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Nation's Largest Radio Station Owner Reportedly Reachs $1.7 Million Deal Resolving Rift Between Them, FCC

Aired June 09, 2004 - 14:30   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: Checking headlines "At This Hour." Jurors in Mcallister, Oklahoma now deciding whether bombing conspirator Terry Nichols will spend life in prison or die. A state court last month convicted Nichols of helping Timothy McVeigh prepare a bomb that ultimately blew up the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. That attack killed 168 people.
Police in Colon, Germany say they don't yet know what yet caused an explosion that injured 11, one seriously. The blast occurred today near a barbershop in a mostly Turkish neighborhood.

Trouble is brewing in Iraq over the transitional administrative law document backed by the prime ministers office. The country's top Shi'ite cleric opposes TAL because the unelected governing council passed it. But Kurdish leaders say if it's scrapped they'll pull out of the interim government.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Clearing the air on Clear Channel Radio. What the FCC declared indecent radio talk has now turned into a record indecency settlement.

The nation's largest radio station owner has reportedly reach a $1.7 million deal that resolves the rift between the FCC and Clear Channel Communications over syndicated shock jocks like Howard Stern and Atlanta's the Regular Guys, who, by the way, never got fined but did get yanked off the air.

Former Regular guy radio host Eric Von Haessler, now MadPundit.com creator is with us to talk about this. Well let's talk about Howard Stern being dumped for indecency and how that affected your show.

ERIC VON HAESSLER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, I mean, we got in trouble. We would have been in trouble no matter the environment. We sort of delivered ourselves into the hands of our enemies because we tried to take on the FCC. Do you want me to tell you what got us knocked off the air in case people don't know?

PHILLIPS: Might as well. It's pretty indecent.

(CROSSTALK)

VON HAESSLER: The idea was that we were going to kind of take on the FCC because they getting into the area where they were going to go after double entendre and things like this. So we decided well we'll have the most graphic conversation possible with a porn star and then we'll play it backward. It'll go over the air as gibberish but inform the FCC that this content happened and sort of dared them to come after us.

One small mistake. Somebody left a microphone open while we're doing it forward. It went out over the air and was very, very graphic. So we would have been in trouble no matter what the situation in the country would have been.

I don't think we would have lost our jobs but for the whole Janet Jackson incident leading to the Howard Stern incident. And basically companies like Clear Channel being scared out of their pants and having to basically do whatever they were told to do by the government.

PHILLIPS: And they came down pretty hard and they said to you, OK, you're going to have to start going to class and learn how to be more appropriate on the air.

VON HAESSLER: So we did those things.

PHILLIPS: You did?

(CROSSTALK)

VON HAESSLER: Hey, you're holding me -- I said that I wouldn't go to a class. But they said, well you don't have to go to a class. We want you to watch a little video that we have. And I would have been a jerk to say no. So I did watch the video. But it didn't help me.

PHILLIPS: So you didn't want to be any less indecent on the air?

VON HAESSLER: Well, no. I didn't think we were indecent on the air to begin with.

PHILLIPS: Now we're going to get into this whole conversation about porn stars being -- that's a decent type of radio talk.

VON HAESSLER: That was one segment of a show that had -- the show doesn't even exist anymore but I will go ahead and stand by its side.

We did an hour and a half of news coverage every day. We did a lot on the show. You know that. You loved on show from time to time.

PHILLIPS: It's all right. I brought a little decency back to the show.

VON HAESSLER: Yes, you did.

All right, let me ask you a question. Now, we saw it with the Janet Jackson and the wardrobe malfunction and the Howard Stern situation and the Clear Channel coming forward and the FCC coming forward, holding shock jocks accountable for their radio talk which they claimed indecent.

VON HAESSLER: By the way, what shock jock did anything wrong at the Half Time at the Super Bowl, is what I'd like to know. Because Janet Jackson's career seems to be doing fine but I'm off the radio.

And there's a reason for that.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: There's that whole discussion of indecency. OK?

So we thought this was going to change the face of radio talk and television. And we were even wondering, OK, are we going to have to be on a 10-second delay because of certain guests or things that we're covering.

