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CNN Saturday Morning News

McVeigh Execution Looms in Terra Haute, Indiana

Aired June 09, 2001 - 08:12   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: Tim McVeigh is in Terra Haute, Indiana as now the execution looms less than 48 hours away.

CNN's Jeff Flock is there watching things for us and he brings us the latest from Terre Haute -- hello, Jeff.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Miles.

We just talked to Jim Cross (ph), the spokesman for the warden here in Terre Haute at the penitentiary who described this as just another typical day at the prison. I think it's fair to say that it's probably more than that, but he said that's the mood inside, at least among the inmates, although they continue to run through procedures. This, of course, will be the first time the federal government has executed anyone in almost 40 years. So continuing to run through procedures.

Now, the fog has lifted out here. We're able to give you some better sense of where Tim McVeigh is. You know, we've got a fairly close position here and maybe if we're able to look off into the distance there, if you look far into the distance, you see to the right of the main guard tower out there, perhaps, a green roofed building. I don't know if we're able to get in on it, but the green roofed building is the special confinement unit. It's a good ways off in the distance there. But that is where Tim McVeigh is now and has spent the past two years, since July 13 of 1999 when he came here.

We have some pictures from inside that facility. That is what amounts to federal death row. If we take a look, we see room for some 50 inmates, or I should say, the pictures we have here are not the special confinement unit but the death house itself, and this is where McVeigh will soon be transported. You see the ground padded gurney there and the windows through which some 36, at least, and perhaps more, witnesses will be watching what takes place here Monday morning. This is to clarify, this is the death house.

And as we've been reporting, McVeigh now in the window where he can be transported to the death house. No word yet on whether that has taken place. We will, of course, let you know when it does. That's the next big step here -- Miles?

O'BRIEN: CNN's Jeff Flock in Terra Haute, Indiana, thank you very much. We'd like to hear from you. If you have questions regarding the McVeigh case, start sending them now. The e-mail address, as always, wam@cnn.com. Jeff Flock will take those questions about an hour and 15 minutes from now.

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