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O.J. Simpson Has Faced Many Legal Battles Since Murder Acquittal; Thousands Expected at March Tomorrow for 'Jena 6'

Aired September 19, 2007 - 09:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on September 19th.

Here's what's on the rundown.

O.J. Simpson in a familiar spot in front of a judge. His arraignment live on CNN.

HARRIS: Thousands expected to descend on Jena, Louisiana, today. They'll rally for six teens accused of a racially-charged case.

COLLINS: A mother on a school bus instructing her daughter to fight. She's facing jail time now.

School of hard knocks, in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And at the top of this hour, what else? O.J. Simpson. New charges, and this morning a chance to get out of jail.

CNN's Chris Lawrence is in Las Vegas for the hearing.

Chris, good to see you.

What can we expect this morning?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, in just about less than two hours now, the guards are going to bring O.J. Simpson through an underground tunnel and take him from jail to the courthouse behind me. We expect during the hearing Simpson will be wearing his prison jumpsuit and have his legs and arms cuffed.

Now, his attorney is going to ask the judge for bail, and we expect the judge to make a decision on that one way or another. The judge will consider a lot of factors, not the least of which are these new charges that have been filed against him, kidnapping charges that carry at least a possibility of life in prison.

Now, a lot of us hear that word "kidnapping" and you think of somebody bound, gagged, maybe dragged away. That's not the case in this instance.

What the prosecutor is alleging is that the two men inside that casino hotel room were confined to the room. They were not allowed to leave. They were held there against their will.

Prosecutors say that one of the men with O.J. Simpson pointed a gun at the two men and that O.J. Simpson himself ripped a cell phone out of the hand of Bruce Fromong and refused to allow him to call 911. Now, one potential big problem with the prosecution's case in that regard is that this prime witness, one of the two alleged victims in this case, Bruce Fromong, is right now in critical condition in a Los Angeles hospital. He had a major heart attack just a couple days ago -- Tony.

HARRIS: Well, Chris, another quick question for you. You know it's been just about a week since this case broke. And you know, there's been a lot of reporting of O.J. talking, O.J. Simpson talking with the media and with police without an attorney.

Will that possibly come back to haunt him? Or, on the other hand, could we be looking at maybe a couple of suppression hearings in the future?

LAWRENCE: Probably a little bit of both actually.

HARRIS: Yes.

LAWRENCE: You're going to have arguments on both sides. But, yes, you know, in the few days following that initial arrest, O.J. Simpson was talking to anybody who would listen. Some of the things he said in referring to the men that he brought with him to that room, "I wanted them to go to the room and see that it was my stuff and call me."

Talking about that stuff that was then taken out of the room and put into a car, he said, "I didn't look at the stuff. I saw the balls down in the car," talking about some of the autographed footballs. So he is already on record as saying certain things about what he planned to do and what he wanted to do in that room.

HARRIS: Sure.

LAWRENCE: Of course, whether that actually makes it into a trial is something to be determined at a much later date.

HARRIS: Chris Lawrence for us in Las Vegas.

Chris, good to see you. Thank you.

And here is a breakdown now of the charges that Simpson now faces.

Ten of the 11 counts are felonies. They are conspiracy to commit kidnapping, conspiracy to commit robbery, and coercion with the use of a deadly weapon. Other charges, burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon and two counts of first-degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon.

More felony charges -- two counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. And one misdemeanor, conspiracy to commit a crime.

COLLINS: Let's go ahead and get some legal perspective now.

Pamela Hayes is a criminal defense attorney. She is joining us this morning from New York.

Pamela, hello to you.

PAMELA HAYES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hey, Heidi.

COLLINS: And in Cleveland, civil rights attorney and law professor Avery Friedman.

Avery, hi to you once again.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Hi, Heidi.

COLLINS: Let's begin with the easy question and the one that everyone wants the answer to right off the bat.

Pamela, is O.J. Simpson going to be granted bail today?

HAYES: I think so. I think this is piling on. They're way beyond the reality of this whole mess.

COLLINS: And Avery, what do you think?

FRIEDMAN: Well, the question of bond, I think, is problematic. It's likely to happen but, remember, Heidi, he's got to put up some kind of collateral.

What's he going to do, put up the deed to his home in Florida? We really -- we really don't know how he is going to make that happen. But I think it's a real question.

