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Michael Jackson in Court; Martha Stewart Leaving Prison; Judge's Family Slain
Aired March 03, 2005 - 14:00 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Coming in for a landing. Live pictures right now as pilot adventurer Steve Fossett gets ready to make full circle his flight around the world on one tank of gas. We expect him to land soon.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And countdown for Martha Stewart. She's hours away from walking away from federal prison. We're live for preparations for her release.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Miguel Marquez, live in Santa Maria, California. The sister of Michael Jackson's accuser has taken the witness stand. I'll have a full report.
HARRIS: Hanging by a thread. A routine day on the job turns out to be anything but for these window cleaners. Yikes.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris, in for Miles O'Brien.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
Thirty-odd odd minutes. To Salina, Kansas, that is, smack dab in the middle of the lower 48, end point of the historic voyage of the GlobalFlyer with intrepid world traveler Steve Fossett at the helm.
Salina is also the GlobalFlyer's starting point. And just like those baseballs Bugs Bunny used to hurl in "Looney Tunes," the custom- built jet and Fossett have circled the Earth nonstop since this time on Monday.
Touchdown is expected near the bottom of the hour. We're going to watch it live with our Bob Franken and our Daniel Sieberg here on set as Fossett gets just a little bit closer.
HARRIS: But first, a look inside Neverland. That's what jurors in the child molestation trial of Michael Jackson are getting today. Plus, they're hearing from one of those closest to his accuser.
CNN's Miguel Marquez is outside the courthouse in Santa Maria, California -- Miguel.
MARQUEZ: Tony, the accuser of Michael -- the sister of Michael Jackson's accuser has taken the stand. She's been on the stand for about 30 minutes, maybe 40 minutes, being talked to by the prosecution. Very slow getting into this so far. But she has divulged something about herself.
She is now 18 years old. She's a high school freshman. And she has testified so far that she saw her father strike her mother many times, that her father struck her and struck her and her brothers as well.
It's something of a contention between the defense and the prosecution. The defense saying that the mother had testified and had filled out forms many times saying that the former father had never struck them at all.
The other thing that we saw during this first session with her is the -- a picture with the accuser and Kobe Bryant. That's important because the defense had maintained that the accuser didn't even know Kobe Bryant, or Kobe Bryant didn't even know the accuser. But they do have a photo of the accuser when he was in the throes of cancer, looking like he was at a fund-raiser or something, where he met Kobe Bryant with a Lakers jersey right in front of him.
She also testified that in 2000 was the first time she and her family went to Neverland Ranch. The entire family went up there. She testified that she, her mother, her father at the time, stayed in guest corridors. She also saw her father and mother fight there, and her father ended up throwing a soda can at her mother, which will also be a point of contention in this.
She says on that first night there, that during dinner, while the father and the two brothers and Michael Jackson were having dinner, the accuser himself brought up the idea of him and his brothers staying with Michael Jackson in his guest corridors or in his bedroom, and that was allowed to happen on that very first night. She said that she never went into that bedroom, was never able to see it, but that they did stay with him -- Tony.
HARRIS: Miguel Marquez live from the courthouse. Thank you.
PHILLIPS: We've been talking so much about Steve Fossett and his historic landing. Well, fans of Steve Fossett aren't the only ones watching the clock right now. There's also inmate 55170-054.
Well, you know her better as Martha Stewart, the guru of gracious living who's been living in a federal prison in West Virginia since October 8. Well, mere hours from now, Stewart will trade those digs for five months of house arrest. Make that estate arrest at her $16 million spread in Bedford, New York.
That brings us to CNN's Allan Chernoff in New York City. He's not at an estate, he's actually in our bureau.
Hi, Allan.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
Well, the official release date for Martha Stewart is actually on Sunday. But at the Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia, typically what they do is they permit the inmates to leave on the Friday before a weekend. That's primarily because they have low staffing levels at the prison over the weekend. So theoretically, it is possible Martha Stewart could get out right after midnight.
It is also possible that she still may be in prison all the way until Sunday. We just don't know yet. We're, of course, going to be watching that very, very closely.
Once she does leave, she has 72 hours in which she is to report to her probation officer, and that will be in White Plains, New York, just north of New York City. And keep in mind, she has another five months of home detention.
That means she's going to be wearing an ankle bracelet. It will be electronically connected to her telephone. The probation officer will be able to track Martha Stewart's movements.
Now, as you mentioned, she does have that 153-acre estate, but she's not going to be allowed to roam all over the property. She'll have to stay to one building there, the primary building. She will, however, be permitted to leave for 48 hours every single week to do work. And there is plenty of work that Martha Stewart has planned.
She's going to resume writing a column for "Martha Stewart Living" magazine. She'll, of course, also be doing two television programs, a syndicated lifestyle show, and "The Apprentice," the Martha Stewart version of that. Of course, she'll also be consulting at her own company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Now Allan, we know that going into jail, it was very secretive. She snuck in, cameras not really able to get any type of video. Now what's the story about the exit? Will it be a little more grand, a little more nonsecretive?
