Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Lawyer Carla Martin Forced in Spotlight After Misstep in Moussaoui Case; Decoding Dan Brown; Students Paid for Attendance in Boston Area School

Aired March 16, 2006 - 08:30   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: You're watching AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's zoom in. What is that in the tree there? Zoom in on that. Can you zoom in on that, Brad?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Bradley...

M. O'BRIEN: In the tree?

S. O'BRIEN: It's a big paper bag in the tree.

M. O'BRIEN: It's a plastic bag tree.

S. O'BRIEN: It's New York City. What, sare you new to this town?

M. O'BRIEN: So that's where they grow them. It's the plastic bag tree.

S. O'BRIEN: And then they pluck them.

M. O'BRIEN: I've always wondered from whence they came.

S. O'BRIEN: One plastic bag in all of Central Park is not so bad, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: It's a very nice clean place, New York City is.

Here's a quandary for you. What would Ferris Bueller do if he was missing out on some dough?

S. O'BRIEN: IPods.

M. O'BRIEN: Would he take the day off? Bueller, Bueller, Bueller. Here's a question. They are actually paying people to go to school. Chelsea High School in Massachusetts. You show up, you get some dough. IPods, cash, cars, all kinds of bonanza for kids. And it raises a lot of questions in our minds.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, like does it work? We'll talk about that a little later.

Plus, parts of the Plaza -- you know, they converted the Plaza. No longer a hotel. Now it's condos. M. O'BRIEN: I think it's very sad that it's been converted.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it's such a beautiful building. Where Eloise used to hang out, allegedly. You know, now they're auctioning off parts of the Plaza and it's going for seriously big bucks. You should see what they're also -- you know, what the condos inside look like. Unbelievable.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, I'm sure they're quite luxe.

S. O'BRIEN: They're quite nice, actually.

M. O'BRIEN: The ones with the good views are all condos. And then the little hotel that's going to be left is kind of tucked in the corner.

S. O'BRIEN: Right, about this big. And that's where Eloise will be now.

(NEWSBREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: The author of "The Da Vinci Code" said he reworked parts from other books. That doesn't make him necessarily a copycat, though, does it? Dan Brown is being sued for copyright infringement in London. Let's check in on this case.

CNN's Mallika Kapur joining us from London with all this. Good morning to you. And where does his case stand right now?

MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, at the moment, of course -- first of all, as you admitted, that Dan Brown said yesterday he did copy certain parts of he -- rewrote certain passages from "The Holy Blood, Holy Grail." But you know, you would expect this to affect his case, to affect his chances, but many of the experts we've talked to today say that that really won't undermine his case, and that's mainly because he said nothing new yesterday.

What he said is something we've known all along, that he perhaps took an idea from "The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail," but he did not copy any parts of it. If you look at the book and you compare them word for word, clearly you won't see that many similarities between the two books. So, really, legally speaking, it really shouldn't hurt his case.

Where we stand in the case now is Dan Brown has given all of his evidence in court. He appeared there three days this week, and today the court is not in session. The lawyers have gone off to prepare their closing arguments. They will come back tomorrow for their closing arguments, and that could continue unitl Monday as well.

M. O'BRIEN: Mallika Kapur in London, thank you very much.

Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: There is word just out this morning that Carla Martin was put on paid administrative leave on Wednesday. She, of course, is the lawyer who may become known as the person who could have scuttled the death penalty case against Zacarias Moussaoui.

CNN's John Roberts has our story this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why did you do it, ma'am?

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She is alternately described as articulate and smart, opinionated and overbearing. So who is Carla Martin? Why did she violate a judge's order to not give witnesses prior testimony? The attorney general was baffled.

ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: You'll have to ask Carla Martin what motivated her.

ROBERTS: Here's what we know. Martin joined the Transportation Security Administration's legal department in April of 2002, following 14 years at the FAA. It was a second career. She'd been a flight attendant for World Airways before getting her law degree in 1989 from American University.

The bulk of her work was litigation, representing the FAA in several lawsuits, including the Pan-Am 103 case. James Crimeler (ph), an attorney for the Pan-Am plaintiffs, remembers Martin as "easy to deal with, not a bad person or a monster."

Others paint a less flattering picture. A.P. Pishevar went up against Martin in a security discrimination case.

A.P. PISHEVAR, ATTORNEY: Aggressive, perhaps overzealous.

ROBERTS: Was he surprised about her conduct in the Moussaoui case?

PISHEVAR: I would have to say that I was not surprised because of my background with her.

ROBERTS: A former colleague, who requested anonymity, recalls Martin had good attorney skills, but her shortcoming was that she very opinionated, very passionate, with a strong personality. People weren't sad to see her leave.

And Claudio Mano (ph), one of the FAA witnesses now barred from testifying, told the court Martin had a tendency to go off on tangents that really were not all that relevant, and taking up a lot of time.

