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CNN Sunday Night
Interview with Hugh Hefner; Body of 17-year-old Annamarie Rendazzo Found; Discovery Set To Return Home
Aired August 07, 2005 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN SUNDAY NIGHT. The Russian rescue, the crew tells its harrowing tales of 75 hours stuck on the ocean floor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning, Discovery. And Eileen, the music this morning, come on, Eileen, come on, was especially for you from the STS 114 Ground Control team in appreciation...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: About an hour ago, the final wake-up call personalized for Commander Eileen Collins. Discovery is heading home. Is the shuttle crew ready for what could be one of the most important moments in NASA's history?
He lives almost every man's fantasy, surrounded by sex, celebrities, and a lifestyle many envy. Now Hugh Hefner gives us a glimpse inside the Playboy mansion for his new reality TV show. Surprises from the man who's turning 80. Yep, those are his girlfriends. These stories and a lot more next on CNN SUNDAY NIGHT.
Good evening, I'm Carol Lin from the CNN Center in Atlanta. Also this hour, remembering Emmett Till, the murdered boy whose story helped trigger the civil rights movement. 50 years later, the murder is reopened - the murder investigation is reopened in part to a groundbreaking documentary. I am talking to the filmmaker tonight.
We are also talking about the shuttle program tonight. With all the problems, should this be the last shuttle mission? The debate coming up. And you get to weigh in as well. So stick around for the phone number.
And on the rap sheet tonight, the teacher accused of having sex with her students. She was caught in the act in the back seat of a car, but is it an open and shut case?
Up first tonight, Shuttle Discovery.
(MUSIC)
That's the wake-up song dedicated to mission commander Eileen Collins and her crew in the final hours in flight. America's long awaited return to space, barring any problems, is almost over. The trip was a bit buggy early on, but so far, it's looking good to come home. The most worrisome part, though, of the voyage is still in the hours ahead.
Now you're going to have to wake up before the birds to watch the landing live. 4:47 a.m. Eastern time is the planned arrival at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. It's close to everyone's mind at NASA that the pre-dawn re-entry and landing is the first since Shuttle Columbia broke apart at the same point in its mission two years ago.
As is always the case, flight controllers will talk the orbiter down from 1,000 miles away at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. And that is where we find CNN's John Zarrella tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Discovery mission is quickly coming to a close now. In just under three hours, the shuttle's cargo bay doors will be closed. And then at 2:40 a.m. Eastern time, the astronauts will get in their seats, strap themselves in. An hour from that, at 3:45 a.m. begins the deorbit burn over the Indian Ocean. And then, of course, a landing at the Kennedy Space Center.
From NASA's point of view, after a rough start, this has been a successful mission.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one. And lift off of Space Shuttle Discovery.
ZARRELLA: Discovery's launch seemed picture perfect, but looks can be deceiving. While reviewing video from a multitude of new camera angles, space agency officials saw a frightening image.
JOHN SHANNON, FLIGHT OPERATIONS MGR.: We've had a problem. We flew this flight with assets and a test plan that would go identify if we had any problems. And we have found a significant one.
ZARRELLA: A one pound chunk of insulation came loose from the external tank, narrowly missing Discovery. NASA immediately put future flights on hold.
BILL PARSON, SHUTTLE MANAGER: Until we're ready to say that we've fixed it and we're - we can say that we're safe to go fly, we're not going to go fly.
ZARRELLA: Had the insulation hit Discovery, the consequences might have been similar to what befell the Columbia. But Discovery was OK and headed for a rendezvous with the International Space Station.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Discovery's crew now aboard the Destiny laboratory.
ZARRELLA: Once made it, the two crews began transferring much needed supplies to the ISS. The housekeeping was overshadowed by three space walks. In all, astronaut Steve Robinson and Suichi Naguchi spent 19 hours and 5 minutes outside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's fairly gluey stuff. So it's a little hard to get off.
ZARRELLA: Samples of damaged thermal tiles have been brought up in the cargo bay. On the first space walk, Robinson and Naguchi tested procedures and materials that could be used by future crews to fix in space the vehicle's protective heat shield.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would recommend fixing it if we were to do this the (INAUDIBLE) specialists.
ZARRELLA: On their second trip outside, the astronauts replaced a space station gyroscope.
The third walk would become the mission's defining moment.
STEVE ROBINSON, DISCOVERY ASTRONAUT: Like most kinds of repairs, it's conceptually very simple, but it has to be done very, very carefully, because we all know are fragile. And EDA crew member out there is a pretty large amount. We'll have to be very, very careful, but the task is extremely simple. And we predict that it won't be too complex.
