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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview with Rodriguez-Tassef, Nelda Blair
Aired July 31, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR, CNN SATURDAY MORNING: In the next hour of CNN SATURDAY MORNING, it begins right now.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It is July 31st. Good morning to you. I'm Drew Griffin.
CALLAWAY: Good morning, everyone. I'm Catherine Callaway in for Betty Nguyen. She's off today. Thanks for being with us.
A lot coming up this hour. Prison officials due to release Mary Kay Letourneau within a few days. The school teacher had an affair with a 13-year-old student and later had two children by the boy. He is now 21, and says that he doesn't know what's next.
Peanuts, Cracker Jacks and a season of hope? The nation's capital tries to land Canada's most shunned sports team. Find out why.
And on "House Call," a look a hospital safety and the medical mistakes that have cost nearly 200,000 lives a year.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: "Now in the News": Negotiations under way in Iraq to free seven hostages, three Indians, three Kenyans and an Egyptian that work for a Kuwaiti trucking company. The militants holding these men have threatened to kill at least one of them.
Three international teachers kidnapped in the West Bank are now free. They were abducted by Palestinian gunmen then released unharmed a couple hours later. The three teach English at a Christian institution in Nablus.
A U.N. Security Council resolution threatens sanctions if Sudan does not stop atrocities in the Darfur Region in 30 days. Human rights groups estimate militias have killed up to 30,000 civilians there, in the East African nation, and have left more than a million people homeless. Sudan rejects the U.N. action as misguided.
CALLOWAY: And our top story: President Bush back on the road again. The president continues taking his message to the heartland. Today he's in Canton and Cambridge, Ohio, later on in Pittsburgh.
The vice president's covering the West today with campaign stops in Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico. Senior White House Correspondent John King is on the road with the Bush campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Back on the trail with new urgency and a retooled stump speech that gets right to the point.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're going to raise your taxes. We're not. I have a clear vision on how to win the war on terror and bring peace to the world.
They somehow believe the heart and soul of America can be found in Hollywood.
KING: One urgent goal, disputing Senator Kerry's convention charge Mr. Bush misled the American people and went to war in Iraq because he wanted to, not because of any imminent threat.
BUSH: Members of the United States Congress, from both political parties, including my opponent, looked at the intelligence, and they saw a threat. One of the lessons of September 11th is we must deal with threats before they fully materialize.
KING: Springfield, Missouri was the first stop as Mr. Bush opened the month-long drive to his convention. It is a conservative pocket in a state he carried four years ago. Michigan next, a Gore state last time. Grand Rapids key to Republican chances. Then Cleveland, Ohio was Republican in 2000. A dead heat now. Viewed by both campaigns as potentially decisive.
CROWD: Four more years!
KING: Top Bush advisers believe the election will be settled in the industrial Midwest, that by November, jobs, more than Iraq, will tip the scales. So Mr. Bush credited his tax cuts with helping the economy turn the corner and is adding a few new ideas at families under strain.
BUSH: I believe that Congress must enact comp time and flex time to help American families better juggle the demands of work and home.
KING (on camera): The Bush team called Senator Kerry a walking contradiction, and said he was trying to hide from an ultra-liberal voting record. But Senior Bush advisers and other veteran Republicans also called the Democratic nominee's convention appeal smartly crafted. And said it foreshadows a tough and likely bruising campaign to come -- John King, CNN, Cleveland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLAWAY: Drivers of the campaign buses had better be careful. They might collide today. The Kerry/Edwards campaign also making a stop in Pittsburgh area. Also stops in West Virginia and Ohio, on the agenda.
Kerry is bashing the president's economic policy pointing out that economic growth slowed to 3 percent. That report, just out while oil prices are up and wages have not kept up with inflation.
We want to hear from you. Did the political conventions help you decide how to cast your vote? E-mail at wam@cnn.com.
Members of the 9/11 Commission are also going on the road to build public momentum for intelligence reforms. Their goal is to call attention to the commission's recommendations and press for changes. The 9/11 Commission members will spend about three weeks on the road delivering speeches and conducting local media interviews.
GRIFFIN: Checking stories across America now. High winds are feeding a fast-moving wildfire in Washington State. The blaze in the Eastern Cascade Foothills has burned four homes forcing the evacuation of about 200 people. Officials say they really don't expect to get the upper hand on this anytime soon.
