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CNN SATURDAY MORNING NEWS
Charges in 33-Year-Old Missing Child Case of Etan Patz; Rumored Al Qaeda Plot Against U.S. Computers; Protecting Information on Your Smart Phone; Honor Student Gets Jail For Missing School; Reasonable Doubt in Etan Patz Disappearance Case?; CNN Heroes
Aired May 26, 2012 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks for starting your morning with us. We've got much more ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING, which continues right now. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
After three decades a cold case may be solved. A former New York stock clerk charged with the murder of Etan Patz, 33 years to the day after the six-year-old disappeared.
Fires out West, tornadoes in the Breadbasket, and now tropical storms heading towards the East Coast. The entire country seems to be under siege by Mother Nature this weekend. We'll check in with a storm chaser.
And al Qaeda declares an electronic jihad on the United States. We put cyber security in focus and ask some insiders how vulnerable we really are and if there's anything we can do about it.
And later, Oprah did it in Nashville, Tom Hanks did it in Cleveland. We'll tell you what they and other celebs did to break into showbiz and some new methods today's college kids are trying.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. It is 8:00. Thanks for waking up with us. Let's get you caught up on some of the news. Thirty three years to the day Etan Patz disappeared, someone has finally been charged with his murder. Pedro Hernandez was arraigned yesterday on a second degree murder charge. This was a man "Inside Edition" identified as Hernandez. He confessed this week to strangling the boy and putting his body in the trash.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE: In the years following Etan's disappearance, Hernandez had told a family member and others that he had, quote, done a bad thing and killed a child in New York.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He seemed like an all right guy. He had a wife and there was a young daughter. And they were, you know, they said hello and everything. They were always smiling. Well if this guy, like they say confessed to it, 33 years he's been living in his own personal hell.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Pedro Hernandez is being held without bail.
Ukraine's parliament may be dissolved because of a fight. Take a look. It was a real knockdown, drag out fight on the parliament floor. The speaker says they may have to get rid of all the lawmakers and start all over with new elections. What were they fighting over you ask? They were debating a bill that would have made Russian an equal language to Ukrainian in parts of the country.
The jurors in the John Edwards trial are off for the long holiday weekend. They'll return Tuesday to resume deliberations. Edwards is accused of misusing campaign contributions to cover up an affair. He denies he did anything wrong and the jury has already deliberated for six days.
It is about three minutes past the hour, time now for a check of your forecast. Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider joining us this morning. Good morning, Bonnie. So we're officially kicking off summer.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We are.
KAYE: Is the weather going to cooperate?
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAYE: Oh, I love that bath water. All right, Bonnie, thank you very much.
New threats from al Qaeda as they release a blueprint for attacking computers. They have identified targets, but is it a realistic plan? This morning we're putting cyber security in focus.
Plus a major break in the 33-year-old cold case. The man who says he killed Etan Patz is now in custody. We'll learn more about what he's been doing for the past three decades.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: There's a new focus right now on cyber security. It's because of an al Qaeda video obtained by the FBI, basically lays out a plan of attack, a plan that attacks computer systems and infrastructure, like the nation's electric grid. Here's just a little bit of that tape.
Joining me now is Charlie Miller. He's one of the best-known hackers out there and is now a research consultant for a computer security company. Charlie, good morning to you.
CHARLIE MILLER, PRINCIPAL RESEARCH CONSULTANT, ACCUVANT: Good morning.
KAYE: So, first, tell us what do you think of these al Qaeda threats and that tape?
MILLER: Well, at first it sounds like a great idea, because, you know, your typical person living in Afghanistan or Pakistan, or somewhere, you know, they're not really going to have a chance to hop on a plane and head to the U.S. to hurt us. But they can go to the Internet cafe down the street and get on computers that can talk to us. So first it sounds like a great idea. But the more you think about it, the more absurd it seems. The type of people who are going to be inspired by a video like that, you know, they're not really going to have the skills necessary to really hurt us.
KAYE: Well, I want to play you just another little bit of their message. Listen to this. So there was some talk there, Charlie, about the Mafia boy (ph) attack that was in 2000. Would that be something that could still happen today?
