the did cbs dump david letterman over a sex scandal? some people think it's time for the king of late night to step off the throne. and joining me in the studio, the always reserved and demure lewis black, how fabulous is he? all that and more tonight. tonight people are saying

skrbs should fire letterman over that sex scandal. that no matter what people say, their ratings have been huge. i don't think anyone's getting more material out of this scandal than letterman himself. take a look. >> it's fault here in new york city, and i spent the whole weekend raking my hate mail. and it's cold too. it's chilly outside my house, chilly inside my house. i got into the car this morning, and the navigation lady wasn't speaking to me. >> he's funny, and he apologized to his wife, hopefully repeatedly, and hopefully she'll forgive him. joining me to discuss this and more is my good pal lewis black. first of all, he is funny.

>> he is funny. and how he finessed and manipulated everybody with his apologies and being funny, incredible. >> for me what was first extraordinary is that i hadn't been watching for a while and i kind of flipped it on that night and i flipped it on after that segment and it was before he was bringing on woody harrelson -- >> you mean the night that he confessed? >> the night he confessed. so all of that is taking place, now i'm watching it, and he says, here come this is guest, this might be a night he won't want to be here. now i'm switching to news channels to see if something broke during the day that i should know about. >> maybe they solved the afghan war. >> so it was really just bizarre and i think the whole thing is bizarre. i think we're like -- it's like,

do you really care? >> we don't care that much. >> do i need to know every time sex happens? sex happens somewhere, ooh, ooh. >> i don't want to be a scold about it, but in my past, sex did happen. but it's not about harassment and sex, it's about favoritism, that's the part that i think is bad. because these other girls didn't get to go on tv and do all the things that the girl who was sleeping with him gets to do. and the other ones are like [ bleep ]. >> maybe we got other options. maybe they got perks we don't know about. >> there's no perk like this growing perk, i'm sorry. the screwing perk is the biggest perk. >> you know, but we don't know -- but we don't know -- maybe the other girls didn't care. >> they care, they care, lewis, yes. now people are starting to come

out and talk about whatever it is he did. we don't know all the details. >> i'm happy if everybody is still screwing. >> it's all about viagra, he's 62 years old and everybody knows it's all about the viagra. these old guys are coming out and even me they're looking at. >> so do i only have three years left? >> you actually owe three years. andrea piesner says he should be fired. that's a bit much, isn't it? i don't think he should be fired. >> unless the women were complaining in-house or something that we don't know about. if this had not broke, let's face it, the real story to me was the extortion is the real story. the secondary story is the sex. then there is the discussion that we can have about what

occurs in a job place. >> that is the only thing i'm interested in. >> i don't care that he had sex. >> no, we don't care about that. >> but the big thing is that we are still like -- when is this country just going to grow up? when is the maturity come? why do i always feel like i'm in the sixth grade and somebody showed their pee pee. there was that whole thing in the '60s. what was that? >> that was just everybody was stoned. the thing about sexuality here, is that we're a very puritanical country, about you know, birth control, abortion, all the topics that relate to sex, people are very puritanical about. >> people don't even teach sex in some places. they don't even discuss it in the school system unless they tell the kids that it's got to be abstinence.

>> that works, yeah. >> we used to call that vatican roulette in my day. but the french must be having a field day with all its scandals, he's not even a politician, it's such a big deal. how do you think his wife is handling it? what do you think about that. >> i think it's a long day. that monologue was really, that's the moment, it's like you can go through as a comic, all forms of -- then you get in front of that audience and then i can breathe again, then it's right back into the tank. >> i don't want to be there. >> oh, boy. >> do you think that he'll lose any of his female audience? it turns out that he has 58% female audience, letterman, did you know that? somebody gave that statistic. i had no idea who that person was. >> i don't believe any of those

statistics. do you believe when you're on tv that they really know how many people watch? they're lying. >> you think no. >> they make these numbers up. you think these boxes are real? i have met one neilson family in my entire life. >> yeah. >> one. >> really? >> 61 years on the planet, would think i would have met two. >> leslie neilson is the only neilson i ever met. >> leslie neilson is the cop guy. >> did you ever have to apologize for any jokes? >> no, never. >> you never got in trouble for anything you ever said? >> no, nobody cares. i can say things and it's almost as if i disappear. i will say things that appall

me. and the next day, i think, i'm so going to be in for it. and they don't care. >> if i ever say anything about the catholic church, i'm catholic, so i feel that i can say it. >> the catholic church, there was something on a cd of mine that somebody found in the catholic church, what is the thing that they publish. >> "the tablet." that's the newspaper that they publish in the church. >> you were in "the tablet"? that's impressive. >> i was at home watch "the daily show" or something and he had a cd of mine. >> he makes a lot of money for the church. we'll be right back with lewis black. don't go away, there's much more.

is it closed yet? no. i said we would be out of iraq? are we? not the last time i checked. i said i would make improvements in the war in afghanistan. is it better? no, i think it's actually worse. >> he's very funny. that was from "saturday night live." cnn actually fact checked that sketch and found it wasn't exactly accurate. gee, comedy writers didn't check

their news facts. that does not happen here. for example, the afghanistan thing was inaccurate, but the gitmo thing was accurate. so just fyi, so back to lewis black. so is president obama's new car smell wore out. >> when people wented into the voting booth that day, some people were just off. >> he did get 60% of the vote. >> they had a big love affair, and i didn't have the one that the rest of the country did, because he was a democrat and that's no better than being a republican. >> you don't think either party is any better than the other? >> i think we're in the high level of screwed. >> how can you think that there's no difference after the bush administration, which was hideous? >> well, we finally got someone who can speak in a paragraph we

can stay awake through, that's a change. >> he's very smart, he's a smart guy. >> he's very comfortable in his own body, which is also like -- bush was like -- was like an alien had been placed inside the skin and you were never -- >> but weren't you impressed at the way he ducked when that shoe was thrown at him? that was the most impressive day i ever looked at him. >> it showed real movement. >> compared to what we had four eight years this guy is -- >> it's a step in the right direction. >> don't you think they're laying a lot of stuff on him to do? he came in with a huge deficit. bush came in with a huge surplus. he's got a huge deficit. he's got this stupid war in iraq, he's got the war in afghanistan, the health care is in a mess in this country, what more do you want from this guy? >> the first two years is, we as

a country and after eight years, we are really reached a level that we were comatose as a people. we were in a coma. >> and his job was like the doctor who comes in and goes, you know, you're going to be able to move your finger today, you're going to be able to move your finger, it will be great. so basically it's just a matter of -- partly, i think there's a stunned quality to what's going on, in the sense that people are -- don't hear him yet because they haven't been talked to in eight years. >> the analogy of the doctor is good. so he comes in and they say, okay, i'm going to fix your finger and the republicans are saying, we want a cure for cancer. >> we want a cure for cancer. >> that's basically the expectation for the guy. >> and they want him to give birth. i know he's a man, but do it anyway? >> here's what you had to say about obama in your new movie. look at this. >> his appeal to you is understandable.