A tornado caught people in Holton, Indiana by surprise. The twister touching down Friday night. Ten homes damaged, a number of trees and power lines brought down. Two people were treated for minor injuries.
CALLAWAY: Mary Kay Letourneau, the Washington State teacher had an affair with her student. She'll be released from prison this week. Will she be allowed to care for her children?
GRIFFIN: Plus, will the Montreal Expos be the team that brings the national pastime back to this nation's capital? Details ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CALLAWAY: Time now to check our top stories this morning. President Bush is in search of votes in the battle ground state of Ohio. The bus tour to Ohio is his second in three months. Later today he will head to Pennsylvania.
Secretary of State Colin Powell visits Kuwait today after a surprise stop in Baghdad yesterday. Powell met with leaders of the Gulf Emirate, a close U.S. ally in the Iraq war.
And NATO countries agreed to send a military team to train Iraqi security forces. The State Department says that the U.S. welcomes that move.
GRIFFIN: Time for our legal briefs. Remember the case that captured headlines a teacher admitting to having sex with a young teenage student, destroying her already troubled marriage and being sent to prison for more than six years.
Mary Kay Letourneau had two children with that teenager. The convicted child rapist expected to get out of prison next Wednesday, August 4th. When asked about her impending release, the father, the 21-year-old father, of the two children, Villi Fualaau told the "The New York Post":
"I've been imagining and thinking about has our life would be like together for a long time. But I can't say what will happen. No one can. I want to know what her true feelings are first. We'll see what happens after that." The Letourneau case on the docket this morning for our legal panel. Also this morning a court reporter's mistake in a Kobe Bryant sexual assault case; and a fatal auto accident may have been caused by a driver watching a DVD on the dashboard.
Joining us from Miami, as usual, defense attorney, Lida Rodriguez-Tassef, and former Houston prosecutor Nelda Blair.
Good morning, counselors.
LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Good morning.
NELDA BLAIR, FMR. CRIMINAL PROSECUTOR: Good Morning.
GRIFFIN: We'll begin with the Letourneau case. Other than being extremely bizarre, are there any legal issues here?
Nelda, she may want to get back with this now-adult who she had two children with, and was convicted of raping.
BLAIR: It's amazing to me. This woman is an admitted, unrepentant sexual predator. That is all she is. And if it were anyone else besides this Mary Kay Letourneau we might be thinking differently about it.
Let me say, she not only had sex with a 12-year-old boy, she continued to have sex with him through two children, through a court order that ordered her not to see him any more. She got out of prison after six months. She continued not only to see him but continued to have sex with him when he was 13.
Put back in jail for seven years. I think this is awful that she would even be allowed to be close to him. And the judge, by the way, prohibited her from seeing him.
GRIFFIN: Lida, can the judge do that? This kid's now 21 years old, and maybe loves her?
RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: You know, the judge can't prevent her from seeing him. And Nelda you know very well that our Constitution protects our right to deal with and assemble and be with and associate with whomever we darn well please.
You may not like it, and I may not like it, but he's 21, she's an adult. They can get together if they want, and there's nothing we can do about it. So the court order was entered when he was a minor. He's no longer a minor. The court order will likely be lifted quickly, if he asks for it to be lifted. There's not much we can do here, Nelda. And you know it.
BLAIR: But you know what? If this were anyone else, if this were a man who molested 12-year-old girl, or let's say it is Michael Jackson, who has been accused of molesting a 12-year-old boy, we wouldn't even let them out of prison, much have the opportunity for them to molest another child. Because this woman doesn't think she did anything wrong. I think that's awful. GRIFFIN: Nelda, she has to register as a sexual offender. Would that keep her from her own children?
BLAIR: Yes. That won't necessarily directly keep her from her own children.
What will keep her from her own children is a judge that decides that it's in those children's best interests not to be with that woman.
Let me say this, any woman that's going to teach her children it is OK for an adult to have sex with a child, I wouldn't put them with her either.
GRIFFIN: Hmm. Lida, let's move on. We want to go to this Kobe case, which gets more bizarre as we go on. Another mistake and now the supposed victim's name is leaked again in the press. If they lose this victim, if she bows to the pressure, is this case over with?
RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: Not necessarily over with. As you know, the judge permitted the statement that Kobe Bryant made, that was secretly recorded by detectives, to be admitted in this case. That can be used to try him. And in addition, the victim can still be asked to testify and previous statements used. So this case isn't going away, even if the victim decides that she's had enough.
GRIFFIN: Nelda?
BLAIR: I tell you what, this poor victim. She's certainly been put through the ringer on this. Not only has there been leaks from both sides but now mistakes by the court itself? It has put our name out into the public. Has put evidence that's supposed to be sealed out in the public? It is a shame, a tragedy the way this case has been handled. If she hasn't gone away by now, she's not going away.
RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: You know, Nelda is kind of chatty today about this, but the reality is, this is an alleged victim. We treat sexual victims, alleged victims of sexual assault differently. Maybe we shouldn't.
The fact that her name is out, until she is proven to be an actual victim, and until he's convicted, we really need to be very open about understanding that this is a case where a man is being accused and a man might go to prison and we need to protect his rights. His rights to not be in prison unless there's actual proof that he didn't something wrong.
GRIFFIN: All right. The judge apologized Friday for that release.
Let's move onto the next case. A guy driving in Alaska, he has a DVD on the dashboard, crosses the centerline, smashes into a Jeep, two people die. Now he's being charged with second-degree murder. Is that the right charge, Lida?
RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: Absolutely not! This is -- this, you know -- this is wild. Is he driving while watching his DVD? Yeah, but, you know, in Alaska, it's not a crime for the driver to be able to view a DVD, even while the car is in motion. You need to change the law here. Technology has not caught up here. The law has not caught up.
And I know Nelda's going say, look, this is just like, if he were driving under the influence, and the reality is, it is not.
(CROSS TALK)
GRIFFIN: Nelda, you're the prosecutor. There's no law on the books specifically. Does he get away with it and we change the law?
BLAIR: No. Lida, get real! The law does not completely keep up with modern technology. I absolutely applaud these prosecutors for trying to apply this conventional law to modern development. You know, the word "wi-fi" is not in the law either, Lida. That doesn't mean that stealing it is not illegal.
Just because this man is watching a DVD, and that's not specifically against the law in Alaska, neither is laying down in the front seat. Neither is wearing a blindfold while driving, but I'll tell you what, what is illegal and what is murder in Alaska is an extreme indifference to human life.
And when you're conduct shows that, like this man's did, he installed a DVD that comes on when he turn on the ignition. He has a Playstation in his car. He did not care about the safety of others, and I think the murder charge is going to stick.
GRIFFIN: That's where we'll have to leave it, ladies. Thank you very much. Nelda Blair and Lida Rodriguez-Tassef.
Lida, nice flower, by the way.
(LAUGHTER)
Have a good morning, guys.
BLAIR: Thanks.
CALLAWAY: He's noticing fashion accessories now!
So could baseball be coming back to our national capital? Let's go to Sean Callebs and find out.
Good morning, Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Catherine.
On the subject of fashion accessories, how about this -- a lot of people in the D.C. area would love to see another Washington Senators baseball team. Could it be happening here? We'll have the story coming up live in a few minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CALLAWAY: Baseball's long been the national pastime, but the Mighty Casey and all his baseball brethren have been absent from the nation's capitol for more than three decades. That could change's in a couple of weeks when executives decide where to relocate the sad sack Montreal Expos. Let's go to CNN's Sean Callebs, he's at Washington's Smithsonian Institution and its Baseball Bash Exhibit.
I just saw that exhibit. It's really good.
CALLEBS: It really is. It is amazing. It is very elaborate. It is stretched out over a large area here at the Natural History Museum. Opens in a few hours. We have basically run of the mill here.
Let me show you what we have here, this is, remember "A League of Their Own" starring Geena Davis? These are actual uniforms from the -- I have to get this right -- All-America Professional Girls Baseball League, the AAGPBL.
It is interesting, when they won a championship they actually got a little bracelet. So amazing how things work out.
Over here, Hammering Hank, number 44, the famous jersey he was wearing when he hit 715, to set a new all-time home run record. Down behind me you see jersey number 42. Anybody who follows baseball knows, of course, that, the great Jackie Robinson, the individual who broke the color barrier.
