'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for August 4
Read the transcript to the Thursday show
Updated: 11:48 a.m. ET Aug. 5, 2005
Guest: Linda Sanchez, Savannah Guthrie, Mo Rocca
...
ALLISON STEWART: It is a long and proud tradition, a by-product, perhaps, of the 24-hour news cycle and instant celebrity status of those caught in its glare, the tell-all book/movie deal. OK, maybe proud wasn't the right word. Prurient? Perverted? Pathetic? Payday.
Our number two story on the COUNTDOWN tonight: If you didn't see this one coming, turn in your cynic card immediately. Two members of the Michael Jackson jury are cashing in. After 574 days of investigation, 3 months of trial and 32 hours of deliberation, Michael Jackson may have walked out of a Santa Maria courtroom a free man, but not necessarily an innocent one, that according to 79-year-old Eleanor Cook, AKA juror number five, and juror number one, 62-year-old Ray Hultman. They claim to have initially voted in favor of convicting Jackson of child molestation charges. You may recall what it was that changed Mrs. Cook's mind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELEANOR COOK, MICHAEL JACKSON JUROR: I disliked it intensely when she snapped her fingers at us. That's when I thought, Don't snap your fingers at me, lady.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Eleanor Cook not a fan of the accuser's mother, apparently. Her book, according to “The New York Daily News,” will be entitled, quote, “Guilty as Sin, Free as a Bird.” “The Deliberator” will be the title of Ray Hultman's tome, both promising to give all the juicy details of the deliberation process. A film based on the jurors' experiences also said to be in the works.
Now, there is a distinct Michael Corleone vibe in the air, felt perhaps more strongly by Court TV correspondent and Jackson trial veteran Savannah Guthrie. We keep pulling you back in, Savannah, just when you thought you were out.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, COURT TV: I know, Alison. It's my pleasure to be with you.
STEWART: We appreciate it. Let's start with me asking you this. Stacy Brown, who works for this network, is named in this “Daily News” article as a co-author of one of these books, but he says he hasn't committed to that. Do you know what the deal is?
GUTHRIE: No, and I don't think Stacy Brown knows what the deal is. You know, I called him, having seen the “Daily News” piece today that said that he was going to co-author these books, and he said, I haven't agreed to that. He has spoken to both Ellie Cook and Ray Hultman, but he hasn't agreed to co-author these books. And so in some ways, I think this is an example of the broker, the literary broker who's trying to sell these books to the publishers, trying to drum up some headlines so that these books will be published.
STEWART: All right. You sat in that trial day after day, and you have these two jurors, essentially the same story. How could they possibly differ?
GUTHRIE: Well, you know, that's the question, especially since these are two jurors who are now saying, Oh, I really meant to vote guilty, I wanted to vote guilty, but I thought that I was going to get kicked off the jury.
I think this is part of the problem when jurors are writing these books because the pressure is to make a more and more sensational claim. I've actually seen the book proposal that came from Ray Hultman, juror number one, and he does make some pretty outrageous claims, including his speculation that perhaps one of the jurors was paid off, a speculation that a couple of the witnesses were paid off.
As I say, there are literary brokers who are out there trying to shop these books to publishers, and the whole public has Michael Jackson fatigue, so the pressure is really on to come up with a very sensational claim.
STEWART: Isn't there some sort of law or some sort of agreement that jurors must have in high-profile cases where they can't make money off of this in some way?
GUTHRIE: Actually, there is. And you know, the jurors got an instruction from Judge Melville that for 90 days, they could not talk to anybody about or receive any kind of benefit or payment for their jury service or any information about the case. And you know, I don't know the ins and outs of their discussions with the brokers and the literary agents and the publishers and everybody, but they would seem to be, at least, if not running afoul of this rule, walking very, very close to the line.
STEWART: Court TV's Savannah Guthrie. We thank you so much tonight, as always.
GUTHRIE: Nice to be with you, Alison.
