Court TV Host: We're going to be talking to journalist Lou Michel, who spent some 75 hours with convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, who is scheduled to be executed just one week from today.

Court TV Host: Lou Michel is here! Welcome.

Lou Michel: Thanks for your interest in the book and I'm happy to answer any of your questions. We wrote this book as a public service. So that we could know the how and the why of this tragic chapter in our country's history.

ctv_warhorse46: What feelings did you experience while conducting your interviews with McVeigh?

Lou Michel: As a journalist I was there simply to listen to him, challenge him on some of his assertions, and report the findings. On a personal level, a surreal feeling initially washed over me when I was listening to McVeigh diagnostically, clinically describe the bombing and how he went about it. He noticed that I was taken aback by his lack of emotion. And he would stop the interview occasionally to explain that he carried out the bombing as a mission, a military mission. And that he put his own emotions aside. He says federal agents were acting more and more like an aggressive standing army against civilians, and the bombing was much like the US government when it goes after a tyrant in a foreign land. He ripped a page from US foreign policy, he says and bombed an operation and control center, which he described as the Murrah building. Or it could've been any other federal building.

cutiewithabooty_19: Does he show any remorse?

rectify420: Are there signs of remorse on Mr. McVeigh's part?

Lou Michel: None at all. His soldier mentality continues to this day. And in his opinion the bombing represents mission accomplished. We wanted to gain insight into his personality. And it is our ardent prayer that those insights help in thwarting this type of terrorism from ever occurring again in America.

Court TV Host: we just presented a question: have you spoken with Timothy McVeigh recently?

Lou Michel: I've spoken with him a few weeks ago, just after the revelations of the book were released. And he was upset at the backlash for him telling his story. He said people were urging him to tell of his involvement in the OKC bombing, and now they were upset at him for sharing his role in the bombing before he died.

bella_110: How can we stop this kind of thing when people like you make them celebrities -- exactly what they want from the beginning

Lou Michel: Good question. And the fact is if we turn our backs on the Oklahoma City bombing and its perpetrator because the crime is too painful to view, it will be to our peril as a society. What if no one ever wrote about the Holocaust because it would put Hitler in the spotlight? We as a society would not be as able to deal with individuals willing to commit horrific, horrific acts of genocide. Our book provides a number of clues into McVeigh's personality which may have set the stage for his crime. Those clues include broken family bonds, being bullied as a boy, his being enamored of the culture of violence, particularly of movies. After all, there are young white teens who are going into elementary and secondary schools and shooting them up today? Had we not written the book we would never have known that and been able to provide experts with that information that may help solve the riddle of why our society is growing more and more violent.

Court TV Host: Here's something you write about at length in your book...

married_gym_rat: How does Mcveigh's family react to his deeds?

Lou Michel: McVeigh's family is appalled, particularly his father Bill. Bill is tormented and agonizes over the question how could his son do this.

Court TV Host: Here's a follow-up...

mistyleigh17104: That is an excuse -- many people come form broken family bonds but they don't kill so don't give me that.

Lou Michel: Thank God they don't act out on that. In reading Timothy McVeigh's mail, which he received from thousands of people over the past six years, you would be surprised at how many Americans share his anti-government views but don't condone his acts.

Court TV Host: Question from online: How does McVeigh feel about victims and family members viewing the execution?

Lou Michel: He is against the closed-circuiting to Oklahoma City of his execution. That's why he retaliated by suggesting it be broadcast live on national TV. He feels if one group of people can see the death penalty in action, everyone should get a close up view if they want.

miki134: Did or does McVeigh get to chose anyone to be present at the time of his execution?

pbacharach: Will you be at the execution?

Lou Michel: He gets to choose six people, and I will be one of the witnesses.

pbacharach: Do you have some concern that, in light of Gore Vidal's comments, some people are starting to legitimize McVeigh's political extremism?

Lou Michel: Not at all. One of the wonderful things about our country is that we can have differing opinions, and we can agree to disagree.

matiyou: What are your personal feelings about McVeigh being put to death for his part in the bombing?

Lou Michel: I've always viewed the bombing as something wrong, deeply wrong. At the same time, I am very much against the death penalty. I think it insidiously and subtly promotes the circle of violence. Even if I wasn't a practicing Catholic, I would have those feelings.

sk8ter43434: Do you think Timothy is insane

Lou Michel: No. It would make it very easy to cope with this as a country if McVeigh were a Charles Manson-type of killer. But the fact is he is a three-dimensional person and in a sense, it makes it even more frightening that a sane person would turn to terrorism to make his point against the government. I think underneath it all, many of us are afraid or frightened that a son of American suburbia would become the worst mass-murderer in US history.

terrimus: Did you ever get the feeling that McVeigh and Nichols were not the only two involved in the bombing? I feel like they had help and the others were never caught.

Lou Michel: There was a third person, Michael Fortier, but as for a wider-spread conspiracy, it isn't there. Federal agents conducted an $82 million investigation, the largest in American history. Then the county grand jury conducted its own independent inquiry because it was not satisfied with the federal government. That second investigation also found no evidence of a bigger conspiracy. There is no evidence of a larger conspiracy. It is entirely possible that someone of McVeigh's intelligence with his hate-driven motivation could succeed and, in fact, it did happen that way.

bella_110: I was told that Timothy said he did not know there was a day care in the building, did he say anything to you about this and if so do you believe that he really didn't know

Lou Michel: Timothy McVeigh is the only person who knows for sure whether or not he saw the day care center prior to the bombing. He insists he did not.

Court TV Host: Question from online: Does he even care about living anymore?

Lou Michel: No, he calls this whole execution his Deluxe-Suicide-By-Cop Package. He intentionally left a trail of evidence including the license plate off his getaway car to ensure his incarceration.

panzee20012000: How could he call the children that were killed "collateral damage"?

Lou Michel: As incredibly cruel as that sounds, McVeigh relied on his military training and he used the term that the federal government uses when innocent civilians are killed in foreign lands from US military action.

sageblueus: Does Tim, believe in God...is he prepared to die?

Lou Michel: Timothy McVeigh is an agnostic. I asked him what he thought, if there is a heaven and hell, and he said to if he is bound for hell he feels certain that he'll have plenty of company there. He feels he'll meet up with military leaders from throughout history who have killed for their causes.

Court TV Host: I'd like to ask a question...you tape-recorded some 75 hours of interviews with McVeigh -- are you ever going to release the recordings?

Lou Michel: No. The recordings were to expedite the interviewing process.

Court TV Host: Thanks, Lou Michel, for joining us...any closing thoughts?

Lou Michel: Dan Herbeck, my coauthor, and I wrote this book to help understand one of the most puzzling and troubling acts of violence that has struck our land. And it is our fervent hope that teachers, law enforcement, psychologists and average Americans thumb the pages of "American Terrorist" and come up with ways to stop other possible violence. We live in a wonderful country and should never lose sight of the great freedoms we have. Thank you for all of your questions.