A lot of people in Washington coming do this exhibit and, really, it is whetting their appetite for Major League Baseball again. Of course, Washington had the Senators, up until 1971, with one year of a break there, but because of lack of fan support, they simply lost baseball. Moved on to greener pastures in Texas.
Now, there's a big effort to get major league baseball back here again. No secret, the Montreal Expos are not going to be in Canada next year. A handful of cities are really fighting for that area right now. D.C., Northern Virginia appear to be the big front-runners in that, but not everyone is supporting this move.
The outspoken owner of the Baltimore Orioles, a city just 40 miles to the north of D.C., says if there was a franchise here in D.C., it would cost his franchise about $40 million a year.
He says baseball simply wouldn't fly here in D.C. The fans are too fickle. However, those leading the push say this area could easily support two teams.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL COLLINS, VIRGINIA BASEBALL CLUB: The idea to stay that it's "this area" doesn't create baseball fans. That is a total falsehood. These are great baseball fans. They show that they would come to many, many games during the season. This will prove to be one of the great markets for Major League Baseball.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CALLEBS: And wouldn't it be nice to open up another box of Cracker jacks in the D.C. area? It would be nice to see Major League Baseball back here, talking to so many people. A great deal has been made, of course, over what kind of economic benefit it could bring to the area, but a lot of people say simply having another pro franchise here would mean a great deal to this area.
And, Catherine, back when the Senators were here, Washington was known as first in peace, first in war, and last in the American League, but that wouldn't be the case.
Do you know why?
CALLAWAY: Why?
CALLEBS: Come on, guess.
CALLAWAY: I -- I ...
CALLEBS: Because I think they'd be a National League team. So they could be last in the National League.
CALLAWAY: Ha-ha. Of course, baseball belongs in Washington, D.C., of course, but my kids asked me this. I'll ask you. Why is there a baseball exhibit in the Natural History Museum between the dinosaurs and the mammals? I couldn't come up with a good answer for that, except everybody loves baseball.
CALLEBS: Boy, if we're playing stump the reporter this morning I think you did a pretty good job! Just because -- ah, bats are wood? I'll find out and we'll have the answer to that. Because in the next hour we're also going to have something interesting for both you, and Drew. There's going to be a little quiz. So -- pay attention.
CALLAWAY: Oh, no. All right.
GRIFFIN: Uh-oh.
CALLAWAY: Now he's going to stump us.
GRIFFIN: We're going to win Crackerjacks, I bet!
CALLAWAY: Sorry, Sean.
CALLEBS: A little prize inside, every time.
(NEWS BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CALLAWAY: We've been asking you all morning, do the political conventions help you decide how to cast your vote? Boy, have you been responding. Here's one from Ruben:
"Conventions help me decide who I'll vote for, just as infomercials help me decide which set of "wonder" knives I buy -- nonsense. It's such a highly scripted process that no wonder TV networks decided to run their version of reality. They're irrelevant and sham (for both parties).
GRIFFIN: Trey is watching in Maryland, he says: "This past convention has not affected whom I am to vote for in November, but rather has inspired me to bring others to the polls."
Keep writing. We'll read your e-mails as the morning progresses. Do the political conventions help you decide who to vote for? Wam@cnn.com. >
Avoiding medical errors from badly written prescriptions to having the wrong surgery. "House Call" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta covers those topics at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.
At 9 a.m. Eastern, pushing for change. When might any of the reforms recommended by the 9/11 Commission go into action, or are they? We will get the thoughts of a 9/11 widow.
And what is one man's political convention junk is the Smithsonian's treasure. We'll go back at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. And Robert Novak asks the curators from the museum what's they scavenged from Boston this week. That is all ahead when we return.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Attracting visitors from across the globe for more than a century. Ohio's Serpent Mound is the country's largest-known animal earthwork of its kind.
The enormous effigy twists and turns for nearly a quarter mile, with the head of the serpent facing the summer solstice sunset. The exact reason the mound was built remains a mystery, but experts believe it served as a ceremonial or religious purpose. Recent carbon dating of the mound revealed the effigy dates back to 1,000 A.D. during the Forte (ph) Ancient culture.