Source: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8838809/
Read the transcript to the Thursday show
Updated: 11:48 a.m. ET Aug. 5, 2005
Guest: Linda Sanchez, Savannah Guthrie, Mo Rocca
...
ALLISON STEWART: It is a long and proud tradition, a by-product, perhaps, of the 24-hour news cycle and instant celebrity status of those caught in its glare, the tell-all book/movie deal. OK, maybe proud wasn't the right word. Prurient? Perverted? Pathetic? Payday.
Our number two story on the COUNTDOWN tonight: If you didn't see this one coming, turn in your cynic card immediately. Two members of the Michael Jackson jury are cashing in. After 574 days of investigation, 3 months of trial and 32 hours of deliberation, Michael Jackson may have walked out of a Santa Maria courtroom a free man, but not necessarily an innocent one, that according to 79-year-old Eleanor Cook, AKA juror number five, and juror number one, 62-year-old Ray Hultman. They claim to have initially voted in favor of convicting Jackson of child molestation charges. You may recall what it was that changed Mrs. Cook's mind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELEANOR COOK, MICHAEL JACKSON JUROR: I disliked it intensely when she snapped her fingers at us. That's when I thought, Don't snap your fingers at me, lady.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Eleanor Cook not a fan of the accuser's mother, apparently. Her book, according to “The New York Daily News,” will be entitled, quote, “Guilty as Sin, Free as a Bird.” “The Deliberator” will be the title of Ray Hultman's tome, both promising to give all the juicy details of the deliberation process. A film based on the jurors' experiences also said to be in the works.
Now, there is a distinct Michael Corleone vibe in the air, felt perhaps more strongly by Court TV correspondent and Jackson trial veteran Savannah Guthrie. We keep pulling you back in, Savannah, just when you thought you were out.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, COURT TV: I know, Alison. It's my pleasure to be with you.
STEWART: We appreciate it. Let's start with me asking you this. Stacy Brown, who works for this network, is named in this “Daily News” article as a co-author of one of these books, but he says he hasn't committed to that. Do you know what the deal is?
GUTHRIE: No, and I don't think Stacy Brown knows what the deal is. You know, I called him, having seen the “Daily News” piece today that said that he was going to co-author these books, and he said, I haven't agreed to that. He has spoken to both Ellie Cook and Ray Hultman, but he hasn't agreed to co-author these books. And so in some ways, I think this is an example of the broker, the literary broker who's trying to sell these books to the publishers, trying to drum up some headlines so that these books will be published.
STEWART: All right. You sat in that trial day after day, and you have these two jurors, essentially the same story. How could they possibly differ?
GUTHRIE: Well, you know, that's the question, especially since these are two jurors who are now saying, Oh, I really meant to vote guilty, I wanted to vote guilty, but I thought that I was going to get kicked off the jury.
I think this is part of the problem when jurors are writing these books because the pressure is to make a more and more sensational claim. I've actually seen the book proposal that came from Ray Hultman, juror number one, and he does make some pretty outrageous claims, including his speculation that perhaps one of the jurors was paid off, a speculation that a couple of the witnesses were paid off.
As I say, there are literary brokers who are out there trying to shop these books to publishers, and the whole public has Michael Jackson fatigue, so the pressure is really on to come up with a very sensational claim.
STEWART: Isn't there some sort of law or some sort of agreement that jurors must have in high-profile cases where they can't make money off of this in some way?
GUTHRIE: Actually, there is. And you know, the jurors got an instruction from Judge Melville that for 90 days, they could not talk to anybody about or receive any kind of benefit or payment for their jury service or any information about the case. And you know, I don't know the ins and outs of their discussions with the brokers and the literary agents and the publishers and everybody, but they would seem to be, at least, if not running afoul of this rule, walking very, very close to the line.
STEWART: Court TV's Savannah Guthrie. We thank you so much tonight, as always.
GUTHRIE: Nice to be with you, Alison.
Source: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8838809/