CHERNOFF: We are anticipating that. We can't be certain, but we do know from the airport, the local airport in West Virginia, Greenbrier Valley, a flatbed truck has actually been rented at the airport, according to the airport manager, and from that position there will be cameras shooting Martha Stewart getting onto her plane, leaving West Virginia.
So it certainly appears, most likely, that this will be at least slightly more public. Recall when she went into prison, she kind of snuck in, in the middle of the night, and bypassed all the cameras.
PHILLIPS: And we've talked about so many of these deals that she's got going once she gets out of jail. But let's talk about the status of the legal situation. What's next?
CHERNOFF: It is continuing. As you know, Martha Stewart is still appealing her conviction. She was, of course, convicted of obstruction of justice, lying about a stock sale.
There's a hearing before a three-judge panel on March 17 here in New York City. So that will be the appeal of the criminal case.
Also, there is a civil case. The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Martha Stewart with insider trading. But that case has been on hold pending resolution of the criminal case.
So once that is all finished up with, then the SEC can move forward. And what we can anticipate there is that there will most likely be a settlement between the SEC and Martha Stewart. She'll have to pay a fine. She also will be barred for a certain amount of time from being an executive at her company, being a director. And, of course, keep in mind, she had to give up her chairmanship and her CEO position at the company.
PHILLIPS: All right. Allan Chernoff live from New York. Thank you so much.
And on the eve of Stewart's release, we are airing a special prime-time edition of "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS," including never-before- seen footage of Stewart in prison. That's tonight, 10:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
HARRIS: A judge seeks justice after two family members are slain execution style in their home. Chicago Police have released these sketches of two persons of interest in the case. Gunmen killed Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow's husband and mother.
CNN's Sean Callebs takes us inside the family life of the Lefkows.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Lefkow's law office is eerily quiet, a stack of unattended mail, his signature hat in the corner. Michael and his mother-in-law were brutally gunned down in the Lefkows' north Chicago home Monday. Now Michael's wife, U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow, is making plans for a memorial at St. Luke's Church.
CORINNE MURPHY-HINES, ST. LUKE'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH: They just seemed devoted to one another.
CALLEBS: And to their church. Michael was on the governing board.
The Lefkows had also become used to threats. White supremacist Matt Hale is in prison, convicted of threatening to kill Judge Lefkow in 2002. Last year, while the judge had a protective detail, white supremacists threatened to picket St. Luke's.
MURPHY-HINES: I was aware of what had happened, and I was aware that they were under protection. But it didn't bleed into the church life.
CALLEBS: Authorities say they are looking at the possibility a hate group went after Lefkow's family. One of Lefkow's colleagues say the killings are having a big impact.
JUDGE WAYNE ANDERSEN, U.S. DISTRICT COURT: It probably permeates the minute-by-minute, certainly hour-by-hour thoughts, of everybody in this particular court family. And probably to some extent the larger legal community in the Chicago area.
CALLEBS: Judge Wayne Andersen is now openly calling for a security review for members of the bench. But that could be hard. Federal judges in the northern Illinois district here, about 400 cases a year. Between 30 and 50 criminal. Friends who have talked with Lefkow say it is an agonizing time.
LAYTON OLSON, LEFKOW FAMILY FRIEND: And I think she's just doing the best she can. It's obviously just an hour-to-hour, day-to-day kind of thing. But I think her daughters have really pulled together very, very well in this.
CALLEBS: One of the couple's four daughters is getting married this summer. And Judge Lefkow told a Chicago newspaper her husband had just purchased a new tux and was so looking forward to the wedding.
Sean Callebs, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: It's official. The nation has a new Homeland Security chief. Former Justice Department official Michael Chertoff was formally sworn in this morning. That oath of office was administered by Supreme court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as President Bush and Chertoff's families stood by.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Our test now is to advance the exceptional achievements of the first two years of this department, to meet and manage the threats of today, and to prepare to confront the risks of the future. Our mission is no less than this: protect America while fostering the values of liberty, privacy and opportunity we all hold dear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Chertoff formerly served as a federal judge, a prosecutor, and worked as assistant attorney general at the Justice Department.
HARRIS: We are just minutes away -- 20 minutes or so from the landing of a flight of fancy. That magnificent man -- what are we seeing there -- and his flying machine. Steve Fossett expected to land in Salina, Kansas, as he tries to fly around the world on a single tank of gas.
That's a different picture, isn't it? We're following it for you. We'll bring you the landing when it happens.
Look at this. These guys are certainly hoping for a soft landing. We'll show you what happened when rescuers tried to help them out.
And ahead, boxer Mike Tyson reveals a hidden talent you probably did not know about. That's straight ahead on LIVE FROM.
PHILLIPS: I like the tattoos.
