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Response to Arraignment of Bombing Suspect

Aired June 02, 2003 - 13:00   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, ANCHOR: We begin with today's decision to try Eric Robert Rudolph first in Birmingham before Atlanta, Georgia. Rudolph is accused in four bombings in those cities. Bombings that killed two people and wounded dozens of others.
After five years on the run Rudolph was captured Saturday in his hometown of Murphy, North Carolina. That's where CNN's Mike Brooks is now. Jason Bellini is in Asheville, North Carolina, where Rudolph was for that federal court hearing a little while ago.

Let's begin with you, Jason. Did you get a chance to see the hearing and was it at all remarkable?

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, our colleague Gary Tuchman was inside, told me about what it was like. He said it was a hushed courtroom when he walked in. Eric Rudolph was in handcuffs, of course, and he was very respectful. He said "yes, sir" to the judge, "yes, your honor." He was asked by the judge, are you Eric Rudolph and he confirmed that. That was one of the purposes of today's proceedings.

Eric Rudolph declined the opportunity to plead guilty today. If he'd pled guilty today then he would have stayed here. But instead, he'll face these charge in district court in Alabama. And he understand that he's on his way there right now.

Now, right behind me, Sean Devereaux, who was his attorney, is speaking to journalists, giving a little bit of insight into what Eric Rudolph is like. Right now he said that Eric is, in his brief time with him, he only talked to him about 45 minutes, that he's very calm, very contemplative, he said. He did not answer any questions to him or did not tell him anything about living in the forest. He -- the attorney said he didn't ask him most of those types of questions that he was entitled to in a defense and that was his role. He was contacted by the court because Rudolph could not afford an attorney of his own. He was appointed to him -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Bellini reporting to us from Asheville, North Carolina.

Let's go to Murphy, North Carolina, where the manhunt ended, where Eric Rudolph was from. Initially, kind of interesting that it all comes back full circle, right, Mike?

MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It does. Especially five years on the lam. He's caught here behind a shopping center in Murphy, North Carolina, by a rookie officer, 21-year-old officer J.S. Postell. In fact, Miles, when he left the courthouse, when he left the jail here today in Cherokee County, they took him to the airport. Officer Postell was there on hand providing security, also for Eric Rudolph, which I thought was fairly ironic.

But he left here, he left the courthouse, he left the jail today in an orange prison outfit, wearing a bullet-resistant vest, escorted by the sheriff of Cherokee County, as well as the police chief of Murphy, North Carolina, as well as having an FBI agent and an ATF agent in the car with him when they took him to the airport -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Mike, we were looking through some of our archives and found one of the sketches that federal authorities released shortly after the Olympic Park bombing. Take a look at it. It shows a goatee, and I know you can't see it where you are, but it shows a goatee and a skull cap. And if you take both off, it's amazingly -- it's remarkably similar to the mug shot which has now been circulated all over the world.

Do you have the sense at looking back on it, did investigators drop the ball in the early stages of this investigation into the Olympic Park bombing?

BROOKS: Well, I don't know, Miles. I know exactly what picture you're talking about because, in fact, I manned the phones on the 1- 800 number when we were getting the leads in when I was on the joint terrorism task force.

And you know, did investigators drop the ball? I think they did the best where what information they had to work with at the time. The big break came in Birmingham, Alabama, when the two witnesses actually saw him and followed him and got a tag number and that led investigators to Eric Robert Rudolph.

You know, they're talking yesterday -- one of our senior producers was talking about who they should give the million dollar reward to. I think they should at least split it with those people because had it not been for those two witnesses, Miles, we may still not know who was responsible for the bombings in Birmingham and Atlanta -- Miles?

O'BRIEN: All right. Mike Brooks in Murphy, North Carolina. Thank you very much.

With Eric Rudolph gone the excitement in Murphy has abated but not that much. Mayor Bill Hughes is disputing some suggestions that some Murphy residents support Rudolph. Many of those allegations were made in the national media. "The New York Times" out with a big piece today. And the suggestion is that they might have helped him elude law enforcement for five years.

