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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
14-Year-Old Nathaniel Brazill Takes the Stand in His Own Defense; Vice President Warns America's Energy Problems Have No Quick Fixes
Aired May 08, 2001 - 20:00 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.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Tonight, dramatic testimony, as a 14-year- old takes the stand in his own defense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT UDELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Are you a cold-blooded killer?
NATHANIEL BRAZILL, DEFENDANT: No.
UDELL: Did you ever intend to harm Mr. Grunow?
BRAZILL: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Charged with the shooting death of a teacher, he could face life in prison. We'll have a live report from Florida.
Relying too much on conservation? Vice President Cheney tells CNN that's behind California's energy woes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So they haven't built any electric power plants in the last 10 years in California and today they've got rolling blackouts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: As Californians roll with the punches, we'll go live to San Francisco. And I'll discuss energy costs and the national budget with two members of Congress: Democrat Jesse Jackson Jr. and Republican Jennifer Dunn.
And the Pentagon takes steps to protect American interests, in space. National security for the 21st century.
Good evening. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting tonight from Washington.
It's not every day when the nation sees a 14-year-old boy charged with killing his teacher testify on his own behalf. But that's precisely what happened in West Palm Beach, Florida, today when Nathaniel Brazill answered questions about that day last year when he came to school with a loaded handgun.
He was 13 at the time. Yet, he's now being tried as an adult. He faces a possible sentence of life in prison. And that's our top story.
CNN's Mark Potter is covering the trial, and he joins us now live from West Palm Beach. Mark, tell us what happened today.
MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, at mid-day, the prosecution rested its case and then the defense began with its most dramatic witness.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give in this court to be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
BRAZILL: I do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POTTER (voice-over): With that, 14-year-old Nathaniel Brazill became the first and most important witness in his own defense. His point, over and over, was he had no intent to harm Barry Grunow, the teacher he shot and killed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UDELL: Are you some kind of psycho?
BRAZILL: No.
UDELL: Are you demented?
BRAZILL: What does that mean?
UDELL: Are you a cold-blooded killer?
BRAZILL: No.
UDELL: Did you ever intend to harm Mr. Grunow?
BRAZILL: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POTTER: Charged with first-degree murder, facing life in prison if convicted, Brazill described Barry Grunow as a favorite teacher.
BRAZILL: He was a nice guy, he was a good teacher. He made -- he made his classes fun. POTTER: Questioned by his attorney, Brazill said he went to Grunow's class demanding to see two girls, so he could say goodbye for the summer. When Grunow stood in the way, Brazill said he became angry, and took out a stolen handgun to prove he was serious.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UDELL: You took out the gun, pointed it at him?
BRAZILL: Yes.
UDELL: You racked it?
BRAZILL: Yes.
UDELL: What happened next?
BRAZILL: Then, like when he told -- when he said get that out of my face, right after that, like, immediately after that, that's when the gun went off.
UDELL: OK. Do you remember pulling the trigger?
BRAZILL: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POTTER: Brazill said he thought the gun's safety was on, and claims he was shaky and his eyes were blurry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UDELL: Were you scared?
BRAZILL: Yes.
UDELL: Were you able to tell whether or not you hit him?
BRAZILL: No.
UDELL: Did you see any blood?
BRAZILL: I saw -- yes, I saw blood on the floor.
UDELL: But you didn't know if whether you had hit him?
BRAZILL: No.
UDELL: And you took off?
BRAZILL: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POTTER: Brazill said he was mad at himself, and ran out of fear, then turned himself in to police. (END VIDEOTAPE)
Now before he took the witness stand, the judge asked Brazill if he understood the consequences of that. Brazill said, yes, he did. He wanted to testify.
Now, one of those consequences, this 14-year-old faces cross- examination by the prosecution -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Mark, I -- I understand that the defense attorneys turned down an offer from the prosecution that would have given him a 25-year sentence, second-degree homicide. What was all that about?
POTTER: Well, that's true. The deal was offered and it was turned down. Today, defense attorneys said that the family asked them to re-explore the possibility of a plea deal, and the attorney said that the prosecutors told them now that the trial is under way, there will be no deal -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Mark Potter in West Palm Beach, thank you very much.
Turning now to the energy crunch in the United States: As gasoline prices soar and California copes with more rolling blackouts, Vice President Dick Cheney today gave us a closer look at the Bush administration's emerging energy policy.
More now from CNN senior White House correspondent John King.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another day of rolling blackouts in California: another reminder short-term energy problems, and prices, will shape the debate over the administration's long-term strategy.
In an interview with CNN, the vice president held out California as exhibit A, in the case for more domestic oil and gas exploration and for building 1,300 or more new power plants from coast to coast, including new coal and nuclear facilities.