ZARRELLA: In pictures of Discovery's belly, two pieces of sand paper like material showed up protruding through thermal tiles. Mission managers were concerned these exposed gap fillers might disrupt the smooth flow of air needed during re-entry. Heat could build to dangerous levels.
During the final space walk, Robinson rode the robotic arm beneath the shuttle and pulled the fillers out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, that's the amount very easily, probably even less force. It looks like this big patient is cured.
ZARRELLA: With Discovery now deemed safe to return, the astronauts took time to pay tribute to all the astronauts and cosmonauts who had given their lives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) old as we did (INAUDIBLE) grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.
ZARRELLA: It was now time to pack for home.
(on camera): On Discovery's final path towards the landing at the Kennedy Space Center, it will fly over Central America near Costa Rica and Nicaragua, turn north very close to Havana, Cuba, then out over Key West, just to the west of Key West, before coming over the Florida peninsula near the Naples, Fort Myers area, then straight north over Lake Okeechobee and to a landing at the Kennedy Space Center.
John Zarrella, CNN, at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Coming up, I'm going to find out more about the shuttle's future. Should we find another way to explore space sooner rather than later? I've got two opinionated space experts, but we also want to hear from you, too.
Our last call question tonight, should this be the last space shuttle mission? Give us a call at 1-800-807-2620. We're going to play some of your remarks at the end of the program.
And be sure to tune in, in just a few hours from now for the special coverage of the return of the shuttle. Space correspondent Miles O'Brien is at Kennedy Space Center for the landing. Our coverage begins at 4:00 a.m. Eastern. Set your clock.
In our security watch, British officials took custody of a terrorist suspect wanted by the U.S. government. Haroon Aswat was also wanted by London in connection with the bombings that killed 52 commuters July 7th. The British citizen was deported from Zambia and was arrested by London police after arriving on an airplane chartered by the British government.
And State Department offices in Saudi Arabia will not be open tomorrow and Tuesday because of specific and credible threats. That is according to a U.S. spokesman, talking about the U.S. embassy and U.S. consulates.
And speaking of Saudi Arabia, Saudi sources tell CNN the kingdom warned Britain before the July 7th bombings that it would be a target of terror. The unnamed sources say the warning was based on terrorist communications.
Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
All right, look at the faces of these men. That is called relief. They are the seven Russian submariners who cheated death today when their disabled vessel was brought to the surface. They were snagged on something down there. And without help, would have certainly died.
Well, that help came from an unlikely and unprecedented place outside Russia. CNN's Matthew Chance is in Moscow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): It was the moment for which few Russians had dared hoped. The mini-submarine trapped on the ocean floor for more than three days finally surfacing its seven crew members alive and well. The wife of the sub's commander spoke for many.
ELENA MILASHEVSKAYA, WIFE OF RESCUED SAILOR (through translator): I was ready to dance. I was crying. I was so glad, so happy to hear they're fine. CHANCE: And for Russian officials a major success, too. Their early call for international assistance of this remote and military sensitive far eastern seaboard now vindicated.
VICTOR FEDOROV, RUSSIAN PACIFIC FLEET COMMANDER (through translator): I would like to stress that the help of the Royal Navy of Great Britain was crucial in this rescue operation. We admire their experience, highest professionalism and technical capability. Their apparatus placed a full stop in the story and released our mini submarine from its shackles.
CHANCE: It was Thursday morning, the Russian craft became tangled in abandoned fishing nets and a mesh of deep sea antennae off the remote Kamchatka Peninsula. British specialists arriving ahead of teams from the United States and Japan launched an undersea robot to cut the mini submarine free, an intensive operation that took three- and-a-half hours.
Underwater footage shows how the British submersible was maneuvered using cameras and lights by specialist operators on the surface. Its powerful cutting equipment severing debris to free the Russian sub.
JONTY POWIS, BRITISH SUB RESCUE SPECIALIST: This was no drill. It was saving the lives of seven men. So, we're all very pleased that it went so well.
CHANCE: These have been tense days in Russia. The crisis renewing bitter memories of the cursed tragedy five years ago: 118 sailors died on board a nuclear submarine marooned in the freezing waters of the Arctic. Back then, the Russian military refused help until it was too late.
The dramatic and happy events of recent days showing with a little help, the best of outcomes can be achieved.
