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Erin Burnett Outfront

Jonbenet Ramsey Indictment Unsealed; Official: Obamacare Website "Fixable"; Slashing the Military's Budget; U.S. Allies Angered Over Spying; Spirit Airlines Flight Forced to Make Emergency Landing; Police Looking for Motive in Teacher's Murder

Aired October 25, 2013 - 19:00   ET

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

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Good Friday evening, everyone. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, an explosive revelation in the Jonbenet Ramsey murder case. Newly released document show a grand jury in 1999 found enough evidence to indict Jon and Patsy Ramsey, the charges, child abuse resulting in the death of their 6-year-old daughter and accessory to a crime including first-degree murder.

The district attorney at the time actually, after that, chose not to prosecute, citing a lack of evidence. But nearly 17 years after the child beauty queen was murdered, the case remains unsolved, the ultimate cold case and this breakthrough. Our Tom Foreman has covered the story since the beginning and he is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The new documents only add to the mystery of what happened to 6-year-old Jonbenet Ramsey found dead in her Colorado home the day after Christmas, 1996. The grand jury said both of the girls' parents, John and Patsy, did unlawfully, knowingly, recklessly and feloniously permit a child to be placed in a situation, which posed a threat of injury which resulted in the death of Jonbenet Ramsey.

Furthermore, the documents accused each parent of helping someone suspected one of the crime to avoid arrest whether that means they help each other or another is unclear, but the Ramseys insisted the killing was the work of an unknown intruder.

PATSY RAMSEY: There is a killer on the loose. If I were a resident of Boulder, I would tell my friends to keep -- keep your babies close to you. There's someone out there.

FOREMAN: Although at first the murder looked like a botched kidnapping, the Ramseys were suspected. Their daughter had been struck on the head and strangled with a thin piece of cord, tightened with a broken paintbrush from Patsy's hobby kit. A ransom note found in the house contained little known details of the family's finances and history.

And state investigators said they thought it was in patsy's handwriting. There were no clear signs of forced entry and tensions between investigators and the family rose rapidly. John Ramsey would later suggest that he was not surprise bid the police scrutiny. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did they think it was you?

JOHN RAMSEY: Because the police always go after the parents and we understood that.

FOREMAN: But prosecutors would not go after them even though the grand jury apparently wanted to.

ALEX HUNTER, BOULDER DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We do not have sufficient evidence to warrant the filing of charges.

FOREMAN: Five years ago, authorities took unusual step of clearing John and Patsy Ramsey of suspicion based on DNA evidence. Even though she had already died of cancer and he had moved away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: Indeed. An awful lot of people connected to this case, whether they are witnesses or investigators or officials, have moved on. Some have died. Some have gone to other careers. Even if these documents had clearly pointed to a suspect and people somehow wanted to follow on that after all these years, a successful prosecution would be very tough.

BURNETT: Very, very tough. All right, but obviously, big things we've never heard before. Tom Foreman, thank you. As we said, Tom was there every single day as this case was happening. I want to bring in Lin Wood now. He is an attorney for John Ramsey. He's been involved in this case for 14 years and he is OUTFRONT.

Lin, thanks so much. I really appreciate your taking the time. Let me ask you. You know, the charges that we're seeing, the release documents, child abuse resulting in the death of their 6-year-old daughter, accessory to first degree murder. Why would they release this now?

LIN WOOD, ATTORNEY FOR JOHN RAMSEY: You know, they released this in response to an open record request by a reporter in Colorado. Without that request, I doubt that these documents would have been released. But I will tell you the release of these documents is a gross injustice to the Ramsey family and the public and to our system of justice.

We got four pages, and that is four pages out of an 18-month grand jury investigation that likely produced hundreds of thousands of pages of testimony, evidence and exhibits. And John Ramsey went to court and he asked that all of the record be disclosed to the public even though the accusation was against him and his wife.

John wanted all the evidence to be put out there and it should have been. That would have given the public an opportunity to satisfy if there was any evidence to support these, what I would refer to as critically charges suggested by the grand jury in 1999.

BURNETT: So let me ask you because, you know, in the document, it says both John and Patsy Ramsey should be indicted for child abuse resulting in death. I'll read you the direct quote. I know you know it, Lin, but for our viewers. They knowingly, recklessly and feloniously permitted a child to be unreasonably placed in a situation, which post a threat of injury to the child's life or health, which resulted in the death of Jonbenet Ramsey. What is your response to that directly?

