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Another Patient Diagnosed With MERS Virus; Firefighters Starting To Gain Upper Hand Against Wildfires In San Diego; Ship Of Christopher Columbus' May Have Finally Been Found; Columbia University Accused of Failing to Protect Sex Assault Victims; Girl Begs to be With Adoptive Family

Aired May 17, 2014 - 18:00   ET

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

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN ANCHOR: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins right now.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Miguel Marquez, in for Don Lemon.

We've just learned, for the first time, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, also known as MERS, has been passed between two people within the U.S. border.

Senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, joins me from Atlanta.

Elizabeth, what do we know about this case?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We know that this third case in the United States is quite different for the reasons that you said, Miguel. The first two cases of MERS, those were two men who contracted MERS in Saudi Arabia and traveled to the United States. This third case, he caught it here on U.S. soil. He caught it from two MERS patient during a business meeting.

So this newly infected man, he was having a meeting with the MERS patient who was feeling ill but didn't know he had MERS. They met for 40 minutes. They were sitting within six feet of one another. They shook hands. The next day they had another meeting and this one shorter. And when they did testing on this new patient, they found that he had been infected with MERS.

Now, it's important to say that he hadn't been very sick or perhaps not even sick at all. So it seems that MERS affects people in different ways. But what is interesting here is that we have been talking about MERS as something you get from family members or a doctor and a patient gives to a doctor. This was two business meetings, the longest of which was 40 minutes.

MARQUEZ: Yes. That is obviously, concerning. The CDC earlier today saying it was close contact between these two individuals but this does not sound very close at all. This must be worrying.

COHEN: Yes. I mean, close appears to be in the eyes of the beholder. For the CDC, a handshake and 40-minute meeting is close. I think people think close as longer than that and a hug perhaps, or sharing food or something like that. I think this will have people concerned. And so, I do want to say, Miguel, this is not a terribly easy virus to get. It is not like a cold. It is not like the flu or like measles. This requires some contact. So you're not getting this by passing someone in the hallway. It seems to be harder than that. But, still, it's maybe little easier than some people might have thought.

MARQUEZ: But contracting this clearly if you get it is not good. And what happens now? Do they go to the families of these individuals, their friends? It takes some days before the symptoms come on so you could be talking about a large number of people.

COHEN: Right. The incubation period could be as long as 14 days. So, you know, this does take a long time. This is a lot of footwork for these epidemiologists to do for these disease detectives to undertake.

You can imagine sort of the concentric circles in a way. I mean, now they need to go to this third man and ask him, you know, tell us about your family. We need to test them. Who did you see during such and such a day and such and such a day? They have already asked him, by the way, to remain isolated and not to, you know, go out there among, in the community.

So each time this happens, you know, they have a new set of people to contact and a new set of people to interview how they are feeling, a new set of blood work to do. It's, you know, it is definitely a task. But it is something that they are really diligent about doing because this is a new virus and we just don't know that much about it.

MARQUEZ: Yes, that is the fear.

Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very for staying on top of this.

COHEN: Thanks.

MARQUEZ: Some very welcome news today from the west coast where, at one point, nine separate wildfires ate up thousands of acres of dry brush, trees and several homes. Firefighters in northern San Diego county say they are finally winning against the fires. They say half the fires are now fully contained and the others are burning themselves out.

Our Paul Vercammen is in San Marcos right now.

Paul, that part of town looks very different now than it did just a couple of days ago.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, it does, Miguel. Because right now, we have the lower humidity, the lower temperatures and lighter wind. But it was the other day in this canyon with the temperatures were so extreme that we saw the fires NATO.

It begin burning back through here. You can see down on that area and this house here was lost. Fire NATO that just came up through this way and it burned all the way across. Again, it's a fire whirl if you will or a fire funnel, came over through here, jumped this street, the street is called Phoenix street, ironically, and burned down into here and took another house out.

And just through the nature of this fire, you have the firefighters making this heroic tremendous stand on this ridge and losing some homes, obviously, letting the acres burn. And then you look right over here to our left and this house was saved.