because he is the first president, of certainly in my lifetime who's filled with hope. his -- his nipples are actually bursting with hope. he is lactating hope. >> you know all that hope talk seems like a long time ago, doesn't it now? >> ancient history. >> i think people are angry now. they're more angry. they should have been angry while bush was there, they should have been marching in the streets. but now they're realisticed off. >> now they have got -- >> they started to say, oh, we're going kill grandma, i go, my grandmother's dead, i don't care. you're going to kill her again? if you can do that, then we

should have really great health care, if you can bring my grandmother back to life and kill her again, it would be really great. >> we don't have a lot of time left, and i'm just loving you. have you seen tom delay on "dancing with the stars"? >> you're going to force me to watch. >> it yes. ♪ why can't we be friends ♪ why can't we be friends ♪ why can't we be friends ♪ >> we hear he may be dropping out of the show tonight, he's a real crowd pleaser. the guy was indicted for an ethics violation. they don't care, as long as he

can cut a rug. >> cut a rug in a pair of pants they don't they color's on our visual spectrum. >> i have no idea what that is. >> you can't watch the show "dancing with the stars" let alone tom delay. i would rather watch tom delay running with cars. so you put him on, and you droop him in him and he has to run. >> what about running with the bulls in pampaloma? >> that would be even better. >> i think he has changed his image with "dancing with the stars". >> i'm going to change my image. i'm going to infomercials. i go to "dancing with the stars" and then just crawl into some infomercial. you'll love it. you'll turn the tv on and i'll be selling a brush mop. that guy died, that billy mays. >> i know he died. >> he died. you know what are you going do do? who knew that people were still

doing that much cocaine. that was a shock. check on that, somebody fact check. get me a fact checker. >> we have fact checkers here. >> i know, where are they? i was right. >> you have been so fabulous to have here, lewis. will you come back another time? because i'm hoping to stay on the air. >> i will come back, i'm 12 blocks away from you. >> 12 blocks, come any time? >> i'm one of those apartments that's around your set. i'll come back next time and show everyone. >> before we go, what are you doing besides this movie that you did. you're on the road constantly. >> my movie opens in theaters this thursday. october 8, and then i will be in rockport, rockport, illinois on this thursday and then in davenport, iowa. sioux falls, south dakota, kansas city. >> my god, you're like an atlas.

you know what i'm doing this saturday? i'll plug myself. i'm doing a benefit at your favorite theater. >> that's good for you. >> i'm going to do it to help them raise money. because the arts must survive. >> they've got to because we need to make -- you know, that's our livelihood and i'm still a playwrite. >> you're a playwrite and you write your own material. >> i've got a play out. >> thanks so much for doing this. "stark raving black." lewis stark's new movie is in theaters this thursday. >> check those facts. >> check them.

remember when mel gibson got stopped for drunk driving and started spewing anti-semitic remarks at his audiences. today gibson's lawyer got the dui conviction expunged. here to explain how that works is judge larry shine lynn. he said the jews are responsible for all the wars in the world. he then asked the deputy, are you a jew? is this a normal procedure? >> this is a motion to appeal. some states have motions to

expunge. they're going back in time. they're saying that mel gibson completed his probation, and now they're going to allow him to say really, it's a fiction, they're going to say he can go back and plead not guilty and the court's dismissing the charges against him. and it's -- >> does this mean he gets a clean slate? >> it means he has a clean slate if he files an application for private employment for an educational purpose, but if he's filling out an application and it says has your record ever been sealed, he has to state, yes, then the employer, the interviewer states why was it sealed? it really is something to make him feel that he's completed his terrible turn around. he feels like now he's been vindicated. he needs the sale of approval. >> why did he do it?

>> well, the statute provides that the thresholds he's met the thresholds and he's not on probation for any other charges, he has no other crimes he's facing. the court has the discretion, i signed thousands of those motions during my career. the court decided to say yes. i would have say no. >> would you have signed it? >> the facts, the things he said about the jewish people of america and the jewish people of the world is pretty harsh. i might have had him jump through some more hoops before i sign that order. but i don't want to second-guess that judge in california. >> how often do these cases get expunged? is it a common practice or is it rare? >> it's rare. common law requires that most

crime also have their records expunged or sealed. i wanted to see where they go, these files. these files go, if you see "raiders of the lost ark" they go into a big metal box, and they shut it tight. but with the internet, you can find the charges still, and if he has to apply for a license as a lawyer, police, fire, they're going to find out about this sealing, also if he gets picked up for a second dui within ten years, they can purge that, they can look into his record. >> thank you, we'll be back in just a minute.

the democratic party made huge gains in last year's elections, but is the party over? according to a report today, 2010 may be the year of the elephant. with me now to discuss this are andrew wilkow, host of the wilkow majority. plus julie mennen a contributing blogger to "the huffington post." are t . >> if they can find somebody in the water who can be a standard

bearer, there's no guarantee that the republicans are going to take back the house. there are a lot of conservatives who don't like the way the leadership of the party is taking the party. >> what is the leadership of the party? >> well, it means whether it be the sitting senators or the sitting congressmen who comprise the committee chairman, the fund-raisers, whoever it may be that you would comprise the leadership of either party, it's not a republican versus democrat. >> no one has emerged yet from the republican party that looks sane enough for smart enough to lead the party. >> we're not doing that all the time, you asked me a simple political question. >> there's nobody who's bright up in coming out of the party right now. i can't say see it. do you see it? >> i liked mitt romney during the last election, most conservatives were not fans of john mccain.

>> they turn on him for that. >> i don't know about that. i know that a lot of republicans and conservatives held their nose when they voted for john mccain and that's part of the reason why he lost. >> poor john mccain. they say things like that about him. >> i don't feel sorry for him. i think the real problems that the republicans had was the fact that only 28% of americans self-identify themselves as republicans. how can republicans win a presidential election if they have those kind of numbers. i do think republicans are going to win some midterm seats. americans don't like a concentration of power. >> 40% of self-identify as conservative. the democratic party is a much bigger party. but liberals, self-identified liberals only comprise 20% of that so you have a bigger party with more factions and when those factions get in control,

the factions tend to force some of the independent democrats or old school democrats more to the middle and even off to the right. you saw this with the election of ronald reagan, you saw this after hillary. -- hillary care. when you look at the bigger party versus a smaller party with the voter block including independents, the biggest voting bloc in this country is conservatives. >> the biggest voting bloc is independents and that's what all the polls show. but some tend to republican and some tend to democratic. >> after the question about pelosi and the blue dog democrats, listen to them. >> when mrs. pelosi tried to buy them off with christmas tree ornaments the way she did with t.a.r.p. or do you think these people will stick to their guns. >> she'll either beat them to death, bludgeon them to death or

