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CNN Live Today

Best Haunted Places in America

Aired October 30, 2002 - 11:41   ET

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


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


ANDERSON COOPER, ANCHOR: Scary. A ghost appears over your shoulder. Or you hear something go bump into the night. If you're into these scary-type tales, we have a trick or treat for you just in time for Halloween. The Travel Channel is presenting a week's worth of shows and the best haunted places in America. The show visits scary places in five cities, including New York's haunted firehouse, and the Las Vegas Hilton. Who knew? The man behind all this scary stuff is TV executive Steve Cheskin of the Travel Channel. He is with us now from Washington.
Thanks for being with us, Steve.

STEVE CHESKIN, TRAVEL CHANNEL: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

COOPER: So you're looking at top five most haunted places, is that what it is?

CHESKIN: That is right. There's all kinds of haunted places across America, and we're going to will visit some of the top ones.

COOPER: What is number one in your opinion?

CHESKIN: I think my favorite story is in New Orleans at the Royal Cafe. And what happened was, there was a wealthy sugar -- originally, the royal cafe with a mansion that was with this wealthy sugar grower, and he was having an affair. And what happened is his wife invited the mistress over to the house and murdered her, and the story goes that they continued to struggle even as they haunt the Royal Cafe.

COOPER: I guess we are seeing some sort of dramatization of this that is going to be airing on the Travel Channel. Also Alcatraz in San Francisco, I guess people say that's haunted?

CHESKIN: That's right. Alcatraz is a scary place when you go out there, and what happened in the particular case of this ghost, that they often see as one of the convicts was in solitary confinement, and he was actually murdered, and they say to this date, that as you go through Alcatraz, the ghost often still does appear to people.

COOPER: Have you ever seen a ghost yourself, Steve?

CHESKIN: I haven't seen a ghost, but I moved into a new house recently, and I have to say, I do believe that the house itself is haunted. Weird things do go on, so I am not quite sure what's going to there.

COOPER: Yes? Also, you profiled Greenwich Village fire station, which is number two. And we're actually joined now by Sonny Francis, who is a fire patrol officer at that fire station.

Sonny, are you there?

SONNY FRANCIS, NYC FIRE PATROL: Yes, I am.

COOPER: Great. So tell me, your firehouse is haunted?

FRANCIS: Well, that's the rumor that is going around. Supposedly, we had a fireman back in the early 1900s named Johnson, and he had an argument with his wife, and she threw him out of the house, and he came back here and committed suicide. So supposedly, his spirits are somewhere still around in the house.

COOPER: Have you ever seen this apparition?

FRANCIS: No, I haven't. Some of guys talk but how lights will go on at certain times, and they'll hear movement of equipment upstairs on the fourth floor.

COOPER: That's Con-Ed, I think. But the fourth floor is apparently where this firefighter ended his life by hanging. We see a reenactment here, rather gruesome. Do you ever go up to the fourth floor? Do you ever go up there?

FRANCIS: Yes. We usually go up there to work on some of the equipment. We also have like an exercise room that we go up and use on occasions.

COOPER: Well, Steve, Steve Cheskin, what do you think, do you buy this haunted firehouse?

CHESKIN: You know, I personally...

COOPER: Sorry. Go ahead, Sonny.

FRANCIS: OK, I personally have never seen it. But like I said, I do have fellow workers that stated they have seen the lights go on when they weren't. They've heard equipment being moved around on the floors.

COOPER: All right.

FRANCIS: I have never actually witnessed it, so, you know, I have to take the word of what they say.

COOPER: All right, Steve Cheskin, do you buy this firehouse?

CHESKIN: I tell you what, there's lots of great stories out there. And all week long, we're doing Haunted Travels Week, and it's not just this one show, and you know, there are some incredible stories. So I think that you can tune in and watch the stories and people can draw their own conclusions as to whether they believe them or not.

COOPER: All right, we're showing you a picture of the weight room on the fourth floor of these perhaps haunted firehouse, and you can watch that all on the travel channel all week long. Thanks for much, Steve Cheskin, I appreciate you coming, and also Sonny Francis, fire patrol officer. Thanks for appearing today.