And remember, there are two proceedings today, Heidi. There's the bond hearing, and then we're going to hear the presenter (ph). We're going to hear some information from the prosecutor's office about what the charges are about. So we have two proceedings today.

COLLINS: Yes.

So -- but what goes into the bail decision? Because I think that's what everybody is really interested in in knowing, how that's going to to go. I mean, we talked about the flight risk. Obviously, this is what the judge is saying, the reason why he, of all of the other defendants, has not been given bail.

HAYES: You know, Heidi, I'm a little concerned about that, because the person who had the gun has been given bail. And that concerns me as a professional, as a lawyer. I don't know if O.J. Simpson is a flight risk. He certainly can't go anywhere. Everybody knows who he is. They will take his passport. And if they want to, they'll put an ankle bracelet on him.

This is an unscripted reality show happening. And I just can't believe it. It's an embarrassment for the legal system that, you know, we're being exposed like this.

COLLINS: Avery, you're also an attorney. Is this an embarrassment to the legal system?

FRIEDMAN: It's quite the opposite. You have 10 allegations of felonious behavior. To me, it's not simply the flight risk issue, it's the seriousness of the alleged crimes.

Those are the two factors that go into the question of bond here. So this is exactly what is supposed to be happening. This is exactly what the district attorney is supposed to be doing.

COLLINS: Yeah, but we do know...

HAYES: Precisely (ph) not.

COLLINS: ... that obviously that list of charges has been lengthened by prosecutors. Clearly...

FRIEDMAN: Sure.

COLLINS: ... is it not fair to say that they are trying to put up as many charges as possible in order for one, two, three, who knows how many, to actually stick?

HAYES: But, you know, the problem, Heidi, is the -- not the number, the quantity of the charges. It's the people's ability to prove the case, whether the D.A. could prove the case and the flight risk.

Those are the only two factors that you look at in a bond case. No one cares that you're charging him with anything.

In Nevada, you could get bail for anything unless it's a capital offense. In this instance, you know, they're just making up charges. I can't even begin to imagine how they're going to make a kidnapping case here. It's not happening.

COLLINS: OK, Avery, let me let you get in here before we have to end this, Avery.

FRIEDMAN: Yes. They're not making up charges.

All the elements of each of the crimes, at least from what we've seen -- I mean, the amazing thing about this case, Heidi, is that you have taped recordings of what O.J. is doing, and you couple that with CNN's Ted Rowlands' information that O.J. has made to him, this is an overwhelmingly powerful case. O.J. is in a world of trouble. We have two proceedings today, and I think there's going to be a question about whether or not he's going to be released.

COLLINS: All right. Well, we are going to be following this, obviously, very closely. It's going to be happening around 11:00 or so, this bail hearing.

FRIEDMAN: Right.

COLLINS: And we will bring it to our viewers as soon as it happens.

Thanks for your time, guys.

Pamela Hayes and Avery Friedman.

Thanks once again.

HAYES: Bye.

FRIEDMAN: Nice to see you.

HARRIS: O.J. Simpson back in court this morning. CNN's Anderson Cooper takes a look at his past legal problems.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury in the above entitled action, find the defendant, Orenthal James Simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A hint of a smile, a gesture of thanks. That's how the so-called trial of the century ended. If some hoped the verdict would also mark the last time they'd ever see or hear from O.J. Simpson again...

O.J. SIMPSON, CHARGED WITH ARMED ROBBERY: I'm having lunch with him.

Happy to be here.

COOPER: ... forget it. Since the acquittal, the world's most famous former murder defendant has continued to surface, sometimes playing golf, talking to anyone who will listen, and of course, signing his name.

SIMPSON: I come in and focus on one thing. Memorabilia, signing what people want and then I'm gone.

COOPER: He's also had a few high profile run-ins with the police. It included the mundane, like the 2002 speeding ticket he was issued in Florida for taking his boat through manatee-protected waters.

A few encounters were serious, however. In 2003, his daughter called police to say Simpson was being verbally abusive. Here's part of her 911 call.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... miserable except for me (INAUDIBLE).

COOPER: No charges were ever brought against him for that. And he was acquitted in a road rage allegation made in 2001.

SIMPSON: The defendant is not guilty.

COOPER: In 2004, the satellite cable provider DirecTV sued Simpson for piracy. DirecTV won the suit, and he was ordered to pay nearly $60,000.