MILLER: Well, that type of attack is something that, you know, someone with no technical skills can do. So, you know, it's something that they could try to do. But the thing about that is, these are the type of attacks we see all the time. So, you know, entertainment companies, banking companies. They see these type of attacks every day, and where this is the type of attack that we can defend against, we understand it and we're a lot better than we are at Internet security than we were 12 years ago. So, not it's that big a concern.
KAYE: Is there a place, though, that maybe we might be more vulnerable?
MILLER: Well, we're certainly vulnerable as a society. And, you know, we have great vulnerability. The problem is, you need to have, you know, skilled adversaries to really take care of that. So if I was al Qaeda, and I wanted to do something, you know, I would train people up and in a couple year's time, then that would be a real threat. But I think that just throwing it out to everybody and say, hey, everyone, let's do a cyber jihad is not something you can really do.
KAYE: You don't think they have the means to do it? It's just nice to talk about.
MILLER: Yes, it's fun and entertaining but it's not something they can do just by throwing it out to everybody. It's something where they're going to do a plan and they've got a lot of people trained up and resources, certainly something they could do with a couple year's time, they could probably cause a lot of harm.
KAYE: So then is the average person then at risk at all in terms of home computers or mobile devices? And if so, is there anything that we can do?
MILLER: I mean, that's a totally different question. So you know, the adversaries that say the electric grid are facing are a lot different than the adversaries that you or my grandma face. For the average person, you know, if you're just worried about sort of automated malware, if you just keep your computer up to date, have anti-virus software installed, and you know, do smart things like don't install java, don't install flash, things like that, you'll be fine.
KAYE: All right. Charlie Miller, appreciate your expertise in this area. Thank you.
And we've got much more ahead on cyber security, including a conversation with Daniel Suarez, the leading author of technical thrillers. Think when machines attack. But the truth may be stranger than fiction. Stay around for that in our 10:00 hour.
An anniversary, and a possible ending, a murder charge now leveled in the Etan Patz case, but the family doesn't get to look the confessed killer in the eye.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Good morning, Washington, beautiful day there to kick off the Memorial Day weekend there at the White House, shaping up to be a lovely day, a little bit of wind in the flags. Good morning. Glad you're with us. Welcome back to CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
We now may be closer to closing the case of Etan Patz. He is the six- year-old boy who went missing in New York City back in 1979. And now there's a confession and a murder charge. CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): NYPD crime scene investigators snapping pictures at an eyeglasses shop in Manhattan's upscale Soho section and in its basement where Etan Patz was allegedly strangled. The location just blocks from Patz's apartment where his parents still live. Thirty three years ago, the shop was what New Yorkers call a bodega or a convenience store. It looked out on Patz's bus stop. At the time 19-year-old Pedro Hernandez was a stock boy. Now 51, he's seen here in a photo obtained by "Inside Edition."
COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE: Hernandez described to the detectives how he lured young Etan from the school bus stop at West Broadway and Prince Street with the promise of a soda. He then led him into the basement of the bodega, choked him there and disposed of the body by putting it into a plastic bag and placing it into the trash.
CANDIOTTI: Lisa Cohen wrote a book about the Patz case. She had not heard of Hernandez until two days ago. He was never a suspect. But part of his story might fit with what Patz's parents told her about the day their son disappeared, his first time walking to the bus stop by himself.
LISA COHEN, AUTHOR: I know that I had a dollar when he left for school that day, or at least that's the story I've always heard from his parents and that he had talked about buying a soda at the bodega before he got on the school bus.
CANDIOTTI: Hernandez came to the attention of police last month after authorities dug up a basement in a different Soho building. That dig didn't turn up much but the publicity prompted a tip about Hernandez.
KELLY: In the years following Etan's disappearance, Hernandez told a family member and others that he had, quote, done a bad thing and killed a child in New York.
