josh mankiewicz: right. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): tips were coming in. someone said they saw a white car speeding from the park the night of the shootings. that led nowhere, so chavez and his team focused on the crime scene. there was no murder weapon. they did find two spent .45-caliber casings. and near an observation deck, just 30 feet away from where mollie and kristene were discovered, police found an empty monster energy drink can and five cigarette butts. josh mankiewicz: and the girls didn't smoke. the girls did not smoke. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): chavez sent all that for dna testing. as for the duct tape used to cover the girl's eyes, chavez thought maybe that was itself a clue. sometimes that can suggest somebody who knows the victim, didn't want to see them. mm-hmm as far as you know, either of them have any enemies? no, that's what was so confusing. everyone loved them, you know? josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and that's probably why they were all so discreet when it came to kristene and mollie. now, as a murder investigation began, friends

josh mankiewicz: how were you dressed?n and just a little shirt, something that a college student would wear. were you armed? yes. and you were wearing a wire. yes. spring sendele (on recording): hi. are you chris? chris mcamis (on recording): uh, yes. spring sendele (on recording): hi, my name's nicole anderson. i'm from "fullerton college torch magazine." chris mcamis (on recording): ok. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): officer sendele was posing as a student reporter, complete with a phony press pass. she knocked on chris' front door. chris had talked to a student reporter from lynsie's college in the past about the case. josh mankiewicz: you use your real name? no, i used a fake name. i told him who i was. and-- spring sendele (on recording): well, we just received word at the torch magazine that remains have been found that they believe belong to lynsie. chris mcamis (on recording): uh-huh. spring sendele (on recording): so i guess they're doing dna testing right now. and in the meantime, i'm supposed to go contact friend

josh mankiewicz: no witnesses? anne crawley: no. josh mankiewicz: none of your neighbors? at that time. we have something on it. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): word of shannon's reported rape traveled quickly to durham, where detective sean pate and assistant da saacks were now preparing for her trial. they wondered if shannon was certain that the attacker was jermeir. i asked her, well, how did he know you were going to be walking a dog at 3 o'clock in the morning? and i guess he just stalked the house and saw his opportunity. so for 4 hours, he raped her. so if it was 3 o'clock, then when does the sun started to come up? 4 hours, you're looking at 7 o'clock. it would have been daylight then. yes, dog doesn't bark? anything like that. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): shannon said she was sure. and then added one more horrifying detail. jermeir had used a knife to rape her. it would take 10 days for the rape kit results to come back. so in the meantime, police of course questioned jermeir stroud. he insisted he was in greensboro that morning, nowhere near charlotte. when you go

josh mankiewicz: surprised? you shouldn't be.hollywood. neither are stories about beautiful women who turn out to be as tough as a five-dollar steak and the men who somehow find it in themselves to forgive them. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. [music playing] ♪♪ >>> good morning. and welcome to this saturday edition of

here is josh mankiewicz with twisted tale. >> i was asleep in bed. it was about 5:00 in the morning. >> frightening doesn't begin to describe what she went through. >> the next thing i knew, there was someone laying on top of me. >> she was the losing player and someone else's game of power and control. >> their hand was over my mouth. >> if you're wondering, there was no way to fight back. >> i must've been screaming. >> this woman doesn't want us to use her real name. we are calling her samantha and she sharing things she has told a few people. >> this was a man. >> a man. felt big and strong and i could not move. >> september 29, the sun was an up and in samantha my ski bedroom, masked intruder was holding her down. she had no idea who the man was or what he was planning. >> he said, this will take a couple of hours. i was i think in shock. >> the details of what happened to samantha are not only frightening but deeply strange. she has come forward because she believes her long night of terror may shed light on a different case in a different town

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): kristene still wonders how she escaped death and sometimes why. i do have survivor's guilt. i mean, hopefully, it'll go away in time. kristene will tell me, why was it me? why didn't she survive? and i told her, there's a reason she was still living and to be happy, and live on for mollie, because mollie didn't get that chance. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. . >>> okay. kamala harris could announce a running mate at any moment, and debate he already agreed to. james carville and reverend al sharpton are standing by to talk about all of it. >>> those in washington think shapiro is the odds to get on the ticket. how do voters fear about it? we'll talk about the veep stakes. >>> later i'll talk to michigan congresswoman elissa slotkin in one of the most closely watched races in the country. >>> okay. the first thing we should tell you today is that we're watching and waiting for any news at all about kamala harris's running mate. the vice president has been meeting with candidates one-on-one at he

josh mankiewicz: surprised? you shouldn't be. that trifecta of love, money, and murder isn't new to hollywood. neither are stories about beautiful women who turn out to be as tough as a five-dollar steak and the men who somehow find it in themselves to forgive them. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. [music playing] ♪♪ >>> good morning. and welcome to this saturday edition of "morning joe weekend." it was yet another busy week, so let's get right to some of the conversations you might have missed. >> amy, i think when you were here before in july, we were probably talking about joe biden. the trump people were talking about how they were going to win. they were measuring the curtains, et cetera, et cetera. i think then we could say it's only july. now, it's only august. but it's still early, again, quoting churchill or the 18th time. at least it's now sort of the end of the beginning. looking at numbers from swing states, what are you finding? >> yeah. you're right. this race has