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Jane Velez-Mitchell
Casey`s New Video Diary
Aired January 05, 2012 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, Casey`s back! This time, she`s blond and bare-shouldered, starring in her own YouTube video. You won`t believe what she says in the almost five-minute rant. But what about what she doesn`t say. So many questions. Who`s behind this? Is money changing hands? And does Casey have a crafty strategy?
We`re analyzing this suspicious video with a team of experts, including the one-and-only bounty hunter who knows Casey well, Leonard Padilla. You will see Casey`s video right now, and we`ll take your calls and answer your questions.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news on HLN.
NANCY GRACE, HLN ANCHOR: This audio journal didn`t just pop up. She hates being on camera. Is that why they`re shopping a nearly $1 million deal for her to be on camera?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is disgusting! The baby. What about her?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As to the charge of the first-degree murder, verdict as to count one, we the jury find the defendant not guilty. Not guilty.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An absolute crying shame, this is. They call this justice? They say the American flag flies today? It does not. It does anything but fly today. It`s been trampled on.
CASEY ANTHONY, ACQUITTED OF MURDER: I just want to let everyone know that I`m sorry for what I did.
JEFF ASHTON, PROSECUTOR: Casey`s lies fit the audience.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s wrong. She got away with it, and you know it. And people are saying that it was OK, she didn`t get away with this, that -- that -- I can`t even talk! I`m appalled.
JOSE BAEZ, CASEY`S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: There are no winners in this case. Caylee has passed on far, far too soon.
BELVIN PERRY, JUDGE: I will judge you to be not guilty. Not guilty of the crime. Not guilty.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: She has been ordered back to the city where she is public enemy No. 1.
CASEY ANTHONY: Can someone let me -- come on!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Without a shadow of a doubt, she did it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`ll get her judgment, some day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a business ploy. She`s playing the cute card again.
GRACE: Instead of using her time to put herself in a low-cut tank-top back into the national media, maybe she should be out helping missing and murdered children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Good evening, everyone. Jane Velez-Mitchell coming to you live from New York City with the latest unbelievable twists, plural, in the Casey Anthony saga, because we`ve got breaking news.
Just moments ago, as I sat down, I have learned that there has been another new development, beyond the YouTube video. Yes, for the first time since her acquittal, she has now put out a video diary. It`s causing a firestorm of controversy. She`s got a new look but the same old attitude.
Let`s take a look first at the YouTube video that was released today. By whom? That`s a big controversy, but it`s what everybody`s been talking about.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CASEY ANTHONY: It`s been such a blessing in so many ways. This is, again, the first of many, and I`m looking forward to this. It`s a little scary, because I hate being on camera, but, I don`t know. I need to conquer that fear at some point, and this is a good start. So here`s hoping.
It`s the end of the first, just the beginning. And now I have someone to talk to when I`m by myself, so I`m not bothering the poor dog who I`ve adopted and I love. And he`s as much my dog as any of the other pets I`ve ever had. Things are starting to look up and things are starting to change, in a good way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Four minutes and 19 seconds. That`s how long Casey Anthony talked and talked and talked. Mostly about herself.
What didn`t come up? Zero mention of her daughter, Caylee Anthony, who died in her care. And many still believe at her hands, although she was acquitted of murder. No mention of her parents, Cindy and George Anthony, who she put through all sorts of hell over the past four years. In fact, she indicates that the dog she`s adopted is more of a family than she`s ever had before. No mention of her brother, Lee.
Casey`s attorney, Cheney Mason, confirms that it is indeed Casey in this new Web cam video that we`re going to play for you for the next hour. But he says nobody was supposed to see this video.
Quote, "Casey has maintained notes and memoirs for her personal counseling. She doesn`t know how the video got on YouTube. She did not authorize it. And therefore, it has to be obtained illegally," end quote.
So was she hacked or was she playing us all for fools? What do you think about Casey`s return to the spotlight? Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1- 877-586-7297. Taking your calls for the hour.
But as I mentioned, breaking news, just moments ago. Literally as I sat down here a couple of seconds ago, I get word in my ear from my producers, "Oh, my gosh, we`ve got not only this YouTube video, but now new pictures of Casey Anthony are being released on the Internet." We`re going to bring in Alexis Tereszcuk, senior reporter, Radar Online.
Alexis, this is like something out of a horror movie, except it`s real. Now we`ve got what? Still photos of Casey Anthony being released in tandem with this YouTube video? What the heck is going on here?