WOOD: What are they talking about? What are they saying that John and/or Patsy Ramsey did to place Jonbenet in a position of peril? They let her sleep on a floor beneath their bedroom on the top floor? I mean, that's the problem. You really don't know what this grand jury was thinking and you don't know what evidence, if any, actually supported the charges.

What we do know is that as you pointed out at the beginning of the segment, Alex Hunter did not pursue charges based on this grand jury true bill and he was right. Because what this grand jury did not know that was learned nine years later, is that there was conclusive DNA evidence found on the clothes of Jonbenet in three different locations, which unequivocally exonerated the Ramsey family, which the Boulder district attorney did in public in 2008.

BURNETT: Let me ask you about that DNA though because obviously as you point out, DNA of another person was found on Jonbenet's underwear. That was used to exonerate the Ramseys. Would it seem until there is an actual suspect identified and linked to the DNA, how can it approve the murder was committed by somebody he will. It just means someone else was there.

WOOD: Look at the thing. This grand jury found in Jonbenet's underwear in the crotch area. What was learned nine years later is that there was DNA on both sides of her pajama bottoms. That DNA matched the DNA found in her underwear. As the District Attorney Mary Lacy stated, there is no innocent explanation to find foreign male DNA in three different locations on the clothing of a murder victim. That DNA is the DNA of the perpetrator of this crime.

BURNETT: What was the DNA? I guess that's a big part. Was it semen?

WOOD: It was, we believe, saliva found in her underwear and it was found by touch DNA technology on her pajama bottoms, likely transferred by the touch fingers or hands.

BURNETT: Now, does your client, John Ramsey, believe he knows who committed this murder at this time?

WOOD: He does not. John has said before, as Patsy said before she untimely died. They don't know anyone who could commit such a heinous crime. This child was brutally assaulted and brutally murdered. And there is, if you release that entire grand jury transcript, there will not be any evidence to support that one of these family members was involved in that crime. They are innocent as the DNA proved. And Alex Hunter did the right thing in 1999. He did his duty and he did not pursue charges for which the evidence would not support a finding of guilty.

BURNETT: Before we go, do you think we'll ever know who did this? This is a case as you know captivated the country. It still captivates people. If someone did this horrific crime and there is someone somewhere who did it. Are we ever going to know?

WOOD: Well, you know, I think we will hopefully learn when we get a hit on the DNA, which is in the FBI database. There was another young girl who was brutally murdered in Boulder, Colorado, about a year after Jonbenet, Susanna Chase. Ten years her murder, a random hit on DNA revealed the perpetrator of that crime. What we do know is that yes, it is one of the great unsolved mysteries of our time. But part of that mystery has been solved.

That part of the mystery is that John and Patsy Ramsey were not involved in the death of their child. That chapter has been closed and it is a done deal. This family should be recognized as the Boulder D.A. said in 2008 as victims of crime. They should not be as John one again accused of some criminal involvement without any evidence whatsoever to be disclosed to support it because it is not there.

WOOD: Thank you very much.

BURNETT: Up next, military officials say forced cuts about to hit the Pentagon are going to cost ten of thousands of jobs and put the entire security and safety of the United States at risk. Does that add up or is it hyper hyperbole?

And new details tonight in the murder of a Massachusetts teacher, what happened right before she was killed? What was relationship with her murderer?

And the case of the Utah doctor accused of murdering his wife, the other woman took stand today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How often were the two of you having sexual relations?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We would see each other a couple times a month. There were months when we didn't see each other. It was a very casual thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Our second story, OUTFRONT, healthcare.gov is fixable. It's not me saying. It's the official now in charge of fixing it who said this. Jeffrey Zites is his name. He said today the Obamacare web site is going to be running no problems by the end of November, but 10 Democratic senators are saying the Obama administration needs to extend the open enrolment period.

They have to do that no matter what and they need to do it beyond the deadline which is now March 31st. So is the web site going to be fixed in time or will the administration actually have to cave, not to Ted Cruz, but to Democrats.

