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ISSUES WITH JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL

Casey Anthony`s Parents Can Remain in Courtroom; New Details in Amanda Knox Murder Case

Aired May 6, 2011 - 19:00:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, CNN HOST: Tonight, bombshell decisions in the Casey Anthony hearings. The judge wants to keep jury selection under lock and key. The media fighting now to make it public. Plus will Casey`s parents be banned from the courtroom during the grueling trial of their daughter? I`ll have all the fast breaking news.

And junk justice. A cheerleader kicked off the squad after refusing to cheer for the student she says sexually assaulted her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It felt wrong to cheer for him because he had done wrong to me.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: She sued. So why does she now owe the school $45,000? I`ll talk to her furious dad about this outrageous failure of the justice system.

Also, from kiss to tell. Nothing says royalty like a fresh new scandal. Only a week after the royal wedding, racy photos of newly minted Princess Kate`s sister and maid of honor Pippa Middleton hit the web. You won`t believe your eyes.

And shocking new details in the Foxy Knoxy murder case in Italy. You`re going to hear from the prosecutor. It`s a shocker. "Issues" starts now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is your feeling on some level that some responsibility is going to be leveled at your client?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can only assume with the actions in the last two weeks that would probably be the course.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, breaking news in the Casey Anthony murder trial. Is the defense planning to pin the murder of precious 2-year-old Caylee on her own grandfather George? The defense has vigorously denied that speculation. But the theory just keeps rearing it`s ugly head. One reason? Casey wanted to ban her parents from the courtroom during portions of the trial? Why?

Just hours ago, the judge said sorry guys, George and Cindy Anthony get to stay and listen to the whole thing and watch too. So if blaming George is indeed part of the defense strategy, it just got a whole lot more complicated. Talk about awkward. Imagine being pitted against your own child or parent in such a high stakes life or death scenario.

Mean time, at this point, the jury selection expected to start bright and early Monday morning. The 12 jurors and eight alternates will sit in judgment of Casey and they better be prepared to sentence her to death if it comes to that. They also better get ready for something like 2.5 months of sequestration with no conjugal visits.

There`s some breaking news hot off the presses, a ruling just in. Straight out to Jean Casarez, correspondent for "In Session" on TruTV. Jean, head splitting developments. What is the very latest?

JEAN CASAREZ, IN SESSION CORRESPONDENT: Well, the fifth district court of appeals, they have just ruled on this issue and what they are saying is the confidentiality agreement, the fact that we don`t know where jury selection is going to take place on Monday, that it cannot stand.

Judge Belvin Perry`s confidentiality agreement so that some media, if you sign a form, will be told where jury selection is so you can get there Monday morning at 9:00. But if you don`t sign the form, you`re not going to know until it starts -- that cannot stand. In essence, they`re saying it is unconstitutional. But they also are saying they are not going to force Judge Belvin Perry to disclose where it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wait a second. If it`s unconstitutional, then doesn`t that mean we have the constitutional right as the media to know where it is and broadcast that wherever we find out and that we should find out right away? I don`t get it.

CASAREZ: I`ll tell you exactly what I think it is. The form this petition took, it was a petition for review, merely to ask the court to review the whole issue. If they had filed it in another form, Jane, like a writ of mandamus, mandamus forcing the appellate court to do something, then I think they could have forced Judge Belvin Perry to announce where the jury selection will be.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m still trying to figure this out. Stacey Honowitz, Florida prosecutor, we want to know, is the trial going to start on Monday with jury selection bright and early Monday morning? I`m hearing from Jean Casarez that, yes, despite an appeals court said hey the way the judge in this case is handling revealing where the jury will be selected is unconstitutional. So if it`s unconstitutional, how can they continue with jury selection?