she'll try to buy them off. >> what is she trying to do? >> she's talking politically, she's talking about the power of the house and the committee chairman and the things that leadership can do to dissenting members. >> she's going to bludgeon them to death? why use that kind of terminology? >> that's exactly right, this discourse that's happening in america, i think it's the worst that its ever been and it's really coming from the far right, you're not seeing it coming so much from the far left. >> polls where people are saying should people kill president obama, it's doesn't matter. it doesn't matter. who on earth is going to go into public service? i have three young boys, and i think about this all the time, they're never going to go into politics because look what it's become. the republican party has become the party of no. where's the plan to reform health care, where is the plan

to fix the economy? i don't see it. >> obama's school safety czar, ken gener kevin jennings's life work has been the promotion of homosexuality, even in elementary schools and he has demonstrate nod qualifications to make students safe never our schools. president obama should fire kevin jennings immediately s this a public tactic? why are they going there? maybe the guy is gay, is that what this is about. >> no, it's about the 15-year-old kid that came to him with a dilemma about having sex with an older man and jennings saying go out and buy condoms, that's the dilemma. >> but you can't attack everyone for every single issue. it's the same thing about rogue van jones out. we cannot have this attack on public is everybody vant. >> van jones said that the -- are polluting the goat toe.

>> you'll never find anybody in public service who is perfect. if we start picking apart every single statement that every single person made, we won't have the best and the brightest in politics. >> all of a sudden it didn't exist during the bush years. this complaint about obama as the joker, bush was the joker too, they did the exact thing, the exact same art work. >> wasn't that effort to try to make a bipartisan push. >> remember, he was the decider. i'm the decider. >> obama is the decider now. isn't that part of being the president. >> i think the criticism is that he's not making a decisive move. he's not being as decisive as bush was, that's the criticism from the left to him, you know that? >> this, again, is a man who represents a party, and it not a republican versus democrat thing, it's a bigger party with more factions and it's harder to heard all those captains to one place and come out on top. >> i don't agree with that at all.

if you look at the republican party, you've got pro choice republicans, you've got moderate republicans, you've got evangelical republicans and you have just as many factions within that 28%. >> i don't think they have factions as vocal and aggressive. >> trent franks had a good one too. listen to this. >> obama's first act as president of any consequence, in the middle of a financial meltdown was to send taxpayers' money overseas to pay for the killing of unborn children in other countries. he has no place in any station in government and we need to realize that he's an enemy. >> these are very inflammatory statements to be coming from the right from obama. we did not hear these things when bush was in office. >> you heard alan grayson saying

it is -- >> people are -- >> so nobody dies under socialized med anyone everybody lives? >> first of all, what he was saying -- >> you're intimidated by the pin. the american flag pin, you can't say anything unpatriotic, what he was saying is that basically we have no --. >> the thing about the pin is if a democrat goes on the air and he's not wearing a pin, he's considered unpatriotic. the republicans have decided, oh, yeah, you have to wear the pin. >> this is my one suit for me personally i have one suit that i keep the joy behar show, it's the pin is always there. >> we're going see the hat, we're going to see the t-shirt. i feel like we can't even talk about afghanistan because republicans are saying how can you leave afghanistan, the

republicans are saying they are the party of the people. >> from the beginning -- >> they should have gone into afghanistan in the first place. so democrats are now saying, hey, we don't know what to do now. >> we should have gone in then and spent all our money and bloodshed on iraq and everybody's angry about that. we'll get to that another time. >> thank you so much for coming on, flag pin and all. when we come back, mel gibson is back in the news. god help us.

today a judge in beverly hills granted mel gibson's request to expunge his dui conviction as he has pleated his three-year conviction. malibu police pulled mel gibson over in 2006 because his car was

weaving all over malibu. he was drunk and raving about the jews. and not raving in a good way. what he said was the jews were responsible for starting all the fing wars in the world and asked the cap if he was jewish? why did he do that? was he look for a bat mitzvah guest? no mel gibson is what we used to call in the old neighborhood an anti-semite. and an f'ing one at that. as far as the d oourks i being expunged. you can run, but you can't hide, and you're famous, and not necessarily for being a movie star. more people saw your mug shot than your last three movies combined. i can understand you want a do over, who doesn't? look, i wish i had never eaten those first ten canolis but i can't have them expunged from my thighs.

here's a tip if you want to make peace with the jews. do a remake of yentle, only in your case, call it meantal. l. l. . . . . . .

beauty pageants are the american's fast food and run away capitalism, but now kits as young as 6 years old are competing in beauty pageants all

over the country. joining me to talk about this is simon dunan, creative director of barnie's new york story and a pageant mother featured on tlc's pageants and tiaras. there's a lot of people putting their daughters in child's beauty pageants? >> yeah, we get some. but with anything you got to take the positive and the negative. and i knew that going into it. it kind of snowballed into what i thought it was going to snowball into. i never dreamed that it would become so successful. she has her own facebook page, a fan's page on facebook, and we have our own film that we're filming. which is what i wanted is to get her used to being in the public eye and as he got older, if she

wanted to continue in pageants, that was fine, but at least it gave her the foundation for her to be so timid or shy if it was going to be like that. we don't have to worry about that because she's not timid or shy. >> there's some that say that kids in buteauty pageants grow to be insecure. >> there's always something somebody's got to say about everything. i raise my daughter, how my husband and i and my mother see fit. and pats apageants are such a s part of our lives and it's a hobby. i think the good outweighs the bad completely and i've got to do what i feel is right for my child. >> let me show the audience a picture of your daughter here, it's cute. there she is.

now she's only 4 years old. i think you were a former beauty queen yourself, and i don't know how far you got in the beauty queen business, but do you have any feeling that you're feeling vicariously through this child? >> if i was 25 i might have, but i'll 45 years old next weeks, and i can't believe i just said that on national tv. but i will be 45 years old next week and i have traveled, done a lot of things, traveled around the united states. i wasn't going to have any children, i teach school and my husband and i went on a cruise at 39 3/4 and came back with little eden and she has just been like a gift from god. >> let me interrupt you for a second because i was reading

that you spent $70,000 on her career so far. that's a lot of money to spend on a career. i hope you're also saving money for college. are you? >> yes, ma'am, we have got all that taken care of. that's another perk at this point in our life, we have so much of our stuff that's already paid for, taken care of and i think everybody's kind of focused on that $70,000, but if you sat down and figure youred youred -- figured up for your little league team how much you've spent. >> look at the picture. this is a little girl, well a young little girl. now dan rather has referred to these kinds of pageants as kiddie porn. do you think they're kiddie porn? >> i think people tend to want to see very sinister and disturbing in child pageants and i wrote the introduction to

suzanne's book and to me, they're just enormously playful and i think best-case scenario, they actually teach kids a certain amount of endurance and resilience and to me they're no more sinister than cheer leading or little league, there's something very playful about it and i quite frankly, joy, i'm very jealous. >> you're jealous of them? >> i'm jealous that my childhood, post war england, i wasn't learning to twirl a baton and glue on eyelashes and wear sparkly clothes. >> so as a little boy you would have liked do that. >> i would have loved to. >> so you think it's kind of entertainment for these children. >> yes, i think we all see something sinister in it, we can all see something sinister in it. >> it's dressed up like adults is what it is. you took that picture of your child at 18 months?