So it was quite a stark contrast. What causes these fire whirlwind? Well, by all accounts, it's extreme shift in temperature just like a tornado in a sense. You've got fires creating their own climate and in this particular instance, it was hot, hot in one area and then a dramatic drop or dip in temperature in another. They came together and that formed the fire whirl.

I have to tell you, Miguel, I just -- I believe I've lost -- I'm not sure I'm able to hear you if you ask a question. But it was something dramatic and it's good news to see right now that the winds are lighter.

MARQUEZ: All right, Paul, can you hear me there? I think --

VERCAMMEN: I do hear you now. I've got you back.

MARQUEZ: OK. Well, you're standing on top of a hill. It's amazing that the house next to you survived because the fire as it runs up the hill, everything burns the hottest up top. It must have been very well protected there, yes?

VERCAMMEN: Extremely well protected. And not only well protected by firefighters who go into that mode of structure protection, but if you look at this house, it has everything they say that you need. A composite roof. It is stucco. It also has in this area we have seen a lot of the drought resistant plants. As you well know, ice plant doesn't burn easily and all of those little things and active brush clearance can play a big part in this because the fire just generates its own weather. It starts kicking up embers and the last thing you want is embers to land on, let's say, your redwood deck. I mean, that sort of wood burns up in a hurry.

So, it was not only the firefighting that went on at the moment, but some good preparation long before this fire season, this early fire season started.

MARQUEZ: Southern California living. Are all of the communities now safe?

VERCAMMEN: From what we can tell, yes. Because we have this vast vista up here. And at a point, you could see not just one or two fires burning here but several of them. And looking off into the distance, we don't see any smoke. We don't see any active flanks of flame. We talked about those containment numbers earlier. They are all going up slowly. We know they are going to go up again in about three hours. They promise that they will. So they have got it under control. But they still, cross their fingers and keep their hoses in the ready and pick up those shovels because the last thing they want is to have a return of those devil winds and whip up some of this ash somewhere and drop it in a spot and have it flare up again. That is their prime concern right now and why so many firefighters on the line.

MARQUEZ: Mop-up, mop-up, mop-up.

Thank you very much, Paul Vercammen.

Now, take a look at this.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

MARQUEZ: This is Istanbul where riot police used shields, teargas and water cannons to disbursed hundreds of demonstrators today angry with the government over this week's deadly mining disaster and asking the prime minister to step down. The final victims were recovered from below ground today. In all, 301 people died after a fire robbed in the solo (ph) mine four days ago. Turkey's energy minister has promised a thorough investigation.

African and western ministers met today in Paris today declaring war on Nigeria's Boko Haram, Islamic militants. The summit leaders pledged to share intelligence and coordinate action against the group but the French president says France will not intervene militarily because Nigerian quote "has military forces available and efficient."

This comes a month after nearly 300 girls were taken from a boarding school in Chibok, Nigeria. International outrage has sparked a campaign to find the girls although, so far, few have escaped and none have been rescued.

Up next, a huge outcry erupts over data that the entire foundation of the search for Malaysia flight 370 just what data did Malaysia get from Inmarsat?

And a close call for two U.S. passenger planes. Just how close do they come to colliding over the Pacific Ocean?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARQUEZ: Now to the hunt for Malaysia airlines flight 370. A war of words is erupting over what may be the most valuable clue to the plane's disappearance. Malaysia says it does not have the raw data that Inmarsat satellite used to create every single search area off the west coast of Australia.

For weeks, heart broken families have begged Malaysia to release that data. Days ago, Malaysia's top transport official made his position very clear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HISHAMMUDDIN HUSSEIN, MALAYSIAN ACTING TRANSPORT MINISTER: The raw data is with Inmarsat, not with Malaysian, not with Australian, not with U.S. (ph). So if there is any request for this raw data to be made available to the public, it must be made to Inmarsat. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: But Inmarsat, the British satellite company says only Malaysia can decide to release any data.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS MCLAUGHLIN, INMARSAT SERVICE VICE PRESIDENT: The truth is it's not our data. The data belongs to the Malaysian authorities and it belongs to them for the accident investigation work going on at the moment. It's a matter for the authorities to decide what they are going to do with their data. It's not something Inmarsat can release.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: Now, right now, the hunt for Malaysia flight 370 is on hold while leaders determine to focus on the next search phase. The missing plane disappeared 72 days ago.