Mayor Hughes joining us from Murphy now. Mayor, good to have you with us.

BILL HUGHES, MAYOR, MURPHY, N.C.: Good afternoon. O'BRIEN: Surely, you can understand people outside looking at him appearing five years later at a dumpster in his hometown might think he got some help from somebody along the way.

HUGHES: I can certainly understand that notion, of course. But in my opinion, he committed these acts alone, allegedly. He's been hiding alone, and he was caught alone.

My first thought after all of this had a tendency to subside several years ago, is perhaps that he had left the area or may be even dead for what that the But, obviously, that was not the case. I was quite surprised that he was still here, to be perfectly honest.

O'BRIEN: But you do see signs on the streets of your town which do express some degree of support for Eric Rudolph. How do you explain that?

HUGHES: May I assure you, those are definitely in the minority and that in no way reflects the philosophy of the people in this area toward law enforcement. People here respect the law. We have a good working relationship with our community and law enforcement and they would in no way support or adhere to the terrible things that Rudolph had allegedly done.

Oh, you might have an isolated case, perhaps, of one or two people making statements of that sort, but I believe if they realize that harboring a federal fugitive was a felony they might not be that verbal.

O'BRIEN: The point that is made in "The New York Times" and other publications is that there is a strong anti-government sentiment that has always run through those mountains there. Is it a sweeping generalization, though, to draw the conclusion that he was harbored by people there?

HUGHES: I do not believe he was harbored by anyone here, to be honest. I think he's a survivalist. I think he survived alone. I believe he was by himself. I do not believe he received a lot of assistance from anyone.

If you look at his psychological profile, he would, indeed, be at perfect ease in the wilderness. That would be his element. He would be comfortable there. In other words, that would be normal for him, just as normal as walking down the city street for you or myself.

O'BRIEN: Mr. Mayor, would you have ever predicted it would end up here, right there in your town, right where Eric Rudolph was brought up?

HUGHES: No, indeed, I would not. This is quite a surprise. It's been quite an experience.

O'BRIEN: How about a bonus for that rookie officer? Are you going to take care of him?

HUGHES: I feel sure that will definitely be addressed. He's a fine young man. We're, of course, very proud of him.

O'BRIEN: Probably the high point of his law career, in the first year of duty.

HUGHES: I'm sure it is. We're quite proud of him. He's a fine young man.

O'BRIEN: Mayor Bill Hughes, Murphy, North Carolina, great pleasure to have you with us.

HUGHES: My pleasure. Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Thanks. So the scenes shifts now to Alabama, where Eric Rudolph will stand trial in the 1998 bombing at a women's health clinic in Birmingham. That explosion killed an off-duty police officer. A nurse at the clinic, Emily Lyons suffered critical injuries, including the loss of sight in one eye.

This morning, she and her husband, Jeffrey, talked with CNN's Bill Hemmer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EMILY LYONS, BOMBING VICTIM: A few minutes before 7 Saturday morning one of our friends called and said there was something on TV that we might want to watch about Eric.

And so my husband said, "Well, what do you think on Saturday morning would be worth watching on TV at this time of the morning?" And it was Rudolph.

O'BRIEN: You're speaking now with a smile. Tell me about that.

LYONS: This smile hasn't left my face since Saturday morning.

We're glad that part's over. You know, we've waited five years for this day. And if he is the one that is guilty of this, we want the legal system to provide appropriate punishment for him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Authorities say they linked Eric Rudolph to that Birmingham explosion and a string of other bombings after a witness wrote down the license of a truck, and it was eventually traced to Rudolph. Mike Brooks referred to that.

Now our CNN legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, will be here the next hour and he'll look at Rudolph's first day in court, what might be ahead for him as he finds his way through the federal court system.

As always, for complete coverage of the Rudolph case and all other stories, for that matter, we want you to tune to our web site. There you'll see a slide show of events leading up to his capture. All that and more at CNN.com. AOL keyword is CNN.

