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CNN LARRY KING LIVE

Interview with Regis Philbin, Panel Discusses Peterson Trial

Aired September 23, 2004 - 21:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight, my man, Regis Philbin. He's in the Guinness Book of World Records, most hours ever on TV. He's talked to everybody, Paris Hilton, John Kerry, now he's talking to me and you and we'll take your calls.
And then later, Laci Peterson on home video shown in Scott Peterson's murder trial today. How did the jury react? That and all the latest from those who were inside the Redwood City courtroom. CNN's Ted Rowlands, video of his interview with Scott, has been played in court. Michael Cardoza, the leading area defense attorney, and a former prosecutor. Chuck Smith, former prosecutor in San Mateo County, where the trial is being held. And Richard Cole, veteran trial reporter for "The Daily News Group." All next on LARRY KING LIVE.

We know him, we love him, it's always great to have him with us. And little did we realize that the hole left by the parting and passing of Frank Sinatra has been filled. Regis Philbin, the Emmy Award winning host of "Live with Regis and Kelly" has a new album, "When You're Smiling." It comes out September 28. We have the CD in front of us. There you see its cover.

Give us a little history, Reege. How this come about?

REGIS PHILBIN, TV PERSONALITY: Well, Larry, gee, 37 years ago, on the "Joey Bishop Show," Bing Crosby made a guest appearance. And Joey, in an attempt to get Bing to sing, told him what a big fan I was and what a thrill it would be if he would sing to me. And so Bing turned to me and sang "Tura-Lura-Lura," the song he sang to Barry Fitzgerald in "Going My Way."

We go to a commercial break. We come out of it. And Joey wanted more. So, he told Bing again what a fan I was and how I would love to sing to Bing. And so I wound up singing "Pennies From Heaven."

Well, the next day, I got a record contract from Mercury Records. 37 years later, to show you what a hit that record was, I got another offer from Hollywood Records to make an album. And so I included both those songs in memory of Bing and Joey's show. And so I do "Pennies From Heaven" and "Tura-Lura-Lura" on that album.

And it's been a lot of fun. And it's a totally different way of recording now, you know. You don't get in a little booth with 22 musicians outside and sing along with them, now the tracks are laid down and you just lend your voice to it.

KING: You had a pretty good producer, too. PHILBIN: Oh, Steve Tyrell is a wonderful guy. Really a music maven. He's a great performer and a great producer. And I learned a lot from him and had a ball doing it.

KING: Is singing kind of the kind of thing, if you had a wish, you'd rather have been Vic Damone than Regis Philbin?

PHILBIN: Well, you know, Larry, when we were growing up in New York City and you would hear these great crooners on their records on the radio, every little kid in New York City, I think, went through, I want to be a singer phase. As a matter of fact, the last time we were on the plane together, we were singing to one another.

KING: Correct, going to Notre Dame.

PHILBIN: Exactly. For a minute, I thought I'd be with you in the studio. So, they're faxing the words to "Exactly Like You," which I want to sing with you, maybe just a chorus or 2 tonight before we're through.

KING: Let's do it now.

PHILBIN: All right. Good. You got the words there?

KING: I think I know these words, but go ahead.

PHILBIN: You want me to start? So, you come in...

KING: OK.

PHILBIN (singing)

KING: (singing)

PHILBIN: You sound like (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

(singing)

KING: (singing)

Ah, Reege.

PHILBIN: You still got it, baby.

KING: It's a kick, ain't it? It must have been a kick to do this.

PHILBIN: It was a lot of fun, Larry. All these great song, we've known all of our lives. And I really thoroughly enjoyed it. I know I'm really a television talker, but gee, twice in my lifetime, somebody's offered me a record situation and I grabbed it and I'm so happy I did.

KING: How did you get Ronan Tynan, the brilliant Irish tenor to do "Tura-Lura-Lura" with you? PHILBIN: Well, you know, we've used Ronan on our show quite a few times now, especially when he was with the Irish Tenors, and they would come every St. Patrick's Day. I see him out at Yankee Stadium all the time. He sings "God Bless America" on the 7th inning. He's got such a wonderful voice. Steve Tyrell thought it would be nice to get Ronan in there to kind of harmonize with me on the "Tura-Lura- Lura" song

KING: But didn't that overwhelm you a little, to sing with someone with that kind of sound?

PHILBIN: You know, Larry, it's a new ball game, recording something now. I laid down my track after the musicians laid down theirs. Ronan came in, heard mine, and laid his down, and I haven't seen him since.

KING: My wife is putting together a CD, now. By the way, next month, she opens for Rickles at the Stardust, October 14. You got to come see her. She's terrific. I know she'll be on your show. She's done a CD. And she goes here and the musicians are there and the other guys here. They don't have to be together.