According to her mother who spoke with CNN, Martin is totally distraught over what happened, as if it were the end of the world. Jean Martin Lay (ph) says her daughter would never disobey the court's order, though Carla Martin could not explain how she misjudge Brinkema explicit rules on witnesses.

ROBERTS (on camera): Some people who know Martin speculate it might have been her lack of experience in criminal law that was to blame for all of this. It appears that Martin may try convince Judge Brinkema that she meant no harm; she simply didn't know about the order. The lawyers I talked to said rules about coaching witnesses are basic law school 101.

John Roberts, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Andy is here, and that just warms our heart, knowing you're here.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" COLUMNIST: Wow.

(CROSSTALK)

M. O'BRIEN: Especially on getaway day. I know you're a happy man, because you have how many segments left before vacation?

S. O'BRIEN: Are you -- oh, that's right.

SERWER: Just two.

M. O'BRIEN: Not that you're counting.

S. O'BRIEN: You're off tomorrow?

SERWER: Yes, off tomorrow and into the wild blue yonder.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, good for you.

SERWER: Business coming up. What's the cheapest city to live in in America? And once you move there, what would you do for fun? Stay tuned for that, coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: What would it take to get your kid to never miss a day of school? Andy Serwer, what would it take?

SERWER: Money.

M. O'BRIEN: There you go, that's the answer.

Here's Dan Lothian.

S. O'BRIEN: Cha-ching!

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At Chelsea High School near Boston, it pays to go to school, quite literally.

MORTON ORLOV, PRINCIPAL: If you had a perfect year, you would have earned $125. We expect no cuts, no tardies.

LOTHIAN: It's pretty simple math: Four quarters equal $100, and at the end of the year there's a $25 bonus. Multiply it by four years, and this is what you get with your diploma.

ORLOV: Great challenge, great opportunity.

LOTHIAN: Principal Morton Orlov says this reward, started in the fall, is aimed at cutting absenteeism, a problem at the school for years.

ORLOV: It's another tool in the principal's limited tool kit on how to address positively attendance.

LOTHIAN (on camera): Can I see by a show of hands how many students here think it's a good idea to have this instead of incentive program?

(voice-over): In this media class, the program gets a lukewarm receptions from students like senior Xavier Cabral, who's only missed one day of high school, but isn't motivated by money.

XAVIER CABRAL, SENIOR: I feel that it's not a large enough reward to make the kids want to come to school.

NELLY PHAN, SOPHOMORE: They'll probably be like, oh, whatever, I'm don't care about $25, I'm just not going to go to school.

LOTHIAN: But the lone supporter in this class is convinced that money matters.

BRAULIA GONZALES, SOPHOMORE: There are some people in Chelsea that have trouble living, and you know, it's hard for them, so maybe some change will help them a little bit.

LOTHIAN (on camera): It's not just happening here. Other schools across the country are also thinking outside the box, in order to get more students inside the classroom every day.

(voice-over): In Kentucky, Oden (ph) High School senior Krystal Brooks gets a key to a yellow mustang for attendance and good grades.

KRYSTAL BROOKS, SENIOR: I about fainted. I was so nervous. My hands were shaking when I went up there.

LOTHIAN: In Hartford, Connecticut, there are so many students with perfect attendance that a raffle at this event helps determine the winner of a $10,000 reward.

Other schools are giving away iPods, DVD players, groceries and a trip to Disneyland, all paid for by foundations, local businesses, or school budgets. But some educators, and even students, worry this practice sends the wrong message.

MANNY MUNGUIA, JUNIOR: It's giving the students a wrong reason to come to school. It's like telling them, oh, you're going to be paid $25 a quarter to come here, but still, that doesn't give them the academic reason to come to school.

LOTHIAN: While some schools have seen improvement, at Chelsea High, the jury is still out.

ORLOV: Across my entire population, you can make the argument it hasn't had a universal positive effect.

LOTHIAN: But some educators seem willing to gamble on the rewards program, hoping the promise of cash pays off.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Chelsea, Massachusetts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, the story everybody's talking about, that sleep drug Ambien, is it making people sleepwalk, even sleep-eat, and does this happen for other sleep drugs? That's ahead this morning.

But first...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And Selling for $65,000.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: That's expensive. You, too, can own a piece of New York history. Going to cost you big bucks. The Plaza Hotel up on the auction block. Got that story coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Want to own a little piece of hotel history? The legendary Plaza in New York City closed its doors last year. It's going to reopen as a little teenie weenie hotel and, really, condos in 2007. Its contents, thoyught, took center stage on Wednesday when they all went on the auction block.

AMERICAN MORNING'S Kelly Wallace has a look at that.

That must have been exciting.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was fun. You know, Christie's Auction House here in New York estimated that the Plaza auctions bring in just about $750,000.

