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Former WorldCom CEO Convicted on All Counts; Court Shooting Suspect Appears in Court; Teenager Beats Odds to Become First Rabies Survivor
Aired March 15, 2005 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Back in court after a shooting rampage that killed a judge, a court reporter and a deputy, Brian Nichols now faces justice under very different conditions.
TONY HARRIS, CO-HOST: A fugitive's hostage. She's gotten movie offers and book deals. But for now, she says, she just wants to get out of the spotlight.
PHILLIPS: Feminism, Middle Eastern style. They're not burning their burkas or tossing the veils, but the women of Iraq and Iran are fighting for change. This hour, we'll talk with the author of "Lipstick Jihad."
HARRIS: And you're looking at a medical miracle. She's the only known survivor of rabbis, an update on her amazing progress.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris, in for Miles O'Brien.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
Guilty on all counts, a very strict accounting of former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers by a federal jury in New York. Within the past hour, Ebbers was convicted of fraud, convicted of conspiracy, convicted of false filings, while at the helm of a mega corporation that tanked soon after he bailed out.
CNN's Susan Lisovicz has the bottom line from New York. And Susan, for a lot of our viewers who haven't been paying close attention to this case, why don't you talk us through the prosecution's case that was -- that led to this conviction?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the prosecution's case is pretty dramatic, Tony. It was the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history. WorldCom collapsed under $30 billion in debt. It was the biggest accounting fraud ever, $11 billion in debt.
Bernie Ebbers was no ordinary CEO. He was the man who transformed this tiny, little long distance company from a sleepy town in Mississippi, into one of the real players in telecom at its heyday in the '90s.
So Bernie Ebbers, took the defense, saying, "Look, I had nothing to do with cooking the books. I didn't know that it happened." But the government said, "You had to know what happened. You took immense pride in this company. This was your baby."
And not only that, his wealth, his own personal immense wealth was tied to the stock. So when the stock was tanking, Bernie Ebbers was under immense pressure to do something. The government said that he cooked the books, that he pressured the CFO to do so, and the CFO was the star witness against him -- Tony.
HARRIS: Susan, did he take the stand in his own defense?
LISOVICZ: He did. He did. And he said, repeatedly, that he knew nothing about it.
And you know, interestingly, Tony, there was no smoking gun against Bernie Ebbers. There were no e-mails. There were no letters that were really incriminating. But you would have to look simply at the numbers. The numbers were immense.
This was a huge collapse. This was a man who, while he did come from very humble beginning, worked a variety of jobs, really not with tremendous success, invested in a long distance company in the early '8s after the breakup of AT&T and was quite aggressive in guiding it from just another little long distance company into the No. 2 long distance company.
So that he could take this sort of folksy defense.
HARRIS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: But he was actually a very, sophisticated executive.
HARRIS: Susan, convicted of fraud, convicted of conspiracy, convicted of false filings, what is he facing now?
LISOVICZ: Well, he's convicted on all counts. If -- the maximum is given on all those counts, Ebbers, who will turn 64 this summer, could get 85 years in prison.
Of course, the judge has her own guidelines in which she could make it substantially more lenient. But he could go away to prison for the rest of his life.
And it should also be noted, Tony, that this is a huge, huge win for the government. We and many other news organizations have paid a lot of attention to the imprisonment of Martha Stewart...
HARRIS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: ... and Sam Waksal of ImClone. But those companies never folded. Investors might have gotten hit, but those companied never folded. This was a widely-held stock at its height, and millions of investors got burned. And this is one of the big fish that the government has been going after.
We have yet to see Jeff Skilling, Andrew Fastow of Enron... HARRIS: That's right.
LISOVICZ: ... Ken Lay, Richard Scrushy of HealthSouth, Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco, who's going through another trial. But this was one of the big wins for the government, and they are celebrating, undoubtedly, at this minute.
HARRIS: Yes. Very good. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange for us. Susan, we appreciate it, thank you.
PHILLIPS: Jump suit and shackles, guards all around, no guns in sight. Maximum security for a perfunctory court appearance by Brian Nichols at the Fulton County Georgia jail.
Almost 72 hours after 26 hours of mayhem came to a peaceful end, suspect Brian Nichols learned two things he already knew. He's not going anywhere this time, and more charges are coming.
We get the details now from CNN's Kimberly Osias in Atlanta -- Kimberly.
KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, you're exactly right. A very different tenor. In fact, a very different day than when Brian -- Brian Nichols was in court on Friday, last appearance, of course, the time of those grizzly shootings.