CANDIOTTI: Hernandez has no criminal record and his arrest is raising plenty of questions. His neighbors in New Jersey say Hernandez kept to himself. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He seemed like an all right guy. He had a wife, and there was a young daughter. They were, you know, they said hello and everything, they were always smiling. If this guy like they say confessed to it 33 years, he has been living in his own personal hell.
CANDIOTTI (on-camera): It's also been a difficult 33 years for Patz's parents. Flowers and a note saying God bless you, you'll always be remembered, greeted Stan Patz on the stoop where his wife kissed their son good-bye, never to see him again. The Patz family chose not to attend court on Friday to get their first look at the man who now stands charged with killing their son. Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: A Texas honor student has a lot on her plate -- school and working two, yes two jobs, to support her siblings. So why did a judge say that she needed to spend a night in jail?
And if you're like a whole lot of people, you probably have your life on your iPhone, at least all your confidential information. We'll tell you how to keep both safe.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back.
If you're one of the unlucky millions who have either lost your smart phone or had it stolen, then you know that feeling of panic that all your personal information could be gone right along with your device. But there are ways to protect your information and your phone. HLN's digital lifestyle expert Mario Armstrong joining me now from Baltimore this morning.
Good morning, Mario.
MARIO ARMSTRONG, CNN DIGITAL LIFESTYLE EXPERT: Good morning, Randi. How are you?
KAYE: I'm well, thank you. Let's first talk about the apps that can help you recover your phone if it's stolen. I saw one when I got my iPhone, it's something like find my iPhone?
ARMSTRONG: Yes. That's right. That's the name of the one for on the iPhone, even for the iPad, as well, or iTouch. So a lot of people are going to be traveling this holiday weekend, Randi.
We don't want people to lose their devices or have them stolen. So to track it on the iPhone or iPad, iPad touch you can use that. On the Android you can use something called where's my droid. Essentially Randi, what these apps enable you to do is to be able to locate them.
For example, I just used my iPad to locate my iPhone. So I can see on a map where my iPhone is actually located is any given time. I can lock it down. I can wipe the data. I can even send a message to the phone to let the person know hey, I'll give you a reward if it's found. KAYE: That is pretty good. I'm impressed by that. But you mentioned you can lock your device down. How so?
ARMSTRONG: Well, so I think people should take some preventive tips.
Number one they should lock their devices down with a PIN code. Everyone doesn't do this, Randi and it drives me nuts. My brother doesn't do this. Several people in my family are starting to finally get it. But a PIN code, a numeric PIN code on your phone so if someone does find it they can't access the data onto it.
I will tell you this, that PIN code can be broken. I have found out that there's new software that's available. People can "jailbreak," quote/unquote, it's a technical term to get into these phones. So it's not totally foolproof but for most people, it will prevent them from losing their sensitive data.
KAYE: I know you're the guy with the tips but I will offer one that I will add to that. Because I forgot my PIN code once and if I had to try to get into my iPad and on the tenth time it completely reset and wiped out everything. So write your PIN down somewhere.
ARMSTRONG: That's right.
KAYE: All right. So, let's talk about laptops, though. I mean is there software that you can use to track those down if they're stolen?
ARMSTRONG: Absolutely. It's called -- one of the ones that I tested recently. These guys have sent me a few copies. They're trying to get me to review this stuff. OK, yes, I've heard of you guys. Let me test it out. It's called lo/jack for laptops, works very well. It's a subscription fee, but just like the sound of the title says, it will help you by GPS track the location of a laptop.
Now, it can only do that if the laptop connects to the Internet. So, if you lose your laptop or it gets stolen, you can then see where it is, because it's connected to the Internet, wipe the data off of it or lock it down completely.
KAYE: You can do that remotely? You can wipe it clean?
ARMSTRONG: You can do it remotely. What you're really supposed to do with this, especially if it's stolen is to then file a police report and hand over the data as to the last location that laptop was seen connected to the Internet and then hand that information over to the authorities and get your laptop back.
KAYE: What would be really cool is to be able to remotely turn on the camera that you might have on your laptop or your stolen device and see who has it and then turn that in.
ARMSTRONG: That's been done before, too.