Now two airplanes nearly collided over the pacific ocean this week. Investigators say an air traffic control error it so blame for the incident.

Correspondent Rene Marsh talked to a passenger about the it terrifying scare.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Terrifying moment, thousands of feet above the pacific.

KEVIN TOWNSEND, PASSENGER: And I thought like God, this is it.

MARSH: United airlines flight 1205 from Hawaii to California cruising at 33,000 feet on April 25th. The 757's collision alert system goes off. Flight 1205 in danger of colliding with a US airways jet. Flight tracking sites show the plane plunged 600 feet in 60 seconds without warning for passengers like Kevin Townsend.

TOWNSEND: I'm looking down the aisle and there is, you know, hundreds of people in front of me. People start screaming. There's noises of things that weren't secured falling around.

MARSH: Close calls usually come down to pilot or controller error. But disasters almost always averted, thanks to collision avoidance technology and controllers.

LES ABEND, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: You're going to run into the situation. Unfortunately, nothing is perfect. I know that's not a comforting answer but, indeed, the system worked.

MARSH: Last year, three planes were on a collision course at Reagan national near Washington, D.C.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were cleared to the river back there. What happened? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stand by. We are investigating it. Stand by.

MARSH: And in 2012, a radar tape shows that Japan airlines plane nearly slammed into a cargo jet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Japan Air 72 heavy traffic 12 o'clock, half a mile.

MARSH: A new controller blamed for the mistake was sent for retraining.

Townsend wants to make sure near collisions are thoroughly investigated.

TOWNSEND: I don't think there's some epidemic of near accidents occurring, but it was a jarring experience dodging another plane.

MARSH: United says it's working with NTSB, which is reviewing this most recent incident.

Well, these planes were eight miles apart but at speeds of about 500 miles per hour. They could have been on top of each other within seconds. We now know, both the NTSB and the FAA sent investigation teams to Honolulu air traffic control facility which had jurisdiction over two these planes.

Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Utterly frightening. Thanks to Rene Marsh.

To the casual observer, the ocean floor pretty much looks the same. But to an archeologist, what looks like a pile of rocks could be an amazing piece of history. We will tell you why after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARQUEZ: You want to look at the first settlers here in America? Researchers are diving into underwater caves and say they have discovered the remains of a teenager girl who died nearly 13,000 year ago. Amazing it's made it this long.

The discovery described in this journal of science was in the Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and it may help determine the originals of the earliest Americans. The genetic testing suggests the girl is related to modern native Americans. And that native Americans (INAUDIBLE) shared a whole land instead of coming over in separate migrations from Europe and Asia.

You can call this newly discovered dinosaur, the littlest of the giants. Argentineans intelligence say they have found the fossilize remains of a soropad (ph). It is a unique long necked four-legged kind munchies dinosaur that is nearly giant. One of the largest land creatures in earth's history. It lived in north America about 140 million years ago, but is the first of its kind found in South America.

Making their mark this week, an ocean archeologist. Why? Because he may have just discovered one of the history's most famous vessels.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ (voice-over): It may not look like much, a pile of rocks. But this could be the historical find of a lifetime, several lifetimes.

How sure are you that this is the Santa Maria?

BARRY CLIFFORD, EXPLORER: I'm extremely confident that we've -- that we've discovered the wreck site.

MARQUEZ: Shipwreck explorer Barry Clifford believes this is the wrecked ship, the Santa Maria of that other explorer Christopher Columbus. The size and shape of those rocks called a ballast pile fit the size and weight of the Santa Maria. But there was one piece of evidence that led him to his eureka moment.

CLIFFORD: It was a smoking gun as well. This -- Columbus described in his diary over and over Lombards. And Lombard is a 15th century weapon, a Cannon that Columbus used on board the Santa Maria.

MARQUEZ: So literally a smoking gun?

CLIFFORD: Literally a smoking gun.

MARQUEZ: The Lombard he believes is that long tube-like thing there marking the spot where Christopher Columbus woke up on Christmas day 1492 and realized his flagship was sinking. Clifford relied heavily on this, Columbus' diary now marked up and poured over to also help lead him to the wreck.