For a bird's eye view, visitors can climb the overlook tower, the same tower used by onlookers in the 1900s. The winding footpath offers visitors a closer look at the mound. And the park's museum houses exhibits about the effigy and its surrounding areas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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Aired July 31, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR, CNN SATURDAY MORNING: In the next hour of CNN SATURDAY MORNING, it begins right now.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It is July 31st. Good morning to you. I'm Drew Griffin.
CALLAWAY: Good morning, everyone. I'm Catherine Callaway in for Betty Nguyen. She's off today. Thanks for being with us.
A lot coming up this hour. Prison officials due to release Mary Kay Letourneau within a few days. The school teacher had an affair with a 13-year-old student and later had two children by the boy. He is now 21, and says that he doesn't know what's next.
Peanuts, Cracker Jacks and a season of hope? The nation's capital tries to land Canada's most shunned sports team. Find out why.
And on "House Call," a look a hospital safety and the medical mistakes that have cost nearly 200,000 lives a year.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: "Now in the News": Negotiations under way in Iraq to free seven hostages, three Indians, three Kenyans and an Egyptian that work for a Kuwaiti trucking company. The militants holding these men have threatened to kill at least one of them.
Three international teachers kidnapped in the West Bank are now free. They were abducted by Palestinian gunmen then released unharmed a couple hours later. The three teach English at a Christian institution in Nablus.
A U.N. Security Council resolution threatens sanctions if Sudan does not stop atrocities in the Darfur Region in 30 days. Human rights groups estimate militias have killed up to 30,000 civilians there, in the East African nation, and have left more than a million people homeless. Sudan rejects the U.N. action as misguided.
CALLOWAY: And our top story: President Bush back on the road again. The president continues taking his message to the heartland. Today he's in Canton and Cambridge, Ohio, later on in Pittsburgh.
The vice president's covering the West today with campaign stops in Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico. Senior White House Correspondent John King is on the road with the Bush campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Back on the trail with new urgency and a retooled stump speech that gets right to the point.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're going to raise your taxes. We're not. I have a clear vision on how to win the war on terror and bring peace to the world.
They somehow believe the heart and soul of America can be found in Hollywood.
KING: One urgent goal, disputing Senator Kerry's convention charge Mr. Bush misled the American people and went to war in Iraq because he wanted to, not because of any imminent threat.
BUSH: Members of the United States Congress, from both political parties, including my opponent, looked at the intelligence, and they saw a threat. One of the lessons of September 11th is we must deal with threats before they fully materialize.
KING: Springfield, Missouri was the first stop as Mr. Bush opened the month-long drive to his convention. It is a conservative pocket in a state he carried four years ago. Michigan next, a Gore state last time. Grand Rapids key to Republican chances. Then Cleveland, Ohio was Republican in 2000. A dead heat now. Viewed by both campaigns as potentially decisive.
CROWD: Four more years!
KING: Top Bush advisers believe the election will be settled in the industrial Midwest, that by November, jobs, more than Iraq, will tip the scales. So Mr. Bush credited his tax cuts with helping the economy turn the corner and is adding a few new ideas at families under strain.
BUSH: I believe that Congress must enact comp time and flex time to help American families better juggle the demands of work and home.
KING (on camera): The Bush team called Senator Kerry a walking contradiction, and said he was trying to hide from an ultra-liberal voting record. But Senior Bush advisers and other veteran Republicans also called the Democratic nominee's convention appeal smartly crafted. And said it foreshadows a tough and likely bruising campaign to come -- John King, CNN, Cleveland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLAWAY: Drivers of the campaign buses had better be careful. They might collide today. The Kerry/Edwards campaign also making a stop in Pittsburgh area. Also stops in West Virginia and Ohio, on the agenda.
Kerry is bashing the president's economic policy pointing out that economic growth slowed to 3 percent. That report, just out while oil prices are up and wages have not kept up with inflation.
We want to hear from you. Did the political conventions help you decide how to cast your vote? E-mail at wam@cnn.com.
Members of the 9/11 Commission are also going on the road to build public momentum for intelligence reforms. Their goal is to call attention to the commission's recommendations and press for changes. The 9/11 Commission members will spend about three weeks on the road delivering speeches and conducting local media interviews.
GRIFFIN: Checking stories across America now. High winds are feeding a fast-moving wildfire in Washington State. The blaze in the Eastern Cascade Foothills has burned four homes forcing the evacuation of about 200 people. Officials say they really don't expect to get the upper hand on this anytime soon.
