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CNN Connie Chung Tonight
What Did Ricci's Neighbors See?; Could Korey Stringer's Death Have Been Prevented?; WorldCom Workers Laid Off
Aired June 28, 2002 - 20:00 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.
CONNIE CHUNG, HOST: Good evening. Tonight, what the neighbors saw. Richard Ricci's next-door neighbor tells what he knows about the case of Elizabeth Smart.
ANNOUNCER: Where is Elizabeth Smart? Does this man know?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think he had anything to do with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Tonight, a profile of the handyman, Richard Ricci.
A tragic accident.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a person that we cared about, and this was a terrible tragedy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Could it have been prevented? Still grieving over her husband's death, Korey Stringer's widow wants justice.
Their bosses were dialing for dollars while thousands of workers were losing money, and now their jobs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very, very sad how a few people can hurt so many people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: WorldCom workers wouldn't talk about it until now.
This is CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT, live from the CNN broadcast center in New York. Connie Chung.
CHUNG: Good evening. We begin tonight in Salt Lake City, where a teenage girl has been missing for more than three weeks, a story that gets more tense by the day for everyone who knows Elizabeth Smart. Twenty-three days ago, an intruder entered her home while her parents and her family slept. Her fate remains a mystery.
CNN's Ed Lavandera is on the story tonight in Salt Lake City. Ed, tell us what's the latest.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we've learned today is that FBI agents returned to Richard Ricci's neighborhood looking for hair samples. They got hair samples from Richard Ricci's father- in-law and several other people. What they're looking into is, if you remember, yesterday FBI agents took a gold style hat from Richard Ricci's father-in-law, and that the suspect in this case was said to have been wearing a golf style hat, so they're using that information. They're going to run tests on it to see whether or not they can implicate people or disavow people from this case. So they're looking into that and checking hair samples on that.
The other development as well is a source tells CNN that Richard Ricci's wife, Angela Ricci, isn't done with the grand jury yet. She's expected to return to the federal grand jury hearing in Salt Lake City to answer more questions -- Connie.
CHUNG: Ed, can you tell us more about Richard Ricci?
LAVANDERA: Well, Richard Ricci's is quite an interesting figure who has emerged here in Salt Lake City over this past week. Police say he's at the top of the list of five or six people they're looking into in this case. They say he's not a suspect at this point, but he sure is getting a lot of scrutiny.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): Jail started becoming a familiar place for Richard Ricci by the time he was 19. In 1973, he started a 30-year on and off relationship with the prison system. The headlines from his criminal life include charges of theft, burglary, aggravated robbery and attempted murder of a police officer.
MIKE HILL, SALT LAKE CITY POLICE OFFICER: I told him to drop the shotgun he had in his hand.
LAVANDERA: Mike Hill remembers him well. In 1983, he was the officer on the other end of a shotgun Ricci was firing.
HILL: And saw him again leveling that shotgun at me, and then I went down like this and turned my face around just as the shotgun blast came across. That's how I got hit in the hand, in the shoulder, and the top of the head.
LAVANDERA: Richard Ricci's family says a criminal history doesn't mean he kidnapped a young girl. He had just married his wife Angela in February. His in-laws say he loved to cook. They say Ricci was at home sleeping next to his wife the night Elizabeth Smart disappeared.
DAVID MORSE, RICCI'S FATHER-IN-LAW: He is a good guy. Since he's been in our family, he's been a good son-in-law. And the stuff that they're accusing him of is -- I don't know when in the hell he'd ever have time to do it.
LAVANDERA: He was busy working for, among others, the Smart family, but he violated terms of his parole when he stole items from the Smarts' home. And sources also say he's connected to other burglaries in the Smarts' neighborhood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He seemed nice enough. I mean, he seemed -- I've heard mention that the Mitchells (ph) guy said he was very personable, and he could be very, very personable.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: But for investigators, it's still not clear what Richard Ricci was doing on June 5, and that's why you're starting to hear a lot about a man named Andy Thurber. He's Ricci's neighbor, and he was -- been living next door to him for the last year. His kids play with Ricci's stepson.
Now, on June 5, his neighbor, Thurber, says that he saw Ricci digging around in the ground around his mobile home several hours after Elizabeth Smart disappeared. He didn't think about sharing that story with anybody until the FBI showed up and started questioning his mother. Now he thinks it's time to share that story with people -- Connie.
CHUNG: Ed, what does Ricci's lawyer say about Thurber's claims?
