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Star Witness in Oklahoma City Bombing Trial Walks Out of Prison Today; Whale Swims Up London's River Thames

Aired January 20, 2006 - 11:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Michael Fortier, the star witness in the Oklahoma City Bombing trial, walks out of prison today. There's a possibility he and his family will disappear into the federal witness protection program.
More from correspondent Ed Lavandera in Oklahoma City.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Fortier will forever be remembered as the man who could have stopped the Oklahoma City bombing. So the idea of Fortier walking free angers the grandmother of Aaron and Elijah Coverdale, two of 168 bombing victims.

JANNIE COVERDALE, GRANDMOTHER OF BOMBING VICTIMS: I hope life is going to be very bad for him on the outside. I hope his life is going to be hell like mine. I miss my boys.

LAVANDERA: Fortier was the star witness for the prosecution in the trials of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. In exchange for his testimony, Fortier pleaded guilty to knowing about the bombing plot and not saying anything about it.

He received a 12-year prison sentence. With credit for good behavior, Fortier is being released a year-and-a-half early to resume his life with his wife and two children. His attorney says Fortier is sorry for his failure to help stop the bombing.

MICHAEL MCGUIRE, FORTIER'S ATTORNEY: He'll never be able to forget that, and that always puts a tremendous burden on him and his conscious every day, the rest of his life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You and your taxes (ph).

LAVANDERA: Almost 11 years after the bombing, Brandon and Rebecca Denny have come a long way, recovering from the brutal injuries they suffered that day. Their family isn't bothered by Fortier's release. It's their way of letting go of the past.

JIM DENNY, FATHER OF BOMBING VICTIM: It doesn't come easy for us to say, yes, let him out. That's fine, let him go, you know. He deserves it. He paid his debt to society, and he's no threat to anybody.

LAVANDERA (on camera): Fortier's attorney says there are people who would like to, quote, "get at" Michael Fortier for his involvement with Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.

So because of that, he says, it is necessary to keep his whereabouts a secret and that Michael Fortier has no plans of ever doing an interview or speaking out publicly.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Oklahoma city.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Let's talk now live with two of the relatives you just saw in Ed's Report. Jannie Coverdale lost two grandsons in the Murrah building's day care center. Jim Denny's children, Rebecca and Brandon, were severely injured that day. As you can see, they are growing up incredibly. Welcome to all of you and your families and thank you for being here with us.

J. DENNY: Thank you for having us.

COVERDALE: Thank you.

KAGAN: Mrs. Coverdale, let's start with you first. What do you think -- has Michael Fortier served his time?

COVERDALE: I don't think Michael Fortier has served his time. In fact, I think Michael Fortier should be doing life in prison.

Now I know he was sentenced to 12 years. He's done a year and five months so...

KAGAN: Well, About 10 years.

COVERDALE: I mean, I'm sorry, 10 years and five months, and no, I don't think he has served his time. In fact, Michael Fortier was more involved in the bombings than he testified to in court. I know that for a fact.

KAGAN: Jim, let's bring you in here. What do you think about the amount of time he has served?

DENNY: Well, I think, you know, when you look at what he did in the trials, when you look at -- he was the only direct key witness in the McVeigh trial, federal trial, and the only key federal witness in Terry Nichols' trial. And according to the jury, his testimony actually was responsible for getting Terry Nichols convicted.

So listen, I say this with all due respect to Jannie Coverdale. I mean, we pray for her. She lost two very beautiful grandchildren. But the man has served his time. He made an agreement with the prosecutors, with the judge, and he served his time, and I think we should let him go, let him out, and let him get on with his life.

You know, yes, he knew. Did he really know for sure? I don't think so. Would anybody have stopped it if he'd have said something? Nobody knows. But he served 10-plus years. so let's let him out, let him get back with his family, let him get on with his life, because after all, he is going to serve a life sentence with the tag he's wearing from now on.

KAGAN: And I do want to say, we didn't ask both of you on to make a debate. We in no way meant for this to be a debate. We respect both of your opinions on this. And it's a conversation, and it's something that only people who have walked in your shoes can understand.

Miss Coverdale, when you got the letter, because I understand this is how it happened. You get a letter in the mail letting you know that Michael Fortier was going to be released. What was that like?

COVERDALE: Well, I had gotten a letter back in 2001, saying that he would be released this month, and we didn't hear anything else so I started calling right after Thanksgiving, trying to find out when he was going to be released. And Tuesday, I got this form. It's not a letter, it's a form, and I got very upset. Like I said, I sat in the courtrooms in Denver. I heard Michael Fortier and his wife testify at both trials completely. I know what they said, and I know that they are -- Tim and Terry would have been convicted without Michael and his wife's testimony.

