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tv   Capital News Today  CSPAN  September 28, 2009 11:00pm-2:00am EDT

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roman outrage. the shocking arrest of legendary director roman polanski more than 30 years after pleading guilt to having sex with a minor. why each polanski's victim is saying leave roman alone. tonight "showbiz tonight" with the great debate. was the arrest just plain wrong? tonight the disturbing michael jackson tapes. brand-new revelations on nbc's dateline about how jackson said
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his father would beat him and how he would fantasize his father would just drop dead. >> we said janet, close your eyes. i said picture joseph in a coffin. he's dead. >> simon and paula reuniting? the reported $100 million deal in the works. the most provocative news show starts now. hello, everyone. roman outrage. there was an explosive reaction for the startling arrest in switzerland of legendary director roman polanski 30 years after pleading guilt to having sex with a minor. the oscar-winning director sits in a swiss jail.
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there was international mystery and intrigue about why the decision was made to go after polanski now. from hollywood to washington, from france to switzerland, the arrest of polanski made for big news. legendary director roman polanski who brought rosemary's baby, chinatown and the film the pianist is dealing with yet another very real personal drama. one that has sparked an explosive international incident. more than 30 years after the case that led him to flee to europe, the 76-year-old was blindsided over the weekend in switzerland. he was arrested on charges stemming from the decades old case in which polanski admitted to having sex with a minor. polanski walked into a police trap at the zurich airport over the weekend where she was supposed to receive an award from a film festival. instead he was arrest and thrown in jail.
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now he may be forced to return to los angeles for the first time since the case made international headlines. tonight polanski said he will fight extradition back to the u.s. that's what his lawyer said this morning on "good morning america." >> he wants to struggle and i think it would be possible for us to obtain his freedom. >> "showbiz tonight" is in zurich tonight as the controversy and outrage continue. cnn's own morgan neal said this could be one long battle with the u.s. >> here at the film festival the reaction has been overwhelmingly pro roman polanski. they are trying to fight the extradition request. one of the things they will be hoping for is some kind of bail. they hope to see him with a bail, but he would return for judgment. we heard from a swiss legal expert here who said he thinks
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that could very well happen. >> polanski has been runing from the u.s. since 1978 after pleading guilt to having sex with then 13-year-old samantha gayly. he admitted to giving her quaaludes and champagne and served 42 days in jail. he struck a plea bargain and fled to the u.s. after the judge planned to sentence him to more jail time than agreed upon. he told diane sawyer in 1994 that it took a long time to really understand what he had done. >> i think at that time i had a hard time to persuade myself that it was wrong. i didn't think anybody was hurt at that time. later on i realized i was too close to the forest to see the trees. >> the victim is now 45 and said she forgives polanski. she wants to see the case
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dismissed and told cnn's larry king she doesn't want him to serve any more jail time. >> you didn't think he deserved more time in jail? >> no and the publicity was so traumatic and so horrible that his punishment was secondary to just getting this whole thing to stop. >> "showbiz tonight" can tell you that prosecutors consider him a convicted felon and fugitive and want justice served. >> it's not consensual sex when he was 13 and he was 40. >> the ladies of "the view" had a debate over whether he deserved to be arrested. >> take responsibility for the fact that you knew. take responsibility for the fact that you fled the country. >> "showbiz tonight" can tell you, most of europe is outraged at the arrest. france is so mad their culture minster lashed out at the united
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states. >> in the same way that there is a generous america that we like, there is also a scary america that has just shown its face. >> both france and poland appealed to none other than u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton, demanding polanski's release. the state department said this is pretty much california's deal. >> the role of the department of state will be to review the request. >> no one can know the out come of this arrest, but this is a dramatic chapter in the life of one of the world's most controversial directors. so, was it really necessary to arrest roman polanski? with us tonight in new york is a senior editor for "in touch weekly" and in hollywood, carlos diaz who is a correspondent for extra. a lot of things we have to keep in mind about what happened to
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polanski through the years. in '77 he reached a plea deal. earlier this year an l.a. superior court judge acknowledged there were problems with the case being handled. as for the victim, she said she thinks this case should be closed. given all that, should he still have been arrested or is it finally time to let it go? >> that's the hard question. i think my feelings are so conflicted that i don't know how to answer that. we are looking at the victim that said she doesn't want to be dragged through the mud and the public outcry of everyone she is hearing. the guy did flee and he is a fugitive, but why after 30 years and why the set up sting? he used to vacation in switzerland three months at a time. why until this point and why is the state pursuing this so vehemently. >> totally cat and mouse and
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there is questions about the timing. the victim you were talking about, she couldn't have been clearer about how she feels than when she spoke to larry king in 2003. take a look at this. >> i never asked for him to be put in jail. >> your father was happy with it? >> i don't know about that. >> you didn't think he deserved more time in jail? >> no and the publicity was so traumatic and so horrible that his punishment was secondary to just getting this whole thing to stop. it was crazy. people outside my house and it was horrible. >> carlos, you heard his victim there. was this arrest really necessary or is it time to move on? >> it's tough for a man to answer that question because if i say they should let him go, i sound insensitive to the 13-year-old girl at the time. i watched that entire interview and she is very well spoken and
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very articulate when she said listen, it was a bad thing he did. i have forgiven him and i think we should move on. now they have him. there two scenarios. you let him go and the united states looks like we don't know what we are doing or we bring him in and all of france is mad at us. they have him now and that's where the conflict arises. >> he will fight tooth and nail on this. one person who thinks he deserves to go back to jail is joy ba har. it debuts at 9:00 p.m.ament her day job on "the view," joy said even though his victim forgave him, there was a crime committed. >> forgiveness is not permission and that doesn't mean he doesn't break the law. i believe no matter how old you are or how long the crime was committed, you should be punished for it.
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>> what about the people who said he did serve the time, the agreed upon time and did everything asked voluntarily and showed up for everything. there allegations and evidence that the judge in this case reneged on the plea deal and did communications and may have misbehaved. does that account for anything? >> that's the angle they will go with. there was a sign of misconduct and that's where he is standing saying look, i served the time in the institution and i was there for 42 days and went under evaluation and when i heard i had to show up back in court, that's the reason why he fled. i have to agree. if it's for the common man, the book would have been thrown at him a long time ago. that's why it's hard to handle. >> for they could have caught up with the common man. thanks for your thoughts on that. we want to hear from you about roman polanski. given that he did everything he was asked to do before he fled,
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roman polanski arrest said, should he be forgiven for having sex with a minor. vote or e-mail us. tonight, brand-new revelations from dateline and the chilling michael jackson tapes. i would say janet, close your eyes and i would say picture joseph in a coffin. he's dead. would you feel sorry. she would say no. >> talking about he and his sister would fantasize about their father dieing and disturbinging descriptionses of the alleged abuse that michael suffered. >> simon and paula reuniting? report that is a $100 million deal is in the works. >> simon's confessions about himself and sarah palin, listen up. wait until you hear what new hln star joy behar is saying about you. this is "showbiz tonight" on hln and now the showbiz news ticker
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and more stories in the newsroom making news right now.
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welcome back to "showbiz tonight." aj has the night off tonight. everybody here at hln is super excited about the debut of the joy behar show tuesday night on hln. he asked her what we can expect from her new show. take a look. >> we will have an interview with someone, on one like you are doing and a panel of people talking about issues of the day. different kinds of people going in and weighing in on topics. republicans, democrats and people on all sides of the issue. another guest and i have been doing rans every day on something. >> it's going to be entertainment and politics and a little bit of everything.
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>> it's a talk show. the morning talk shows on sunday fascinate me like "meet the press." i like the panels. john king has them on cnn. i love those shows. we will do a lot of that with pop culture like you do and politics. a potpourri. >> a different feel from what you do on "the view." what about doing this show excites you the most? it's a chance i see it for you to sink your teeth into something different. >> really, i think it is. it's going to be like every segment will have more to talk about than i can on "the view." "the view" has five people trying to talk at one time and it's difficult to get through every subject. it's entertaining in its own right, but sometimes i leave and think i have more to say or hear someone else talk more about this. this show will provide that. >> you get to start a point and finish it. that gets missed out sometimes
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in the morning. >> right. >> i'm sure you have a wish list of guests and i believe you said you would love to have sarah palin on your show. she would be a terrific guest. what in particular, what would you love to ask sarah palin? >> there things to ask her about the outrageous statements she has made. what is she talking about? one of the first things is no one has gone there with her on katie couric when she said what do you read and she couldn't give an answer. she is not stupid. why couldn't she come up with the moose gazette or the daily news or "new york times" or time magazine or news week. she couldn't think of thing to say? did she have a seizure at that moment or what? i have serious questions too. she doesn't believe in choice for women even in the case of rape and incest. that's abusive to women to say that. that's why a lot of women turned
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on her who were welcoming other women in the game. you say things like that and this woman would not protect me if something happened to me. that's a serious issue. >> being able to challenge her and saying how is that not narrow minded. >> exactly. >> we are looking forward to hearing you talk. welcome and congratulations. >> thank you, a.j. >> finally at hln and we couldn't be happier. >> thank you very much. >> we are really looking forward to her show and joy confirmed on "the view" today she is a huge guest for her first show, bet midler. tuesday at 9:00 p.m. on hln. the showbiz on call phone lines have had people call being mackenzie phillips the minute she said she had a sexual affair with her father over a 10-year period. we got a call from lucinda in tennessee. she said she should be praised for coming forward with such a painful secret.
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>> caller: i think she is incredibly brave. the healing process has begun for her and her family. i wish all people who have been molested as a child would come forward and begin to heal. >> thank you, lucinda. we heard from robin calling in from tennessee. >> caller: i keep hearing the word uncomfortable thrown around in regard to mackenzie phillips and it's making people uncomfortable for her to come out with this. i'm sure she was very uncomfortable when it was happening as well. has anyone thought about that? i applaud her for coming forward, good for you, mackenzie and maybe you will had been other girls in the same situation. >> thank you, robin. you can call us and let us know what you think about this or anything else. showbiz on call phone lines are always open. 888-sbt-buzz. leave us a voice mail and we'll
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play your calls and your calls on line are also available on our home page. cnn.com/showbiztonight. >> a scary explosion in a massachusetts town connected to tom cruise. holy cow. why do people see a fireball in the sky and what the heck does tom cruise have to do with a massive explosion. a different explosion on snl. an f-bomb live on tv. i will tell you who dropped it. wait until you see her face when she realizes what she had done. chilling moments from the michael jackson tapes revealed on dateline. >> my father would walk in the room and god knows i'm telling the truth. i've fainted in his presence many times. >> describing in detail his father's alleged abuse and how
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he used to fantasize about his dad dying. now more stories from the "showbiz tonight" newsroom making news right now.
