death at a spiritual retreat. at least 50 people sitting for hours in sauna-like sweat box, to get cleansed. and many of them start to get sick. we know at least 19 go to a hospital. two die. the guy who hosted this thing, a celebrity self-help guru. so what went wrong, and how did people die from this type of thing. we'll get to the bottom of that. plus this, a man trying to lure his 13-year-old daughter for sex. tracked her down on facebook. he calls himself bad daddy. this is just the worst of the worst.

as always, we take your phone calls. we love hearing from you, 1-877-tell-hln is the number. e-mail us cnn.com/primenews. or text us at hlntv, just start your message with the word prime. it's your chance to be heard. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com this is "prime news." i'm mike galanos. at least 50 people were packed in a sweat lodge, sweat box for hours from what we're hearing here, looking for spiritual cleansing near sedona, arizona. two of the people died, about a third got sick, had to go to the hospital. these sweat lodges, traditional indian cleansing ritual, basically a sauna, and it's cramped. 53 inches high in the center, 30 inches high on the outside perimeter. you can't even stand up in this box/lodge. thursday evening, this ritual went horribly wrong. here's part of the 911 call.

>> people we know paid up to $9,000, $10,000 to attend this retreat. he's been on oprah, larry king. we want to know what went wrong here. we'll take your calls, comments, questions, 1-877-tell-hln is the number. joining us to talk about it, fred, former federal prosecutor. also with us, joseph, author of the "native american sweat lodge," expert on this. we'll find out from him, what is this all about. and lynn lemaster for the press cot e news.com. lynn, what went wrong here for the folks that ended up sick? was it too hot? do we have any details on that front? >> we don't have any details,

according to the sheriff. they do not know exactly what the temperature was. there was very little ventilation in these structures, which is described as very temporary. right now, they're saying the only ventilation was the flap that people actually entered and left through the structure. >> how many people were in the sweat lodge, as it's called, lynn? >> they are estimating between 55 and 65 when this tragedy occurred. >> so that's -- 55 to # 5 people. give us as far as we mentioned, how many went to the hospital? how many ended up in critical condition? and two died, we know that, right? clarify the numbers for us, would you, lynn? >> they're saying approximately 20 people went to the hospital. most of them were released by the next day. but there are still four people in the hospital at the regional medical center. one is in critical condition, two are considered fair condition, and one has been upgraded to good condition. >> let's bring in again, joseph,

author of "the native american sweat lodge." joseph, from what you're hearing here, those numbers, 55 to 65 people, it sounds like a lot. can a sweat lodge accommodate that many people? >> generally speaking a sweat lodge would be much, much smaller than that. because when you run a sweat, traditionally you are responsible for the health and well-being of every person inside that lodge. if anyone was discomfort, you have to let them leave. so when you have that many people cramming into one space, i think there's no possible way that anyone could have been aware of whas going on with everyone there. >> good point. with that said, let me go back to lynn. lynn, were there medical personnel on hand, doctor, nurse, anybody to accommodate all those people? >> there was one nurse that had been hired, actually, as a nurse, not as a participant, who was there. >> so one nurse for 55 to 65 people. joseph, i'll go back to you. you know, i don't know what goes on, i have not experienced that myself. that does not sound like enough

to me, especially when conditions are so hot, and you could have medical stress here for some folks. >> a traditional sweat lodge are deeply connected to the people inside that lodge. not just getting a lot of money from people to give them a so-called spiritual experience. so if you know everyone in that lodge, you know, for example, if someone has emphysema or heart condition, you know if they have stressed themselves to the point where this experience, which is usually not dangerous, but stressful, could turn out to be fatal. >> would you normally have medical personnel nearby for something like this? >> no, not at all. because you're talking about people who are generally members of a tribal community, who know each other quite well. therefore, it's not a bunch of strangers. which is really different from a traditional ceremony. >> so you know everybody so well, you know if there is a medical condition, and you can see the stresses. got you on that front. fred, from what we've hearing what went on and the tragedy in