Now this settlement has happened. And the air is cleared, so to speak, for Clear Channel Communications. A settlement has allegedly been reached. Does that mean that everything's going to go back to the way it was? Howard Stern can push the edge and you can come back on the radio and push the edge?

VON HAESSLER: No, the air is only cleared for Clear Channel. Infinity, I don't think, hasn't paid anything yet. They may have. I don't think they have. So Howard -- that's their flagship, Howard Stern's flagship. I don't know whether the air is cleared at all.

It's just the environment right now is going to continue. They got their money from Clear Channel.

And by the way, I don't blame Clear Channel. I blame the government. This the -- Howard Stern was not taken off the air by Clear Channel. My show was not taken off the air by Clear Channel in so much as it was done by the government, who, by the way, if you don't know this, are shaking the tree behind the scenes with these people and letting them know that they're going to come after licenses very soon.

Now, our show was a cash cow in this town, which brought in a lot of money. But my understanding is that one license for the one station that I worked for could be worth about $200 million. So when you start shaking the tree behind the scenes like that, you are effectively making the actions happen.

We were taken off the air because the government doesn't want this sort of thing on the air anymore. And Clear Channel has to make money for their shareholders. I know John Hogan, the president of Clear Channel, very well. He's a good man.

But his job as president of Clear Channel is not to watch the ship go down. His job is to navigate the waters and make money. And he's doing that.

So I don't -- I consider Clear Channel to be as much a victim as Howard Stern or the Regular Guys or Bubba the Love Sponge or anybody else who's been put in their crosshair. PHILLIPS: Finally, real quickly, because we've got to wrap. Is this more fuel now for people like Howard Stern to just get back in the game? Are we going to see the edge -- things just kind of go over the edge again?

VON HAESSLER: No, I don't think so, not yet. You're not going to see that until they pick on Oprah and American says enough is enough. Joe McCarthy is called out of the closet, put back in place and we go back to having a normal country that we used to live in where people decided what they wanted to listen to on the radio and they weren't told by the government.

PHILLIPS: And we'll have all the congressional hearings and we'll follow that. Eric Von Haessler, MadPundit.com. I'm sure we're going to hear you on the radio again soon.

VON HAESSLER: You OK?

PHILLIPS: Yes, you got me a little choked up.

VON HAESSLER: But I'll be cleaner.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Eric.

O'BRIEN: More charges American athletes using performance enhancing drugs to tell you about. The latest to be implicated, four U.S. track athletes including Tim Montgomery, the world record holder in the 100 meters. Yesterday and he and three others got word they could be barred from the Athens Olympics next month. CNN's Josie Burke joining us from Boston to talk about the scandal. Hello, Josie.

JOSIE BURKE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, miles.

O'BRIEN: First of all, let's be clear. I'm curious for folks who are not in this realm of athletics -- certainly I am not -- this agency, the USADA, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. What are they all about?

BURKE: USADA is the group in this country that administers all of the drug testing for all of the Olympic sports. And they're basically the authority in this country when it comes to testing the athletes across the board, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. And they have tremendous amount of latitude and mower. And the burden of proof, as I gather, can be pretty low for them to ban an athlete.

BURKE: Well, it depends on how you look at it. At this point in time what we're looking at is something that's unique in the history of sports because they aren't necessarily pointing to positive drug tests. They can hold up urine in a cup and say, hey, we know that this was -- tested positive for a banned substance.

What they're relying on is something that some people are calling non-analytic evidence. Things like e-mails, charts, calendars. And there is a clause in their protocol, yes we can find some fault if you violate a drug test. But also for any other reason we can look into your activities.

O'BRIEN: Well so, but when you say they haven't tested positive that's kind of a key point here. First of all, there are steroids on the market which are not detectable, correct?

BURKE: Absolutely. There was the huge one that made all of the headlines about a year ago, THG. And that really started all of this. So that was something that initially could not be detected through testing. They've since come up with a test for it.

BURKE: Now, these athletes that are now wrapped up in this -- and we should say none of them tested positive. All of them are denying the allegations. Big names. Tim Montgomery, of course, had a child with Miriam Jones, also wrapped up in this whole thing. That's a separate issue we've already been talking about. Christi Gains, Michael Collins, Alvin Harrison.