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welcome back to "showbiz tonight." a.j. hammer has the night of a. did you see this? an f-on snl. talk about a rookie mistake. new cast member jenny slate had the memorable debut in a skit called biker chit-chat. she accidentally dropped an f-bomb. check it out. >> what did do you this weekend? >> fricking drank beer and made jean shorts. >> i love you. >> are you fricking kidding me? my fricking best friend donna. >> get off my fricking back. i was trying to make an atmosphere.
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>> then go into a fricking candle store and get a fricking bay berry candle. >> you know what, you fricking through an ash tray at my head. you stood up and i [ bleep ] love you for that. >> did you see her face when she realized what she did? >> i. [ bleep ] love you for that. >> poor jenny. the west coast was spared the f-bomb. they replaced it with the word "fricking." >> a giant shooting fireball. 200 foot tall mushroom cloud in the name of movie magic. that is an elaborate scene simulating a plane crash for a movie starring tom cruise and
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cameron diaz called wichita. a local fire department and safety pros stayed up all night to make sure they can pull it off. our facebook page is overrun with comments about mackenzie phillips' incest claims. she said she and her father had sex over 10 years. candace writes addicts are known for elaborate story telling whether true or not. her time suggest questionable. tammy writes people should leave her alone. if you haven't done in the situation, you haven't got a clue as to what she went through. i want to hear from ow facebook. follow us on twitter for breaking news and alerts, sign up for our pages at cnn.com/showbiztonight. now the lineup. here's what's coming up at the bottom of the hour. are simon and paula reunite something reports of a $100 million deal in the works. disturbing revelations from the
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michael jackson tapes. michael in his own words describing his father's abuse. rage after a cell phone rings in a broadway performance. why anyone will be applauding his response. now more stories making headlines right now. we placed leah's sofa in this glass box...
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pick up pet hair. that's the beauty... of the pledge fabric sweeper. you'll find it where you find pledge. s.c. johnson, a family company. now on "showbiz tonight," disturbing brand-new michael jackson tapes, michael's fantasies about his dad dropping dead. >> we would say janet, shut your eyes. she would say they're shut. i said picture joseph in a k coffin and he's dead. >> raw confessions. the tough as nails idol judge opens up about his personal demons. hugh jackman's cell phone theory. >> all the time -- you want to
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get that? >> the video we uncovered today that will make you stand up and cheer. more stories breaking from the "showbiz news ticker." tv's most provocative entertainment news show continues right now. welcome back to "showbiz tonight." it's 30 minutes past the hour. a.j. hammer has the night off. brand-new revelations from the disturbing and chilling michael jackson tapes on dateline. and now, there brand-new devastating stories of jackson talking about his father from beatings to wishing his father was dead. here is the big news breaking tonight. jackson is heard on the tape saying he hated his father for beating him. for the first time, jackson admits he pictured his father
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dead in a coffin. he reveals his fear of his father even after he was a worldwide superstar. he said he would throw up seeing his dad. jackson n his own words on why he thinks he was treated like a freak by the media. he said it was racism. joining me in new york is jane velez mitchell from issues which you can catch every night here on hln and the kauthor of the new book, "i want." from over consumption to a simpler and honest life. joining me in hollywood is carlos diaz who is a correspondent from extra. the tape we heard were from 30 hour of interviews that jack taped from his spiritual advisor from 1999 through 2001. he is heard in graphic detail claiming that his father had a ritual of abuse. he hated his father and would even imagine his father dead.
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take a listen. >> he was rough. the way he would beat you was, you know, was hard. you know? sometimes you take -- he would make you strip nude first and he would oil you down like a ritual. he would oil you down so when the flip of the ironing cord hit you, you know, and it would just like be dying and you had whipping all over your face and back. >> we would say to our mother, janet and myself would say, janet, shut your eyes. i would say picture joseph in a coffin and he's dead. would you feel sorry? she would say no. we would play games like that. she'd go nope. that's how hateful we were. >> michael jackson saying he picture his father dead because of the abuse. does this surprise you at all? >> some of new details are
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shocking. the idea that anyone would oil a little boy's body so when you whip them it's more painful, that is true sadism. overall we have known for a long time and michael jackson has spoken on camera about this in the past about the horrific beatings that left him nauseous and terrified of his father. in 2003 joe jackson admitted that i didn't beat him, but i whipped him with a belt and a stick as if there was a difference between beating them and whipping them with a belt and a stick. this is horrific stuff and a cautionary tale, hopefully all parents have moved beyond this sick discipline. >> seems like joe jackson may not know what it means to beat a child. he was the ultimate showman and the powerful performer who commandeded stage with the moon walk. does it absolutely boggle your mind when you hear how someone seen as so powerful could be so hurt and vulnerable?
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>> i'm not psychiatrist, but it's the classic trying to please your parents. parents that can never be pleased. at least his father, joe. people talk about the moon walk performance at the motown awards, he cried after that performance because it wasn't up to what would be his father's expectations. here's a guy in michael jackson that was trying to please joe jackson, a man that was impossible to please. that kept driving michael jackson over and over. i was as horrified when i heard the oil me down story for beatings. that is premeditated. >> it's not reactionary. you're right. >> that is premeditated. >> it's sick to think how that could have played out. it's not like we heard he had problems with his father, but not in this detail.
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he was about 42 years old when he recorded these confessions with the rabbi. listen to how he felt as an adult when joe jackson walked into the room. he said it made him physically ill. >> i'm scared of my father to this day. my father would walk in the room and god knows i'm telling you the truth, i fainted in his presence many times. i'll say once to be honest. i fainted once. i have thrown up in his presence because when he comes in the room, this aura comes and my stomach hurts. i know i'm in trouble. one thing he said, why are you scared of me and i couldn't answer. i thought joseph do you know what you've done? do you know what you've done to me? >> will anyone who heard jackson be able to look at joe jackson the same way? >> i don't think so.
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he certainly hasn't behaved very well in the wake of his son's death. we all remember how he went on the red carpet and started promoting his new record album when people were asking about his son's death which was completely creepy. this is one of the reasons why when katherine was fighting for custody of the jackson children, she had to get him to promise i will not live at the family compound and have nothing to do with raising the children. that's how toxic this guy is. >> his abusive past haunted him, but so did the tabloids. accounts on his lifestyle and one of the tapes that aired on dateline, michael blamed racism for the white press turned on him and turned him into a freak. >> you had fell fonty and sammy and nat king coal. people had their music. i was the first 1 to break the ice. break the mold. white girls, scottish girls.
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i'm in love with you. and that gave a lot of the white press, they didn't like that. that's why they started the stories. he's weird, he's gay. he sleeps in a hyper bearic chamber and they tried to say it. >> what do you make of this experience theory? >> agree with him breaking boundaries. he introduced african-american videos to mtv. there were no african-american videos before michael jackson so he did break the mold there and he was one of the first artists that he said white girls thought he was attractive and white girls said they wouldn't mind dating the guy. he's a uniquely eccentric individual and i think that fuelled it, not because he was black. >> thanks so much to both of you. tonight also the startling hugh
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jackman smack down and he goes nuts on a guy whose cell phone rings in the middle of his show. >> i cannot see his face. all the time his face. you want to get that? >> if you have been annoyed by i cell phone call, you will love this video. simon cowell's raw confessions and the tough as nails judge opened up about his personal demons. joy's angry words about elton john not being allowed to adopt a baby because he's gay. >> he may be gay, but he happens to be a celebrated humanitarian and knighted by the queen of england. some people think he is the queen of england. >> joy behar kicks off her show and she is igniting a firestorm. oh, boy. oh, joy. this is "showbiz tonight" on hln and now the "showbiz news ticker" with more stories from
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the "showbiz tonight" newsroom making news right now.
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welcome back to "showbiz tonight." a.j. hammer has the night off. we are on the verge of seeing a reunion. are we really? simon and paula? there is big news breaking. a new report that simon cowell is signing a $100 million deal that will cover his "american idol" contract and bring his show the x factor to the u.s. it may include a new partnership with paula. also brand-new, hugh jackman's cell phone theory. a cell phone went off after he was sharing a stage with james bond star, daniel craig. a senior editor for "in touch weekly" and in hollywood, the managing editor for "access hollywood".com. let's get to the report in london that simon cowell is doing that $100 million deal to
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bring the x factor to the united states and ms. adbul is in the running for a judge. do you think that would be a smart move for paula and actually for simon? >> definitely. it doesn't get much better. think of the publicity of simon and paula back together. it's a perfect combination and everybody knows that behind the scenes, she fond of paula. if anything, it would get them the publicity they need. >> since paula was replaced by ellen, he barely commented on. do you think it's because he is secretly working away behind the scenes? >> i think that's likely. like carolina said, they are close friends and i think it's likely that the x factor will be on u.s. sets in 2010 and simon has a lot to gain from bringing that show over here. >> he's also celebrating the big
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50th birthday and just posted an amazing and lengthy open letter to his younger self in lont on's daily mail. to himself, "you never married, but you have no regrets about that. family life would be a problem now. you almost never stop working or thinking about work. in los angeles, you like to sit out by the pool at night, have a beer and a cigarette and think and think and think. sometimes when friends are over, you want to ask them to leave. you get hit by black moods and you want to be alone. stuff like that is difficult when you have a wife and kids." i'll say. how about that. moody guy. are you surprised. >> not at all, but it gives us a look at who he is. this letter to his younger self, it gives awe look at a guy who
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is this cold black heart and made him more approachable in my opinion. >> i was surprised he did it at all. i have never seen him to be into writing about himself. i want to move on to hugh jackman. during his broadway play, he and daniel craig were rudely interrupted by a ringing cell phone in the audience. the best part is how they handled it. take a look at this. >> i cannot see his face. all the time his face -- you want to get that? you want to get it, grab it. i don't care. grab your phone. it doesn't matter. come on. just turn it off.
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you have a better story, get up here and tell a story. [ applause ] you can get that? whoever that is, can you get it. we can wait. just get the phone. don't be embarrassed. just grab your phone. you got it? good. great. daniel took it hard. >> i can't imagine being that person. it kept ringing because the person didn't want to admit it was his or her phone.
