Exclusive interview with 'Tookie' Williams

COSBY: You've gotten a lot of support from lots of celebrities, like Jamie Foxx and Snoop Dogg.  What do you make of this?

WILLIAMS:  Well, I mean, as I was saying earlier, I'm grateful.  I appreciate all the help I can get from celebrities and others alike, politicians and what have you.

COSBY:  The American public is going to be watching this interview.  What do you want to say to them?

WILLIAMS:  Well, I mean, the fact of the matter is, is that I am innocent-I must say that once again-and that this case is rife with improprieties.  There is no tangible evidence whatsoever linking me to these capital crimes.  That's why I'm innocent.  Everything is predicated on hearsay from individuals with irreputable backgrounds facing capital punishment themselves for other murders or what have you.

COSBY:  Officials at the California Department of Corrections say that you're still essentially associating with gang members, still running the gang from prison.  What do you say to that?

WILLIAMS:  That's absurd.

COSBY:  Why do you think they're saying that now?

WILLIAMS:  Oh, because it's nearing the time when I'm scheduled to be executed.  That's why they're saying that.

COSBY:  Have you denounced gang life 100 percent?

WILLIAMS:  Yes, I have, and I continue to do so through my books and through my memoir and through conference calls, my Web site and everything that I am about.

COSBY:  Do you regret starting the Crips?

WILLIAMS:  Well, of course I regret that.  It's -- the legacy is sanguinary and it's nothing to be proud of.

COSBY:  I was reading somewhere, I think it's "The Guardian" newspaper, Stanley -- it said that you and the governor actually ran into each other in the '70s, when he was an actor and you were in the gangs.  You were on the beach, and he actually complimented you on your physique because you've always been, you know, a body builder and working out and physically fit.  Is that true?

WILLIAMS:  Well, on my arms.  He was telling his female companion that, Those aren't arms, those are legs.  I was exceptionally muscular back then.

COSBY:  What are you doing to prepare, should the governor not grant you clemency?  Are you looking at last-minute appeals?  Have you thought about even somehow getting a hold of the president?

WILLIAMS:  No.  No.  No.  My attorneys are handling all of that.  I leave all of the technical aspects of the appeal up to them.

COSBY:  Will there be last-minute appeals, do you think?

WILLIAMS:  It would be a dereliction of duty on their part if they didn't continue to exhaust every wherewithal, you know, that there is, so...

COSBY:  Should it get to it where you're not granted clemency and no appeals work, you have to make preparations.  What have you thought about doing your last 24 hours?  Who do you want there?  What about your last meal, Stanley?

WILLIAMS:  I accept no last meal.  I don't want anyone to be there.  Who would I possibly want to see me die?  So I wouldn't have no one there.  I want no meal from this place.

COSBY:  How do you think history will remember you, Stanley?

WILLIAMS:  Well, it'll probably be in tandem with my sanguinary legacy and my legacy of redemption.

Watch 'Rita Cosby Live & Direct' each night at 9 p.m. ET on MSNBC. 

MORE FROM RITA COSBY SPECIALS

Rita Cosby Specials Section Front

Sad questions in Anna Nicole’s death   Theorizing about the cause of death   What happens to the baby?   Her mental state   The money question   Anna, the real person   Anna’s mystique Scott Peterson jurors speak Duke defends Holocaust deniers' gathering Kerry: U.S. should 'disengage from Iraq' Rita Cosby Specials Section Front   Add Rita Cosby Specials headlines to your news reader: