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Police Investigating Jeb Bush's Daughter, Noelle

Aired September 10, 2002 - 10:18   ET

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

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: We reported just a few moments ago about the troubles the governor of Florida, Jeb Bush's daughter, is having in rehab. We are going to go now to some comments that the governor made just a few moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: I gave you a release, and that's all I'm going to say. This is a private issue as it relates to my daughter, and myself and my wife. The road to recovery is a rocky one for a lot of people that have this kind of problem. I don't have any details about what happened. I just found out about it when I got to the office, about some of the details, but beyond that, I can't say anything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Any other questions?

QUESTION: At what point does your private life become public? I mean, you are the governor of the fourth of the largest state, and you are running for re-election.

BUSH: Rick, do you have any other questions?

I gave you my answer -- any other questions?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: We are going to go to Mark Potter right now, who is standing by for us in Florida.

Mark, how has this story been handled? I mean, obviously the governor there getting a little bit testy, and one of the reporters' questions of how public this information should be?

MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is being treated by the governor's office of course as a personal matter, and the public seems to have respected that, and one thing I'll tell you is that even though we are in the throes of a gubernatorial campaign, it has never risen to be an issue in the campaign. The Democrats have never raised it. Even the issue of drugs and crime themselves have not been high on the list this time, with crime down.

The big issues in this campaign are education, the treatment of children, the environment. So this issue involving the governor and his daughter have been treated by the public, as well as the politicians, and the media as more of a personal matter. I would like to read also -- you saw the clip there from the governor. I would like to read the official statement if I might, Anderson, that was released a moment ago from the capitol, and it reads as follows -- referring to his wife, "As Columba and I have shared before, the road to recovery is a difficult and discovered, the journey is a long road for those suffering with addiction. Our family loves Noelle very much we continue to pray for her continued progress. We again ask the public and media to respect our privacy during this difficult time for our family."

That's always been his position, although the governor has spoken about this publicly, and one time speaking before a group, he broke up, he had a very difficult time emotionally with that, and he received warm support from those in the audience.

I think that is how this is being handled. He is a public figure, and she, too, because of her father and her uncle, but it's not being treated by any stretch as a public or campaign issue.

COOPER: And, Mark, for viewers who are just coming into this story, just bring us up to date exactly what has happened and where Noelle Bush is right now.

POTTER: We believe she is still in the treatment facility. The police say she is not yet in their custody. No suggestion in the way I said that she is going to be. This is still an investigation that's in progress. We are told that we expect more from the Orlando police at 11:00.

But quickly to review, the Orlando police were called to a drug treatment facility in Orlando because of a reported problem with the client there, the resident there, Noelle Bush, who reportedly was found with a small white rock substance, about 2 ounces -- excuse me, 2 grams in size, and it was field tested positive for cocaine.

According to the police, the judge who oversees her involvement in the program has not been notified. We do not know if she will be before judge or not. We know she is scheduled to go before the judge, just regularly scheduled as part of the monitoring program this Friday, but we don't know beyond that.

And of course she had problems in the past. She was arrested originally in January for trying to use a prescription, a false prescription to get the drug Xanax, and then in July this summer, she was put in jail for three days for contempt, for having in her possession some prescription drugs that were taken from a medicine cabinet. She claims she just found them outside the cabinet. The treatment counselors thought she might have some issues about telling the truth. She went before the judge and was given three days in jail, and then back into the treatment program, all along receiving much stated support from her father and her family.

COOPER: All right, Mark Potter, thanks very much.

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