what's the purpose of this picture? why dress these children up. >> she was at the pageant and she sat in front of the camera. what is the purpose of these pageants to make little girls seem like adults? to me it seems to sexualize them a little bit. adults. to me, it seems to sexualize them a little bit. >> you know, i think it's a great subject for photography, which is why i've pursued it. i didn't even set out in the beginning to photograph child pageants. i was researching beauty pageants as a subject for photography for a personnel project and i stumbled upon a child pageant site. and on a whim wrote an e-mail to the director and there i was at my first child pageant. soy went into it without really having thought much about it, really, or researched it. and just started from a photographer's point of view, from an artist's point of view, taking the photographs. >> one of the things i was reading, these pageant girls -- we're going to come back. i have to ask you this one question. hang in there. thanks for mickey wood for joining us.

okay, are you ready? >> close your eyes and close your mouth. >> one, two, three. close your eyes. >> turn back around, lexy. now turn. >> come on. >> it's okay. it's okay. turn around, now wipe it off your back. >> lexy, you did a good job, though. >> that's a clip if tlc's "toddlers in tiaras." back with my panel discussing a polarizing phenomenon, child beauty pageants. first of all, they're spraying the kid with tanning stuff.

it's sort of abusive. that kid did not look like she's enjoying it. i'm sorry, i don't think it's so great. >> i think it's easy to look at that and think there's some kind of abusive scenario going on, but i think children are naturally exhibitionistic. and when you see a pageant, when you see these incredible photographs that susan's done, you see this natural exhibitionism. that children's desire for attention is a very adaptive part of their personalities. >> they may want attention, but not necessarily in these sexualized outfits. >> i don't get the sexualized bit. i don't know what you're seeing. >> well, i've looked through the book and a lot of these kids look like grown-up girls. they look like miss america and they're like 18 months. >> i think they're emulating miss america, right? it is a pageant, it's child pageants. i think that's the role model, you know, they're going to work their way up to miss america. >> the other thing, they wear fake tans, fake teeth. doesn't it give the message to these kids, you're not really beautiful the way you are. already, we're doing basically

plastic surgery on little kids that are 4 years old. i think it's a little much. let them work for the botox. >> i just have this deep-seeded feeling that a pageant kid, just like the beauty queen, they're not the one who ends up huffing glue in the parking lot or doing crack. they're the one who ends up married to a local business man or doing the weather or like yourself, a successful tv personality. you were a pageant girl. >> when i was a kid, i was very funny as a kid, and i was always making people laugh. but there was never any feeling that i was being sexualized in any way. >> i don't see the sexual thing. if anything, the children are made to make look like dolls. i don't get the sexual things. >> you don't see it? >> there's the fairy tell princess, there's the sparkles and the pink and the glitter and everything. >> i equate it more with toys and dolls and fantasies. >> here's a kid in a bikini. okay. that is a kid in a little bikini. >> they wear swimsuits in pageants too. >> but she's also wearing makeup

and got the housewives from new jersey hairdo. >> i think you're jealous. >> she's 5 years old. >> i'm jealous? don't project, simon, you know it's you who's jealous. you don't see anything wrong with this? >> but the other girl in that same spread was wearing a fish costume. >> i think more like a sexy fish costume. some of it looks like halloween costumes. >> a lot of it looks like madame alexander dolls to me. >> but they're not dolls, they're human children. they're not dolls, you know? look at this? look at this one. that is a sexualized pose of a child, i'm sorry. >> two words for you, shirley temple. she was like a child pageant -- she was this tall, this young, tiny, tiny. people said, oh, she exploited, she became a senator, for christ's sakes. >> yeah, but she also felt there were old men coming on to her. i read her book, mm-hmm. simon, susan, thanks for joining me tonight and thank you for

watching. good night, everybody. tune in tomorrow.

breaking news tonight. to satsuma, florida, where 5-year-old haleigh cummings gets tucked into bed, just five hours later she's gone. vanished. the back door propped wide open. daddy comes home from the night shift to find not a trace of little haleigh. the last person to see the 5-year-old alive that night, new stepmother misty croslin. bombshell tonight. little haleigh's disappearance, the nine-month search for the brown-eyed 5-year-old, and the finger pointing at the babysitter turned stepmom misty

croslin, all finally take a toll. d-i-v-o-r-c-e. that's right. divorce. the two agree to formally split. but why now? has father ronald cummings' worst fears been confirmed? that new stepmother misty croslin implicated in the disappearance of his 5-year-old girl? tonight, with us live, taking your calls, ronald cummings. >> last night at chili's. >> what did he do? >> he got down on his knees and said will you marry me? >> the tensions are rising between ronald and misty. she's taken off again. she needs her space. >> focus on my daughter going missing and not what's going on in my life besides my daughter going missing. >> okay, sir, let me talk to your wife. let me get some information from

her. >> how the [ bleep ] can you let my daughter get stole, [ bleep ]? >> can i talk to her? okay. >> have you asked her what happened? >> i ask her. but that -- i don't get any answers from her about, you know -- i don't see -- what she's telling me is not inconsistent. >> they go out and look for the right person, they would have the answers. but they're trying to get all the answers from me. >> do you think misty holds some information that could help do that? >> i don't think that she holds any information. >> everybody knows that i love haleigh and ronald and junior. i just want haleigh home. >> i have stated all along and i will continue to state that my grandchildren love misty and that misty loved my grandchildren. good evening. i'm nancy grace. i want to thank you for being with us. tonight, little haleigh's

disappearance. the nine-month search for the brown-eyed 5-year-old. and the finger pointing at babysitter turned stepmother, finally all take their toll, d-i-v-o-r-c-e, divorce. but what, if anything, does it mean in the search for haleigh? >> everybody's probably going to take this marriage thing the wrong way, but it's not. it's still focusing -- things are still focused on haleigh. this is what haleigh wanted. she's always talked about it. >> when did you last see her? >> it was about 10:00. we were sleeping. >> what will it take for misty to come back home and tell us the truth? >> do you feel misty is the key to this investigation? >> no, i don't. i think they're barking up the wrong tree. >> ronald is doing the best that he can to encourage misty to get with law enforcement and tell them anything she may have forgotten. >> do you believe that misty was indeed home and that she's been telling the truth? >> yeah, i believe she's telling the truth.