A tornado caught people in Holton, Indiana by surprise. The twister touching down Friday night. Ten homes damaged, a number of trees and power lines brought down. Two people were treated for minor injuries.
CALLAWAY: Mary Kay Letourneau, the Washington State teacher had an affair with her student. She'll be released from prison this week. Will she be allowed to care for her children?
GRIFFIN: Plus, will the Montreal Expos be the team that brings the national pastime back to this nation's capital? Details ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CALLAWAY: Time now to check our top stories this morning. President Bush is in search of votes in the battle ground state of Ohio. The bus tour to Ohio is his second in three months. Later today he will head to Pennsylvania.
Secretary of State Colin Powell visits Kuwait today after a surprise stop in Baghdad yesterday. Powell met with leaders of the Gulf Emirate, a close U.S. ally in the Iraq war.
And NATO countries agreed to send a military team to train Iraqi security forces. The State Department says that the U.S. welcomes that move.
GRIFFIN: Time for our legal briefs. Remember the case that captured headlines a teacher admitting to having sex with a young teenage student, destroying her already troubled marriage and being sent to prison for more than six years.
Mary Kay Letourneau had two children with that teenager. The convicted child rapist expected to get out of prison next Wednesday, August 4th. When asked about her impending release, the father, the 21-year-old father, of the two children, Villi Fualaau told the "The New York Post":
"I've been imagining and thinking about has our life would be like together for a long time. But I can't say what will happen. No one can. I want to know what her true feelings are first. We'll see what happens after that." The Letourneau case on the docket this morning for our legal panel. Also this morning a court reporter's mistake in a Kobe Bryant sexual assault case; and a fatal auto accident may have been caused by a driver watching a DVD on the dashboard.
Joining us from Miami, as usual, defense attorney, Lida Rodriguez-Tassef, and former Houston prosecutor Nelda Blair.
Good morning, counselors.
LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Good morning.
NELDA BLAIR, FMR. CRIMINAL PROSECUTOR: Good Morning.
GRIFFIN: We'll begin with the Letourneau case. Other than being extremely bizarre, are there any legal issues here?
Nelda, she may want to get back with this now-adult who she had two children with, and was convicted of raping.
BLAIR: It's amazing to me. This woman is an admitted, unrepentant sexual predator. That is all she is. And if it were anyone else besides this Mary Kay Letourneau we might be thinking differently about it.
Let me say, she not only had sex with a 12-year-old boy, she continued to have sex with him through two children, through a court order that ordered her not to see him any more. She got out of prison after six months. She continued not only to see him but continued to have sex with him when he was 13.
Put back in jail for seven years. I think this is awful that she would even be allowed to be close to him. And the judge, by the way, prohibited her from seeing him.
GRIFFIN: Lida, can the judge do that? This kid's now 21 years old, and maybe loves her?
RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: You know, the judge can't prevent her from seeing him. And Nelda you know very well that our Constitution protects our right to deal with and assemble and be with and associate with whomever we darn well please.
You may not like it, and I may not like it, but he's 21, she's an adult. They can get together if they want, and there's nothing we can do about it. So the court order was entered when he was a minor. He's no longer a minor. The court order will likely be lifted quickly, if he asks for it to be lifted. There's not much we can do here, Nelda. And you know it.
BLAIR: But you know what? If this were anyone else, if this were a man who molested 12-year-old girl, or let's say it is Michael Jackson, who has been accused of molesting a 12-year-old boy, we wouldn't even let them out of prison, much have the opportunity for them to molest another child. Because this woman doesn't think she did anything wrong. I think that's awful. GRIFFIN: Nelda, she has to register as a sexual offender. Would that keep her from her own children?
BLAIR: Yes. That won't necessarily directly keep her from her own children.
What will keep her from her own children is a judge that decides that it's in those children's best interests not to be with that woman.
Let me say this, any woman that's going to teach her children it is OK for an adult to have sex with a child, I wouldn't put them with her either.
GRIFFIN: Hmm. Lida, let's move on. We want to go to this Kobe case, which gets more bizarre as we go on. Another mistake and now the supposed victim's name is leaked again in the press. If they lose this victim, if she bows to the pressure, is this case over with?
RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: Not necessarily over with. As you know, the judge permitted the statement that Kobe Bryant made, that was secretly recorded by detectives, to be admitted in this case. That can be used to try him. And in addition, the victim can still be asked to testify and previous statements used. So this case isn't going away, even if the victim decides that she's had enough.
GRIFFIN: Nelda?
BLAIR: I tell you what, this poor victim. She's certainly been put through the ringer on this. Not only has there been leaks from both sides but now mistakes by the court itself? It has put our name out into the public. Has put evidence that's supposed to be sealed out in the public? It is a shame, a tragedy the way this case has been handled. If she hasn't gone away by now, she's not going away.
RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: You know, Nelda is kind of chatty today about this, but the reality is, this is an alleged victim. We treat sexual victims, alleged victims of sexual assault differently. Maybe we shouldn't.
The fact that her name is out, until she is proven to be an actual victim, and until he's convicted, we really need to be very open about understanding that this is a case where a man is being accused and a man might go to prison and we need to protect his rights. His rights to not be in prison unless there's actual proof that he didn't something wrong.
GRIFFIN: All right. The judge apologized Friday for that release.
Let's move onto the next case. A guy driving in Alaska, he has a DVD on the dashboard, crosses the centerline, smashes into a Jeep, two people die. Now he's being charged with second-degree murder. Is that the right charge, Lida?
RODRIGUEZ-TASSEF: Absolutely not! This is -- this, you know -- this is wild. Is he driving while watching his DVD? Yeah, but, you know, in Alaska, it's not a crime for the driver to be able to view a DVD, even while the car is in motion. You need to change the law here. Technology has not caught up here. The law has not caught up.
And I know Nelda's going say, look, this is just like, if he were driving under the influence, and the reality is, it is not.
(CROSS TALK)
GRIFFIN: Nelda, you're the prosecutor. There's no law on the books specifically. Does he get away with it and we change the law?
BLAIR: No. Lida, get real! The law does not completely keep up with modern technology. I absolutely applaud these prosecutors for trying to apply this conventional law to modern development. You know, the word "wi-fi" is not in the law either, Lida. That doesn't mean that stealing it is not illegal.
Just because this man is watching a DVD, and that's not specifically against the law in Alaska, neither is laying down in the front seat. Neither is wearing a blindfold while driving, but I'll tell you what, what is illegal and what is murder in Alaska is an extreme indifference to human life.
And when you're conduct shows that, like this man's did, he installed a DVD that comes on when he turn on the ignition. He has a Playstation in his car. He did not care about the safety of others, and I think the murder charge is going to stick.
GRIFFIN: That's where we'll have to leave it, ladies. Thank you very much. Nelda Blair and Lida Rodriguez-Tassef.
Lida, nice flower, by the way.
(LAUGHTER)
Have a good morning, guys.
BLAIR: Thanks.
CALLAWAY: He's noticing fashion accessories now!
So could baseball be coming back to our national capital? Let's go to Sean Callebs and find out.
Good morning, Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Catherine.
On the subject of fashion accessories, how about this -- a lot of people in the D.C. area would love to see another Washington Senators baseball team. Could it be happening here? We'll have the story coming up live in a few minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CALLAWAY: Baseball's long been the national pastime, but the Mighty Casey and all his baseball brethren have been absent from the nation's capitol for more than three decades. That could change's in a couple of weeks when executives decide where to relocate the sad sack Montreal Expos. Let's go to CNN's Sean Callebs, he's at Washington's Smithsonian Institution and its Baseball Bash Exhibit.
I just saw that exhibit. It's really good.
CALLEBS: It really is. It is amazing. It is very elaborate. It is stretched out over a large area here at the Natural History Museum. Opens in a few hours. We have basically run of the mill here.
Let me show you what we have here, this is, remember "A League of Their Own" starring Geena Davis? These are actual uniforms from the -- I have to get this right -- All-America Professional Girls Baseball League, the AAGPBL.
It is interesting, when they won a championship they actually got a little bracelet. So amazing how things work out.
Over here, Hammering Hank, number 44, the famous jersey he was wearing when he hit 715, to set a new all-time home run record. Down behind me you see jersey number 42. Anybody who follows baseball knows, of course, that, the great Jackie Robinson, the individual who broke the color barrier.