BURKE: Michelle Collins and Alvin Harrison.

O'BRIEN: My apologies. Michelle Collins. Did I say Michael? I apologize.

In any case. The point is these are big names in track and field.

BURKE: And this is a huge story, Miles. And we've been saying it for months that it could have the potential to overshadow the entire Olympic Games which are coming up in the middle of August.

Now the time line we're looking at for these athletes in particular, the United States Olympic Committee, they have to name their Olympic team by the end of July, around July 21. There's one deadline that we could be pointing toward to say, hey, USADA has to come up with all of the information and the appeals process has to be done by then.

But they've also left the door open that they're not going to be burdened by artificial deadlines. They're not going to be pressured to get things done. So this could stretch out beyond that late July deadline.

O'BRIEN: But the fact is that these athletes have the kind of appeal we would normally expect if we were charged with some sort of criminal wrong doing. Or is it a little different? Is it more of a dictatorship when you get in the world of sports?

BURKE: Everything in -- when it comes to the Olympic sports is laid out from the most minute detail, Miles. I mean there are processes that they're going to have to go through that have been in place for years now.

So it's not as if they are coming up with brand new rules and regulations because of the discovery of THG, because there is such great anticipation that possibly the games could be tainted. Everything that they're going to go through in terms of the appeals process, even the charging process, is something that's been laid out and on the books for years.

O'BRIEN: So, but then why now, though? Why this big crackdown at this moment in time?

BURKE: Well obviously the publicity. It's been going on for months. We have been talking about this. There's been the hearings looking into BaLCo, the indictment.

And the United States Olympic Committee said they that don't want to send a tainted team to Athens. They obviously know what kind of publicity that could generate, all on the negative side.

And in this instance, what we're hearing from them, hey, is we're trying to do the right thing.

O'BRIEN: And we should tell our viewers, BaLCo is the San Francisco Bay Area clinic that supposedly was providing all of this.

Are you expecting we're going to hear some more names get wrapped up in this whole thin?

BURKE: Not because anybody has said so specifically, Miles. But just because the way that the names have been trickling out. We know almost more than two dozen athletes testified when they had the grand jury hearings last year.

So there are so many names that are out there that have not been charged in any way, but that are in some way involved. You get the feeling that these four names aren't the last that we're going to hear.

O'BRIEN: Josie Burke in Boston, thanks much -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Back to today's top story. The Reagan funeral in the nation's capital.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And here on Constitution Avenue, you can see traffic is still moving along, Kyra. But in about 15 minutes they're going to shut it down to make way for history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Today's LIVE FROM... bonus story fresh from our everybody's good at something department, right, Miles?

This Russian man has set a record in that country by walking on his hands. Check this out. He made it today from the top of the ground floor of the 32-story Ukraine Hotel -- it's getting me all choked up -- in Moscow. With that sort of talent he'll go far the hard way.

O'BRIEN: Give him a hand.

PHILLIPS: Give him a hand. Give us a hand, we're coming back right after a break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Intricate plans years in the making unfolding now for Ronald Reagan's funeral. The nation has not witnessed such an elaborate farewell in more than 30 years. Our Bob Franken is in Washington with details on the route that the caisson will take when the late president's body is carried to the Capitol Rotunda. Hello, Bob.

FRANKEN: Hello, Miles. And it will be a route that President Ronald Reagan during his terms in office probably took many times, up Constitution Avenue going to the Capitol. And that's exactly where the procession is going to go after the president's remains arrive later this afternoon.

About seven blocks back from here this area will be entirely shut down beginning in about 15 minutes. As a matter of fact, Washington is going to be locked up tighter than a drum in large parts because of the security concerns, because of all the ceremonial concerns that are going to accompany the next couple of days.

The president's remains are going to be moving up Constitution Avenue to the Capitol where for more than a day people will be allowed to walk past and view the casket of the 40th president of the United States.

