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Ashcroft OKs closed-circuit TV feed of McVeigh execution

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft toured the Oklahoma City National Memorial on Tuesday.

From Terry Frieden
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Attorney General John Ashcroft announced Thursday that survivors and families of victims of the Oklahoma City bombing will be allowed to view a televised closed-circuit feed of the May 16 execution of Timothy McVeigh.

Ashcroft's decision followed a meeting with more than 100 survivors and family members Tuesday in Oklahoma City.

"It is a unique set of circumstances that confront us," Ashcroft said. "The Department of Justice must make special provisions to assist the needs of the survivors and victims' families in accordance with our responsibilities to carry out justice."

CHAT TRANSCRIPT Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck chat about their book, "American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing."  VIDEO The mother of one bombing victim says she needs to see McVeigh's execution. CNN's Susan Candiotti talks with her Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) In new book, Timothy McVeigh expresses no remorse. CNN's Susan Candiotti reports Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)  RESOURCES Newsmaker Profiles: Timothy McVeigh Read Timothy McVeigh's agreement with the Coroner of Vigo County, Indiana - March 9, 2001 (FindLaw) (PDF format)* *Documents in PDF format require Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing.  MESSAGE BOARD Death penalty

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Ashcroft also announced that, despite many requests from the media, he would not allow any extended interviews with McVeigh. "I want to restrict a mass murderer's access to the public podium," he said. McVeigh will be allowed only very limited telephone interviews, he said.

Many of the survivors made clear to the Ashcroft that they wish to witness the McVeigh execution -- if not in person, at least in a closed-circuit feed.

The closed-circuit transmission, which Ashcroft said will be strictly secure, will be shown from a facility in Oklahoma City, which has yet to be determined.

Ashcroft called the relatives and victims of the Oklahoma City bombing "perhaps the largest group of crime victims in our history."

"My time with these brave survivors changed me," he said of his meetings with the families.

Justice officials emphatically denied that publicly televising the execution was seriously considered. McVeigh's request for a televised execution was quickly rejected, officials said.

To the applause of Oklahoma family members, Ashcroft made clear on Tuesday that he does not want to provide a public platform for McVeigh to speak out in his final days.

However, a Justice Department official said Wednesday that a final decision had not been reached on a total prohibition on death row interviews.

McVeigh had tentatively agreed to five televised interviews, but this week he apparently decided to back out of all of them.

A McVeigh attorney said his client was displeased with recent media coverage of disclosures in his recently published biography.

Bureau of Prisons Director Kathleen Hawk Sawyer, who will join Ashcroft at the Thursday press conference, has headed a team that spent months putting in place a highly detailed plan for federal executions.

She and Ashcroft are expected to discuss procedures to be followed if McVeigh should have a last-minute change of heart and seek to exhaust his legal appeals.

Officials say it is likely that McVeigh's final opportunity to ask an attorney to take his case back to court would come two hours before the scheduled execution.

Absent court action, last-second requests from McVeigh to halt the execution would be rejected.

Officials say that prison authorities at 10 minutes before the execution would receive, through and open phone line to the Justice Department and White House in Washington, the final go-ahead to begin the lethal injection process.

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Federal Bureau of Investigation
U.S. Department of Justice
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
Oklahoma State Government
Death Penalty Information Center
U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons

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