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Press Awaits Statements by Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore

Aired August 21, 2003 - 15:30   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, CNN ANCHOR: So will it stay or will it go? The battle lines are vividly drawn over the Ten Commandments on display in Alabama. Let's go straight to CNN's David Mattingly in Montgomery, where the chief justice, Roy Moore, is expected to come out and speak to reporters any minute -- David.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, that's right. Chief Justice Roy Moore expected any minute now to come out here and address what is a rather large contingent of cameras and dozens of supporters here, people who believe that it is not unconstitutional for him to have the monument to the Ten Commandments in the rotunda.

I'm looking to see right now if he's coming out. There are some security guards making sure that there's no one standing behind him when he plans to come out here today. So I may have to move in just a moment.

It's been sort of a confusing day. Early this morning, when we came out here before dawn, we watched as people inside the judicial building here erected barricades or partitions around the monument. They were making sure that it was not visible to the public. But then a couple of hours, they came back and took those -- took these things down. We don't have an explanation why. And then a couple hours of later, we got word that the justices here had made their decision that the monument was going to be moved by the building manager here at the judicial building -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: David, just bring us up to date, for folks who haven't been following that closely. The deadline expired at midnight. The Supreme Court did not venture in. And in theory, some fines would apply in this case. But that's probably not going to happen, is it?

MATTINGLY: At the moment, it is not going to happen. The federal court has threatened the state with $5,000-a-day fines if they do not move this monument. At this point, there's been no talk of actually acting upon that. The court will have to decide at a later date, possibly tomorrow in a hearing, if they want to do that. But at this point, the state of Alabama feels pretty confident they've taken the appropriate steps to make sure that they do not get fined. In fact, they are hoping that the court goes along with them.

And here he is -- here's Judge Roy Moore coming out, I believe. Is that true? No? Oh, well.

O'BRIEN: All right. MATTINGLY: Again, we've got...

O'BRIEN: I know you're kind of...

MATTINGLY: ..a lot of his supporters.

O'BRIEN: We expect him to come out any moment now. Just what they said in that ruling is kind of a little bit of legal mumbo jumbo. As soon as is practicable to remove this thing. That, obviously, is going to stir up the crowd.

Is this going to be something that is going to be away from cameras, away from public view when it happens?

MATTINGLY: There's an awful lot of speculation about how this is going to happen. They have to decide where they're going to put it because the federal judge has decided that it's not appropriate for it to be in the rotunda. He said it could be out of public sight, perhaps in someone's private chambers, or be placed outside of the building somewhere. But just not in the rotunda where it is right now.

There's also the issue of the -- again the practicability of moving that thing. It is 2 1/2 tons of solid granite, so the building manager here probably finding out he's got quite a job ahead of him when he does decide how and where to move this monument that has gripped the attention of so many people in these last few days.

O'BRIEN: And, as I say, it's something that there is a security issue, obviously, that accompanies this. As it is moved, I'm sure there are people who are going to want to make statements, probably on both sides of this debate. Do you have the sense that everybody's ready for that eventuality?

MATTINGLY: Well, there was that key moment yesterday afternoon when business hours were over. Between a dozen and 20 people refused to leave the building. They were arrested and charged with trespassing.

At this point, the doors today have been locked so no one has been able to go inside to prevent an incident like that from happening again today. And, again, we're all waiting to see what the justice has to say. This will be his first response we've heard from him since his fellow justices decided that it was time to move this monument out of the building or to some other location as the federal court has requested, Miles.

O'BRIEN: And David, who is speaking at the podium right now?

MATTINGLY: I can't tell you that, Miles. That is someone that came out of the building to prep the podium for the chief justice. There's also a great deal of security who have come out to prep the crowd here. They were very sensitive about having people standing behind the chief justice for security reasons. I'm not sure the reason for that. But they were working on that just a few moments ago, which is why we thought he was actually coming out here. But at the moment, everyone waiting to see what he has to say, his supporters and the media alike. And, again, this is attracting a great deal of attention. National attention and national debate of how this should go.

O'BRIEN: CNN's David Mattingly there in the throng on the courthouse steps in Montgomery. As soon as we see the chief justice, we'll be back to that scene live.