LAVANDERA: Well, their version of what exactly was happening that morning is much simpler and much more innocent. They say that he had just walked out into the yard that morning, trying to fix a siding hole on the side of the mobile home, because cats were getting underneath the home. So he was just trying to fix that problem. A simple, innocent explanation from their part.
CHUNG: All right. Thank you so much, Ed Lavandera, on the story tonight from Salt Lake City.
Joining me now is the next-door neighbor of Richard Ricci. He joins us, Andrew Thurber, in his first television interview from Midvale, Utah tonight. Thank you for being with us.
You were with Richard Ricci just six hours after Elizabeth Smart was abducted. What happened? What did he talk to you about?
ANDY THURBER, RICHARD RICCI'S NEIGHBOR: Actually, he woke me up. I heard pounding. And so I walked to my back door, opened it, and I says, what are you doing? Those weren't my exact words, but I don't want to say what I exactly said to him. And he says, "I'm fixing this hole so the cats don't get in." And I never really got around to looking at the hole right then. But the hole that he was fixing to where the cats couldn't get in looked more just like to be covered for a second because I'm sure the cats could have gone in. It was three separate pieces of wood on a piece of hole that's only about this big.
CHUNG: So what -- was the hole in the ground, are you saying, or was the hole in the trailer?
THURBER: The hole was in the side -- OK, you know what skirting is of a trailer?
CHUNG: All right.
THURBER: It's right there where my water pipes were. And if he had to cover the hole -- so I guess if they said his cat wouldn't get in? He just told me cats.
CHUNG: Did you find that unusual?
THURBER: Oh, yeah. Especially being that he just didn't cover that hole. He like dug the weeds out from underneath my porch, which there wasn't that many. But I mean, it was totally clean scraped off. He propped up my porch.
CHUNG: Did he say anything else to you? Did he talk to you about anything else?
THURBER: Yes, he did.
CHUNG: What did he say?
THURBER: As I got dressed and my son was bugging me to go to "Star Wars," he wanted to go real bad, I went out to ask him if he could give me a ride. And he said that, "did you hear what happened this morning?" I said, "no." And I haven't heard nothing yet on this story. And I says, "well, no, I haven't heard," and he says, "well, this girl was kidnapped, and she was held by gun point." And the guy, whoever said what, or how he explained it was the guy that took the other girl, that took Elizabeth, told the other girl to be quiet. And he told me that, and I was just blown away. And...
CHUNG: Did he tell you that he knew the family, the Smarts?
THURBER: OK, this happens a little bit later. I went in the house, and I caught the end of like a news thing. Right before my son turned to cartoons, I caught the end of a news thing, and it said a girl was abducted from a Salt Lake City home. And they didn't say anything else after that.
CHUNG: There was no detail about being taken at gunpoint?
THURBER: No detail.
CHUNG: ... and another little girl being there?
THURBER: No. They had no other details. And then, after I had came out and he offered to give me a ride is when he started telling me that he was going to get implicated in it. I don't know what word I should actually use -- that he was going to get questioned. This was that morning of the 5th.
CHUNG: He told you that he was going to be questioned by police?
THURBER: Yeah, because he had worked there. And I didn't even know he had worked there.
CHUNG: Did he tell you why he thought he would be questioned by police about the kidnapping?
THURBER: No. He was acting really kind of strange. I think he was already drinking.
CHUNG: Did you know that he had a criminal record before?
THURBER: I only thought he robbed a drugstore is what they had told me. But see, Angela...
CHUNG: I mean, in that conversation, did he tell you that he had a criminal record?
THURBER: No.
CHUNG: All right.
THURBER: He didn't tell me his criminal record, nothing.
CHUNG: Did he say anything about Elizabeth Smart herself during that conversation?
THURBER: Yeah, that she was really cute, beautiful. He might have used that word. Really cute. Smart. I mean, he was telling me things that were really kind of odd. Smart, that she helped him around while he was working, and that, you know, just basically told me nice things, overly nice things about her.
CHUNG: So that entire conversation was rather peculiar to you, correct?
THURBER: Yes.
CHUNG: All right. Did you see him later in the day? Didn't you go with him to a pawn shop?
THURBER: Yeah, we went and pawned my guitar, because I lost my ID on the bus. And so we went and pawned my guitar -- and I pawned it in his name, which I'm pretty sure I'm going to lose it.
CHUNG: All right. So he was driving, is that correct?
THURBER: Yes.
CHUNG: Did you find anything -- did you find anything unusual about that drive? And about him?
THURBER: That he wanted a beer as soon as we got out of the pawn shop. He was -- he really -- he was sweating. He was -- it was just really different for Ricci not to keep a conversation with me, because I liked him quite well also.
