Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Sunday Morning

McVeigh Transferred From Death Row to Death House

Aired June 10, 2001 - 09:06   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now for the latest on tomorrow's scheduled execution of Tim McVeigh. The Oklahoma City bomber was moved this morning from death row in Terre Haute, Indiana to a holding cell just feet from the federal penitentiary's death chamber.

CNN's Susan Candiotti is on the prison grounds and she brings us up to date -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles. Timothy McVeigh was described as cooperative by prison officials when he was moved in the middle of the night from what's known as death row to the Death House. It is where McVeigh will be executed in less than 23 hours from now. This videotape provided by the Bureau of Prisons shot a little after 5:00 in the morning Eastern time.

McVeigh is in the white van, he is surrounded by armed guards -- three slowly walking in front of the vehicle. And in the darkness you can also make out four guards, which are bringing up the rear.

Now you are taking a look at the death chamber. That is where McVeigh will be taken, where he will be put to death by lethal injection and it's just a few feet away from the holding cell where he is now. There was no trouble reported during the transfer in the middle of the night. And there has never been a record of trouble with McVeigh as far as we know since he has been in this prison in July of 1999. Now this day we are also hearing from Timothy McVeigh's biographers who are now here at the prison. One of them, in fact, will be a witness to his execution.

McVeigh's hometown newspaper, "The Buffalo News", today published recent letters from McVeigh -- that is the newspaper for whom the biographers work. And in one of the letters McVeigh appears to rationalize the bombing in these words, "I am sorry these people had to lose their lives but that's the nature of the beast. It's understood going in what the human toll will be."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOU MICHEL, CO-AUTHOR, "AMERICAN TERRORIST": He wanted the people of Oklahoma City to know that he held nothing personal against them -- his enemy was the federal government. He's sorry that so many people had to die, however, he's not taking back the act.

DAN HERBECK, CO-AUTHOR, "AMERICAN TERRORIST": It's a very hollow apology and I'm sure doesn't bring much peace to the people of Oklahoma City. And really it's not much of an apology, it's more of an acknowledgment that at least the people in Oklahoma did suffer tremendously. But he blames -- he still puts all of the blame on the federal government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Lou Michel, the man that you just saw who was speaking on the right, was asked by Timothy McVeigh to be a witness to his execution. I asked Lou how he thinks he will feel after that happens -- after both Michel and Herbeck have spent several hours -- more than 75 hours -- interviewing McVeigh for the book. Lou Michel says he doesn't know that he is personally opposed to the death penalty but he says that he will probably feel very badly, doesn't know if he will shed a tear but certainly feels as though this is a young man he says who has wasted his life.

Back to you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Susan Candiotti in Terre Haute, Indiana.

A legal request before the U.S. Supreme Court could impact tomorrow's scheduled execution but the case does not revolve around Timothy McVeigh. Instead, the application for appeal comes from a Pennsylvania man convicted of a 1999 arson that killed his former girlfriend and her daughter. He is seeking permission to videotape the McVeigh execution to bolster his argument that lethal injection is both cruel and unusual punishment. The Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to deny that request.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com