(on camera): But this crisis underlines, once again, the dilapidated state of the once mighty Russian Navy, so cash strapped, it doesn't even possess the essential rescue vehicles to operate at the depth at which their sub was stranded. In the eyes of many Russians, the promises of the Russian president, Vladamir Putin after the Kursk disaster to improve naval equipment seems to have and little effect.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: In the fight for Iraq, three U.S. servicemen are among 19 people killed this weekend. Two American soldiers died. Three others were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near their patrol convoy outside Samarra. A U.S. Marine was killed near Falluja. And that makes 31 American troops killed in Iraq this month alone.
Now south of Baghdad, in the mainly Shi'ite town of Samawa, thousands of angry Iraqis rallied today against what they call poor public services and rampant unemployment. Armed riot police intervened when the crowd became violent. At least one person was killed in the clashes. Witnesses say about 40 people were hurt.
Scrambling to meet a deadline, drafters of Iraq's new constitution gathered to work out their differences. And among the issues, the power of the federal government and the roles of women and religion. The draft must be completed eight days from now and then put before the voters in a referendum October 15th.
Well, the Discovery crew is awake and going through procedures for a landing just over six hours from now. The talk tonight centers on the future of the shuttle program. Is there much of one?
A private school teacher accused of having private moments with some of her students. The ladies of rap sheet weigh in on that case.
And your ticket inside the Playboy mansion. Hugh Hefner offers his own version of reality TV. Hef and his version of reality, straight ahead on CNN SUNDAY NIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Time for the talk tonight segment, where we want to hear from you and ask you to join in on the discussion. Tonight, as the hours tick away to the hopefully safe return of the Shuttle Discovery and the crew, we ask is the era of the manned space shuttle over? We are going to give you our call in number in just a moment, but first, let's put that question to our guests. They have differing views on the subject.
Alex Roland, former NASA historian and history professor at Duke University, and John Logsdon, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University. Dr. Roland, Dr. Logsdon, welcome to both of you.
ALEX ROLAND, FORMER NASA HISTORIAN: Good evening.
JOHN LOGSDON, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIV.: Good evening.
LIN: Dr. Roland, let me begin with you. When you saw that piece of foam fall off Discovery and hit the fuel tank, and then you saw, you know, these strips hanging from the belly and actually watching the space walk as they tried to pull out the gap fillers that may catch fire and jeopardize this mission, what was going through your mind?
ROLAND: I had long been a critic of the shuttle program, as the NASA administrator said during his confirmation hearings, it's an inherently flawed vehicle. And it's always been an inherently flawed vehicle.
But I always believed that if NASA had time enough and money enough, they could make any given flight safe. And now they had 2.5 years and billions of dollars to invest. And they couldn't make a flight safe.
LIN: At the...
ROLAND: And that suggests to me...
LIN: After the Columbia.
ROLAND: After the Columbia accident, that's right. And that suggests to me that no amount of time and no amount of resources can make this system safe for humans to fly on. We could still fly it unmanned, but we ought to stop flying people on it.
LIN: And there's, of course, a question still as to whether they're going to be able to truly make a safe landing. We're not going to really know until they try.
Dr. Logsdon, what are your thoughts on where this mission failed or did it?
LOGSDON: Well, I don't think it's failed at all, first of all. This has been a safe mission. The launch went fine. And I think we're looking forward in a few hours to a safe landing. I mean, it can never be 100 percent safe. This is still a risky business.
I think this is an artifact of the 107 cameras that are looking at the shuttle. We're seeing problems that we didn't know about before, particularly...
LIN: You're saying that these happen routinely?
LOGSDON: Particularly the gap filler kind of problem, I think. Now clearly, the foam should not have come off the fuel tank. That was a mistake. NASA has said it's a mistake and are trying to figure out how to deal with it.
LIN: But it's the very same type of material that damaged the Columbia to disastrous results. Why should this have happened again?
LOGSDON: It should not have happened again. And NASA made a bad engineering judgment that that part of the fuel tank did not need fixing. And they now say, of course, that was wrong. Hindsight is wonderful, but it didn't hit the shuttle. And it - I think is a pretty straightforward fix.
LIN: All right. A stroke of luck perhaps. Dr. Roland, the shuttle is already set to terminate, right, what in 2008? Right? No more shuttles after...
ROLAND: 2010 is what...
LIN: 2010, all right. What about moving that date up sooner? Do you think that Discovery should be the last shuttle mission and that they should expedite the space capsules program?
ROLAND: Sure. I think that it should be the last mission that we fly people on. Now if NASA feels that it has to keep working on the space station, it can send the components up on an unmanned shuttle and then fly the astronauts on the Russian spacecraft, which has a much better safety record, but I think we should stop flying astronauts on it.