ALEXIS TERESZCUK, SENIOR REPORTER, RADAR ONLINE (via phone): You`re exactly right. It is like it`s out of a horror film. One of my coworkers, Amber, found this video, and it`s brand-new. We`ve got the photos of her. They`re more of Casey since she`s been in hiding.
The most amazing one is that she`s in a bar in one of them. She`s texting on her phone while she`s in a bar. These are pictures that we`ve learned have been distributed by Casey to her friends online, and they show her with her brown hair and then also with the brand-new blond short hairdo. More than just the video from this morning.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So, the fact, when you said video, you mean a collection of still photos that have been put into a video, or is there a video as well as still photos?
TERESZCUK: I do.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: A collection of still photos that have been put into a video that has just popped somewhere on the Internet that Radar Online discovered as we`re all talking about this other YouTube video. Is that correct, Alexis?
TERESZCUK: That`s exactly correct. And in fact, they were posted by the same person that posted the video this morning of Casey. So this is somebody that has really good access to Casey`s personal files.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We are looking at Radar Online now, that has posted the video of the still photos of Casey that are apparently just being released, and we are literally clicking play, and you and I are seeing them for the very first time.
Who is -- describe what we`re seeing. We`re looking at your Web page, Radar Online, Alexis. What are we seeing here?
TERESZCUK: So the video, it`s still photos. It`s got the same beginning that the lettering in the video says it`s news about Lisa Irwin, news around the world, and Casey Anthony, and it`s Casey in a dark blue tank top. She has some necklaces on. She`s looking down. She has her brown air.
And there`s another photo of her standing in what looks like the corner of a bar, and she`s looking down. And then there`s a photo where she`s sitting with her legs spread far apart. And then there`s a very close-up picture of Casey with her blond hair. It looks like it actually was long and pulled back in this photo, but it may just be the bob, the bob that she was showing today.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: This is fascinating, because, again, it sounds like some -- it appears to be some sort of orchestrated campaign.
But I want to emphasize that Casey`s attorney, Cheney Mason, is saying that Casey is not behind it. I honestly don`t know what to make of it at this point.
I want to play some of the extremely tantalizing statements that Casey Anthony made in this YouTube video that has just been released earlier today, that also created a firestorm, even before we got word of these new photos. Check this out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CASEY ANTHONY: This is, again, the first of many. And I`m looking forward to this. So, here`s hoping. It`s the end of the first, just the beginning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Robyn Walensky, you`re the author of "Beautiful Life: The CSI Behind the Casey Anthony Trial." This is breaking news. We`re going to get to Leonard Padilla, the bounty hunter. He`s here. But I just want to ask you, because you`ve been studying this case.
ROBYN WALENSKY, AUTHOR, "BEAUTIFUL LIFE": This is the prelude, Jane, to the big payday. I don`t care what Cheney Mason says. I believe that the video was released this morning. You and I were texting back and forth this morning when this thing came out. They are gauging, taking the temperature of the public`s interest.
And I have to tell you, when I saw this video for the first time this morning, she`s sitting there in the little white tank top. She looks like she`s hot to trot and ready to party again and hit the town in Orlando. But it`s the level of arrogance that`s so obnoxious. It`s "I`m doing this, I`m doing that." Doesn`t it remind you -- it reminds me of O.J. Simpson post the not-guilty verdict, when he`s on the golf course in Florida smiling and all smug for the cameras. That`s how she is.
She does not once mention her daughter, Caylee, who, by the way, Jane, would be 6 1/2 years old.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: One of Casey`s comments made my jaw drop. Listen to this, again, from YouTube.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CASEY ANTHONY: It`s a little scary, because I hate being on camera, but, I don`t know. I need to conquer that fear at some point, and this is a good start.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Bounty hunter Leonard Padilla, you`re the guy who first bailed her out, and then you became disillusioned when you saw her up close and personal and you got to study the dirty dancing photos that I think we`re going to show you right here.
This is extraordinary. Do you believe Cheney Mason when he says she had nothing to do with this, that she did make recordings or memoirs for her personal counseling, and that she is not involved in releasing this?
LEONARD PADILLA, BOUNTY HUNTER: Well, first of all, this is going to shock you, but I don`t believe that`s Casey in that YouTube four-minute film.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, please. Come on! Leonard!
PADILLA: What do you want me to say?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s Casey. All right? It`s Casey, and Cheney Mason has acknowledged it`s Casey. We all know who we looked at for six weeks during a trial. Move on.
Do you -- let me ask you about whether or not, unless she has a twin sister, do you think...