Athena Jones is at the White House. Athena, why is the administration suddenly after, day after day saying we don't want to give websites, aware not going to go there, so confident that this will be fixed by this date?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Erin. Well, a couple of reasons. One of the big problems, the big criticisms of the way the government handled the rollout of health care.gov is that there was not one point person to make sure the site was working the way it should. Now you have this point person that you just mentioned, Jeffrey Zites. And the White House has a lot of confidence in him. He has held several positions.

He is management expert, a former CEO so he is heading that up. He spoke with reporters for the first time since taking on this role heading up the massive effort to fix everything. And he said on the technical side, there is now a point organization, that's QSSI. It's one of the contractors that has helped put together this site.

What they've handled the data hub that helps verify personal information. They're part of the site. Now they're going to be taking on the role of general contractor to make sure that they're in charge of making sure the whole web site gets fixed. So those are two areas they're now in control of.

They've identified the problems on the performance side and the functionality side of the web site. They have a long list of items they're ticking through trying to fix. And so as of right now, they believe that by the end of November. The vast majority of folks trying to sign on will be able to do so.

But you still hear a little of the caveat there, the vast majority. Even if they do get this started by the end of November, but that is still almost two months since the launch date. So there you have it -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right, well, Athena, thank you very much. Of course, up and running. One big victory, but everybody will decide whether this succeeds or fails is whether they get the necessary 2.7 million healthy people to sign up for these plans. Otherwise, there is a much bigger problem.

Our third story, OUTFRONT, is slashing the military. "The Sequester" is about to hit again and it is upping the cuts on the Pentagon, a big lion share is going to fall there. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has said the cuts are going to force the military to slash its ranks, trash plan for new weapons systems. But basically, you know, threaten the security of the entire country. Is this true though or is this crying wolf?

Tonight we have uncovered two things the taxpayers are on the hook for that could save the military billions and add up to, well, the sequester not perhaps being the problem. Barbara Starr has this OUTFRONT investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Navy's aerial demonstration team the Blue Angels are taking off again after being grounded due to budget cuts.

COMMANDER THOMAS FROSCH, BLUE ANGELS COMMANDING OFFICER: We're just very excited that we're going to get that opportunity next year.

STARR: The cost, $37 million, but the Navy says it helps recruiting and is a big crowd pleaser. Just like the Air Force Thunder Birds and the Army Golden Knights, both coming back from budget mothballs. But is it a luxury when the military is cutting tens of thousands of troops, ships, and planes to save money? Defense budget analyst Todd Harrison says the Navy is sending the wrong signal.

TODD HARRISON, CENTER FROM STRATEGIC AND BUDGETARY ASSESSMENTS: Now they're making all of those, you know, drastic predictions to then at the same time, be funding the somewhat discretionary type activities like air shows. I think undercuts their message quite a bit.

STARR: Especially because massive new cuts are coming for the entire military, $527 billion is how much the Pentagon wants to spend next year, $496 billion is the spending level Congress approved when it ended the shutdown, but only $475 billion can actually be spent after mandatory budget cuts. The bottom line, in the next two months, $21 billion in military spending must be slashed. That's $21 billion across the board. No flexibility in where the cuts are made. All the services warn of impending doom.

SEAN STACKLEY, NAVY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT AND ACQUISITION: We need to be mindful. As many as 100,000 professional jobs are at risk.

STARR: The Army chief of staff, General Ray Odierno, said he may not have enough troops to fight in a crisis.

GENERAL RAY ODIERNO, CHIEF OF STAFF, U.S. ARMY: We have two brigades right now that are prepared if we have to do something.

STARR: Odierno said he needs seven brigades about 3,000 troops per unit. Skeptics point out with Afghanistan winding down thousands of troops will be coming back home. But the Pentagon will have to give up some cherished programs. Two potential items, a new replacement for the Humvee with a $31 billion price tag and a $28 billion program to replace the Bradley troop carrier. With all of these cuts to national security, must the show still go on?

HARRISON: You're asking me to explain the explainable.

STARR: For OUTFRONT, Barbara Starr, The Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: We welcome your feedback. OUTFRONT next, the U.S. ambassador summoned in Spain over allegations of spying. Why is America spying on its allies? Then remember the case of the baby called Messiah whose parents were ordered to change the name by a judge because no human could live up to the expectations of that name? Well, today, a big development.