LIN: Dr. Lodsdon, what do you think the consequences of that would be?
LOGSDON: Well, I don't think it's feasible. I don't think the shuttle, without a crew aboard, could do the rendezvous. And docking with the space station would be very difficult to transfer the equipment that the - only the shuttle can carry up to this space station.
Europe has invested billions of euros. Japan has invested billions of yen in laboratories that are sitting on the ground. I mean, the reason to fly this shuttle is to finish the space station. And I think that's a worthy goal.
LIN: Dr. Logsdon, your honest opinion, your honest answer? Are you going to be holding your breath?
LOGSDON: Oh, sure.
LIN: When Discovery makes its re-entry tomorrow?
LOGSDON: You didn't mention it, but I was on the board that investigated the Columbia accident. I lived through the in-depth look at that tragedy. And sure, you're going to hold your breath 'til the wheels are on the ground.
LIN: All right, Dr. Roland, I assume that you will be holding your breath as well. We'll all be watching very closely early Monday morning. Thanks both for joining us tonight.
ROLAND: You're welcome.
LIN: We want to get the viewers to weigh in. So I hope you guys stick around to hear their responses. The last call question tonight on this very subject, give us a call. Tell us if you think, should this be the last space shuttle mission? Our number is 1-800-807-2620.
Meantime, this reminder. Stay with CNN for special coverage of the return of the shuttle. Space correspondent Miles O'Brien is live at Kennedy Space Center for the landing. Our coverage begins at 4:00 a.m. Eastern.
In the meantime, amusement park rides are full of thrills. A ferris wheel, though, is not supposed to be one of them. Straight ahead, what happened that left several small children literally hanging on upside down?
And the discovery inside a refrigerator that brought a missing person's case to a grisly conclusion. Those stories and more when CNN SUNDAY NIGHT returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: A scary few minutes from some Illinois kids tops our news around the nation. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They start screaming, tears running down their face. Everybody's panicked.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: It happened at a festival in a Chicago suburb yesterday. A miniature ferris wheel got stuck leaving eight children, ages 2 to 4, upside down for 15 minutes. No one was hurt, but firefighters had to help them get down.
A Florida family's worst fears were realized this weekend, when police were alerted to something horrible. Campers discovered the body of 17-year old Annamarie Cruz Randazzo. The soon-to-be high school senior went missing nearly three weeks ago. She was the victim of a violent crime. Her body was found in a burned out refrigerator.
Jenny Randazzo from our affiliate station WFTX has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MERCEDITA WALTER, ANNAMARIE'S MOTHER: Annamarie, why? She's too young to die for this, you know.
JENNY RIZZO, WFTX NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mercedita Walter is going through the anguished suffering of a mother who's lost a child.
M. WALTER: She didn't finish high school. She didn't finish high school.
RIZZO: Annamarie would have started her senior year tomorrow at Mariner High in Cape Coral. Instead, this family is haunted by the details of what happened in her final hours. And there's anger toward the parents of the two suspects accused of killing Annamarie.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want that family to know that they have - they failed. They absolutely failed. And like I said, it's - the details of this crime are just so gruesome and heinous, we're not even going to discuss them, because it's sickening.
M. WALTER: Why would they do that to her? They have no right to throw my daughter away from me, you know. (INAUDIBLE) take away life like that (INAUDIBLE)?
RIZZO: This family wants the world to know they lost a beautiful daughter, a loving sister, and a young woman full of promise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a lot less good in this world without Anna here.
RIZZO: The grief is endless because nothing can replace their Anna.
(END VIDEOTAPE) LIN: Well, police say two suspects are in custody. A 23-year old man and a teenager, both reportedly knew Annamarie. And police say they have confessed to roles in killing her.
Well, one of the most infamous murders in history remains unsolved, but maybe that will change soon. Straight ahead, only on CNN, the brutal killing of Emmett Till and the new documentary that's led the government to re-open the case.
And Rafael Palmeiro, did the latest member of the 3,000 hit club lie to Congress about using steroids? We're going to argue those issues in tonight's rap sheet. And don't forget our last call question. Should this be the last space shuttle mission? Give us a call at 1-800-807-2620.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Six suspects in the failed July 21st London transit attack are due in court tomorrow. London's Scotland Yard says five men were charged today. The sixth was charged yesterday. Four bombs were placed on subway trains and a double-decker bus, but none of them went off.