HARRIS: Yo.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Live pictures. Yes, it is, your airborne cam right there. The chase plane on Steve Fossett as he's getting ready to land, we're told, possibly 15 minutes away from touching down in Kansas.
The GlobalFlyer making it around the globe nonstop. Even a fuel problem, but he's almost there. We're tracking it. We'll bring you more right after this.
HARRIS: In Iraq, the insurgent onslaught continues. Five police officers were killed and seven wounded in back-to-back car bombings near the Interior Ministry in Baghdad.
And in Baquba, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a local police headquarters, killing one person and wounding a dozen others. Security sources say the blast appeared to target a convoy carrying the head of the provincial police agency, but he escaped unharmed.
The attack came as the U.S. death toll in the war surpassed 1,500. And the government extended a state of emergency until the end of this month.
It is the late fallout from a bombing that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The opposition calls for security chiefs to resign. That's after the discovery of a man's body under the rubble more than two weeks after the incident.
CNN's Brent Sadler has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Seething discontent on the streets of Beirut, supporting this heartbroken Sunni Muslim family, burying bomb victim Abdul Hamid Kaliani (ph). He was killed in the blast that targeted Lebanon's former prime minister, Rafik Hariri more than two weeks ago.
Abdul Hamid's (ph) body officially missing in a scandal that has shocked this nation. His body was lying beneath rubble for 17 days until his distraught family took the law into their own hands, forcing their way through a security cordon, searching the bomb site themselves.
Minutes later, screams, followed by floods of tears and naked anger. The decomposed remains found at last. Inconsolable relatives lash out at the authorities. "What kind of negligence is this," wails the daughter. Mourners show contempt for official explanations that the site was sealed off to preserve evidence, making it difficult to find the body. A poor excuse, claims the family and many of those who walked to the burial site.
(on camera): The broad-based political opposition is calling for the immediate resignations of Lebanon's top security and intelligence chiefs. A demand echoed here at the funeral of Abdul Hamid Kaliani (ph).
(voice-over): A passerby in the devastating Hariri bomb attack finally laid to rest.
Brent Sadler, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Other news "Around the World" now.
The pope's condition continues to improve. A Vatican statement says the pontiff is eating regularly and spending a few hours each day sitting in his armchair. He's also undergoing rehab for his voice and breathing following last week's tracheotomy surgery.
British anti-terrorist police arrest three people, two men and a women, in the city of Coventry. Officials say that the three were taken to London where they're being held. Five searches in Coventry have been completed and one other continues.
Iron Mike as a singer? Well, it looks like Mike Tyson is looking for a change in career. The boxer made his singing debut at a popular Italian music festival.
HARRIS: Oh, come on.
PHILLIPS: I wonder if he was singing in Italian, Tony. That's despite some who wanted him banned from that even. And Tyson says, come on, it's not fair. Think of me as a singer, not just a fighta.
HARRIS: Oh my. Where's the video?
PHILLIPS: Nonstop flight. Pilot Steve Fossett attempting to circle the globe without fueling up. He is moments away from that landing. Live pictures right there as the chase plane is on his tail.
We're tracking his progress, we're going to bring you the landing as soon as it happens. Don't go away.
KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kathleen Hays at the New York Stock Exchange. Listen up, hockey fans. A Wall Street firm is also fed up about the season that never happened, and it has a smart idea to save the NHL. I'll tell you about the plan coming up on LIVE FROM.
Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Live pictures. The landing gear is down. And we thought there was a bit of a fuel problem. Well, no longer an issue.
In just a few minutes, we are told the man who set out three days ago to circle the Earth in a plane nonstop all alone in about a 7- foot-long cockpit, well, he's about to touch down, finally. We're going to take it live as soon as it happens.
HARRIS: We turn now to another chilling murder case out of Chicago and it's possible link to a hate group. The husband and mother of federal judge Joan Lefkow were found killed execution style in her Chicago home. The shootings came before the sentencing of a white supremacist who sought to hire a hit man to kill Lefkow.
CNN's senior producer Henry Schuster knows the violence radicals are capable of. He is co-author of "Hunting Eric Rudolph." It offers a look at the hatred that may have triggered the suspected terrorist.
Henry, good to see you. And here's the book. But let's first start with a couple questions about the Lefkow case.
We have these grisly murders. We have sketches of the persons of interest here.
HENRY SCHUSTER, CO-AUTHOR, "HUNTING ERIC RUDOLPH": Right.
HARRIS: There's also been a lot of conversation about this case online as well, correct?
SCHUSTER: Yes, there are. Just as we monitor al Qaeda message boards, there are a whole series of extremist message boards.
And some folks at the Anti-Defamation League, the ADL, have been monitoring them the last three days since this all happened. They've looked at about 20 different message boards, and what they're hearing is what in other circumstances would be called a lot of chatter.
HARRIS: A lot of chatter, sure.
SCHUSTER: A lot of chatter. And most of it seems to be applauding the murders.