In 2005, officers went to his home after a neighbor reported Simpson's girlfriend was attacking him. No arrests were made.

Through it all, Simpson says he's done nothing wrong, including this time when he's accused of taking part in an armed robbery. But former prosecutor Wendy Murphy thinks he's lying.

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: He was acquitted of a double murder, for which most people think he should have been convicted. He was found liable in a civil suit and was supposed to pay millions of dollars to compensate his victims' families.

And what did he do? He moved to Florida, set up shop in a state that lets him hide all his assets. In other words, he hasn't been held accountable at all, ever, for any bad thing he's done.

So is it really any wonder that the country is cheering now that he's been arrested?

COOPER: Now Simpson is under arrest facing charges that could send him to prison for many years.

On his latest mug shot, a grin for the camera. One legal expert thinks she knows why, saying normal people don't smile when they're charged with serious crimes.

MURPHY: If that's not the behavior of a sociopath, I don't know what is.

COOPER: Anderson Cooper, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: All right. Let's run down the slate of coverage for you here today.

We will have live coverage of O.J. Simpson's arraignment. It is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. Eastern, 8:00 Pacific. And you can see that right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And if you can't watch it on CNN, see the courtroom drama on your laptop. There's a novel approach. Just log on to CNN.com and watch it streamed live. You can also read the full arrest report. That's at CNN.com.

COLLINS: O.J. Simpson's sports memorabilia and money. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know where O.J. had lockers in different people's name to hide things from the Goldmans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Hear one man's side of the story and what he plans to do next.

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Roesgen in Jena, Louisiana, a small town bracing for possibly tens of thousands of protesters.

A live report coming up on the CNN NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And the fallout after a Florida student is tasered. A known prankster. Is this another one of his stunts?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Racial tensions and civil rights marchers on the move today. The demonstrators heading to Louisiana for a rally tomorrow in support of the so-called Jena Six.

Susan Roesgen is joining us now live from Jena.

Susan, good morning to you.

We know defendant Mychal Bell is expecting some company today. Who is going to be visiting him?

ROESGEN: High-profile company, Heidi. The Reverend Al Sharpton from New York, the civil rights activist, is going to be here to meet with Mychal Bell in jail.

Bell has been locked up, Heidi, since last December. He was the first of the Jena 6 to go on trial, and he has been in jail ever since he was arrested last December.

Now, Reverend Sharpton says that he met with Mychal Bell back in June and promised him that he would form a national movement to support him. So he is coming here to meet with Bell in the jail and tell him that he has got this national group here, lots of different groups to support Bell. And he says he's going to ask Bell to give him some kind of statement that he can read to the rally tomorrow.

Heidi, I also asked Reverend Sharpton why this rally was still going on when, in fact, Mychal Bell's convictions in adult court were thrown out last week and things look much better for him legally. And Reverend Sharpton told me -- he said that he plans to go through with this because, in his words, he needs to keep up the outside pressure on local legal system not only until Mychal Bell's case is revolved, but until the five other suspects in this case also go to trial -- Heidi. COLLINS: Yes, there are five others. And Justin Barker, too, the young man who was beaten by these six people who have been accused in all of this, what is he doing right now?

ROESGEN: You know, I actually talked to Justin Barker last night. He is one very angry and frustrated young man.

You know, he was the 17-year-old who was beaten up, knocked unconscious, stomped on. There has been no debate that he was attacked very viciously at school. And he is very upset that there is all of this support for the accused classmates of his and not for him.

He says, in fact, that his family has had death threats, he's had hate mail. I asked him what he will be doing on Thursday, tomorrow, when this rally is going on. He said, "Well, I'm not going to be anywhere near it."

And he also, Heidi, has dropped out of school. He was supposed to be a senior this year, and he told me that part of the reason he has dropped out of school is because of what's happened.

COLLINS: Boy. All right.

Well, what about the town of Jena preparing for all of these people expected to come tomorrow? Don't really have a clear number on how many people that maybe, but nonetheless, it could be thousands.

ROESGEN: Yes, it really could be. This is a town of just 3,000. There might be twice as many people here, there might be 10 times as many people here.

You know, I'm here on the courthouse lawn. Tomorrow it may be packed with people.