PADILLA: She got a four-leaf clover?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Do you think Casey Anthony is behind this or not?
PADILLA: There`s a lot of people that are behind the situation as attempting to make money as far back as August on Casey.
As far as her going along with making money, yes, she would go along with anything that would make her some money. She`s -- she`s hurting. And so is -- so are the legal people that are behind her. They`re all, right now, financially looking for ways to make money. They`ve been looking for ways to make money since back right the day after the trial. I had several conversations with one of the people that was involved in her defense. And shortly thereafter came out the Ohio cap film and things of that nature. They`re trying to figure out how to make some money.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, we know that many have said -- and I`ve talked to people in the book industry, for example -- that they wouldn`t touch a Casey Anthony book because it`s toxic. It`s radioactive. We saw what happened with the O.J. Simpson book "If I Did It?" It brought people down. People were attacked for giving him a platform.
So, yes, she has not been able to have a big payday, so is she looking for some kind of small payday? Or do we believe Cheney Mason that she had nothing to do with this and she made it for her own personal counseling and that it was somehow taken and hacked and put on the Internet by somebody else, because we`re hearing that -- we`re hearing so many things. But we`re also hearing that the person who put this on YouTube got it from a for-pay site where they were charging $2 to $5, but that`s a claim. We haven`t been able to find that site. So we can`t figure it out.
We`re going to take your calls on the other side of this short break, and we`re going to hear from the former attorney for Cindy and George, who is also fit to be tied tonight.
More on Casey`s new video diary and the new photos that are just surfacing now that we`re processing and downloading to show you before the end of this hour! Call me, 1-877-JVM-SAYS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CASEY ANTHONY: I`ve even said from day one, putting my crap out within the media and everything, honestly, what`s being said is complete garbage. The focus isn`t on Caylee, and that`s where it should be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CASEY ANTHONY: As silly as saying that I have a computer, and a camera, and a phone. Granted, you know, I wouldn`t have the phone without [MUTED], and I`ve actually now paid for my own computer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The YouTube video that is creating a firestorm, just released today. And then, just moments before airtime, we hear that still photos of Casey Anthony of her reportedly at a bar have just been released online. We are literally processing those photos for you as we speak and racing to get them to you before the end of this hour. So stay with us as we do that.
Now, meantime, Casey`s parents, George and Cindy Anthony -- remember them? -- have said through their attorney that they were concerned that the release of this video could endanger their daughter`s safety and that they hope Casey remains safe, wherever she may be. So it appears that they have no idea where she is.
I want to go to the former attorney for Cindy and George Anthony, Brad Conway, who knows all of these parties so well. First of all, your gut reaction when you saw this video on YouTube? What ran through you?
BRAD CONWAY, FORMER ATTORNEY FOR CINDY AND GEORGE ANTHONY: Just another example of Casey trying to get her face in the public eye. Jump into -- into the publicity that she`s probably lacking and needing in her life these days.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But do you believe what Cheney Mason said, that he`s saying she did not release this, that she made this for her own personal counseling?
And I have to the say, I`ve done therapy. I have done therapy. And I`ve never been asked to speak to a camera as part of my therapy. You talk to a therapist when you`re in therapy.
Additionally, she says a bunch of stuff that`s completely nonsensical, like, "It`s a blessing. Now I have someone to talk to when I`m by myself." OK, she needs a new script, doctor, because she`s not having a conversation with anybody. This is a monologue. So there`s a nonsensical quality to all this. Your thoughts, again, Brad?
CONWAY: Jane, I think that Cheney Mason was told that, but whether that`s believable or not -- anything that comes out of Casey Anthony`s mouth is a lie. This is all self-serving. It always is self-serving, and she`s there to portray herself as yet another innocent victim of the public.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Will Casey Anthony be unleashed on the world sooner than we thought? In other words, she says this is the first of many. I don`t know what she`s telling her counselor, her dog, or the rest of the world, but listen to what she has to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CASEY ANTHONY: I know it`s going to be a while since I leave. I will be here for many, many months more, even if I`m only here for six months. Even if I get off probation early, I`ll still be here at least until February, the end of February.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s almost, Stacey Honowitz, Florida prosecutor, like she`s making a bid to get off on probation early. She`s supposed to be on probation for check fraud until next August, and she`s kind of like hinting, like, maybe I should get off next month, February.
STACEY HONOWITZ, FLORIDA PROSECUTOR: Yes, I mean, if you listen carefully to all of her words, in the beginning, she almost wants to, you know, us to sympathize with her. She`s never had freedom and this is the first time, and we should almost feel bad for her. And you`re right, it almost is a plea.