HARRIS: OK. Do we have an example of what we're talking about?
SCHUSTER: Yes. There's an example of -- here's one that we found on there.
It says, "If you are doing the bidding of the enemy, you are the enemy." And that's -- another one said something to the effect, "Let's hope it's only the beginning."
HARRIS: Yes.
SCHUSTER: So this is not for the faint of heart to look at these things.
HARRIS: Now, we mentioned that the shooting came before the sentencing of a white supremacist who sought to hire an FBI informant to kill the judge. This man's name is Matthew Hale. And how is he viewed in this extremist community?
SCHUSTER: Well, right now, if you go by what's on these Web sites, he's viewed as something of a hero. And he has been for quite awhile. They view that it's an "us against them" struggle.
HARRIS: Right.
SCHUSTER: And they look at the federal judge, and they say -- I mean, here's something else that said that, "Well, I, for one, hope this is the work of some lone wolf targeting those who aid or support or have connections with somebody involved in acting against our race."
HARRIS: Right.
SCHUSTER: "Or someone who's acted against those like Matt Hale, who have stood up for our race." So whatever they thought about him before, he's getting a lot of support now.
HARRIS: OK. Let's talk about your book now, "Hunting Eric Rudolph."
You know, for a lot of folks, you'll need to remind us who Eric Rudolph is. We remember the crimes. But some of us may have forgotten about the man himself.
SCHUSTER: And for good reason, because, you know, he was off in the wild for five years. This is the man who was only identified after a series of bombings. And there you see a picture of him. This was after his arrest five years in the manhunt.
He was picked outside of a grocery store in North Carolina. He had become something of a folk hero. There were T-shirts that would say things like "Run, Rudolph, run."
HARRIS: Well, he is accused -- he's accused -- let's sort of list it here. He's accused of the Olympic park bombing, for one, and he's also of the bombing of a women's clinic in Alabama as well.
SCHUSTER: Right, and a couple of other bombings in between. It wasn't until the -- the Olympic bombing, which we're seeing here, when this took place, nobody had any idea who the suspect was.
HARRIS: Yes.
SCHUSTER: There was obviously a mistaken case of Richard Jewell. But they went 18 months without a suspect. And then there was the bombing in Birmingham.
A man was seen leaving the site of the crime. Somebody followed him, wrote down a license plate number, and that's how they got the break. But within a day, Eric Rudolph had not only been identified, but then what happened was that he disappeared into the woods for more than five years.
HARRIS: Well, Henry, what happened if they had a license plate, if they had a tail on him? Why did he stay at large for over five years?
SCHUSTER: Well, you know, one of the things I found when I was doing the book was that if the U.S. attorney in Birmingham had waited two more hours -- just two more hours before going public with Eric Rudolph's name, then there's every likelihood that the five-and-a-half year manhunt would have never had to take place.
HARRIS: Really?
SCHUSTER: Because the FBI was closing in on him on the ground in North Carolina, but there wasn't a lot of coordination between the two.
HARRIS: I see. OK. And the other question that I have, as we take a look again, if we could, of pictures of -- this is what we call the perp walk.
SCHUSTER: Perp walk, yes.
HARRIS: As we take a look at him, this is a man who has been on the lam, so to speak, for four or five years. And look at him. He looks pretty well pulled together.
SCHUSTER: You know, the expression is he cleans up well. But, I mean, remember, this is a guy who claimed that particular weekend, when investigators first talked to him, that he had been on a five- and-a-half year campaigning trip. Now...
HARRIS: Living in the woods among nature.
SCHUSTER: I mean, look, the skin doesn't look like somebody who's been living out in the woods for five-and-a-half years. And you never see his teeth there, but he had good dental work. I mean...
HARRIS: Well, Henry, what he really had, it seems to me, is help. Is there any evidence that he had some help during these years?
SCHUSTER: Well, we know of one person who did help him who came forward six months after Rudolph disappeared. And we know that he gave up some of his camp sites that he lived at right near the end.
But there's this whole middle ground. And there's this whole middle ground.
And this is one of the camp sites. And, you know, it looks like he's living well.
HARRIS: Yes.
SCHUSTER: But there's this whole middle ground in there where nobody knows how he's doing. He's not talking. He's certainly not talking.
Now that he's in federal custody, he's using himself as a prisoner of war. That's his ideology.
HARRIS: OK. We want to direct you to the book, "Hunting Eric Rudolph." The author is Henry Schuster, with Charles Stone. And we'll talk about Charles Stone at a later date.
SCHUSTER: OK.
HARRIS: That's an interesting story as well.
SCHUSTER: OK.
HARRIS: Henry, we appreciate it. Thank you.
SCHUSTER: All right.
PHILLIPS: Well, the landing gear is down, and his ETA is about 15 minutes. As we've been listening to mission control, live pictures right now from Salina, Kansas. It was three days ago that Steve Fossett went airborne, circling the world...