arizona, you see lawsuits coming? criminal investigation? what are you seeing? >> i see lawsuits coming. jimmy boy better get out his checkbook because he's going to be writing some big ones. first of all, i understand these traditional sweat lodges are covered with cloth. these things were covered with tarp. and, you know, it was reasonably foreseeable this was going to be a danger. this could be the furthest thing from some type of an indian spiritual experience. it sounded like a dollar-making charade, for lack of a better point. i see big lawsuits. if not, actual criminal charges for negligent homicide. mr. ray said he wants to cooperate. he didn't cooperate. he ran out of the state. >> let me read the statement from james ray. you called him jimmy here. >> sorry. >> i am shocked and saddened by the tragedy that occurred at spiritual warrior in sedona, arizona, thursday evening. i wish to express my deepest heart felt condolences of the family and friends of those who lost their lives as well as

offer prayers for a speedy recovery for those taken ill. there are so many more questions than answers at this time, i find it inappropriate to comment further until we learn more. so james ray did not give interviews after this? >> no, he did not give any interviews. you were talking about stress earlier, and something else that hasn't been brought out yet, is that these people were on a 36-hour fast. before this came about. they had had a light breakfast that morning. but that's the only meal that they had had in over 36 hours before going into this structure. >> we'll continue to talk about this. we'll bring that up as well. the fast, with our expert, joseph. we'll take your calls as well.

welcome back to "prime news" on hln. so many questions concerning this tragedy. two died, a spiritual cleansing in arizona. they were in what was called a sweat lodge. and we'll find out more from our expert about what it's like in there, how hot does it get, what that experience is like. we're taking your calls, 1-877-tell-hln. patrick's with us in new york. patrick, your comment or question here? >> caller: yes, sir. i was previously a wilderness information specialist and firefighter there in sedona. it was my job basically to supervise the area. i believe this is criminal negligence. this and other medicinal experiences have high fees, and in this case it's just unacceptable. >> let's get to freed real quick. criminal negligence. would you go that far at this point? >> we'll see how the investigation pans out. but based on what i'm seeing in the pictures and what i'm hearing from gentlemen, such as

your caller, i would say it's a real possibility. >> back to joseph. joseph, a lot of folks have issues. up to $9,000 to go through this. do people normally pay to do this or not? >> you know, when i wrote that book in 1993, i was upset because i had heard people were getting as much as $500 a person to lead sweats. non-native people. you don't pay in traditional sweat lodges. it is done for the health and well-being of the community and the people that you care about. so it's really spiritual capitalism at its worst. >> wow, nine grand. let me ask you one other question. it was brought up right before the break about fasting. lynn mentioned a 36-hour fast prior to. is that normal? >> generally you would fast a day of the sweat. but fasting that long ahead of time, and then eating, even a light breakfast before you go in the sweat, that's not the thing to do to have your system prepared. may i read one line from my book, which is this. people need to realize that

involvement in a sweat lodge, not to mention leading a sweat, is not something to be taken lightly. >> tell us about that. a lot of people wondering what is this that have never gone through it. how hot is it? i understand it's dark in there. you can't even see your hand in front of your face. >> it's very hot. because it is an enclosed space. it's covered with natural material, not tarp or plastics. there is some air circulation, at least it can breathe, so to speak. the stones are heated until they're red-hot. when they're put in the lodge, if you're wearing melt, your metal on your body will burn you. so it is extremely hot. and when the water is poured, the steam that rises, it's hotter than the hottest sauna. but again, people are prepared for this. they know what's happening. not crammed in with 50 or 60 other people in a claustrophobic, dangerous situation. >> it seems like you would want a more intimate environment for something like this. >> mm-hmm. >> so that hot. and how long do you stay in there? are you in there for hours, the way it was described here in

arizona? or is it 20, 30-minute intervals? >> it seems excessive to me. normally when the lonl door is opened, the air comes in, more rocks may be brought in. but if you need to go out, you can leave. so something going on for a couple of hours with that many stones, of that size, i think the temperature must have been intense, and beyond that, that would be experienced even in a lakota sweat lodge, which are hot. >> have you ever had someone in distress from this physically? >> yeah, i had someone sweating, red face, and we stopped immediately and went outside. but it was a friend of my son's. it was an intimate family friend who we knew, was prepared for this, yet even though he was a football player and athlete, i could tell he wasn't feeling well, so we stopped the sweat. >> and you weren't trying to monitor 50 or 60 people. >> no, not at all. >> joseph, thanks for your expertise. and fred, on the legal front. lynn, thanks for reporting on this. we'll continue to follow this