And a suspect in the deadly July 7th London bombing is also due in court tomorrow. Police think suspected al Qaeda operative Haroon Rashid Aswat helped plan or recruit for those attacks. Aswat was arrested in Zambia last month and extradited to England.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says there is now an avian flu vaccine that works on people. The highly contagious bird flu is responsible for killing 57 people. It's also killed or led to the destruction of millions of birds in Asia.
Now, here is a look at the headlines tonight and tomorrow. Everyone is keeping their fingers crossed for the early morning return of the Shuttle Discovery. The shuttle is scheduled to land tomorrow morning at 4:47 Eastern. The crew members spent their day doing flight checks and going through landing simulations.
Well, it's -- it will be simulation in about six hours, or certainly not -- it will be real life. That's when Shuttle Discovery is set to touch down at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. That is if -- if the weather is favorable. You better believe NASA's weather experts are watching the skies, and so is meteorologist Rob Marciano at the CNN Weather Center tonight. Rob, does it look clear for landing?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Pretty good chances of seeing an effortless landfall (sic) as far as the weather is concerned. If they were to have this 16 hours from now, during the afternoon hours, there would be a bigger problem, because this time of year is when thunderstorms fire up quite rapidly. Pretty good explosion today, actually. A little bit more than what is typical for this time of year. A little disturbance up here to kick that off. But you can see on the radar scope already starting to see those showers and thunderstorms dwindle down. Cape Canaveral, Melbourne, actually, very close. Picked up two inches of rainfall today, so definitely some heavy weather out that way for today.
Well, what is the weather criteria exactly for shuttles to land? Well, the cloud ceiling height has to be of 8,000 feet or higher; at least half the sky has to be visible at that level. Rain clouds or storms can't be anywhere within the 30 nautical miles. Cross-wind can't be more than 15 knots at max; tail wind can't be more than 20 -- 15 knots at max, and the head wind can't be more than 25 knots. Head wind actually helps them slow down just a little bit.
But the forecast calls for those showers that we saw tonight to continue to simmer down, and we'll probably see some clearing. There will be a couple of isolated showers, likely offshore, Carol. So 20, 30, 40 percent chance of that dealing -- or making a mess of the landfall (sic), but right now, we're pretty optimistic of seeing weather to be good enough for landfall (sic) tomorrow.
LIN: Good enough. All right. We'll keep our fingers crossed. Thanks very much, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you, Carol.
LIN: On tonight's "Rap Sheet," Congress is looking into whether Baltimore slugger Rafael Palmeiro committed perjury when he told a House committee he never used steroids, but later corrected himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAFAEL PALMEIRO, BALTIMORE ORIOLES: I have never used steroids, period.
I'm here to make it very clear that I have never intentionally used steroids. Never, ever. Period.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: All right, intentionally, because it looks like some testing came up positive for steroids. So lots of questions there.
Also, a former teacher in New York faces rape charges. Police say she had sex with several male Catholic high school students, including a 16-year-old.
Joining me are the "Rap Sheet" regulars, Stacey Honowitz, a Broward County prosecutor, and criminal defense attorney Jayne Weintraub. Good evening, ladies.
JAYNE WEINTRAUB, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hi, Carol.
STACEY HONOWITZ, PROSECUTOR: Hi, Carol.
LIN: All right. Let's talk about this baseball player. Jayne, Jose Canseco was a client of yours. In terms of your experience with this whole steroid question, what do you think the outcome is going to be? Because intentionally using steroids, he came up positive, so is the case closed?
WEINTRAUB: Well, I did successfully represent Jose Canseco, and we did challenge the urine analysis that had been performed. But Carol, there are many questions. The first question of perjury before Congress, of course, my answer would be, no. I don't think there will be a prosecution in that case. It would have to be referred by Congress to the Department of Justice, but the bigger question is, the urine tests came back now, in July. He swore under oath in March. And so, there would be no perjury based on this urine test, unless they have other evidence, which I doubt they do.
LIN: All right, but it certainly looks indicting for Major League Baseball, don't you think?
WEINTRAUB: Well, Major League Baseball, perhaps. But there is a big difference between prosecuting somebody and suspending somebody for play based on a urine test. There are many false positives. There are many supplements that have different metabolites of the steroids. This particular steroid, stanazolol, that's being alleged is being used, always stays in your system a couple of weeks.
LIN: All right, Stacey, looking very patient. Looking very patient, but what do you think? Do you think this guy committed perjury before Congress?
HONOWITZ: I think you can sugar-coat it all you want. If they find out that he lied in front of Congress, if they find out that he made a material misrepresentation, they certainly can charge with perjury.