Aired March 3, 2005 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Coming in for a landing. Live pictures right now as pilot adventurer Steve Fossett gets ready to make full circle his flight around the world on one tank of gas. We expect him to land soon.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And countdown for Martha Stewart. She's hours away from walking away from federal prison. We're live for preparations for her release.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Miguel Marquez, live in Santa Maria, California. The sister of Michael Jackson's accuser has taken the witness stand. I'll have a full report.
HARRIS: Hanging by a thread. A routine day on the job turns out to be anything but for these window cleaners. Yikes.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris, in for Miles O'Brien.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
Thirty-odd odd minutes. To Salina, Kansas, that is, smack dab in the middle of the lower 48, end point of the historic voyage of the GlobalFlyer with intrepid world traveler Steve Fossett at the helm.
Salina is also the GlobalFlyer's starting point. And just like those baseballs Bugs Bunny used to hurl in "Looney Tunes," the custom- built jet and Fossett have circled the Earth nonstop since this time on Monday.
Touchdown is expected near the bottom of the hour. We're going to watch it live with our Bob Franken and our Daniel Sieberg here on set as Fossett gets just a little bit closer.
HARRIS: But first, a look inside Neverland. That's what jurors in the child molestation trial of Michael Jackson are getting today. Plus, they're hearing from one of those closest to his accuser.
CNN's Miguel Marquez is outside the courthouse in Santa Maria, California -- Miguel.
MARQUEZ: Tony, the accuser of Michael -- the sister of Michael Jackson's accuser has taken the stand. She's been on the stand for about 30 minutes, maybe 40 minutes, being talked to by the prosecution. Very slow getting into this so far. But she has divulged something about herself.
She is now 18 years old. She's a high school freshman. And she has testified so far that she saw her father strike her mother many times, that her father struck her and struck her and her brothers as well.
It's something of a contention between the defense and the prosecution. The defense saying that the mother had testified and had filled out forms many times saying that the former father had never struck them at all.
The other thing that we saw during this first session with her is the -- a picture with the accuser and Kobe Bryant. That's important because the defense had maintained that the accuser didn't even know Kobe Bryant, or Kobe Bryant didn't even know the accuser. But they do have a photo of the accuser when he was in the throes of cancer, looking like he was at a fund-raiser or something, where he met Kobe Bryant with a Lakers jersey right in front of him.
She also testified that in 2000 was the first time she and her family went to Neverland Ranch. The entire family went up there. She testified that she, her mother, her father at the time, stayed in guest corridors. She also saw her father and mother fight there, and her father ended up throwing a soda can at her mother, which will also be a point of contention in this.
She says on that first night there, that during dinner, while the father and the two brothers and Michael Jackson were having dinner, the accuser himself brought up the idea of him and his brothers staying with Michael Jackson in his guest corridors or in his bedroom, and that was allowed to happen on that very first night. She said that she never went into that bedroom, was never able to see it, but that they did stay with him -- Tony.
HARRIS: Miguel Marquez live from the courthouse. Thank you.
PHILLIPS: We've been talking so much about Steve Fossett and his historic landing. Well, fans of Steve Fossett aren't the only ones watching the clock right now. There's also inmate 55170-054.
Well, you know her better as Martha Stewart, the guru of gracious living who's been living in a federal prison in West Virginia since October 8. Well, mere hours from now, Stewart will trade those digs for five months of house arrest. Make that estate arrest at her $16 million spread in Bedford, New York.
That brings us to CNN's Allan Chernoff in New York City. He's not at an estate, he's actually in our bureau.
Hi, Allan.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
Well, the official release date for Martha Stewart is actually on Sunday. But at the Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia, typically what they do is they permit the inmates to leave on the Friday before a weekend. That's primarily because they have low staffing levels at the prison over the weekend. So theoretically, it is possible Martha Stewart could get out right after midnight.
It is also possible that she still may be in prison all the way until Sunday. We just don't know yet. We're, of course, going to be watching that very, very closely.
Once she does leave, she has 72 hours in which she is to report to her probation officer, and that will be in White Plains, New York, just north of New York City. And keep in mind, she has another five months of home detention.
That means she's going to be wearing an ankle bracelet. It will be electronically connected to her telephone. The probation officer will be able to track Martha Stewart's movements.
Now, as you mentioned, she does have that 153-acre estate, but she's not going to be allowed to roam all over the property. She'll have to stay to one building there, the primary building. She will, however, be permitted to leave for 48 hours every single week to do work. And there is plenty of work that Martha Stewart has planned.
She's going to resume writing a column for "Martha Stewart Living" magazine. She'll, of course, also be doing two television programs, a syndicated lifestyle show, and "The Apprentice," the Martha Stewart version of that. Of course, she'll also be consulting at her own company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Now Allan, we know that going into jail, it was very secretive. She snuck in, cameras not really able to get any type of video. Now what's the story about the exit? Will it be a little more grand, a little more nonsecretive?