This time, unlike last time, he was clothed in prison garb, all in blue, and he was shackled very tightly at his waist and also at his feet. Authorities didn't want to run the risk of any kind of escape at all this time.
Eighteen deputies surrounded a windowless cinder block room, as he went down and he stood in front -- or he actually sat in front of the magistrate judge, Judge Cox, to hear the charges against him.
Now, interestingly, Kyra, he is being held on charges that he will never be prosecuted for. We are talking about those original charges, the rape charges, the false imprisonment and the aggravated sodomy charges.
The reason being is that basically what this does is it enables prosecutors to really take their time to establish a very strong case, a very strong murder case, against Mr. Nichols, all the while, keeping him safely behind bars, under lock and key.
Although the defense was relatively tight-lipped, earlier they spoke out to the media.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS ADAMS, NICHOLS' ATTORNEY: ... represent him and we've agreed to do so. At this time, we're not going to make any further public statements. This is a time of grief and mourning for the courthouse community, for all the victims. We're going to respect that. There will be plenty of time for us later to lay out our legal arguments and motions and to examine the evidence and to search for understand in this case. But it's not the time now, and I appreciate you all respecting that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OSIAS: Overall, the hearing ran about 10 minutes in duration. For his part, Mr. Nichols remained relatively emotionless.
Now while we are here, at the same time there is memorial service going on over at the courthouse to honor the individuals that died. Of course, we are talking about Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes, his court reporter, Julie Ann Brandau, and Deputy Hoyt Teasley -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Kimberly Osias, thanks so much. We'll continue to check in with you -- Tony.
HARRIS: Brian Nichols is being called a rapist, a killer, a carjacker and brute menace to society. But Brian Nichols reportedly says he is a soldier.
"The Atlanta Journal-Constitution" says Nichols talked to police and federal agents for three hours after he was captured on Saturday. The paper quotes a source in the room as saying Nichols spoke of seething over a justice system that he believed persecuted African- Americans, systematic slavery, in Nichols' words.
Witnesses say that didn't preclude him from killing a judge he reportedly considered fair, nor from attacking two African-American deputies. One died.
Prosecutors acknowledge Nichols was cooperative and gave a statement post-arrest, but they won't give details.
PHILLIPS: Well, representing Nichols in court will be tax payer funded P.D.'s, public defenders who are well accustomed to uphill battles in high profile cases.
I'm joined this hour by Michael Mears of the Standards Council of the Georgia P.D.'s.
Thanks for being with us.
MICHAEL MEARS, GEORGIA P.D. STANDARDS COUNCIL: Glad to be here.
PHILLIPS: So you talked with Chris Adams after he was assigned to this case. We saw him. We heard from him there in the courtroom. Did he say to you, "Oh, boy, Mike, this is going to be a big one"?
MEARS: In so many words, yes. He's -- he's up to the task. And he's up to the responsibility. We have to make sure that he has enough resources to properly defend Mr. Nichols. And Chris is one of those rare individuals who is going to be up to the task, and we know he will provide him with effective assistance of counsel. PHILLIPS: Well, let me ask you. We talked about "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution," talking about this source in the courtroom, saying that Nichols spoke of seething over the justice system that he believed African-Americans, systematic slavery, in Nichols' words, to be exact.
Hearing that, reading that, it's now out in the public, help, hurt the case? How will that play in?
MEARS: Anytime the prosecutors leak information that has allegedly obtained from a defendant in a criminal case, it doesn't help. It takes away from the ability of both the prosecutors and the defense attorneys to find jurors who have not been tainted by out of court statements or evidence that may or may not be admissible.
For the prosecutors to leak that type of information is detrimental not only to Mr. Nichols; it's also detrimental to the whole process of getting a fair trial in Georgia.
PHILLIPS: I can imagine the media, all the media coverage. I mean, this has been a huge story for the past four days. It will continue to be. How does that effect the case with the public defender, in addition to what you just said, these statements that are already coming out in the paper?
MEARS: Well, the media -- it's to be expected that the media will follow this story. It is big news.
What the media does is different than what the prosecutors and police do by issuing these statements about what went on during the interview or alleged interview of Mr. Nichols. It does affect the ability to find potential jurors.
PHILLIPS: Sure.
MEARS: It also sways public opinion against the defendant more so than has already been done by the act for which they've been arrested.
The problem we have in this case is the constant flow of information coming from the prosecutors and the police about things that may or may not be admissible in court. But they're out there now.
PHILLIPS: Sure.
MEARS: And finding any jurors who are not going to believe that is difficult.