WEINTRAUB: How can they prove it?
HONOWITZ: There was some incident about him getting immunity for using steroids beforehand. But if they find out that the steroids were used at the time that he went in front of Congress, then...
WEINTRAUB: How are they going to find that out, Stacey?
(CROSSTALK)
WEINTRAUB: ... two months after he testified.
HONOWITZ: So you have to figure out when the test was given.
LIN: That's a good question. All right, let's talk about this teacher, 42 years old, right? Her name is Sandra Beth Geisel. Found in the backseat of a car with a 17-year-old boy, later a 16-year-old comes forward and says that he's had sex with this teacher twice. Stacey, eyewitnesses? You've got other witnesses coming forward. What's the case looking like to you?
HONOWITZ: Well, I think it looks great. Let me tell you something, I'm going to tell you what goes on in these cases. You know, generally, these boys don't want to testify against the teacher. Most boys probably think it's the greatest thing that's ever happened to them. It's unfortunate in our society, that's how we look at it. And people do look at female defendants different from male defendants. But I think people are going to start now really listening to these kids, seeing that there are so many female predators coming out now. Because they are just as culpable as male predators, and I think at this point, with these people coming forward, other eyewitnesses coming forward, the case, unless the boy decides not to testify, is going to hold up in court.
WEINTRAUB: A 17-year-old, it's not even illegal in New York, Stacey!
HONOWITZ: They're not charging him (sic) with that, Jayne. They're not -- there are four separate cases. They're not charging her with all those cases. When you're at the age of consent, they can't do it. But there are people that are underage, and they are going to charge. And they will be successful, unless...
(CROSSTALK)
WEINTRAUB: ... overzealous, overreaching...
HONOWITZ: No way.
WEINTRAUB: ... very popular wealthy banker...
LIN: How is this going to be explained away, Jayne?
(CROSSTALK)
HONOWITZ: Why is this overzealous prosecution, Jayne?
LIN: How is it going to be explained away, Jayne?
WEINTRAUB: Well, number one, I think she had a drinking problem. She's in the middle of a very bitter divorce and custody battle that's been all over the newspapers up here in Albany, and I think -- I think that these 17-year-old boys are what started it, that she was caught with.
Now, 17 years old, as Stacey said, is an age of consent; there's no crime there. They are now looking into...
HONOWITZ: They're not charging her with that.
WEINTRAUB: ... when did she first have sex with them? If she had sex with him when he was 16, then they're going to go forward. I say that's overzealous reaching of a prosecutor.
HONOWITZ: Why is it overzealous, Jayne? I'll tell you something, it's God forbid if it was one of your boys. You'd probably be the first one at the door...
WEINTRAUB: Don't go there.
(CROSSTALK)
HONOWITZ: ... prosecute. WEINTRAUB: But what I will say to you is...
HONOWITZ: So why would it be overzealous prosecution? Why is it different than a male teacher who gets charged with having sex with a female student? Absolutely no difference at all.
WEINTRAUB: I don't think that a male teacher would be charged with having sex with an 18-year-old girl, which would be the age of consent in Florida or in most states.
HONOWITZ: I'm not talking about a child -- I'm not talking about the age of consent. I'm talking, a child. Not -- not the age of consent. That's the difference here.
WEINTRAUB: We're not talking about 14- and 15-year-old kids like we have been, like with Debra LaFave, the case out of Orlando, that we've all discussed on "The Rap Sheet" before. That is another story altogether.
HONOWITZ: Jayne, it' still a crime. It's still a crime. What's the difference in the year between 15 and 16?
(CROSSTALK)
HONOWITZ: It's sex with a minor, and it's against the law.
WEINTRAUB: Prosecutorial discretion.
HONOWITZ: And you can't make the laws any different. You can't do it.
LIN: All right, Jayne, what do you think she's going to get?
WEINTRAUB: I think that the teacher up here should be put on some kind of probation and have some therapy.
LIN: All right, we'll see what happens.
WEINTRAUB: She's so humiliated.
LIN: We'll see what happens. Thanks very much, Stacey, Jayne. Always good to have you.
WEINTRAUB: Thank you.
LIN: See you next Sunday.
HONOWITZ: Thank you.