CHERNOFF: We are anticipating that. We can't be certain, but we do know from the airport, the local airport in West Virginia, Greenbrier Valley, a flatbed truck has actually been rented at the airport, according to the airport manager, and from that position there will be cameras shooting Martha Stewart getting onto her plane, leaving West Virginia.
So it certainly appears, most likely, that this will be at least slightly more public. Recall when she went into prison, she kind of snuck in, in the middle of the night, and bypassed all the cameras.
PHILLIPS: And we've talked about so many of these deals that she's got going once she gets out of jail. But let's talk about the status of the legal situation. What's next?
CHERNOFF: It is continuing. As you know, Martha Stewart is still appealing her conviction. She was, of course, convicted of obstruction of justice, lying about a stock sale.
There's a hearing before a three-judge panel on March 17 here in New York City. So that will be the appeal of the criminal case.
Also, there is a civil case. The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Martha Stewart with insider trading. But that case has been on hold pending resolution of the criminal case.
So once that is all finished up with, then the SEC can move forward. And what we can anticipate there is that there will most likely be a settlement between the SEC and Martha Stewart. She'll have to pay a fine. She also will be barred for a certain amount of time from being an executive at her company, being a director. And, of course, keep in mind, she had to give up her chairmanship and her CEO position at the company.
PHILLIPS: All right. Allan Chernoff live from New York. Thank you so much.
And on the eve of Stewart's release, we are airing a special prime-time edition of "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS," including never-before- seen footage of Stewart in prison. That's tonight, 10:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
HARRIS: A judge seeks justice after two family members are slain execution style in their home. Chicago Police have released these sketches of two persons of interest in the case. Gunmen killed Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow's husband and mother.
CNN's Sean Callebs takes us inside the family life of the Lefkows.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Lefkow's law office is eerily quiet, a stack of unattended mail, his signature hat in the corner. Michael and his mother-in-law were brutally gunned down in the Lefkows' north Chicago home Monday. Now Michael's wife, U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow, is making plans for a memorial at St. Luke's Church.
CORINNE MURPHY-HINES, ST. LUKE'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH: They just seemed devoted to one another.
CALLEBS: And to their church. Michael was on the governing board.
The Lefkows had also become used to threats. White supremacist Matt Hale is in prison, convicted of threatening to kill Judge Lefkow in 2002. Last year, while the judge had a protective detail, white supremacists threatened to picket St. Luke's.
MURPHY-HINES: I was aware of what had happened, and I was aware that they were under protection. But it didn't bleed into the church life.
CALLEBS: Authorities say they are looking at the possibility a hate group went after Lefkow's family. One of Lefkow's colleagues say the killings are having a big impact.
JUDGE WAYNE ANDERSEN, U.S. DISTRICT COURT: It probably permeates the minute-by-minute, certainly hour-by-hour thoughts, of everybody in this particular court family. And probably to some extent the larger legal community in the Chicago area.
CALLEBS: Judge Wayne Andersen is now openly calling for a security review for members of the bench. But that could be hard. Federal judges in the northern Illinois district here, about 400 cases a year. Between 30 and 50 criminal. Friends who have talked with Lefkow say it is an agonizing time.
LAYTON OLSON, LEFKOW FAMILY FRIEND: And I think she's just doing the best she can. It's obviously just an hour-to-hour, day-to-day kind of thing. But I think her daughters have really pulled together very, very well in this.
CALLEBS: One of the couple's four daughters is getting married this summer. And Judge Lefkow told a Chicago newspaper her husband had just purchased a new tux and was so looking forward to the wedding.
Sean Callebs, CNN, Chicago.
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PHILLIPS: It's official. The nation has a new Homeland Security chief. Former Justice Department official Michael Chertoff was formally sworn in this morning. That oath of office was administered by Supreme court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as President Bush and Chertoff's families stood by.
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MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Our test now is to advance the exceptional achievements of the first two years of this department, to meet and manage the threats of today, and to prepare to confront the risks of the future. Our mission is no less than this: protect America while fostering the values of liberty, privacy and opportunity we all hold dear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Chertoff formerly served as a federal judge, a prosecutor, and worked as assistant attorney general at the Justice Department.
HARRIS: We are just minutes away -- 20 minutes or so from the landing of a flight of fancy. That magnificent man -- what are we seeing there -- and his flying machine. Steve Fossett expected to land in Salina, Kansas, as he tries to fly around the world on a single tank of gas.
That's a different picture, isn't it? We're following it for you. We'll bring you the landing when it happens.
Look at this. These guys are certainly hoping for a soft landing. We'll show you what happened when rescuers tried to help them out.
And ahead, boxer Mike Tyson reveals a hidden talent you probably did not know about. That's straight ahead on LIVE FROM.
PHILLIPS: I like the tattoos.
HARRIS: Yo.