CHENEY: Today they've got rolling blackouts because they don't have enough electricity. They've got rising prices. They've got a whole complex of problems that are caused by relying only on conservation and not doing anything about the supply side of the equation.
KING: The White House line is no quick fixes. California's governor says the administration could do more.
GOV. GRAY DAVIS (D), CALIFORNIA: We need help from Washington today to reduce the extraordinary prices of power that we're currently paying. I'm taking care of the rest of it.
KING: But the administration opposes electricity price caps, and power supplies is just one element of the debate. Rising prices at the pump is another, and some in Congress want an investigation. SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD), MINORITY LEADER: Something's awry, something's going wrong. Something has to be asked here. We have to find out what is behind all of this. I'm not satisfied, at all, with what the administration is doing with regard to gas prices.
KING: The Bush White House says there's no evidence of price gouging, and the vice president's message to angry motorists is, don't blame the OPEC cartel and don't expect immediate relief.
CHENEY: We have not built new refineries in this country for over 25 years. And the net result of that is that no matter what happens to the international oil price, it's the lack of refining capacity that drives those gasoline prices higher.
KING: The upcoming administration report urges a second look at environmental standards the coal industry says are excessive and withholds judgment on another controversial issue: whether the government should force the automobile industry to improve fuel efficiency standards.
(on camera): Senior administration officials view the short-term focus on the California power crisis and on rising gasoline prices as both a blessing and a curse. Perhaps helpful, they say, as the president makes the case the nation has a serious energy problem. But potentially troubling from a political standpoint if consumers start demanding immediate solutions.
John King, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And as the lights go out again in California, let's go live to CNN's James Hattori in San Francisco.
James, I take it there's rolling blackouts once again in California.
JAMES HATTORI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, welcome to another day of power lotto here in the Golden State. No winners, just a lot of folks wondering if their numbers is up and their electricity is going to get yanked.
Now this is the second day in a row of rolling blackouts, the sixth day so far this year. This latest round affects about 180,000 customers, imposed about two hours ago. Now that's affecting customers statewide, including some restaurant workers in the east bay part of Northern California -- this restaurant in Fremont down in -- stretching down to Long Beach, San Bernardino and even down to San Diego.
The blackout was ordered at a time of peak usage, of course, and in concert with high temperatures -- record high temperatures for the second day in a row, up in the 90s in some of the outlying areas of the Bay areas.
Of course, one big factor is air-conditioning usage. And that -- the good news is that should taper off now, about now, because offices are beginning to close. Theoretically, demand should go down.
The other side of the equation, of course, is supply, and that's being affected by a number of power plants. This is chronic problem: a number of power plants out for maintenance, some overdue maintenance. That's not going to get better anytime soon.
The good news is, Wolf, that forecasts are expecting temperatures to moderate a little bit in Northern California. That should ease a little -- that should ease the pressure a little bit, but there are no guarantees as to anymore -- whether these blackouts are going to continue for the week -- for the rest of this week, that is.
BLITZER: James Hattori in San Francisco, thank you very much.
And up next: the energy crunch and crunch time for the national budget. I'll discuss the issues with two members of Congress: Republican Jennifer Dunn and Democrat Jesse Jackson Jr.
And later, the Pentagon gears up to guard against threats from space. Is it a step toward putting weapons into orbit?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. As prices jump at the pump and California is rocked by rolling blackouts, Congress may be burning the midnight oil, trying to wrap up the national budget. Joining me to discuss the energy crunch and the crunch to get a budget passed are two members of congress: Republican Jennifer Dunn of Washington State, and Democrat Jesse Jackson, Jr. of Illinois. Thanks Congressmen for joining us.
Congressman Jackson, you represent a district in Chicago, where Chicago has the highest gasoline prices in the nation, around $2 a gallon right now. In part, Dick Cheney says, according to his assessment, is because there's not enough energy power plants that have been built, oil refineries, too much emphasis on conservation not enough supply?
REP. JESSE JACKSON JR. (D), ILLINOIS: Well, there's certainly increased demand in the Midwest for oil, and obviously for gasoline. That has tremendous impact on the number of people who are driving from work, who are commuting long distances across the country.
There's been too much of an energy policy that focuses on fossil fuels as a basis for providing renewable energy as opposed to focusing on solar and other means of providing energy for the American people. The administration and the previous administration should have been working towards a long-term policy to address this serious need. I am hoping that the Bush Administration will pick up the ball on this question.
BLITZER: Well, the Bush Administration, the White House says that they are picking up the ball, but there shouldn't be a requirement for Americans to change their way of life, their lifestyle. That's not necessary if the country has the guts to go ahead and do some more oil drilling, some more oil exploration, building more energy and power plants.