STACEY HONOWITZ, PROSECUTOR: Well, I think what Jean said is 100 percent right. It`s the way that they asked the appellate court to review it, meaning it`s just a review. They didn`t ask for a writ. They didn`t ask them to stop jury selection. Basically, what this ruling says is, if you find out where it is, great you`re entitled to come. If you don`t find out, sorry you won`t be there. But you know, Jane, once one media outlet finds out where jury selection is, it will spread like wildfire and everybody will have access. The way in which they filed this is the reason why it came down the way it did. And I think jury selection is going start.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The 12 jurors and eight alternate jurors will not be from Orange County where Casey`s trial will actually take place. This is presumably to give her at better shot at a fair trial with unbiased jurors. So where will they come from? Where is all this going to happen on Monday morning?

"The Orlando Sentinel" interviewed experts about several regions of Florida and which side the jurors would favor. Tampa, Saint Pete, the prosecution, Tallahassee, the prosecution, Miami, Fort Lauderdale. The defense, Jacksonville could go either way. They took into account demographics, education, politics. But bottom line first of all is what difference does it make? Everybody in the country has been obsessed with this trial. We all are up to date on the very latest. It doesn`t really matter whether you cross a county line from Orange County to a neighboring county or go down to Miami. I think everybody has heard about this case. Jean Casarez, any idea where this jury selection that the court seems to be so concerned with keeping secret for a while is actually going happen on Monday?

CASAREZ: Do you know that Judge Belvin Perry has made some hints in court on the record? He has said that it`s about an hour and a half away. He has said that hotels are $50 and less. And he said there`s not much media presence in the area. But nobody knows whether to believe him or if he`s just going on a tangent to try to divert what the reality is.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Vinnie, what do you think? I think this is a major, major decision, but it doesn`t seem to have much practical impact because it`s going to happen Monday.

VINNIE POLITAN, HOST, HLN`S SPECIAL REPORT: Oh, it`s going to happen. The impact of the media appealing this whole thing is that now no one in the media is going to know where jury selection until it starts to happen. That`s the result of it. That`s why this whole thing was really kind of silly when you think about it. So now people are going to be staking out Jose Baez`s house. They`ll stake out Judge Perry`s house and someone is going to follow them wherever they are going this weekend. I`ll tell you where I`m going this weekend. I`m going to West Palm Beach. I`m going down there for Mother`s Day to be with my mom but you know what? I might do some snooping around down there, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me tell you, I once chased around trying to find a grand jury, it was actually the Michael Jackson case and I thought another camera crew knew about it and I chased them, and it was one of those crazy days. We did find the grand jury, but it was something out of a high-speed action film before we found it. Let`s listen to George and Cindy`s attorney again. This is crucial. Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is your feeling on some level that some responsibility is going to be leveled at your clients?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can only assume with the actions of the last two weeks that would probably be the course and as I explained before, it was the state that did not want my clients in the courtroom previously and then shifted to the defense not wanting my client in the courtroom and that`s a tell tale sign of which way they may be going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So, it sounds like the attorney for George and Cindy seems to indicate that he feels the defense is going try to point the finger at George, the defendant`s father because why else would they try to keep George and Cindy out of the courtroom? HLN legal analyst, law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks, I don`t know. To me it`s always a shocker every time I hear this idea.

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, you know, I thought maybe they would keep them out because, you know, early on, Jane, I thought that they were going to be witnesses for the prosecution early on and then they would be allowed to sit in the courtroom.

But, you know, her defense team says no we don`t want them there at all. But now Mark Lippman argued they should be in and now they are going to be in for every facet. In fact, when they find out where the jury selection is going to be, you`re probably going to see them there also. So they are going to be allowed to sit in there the whole time.

But, you know, have they made conflicting statements in the past? Some people say they have about the odor in the trunk. First saying it smelled like a dead body, then it was a pizza box. Look, they can be cross- examined on any prior statements they made and the testimony that they may give in the guilt phase.

So should they stay in? Well, they are in now. So it`s going to be interesting to see what kind of reaction, also that Casey Anthony has to them because we`ve seen George and Cindy, Jane, get very emotional during some of these hearings. Is this going to happen in open court?