LIN: Straight ahead on CNN SUNDAY NIGHT, his brutal murder in the Mississippi Delta helped ignite the civil rights movement. Now, a new documentary is sparking renewed interest in finding his killers. The untold story of Emmett Till, only on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LIN: Beginning tomorrow, afternoons are going to be different on CNN. CNN's Wolf Blitzer will anchor a three-hour broadcast from Washington called "THE SITUATION ROOM." The program is going to give you a first look at stories from Washington and around the world. Here's Wolf with a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): We're here in "THE SITUATION ROOM." We're going to be spending a lot of time here, showing our viewers what's going on in Washington, around the United States, around the world.
Check out our video wall. We're going to be able to bring in feeds from around the world, showing live images, lives pictures of any story that's happening. They're going to be coming in here.
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So an exciting new challenge for all of us. We're exciting by it. We think you'll be excited by it as well.
I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. You're in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
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LIN: "THE SITUATION ROOM" is where Washington's movers and shakers are going to gather, and you can see it right here on CNN every weekday afternoon, from 3:00 to 6:00 Eastern. Count on it.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LIN: Now a story you will only see on CNN. A new documentary is shining light on a dark chapter of American history. Fifty years ago, a 14-year-old black boy from Chicago named Emmett Till, was kidnapped, tortured and murdered in Mississippi. The brutal murder shocked the nation and helped galvanize the civil rights movement.
The U.S. Justice Department recently reopened the case, citing the documentary, "The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till," as one of the reasons.
Joining me from Chicago are the filmmaker Keith Beauchamp, and Emmett Till's cousin, Simeon Wright. Emmett was in bed with him the night he was dragged away and killed.
Good evening, gentlemen.
SIMEON WRIGHT, EMMETT TILL'S COUSIN: Good evening.
LIN: Keith, let me start with you. A compelling story. This little boy goes down to the South, goes into a store, and just, almost as a, you know, an afterthought or a prank, whistles at a white woman. A couple of days later, he is dragged out of the house, never to be seen again, and brutally murdered.
KEITH BEAUCHAMP, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER: Yes.
LIN: Your documentary, you weren't even born when Emmett Till was murdered. Why did you take on this project?
BEAUCHAMP: Well, it's amazing -- it's funny, because -- well, it's not funny. When I learned about the case at the age of 10, I was -- I grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and it was an educational tool that my parents often told me, to keep aware about the racism that still lurks in these societies.
But I came across a "Jet" magazine, and it shocked me tremendously at that time. My parents sat me down and explained the story to me. Emmett Till's name was always in my household. Again, it was an educational tool that was taught to many African-American men of the Deep South, to keep us aware of the racism that still lurks in these Americas.
LIN: Because the murder was one thing, but the subsequent trial of two white men was a whole different story. Simeon, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam. They actually were tried, but it appeared to be a farce, because later on, they were acquitted, but they sold their story to a journalist and confessed to the killings, and even told of some of the brutal details.
WRIGHT: Exactly. They did that.
LIN: Now, even though they confessed, but they're dead. There is now a new investigation by the Justice Department?
WRIGHT: Yes, there is.
LIN: So what are you hoping will come out of this, and what role is the documentary going to have in this?
WRIGHT: Well, I hope that those who was involved in the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till, every one of them will be brought to justice.
(CROSSTALK)
LIN: More than just those two...
WRIGHT: Oh, yes. Yes. There was more. There was another man standing on our porch. And there was a lady in the truck that identified Emmett when he was taken out to the truck.
LIN: Simeon, the body was exhumed. Emmett Till's body was exhumed. What clues came of that that is going to help in this investigation and name more names?
WRIGHT: Well, in order to get the case reopened, the state of Mississippi wanted the FBI to ascertain that the body that was buried in Bare Oak (ph) was exactly Emmett Till. And the autopsy and the DNA specimen would tell us that.
LIN: Because the prosecutors even alleged that Emmett Till was, in fact, still alive. There were rumors abound that this was all a setup.
WRIGHT: That was part of their defense back in 1955.
LIN: So what...
WRIGHT: Ludicrous, but...
LIN: Ludicrous, yeah, because it was proven through DNA that it was in fact Emmett Till, your cousin. So where does the investigation go from here, then?
BEAUCHAMP: Well, what we're looking at at the moment is, of course you heard they've just exhumed the body of Emmett Till. We're currently waiting for them to tell us what was found. Of course, there's been a lot of rumors in the newspapers and things of that nature, that they found the bullet that was lodged in Emmett Till's head. But then, other things, reasons why this autopsy needed to be done. One of the things is that the autopsy was never performed on the body in 1955, and this is one of those important elements that needs to be brought into the court of law to go forward with the trial itself.