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




Moore>


Aired August 21, 2003 - 15:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: So will it stay or will it go? The battle lines are vividly drawn over the Ten Commandments on display in Alabama. Let's go straight to CNN's David Mattingly in Montgomery, where the chief justice, Roy Moore, is expected to come out and speak to reporters any minute -- David.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, that's right. Chief Justice Roy Moore expected any minute now to come out here and address what is a rather large contingent of cameras and dozens of supporters here, people who believe that it is not unconstitutional for him to have the monument to the Ten Commandments in the rotunda.

I'm looking to see right now if he's coming out. There are some security guards making sure that there's no one standing behind him when he plans to come out here today. So I may have to move in just a moment.

It's been sort of a confusing day. Early this morning, when we came out here before dawn, we watched as people inside the judicial building here erected barricades or partitions around the monument. They were making sure that it was not visible to the public. But then a couple of hours, they came back and took those -- took these things down. We don't have an explanation why. And then a couple hours of later, we got word that the justices here had made their decision that the monument was going to be moved by the building manager here at the judicial building -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: David, just bring us up to date, for folks who haven't been following that closely. The deadline expired at midnight. The Supreme Court did not venture in. And in theory, some fines would apply in this case. But that's probably not going to happen, is it?

MATTINGLY: At the moment, it is not going to happen. The federal court has threatened the state with $5,000-a-day fines if they do not move this monument. At this point, there's been no talk of actually acting upon that. The court will have to decide at a later date, possibly tomorrow in a hearing, if they want to do that. But at this point, the state of Alabama feels pretty confident they've taken the appropriate steps to make sure that they do not get fined. In fact, they are hoping that the court goes along with them.

And here he is -- here's Judge Roy Moore coming out, I believe. Is that true? No? Oh, well.

O'BRIEN: All right. MATTINGLY: Again, we've got...

O'BRIEN: I know you're kind of...

MATTINGLY: ..a lot of his supporters.

O'BRIEN: We expect him to come out any moment now. Just what they said in that ruling is kind of a little bit of legal mumbo jumbo. As soon as is practicable to remove this thing. That, obviously, is going to stir up the crowd.

Is this going to be something that is going to be away from cameras, away from public view when it happens?

MATTINGLY: There's an awful lot of speculation about how this is going to happen. They have to decide where they're going to put it because the federal judge has decided that it's not appropriate for it to be in the rotunda. He said it could be out of public sight, perhaps in someone's private chambers, or be placed outside of the building somewhere. But just not in the rotunda where it is right now.

There's also the issue of the -- again the practicability of moving that thing. It is 2 1/2 tons of solid granite, so the building manager here probably finding out he's got quite a job ahead of him when he does decide how and where to move this monument that has gripped the attention of so many people in these last few days.

O'BRIEN: And, as I say, it's something that there is a security issue, obviously, that accompanies this. As it is moved, I'm sure there are people who are going to want to make statements, probably on both sides of this debate. Do you have the sense that everybody's ready for that eventuality?

MATTINGLY: Well, there was that key moment yesterday afternoon when business hours were over. Between a dozen and 20 people refused to leave the building. They were arrested and charged with trespassing.

At this point, the doors today have been locked so no one has been able to go inside to prevent an incident like that from happening again today. And, again, we're all waiting to see what the justice has to say. This will be his first response we've heard from him since his fellow justices decided that it was time to move this monument out of the building or to some other location as the federal court has requested, Miles.

O'BRIEN: And David, who is speaking at the podium right now?

MATTINGLY: I can't tell you that, Miles. That is someone that came out of the building to prep the podium for the chief justice. There's also a great deal of security who have come out to prep the crowd here. They were very sensitive about having people standing behind the chief justice for security reasons. I'm not sure the reason for that. But they were working on that just a few moments ago, which is why we thought he was actually coming out here. But at the moment, everyone waiting to see what he has to say, his supporters and the media alike. And, again, this is attracting a great deal of attention. National attention and national debate of how this should go.

O'BRIEN: CNN's David Mattingly there in the throng on the courthouse steps in Montgomery. As soon as we see the chief justice, we'll be back to that scene live.

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




Moore>