And it makes no sense that this is part of therapy. Because if it was part of therapy, she`d be talking about mourning the death of her daughter and not about a dog and a computer. Let`s be realistic. When you make a video and talk to the camera, it`s to disseminate that information to other people. And that`s exactly what she`s doing in this case. She loves the attention.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You`re a Florida prosecutor. She -- the prosecutors that lost the case against her feel that she owes them a ton of money. She owes the government a ton of money. So will the authorities be investigating this video to find out if, in fact, it is a for-profit enterprise so they can go and file a lien against any money that she may have made?
HONOWITZ: Well, certainly. I mean, she has judgments against her. She owes money. She owes it to the state. And if there is a money-making venture, she will be watched, and they will try to get a lien, absolutely.
I mean, listen, the world knows her. Everybody`s watching her. She knows that. But if you heard the woman from the previous show, she was talking about how she got this link, that it was a paid-for link. And if this information comes out, then the government and anybody else who is owed money will try to figure out if she`s profiting and take that money from her.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, the style of this video, from the eerie lighting, the close-up of Casey`s face, honestly, it reminded me of "The Blair Witch Project." Check this clip out from Artisan Entertainment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEATHER DONAHUE, ACTRESS: I`m scared to close my eyes. I`m scared to open them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dr. Robi Ludwig, the things that Casey says, she says, "Oh, it`s a little scary. I hate being on camera." She was in front of the world for six weeks and didn`t seem to have a problem. She was flirting with the camera the whole time. She says, "I need to conquer that fear at some point." Why, because she plans on doing more of these and having a video channel?
DR. ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: That was my thought. If you hate being on camera, which I don`t believe. I think she forgot to say, I hate being on camera with bad lighting. I hate being on camera without a makeup artist. But the fact that she has to conquer this fear means that she has plans of being interviewed.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: More on the other side.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CASEY ANTHONY: Now I have someone to talk to when I`m by myself so I`m not bothering the poor dog, who I`ve adopted and I love. And he`s as much my dog as any of the other pets I`ve ever had.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s the YouTube video of Casey Anthony wearing a tank top and bare-shouldered with blond hair that is creating a firestorm. And again, we`re downloading other still photos of her reportedly at a bar that we`re going to bring you, if we can, before the end of this hour.
I want to go to the phone lines. And we`re going to try something new tonight. We have a Skype caller, Catherine in Florida. Catherine, we surveyed 684 people. They said, no, they would not watch a YouTube channel. Fifty-four said yes. What say you, Catherine?
CALLER: Florida.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, Catherine, you`re in Florida. What is your question or thought, my dear?
CALLER: My thought is that I think -- I think Casey likes the limelight. She likes -- she likes getting attention, and she wants to prove the world that she can take care of someone, like adopting -- adopting a pet. And -- and she likes to show off what she`s doing with her life, and she`s the type of person that likes to share. But I don`t think she`s -- she wants to share her feelings about Caylee or her family...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me ask you a quick question. If there was a Casey Anthony YouTube channel that charged a couple bucks, would you pay to watch installments, YouTube installments of Casey Anthony, Catherine?
CALLER: Yes, yes, I would, because I like to know -- I like to know what`s going on with everybody that I see -- that I see all over the news.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, at least you are honest. And I`ve got to hand it to you.
Mike Brooks, people say that they`re not going to watch. If there is, in fact, some YouTube channel that she`s created, which, of course, her attorney says that she is not. But then again, this lady is on. I think a lot of people might say, "I don`t want to see it," but they can`t help looking.
MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: People love a train wreck. And we know they do! People -- people are so voyeuristic, Jane, they will pay a couple bucks to take a look and see what Casey Anthony`s doing.
But you know, this whole video, she said, in the beginning, that she recorded it on October 13, 2011. Jane, that was just a number of days from when she was deposed, via video, in sunglasses and a hat, allegedly, by John Morgan. And she was concerned for her safety. But just a number of days later, she does this? It`s all B.S., Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I think she may have, in fact, gotten the idea to do this from doing the videotaped deposition.
BROOKS: Could be, yes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Because as you said, Mike, it was five days before. They both involved Web cam videos. She didn`t go to the deposition. She did it from another location, using this same type of technology. And a bell might have gone off in her head. And she might have said, "Wow, this is what I`m -- what I`m looking for. Nobody will buy my book. Maybe I can" -- just like so many people want to start Web sites and make money off the Web without working -- "maybe I can make money without working."