KAYE: That's the next step. I like it. Get back at those guys who are stealing our stuff. ARMSTRONG: The most important thing, Randi, is the data. A lot of people can maybe stomach losing the device or having the device stolen, even though they're expensive. But the data is what's precious.
All of our memories, business files, personal information, that stuff is what's important. So, people really need to either buy an external hard drive and back this stuff up from your phone or from your computer. Or back it up to the Internet to what they call the cloud, using a number of services like dropbox and others.
KAYE: I would never remember your birthday if my stuff was stolen so I'll have to mark that down somewhere.
ARMSTRONG: Have a great Memorial Day weekend, Randi. I'm headed to the beach.
KAYE: Oh, man. You're killing me.
ARMSTRONG: I will see you soon.
KAYE: You have a great life. All right Mario, thank you very much. We'll see you next week, same time.
ARMSTRONG: All right, everybody, be save. Have a good weekend. Don't lose your devices.
KAYE: He's still talking. Coming up, the story about a teenager sentenced to jail. Sounds like more of the same? Trust me, this story is a lot deeper and a lot more heart wrenching. We'll give you the details about a special young woman in Texas.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back. I'm Randi Kaye.
Thanks for starting your day with us. It is just about the bottom of the hour now. Imagine being 17 years old and facing the challenge of helping care for your siblings and provide for them. Then imagine being sentenced to jail because it's impossible to meet all of those responsibilities without missing some school time. That is the predicament facing Texas honor student Diane Tran. Sherry Williams (ph) with our affiliate KHOU has her story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHERRY WILLIAMS, KHOU CORRESPONDENT: Seventeen-year-old Diane Tran has a heavy load at Willis High.
DIANE TRAN, HONORS STUDENT: Dual credit U.S. history, dual credit English, college algebra, Spanish.
WILLIAMS: And she has a heavy load in life. Since her parents divorced and moved away, leaving her to help provide for a brother at Texas A&M and a little sister with relatives in Houston.
TRAN: I always thought our family was happy.
WILLIAMS: After a judge warned her in April to stop missing so much school, Tran recently missed again. She works part-time at a wedding venue and full-time at a dry cleaners.
DEVIN HALL, CLASSMATE: And she goes from job to job, from school, she stays up until 7:00 in the morning doing her homework.
WILLIAMS: But the judge says the case is bigger than Tran.
JUDGE LANNY MORIARTY, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TEXAS: If you let one of them run loose, what are you going to do with the rest of them? Let them go, too? A little stay in the jail for one night, it's not death sentence.
MORIARTY: We explained the particulars of Tran's situation to him.
WILLIAMS: If the case were a little bit of justice tempered with mercy.
MORIARTY: Probably so, yes, ma'am.
WILLIAMS: Can anything be done to revoke this?
MORIARTY: Yes, it probably could.
WILLIAMS: Will you?
MORIARTY: I hadn't thought of it at issue, because it turns me really soft.
MARY ELLIOT, WAVERLY MANOR: Kids are kids. And if, you know, if they're kind of by themselves, then, you know, help them. Don't harm them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Diane Trainer (ph) and her younger sister are living with the family of one of her part-time employers. They're working with a local bank to set up a fund in her name.
The New York Police Department makes an arrest in a 33-year mystery. Seems to be solved. Or is it? That is the question surrounding the latest developments in the Etan Patz case. Joining me now is CNN legal contributor and former New York City homicide prosecutor Paul Callan. Paul, good morning to you.
PAUL CALLAN, FORMER NYC HOMICIDE PROSECUTOR: Good morning.
KAYE: You say that there are several flaws in this case surrounding Pedro Hernandez. He's the man that police say has confessed to killing Etan Patz. What do you think the flaws are? Walk us through a couple of them.
CALLAN: Well, you have to get the background, I guess, first on this Etan Patz case, which really captured the nation's imagination 33 years ago when 6-year-old Etan Patz was snatched from a New York City street, disappeared. Really sort of created this whole, you know, putting the kids on the milk carton and this kind of real fear about letting your kids travel alone, you know, on buses and subways and on their bikes like they used to do. This sort of was the starting point.