Well, the judge says he doesn`t want any gesturing, no facial expressions, no buttons, no T-shirts, no ribbons, nothing from the public and they are considered, George and Cindy Anthony are considered the public while they are in that courtroom.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Stacey Honowitz, what other reason aside from we`re going to maybe blame George because the Zanny the nanny story has just totally fallen apart, what other reason might there be for the defendant not wanting their mother and father to be in the courtroom when these people have gone through hell and they`ve been so supportive of their daughter even though she`s sort of done horrible things to George too?

HONOWITZ: Well, if you find that you have a defendant who hasn`t lied in the past and kind of had a nice upbringing and got themselves in trouble, you might think that that person had some compassion for her family and wouldn`t want them to hear all the facts, the nitty gritty details of a homicide case.

We`re not dealing with that here. We`re dealing with someone who has lied about everything, has lied in the past, has lied to her parents and stole from her parents. The only reason I can think of is they are going to try to pin it. And I have to tell you, desperate means call for desperate measures because certainly if they try to pin it on George Anthony, it`s down the hall in two seconds. That`s the worst kind of defense they can probably play.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s a Shakespearian tragedy. It really never ceases to shock me. All right, more on these Casey Anthony bombshells coming in one after another, in a moment.

Plus later, a royal photo scandal. You will not believe what the maid of honor, that`s right, Kate`s sister has been up to. It`s a shocker.

But first drama in the courtroom. Will Casey Anthony`s trial really start on Monday? It looks like that. Looks that way now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DETECTIVE: Did you cause any injury to your child, Caylee?

CASEY ANTHONY: No, sir.

DECTIVE: Did you hurt Caylee or leave her somewhere and you`re worried that if we find that out, then people are going to look at you the wrong way?

CASEY ANTHONY: No, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY ANTHONY: I found by daughter`s car today and it smells like there`s been a dead body in the damn car.

GEORGE ANTHONY: I got within three feet of my daughter`s car and the worst odor you could possibly smell in this entire world. And I`ve smelled that odor before. It smelled like a decomposed body.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Major drama and developments in the Casey Anthony case. Looks like they are going to jury selection Monday and another drama, Cindy and George want to see Casey. They haven`t met up with her since August of 2008 except seeing her from afar in courtroom because many of their jailhouse videos like this one were broadcast throughout the media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASEY ANTHONY: Can someone let me, come on.

CINDY ANTHONY: Casey, hold on, sweetheart. Settle down.

CASEY ANTHONY: Nobody is letting me speak. You want me to talk then --

CINDY ANTHONY: All right. I`ll listen.

CASEY ANTHONY: Give me three seconds to say something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: George and Cindy Anthony`s attorney said he asked Jose Baez`s, Casey`s attorney about arranging a visit with Casey. So Vinnie Politan, this is what actually blows my mind. These parents have been so supportive of Casey. They are still trying to meet her and keep it private even though their own lawyer is saying to the media, hey, we think their daughter Casey is going to try to pin this on George, pin the murder on George. They are still trying to get in to see her so they can support her.

POLITAN: Well, I don`t know what the dynamics are going on here and I know the concerns about these visits because they get recorded and can be potentially released. The other concern is you got your client on the eve of trial making more statements that are being recorded. It`s the last thing an attorney wants.

The other thing when I spoke with Lippman today, he wasn`t sure what was coming from Casey`s mouth and what`s coming from Jose Baez`s and Cheney Mason`s mouth. So it`s hard to gauge exactly what`s going on here, whether it`s Casey or her attorneys who are making all these decisions and calling these shots. But for the jailhouse visit ultimately it`s up to Casey Anthony. So if she wants to see her mom, wants to talk to her mom, she can do it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, if I were Cindy or George and I actually got to talk and I don`t care if it was broadcast to the world or not, the first question I would ask is honey, do you plan to blame dad for the murder? This just blows my mind. I know everybody is kind of dancing around it because nobody knows for sure.

Now Jean Casarez, Jose Baez has said he`ll explain in the first couple of minutes of opening statements, everything will make sense. Given that a former member of the defense team went out in public and said, oh, that whole Zanny the nanny, I left the baby with Zanny the nanny thing, we all know it`s a lie.