I mean, come on. We`ve all thought of it.
Susan Constantine, briefly, what do you make of her body language?
SUSAN CONSTANTINE, JURY CONSULTANT: Well, what I`m saying is a contrast from what we saw in the courtroom and then what we saw in the video. Not only just in her body language, but in her voice, her demeanor, and her facial expressions. Her voice is softer. Her body language is more insecure, lack of confidence. And she also tends to be -- tends to reflect more. So you see her pausing and hesitating when she`s speaking.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I think she might have a boyfriend.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Baby killer! Baby killer!
JEFF ASHTON, PROSECUTOR: Casey`s lies fit the audience.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s wrong she got away with this and you know it. And people are saying that it was ok, that she didn`t get away with this -- I can`t even talk. I`m appalled.
JOSE BAEZ, ATTORNEY FOR CASEY ANTHONY: There are no winners in this case. Caylee has passed on far, far too soon.
BELVIN PERRY, JUDGE: I will adjudge you to be not guilty. Not guilty of the crime. Not guilty.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN HOST: She has been ordered back to the city where she is public enemy number one.
CASEY ANTHONY, ACQUITTED OF DAUGHTER`S MURDER: Can someone let me -- come on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Without a shadow of a doubt, she did it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`ll get her judgment, some day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a business ploy. She`s playing the cute card again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Instead of using her time to put herself in a low-cut tank top back into the national media, maybe she should be out helping missing and murdered children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Casey Anthony shocks the world, without apparently even trying. A video diary recorded by Casey Anthony in October allegedly, according to her attorney, stolen from her and leaked somehow. And now it`s all over the Internet. And now there are, just moments before air, we found out, new photos, which have also surfaced on the Internet, showing her with this blond hair, purportedly at a bar.
Who took these mystery photos? Who is she working with or hanging out with? Does she have a boyfriend? Does she have a business associate? We`re hearing her speak for the first time since her acquittal. It set off a wave of rage. Listen to this clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY: It`s going to be a while since I leave. I`ll be here for many, many months more. Even if I`m only here for six months, even if I get off probation early, I`ll still be here at least until February, the end of February.
It`s silly saying I have a computer and a camera and a phone. Granted, you know, I wouldn`t have the phone without (INAUDIBLE) and I`ve actually now paid for my own computer. The camera was a gift, but these are things that are mine, that I don`t have to -- I don`t know, that I don`t have to give back.
It`s kind of nice, finally, being able to say that I have some belongings that are mine that I`ll be able to take with me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Notably absent, mention of her daughter. She did not mention little Caylee. She did not mention her parents, Cindy and George, who have been through hell. She did not mention her brother, Lee, who has been so loyal and stuck by her.
Now, Casey`s attorney, Cheney Mason says, yes, it is Casey in this new web cam video, but he says nobody was supposed to see this. Quote, "Casey`s maintained notes and memoirs for her personal counseling. She doesn`t know how the video got out on YouTube. She did not authorize it and therefore it had to be obtained illegally.
Do you at home buy Cheney Mason`s story? Call me 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1- 877-586-7297.
Leonard Padilla, you`re the bounty hunter who first bailed Casey out. Then you became disillusioned. As you noticed, very similar to this video, she wasn`t talking about Caylee when you got her home. She was talking about herself.
She mentions in this video that the camera was a gift. At one point, she seems to look off-camera at somebody. It`s edited. If she`s been behind bars, how does she know how to do all of this high-tech stuff although she may have learned it? Your thoughts about what`s behind all this?
LEONARD PADILLA, BOUNTY HUNTER: Well, she`s -- the thing about it is, that portrays Casey much like she wants to be portrayed at this time and place.
When we were with her, she never once mentioned Caylee. That`s correct. She never once shed a tear. That`s absolutely correct. When she was out in public, she always wore the glasses, even though she didn`t need them for reading or anything. All the things that are portrayed there, right down to the halter top, are things that basically portrayed Casey that we knew.
Now, as far as right and some of the publicists that are working with her, I would assume that they know how to set stage, a situation like this, and would carry it to the nth degree. There`s no doubt in my mind that those people there have the ability to do it.
As far as making money off of this, my understanding is that this was on a pay-per-view before it hit the free airwaves. So I don`t believe that there`s anything going on.