Schools will be closed tomorrow. Most businesses are going to be closed tomorrow. The state police have been called in for crowd control. The Red Cross is going to bring in bathroom facilities and water because, Heidi, the organizers have asked the protesters when they do their two-mile march through town not to buy anything in this town, not to buy water, not to stop at a restroom in a local business, to boycott the local businesses.

The local businesses, for their part, are afraid of property damage. There's a car dealership just behind me where the dealer has moved out all of his cars, $4 million worth of inventory, he said, because frankly he is worried about what might happen. What if somebody threw a rock through a windshield?

Now, Reverend Sharpton says he's going to urge everybody to be peaceful, this is a peaceful demonstration. Doesn't want any kind of violence of any kind, but with that many people in a tiny town, you just don't know what could happen. But we will be here.

COLLINS: Yes, you don't.

All right, Susan. We know you will be there. Susan Roesgen coming from Jena this morning, Louisiana.

Thanks so much.

And minutes from now in the NEWSROOM, want to let you know we're going to be talking with an organizer behind one of the bus caravans on its way to Louisiana.

And tomorrow night, CNN goes inside the racial tensions in Jena, Louisiana. Tune in for a CNN Special Investigations Unit report, "Judgment in Jena". Join Kyra Phillips tomorrow night, 8:00 Eastern, only on CNN.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: ... tropical storm. There was a little damage to the financial center of Shanghai. More than two million people were ordered out of coastal areas ahead of Wipha. Hundreds of homes were destroyed, streets flooded. Schools and factories shut down. Flights canceled or delayed. Two storm-related deaths are reported.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Britney Spears told to clean up her act. A Los Angeles judge ordering the troubled pop star to undergo random drug and alcohol testing. The order part of a custody battle between Spears and ex-husband Kevin Federline. The judge told both not to use alcohol or drugs around their two children, but K-Fed is not subject to the drug tests.

COLLINS: A notorious defendant in court this morning looking for bail. Will the judge bite? Live coverage of O.J. Simpson's arraignment 11:00 Eastern and extensive coverage leading up to the court appearance here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Also, taking action. Protesters heading to a rally for the so-called Jena 6. We will talk with an organizers behind one of the bus caravans to Louisiana.

COLLINS: The fallout after a Florida student is tasered. A known prankster. Was this another one of his stunts?

HARRIS: And students protesting their own college newspaper. They say the editors crossed the line with this comment...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems to me like it's childish for there to be a lack of cultural sensitivity in this day and age in the state of Connecticut. And Connecticut or anywhere in the nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The funny paper that's nothing to laugh about, in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MARKET REPORT)

HARRIS: And here we go.

Good morning, everyone.

The bottom of the hour.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: Hi, everybody.

I'm Heidi Collins.

O.J. Simpson heads to court this morning. His attorney will ask that he be freed on bail. Meanwhile, we're hearing from more of the key players in the Simpson case.

CNN's Larry King spoke with Tom Riccio, the man who recorded the confrontation in the Las Vegas hotel room. He also arranged the meeting between Simpson and the collectors that Simpson accused of stealing his memorabilia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "LARRY KING LIVE")

THOMAS RICCIO, RECORDED AUDIO OF SIMPSON'S ALLEGED CRIME: I didn't set anybody up. This was -- in fact, O.J. Had some even stranger ideas on how to do this before.

LARRY KING, HOST: What?

RICCIO: Well, he wanted to do this so-called sting, as he kept calling it, and then having the media there and talk about how people are trying to rob from O.J. And make people feel sorry for him. I didn't think that would work. I said let's just get the stuff.

They were going to give him his stuff before the gun came out. It wasn't supposed to be that way. We talked about it several times. I have proof of that, that we talked about it. He was supposed to go in there, give them the option of calling the police or turning the stuff over to him. That's it. That's all that was supposed to happen.

All this other stuff, I can't answer why...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The collectors say Simpson memorabilia was just part of the collection assembled in the room. The items have been valued at about $100,000. Simpson maintains no guns were involved and it was not a robbery. We're going to be having live coverage of his court appearance. It will come your way 11:00 a.m. Eastern. We will also have live coverage of O.J. Simpson's arraignment, scheduled for 11:00 a.m. Eastern, 8:00 Pacific. You can see it here on CNN.

If you can't watch it on CNN, though, you can always see the courtroom drama on your laptop. Pretty cool. Just log on to CNN.com and watch it streamed live. You can also read the full arrest report at CNN.com.