S. O'BRIEN: What?

WALLACE: Guess how much? More than $1 million more than that, $1.76 -- $1,760,000.

S. O'BRIEN: They were off a little.

WALLACE: They were off. They low-balled it. But this gives you a sense of how this legendary hotel, with all its glitz and glamour and Hollywood attention, continues to fascinate so many.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARY GRANT, ACTOR: You go to the desk and get the key to 796.

WALLACE (voice-over): Cary Grant sauntered through its halls in the movie "North by Northwest."

WALTER MATHAU, ACTOR: The Baroque Room, please.

WALLACE: And Walter Mathau stayed a while in "Plaza Suite." New York City's legendary Plaza Hotel, still an icon nearly a year after its doors were closed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ten thousand dollars starts it.

WALLACE: So much so that Christie's in New York auctioned off well over 1,000 of its items, from chairs in the Oak Room (ph) to the bellman's uniform, to a Steinway baby grand. At times, the bidding reached into the five figures.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And selling for $65,000. Thank you very much.

WALLACE: Sixty-five thousand dollars for this painting, which hung in the lobby of the Plaza, the highest bid of the day.

(on camera): I mean, what is it about this hotel that builds such excitement?

CATHY ELKIES, CHRISTIE'S AUCTION HOUSE: It's the Plaza! I mean, it's the Plaza. It's sort of been one word.

WALLACE (voice-over): What Cathy Elkies and her colleagues at Christie's tried to do, she said, was recreate the rooms so many have come to know and love.

ELKIES: It's like, hmm, I think I'm in the Plaza.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CHILD: Good morning, Mr. Salamoni (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning, Eloise.

WALLACE: Of course, it wouldn't be the Plaza without Eloise, the fictional feisty 6-year-old who lived at the hotel and captured the attention of little girls all over the world, something we learned last year.

(on camera): How often do people ask to see Eloise's shoes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At least 20 times a day.

WALLACE (voice-over): Those shoes, expected to go for less than $600, went for five times that, $3,200. That was too much for Marie Kriphanidhi of Brooklyn. She came looking for memories of lunches she shared with her Eloise fan, her 5-year-old, who is now 44.

(on camera): Did she see any -- have any sighting of Eloise when she would lunch there with you?

MARIE KRIPANIDHI, PLAZA AUCTION BIDDER: No, just the photographs of the -- on the wall. Eloise is fictitious. Eloise is not real.

WALLACE: You can't tell a 5-year-old that, though.

KRIPHANIDHI: No, no you can't.

WALLACE (voice-over): Marie didn't leave empty-handed, though, winning the bid for a Plaza door at $2,200.

KRIPAHNIDHI: As New Yorkers, we're always sad to see legends fall by the wayside. So if you can get a little piece of it, it brings memories. And that's why I'm here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And in our piece, we talked about the highest bid, $65,000 for that painting. What about the lowest, Soledad? Two hundred dollars for four uniforms. And we should mention on top of all of these bids, a 20 percent premium that goes to the auction house. So, you know, might say $200, but then with 20 percent, it's really $240 you're paying.

S. O'BRIEN: Were those are the people who are in bidding, collectors? Or like that woman, who seemed like your average person who just sort of had a great memory of the Plaza?

WALLACE: Yes, more of the minority of that woman. Most people, collectors, big dealers. I think it's a private Asian collector who won the $65,000 painting. But, yes, she came and she said that some of the prices were ridiculous.

(CROSSTALK)

WALLACE: But she fell for a door, this beautiful door that she got that she's going to put in her country house, thought $2,200 was good.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, that's great, that's great. I took my daughter to the Plaza and we had lots of sort of almost Eloise. Oh, I think she just -- all the...

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: All the doorman and all the waiters would say, oh, Eloise had the pasta. You might want to have the pasta.

WALLACE: Very cute.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Kelly.

WALLACE: Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Sad to see it dismantled, though, isn't it? It really is. I wish they could have kept it all intact.

WALLACE: Yes. They're going to keep -- my understanding, Miles -- they're going to keep parts of it intact.

S. O'BRIEN: It won't be the same.

WALLACE: It won't be the same.

M. O'BRIEN: It won't be the same.

S. O'BRIEN: As that woman said, it's hard to sort of see a legend fall by the wayside.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, the end of an era.

WALLACE: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Good job, Kelly, thank you.

In a moment, top stories, including federal agents say they have busted some of the worst imaginable kinds of child porn Web sites.

The attorney blamed for crippling the government's case against Zacarias Moussaoui placed on at administrative leave.

Police in Daytona Beach, Florida, searching for a serial killer.

Tens of thousands of students protest a youth jobs plan in France.

And residents are being urged to evacuate six small towns in Texas. Wind-driven fires plaguing weary firefighters there. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com