Father of American held in Russia describes visit with son

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: An American 24-year-old man is being held in Russia. He is waiting for his chance to appeal a conviction on drug charges. He says that he was set up. And now he is getting help from his family, as well as his congressman.

John Tobin Sr. just returned from visiting his son in prison. And he joins us from New York this morning, along with Connecticut Congressman James Maloney, who is also working on this case.

Good morning to both of you.

JOHN TOBIN SR., FATHER OF DETAINED AMERICAN CITIZEN: Good morning.

REP. JAMES MALONEY (D), CONNECTICUT: Good morning. Good to be with you.

LIN: Good to be with you, too.

Mr. Tobin, give me an idea of how your son is doing. And what was the time like that you spent with him inside the prison?

TOBIN: Well, it was very difficult to see him and to encourage him and let him know that there's a lot of support for him here in this country.

LIN: I'm sure he must feel very isolated. What are the conditions in which he is living? And what's he living on?

TOBIN: Well, it's actually pretty primitive. The jail, I'm told, was built in 1775. We were able to see him in a little visiting booth that was actually not part of the prison itself, but adjacent to it.

And I had to view him through glass and talk to him on a telephone. But it was better than nothing. And it was great to see him. His spirit is actually quite good. He seems to be diminished a bit after four months. But he's hanging in there. And he's determined to fight this and to -- you know, and to prove himself.

LIN: What did he tell you about the circumstances of that night and the arrest and these drug charges?

TOBIN: You know, he couldn't tell me a lot because everything we're -- he and I were discussing was being -- is being monitored. So he was aware of that. I was aware of that. And we didn't talk about a lot of specifics. He reiterated that he's innocent and that he felt that he was somewhat vindicated in the trial, that he made them look foolish.

I'm a little concerned that he thinks he can beat this thing. I think you're really up against it in Russia. Once you've been arrested in Russia, you're really up against it. It's 99-1 against you. And even though they were talking about an acquittal the night before the trial, in spite of the discrepancies, the fabrications and the errors, they still convicted him.

LIN: Congressman Maloney, what are his legal options at this point? He's already been convicted, sentenced to 37 months in prison.

MALONEY: Well, there's going to be a hearing on the 7th. It's not an appeal, but it's a hearing. Following the hearing, he has really three options.

One is a formal appeal. The second is to request a pardon from President Putin. The third one has to do with getting some relief on the sentence from the prosecutor. I expect that one, more or all three of those approaches will be taken.

And I want to say that, in our meetings with the Foreign Ministry officials in Moscow, they were encouraging. I think we made real progress. What's going on in Voronezh, which is a city of a million people 300 miles from Moscow, is one thing. What's going on in Moscow is something different. And I think we are making progress.

Secretary Powell has now raised this issue with the Russian foreign minister, Ivanov, on three separate occasions, including this week. While Mr. Tobin and I were in Moscow, Secretary Powell was meeting with Foreign Minister Ivanov in Central Europe.

LIN: What about a direct appeal to Vladimir Putin?

MALONEY: That is -- that is possible. That is what a presidential pardon would be. There is a presidential commission. John -- Jack Tobin says repeatedly and very affirmatively that he did not commit these offenses, that he was set up.

The KGB -- technically, the successor to the KGB -- said that he was a spy in training and made all kinds of allegations early on. But Mr. Tobin and I and the American Embassy folks agree that, if it's a pardon that gets him home, that's fine by us. We'll get him home under that circumstance or under an appeal or whatever other circumstance.

LIN: Mr. Tobin, Congressman Maloney has said in the past that you all believe that these charges were trumped up because the Russians were trying to convince your son to betray his country. Could you elaborate on that?

TOBIN: Well, it's interesting to know that they took him in at the end of January, interrogated him all night long. It wasn't just questioning; it was an interrogation. It wasn't just the police; it was more than that.

And they didn't -- they didn't want to put him in jail. They wanted him to cooperate. They had things that they wanted him to do. They wanted...

LIN: But what would a 24-year-old Fulbright scholar know or could do?

TOBIN: Well, the problem is -- for him, anyway -- he fit in too well. He speaks the language fluently -- all the slang and dialects, even the accent. He just fit in so well that I think he would have been valuable to them. Or perhaps he was perceived as a threat. I'm not sure.

MALONEY: Well, could I -- could I add to that?

LIN: Sure, Congressman.

MALONEY: I think that part of the situation is the Russians, like any spy agency, are going to try to recruit people for the long term. Once they have someone who they have pressured into doing something wrong, they've got them. And that could be a whole career. We've seen that with the Hanssen case, a man that was corrupted by the Russians and then spent 20 years spying for them.

So they want to get people at the beginning of their career, where they aren't being looked at as carefully. That's entirely consistent with the way they would operate. Jack Tobin said no. He stood up for his country. And, in my opinion, he's in prison in Voronezh because he stood up for his country and did the right thing.

LIN: Mr. Tobin...

TOBIN: Yes.

LIN: I can't even imagine what this experience must be like for you. And I hear all kinds of things in your voice, everything from fear to anger. What has this been like for you?

TOBIN: Well, life goes on. And, you know, he's a confident kid. He's determined to get through this. He says he's in it for the long haul. I think we should take a short-haul approach and try and get him out of there soon.

LIN: All right. Well, hopefully, some time in the next month is what we're reading here in the States.

TOBIN: Yes. I'm hopeful.

LIN: All right, thank you very much.

TOBIN: Thank you.

LIN: Mr. Tobin, Congressman Maloney.