Now, who killed Etan Patz has been a thing that's haunted the New York City Police Department for years. A lot of suspects. And out of the blue they find out that there's somebody in Camden, New Jersey, this individual is under arrest, who has confessed to the murder and confessed to family members.
So, you would think, depending upon the details in the confession, this might be a legitimate suspect. So New York City police went to Camden, interviewed him, and they've placed him under arrest now and charged him with the murder.
My problem with it is, as a former prosecutor, to try to corroborate or provide additional evidence that his confession is accurate and true on a 33-year-old homicide will be very difficult. And he was brought back to New York, made a suicide threat, and is now in Bellevue hospital. His lawyer says he's a schizophrenic who suffers from bipolar disorder. So, it seems to me there's a strong likelihood that eventually there will be a claim that this is just a psychotic who has made a claim based on what he's read in the newspaper, or what he knew because he worked in the neighborhood at the time of the killing.
KAYE: Yes.
CALLAN: And that he's not the real killer.
KAYE: And especially when there's no evidence, right? I mean, there is no DNA evidence. They have never been able to recover Etan Patz's body. Even though they searched just recently in a New York City basement. So how much will that affect how they move forward with this so-called confession?
CALLAN: Well, you know, I think it will have a huge effect on it, because under New York law, a confession is not enough to convict somebody. They used to call it, you know, in the old crime movies, the corpus delecti, the body of the crime. There has to be additional proof that a crime has been committed by the individual involved. And they're going to have trouble with that.
And I'll tell you, Randi, just to complicate it even more, the Patz family, who have suffered so much through the years through the loss of this child, they were approached by a former U.S. attorney who said that he was convinced a child molester who's currently in jail was the killer. And as a result of that, they instituted a civil lawsuit against this man. They obtained a judgment from a court that he was the killer, and they have a money judgment against him.
KAYE: You're talking about Jose Ramos.
CALLAN: Exactly. KAYE: He was officially named the killer back in 2004. But so, knowing that, then, I mean how could that impact the case regarding the current suspect, Pedro Hernandez?
CALLAN: Well, certainly Hernandez's lawyer is going to come in to court now, if he ever has to try this case, and say, this is -- there's reasonable doubt built into the case. We have a court has already adjudicated somebody else as the killer in the case.
Now, that wouldn't be binding on a jury, but the jury would certainly have to wonder whether this schizophrenic who's confessed is, in fact, the killer.
Now, I want to hedge on this a little bit and say, we don't know what the New York City Police Department knows. There is a possibility that he supplied some detail that has been held back and that only the killer could know. Did Etan Patz have a scar, or some kind of a mark that hasn't been released publicly, and that Hernandez has revealed that he knows about. There could be something that corroborates this confession.
But I must say, I have my doubts. And the fact that yesterday a New York City judge said I'm going to have this man examined by a psychiatrist -- it's called a 730 examination -- because he may not even be competent to stand trial makes me wonder about whether this is, in fact, the killer.
KAYE: And of course there's the case of motive. No motive at all listed.
CALLAN: No. And that's, I find that, Randi, to be very, very strange. Because, you know, somebody who snatches a 6-year-old kid and kills him, they tend to be -- they are child molesters, they're child predators. This is not a one-time thing. They tend to be repeat offenders. Now, where's the history of him doing this to other people? I mean, he's in 33 years apparently he has not been arrested or charged in any other crime involving abuse of a child. That would be very, very unusual. You would expect to see a history with a child predator. So that's a missing element here, as well.
KAYE: Paul Callan, nice to have you on this morning. Really appreciate your insight. Thank you.
CALLAN: Always great being with you, Randi. Take care.
KAYE: Thank you.
Imagine a plane so big it can carry another plane inside of it. Reynolds Wolf takes us on board the military's largest plane in this morning's "Travel Insider."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm coming to you from Robbins Air Force base. I want to take a moment to show you something incredible. This is the C-5, it's America's largest military aircraft. Right behind me you see the ladder, goes up some 11 steps all the way into the aircraft. The flight deck on the top, three stories off the ground. Inside, it is just amazing. I mean, take a look at how big this thing is. This plane is so huge, you could actually transport another plane inside of it. Or tanks. Or humvees.