PHILBIN: That's exactly what's it's all about. And Don was telling me that she's going to be with him on October 14 out there at the Stardust.

KING: Do you sing in your act?

PHILBIN: Oh yes, I sing about seven, eight songs. And incidentally, my wife is a part of this album too.

KING: I saw that.

PHILBIN: The sixth song, "They Can't Take That Away From Me." We invited Joy to come down and sing. And she sounded so good, we made to make it part of the album.

KING: OK, Reege, what if this is a runaway hit. Big! Big!

PHILBIN: Well then, here's what happens. Usher is finished. Ja Rule is done. They're all out. Regis is in!

KING: By the way, happy birthday. We didn't get to wish you on August 3, you turned 73.

PHILBIN: 25th.

KING: Oh, the 25th.

PHILBIN: Yes

KING: Do you feel 73?

PHILBIN: No. No. Not at all.

KING: I don't feel 70. By the way, speaking of that. PHILBIN: Wait a minute, are you saying I'm older than you?

KING: You are, three years older than me.

PHILBIN: Really, Larry?

KING: Really, Regis.

PHILBIN: You're saying you're younger than Don Rickles too?

KING: Rickles is our father.

PHILBIN: We're all in our 70s.

KING: When I turned 70, this was a historic night on the show. Reege was supposed to be the guest. I had no idea. Watch what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILBIN: Tonight, my friend, is your birthday. You are 70 years old, Larry King. You are a broadcasting legend. And what's going to happen in the next 55 minutes is something beyond your control, even you...

KING: What are you talking about?

PHILBIN: Larry King, can't control this. You know why? Because all for the last month, you staff has been planning the best birthday party ever given on television. And we had to do it, because it had to be a big surprise.

KING: Wait a minute, wait a minute. What are you...

PHILBIN: Larry...

KING: Are you taking over? I'm lost.

PHILBIN: I'm taking over, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING; That was some night. I was totally shocked, Reege.

PHILBIN: You certainly were. I've never seen you for a loss for words, but I guess you couldn't fathom that we were presenting you with a surprise birthday party.

KING: And Dr. Phil comes out. And it was unbelievable.

PHILBIN: Mike Wallace, came out, everybody came out to wish you a happy birthday.

KING: Unbelievable. All right. What was it -- when you have a John Kerry on, like you had this week, does that change the tenor of the show, or do you keep it in the same kind of light vein. PHILBIN: Look. I know we're not "Meet The Press." We're there just to do what we always do, and that is have a good time with our guest. And I think that's one of the reasons John Kerry chose to be with us. I think his handlers are looking for the personality of John Kerry to come to fore. So gee, I thought he was just terrific on the show. He looked great, handled himself terrific.

I mean, he's a good-looking man, distinguished, tall, regal looking. We had a ball with him. And I think he did too.

KING: People who know him, and I think both sides would say this, if you know him, he's pretty warm. Do you think he doesn't come over that way?

PHILBIN: Well, you know, I mean, it's hard to say, but I think everyone is a little afraid that maybe he doesn't give all that he can give in the terms of personality. But on our show, he sat there, he kibbutzed with us. We really had a lot of fun and liked him a lot.

KING: We're going to take a break and come back. We'll take your calls for Regis. He's with us the first half of the show.

And as we go to each break, we'll show you a portion of the cut from this terrific new album "When You're Smiling" with Regis Philbin. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(AUDIO GAP)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to present Regis Philbin with his own Guinness world record certificate for the most hours on camera on U.S. Television, with a staggering 50,000...

PHILBIN: How many?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 50,188. Congratulations, sir.

PHILBIN: Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: A legend and he's with us, Regis Philbin. Broke Hugh Downs' record, by the way, for hours on television. How does that make you feel?

PHILBIN: Well, you know, I never gave it a second thought, Larry. Because we had the Guinness people on our show a couple weeks ago, with record holders trying to break their own records on our show, and incidentally, none of them did, Gelman, my producer, decided to tally up my hours. And, you know, including a local syndicated, cable, all those venues, and so we arrived at that figure and it was authenticated by the Guinness Book. You,

of course, got all of his more than 10,000 hours on network television, which was quite a feat. You he did concentration, he did the "Today Show." I wonder if you've ever thought about how many hours you have.

I never totaled it up. I'm in the Guinness book for consecutive hours on radio.

PHILBIN: Really?

KING: I did the five-hour show for 20 years.

PHILBIN: Consecutive hours on radio

KING: Yes, network radio.

PHILBIN: That's right, sure. Late at night too.

KING: Five hours every night, yes. But I haven't totaled it up. We ought to give it a try. What if I pass you?