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anyone who has been annoyed by a rude cell phone is about to stand up and cheer, right on, guys. >> like all the people in that theater did. of all the plays to have your cell phone ring at, the with wolverine and 007. you are out of luck. >> i never know whether they are supposed to get out of character and have fun, but i have seen him do this before. i was in an audience when he was on stage. he did the same thing. people walked in late and he played it into part of the show. you have to wonder, carolina, i think that's endearing. it makes you the character and makes you like the actor. >> absolutely. they get paid the big bucks. who is the jackass that goes into a broadway play and doesn't turn off their cell phones. this is a lesson for us all. respect the actors up there. do the right thing. turn it on silent. you are not that important. you don't need to get phone calls that are that urgent. >> i'm with you, but imagine how
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embarrassing it was if it was an accident. they thought they turned it off. if it were you, you are sitting there with the phone ringing in a dark theater and two actors looking, would you pretend it wasn't yours or would you play along? >> you have to fess up and take the hit and move on. personally, it never would be me. it's hard for me to put myself in the situation, but if you don't admit to it, you should be taken out and never allowed back in. >> there is a blinking red light that won't allow you back in. appreciate it. joy behar's elton john controversy and angry over him being rejected as an adoptive parent for being gay. >> he may be gay, but is a celebrated humanitarian and is excited by the queen of england. some think he is the queen of england.
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>> listen to her unleash her fury. s it "showbiz tonight" on hln. now more stories making news right now. now more stories making news right now. hollywood hol's a list, and the songbird is unrecognizable in "precious" mariah reveals what the director did, everything he could to make her look ugly. mariah makes up a brand new word to describe it. >> really lee went all out. he wasn't like i want you to be plain jane or whatever heft was like you are going to have basically anything that he considered ugly was what he did
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to me. like dark circles and overheadlighting and just look really bad, like hideous, hideocity. >> she plays a social worker and doesn't sing a note. she calls it a blessing. >> everything in the universe is what it should be and comes back few you. i feel grateful. i feel this is a great chance for me to escape from the image of whatever it is that i do. >> precious opens in november.
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welcome back. i'm ashleigh banfield. aj has the night off the we are not going to be sleep, we are excited about the joy behar show, tuesday night, 9:00 p.m. eastern, here on hln. very nice it. the tell it like it is is dishing like joy can. don't believe me, well tonight in her moment of joy, she is totally ticked off about elton john's controversial adoption drama.
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>> so, i hear the ukraine has turned down elton john's request to adopt a 14-month-old ukrainian boy named lev. okay who is in charge there? who is in charge there? victor ushenko. i think i dated him. listen, victor are you saying elton john is too old or too gay? uh-huh. he may be gay, but he also happens to be a celebrated humanitarian and has been knighted by the queen of england, in fact some people think he is the queen of england. this baby, this poor baby is unwanted, hiv positive and stuck in some depressing orphanage that makes another look like the presidential suite at the waldorf with no prospect to move up. where is he going to go? here is the chance to be taken in by two loving, fabulously rich parents who will give him the best health care in the universe, and dress him in
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versace and cashmere the now sir elton will move on and find a more tolerant country willing to let him be a dad. meb while lev will likely grow up in foster homes, turn into a bitter vodka swiling drunk and one day return to the orphanage and say you [ bleep ] i'm living in a dumpster when i could have had front row seats at the garden for the rest of my life and hung out with sting and elizabeth hurley and that's a sad story. but maybe that is just me. >> joy, we would not have you an other way. i have more exciting news. joy's very first guest is the legendary bette midler. tune in tuesday night. 9:00 p.m. here on hln. that's "showbiz tonight."
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coming up next on "issues," mystery in malibu. missing woman. she was at a fancy restaurant over looking the pacific ocean, when she didn't have the $90 to pay her bill, allegedly, she ended up arrested and then about 1:30 in the morning, she's released. go home. she doesn't have a car because they impounded it. walks off into the night, 24-year-old woman by herself, never seen or heard from again. there were unconfirmed sightings. but we don't know where she is right now. we have got to find out. her family is furious. we're going to dive deep into this issue tonight on "issues" and we're going to talk about a really horrific case.
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this woman dead -- simply trying to hail a cab after coming from a wedding, mowed over by a drunk driver who happens to be an off-duty cop. we'll talk about it on "issues."
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tonight, a bizarre disappearance in malibu. a young woman vanished just minutes after leaving a police station. the l.a. times says this part-time teacher and executive assistant was taken in by police after she claimed to be from mars and was going to avenge michael jackson's death, despite all this obvious crazy behavior, cops released her with no car, no phone and no purse. now she's missing in malibu and her family's pointing the finger at police. but is there another side to this story? you won't believe what some people are saying. and boozed up and behind the wheel.
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an off duty nypd cop is accused of killing a pedestrian while driving drunk. this poor woman was just trying to hail a cab on the way home from a wedding. the "new york post" reports the cop had been drinking for more than two hours and his passenger and fellow cop allegedly fled the scene. while this woman was bleeding to death. some wonder how could cops allegedly be involved in something like this? tonight's big issue, alcoholism doesn't recognize a uniform. plus, explosive new details in the john travolta extortion trial. "people" magazine reports that the alleged extortionist tried to set fire to the key piece of evidence and flush the ashes down the toilet. meantime, we're learning more shockers about the secret video of the alleged extortion. you won't believe this. one of the accused claims he wanted millions of dollars so he could play robin hood and give the money to the poor. "issues" starts now. tonight, missing in malibu.
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what happened to mitrice richardson, the young woman walked out of a police station after a bizarre evening in one of the most exclusive areas in all america and indeed, the world, then she simply vanished into thin air. her family claims los angeles police did not do their job. why, oh, why did they let a 24-year-old woman walk out of a sheriff's substation alone at 1:30 in the morning on september 17th with no car, they impounded it, no purse, and no cell phone, in an area where there is little, if any, public transportation. >> i'm upset. but i'm going to keep a level head because i've been asked to, but i don't expect for these people to move because they haven't. >> richardson had been arrested at a swanky restaurant in malibu earlier that night. a manager had called police when
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she couldn't pay her $90 bill. that's what all this is about? her mom says her daughter would never walk out on a bill, especially since she's got two grand in the bank. >> i just specifically told the deputy this is uncharacteristic of my daughter. my daughter does not go places and not pay a tab. i continuously reiterated, something is wrong with my daughter. >> cops say they found a small amount of pot in richardson's car and they booked her for possession, and for allegedly not paying the check. too bad she wasn't a celebrity. we've all heard stories about stars racking up huge, massive bills and assuming they don't have to pay. police say they offered to let this woman sleep in the station's lobby but she refused. a short time later, she walked out of the station house alone and has not been heard from since. i want to hear from you at home, however. what do you think about all this? first, straight out to my
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outstanding expert panel. clinical psychiatrist, dr. dale archer. curtis sliwa, founder of the guardian angels. and we are delighted to have the attorney for mitrice's family and wabc talk radio host and my buddy from back in l.a., leo terrell. first, "los angeles times" reporter carla hall. carla, you have been tracking this case from the beginning. what is the very latest? >> well, the very latest is that she's still missing. they covered 60 to 80 square miles of malibu on saturday in a search that took them through the air and on ground, with dogs, with bloodhounds, with horses, and they couldn't find her. so they still don't know where she is. they are still sifting through clues and sightings. there was a sighting yesterday that she was in manhattan beach, but that's completely unconfirmed. there was a sighting that she was seen at a west hollywood
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restaurant last monday, and lapd are trying to get footage, camera footage, from the restaurant to see if maybe she does show up on that. >> yeah. this is just crazy. curtis sliwa, i got to say, this is all over an $89.97 bill and on top of that, according to the wire copy i read, this woman called her great grandmother and said hey, give them your card and they wouldn't take her card because she didn't have a fax machine, this is according to published reports, to fax her signature so they wouldn't take the great-grandmother's card for $89.97. instead, this woman is arrested and this is malibu, where you know the celebrities, boy, curtis, you know they rack up these huge bills with alcohol, they just march out, not of this restaurant necessarily but all over the place. >> always. and you know, they say on the cuff, don't you know who i am. oh, please. you're not going to burden me with a bill, who do you think i am. but also, this woman was showing
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that she was in disarray. she was acting like she was talking to martians. you could see that mentally she was impaired. you would have thought the maitre' d or whoever was in charge would say let's take the credit card number and hope for the best and let's just get her out of here. that's generally what you do. >> yeah. >> jane, i actually talked to the restaurant owner and they have a slightly different take on that. they say that they were concerned about her, they say that as the evening went on, and it was clear she couldn't pay, the question was less about the money that she couldn't produce and more about her safety. this is what they say, that they were actually concerned that she was in no state of mind to be driving and they believed that calling the sheriff's deputies would actually be the safer thing for her. at least -- >> you know what -- >> that's what they say. >> let's let leo terrell jump in. he is the attorney for the
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family of this missing woman. leo? >> jane, everybody's rewriting history. joffrey's rewriting history because they didn't expect this to happen and the l.a. sheriff's department who let this lady leave the jail after 12:00 at night after they were informed the mother said she was going to come pick them up. i'm telling you right now the reason why this woman is lost is because of the incompetence of l.a. county sheriff's department. if her name was lohan or spears, they never let her walk out of that sheriff's department without car, without a cell phone, without any form of communication. jane, she lives 60 miles away and they could have held her because of her mental impairment, they could have put a 5150 hold on her. they failed to take this action. they are responsible why she is currently missing. >> absolutely. i agree with you. the celebrities, you know what happens, dr. dale archer, in malibu. we had the high speed chase with, who was it, lindsay lohan, high speed chase down pch where they were pulling wheelies and it ended up they drove right
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into the santa monica police station. >> yeah. >> and you know, she wasn't let go in some godforsaken forest at 1:30 in the morning. >> jane, what the -- >> i think that what concerns me is actually what took place, because when you hear her family talk, they say this is so out of character for her, she would never do anything like that. and she looked disheveled and she was obviously impaired. so then the question is, what exactly was going on. >> all right. let me get to that right now. the restaurant manager said mitrice richardson was acting off the wall, possibly intoxicated. they claim that she said she was from mars and was speaking gibberish. her cousin said she took one look at her cousin's mug shot, maybe we can show it to you in a little bit -- there it is -- that's not the mug shots. i think the mug shot's on the left. but she knew, there it is. take a look at her eyes right there. she knew something was very wrong. listen to this. >> we don't know the person that's in that booking report. something happened. what?
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that's why we're here today. what and where is she? we want her home. >> okay. police tell a very different story about richardson's behavior that night. they say she was lucid and passed a field sobriety test at the restaurant. so leo terrell, you're the attorney for the family. i don't get it. one minute she's acting crazy, talking gibberish, saying she's there to avenge michael jackson's death and the next minute the police arrived and she's fine and dandy? >> again, they're rewriting history. >> who? >> because -- the l.a. county sheriff's department. we cannot believe anything that comes out of the press spokesperson's mouth. he's not a lawyer. he's not a police officer. he's trying to spin this. they arrested her and jane, the reasons that they arrested her were the same reasons why they should have kept her there instead of letting her leave at 1:30 in the morning. it's outrageous because she had no means of finding her way back home. this is why -- >> let me just say this.