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(WEATHER REPORT)
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PHILLIPS: Live pictures. Yes, it is, your airborne cam right there. The chase plane on Steve Fossett as he's getting ready to land, we're told, possibly 15 minutes away from touching down in Kansas.
The GlobalFlyer making it around the globe nonstop. Even a fuel problem, but he's almost there. We're tracking it. We'll bring you more right after this.
HARRIS: In Iraq, the insurgent onslaught continues. Five police officers were killed and seven wounded in back-to-back car bombings near the Interior Ministry in Baghdad.
And in Baquba, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a local police headquarters, killing one person and wounding a dozen others. Security sources say the blast appeared to target a convoy carrying the head of the provincial police agency, but he escaped unharmed.
The attack came as the U.S. death toll in the war surpassed 1,500. And the government extended a state of emergency until the end of this month.
It is the late fallout from a bombing that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The opposition calls for security chiefs to resign. That's after the discovery of a man's body under the rubble more than two weeks after the incident.
CNN's Brent Sadler has the story.
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BRENT SADLER, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Seething discontent on the streets of Beirut, supporting this heartbroken Sunni Muslim family, burying bomb victim Abdul Hamid Kaliani (ph). He was killed in the blast that targeted Lebanon's former prime minister, Rafik Hariri more than two weeks ago.
Abdul Hamid's (ph) body officially missing in a scandal that has shocked this nation. His body was lying beneath rubble for 17 days until his distraught family took the law into their own hands, forcing their way through a security cordon, searching the bomb site themselves.
Minutes later, screams, followed by floods of tears and naked anger. The decomposed remains found at last. Inconsolable relatives lash out at the authorities. "What kind of negligence is this," wails the daughter. Mourners show contempt for official explanations that the site was sealed off to preserve evidence, making it difficult to find the body. A poor excuse, claims the family and many of those who walked to the burial site.
(on camera): The broad-based political opposition is calling for the immediate resignations of Lebanon's top security and intelligence chiefs. A demand echoed here at the funeral of Abdul Hamid Kaliani (ph).
(voice-over): A passerby in the devastating Hariri bomb attack finally laid to rest.
Brent Sadler, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Other news "Around the World" now.
The pope's condition continues to improve. A Vatican statement says the pontiff is eating regularly and spending a few hours each day sitting in his armchair. He's also undergoing rehab for his voice and breathing following last week's tracheotomy surgery.
British anti-terrorist police arrest three people, two men and a women, in the city of Coventry. Officials say that the three were taken to London where they're being held. Five searches in Coventry have been completed and one other continues.
Iron Mike as a singer? Well, it looks like Mike Tyson is looking for a change in career. The boxer made his singing debut at a popular Italian music festival.
HARRIS: Oh, come on.
PHILLIPS: I wonder if he was singing in Italian, Tony. That's despite some who wanted him banned from that even. And Tyson says, come on, it's not fair. Think of me as a singer, not just a fighta.
HARRIS: Oh my. Where's the video?
PHILLIPS: Nonstop flight. Pilot Steve Fossett attempting to circle the globe without fueling up. He is moments away from that landing. Live pictures right there as the chase plane is on his tail.
We're tracking his progress, we're going to bring you the landing as soon as it happens. Don't go away.
KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kathleen Hays at the New York Stock Exchange. Listen up, hockey fans. A Wall Street firm is also fed up about the season that never happened, and it has a smart idea to save the NHL. I'll tell you about the plan coming up on LIVE FROM.
Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Live pictures. The landing gear is down. And we thought there was a bit of a fuel problem. Well, no longer an issue.
In just a few minutes, we are told the man who set out three days ago to circle the Earth in a plane nonstop all alone in about a 7- foot-long cockpit, well, he's about to touch down, finally. We're going to take it live as soon as it happens.
HARRIS: We turn now to another chilling murder case out of Chicago and it's possible link to a hate group. The husband and mother of federal judge Joan Lefkow were found killed execution style in her Chicago home. The shootings came before the sentencing of a white supremacist who sought to hire a hit man to kill Lefkow.
CNN's senior producer Henry Schuster knows the violence radicals are capable of. He is co-author of "Hunting Eric Rudolph." It offers a look at the hatred that may have triggered the suspected terrorist.
Henry, good to see you. And here's the book. But let's first start with a couple questions about the Lefkow case.
We have these grisly murders. We have sketches of the persons of interest here.
HENRY SCHUSTER, CO-AUTHOR, "HUNTING ERIC RUDOLPH": Right.
HARRIS: There's also been a lot of conversation about this case online as well, correct?
SCHUSTER: Yes, there are. Just as we monitor al Qaeda message boards, there are a whole series of extremist message boards.
And some folks at the Anti-Defamation League, the ADL, have been monitoring them the last three days since this all happened. They've looked at about 20 different message boards, and what they're hearing is what in other circumstances would be called a lot of chatter.
HARRIS: A lot of chatter, sure.
SCHUSTER: A lot of chatter. And most of it seems to be applauding the murders.