CHUNG: Was it unusual for him to be drinking a beer, what, in the morning, wasn't it, 9:00, 9:30? THURBER: Yeah, that was unusual too, being that I only really seen him drink at night. And I am, you know, like I said, I didn't think anything about it because I liked him. He is a really good guy. He was a good guy to me.
CHUNG: Did he appear nervous to you?
THURBER: Yeah, kind of. Sweating, nervous. But that could have been -- God, he did so much, like, digging and gardening that day. You know, even when he came and picked us up from "Star Wars" -- I know I'm jumping a little far there -- but even when he came and picked us up, he seemed to be really just -- he brought some Coronas from the liquor store, and said that they were for his -- Angela's niece.
CHUNG: That's his wife's niece?
THURBER: Yeah.
CHUNG: Why, was that unusual? I mean, did he usually smoke cigars?
THURBER: I've never seen him smoke a cigar. I've seen him smoke cigarettes. He borrowed cigarettes from me quite frequently.
CHUNG: All right. So he -- you and his child and some other children, your children, went to a movie. And...
THURBER: "Star Wars."
CHUNG: Yes, "Star Wars." And Mr. Ricci stayed home.
THURBER: Yes.
CHUNG: Did you see him again that day or anytime since the kidnapping? And did you talk to him again?
THURBER: OK, like I said, he come and picked us up and then took me home. And then, I'm not sure. I think he took off for a while.
CHUNG: So you haven't...
THURBER: I'm not sure how long, because I went and played basketball with my kid afterward. But he was taking off again.
CHUNG: All right. During that day, what was he doing while you were at the movies?
THURBER: Oh, God, like I said, he had cleaned out from underneath my porch. I don't know exactly when he did that, because all I knew was about the blocked hole, but I mean, he, like, literally dug out where grass was and everything and made it perfect. He made it perfect.
CHUNG: All right, Mr. Thurber, tell me this, then. Elizabeth's sister described the abductor as being someone who was wearing a golf hat, and was soft-spoken. Does that fit the description of Richard Ricci?
THURBER: Soft-spoken, yes. I've never seen him in a golf cap. I've seen him in a baseball hat backward. But I've never seen him in a golf cap.
CHUNG: All right. You did tell all of this to the FBI.
THURBER: Yes.
CHUNG: And the FBI then came to the trailer park. Did they begin digging around, and did they find anything?
THURBER: They ripped out my back porch. They -- I don't -- I think they dug up one of his beds. But that's about all they did. And then they had the dog go underneath my trailer.
CHUNG: Do you know if the authorities found anything?
THURBER: No, I do not know.
CHUNG: All right. Tell me this, how well do you know Angela, Richard Ricci's wife?
THURBER: I've known her for several years.
CHUNG: Have you ever known her to take medication?
THURBER: Prescribed?
CHUNG: Yes...
THURBER: ... or illegally taking it?
CHUNG: Well, the reason why I'm asking that question is because she has given her husband an alibi. And she has made clear that he was with her in their bed at night, asleep, for the duration of the evening. Is it possible, tell me this, if she -- that she might have been in any way sedated by any kind of medication?
THURBER: More than possible.
CHUNG: And why do you say that?
THURBER: We call it when Angela takes these pills, they're called Somos (ph), they're muscle relaxers, very strong ones from what I understand. These Somas (ph), we call her when she's on them, she takes so many, we call it somatose (ph), being like comatose. You couldn't wake her from the dead.
CHUNG: You've actually seen this?
THURBER: Oh, yeah. I've seen her fall -- I don't know, I can get in trouble for saying this, I don't know if I can or not. But I -- oh, well, I'm just going to say it anyways. I've seen her bob her head in and out of her food.
CHUNG: That sounds...
THURBER: And that's before she goes out.
CHUNG: And you're saying that you've actually seen her become very sleepy and unconscious, practically?
THURBER: I've tried to wake her up when she was on them.
CHUNG: So, bearing in mind that she says that she was with her husband throughout that evening, I mean, throughout the night of June 5, morning of June 5 I mean, do you think it's possible that she may be mistaken that he was actually there? She said he did not get out of the bed except to go to the bathroom.
THURBER: Well, from what I understand, she was questioned several times, didn't remember. She went and asked neighbors if they've seen him leave. When she found out nobody's seen him leave, became her excuse.
CHUNG: All right.
THURBER: That might be saying a little too much, but that's what I caught -- because I'm Angela's friend, I really am, but I'm scared, you know, because she's dated more than one prisoner. That's all she dates, really.