Is this the page that led you to the discovery or to believe that this is the discovery?

CLIFFORD: It's one of the pages. About a league and a half from said shoal when he learned of it.

MARQUEZ: A league and a half? About 4.7 miles offshore of cap- Haitian in only about 10 feet of water.

Why do I feel like I'm talking to Indiana Jones?

CLIFFORD: I don't know. But I love that movie.

I think there is a great lesson here for kids. Not just about the discovery of the ship, but how you can take history and use clues to go back and solve riddles.

MARQUEZ: If this nautical Indiana Jones has found the Santa Maria, Barry Clifford's name will also go into the history books.

How big would this be for you personally? CLIFFORD: This is hitting it over the fence at Yankee stadium with the bases loaded.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: And he lives in Massachusetts, I want you to know, but he's a Yankees Fan. Strange things.

Clifford is worried, though, that the Santa Maria has been looted, he says, that the Lombard that the gun thing has already been taken. He is worried it will happen again. He wants the Haitian government help do an emergency excavation and to preserve what is left.

Next, those waging wildfires in California have brought incredible images. What it takes to fight the flames from the air when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARQUEZ: Tow things residents and firefighters in California have been waiting to hear, dying winds and cooler temperatures. That is what has help exhausted fire crews get a upper happened on a wave of wildfires that scorched more than 30 square miles, including several residential communities.

Paul Vercammen is in San Marcos, north of San Diego.

Paul, the fire is on all out but emergency officials say it's just a matter of time now. What makes them so confident?

VERCAMMEN: Well, if you look right over here, you can see just a faint wrestling of these leaves. Yes, it is daunting to look at this burned out canyon. But it is certainly a huge improvement from what we saw earlier when these fires were wind-whipped and being driven all around.

And so now, the focus is make sure is that none of the hot spots flare up. And I was talking to one fire public information officer. He said the key is to try to spot these places by getting up above in the air. Let's hear what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. CARLOS GURRERO, GLENDALE CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT: We have crews still in all areas of this fire that are cleaning up areas where there is still some hot spots. We had infrared flyovers that we are happening out as far as the areas of greatest concern. Obviously, the winds can pick up at any moment and we want to try to get it while the winds are calming down today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: And those calm winds, a good sign. But certainly devastating sight here. A house lost here. It will give you perspective, here Miguel. I mean, these are $2 million homes with grand business. And as you come back here, you can see the entire canyon scorched below me and many canyons throughout San Diego county. Twenty houses lost in all. We say about 125,000 people evacuated at the peak but as you look today, the fact that we can see across the ridges and this is not filled with smoke any more certainly a good sign and yet another indication of what they wanted which was dropping temperatures, rising humidity, and a calming down of these winds, Miguel.

MARQUEZ: And I take it those weather trends are going to stay on that track?

VERCAMMEN: Yes, they are confident the weather trends, for now, are going to stay on this track. Of course, unusually hot for may and because of the drought-like conditions, it sort like it sped everything up and fire season here started three or four months earlier. Many firefighters telling us these are conditions they saw or would see more normally in, let's say, August or September.

MARQUEZ: Yes. Well, we will pray for a very, very foggy June gloom as they typically have in southern California.

Thanks very much, Paul.

Firefighters are working from every possible angle to extinguish these fast-moving flames from the ground, from trucks and even from the air. So, what's involve in putting it out from above?

Our Ted Rowlands took a ride and find out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Inside the cockpit of the VAE146 airtanker, firefighter pilots Ryan Hales (ph) and Peter Bell prepare for takeoff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Clear left. Clear right.

ROWLANDS: During a fire, this plane is capable of dropping up to 3,000 gallons of retardant from as low as 150 feet above the flames.

What are you actually aim at?

PETER BELL, PILOT: When there is a fire you know where to aim, yes, because you're talking to the guy on the ground.

ROWLANDS: I'm only allowed to ride along because this is a training flight, a water drop for Ryan's annual certification.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that is the suburban.

ROWLANDS: The target is to the right of our camera crew on the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nice job.