story. we continue to follow this as well. stunning details about last week's horrific attack. this was in a chem lab at ucla. one student slashed another one's throat. a professor had red flagged him almost a year ago. why is he in the class? did the school drop the ball? we'll take your calls, 1-877-tell-hln.

welcome back to "prime news" on hln. this one is just the worst of the worst. a 13-year-old girl propositioned online. thankfully she told her mom about it. cops say the suspected they arrested is this young girl's estranged father. you're not going to believe this one. we'll take your calls, 1-877-tell-hln. now this story. we were shocked last week when we brought you this story. the brutal attack on the campus at ucla. 20-year-old student, damon thompson, accused of slitting the throat of a 20-year-old female student. so many questions here. did he know her? what was their relationship? we're finding out now that the alleged attacker had issues, obviously, and a professor had red-flagged him as a troubled student ten months ago. so why was he still in class? what can the school do in a case like this? we'll take your calls, 1-877-tell-hln. joining us to talk about it, andrew blankenstein, reporter "los angeles times." also with us, welcome back, linda young, our psychologist.

andrew, this associate professor red-flags thompson. what concerned him? what went on here? >> what happened was that the end of last winter term, he had received e-mails from thompson. according to the professor. and he said that essentially he complained of other students disturbing him. he also said that the professor himself had -- he had overheard him saying he was trouble and crazy. the professor was contacted by a dean, and he said the dean essentially had told him, according to his version of events, that other professors had received similar notes, e-mails. and so the professor in a phone conversation essentially said, there's some issues here, problems, we should do something about it. he was told by the administrator essentially that they could suggest that he receive

psychological counseling, but they couldn't go beyond that. they couldn't force him to do it. and so he said he was obviously worried, and the conversation that we had, he brought up virginia tech. now, if you look at the e-mail that he sent, that we looked over, there was nothing per se that threatened violence. but it certainly indicated some kind of underlying medical condition that was -- that the professor said concerned him enough to express that something be done right away. >> andrew, to be clear, what thompson had alleged, that other students were disturbing him, that this professor, or associate professor was taunting him, none of that was true, right? >> that's right. the professor said this happened during an exam for his western civilization class. the professor said there were more than half a dozen teaching assistants around. not only the professor said, i didn't see it, they didn't see

it. the other thing that he expressed is that he had heard -- that the people were saying things about him, not just in his class, but other parts of campus, in the library, in the cafeteria, when he was walking around. so he said that this -- to him, this indicated a much more severe problem. >> got you. let's bring in our psychologist, dr. linda young. obviously in some cases damon thompson paranoid, of this professor, other students. could you sense from hearing that, that violence would ensue at some point? >> there's no way to know for sure. he's right, it's the university's responsibility to make sure that even students who have mental disorders who are capable of coming to class be allowed to go to class. and it's also true that you can't force someone to go to the counseling center who has not made an immediate threat to someone who can be identified, either against himself or against someone else. it would be pure conjecture to say he was posing a threat to someone based on the e-mails that he sent, and whoa might

have been auditory hallucinations or paranoid ideations. so their hands are tied in that case. >> we've got about 45 seconds. we'll pick it up on the other side, andrew. what can ucla do? has their policy changed since virginia tech and concerns about cho? and now we have it in this case? >> one of the things is that because of hipaa, which is the federal privacy laws regarding medical information, they say they can't really discuss, pertaining to this case, you know, much of the details, or whether he had in fact had a condition. they knew that -- knew about him obviously before this contact, and that's about all they'll say. obviously there have been some changes since virginia tech. one of the things -- >> andrew, let me interrupt you. we'll take your calls, more from andrew, the number 1-877-tell-hln.

