| (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "GOOD MORNING AMERICA")
SCOTT PETERSON, LACI PETERSON'S HUSBAND: The first word that comes to mind is, you know, glorious. I mean, we took care of each other very well. She was amazing. Is amazing. (END VIDEO CLIP) LARRY KING: Tonight, is Scott Peterson telling all? Now, with his missing wife's baby due in less than two weeks, Laci's husband admits he lied about his extramarital with affair with Amber Frey. Laci's family wants him to answer more questions and police have not ruled him out of the investigation. For the latest, Court TV's Nancy Grace, defense attorney Mark Geragos; Marc Klaas, whose daughter Polly was taken from her home and murdered in 1993; forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael Welner; and KTVU reporter Ted Rowlands in Modesto. He interviewed Scott Peterson today. We'll show some of that in a bit. The big story of the day is the missing Mrs. Peterson. The baby due shortly, in two weeks. Scott appeared on "Good Morning America" earlier today. He was asked about how he told his wife about his affair. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "GOOD MORNING AMERICA") S. PETERSON: I told my wife. DIANE SAWYER, ABC NEWS: When? S. PETERSON: In early December. SAWYER: Did it cause a rupture in the marriage? S. PETERSON: It was not a positive, obviously. It was, you know, inappropriate. But it was not something that we weren't dealing with. SAWYER: A lot of arguing? S. PETERSON: No. (END VIDEO CLIP) KING: Nancy Grace, is he in an impossible position? NANCY GRACE: Well No. 1 rule, when you're in a hole, Larry, stop digging. And I think to suggest to ordinary people like myself that his wife was -- and I'm quoting -- OK with it that he was having an affair -- that he was having that affair after he told his wife he continued the affair, no, I don't think anybody in their right mind would think that as Laci Peterson was picking out material to decorate her baby's room that she was OK with it. I think that's a glaring lie. KING: Mark Geragos, is this the kind of case where supposing he'd never had anything do with her disappearance, where he's between a rock and a hard place? MARK GERAGOS: Well, that's a given. And I hate to say it, but I do agree with Nancy. For anybody who's ever been married and been around a pregnant wife, the idea of coming home in her seventh month of pregnancy, and telling her, by the way, Honey, you may not feel all that great, I'm having an affair, but let's go on with it. I just have a lot of problems with that. I can't imagine that. KING: But it doesn't mean he took her. GERAGOS: No, I'm just -- I'm just I'm saying I don't know that's a place I'd want to be -- not only in that room or in that state. KING: Marc Klaas, what do you read when you see something like that? MARC KLAAS: Well, it's the most self-serving interview I've ever seen. A couple of things stand out. He said that he told law enforcement about Amber on the evening of the 24th or the 25th. Yet, as we understand it, Amber's the one who called the cops herself on the 30th. So, it seems that he's caught in a lie right there. At another point, Diane Sawyer asked him if he was taking anything or if he was all right. And he said he's not even taking the aspirin because the emotions are driving him to action. Now I can tell you, as somebody who's been in exactly that position, the emotions that you feel in a situation like that drive you to inaction. They drive you into depression. You need whatever you can get to get you going again. Remember, a lot of people that find themselves in this situation ultimately succumb to drug addiction, alcoholism and/or depression. Their families break up, relationships are absolutely strewn about. So that's the thing that, to me, glares out more than almost anything else. KING: Before I ask you, Dr. Welner to comment, I want him all -- you and the rest to watch Scott talking to Ms. Sawyer about his love for Laci. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "GOOD MORNING AMERICA") S. PETERSON: Driving along the highway for no reason, I was just smiling the biggest smile. And she asked me, What the heck are you smiling about? You know, the thing was that she was there. SAWYER: What kind of marriage was it? S. PETERSON: God, the first word that comes to mind is, you know, glorious. I mean, we took care of each other very well. She's amazing. Is amazing. (END VIDEO CLIP) GRACE: When we heard Peterson give some theory about how likely it was that her and his blood could be found in the vehicles. I did not buy into that. I don't think that that's normal. KING: Do you think, Mark, that the state can build a case here without anything beyond what they have to this minute from what you know they have? GERAGOS: Just from what I know, no. But then again, the police have engaged in kind of a whisper campaign, if you will, with the local media and there seems to be fairly confident they have something and they clearly are focused on him. As Marc Klaas was mentioning, either they suspected that he was having an affair immediately or they heard it from Amber, because they immediately wanted to follow-up, see where it was he went, they dredged that marina. They knew or believed that they've got something on him. KING: But based