HARRIS: Thousands expected in Jena, Louisiana tomorrow. A march and rally are planned in support of the so-called Jena 6, black students charged -- critics say excessively charged -- in the beating of a white classmate.

Valerie Anderson organized a bus caravan from Atlanta to Jena, Louisiana. She is with us in the NEWSROOM this morning.

Valerie, good to see you.

VALERIE ANDERSON, BUS CARAVAN ORGANIZER: It's good to see you.

HARRIS: What on earth are you doing?

Why are you going to Jena?

Why are you going and then why did you take it upon yourself, you know what, I'm going to organize a caravan here?

ANDERSON: Because I have a 17-year-old son and this could very well be my child and his friends going through this. And I would want someone to come out and support us if I was going through this same thing.

HARRIS: Yes.

But, how many people are you taking with you some?

ANDERSON: I'm a sponsor of five buses.

HARRIS: How many in total, do you think?

ANDERSON: I'm responsible for about -- it's 55 people on each bus. So we're looking at like 375 people or more.

HARRIS: What is it about this story that compels you to go?

ANDERSON: Because this is very much an injustice.

HARRIS: Explain that to me.

ANDERSON: Because this young man, he's losing his life by being put in jail for a fist fight in school, in high school.

HARRIS: A particularly, from what we're told, vicious fist fight. ANDERSON: Yes. And he's being -- they want to sentence him to 22 years in prison for a weapon that they call his tennis shoe, his gym shoe.

HARRIS: You know, there is -- there are many who will say that this is a case that sort of makes the case that there is widespread injustice in the criminal justice system when it comes to African- Americans.

Do you believe that?

ANDERSON: Yes, I do. Yes, I do. For a while, I didn't believe that. But I'm starting to see and hear more as this case has been going on of a lot of injustice that's going on.

HARRIS: So you're going to go down there?

ANDERSON: Yes.

HARRIS: Do you have any concerns at all about your reception in Jena, a town of about 2,900 people?

ANDERSON: No, I don't.

HARRIS: You really don't?

ANDERSON: No.

HARRIS: Well, can you tell you something?

The folks in Jena are a little concerned about the caravan and the onslaught of people heading to the city.

You know that?

ANDERSON: I understand that.

HARRIS: Well, let me give you a little reaction of at least one local in Jena to this prospect of anywhere from 10,000 to 40,000 people converging on their city.

Let's listen.

Let me have your response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TINA NORRIS, JENA RESIDENT: You hear rumors. But you hope that it will be very peaceful, that people will come in and that they won't, you know, they won't be violent, won't cause any damage and will do what they need to do and then go home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: What's your plan?

Tell me, really, specifically, what is your plan?

What do you hope to accomplish while you're there?

ANDERSON: This is going to be a very peaceful rally. This is a peaceful march. We're not going in there with any violence, no drugs, no violence whatsoever.

HARRIS: Valerie?

ANDERSON: Yes?

HARRIS: Have you given thought to the idea that your presence in Jena may actually harden the attitudes of the people in that community and make it more difficult for the African-Americans who call Jena home?

ANDERSON: Yes. We've decided that we will stay in touch with the people in Jena to make sure that everything goes -- runs smoothly once we're out of there.

HARRIS: Really?

ANDERSON: Yes.

HARRIS: So you think that's all it's going to take is just sort of staying -- staying in contact with the folks?

ANDERSON: No. If we have to go back down to Jena because some other things have taken place, we will go back down to Jena.

HARRIS: Let me -- let me have -- can we show the picture of Justin Barker for a moment?

I want you to take a look at some of the injuries to this young man's face. This is a kid who, we understand, who was beaten severely. There are some reports that someone was standing on his head, that he was kicked repeatedly, that his family is looking at thousands of dollars in medical bills. This is a kid who feels -- is angry, frustrated as we heard just a few moments ago from Susan Roesgen.

You don't really know what happened in that school, do you?

ANDERSON: Right.

HARRIS: And the reality is if you saw the fight that he's describing and that these wounds seem to reflect, your view on this case might be totally different.

ANDERSON: I don't think so because, I mean you also have where the kids hung the nooses, where one of the black kids went to a party and he was jumped on and beaten. I don't condone any violence that took place. No violence should have taken place, period.

