NEWS INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT / CNN
CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK
Coffey Talk: Kobe Bryant's Accuser Wants Trial Soon; Condoleezza Rice Will Talk, but not in Public
Aired March 26, 2004 - 06:30 ET
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The incoming Spanish prime minister tells his party's conference Spain is united against terrorism. Nearly 200 people were killed in terrorist bombings in Madrid just about two weeks ago.
Trouble at the Tyco trial. The judge is expected to give jurors new instructions this morning. It'll be his response to a note from the jury saying the atmosphere of its deliberations has turned poisonous.
A traffic nightmare for commuters in New York and Connecticut. A tanker truck crashes on I-95 and explodes. These are live pictures we're showing you. Now, the ensuing fire caused major structural damage to the road and to a bridge. The road might be closed for two weeks. There are detours posted around 95, but, boy, good luck. Take the Merit Parkway instead.
We update our top stories every 15 minutes. The next update comes your way at 6:45 Eastern.
The CIA is now analyzing a new tape to see if it's the voice of al Qaeda's No. 2 man, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Just last week, Pakistani officials suggested their troops had cornered the fugitive terrorist leader.
Now a tape attributed to him is calling on Pakistanis to overthrow their president. It accuses President Pervez Musharraf of betraying Pakistan's Muslims by siding with the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The United States cannot accept that Pakistan is an important power in Central Asia. Pakistan is a Muslim nation. The United States and the Jews are after it. They want to suppress the Muslim nation and control it under their new world order.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The audiotape was broadcast on the Arabic news network, Al-Jazeera.
How to pay for homeland security? Well, here's an idea from a group of retired generals and admirals. They want funds diverted from the missile shield defense program to homeland security, and they've sent a letter to President Bush. It will be released to the public later today. The president, by the way, has earmarked more than $10 billion for missile defense in the next fiscal year.
In Colorado, set a trial date now. The alleged victim's mother in the Kobe Bryant case says her daughter wants her life back. Both sides say they want to speed things up, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.
On the phone with us live from Miami, legal analyst Kendall Coffey. Time for some "Coffey Talk."
Good morning -- Kendall.
KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Before we begin, I'd like to read to our viewers something from John Clune, the accuser's attorney. This is what he had to say. He said: "She" -- the alleged victim -- "has been forced to quit school. She cannot live at home. She cannot talk to her friends. She has received literally hundreds of phone calls and e- mails threatening either death or mutilation."
So, that's why this alleged victim's mother wants the trial held now. What can the court do?
COFFEY: Well, I think the court is going to look at getting some kind of trial date set. This thing has been in the system for eight months. It's time to get some definition.
But ultimately, the judge is going to have to balance the need to be fair to both sides, and there are issues that have to be resolved. We know that the sexual history thing is before the judge right now. There are also very significant questions about the past medical history of the alleged victim. And, Carol, there's going to be a big fight over venue here.
So, I think the judge does want to move this case along, does want to get a trial date, isn't going to be that concerned about the NBA schedule, but is going to want to make sure that everything can be handled in a very hotly contested case in a judicious and deliberate way.
COSTELLO: You know, at face value, though, Kendall, it seems so unfair to this alleged victim. Kobe Bryant is using his private airplane to fly to and from the courthouse, back to play basketball wherever. He seems to be living his life pretty much normally.
I want to show our viewers another excerpt. This is from a letter to the judge from the accuser's mother. She says: "My daughter has lived in four states in the past six months. Her safety is at risk, and she has to move again. She can't live at home. She can't live with relatives. She can't go to school or talk with her friends."
What can authorities do to protect this woman?
COFFEY: Well, they're certainly doing what they can, and they brought charges against some of the people who have threatened her. And those are very, very real concerns, Carol, not just for this alleged victim, but for other victims around the country. Because let's face it, this case is going to define for millions what does it mean to be an accuser in the United States of America today? What do you have to go through?
And right now, it's a pretty horrifying picture for a crime, which as we've talked about, is already drastically underreported. They estimate that 84 percent of sexual allegations aren't reported in the first instance, precisely because of the kind of ordeal that an alleged victim will face.
COSTELLO: So, do you think this will have lasting effects?
COFFEY: I think it is going to have lasting effects. It's too early to say how it's going to turn out, because we don't know yet what about this information, what part of it the judge is going to allow into the trial. We don't know how this trial is going to turn out. But for now, there is some real collateral damage, and it could get worse.
COSTELLO: All right, Kendall Coffey joining us live by phone from Miami for a little "Coffey Talk" this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
http://robots.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0403/26/lad.02.html