welcome back. i don't know where to begin with a story like this, so sick. a father in lancaster county, pennsylvania, accused of tracking down his young daughter on facebook and propositioning her for sex. he hadn't had contact with the little girl since she was 3. he's now 13, and police say he's trying to get her to perform sex acts. so disgusting, the young girl didn't even know what he was talking about. had to look them up. the guy would send messages. here's the message. love, bad daddy. thankfully he's been arrested. and just so you know, he shares the alleged victim's last name. since we don't want to identify possible victims of sex crimes,

we don't want to reveal his name, hence implicating her as well, getting her name out there. we'll take your calls, 1-877-tell-hln. joining me to talk about this, welcome back, dr. linda young, psychologist. also with us, welcome back cyberspace attorney who specializes in protecting children from sex crimes online. all right, linda. let's start with you. how sick is this. you're going to reconnect with your daughter now for sex? that's beyond the pale. where do we begin with that? >> it's about the most heinous crime i can think of. it's absolutely pathetic, just like you said. yes, she can be traumatized for a long time as a result of this. and i'm so glad she did the right thing, was to go right to her mother and let her know what was going on so she could take care of things and get this guy as quickly as possible. it's the most horrendous think i can think of. >> it's her own father, linda. where do we begin to help her get through this? it would be bad if any man did this, but her own father. >> i have no idea what her

mother has told her about her father, why they were estranged in the first place. but it's the biggest breach of trust that there is regarding sexuality. to put back together, or for the first time have her have some degree of trust with her own sexuality is going to be a tall order. i hope she is working with someone to help process all of this. it's far too much for anyone of any age, especially a 13-year-old right at the age of puberty to fathom what's going on here. trusting a man again is huge. >> apparently from what we gather, they got him on a sting operation. girl tells mom, mom calls police. help us out here. as authorities worked to try and nail guys like this, how does it go from there? >> well, if a case like this happens, and the child reports it to her mom, which is a wonderful thing to have a mother that trustworthy, or to the police directly, generally the

police will go in to take over the identity to make sure everything follows through enough that there's a crime that they can charge. sting operations have been fabulous. the attorney general in pennsylvania has really been up on this. the prosecutors are as well. without their help, clearly this wouldn't have happened. this man deserves at least to spend the rest of his life behind bars. >> let's hit on that, while you're talking about that punishment. what do you think he's going to get? how many years? what are we looking at here? >> my guess is about eight years. and maybe more than that. don't know what else is involved. i don't know if there are any images in it or just the sexual solicitation. but this is a man who has done a horrendous thing. we've seen a lot of internet sexual predators. we've seen a lot of issues out there. but i've never seen anything quite this bad, with someone who is intentionally targeting someone who is his own daughter. >> i'm going to read a facebook comment here. it leads really to a question from pam, writing this. all of a sudden he got this urge, i think someone should be looking at his past more closely. he has been sick for a very long

time. perry, don't you think the odds are he's targeted other young girls in the past? >> yes. whenever somebody is using the internet to target kids, they generally target many of them. obviously it was a special reason, it was his daughter. my guess is this is not his first. maybe this was the kind of thing behind the parents separating in the first place. >> good point there. the linda, do you agree with that assessment? there have been other issues in the past. this isn't just the first time. >> i do agree with that assessment. chances are this is this is not the first time. i agree with perry he should get a very, very long sentence, because chances are this would not be the last time. the recidivism in a case like this is very, very high. somebody like that doesn't change overnight, over a couple of years. i do hope that he's locked away for a very long time. >> perry, how often does it happen like this, and we're so thankful that this young girl told mom. >> it's highly unusual. >> yeah. go ahead. >> the kids just don't tell their parents. they're afraid the kids are

going to turn off the internet or maybe they posted a picture, or were a little flirtatious on their own, or even more. so for this daughter, at 13, to trust her mom enough to tell her, for the mom to know who to call is wonderful. the internet crimes against children task force, which is a federal, state and local task force, can be found very easily. if you suspect your kids are communicating with adults for the purposes of sex, reach right out to them. call your local cops. make sure that you report it. because if you don't, even though your child may be safe this time, somebody else's won't be. >> linda, let's talk about this young girl, let's pick up on another point. that shows incredible strength, doesn't it? that this is coming at her and she has thewhere withal to tell her mom. >> it tells me about what perhaps a great job her mother was doing, to trust her when something dangerous came along and get right off the internet as a result and to be able to talk to her about something that a lot of adults, frankly, would not be able to talk about. there's a lot of reporting about

