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CNN Live Saturday

Interview With Greg Grant

Aired October 26, 2002 - 18:08   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.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The older of the two sniper suspects, John Allen Muhammad, worked in Bellingham, Washington part of last year. We know that now, of course. Greg Grant is a real estate agent there who often hired Muhammad as a day laborer. We are pleased that he joins us live. Thanks very much for being with us.
GREG GRANT, KNEW JOHN MUHAMMAD: Thank you.

COOPER: The John Allen Muhammad you knew, what was he like?

GRANT: When I picked him up the first time at the Lighthouse (ph) mission, I was very impressed. He was well dressed. He was seemingly very well educated. A good conversationalist. As it turned out, he was an excellent worker on our apartment complex up near Sumas (ph).

COOPER: What sort of work did you have him do?

GRANT: Just general maintenance things. He would do some yard work and worked on something out of the garage, you name it. Whatever task you gave him, he did it, and did it very well.

COOPER: Now, at this point, was he known as John Allen Muhammad? Had he converted at that point? I mean, had he changed his name at that point?

GRANT: John Muhammad is what I was introduced to him as, yes.

COOPER: And how did you come to be able to hire him? I mean, he was apparently at this point living at the Lighthouse (ph) mission.

GRANT: Yes, that's where we got him. Periodically, we will go down there when we need extra day labor type situation, and get these folks, and he was one of them.

COOPER: Now, as you know, you know, police and reporters have been combing this man's background. Apparently at the Lighthouse (ph) mission, he was also living with Mr. Malvo. Did you have any contact with John Malvo? Did he ever bring him to the work sites?

GRANT: No. No. In fact, he brought his one son with him to work on a couple of different occasions, but this young gentlemen was, I would say, 10 or 12 years old, not the 17-year-old.

COOPER: So that would have been one of his other children, from another marriage. Obviously, you must have just been stunned when you heard the news, when you saw that the man you knew had been arrested?

GRANT: Yes. Every instance that I had with him seemed to be extremely normal. He told me he was going through some pretty hard times, going through a divorce, custody problems, and he was trying to get his kids here in Bellingham. And there is only one thing that was a little bit out of the ordinary, in that he mentioned he was going to go home, and was going to be gone for a few days, and had to fly down to some place whether it was the Cayman Islands or Bermuda, whatever, and indicated that he had to go and sign some papers because he was selling some real estate. And I'd mentioned to him that that's what FedEx is for, why do you need to go all the way home? He said, where I come from, you have to do that stuff in person. I thought that was kind of odd.

COOPER: What time of year was this? This was in 2001, yes?

GRANT: Well, 2001, and late summer, early fall.

COOPER: So was this before 9/11, or after?

GRANT: Yes. It was before.

COOPER: So you didn't have any contact with him after 9/11? Do you have any light to shed on whether or not he spoke favorably of the terrorists of 9/11?

GRANT: Never did we have a discussion in any way, shape or form about religion or politics, 9/11 or anything like that. So subsequently, when all of this started to unfold, I was very surprised, because just wasn't the type of person that I had any contact with.

COOPER: All right, Greg Grant, thanks very much for being with us, sharing your perspective on it. Appreciate it.

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







Aired October 26, 2002 - 18:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The older of the two sniper suspects, John Allen Muhammad, worked in Bellingham, Washington part of last year. We know that now, of course. Greg Grant is a real estate agent there who often hired Muhammad as a day laborer. We are pleased that he joins us live. Thanks very much for being with us.
GREG GRANT, KNEW JOHN MUHAMMAD: Thank you.

COOPER: The John Allen Muhammad you knew, what was he like?

GRANT: When I picked him up the first time at the Lighthouse (ph) mission, I was very impressed. He was well dressed. He was seemingly very well educated. A good conversationalist. As it turned out, he was an excellent worker on our apartment complex up near Sumas (ph).

COOPER: What sort of work did you have him do?

GRANT: Just general maintenance things. He would do some yard work and worked on something out of the garage, you name it. Whatever task you gave him, he did it, and did it very well.

COOPER: Now, at this point, was he known as John Allen Muhammad? Had he converted at that point? I mean, had he changed his name at that point?

GRANT: John Muhammad is what I was introduced to him as, yes.

COOPER: And how did you come to be able to hire him? I mean, he was apparently at this point living at the Lighthouse (ph) mission.

GRANT: Yes, that's where we got him. Periodically, we will go down there when we need extra day labor type situation, and get these folks, and he was one of them.

COOPER: Now, as you know, you know, police and reporters have been combing this man's background. Apparently at the Lighthouse (ph) mission, he was also living with Mr. Malvo. Did you have any contact with John Malvo? Did he ever bring him to the work sites?

GRANT: No. No. In fact, he brought his one son with him to work on a couple of different occasions, but this young gentlemen was, I would say, 10 or 12 years old, not the 17-year-old.

COOPER: So that would have been one of his other children, from another marriage. Obviously, you must have just been stunned when you heard the news, when you saw that the man you knew had been arrested?

GRANT: Yes. Every instance that I had with him seemed to be extremely normal. He told me he was going through some pretty hard times, going through a divorce, custody problems, and he was trying to get his kids here in Bellingham. And there is only one thing that was a little bit out of the ordinary, in that he mentioned he was going to go home, and was going to be gone for a few days, and had to fly down to some place whether it was the Cayman Islands or Bermuda, whatever, and indicated that he had to go and sign some papers because he was selling some real estate. And I'd mentioned to him that that's what FedEx is for, why do you need to go all the way home? He said, where I come from, you have to do that stuff in person. I thought that was kind of odd.

COOPER: What time of year was this? This was in 2001, yes?

GRANT: Well, 2001, and late summer, early fall.

COOPER: So was this before 9/11, or after?

GRANT: Yes. It was before.

COOPER: So you didn't have any contact with him after 9/11? Do you have any light to shed on whether or not he spoke favorably of the terrorists of 9/11?

GRANT: Never did we have a discussion in any way, shape or form about religion or politics, 9/11 or anything like that. So subsequently, when all of this started to unfold, I was very surprised, because just wasn't the type of person that I had any contact with.

COOPER: All right, Greg Grant, thanks very much for being with us, sharing your perspective on it. Appreciate it.

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