CHUNG: All right, finally, Mr. Thurber, do you -- what do you believe is the truth about Richard Ricci? Do you think that he could possibly have been involved in the abduction of Elizabeth Smart?
THURBER: I think that he could have left that night and the way that evidence and all this stuff is pointing, I changed my view on thinking he was not guilty. But I'm not saying he is guilty. I'm just saying I kind of believe he is.
CHUNG: All right, thank you so much, Andrew Thurber.
Still ahead, life after layoff. We'll be back.
ANNOUNCER: Up next, WorldCom workers get disconnected. Tonight, one of them finally comes forward with the inside story.
And later, how could this happen?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why? Vomiting on all fours for two days with no I.V. in 110 degrees?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: A football tragedy now turning into a quest for justice. CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ANNOUNCER: Marc Klaas endured a parent's worst nightmare. One day, his daughter Polly was his laughing, smiling seven-year-old daughter. The next day, she was a memory, a police investigation, a massive search.
Two months later, an ex-con whose palm print was found in Polly's room at her home in Petaluma, California confessed to her murder and led police to her body. But as the trial of Richard Allen Davis showed, strangling Polly was not the last blow he struck at the Klaas family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD ALLEN DAVIS, CONFESSED TO MURDER OF POLLY KLAAS: The main reason I know that I did not attempt any lewd act that night is because of a statement the young girl made to me when walking her up the embankment. Just don't do me like my dad. I have to pay my dues. So should you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Burn in hell, Davis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: What was the outcome of that trial, and what happened to the two men who stood at its epicenter? The answer when we return.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: What happened to Richard Allen Davis, confessed kidnapper and killer of 7-year-old Polly Klaas?
A jury sentenced Davis to die, and he is now on California's Death Row, awaiting execution. Marc Klaas continues to lend his support to parents such as the Smarts, whose daughter was also abducted from her home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARC KLAAS, FATHER OF KIDNAPPED GIRL: The similarities between what happened to Elizabeth and what happened to Polly are rather stunning. It sends a chill up my spine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Today Marc Klaas runs a non-profit group aimed at helping parents and preventing child kidnappings. It's called Klaas Kids, and it's run from Polly's old bedroom.
CHUNG: They've been too scared to talk. I assure you, many have wanted to, but they are afraid. I'm talking about the employees of WorldCom.
Just today, 17,000 WorldCom staffers started to get pink slips. So we went in search of some of the real people involved in this corporate meltdown, and finally found two who were willing to talk. At least, that's what they told us. At the last minute, it appears they became unavailable for reasons that remain unclear. So joining us now to walk us through why employees are so afraid of -- why WorldCom is so afraid of their speaking to us, is Lou Dobbs, of "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE."
Lou, actually, this also happened last night. We had a WorldCom employee ready to talk to us, and he, at the last minute, decided to back out. Let me tell you one more thing. The two who were going to speak to us tonight had been fired, and there was talk that if they talked to the media, that they would not receive their severance pay.
They were willing. They knew about those consequences. One was going to come in disguised, in other words, so you could not see his face, and the other one was fine with it.
LOU DOBBS, HOST, "LOU DOBBS MONEYLINE": Unfortunately, that's somewhat typical of what happens in these instances, in which companies tie a separation package to very strict conditions about the continuance of that compensation package, that severance package, conditioned usually on keeping your mouth shut.
CHUNG: Corporations are allowed to do that?
DOBBS: Corporations are allowed to do it. Every corporation is allowed it to do it. It is ultimately the employee's choice as to whether he or she decides to meet those conditions and to have the money. And it is the economic advantage, as usual, is on the side of the corporation.
CHUNG: But isn't that outrageous?
DOBBS: Well, it is. Particularly if you happen to be in the news business and you want to know what everybody knows and tell the public what is happening.
But there are also some interesting things that are happening here at WorldCom, beyond the fact that some of the employees are not talking, because many of the employees who have been discharged over the past year or two are talking.
And one of the things that we've learned, for example, is in December of 2000, at least according to one employee, the chief technology officer, according to one e-mail, had sent out a directive suggesting that changes be made to the way they were accounting for both capital expenses and expenses, which is the heart of what we're talking about.
CHUNG: What was the result of that?
DOBBS: This person was fired. In this instance. So we are just beginning to look into this, just as the regulators and the investigators are. There are going to be a lot of fascinating stories come out of this, all of them, for the most part, sad, however.
CHUNG: Tell me one more thing about these employees who are getting fired and muzzled, essentially. Do they -- can anyone, can any government agency, can anyone stop the company from doing this to the employees?