solely on the fact he was having an affair? GERAGOS: Well, it's one of the kind of age-old theories that police will employ any time there is a husband and a wife is if the husband is cheating on the wife, that they believe that this love triangle, if you will, that that will end up in somebody being missing. So it's not unnatural theory. I think it's something that makes some degree of sense. Whether there's evidence to support it is a completely different question. KING: Ted Rowlands, the reporter for KTVU-TV has joined us now from Modesto. In fact, we understand Ted just did his report for his local situation. You're standing in front of Scott Peterson's house, right, Ted? TED ROWLANDS: Yes, that's right, Larry. This is where we did the interview today. At 11:00 we went in; he invited us into his home. We were restricted, though, to just one room, which was adjacent to the door that we entered. So we really didn't get a good feel for the entire home, and he was really running the show. You know, take your shoes off when you get in and no shots of the house and he was selective in some of the questions that he would not answer. KING: How long have you been talking to him? ROWLANDS: Off and on, since this case broke. In recent weeks, pretty much everyday a couple times a day. The communication between the two of us has been constant. He doesn't give a lot of information. When you push this guy for specifics, he'll get off the phone quick. He knows when to stop talking. KING: I understand, we're showing scenes of Scott in front of his house, angry with police and the like, protesters in front of the house? ROWLANDS: Yes, he decided to do a couple interviews today and of course, the Diane Sawyer interview. What that did was attract a lot of media and specifically a radio station came up here from the L.A. area, a guy with a bullhorn, he was barking out that he was going pay Scott $60, 000 to take a lie detector test. That brought out neighbors. Scott eventually called police. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "GOOD MORNING AMERICA") S. PETERSON: I had nothing to do with Laci's disappearance. Even if think I did, think about Laci. And I know that there's a nation that wants to bring her home to our families. OK. So you can think what you want of me. You can question my moral character, question how I've acted, if it's been smart, if it hasn't been. Obviously I'm not media savvy, so I've made some mistakes. (END VIDEO CLIP) KING: How would you describe his emotions? ROWLANDS: Well, he's a pretty reserved guy. Today he was emotional a few times with us when he was talking about Laci specifically and his unborn son, Conner. For the most part he kept it together. Actually he addressed it saying that he is forcing himself to keep it together because he says there's a level that you could drop to which you can't get out of and he doesn't want to get to that level. As you saw in the "Good Morning America" interview he was emotional there especially with his family around him. KING: I spoke to him today on the phone. He appeared to be unhappy with the way they edited that interview. Did he express that to you? ROWLANDS: He was talking specifically about some video that he was unhappy about - that our station used as a tease during the noon show. It's an example although he says he's not media savvy he sure is keeping very close tabs of it. We literally came out of the interview about 11:30, I got a phone call at 1:00 and he was expressing displeasure over some veal(ph) used, just a couple shots of him. He was watching. KING: Mark Geragos? GERAGOS: I was just going--how much of--is his lawyer involved in any of this? Is his lawyer orchestrating this media campaign? Is he doing it? Is Scott doing it himself? Was the lawyer present in the house? ROWLANDS: The only comment we've heard from his lawyer in this entire investigation is--was a couple of days ago. The lawyer said, I'm instructing Scott not do any interviews. Shortly after that, Scott agreed to these selective interviews. Today when he would say, I can't talk about that, he didn't reference his lawyer, he referenced his investigator. He's hired a private investigator and he also said that the Modesto Police Department didn't want him talking about specific issues, which may or may not be true, of course. KING: How did he describe his affair to you, Ted? ROWLANDS: He said he wanted to address it right away. He said that it was inappropriate, was the word he used. And he was apologetic. He said he owed a lot of people an apology, specifically Laci's family. He said even Amber's family he needs to give them an apology as well. But he didn't get too deep into it. GRACE: You just told Larry King that he refused to answer certain questions when you were allowed into the home. Which questions did Peterson want to avoid? ROWLANDS: It was interesting, he didn't want to answer the question as to whether or not he told police about his affair with Amber on the day that Laci disappeared. He told Diane Sawyer that in that interview and it raised a lot of eyebrows that the point. And I tried to clarify it with him and he said he didn't want to talk about that and that he shouldn't been talking about it in that interview. I know that ABC today reported that Modesto Police said that was incorrect. GERAGOS: His lawyer's probably jumping him like you can't even believe. For him to be out there and feeding that to the press... KING: Let's -- I want to show you a clip of Ted Rowlands' interview earlier today with Scott Peterson talking about the nursery plan for the baby. Watch. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) S. PETERSON: I told her as (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as I can, look, you know... ROWLANDS: You worked on it? What was the sort of preparation did you do? S. PETERSON: Yes. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the furniture's there. It's painted and it's ready. All the little itty bitty clothes and all of the wonderful things we have. (END VIDEO CLIP) KING: Now he seems very believable, quite sad, quite taken. Why doesn't that help? GERAGOS: He is. He could be stone cold innocent, and that may be the case. But what good did he do by going on, getting himself edited every which way and not going on to a live show, and I'm not plugging for him to do the interview here, if he was going to talk, do it in a live show where he's not edited? And number two, what is he doing disobeying his lawyer, if you will, and starting to talk about what he did or didn't tell the police when the police are denying that's the case? He's going to walk himself... KING: ... if he doesn't go on they're saying what is he afraid of? Why's he afraid to go on? GERAGOS: Exactly. In that situation, you tell the guy is you're between a rock and a hard place. If you want to talk, you're going talk to the police and you're going to tell them the truth. Otherwise I'm shutting you down, you're going to get fired as a client. You're not going to just go out there and walk yourself in. You could be innocent of one thing and end up getting a false statements to a police on you. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SHARON ROCHA, LACI PETERSON'S MOTHER: And I miss everything about her. Someone has taken all of this away from me and every one else who loves her. There are no words that can possibly describe the ache in my heart or the emptiness in my life. I know that someone knows where Laci is and I'm pleading with you, please, please, let her come home to us. (END VIDEO CLIP) KING: That was last Friday, the emotional press conference. Sharon Rocha, the mother of Laci Peterson. Marc Klaas, do you have a question for Ted Rowlands? KLAAS: Yes I do, Larry. Thank you. Thank you very much. And I have to say, watching Mrs. Rocha is just one of the most painful things that we'll ever have to do. This is so sad. But, Ted, after you took off your shoes and Scott allowed you into a small portion of the house, did he spend any time show you pictures of Laci's or giving you any kind of insight into their life together or otherwise trying to humanize her? And I only say that because that was totally our goal or my goal when I went on TV. I know the van Dams have followed suit. So many people have. But this guy just seems so terribly self-centered that it always comes -- sort of collapses back on to being about him. ROWLANDS: Yes, we asked him to take a couple shots of the nursery or even just the door of the nursery that he says remains closed. He said, No. We asked him if we could take a shot of the unopened Christmas presents. No, we were told to just stay in that living room. I asked him about you specifically. I said, you know, people like Marc Klaas, John Walsh, people that have been through this have a different fire in their belly and they say they're willing to do anything to clear themselves and it's been a month now. Why aren't you doing that? And he just gave sort of a nonspecific response to it. But, Yes, you're right. I mean, it's very bizarre. He -- he's got certain things he doesn't want you to do and don't know the reason. GRACE: back to what Ted Rowlands said, Larry, I find it highly unusual when you should be out, by all accounts, looking for your wife, you're on the phone with the TV station going, Hey, you know, I don't like that clip you're showing of me. It really doesn't make me look too good. You know what? That is very, very unusual, Larry, by all accounts. You know his undoing, one of them, was the photo that he had of him with Amber Frey. He was just telling Diane Sawyer how much he loved the little baby in the nursery. But that photo was taken on a night he was supposed to be at a function with Laci Peterson, his pregnant wife... GERAGOS: Just because he's a narcissist doesn't mean that this guy's a murderer. KING: We have a clip, by the by way, of Ted asking Scott today about the blood in his truck. Watch. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) S. PETERSON: I'm afraid, you know, men -- we cut each other and we bleed. So yes, that's in there. ROWLANDS: And Laci's, too? S. PETERSON: I don't know. I mean, I would assume so. (END VIDEO CLIP) FULL TRANSCRIPT HOME INDEX TRIAL NEWS INTERVIEWS LACI LACI'S FAMILY SCOTT AMBER EVIDENCE-NEWS LKL INTERVIEWS |
| LACI & CONNER May the Truth be Told |
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| CNN LARRY KING LIVE Panel Discusses SCOTT'S TV INTERVIEWS January 29, 2003 - FULL TRANSCRIPT |
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| TV INTERVIEWS DISCUSSED LKL MAR 22, 2004 |