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lou polombo, in defense of law enforcement, they claim they said to her you can wait in the lobby if you want, you can sleep here in the lobby and she said no, i'm going to leave. >> yeah, i understand that element of this, but i do have to say that once this young lady made a decision to leave the facility in calabassas, which i am familiar with myself, that the police probably should have facilitated a safe passage for her home. i think there was a lapse in judgment. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> okay. >> there's a little bit of gray area here, though, jane. this young lady's 24 years old. she was released after probably being issued what they call a desk appearance ticket, and for whatever reason, the police i think maybe misassessed her condition or her state. i would have contacted a parent and guardian but i will tell you this, being a father myself, if these were circumstances i was living with, i would be furious right now. >> absolutely. you know what, here's the other thing. why did they impound her car? i mean, if the cops determine that she was lucid and fine,
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then why did they impound her car for a small amount of marijuana? is that what it's come to in this country, where a small amount of marijuana, they take away your car and you walk away in the middle of the night and you disappear, nobody ever sees you again? i mean, that's crazy. that's why i'm in favor of the legalization of marijuana, because all over california, people are eating medicinal marijuana we all know that, anybody who's been to california. so it's absurd. it's totally crazy and this woman is missing as a result. but there could be another aspect and that is what law enforcement sources are insinuating about her sexual orientation. we'll discuss that when we come right back. what do you think about this mysterious missing in malibu case? we're taking your calls. 1-877-586-7297. coming up, will a secret videotape clear john travolta's name in his son's death? we'll examine shocking new details. then a missing girl's dad begs for her safe return. >> you can never do no wrong in
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my eyes so if you had a meltdown, come holler at me, we can always sit down and talk about it.
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joffrey's will not give me a tape. they will not give me a tape. nobody will give me a report. nobody's doing nothing. >> that was mitrice richardson's father. he is livid, furious over how his missing daughter's case is being investigated. we're not hearing unconfirmed reports from law enforcement sources claiming that mitrice could be having problems with her family over her sexual orientation and doesn't want to be found. again, we are not able to confirm those reports. we reached out to mitrice's parents but haven't heard back. however, if that is the case, and i'm saying if, it wouldn't be the first time. it's a scenario that happens every single day. studies show in fact 50% of young gays and lesbians say their parents rejected them because of their homosexuality. 26% said they have to leave home because of it. leo terrell, you are the attorney for the richardson family. again, these are unconfirmed reports but they are coming from law enforcement sources.
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what is your take on their -- >> i'll tell you right now. it makes me furious. there is a loving relationship between mitrice richardson and her family, and this is a classic example of law enforcement trying to divert the attention away from their incompetence because these stories have no bearing as to why the los angeles county sheriff's department allowed this young lady, straight a student, to leave without any form of getting home. so it's a false statement about any type of split or animosity between the mother and father and their daughter. they love their daughter and the daughter loves them as well. >> curtis sliwa, this seems very bizarre to me, and if in fact there is no rift between the family and this young woman who's missing, it seems odd that that story would be floated. something's fishy in denmark here or malibu, as it were. >> oh, no doubt. but i would prefer to focus on what the police officer called the desk appearance ticket. jane, i have received many of those in my time.
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i have been arrested 76 times so i know all about going through this -- >> congratulations. >> well, always because at that time, they didn't like the guardian angels so they would harass me. when they give you a desk appearance ticket, it means it's not considered a very serious matter. they call it a disappearance ticket. they don't assume the person is going to disappear, but she is an adult and once they release her, they don't necessarily have the responsibility to force her to stay -- >> but they took her car, curtis. >> they took her car. and she was mentally -- she had mental issues. she had mental issues. >> robin, robin, robin, robin bond? >> thank you. it's -- what is the duty that the organization had to this woman and was it unreasonable? did they have a reason to believe that she was a danger to herself or others? >> yes. >> it seems that they definitely did. so what would a reasonably prudent person do under those circumstances? would they call a cab for her? would they hold her until her parents arrived? would they monitor?
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would they put her in a police car and take her home? there are a lot of different varieties here and i think that's the real question. was there a duty that was breached here. >> carla hall. carla hall, hold on a second. carla hall, you have been reporting on this case. do the police, the law enforcement there, offer any explanation? how ironic it's called the lost hills station. that they didn't put her in a taxicab or they didn't just simply drive her home. what the heck are they doing at 1:30 in the morning that they're so busy they couldn't drive this young lady home? >> actually, they said they weren't busy that night. actually, they said they weren't busy that night. they said that there was a custody assistant who was essentially in charge of people in their cells and that woman became very friendly with mitrice and talked to her a lot, and when mitrice was finally released, the woman, it was a woman, said to mitrice would you like to just stay the night and stay in the cell, there's a bed,
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there's a bathroom, you're still free to go, but at least there's a place here where you can stay. >> i want to take issue with that, carla. >> that's okay. again, i'm not sure that this is what happened. i'm just telling you what the sheriff's department says. >> the custody assistant is the same lady who told mr. richardson quote, we don't run a babysitting operation here. and that shows you the state of mind of that department, because they didn't understand the magnitude of the issue involving mitrice. she had issues. >> what issues did she have, leo? >> she had mental issues which were demonstrated at joffrey's, demonstrated by her request to sit with strangers, about her coming from a different planet. >> jane -- >> those were the issues. >> jane, to protect against corporate liability here, you would really think that any organization would say well, you know, we are the ones who removed her from the street, not before we put her back on to the street, what are we looking at doing here in terms of our danger to protect and serve?
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>> hold on. i don't understand something. lou, richardson is not a criminal. she's a cal state fullerton graduate, she passed the test to be a substitute teacher. she works as an executive assistant for a freight company. she lives with her great-grandmother who says she's responsible and does volunteer work. how can she be loony-tunes at the same time. >> no one understands the circumstances that went on in joffrey's. for all we know, this young lady may have ingested a controlled substance, unbeknownst to her. just to put it out there. the whole issue focuses around the handling by the police department. may i finish, sir? one of the things that is disturbing is the fact that the lost hills sheriff's station is in a fairly rural area, and i would think -- >> of course it is. >> just as human beings, we would have taken a little more interest instead of just doing the boilerplate -- >> jane -- >> you know if she was a
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celebrity they wouldn't have let her walk out. if it was lindsay lohan, she wouldn't be walking out on the street. >> we're aware of the double standards here. >> it's called gross negligence. >> more on the missing woman in malibu in a moment. and a new york cop charged with drunken manslaughter, is his fellow cop buddy in trouble?
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we want our daughter found. we feel that there's not been enough efforts to locate her. all we want is our daughter home. >> that's mitrice richardson's mom, desperate for any news about her daughter. she left a sheriff's station near malibu september 17th, hasn't been seen or heard from since. why are we just finding out about this now? misty, oregon, your question or thought? >> caller: yes, i just have a comment. i don't think the police did anything wrong. it's not their job to babysit once an inmate's released. >> excuse me?
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>> caller: if they felt that she had a mental problem, they could get her on a 72 hour hold, couldn't they? >> yes. and they didn't do that. >> can i speak to that very quickly? this is not about the law. this is not about the law. >> wait, wait. this is what i don't understand, leo terrell. does she have a mental problem because her family sort of seems to be saying well wait, she's a responsible person, she's a college graduate, she's passed all these tests. what is it? >> jane, we're saying and it's the words of the innkeeper at joffrey's and the patrons. she was exhibiting bizarre behavior. those were red signs, those were flags that she exhibited. she sat with strangers, she's from another planet. she wasn't drunk, so there was something of a mental crisis. at the very least -- >> what's behind a mental crisis? i mean -- >> it was enough to justify not letting her -- let me finish. it was enough to justify not letting her walk out of there at 12:30 at night. >> jane -- >> put her on a watch commander hold. >> jane, there are a lot of things that would explain what was going on here. it could have been a small stroke. it could have been a brief
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reactive psychosis. it could have been drugs if the marijuana in the car was dusted with pcp. which we know -- >> she also could have been sarcastic. she could have been hassled about the check and said sarcastically, oh, yeah, i'm here to avenge michael jackson's death. >> it didn't sound to me based on talking to the people at joffrey's it was sarcastic. they truly thought something was wrong. not something hugely crazy about her, but there was something that was off. there was something disturbing about her. there was something going on with her psychologically. whether it was drug-induced or whether she had had some kind of episode. something was going on with her. >> right. >> jane, jane -- >> hold it. let me see the panel. >> i kind of wonder if when she got to the sheriff's station and she was there for several hours, you know, what they claim is that they have to release people in a certain time frame. >> not true.
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>> curtis sliwa was shaking his beret. go for it. curtis. curtis. you're not curtis, robin. there's a guy with a red beret over there. >> jane, i have been in lockup. most of the people in lockup have mental issues. or are stoned on alcohol or drugs. they get released all through the night, all through the day. depending on when the paperwork is processed. >> you're talking about manhattan. where you can grab a subway. >> no, no, no. >> robin bond, this is the country, i have been there, malibu, my gosh, you don't walk in california for a reason. >> that's right. it's not what a reasonably prudent person would do. you don't release somebody. >> hold on, hold on. i don't want to be accused of losing control of my panel. i'm going to give the last word to the shrink, dr. dale archer. ten seconds. >> i just think it's horrible they do a sobriety test and say okay, she's fine, she can go, when mental illness does not cause you to fail a sobriety test. >> all right. listen, we will stay on top of this. you're all invited back. we're not going to rest until
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this poor young woman is found. coming up, shock and disgust. a new york cop allegedly responsible for getting behind the wheel drunk and killing an incident woman. next.
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boozed up and behind the wheel. an off duty nypd cop accused of killing a pedestrian while driving drunk. this poor woman was just trying to hail a cab on the way home from a wedding. tonight's big issue, does booze recognize a uniform? plus, explosive new details in the john travolta extortion trial. "people" magazine reports the alleged extortionist tried to set fire to the key piece of evidence and flush the ashes down the toilet. a woman dies a horrifying death, apparently hit by a car driven by an off duty cop.