A lot of people in Washington coming do this exhibit and, really, it is whetting their appetite for Major League Baseball again. Of course, Washington had the Senators, up until 1971, with one year of a break there, but because of lack of fan support, they simply lost baseball. Moved on to greener pastures in Texas.
Now, there's a big effort to get major league baseball back here again. No secret, the Montreal Expos are not going to be in Canada next year. A handful of cities are really fighting for that area right now. D.C., Northern Virginia appear to be the big front-runners in that, but not everyone is supporting this move.
The outspoken owner of the Baltimore Orioles, a city just 40 miles to the north of D.C., says if there was a franchise here in D.C., it would cost his franchise about $40 million a year.
He says baseball simply wouldn't fly here in D.C. The fans are too fickle. However, those leading the push say this area could easily support two teams.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL COLLINS, VIRGINIA BASEBALL CLUB: The idea to stay that it's "this area" doesn't create baseball fans. That is a total falsehood. These are great baseball fans. They show that they would come to many, many games during the season. This will prove to be one of the great markets for Major League Baseball.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CALLEBS: And wouldn't it be nice to open up another box of Cracker jacks in the D.C. area? It would be nice to see Major League Baseball back here, talking to so many people. A great deal has been made, of course, over what kind of economic benefit it could bring to the area, but a lot of people say simply having another pro franchise here would mean a great deal to this area.
And, Catherine, back when the Senators were here, Washington was known as first in peace, first in war, and last in the American League, but that wouldn't be the case.
Do you know why?
CALLAWAY: Why?
CALLEBS: Come on, guess.
CALLAWAY: I -- I ...
CALLEBS: Because I think they'd be a National League team. So they could be last in the National League.
CALLAWAY: Ha-ha. Of course, baseball belongs in Washington, D.C., of course, but my kids asked me this. I'll ask you. Why is there a baseball exhibit in the Natural History Museum between the dinosaurs and the mammals? I couldn't come up with a good answer for that, except everybody loves baseball.
CALLEBS: Boy, if we're playing stump the reporter this morning I think you did a pretty good job! Just because -- ah, bats are wood? I'll find out and we'll have the answer to that. Because in the next hour we're also going to have something interesting for both you, and Drew. There's going to be a little quiz. So -- pay attention.
CALLAWAY: Oh, no. All right.
GRIFFIN: Uh-oh.
CALLAWAY: Now he's going to stump us.
GRIFFIN: We're going to win Crackerjacks, I bet!
CALLAWAY: Sorry, Sean.
CALLEBS: A little prize inside, every time.
(NEWS BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CALLAWAY: We've been asking you all morning, do the political conventions help you decide how to cast your vote? Boy, have you been responding. Here's one from Ruben:
"Conventions help me decide who I'll vote for, just as infomercials help me decide which set of "wonder" knives I buy -- nonsense. It's such a highly scripted process that no wonder TV networks decided to run their version of reality. They're irrelevant and sham (for both parties).
GRIFFIN: Trey is watching in Maryland, he says: "This past convention has not affected whom I am to vote for in November, but rather has inspired me to bring others to the polls."
Keep writing. We'll read your e-mails as the morning progresses. Do the political conventions help you decide who to vote for? Wam@cnn.com. >
Avoiding medical errors from badly written prescriptions to having the wrong surgery. "House Call" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta covers those topics at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.
At 9 a.m. Eastern, pushing for change. When might any of the reforms recommended by the 9/11 Commission go into action, or are they? We will get the thoughts of a 9/11 widow.
And what is one man's political convention junk is the Smithsonian's treasure. We'll go back at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. And Robert Novak asks the curators from the museum what's they scavenged from Boston this week. That is all ahead when we return.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Attracting visitors from across the globe for more than a century. Ohio's Serpent Mound is the country's largest-known animal earthwork of its kind.
The enormous effigy twists and turns for nearly a quarter mile, with the head of the serpent facing the summer solstice sunset. The exact reason the mound was built remains a mystery, but experts believe it served as a ceremonial or religious purpose. Recent carbon dating of the mound revealed the effigy dates back to 1,000 A.D. during the Forte (ph) Ancient culture.
For a bird's eye view, visitors can climb the overlook tower, the same tower used by onlookers in the 1900s. The winding footpath offers visitors a closer look at the mound. And the park's museum houses exhibits about the effigy and its surrounding areas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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