>> i don't care who it is. but we want haleigh to come home. >> as you sit here, do you believe in your heart that they see you as a suspect? >> no, i don't. >> i don't either. i talked to the lead detective. his name is john legend. >> and he said? >> he doesn't think that she's a suspect. >> everyone, you are seeing earlier video from nbc's "today" show. i want to go straight out to marlaina schiavo, our producer on the story from the very, very beginning. she's joining us from st. augustine, florida. marlaina, divorces happen every day. they're a dime a dozen. why is this significant? >> nancy, this is significant because all along during this entire time everybody's been questioning ronald. and they've been questioning this marriage and why now, why after the last person to see

haleigh gets married to the father of little haleigh. and now, after everything, they are splitting up. they've been saying for a long time that this has not been affecting them. they've been saying that they have not been fighting. they've been saying that, you know, misty was on vacation when she went to orlando. now we know why she's in orlando this time. it's because this marriage is ending. >> joining us tonight exclusively and taking your calls live, he's not afraid of the light of the camera or answering your calls. he has taken a lie detector test. we have been told that he passed. the biological father of little haleigh, ronald cummings. as you all know by now, cummings at work at the time little haleigh goes missing. comes home to find not a trace of her. all he finds is his then girlfriend at home with her hands wide open, where's haleigh? ronald cummings, why now?

why a divorce now? many people say your worst fears have been confirmed, that you along with the rest of the country, believe that croslin knows more than she's telling. >> miss nancy, i'm not sure that's the case. it's just we can't go anywhere without being -- you know, it's a hard -- it's hard enough to be a married couple, and then we can't go anywhere without being questioned or people staring at us or anything like that. >> okay. so you're getting a divorce because people stare at you? i don't believe that for one minute. >> no, that's not why i'm getting a divorce. i'm -- that's a part of the reason why i'm getting a divorce. >> then why are you doing it? >> the two of us -- the two of us have agreed to go separate ways, and if in the long run

something comes about haleigh then she can -- you know, it will be whatever. >> are you trying to say -- >> i still don't believe -- go ahead. >> are you trying to say in the long run you may get back together, in the long run she may finally tell you what happened that night? in the long run what? >> that, miss nancy, i'm not sure what's going to happen in the long run. i can't predict the future. but i would sure hope that just with the family problems and everything else it's just -- it's too much on the relationship. >> when you say family problems, are you referring to the fact that her family says she's not telling the truth about the disappearance of your little girl? her mother, her brother, and others? >> well, it's not only that. it's also, you know, the fight and everything -- it's just everything.

>> we are taking your calls live. with me, ronald cummings. today it is announced that he is divorcing girlfriend-turned-stepmother misty croslin, the last one to see this little girl alive, little haleigh cummings. the tip line, 888-277-tips. 8477. there is a reward for help in finding little haleigh. her family still believes she's alive. out to the lines. brenda in west virginia. hi, brenda. >> caller: hi, nancy. welcome back. >> thank you. thank you. and i'm going to thank you again. but thank everyone for your prayers for my mother. i really appreciate that. >> caller: yeah. what i wanted to know was why did they wait so long to search the pond? you know, that pond never went nowhere, and all this time was

wasted. why didn't they search that pond within a few days? >> good question. to ellie jostad, our chief editorial producer on the story, what about it, ellie? we heard all these stories about this pond. then not one but two letters emerged, detailing an alleged party late that night when haleigh went missing, a party fueled by drugs. there was an allegation little haleigh accidentally ingested oxycontin at that party, that she died, and that her body was disposed of in that pond. do i believe it? no. simply because, ellie, you know a bunch of people at a party are not going to keep their yaps shut. >> right. >> all right? that's the only reason i don't believe that story. go ahead, ellie. >> well, police won't say that the letter was the cause of the search. they said they already knew about this pond, they'd searched

around it in the past and that they'd planned to do a more thorough search. so they won't say there's a cause and effect between that jailhouse letter and the pond being searched. >> out to the lines. portia in florida, hi, portia. >> caller: hi, nancy. i'm actually calling from california. >> good to know. portia in california. thank you for calling, dear. >> caller: thank you for taking my call, miss nancy. >> yes, ma'am. >> caller: my question is has anyone, the police or mr. cummings himself, have they -- i understand that little haleigh has a medical condition. have they looked into whether or not she was given her medication that night, and if so, perhaps that would give them a better time frame of the last time, you know, that she was in the home. >> now, portia in california, that's an excellent question. to ronald cummings, he is taking your calls tonight on the heels of a divorce announcement in the last hours. he is splitting from girlfriend turned stepmother, the last person to see haleigh alive. her story has come under fire. misty croslin.

ronald, was she on medication for the turner syndrome? >> miss nancy, she was on medication, but at the time the only medication she needed was her albuterol treatment, which came in a breather. so all she has to do is a couple squirts and that's it, so that her asthma is -- so she can breathe well and she's not wheezing. >> correct me if i'm wrong, ronald, but the albuterol, the inhaler, you can't look at it and tell how much is in there, correct? >> no, ma'am. >> so you don't know if she used that before she went to bed or not. was her inhaler still there? >> yes, ma'am. >> so the inhaler was still there. everyone, with me tonight, ronald cummings, the biological father and guardian of little haleigh. the search is still on. but tonight, another wrench in the works. a divorce for ronald cummings and stepmom -- new stepmother misty croslin. we are taking your calls live.

ronald cummings answering your calls. as we go to break, i want to thank you for all of your thoughts and your prayers for my mother, elizabeth. i'm happy to report that tonight she is stabilized. once again, god answers prayers.

i love her like she's my own and i'll do anything to get her back.

>> big news in the search for little haleigh cummings. we're hearing her father, ron cummings, and his teen bride, misty, are headed for divorce. >> ronald told her on sunday that he wants a divorce. on monday he headed to st. augustine to his attorney's office, and then by monday afternoon she was packing her stuff and she left town. >> being married, it can be stressful, and there can be challenges. add on top of that everything that they went through during their marriage. i think it would be virtually impossible for any couple to survive that. >> she is the one that holds the key information to finding out what happened to this beautiful little girl. i mean, who was with her? the last person with her. she was. >> miss neves, i don't mean to grill you. but it just doesn't all fit together. >> to me it's a very dysfunctional family. and that's the best way i can describe that. >> they go out and look for the right person, maybe they would have the answers. but they're trying to get all the answers from me that i don't have. >> have you asked her what

happened? >> i ask her, but i -- i don't get any answers. >> what, if anything, does a divorce at this stage mean in the search for little haleigh? taking your calls live tonight, haleigh's father, ronald cummings. let's unleash the lawyers. joining me tonight out of new york, family law attorney, child advocate sue moss. out of los angeles, eric chase. a defense attorney out of new york, renowned attorney jason oceans. straight to you, sue moss. weigh in. >> he's divorcing her before the prom. maybe she'll go with her felon mom. i mean, only stevie wonder didn't see this coming. but this should be a simple case. and that's because florida's a no-fault state, which means either party's entitled to divorce for the asking. unfortunately, because of ron's being laid off, there's really no support issues, there's probably no property to divide, and certainly there's no children's issue because the couple never had a child together.