ROWLANDS: Neptune aviation based in Missoula, Montana is one of a handful of U.S. air tanker companies and planes and crews are staged at airport throughout the western United States and could be in the air minutes after getting a call.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's critical to get there before it gets big.

ROWLANDS: Once they get there, the adrenaline kicks in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't know you're breathing because you're just so hyper-focused on what you're doing. It's very coordinated chaos when you are over fire.

ROWLANDS: The largest air tanker in the world is this converted TC10 which can drop an incredible 12,000 gallons.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, the fire that could call us is in west Texas.

ROWLANDS: We caught up with the plane in Rick Haton (ph), the man who helped designed it at the inter agency fire center in Phoenix.

(on camera): Isn't this too big to really get close to the fire?

RICK HATTON, 10 TANKER: That's an excellent question and it's a common misperception.

ROWLANDS (voice-over): Hatton says the DC-10 is the ultimate firefighting aircraft because it carries four times more retardant than any other plane. The tank is mounted to the bottom of the plane. The white you see are two doors controlled from the cockpit.

Meanwhile the area where up to 380 passengers used to sit has been completely gutted, giving the pilots greater maneuver ability.

DAVE GABEL, PILOT: A little bit of adrenaline going but fear? No, there is no room for fear.

ROWLANDS: But there is danger. Over the years, there have been several accidents including this 2002 C130 crash in California that claimed three lives. And then, two years ago, pilots Todd Thompson and Ron Chambliss tied with P2 tanker they were flying crashed along the Utah/Nevada border.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we lose people, it's very, very difficult.

ROWLANDS: While there are some critics who believe tankers are not only too dangerous but too expensive, the men and women flying, maintaining and risking their lives on these planes believe their role is critical.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like artillery or air in a war. It isn't the only thing you need, but it's a vital part of a coordinated effort.

GABEL: Our ultimate goal is put out the fire. Our little piece of that pie is what I enjoy is knowing that, you know, we helped.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speed checks. You're clear to land.

ROWLANDS: Ted Rowlands, CNN, Missoula, Montana. (END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Amazing.

Flyers on one college campus creating a buss across the entire country. We'll take a look at the title, sexual assault violators on campus. Who's on the list? Who's behind it? And what is the school saying about it? That's next.

And a legal battle putting a man and woman whose adoptive daughter was taken away from them and return to her biological father who just happened to be a convicted felon. This is one story you're going to want to hear.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARQUEZ: Some call it a witch hunt. Others say it's a way for women not -- to not fall prey to a rapist. But flyers and graffiti listed the names of four men at Columbia University are no doubt focusing attention on what many say is a crisis on college campuses, the sexual assault by students by students.

The flyers say three of the names listed are men who were found, quote, responsible for sexual assaults by the university. CNN has obscured their names. The flyer identifies the fourth name who is, quote, "a serial rapist." New York police say none of the men listed are in their database.

But Columbia is facing a federal complaint saying the school is failing to protect sex assault victims whose attackers are allowed back on campus.

CNN's Bill Weir spoke to three women who say they have been victimized.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL WEIR, CNN ANCHOR: But I found one woman, Heather McDonald, who recently wrote, quote, "The reality on campus is not a rape epidemic, but a culture of drunken hookups with zero checks and promiscuous behavior.

You're all shaking your heads. How about that?

ZOE RIDOLFI-STARR, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY STUDENT: I don't understand how you could hear people talking about the worst night of their entire life and trying to fight through that pain and talk about it and then tell them that was you being promiscuous. You know, I think that's a level of cruelty and ignorance that I don't appreciate and I don't agree with.

And it doesn't reflect what so many people are experiencing. You're never done healing from an assault.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MARQUEZ: Very brave of those women to come out. Joining me, clinical and forensic psychologist Jeff Gardere, and criminal defense attorney Holly Hughes.

Holly, why aren't these attackers who are being disciplined by the university not getting criminally prosecuted?

HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Because they are being reported to the police. These young ladies have gone to the campus police and let the university conduct an internal study. But the reason you heard a spokesman from the New York City Police Department say their names don't appear in our database, which means their remains haven't been reported to appear on a police report as a suspect or an accused.