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so no, this was not just a traffic accident. nypd officer andrew kelly was allegedly drunk when he smashed his jeep into veonique valnor. >> the officers who responded to that accident, detected the smell of alcohol on the driver's breath. >> all right. cops say she was hailing a taxicab. hello, taxi, taxi, when he allegedly drove his suv right into her, flipping her body into the air. it gets worse. as she's lying in the street dying, the cops apparently have passengers in the car, they allegedly flee the scene and guess what? one of those passengers was also a police officer himself. the cop behind the wheel did stay and try to help his victim. the "new york post" reports he gave her cpr and got her breathing but she died at the hospital. her friends and family are
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understandably devastated. >> he took somebody's sister, you took somebody's daughter, you took somebody's sister or somebody's friend. you leave us with the hurt and pain. you leave us mourning. >> the victim was a pastor's daughter and reportedly, and ironically, a non-drinker herself. she was leaving a wedding at her church. officer andrew kelly has been charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated. it's infuriating that the person whose job it is to protect us from drunk drivers is allegedly wasted behind the wheel. but guess what? alcoholism does not discriminate. a uniform cannot protect you against having a problem with booze. straight out to my expert panel, criminal defense attorney, michael cardoza. curtis sliwa, founder of guardian angels and also joining us, dr. reef karim, addiction specialist and psychiatrist as
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well as former cop, lou polumbo. dr. karim, we have to start with you. what goes on when someone decides to get behind the wheel after hours of alleged drinking? >> obviously, they don't have a concern for their safety or other people's safety at that moment in time. what's tragic here is that police officers' job and many good police officers will tell you, serve and protect. serve and protect. alcohol does not help you serve and protect. alcohol messes up your reaction time, your impairment in regards to driving, memory, all sorts of other stuff. and you're impulsive. the fact that they would flee the scene shows the impulsivity. the big take home message here is -- alcohol does not discriminate and alcohol should be nowhere near anybody whose job is to serve and protect. >> and guess what, you can't say well, this one individual might have been in a blackout because there were other people in the car with him who could have said you shouldn't be driving.
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so that's another big problem. >> yeah. the accountability's not just on him. it's on everyone in the car. >> cops say when they found this fellow officer at the scene, he allegedly reeked of alcohol, was slurring his speech and had bloodshot eyes. a friend who witnessed the crash described the horrific scene. >> the car was coming and they're like veronica, come back across the street. i guess as she turned around, well, she tried to turn around, the car hit her on the right side. >> they said that the car hit her so hard that she almost hit the traffic light. >> now, michael cardoza, cops found alcoholic drinks in the car, they say, and here's the interesting part. the cop who was driving allegedly refused a breathalyzer at the scene so detectives had to get a subpoena in order to do a test on his blood alcohol level at the hospital but of course, it takes time to get a subpoena, and go to the hospital. during which time, your blood alcohol level drops. so -- >> well, that's not necessarily true. you could be on the way up, too. >> that's true.
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>> you start drinking, you're at 00 and then you go up and then you come down so you don't know which way it's going. but that's why the experts will be important here, jane. and keep in mind that pass, that's what we call it in california, the pre-alcohol screening, people don't have to take that one in the street. you have to take the one back at the station. police officers oftentimes forget to tell people when they stop them for a dui, they do not by law have to take the one in the street. >> yeah, but -- >> it may be the same in brooklyn. he had every right to refuse it. you can't criticize that. you can't. >> curtis sliwa, as a cop he knows how to play the game. he knows that he doesn't have to take that breathalyzer test at the scene, which a lot of other people don't because they do take the breathalyzer test and are determined to be drunk, and so it's possible that if time passes, your alcohol level can go down, because i've done stories on it. i've done stories on people who have hemmed and hawed and all of a sudden, they drop right below. it's interesting that we do not
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have anywhere in published reports today his blood alcohol level, which we usually would have the day after in a story like this. >> right, but jane, he had been binge drinking that day. he went to the gin mill near the precinct in brooklyn, then he went to a friend's house to watch the notre dame football game, continued to drink, then came back to the same bar, gin mill, the cop bar to drink, and you would have thought some of his colleagues, whether they were coming on duty, off duty, and saw him and said hey, kelly, yo, slow it down, man. you got a snout on you. you been drinking way too much. unfortunately, as part of the culture, they have gin mills, whenever you leave a cop shop or precinct, notice how close the bars are and how they reduce their drinks for the cops who are off duty which just fuels this problem more and more. >> well, again, allegedly, he hasn't been convicted of anything. lou, here's the interesting part. you're a former cop. and i know you're a very good one because i see you in action as a private detective and you really know your stuff.
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the officer who allegedly left the car, okay, what could he face? he wasn't driving, but he is a cop. he claims investigators at the scene told him that he was cleared to leave and then he shows up later at a station house but apparently, nypd brass were furious that he left the scene. what kind of trouble is he in? >> well, they could clearly charge him with conduct unbecoming, malfeasance of duty. but the thing you have to understand here, jane, is that this is going to go through a thorough investigation, and both of these gentlemen are going to be properly addressed. it's important not to paint an entire police department of 38,000 young men and women with the same brush. there again was a mistake made here but you have to let this run its course. i think commissioner kelly will do what's appropriate here. i can't imagine for the life of me what this officer was thinking when he left -- >> when you're drinking, you ain't thinking. we all know that. i'm a recovering alcoholic. when you're drinking, you ain't thinking about anything.
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that brings us to tonight's big issue. alcohol doesn't recognize a uniform. andrew kelly is reportedly a seven year nypd veteran, father of two, but alcohol can affect anyone, even police officers. take a look at this photo from "the new york post." they say this is allegedly the other cop who was a passenger and fled the scene allegedly. he is posing with a bottle of beer. the "post" also reporting, this is "the new york post" this guy's facebook says drink up, life is too short, and lists his favorite music as any music that makes me drink, lol. hln has not been able to confirm that that photo is in fact the other officer involved, and cops have not named him but dr. reef karim, if you're posing with a bottle of alcohol, posting these comments, what does that indicate, if anything? >> well, i mean, in my mind, the power of addiction is really the point of this case. in the limbic system of a police officer is the same as a homeless person or celebrity or anybody else. in regards to the binge drinking, the other guests are right, it really depends. if he was bingeing the whole
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day, his blood alcohol level was probably high to start with. if he acutely binged right before he got in the car, it would only go up as his liver detoxified the alcohol. either way, it's interesting to see about the blood alcohol level not being there at this point in time but again, the take-home message, alcohol doesn't work for somebody acutely getting in a car, whether you're a police officer or you're not. >> michael cardoza, i don't want to paint a broad brush. i live in new york city, love the police. they keep me safe, they're great. this is not to attack all police officers. but it's simply to say that alcoholism or drinking problems do not discriminate and it doesn't matter whether you're wearing a fancy suit or -- >> of course not. >> i'm the face of alcoholism, too. >> well, jane, number one, let's go back to what you said earlier. usually a day after an incident, you have the blood alcohol. that's if it's a breathalyzer test. remember, they took his blood. they have to do the forensic on the blood. that's going to take a week or two before we get that.
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what's of more importance to me is that police officer leaving the scene. how cooperative were these officers during the investigation. we don't know what his blood alcohol will turn out to be and that will be dispositive in this case because if it's below 0.8, that's legal. so where is he on that scale? he was the one that stayed behind to help. the other officer left. he should be punished for that. but if someone told him to leave, that's of higher authority, he had every right to leave. >> we got to leave it right there. we need to realize the face of alcoholism isn't just that bum on the corner with the brown paper bag. it could be a cop. it was me. this is national recovery month, a great time to get sober. in "i want" you will learn so much about my struggle with alcohol addiction and how i overcame it. order my recovery memoir out now in book stores or click on cnn.com/jane. look for the order section. if you're an addict or relative of alcoholic or addict, i assure
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you this book can help you. thank you, outstanding panel, once again. coming up, evidence destroyed in the casey anthony case. we will tell you how it happened and what it means to the case. speaking of evidence, jurors in the john travolta extortion trial watching a 44-minute brand new videotape today. what's on it? we will tell you about it. also taking your calls, 1-877-jvm says. 1-877-586-7297. weigh in on john travolta.
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a new videotape in john travolta's extortion trial surfaces. what it shows about his role in the aftermath of his son's death. we'll explore. but first, "top of the block" tonight. breaking news in the murder case against casey anthony. remember that case, we were
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talking about all the time for awhile. a key piece of evidence now obsolete and the worst part of it, it's the fbi's fault. remember that duct tape found stretched across caylee's mouth? it had heart-shaped residue on it possibly from the sticker. any shape on the duct tape has reportedly vanished during a fingerprint testing process at an fbi lab. a mistake like that leaves the door wide open for casey's defense team to start asking what else did investigators mess up. we are anticipating a huge document dump tomorrow and "issues" will air a special report on that. be sure to tune in tomorrow and that is tonight's "top of the block." also tonight, jaw-dropping evidence in the trial of two alleged extortionists accused of trying to squeeze john travolta out of millions. an ex-senator from the bahamas and the ambulance driver who
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scrambled jett travolta and his terrified parents to the hospital the very day jett died. prosecutors in the bahamas say they have proof positive that the pair threatened to go public with a refusal to transport documents unless john travolta paid big bucks to keep it under wraps. now that document is nowhere to be found. according to a police report, a copy of the document went up in smoke and down the toilet when former senator pleasant bridgewater burned it with a candle and then flushed the ashes down the toilet. lovely. as for the original, police can't seem to find it. meantime, "people" magazine confirms the existence of two, count them, two secretly recorded videotapes, negotiations between the alleged extortionists and john travolta's lawyer. quote, where the hell did you get the number $25 million, demands the lawyer. i was poor all my life, me and my family. we were struggling all our life. i wanted to do things for charity all my life. pleads ambulance driver, lightbourn. you're a bahamian robin hood,
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man, says the lawyer who reportedly laughed. but it was no joke and according to the people reporter who watched the tape, they eventually settled for $15 million. at least until the cops came in and arrested the alleged extortionist. tonight, big issue. what is up with these alleged criminals who rationalize their behavior? oh, i'm a robin hood, i'm going to give my money to the poor after i steal it. i want to know what you think. give me a call. straight out to my fantastic expert panel. joining me, ken baker, executive news editor at e! what is going on with the trial itself? where is john travolta and is he going to testify again? >> well, travolta as you said did testify last week. it was a very emotional day-long time when he was on the stand and it was really interesting, because he did reveal some very interesting things, not only that he believes he was extorted, but he admitted for the first time publicly that his son jett, who was 16 at the time of his death, did have autism, which was never confirmed before and really showed that he did have a very serious condition in
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which he was having, every five to ten days, he would have a seizure and when they were in the bahamas in january and he did suffer the seizure, that was the one that did prove fatal. now, an interesting aspect here is that he is going to be testifying once again in this trial, he's expected sometime in october to return to the stand to face more questioning. right now, travolta is believed to be back in florida, which is his home state, awaiting the call from the court to come back. an interesting thing here to recognize is this has got to be one of the lowest forms of humanity if this proves true. here was this family, grieving the loss of their 16-year-old child and just, you know, them having to basically die in their arms, they had their son die in their arms, to have them allegedly extorted like this is just absolutely horrible. they're grieving as it is, and if there's any smoking gun that i've ever seen, this tape would be a smoking gun. they outline, the paramedic
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outlines what his motive was. i'm poor and i need money. he outlines what he wants, $15 million. he outlines how he wants it, in an envelope as soon as possible. it was very clear. and he said if he gets it, what would happen. they said it would be buried like the "titanic" that he would get rid of that document if he paid him. that's certainly to me, it would seem like a clear case. i don't know besides pure greed what these people would have been thinking. >> you raise tonight's big issue. when criminal activity is rationalized by the perpetrators or their enablers. lightbourn apparently wanted to give travolta's hush money to charity. another glaring example, anna nicole smith's doctors. they're charged with funneling anna nicole thousands of pills and she ultimately overdosed. the doctors say, oh, we were just trying to help her get through her son's death. daniel shuler, husband of the so-called one-way driver says his wife wasn't drunk and high on pot as the cops say when she smashed her mi
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minivan into an on coming suv killing eight people including herself and a whole bunch of kids in that eight people, four kids i believe. she said, well, the husband said she had a traveling lump on her it's so ridiculous. people manage to rationalize their behavior. >> and saturday night, what a piece of work. victoria gotti saying her father john gotti sr., as you know, my enemy, would steal from people and play robin hood and give it to the poor people. and i say, you've got to be nuts. and apparently these people have it in their minds that that's going to be their defense. when all it's about is greed and taking advantage of the poor travolta family. you know, the bahamas used to lash you with the tails and used to have the death penalty. i think maybe for the ex-senator and emt, maybe a little death penalty or tails might satisfy somebody's need to seek revenge against these two. >> you know, this is truly the gang that couldn't shoot
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straight. this whole conspiracy makes absolutely no sense. this document doesn't mean anything. there's no reason to pay a nickel to it. we have an exciting addition to our prime-time lineup.