So the second thing is, we're waiting for indictments at this point. The FBI will be finishing up their investigation hopefully soon, and then will be handing over their findings to DA Joyce Chiles of the state, who will then in turn begin the process of indictment.
LIN: Keith, you are now a part of history, young man. I mean, your story is going to be airing before the United Nations. It has reunited this investigation. And a 14-year-old little boy may have taught the world a very important lesson. I want to thank both of you, Simeon Wright and Keith Beauchamp, for sharing your story. Good luck with the film.
BEAUCHAMP: Thank you.
LIN: We'll be right back.
WRIGHT: OK, thank you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: "Playboy" founder Hugh Hefner is getting in bed with reality TV. An eight-part reality series about life inside the Playboy Mansion premiered tonight on E!. It's called "The Girls Next Door," yes, about Hef's girlfriends. Earlier, I talked with Hugh Hefner about the series and life behind the Playboy Mansion doors.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUGH HEFNER, PLAYBOY FOUNDER: Well, what you learn depends by how much you already know about it. I think that what you get here is a little fly on the wall, inside look at my life and the life of the girls, and the inner workings of the Playboy Mansion, a (INAUDIBLE).
The general, you know, perception, of course, is that it's party time 24/7. And that's a half-truth. The parties will be a part of it, but you'll see the quiet times too.
LIN: Exactly what happens with you and these three women during the quiet times?
HEFNER: Well, it is, quite frankly, a relatively -- hard to explain it, but it's a relatively normal romantic relationship times three. But of course, it's not really -- not really normal, because it, you know, it is the Playboy Mansion, and I am Hugh Hefner.
LIN: And you are Hugh Hefner. OK, an informal survey -- I was on a -- I was on a shoot yesterday, so I was at the airport. An informal survey of some of the middle-aged businessmen I came across, they all want to know, Hugh Hefner is a senior citizen. Are you really with these three women? And are we going to see any of that action?
HEFNER: Am I what?
LIN: I mean, are you really with these three women?
HEFNER: Oh, I'm with them. Yes, I'm romantically involved with all three girls. I mean, this is not going to be an X-rated show, but the relationships are real. Yeah, this is not a -- this is not a publicity stunt.
LIN: How do you have a real relationship with three women?
HEFNER: Well, it works out a lot better than I think most relationships. You know, a lot of relationships, if a person is single, you know, they're dating one person on Tuesday and another person on Thursday, with a lot of jealousy and a lot of hypocrisy, and this relationship is -- is times three, but it is, you know, they're all friends, we are all together, it's a party posse. Wherever we go, we're having a good time. Other people want to join us. And it makes for a good life.
LIN: And how do you decide who you want to be with on any given night?
HEFNER: Well, I have a primary relationship with Holly Madison. And we're together all the time. But it's, you know, it's -- most of what we do, you know, we simply do together, that's all. It's, you know, whatever it may be.
LIN: Hef, what kind of a message does that send that a guy -- how old are you now, by the way?
HEFNER: What's that?
LIN: How old re you now?
HEFNER: I will be 80 in April.
LIN: You're -- OK. You're almost 80. When is it OK for a guy to just kind of relax, not, you know -- I mean, there are a lot of 80- year-olds out there who really aren't that interested in having a relationship with a woman who's, you know, a quarter of his age. They just want to, like, kick back, retire. Is that ever going to happen for you?
HEFNER: Well, I think -- I think maybe that is the secret to it all. You know, there are many roads to Mecca. I think that people want to -- I think that age is largely a point of view.
LIN: OK.
HEFNER: How old you are really is not a number. You know, age is really just a number. And how old you are really depends very much on how you feel. And I think that the real key for my life is the attitude, related to my childhood. I think that I held on, I'm holding on to the boy who dreamed the impossible dreams.
LIN: And living it large. Thanks very much, Hugh Hefner.
HEFNER: Yes, I am.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: A happy man.
Up next, a check of the headlines, and then a look at the top 25 sports characters since CNN went on the air. But first, your responses to our "Last Call" question. Should this be the last space shuttle mission? Here's what you had to say. Have a great night.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CALLER: No, it should not be the last space shuttle flight. Space is too important, and we should continue somehow.
CALLER: Yes, this should be the last space shuttle mission, because we've lost too many lives and too much money on this, and we need to figure out another way to explore space.
CALLER: No, it should not. They should explore other areas, as far as unmanned vehicles, but there's very little way that the space station can be expanded without using the shuttle missions.
CALLER: Yes, I think it should be our last shuttle mission. If these astronauts make it home safe, I think that we should not jeopardize any more people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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