So they basically took that explanation and they just threw it out the window. So they`re going to have to come up with something else. And now we hear the defense has tried unsuccessfully to bar Cindy and George from the courtroom. We`ve already heard the story that Casey said hey, my dad might have touched me funny, according to some published reports. So, what other reason could there be, Jean Casarez, for a defendant to try to keep her dad out of court?

CASAREZ: Here`s the other reason. You know in open court we know that the defense wanted to put a psychiatrist and psychologist on stand who had examined Casey to describe how she reacted to issues of trauma, and why she reacted as she did to issues of trauma. Their reasons could go back to the family dynamics, but could explain why she acted the way she did, not reporting the daughter for 31 days when someone else kidnapped the child.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. Mike Brooks, I keep honing in on this point because I think it`s so absolutely interesting. Do you see Cindy and George in denial over the possibility that with the Zanny the nanny explanation out the window and with ruling after ruling pointing to the fact that there was a dead body in the trunk of that car that belonged to Casey, that the defendant is steering towards, as Cindy and George`s own lawyers just said it in front of the courthouse today, steering towards trying to put the finger on George?

BROOKS: Well, you know, they are trying to put the finger on other people in the past. First it was Zanny the nanny, then it was Jesse Grund. They kind of intimated that he might have had something to do with it. And now possibly George. We`ve heard that in the past.

You know, one of my questions too, Jane, are they going bring up the incident with George Anthony when he was under an immense amount of stress and he went to Daytona Beach and there was a possible suicide attempt? Do you think that they are going to bring this in as saying, well, why would he have done that? You know, who knows what they are going to grasp at. Who knows what kind of defense are going to come in? And who knows what Jose Baez is going to say in the first minute-and-a-half of his opening statement to clear everything up? That is -- I just can`t wait to hear that because I still can`t get past those 31 days, Jane, those 31 days that Casey Anthony did not report her little girl missing no matter who is responsible.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: How is the event`s going to get past that? We`re going to stay on top of this case. We`re going to have the very latest on Monday. Thank you fantastic panel. Be sure to watch "Nancy Grace" coming up at 8:00. She`s going to have an in depth look at all the latest bombshell developments in this case and coming up later, a cheerleader, what a horror.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Prior to the forensic investigation, prior to everything, really, your intuition or your detective knowledge led you to Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): After the first few weeks, we were convinced because of the behavior of the two people and especially Amanda that they were both involved in the crime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, new details in the Amanda Knox murder case. Will tests on key evidence overturn her conviction? The now infamous American girl was found guilty in 2009 of murdering her college roommate, Meredith Kercher. Prosecutors claim Kercher was stabbed during a twisted sex game gone wrong. Amanda`s boyfriend and another man also found guilty. But forensic experts are now retesting the evidence used to convict Amanda. Will it be enough to exonerate her? Straight out to investigative reporter, Drew Griffin. Drew, your special, "Murder Abroad: The Amanda Knox Story" airs on CNN Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern. I can`t wait to watch it. What did you learn?

GRIFFIN: Well specifically to the DNA retesting, Jane, we have learned from our sources that really there`s not anything left to retest. There`s two scant pieces of evidence that connect these two possibly to the crime scene. One was a knife found in the boyfriend`s apartment that supposedly had both Amanda and the victim, Meredith Kercher`s DNA on it. That DNA was so small they couldn`t retest it. There was nothing left to retest.

The second was a bra clasp found which supposedly had Raffaele Sollecito`s DNA on it. The police have apparently ruined that in storage. It turned into rust and it couldn`t be retested. Now the court has given another 30 days to continue the review, but initially those two scant pieces of physical evidence seem to have evaporated.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The Italian media has painted Amanda Knox as some sort of sex obsessed co-ed, but what did you learn when you investigated?

GRIFFIN: I learned that a lot of that tabloid reporting which the jury apparently did hear a lot of, Jane, was just made up out of the blue. In fact, the prosecutor said some of the reporting was just pure lies. It just went viral and the Italian media as you said really trawled onto Amanda Knox. But I think the root of that was this prosecutor who in the interview you just said, said look it, I knew it was Amanda Knox from the very get go even before any forensic evidence was returned. So, I think he prodded the media along to take a good look at this girl, this college kid from Seattle, Washington, and the case just kind of got out of hand.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What about this prosecutor? Hasn`t he gotten into trouble before? Isn`t he really a very controversial figure?