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>> just days after jet travolta's tragic death, radaronline was on the ground in the bahamas rounding up eyewitnesss and key players. on that same day, january 5th, "inside edition" caught up with the defendant. this clip aired on the cbs "early show" today. >> went behind the curtain, tears in his eyes.
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like, i can see the love in his for his son. >> that was actually back in january, before we knew about this whole conspiracy. it's quite a can of worms. and the phone lines lighting up. james, florida, your question or thought. james? >> caller: yes. >> hi. it's your turn to talk. your question or thought? >> caller: hey. my question is, why do these people think that they can just take advantage of a man in the situation that he is, and like everybody's saying, rationalize about it. he obviously has criminal intent behind it and it's a felony anywhere in the world to extort money from somebody, no matter what the cause is that he's saying his cause to be. whether he's giving it to charity or spending it on himself. it's illegal. >> dr. dale archer, this is a good point. how do people think they're going to get away with this nonsense? this is something that you have to know, you're going to get caught. >> these two folks are like dumb
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and dumber. basically, they're extorting him with a document that means absolutely nothing. >> yeah! >> and i think the reason that they chose him was, a, he was rich, he was a celebrity, and b, he was vulnerable at that time after losing his son. so really, what they did is the lowest form of criminal behavior. and i think they should throw the book at him. i hope they go to jail for a long, long time. >> you may remember at first there were three people in the crosshairs of investigators. one of them was this guy named o.b.wilchkolmb listen to him. >> john travolta knew his son was a special child. he gave him love, demonstrated publicly at all times. >> was he ever one of the bad guys? he's the former minister of tourism in the bahamas and has been described as a travolta
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family friend. now he's become a prosecution witness. on friday he told the jury what he said to ex-senator bridgewater when she supposedly approached him, saying, to represent a client with a damaging document, quote, this is bull, your client should jump off a roof and kill himself michael cardoza, with these celebrities, it's hard to tell if the person is a friend or a foe. this is a shape shifter here. >> you really don't know if they're your friends, because of your money, your stardom, or if they really care to, you know, be around you. but in this case, you talk about people, you know, making up reasons. what they're looking for is mission. >> got to leave it right there. thank you, fabulous panel for joining me tonight. tomorrow, the debut of "the joy behar show" right here at 9:00 p.m. eastern.
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breaking news tonight. satsuma, florida, a 5-year-old little girl tucked into bed. five hours later, she's gone. vanished. the back door propped wide open. daddy comes home from the night shift to see not a trace of little haleigh. the last person to see the 5-year-old alive that night, girlfriend turned new stepmother, misty crossland. bombshell tonight, after croslin skips town following a bitter fight with haleigh's father, ronald cummings, a week passes, no sign of croslin. her planned return home, come
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and passed, long passed. where is the key witness? in the last 72 hours, croslin's mother behind bars on felony forgery. bond, a whopping $100,000. she's already publicly stated her daughter hasn't come clean about the night haleigh vanishes. what else will she tell police now that she's behind bars? croslin's brother confesses in his own late-night jailhouse interrogation. he goes to haleigh's house the night she goes missing, pounds on the door, nobody home. in another major development, a woman caught on grainy surveillance video delivers a detailed tip as to haleigh's location. police investigate. big question, where was girlfriend-turned-stepmother misty croslin during the crucial hours when haleigh goes missing. as croslin flunks another polygraph and goes missing herself, tonight, where is
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haleigh? >> what we need is for misty to come down here and tell us the truth. >> she is gone. she left town. misty is nowhere to be found. she is no longer in satsuma right now and ronald is not with her. >> i'm trying to do everything to find her. you know, i'm answering any questions i have to, because i know i didn't do anything to that little girl. >> reporter: harris reports misty and ron had a bitter fight and she took off with a friend. >> i don't think that she holds any information that's going to find haleigh. >> if i knew where she was, we wouldn't be sitting here today. we would have her. and i don't know where she is. >> i can tell you that she is not at home and she is on the road, not expected back anytime soon. as a result of a fight with ronald. >> reporter: investigators with the putnam county sheriff's office spoke to the woman seen
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in this surveillance video. she dropped a letter off at the st. augustine record newspaper. >> it will probably solve what happened to haleigh cummings. >> and i want them to find whoever this is and i don't care who it is. but we want haleigh to come home. and tonight, after 30, hiding out in europe, a hollywood superstar finally behind bars. 30 years ago, he admits to raping a 13-year-old little girl at the home of superstar jack nicholson. at grand jury, that little girl testified under oath that he also forced anal sodomy on her. she's 13. after 30 years on the lam, he collides with lady justice. hollywood reaction this morning. they're, quote, shocked. oh, no, they're not shocked he raped and sodomized a 13-year-old little girl. oh, no.
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a little girl he got drunk on champagne and quaaludes, but all the hollywood stars are shocked he's arrested for it. shame, shame, shame on them. tonight, polanski behind bars. lady justice comes through. thank heaven, better late than never. the movie director who made "chinatown," who won an oscar for the "pianist" is fighting extradition. >> the year was 1977. polanski was called before the grand jury to answer to charges that he participated in a statutory rape and sodomized a 13-year-old girl after giving her drugs and liquor in the jacuzzi of actor jack nicholson's home in the hollywood hills. >> he did make me a little
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uncomfortable. he asked me to change, you know, and i kind of turned my back and stuff, but it felt a little funny, but i thought, well, you know, that's what models do. >> the warrant was issued in 1978 after polanski pleaded guilty to committing sexual acts with a 13-year-old girl. >> after he was convicted of statutory rape, he fled the country prior to sentencing. director adrien brody says polanski's absence from hollywood has affected the industry. >> definitely young actors have lost out in america because they haven't had a cans to work with him. >> even if hollywood is able to forgive and forget, the law has not, and that is the issue. >> all that stuff was so traumatic that i never even had a chance to really, you know, worry about, you know, what happened that night with him. it was like it just -- i had to worry about surviving the next day.
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>> good evening. i'm nancy grace. i want to thank you for being with us. after new stepmother misty croslin skips down following a bitter fight with haleigh's father, ronald cummings, a week passes. there's no sign of croslin. where is the key witness and what does that mean in the search for 5-year-old haleigh? >> when i went to sleep, she was there. and then when i woke up, she was gone. >> apparently, people saw misty and ronald having an argument over the weekend when all of this searching was going on, draining of the pond. there was a lot of tension, so they were arguing. >> sources tell me that ronald actually threw her clothes out, threw her out, and she was going down the road when he runs after her, apologizes, and brings her back. it was not pretty. >> i'm not hiding anything for anybody and if somebody has something to do with it, let them fry.
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>> i would have woke up if i heard any noise. i didn't hear anything at all. >> that front door is all but ten feet from the bedroom where misty was sleeping with haleigh and junior that night. so if someone's wailing on the door, there's no way she couldn't have heard that. >> reporter: it took just a few seconds for this blond woman in blue scrubs to drop off a letter with reported information about what happened to haleigh cummings. it's one paragraph long, typed, and has three letters at the bottom. >> if the information is accurate, it's going to be pretty volatile. >> i believe haleigh is alive. i have faith in god to cake care of my baby girl and find here. >> straight out to jean casarez, joining us, legal correspondent with "in session." jean, misty croslin's friends and relatives gave us all sorts of stories last week as to where she was. they said, she's gone to orlando for a vacation. i don't know how you can afford
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that. have you ever been to epcot? do you know how much it costs down there? and nobody is working, nobody has a job. that she was supposed to be back this weekend. then we heard that she went to the beach with her girlfriends. she's not back, jean. it's long past the time for her arrival home. >> that's right. misy croslin, the last person to ever see haleigh alive, she has not returned to satsuma, florida. but it coincides with some important aspects of this case. a hand-written letter coming out of the local jail, saying that haleigh inhaled some pills, died, and the body was taken and put into a pond. and it also coincides with the arrest of her own mother on the scene. >> police have poo-pooed the letter. they don't want anyone to report about that letter, about the details about a late-night party
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at which haleigh was present and swallowed oxycontin. i find it hard to believe that people at a party could all keep their pie holes shut this long and not blab. there's a $70,000 reward. but people do tell us, on the other hand, that they're investigating it and they have actually interrogated people about this. so somebody's taking it seriously. >> someone is taking it seriously. they have investigated her car. they took forensic evidence from her car. this person that wrote this letter. they have talked to her directly. you know, according to some, she's saying there's some sworn affidavit saying that all of this stuff is true. they won't confirm or deny whether this affidavit actually exists, but it's coming from somewhere, because not one but two letters have surfaced, nancy. >> straight to art harris at artharris.com. art, what can you tell me?