PHILLIPS: Everyone talks nowadays. Everyone holds their news conferences, and we have the life coverage. And you're hearing from so many people at such length.
Picking a public defender, just looking at what happened since Friday and what happened in that courthouse and the lack of security, missteps that were made, how do you select, first of all, a public defender for a case like this? And then I want to get to the safety issue of it.
MEARS: Well, first of all, Georgia is somewhat unique in that we have a statewide public defender system that's just -- we just started January the fist of this year.
A part of that statewide public defender system is a capital defender's office. It's a group of highly-specialized, highly experienced, well-trained attorneys who do nothing but defend death penalty cases.
And so when this case happened, and it was clear that Mr. Nichols was going to qualify for the services of a public defender because of his indigency, then it automatically went to capital defender's office. Then that office selects, in a case like this the most qualified, the most experienced people in that office to represent...
PHILLIPS: That's how Chris Adams was picked?
MEARS: That's correct.
PHILLIPS: Got you. So, well, now, the safety aspect. What if Chris Adams says, "You know what? I just don't have a good feeling about this. I don't feel safe. I fear for my life, things that Nichols may be saying to me?" Can he say, "I don't want to be the public defender. Pick someone else"?
MEARS: He could, but he won't. Chris is up to this task, as I've said before.
But in any case, if a public defender feels that he or she cannot provide the type of representation a criminal defendant deserves, then they have the right and the obligation to say, "I need to step back. This is not a case that I can defend. This is not a client that I feel comfortable with."
They have the right and the obligation, quite frankly, to back out of the case and let someone else step in.
Every defender cannot defend every client the same way. And the seasoned public defenders can make that distinction. It's not -- it's not a disgrace to say, "This client and I are just not getting alone. We're not communicating. We need to get someone in who can communicate." That's the mark of a really good, well-trained, experienced defender.
PHILLIPS: Mike Mears, we're going to be watching your public defender and everyone else that gets involved. Thanks for your time today.
MEARS: Thank you for having me.
PHILLIPS: All right.
HARRIS: Well, Kyra, the woman who says she helped Nichols decide to surrender says she's had enough of the spotlight. Ashley Smith is a 26-year-old widow and mother of one whose own tribulations have come to light, along with her poise and inner strength throughout a seven- hour ordeal.
Last night, she spoke briefly to reporters in Vesta (ph), Georgia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHLEY SMITH, FORMER HOSTAGE: As I'm sure you can imagine, this has been extremely difficult and exhausting for me and my extended family. I've experienced just about every emotion one can imagine in the span of just a few days.
Throughout my time with Mr. Nichols, I continued to rely on my faith in God. God has helped me through tough times before, and he'll help me now. I hope that you will respect my need to rest and to focus my immediate attention on helping legal authorities proceed with their various investigations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: It is still not clear whether Smith will get the $60,000 reward that was offered for Nichols' apprehension. But her aunt tells the Associated Press Smith already has gotten book and movie offers.
Tonight at 9 Eastern, a CNN exclusive. Larry King talks one-on- one with Mark Nichols, the brother of shooting spree suspect Brian Nichols. That's tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern.
PHILLIPS: And Ashley Smith...
HARRIS: Ashley Smith credited the book "The Purpose-Driven Life" for helping her get through a seven-hour ordeal. Tomorrow night, CNN goes beyond the headlines with this Christian best-seller that helps millions who seek spiritual guidance, "The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth am I Here For?" Paula Zahn hosts a special edition of "NEWSNIGHT" tomorrow at 10 p.m. Eastern.
PHILLIPS: The key to fighting cancer could be served up with cream and sugar. Scientists finding an essential ingredient for preventing the disease in a cup of green tea. We'll pour that one, ahead on LIVE FROM.
And a girl's amazing comeback from a disease no human has ever survived before. We'll tell you about it.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Michael Jackson making it to court about 20 minutes early today, the ides of March, the pop star walking without assistance for the first time since Thursday, when his attorney said he was stricken by a back ailment.
Meanwhile, Jackson's young accuser in the hot seat today as the defense continues cross-examination. Under Thomas Mesereau's intense interrogation Monday -- some termed it withering -- the now 15-year- old boy said he told an administrator at his school that nothing sexual happened between him and Jackson. He didn't explain why he denied the child molestation allegations to the administrator.
PHILLIPS: Taking up now with some of today's top medical news. Take time for tea if you want to deliver a preemptive strike against cancer.
Scientists in Spain and Britain have shown that a compound called EGCG found in green tea prevents certain cancer cells from growing.
