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CNN Live Saturday
Police Catch Eric Rudolph
Aired May 31, 2003 - 17:01 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.
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go now to Murphy, North Carolina, where Mr. Rudolph was captured bright and early this morning. Mike Brooks has been up since early this morning, since the capture happened. And he joins us now. Mike, thanks for joining us.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No problem at all, Sophia. Right now, Eric Robert Rudolph is being held in the Cherokee County jail. Now, right behind me, you can see the Cherokee County courthouse. The jail is immediately behind there.
We talked to the sheriff earlier today, we heard from him in a press conference and also spoke with him after that, said he's being held there, as any other prisoner would be. And he's expected to be transferred to Ashville, North Carolina, sometime either today or tomorrow for an arraignment on Monday.
But they say security is tight here at the jail. You also have the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and FBI agents here also. Additional agents we saw arriving a short time ago with the FBI's evidence response team. So hopefully they're here, they say, to find additional evidence in the case.
So, he's being held here at the jail right now, Sophia, under tight, tight watch -- Sophia.
CHOI: That's interesting that you say that. The department is so small. I'm wondering if they're getting any help, because you don't want to take too many people off the streets in a town like that?
BROOKS: Well, they shut the streets down around the jail. You can't get anywhere near the jail. And security is extremely tight. You have Murphy police. You have the sheriff's department from Cherokee County. You've also got the North Carolina state troopers here. They're also helping with security. So it's very tight around the courthouse.
Now, they haven't said exactly how they're going to move him to Ashville, North Carolina. When I spoke with the FBI earlier, they said that they would most likely fly him here, so they will probably have to drive from the jail here to a landing zone, bring in either a helicopter or a plane, and then fly into Ashville. How that is going to be done is not known, but I can guarantee it will be done under very, very tight security.
CHOI: Well, if that happens and we're talking about federal marshals coming in to secure him as he takes that flight, I would assume.
BROOKS: Possibly. But the FBI, since it is an FBI case right now, they possibly could provide enough security for him to take him to Ashville. But again, that remains to be seen. U.S. marshals could get involved in this, because they do transfer prisoners. But it could be, again, the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, as well as the FBI. But that remains to be seen for right now -- Sophia.
CHOI: What have authorities said about his appearance and what he was wearing and what he was saying as he was brought in this morning?
BROOKS: Well, at the press conference earlier today, they said that at the time of his arrest, he had on a work shirt, work pants. He had a camouflage BDU jacket, which is like a fatigue military-type jacket. He also had on running shoes. He had a backpack and a long flashlight. They said it was a fairly large flashlight.
And that goes back to what I was saying earlier, Sophia, is, you know, batteries don't last five years. So either he had to come into town, had to go somewhere to get batteries for this flashlight, or somebody was supplying it for him.
I spoke with Mayor Hughes, who is the mayor of Murphy, North Carolina, and he actually saw Eric Rudolph. And he said he looked fairly thin. And from the pictures we have seen, he did look thinner than the other pictures we've seen earlier. And he said that he had on a dark shirt and dark pants, and was very interested in the meal that they fed him today, and apparently ate that with no problem at all.
So, being held here in Cherokee County jail awaiting for his arraignment Monday in Ashville, North Carolina -- Sophia.
CHOI: All right. Mike Brooks on the case for us. Thank you.
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 May 31, 2003 - 17:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go now to Murphy, North Carolina, where Mr. Rudolph was captured bright and early this morning. Mike Brooks has been up since early this morning, since the capture happened. And he joins us now. Mike, thanks for joining us.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No problem at all, Sophia. Right now, Eric Robert Rudolph is being held in the Cherokee County jail. Now, right behind me, you can see the Cherokee County courthouse. The jail is immediately behind there.
We talked to the sheriff earlier today, we heard from him in a press conference and also spoke with him after that, said he's being held there, as any other prisoner would be. And he's expected to be transferred to Ashville, North Carolina, sometime either today or tomorrow for an arraignment on Monday.
But they say security is tight here at the jail. You also have the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and FBI agents here also. Additional agents we saw arriving a short time ago with the FBI's evidence response team. So hopefully they're here, they say, to find additional evidence in the case.
So, he's being held here at the jail right now, Sophia, under tight, tight watch -- Sophia.
CHOI: That's interesting that you say that. The department is so small. I'm wondering if they're getting any help, because you don't want to take too many people off the streets in a town like that?
BROOKS: Well, they shut the streets down around the jail. You can't get anywhere near the jail. And security is extremely tight. You have Murphy police. You have the sheriff's department from Cherokee County. You've also got the North Carolina state troopers here. They're also helping with security. So it's very tight around the courthouse.
Now, they haven't said exactly how they're going to move him to Ashville, North Carolina. When I spoke with the FBI earlier, they said that they would most likely fly him here, so they will probably have to drive from the jail here to a landing zone, bring in either a helicopter or a plane, and then fly into Ashville. How that is going to be done is not known, but I can guarantee it will be done under very, very tight security.
CHOI: Well, if that happens and we're talking about federal marshals coming in to secure him as he takes that flight, I would assume.
BROOKS: Possibly. But the FBI, since it is an FBI case right now, they possibly could provide enough security for him to take him to Ashville. But again, that remains to be seen. U.S. marshals could get involved in this, because they do transfer prisoners. But it could be, again, the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, as well as the FBI. But that remains to be seen for right now -- Sophia.
CHOI: What have authorities said about his appearance and what he was wearing and what he was saying as he was brought in this morning?
BROOKS: Well, at the press conference earlier today, they said that at the time of his arrest, he had on a work shirt, work pants. He had a camouflage BDU jacket, which is like a fatigue military-type jacket. He also had on running shoes. He had a backpack and a long flashlight. They said it was a fairly large flashlight.
And that goes back to what I was saying earlier, Sophia, is, you know, batteries don't last five years. So either he had to come into town, had to go somewhere to get batteries for this flashlight, or somebody was supplying it for him.
I spoke with Mayor Hughes, who is the mayor of Murphy, North Carolina, and he actually saw Eric Rudolph. And he said he looked fairly thin. And from the pictures we have seen, he did look thinner than the other pictures we've seen earlier. And he said that he had on a dark shirt and dark pants, and was very interested in the meal that they fed him today, and apparently ate that with no problem at all.
So, being held here in Cherokee County jail awaiting for his arraignment Monday in Ashville, North Carolina -- Sophia.
CHOI: All right. Mike Brooks on the case for us. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
