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American Morning

Shoe Bombing Suspect Reid Back in Boston Court Today

Aired January 18, 2002 - 08:40   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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Shoe bomb suspect Richard Reid, who's facing five life sentences, arrived at a federal court in Boston this morning to be arraigned. He is facing charges stemming from an alleged attempt to ignite explosives hidden in his shoes while on a trans-Atlantic Miami-bound flight last December.

CNN's Jason Carroll is in Boston, outside the courthouse, with the latest. Jason?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, this is the second time that Richard Reid will be in federal court here in Boston. This time, he faces nine counts for his alleged role in trying to blow up that American Airlines flight, bound for miami.

He arrived by motorcade at about 7:30, early this morning, under very heavy security. Prosecutors say that Reid is a member of the al Qaeda terrorist network. They say he tried to blow up that plane by lighting a bomb he had hidden in his high-top tennis shoes. A flight attendant and passengers on board were able to overpower him and stopped him from completing his deadly task.

Reid faces nine counts, including attempted murder and using a weapon of mass destruction. If he's convicted, as you said, he faces a maximum of life sentence. We spoke to a representative from the U.S. Attorney's Office this morning. She told us that the proceeding is expected to be relatively short. The counts will be read to Reid. He will enter a plea, and then it will be over. Anderson?

COOPER: Do we know anything more about Richard Reid this morning?

CARROLL: There's still -- investigators are still trying to find out a lot about Richard Reid. I can tell you that he's 28 years old. He is a British citizen -- for much of his early life, he was pretty much, Anderson, a pretty thief. This is what we're hearing. While he was in prison, he converted to Islam and then something that's interesting, when he was -- when he was released from prison, this is over in England, he attended a mosque over there and met Zacarais Moussaoui.

Now, I know you know that name. That is the man who has been charged with the -- for his role in the September 11th attacks. But other than that, investigators are still trying to learn -- really much about this man. Anderson? COOPER: Jason, does the indictment specifically link Reid to al Qaeda?

CARROLL: Well, we're still trying to learn exactly what are some of the details about the indictment, but prosecutors believe that he is linked to the al Qaeda network in terms of the extent of his involvement. They're not releasing any information in terms of -- right now -- in terms of how extensively involved he -- how extensively involved he was with the al Qaeda network. But, they do believe that he was at least a loose member of the network. Anderson?

COOPER: And do we know what the maximum he could get if convicted on all the charges?

CARROLL: Actually, technically, it's five consecutive life sentences, but just suffice to say, it's a life sentence.

COOPER: All right, Jason Carroll, thanks very much in Boston.

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