And after you down that cup, well, head for the hills. It could help you live longer. Greek researchers have found that people who live at high altitudes have lower odds of dying from heart disease then those closer to sea level. And here's the interesting part. That was even if the highlanders had factors that could increase their risk.
Finally, should all newborns be genetically screened? Well, a federal advisory panel is expected to recommend the testing for 29 rare medical conditions. But opponents say the results may not be useful. It's not known if a positive test at birth means that the child will ever actually develop that illness.
And now a medical miracle, bringing cheers and tears to Wisconsin high school classmates as she returns. Basically, it's about beating all the odds.
HARRIS: It really is. Last September, Jeanna Giese was bitten by a rabid bat but didn't see a doctor until a month later. No one expected her to survive.
Got a grab a tissue. Selena Jacobson from our affiliate, WLUK, in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, has Jeanna's emotional reunion with her friends.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SELENA JACOBSON, WLUK REPORTER (voice-over): When Jeanna Giese got rabbis last October, she wasn't expected to live, let alone walk only five months later. Monday, the halls of St. Mary's Springs High School in Fond du Lac are alive once again with Jeanna Giese's smile.
KRISTIN BERTRAM, JEANNA'S FRIEND: So today, as Jeanna joins us once again, we want to let her know how much we love her, how proud we are of her for how hard she has worked and how glad we are that she is back. And on behalf of the student body, we'd like to welcome you back, Jeanna.
JACOBSON: Jeanna, her family and friends cried tears of joy. Joy that Jeanna is back at school and improving every day.
JOHN GIESE, JEANNA'S DAD: She's doing good. She's moving around the house now. She's able to walk by hanging onto things, the table and chairs and that. We're hoping within a few weeks she starts to take more than three or four steps on her own and that's going to be a huge thing for us.
JACOBSON: Right now, Jeanna goes through three hour of therapy each day. That only allows her time to take one math class and an hour of tutoring a day.
GIESE: She's been doing really good on the school part of it.
JACOBSON: So well, she's already catching up on the classes she's missed. And as Jeanna and her mom take the elevator to class, she told reporters she's glad to be back.
St. Mary's Springs is glad, too. Jeanna Giese is their superhero that made them believe in miracles and the power of faith.
GIESE: I think I've got a hero right here, and I think she's a hero for all of us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next, on LIVE FROM, feminism Mideast- style. Why it looks different in Iraq and Iran than it does in the West. We'll talk with the author of "Lipstick Jihad," who lives in both worlds.
Later on LIVE FROM...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to show you how the trouble all began.
PHILLIPS: We go inside the Atlanta courthouse scene of Friday's killing spree.
And later on LIVE FROM...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are shouting at me. I don't know how to cope with it.
PHILLIPS: Viva New Delhi. Elvis rocks the subcontinent and creates a tourism craze.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes. What is his name? PHILLIPS: Doesn't his voice freak you out?
HARRIS: Yes, but what is his character's name? The little guy?
PHILLIPS: I can't remember. I'm sorry.
HARRIS: You know the one? The one crawling?
PHILLIPS: Who is it, John?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Frodo.
PHILLIPS: Frodo.
HARRIS: Frodo? No, no, no, no, no. You know the one I'm talking about, the little -- the little guy with the weird voice.
PHILLIPS: Anyway, it was a hit. It was a hit at the box office.
HARRIS: Yes, yes. Should we be telling the story?
PHILLIPS: Yes, really. We could sit here and just watch the whole movie and narrate. What do you think?
HARRIS: But Kyra, so you're right, it was a hit, right?
PHILLIPS: Right, right.
HARRIS: So why not bring middle earth to Broadway? Well, here's the deal. First comes Toronto, where a stage musical based on "The Lord of the Rings" will have its world premiere next March.
PHILLIPS: And the $22 million show is going to feature a cast of about 50 and a three-hour spectacle designed to plunge the audience into the events as they happen. I feel like we should talk like this. Tolkien fans could find it hobbit-forming.
HARRIS: The little wormy guy, what is his name? The little wormy guy?
PHILLIPS: And you know what? Every -- every "Lord of the Rings"...
HARRIS: Everybody knows.
PHILLIPS: Yes, the fans saying, "Look at those two bozos on CNN that can't even remember the name of the character." Anyway.
HARRIS: It happens. All right. Moving on now.
PHILLIPS: Susan Lisovicz might know.
HARRIS: Well, she's at the New York Stock Exchange. And where Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, we understand, is pushing, once again, his ideas for a Social Security fix.