And a programming note, a big response for the CNN film "Blackfish." It is going to air again tonight at 8:30. We have a special report on the orca. We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Our fourth story, OUTFRONT. More allies angered over allegations about American spying. So Germany and France announce today that they are in cahoots and they want the Obama administration to agree by year's end formally to limit eavesdropping. Today Spain also summoned the American ambassador to an official meeting on suspicion of spying. But even Republican Senator Marco Rubio defends the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: These leaders are responding to domestic pressures in their own country. None of them are truly shocked about any of these. Everyone spies on everybody. I mean, that's a fact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Which is true. OUTFRONT, tonight, Bob Baer, he is a CNN national security analyst former CIA operative who has been covering this and scaring us all week. But Bob, you know, with all these meetings and anger in Europe, and obviously this is serious stuff. But will it really make America stop spying on things like Francois Hollande or Angela Merkel's cell phone? If America pulls back, will that hurt American security?

BOB BAER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: You know, here's the problem, Erin, is that can Washington keep a secret? What Snowden is spilling out there, you know, and the public is just outrageous. I mean, whether you support him or not, and can the allies now trust us? And keep in mind that the National Security Agency depends on allies for platforms. They're all over Europe. If the public outrage in Europe gets to the point where he has to close it, you don't know. I think this man Snowden is, could possibly be the death of Americans if we lose this big ear as they call it.

BURNETT: So you're saying if the U.S. is forced to pull back, basically by public opinion in Europe because as you and I have discussed, in Europe they knew it was happening. There could be real implications.

BAER: We just, how can they trust with us secrets? It's just one revelation after another. And this is, this should be to have secret signals intelligence, which is the crown jewels, which should be untouchable and it is all out there. And who knows where it will stop? I don't think the National Security Agency knows. BURNETT: Marco Rubio said what you and I have been talking about all week, which is that everybody spies on everybody. But humor aside, people have been raising real questions about the effectiveness of America spying as in, you know, as if Bob, was the U.S. intelligence really getting anything out of listening to Angela Merkel's cell phone? We're gathering lots of information in this country. Is U.S. intelligence working? Is it smart intelligence or collecting a giant pile stuff that you don't know how to sift through?

BAER: They have no idea how to sift through it and frankly, listening to Merkel's cell phone is not in national interests. This NSA was collecting it because it could. She's a good ally. Germany is a good ally. They're not going on break with us and listening to her phone might be nice, might be interesting. But it is certainly not within the purview of our national security, nothing like terrorism or spying on Iran or al Qaeda, not the same ball game.

BURNETT: All right, Bob Baer, thank you very much, an interesting take. That the U.S. shouldn't have been spying on her cell phone, but that giving up that sort of ability. These revelations could cost American lives.

Up next, the day after grounding several planes over safety concerns, one airline has a major trouble in the air. We have the update on that.

And hours before Teacher Colleen Ritzer was killed, we are learning about exactly what happened in that time frame tonight.

And it sounds bad but was this a prominent doctor's motive for murder?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How often were the two of you having sexual relations?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We would see each other about a couple times a month. There were months when we did not see each other. It was a very casual thing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Welcome back to the second half of OUTFRONT. We are learning today from the Federal Aviation Administration that a Spirit Airlines flight to Dallas was forced to turn back and make an emergency landing. The landing was in New Orleans after the crew reported smoke in the cockpit. Spirit says maintenance was done and the plane continued to Dallas. This come after a separate engine problem led to the airline grounding several flights this week because of engines.

Former Transportation Department Inspector General Mary Schiavo tells us she would not fly Spirit right now. Her top concern is safety and what she calls for that airline a lack of oversight.

Well, the University of Iowa student known as Vodka Samm speaks out. Samantha Goudie is her real name. She was arrested at a football game in August after a breathalyzer test showed a blood alcohol level of 0.341, which is more than four times the legal driving limit.

From jail, Goudie took to Twitter @vodkasamm and tweeted, "I'm going on get 0.341 tattooed on me because it's so epic. According to "The Daily Iowan, she's been inundated with phone calls and actually endorsements. She's apparently, though, even after that tweet, embarrassed the whole thing ever happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMANTHA GOUDIE, "VODKA SAMM": I care about my life. I could have easily just taken this opportunity and run with and it been Vodka Samm my entire life. That's not why I came to college. I didn't come to college to drink and be Vodka Samm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Goudie is also battling an eating disorder and depression. She said she's planning to overcome it all. She is due to graduate in May.

