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American Morning
Talk with Speicher Family Attorney
Aired April 24, 2003 - 07:35 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to talk more about Scott Speicher right now. Back to that story of the Navy pilot. The initials MSS found scrawled on the wall of a Baghdad prison cell. Is this a clue or is it false hope? A lot of investigating still to do on the ground there. The U.S. and the Speicher family continue to press for answers.
Cindy Laquidara, the Speichers' attorney, back with us live this morning in Jacksonville, Florida.
Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
What do you make of MSS on this wall?
CINDY LAQUIDARA, SPEICHER FAMILY ATTORNEY: Bill, let me tell you, I can't confirm or deny that particular piece of evidence. I have my secured briefings, my intelligence briefings. They're frequent. And I've had one just a few days ago.
I can tell you that is, if it, if one were to confirm that, it would be just one more piece of evidence that Scott was alive and in captivity. There is more intelligence, there's more recent intelligence, and that's what leads us to conclude that he is alive.
Those defense sources that you're quoting of saying that they're certain Scott died some time after being in captivity have absolutely no evidence of that fact. They need to stand up and be counted, put their name on the record and if they have some evidence that he's been killed, give it to us. They haven't done it.
HEMMER: Cindy, are you worried about giving the Speicher family false hope in this?
LAQUIDARA: Oh, heck no. Bill, these are mature people. They're intelligent people. We are sifting through this evidence. My job is to do it dispassionately. And that's what we've done. We're looking at piece upon piece of evidence and saying the far greater likelihood is that he's alive.
Now, if he's dead, we need to bring him home. But certainly the far greater likelihood is he's alive.
HEMMER: The reason I'm only taking the converse on this, there have been so many urban legends that have surfaced already in the city of Baghdad since the Saddam Hussein regime fell, could this possibly be yet another one of those urban legends in Baghdad? LAQUIDARA: Well, I'm not going to comment on any classified information. I'm going to say that over the years, and certainly over the past few months, we have -- and our intelligence team -- has discarded the type of evidence that doesn't stand up to truth. They have a way of vetting this and they vet their evidence very carefully. And a great deal has been discounted and a great deal has been kept. And we need to bring this to a conclusion. We really do.
HEMMER: Cindy, you mentioned you've been in contact with Pentagon officials or others who have a direct connection right now in the search for Scott Speicher and his fate.
LAQUIDARA: Yes.
HEMMER: At this point, what are they telling you that is new that is allowing you to continue to hold onto hope at this point?
LAQUIDARA: Well, I can't tell you the details of it because it is classified and they need to continue vetting it to make sure that they're getting the best information as quickly as possible. I can tell you that I see detailed and hear detailed information. It places Scott in certain locations. It places him alive. And that information has been vetted with significantly valuable intelligence sources.
HEMMER: Cindy, the best of luck to you and the Speicher family in getting ultimate answers on this.
LAQUIDARA: Thank you. Appreciate it.
HEMMER: Cindy Laquidara, again, live in Jacksonville, Florida.
Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 24, 2003 - 07:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to talk more about Scott Speicher right now. Back to that story of the Navy pilot. The initials MSS found scrawled on the wall of a Baghdad prison cell. Is this a clue or is it false hope? A lot of investigating still to do on the ground there. The U.S. and the Speicher family continue to press for answers.
Cindy Laquidara, the Speichers' attorney, back with us live this morning in Jacksonville, Florida.
Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
What do you make of MSS on this wall?
CINDY LAQUIDARA, SPEICHER FAMILY ATTORNEY: Bill, let me tell you, I can't confirm or deny that particular piece of evidence. I have my secured briefings, my intelligence briefings. They're frequent. And I've had one just a few days ago.
I can tell you that is, if it, if one were to confirm that, it would be just one more piece of evidence that Scott was alive and in captivity. There is more intelligence, there's more recent intelligence, and that's what leads us to conclude that he is alive.
Those defense sources that you're quoting of saying that they're certain Scott died some time after being in captivity have absolutely no evidence of that fact. They need to stand up and be counted, put their name on the record and if they have some evidence that he's been killed, give it to us. They haven't done it.
HEMMER: Cindy, are you worried about giving the Speicher family false hope in this?
LAQUIDARA: Oh, heck no. Bill, these are mature people. They're intelligent people. We are sifting through this evidence. My job is to do it dispassionately. And that's what we've done. We're looking at piece upon piece of evidence and saying the far greater likelihood is that he's alive.
Now, if he's dead, we need to bring him home. But certainly the far greater likelihood is he's alive.
HEMMER: The reason I'm only taking the converse on this, there have been so many urban legends that have surfaced already in the city of Baghdad since the Saddam Hussein regime fell, could this possibly be yet another one of those urban legends in Baghdad? LAQUIDARA: Well, I'm not going to comment on any classified information. I'm going to say that over the years, and certainly over the past few months, we have -- and our intelligence team -- has discarded the type of evidence that doesn't stand up to truth. They have a way of vetting this and they vet their evidence very carefully. And a great deal has been discounted and a great deal has been kept. And we need to bring this to a conclusion. We really do.
HEMMER: Cindy, you mentioned you've been in contact with Pentagon officials or others who have a direct connection right now in the search for Scott Speicher and his fate.
LAQUIDARA: Yes.
HEMMER: At this point, what are they telling you that is new that is allowing you to continue to hold onto hope at this point?
LAQUIDARA: Well, I can't tell you the details of it because it is classified and they need to continue vetting it to make sure that they're getting the best information as quickly as possible. I can tell you that I see detailed and hear detailed information. It places Scott in certain locations. It places him alive. And that information has been vetted with significantly valuable intelligence sources.
HEMMER: Cindy, the best of luck to you and the Speicher family in getting ultimate answers on this.
LAQUIDARA: Thank you. Appreciate it.
HEMMER: Cindy Laquidara, again, live in Jacksonville, Florida.
Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