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first of all, aside from the letter, i want to find out where is misty croslin? what are the various stories we've been told? >> we've been told that she was on a foray one to one of the amusement parks. i can confirm she was at universal studios with a friend and she was seen wearing a haleigh pendant around her neck. she was spotted by the press and she took off. there were rumors that ronald was going to join her, but that was not the case. i'm told they are still on the rocks and it's very questionable where she will go if she comes back to satsuma, nancy. >> did you say she's last been spotted in orlando? >> she was at universal a couple of days ago. >> doing what? >> just being a tourist. >> okay. to dr. jeff gardere, psychologist and author of "love prescription." okay, jeff, maybe i'm projecting, excuse me, dr. jeff, you're the doctor, i'm just a trial lawyer, maybe i'm projecting what i went through when i was a crime victim, but following the sudden death or
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disappearance of someone you love deeply, i find it hard to imagine whooping it up at the epcot center. >> oh, absolutely. >> at orlando. let's go to disney world. i don't get it. it doesn't mesh to me >> absolutely. this is the same misty croslin who was crying crocodile tears about what happened, you know, what may have happened to haleigh. she really has been inappropriate. we've seen this, nancy, in her behavior for the longest time. so it's not out of character that she's there, but it certainly is inappropriate that she should be partying while haleigh is still missing. >> art harris, where -- what time -- when was she supposed to have come home? >> there's been a lot of talk from satsuma from ron's family, trying to paper over their differences. but i am told that he would not take her phone calls. >> she got out of bad and went to use the restroom and came
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back to find that my daughter was not in bed with her and the back door was wide open and she was gone.
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>> 3:00 in the morning, i got up and i got up because i had to use the bathroom, but i didn't make it to the bathroom. i seen the kitchen light on and i walked in the kitchen and the back door is wide open. >> right beside me on my left is the bed where misty croslin was sleeping. and here on the right, we have the bed where little haleigh was sleeping. and you can see, it is all but about 3 1/2 feet from each other and this is right where misty said she got up and she had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. >> i have to leave the investigative part of this to law enforcement, because, you know, if i go with every whim and every accusation, then i'm going to be flipping back and forth in my life and you know what we stand -- we just stand for haleigh here. we just want haleigh to come home.
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>> we are taking your calls live. let's unleash the lawyers. joining me out of new york, defense attorney carmen st. george. and joining me out of atlanta, mr. and mrs. eleanor odom. welcome, everyone. out to lorraine in new jersey. hi, lorraine. >> caller: hi, nancy. i can't believe your twins will be 2 already. i'm the one that made the pillow cases for them for their first birthday. so my question is, about the 20 times that ron called home, i don't understand that, because i have two kids. i would have called home twice. if i hadn't got an answer, i would have left work, i would have gone home. he could have got in, seen if anybody was there, and then he could have reported it to the cops immediately. do you think that would have made any difference at all? >> i think it would have made a difference if he would have come home earlier. >> caller: i don't understand that.
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that really frustrates me. >> then tonight we would know, was she there, was she already missing. lorraine, number one, thank you for the pillow cases. we have used them and they are a thing of beauty. i have photos of them, actually. so lorraine in new jersey, thank you for that. you know, let's go to the lawyers. eleanor, peter, carmen st. george, first of all to you, eleanor odom, if i didn't have the nanny cam so when i am away from the twins, i can watch them constantly, i would go berserk if i kept calling home and nobody answered, i would assume the worst, something horrible had happened, that the place had burned down or the twins were sick and had to be rushed to the hospital. >> exactly. and it makes me wonder what ronald's got going on and whether or not he has to be at work. >> well, most of us do have to be at work. of course, he had to be at work. he punched a clock.
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he had to drive about 30 minutes away to get there. and i'm guessing, carmen st. george, that they had just had a huge argument, because she had been missing for three straight days, doing i don't know what. but i believe that he thought she wasn't picking up because they were in the middle of an argument. >> nancy, i think i would agree with you. and i think there's evidence that they had been out partying the weekend before haleigh went missing. and there could have been an argument and she may not be picking up his callings. the i think the big issue is whether or not she was home. >> what about it, odom? >> i think it really collaborates the brother's story, misty's brother. >> let me clarify something, peter odom. you're the defense story. so it's not helping croslin for you to say the brother's story, that she wasn't home at the time haleigh goes missing was accurate. so help out misty, if you can.
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maybe you can't. >> i think you would have to look at the course of conduct between misty and ron. you know, it's clear that they were arguing at some point close to that time. if she wasn't opening the phone, he might not think anything about that. >> i would cut ronald a break on that. to marie in mississippi. what's your question? >> caller: my question is, i've seen misty many times crying real tears and being real upset because of this and i've never seen ron do anything but screw up his face and whimper. and i think he married her to keep her close to him, but to make sure she wasn't telling on him instead of seeing what she might have done. i really believe you need to look closer to ron. >> but he absolutely has an alibi for when she went missing, marie. >> caller: who took up for him? who punched the clock for him at work? who made sure that -- >> okay, let me just dispel that right now. and i'm going to go out to art harris. art, people at work saw him at
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work. nobody punched the clock for him. he showed up 30 minutes early to work after, i believe, one of them picking her up from the bus stop. yes, no? >> he's got a good alibi there, nancy, and he's got cell phone pings to towers nearby that put him there as well. >> what about it, marlaina? >> well, he also has confirmation from the police. they went all through his cell phone records, like art was saying, and the bottom line is, nancy, is that he had nothing to do with it. he's been cleared from police. >> but we do know that misty croslin claims she was going out of town for a girl's weekend away while her stepdaughter is missing. and many believe dead. but now she's never come home. why?
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i want to get to the bottom of what happened. i don't know if hypnosis is going to do it. they've already tried to -- >> aren't you of the mind that you should try anything? >> absolutely. if that's what we need to do, then that's what we can do. >> i wish they would have took me instead of her. i could have fought. she's only 5. she can't really do anything.
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>> everything she says is crazy. >> i don't know where she is. >> we would love to have a break in this case. and we really would not care who it implicates, as long as it brings haleigh back to us. i believe haleigh is alive. i have faith in god to take care of my baby girl and find her. and i don't care who had something to do with it. those were the people who need to be put away and bring my baby girl home. >> straight out to special guest joining us tonight, terry schumacher, the attorney for haleigh's biological father, ronald cumming. two quick questions, terry. number one, are there witnesses placing ronald cummings at work
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about 30 minutes before he was supposed to punch in and that he was there until his shift ended, the night shift? yes, no? >> yes. and it's not a punch in, as far as a time clock. they actually have to use their fingerprints in order to scan in and check in for work. >> even better. what kind of job was it, terry? >> he was hired as a crane operator, but his job duties would differ depending on what they had in store for him that night. >> terry, you have appeared on our show many times, answered a lot of questions on so many different subjects. misty croslin, your client's wife, was supposed to be home by now. where is she? >> to my understanding, misty is still down in the orlando area. >> why? >> well, originally, we thought she was only going to be gone for a couple days. i know that ronald has been speaking with her regularly. i don't know the nature, the full nature of all those conversations, but i know that he has been speaking with her. >> my question is, why hasn't she come home? >> i can't answer that for you, nancy. i wish you could.
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>> when i laid down, i guess i was out. >> there's no way she could have wandered off? >> no, she is scared of the dark. she would not go anywhere by herself. ññññññññññññ
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during the course of this, i was posing with some champagne glasses and did drink champagne. so maybe that's why i was feeling a little more comfortable. so it got late towards the evening and then he wanted to take some pictures in the hot tub. you know, a real pretty-looking hot tub outside. and i was in there up to here, but topless, but covered up. so that was even still fine. and i didn't think anything -- you know, i assumed if something was showing, it would be cropped out and it would be appropriate, because this was going to be for a magazine and it must be the way things are done. but then he got in the hot tub.