REP. JENNIFER DUNN (R), WASHINGTON: I think sometimes, Wolf, people ask the government to do too much. Why should the government require us to conserve when we know through common sense that's what we should be doing anyway. I'm from Washington State. We have got a lot of problems this year: not enough rain and a huge new problem with the declaration of the salmon being an endangered species. That means that we have to keep the rivers at a certain level.
We can't do that now because there hasn't been enough rain and we're force to sell hydroelectric power to California. I think this administration is taking the right point of view. Where energy policy in the long run had been neglected for number of years, they are reaching ahead and they're saying here's what we have to do. We have to increase supply, but I think in the short term there are things that we can do as individual to be part of this team and conservation is one of those things.
BLITZER: It looks like it's a done deal in House of Representatives tomorrow, Congressman Jackson, that there's going to be the president's -- effectively -- his budget passed, his tax cut included in that budget. Is it a done deal and will those the tax cuts be approved?
JACKSON: Well, it may be a done deal, but it won't be a done deal without a fight. As you know, Wolf, budgets reflect values and priorities. Democrats argue that those values and priorities should be returned to the American people in the form of better education, better health care and housing. Republicans argue that in order to jump start the economy, to keep us from slipping into a recession, which vice president Cheney used just a few months ago, the word recession, they argue that it should go back in the form of tax breaks to the very wealthiest Americans.
I argue as an appropriator that that money should be spent on education, health care and housing for the American people. And it's clear from the hearings that we're already having on Capitol Hill, that we're either looking at level funding for existing programs or significantly reduced funding for existing programs. The American people are going to not only an energy crisis, they're going to feel some tremendous cuts in this fiscal cycle.
BLITZER: What about that?
DUNN: Well, I think, you know, as much as I respect Jesse, I think he's just plain wrong on this one. This budget increases spending 5 percent. It also increases education spending by 11 1/2 percent. That's the number one priority of this president. He's the education president. Tax cuts are important because people have donated too much money through taxes to run this government. They ought to get some of it back, so we're giving some of it back to them.
BLITZER: A lot of Democrats say there're too many tax cuts for wealthiest Americans, not enough for the middle class the poor (UNINTELLIGIBLE). There's no tax breaks for the payroll taxes, for example, a lot of people pay most of their taxes in payroll taxes. DUNN: Well, what we're talking about right now is the first phase of tax relief, Wolf. We're talking about income tax reductions. Everybody who pays income tax gets a reduction. And one of the ways they do that is by decreasing the flat rate, the first rate, from 15 to 10 percent. I think that's huge for most Americans. We give them child tax credit, adoption tax credit. We're going to give them some break for being married. You're spending $1,400 more a year to be married right now. We should honor marriage, not tax it.
BLITZER: What's wrong with a tax cut that goes across the board. Those who pay the most in taxes should get the most in return if there is surplus, wouldn't that be fair?
JACKSON: Well, Wolf, it's not across the board. Sixty percent of Americans earn $44,000 a year are only receiving 13 percent of the tax cut under the president's plan. One-third of the president's tax cut goes to the top 1 percent of Americans who quite frankly have signed a letter to members of congress saying they don't want the tax cuts.
BLITZER: But they the most in taxes.
JACKSON: Well, certainly, they do -- many of them do -- but many of them pay taxes that they should be paying to help keep education, health care and housing for all Americans at a sustainable and growing level. All Americans and no Americans should be left behind. The Democratic proposal offers an alternative that includes Americans in this prosperity.
BLITZER: How worried are you about the politics of all this once this plays out if the president gets this $1.35 trillion tax cut over 11 years?
DUNN: Worry is the wrong word. I'm exhilarated. I think it's a very exciting thing that this president has managed to do. He's keeping his campaign promises, he's funding education, defense, Social Security is being set aside. After we fund every single program of the government and give it an increase of 5 percent, we're also able to give back $1.35 trillion in tax relief.
People are going to realize this. They're going to see it in decreased withholdings in their paychecks so I think it's going to be great politically but better, is good policy.
BLITZER: It looks like it's shaping up as big political win for president?
JACKSON: We've seen this before, Wolf, big tax cuts on the front end, increases in military spending, the president's budget doesn't even include his missile defense program. So what we have here is another Reaganomic form of economics. Big tax cuts, big military spending and in the out years is where we pay for it. When future presidents have to come in as deficit reduction presidents, further cutting programs, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and programs that are vital to the American people.
BLITZER: Unfortunately we have to leave it right there. Jesse Jackson Jr., Jennifer Dunn, thank you for joining us.
DUNN: Thank you.
JACKSON: Thank you.
BLITZER: And just ahead, the search for a Baptist school principal and one of his students comes to an end. We'll tell you how it was resolved.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Tonight on the "Leading Edge": It's 2001 and the Bush administration just might be taking us on a space odyssey. Just last week the president outlined plans for a missile defense program which could include space-based elements. And today, a new announcement from the defense secretary.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): The organization known for guns, ships and planes may be getting into a more cosmic business.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: More than any other country, the United States relies on space for its security and well-being.