GRIFFIN: He is very, very controversial. And just kind of a good cop/bad cop, very cordial with us during our three hour interview. But those who have been interrogated, including an author here in the United States who felt his wrath, Doug Preston, says this guy can be vicious in the interrogation room. He himself, the prosecutor, has had a 16 month suspended conviction for abusing his office. And the International Journalists Society has just sent a letter to the president of Italy complaining about this guy because of his retaliation and tactics against journalists.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I can not wait to see this special. It airs CNN Sunday 8:00 p.m. We will check it out. Thank you so much, Drew.

A junk justice out of control. A cheerleader assaulted, then booted off the team because she refused to cheer for a man she says attacked her?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARIE, ASSAULTED BY CLASSMATE: When he got up to the free-throw line it felt wrong to cheer for him because he had done wrong to me.

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN HOST: And so, what did you do?

HILLARIE: So, then I crossed my arms and didn`t cheer for him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight a hideous case of injustice takes a disturbing new twist. A teenage girl says she was sexually assaulted at a party three years ago in Texas. Her name is Hillarie. We`re not using her last name.

Rakheem Bolton and Christian Roundtree were arrested but were allowed to go back to school after a grand jury initially decided not to indict them. Bolton ended up pleading guilty to a lesser charge, misdemeanor assault. He got zero jail time.

A few months later Hillarie was cheerleading at a school basketball game when Bolton stepped on the foul line, Hillarie folded her arms and stayed silent refusing to cheer. For that she was kicked off the cheerleading squad.

Wait a second. Isn`t she the victim here? And it gets worse. The girl and her family sued the school district and lost. Now they have to pay $45,000 for filing a quote, "frivolous lawsuit". Is it really frivolous? I don`t think so.

Tell me, where is the justice for this young lady?

Joining me now Hillarie`s dad Craig.

Now, Craig, we spoke with you back in November. What is your reaction the latest news that the United States Supreme Court is refusing to hear your daughter`s case which means defeat, which means you`re going to have to pay $45,000 for filing a quote, "frivolous lawsuit".

CRAIG, FATHER OF HILLARIE: It`s somewhat expected. I mean the Supreme Court only hears 2 percent or 3 percent of the cases anyway so, that was a long shot at that level. Disappointed nonetheless; the frivolous part probably in the $45,000, I guess that`s monetary number but the word "frivolous" is what bothers me the most.

I guess if you decide to make a change in life, I mean most big changes in this competition anyway go the Supreme Court. Every case that goes to the Supreme Court is changing in some way when they rule against the lower court and that`s how change happens. And how do you have the option to get justice and get a law changed even if it was a violation of her freedom of speech, if you want to make it for the future that that would be regarded as a violation, how else would you do that?

If we fight it through the appellate up to the Supreme Court for that to happen. So most people aren`t going to go to court and keep appealing on something that they don`t believe that need to be changed.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me say this. By the way, you`re watching file tape just of cheerleaders in general. Those are not the cheerleaders involved in this issue.

Sir, you`ve been quoted as saying that you feel your daughter was raped numerous times in the initial incident and then by the district attorney and by others. What did you say and what do you mean by that?

CRAIG: Well, just re-victimized is what it is. They put all the burden of guilt on her as far as her actions and even for the will to fight. I mean it really gives every person, but more particularly women, the feel now that you fight for your rights, especially when you`ve been violated that it`s going to be frivolous. And we`re going, to you know, just degrade you in any way we can to not have to, to recognize that you`re a victim of crime.

And so, at every level that we tried to fight for this, we have been treated -- well, re-victimized. So hence the term just raped and raped again by every level that we`ve tried to fight against.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Here`s my big issue, is this school sexism? These boys were allowed to come right back to school to continue their football and basketball careers and yet cheerleader Hillarie was punished. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: How did you feel when you were reprimanded for not cheering for the young man that you say attacked you?