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But here`s the problem with that. Look, I find it hard to believe, although I`m not saying anybody`s lying, because Casey may have told Cheney Mason, "No, I did not release this." Just like she told her lawyers during the trial, oh, Zanny took the baby, Zanny the nanny, then, oops, no, the baby died accidentally, and then told psychiatrists another story entirely. Maybe Cheney Mason is just repeating what Casey Anthony told him.
But I do not believe, personally, it doesn`t make sense this is for personal counseling, because she`s wearing glasses she doesn`t need to read, Robyn Walensky. You studied this case. She did not wear glasses during the trial. So if she`s doing it for personal counseling, why is she wearing something that disguises her look?
ROBYN WALENSKY, AUTHOR, "BEAUTIFUL LIFE": Because this is the prelude, I believe, to some sort of magazine spread or a video or something like that. She does not -- let me say this nicely -- she doesn`t have the intellectual muscle to write a book and there would be too much of a backlash. She`s going to go for what`s down and dirty and to do it the easy way.
If she was going to write a book, she`d put a blazer on and a pearl necklace and she`d sit and write a book. In the meantime, she`s in a white t-shirt with her shoulders showing and she`s tan with the fancy glasses and the new haircut and the blond. This is a prelude to a video for money and possibly, I think, my gut tells me, some sort of sexy magazine spread.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, my gosh. Well, Stacey Honowitz, this is all speculation. We can`t say for sure what she`s planning or if she had anything to do with this. I know that a lot of what she says, again, is nonsensical and doesn`t quite add up. And we`re hearing reports that it all first surfaced on a pay-per-view or for-pay Web site. However, I will say nobody`s been able to find that for-pay Web site. It just popped up on YouTube. So what`s your analysis of what`s really going on here?
STACEY HONOWITZ, PROSECUTOR: Well, my analysis is really no different from the general public; everybody that`s called in. She has not been in the news for a very long time. We know what her personality`s all about. You`ve had psychologists and psychiatrists on during the trial that described her as narcissistic. It`s all about her, it`s all about me.
And when you`re out of the spotlight for a while, you need to find your way to get back in. She might not be able to do it by legal means -- not by legal, by getting a book or getting a network, and this is her entree into getting her name and her face back out there for something bigger.
Because I`m telling you something, Jane, someone eventually will bite and will pay her money for whatever she wants to talk about. It will never be about the trial. It will never be about what happened to Caylee. She will never fess up to anything. And so what you will hear is about her daily life and what she`s doing. And I think we can garner from seeing this it has nothing to do with personal therapy because she never talks about anything therapeutic on the video.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`re going to go to the phone lines now. Richard, Indiana, you`ve been very patient. Your question or thought, Richard?
RICHARD, INDIANA: Yes. She could make money off of a YouTube channel. YouTube has a program where you can have ads put on your channel and you can make money off of it. So it could be funded into an account under somebody else`s name to her. So I hope people aren`t watching the video.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Mike Brooks, first of all, I don`t think she could do this on her own. Having been in jail when so much has happened technologically, while she was sitting behind bars, I think for something like a thousand days.
MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And secondly, she`s giving this one away for free, like a free tease, if in fact, she is giving it away. So where`s the profit model here? That`s what I`d like to know, if there is one.
BROOKS: I think this is just a tease, you know. She said there`s going to be many more. No, she`s not doing it by herself, Jane. Vinnie Politan on special report tonight pointed out that you saw the lighting change. You don`t change the lighting while you`re sitting there in front of the camera by yourself, do you? Absolutely not.
She has help, and this is just a little tease, a little preview of things to come.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. I just don`t know if -- people said -- we did this poll and people said that they would not pay to watch a video of Casey Anthony. But then we had a Skype caller who was very honest and said, yes, if it`s a couple of bucks, I would pay.
You know, in a way, you had related it to the O.J. Simpson case. I kind of relate it to the octomom situation, Brad Conway, criminal defense attorney -- you formerly represented Cindy and George. Octomom thought she was going to have her own reality show. It didn`t pan out. She ended up doing a lot of free videos and a lot of sort of piecemeal little things and she`s still in financial trouble.
BRAD CONWAY, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I agree. You know, Jane, she is -- Casey Anthony is a self-centered, narcissistic, despicable person with sociopathic tendencies. And the only way she`s ever going to make any money, I think, is to self-publish or self-produce something that highlights her and her wonderful life, in her eyes. And there will be people that want to watch it, because there are always people that want to, as Mike Brooks said, watch a train wreck.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, coming up next, we`re going to talk about what all of this says about our culture. Remember the movie "Network" a long time ago where people predicted that the craziest, most awful things would happen on television, that were reality, but also for entertainment? Have we actually gotten to that point in our culture? That we`re taking tragedy and using it as entertainment? Via video.