HARRIS: Will your message there include some kind of support for Justin Barker and his family and what he's been through?

ANDERSON: Yes, yes, it will.

HARRIS: OK.

Let me check back in with you maybe over the weekend, after you get back.

ANDERSON: OK.

HARRIS: When are you coming back?

ANDERSON: We'll be back on late Thursday night, early Friday morning.

HARRIS: OK.

You're going to be in touch with the folks in Jena after you leave. I'll be in touch with you, all right?

ANDERSON: OK. No problem.

HARRIS: Valerie, thanks for your time this morning.

ANDERSON: Thank you.

HARRIS: And safe travels.

ANDERSON: Thank you.

HARRIS: All right.

And CNN goes inside the racial tensions in Jena, Louisiana. Tune in for a CNN Special Investigations Unit report, "Judgment in Jena". That is tomorrow night at 8:00 Eastern, only here on CNN.

COLLINS: A student tasered by campus police. We're learning more about the young man this morning.

CNN's John Zarrella reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW MEYER, STUDENT: And I want to thank you for coming and being (INAUDIBLE).

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): It began innocently enough, University of Florida student Andrew Meyer asking challenging questions of Senator John Kerry at a campus forum.

MEYER: How did you deceive the 2004 election (INAUDIBLE)?

ZARRELLA: But after being told he had the floor long enough, Meyer wouldn't let up his questioning. Campus police were called in. As Meyer was being subdued and removed, police Tasered him.

MEYER: Don't Tase me, bro. Don't Tase me. ZARRELLA: The woman who gave CNN this video says she was ahead of Meyer in line to ask questions. He gave her his camera and asked her to shoot video of him questioning Kerry. Meyer was arrested. He was released this afternoon from the county jail. Unlike last night, he had nothing to say.

QUESTION: Was this a horrible experience for you?

ZARRELLA: At Emerson Hall on the university campus, about 100 students staged a vocal but peaceful sit-in, protesting what they called an attack on free speech and Meyer's treatment.

SHEALLAH PALMER, STUDENT: I didn't sign up to go see a Kerry speech and then ended up -- end up seeing some guy being Tasered and shaking in the back of the room. ZARRELLA: Not all students agreed.

SCOTT MARKOWITZ, STUDENT: I thought he got what he had coming to him.

ZARRELLA (on camera): You don't think the police did anything wrong, then?

MARKOWITZ: No. I think, if it was me, I would have Tasered him long before they did.

ZARRELLA: Just upstairs, university President Bernie Machen announced the two officers involved were placed on paid leave and that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement had been asked to investigate.

Like the students, Machen wants answers.

BERNIE MACHEN, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA: Well, I think they're concerned about the same things that I'm concerned about. This is a university. We want to have civil discourse. And that's what we're all about.

ZARRELLA: In the wake of Virginia Tech, Machen says the university will not now change its policy allowing police to carry tasers. Police are recommending Meyer face charges of resisting arrest with violence and disorderly conduct. The state attorney is not expected to decide on whether to file charges until the investigation is complete. Meyer has his own Web site, where he says he's an aspiring journalist who has won student journalism awards. He has written for the South Florida "Sun-Sentinel".

(on camera): In a statement, Senator John Kerry said that in his 37 years, he'd never had a dialogue end that way and that he could have handled the situation without interruption. Kerry also said that he did not know that the young man had been tasered.

John Zarrella, CNN, Gainesville, Florida.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS: A mother follows her child onto a school bus and orders her to fight another kid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's bringing her daughter on the bus to start a fight.

SHAYLA MULDROW, MOTHER:

And no, you're not going to be slapping me, you know, raise her voice. She don't have to fight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: A jury convicts. Now a judge could send the mom to jail for two years.

HARRIS: Also, controversy at a Connecticut college over a comic strip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems to me like it's childish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The cartoon message many students say is no laughing matter.

COLLINS: And playing the sports memorabilia game. O.J. Simpson is still a big name in a world full of back room deals and under the counter paydays.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Criticism and protest at a Central Connecticut State University. It's over a recent comic strip in the school newspaper. The strip makes reference to locking a 14-year-old Hispanic girl in a closet and urinating on her. Many students say they're upset and offended. They're demanding the newspaper's editor resign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA AMPARO, STUDENT, CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY: With this article, yes, I feel -- I feel discrimination for women.

