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American Morning
Interview with John Solari, Friend of Robert Blake
Aired April 23, 2002 - 08:28 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: John Solari is a friend and former roommate of Robert Blake. The two met when they appeared together in the 1997 movie "Lost Highway."
John Solari joins us now from Los Angeles. Good to see you again, John.
So, John, even Mr. Blake's attorney, Harland Braun, has said that Robert Blake had a motive to kill his wife. He talked about how horrible the relationship basically was from day one. Given what the prosecution has told the public so far about the circumstantial evidence they've put together, did it ever cross your mind that he could have done this?
JOHN SOLARI, ACTOR, FRIEND OF ROBERT BLAKE: No, not really. No. And if I didn't know Robert, I'd probably feel the same way. I mean it doesn't look good. I mean it's not kosher all this stuff that's going on. But no, knowing Robert there's no way that I would ever dream that he would do this.
ZAHN: Have you seen Robert Blake recently?
SOLARI: No, I was going to go to the court yesterday but I figured it was a circus there and I didn't want to get involved in that. I'm going to try to go down the jail and, you know, talk to him and go talk to Earle, too, and -- this has to be -- I've never been in jail as an innocent person and I know it's really difficult. So for them it must be horrendous and my prayers go out to both families.
ZAHN: You just mentioned Earle Caldwell, and it appears as though the prosecution is hoping that at some point Caldwell will turn on Robert Blake. I mean the prosecution has even indicated at one point Caldwell was hiding behind the bushes in Arizona as part of a plot to kill Bonnie Lee Bakley.
Do you expect him to turn on Robert Blake?
SOLARI: No, I don't. I was just telling your cameraman the same thing. I was arrested many years ago and I was sitting in the doorstep and they wrote it up in the newspapers that I was hiding behind bushes. So don't believe everything you read or hear. I mean there's a lot of things going on. It's just, I, in the long run Robert's going to come out of it. Both him and Earle are going to come out and we're going to go home, we'll go to Frankie's and have some macaronis and this will all be over. I really, truly in my heart believe that Robert Blake...
ZAHN: So you really believe, you really believe Earle Caldwell will stand by Robert Blake? You don't see him turning up any evidence against him?
SOLARI: There's no evidence to turn up against him, that's what I believe. You know, Robert never even mentioned or anything to me, and never even hinted to me that he wanted her taken off the count. Never. So why would he, why would Earle do it? I mean Earle was the handyman. Earle was the kung fu guy. What is he going to do? I mean he could, if he was going to do something, he didn't need a gun.
ZAHN: Have you spoken with Robert Blake since Bonnie Lee Bakley was murdered?
SOLARI: No, I haven't. And the reason is because I didn't want anyone in the media to think that we had our stories put together. And I would love to get in touch with the family now. I'm there for them. They know that and I talked to his lawyer. And that's now, and, you know, because I never dreamed this was going to happen, Paula. I mean that. I'm probably one of the last in L.A. that believes that, that he has nothing to do with that. My friends think I'm crazy and I'm jeopardizing my future in this business, but I could care less.
You know, my friendship to Robert comes first. I'm a member of Actors Studio so I already made it as an actor and...
ZAHN: All right, John...
SOLARI: .... I just pray that everything turns out right for Robert and his family.
ZAHN: We just have 20 seconds left. Have police talked to you? Because prosecutors have made it clear they've talked to some 150 witnesses so far to learn more about Robert Blake.
SOLARI: Actually, the police never talked to me. They have never -- they came to see me once, but they didn't, and I just said talk to me when I have a lawyer. I don't, and I've never spoken to the police. Their lawyer came on the air and said that the police had spoke to me. So, I mean it's, I'm not going to call the man a liar, but he's telling things that are not true. What else are they saying that are not true about Robert?
ZAHN: All right, we are going to have to leave it there this morning.
John Solari, thank you for getting up in the middle of the night basically to join us here on AMERICAN MORNING.
SOLARI: Thank you for having me on.
ZAHN: Take care.
SOLARI: Thank you, Paula. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