sexual crimes. it's very difficult for even adults. so for a sp-year-old, i applaud her mother and her for her strength and the where withal to do the right thing. >> and the authorities as well to nab this guy. we'll take your calls, questions and comments on this as we continue the conversation and talk about how we keep our kids safe. call in, 1-877-tell-hln.

welcome back to "prime news"

on hln. again, this story so heinous. thankfully the guy was caught. he hadn't seen his daughter, she was 3 the last time he saw her. so he tracks her down. ten years later she's 13, tracks her down, propositions her for sex. tracked her down on facebook. we're taking your calls, 1-877-tell-hln. adua, your thoughts here? >> caller: yes, hi, mike. thank you so much for taking my call. >> yeah. >> caller: i'm a big fan of your show. >> thanks. >> caller: and this subject is really near to me, because i am a victim of child sexual abuse. growing up, i feel as if we do something more, other than what we are doing right now, by raising awareness, like we teach our children about drugs, and alcohol, unless we put the same type of awareness out there, our kids know the possibility that this can happen to them. because when i was being abused, because i said nothing, i didn't tell. i said nothing.

so i think we have to put the taboo aside, really know this exists. our children are being molested and sexually abused every ten seconds. >> thank you for sharing your story. perry, to pick up on that, are our kids being targeted more than ever? >> i think they are. often kids, when they're expressing their new sexuality, or they're playing at being a tough kid online, they'll share too much information of a sexual sort. they might pose in a naked picture, a sexual picture, say things in a flirtatious way, adults pick them up on it. but unless we teach them what to do, they won't know how to do it. i've created wired moms, and follow us on twitter. if we can get all of those women out there to turn around and say, not with my kid, we might be able to do something about this. >> perry, you're so right. linda, do some kids think they're invincible, that they can go on there, and as perry

said, be flirtatious and not think someone of -- somebody as heinous as this guy would come after them? >> at 13 i think you think you're a little immortal and invincible. as perry said, your budding sexuality is coming out. it's also natural to, especially behind that extra curtain, that extra screen, to start expressing different identities, including your sexual identity online. and to go a little too far with it. and so the most important thing, i think, is for parents and caregivers to be able to talk with their kids about a range of questions around sexuality. when the parents are afraid to talk about sexuality in an open way and not just by saying, no, this is wrong, no, this is right, don't ever do this, always do that, to answer the tough questions about relationships, about your changing body, about who has the right to touch and not to touch you, and how to feel good about your sexuality, are so important in families. and it starts in the home. it starts with the family getting comfortable with talking about these tough subjects. >> well put. let's get another call in.

angela is with us from arizona. angela, your thoughts here? >> caller: hi. >> go ahead. >> caller: thank you so much for taking the call. >> yeah. >> caller: i just wanted to understand why is it that these actual sex offenders are not having harsher punishment? to me, like the incident with the dad on the internet, the incident with the guy in california who had this little girl for 18 years, and even the polanski situation, these men cannot be rehabilitated. so like it's almost just as kind of, i think naive of us to believe you can actually change someone's sexual attraction toward another human being. i'm a heterosexual female. i'm not going to be attracted to another woman. you can't make, you know, a homosexual person be attracted to, you know, the opposite sex. they're attracted to what

they're attracted to. >> angela, you hit on a point. and linda, you talked about that, the recidivism of the repeat offenders here. that's something -- i mean, law enforcement's having to deal with that right now. because a public is cryinging out like angela to say do something. get guys like this father off the streets and make sure he stays off the streets, right? >> absolutely right. and the problem has many branches in that the jails are overcrowded. the prisons are overcrowded. people are getting off early for good behavior and people can exhibit good behavior in prison and come back out and not have changed their mind-set about not being able to stop between a stimulus and response. they may always have the thoughts. but the ability to pause before you act on the thoughts is a huge undertaking for a sexual predator like this particular man, like the father in this case. >> and perry, as you fight the fight, through wired moms, and all the work you do, law enforcement gets that. the parents understand that. that it is dangerous out there. and we have to teach our kids