JACK MILLER, PRESIDENT, CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY: We are a publicly supported university and a student paper at a publicly supported university. And the constraints there are very clear and they're different than they are for other papers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The paper's editor-in-chief, Mark Rowan, had this response. He told our affiliate, WTNH: "The comic strip has put no worse than the handful of "South Park" or "Family Guy" episodes college students absorb on a daily basis." This is not the first time the newspaper has been in trouble with Rowan over seeing things. Last February, an opinion writer sparked protests with a satirical article calling rape "a magical experience."

HARRIS: A Florida mother convicted in a school bus incident caught on tape. Her testimony and that tape playing a key role in the case.

Josh Rojas of Tampa affiliate Bay News 9 has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JOSH ROJAS, BAY 9 NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the stand, Shayla Muldrow admits she told her daughter to confront a girl on the back of a Hillsboro County school bus in March -- a girl who slapped her daughter on that bus two days earlier.

MULDROW: I want her to handle her business because she is 10 years old and she's not like six or seven. She can like, you know, handle her own business like, no, you're not going to be slapping me. You know raise her voice. She don't have to fight.

ROJAS: But then the 26-year-old mother says when she realized her daughter was going to throw some punches, she made sure a backpack did not weigh her down.

MULDROW: Well, yes, yes, she was sliding off. And I went and helped her take it off. Yes.

I'm not offering her to fight with a book bag on.

ROJAS: That fight was caught on surveillance video. Both sides played the tape for the jury to try and prove their cases. The defense says the video shows the bus driver never told Muldrow she was trespassing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The state hasn't proven to you that there was a warning sign saying parents not permitted to step on the bus, that she had implied permission and she had a legitimate purpose.

ROJAS: Prosecutors say the video shows Muldrow got on that school bus for one reason only.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's bringing her daughter on the bus to start a fight.

ROJAS: And Muldrow says the video proves the kids on the bus were out of control.

MULDROW: They were like just wild. I mean the tape shows it, you know?

ROJAS (on camera): Now, Muldrow faces a maximum of two years in prison, although it's unlikely she'll serve that much time. A judge is going to sentence her on Thursday morning.

On scene at the Hillsboro County courthouse, Josh Rojas, Bay News 9.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS: The jet set now set for a change. The price of traveling in style along the campaign trail is going up.

HARRIS: Honey, those neighborhood youngsters, wacky pranksters, are in our hammock again. We're not talking about kids, but cubs. Bear with us. We'll tell you how the homeowner got rid of the intruders, coming up in THE NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Love that story.

And sting operation in Montana -- thousands of bees flee after a truck turns over. We've got the buzz in THE NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: A home in the suburbs. Kids over to play. A house in the woods. You've got bears in your backyard. Look at that. Hello.

A New Jersey woman took these pictures of black bears playing on her hammock, lollygagging. Susan Kehoe says she's used to seeing bears, she just doesn't want them used to seeing her. So after play time, she chases them away by clapping her hands or throwing a stick.

Bees break out. Let's move on. A truck hauling 13 million bees rolled over in Montana. Only a couple of thousand got out of their hives. But that's enough to cause some -- yes, some ducking, some swatting, some running. One highway patrol officer got caught in the sting, but he's OK. The bees on the loose were expected to return to their hives and resume their journey.

COLLINS: Cashing in on fleeting fame. O.J. Simpson a player in the big dollar game of sports memorabilia.

CNN's Joe Johns takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the world of sports memorabilia, the O.J. Simpson trading card from his rookie NFL season doesn't bring much these days -- $45 or so. (on camera): Yes, so, you don't have a lot of O.J. Stuff. BILL HUGGINS, SPORTS MEMORABILIA DEALER: I don't need a lot. JOHNS (voice-over): But that's only the beginning of the story. Bill Huggins runs the House of Cards in Silver Spring, Maryland, a modest storefront, to say the least. But his online sports memorabilia online auction business is one of the biggest in the country. The way he sees it, there are three markets in this business -- sales of the ordinary legit stuff, pieces of some of the legends of sport that you'll see in the showcases. And, like fine wine, there's good stuff in the vault. This rare baseball card could be worth $10,000 in the next auction. And then there's the underworld, with its fake signatures, jerseys and such, things sold by people the Justice Department likes to drag before a judge. But then, as Huggins sees it, there's O.J.'s world -- a world unto itself where a fallen hero unable to escape from his ruined reputation slinks around in the shadows, seemingly cashing in on the fast buck of his former fame.