And a lot of times, it's because of the university discourages these young women. Let's face it. What is Columbia? Columbia is a money- making institution, Miguel. They don't want the bad press. So, they say we hold them responsible here which means we will suspend them for a semester but you have to see them in class after that, you have to run into them into the cafeteria and study hall and the library. But they convince these young women, don't go forward and report to the police because you'll ruin this man's life forever. This will be a felony record and forever follow him.

MARQUEZ: Jeff, what do you make of these young women coming out with these stores and telling about them being so public about it and really pressing it?

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL AND FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, full disclosure. I am a graduate of Columbia University. That being said, I think it's very powerful what these women are doing because they feel that they're not getting justice and it's important they tell their story.

I guess what we need to figure out is what really happened with these individuals, how these women were attacked, why it wasn't prosecuted. But there's no reason not to believe these young women. Certainly, they don't want to put themselves in the limelight in this particular way as victims of rape if they don't have to.

MARQUEZ: Right. And I'm sure it's not limited to Columbia and clearly there needs to be much, much more investigation on this.

Holly, Columbia University has declined to comment about the allegations of the alleged rapist list. But to counter the lawsuit, the officials say the school has, quote, "taken a measure of new measures dedicated to preventing such sexual misconduct.

Is that enough?

HUGHES: No, it isn't enough. It's what we call in the law, subsequent remedial measures, which means you're acknowledging that there is a problem if you are suddenly changing your policies and trying to add on additional steps. But what needs to happen, Miguel, is these men need to be prosecuted. It needs to be reported to the police. These young women need to be taken seriously.

I used to prosecute these type of crimes and let me tell you something. These young women are not going to come forward and make themselves have their face put on national TV, go through a rape exam which is one of the most invasive horrific experiences after you've just been violated! Then have to go in open court or in a tribunal at the college.

This isn't the kind of thing you make up for attention, OK? This is a horrifying, horrifying experience.

So, you know, right now, too little, too late. Now, Columbia, their hands are tied. There is a pending suit. They can't say a whole lot.

You know, full disclosure, as Dr. Jeff says, you know, they can't come out and say, with this or with that, because of the pending suit. But the very fact that they are taking additional steps tells you they understand there's a problem, but until we hold these men criminally responsible. And they get their day in court. It's only an accusation at this point, just like Dr. Jeff said.

But they deserve to be brought in front after jury of their peers and judged by that standard beyond a reasonable doubt. If they are guilty, they need to go to prison.

MARQUEZ: And, Jeff, very quickly, is it your sense that this is the tip of the iceberg?

GARDERE: This is the tip of the iceberg. We see this happening in colleges around the nation, that the colleges, I'm not talking about Columbia, but the colleges are trying to protect the students. This is something who knows may have happened here, but women need to be aware the rapist is still out there and we still have a double standard where we're just not believing these women when, in fact, they wouldn't put themselves out there if something significant hadn't happened.

So, we need to support our women in this cause.

MARQUEZ: OK. Thank you very much, Holly and Jeff. Stay right with us. I want to get your thoughts on this adoption case -- a little girl pleading to be returned to her adoptive parents. Her father now has custody of her and he wants -- just happens to be a convicted felon.

The story and that discussion, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARQUEZ: This just in to CNN.

We are two-thirds of the way to a horse racing Triple Crown. Just minutes ago, California Chrome added it to his dominant victory in the Kentucky Derby with the win of the Preakness Stakes. California Chrome becomes the 13th horse, the lucky 13th horse, to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown since the last Triple Crown winner in 1978.

All that is standing between the horse and history is a victory in the Belmont Stakes and that is on June 7th.

Now, the last time Sonya's adoptive parents heard her voice, the girl was begging to return to the only home she ever known. But because of a judge's ruling, she's been returned her biological father, a convicted criminal who lives a thousand miles away.

CNN's Randi Kaye has more on the law that allowed this to happen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the sound of a nine-year-old girl begging to return to the only home she'd ever known.

KIM HODGIN, SONYA'S ADOPTIVE MOTHER: What did you say, baby doll?

SONYA HODGIN: I want you to come and get me.

DAVID HODGIN, SONYA'S ADOPTIVE FATHER: You just stay strong and everything's going to be OK, OK?