To give you more of an idea in a civilian way, it's about two-thirds the length of a football field.
Believe it or not, there's more than one floor. On this deck, we've got plenty of room. In fact, this place, this area could be outfitted with plenty of chairs to seat 75 service members. No surprise at all that even the flight deck is tremendous. In fact, you could sit six people here very comfortably, including Captain Ryan White, who happens to work on this aircraft. Can you give us a few pointers of some amazing facts of this plane?
RYAN WHITE, CAPTAIN, U.S. AIR FORCE: Well, just the sheer size, like you said. It has over 100 miles of wiring throughout all of the aircraft. And then also, fun fact about the aircraft is that you can fly the Wright brothers' first flyers flight within the cargo bay itself.
WOLF: I hope you enjoyed that quick tour of an amazing aircraft. The C-5.
Reynolds Wolf, CNN, Robbins Air Force base.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Barbecuing aside, sports fans certainly have a lot on their plate this weekend. Joe Carter with HLN Sports is here with me to preview all this good stuff. Good morning to you.
JOE CARTER, HLN SPORTS: Good morning to you.
KAYE: So let's start first with the Indy 500. Happening tomorrow, right?
CARTER: Yes, happening tomorrow. A great race. And a couple of big story lines coming out of this year's race. One that of the two racers that aren't going to be in this year's Indianapolis 500. That's of course Danica Patrick. She moved to NASCAR full time, so no more Danica Patrick in the Indy car series, and then you've got Dan Wheldon. Dan Wheldon was actually the last person to win the Indianapolis 500, and he was killed back in October at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 33 years old. He's got a wife named Suzanne, two young children. We're expecting a very emotional prerace tribute to Dan and his family today. It's such a sad, sad story.
But he -- his accident, and what they're doing now in that sport is changing the safety standards for Indy car racing. So we'll see a lot of improved safety standards as the sport moves forward.
The other big story is around a female driver, Katherine Legge is her name, and she leads a very unique team. She's a rookie driver. It's her first Indianapolis 500, but she actually is one of six people on an all-female race team. It's the first-ever all-female race team. And as I said, she'll race there Sunday, and she's just the ninth woman to ever race in the Indianapolis 500.
And the other five women that are on her team race at different Indy car levels. So they're lower than her. She's more the elite person on that team.
And this is really changing. These six women are really changing the perception that's out there that racing, Indy car racing specifically, is just a man's sport. So, girl power now shifting into the form of Indy car.
KAYE: I'm all for that. That's very impressive. All right, let's talk NBA playoffs, right? A pretty decisive game tonight.
CARTER: Yes.
KAYE: Game seven.
CARTER: It's the two sexiest words in sports. Game seven. You got to love it. Now, of course, Boston has the experience. They're older, but they are wiser. They've been here before. Number of game sevens over the years. Philly, younger, but hungry, really this franchise hasn't been good since -- you just saw Allen Iverson in the video there -- this franchise hasn't -- really hasn't a good (inaudible) since Allen Iverson days. This franchise squeaked into the playoffs a few weeks back, but now they have Boston, very experienced Celtics, on the ropes, and could be moving on. These two franchises over the decades used to meet in the playoffs all the time back in the day. But now really these two teams are heading in different directions. You've got Philly, the up and comer, Boston the big three could be disassembled after this year because, you know, injuries, trades, stuff like that.
KAYE: So are you going to make the call? Who do you think?
CARTER: I say Boston. Any time you put a game seven in Boston, you got to give it to the Celtics. So I think the experience definitely gives the advantage to the Boston Celtics.
KAYE: All right. We'll watch it.
CARTER: But don't ever put your money on my opinion.
KAYE: Oh, I know better. I've learned over the years never to do that. Joe, thank you.
CARTER: You bet.