CHESKIN: Thank you very much.

FRANCIS: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 30, 2002 - 11:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, ANCHOR: Scary. A ghost appears over your shoulder. Or you hear something go bump into the night. If you're into these scary-type tales, we have a trick or treat for you just in time for Halloween. The Travel Channel is presenting a week's worth of shows and the best haunted places in America. The show visits scary places in five cities, including New York's haunted firehouse, and the Las Vegas Hilton. Who knew? The man behind all this scary stuff is TV executive Steve Cheskin of the Travel Channel. He is with us now from Washington.
Thanks for being with us, Steve.

STEVE CHESKIN, TRAVEL CHANNEL: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

COOPER: So you're looking at top five most haunted places, is that what it is?

CHESKIN: That is right. There's all kinds of haunted places across America, and we're going to will visit some of the top ones.

COOPER: What is number one in your opinion?

CHESKIN: I think my favorite story is in New Orleans at the Royal Cafe. And what happened was, there was a wealthy sugar -- originally, the royal cafe with a mansion that was with this wealthy sugar grower, and he was having an affair. And what happened is his wife invited the mistress over to the house and murdered her, and the story goes that they continued to struggle even as they haunt the Royal Cafe.

COOPER: I guess we are seeing some sort of dramatization of this that is going to be airing on the Travel Channel. Also Alcatraz in San Francisco, I guess people say that's haunted?

CHESKIN: That's right. Alcatraz is a scary place when you go out there, and what happened in the particular case of this ghost, that they often see as one of the convicts was in solitary confinement, and he was actually murdered, and they say to this date, that as you go through Alcatraz, the ghost often still does appear to people.

COOPER: Have you ever seen a ghost yourself, Steve?

CHESKIN: I haven't seen a ghost, but I moved into a new house recently, and I have to say, I do believe that the house itself is haunted. Weird things do go on, so I am not quite sure what's going to there.

COOPER: Yes? Also, you profiled Greenwich Village fire station, which is number two. And we're actually joined now by Sonny Francis, who is a fire patrol officer at that fire station.

Sonny, are you there?

SONNY FRANCIS, NYC FIRE PATROL: Yes, I am.

COOPER: Great. So tell me, your firehouse is haunted?

FRANCIS: Well, that's the rumor that is going around. Supposedly, we had a fireman back in the early 1900s named Johnson, and he had an argument with his wife, and she threw him out of the house, and he came back here and committed suicide. So supposedly, his spirits are somewhere still around in the house.

COOPER: Have you ever seen this apparition?

FRANCIS: No, I haven't. Some of guys talk but how lights will go on at certain times, and they'll hear movement of equipment upstairs on the fourth floor.

COOPER: That's Con-Ed, I think. But the fourth floor is apparently where this firefighter ended his life by hanging. We see a reenactment here, rather gruesome. Do you ever go up to the fourth floor? Do you ever go up there?

FRANCIS: Yes. We usually go up there to work on some of the equipment. We also have like an exercise room that we go up and use on occasions.

COOPER: Well, Steve, Steve Cheskin, what do you think, do you buy this haunted firehouse?

CHESKIN: You know, I personally...

COOPER: Sorry. Go ahead, Sonny.

FRANCIS: OK, I personally have never seen it. But like I said, I do have fellow workers that stated they have seen the lights go on when they weren't. They've heard equipment being moved around on the floors.

COOPER: All right.

FRANCIS: I have never actually witnessed it, so, you know, I have to take the word of what they say.

COOPER: All right, Steve Cheskin, do you buy this firehouse?

CHESKIN: I tell you what, there's lots of great stories out there. And all week long, we're doing Haunted Travels Week, and it's not just this one show, and you know, there are some incredible stories. So I think that you can tune in and watch the stories and people can draw their own conclusions as to whether they believe them or not.

COOPER: All right, we're showing you a picture of the weight room on the fourth floor of these perhaps haunted firehouse, and you can watch that all on the travel channel all week long. Thanks for much, Steve Cheskin, I appreciate you coming, and also Sonny Francis, fire patrol officer. Thanks for appearing today.

CHESKIN: Thank you very much.

FRANCIS: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com