KAGAN: And in the short time we have left, I would much rather use our time to focus on the children. First, Miss Coverdale, if you could tell us about your grandsons, Aaron and Elijah, if we could remember them.

COVERDALE: Aaron was five years old and Elijah was two.

KAGAN: Look at those faces.

COVERDALE: And they lived with me, and we had a ball. They were the sweetest two boys. Today, they would be 13 and 16 years old, and you know, I wonder what would they be like today? They were good boys. And I just -- I miss them. I miss them every day. I cry every day.

KAGAN: I understand. Our thoughts on your loss. Thank you for sharing, sharing them and their story, and their picture.

And, Jim, the story for you has a happier ending, because your kids survived and they're there with you, I can't believe Brandon and Rebecca.

DENNY: Do you believe this? You know, Brandon was three and Rebecca was two when this happened, and Brandon is now 14. And you see how he's growing, and Rebecca is just an absolute beauty.

Jannie, if you're listening, God bless you. I mean, God bless you.

COVERDALE: Thank you.

DENNY: But let's get on with our lives, and we've got this very bright future ahead of us, even though we still have quite a few medical problems to deal with, so we've got a very bright future ahead of us. We've got our health right here. We're all together, and let's get on with it.

And Michael Fortier, have a wonderful life. You know, you're going to be tagged with this for the rest of your life, and I hope you're successful in whatever you do.

KAGAN: Well to both of you, thank you for sharing your families and your thoughts. And, Jim, if you're not careful, Brandon is about to be taller than you there. So you might have a real problem.

DENNY: He's almost there, isn't he?

KAGAN: You might have a problem.

Mrs. Coverdale, Jim Denny and the whole Denny family, thank you for your time today.

COVERDALE: Thank you for asking us.

KAGAN: And when we come back, we're going to look at the art of puppetry, an unusual medium to look at one of history's most heart- breaking stories, but it brings Anne Frank's story to life.

But first, a new year, a new you? Following along with our participants on CNN.com.

Here now is Veronica De La Cruz on the dot-com desk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): CNN's AMERICAN MORNING is highlighting three pairs of people who want to improve their lifestyles in "New You Resolution." You can log onto CNN.com for more, read about their struggles and successes in this buddy blog.

Want to see how you shape up in the health department? Test your knowledge with this quiz. For instance, the obesity rate is the highest in which state? Alabama, Iowa or New York? In this gallery, experts offered tips how to make lasting diet and exercise changes. You can eat the foods you like in moderation, and as you begin exercising, start documenting the ups and the downs, making categories for fitness, nutrition and weight loss, try to learn patterns, but don't tackle too many things at once. Begin slowly and build up to new challenges.

You can start burning a few calories by logging onto CNN.com/newyou right now.

For the dot-com desk, I'm Veronica De La Cruz.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: This just in to CNN. A Turkish courthouse ruled that the gunman who shot Pope John Paul II needs to go back to prison to serve more time. Now, it's not in relation to the pope shooting, but the man, Mehmet Ali Agca, had committed a number of crimes in Turkey before having -- doing the crime where he tried to shoot the pope, where actually he shot the pope. And this court has ruled that he's not served enough time.

His whereabouts at this time are not immediately known. He did serve 19 years in prison in Italy for shooting the pope, but he also had a ten-year sentence in Turkey for the murder of a Turkish journalist back in 1979. So when they find him, a good chance that man who shot the pope is headed back to prison in Turkey.

All right, let's move on now to London. A very odd tourist attraction in London. We're looking at a picture of the River Thames. Now very nice little picture there. But what you don't know is there is a whale in that river right now.

Our Becky Anderson joins us live. We're looking for the whale and we're looking for Becky. Becky?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We are looking, too, Daryn. It comes up every minute or so. You see its spray and then it goes back down again. Quite extraordinary and unprecedented event, drawing crowds here to the banks of the River Thames on this bitterly cold Friday afternoon. When I say bitterly cold, it's about one or two degrees here. The water here is about 8 degrees. So that whale that's there is going to be extremely cold. But it's used to the cold.

It's a 20-foot northern bottle-nosed whale, also called the bear's beat (ph) -- not the Blair's beat -- but the bear's beat (ph) whale. Now (INAUDIBLE), it normally lives in the North Atlantic, up by Norway and the barrens. So how it's got into this estuary and some 40 miles up the river on a sight-seeing tour, let me tell you, past the House of Commons, past the Big Will, past Big Ben and up here between Chelsea and Falasy (ph) Power Station, nobody knows.

Now there is a slightly sad story to this whole of this. It is this -- that they are hoping, the experts, the marine experts here, that this whale was following a school of fish and may have gotten disorientated and may be able to orientate itself back down towards the Thames estuary. But their hopes aren't good at this stage.