The Tennessee parties who fought to name their baby Messiah and won, vindicated yet again. That is Messiah you see. The judge ordered them to change Messiah's name to Martin because -- then that got overturned -- has now been charged with violating the state's code of judicial conduct. You might recall, the magistrate said at the time, quote, "Messiah is a title that is held only by Jesus Christ. Naming him this places an undue burden on him that as a human being he cannot fulfill."

Now, you know what, whether you think the name Messiah is appropriate or not, you may think it is a lot to live up to but the Social Security Administration baby name ranking says parents have great expectations. This is a shocker. In one year, Messiah moved up 246 spots in popularity. Other egomaniacal names gaining traction, Major, Maverick, and King, which actually happens to be the name of my father.

All right. Our fifth story OUTFRONT: A possible motive for murder.

We have new details tonight in the brutal death of the Massachusetts math teacher Colleen Ritzer. According to investigators, there is no early indication that there was a crush that the 14-year-old student may have had on his high school teacher at Danvers High.

A source close to the investigation says the separation of Phillip Chism's parents may have been a contributing factor in the alleged murder. We're trying to figure out what the motive was here, and Don Lemon is OUTFRONT in Danvers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The students are back at Danvers High School.

COLLIN BUTLER, JUNIOR, DANVERS HIGH SCHOOL: I'm trying to return to some essential of normalcy.

LEMON: The school's flag at half-staff and pink ribbons on the trees -- reminders that thing are still far from normal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why would someone do this to someone so nice?

LEMON: Still, more questions than answers as to what made 14-year-old Phillip Chism allegedly kill his math teacher Colleen Ritzer with a box cutter on Tuesday and then dump her body in the woods behind the school's athletic field. He then went to this theater to see Wood Allen's "Blue Jazzman".

Chism's uncle in Tennessee among those who still can't understand why.

TERRENCE CHISM BLAINE, UNCLE OF PHILLIP CHISM: This is the furthest thing from reality for me to believe that Phillip could, you know, get entangled in something like this.

LEMON (on camera): His uncle told CNN that Chism's parents are separated. Chism's father, a former military man, is now living in Florida. The question is, could trouble at home be one of the reasons behind his alleged attack?

CARRIE KIMBALL-MONAHAN, SPOKESPERSON, ESSEX COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: An investigation is a broad and painstaking effort. So they're all, any and all information that's pertinent and relevant to proving our case is taken into consideration.

LEMON: Would something like that be relevant?

KIMBALL-MONAHAN: It could be.

LEMON (voice-over): The freshman student Cambria Cloutier sat near Chism in Ritzer's math class. She said he was a good student but that something was different about Chism's behavior on Tuesday.

CAMBRIA CLOUTHIER, FRESHMAN, DANVERS HIGH SCHOOL: He was a little more quiet than usual. He had his ear buds on. He was drawing. He was not doing math. He wasn't paying attention.

LEMON: Clouthier says Ritzer teacher asked Chism to stay after class to help him with what he missed, telling CNN's Pam Brown that she walked by the classroom after school and saw the two of them together.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What did you see in the classroom at 3:15?

CLOUTHIER: I saw Ms. Ritizer standing at her desk computer smiling at me. And then I saw Phillip slouching in his chair, staring at me when I walked by.

LEMON: Just 15 minutes later, according to sources close to the investigation, Colleen Ritzer was brutally killed in the school's second floor bathroom.

CLOUTHIER: If I had walked by there 15 minutes later, what could have happened? If I witnessed that, what could I have done?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And sources close to the investigation say there is no indication that there is anything in this young man's path that would lead him to this type of behavior. And they also say that reports of him having a crush on the teacher are unfounded. In the meantime, Erin, 24-year-old Colleen Ritzer will be laid to rest on Monday.

BURNETT: Thank you, Don.

All right. Our sixth story OUTFRONT: The doctor's mistress takes stand. Explosive testimony today in the murder trial of the Utah doctor, Martin MacNeill. We've been covering this.

And today, his former mistress, Gypsy Willis, revealed details of their affair in the year that led up to MacNeill discovering his wife's lifeless body in their bathtub. MacNeill is accused of drugging and drowning his wife. He faces life in prison if convicted.