Is that -- is that the story, Susan?
(STOCK REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired March 15, 2005 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Back in court after a shooting rampage that killed a judge, a court reporter and a deputy, Brian Nichols now faces justice under very different conditions.
TONY HARRIS, CO-HOST: A fugitive's hostage. She's gotten movie offers and book deals. But for now, she says, she just wants to get out of the spotlight.
PHILLIPS: Feminism, Middle Eastern style. They're not burning their burkas or tossing the veils, but the women of Iraq and Iran are fighting for change. This hour, we'll talk with the author of "Lipstick Jihad."
HARRIS: And you're looking at a medical miracle. She's the only known survivor of rabbis, an update on her amazing progress.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris, in for Miles O'Brien.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
Guilty on all counts, a very strict accounting of former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers by a federal jury in New York. Within the past hour, Ebbers was convicted of fraud, convicted of conspiracy, convicted of false filings, while at the helm of a mega corporation that tanked soon after he bailed out.
CNN's Susan Lisovicz has the bottom line from New York. And Susan, for a lot of our viewers who haven't been paying close attention to this case, why don't you talk us through the prosecution's case that was -- that led to this conviction?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the prosecution's case is pretty dramatic, Tony. It was the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history. WorldCom collapsed under $30 billion in debt. It was the biggest accounting fraud ever, $11 billion in debt.
Bernie Ebbers was no ordinary CEO. He was the man who transformed this tiny, little long distance company from a sleepy town in Mississippi, into one of the real players in telecom at its heyday in the '90s.
So Bernie Ebbers, took the defense, saying, "Look, I had nothing to do with cooking the books. I didn't know that it happened." But the government said, "You had to know what happened. You took immense pride in this company. This was your baby."
And not only that, his wealth, his own personal immense wealth was tied to the stock. So when the stock was tanking, Bernie Ebbers was under immense pressure to do something. The government said that he cooked the books, that he pressured the CFO to do so, and the CFO was the star witness against him -- Tony.
HARRIS: Susan, did he take the stand in his own defense?
LISOVICZ: He did. He did. And he said, repeatedly, that he knew nothing about it.
And you know, interestingly, Tony, there was no smoking gun against Bernie Ebbers. There were no e-mails. There were no letters that were really incriminating. But you would have to look simply at the numbers. The numbers were immense.
This was a huge collapse. This was a man who, while he did come from very humble beginning, worked a variety of jobs, really not with tremendous success, invested in a long distance company in the early '8s after the breakup of AT&T and was quite aggressive in guiding it from just another little long distance company into the No. 2 long distance company.
So that he could take this sort of folksy defense.
HARRIS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: But he was actually a very, sophisticated executive.
HARRIS: Susan, convicted of fraud, convicted of conspiracy, convicted of false filings, what is he facing now?
LISOVICZ: Well, he's convicted on all counts. If -- the maximum is given on all those counts, Ebbers, who will turn 64 this summer, could get 85 years in prison.
Of course, the judge has her own guidelines in which she could make it substantially more lenient. But he could go away to prison for the rest of his life.
And it should also be noted, Tony, that this is a huge, huge win for the government. We and many other news organizations have paid a lot of attention to the imprisonment of Martha Stewart...
HARRIS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: ... and Sam Waksal of ImClone. But those companies never folded. Investors might have gotten hit, but those companied never folded. This was a widely-held stock at its height, and millions of investors got burned. And this is one of the big fish that the government has been going after.
We have yet to see Jeff Skilling, Andrew Fastow of Enron... HARRIS: That's right.
LISOVICZ: ... Ken Lay, Richard Scrushy of HealthSouth, Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco, who's going through another trial. But this was one of the big wins for the government, and they are celebrating, undoubtedly, at this minute.
HARRIS: Yes. Very good. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange for us. Susan, we appreciate it, thank you.
PHILLIPS: Jump suit and shackles, guards all around, no guns in sight. Maximum security for a perfunctory court appearance by Brian Nichols at the Fulton County Georgia jail.
Almost 72 hours after 26 hours of mayhem came to a peaceful end, suspect Brian Nichols learned two things he already knew. He's not going anywhere this time, and more charges are coming.
We get the details now from CNN's Kimberly Osias in Atlanta -- Kimberly.
KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, you're exactly right. A very different tenor. In fact, a very different day than when Brian -- Brian Nichols was in court on Friday, last appearance, of course, the time of those grizzly shootings.
This time, unlike last time, he was clothed in prison garb, all in blue, and he was shackled very tightly at his waist and also at his feet. Authorities didn't want to run the risk of any kind of escape at all this time.
