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Protesters Plan to Pursue Ten Commandments Issue
Aired August 27, 2003 - 15:31 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Suspended and still defiant. Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore calls it a sad day after workers removed the Ten Commandments monument he fought so hard to keep. CNN's Brian Cabell live in Montgomery, Alabama now as the two ton monument is away from public view -- Brian.
BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Kyra. For the last week or so we have been dealing with stifling heat and humidity. And now in the last half hour as you can see out here we're dealing with a down pour. It has let up a little bit since, but some people have been scared away by the rain. I'd say we have probably 100, 125 still out here.
We asked them a little while ago now, what now? They say, Well, we've lost the battle here, clearly. But we have not lost the war. And we're expecting to see more people show up here tonight. We had about 500 here last night.
The monument of course was removed about five hours ago. I would say it was a fairly simple process. They sized it up for a while, then they brought in a pallet jack and then removed it. All told it took only about an hour to do that.
It's now been moved into another room, a backroom within the judicial building. It belongs to Chief Justice Roy Moore. Exactly what he will do with it next we simply do not know. Eventually we would expect it would be moved form out of here.
There were no counter-protesters here today, not at all, fortunately. Probably a good thing. But an attorney for the plaintiff, one of the plaintiffs in this case, has spoken up. He says movement of this monument was the only thing the state could do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD COHEN, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: We tried to keep government's hands off religion in order to keep religion safe in this country. Religion in America flourishes not because the government's involved, but because it is uninvolved and that's the way it should be.
REV. PAT MAHONEY, CHRISTIAN DEFENSE COALITION: ... we're disappointed, but we're not discouraged. And we believe we're going to put pressure on the president. He has been disturbingly silent on this issue. We're going to challenge, at least in this state -- anyone who runs for dog catcher in the state of Alabama is going to be asked about the Ten Commandments.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABELL: So the protesters clearly have some plans for days, weeks and months ahead. Politically, economically, we don't know what else.
James Dobson, a renowned evangelist, will be here tomorrow, apparently on the courthouse steps, to speak. Also Alan Keys, Ambassador Alan Keys will be here to speak. And also Roy Moore himself, the man who started all of this. He apparently will be out here to speak. He here a couple days ago, has not spoken since.
But exactly what will happen next, what direction this movement will take, we simply don't know. It could grow or it could die. We'll have to find out in the days ahead. Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: Brian, I'm curious. Do we know how much that monument cost to put together and who actually paid for it?
CABELL: We are told that Roy Moore himself paid for it, whether he had donations or not. But it is his, it belongs to him and he apparently funded it. Your other question, again, was?
PHILLIPS: Actually how much it cost. Do we know what he paid for it?
CABELL: No, no I honestly don't know. It is a very nice piece of engraving, we can tell you that. But, no, I have not gotten the actual cost of that.
PHILLIPS: Well it might be a nice house decoration for him real soon. Brian Cabell, thank you.
CABELL: There you go.
PHILLIPS: Yep, right there in the foyer. All right.
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 August 27, 2003 - 15:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Suspended and still defiant. Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore calls it a sad day after workers removed the Ten Commandments monument he fought so hard to keep. CNN's Brian Cabell live in Montgomery, Alabama now as the two ton monument is away from public view -- Brian.
BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Kyra. For the last week or so we have been dealing with stifling heat and humidity. And now in the last half hour as you can see out here we're dealing with a down pour. It has let up a little bit since, but some people have been scared away by the rain. I'd say we have probably 100, 125 still out here.
We asked them a little while ago now, what now? They say, Well, we've lost the battle here, clearly. But we have not lost the war. And we're expecting to see more people show up here tonight. We had about 500 here last night.
The monument of course was removed about five hours ago. I would say it was a fairly simple process. They sized it up for a while, then they brought in a pallet jack and then removed it. All told it took only about an hour to do that.
It's now been moved into another room, a backroom within the judicial building. It belongs to Chief Justice Roy Moore. Exactly what he will do with it next we simply do not know. Eventually we would expect it would be moved form out of here.
There were no counter-protesters here today, not at all, fortunately. Probably a good thing. But an attorney for the plaintiff, one of the plaintiffs in this case, has spoken up. He says movement of this monument was the only thing the state could do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD COHEN, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: We tried to keep government's hands off religion in order to keep religion safe in this country. Religion in America flourishes not because the government's involved, but because it is uninvolved and that's the way it should be.
REV. PAT MAHONEY, CHRISTIAN DEFENSE COALITION: ... we're disappointed, but we're not discouraged. And we believe we're going to put pressure on the president. He has been disturbingly silent on this issue. We're going to challenge, at least in this state -- anyone who runs for dog catcher in the state of Alabama is going to be asked about the Ten Commandments.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABELL: So the protesters clearly have some plans for days, weeks and months ahead. Politically, economically, we don't know what else.
James Dobson, a renowned evangelist, will be here tomorrow, apparently on the courthouse steps, to speak. Also Alan Keys, Ambassador Alan Keys will be here to speak. And also Roy Moore himself, the man who started all of this. He apparently will be out here to speak. He here a couple days ago, has not spoken since.
But exactly what will happen next, what direction this movement will take, we simply don't know. It could grow or it could die. We'll have to find out in the days ahead. Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: Brian, I'm curious. Do we know how much that monument cost to put together and who actually paid for it?
CABELL: We are told that Roy Moore himself paid for it, whether he had donations or not. But it is his, it belongs to him and he apparently funded it. Your other question, again, was?
PHILLIPS: Actually how much it cost. Do we know what he paid for it?
CABELL: No, no I honestly don't know. It is a very nice piece of engraving, we can tell you that. But, no, I have not gotten the actual cost of that.
PHILLIPS: Well it might be a nice house decoration for him real soon. Brian Cabell, thank you.
CABELL: There you go.
PHILLIPS: Yep, right there in the foyer. All right.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