DOBBS: Certainly. And the easiest way in which to do that is precisely what the SEC and the Justice Department are doing. They're going in, they're subpoenaing.
No one can obstruct an investigation whatsoever. And the government's power to compel disclosure and testimony and evidence ends only with the Fifth Amendment, which is the right against self- incrimination.
CHUNG: Lou, I want to show you something.
DOBBS: Sure.
CHUNG: Among those calling on American business leaders to play it straight with investors and employees is a former businessman who is now the nation's leader.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe if somebody is running a corporation, if somebody has got responsibility to shareholders and employees, they have the responsibility to be above-board at all times, to be frank and honest with all numbers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHUNG: Lou Dobbs, I'm sure you've heard the phrase before: if you see one cockroach in the kitchen, you know there have to be many more. So is the president actually going to deal with suspected corporate cockroaches?
DOBBS: These are cockroaches now, they're not even suspected cockroaches. This is a mess of such proportions that everybody has to deal with it.
The president is coming up now. The Democrats are making it an issue, the Republicans are making it an issue. Finally something's going to happen because it's finally hit the level that -- even though the Democrats will try to make political advantage out of this, as will as Republicans -- this is going to result in real investigations and, I hope, real results soon, and hopefully we'll see people going to jail as a result.
Because this is criminal by any definition of the word.
CHUNG: The former CFO, a man named Scott Sullivan, says he didn't do anything inappropriate. He moved some money around, a good chunk of money. Is it possible that he's telling the truth, and that he did nothing wrong, even though his senior staff members didn't know about it either?
DOBBS: It's possible he did nothing wrong. I think the likelihood that he did nothing wrong is very small. Whether he did something criminal will be up to the investigators and a court of law to determine.
CHUNG: All right, I just want to show you one quick thing before we go.
This is the mansion that Scott Sullivan is building. And we have a picture of it. Yes, there it is. This is at a time when the company, WorldCom, has to lay off 17,000 employees. This is at Boca Raton. It's a waterfront home, multi-million dollar home.
DOBBS: About $10 million worth of home.
CHUNG: Think so?
DOBBS: The fact is that homes like that are relatively common in corporate America, whether we're talking about chief financial officers or CEOs. There are simply, if you will, monuments to the '90s, corporate greed, corporate excess, and these incredibly ridiculously high CEO compensation packages.
That has to change and it has to change soon.
CHUNG: Thank you so much, Lou Dobbs. You have a good vacation.
DOBBS: Thank you very much, Connie.
CHUNG: Going to miss you.
Still ahead, the Korey Stringer story. Stay with us.
ANNOUNCER: Still ahead, he was sentenced to jail but he's still on the run.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL LOGAR, SENTENCED FOR FLEEING POLICE: He gave me a chance when a lot of people just gave up on me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: When CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: We've got our running convict waiting at the starting line. But first, we go to Anderson Cooper here in New York for a quick check of tonight's developing stories, "To the Minute."
No connection, Anderson. I don't mean to.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I would hope not.
CHUNG: Yes.
COOPER: Thanks very much, Connie.
In our "News Alert" this evening, President Bush announced today he is having a routine screening test for colon cancer at Camp David tomorrow. Mr. Bush says during the short time he's sedated, he'll transfer power to Vice President Cheney. The vice president is in North Carolina tonight, but will be back in Washington tomorrow.
Three explosions late today leveled about 75 percent of the Palestinian Authority police headquarters in Hebron. Palestinian sources say what's left is barely standing. They also say Israeli helicopters hovered overhead before, during and after the blast. One Israeli commander called the building a hotel for terrorists.
A massive wildfire in Arizona has picked up enough strength to jump fire lines and possibly skirt across a highway to 30 miles of uncharred Ponderosa pine. To date, at least 423 families have lost their homes to this fire.
California's parole board intently listened as a former member of Charles Manson's family talked about how her heart's been reformed. But for the 14th time, they decided not to parole Leslie Van Houten.
Congress approved increasing the nation's debt limit by $450 billion. That means the government can borrow enough money to pay its bills through at least December. President Bush says he will sign the debt increase.
The movie "Minority Report" has inspired talk of stopping crimes before they're committed. On "NEWSNIGHT" tonight, Philip K. Dick. He wrote the stories nearly 50 years that inspired "Minority Report" and another movie, "Blade Runner." His story tonight on "NEWSNIGHT" at 10 p.m. Eastern.
I'm Anderson Cooper. Now back to Connie.