about internet safety. on all fronts. >> yeah, i think the parents get that there's a risk out there, and the kids do, too. but the parents don't know what to do. they understand there's a risk, but tell me what to do. they don't know where to report it, what to do about it. there's a new computer coming out of canada that teaches kids about the different categories of sexual predator ploys. measures their vulnerabilities and gives the parents a report. kids think it's somebody trying to steal something from their backpacks. new innovations in technology will help the parents have that talk that linda's always talking about so well. >> linda, go ahead. >> the other thing i'd like to say is we really need to be aware this is such a rare and unusual case. and that in most of the situations where young girls are corresponding with sexual predators, they do know the age of the person, they're doing it voluntarily, and it feels empowering to them to talk to an older person who's grooming them around their own desires. so the most important thing is,

if they are being watched at home, and they know they're cared about at home and not being abused in the home and they trust an adult to talk to about their budding sexuality, that's the best thing we can do to prevent this from happening. it's not a stranger who's pretending he's 16, that usually happens. >> okay. ladies, we'll have to leave it there. perry, linda, we appreciate it.

welcome back to "prime news" on hln. big development in the case of missing florida girl, little haleigh cummings. the last person to see this cute little girl, her stepmom, misty croslin cummings. now lost her lawyer, he dumped her. the interview she gave last week on the "today" show. this is misty on cbs last week talking about the polygraph that

she reportedly failed miserably. >> i was supposed to do a hypnosis, that's what i was supposed to do. one of the guys said that the reason i could be failing is i feel like it was my fault because i was the last one seen with her. >> again, failed that miserably. no attorney by her side, like we see most of the time in most cases like this. moments after that interview, her lawyer dumped her. could statements like that be why? let's bring in former federal prosecutor, fred. also joining us, my colleague jane velez-mitchell, host of "issues" with jane velez-mitchell coming your way at the top of the hour. jane with us? all right. jane, first off, let's talk about misty, and just her performance -- i mean, it was a little bit different than we've seen from misty in the past of the your thoughts on how she handled herself and whether or not it was wise for her to go on the "early show"? >> there's a reason why lawyers tell their clients, don't go and do television.

because it's a mine field. and she stepped right into it. against the lawyer's advice, she appeared on a network show and perhaps spontaneously off the top of her head accused the other side of the family of being involved. which is a very, very serious accusation. and it's already come back to bite her. for the last couple of days, we've all been talking about, who was she talking about? who was she accusing? and exactly what is she accusing them of? because she was so vague, we have no idea. so it leaves us with the impression that she's trying to throw the spotlight on anybody else and get the attention off her in a very unsophisticated fashion. she's a teenager. she needs a lawyer. and she needs to listen to her lawyer. >> yeah. and she didn't. and lost her lawyer. fred, would you have dumped her as well, you being a lawyer? you tell her not to go on, but she goes on a national show and

lets loose? >> you can lead a client to water but you can't make them drink it. you know, clients are difficult. we used to joke that the only thing worse than clients is no clients. but in this instance, for this woman toinstance, for this woman to go on national television, i thought she looked horrible and let's not lose sight of the fact that this woman was like 99% deceptive on the question about where's this little girl. so you know what, i would have grabbed her by the neck and told her stay off of television but that's me. >> let's hit on that. you mentioned this polygraph that she talked about at the outset. let me throw out a couple of the questions here. fred, you mentioned one of them. do you know who took haleigh. answer, no, then it's 42% deception. do you know where haleigh is. she said no. 95% deception. do you know what happened to haleigh. no. 99% deception. jane, it's hard to get around that, isn't it? we hark back to this polygraph and basic questions that she failed miserably. >> it sure is. and on other national tv shows,

