CBS “Early Show” anchor Maggie Rodriguez will get her first prime time hour tonight as host of “48 Hours Mystery” at 10pmET. The episode centers on the Caylee Anthony murder investigation and includes exclusive interviews with Casey Anthony’s defense attorneys.
“My husband and I religiously watch ’48 Hours’ every Saturday night, I love the program,” Rodriguez told TVNewser. “When I started covering the Casey Anthony story on ‘The Early Show,’ I developed a relationship with her parents. And when I heard ’48 Hours’ had an interest in pursuing the case, I thought it was a natural fit. And they agreed.”
When asked why there is such an obsession with this particular case, Rodriguez said, “Just look at that little girl’s picture. You fall in love with this child. It’s just incomprehensible that this child was murdered.”
The program gave Rodriguez the opportunity to dig deep into a single subject, which is a luxury she’s rarely afforded. “I enjoy ‘The Early Show’ because we do cover so much, but sometimes it can be frustrating to only have five minutes for an interview,” she said. “For this, we spent hours and hours on one interview, so I feel it gives everybody a comprehensive look at this case, which is one thing that I think has been missing in the reporting of it.”
According to Rodriguez, the CBS bosses were pleased with her work on the program. “Given that fact and given the fact that I enjoyed doing it so much, I think it will lead to other prime time opportunities.”