PHILBIN: Well, then I'll present you with a trophy.

KING: What does the -- what is the awards you're doing tomorrow?

PHILBIN: Tomorrow is on own awards show. Larry, our show has never won an Emmy. Never won an Emmy. Some of the Emmy winners...

KING: Your kidding.

PHILBIN: ...shows have come and gone, and we're still waiting for our first Emmy. I won one Emmy, best host, daytime host, when I was in between co-hosts, ironically enough. It was that portion of the year when Kathy had gone and Kelly hadn't yet arrived. I don't know, we submitted a show and I won that year. But by and large, I think, the show has been terribly overlooked. And so, with that in mind we have developed our own awards show, where we compete against each other. We have, like, five segments of Kelly and I opening the show and which one is the winner? But we can't lose. So we love this award show. We call it the Relly's.

KING: The Relly's.

PHILBIN: It's the Relly's, because it's "R" for Regis and E-L-L- Y for Kelly, and so it's the Relly Show.

KING: You have the best host chat, the best dressed, the best guest.

PHILBIN: That's it yes.

KING: You have nominations.

PHILBIN: Kelly and I have won 10 nominations. And we also have best guest and best guest hosts and so it's really a lot of fun. It's a spoof on the awards shows. Nobody takes it very seriously. But it happens to have turned out to be a pretty good little show.

KING: Lets take a quick call for Regis here. Wilmington, North Carolina. Regis Philbin, the album is "When Your Smiling."

Are you there? They're gone.

PHILBIN: How do you like that?

KING: First call -- gone.

PHILBIN: Maybe our only car. I love it when you get a little angry with these callers, Larry. You say, Wilmington or Altuna (ph), go ahead!

KING: Lets try Toronto, hello.

CALLER: Hi, Larry and Regis.

KING: Hi.

CALLER: Regis, I'm here. I didn't go away. I just wanted to talk to for a few minutes about your heritage. I understand if, I've got the information right, you're Italian. And I want to know how your Italian heritage plays a part in your life. Is your Italian heritage part of your life? I'm Italian, actually I'm Sicilian and I love you to death, you and Kelly. And if you could answer my question, thank you.

KING: How big a part does being Italian play.

PHILBIN: Yes. You know, I'm half Italian. My mother was born on the west side of Manhattan, my father on the east side, Manhattan, but my father is Irish. So, I was Irish-Italian, and there were quite a few, especially here in New York City. Well, my Italian heritage played a great deal in my development. That was the dominant family in my life. And my mother had a lot of sisters, brothers, nephews and nieces and they' would all converge on our home in the Bronx on Sundays. And it was all day with all of the Italian relatives. And it was quite wonderful and I think that gave me whatever talking ability I had, because if you didn't talk with them, you weren't going to get a word in edgewise. So you had to fight your way into that conversation and keep it going.

KING: You went to the most famous Irish school of them all.

PHILBIN: That's right. Well, my dad knew Moose Kraus in the service, in the Marines in World War II. And Moose would spin these great stories about Notre Dame and Knute Rockne and "The Gipper" and "The Horsemen" and all these young Marine officers would be spellbound. And so, when he came back from World War II and when it came time for me to go to college, that was the school he wanted me to go to

KING: But the way, the team seems to be on the rebound.

PHILBIN: Two consecutive wins which has got us all very, very happy. Too bad we lost to BYU the opening game, but that's the way it turned out. Anyway, we're looking forward to beating Washington, then a big game comes up with Purdue.

KING: Edmonton for our man, Regis. Hello.

CALLER: Good evening, gentlemen. I just want to say, I love both of your programs.

KING: Thank you.

CALLER: My question -- comment for Regis, actually is, I know you suffered the loss of your cat Ashley, earlier this year, to chronic renal failure. A week after Ashley passed, I lost my 20-year- old cat as well. And just I want to know if you have since or are thinking of getting a new cat.

PHILBIN: A lot of people ask me that. I'm not ready for another love in my life. And so not yet. I made some day, Joy and I look at pictures of cats in magazines and they all look cute, but not yet, you know. I miss I really miss that little guy. Larry, when is the last time you had a pet that passed away and that maybe you missed?

KING: A dog. I had dog pass away some years back. You miss them very much. But I always thought that cats were not -- they don't get into your heart.

PHILBIN: Larry, they give you no affection at all. The dogs leap up and kiss your face and lick your tongue and they do it all. Cats give you nothing. But there's something about them that makes you go to them. And pick them up and demonstrate your affection on them. And they just sit there and love it. It's not there, but that's the way it is.

KING: Be right back with Regis Philbin. The album "When You're Smiling," the CD -- it says September 28. Is it out now? Is it out now?