KAYE: That was the last time Sonya's adoptive parents heard her voice, January 30th.

Sonya had been removed from their home, her home, in Tennessee the day before. But why? Sonya had been in the care of Dave and Kim Hodgin since before she was two and adopted by the Hodgins back in 2008.

KAYE (on camera): When the adoption became final, how thrilled were the two of you?

K. HODGIN: Oh, we was ecstatic. We was just so happy.

KAYE (voice-over): But that joy was short-lived. And here's why. Sonya's birth father, John McCaul, is a convicted criminal. He pled guilty to transporting firearms, a felony, and was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

Under Tennessee law, his rights were automatically terminated because state law doesn't allow anyone incarcerated for more than 10 years to have rights to a child under eight years old. But before his daughter's adoption was finalized, he cut a deal and got his sentence reduced to seven and a half years. That deal and lesser sentence allowed him to assert his parental rights and fight to reverse the adoption that was later finalized.

K. HODGIN: She's never laid eyes on this man. He's a total stranger.

KAYE: That total stranger managed to convince the court to reconsider. In November, 2009, one year and 12 days after she'd been legally adopted, Sonya's adoption was reversed. But she continued to live with the Hodgins while both sides fought for custody.

Nearly five years later, a juvenile court judge ruled Sonya should be returned to her biological father.

D. HODGIN: And Sonya's crying her eyes out, just screaming bloody murder, please don't let them do this, daddy. Please, mama, don't let them take me.

K. HODGIN: He took her bags and that's the last that I've seen her.

KAYE: Just three hours after the judge's ruling, Sonya was gone. Dave Hodgin asked John McCaul to reconsider.

HODGIN: I asked him to look into her eyes right now, because obviously he's standing right there, and she's begging and pleading and crying and it -- it didn't matter.

KAYE: McCaul's lawyer in Tennessee told us, "Despite repeated efforts by the foster family to terminate this child's father's rights, his parental rights have never been successfully terminated and his daughter has now been returned to his care."

This is Sonya's home now.

(on camera): We came here to Omaha, Nebraska, hoping to get John McCaul to answer some of our questions about his daughter Sonya and his past. He had told me earlier by phone he'd be open to that and to check with his lawyer.

But when I got a hold of his attorney, she told me that, at least for now, Mr. McCaul is forbidden by the Tennessee Department of Children's Services to speak publicly about the case and Sonya.

(voice-over): Back to that heart-wrenching phone call the Hodgins recorded in January during their last conversation with Sonya, this is how she described her new life.

K. HODGIN: Tell me how bad is that house?

S. HODGIN: Dirt everywhere. I think there's even mold.

K. HODGIN: There's even mold.

S. HODGIN: He doesn't have no clean water.

K. HODGIN: No clean water. No drinking water.

S. HODGIN: And it's just it's so dirty. There's dirt all over it. And inside it's so nasty. There's cigarettes everywhere.

K. HODGIN: Is he being nice to you?

S. HODGIN: Yes.

KAYE: It's a recording Dave and Kim Hodgin can't even bring themselves to listen to. D. HODGIN: Anybody with -- in their right mind would be worried. And, yes, we're terribly worried.

KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, Dixon, Tennessee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: It seems impossible that this could actually happen.

Let's talk about this case.

Clinical and forensic psychologist Jeff Gardere is back along with criminal defense attorney Holly Hughes.

Jeff, we can't forget this is a 9-year little girl, 9 years old, the center of this adoption fight. How is this probably affecting her?

GARDERE: Well, I'm -- as we can tell, she is devastated by it. She is with her father who is a complete stranger to her. So, it doesn't matter they are the biological bonds, which are very important, by the way. There are no winners here.

I'm sure her father loves her very much, but she also has an adoptive family who has shown her a life that sounds like absolutely fabulous.

What I'm concerned about is if there is so much dirt, cigarettes and so on, is child welfare investigating and seeing what is going on in this home? But I know I may upset some people here, but I really do believe that the father still has the right to have his child back because this is someone who has served his time.