CHUNG: Thank you, Anderson.
When we come back, one woman challenges a pro football team, still ahead.
ANNOUNCER: Still ahead...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE KELLY, VIKINGS EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT: We don't look at this as something that we did wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: But that's not what she says. The widow, the football franchise and the next chapter. When CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: With me tonight in the studio, the widow and the mother of Korey Stringer, the Minnesota Vikings player who died on the practice field a little less than a year ago. I'm going to talk to Kelci Stringer and Mrs. Cathy Stringer in a few minutes. And we'll see why they're not willing to move ahead with their lives until they can resolve an issue with the team.
We begin with a look back to just about a year ago when the unthinkable happened. Here's CNN's Josie Karp.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSIE KARP, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eleven months ago, Korey Stringer reported to training camp, a mountain of a man at the top of his profession. He was a husband and a father in the prime of his life when he took the field for practice on a steamy Tuesday morning, July 31.
MIKE TICE, VIKINGS HEAD COACH: He had a tremendous practice. And when you look at the film, he was sharp. He was crisp.
KARP: It was the Minnesota Vikings' second day of practice. It was Stringer's last. Shortly after 11 a.m., he collapsed on the field. His temperature would soar to 108.8 degrees. And less than 15 hours later, Stringer was dead, the victim of complications from heat stroke. The family Stringer left behind believes he did not have to die and that the Vikings staff missed obvious warning signs.
KELCI STRINGER, KOREY'S WIDOW: Why? Vomiting on all fours for two days with no I.V. and 110 degrees? That's a common question that I don't have common answers to.
KARP: In January, Stringer's widow filed a $100 million wrongful death lawsuit, citing as defendants the Vikings and members of the team's coaching, training, and medical staff.
STANLEY CHESLEY, KELCI'S LAWYER: I have never seen such incredible conduct on the part of what is supposed to be a very legitimate, well-organized enterprise.
KARP: Among the claims in the lawsuit are that Stringer's history of heat-related problems, including the day before when he vomited repeatedly and left practice early, should have led the team to monitor him more closely.
Then offensive line coach Mike Tice used an unflattering picture in a Twin Cities newspaper to mock Stringer the day he collapsed. And Stringer received inadequate care. A deposition detailing the player's last hours indicated his initial care was left to a 22-year- old trainer employed as a year-long intern.
In response, the Vikings have denied all of Kelci Stringer's allegations. The team also hired a veteran trainer to review the Vikings' ability to deal with heat-related problems and their treatment of Stringer that day. The trainer concluded that the Vikings, quote, "met all acceptable treatment standards."
KELLY: We don't look at this as something that we did wrong. I mean, he's a person that we cared about and we tried to have the best care available for these people. And this was a terrible tragedy.
KARP: The team says it will aggressively defend the lawsuit. Tice, now the Vikings head coach, insists he did nothing wrong. He said in a statement after the lawsuit was filed, "everybody who knows me knows how much I loved Korey Stringer. The facts in the complaint about me are simply untrue and the rest of the allegations unjustly criticize other members of our team who cared for Korey very much."
But the question remains: Is Stringer's death a tragedy that could have been avoided?
I'm Josie Karp.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHUNG: Joining me now are Kelci Stringer, Korey's widow and college sweetheart, and Korey's mom, Cathy Stringer. Thank you so much for being with us.
Kelci, tell me about the last conversation that you had with your husband. What did he tell you about his day?
KELCI STRINGER, KOREY'S WIDOW: He told me on Monday night. I spoke with him -- I asked him how was practice, and he told me it was pretty good. And he actually was trying really hard this year to not have to be -- to have to leave practice early, because he suffers from vomiting and a little heat exhaustion every year. And he told me...
CHUNG: So a common -- a common thing for him.
K. STRINGER: And he had received (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in previous years for muscle cramps and for the similar reasons, and he told me he was doing fine. And he told me...
CHUNG: Did he have any problem that particular day?
K. STRINGER: Yeah, he told me he -- he told me just was -- kept vomiting, kept vomiting. And he said -- he told me he couldn't stop sweating, he couldn't keep down any water. And I said, "well, are you OK?" And he says, "yeah, I lost about six pounds, but you know, I'm OK."
CHUNG: Were you worried about him, though?
K. STRINGER: I didn't -- I didn't know. I was out of town, so I wasn't able to see the news or the papers to really see the grasp on it. Korey was kind of real good about, you know...