>> to ronald cummings, ronald, who wanted the divorce? you or her? >> i think we both agreed on it. >> who brought it up first? >> i did. >> and what did she say? >> she agreed to it. >> immediately? >> not really immediately, but pretty close to immediately. >> so at first she did not want the divorce? >> not really. >> eric chase, l.a., what do you make of the fact that a lot of people speculated she wanted to marry cummings so he could never testify against her? but in florida the law is very different than it is in a lot of other states. explain, chase. >> well, she would have been very wrong if that's what she assumed because in florida there's an exception to the marital communication privilege

and that exception is if it involves harm to a child of one of the parents. she could have been forced -- i'm sorry, he could have been forced to testify about her if he knew anything. and by the way, nancy, it doesn't appear that he does know anything about misty's involvement in -- >> put up the lawyer. put up the lawyer. chase, he's divorcing her. all right? it doesn't mean he was there at the time the child went missing. but certainly, he has heard varying and conflicting stories from misty croslin. i mean, i have. and i'm 1,000 miles away. so don't say he doesn't know anything. okay? >> well, you're right -- >> maybe he doesn't want to know anything. >> well, there's conflicting stories, but i haven't seen anything, any evidence connecting misty to her disappearance other than the fact she's been unable to retell the story the same way more than once. >> well, you know, jason oshins, to me, that's a problem. >> yeah. >> i've seen a lot of witnesses, a lot of witnesses, they'll add to the story. they'll say oh, yeah, and i

remember kpt "x," and i remember it was a red car. and it had glass packs or it had -- this was the tag number. but they don't change the story. the story doesn't change. i have a problem with the story changing. >> well, it's -- >> to me that's evidence. >> nancy, it's the inconsistency. any good investigator will tell you that over time the consistency of the story, or for that matter the inconsistency will continue to lead investigators -- >> put chase back up. >> -- toward targeting someone. >> put the lawyers back up. chase, did you hear that? >> i did. but you were a prosecutor, nancy, and you used to argue to juries -- >> so? >> you used to argue to juries -- >> so? >> that your witnesses had problems keeping the story straight as they told it time after time after time. >> i know you were going to make a point. somewhere in there. i'm wading through it. >> we don't expect witnesses to remember everything perfectly every time they tell the story. >> not what i said. i said the story changed. ronald cummings, did it ever disturb you that misty croslin's story actually changed? >> yes, ma'am, it did.

>> i hope that they -- they find my child alive, obviously. but one way or another, i want my daughter to come home. i need some closure.

haleigh will wake up at nighttime. she gets cramps in her legs. you know. she didn't make no noise that night. i would have woke up if i heard any noise. i mean, i didn't hear anything at all. >> you've been in the trailer, just like we have been, and somebody pounding on the front door as close as her bed was to the front door, you would hear it. >> i tend to think that she was very exhausted, and i think the children would have been more likely to hear it. >> i mean, i was really exhausted that day, you know. really exhausted. when i laid down, i guess, you know, i was out. >> joining us tonight, ronald

cummings taking your calls. ronald, as we went to break, you told me that changes, even subtle, small changes in misty croslin's story about the night haleigh went missing bothered you. >> yes, ma'am. >> what changes, if any, do you recall? >> i can't really recall the exact changes. and they're real small. it's not like she -- she pretty much tells me the same thing each time i ask her about it. so -- >> yeah. ronald, what did you -- >> there might be a difference in the way that it's worded, but -- what did i -- >> what did you make of those letters that emerged detailing a party that night, that the writer claims little haleigh was at? >> miss nancy, i didn't make anything of them letters, because i'm waiting on the detectives to call me and let me know, you know --

>> well, i don't make anything of it either. i don't make anything of it either because you know a bunch of potheads at a party are not going to keep their yaps shut. they would have all been talking about that all up and down the street. okay. ronald cummings, let's go to the lines. you ready? >> yeah. yes, ma'am. >> jamie in kentucky. hi, jamie. >> caller: hi, nancy. i love your show. and your mother's in my prayers. >> thank you. >> caller: i have a question for ronald. i know if it was my child i would use every tool available. and i'm just wondering, you've got these renowned psychics, they've got their own shows on the bio channel. i mean, has ronald used a psychic or thought about trying to find one of these famous psychics to help him locate haleigh? >> good question. ronald, i imagine that psychics have volunteered their services. is that true? >> yes, ma'am. a bunch of them. >> do they all -- >> none of them have been successful in finding haleigh. no. absolutely not. >> have they tried? >> they've tried. but everything they say, we're still without haleigh. so.

>> what were they saying? did they actually come down and search? >> yes. there was a few that did. >> they've been on me for six months. they haven't left me alone for six months. i've been the one, the main focus. they just need to move on and look for the right person.

>> i know i didn't do anything to that little girl. i would never hurt her. i mean, they love me. they -- i mean, they look at me like their mom. >> do you feel that misty has the key to this investigation? >> no, i don't. i think they're barking up the wrong tree. >> it's definitely an issue that she's 17 years old because she doesn't have those adult thinking skills that a lot of us would have, even though she's leading a very adult life.

>> the police have not -- still have not been able to put together a timeline on exactly what happened that night because of her inconsistencies. >> she took that police polygraph. i don't believe she took -- she passed it the first time. i don't believe she did. now this one. then there was that voice stress test. i mean, something is wrong with her story, ronald. >> i don't know, miss nancy. >> everybody knows that i love haleigh and ronald and junior. a family. just like haleigh wanted. >> the last holdout, the last person that is giving her an ability to go out and not to tell the truth is ron. it seems to me that they should put their foot down and tell misty that the time for being vague is over. >> when you go to pick up your son and you see misty, have you tried to speak to misty croslin about what happened that night? >> no. >> why? >> i can't.

>> why? >> because she was the last one to see our daughter and i just -- i -- >> i mean, if somebody was the last person to be with my child, john david or lucy, and police say they have the key to what happened, i would at least say "what happened?" >> well, i haven't seen her since the results. but i did talk to her on the telephone, and she was telling me she had no problem with me and that she didn't have anything to do with our daughter going missing, that she was at home and all this stuff that everybody's saying is lies about her. that's the only time i've talked to her. >> okay. well, you've got to take that with a box of salt because what do you expect the ex-wife is going to say about the new girlfriend? okay? that's never good. we are taking your calls live. to jane velez-mitchell, host of hln's "issues" and author of a fantastic new book we're going to talk about shortly. jane, what about croslin's

mother behind bars? they already put the squeeze on her brother, who coughed up quite a bit of information in a late-night jailhouse interview. now mommy's behind bars on a forgery of a check. >> and she remains behind bars. and i think that the whole effort of law enforcement is to put the squeeze on this family because who would misty confide in? if she was going to tell one person what really happened that night. mama. of course she would confide in mama. and what's the best way to get mama to talk? keep her behind bars. it worked with the brother. it will ultimately work with the mom. although it will take longer. >> the mom is now extradited from tennessee to florida. in a nutshell, nutshell, what did the brother cough up? >> well, i mean, he essentially said he went over there that night, knocked on the door, and nobody was home at the crucial time when misty said she had put the kids to bed but she was still up and there was a tv on. so it just doesn't add up.

