence.

M. O'BRIEN: So you're still...

FLEMING: So I have no evidence that Tookie Williams was a killer.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. You're still saying he was an innocent man, but you can't prove that he was innocent, can you?

FLEMING: That's correct. That's correct.

M. O'BRIEN: So -- sort of this -- it leaves you at a bit a quandary. Certainly, if I was watching this and a loved one of mine had been executed by Tookie Williams, I wouldn't want to hear an attorney saying, I think he's innocent, but I can't prove it. That would make me pretty angry, as a matter of fact.

FLEMING: Well, I happen to disagree with that. I think if you look at the record of his trial, with the exclusion of all African- American jurors, with the use of informant testimony, with every witness who said anything about Stanley Williams either receiving immunity or a reduction of sentence from life to 20 years or no prosecution whatsoever, I think that you'd have some questions. But I think the -- you know, the issue in this case was one man and thousands of kids.

We were talking about Tookie's life since 1993. We were asking for clemency. It has nothing to do with guilt or innocence.

This was about one man and tens of thousands of kids. And I believe that the governor missed an opportunity. And it concerns me...

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

FLEMING: ... to send a message to these children, to these disadvantaged children, that he cares as much about them as Stanley Williams cared about them.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Well, this whole thing became such a cause celeb. Jamie Foxx among the celebrities that were involved in pleading Tookie Williams' case.

Do you think ultimately that backfired?

FLEMING: Well, Miles, I -- you know, I sort of blame the media on that. This was not a -- I understand the celebrities supported the petition for clemency. But the real support for the petition for clemency came from what I call down to up.

It consists of 100,000 e-mails written over the course of the years, 100,000 letters written over the last few months, and over 100,000 signatures supporting clemency. These are...

M. O'BRIEN: But I...

FLEMING: These are good, good, good, good American, not celebrities...

M. O'BRIEN: But the question was, Mr. Fleming...

FLEMING: ... expressing their view.

M. O'BRIEN: Can I -- I would like to get you on record.

FLEMING: Yes?

M. O'BRIEN: Did it hurt your efforts by making it such a cause celeb?

FLEMING: I think it hurt our efforts in this sense, that the media picks up on the celebrity. And it distorts what was really the actual support for Tookie Williams' clemency.

Now, I appreciate the celebrity support, but I think that the coverage focuses on the celebrities and misses the real point. And that is the hundreds of thousands of letters and e-mails and signatures that support this man and what he was trying to do.

Here's a man in jail, going to be in jail for the rest of his life without parole, who is doing good. What could be more simple then saving his life?

M. O'BRIEN: Peter Fleming, attorney who represented Stanley Tookie Williams.

Thanks for your time.

FLEMING: Thank you, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Back with more in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Ten years since lasik eye surgery came on the scene, now more than a million Americans each and every year have the procedure. More, though, could potentially benefit from it.

Dr. Roy Rubinfeld is an ophthalmologist and a pioneer in the filed. He's in Washington this morning.

Nice to see you, Dr. Rubinfeld. Nice to -- nice to have you on.

DR. ROY RUBINFELD, PIONEER IN LASIK SURGERY: Good morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Ten years -- good morning to you. Ten years. Many people would say, is that enough time to really know all the -- all the risks and all the long-term problems you might have with lasik?

RUBINFELD: Well, lasik was actually around before 10 years. It's 10 years in the U.S., but before that it was investigational. I, myself, had excimer laser in 1995, still see very well, haven't picked up a pair of glasses since. And long-term studies 12 years and more demonstrate really good safety and long-term stability. S. O'BRIEN: Then why do you think such a small percentage of people have the surgery who actually could?

RUBINFELD: That's a very good question. Only about 6 or 7 percent of the people who could benefit from lasik have had it. And the reason is fairly simple.

Surveys have shown over and over it's fear. No one wants to go blind. People are afraid. They don't understand the technology. They don't know how to find a surgeon they trust. And it can be quite frightening.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, and somebody's working on your eyes, and, you know, you make a mistake there, you're -- you know, that's a big problem. That's not necessarily a big fixable problem.

How many people, of all the 20 million people who have had lasiks now -- lasik now, how many have some kind of severe or serious complication?

RUBINFELD: Well, the good news is it's really quite rare. And with today's lasik, it's extremely rare.

You know, it is not a haircut. It doesn't grow back. But the truth is, that the vast majority of people who have had this procedure do extremely well.

Good studies this year in the journal called "Ophthalmology" of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, demonstrate less than one in a thousand risk of a big problem. And those are pretty good numbers.

S. O'BRIEN: So that's if you have 20 million people, something like 20,000 people potentially over the last 10 to 12 years have had a serious, big problem, as you call it?

RUBINFELD: Well, or possibly less.

The other really good news is that many problems that occur are either temporary or require an additional treatment. And with the latest technology, wavefront-guided, wavefront-optimized lasers, we can fix a lot of things that may have been problematic in the past.

S. O'BRIEN: They talk about customizing the procedure now for a person. How does that work? What does that mean?

RUBINFELD: What that means is that we used to just take a person's eyeglass prescription and put it into the laser, and that was that. These days, two people with the same eyeglass prescription can have very different laser treatments. By customizing it to their particular eyes, either by means of what's called a wavefront map, or by means of a map of the shape of their eye, you put additional information into the laser, better data, better results, better night vision, and better safety.

S. O'BRIEN: Lasik can be done anywhere. I mean, literally, I've seen shopping malls where people are, like, 500 bucks an eye, they'll lasik your eyes.

How do you know who to pick?

RUBINFELD: That's your -- the most important question, and that's what stops most people. The real truth is, finding a surgeon you can trust to do the right thing for you, to choose the right technology, and tell you whether you're a candidate or not, is the hardest. And I think one good suggestion for this that people seem to have appreciated, is, try and ask eye doctors in your community who don't do lasik who they would let do their own surgery, or ask lasik surgeons in another city who they would recommend in your city.

S. O'BRIEN: Or find out who Tiki Barber's eye surgeon was, right?

Dr. Roy Rubinfeld, nice to talk to you. Thanks for being with us this morning.

RUBINFELD: Thank you so much.

S. O'BRIEN: Our pleasure.

Come up this morning, we're going to talk with actor Jeff Daniels about his Golden Globe nomination. That's just ahead.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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