PHILBIN: No, it's out Tuesday. Next Tuesday.

KING: Next Tuesday.

Here's another clip from the video of "When You're Smiling."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILBIN: (SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILBIN: So many guests have come on this show and insist on trying to be me. They impersonate me, they want to be me. So here are the nominees for best Regis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm on the plain with the Trumpster and I said to him, Trumpster, I'm going to save the network. I'm going to save the network and, of course, Milani (ph) was there and she showed me how to open a bottle of Snapple!

TOM HANKS, ACTOR: What is it, like, 4:00 every afternoon, you say, I'm not working. I'm just waiting for tomorrow's show. I should be doing something else right now! I should be talking to somebody else right now!

BEN AFFLECK, ACTOR: Have you ever been massaged by a man? I like to hold you.

PHILBIN: One, two, three, then I'm out of control.

One, two, three, I'm out of control!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Funny stuff.

PHILBIN: Yes, that's one of the categories tomorrow, Larry, the best impersonation of Regis. And I'm included in that, but these guys are pretty good.

KING: You're included in your own nomination?

PHILBIN: Absolutely, Larry. We want to win everything.

KING: If you lose that, Rege, it's a bad day.

PHILBIN: I'll be very upset.

KING: Fort Paine, Indiana, hello.

CALLER: Yes, Regis, your song, "Exactly Like You," is it going to be on your CD?

PHILBIN: "Exactly Like You" is on the CD. Not with Larry King, just me.

KING: "You make me feel so young, pennies from Heaven, it had to be you," and we're going to close this segment with that. "When you're smiling, I can't give you anything but love, they can't take that away from me, the very thought of you, cheek to cheek, what will I do, you're nobody till somebody loves you," "Exactly Like You" and "Tura Lura." We go to Farnham, Nebraska, hello?

CALLER: You two are awesome. Regis, I have to ask this question. One of your best shows was when -- the time you took care of Kelli's kids. Are you going to let us enjoy watching you baby-sit once more?

PHILBIN: You know, I think that's on one of the categories tomorrow. And you know, I took -- I baby-sat Kelli's youngest when he was about six or seven months old and I inadvertently, Larry, dropped him on his head. The child hasn't spoken since then, but he can't stop smiling. No, and he's fine. He's fine. That's a little family joke. But I was scared to death when he went down in a heap. But no, he's fine. Yes, he'll be on the show tomorrow.

KING: My fellow friars on the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) out here will honor Donald Trump on October 15 with a roast. You're going to emcee that. What do you make of the Trumpster and this "Apprentice" show.

PHILBIN: It's really catapulted him. He always was a big name here in New York, but now the whole country's talking about him. I think it's a big hit. I didn't know how it would go, but it captured the whole business feel of what it's like to be vying for a job. Of course, there's nobody better at doing that than Trump who has the greatest business name in the country. The sights of New York City, Larry, you have probably seen the show. The helicopter shots of New York are just awesome. They're just great.

KING: Tampa, hello.

CALLER: My question for Regis Philbin is as the record holder for the most hours of television programming what advice would you have for somebody like myself who would like to be like you and Mr. King and entertain and inform at the same time.

PHILBIN: Get a job in the broadcasting industry, whether it's radio or TV. Get in the business and slowly gravitate to what you want to do. If you want to work in front of a camera or microphone, at least you're in there and you've got to -- you've got to know the people who will give you that job. You've got to impress them too.

KING: Regis, you're 73. We have to start thinking about this. Do you ever think about hanging it up?

PHILBIN: Sure I do. yes, I do, Larry. I'm torn with what to do when the contract is up in a couple of years. I don't know. How do you feel about it?

KING: I don't know. I love doing what I do. Don't you?

PHILBIN: Yes.

KING: I never get tired of it.

PHILBIN: The only -- you know, the winter months are tough here in New York. But...

KING: Live out here. You can do it wherever you want.

PHILBIN: Couldn't do it live from L.A. That was what stymied me years ago. I had the show at 9:00 in the morning in L.A. but how to get it in New York at 9:00 in the morning was always the problem if you want to do it live. That's something I wrestle with once in a while and still think about. Who knows what's going to happen in two years.

KING: What about "Millionaire?" Is that going to come every six months?

PHILBIN: I haven't heard from the network suits about that one. They're waiting to see how their new program develops and what they have that could be a hit. Depending on what's not, maybe they'll throw "Super Millionaire" into the breach. I hope they do. I think it deserves a place on the network anyway. That's just what I think.

KING: It always should have been a weekly, had they kept it at that, you'd still be running in the top ten.

PHILBIN: I think so. I really do

KING: Regis, thank you so much. See you in New York.

PHILBIN: Larry, come back soon to New York, this is the best weather of the year. You know that.