Jean Casarez has been covering the story. She's OUTFRONT tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The much anticipated arrival of prosecution's star witness, Gypsy Willis, at the murder trial of her lover, Martin MacNeill. He is accused of killing his wife Michele with a toxic dose of drugs after urging her to have a facelift.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Please be seated.

CASAREZ: Gypsy told the jury the two met online in 2005, a year and a half before Martin allegedly kill his wife in the master bathroom so the two could be together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did the relationship become sexual?

GYPSY WILLIS, MARTIN MACNEILL'S MISTRESS: It did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When was that?

WILLIS: I think that was in January of 2006.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And how often were the two of you having sexual relations?

WILLIS: We would see each other a couple times a month. There were months when we did not see each other. It was a very casual thing. Whenever we had time and it could be arranged. And it was --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead.

WILLIS: I think we probably had sex half the time. Sometimes it was just lunch. CASAREZ: Their hidden relationship became more serious with time, she said. Martin arranging an apartment, a debit card, and even helping pay for her nursing school. She told the court just a month before Michele's death, she even turned away a potential suitor because their affair had become so intense. This is what she told him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In that letter, you said a very good and best friend of mine has recently become much more than that.

WILLIS: That's correct.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was the date of this e-mail?

WILLIS: March 6th.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of what year?

WILLIS: I'm sorry, 2007.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. So, on March 6th, 2007, you e-mailed another suitor and said a good and best friend has become much more than that. And because of that, it would be inappropriate for the two of you to meet.

WILLIS: Correct.

CASAREZ: As their texting and phone call increased, the couple did their best to keep their relationship secret, she says.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why would he not call you from his cell phone?

WILLIS: You know, this was a very informal, discreet thing. We were not interested in other people knowing. I think he was trying to keep it quiet.

CASAREZ: Gypsy attended Michele's funeral and days after that, Martin introduced her to the family, bringing her in for an interview to be the nanny. Family members knew immediately, this was more than just a professional relationship.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When did you become aware of that?

RACHEL MACNEILL, DAUGHTER OF MARTIN MACNEILL: It was very apparent just shortly after my mother's death. It was just obvious that she was goo eyes at my dad and wasn't doing anything a nanny would do.

CASAREZ: Gypsy felt otherwise. She thought she was welcomed by the family.

WILLIS: I think Martin was asking me questions and I just kind of introduced myself and told them a little about my life and background.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was there any question you were going to be hired as the nanny?

WILLIS: I don't believe that Martin would have had me come and help if his children objected strongly to me.

(END VIDEOTAP)

BURNETT: Jean, what happens next? Obviously, we also heard, not just from MacNeill's lover there, but we've heard from one of his daughters who very much believe that he did this earlier in the week. Will his youngest daughter testify?

CASAREZ: A big ruling today. Gypsy Willis will retake the stand to testify more of their relationship. But the judge in regard to 6- year-old Ada who was the first one to final her mother and her recounting that is so far different from her father. The judge ruled today that little Ada has been so tainted in the years since her mother's death because of law enforcement having her older sister Alexis ask her questions that she doesn't have a memory, he believes and not having a memory means she can't be cross examined on that.

So here's what's going to happen. She did a videotaped interview with the Children's Justice Center in 2008. The jury will watch that recorded interview. Then, now, 12-year-old Ada will take stand for cross-examination and redirect. Much more limited than what prosecutors wanted.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Jean.

BURNETT: Of course the question when you're 12, so much of what you, quote-unquote, "remember" is what other people put in your mind. It is such a tough question.

Well, we'll keep covering that. Still OUTFRONT, the mystery of a little girl named Maria solved today. We're going to go live to that gypsy camp for the latest.

And what if you paid taxes, big taxes, and your thrash didn't get pick up and then you didn't get mail service. And then what happened if your taxes went up 500 percent? That story is in America and it's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: We're back with tonight's "Outer Circle".

Tonight, we go to Bulgaria. Authorities there found the biological parents of the mysterious young girl known as Maria. You may remember, there was a family in the United States, baby Lisa's parents thought it was programs their child.