We're expecting large crowds to gather. Obviously, it's too far ahead but already some people have been here trying to get a good position and witness history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My husband, Kevin, is a very big fan of his. And when he first became sick with Alzheimer's -- when was that? Back in the -- 1994, something? He said, "As soon as he dies, I'd like to make a trip down to Washington, D.C." So that day has come.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We realize it would be a historical event. I mean this is one of the greatest Americans of this -- or the 20th century. And we knew there'd be an outpouring of love and respect for this great man. And so it was an opportunity for us to participate in this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: So in just a matter of hours, the man who so dominated Washington for so many years will be back for a final look and final respects -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Bob Franken in the capital, thank you -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well our Larry King has been speaking with other former presidents and their wives about Ronald Reagan. Tonight he hears from the former president who might not have made it into the White House without Reagan's backing. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The minute I was on the ticket, the minute we were elected he was totally friendly or in my corner, you might say.

You remember the Carter debate when he was debating Carter? And Carter said, "Well your own vice president candidate down here called your economic 'voodoo economics.'" Reagan looked over at me, he goes -- like this. And he gave him a great answer.

It just put me at ease so much.

LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Had great instinct, right? His instincts worked well for him.

BUSH: His instinct was timing and communication. But it's an underlying decency, honor, kindness, humility, all of these things that -- from about which I learned so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: That entire interview tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE," 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

We're going to take a quick break. More LIVE FROM... right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) snow shovels came out last night in Golden, Colorado.

O'BRIEN: But they weren't for show. A humongous hailstorm, hail the size of Kyra turned the streets of gold of silver. Photo journalist Corky Scholl of affiliate KUSA caught the surreal scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's really coming down. It's a freak storm, I think.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes, water everywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think what happened is it flooded my engine. I could feel my car floating.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It just all happened so fast it was amazing. The rain, the hail, the flooding and now this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it hailed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unbelievable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got four feet of hail blocking an intersection.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is crazy. You can't beat this. This is unbelievable. It's June, for crying out loud.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know from what I understand the rainwater just pulled all of this hail down into this little valley here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was actually a lot of cars that were stuck in it, including a Hummer. But right now the main focus is to get the roadways opened up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This will take forever to clean up. I'm glad it's not me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Videographer Corky School who "hails" from that area.

O'BRIEN: "Hails" from Colorado.

(MARKET UPDATE)

O'BRIEN: That wraps up this edition of LIVE FROM...

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 9, 2004 - 14:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Checking headlines "At This Hour." Jurors in Mcallister, Oklahoma now deciding whether bombing conspirator Terry Nichols will spend life in prison or die. A state court last month convicted Nichols of helping Timothy McVeigh prepare a bomb that ultimately blew up the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. That attack killed 168 people.
Police in Colon, Germany say they don't yet know what yet caused an explosion that injured 11, one seriously. The blast occurred today near a barbershop in a mostly Turkish neighborhood.

Trouble is brewing in Iraq over the transitional administrative law document backed by the prime ministers office. The country's top Shi'ite cleric opposes TAL because the unelected governing council passed it. But Kurdish leaders say if it's scrapped they'll pull out of the interim government.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Clearing the air on Clear Channel Radio. What the FCC declared indecent radio talk has now turned into a record indecency settlement.

The nation's largest radio station owner has reportedly reach a $1.7 million deal that resolves the rift between the FCC and Clear Channel Communications over syndicated shock jocks like Howard Stern and Atlanta's the Regular Guys, who, by the way, never got fined but did get yanked off the air.

Former Regular guy radio host Eric Von Haessler, now MadPundit.com creator is with us to talk about this. Well let's talk about Howard Stern being dumped for indecency and how that affected your show.

ERIC VON HAESSLER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, I mean, we got in trouble. We would have been in trouble no matter the environment. We sort of delivered ourselves into the hands of our enemies because we tried to take on the FCC. Do you want me to tell you what got us knocked off the air in case people don't know?

PHILLIPS: Might as well. It's pretty indecent.

(CROSSTALK)

VON HAESSLER: The idea was that we were going to kind of take on the FCC because they getting into the area where they were going to go after double entendre and things like this. So we decided well we'll have the most graphic conversation possible with a porn star and then we'll play it backward. It'll go over the air as gibberish but inform the FCC that this content happened and sort of dared them to come after us.

One small mistake. Somebody left a microphone open while we're doing it forward. It went out over the air and was very, very graphic. So we would have been in trouble no matter what the situation in the country would have been.