she has been asked point-blank how do you explain all the discrepancies in your story, and she's replied with words to the effect of i don't know. so she's a teenager and she's behaving like a teenager, and teenagers sometimes stonewall when they don't have a good answer, instead of even concocting an elaborate lie, they simply say i don't know, i don't know why it happened. that's what she's doing. the fact is, this is no average teenaged problem. there's a precious missing child and that's why it doesn't matter how old she is, i have no sympathy for her. the truth needs to come out and that's why law enforcement's putting the squeeze first on her brother, who then admitted i went there and knocked on the door that night, and nobody was home, and now on her mom, who is also under arrest. >> exactly. her mom says she believes her daughter's hiding something. jane, we'll be watching "issues" coming up top of the hour. meantime, fred and i will continue the conversation after a break. ddddddddddd

tonight, it's happened again. blood-boiling details in yet another alleged drunk driving horror involving children. a mom accused of boozing it up, cramming seven little girls in her car, then smashing her car into a tree. now one little girl is dead. a surviving passenger claims just minutes before the wreck, the mom jokingly asked who thinks we're going to get into an accident? tonight's big issue, what the heck is going on with these drunk driving moms? and where is kristi cornwell? she was abducted while walking on a country road near her parents' home in georgia. now two no, sir have passed and there's still no sign of her. it's an unending nightmare for her family and "issues" has

vowed to stay on top of this case. we're not letting this get treated like business as usual. tonight, we will talk to her family and go inside their desperate search. also, seismic developments in the search for little haleigh cummings, the world appears to be crumbling around haleigh's stepmom, misty. first she was kicked to the curb by her husband, ron. now she's getting the boot from her lawyer. the last person to see haleigh alive now has zero legal representation. are the walls closing in on this chain-smoking teenager? plus, jon gosselin turns the tables on his wife, claiming he's not the only one sticking his hands in the family cookie jar. kate accused jon of stealing massive amounts of money from the family bank account. now he's accusing her of much the same thing. as these two sling mud over money, the kids are reportedly confused, distraught and acting out. how ugly can this get. "issues" starts now. indescribable outrage. after another mom piles a bunch of kids into her car and

allegedly drives drunk, a little girl is dead tonight after cops say 31-year-old mom carmen got loaded on booze, then loaded seven kids, including her own daughter, into a for-door sedan in the wee hours of sunday morning. the hammered driver slammed into a guardrail and flipped off the highway. adorable, precious 11-year-old leandra rosato and two other girls were violently thrown from the car. leandra died less than an hour later. the other kids, some of whom have broken bones, will ultimately be okay. sources say "the new york post" that the alleged liquored up mom was driving 68 miles an hour in a 50 mile per hour zone. her blood alcohol level, allegedly one and a half times the legal limit. the "post" also spoke to a young passenger who recounted a chilling question asked by the

mom just moments before the deadly crash. you won't believe this. this is insane. quote, who thinks something's going to happen? raise your hand. who thinks we're going to get into an accident? all the kids reportedly raised their hands. news flash, lady. if you're cracking jokes about getting into an accident, you are probably aware that you are impaired. why are you behind the wheel? the grief-stricken dad had this to say. >> what was the thinking of this woman, who's a mother and you're intoxicated? >> as for the allegedly boozed-up mom, she faces drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter charges but should notices charges and the corresponding punishment be more severe because she was carting kids around? i say yes. kids don't have the power to say no, i won't take that ride, lady. that's tonight's big issue. i want to know what you think so give me a call. straight out to my fabulous expert panel. mark eiglarsh, criminal defense

attorney and former prosecutor. robin bond, former prosecutor. dr. reef karim, psychiatrist, addiction specialist and director of the control center in beverly hills as well as assistant clinical professor at ucla. tom ruskin, former nypd detective, investigator and president cmp protective and investigative group. judge karen mills fran as we sit, host of the judge karen show and former miami dade county court judge. what a panel. we start with sarah armagon, reporter with "the new york daily news." sarah, what is the very latest on this hideous alleged drunk driving mother case? >> the latest tonight is we're still waiting for the arraignment of the driver. she is still in the hospital right now. she has been charged with dwi and vehicular manslaughter. her daughter's also still in the hospital. and i spoke to lennie last night, the father of the daughter that was killed. he told me that he would be at