HARRIS: OK. Do we have an example of what we're talking about?
SCHUSTER: Yes. There's an example of -- here's one that we found on there.
It says, "If you are doing the bidding of the enemy, you are the enemy." And that's -- another one said something to the effect, "Let's hope it's only the beginning."
HARRIS: Yes.
SCHUSTER: So this is not for the faint of heart to look at these things.
HARRIS: Now, we mentioned that the shooting came before the sentencing of a white supremacist who sought to hire an FBI informant to kill the judge. This man's name is Matthew Hale. And how is he viewed in this extremist community?
SCHUSTER: Well, right now, if you go by what's on these Web sites, he's viewed as something of a hero. And he has been for quite awhile. They view that it's an "us against them" struggle.
HARRIS: Right.
SCHUSTER: And they look at the federal judge, and they say -- I mean, here's something else that said that, "Well, I, for one, hope this is the work of some lone wolf targeting those who aid or support or have connections with somebody involved in acting against our race."
HARRIS: Right.
SCHUSTER: "Or someone who's acted against those like Matt Hale, who have stood up for our race." So whatever they thought about him before, he's getting a lot of support now.
HARRIS: OK. Let's talk about your book now, "Hunting Eric Rudolph."
You know, for a lot of folks, you'll need to remind us who Eric Rudolph is. We remember the crimes. But some of us may have forgotten about the man himself.
SCHUSTER: And for good reason, because, you know, he was off in the wild for five years. This is the man who was only identified after a series of bombings. And there you see a picture of him. This was after his arrest five years in the manhunt.
He was picked outside of a grocery store in North Carolina. He had become something of a folk hero. There were T-shirts that would say things like "Run, Rudolph, run."
HARRIS: Well, he is accused -- he's accused -- let's sort of list it here. He's accused of the Olympic park bombing, for one, and he's also of the bombing of a women's clinic in Alabama as well.
SCHUSTER: Right, and a couple of other bombings in between. It wasn't until the -- the Olympic bombing, which we're seeing here, when this took place, nobody had any idea who the suspect was.
HARRIS: Yes.
SCHUSTER: There was obviously a mistaken case of Richard Jewell. But they went 18 months without a suspect. And then there was the bombing in Birmingham.
A man was seen leaving the site of the crime. Somebody followed him, wrote down a license plate number, and that's how they got the break. But within a day, Eric Rudolph had not only been identified, but then what happened was that he disappeared into the woods for more than five years.
HARRIS: Well, Henry, what happened if they had a license plate, if they had a tail on him? Why did he stay at large for over five years?
SCHUSTER: Well, you know, one of the things I found when I was doing the book was that if the U.S. attorney in Birmingham had waited two more hours -- just two more hours before going public with Eric Rudolph's name, then there's every likelihood that the five-and-a-half year manhunt would have never had to take place.
HARRIS: Really?
SCHUSTER: Because the FBI was closing in on him on the ground in North Carolina, but there wasn't a lot of coordination between the two.
HARRIS: I see. OK. And the other question that I have, as we take a look again, if we could, of pictures of -- this is what we call the perp walk.
SCHUSTER: Perp walk, yes.
HARRIS: As we take a look at him, this is a man who has been on the lam, so to speak, for four or five years. And look at him. He looks pretty well pulled together.
SCHUSTER: You know, the expression is he cleans up well. But, I mean, remember, this is a guy who claimed that particular weekend, when investigators first talked to him, that he had been on a five- and-a-half year campaigning trip. Now...
HARRIS: Living in the woods among nature.
SCHUSTER: I mean, look, the skin doesn't look like somebody who's been living out in the woods for five-and-a-half years. And you never see his teeth there, but he had good dental work. I mean...
HARRIS: Well, Henry, what he really had, it seems to me, is help. Is there any evidence that he had some help during these years?
SCHUSTER: Well, we know of one person who did help him who came forward six months after Rudolph disappeared. And we know that he gave up some of his camp sites that he lived at right near the end.
But there's this whole middle ground. And there's this whole middle ground.
And this is one of the camp sites. And, you know, it looks like he's living well.
HARRIS: Yes.
SCHUSTER: But there's this whole middle ground in there where nobody knows how he's doing. He's not talking. He's certainly not talking.
Now that he's in federal custody, he's using himself as a prisoner of war. That's his ideology.
HARRIS: OK. We want to direct you to the book, "Hunting Eric Rudolph." The author is Henry Schuster, with Charles Stone. And we'll talk about Charles Stone at a later date.
SCHUSTER: OK.
HARRIS: That's an interesting story as well.
SCHUSTER: OK.
HARRIS: Henry, we appreciate it. Thank you.
SCHUSTER: All right.
PHILLIPS: Well, the landing gear is down, and his ETA is about 15 minutes. As we've been listening to mission control, live pictures right now from Salina, Kansas. It was three days ago that Steve Fossett went airborne, circling the world...