I don't think we would have lost our jobs but for the whole Janet Jackson incident leading to the Howard Stern incident. And basically companies like Clear Channel being scared out of their pants and having to basically do whatever they were told to do by the government.

PHILLIPS: And they came down pretty hard and they said to you, OK, you're going to have to start going to class and learn how to be more appropriate on the air.

VON HAESSLER: So we did those things.

PHILLIPS: You did?

(CROSSTALK)

VON HAESSLER: Hey, you're holding me -- I said that I wouldn't go to a class. But they said, well you don't have to go to a class. We want you to watch a little video that we have. And I would have been a jerk to say no. So I did watch the video. But it didn't help me.

PHILLIPS: So you didn't want to be any less indecent on the air?

VON HAESSLER: Well, no. I didn't think we were indecent on the air to begin with.

PHILLIPS: Now we're going to get into this whole conversation about porn stars being -- that's a decent type of radio talk.

VON HAESSLER: That was one segment of a show that had -- the show doesn't even exist anymore but I will go ahead and stand by its side.

We did an hour and a half of news coverage every day. We did a lot on the show. You know that. You loved on show from time to time.

PHILLIPS: It's all right. I brought a little decency back to the show.

VON HAESSLER: Yes, you did.

All right, let me ask you a question. Now, we saw it with the Janet Jackson and the wardrobe malfunction and the Howard Stern situation and the Clear Channel coming forward and the FCC coming forward, holding shock jocks accountable for their radio talk which they claimed indecent.

VON HAESSLER: By the way, what shock jock did anything wrong at the Half Time at the Super Bowl, is what I'd like to know. Because Janet Jackson's career seems to be doing fine but I'm off the radio.

And there's a reason for that.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: There's that whole discussion of indecency. OK?

So we thought this was going to change the face of radio talk and television. And we were even wondering, OK, are we going to have to be on a 10-second delay because of certain guests or things that we're covering.

Now this settlement has happened. And the air is cleared, so to speak, for Clear Channel Communications. A settlement has allegedly been reached. Does that mean that everything's going to go back to the way it was? Howard Stern can push the edge and you can come back on the radio and push the edge?

VON HAESSLER: No, the air is only cleared for Clear Channel. Infinity, I don't think, hasn't paid anything yet. They may have. I don't think they have. So Howard -- that's their flagship, Howard Stern's flagship. I don't know whether the air is cleared at all.

It's just the environment right now is going to continue. They got their money from Clear Channel.

And by the way, I don't blame Clear Channel. I blame the government. This the -- Howard Stern was not taken off the air by Clear Channel. My show was not taken off the air by Clear Channel in so much as it was done by the government, who, by the way, if you don't know this, are shaking the tree behind the scenes with these people and letting them know that they're going to come after licenses very soon.

Now, our show was a cash cow in this town, which brought in a lot of money. But my understanding is that one license for the one station that I worked for could be worth about $200 million. So when you start shaking the tree behind the scenes like that, you are effectively making the actions happen.

We were taken off the air because the government doesn't want this sort of thing on the air anymore. And Clear Channel has to make money for their shareholders. I know John Hogan, the president of Clear Channel, very well. He's a good man.

But his job as president of Clear Channel is not to watch the ship go down. His job is to navigate the waters and make money. And he's doing that.

So I don't -- I consider Clear Channel to be as much a victim as Howard Stern or the Regular Guys or Bubba the Love Sponge or anybody else who's been put in their crosshair. PHILLIPS: Finally, real quickly, because we've got to wrap. Is this more fuel now for people like Howard Stern to just get back in the game? Are we going to see the edge -- things just kind of go over the edge again?

VON HAESSLER: No, I don't think so, not yet. You're not going to see that until they pick on Oprah and American says enough is enough. Joe McCarthy is called out of the closet, put back in place and we go back to having a normal country that we used to live in where people decided what they wanted to listen to on the radio and they weren't told by the government.

PHILLIPS: And we'll have all the congressional hearings and we'll follow that. Eric Von Haessler, MadPundit.com. I'm sure we're going to hear you on the radio again soon.

VON HAESSLER: You OK?

PHILLIPS: Yes, you got me a little choked up.