We want to hear from you. What does all of this say about what`s happening in America today? Casey takes to the web. Will social media be her new outlet and her payday? And would you watch? Give me a call, 1- 877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY: Can someone let me -- come on.
CINDY ANTHONY, MOTHER OF CASEY ANTHONY: Casey, hold on, sweetheart. Settle down, baby.
CASEY ANTHONY: Nobody`s letting me speak. You want me to talk, then --
CINDY ANTHONY: All right, I`ll listen.
CASEY ANTHONY: -- give me three seconds to say something.
CINDY ANTHONY: Go ahead, sweetheart.
CASEY ANTHONY: I`m not in control over any of this, because I don`t know what the hell`s going on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let him go. Let him go. Let him go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: People literally came to blows. I was right there. I saw some of this stuff, trying to catch a glimpse of Casey Anthony, getting into court. That`s what they`re fighting about. Who`s going to go into court?
And now the most hated woman in America is back in the spotlight with this new YouTube video that`s causing such a firestorm of controversy. Even though Casey had millions of eyes trained on her for years, she`s now claiming in this YouTube video she`s camera shy, so shy. Oh, I don`t know if I can look at the camera. It`s so scary. Check this out from YouTube.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CASEY ANTHONY: It`s kind of scary, because I hate being on camera, but, I don`t know. I need to conquer that fear at some point and this is a good start.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, Casey, you can do it. You can. Try -- try -- I know she`s going to try again, because she`s promising us, or threatening us, as it were, with a slew of these YouTube videos, even though her attorney says, she didn`t release it, she`s doing this for her own personal counseling and it was hacked, he`s implying.
My question is, with the fanaticism over Casey Anthony and her every move, what does this really say about our culture? Robyn Walensky, you wrote a book on this case. Maybe we`re asking the wrong people the question of would you watch a YouTube channel featuring Casey Anthony for money?
WALENSKY: You know, in the book, in "Beautiful Life", I write about this. During jury selection down in Pinellas County, the jurors, they got rid of the jury pool of 20-something-year-old men. Why? Because they thought that they would be sympathetic. Perhaps they`d want to date her.
So that`s your audience for Casey Anthony videos or of something that she might do in a magazine and maybe take it off a little bit or reveal something, but there were no 20-something-year-old men on this jury. Everyone that was on there, they had a back stripe.
That`s the audience -- people who may be interested in her, fascinated with her, and believe her when she says, Jane, that this is only the beginning.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well I think you make an excellent point because I was out there on the street talking to people -- which I`ll play you in a second -- and all the women are like no, I wouldn`t. That`s disgusting. I`d never.
Well, maybe I was asking the wrong people. I should have gone to the guys and said -- young guys, hey, would you watch it?
And again, let`s play some of these statements that Casey Anthony made on this YouTube video. Watch the look, and then we`re going to analyze that. Watch the look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CASEY ANTHONY: This is, again, the first of many. And I`m looking forward to this so, here`s hoping. It`s the end of the first, just the beginning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, I think we`ve got a guy on the line. Maybe we should ask him. Bob -- oh, we have Amanda first.
Ok, but I`m going to go to Susan Constantine, the body language expert. When you see her in this very tight tank top, showing her shoulders, is she kind of -- it`s like, hey, look at this, more to come -- as Robyn is suggesting, that she`s appealing directly to 20-something men who might have the hots for her?
SUSAN CONSTANTINE, BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT: You know, Casey Anthony is a sexual human being anyway. She has always been that way, from the beginning in her hot bod contest. This is just a reflection of who she is.
So the low-cut, yes, I think that this is another way for her to kind of connect with those younger guys, to find her really attractive, her hair is blond, the hair falling in her face. She`s kind of slightly pushing it away and kind of hiding behind that hair, kind of suggestively, flirting, somewhat but at the same time, looking like she`s insecure and frail and tiny.
So, it`s actually an alluring kind of thing. And you can see her looking down, and she kind of looks up with that kind of Bambi kind of eyes to try to capture the attention. Because she really likes it, and quite frankly, I think this is a rebranding strategy.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, we`re going to bring in a guy now. Bob, South Dakota, you`re a dude. Would you watch a Casey Anthony pay-per- view or pay channel?
BOB, SOUTH DAKOTA: Absolutely not. I would not at all.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: How old are you, though? Are you in your 20s?