KAYE: Getting in on the ground floor, but picking the right floor may be a bigger challenge. But now there's a new company helping to make the internship experience a little easier.
Plus, meet a former Marine who has built an army of veterans. Their mission, helping others.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Good morning, Washington. What a great shot of the Capitol there. Looks like it's going to be a beautiful day as we kick off summer this Memorial Day weekend. Welcome back, everyone, to "CNN SATURDAY MORNING."
Paying your dues at the lowest level is how most of us started. But now there's a new company that can help you change the intern experience. Our entertainment correspondent Kareen Wynter takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OPRAH WINFREY: One thank-you can change the world.
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Oprah did it at a news station in Nashville. Tom Hanks did it at a theater festival in Cleveland. In fact, a long list of Hollywood heavyweights started their show biz careers the same way -- interning.
SHARA SENDEROFF, CEO, INTERN SUSHI: Internships are the new entry level jobs.
WYNTER: Like these famous former interns, Shara Senderoff got her start in the entertainment industry working for experience rather than a paycheck. Now at 27, she's the CEO and cofounder of Intern Sushi, a company she started to help others do the same.
SENDEROFF: No one really walks into a restaurant and says, I'll just eat anywhere, I'll eat anything. It's about being really selective. It's about focusing on how to break into industries, and allowing interns to feel like it doesn't matter where they are or where they're from or who they know.
WYNTER: Launched in November, the start-up tosses out the traditional paper resume and challenges students to sell themselves on video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Justin Howe (ph) and I hear you're looking for an intern.
WYNTER: While the site's basic services are free to both companies and interns, it does offer upgrades for a fee.
SENDEROFF: It's been really big. We now have over 2,000 companies on the site, and over 16,000 interns. We have hundreds and hundreds of videos, and we have over 4,000 applications exchanging hands. Being able to see the talent come to life on the screen is unbelievable.
WYNTER: Here at Intern Sushi, there are no limits to what young, educated and motivated kids will do just to stand out. And the videos, they range from creative to vulnerable, to downright hilarious. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm looking for an internship in the entertainment industry because I dream about being Superman. Or at least I would if Superman didn't fantasize about being me.
WYNTER: Less funny and more focused was Jessica Casey's video.
JESSICA CASEY, INTERN: I want to work more with story, work more with film development, television development.
WYNTER: Now she's doing just that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want to look at actresses from anywhere from 25 to 35 years old.
WYNTER: The video Jessica recorded at the University of Missouri handed her a coveted spot with the Mark Gordon Company, the Hollywood power player behind such hits as "Grey's Anatomy," "Army Wives" and "Private Practice."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I love about Intern Sushi is it levels the playing field. The idea that no matter who you are or where you are, you have the same opportunity that everyone else does.
CASEY: I was really interested in interning for the company, but I had no idea how to, like, go about applying for it. And then I heard about the site, went on there, and they really made it easy.
WYNTER: And for those concerned this could be a way for companies to cherry-pick beauty, or for those applicants who happen to be camera shy, Senderoff says this.
SENDEROFF: It has nothing to do with what you look like. It has nothing to do with anything but how you can tell your story. Or you can animate a video. You can do a voiceover. You can play music. You can show who you are and what you can do without sitting in front of the camera.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are many directions in which you can take.
WYNTER: According to Senderoff, Intern Sushi has already placed 500 interns into 11 creative industries, but the hope is to help countless more get their foot in the door and perhaps follow in the footsteps of some of Hollywood's greatest success stories.
Kareen Wynter, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: A former Marine finds a new purpose in life. The Iraq war veteran is bringing other military veterans together to help communities devastated by natural disasters. Meet today's "CNN Hero" next.
Plus, stopping bullies before they hurt your children. Just this past week, a 7-year-old boy, 7 years old, killed himself, and his mother said bullying was a factor. We'll tell you what warning signs to look out for and what you can do to keep your children safe.
But first, this Memorial Day weekend, the lakes will be full of boaters kicking off the summer season, but in Seattle a new kind of boat will be heating up the lake. Reynolds Wolf has much more in this "Start Small, Think Big."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: Seattle is surrounded by water, and this summer there's a new way to soak in the city's scenery. In a hot tub boat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Awesome.