VON HAESSLER: But I'll be cleaner.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Eric.

O'BRIEN: More charges American athletes using performance enhancing drugs to tell you about. The latest to be implicated, four U.S. track athletes including Tim Montgomery, the world record holder in the 100 meters. Yesterday and he and three others got word they could be barred from the Athens Olympics next month. CNN's Josie Burke joining us from Boston to talk about the scandal. Hello, Josie.

JOSIE BURKE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, miles.

O'BRIEN: First of all, let's be clear. I'm curious for folks who are not in this realm of athletics -- certainly I am not -- this agency, the USADA, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. What are they all about?

BURKE: USADA is the group in this country that administers all of the drug testing for all of the Olympic sports. And they're basically the authority in this country when it comes to testing the athletes across the board, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. And they have tremendous amount of latitude and mower. And the burden of proof, as I gather, can be pretty low for them to ban an athlete.

BURKE: Well, it depends on how you look at it. At this point in time what we're looking at is something that's unique in the history of sports because they aren't necessarily pointing to positive drug tests. They can hold up urine in a cup and say, hey, we know that this was -- tested positive for a banned substance.

What they're relying on is something that some people are calling non-analytic evidence. Things like e-mails, charts, calendars. And there is a clause in their protocol, yes we can find some fault if you violate a drug test. But also for any other reason we can look into your activities.

O'BRIEN: Well so, but when you say they haven't tested positive that's kind of a key point here. First of all, there are steroids on the market which are not detectable, correct?

BURKE: Absolutely. There was the huge one that made all of the headlines about a year ago, THG. And that really started all of this. So that was something that initially could not be detected through testing. They've since come up with a test for it.

BURKE: Now, these athletes that are now wrapped up in this -- and we should say none of them tested positive. All of them are denying the allegations. Big names. Tim Montgomery, of course, had a child with Miriam Jones, also wrapped up in this whole thing. That's a separate issue we've already been talking about. Christi Gains, Michael Collins, Alvin Harrison.

BURKE: Michelle Collins and Alvin Harrison.

O'BRIEN: My apologies. Michelle Collins. Did I say Michael? I apologize.

In any case. The point is these are big names in track and field.

BURKE: And this is a huge story, Miles. And we've been saying it for months that it could have the potential to overshadow the entire Olympic Games which are coming up in the middle of August.

Now the time line we're looking at for these athletes in particular, the United States Olympic Committee, they have to name their Olympic team by the end of July, around July 21. There's one deadline that we could be pointing toward to say, hey, USADA has to come up with all of the information and the appeals process has to be done by then.

But they've also left the door open that they're not going to be burdened by artificial deadlines. They're not going to be pressured to get things done. So this could stretch out beyond that late July deadline.

O'BRIEN: But the fact is that these athletes have the kind of appeal we would normally expect if we were charged with some sort of criminal wrong doing. Or is it a little different? Is it more of a dictatorship when you get in the world of sports?

BURKE: Everything in -- when it comes to the Olympic sports is laid out from the most minute detail, Miles. I mean there are processes that they're going to have to go through that have been in place for years now.

So it's not as if they are coming up with brand new rules and regulations because of the discovery of THG, because there is such great anticipation that possibly the games could be tainted. Everything that they're going to go through in terms of the appeals process, even the charging process, is something that's been laid out and on the books for years.

O'BRIEN: So, but then why now, though? Why this big crackdown at this moment in time?

BURKE: Well obviously the publicity. It's been going on for months. We have been talking about this. There's been the hearings looking into BaLCo, the indictment.

And the United States Olympic Committee said they that don't want to send a tainted team to Athens. They obviously know what kind of publicity that could generate, all on the negative side.

And in this instance, what we're hearing from them, hey, is we're trying to do the right thing.

O'BRIEN: And we should tell our viewers, BaLCo is the San Francisco Bay Area clinic that supposedly was providing all of this.

Are you expecting we're going to hear some more names get wrapped up in this whole thin?

BURKE: Not because anybody has said so specifically, Miles. But just because the way that the names have been trickling out. We know almost more than two dozen athletes testified when they had the grand jury hearings last year.

So there are so many names that are out there that have not been charged in any way, but that are in some way involved. You get the feeling that these four names aren't the last that we're going to hear.