But the mystery is solved. And Carl Penhaul has been covering this story from the gypsy camp in Greece. I asked how she ended up there and what's next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Erin, the mystery of little Maria has been solved in part at least. Thanks to DNA match, authorities have confirm that her birth parents come from this impoverished village in central Bulgaria.

Sasha and Atanas Ruseva lived in this mud brick one room home. They have nine other children. The mother says that originally, she named the little girl Stanka.

What is far from clear, though, is why the blue eyed blond baby was abandoned in a village in Greece. The mother said she was working there at the time and gave the baby away to a Greek Roma couple because she was simply too poor to raise her herself. But child protection services and police believe a crime may have been committed. They believe the mother may have sold her own baby for profit -- Erin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Thanks very much to Karl.

And now, let's check in with Anderson. He has to look at what's coming up on "AC360", next.

Hi, Anderson.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Erin.

Yes, tonight on the program, one of the toughest ever to take the field in the history of the NFL legend makes a stunning admission. Brett Favre is losing his memory at age 44. It scares him with good reason. We're going to talk to Dr. Sanjay Gupta about the effects countless concussions could be having in the former quarterback's brain. Rachel Nichols, host of "UNGUARDED" which debuts tonight at 10:30, joins me as well.

That story also, the latest on the alleged math teacher murder outside Boston.

It's all at the top of the hour -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Anderson, we're looking forward to that (INAUDIBLE) Brett Favre.

COOPER: Yes.

BURNETT: Our seventh story OUTFRONT: the tax man threatens an historic communicate. For generations, a group of Americans have called an isolated barrier island off the coast of Georgia home. They're now fighting to keep that land after a sudden and huge spike in taxes, even though they get basically nothing for those taxes. No schools, no police, no services like trash pick up.

David Mattingly has an OUTFRONT investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Slave descendants on Georgia's island have held on to have there ancestral land since the end of the civil war. A visit to the island today reveals a humble lifestyle, under the shade of a sprawling live oaks and curtains of Spanish moss.

But there is also a desperation here.

(on camera): What were the tax before?

REGINALD HALL, SAPELO ISLAND RESIDENT: $2,036 total.

MATTINGLY: What did they go up to?

R. HALL: $10,836.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Reginald Hall saw the taxes on his family's land increase overnight more than 500 percent. And he is not alone. The problem, new county assessments spiked by demand for expensive vacation homes on this undeveloped island.

MATTINGLY (on camera): How basic is life here?

R. HALL: As basic as it gets.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Hall takes me on a tour down bumpy roads through the island's only residential area, a place scenery rich but job poor.

(on camera): What are you getting for your tax money?

R. HALL: Nothing.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): There are no paved roads. No schools. And the only ferry to the island doesn't run at night. But that hasn't stopped outsiders from setting off an upscale building boom with unaffordable taxes as the fallout.

BENJAMIN HALL, SAPELO ISLAND RESIDENT: Once we lose the land through this strategy of increasing taxes, we're gone as a people.

MATTINGLY: These residents are descendants of the hundreds of slaves brought to Sapelo from West Africa in the 1800s. They are living remnants of what's known as Gullah Geechee culture, fewer than 50 still live here.

B. HALL: That's part of what built this country. And Sapelo being the only intact Gullah Geechee community in the country that's left.

MATTINGLY: For most, selling out is not an option. Cornelia Bailey is ninth generation Sapelo.

CORNELIA BAILEY, SAPELO ISLAND RESIDENT: I told one guy, I said it's priceless. He said, everything has a price. I said, no, you don't know me. I said this is priceless. You don't have enough money to buy it. So, forget it.

MATTINGLY: Residents say they get no help from county officials. To find out why, we had to hop the ferry back to the mainland where answers were unusually hard to come by. (on camera): No county official we approach would agree to talk to us on camera or even return our calls. We were able to reach the head of a tax assessor's board who said when it comes to preserving the culture on Sapelo and taxes, they're just following state law.

(voice-over): Tax assessors board chairman James Larkin suggests the Sapelo residents brought this on themselves, saying, if they hadn't started selling their property, there wouldn't be a problem.

(on camera): Do you buy that?

R. HALL: Not at all.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): A group residents plans to sue in state and federal courts. Reginald Hall is fifth generation Sapelo.

(on camera): What do you think about what you come out here?

R. HALL: My grandmother.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): At the islands historic cemetery, Hall can't help but get emotional thinking how the struggles of the past could be forgotten.