WOLF: It's the brainchild of local marine carpenter Adam Karpenske, a member of Seattle's houseboat community.
ADAM KARPENSKE, HOT TUB BOATS: I live on a boat, an old wooden motor boat. We were cold. It was winter. And we wanted a hot tub. We can't really afford the space on our boat, so let's make a dinghy into a hot tub.
WOLF: Adam and his business partner, Kelly Norton, work on house boats, but when a lull in business hit, they kept moving forward. Working and designing the hot tub boat.
KELLY NORTON, HOT TUB BOATS: Hot tub boat is quite a bit different from a regular boat, in the sense that it is a very large tank of water on a boat, water weighing almost 4,000 pounds. We had to make the boat incredibly buoyant, as well as incredibly stable.
WOLF: Hot Tub Boats will officially launch this summer on Lake Union in Seattle. The idea has already gone viral with inquiries coming from all over the world. While it might seem like they're taking it easy, Adam and Kelly are hard at work trying to build on all the enthusiasm.
KARPENSKE: I want to see them in a lot of places. I want to see them renting in New York, London, Amsterdam, fun boating communities.
WOLF: Think sightseeing in a swimsuit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: On this Memorial Day weekend, we honor those dedicated men and women whose service ended with the ultimate sacrifice. But for those who returned, coming home can also be difficult. In today's "CNN Heroes," a former Marine who's made it his mission to help his brothers in arms find a new purpose by giving them a chance to continue to serve. Meet Jake Wood.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAKE WOOD, TEAM RUBICON: In the military, everyone is taught how to lead, they are taught how to follow, and to solve problems. We really pride ourselves on being ready and willing to go anywhere. I served in the Marine Corps, deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. When I first saw the earthquake that hit Haiti, a lot of the images felt like I had seen them before driving through the streets of Fallujah or Afghanistan. I realized I could actually help out. So I went on Facebook, I said I'm going to Haiti, who's in? 72 hours after that, we were on our way to Port-au-Prince.
So let's get our gauzes. Let's get out (inaudible).
We got to work setting up a triage clinic. We realized veterans are really useful in these types of situations.
I'm Jake Wood, and I want to help veterans transition to civilian life and help others in need.
Team Rubicon really started as a disaster relief organization, and then we realized that we could help the veteran community, as well. We bring these veterans together to be a part of a team once again. They are almost recharged.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you get out, you kind of have that feeling of what are you really doing that it's important in the world? Team Rubicon has just provided a great opportunity to just help people in need.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to put (ph) your foot back as far as (inaudible).
WOOD: Most of the work that we do internationally is emergency medical triage clinics. We've gone to Chile, Sudan, Pakistan. Here at home, we've been in Tuscaloosa, Joplin, doing debris clearing operations, search and rescue. We have about 1,400 volunteers, and about 80 percent of them are military veterans. Helping other people is part of the healing process.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't thank you all enough.
WOOD: There's really no limit to what veterans can do. We have the ability to help and we want to serve. I think it's a win-win situation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: And to find out how a fellow veteran's death shaped Jake's mission, you can go to CNNheroes.com.
Remember, "CNN Heroes" are all chosen from people you tell us about. So if you know someone like Jake Wood, who is out there making a difference, go to CNNheroes.com. Your nomination could help them help others.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back to "CNN SATURDAY MORNING." I'm Randi Kaye. "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" coming up in just about 30 minutes. Christine Romans joins us with a preview. CHRISTINE ROMANS, HOST, YOUR BOTTOM LINE: Hi, Randi. The haves versus the want-mores. It's at the heart of this presidential election. So will this election come down to the rich versus the middle class? We take a look at what both candidates are saying.
Plus, the Facebook debacle. An IPO imploding in just a week, but was it illegal? And did the retail investor ever stand a chance?
And on this Memorial Day weekend, we look at one company hiring veterans in a unique way. That's all coming up at 9:30 a.m. Eastern -- Randi.