O'BRIEN: Josie Burke in Boston, thanks much -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Back to today's top story. The Reagan funeral in the nation's capital.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And here on Constitution Avenue, you can see traffic is still moving along, Kyra. But in about 15 minutes they're going to shut it down to make way for history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Today's LIVE FROM... bonus story fresh from our everybody's good at something department, right, Miles?

This Russian man has set a record in that country by walking on his hands. Check this out. He made it today from the top of the ground floor of the 32-story Ukraine Hotel -- it's getting me all choked up -- in Moscow. With that sort of talent he'll go far the hard way.

O'BRIEN: Give him a hand.

PHILLIPS: Give him a hand. Give us a hand, we're coming back right after a break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Intricate plans years in the making unfolding now for Ronald Reagan's funeral. The nation has not witnessed such an elaborate farewell in more than 30 years. Our Bob Franken is in Washington with details on the route that the caisson will take when the late president's body is carried to the Capitol Rotunda. Hello, Bob.

FRANKEN: Hello, Miles. And it will be a route that President Ronald Reagan during his terms in office probably took many times, up Constitution Avenue going to the Capitol. And that's exactly where the procession is going to go after the president's remains arrive later this afternoon.

About seven blocks back from here this area will be entirely shut down beginning in about 15 minutes. As a matter of fact, Washington is going to be locked up tighter than a drum in large parts because of the security concerns, because of all the ceremonial concerns that are going to accompany the next couple of days.

The president's remains are going to be moving up Constitution Avenue to the Capitol where for more than a day people will be allowed to walk past and view the casket of the 40th president of the United States.

We're expecting large crowds to gather. Obviously, it's too far ahead but already some people have been here trying to get a good position and witness history.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My husband, Kevin, is a very big fan of his. And when he first became sick with Alzheimer's -- when was that? Back in the -- 1994, something? He said, "As soon as he dies, I'd like to make a trip down to Washington, D.C." So that day has come.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We realize it would be a historical event. I mean this is one of the greatest Americans of this -- or the 20th century. And we knew there'd be an outpouring of love and respect for this great man. And so it was an opportunity for us to participate in this.

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FRANKEN: So in just a matter of hours, the man who so dominated Washington for so many years will be back for a final look and final respects -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Bob Franken in the capital, thank you -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well our Larry King has been speaking with other former presidents and their wives about Ronald Reagan. Tonight he hears from the former president who might not have made it into the White House without Reagan's backing. Here's a preview.

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GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The minute I was on the ticket, the minute we were elected he was totally friendly or in my corner, you might say.

You remember the Carter debate when he was debating Carter? And Carter said, "Well your own vice president candidate down here called your economic 'voodoo economics.'" Reagan looked over at me, he goes -- like this. And he gave him a great answer.

It just put me at ease so much.

LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Had great instinct, right? His instincts worked well for him.

BUSH: His instinct was timing and communication. But it's an underlying decency, honor, kindness, humility, all of these things that -- from about which I learned so much.

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PHILLIPS: That entire interview tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE," 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

We're going to take a quick break. More LIVE FROM... right after this.

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PHILLIPS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) snow shovels came out last night in Golden, Colorado.

O'BRIEN: But they weren't for show. A humongous hailstorm, hail the size of Kyra turned the streets of gold of silver. Photo journalist Corky Scholl of affiliate KUSA caught the surreal scene.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's really coming down. It's a freak storm, I think.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes, water everywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think what happened is it flooded my engine. I could feel my car floating.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It just all happened so fast it was amazing. The rain, the hail, the flooding and now this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it hailed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unbelievable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got four feet of hail blocking an intersection.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is crazy. You can't beat this. This is unbelievable. It's June, for crying out loud.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know from what I understand the rainwater just pulled all of this hail down into this little valley here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was actually a lot of cars that were stuck in it, including a Hummer. But right now the main focus is to get the roadways opened up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This will take forever to clean up. I'm glad it's not me.

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PHILLIPS: Videographer Corky School who "hails" from that area.

O'BRIEN: "Hails" from Colorado.

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O'BRIEN: That wraps up this edition of LIVE FROM...

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