R. HALL: They humbled themselves, most of the times in certain disgrace and weren't allowed to live. They were only allowed to survive.

MATTINGLY: And the fight for survival continues with hopes there will be future generations calling the island home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: David, you mentioned the county official suggested the problem with the taxes is just because the residents started selling their land. Obviously, you were talking to the resident there, he said absolutely not. But how did others respond to that question?

MATTINGLY: Well, they feel like they are caught in an economic vice because there are no jobs on the island and there isn't much economic opportunity there. Their job prospects on the mainland are limited when the ferry only runs until 5:30 at night. So, they're saying that they don't really have much more than land and need help from the county to hold on it. Typically, what happens, a long-time resident passes away and wills that property onto the later generation that no longer lives there and has no interest on holding the property.

So, little by little they are losing the community. It's already small, and getting much smaller.

BURNETT: All right. David Mattingly, thank you very much.

Incredible to get that kind of tax increase and no accountability there for county officials.

OUTFRONT up next, the controversy over the "Blackfish." (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Our eighth story OUTFRONT, does captivity amount to torture? The documentary "Blackfish" coming up next on CNN argues that keeping orcas in captivity is wrong because it makes them aggressive and deadly. The film tells the story of Tilikum, an orca that killed a handler in Florida, but that wasn't actually the first incident with this killer whale.

There were more and Martin Savidge is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Colin Baird grew up on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. As a teenager, he started working at a local marine park called Sealand of the Pacific.

COLIN BAIRD, FORMER KILLER WHALE TRAINER: I would go after school and weekends, you know, growing up and just thought that's how everybody grew up.

SAVIDGE (on camera): Sealand of Pacific used to be here, where this marina is. Now, there's nothing left of the old place. It was an oceanarium. That's an aquarium that was actually built in the ocean, and there were nets that separated the animals, the seals, the sea lions -- and the stars, the killer whales.

(voice-over): Baird eventually became a trainer, working with the three killer whales. His favorite a small male named Tilikum.

BAIRD: He was very easy to work. He was very easy going. He learned quickly. He learned well.

SAVIDGE: Among the other trainers, 20-year-old marine biology student Keltie Byrne. In February 20th, 1991, she had just finished a show with the killer whales when she slipped and fell into their enclosure. Baird arrived minutes later.

BAIRD: The three orcas were a little surprised that one of their trainers seemingly jumped into the pool, although fallen, and they were sort of excited about that. It was something completely out of the norm.

SAVIDGE: Witnesses say the whales, including Tilikum, kept Byrne from reaching the sides, repeatedly pulling her under the frigid water.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They couldn't get her. And finally, she -- she didn't come up anymore.

SAVIDGE: Baird, a trained diver, volunteered to go and retrieve Byrne's body.

(on camera): The co-worker just suffered, drowned in someway related to the animals that are now in the tank that you are about to go in with.

BAIRD: Yes. But this wasn't a malicious attack. I mean, it was an accident.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): The coroner's inquest listing Byrne's death as drowning due to or by a consequence of the forced submission by orca, killer whales.

She was the first trainer ever killed.

ANNA HALL, MARINE ZOOLOGIST: Oh my goodness. It was awful. It was awful for everybody. People in general just couldn't believe what had happened right here in our own backyard.

SAVIDGE: Not long after Sealand shut down, Tilikum was sold to SeaWorld in Orlando. But residents would hear about Tilikum again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheriff deputies have identified the 27-year-old man found dead in a killer whale's tank --

SAVIDGE: In 1999, a man's body was found draped naked on Tilikum's back one morning. How the man got there, SeaWorld couldn't say.

Then, in 2010, Tilikum pulled a trainer Dawn Brancheau into the water to her death.

When he first met Tilikum, Colin Baird had no problem with captivity and killer whales. Now, three decades and three deaths later, he definitely does.

(on camera): Do you blame him?

BAIRD: I don't blame him, no. This would never happen if he had been left in the North Atlantic.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Martin Savidge, CNN, Victoria, British Columbia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: The film taking a strong position on orcas in captivity. If you missed "CNN Films: Blackfish" you can catch it tonight 8:30 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

Thanks as always for watching. Hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I'll see you on Monday night.

Let's hand it over now, though, to Anderson.