KING: Nothing like that weather in New York. As we go to break, here's Regis and "It Had to be You."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: The Scott Peterson case rolls on. Let's meet a panel of four who are all there today. Ted Rowlands, CNN correspondent, has covered this from get-go and has one of the few on-camera interviews with Scott Peterson. That was in court today, by the way.

Michael Cardoza, the famed defense attorney, former prosecutor.

Chuck Smith was not in court today, but the former San Mateo County prosecutor, famous as a homicide prosecutor now in private practice.

And Richard Cole, who covered the Peterson case and is covering it for "The Daily News" Group, including "The Redwood City Daily News," a veteran crime and trial reporter. Ted, what were the highlights today.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a fourth day on the stand for Detective Craig Grogan this the lead detective in the case. And many believe that this witness has really changed things for the prosecution. Because the prosecution has been able to use Grogan to talk about all facets of the investigation against Peterson and they've been able to go over points that have already been developed in court one by one and bring them together.

At one point, during this week of testimony, Grogan even rattled off a number of the 41 reasons that the Modesto Police detectives compiled thinking that Laci Peterson's remains would be found in the San Francisco Bay. And when all those points were brought together in a fell swoop it gave the jurors a sense of the prosecution case, and that is, that there are little bricks all being stacked up. We've heard little bricks come up throughout the testimony, but Geragos has been able to knock most of them down. This time it gave the prosecution, without any direct cross right away, an opportunity to really spell out their case for the jury.

They have used Grogan to introduce the videos of his interviews on television, the one with Diane Sawyer, very compelling, where they see him actually lie on camera and then the other interviews as well, plus audio conversations. Grogan has really helped the prosecution according to a lot of observers. Now Geragos has started his cross and he's going to continue through Monday so that he can sort of dismantle some of this, and bring it back towards center.

KING: Michael, Ted mentioned building bricks. Are they building a building?

MICHAEL CARDOZA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They are getting to that. A lot of people may not know, but a new district attorney has stepped up behind the table. There's now a third, Birgit Fladager. She has taken over. She put on Grogan this week, and she did a commendable job. It was seamless testimony as she asked questions. They did bring those 41 points of the prosecution, at least they put it in logical order. But now it's the defense's turn and Geragos has taken it apart now brick by brick.

For example, he talked to Grogan on cross-examination. He said wait a minute, Scott was the one who told you he was surfing the Internet for a fishing spot. Yes, he did. Scott was the one who told you they were going to sell the jewelry. Well, yes, he did. So Geragos is making some headway on cross-examination that has just started. And the one that I'm leaning back on, is the detective said on direct with Fladager, you know, one of the things I thought was interesting and pointed towards his guilt was he bought $13 worth of gas and he didn't get a receipt on his way back from the Berkeley Marina back to Modesto. And I'm thinking what's that got to do with this? Why is this so suspicious. They haven't answered that. But that's one of their 41 points.

KING: Chuck, I'll ask you in a minute. But Richard Cole, you were there today, what were your thoughts?

RICHARD COLE, "REDWOOD CITY DAILY NEWS": I think the case was assembled very well by the Mrs. Fladager and Detective Grogan. What we've gotten this time is the reason that police suspected Scott. We -- it's very clear why they suspected him. He rattled off the reasons. He was the last person to see, the last person known to have seen her. He's the husband. All of these reasons. The trouble is that they certainly amounted to a great deal of suspicion that he did it. The question is going to be, does it amount to beyond a reasonable doubt that he did it. And so far, I think they're falling a little bit short of that unless they've got something we don't know about.

KING: Chuck Smith, I know you weren't there today, but what do you think is the reason we have another prosecutor in this? CHUCK SMITH, FORMER PROSECUTOR IN SAN MATEO: I think it was pretty much concluded by most observers that the two lead prosecutors were not doing a very effective job of presenting the case. Larry, in a circumstantial evidence case, a prosecutor has to just have things buttoned up and tight. It's got to go point A to point B directly. You have to be a master of the facts. They were not doing that. Birgit Fladager has done a wonderful job of doing that. At one point during the presentation, she was going through a series of exhibits and she skipped over one them. The judge said, you mixed number 206- F. And she turned very smartly and said, "that was by design, your honor." Just conveying to everyone, I know where I'm going. I know the facts. I know how to get to where I want to be. She's just very effective.

KING: What is her reputation?

SMITH: Well, she's an assistant D.A., which is one of the supervisors. She's got a good reputation. I actually have a case out in their jurisdiction these days, so I've been talking to some of my friends out there. And she's got a good reputation. She knows what she's doing. She's got a great presence about her. I think that the more she will do in this trial, the better it will be for the prosecution.