CHUNG: Right, so you were just talking on the phone here. Now, the next day he did go to practice, and in the newspapers were these pictures of him that basically ridiculed him, and one coach I believe called him "a big baby." Do you think that on that day, the next day, that he was pushing himself a little hard just because he didn't want people to say that he wasn't tough enough?
K. STRINGER: Well, I don't really believe that he pushed himself to a limit of where he couldn't come back from. I believe Korey gave the same amount of effort that he gave all the time. That's why he was the player that he was. I believe it upset him a lot, for the reporters, you know, to pick on him. They kind of picked on him for being the big guy on the team. But never did that stop him from performing his job and doing the best of his ability.
CHUNG: All right. Now, at 11:15, it was that day, wasn't it, that he collapsed on the field. He said "help" to someone. And what happened?
K. STRINGER: From the depositions that I sat in on and read, after they called for a trainer, the trainer came over and asked Korey was he OK, and they said Korey didn't respond. And they said he got up and did another little practice run, and then went to this cool trailer. Well, the intern instructed him to come in there to cool off.
And they insist that the whole time, there was no sign of Korey suffering. But I mean, Connie, you have a child. You know if your child has a 108 degree temperature.
CHUNG: And he did.
K. STRINGER: And he did.
CHUNG: So how long did he -- was he there in the trailer before they took him to the hospital?
K. STRINGER: He was there about 30 to 45 minutes in the trailer.
CHUNG: So then when did you find out that he was in the hospital?
K. STRINGER: Not until 6:30 that evening.
CHUNG: 6:30 that evening?
K. STRINGER: Yeah.
CHUNG: Well, who called you?
K. STRINGER: One of his ex-teammate's wife -- wives called me.
CHUNG: You mean the team didn't call you?
K. STRINGER: No. I have no recorded messages from the team. They allowed one of the players, a fellow employee, to be responsible for getting in contact with me.
CHUNG: So obviously you went straight to the hospital, didn't you?
K. STRINGER: Well, actually, no, I was in Atlanta and I couldn't get a flight out. And...
CHUNG: No, but I mean, you tried to get there as soon as you could?
K. STRINGER: I tried to get there as soon as I could, yes. And another one of his teammates provided transportation for me to get there, and I went straight to the hospital.
CHUNG: And when you got there?
K. STRINGER: When I got there, I was asking -- you know, they obviously knew I didn't know, because I'm asking, "how is he doing?"
CHUNG: Was he still alive?
K. STRINGER: No. I landed at 1:30, and he passed away at 1:50.
CHUNG: Oh, my goodness. Whom do you blame -- whom do you blame for his death?
K. STRINGER: The coaches, the trainers. More than anything. Everyone saying how much they loved Korey and they're saying what they didn't do wrong. But my question is, what did they do right?
CHUNG: Mrs. Stringer...
CATHY STRINGER, KOREY'S MOTHER: Yes.
CHUNG: What kind of boy was Korey? I know he was your middle child.
C. STRINGER: He was, you know, that typical second child syndrome thing, you know. So we had our little issues. But he loved sports. Anything that involved sports or some kind of contact, you know. It was all about him.
CHUNG: You say that he died of a terrible -- are you OK? OK. That there was a horrible injustice.
C. STRINGER: Yes, I feel like the biggest thing is there was so many trainers and all of that there, from what I'm understanding, from the depositions and all of this. And there was everybody around, but nobody knew what to do. And that's what irritates me so very much. They didn't know what to do, that may have saved his life.
CHUNG: So Kelci, do you think -- oh, dear, do you want some water?
C. STRINGER: I'm OK, thank you.
CHUNG: OK. Are you sure?
C. STRINGER: Positive, thank you.
CHUNG: Do you -- what do you hope to accomplish with this lawsuit? I mean, some people would say, oh, she just wants money.
K. STRINGER: Well, I hope to accomplish the resolution sooner than later. I want (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the NFL to step up and authorize these training camps to do something about it. I mean, it's totally preposterous that they would say that there's nothing wrong with these camps and they wouldn't change a thing. And I don't like being a widow. I don't like my son being an orphan. And for us, it's been almost 11 months now. And Jimmy Gould (ph), Dan Chessly (ph), Paul DiMarco (ph), my attorneys, we have waited, we have tried, and no one wants to give us any answers on anything. And I would hope that the NFL would step in and do what's right, for everybody's sake that's out there on that field.
CHUNG: All right. Thank you so much. And one thing is, you have heard from the teammembers, but you haven't heard from the owners.
K. STRINGER: No. Coaches or owners, they have not spoken to me.
CHUNG: All right. Thank you, Kelci. Thank you, Mrs. -- mom, I want to call you. You take care of that cough.