Eighteen deputies surrounded a windowless cinder block room, as he went down and he stood in front -- or he actually sat in front of the magistrate judge, Judge Cox, to hear the charges against him.
Now, interestingly, Kyra, he is being held on charges that he will never be prosecuted for. We are talking about those original charges, the rape charges, the false imprisonment and the aggravated sodomy charges.
The reason being is that basically what this does is it enables prosecutors to really take their time to establish a very strong case, a very strong murder case, against Mr. Nichols, all the while, keeping him safely behind bars, under lock and key.
Although the defense was relatively tight-lipped, earlier they spoke out to the media.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS ADAMS, NICHOLS' ATTORNEY: ... represent him and we've agreed to do so. At this time, we're not going to make any further public statements. This is a time of grief and mourning for the courthouse community, for all the victims. We're going to respect that. There will be plenty of time for us later to lay out our legal arguments and motions and to examine the evidence and to search for understand in this case. But it's not the time now, and I appreciate you all respecting that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OSIAS: Overall, the hearing ran about 10 minutes in duration. For his part, Mr. Nichols remained relatively emotionless.
Now while we are here, at the same time there is memorial service going on over at the courthouse to honor the individuals that died. Of course, we are talking about Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes, his court reporter, Julie Ann Brandau, and Deputy Hoyt Teasley -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Kimberly Osias, thanks so much. We'll continue to check in with you -- Tony.
HARRIS: Brian Nichols is being called a rapist, a killer, a carjacker and brute menace to society. But Brian Nichols reportedly says he is a soldier.
"The Atlanta Journal-Constitution" says Nichols talked to police and federal agents for three hours after he was captured on Saturday. The paper quotes a source in the room as saying Nichols spoke of seething over a justice system that he believed persecuted African- Americans, systematic slavery, in Nichols' words.
Witnesses say that didn't preclude him from killing a judge he reportedly considered fair, nor from attacking two African-American deputies. One died.
Prosecutors acknowledge Nichols was cooperative and gave a statement post-arrest, but they won't give details.
PHILLIPS: Well, representing Nichols in court will be tax payer funded P.D.'s, public defenders who are well accustomed to uphill battles in high profile cases.
I'm joined this hour by Michael Mears of the Standards Council of the Georgia P.D.'s.
Thanks for being with us.
MICHAEL MEARS, GEORGIA P.D. STANDARDS COUNCIL: Glad to be here.
PHILLIPS: So you talked with Chris Adams after he was assigned to this case. We saw him. We heard from him there in the courtroom. Did he say to you, "Oh, boy, Mike, this is going to be a big one"?
MEARS: In so many words, yes. He's -- he's up to the task. And he's up to the responsibility. We have to make sure that he has enough resources to properly defend Mr. Nichols. And Chris is one of those rare individuals who is going to be up to the task, and we know he will provide him with effective assistance of counsel. PHILLIPS: Well, let me ask you. We talked about "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution," talking about this source in the courtroom, saying that Nichols spoke of seething over the justice system that he believed African-Americans, systematic slavery, in Nichols' words, to be exact.
Hearing that, reading that, it's now out in the public, help, hurt the case? How will that play in?
MEARS: Anytime the prosecutors leak information that has allegedly obtained from a defendant in a criminal case, it doesn't help. It takes away from the ability of both the prosecutors and the defense attorneys to find jurors who have not been tainted by out of court statements or evidence that may or may not be admissible.
For the prosecutors to leak that type of information is detrimental not only to Mr. Nichols; it's also detrimental to the whole process of getting a fair trial in Georgia.
PHILLIPS: I can imagine the media, all the media coverage. I mean, this has been a huge story for the past four days. It will continue to be. How does that effect the case with the public defender, in addition to what you just said, these statements that are already coming out in the paper?
MEARS: Well, the media -- it's to be expected that the media will follow this story. It is big news.
What the media does is different than what the prosecutors and police do by issuing these statements about what went on during the interview or alleged interview of Mr. Nichols. It does affect the ability to find potential jurors.
PHILLIPS: Sure.
MEARS: It also sways public opinion against the defendant more so than has already been done by the act for which they've been arrested.
The problem we have in this case is the constant flow of information coming from the prosecutors and the police about things that may or may not be admissible in court. But they're out there now.
PHILLIPS: Sure.
MEARS: And finding any jurors who are not going to believe that is difficult.
PHILLIPS: Everyone talks nowadays. Everyone holds their news conferences, and we have the life coverage. And you're hearing from so many people at such length.