BOB: No, I`m not in my 20s.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s the difference.
BOB: I`m 54. But my question is, I guess, or comment is, I think what we`re doing now is giving her a bunch of free publicity. I think it would be better if we just ignored it and let her fade off into the sunset.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I kind of agree with you. But you have to understand something. Everywhere I go, everywhere I go, when I walk my dogs in the morning, what do people come up and ask me about? Casey Anthony. When I go to a party, what do people ask me about? Casey Anthony.
Yes, would I like to personally ignore Casey Anthony for the rest of her life? But the viewers want to know. That`s the dichotomy of it. Let`s be honest. You know, if Casey Anthony makes a YouTube channel, would she have to do something extraordinary to get people to tune in? We`re going to show you just a tiny clip from the movie "Network". And when we come back, we`re going to discuss it. Check this out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Starring the mad prophet of the airwaves, Howard Beale.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: If Casey Anthony had her own YouTube channel, would you watch it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, never, never. I don`t like her. I hate her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God, no.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Why not?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I don`t -- I don`t believe in watching people who do bad things.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I wouldn`t watch it.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Why not?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t want to support anything she`s doing for public.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`d probably watch it just to be like you (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CASEY ANTHONY: These are things that are mine that I don`t have to -- I don`t know -- that I don`t have to give it back. It`s kind of nice finally being able to say that I have some belongings that are mine that I`ll be able to take with me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So a lot of women are saying they would not watch Casey Anthony. Some guys as well. But the other side of the coin is that she may be appealing specifically to a certain type of 20-something male who might be taken with her librarian look or, as some would call it, hot for teacher.
Dr. Robi Ludwig, psychotherapist, your thoughts?
ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Yes, I agree. I think she is rebranding herself. She plays up that sexy secretary sexuality. And there were a lot of men who found her very appealing. Let`s be honest here.
But what I hear when I hear the video is how she`s trying to show how she`s able to love. She loves a dog. And she also reveals her entitlement. "I have things that are mine." Like she`s entitled to even have anything after what she probably did.
So she really is revealing a lot about herself, whether she realizes it or not. And the analysts are watching.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me say this. Stacey Honowitz, are we being too hard on her in some level? She was acquitted of murder. She served her time for lying to cops. She`s on probation for check fraud. Does she have the right? Well, she certainly does legally have the right to make any kind of videos she wants and do whatever she wants with it. Are we being unfair by questioning her right?
HONOWITZ: No, I mean, listen. Are we being unfair? People might say it`s unfair. She was found not guilty of the crime. But I think people have a right to voice their opinions. People were very emotional and people felt that the jury got it wrong.
She`s very enamored with herself in this video and just like Dr. Robi said, she feels like she`s entitled to certain things and is proud of herself for getting those things.
One thing I want to say, Jane, is I think people would watch a channel if they knew that she wasn`t going to profit. I think that`s the problem. People want to see what`s going on with her. They just don`t want her to get any money from it. So if she had a channel where they said all the profit went to what she owes the state of Florida, to Tim Miller and to every other investigative agency that searched for that child, then people would watch it knowing that that money is going somewhere good. But if they know that money is going to her, that`s what the brouhaha is.
They want to see what`s going. People want to see train wrecks. They just don`t want her to make any money off of it and that`s where you have this --
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, a couple of things occurred to me. One is that I texted Jose Baez. We reached out to the attorneys; any of them are invited. And of course, Casey herself is invited on any time. But also, she has to eat. I mean she can`t live on thin air. So how is she going to make money if she can`t work at a regular store, if she can`t do anything? I mean, what job could this woman possibly hold? I think we have to look at that because she is not going to be able to exist on nothing.
Back in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Cindy and George have said that this video makes them afraid for their daughter`s safety. I want to go to Brad Conway, criminal defense attorney; you`re the former attorney for Cindy and George. What do you think Cindy and George are going through tonight?
CONWAY: You know, that`s hard to say. They haven`t had any contact with their daughter according to Mark Lipman, their attorney, and I believe that. Casey Anthony is a whiney, self-centered bitch, but she`s a necessary evil in maintaining focus on missing children such as Caylee and the thousands of missing and abused children. That`s who we need to be thinking about.
When it comes to thinking about them and remembering them, Casey Anthony`s focus and her constant attention-seeking efforts maintain our focus on those missing children.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And that is your opinion, as you express it. There`s going to be a whole lot tomorrow, I assure you. New developments -- promise you that. Watch tomorrow.
Nancy, next.
END