the brother essentially completely busting her story wide open. >> with me right now, mike brooks, former fed with the fbi. mike, thank you for being with us. weigh in. >> nancy, you know, as law enforcement says, the only thing about misty, the only thing consistent with her are her inconsistencies. two failed law enforcement polygraphs right from the beginning. they wanted tim miller to come back and help them look again, and he says no, i'm not coming back unless you take a polygraph. she took a polygraph. she failed that also. you know, there's just all the pieces in this timeline from the very beginning just don't add up. and if she wants to help law enforcement, then come back from orlando, sit down with or without your lawyer, and tell the truth. period. >> with me right now, exclusively, ronald cummings. taking your calls. now, that's brave. not just talking to the police but talking to the country, live. ronald, mike brooks makes an

excellent point. why won't she come and sit down with police and talk to them? >> that, miss nancy, i can't answer for you. i'm sure that maybe her attorney can answer it for you. and hope thefully that she will. >> uh-uh. uh-uh. no. you have to have talked to her about talking to the police. what did she say? >> we have talked to her about talking to the police. >> what did she say? >> she said she's talked to them. >> they want to talk to her again. why won't she do it? >> i have no knowledge of them wanting to talk to her where she wouldn't do it. >> okay. let's go to terry shoemaker, attorney for haleigh's father, ronald cummings. okay. you know, i know, the police know, the rest of the country knows the police want to talk to misty croslin. it's not a secret. so how can she with a straight

face that she does not know they want to talk to her? please enlighten me, mr. shoemaker. you've got a good reputation. >> right. well, i think everyone knows the police would love to sit down and talk with her. it's my guess that probably her attorney isn't allowing her to do that, which isn't uncommon in this type of situation. >> okay. back to you, cummings. your lawyer knows police want to talk to her. so do not lie to me. you've never lied to me before to my knowledge. don't tell me you didn't know police want to talk to her again. we all know it. we've talked about it on this show, on national tv. now, i'm telling you, police want to talk to her. now, why is she back in orlando and not speaking to police? >> that i'm not sure, miss nancy. i already told you the same as what terry said. it's probably due to her attorney, his advice. >> she actually -- stopped by the putnam county sheriff's department today to inform them of where she's going and where she'll want to be if they wanted to speak to her. >> you know what?

i didn't get that whole thing. with me -- let me introduce you. brandon beardsley, family law attorney representing ronald. repeat, sir. >> my understanding is before she left for orlando that she stopped by the putnam county sheriff's department and reported in and told them where she was going if they needed her. >> did they try to question her? did they try to question her at that time? >> not to my knowledge. all i know is what i was told. and of course it's hearsay. but i was told from a reliable source that she did check in -- >> well, mr. beardsley -- >> -- before she left town -- >> mr. beardsley, this is not a court of law. so -- >> i understand that. >> -- you don't have to make your own objection on hearsay. i find it very difficult to believe that she was at the police station and nobody threw a question at her. but who knows? for all i know she went in and -- >> well, they can't. >> -- talked to the secretary. >> if she goes in and her attorney's not there and they know she's represented they can't just question her. you know that. >> yes, mr. beardsley.

i do know that. but when someone voluntarily marches alone into the police station -- repeat, voluntarily -- certainly, you know, mr. beardsley, that even when one is represented by counsel, if they voluntarily speak to police, that that is admissible in a court of law. yes/no? >> yes, ma'am. you are correct. but -- >> we are taking your -- >> listen, all i -- all i know is what i was told. i don't know if they questioned her or not. >> well put. out to the lines. barbara in missouri. hi, barbara. >> caller: hi, nancy. >> hi, dear. what's your question? >> caller: i was just wondering why they aren't looking at misty's brother more. he put himself at that trailer. just because he said he knocked real loud and left does not mean he didn't try the door. we know one of the doors was not locked because there was no break-in. so what if he went in, everyone was sleeping, and he took the little girl? >> to marlaina schiavo, what about him? he does place himself there. >> he does place himself there. but to say that his door --

their door was not locked, we're not entirely sure what happened that night. we know the door was propped open on the side of the house, but we don't necessarily know who propped that door open. so we don't know if the door was unlocked, nancy. >> okay. we don't know if the door was open. that's not really knocking me out, marlaina. what about it? to you, ellie jostad. what do we know about the brother? >> well, we do know that the brother has spoken to police and they say that he's not a suspect, same with the rest of misty's family. police continually go back to their line they've said, especially since haleigh's birthday that haleigh -- rather, i'm sorry, that misty is the person ho holds the key, that she's failed to give a detailed account of what was going on that night, and they want to know from any other citizen who might know what she was doing that night, they want them to come forward and speak to them as well. >> leslie austin, psychotherapist, new york, weigh in quickly. >> i'm not surprised ron is being really careful. he doesn't want to tick her off. she's the only one who has a clue.

she's not going to talk either. she just wants to save her skin. right now she's walking in the street, she's not in jail. why would she talk to anyone? like casey anthony. >> well, leslie austin, once again you've made perfect sense. quick break, everybody. we're taking your calls. live with us tonight taking your questions, ronald cummings, haleigh's father, this on the heels of an announcement just hours ago, divorce. what does it mean in this investigation? and tonight, a special congratulations to liberty united methodist church, macon, georgia. hearing the call to serve others. they are building a beautiful playground, redesigning, painting, and kicking off their very first parents' morning out to serve others. today, the most beautiful playground equipment, swing set, tunnel, steps, the works, have arrived on the scene. it's love in action. and god bless the little children that are coming your way, liberty methodist. ddddd

she can't help that. she can't help she was the last

one to see her. could have been any one -- any one of us and our children. >> they've been married just shy of seven months. and today ronald cummings' lawyer told us he and misty could be headed for divorce. >> she had nothing to do with this. we've -- i had nothing to do with this. >> beardsley says the couple is under a lot of pressure because of rumors and speculation surrounding haleigh's disappearance. the pressure, he says, is just too much. >> came home this morning to find out that i didn't have a child, that somebody stole my child. it's not like a bicycle or a car. somebody stole my child from me. >> she's gone. and that's all i know. >> there's a lot of tension. it's very tough for strain on a relationship when there is something that you think maybe needs to be told and you're not getting that information. >> we are taking your calls live. out to jan in ohio. hi, jan. >> caller: hi. love your show, nancy.