Other experts tell us the reason the whale may be in this shallow water which is very, very, very unusual -- I say unprecedented. There has never been a whale this size as far upstream in London as this one. We have seen dolphins and porpoises in the past and there has been sightings of whales further down, but never in the center of town.

And what they're saying is this. It's looking for shallow water potentially because it's not very well, or potentially, the experts say, because it is going to commit suicide, which is a terrible, terrible idea. We are hoping that the marine experts out there and the marine police here are keeping the whale away from the side of the River Thames.

It's already hit a boat and cast it off slightly. So they're really hoping as the tide changes that the whale will move back down. We're hoping for a good story here, crossing our fingers, as are all the other people here on the River Thames today -- Daryn?

KAGAN: I was saying, has the media there dubbed the whale with a name?

ANDERSON: Moby Dick.

KAGAN: Moby Dick. I think it's been used before.

ANDERSON: I'll come up with something better next time.

KAGAN: We'll let you work on that one and we'll keep our fingers crossed for the whale. Becky Anderson, live from London. Thank you, Becky.

Also from Europe, it's nearly 61 years after her death. The story of Anne Frank's unrelenting spirit in the face of despair remains a source of inspiration to many people all around the world. Anne Frank, her family and others living with them hid from the Nazis for two years during the Holocaust and after they were discovered, they were sent to concentration camps. Her diary told her story and now that story is being told again, but in a way you've never seen before.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN (voice-over): It's a small scale look at a massive tragedy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the kitchen and bedroom of Mr. and Mrs. Van Damme (ph).

KAGAN: The story of Anne Frank, this time told with puppets. Anne Frank: Within and Without" was created by Bobby Box of Atlanta's Center for Puppetry Arts.

BOBBY BOX, CENTER FOR PUPPETRY ARTS: I really, really view Anne Frank as a story for everyone.

KAGAN: He was inspired by a visit to Holland, where the Frank family spent their last days together.

(on camera): So there you are as a tourist in Amsterdam, and you're going through Anne Frank's home, where she hid out with her family, and you, with this unique creative mind, think I know, puppet show!

BOX: One of the things that was very interesting to me, that really clicked with me, was that there was a dollhouse-type thing in the front. And so this -- as a puppeteer, I thought well, there's a set right there for a show. All we need is some puppets.

KAGAN (voice-over): The result? This miniature recreation of the secret annex where Anne, her family and the other residents hid, all in an attempt to escape Nazi persecution.

(on camera): And you say that this story isn't really about misery, it's about glory.

BOX: That's right, it's about hope. It's about how to survive when the odds are against you. If this little girl, in the worst possible circumstances, can find hope in the world, then surely we can, too.

KAGAN (voice-over): Two different actresses play Anne Frank and operate the puppets. Box says they represent different parts of Anne's personality, one serious, the other more carefree and funny.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness. I hear the approaching thunder.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dimples and cheeks and chin, yes! Widow's peak, straight teeth, small mouth, curly eyelashes, no.

KAGAN: Whenever someone kind of does a remake or tells a story that's been told before, the question is, well, why do you need tell the story before?

BOX: Well, puppetry is my voice. I'm a puppet artist and to tell a story with puppetry is sort of in my nature. It's all about transformation and investing things with life and -- which is exactly what Anne Frank was trying to do in her own life.

KAGAN: The puppet theater sets the stage for some powerful new images.

BOX: It's a crib that, you know, dolls go in. But then, in a later part of the show, the figures are placed into it, like so. A toy train is mounted on the front and becomes a cattle car.

KAGAN: The puppets show the story while the words come directly from Anne Frank.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up into the sky, I feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty, too, shall end.

KAGAN: It's this remarkable spirit of optimism that resonates in the production and is Anne Frank's lasting legacy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: And the Center for Puppetry Arts worked with the Georgia Holocaust Commission on this project. Because of its themes and some of the images, "Anne Frank: Within and Without" is recommended for kids 12 and up. It is now showing here in Atlanta. There are plans for a national tour.

We're back after this.

But we're going to be looking at the markets, because the Dow is in serious trouble today. The Dow is down into triple digits, down 127. Susan Lisovicz will be along to tell us exactly what's going on on Wall Street. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MARKET REPORT)

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: I'm Daryn Kagan. International news is up next. Stay tuned for YOUR WORLD TODAY. Jim Clancy and Zain Verjee will be along, and I'll be back with the latest headlines from the U.S. in about 20 minutes. Plus, live coverage of the Department of Justice news conference at the bottom of the half hour. They are talking ecoterrorism. We'll see you in a bit.

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