Picking a public defender, just looking at what happened since Friday and what happened in that courthouse and the lack of security, missteps that were made, how do you select, first of all, a public defender for a case like this? And then I want to get to the safety issue of it.
MEARS: Well, first of all, Georgia is somewhat unique in that we have a statewide public defender system that's just -- we just started January the fist of this year.
A part of that statewide public defender system is a capital defender's office. It's a group of highly-specialized, highly experienced, well-trained attorneys who do nothing but defend death penalty cases.
And so when this case happened, and it was clear that Mr. Nichols was going to qualify for the services of a public defender because of his indigency, then it automatically went to capital defender's office. Then that office selects, in a case like this the most qualified, the most experienced people in that office to represent...
PHILLIPS: That's how Chris Adams was picked?
MEARS: That's correct.
PHILLIPS: Got you. So, well, now, the safety aspect. What if Chris Adams says, "You know what? I just don't have a good feeling about this. I don't feel safe. I fear for my life, things that Nichols may be saying to me?" Can he say, "I don't want to be the public defender. Pick someone else"?
MEARS: He could, but he won't. Chris is up to this task, as I've said before.
But in any case, if a public defender feels that he or she cannot provide the type of representation a criminal defendant deserves, then they have the right and the obligation to say, "I need to step back. This is not a case that I can defend. This is not a client that I feel comfortable with."
They have the right and the obligation, quite frankly, to back out of the case and let someone else step in.
Every defender cannot defend every client the same way. And the seasoned public defenders can make that distinction. It's not -- it's not a disgrace to say, "This client and I are just not getting alone. We're not communicating. We need to get someone in who can communicate." That's the mark of a really good, well-trained, experienced defender.
PHILLIPS: Mike Mears, we're going to be watching your public defender and everyone else that gets involved. Thanks for your time today.
MEARS: Thank you for having me.
PHILLIPS: All right.
HARRIS: Well, Kyra, the woman who says she helped Nichols decide to surrender says she's had enough of the spotlight. Ashley Smith is a 26-year-old widow and mother of one whose own tribulations have come to light, along with her poise and inner strength throughout a seven- hour ordeal.
Last night, she spoke briefly to reporters in Vesta (ph), Georgia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHLEY SMITH, FORMER HOSTAGE: As I'm sure you can imagine, this has been extremely difficult and exhausting for me and my extended family. I've experienced just about every emotion one can imagine in the span of just a few days.
Throughout my time with Mr. Nichols, I continued to rely on my faith in God. God has helped me through tough times before, and he'll help me now. I hope that you will respect my need to rest and to focus my immediate attention on helping legal authorities proceed with their various investigations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: It is still not clear whether Smith will get the $60,000 reward that was offered for Nichols' apprehension. But her aunt tells the Associated Press Smith already has gotten book and movie offers.
Tonight at 9 Eastern, a CNN exclusive. Larry King talks one-on- one with Mark Nichols, the brother of shooting spree suspect Brian Nichols. That's tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern.
PHILLIPS: And Ashley Smith...
HARRIS: Ashley Smith credited the book "The Purpose-Driven Life" for helping her get through a seven-hour ordeal. Tomorrow night, CNN goes beyond the headlines with this Christian best-seller that helps millions who seek spiritual guidance, "The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth am I Here For?" Paula Zahn hosts a special edition of "NEWSNIGHT" tomorrow at 10 p.m. Eastern.
PHILLIPS: The key to fighting cancer could be served up with cream and sugar. Scientists finding an essential ingredient for preventing the disease in a cup of green tea. We'll pour that one, ahead on LIVE FROM.
And a girl's amazing comeback from a disease no human has ever survived before. We'll tell you about it.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
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HARRIS: Michael Jackson making it to court about 20 minutes early today, the ides of March, the pop star walking without assistance for the first time since Thursday, when his attorney said he was stricken by a back ailment.
Meanwhile, Jackson's young accuser in the hot seat today as the defense continues cross-examination. Under Thomas Mesereau's intense interrogation Monday -- some termed it withering -- the now 15-year- old boy said he told an administrator at his school that nothing sexual happened between him and Jackson. He didn't explain why he denied the child molestation allegations to the administrator.
PHILLIPS: Taking up now with some of today's top medical news. Take time for tea if you want to deliver a preemptive strike against cancer.
Scientists in Spain and Britain have shown that a compound called EGCG found in green tea prevents certain cancer cells from growing.
