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Judge Matsch Tells McVeigh He Can Withdraw Appeals

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

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DENNIS HARTLEY, MCVEIGH'S LEAD ATTORNEY: ...right to appeal, the judge makes his order (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

QUESTION: What do you think he accomplished, as far as his demeanor -- what you saw of him in the courtroom. Have you seen him in person recently?

I have seen him in person. I went to visit him a week before Christmas -- a few days before Christmas, to make sure he understood the proceedings, the rights we have waived (ph) him. And I think that...

ROGER COSSACK, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: This is McVeigh's lawyer, Dennis Hartley. Dennis Hartley, McVeigh's lawyer.

HARTLEY: ... he was able to extricate himself from the judicial process.

QUESTION: No explanation as to why he wants to do this?

HARTLEY: No.

QUESTION: It sounded like he's, at least, very interested in (UNINTELLIGIBLE). How would you evaluate that?

HARTLEY: I think it's something he is considering. I don't know that he's made a final decision on that. He will probably make a decision on that within the 30 days that he gets after the notice of the execution date.

QUESTION: Mr. Hartley, what are your thoughts on how the proceedings went today? (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

HARTLEY: Well, unfortunately, they went very smoothly, didn't they? So, nothing I didn't expect. Mr. McVeigh knew it was coming, he knew what to expect, he knew, basically, the issues that were going to be covered, so it went off without a hitch.

QUESTION: Mr. Hartley, you said that he does not foresee a change in his decision (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

HARTLEY: I will not try to persuade, nor have I ever tried to persuade my client not to do what he wanted to do. I have just explained the options to him. I advised against it, I will continue to advise against it, but I don't imagine he will change his mind, and I don't (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

QUESTION: For what reason (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

HARTLEY: Because he has viable issues (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to appeal. It's not a slam-dunk that the government has that this appeal would not go forward. What he gets is an evidentiary hearing, if they reverse. But he saw fit to not go through with that.

QUESTION: Some headlines have been written after he filed this notice, that he was ready to die. Would you agree with that?

HARTLEY: I don't know if I can assess if anyone's ready to die -- he explained on "60 Minutes" that he was prepared to die. That's all I can say about it.

QUESTION: Is this a difficult position, as an attorney, to be in?

HARTLEY: Yes. I don't like standing here and talking to you under these circumstances. I would rather be talking to you about the issues we were raising on appeal, not the eminent death of my client.

QUESTION: Would you...

COSSACK: That was Dennis Hartley, the lead counsel for Timothy McVeigh, explaining what went on in court from his viewpoint, and what occurred.

And the fact is, that we were reporting that Judge Matsch has decided that Timothy McVeigh can withdraw his appeals. He has given him until January 11th to change his mind, and after that, Judge Matsch has said --Richard Matsch has said that he will set an execution date.

All right. Let's take a break. We're going to talk more about Timothy McVeigh when we come back. Stay on with us.

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