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that's when i realized that something was wrong. it was like, this doesn't feel right anymore. uh-oh. >> i feel deeply ashamed, because mr. polanski was supposed to be honored this evening. we were supposed to speak about his work, his career, and his outstanding films and now he's being arrested. >> i told him that i needed to get out of the hot tub and that he needed to take me home, because the steam was giving me an asthma attack. i'm feigning my asthma attack. we got out, went in the house, i was like, i need to go home, because i'm not feeling well. then that progressed to, you know, eventually, why don't you come in here and lay down into a very dark room and that's when i really realized what his intentions were. you know, i said no, i didn't fight him off, i'm like, no, no,
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i don't want to go in there. no, i don't want to do this, no, and i didn't know what else to do. we were alone, and i didn't want to -- i didn't know what would happen if i made a scene, so i was just scared and after giving some resistance figured, well, i guess i'll get to go home after this. >> polanski admits, pleads guilty 30 years ago to raping a 13-year-old little girl. i've got the child's grand jury testimony, her sworn testimony here with me. she goes on to outline how he fed her champagne at the home of jack nicholson, that he gave her quaaludes at the home of jack nicholson. he then had her take her clothes off. she's 13 years old, and not only did he rape this child, as he
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had pled guilty to under oath, but the girl goes on to outline forcible anal sodomy. but today when hollywood learns that he has been arrested on rape after 30 years, their response is that they are shocked. straight out to ellie jostad. ellie, what can you tell me? >> nancy, roman polanski was supposed to be honored this weekend at a film festival for a lifetime of achievements in the film industry. instead, he was arrested at the airport in zurich. he's behind bars right now. we believe the extradition process will start, which could end him back in california, facing the sentencing that he ditched out the night before he was supposed to be sentenced, over three decades ago. he got on a plane, took off to france, hasn't set back in the u.s. since then. he could have to come back to california and finally be sentenced for this rape of the 13-year-old girl. >> take a listen to hollywood's
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reaction this morning to polanski's arrest. >> this is, for me, a shock, and i'm ashamed that twisz is doing such a thing to a brilliant, fantastic genius. >> i feel deeply ashamed, because mr. polanski was supposed to be honored this evening. we were supposed to speak about his work, his career, and his outstanding films. and now he's being arrested. >> we came to honor roman polanski as a great artist, but under these sudden and arcane circumstances, we can only think of him today as a human being, uncertain of the year ahead. his life has always informed his art and it always will. this fledgling festival has been unfairly exploited and whenever
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this happens, the entire art world suffers. we hope today this latest order will be dropped. it is based on a three-decade-old case that is all but dead, except for a minor technicality. we stand by and await his release and his next master work. >> the art world is suffering. what technicality would that be, ellie jostad? the man admitted under oath that he raped a 13-year-old little girl, not to mention anal sodomy on a child! and debora winger says the art world is suffering? please explain the technicality. >> well, nancy, polanski's supporters allege that the prosecutor and the judge in this case acted improperly. apparently, what was going to happen is, polanski was sentenced for about -- or he was
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sent to jail for 42 days for some psychiatric testing. apparently, his lawyers made a deal with prosecutors that he would plead guilty to this one charge of unlawful sexual intercourse, he would get time served and he would get no more jail time. apparently, polanski found out on the eve of that sentencing that the judge planned to renege on that deal and send him to jail. that's why he took off. his supporters claim that was improper. >> just stop right there. because that scenario is impossible. let's unleash the lawyers and explain why polanski's side is lying about a so-called technicality. eleanor odom, a veteran prosecutor specializing on crimes against children, pete odom, carmen st. george. eleanor, that is complete bs. that scenario is impossible. because when you enter into a negotiated plea deal, the judge
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doesn't suddenly sentence you to jail that day. if he or she he rejects the deal, you have the right to go to trial. you don't get sent off to jail if a judge rejects a plea. that is absolutely a lie. that is not true. there is no technicality here. >> you're exactly right, nancy. what we've got is a negotiation between the prosecutor and the defense attorney. as you said, the judge does not have to accept it. if the judge does not accept it, the person has every right to go to trial. >> nancy, it's not an impossible scenario when there's collusion between the judge and the prosecutor. and that's what's alleged here. a court reviewing the process found irregularities in the sentencing process. unfortunately -- >> he was never sentenced, so how can there be irregularities in the sentencing process if he was never sentenced? the process was never complete. >> there were irregularities -- >> such as? >> collusion --
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>> what collusion? >> apparently, a prosecutor was manipulating -- i'm just quoting the ap reports that were out today. a prosecutor from the los angeles d.a.'s office was attempting to manipulate the judge that was doing the sentencing. >> was the judge manipulated? >> i've just reported what i read today. >> so you don't know, you're just repeating what a reporter said? >> well, i can tell you that a judge in reviewing the motion to dismiss that was never heard -- a judge from los angeles, did find irregularities in the process. unfortunately, those never got fleshed out because polanski, very unwisely in my view, fled. >> so long story short, eleanor, i believe what peter is telling us, is that this claim was made, a judge looked at it and said, you know what, you're making a claim so let's have a hearing and find out there was an irregularity. that's the crux of it. there was nothing proven about an irregularity. in fact, carmen st. george, the only thing that we know for
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sure, is that roman polanski, a famous hollywood director admitted under oath he raped a 13-year-old. we know that much. >> we do know that, nancy, for sure. and no matter what irregularity is claimed, i still say that no one has the right to then flee the country or flee a state based on this. he does have to answer to this, but maybe it will come to governor schwarzenegger commuting this or pardoning him at this point, being that it's three decades later -- >> excuse me, put up carmen st. george. carmen, you're a new mother, right? >> i am, nancy. >> now, think about it. if your child, god forebid was treated this way and all this time passed -- the time has passed because he went on the run. it's not the victim's fault, it's not the judge's fault. it's polanski's fault. that's why the case is 30 years
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old. so you're saying because the case is old because he's been living it up in a mansion in europe that we should just forget about it, that that's a problem, that lady justice should just pack her bag and go home? >> absolutely not. >> then what are you saying? >> i was a prosecutor for a long time. >> i know that. >> the victim in this case has settled with him, has come forward and said that she no longer is interested in this prosecution -- >> she says she has forgiven him. and frankly, lady justice is blind. just because she, in her -- at this time, 30 years later, doesn't want to rehash this in court, do you blame her? everyone, we are taking your calls live. to tonight's safety tips, a parent's worth nightmare, sids, sudden infant death syndrome, the leading cause of death in infants. always put your child under one year to sleep on their back. remember, back to sleep. use a sleeper instead of a blanket and a fitted bottom sheet designed for cribs. make sure the crib is assembled properly and the mattress should
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always be firm with a snug fit so the baby cannot get trapped between the mattress and the crib. always keep the crib away from a window and always raise the crib railing. for more information, please, go to u.s. consumer product safety commission at cpsc.gov.
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the year was 1977. polanski was called before the grand jury to answer charges that he participated in a statutory rape and sodomized a 13-year-old girl after giving her drugs and liquor in the jacuzzi of actor jack nicholson's home in the hollywood hills. >> he photographed me topless. he'd seen me topless. i was just thinking, this is very european, it must be all right. >> it was supposed to be a photo shoot, but the jury told the grand jury polanski gave her champagne and a quaalude and then forced her into sex. >> i'm feigning my asthma attack, we got out, put a towel on, i'm saying, i don't feel good, having trouble breathing. >> polanski would plead guilty to one charge, unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, but before sentencing, he fled to france, where he has lived ever
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since. >> i need to go home because i'm not feeling well. then that progressed to eventually, well, why don't you come into here and lay down, into a very dark room. and that's when i really realized what his intentions were. >> swiss police detained the 76-year-old polanski when he arrived at zurich airport saturday. authorities say he's being held based on a u.s. arrest warrant pending extradition proceedings. the warrant was issued in 1978 after polanski pleaded guilty to committing sexual acts with a 13-year-old girl. >> i said "no," i didn't fight him off. no, i don't want to go in there, i don't want to do this, no, and i didn't know what else to do. we were alone. >> this is a shock and i'm ashamed that the swiss is doing such a thing to a brilliant, fantastic genius.
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>> he asked me to like change and change in front of him and stuff. it didn't feel right. i didn't, at that time, have the self-confidence to tell my mother and everyone, no, i'm not going to go. >> you are seeing sound from abc's "good morning america." the celeb yakking on and on about how polanski's brilliant, fantastic genius. well, according to court documents, he pleads guilty under oath to raping a 13-year-old little girl at the home of jack nicholson and she testifies in grand jury that he also forced anal sodomy on her. and today, hollywood's crying, eh, eh, that he has finally been arrested. out to you, tom o'neil, senior editor "in touch weekly." i want to go through that day. give me the bullet points about what happened the day of the rape. and i'm not even saying alleged
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rape, because this guy pled guilty and before sentencing went down, he runs to europe and lives the rest of his life as a celebrity there. >> well, let's set up something else that's even more sinister here, nancy. it looks like that was premeditated. her mother was supposed to be with her for this photo shoot. there'd been a previous meeting between the mother and the girl. but mama wasn't allowed to come on the day of the shoot when she was invited to jack nicholson's house. she was asked to disrobe and get into the hot tub. he got naked, according to her testimony, and got into the hot tub with her. >> and not only there, eleanor, it then proceeded to the deep end of the pool where she insisted that she didn't have her clothes on and it was over her head and he would hold her open. then there were quaaludes and champagne. she was describing this to the grand jury and the photos matched her story, the photos he was taking of her during this
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incident. >> and this was a 13-year-old child. she's very naive. >> joining me is dr. evelyn mania, women's health expert. thank you for being with us. >> thank you, nancy. >> you have dealt with so many women. >> so many. >> young ladies and women through all points in their life that have been raped as a 13-y girl. it affects them forever. >> forever. and not only that, the physical aspects of it also. remember, she had anal sodomy. do you know that puts her at an increased risk for anal cancer in her future, let alone all the other psychological ramifications that there are with that, you can just imagine. so everybody is talking about, you know, this poor man and things like that. personally, i just don't have anything to say.
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i'm kind of, like, astounded that we're actually talking about this. >> i'm stunned at hollywood's reaction. to marc klaas, special guest and president of klaas kid foundation. i can hardly take in everybody's response, because he's been living it up in europe for 30 years, we should forget what happened. >> i join you and others in expressing my disgust, that the art community feels victimized by this. and i join many in being appalled that somehow mr. polanski is being portrayed as some kind of a victim in this whole situation. if this case plays out on the merits of the case, he is going to go to prison. if it plays out any other way whatsoever, i think an increasingly cynical public will be reinforced in their belief that there are two systems of justice, one for the superwealthy and the superpowerful and one for the rest of us. >> to ron shindel, if someone so much touched a hair on the
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twin's head, they wouldn't need a judge. they would get a little finger necklace courtesy of nancy a. grace. hope some l.a. judge doesn't agree. >> this is the case that's simple. he pled guilty. he is convicted. he could come back and serve his time. >> out to tammy in massachusetts. >> yes, nancy, that was one part of my question. i don't know if they were exaggerating on a show i saw today, but they said something to the effect, to 100 years. >> no. he never got sentenced. i realize that now. >> caller: how could there be a sta chut of limitations. i have a daughter myself and listening to deborah winger, i
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could physically vomit. >> as we go to break, happy birthday to south carolina friend, david. he loves the sea, volunteering.
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181 p brave women across 31 countries raised nearly $1 million in the fight against breast cancer. they break the world record in women's freestyle formation skydiving. tonight, jacqueline, one of the women who jumped for the cause is with us live. you're very, very brave. tell me, aside from you raising a million dollars, what was it like? >> it was almost indescribable. a great feeling to see so many
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women come together regardless of race, religion, nationality, all for one common goal and to have everybody get along. it was incredible. >> i mean, what was it like -- going through the air like a bullet and trying to grab somebody's hand and look coordinated in the air. by the way, which one are you? i can't even imagine it. >> well, it's not as much bullet-like as you would think, even though you are going 120. we did a lot of practice on the ground and everybody knew exactly where they were supposed to go. >> how can you quote, know where you're supposed to go? with me, jacqueline, who skydived for breast cancer awareness. you can find the cause at jump for the cause.com. how do you find where you're supposed to be.
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>> it's called a dirt dive. you get everybody all dressed up so you know what color everybody is. >> we're showing video of you guys jumping right now and i've got to tell you, you are my new hero. everybody jump for the cause. let's stop and remember andrew parkins highly decorated. loved volunteering, taking special needs children fishing. leaves behind grieving parents, four sisters and three brothers. andrew perkins, american hero. thank you for being with us tonight congratulations to michael.
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this is a show biz tonight news break. tonight the shocking arrest of legendary director, roman polanski. the up roar today from hollywood to france to swisser land to poland. why his victim is sawing leave him alone. tonight show business tonight with the great debate. was the arrest just plain wrong? and the disturbing michael jackson tapes. new revelations about how he said his father would beat him. michael's own chilling words. the reported $10 million deal. that is your news break. start at the top of the hour
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