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 June 2, 2003 - 13:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, ANCHOR: We begin with today's decision to try Eric Robert Rudolph first in Birmingham before Atlanta, Georgia. Rudolph is accused in four bombings in those cities. Bombings that killed two people and wounded dozens of others.
After five years on the run Rudolph was captured Saturday in his hometown of Murphy, North Carolina. That's where CNN's Mike Brooks is now. Jason Bellini is in Asheville, North Carolina, where Rudolph was for that federal court hearing a little while ago.

Let's begin with you, Jason. Did you get a chance to see the hearing and was it at all remarkable?

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, our colleague Gary Tuchman was inside, told me about what it was like. He said it was a hushed courtroom when he walked in. Eric Rudolph was in handcuffs, of course, and he was very respectful. He said "yes, sir" to the judge, "yes, your honor." He was asked by the judge, are you Eric Rudolph and he confirmed that. That was one of the purposes of today's proceedings.

Eric Rudolph declined the opportunity to plead guilty today. If he'd pled guilty today then he would have stayed here. But instead, he'll face these charge in district court in Alabama. And he understand that he's on his way there right now.

Now, right behind me, Sean Devereaux, who was his attorney, is speaking to journalists, giving a little bit of insight into what Eric Rudolph is like. Right now he said that Eric is, in his brief time with him, he only talked to him about 45 minutes, that he's very calm, very contemplative, he said. He did not answer any questions to him or did not tell him anything about living in the forest. He -- the attorney said he didn't ask him most of those types of questions that he was entitled to in a defense and that was his role. He was contacted by the court because Rudolph could not afford an attorney of his own. He was appointed to him -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Bellini reporting to us from Asheville, North Carolina.

Let's go to Murphy, North Carolina, where the manhunt ended, where Eric Rudolph was from. Initially, kind of interesting that it all comes back full circle, right, Mike?

MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It does. Especially five years on the lam. He's caught here behind a shopping center in Murphy, North Carolina, by a rookie officer, 21-year-old officer J.S. Postell. In fact, Miles, when he left the courthouse, when he left the jail here today in Cherokee County, they took him to the airport. Officer Postell was there on hand providing security, also for Eric Rudolph, which I thought was fairly ironic.

But he left here, he left the courthouse, he left the jail today in an orange prison outfit, wearing a bullet-resistant vest, escorted by the sheriff of Cherokee County, as well as the police chief of Murphy, North Carolina, as well as having an FBI agent and an ATF agent in the car with him when they took him to the airport -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Mike, we were looking through some of our archives and found one of the sketches that federal authorities released shortly after the Olympic Park bombing. Take a look at it. It shows a goatee, and I know you can't see it where you are, but it shows a goatee and a skull cap. And if you take both off, it's amazingly -- it's remarkably similar to the mug shot which has now been circulated all over the world.

Do you have the sense at looking back on it, did investigators drop the ball in the early stages of this investigation into the Olympic Park bombing?

BROOKS: Well, I don't know, Miles. I know exactly what picture you're talking about because, in fact, I manned the phones on the 1- 800 number when we were getting the leads in when I was on the joint terrorism task force.

And you know, did investigators drop the ball? I think they did the best where what information they had to work with at the time. The big break came in Birmingham, Alabama, when the two witnesses actually saw him and followed him and got a tag number and that led investigators to Eric Robert Rudolph.

You know, they're talking yesterday -- one of our senior producers was talking about who they should give the million dollar reward to. I think they should at least split it with those people because had it not been for those two witnesses, Miles, we may still not know who was responsible for the bombings in Birmingham and Atlanta -- Miles?

O'BRIEN: All right. Mike Brooks in Murphy, North Carolina. Thank you very much.

With Eric Rudolph gone the excitement in Murphy has abated but not that much. Mayor Bill Hughes is disputing some suggestions that some Murphy residents support Rudolph. Many of those allegations were made in the national media. "The New York Times" out with a big piece today. And the suggestion is that they might have helped him elude law enforcement for five years.