HILLARIE: When they told me that I couldn`t -- that I had to choose between cheering for him or not cheering at all, for me it was worth giving up cheerleading to not cheer for him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This is really outrageous. We talk about a war on women here on ISSUES. I have to ask prosecutor, Stacey Honowitz, is this sending a chilling message to victims of assault, "Do not speak up you will only be ridiculed and you will only be punished more."

STACEY HONOWITZ, FLORIDA PROSECUTOR: When you hear the facts of this case and what this young girl had to go through, certainly I think people would say why would I come forward? Why would I put my story out there in front of people only to be cut down and to say it really didn`t happen? Basically her credibility is an issue.

I don`t know the facts of the criminal case and why the district attorney did what they did; I don`t want to Monday morning quarterback. But certainly the idea that she was reprimanded for not cheering is despicable. And the fact that they went to court -- the dad is 100 percent right. He should really go to law school. Change is only going to take place if you go to court and you fight for your rights. She had every right in the world not to stand up and cheer for this individual.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: A bet.com writer calls this case a travesty. I personally couldn`t agree more with this sentiment. Cord Jefferson (ph) wrote, "What sort of precedent is this setting? Will black cheerleaders be forced to cheer for racists? Would Jews have to cheer on anti-Semites? And all because they want to be involved in the harmless American pastime that is high school cheerleading.

Criminal defense attorney, Midwin Charles, what`s your reaction to the outrage that a lot of people including myself feel that she simply did not want to cheer for this guy. He had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault not sexual assault.

She claims that she was raped by him. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault not sexual assault but still she said I don`t want to cheer for him. She gets kicked off the squad. And then when she sues she has to pay $45,000 for filing a frivolous lawsuit.

MIDWIN CHARLES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It`s ridiculous and what`s unfortunate is you would think that the school would kind of hold back and relax on this even if they are on the right side of the legal issue.

You`re talking about a young woman who claims to have been assaulted by another fellow classmate. So as a school you`d want to send the message that you want women like her to come forward and talk about these kinds of issues, particularly how difficult they are. It`s really unfortunate, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. I understand that when Craig, you and your daughter filed suit you did it on First Amendment grounds, her freedom of rights not to cheer. Maybe your lawyer took a bad argument because I would think that the bigger issue would be her right to feel like she`s getting a public education free of harassment and that she has a right to participate in the public education system free of fear. And if this presence of this individual created fear, then, therefore, she had a right not to cheer for him.

Stacey Honowitz what do you make of that argument?

HONOWITZ: I think it`s a very interesting argument. It`s almost -- you can kind of equate it to an employment discrimination like a hostile work environment. Basically they were forcing her to do something against her will and then she was reprimanded and wrongfully discharged for doing it.

So I think a lot of creative arguments could have been made in this case and I think that your other guest is 100 percent right. Even if they lost, relax it a little bit. Why isn`t the rest of the school up in arms about what happened? Why aren`t other parents coming forward and say she has a right to do what she did and not be reprimanded for it. It`s a really interesting legal conundrum. It really is.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Not only is the rest of the school not up in arms but, Craig, your daughter has reportedly said that when she walked back into school she was taunted in the cafeteria. Tell us.

CRAIG: Yes. And you know in regards to another comment about the rights in education to participate, that would fall under the OCR of Title 9.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Just tell us about the taunting in the classroom, if you could.

CRAIG: Well, it wasn`t a constant. But I mean it was not really like all day every day. It did last for a while. Chanting of the boys` names when she would come in to the classroom or even at pep rallies with that regard to the point that even after she graduated my youngest daughter was still in school at that school and it started into the next school year with throwing things at their cars and calling them names; to the point that we`ve now withdrawn my youngest child from the school district and put her in another school district.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So this has traumatized your entire family, sir?

CRAIG: Pretty much. We`ve had to make provisions to protect the youngest one. I mean she stayed her freshman year which was my daughter`s -- the daughter that was --

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me jump in here and ask you a question because the special prosecutor implied the public doesn`t know the whole story, but we know more than the public knows. Why did a couple of grand juries, I would guess, fail to indict?