MARQUEZ: It is a terribly difficult call to make. Holly, our CNN affiliate WATE reports that during a court hearing yesterday, a judge ruled that the 9-year-old Sonya Hodgin will remain for now with her biological father in Nebraska. What do you make of this decision?

HUGHES: Well, the judge's hands are tied by the law, Miguel. And sometimes, being legally right isn't the same as morally right. And what we need to see here is see this father who does have the biological right because his rights weren't terminated.

As we heard Randi Kaye discussing a little earlier, his sentence was reduced to under 10. It went to 7 1/2. The judge has to follow the law as it is written.

However, this father needs to do what is in the best interest of his daughter. He needs to move close to the adoptive parents, do some visitation first, work out a schedule, get to know this little girl because, right now, she doesn't know him.

She is living states away in what sounds like a very physically and emotionally unhealthy situation. But the judge did what the law requires because we do, biological parenthood trumps. Even though that is legally the correct decision, I don't think it's morally the right decision. I think the father needs to be a little less selfish and think about what is best for his daughter here, slowly reestablish that relationship and go into visitation, so that she is not traumatized by his wants, his needs, his desires.

Let's talk about what's best for Sonya.

GARDERE: Let me play devil's advocate here. I do believe that the foster parents are probably the best parents for her.

But, again, you have to talk about a father -- the love of a father for his daughter. She said, yeah, the place is filthy but he is treating her well. He loves her. This is his daughter. He has the right to have her.

I wish that it could have happened much slowly -- much more slowly but the experts will tell you that sometimes you have to cut off the adoptive parents or the child will never make the transition back to the biological parents. Either way, this is a tragic, tragic case for the adoptive parents and for this little girl. Maybe even for the biological father.

MARQUEZ: And we don't know if there are terms or probation that would keep him from going closer.

Holly, there's another court hearing June 18th and the judge could decide at that time to make the girl's placement permanent.

Do her adoptive parents have any legal recourse here?

HUGHES: You know, there is always a fight and always an appeal. The only thing I can see really helping them -- Dr. Jeff had mentioned it earlier, Miguel -- is if that home is so unfit that child services steps in and there are some reports done saying either he needs to get his act together and provide a clean stable healthy environment or he is not a fit parent and if, in fact, they go down that road legally, then the adoptive parents do stand a chance of having her returned.

And I got to disagree with Dr. Jeff, I love him. But you know what? Being nice to her is not the same as doing what's best for her. Of course, he's going to be nice to her. He wants her to say, yes, he is being nice to her, but loving somebody -- loving a child means they don't live in moldy, filthy, cigarette infested houses.

So, I just got to say, nice holds a whole lot of water with me here.

GARDERE: Well, I'm sure he loves his daughter, Holly, but I do agree with you. It doesn't sound like it's a fit place for her to be right now. Let's hope he gets some services so she can be in a healthy place. If not she should be with her adoptive parents.

MARQUEZ: This is just heart wrenching!

GARDERE: I know, I know.

MARQUEZ: Jeff, Holly, thank you both very, very much.

HUGHES: Thanks, Miguel. Now, Donald Sterling recorded by friends. Jay-Z and his sister-in-law recorded having a fight. Your credit card data stolen. Those are the most recent examples of privacy taken away. Coming up, a CNN hour of CNN special, "The End of Privacy."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARQUEZ: Anthony Bourdain visits that cultural mecca of the South, Oxford, Mississippi, on this week's parts unknown. He sits down with some local riders and learns why the city got the nickname the Velvet Ditch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, PARTS UNKNOWN: If Mississippi were a country, there were a national hero, dead or live, by consensus statewide, who would the statue be of?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Elvis.

BOURDAIN: Really? Wouldn't it be B.B. King?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It should be B.B. King.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it would be Elvis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mississippi is, you know, the joke is that it's not a state, it's a club. That it's so small that everybody knows everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Middle of Mississippi, Oxford is an oasis, thoughts and art, and literature and feeling and sentiment and everything. They call this place the Velvet Ditch.

BOURDAIN: Why the Velvet Dish?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess you just roll in and it's pretty comfortable and you don't care much about getting out, right? Right? Am I right?

BOURDAIN: No one here seems too bitter about that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Get a taste of Mississippi with Anthony Bourdain, tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time.