Mayor Hughes joining us from Murphy now. Mayor, good to have you with us.

BILL HUGHES, MAYOR, MURPHY, N.C.: Good afternoon. O'BRIEN: Surely, you can understand people outside looking at him appearing five years later at a dumpster in his hometown might think he got some help from somebody along the way.

HUGHES: I can certainly understand that notion, of course. But in my opinion, he committed these acts alone, allegedly. He's been hiding alone, and he was caught alone.

My first thought after all of this had a tendency to subside several years ago, is perhaps that he had left the area or may be even dead for what that the But, obviously, that was not the case. I was quite surprised that he was still here, to be perfectly honest.

O'BRIEN: But you do see signs on the streets of your town which do express some degree of support for Eric Rudolph. How do you explain that?

HUGHES: May I assure you, those are definitely in the minority and that in no way reflects the philosophy of the people in this area toward law enforcement. People here respect the law. We have a good working relationship with our community and law enforcement and they would in no way support or adhere to the terrible things that Rudolph had allegedly done.

Oh, you might have an isolated case, perhaps, of one or two people making statements of that sort, but I believe if they realize that harboring a federal fugitive was a felony they might not be that verbal.

O'BRIEN: The point that is made in "The New York Times" and other publications is that there is a strong anti-government sentiment that has always run through those mountains there. Is it a sweeping generalization, though, to draw the conclusion that he was harbored by people there?

HUGHES: I do not believe he was harbored by anyone here, to be honest. I think he's a survivalist. I think he survived alone. I believe he was by himself. I do not believe he received a lot of assistance from anyone.

If you look at his psychological profile, he would, indeed, be at perfect ease in the wilderness. That would be his element. He would be comfortable there. In other words, that would be normal for him, just as normal as walking down the city street for you or myself.

O'BRIEN: Mr. Mayor, would you have ever predicted it would end up here, right there in your town, right where Eric Rudolph was brought up?

HUGHES: No, indeed, I would not. This is quite a surprise. It's been quite an experience.

O'BRIEN: How about a bonus for that rookie officer? Are you going to take care of him?

HUGHES: I feel sure that will definitely be addressed. He's a fine young man. We're, of course, very proud of him.

O'BRIEN: Probably the high point of his law career, in the first year of duty.

HUGHES: I'm sure it is. We're quite proud of him. He's a fine young man.

O'BRIEN: Mayor Bill Hughes, Murphy, North Carolina, great pleasure to have you with us.

HUGHES: My pleasure. Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Thanks. So the scenes shifts now to Alabama, where Eric Rudolph will stand trial in the 1998 bombing at a women's health clinic in Birmingham. That explosion killed an off-duty police officer. A nurse at the clinic, Emily Lyons suffered critical injuries, including the loss of sight in one eye.

This morning, she and her husband, Jeffrey, talked with CNN's Bill Hemmer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EMILY LYONS, BOMBING VICTIM: A few minutes before 7 Saturday morning one of our friends called and said there was something on TV that we might want to watch about Eric.

And so my husband said, "Well, what do you think on Saturday morning would be worth watching on TV at this time of the morning?" And it was Rudolph.

O'BRIEN: You're speaking now with a smile. Tell me about that.

LYONS: This smile hasn't left my face since Saturday morning.

We're glad that part's over. You know, we've waited five years for this day. And if he is the one that is guilty of this, we want the legal system to provide appropriate punishment for him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Authorities say they linked Eric Rudolph to that Birmingham explosion and a string of other bombings after a witness wrote down the license of a truck, and it was eventually traced to Rudolph. Mike Brooks referred to that.

Now our CNN legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, will be here the next hour and he'll look at Rudolph's first day in court, what might be ahead for him as he finds his way through the federal court system.

As always, for complete coverage of the Rudolph case and all other stories, for that matter, we want you to tune to our web site. There you'll see a slide show of events leading up to his capture. All that and more at CNN.com. AOL keyword is CNN.

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