KING: In the Grogan/Scott interview, Scott seems to cry and break down. We're going to show you a clip of the tape. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRAIG GROGAN, DETECTIVE: You and I both know what happened to Laci.

SCOTT PETERSON, ON TRIAL FOR MURDER: You know what happened to her/

GROGAN: We both do.

PETERSON: Craig, I need to know what happened to her. Are you telling me you know what happened to her?

GROGAN: Scott, I mean, lets be serious with one and other.

PETERSON: Craig tell me what -- you know what happened to her? Do you -- do you know where she is?

GROGAN: Well, I know where we're looking for her. And I think we're probably going to find her over in the bay. It's a matter of time.

PETERSON: Craig you -- I had nothing to do with Laci's disappearance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Ted Rowlands, he doesn't sound like a guilty person there, does he? ROWLANDS: Well, you know, what the prosecution tried to establish in the phone conversation is that Scott was acting as though he didn't understand what Grogan was saying. And that sort of came through where he's saying, you know where she is, Craig?

Where Grogan was more of the rock in the conversation, saying come on, let's be serious, we both know what we're talking about here. Let's come clean. And it came on the heels -- earlier in the conversation, Peterson broke down and was opening himself up, saying how horrible this whole thing has been. Grogan heard that and went in for the kill. But your right, Peterson didn't fess up to anything. In fact, later in the tape, Peterson turns on Grogan and says I'm hanging up. I see where you're going with this. How it played with the jury, who knows. But it was another piece of compelling audio tape that they were exposed to.

KING: Michael, as a veteran of trials, you know you can never guess what a jury would do. But How Would you think a jury would react as when they see someone lie, a as he lied to Diane Sawyer.

CARDOZA: Certainly that's not good. One of the things that helps him the very next day, the very next day, he phoned Grogan and said, look, detective yesterday I was on Sawyer's show. I didn't tell the truth. I lied about whether he told the police or not about the affair. He said, I told her I told you immediately. Craig Grogan, you and boy both know that's not true. He fesses up right way. So, how is that going to cut? I don't know. It going to be in the eye of the beholder. If you think he's guilty, you can spin this evidence any way you want. If you're on the other side, you can spin it the other way. That's why this is such an a darn interesting trial.

KING: Richard Cole what do you think the effect on the jury was of the home videos of Laci?

COLE: Well, it's certainly made Laci real. You saw her kind of sweet, kind of sexy, kind of pretty. This is in July, she's pregnant but not showing much. She's wearing a bikini. Her friend's wearing a bikini. Scott's making jokes of showing this to Osama bin Laden to show him, you know, what he's missing out on with his views of life. It's certainly made her real. I don't know that it was any more emotionally effective than that picture we've all seen of her sitting alone in the chair in the red outfit with her belly out to here. But the other side of it -- pardon?

KING: What was its relevance?

COLE: As far as we could see, none at all. They introduced it on the basis of that at the end of this tape, there's some shots of the watches that they put on eBay. I don't know that there's any big issue with those watches. There's no question they did it. They did it together. I thought what was interesting was that the prosecution kept fast forwarding through portions of the tape and they were all portions of the tape where Scott and Laci are chatting.

They're doing this traffic study because the neighbors are complaining about a road project that's going to be built and Scott's driving and Laci's Apparently filming and they're having a very friendly, you know, husband/wife chat. And for some reason, the prosecution fast-forwarded through the conversations. We saw them on the transcripts, but the jury hasn't heard them. It almost gave a feeling of playing a little bit fast and loose with things. But maybe the defense will come back and play it on its cross-examination.

KING: Chuck what do you make of its relevance?

SMITH: You asked the perfect question, Larry. Normally in a homicide trial this kind of day-in-the-life tape of the victim is simply not permitted. It's an appeal to emotion. A jury is not supposed to make a decision based upon emotional reaction. Normally, this wouldn't be allowed. But the judge has allowed so much in this case to show the completeness of all of the evidence that's been gathered that I think his decision was basically, all right, they've seen everything else and they've heard everything else, they should see all of this as well. But it is unusual.

KING: Let me get a break, come back. We'll include your phone calls. Scott Peterson case getting toward the defense part of it. They'll put on their witnesses and then the conclusion still weeks away. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about a couple of things that just are flying by today, they were mentioned as well. The neighbor claiming they saw you loading some large object the day of, Christmas Eve day.

SCOTT PETERSON: Right, right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that accurate?

PETERSON: Yes, actually. In the back of my truck, I put some of these umbrellas that we have, these big umbrellas. It started to rain and I was taking them to storage. So, yes, I did load some umbrellas in the back of my truck that day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you interact with that neighbor?