C. STRINGER: Thank you, thank you.
CHUNG: All right, we'll be back with more in a moment.
ANNOUNCER: Coming up, this man ran from the police and was thrown into the slammer. We'll tell you why he's still on the run. CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT returns in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: This is one of the most unique stories I've ever seen for a while. It's about a sentence handed down by Judge Michael Cicconetti of Painesville, Ohio after 33-year-old Michael Logar ran from police when they pulled over the car he was in.
The judge sentenced him to run the annual five mile Johnny Cake Jog on July 28, in about a month, and some of his rival runners will be police officers.
The judge thought it was fitting to have him run from police once more. So here you see him training alongside his probation officer. And his finish will determine his prison sentence. In other words, the better his time, the better his time.
If he wins it outright, he gets out of jail the next day. Michael Logar's already started serving his six-month sentence but he has been given special permission to join us tonight from Cleveland.
Judge Cicconetti has bit more freedom to travel, and he came here to New York. Thank you, gentlemen, for being with us. Mr. Logar, why did you run? Because certainly, you were just the passenger in the car, and you started running away from police, and you were drunk. Did you really think that you could outrun a sober police officer?
LOGAR: No.
CHUNG: Why did you run?
LOGAR: Basically, I had a warrant for my arrest for contempt of court, and I had been drinking since that morning. And it was just a foolish act that I had done while being intoxicated.
CHUNG: When you went before this judge, did you have any idea that he had these sort of out of the box, off, a little weird, a little different sense of humor, and that he was going to give you some kind of creative sentence?
LOGAR: Actually, Mrs. Chung, I had heard of his sentencing before prior to this. But at the moment, it was -- I was basically involved with -- I have a 10-week-old daughter and I didn't want to lose my condominium, so I was working and I had tried to negotiate a deal with the prosecutor and the public defender, where I would be able to continue to work to pay the bills and maintain employment and still be able to keep my condominium.
CHUNG: All right. I'm going to talk to the judge for a minute. Judge Cicconetti, you have a great sense of humor, I have to tell you. You're very creative. I know what you suggested here. You've done this a lot of times, what, for eight years?
LOGAR: About eight-and-a-half years, yes.
CHUNG: The one that I love the most is the man who called the police officer a pig, and what did you do to him?
MICHAEL CICCONETTI, JUDGE: Well, first of all, police officers, they don't deserve to be called those types of names. They're hard working, every day they go out, they put their life on the line.
So after I had heard repeatedly his remarks about pig and, of course, prefaced by some other colorful language, I decided that it was time to teach the man a lesson.
And I gave him a choice between doing substantial jail time or standing in the busy intersection of Painesville, Ohio, standing next to a 350-pound pig with a sign that said, "This is not a police officer."
I think the point was made.
CHUNG: That's great. That's great. Let's see. There's another one here, a defendant made highly prejudicial remarks about a black police officer, and you made him spend 10 days community work with the NAACP.
CICCONETTI: Of course we checked with the NAACP first, and they killed him with kindness, and we haven't had him back.
CHUNG: Thank you. Let me ask you -- I just want to ask him one more question. Do you think, Michael, that this was a good sentence? That this was good for you? You only have about 15 seconds.
LOGAR: Basically, the sentence was fitting. I believe it taught me a lot about my alcohol problem. And it's keeping me fit. And hopefully I'll be able to do OK in the race and get home with my family as soon as possible. And I believe the judge was more than fair and adequate with the sentence. CHUNG: Wonderful. Well, good luck to you tomorrow, and good luck with the drinking problem. I hope that you lick it. And don't you, too?
CICCONETTI: That would be a measure of any judge's success, if we could turn his life around.
CHUNG: Judge, thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Logar.
May the best man win.
A few final notes for the week right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHUNG: As we head into the weekend, a word of congratulations to Eric Samaroff (ph), of Gloversville, New York. He's graduating from high school tomorrow with a perfect attendance record. Not one day missed in 13 years.
Now I think every one of us remembers a kid like that from school, right? What ever happened to them?
Did they all grow up to become Cal Ripken?
A last word about those fire alarms -- nah, enough about that. At least until we have a dull guest. Then we might need to bring that kid back, and we'll just cue him, and liven everything up.
Not a good idea?
I'm Connie Chung. Thanks for joining us. On Monday, the accused dirty bomber Jose Padilla. We may get some insights on him from his mother's lawyer.
And coming up next, CNN stays on top of the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping. LARRY KING LIVE has both her aunt and the lawyer for handyman Richard Ricci.
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