Huggins remembers O.J. Two years ago in Chicago at the biggest sports memorabilia show in the country. Huggins was there and he says so was O.J. HUGGINS: I heard that he was -- had set up a table and had started signing autographs. I don't know who was taking the money or who was providing it and whatever. But then the promoters of the show basically escorted him out of the building. And I understand -- or I know for a fact he went across the street to the Embassy Suites Hotel and set up shop in one of the rooms there and was signing autographs for several hours. I don't know what he was charging, but there was a line outside this door. JOHNS: So, yes, there are people who will buy this stuff. But how much Simpson gets dropping in on memorabilia shows, selling his signature, is, frankly, anybody's guess. A Cal Ripken signature goes for about $125. The spontaneity of these for-profit O.J. Autograph appearances is no doubt by design. After all, a civil court ordered O.J. To pay every penny he earns outside of his pensions in a judgment. The quick all cash world of an O.J. Appearance at a memorabilia show is hard to catch. DAVID COOK, COLLECTIONS ATTORNEY FOR GOLDMAN FAMILY: These are cash transactions. And for that flash of a moment, if the funds you are receiving from individuals, that is, retail customers, then we would need to send physically the sheriff there to intercept that money when it gets there. JOHNS: Simpson's lawyer says Simpson is abiding by the rules, despite the Goldman family's protests. RONALD SLATES, ATTORNEY FOR O.J. SIMPSON: We have a system here. The system was followed. He has a right to collect. We have a right to protect. JOHNS: So how much could we be talking about here?

Any other Heisman Trophy winner, NFL Hall of Famer -- and Simpson is both -- could easily fetch more than $100 for each and every signature he writes on a football jersey. It could all add up. In fact, it should add up on Simpson's tax returns. HUGGINS: I know for a fact several guys who have taken money, put it in their pockets, cash-cash, and the tax people have come after them for not reporting it, you know. So it's actually a job, which, you know, you're getting paid for. And, a lot of times, though, yes, they do get paid in folding green dollars and just walk away and drive off in their Lexus or their Bentley and away they go. (on camera): One problem is that no one really knows specifically what memorabilia Simpson owns, what he may have sold or where it is. There's no formal charge that Simpson failed to report income. And, again, his lawyer says he's done what he was supposed to do.

Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS: Stay with CNN. We're going to be having live coverage of O.J. Simpson's arraignment. It's scheduled for 11:00 a.m. Eastern, 8:00 Pacific. And if you can't watch it on CNN, see the courtroom drama on your laptop. Just go log in to CNN.com and watch it streamlined live. You can also read the full arrest report at CNN.com.

HARRIS: O.J. Simpson, sports memorabilia and money.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know where O.J. Had lockers in different peoples names to hide things from the Goldmans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Man. Hear one man's side of the story and what he plans to do next.

COLLINS: A big interest rate cut by the Fed. Now mortgage rates will take a tumble, too.

Will that help some people keep their homes?

HARRIS: Extracting a 900-pound man from his home. Firefighters call in the heavy equipment.

COLLINS: New college fad -- battling bats with brooms?

It's no stunt for students, either. Yuck.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A big job -- trying to get an obese man out of his second floor apartment in Lansing, Michigan. Firemen had to cut out an exterior wall to extract the 33-year-old. Crews also had to build a platform and use a forklift to lower him to the ground. The man weighs 900 pounds, which his brother says is caused by a rare genetic disorder that leads to overeating. He had not been out of the apartment since 2003, according to Lansing's fire chief. The rescue prompted by a visiting nurse who determined he needed medical help.

HARRIS: No bats in the -- bats, bees and bears -- I mean...

COLLINS: I don't know.

HARRIS: Heidi, what's happening with this show?

COLLINS: I don't know.

HARRIS: Plenty of bats in the dormitory -- big time infestation, we're talking about here. Smack them. Take them out. Take them down. Take them down. Texas Southern University students were forced to defend themselves with brooms, tennis rackets, whatever they could find. Oh, look at that!

Finally, though, the students had to retreat. Get out of here. They're being housed in nearby motels until the dorm is exterminated. The students may also have to get -- oh, boy, this is painful -- rabies shot as a precaution. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com