>> thank you. >> caller: i have a comment and a question. >> okay. >> caller: my comment is i guess that i feel ronald is very vague in his answers as why he's filing for divorce, and my question is why doesn't he just step up to the plate and say that he feels her story is not true? everybody else sees it. why doesn't he? >> ronald cummings, you want to take a shot at that one? >> no, ma'am. brian can take care of that. >> okay. go ahead. go ahead, mr. beardsley. >> listen, this couple have been in the media spotlight for months. they can't go to the grocery store together. they can't go to the supermarket. they can't go out and eat. and anytime they're together they get scrutinized. and it puts a lot of pressure on a marriage. i don't know of any married couple that their marriage could last -- >> mr. beardsley, no offense. you have a wonderful reputation. i've checked you out thoroughly. but nobody gets a divorce because somebody looks at them in the check-out line. i'm not buying that for a minute.

what i am buying is that you guys don't want to tell me why the divorce -- or if cummings wants to admit he does not believe croslin's story. that's his business. i asked the question, you guys didn't answer, but i want to bring this back to haleigh. a 5-year-old little girl is missing tonight. to dr. gwen o'keefe, pediatrician, and ceo and founder of pediatricsnow.com. dr. o'keefe, thank you for being with us. >> my pleasure, nancy. >> a child with turner's syndrome, what problems does she face if she's still alive? >> you know, nancy, i've been thinking a lot about that. there's two issues here. the first is her asthma, and the second is her turner syndrome. with her asthma i'm very concerned that she doesn't have her inhaler. with the stress of being missing and with the change in season right now, especially if she's exposed to the flu, that is a gigantic concern. she's likely experiencing some

asthma symptoms, and without that inhaler she's likely getting into trouble. with the turner syndrome we didn't hear about any known issues, but those kids have issues with growth. they have issues with their endocrine systems. even if she doesn't have issues now, she needs very close monitoring of things like diabetes, possible heart problems, possible kidney problems, possible high blood pressure. there's a whole host of problems, including of her heart. so without very close follow-up, she could really get into trouble quickly. >> ronald cummings along with lawyers terry shoemaker, brandon beardsley, thank you for being with us. mr. cummings, i can say that tonight for the first time i don't believe you. i think you do suspect your ex-wife, soon to be ex-wife's story. i think you don't want to discuss it in the midst of a divorce. why? i don't know that yet. but i'll find out. thank you for being with us. right now with me jane velez-mitchell.

take a listen. >> the haleigh cummings case. did the little girl accidentally overdose on oxycontin? we've got a copy of a letter that places misty cummings and little haleigh at a wild drug-fueled party the very night she disappeared. the author of the letter says she's just paraphrasing a theory police got from somebody else. the writer of the letter essentially claims the whole story is a big lie. tonight's big issue, keeping dark secrets. if misty croslin cummings does indeed know more than she -- >> you know, i've been reading my book, "eleventh victim," but forget about that. here is jane velez-mitchell, my friend, my co-worker, here on hln. jane, i'm completely knocked out. you know what? there's not a lot of ways to say it, but let me say it nicely. you've got a lot of guts. >> thank you, nancy. >> you've got a lot of guts.

tell me about the book, "i want," by jane velez-mitchell. >> i wrote this book because i struggled with a lot of problems. and why waste a problem? i've found solutions to -- >> wait, i've got to write that down. why waste a problem? i've never thought about it like that. >> why waste a problem? yeah. i struggled with alcoholism for most of my life. i finally by the grace of god got sober 14 1/2 years ago. >> praise the lord. >> yes, praise the lord. it was a miracle. and i don't use that word lightly. >> hold on, let me step back. how did you -- i mean, look at you, you're young, beautiful, talented, smart, education, the works. how did you get in the bottle? >> well, i believe i have a genetic predisposition, which i describe in my book, which i dedicate to my father, pierce mitchell. my dad was a high-functioning alcoholic. so i think i had it in the genes. but i also saw it environmentally. i didn't realize people didn't drink every night until i got out into the world and started to see that people didn't drink every night. >> that's crazy. because i never saw anybody drink until i went to college. >> and that's probably why you don't have a -- >> somebody handed me a beer and i poured it into a plant because i thought it smelled bad. okay, now --

>> you're lucky. >> so you grew up in this environment. and when did you realize -- what made you realize you had a problem? >> well, i blacked out. and that's the classic hallmark of alcoholism. i wouldn't remember what happened after a certain hour.o. that's the classic hallmark of alcoholism. i wouldn't remember what happened after a certain hour and that's very terrifying. all the stories we cover, drugs and alcohol play such a huge role in them and that's why i wrote this book. millions of people are struggling with drugs and alcohol and they don't have a clue. i went through this whole process. if they read the process they can save themselves a lot of hell and heartache and take a shortcut to recovery and get sober because it only gets worse. the thing about alcoholism and drug addiction, it only gets worse. it's progressive. >> and looking at you, i mean, nobody would believe you've ever had a problem. >> well the people who knew me way back when, would, because they saw me in action. i was lucky.

i never got a dui but i was a lush. >> january valez mitchell, you know what, she has a heart of a pioneer. her new book "i want" i'm so proud of her and i'm so proud she's with us tonight and she's taking your calls.

jane valez mitchell, my friend and co-anchor here on hln, new book "i want." a lot of people keep their problems hidden. you know, my problems i don't want to talk about them. i don't want the world to know my problems. what went through my mind and my heart and my deepest, darkest times, for instance, after my fiance' was murdered. >> uh-huh. >> but you don't care. you don't care. >> i really don't. they say you're only as sick as your secrets and i learned that the hard way covering crimes. a lot of these crimes are based on toxic secrets and to have a lie you cover it up with another

lie and then it exexplodes in your face. i want to reveal everything. i'm not shame-based anymore. when i recovered from alcoholism, sugar reared its ugly head and i had to deal with workaholic -- >> do you think being a workaholic stemmed from the same reasons as the alcoholism? >> yes. what we try to do is self-medicate because we're running away from something. so when you take away the alcohol you use something else. a lot of people use food. some people use sex. some people use gambling. that's just the substance of choice. the desire to escape. what we learn in sobriety is to sift through the feelings. and i describe that how i was taught in my mentors in sobriety is to sit through the feelings and know they won't last forever. that's when you break through. >> we've put jane's book on our website. you can get it at hln.

i really hope that for any of you that are battling demons that this helps you. "i want" by jane valez mitchell. let's remember adam muller. joined the army to pay off college loans, earned his degree and loved music, his dogs, dreamed of being a cop. he leaves behind his childhood sweetheart, why, michelle and his parents, james and catherine. adam muller, american hero. thanks to our guests and especially to you for being with us. see you tomorrow night at 8:00 sharp eastern. until then, good night, friend.

hello. i'm a.j. hammer in new york. this is a "showbiz tonight" news bake and this is some of what we'll be covering which begins at the top of the hour. tonight the shocking new great debate in the letterman extortion sex scandal. should david letterman's wife love him or leave him? did dave make a big mistake by going to the cops? is this whole scandal being blown out of proportion. reason the brand new kate debate. kate is crying again in a new interview so you feel sorry for kate gosselin. and levi johnston goes nuts in a brand new ad. the father of sarah palin's grandson joking about unprotected sex? and stars come rushing to defend president obama over the brutal snl sketch about how good a job he's doing as president.

that's it. we're starting at the top of the hour here on hln.