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American Morning
Minding Your Business: He Said, She Said
Aired January 28, 2004 - 07:24 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Martha Stewart's trial won't convene today because of the heavy snow here in New York City. In a packed courtroom yesterday, though, both sides presented opening statements.
Andy Serwer has a recap of just day one. He's 'Minding Your Business' this morning.
A lot happening, only 24 hours into it.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: I think so, a lot of fireworks. A real he said, she said yesterday. The he said being Martha Stewart's attorney Robert Morvillo and government prosecutor Karen Patton Seymour also going at each other, laying out the groundwork of this trial. Basically the prosecutor is saying here, Martha Stewart lying to federal agents, obstructing justice and fabricating evidence and cheating investors. These are serious federal crimes.
Robert Morvillo saying, taking kind of a literary tact here, "the same government leaked it on one side and prosecuted it on the other. I think George Orwell was about 20 years early."
Interesting to me, Soledad, here, the defense actually acknowledged that Martha Stewart had altered some messages and made misleading statements to the government, however, saying that she didn't do it intentionally. I'm not sure how that's going to play to the jury.
O'BRIEN: It's kind of a strange strategy, isn't it, especially when you consider her background as a former broker. It's not like she comes from being a housewife and had no experience whatsoever in this field.
SERWER: I think that's really true, and of course jurors are going to know about that. Also, of course, a packed courtroom, as you might imagine. Martha Stewart had her supporters there in terms of her family. Her mother and daughter were there. Also, Barbara Walters, a little star power in the court, as well as Dominic Dunne. Of course he's always at these trials, isn't he?
O'BRIEN: Yes, of course. There will be a book coming out soon.
SERWER: Yes, I think there will be. What happens next? Well, barring any more snow, the trial will resume tomorrow. And then really interesting on Friday, Douglas Faneuil, the broker's assistant, is scheduled to testify. That's going to be really riveting stuff, I think. O'BRIEN: Yes, it's going to be an interesting trial, I have to say,...
SERWER: Should last about a month.
O'BRIEN: ... even for people who don't really understand all the issues at stake here. I think it's going to be fascinating.
SERWER: Absolutely.
O'BRIEN: Let's take a moment to talk about the market. Yesterday we started off so well. What happened?
SERWER: I know, and then we finished so badly.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
SERWER: A funny thing happened on the way to the close, as Ura Marcel (ph) might say. We slipped a little bit. This, of course, after the big gains the day before, maybe not such a big surprise. This morning, though, futures are looking up, Soledad. Time Warner coming in this morning with a big profit. Still a lot of earnings coming in, so we'll be watching it.
O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thank you very much.
SERWER: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: Now stick around for this story.
SERWER: OK.
O'BRIEN: Because it says now for something completely different.
SERWER: I like those.
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 January 28, 2004 - 07:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Martha Stewart's trial won't convene today because of the heavy snow here in New York City. In a packed courtroom yesterday, though, both sides presented opening statements.
Andy Serwer has a recap of just day one. He's 'Minding Your Business' this morning.
A lot happening, only 24 hours into it.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: I think so, a lot of fireworks. A real he said, she said yesterday. The he said being Martha Stewart's attorney Robert Morvillo and government prosecutor Karen Patton Seymour also going at each other, laying out the groundwork of this trial. Basically the prosecutor is saying here, Martha Stewart lying to federal agents, obstructing justice and fabricating evidence and cheating investors. These are serious federal crimes.
Robert Morvillo saying, taking kind of a literary tact here, "the same government leaked it on one side and prosecuted it on the other. I think George Orwell was about 20 years early."
Interesting to me, Soledad, here, the defense actually acknowledged that Martha Stewart had altered some messages and made misleading statements to the government, however, saying that she didn't do it intentionally. I'm not sure how that's going to play to the jury.
O'BRIEN: It's kind of a strange strategy, isn't it, especially when you consider her background as a former broker. It's not like she comes from being a housewife and had no experience whatsoever in this field.
SERWER: I think that's really true, and of course jurors are going to know about that. Also, of course, a packed courtroom, as you might imagine. Martha Stewart had her supporters there in terms of her family. Her mother and daughter were there. Also, Barbara Walters, a little star power in the court, as well as Dominic Dunne. Of course he's always at these trials, isn't he?
O'BRIEN: Yes, of course. There will be a book coming out soon.
SERWER: Yes, I think there will be. What happens next? Well, barring any more snow, the trial will resume tomorrow. And then really interesting on Friday, Douglas Faneuil, the broker's assistant, is scheduled to testify. That's going to be really riveting stuff, I think. O'BRIEN: Yes, it's going to be an interesting trial, I have to say,...
SERWER: Should last about a month.
O'BRIEN: ... even for people who don't really understand all the issues at stake here. I think it's going to be fascinating.
SERWER: Absolutely.
O'BRIEN: Let's take a moment to talk about the market. Yesterday we started off so well. What happened?
SERWER: I know, and then we finished so badly.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
SERWER: A funny thing happened on the way to the close, as Ura Marcel (ph) might say. We slipped a little bit. This, of course, after the big gains the day before, maybe not such a big surprise. This morning, though, futures are looking up, Soledad. Time Warner coming in this morning with a big profit. Still a lot of earnings coming in, so we'll be watching it.
O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thank you very much.
SERWER: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: Now stick around for this story.
SERWER: OK.
O'BRIEN: Because it says now for something completely different.
SERWER: I like those.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