CRAIG: Well, that will soon be another big story for a lot of people to grasp their hand on. We believe that there was a lot of corruption going on within that group, with people being related to certain people that have political ties and yes, blood ties.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I have to say this because we`re almost out of time but we get your idea.

We called the attorney for the school, for the young man involved in this, Rakheem Bolton. They didn`t respond. But they are invited on any time to tell their side of the story. We want to be fair. You have an open invitation. You could come on and give your side. And we did try to reach you so come back and tell us your side.

I want to thank Craig very much. Keep us updated sir.

Next, a royal scandal and I mean scandal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE WILLIAM, UNITED KINGDOM: I, William Arthur Philip Louis --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take thee Catherine Elizabeth --

PRINCE WILLIAM: Take thee Catherine Elizabeth --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- to my wedded wife.

PRINCE WILLIAM: -- to my wedded wife.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It has just been a week since the royal wedding and already a new scandal has surfaced.

What took so long? Everybody was buzzing last Friday about Kate Middleton`s Maid of Honor and sister Pippa. Some even said she stole the show with her figure flattering white-hot dress.

Guess what? Now we`re seeing what you might call Pippa no stockings. Check out this revealing new photo of the 27-year-old royal relative causing a stir. Whoa. Ok. I`m actually seeing this for the first time.

It shows the brunette bombshell stripped down to a purple push up bra and white skirt while she`s sashays with an unidentified man who is in his boxers. Whoa.

Straight out to Rob Shuter, PopEater`s "Naughty but Nice" columnist, is this precisely why the royal family is afraid of hooking up with commoners?

ROB SHUTER, COLUMNIST, POPEATER`S "NAUGHTY BUT NICE": Absolutely, yes. They are horrified that this picture has come out. The sad part about this though, Jane, is this was a private picture and one of her friends sold to it a newspaper. So now she`s become so popular, so famous overnight that now she`s really got to be careful what she does. It`s really nothing that she`s done. This is because her sister became a royal. Now the whole family has to be very careful.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The funny part about this photo, it`s not like they are stripping down in a bedroom and somebody got surveillance footage, there`s obviously a party going on behind them because you see a white tablecloth filled with dozens and dozens of bottles and glasses. So they are doing this in a public place. They look like they are having a very good time.

I hope you enjoyed it honey because you`re going pay for it.

Kate`s brother James also looked very prim and proper when he spoke at the royal wedding. Remember this guy? Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES MIDDLETON, KATE AND PIPPA`S BROTHER: By the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow he looks and sounds very conservative, prim and proper. But we`re also told there are also some pictures of him circulating in various stages of undress.

Maxine Page, senior editor of RadarOnline, is this -- this Middleton family a nudist family?

MAXINE PAGE, SENIOR EDITOR, RADARONLINE: Jane, you know what it`s like. You`re at a party and, you know, you get dancing with a semi-naked hunk and next thing you know, your top is off. You know, I mean, we`ve all been there.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s happened. I lost my sari once at a Halloween party and I was sorry the next morning. Believe me.

PAGE: I think Rob has a point. I just feel sorry for these kids. They`re not the ones chosen to be in the public spotlight. And you know, personally I just hope my sister never ever marries Prince Harry I don`t want that stuff getting out, quite frankly. It`s tough for them. I think this is the start of quite a lot of stuff.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Well, especially if there`s more pictures where those came from. There is definitely a lot of royal intrigue in the air. Who even knows for sure? We hear it`s a friend but who even knows for sure who leaked this photo.

It`s clear, however, people are trying to do each other in.

Now, let`s use the example of Fergie, Duchess of York. First she was caught getting her toes sucked by her financial adviser; that was the beginning of the end for her. Then she really wasn`t invited to the royal wedding at all, snubbed presumably because she was caught on tape in an undercover sting selling access to her ex-husband Prince Andrew for something like $750,000.