BLITZER: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is taking the Pentagon to another dimension, overhauling its space program, putting the Air Force at the helm, and appointing a four-star general to lead the way. Elevating space, he says, to meet 21st century national security needs.
RUMSFELD: Space issues are complex and merit a renewed focus.
SEN. BOB SMITH (R), NEW HAMPSHIRE: There are nations out there who are hostile to us, and they are in space. They have such weapons as lasers, antisatellite weapons and electromagnetic pulse weapons, and we have to be ready to recognize that threat.
BLITZER: Rumsfeld stopped short of announcing plans for space- based weapons. But he does want to find ways to deter potential adversaries from threatening U.S. space assets, including satellites that help the military do everything from navigating to spying.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: But make no mistake, this move toward space will generate a huge debate.
Up next, we'll talk to an attorney for actor Robert Blake.
Also, I'll open our mailbag. High gasoline prices hit home. I'll share a story from one of you who's being priced out of a summer vacation. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Welcome back. In other news tonight, a nationwide manhunt for a former Baptist school principal accused of kidnapping an 11-year-old student is over. The suspect, William Andy Beith, was captured today near the Las Vegas strip. The pair disappeared one week ago from Indiana after the girl had an argument with her parents. She was safely recovered. Beith is facing a series of charges.
In Los Angeles, police have yet to name any suspects in the killing of actor Robert Blake's wife. Bonny Bakley was gunned down Friday outside a Los Angeles restaurant where she and Blake had eaten dinner. Blake's attorney, Harlund Braun, sat down today for an exclusive television interview with our Charles Feldman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is he distraught in a sense that most husbands would, when a wife is killed? They didn't live together, after all?
HARLUND BRAUN, ATTORNEY FOR ROBERT BLAKE: Well, this was an unusual relationship. He married her because she gave birth to his daughter, and he felt an obligation to his child to marry the mother. Very old-fashioned. They -- it wasn't an easy relationship. They didn't even live in the same house. She wasn't in Los Angeles a good part of the time. But they were getting along better, so I'd call it more like a friend being killed.
FELDMAN: There are people who would take everything you've just said, her history, the relationship that she had with him, a rocky one, their living or nonliving arrangement, and say that's a pretty good motive, is it not, for him to kill her?
BRAUN: Well, you know, a lot of people have motives. A lot of people dislike each other. And obviously, this wasn't a loving relationship. In fact it could have been acrimonious at times. That doesn't mean you kill someone.
FELDMAN: How do you think the LAPD, at this time, view your client?
BRAUN: I would think that they have a chart. And the problem is, is they have -- they always look at possible suspects. So the last person with them, a person who's married to them or a boyfriend, a person who's had an acrimony with them. So they obviously looked at Robert as a potential suspect, initially. Then, when they come up with no evidence that he was the perpetrator, they have to look elsewhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: You could see much more of this exclusive interview at 10:00 p.m. Eastern tonight, 7:00 Pacific, on "CNN TONIGHT."
Time now to open our mailbag. Many of you reacted to our lead story last night on the skyrocketing price of gasoline. Mary from Wisconsin e-mailed me with this: "Every summer my husband and I take a trip, and now I don't know if we will be able to do it this summer. We had planned to go to Yellowstone Park, but I guess we will go somewhere closer."
David Green writes: "Having lived in London, I can relate to your comments about European petrol prices being much higher than in the United States. On the other hand, I've lived in Dubai as well where the price of gas is one dollar per gallon... the price is not the function of open prices or production costs, but of government taxes."
And Larry from Alabama points out that the Europeans have excellent mass transit systems. "The U.S. opted for highways, cars and cheap gas. If we had invested in efficient rail transportation who would care about the price of gas?"
I'd like to hear from you. Please e-mail me at wolf@cnn.com. And you can read my daily on-line column and sign up for my e-mail previewing our nightly programs by going to our "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS" Web site, cnn.com/wolf.
Please stay with CNN throughout the night. Jack Hanna is on "LARRY KING LIVE" at the top of the hour.
Up next, Greta Van Susteren. She's standing by to tell us what she has -- Greta.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST, CNN'S "THE POINT": Wolf, what's it like to spend 15 years in prison for a rape you didn't commit? I'll ask my guest, Jeffrey Pierce, along with his brother, his lawyer and Barry Scheck.
Plus, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joins us to talk about the White House energy and environmental policy. That's next -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Sounds good. Thank you very much, Greta Van Susteren. Tomorrow morning on "CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK," a live interview with Florida Governor Jeb Bush on election reform. That's at 7:00 a.m. Eastern.
Tomorrow night, we'll have much more on the trial of 14-year-old Nathaniel Brazill for murder. Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer on Capitol Hill.
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