PETERSON: I don't know which neighbor that is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The -- was there a blue tarp involved in that?

PETERSON: Yes.

Yes, they were wrapped up in the tarp.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: That was Ted Rowlands' interview, also in court today, of Scott Peterson, the accused. Let's go to calls, San Mateo, California, hello. CALLER: Hi, Larry. I have two quick questions. One is, does Scott Peterson have pictures of Laci in his cell? I know most prisoners usually do have family pictures. And also, it seems like every time Gloria Allred gets in front of a camera, she seems to try the case. Is this fair for the defense? Thank you.

KING: Let's have Ted answer the first one and Michael the second. Ted?

ROWLANDS: I don't know the answer to the first one. It's a very good question. We can ask his attorney and see if we can get the answer to it but great question though one that should probably have already been asked.

KING: Has Gloria Allred predetermined the outcome, Michael?

CARDOZO: Oh, absolutely. She said everything but the word guilty when she gets before the microphone certainly she's spinning it because of her client in this case.

KING: But her client doesn't know if he's guilty.

CARDOZO: No, I'm not saying she knows for sure, but certainly Gloria puts that spin on it that Scott Peterson is guilty. She won't come out and say that, but you can read all of that into any statement of Gloria Allred that she's made about the case. Will she have an effect on the jury, no, because the jury's not supposed to watch.

ROWLANDS: Larry, Mark Geragos tried to clamp down on Gloria Allred in Modesto. He wanted her to come under the gag order, because she's holding these press conferences, you know, every time she's outside of court and is slamming Peterson and Geragos but the judge in Modesto ruled on it and said she does not come under the gag order so she can say whatever she wants basically as long as she doesn't talk about the evidence.

KING: There were shots of the nursery in court today too. We'll show those as well. New Orleans, hello.

CALLER: Who has Laci's jewelry? Was it given back to her mother?

KING: Do we know the answer to that, Richard Cole?

COLE: Yes, I do. That came up in court today. It wasn't given back to her mother. Her mother went and got it fairly early on, I believe, in early January, January 4 or 5, around there, I remember Laci disappeared on December 24 of 2002. Her mother went and got the jewelry. The defense brought that up, because Scott never showed any interest in the jewelry at all. I was puzzled by the date of her mother doing that. It would have been understandable after Scott came under suspicion. But that -- the family didn't start believing that he might have been involved until mid-January, that's when they found out about Amber Frey. As of January 4 or 5, they were still all hunky-dory, both families were together, they were trying to find Laci. But apparently, Sharon Rocha went in and took all the jewelry that was in the jewelry store at that point.

KING: Chuck, what's all the furniture doing in the nursery?

SMITH: The point about the furniture in the nursery is this. Scott Peterson said to a couple of people during the course of the investigation that he couldn't bear to go into the nursery, because of the horrible memories it would bring. But what has happened is that when the police went back in, I think, February and March, there was furniture, other furniture that had been moved into the nursery. So the argument from the prosecution's standpoint is he wasn't telling the truth, because clearly, he has been back in that room putting furniture in it, et cetera. What the defense -- I don't think this is a powerful point, though. The defense is going to suggest is that other family members were doing that as part of the normal clearing out of the house and maintenance of the house. I don't think it's a big deal, Larry.

KING: Because he built that nursery, did he not?

SMITH: Correct.

KING: Las Vegas, hello.

ROWLANDS: Larry...

KING: I'm sorry, Ted, you want to say something?

ROWLANDS: One more thing on that same point. The defense will clearly point out later that in between the time when Peterson said he wouldn't go into the nursery, other people were not only in the house, but Peterson got -- left his warehouse so he had extra furniture, he needed to do put it somewhere and there's no evidence that he actually put that stuff into the nursery. So the time there was wide open for that room to be used.

KING: Las Vegas, hello.

CALLER: I love your show. My question is for Ted. Last week, so much was made of the tensions between the Rocha and Peterson families with -- in regard to their seating arrangements in the courtroom. I was wondering this week how are the families behaving towards each other?

ROWLANDS: They're ignoring each other. The judge made it pretty clear that he was not going to tolerate any discussion between the two families, because it was getting heated and quite frankly this trial is getting to the emotional state. It's only going to get worse as we wind down to the end. But the judge did a good job of interceding and saying, listen, nobody talks to one another and if something happens again, you're going to be moved to the back of the courtroom.

KING: Sumter, South Carolina hello.

CALLER: Hi. Who now has ownership of Laci and Conner's dog?

KING: Michael, do we know? CARDOZO: I don't know where Mackenzie has gone. Does anybody else?

KING: Anybody know?

ROWLANDS: I think Mackenzie is in San Diego, either staying with Susan Cadill (ph) or with Janey Peterson (ph). One of the sisters, I believe, has Mackenzie.