And after you down that cup, well, head for the hills. It could help you live longer. Greek researchers have found that people who live at high altitudes have lower odds of dying from heart disease then those closer to sea level. And here's the interesting part. That was even if the highlanders had factors that could increase their risk.
Finally, should all newborns be genetically screened? Well, a federal advisory panel is expected to recommend the testing for 29 rare medical conditions. But opponents say the results may not be useful. It's not known if a positive test at birth means that the child will ever actually develop that illness.
And now a medical miracle, bringing cheers and tears to Wisconsin high school classmates as she returns. Basically, it's about beating all the odds.
HARRIS: It really is. Last September, Jeanna Giese was bitten by a rabid bat but didn't see a doctor until a month later. No one expected her to survive.
Got a grab a tissue. Selena Jacobson from our affiliate, WLUK, in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, has Jeanna's emotional reunion with her friends.
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SELENA JACOBSON, WLUK REPORTER (voice-over): When Jeanna Giese got rabbis last October, she wasn't expected to live, let alone walk only five months later. Monday, the halls of St. Mary's Springs High School in Fond du Lac are alive once again with Jeanna Giese's smile.
KRISTIN BERTRAM, JEANNA'S FRIEND: So today, as Jeanna joins us once again, we want to let her know how much we love her, how proud we are of her for how hard she has worked and how glad we are that she is back. And on behalf of the student body, we'd like to welcome you back, Jeanna.
JACOBSON: Jeanna, her family and friends cried tears of joy. Joy that Jeanna is back at school and improving every day.
JOHN GIESE, JEANNA'S DAD: She's doing good. She's moving around the house now. She's able to walk by hanging onto things, the table and chairs and that. We're hoping within a few weeks she starts to take more than three or four steps on her own and that's going to be a huge thing for us.
JACOBSON: Right now, Jeanna goes through three hour of therapy each day. That only allows her time to take one math class and an hour of tutoring a day.
GIESE: She's been doing really good on the school part of it.
JACOBSON: So well, she's already catching up on the classes she's missed. And as Jeanna and her mom take the elevator to class, she told reporters she's glad to be back.
St. Mary's Springs is glad, too. Jeanna Giese is their superhero that made them believe in miracles and the power of faith.
GIESE: I think I've got a hero right here, and I think she's a hero for all of us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next, on LIVE FROM, feminism Mideast- style. Why it looks different in Iraq and Iran than it does in the West. We'll talk with the author of "Lipstick Jihad," who lives in both worlds.
Later on LIVE FROM...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to show you how the trouble all began.
PHILLIPS: We go inside the Atlanta courthouse scene of Friday's killing spree.
And later on LIVE FROM...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are shouting at me. I don't know how to cope with it.
PHILLIPS: Viva New Delhi. Elvis rocks the subcontinent and creates a tourism craze.
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(WEATHER REPORT)
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
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HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes. What is his name? PHILLIPS: Doesn't his voice freak you out?
HARRIS: Yes, but what is his character's name? The little guy?
PHILLIPS: I can't remember. I'm sorry.
HARRIS: You know the one? The one crawling?
PHILLIPS: Who is it, John?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Frodo.
PHILLIPS: Frodo.
HARRIS: Frodo? No, no, no, no, no. You know the one I'm talking about, the little -- the little guy with the weird voice.
PHILLIPS: Anyway, it was a hit. It was a hit at the box office.
HARRIS: Yes, yes. Should we be telling the story?
PHILLIPS: Yes, really. We could sit here and just watch the whole movie and narrate. What do you think?
HARRIS: But Kyra, so you're right, it was a hit, right?
PHILLIPS: Right, right.
HARRIS: So why not bring middle earth to Broadway? Well, here's the deal. First comes Toronto, where a stage musical based on "The Lord of the Rings" will have its world premiere next March.
PHILLIPS: And the $22 million show is going to feature a cast of about 50 and a three-hour spectacle designed to plunge the audience into the events as they happen. I feel like we should talk like this. Tolkien fans could find it hobbit-forming.
HARRIS: The little wormy guy, what is his name? The little wormy guy?
PHILLIPS: And you know what? Every -- every "Lord of the Rings"...
HARRIS: Everybody knows.
PHILLIPS: Yes, the fans saying, "Look at those two bozos on CNN that can't even remember the name of the character." Anyway.
HARRIS: It happens. All right. Moving on now.
PHILLIPS: Susan Lisovicz might know.
HARRIS: Well, she's at the New York Stock Exchange. And where Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, we understand, is pushing, once again, his ideas for a Social Security fix.
Is that -- is that the story, Susan?
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