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American Morning

Ask CNN: How Many People Will Witness the Execution of Timothy McVeigh?

Aired June 08, 2001 - 09:31   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: An attorney for Timothy McVeigh says the Oklahoma City bomber is making final preparations before his execution. Timothy McVeigh directed his lawyers to drop appeal efforts yesterday after two courts ruled against his request for a stay. McVeigh is scheduled to die Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. Eastern time.

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And just who will witness McVeigh's execution at 8:00 a.m. when he is put to death? That question is the focus of today's "Ask CNN" segment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK JEFFERSON, BOSTON, GEORGIA: Hi, my name is Patrick Jefferson. I'm from Boston, Georgia.

I just wanted to ask CNN: How many people are going to be allowed to witness the execution of Timothy McVeigh?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Terra Haute, Indiana, where the death chamber is located, there will be four groups of people watching Timothy McVeigh's execution; first, a group representing the Bureau of Prisons and the Justice Department; next 10 people representing victims and victims' families will also be watching the execution. Timothy McVeigh is allowed to have six witnesses. Two of them will be his lawyers.

And the news media will be represented by 10 journalists chosen from a lottery. Those journalists will later report their observations. And in Oklahoma City, 250 to 300 victims and victims' families will be watching a closed-circuit telecast. That is something that has never happened before.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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