Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Kobe Bryant Out on a $25,000 Bond After Accused of Sexual Assault
Aired July 07, 2003 - 08:01 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: The Los Angeles Lakers' star Kobe Bryant out on a $25,000 bond after accused of felony sexual assault. Bryant turned himself in to authorities on Friday in Colorado after a woman accused him of sexual misconduct.
Charles Feldman live at the Lakers arena in L.A. for more on this, the Staples Center in Los Angeles -- Charles, hello and good morning.
CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
And once again welcome to your new partner, Soledad O'Brien.
And a big sports story, as you mentioned, this morning. And it involves one of the key and star players for the Los Angeles Lakers, 24-year-old Kobe Bryant. As you pointed out, he is out now on $25,000 bond, accused by police in Eagle, Colorado -- that's near the resort town of Vail -- of sexually assaulting a young woman.
But we've got to point out at this time the district attorney there has not yet, and may never, as far as we know, charge him with any formal count. So that is yet to be seen.
Now, a man of very brief comments, it turns out, is the general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers, who reacted late yesterday to news about his star player.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITCH KUPCHAK, LAKERS GENERAL MANAGER: Our players, including Koby, gets a hundred percent of our support all the time. And in this particular case, it's absolutely the case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FELDMAN: I told you he was a man of very brief remarks. That from the Los Angeles Lakers general manager.
Now, as for Kobe Bryant, we don't actually know where he is now, Bill. We don't know if he's still in Colorado or if he has come back here to southern California. He lives in nearby Orange County with his young wife and a very new child, who was born to him and his wife back in January.
He is a guy, by the way, who has had, up till now anyway, a squeaky clean record, recruited right out of high school to join the Lakers. He has been playing for them for about seven years now. So this is the first sort of taint of scandal.
But, again, I point out, he has been charged by police and he is out on bond, but the district attorney, who is the prosecuting agency in Eagle County, Colorado, has yet to weigh in on these potentially very serious charges -- Bill.
HEMMER: Charles Feldman, again, the story in L.A.
Thanks for that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Assault>
Aired July 7, 2003 - 08:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The Los Angeles Lakers' star Kobe Bryant out on a $25,000 bond after accused of felony sexual assault. Bryant turned himself in to authorities on Friday in Colorado after a woman accused him of sexual misconduct.
Charles Feldman live at the Lakers arena in L.A. for more on this, the Staples Center in Los Angeles -- Charles, hello and good morning.
CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
And once again welcome to your new partner, Soledad O'Brien.
And a big sports story, as you mentioned, this morning. And it involves one of the key and star players for the Los Angeles Lakers, 24-year-old Kobe Bryant. As you pointed out, he is out now on $25,000 bond, accused by police in Eagle, Colorado -- that's near the resort town of Vail -- of sexually assaulting a young woman.
But we've got to point out at this time the district attorney there has not yet, and may never, as far as we know, charge him with any formal count. So that is yet to be seen.
Now, a man of very brief comments, it turns out, is the general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers, who reacted late yesterday to news about his star player.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITCH KUPCHAK, LAKERS GENERAL MANAGER: Our players, including Koby, gets a hundred percent of our support all the time. And in this particular case, it's absolutely the case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FELDMAN: I told you he was a man of very brief remarks. That from the Los Angeles Lakers general manager.
Now, as for Kobe Bryant, we don't actually know where he is now, Bill. We don't know if he's still in Colorado or if he has come back here to southern California. He lives in nearby Orange County with his young wife and a very new child, who was born to him and his wife back in January.
He is a guy, by the way, who has had, up till now anyway, a squeaky clean record, recruited right out of high school to join the Lakers. He has been playing for them for about seven years now. So this is the first sort of taint of scandal.
But, again, I point out, he has been charged by police and he is out on bond, but the district attorney, who is the prosecuting agency in Eagle County, Colorado, has yet to weigh in on these potentially very serious charges -- Bill.
HEMMER: Charles Feldman, again, the story in L.A.
Thanks for that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Assault>