KING: We'll take a break and be back with our remaining moments and some more phone calls. Don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETERSON: I had nothing to do with Laci's disappearance. Even if you think I did, think about Laci. And I know that there's a nation that wants to bring her home to our families. So you can think what you want of me, 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. But Laci's missing. She needs to be home with her family and people look at that and constantly say that no, you know, I need to be looking for her. And god, I hope they do. That's the key to bringing her home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Milford, Connecticut, hello.

CALLER: Hi, Larry. This is for the attorneys. The defense hired a forensic pathologist, Dr Lee and Wecht. When Dr. Wecht submitted his report, they let him go because apparently his information favored the prosecution. Now, can the prosecution attorneys call Dr. Wecht and use that information for their case?

KING: Michael?

CARDOZA: Sure they can. They can give him a call and talk with him about it if he wants to give up that information. He was their expert. If they hired him, if they disclosed him, if they gave that information up to the prosecution, sure, they can give him a call and call him on the stand, but I don't think it's quite that way.

KING: Chino, California, hello.

CALLER: Hi, Larry, love your show.

KING: Thank you.

CALLER: My question is for Ted Rowlands. During your interview with Scott Peterson, Scott said the night she disappeared. Did you catch that? Do you think the jury or the district attorney caught that?

ROWLANDS: You know that has not been brought up. And to be quite frank with you, I did not catch that. I'll have to go back and look at the tape. It's a very good point if, indeed, he said that, because, of course, that's what the prosecution's theory is she was killed on the 23rd in the evening and I'll have to go back and look at that.

COLE: I think maybe there might be a little confusion. I think when he made that, the night she disappeared comment, I think he was talking about when he talked to police. And he did talk to police the night of the day that she disappeared.

KING: How long is this trial going on, Chuck?

SMITH: And I think that the prosecution is going to go through next week. We only go to trial four days a week. And probably spill into the following week.

But most observers also believe that the defense case is not going to be, you know, that long. Maybe two weeks or so. So maybe you know, another three or four weeks and we'll be to argument time.

KING: Ted, what if the trial ends election night and the race is close and just about they're calling Florida, which will be the key, and the jury is assembling with the verdict, which the judge says will be allowed live. Ted what do we do?

ROWLANDS: That will be interesting to see. That's up to you, Larry. We'll be standing by. But I think the election will take precedence.

KING: I think so. Maybe they'll split screen it, Richard Cole. What do you think?

COLE: It would certainly be an interesting split screen. I will tell you that. I tell you, it's funny...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, you guys, let's go with Laci.

COLE: This trial is like a political campaign too. People pick sides and they stick with them no matter what the evidence is.

KING: Michael, do you expect a vigorous defense when Mr. Geragos presents his side.

CARDOZA: It's certainly going to be vigorous. What I look for him to do is put on a lot of defense experts to negate the defense experts that the prosecution has put on.

KING: The prosecution experts.

CARDOZA: The prosecution, excuse me.

I don't expect he's going to put people on to say somebody else did it or witnesses to say they saw Laci in the park, none of that. Stick with your experts. Once that's done, in argument, look to the jury. You've got a wash on the experts, say what's that leave the prosecution with? Will those 41 points cut to it prove Peterson guilty beyond a reasonable doubt?

And I've got to tell you, they're hard pressed to do that. That's my hit on this. But again, with circumstantial evidence, it's up to each individual juror to interpret it the way they want.

KING: And Chuck, it's silly to guess, because we're trying to think for 12 people, right?

SMITH: It's going to be tough, Larry. But you talked earlier about the lies. The lies may carry the day for the prosecution. I mean, he lied to absolutely everybody, Ted, Diane Sawyer, Detective Grogan, Amber Frey. I mean, lies, lies, lies. If worked well by the prosecution, they could carry the day.

KING: Thank you all very much. Of course, we'll be calling on you again. Ted Rowlands, Michael Cardoza, Chuck Smith and Richard Cole. And Michael, Ted and Richard were all in the courtroom today. Chuck's been there for most of this incredible story.

And we'll be back to tell you about tomorrow night. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Tomorrow night begins the observance of Yom Kippur. So, I will be on tape. And Aaron Brown will be off. So, you'll both be seeing us again live on Monday. We have weekend shows, but they're on tape too.

And Aaron's going to be on the west coast next week.

Tomorrow night, we're going to have people from "The Swan." Have you seen that show? They make over people and they win contests. Really kind of an incredible reality show.

Speaking of incredible reality shows, hey, "NEWSNIGHT" with Aaron Brown. It's a reality show. He's here. He's real. All the people with him are real. And it's incredible!

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


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