Now some people suspect that her daughters who were invited to the wedding -- there they were invited to the wedding -- wore these hideous, gruesome hats as revenge for their mom being snubbed because they got to sit right behind the Queen of England. So every time we saw the Queen we saw these two wing nuts, really with these kooky hats right behind her and it was funny but not funny for the queen. Rob your thoughts.

SHUTER: Yes, I broke this story on PopEater.com. I`ve known Sarah for a long time. I know a lot of her friends. She was not invited to the wedding but her friends tell me Sarah did pick these hats and it really was deliberate, I think so. She was furious that they didn`t invite her. And even though she wasn`t there she stole the day.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. I have a feeling that we`re going to see more of this. I can`t wait. I love royalty. But I have to say, guilty pleasure. I love a royal scandal.

All right. Everybody stay right where you are.

Coming up I`m going to talk to famous Hollywood actor, Eric Roberts. He has a plan to save millions of stray dogs and cats.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: Educate. Don`t eradicate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: An angry protest from animal lovers fighting to save cats killed by a city trying to get rid of stray animals. But some say those strays are actually indoor/outdoor pets that people cared for and fell in love with.

These taxpayers are angry. They are furious over the killings of animals, wiped out simply because they are deemed and damned as strays; just one of many battles out there over our out-of-control stray pet population. Check this out from youtube.com.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC ROBERTS, ACTOR: The number one cause of suffering for dogs, overpopulation. Many counties that have no laws against cruelty to animals control stray dog populations by poisoning, hanging, and shooting and beating to death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So sad. The Humane Society of the United States says 4 million cats and dogs are killed in the United States every year because there are no homes for them. Some people say it`s twice that. But even at that level, that`s a dog or cat killed every eight seconds in our country. That`s obscene.

Now there`s an exciting new plan to make a birth control device for dogs and cats. Joining me now is Hollywood movie star Eric Roberts; Eric, so glad to have you here on ISSUES. You`re working with 600million.org to come up with essentially a birth control method that would solve the world`s horrific stray pet overpopulation problem. Eric, in basic people terms what you trying to do?

ROBERTS: It`s great to see you, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thanks.

ROBERTS: Thanks. Thanks for the cause. Look, this is called 600 million and you can find out about it at 600million.org because every day there are 600 million stray dogs in this world who need our help. And Alex Pacheco, co-founder of PETA decided as his legacy he was going to solve the problem. So he wants to come up with a way to spay and neuter all dogs without having to have the operation and the costs and all that. So hopefully it will be in a pill form and we can spay and neuter dogs so they stop having -- because my wife and I travel, all over, all over the world all the time.

We were in Nashville, Tennessee. And we feed all the strays always. We met a pregnant stray mother dog and fell in love with her and we lost her, of course. We couldn`t capture her and help her. But we realized that all of her babies will also grow up to have babies who won`t have homes.

So, we got involved in this project and Alex Pacheco is our new hero because the cause is awesome.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And I`ll tell you what. I`m also involved in this. I did a documentary about stray dogs in the Caribbean. It`s a business. Killing these animals in vicious violent ways is a business. And we need to switch that around and make at it business to feed them a cracker or a pill and sterilize them.

(CROSSTALK)

ROBERTS: Well said, Jane. Make it a business to do it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s make it happen. We`re going to stay on top of this. Eric, we`re going to be back in just a second.

Remember you at home, you can get involved. If you love cats and dogs and this can be expanded to deer, so many animals suffer because of over population. We want you involved. So we`ll hear more in just a moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: It`s estimated that around the world there are more than 600 million stray dogs. They live in deplorable conditions, suffer from hunger and disease and survive by eating human garbage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`re back with actor Eric Roberts. What are you trying to do now? You`re working with scientists, I understand, to come up with this one dose formula, a cracker or a pill. It would be absolutely extraordinary. The scientists are working on this as we speak?

ROBERTS: That`s the idea. That`s the idea. To make it very simple and very easy where anybody can do it and where they can`t be poisoned with it, they can`t be OD`d on it. It`s very difficult and we need the financing for it.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, go to 600million.org and get involved. We`re going to save these millions of animals and in the meantime, spay and neuter your pet, and adopt don`t shop.

Nancy Grace next.

END