the funeral home today making arrangements to bury his daughter. >> i want to get right to tonight's big issue. i want my panel to weigh in on this. should drivers who are drunk behind the wheel with kids in the car face more severe charges and a harsher penalty? of course, this isn't the first story of its kind that we have covered. tragically, over the summer, cops say this grisly mangled wreckage was caused by a drunk driving mom. we all remember diane schuler killed herself and seven other people, including four children. the medical examiner said she had a blood alcohol level of .19 undigested vodka in her stomach and they say she had been smoking pot, too. judge karen, if you were given the discretion as a judge to hand down a more severe sentence because kids are victims, would you? >> well, most state statutes provide for stiffer penalties in dui cases where there was a child inside the car so this lady, she's going to be facing a

lot stiffer sentence because of the fact that she had all these children in the car but i can't imagine what it must have been like for all of these children to be in the car racing down the highway in new york city and this drunk mom says how many of you think that i'm going to have an accident and according to the reports, every one of these kids raised their hands. they must have been terrified about what was going to happen here. yeah, if i were the judge in the case, she would be -- i would throw the book at her. >> dr. -- >> jane, regardless of whether those statutes exist in certain states, to elevate the penalty because there's a child involved, prosecutors considered all the facts every time they dole out a sentence. in this case, the most vulnerable in our community were harmed. for sure, she's going to get it whether they have it on books or not. >> yeah. the thing that strikes me, robin bond, is that kids don't have the power to say no. they were part of this organized group headed to a slumber party. in the last case, they were being taken back from a camping

trip. they can't, like adults can, say you know what, i think you're loaded, i'm not going to get in a car with you. they are trapped in these situations and the fact that in both cases, the kids were aware that the driver, a female, a mom, was out of control, only increases the horror because they kind of sensed that this was going to happen. >> right. and this is called reckless indifference to human life, and this is -- you call it in new york, the statute calls it depraved indifference to human life. you are acting so recklessly that danger to life, including death, may happen. that is precisely why in these situations, instead of charging dui or involuntary manslaughter, you can elevate this charge and charge it as murder because it is deshgs praved or reckless indifference to human life.

>> in this recent accident, the victim's dad spoke out after his daughter was killed. listen. >> everyone needs to be held accountable for letting their children or any other family members get in the car with somebody who is under the influence of alcohol. >> his anger, his rage, understandable, obviously. he just lost a precious daughter, directed at the alleged drunk driving mom who is hospitalized right now but also at others who were around her when she was supposedly boozed up. quote, i was like you got to be kidding me, nobody saw that this woman was intoxicated, nobody saw that she was drinking? so my question -- >> "the new york post" -- i'm sorry. >> go ahead. >> "the new york post" reported she was the only one drinking at the party. so there had to have been a lot of adults around saying yes, we're all drinking soda and juice and look at her put down the vodka. >> but in her defense, let me just say this, or the defense of others at the party, she was at an alleged .13. that doesn't mean she was .13 at

the time that she left the party and many times, people are functioning, walking, talking, not falling down, and so in defense of those who might have seen her leave, they might not have seen those significant signs that would have led them to say wait, stop, don't leave. >> let me just say this. seven young girls in a car when there's not enough seat belts for all of them, right there, that's a huge problem even if no alcohol was involved. but let's go to dr. reef karim, addiction specialist. this is what perplexes me. in the case of the other wrong way driver, drunk driving mom who killed eight, in this case, as well, these moms do not have a history of alcoholism. so this behavior is supposedly, according to people who know them, out of character. how do you explain this wildly irresponsible behavior? >> yeah. another guest mentioned reckless indifference. this is driving under the influence and the influence

means my frontal lobe, the frontal lobe of the person that's been drinking, is altered where the neurons are not connecting to make sense to problem solve, to control impulses, any of that, all of that is altered. so here's what's really scary about this case. this woman according to reports was only at a minimum, a social drinker. she was not reported to be an alcoholic so like lots and lots of other people that go to parties, that hang out, that have a drink or two, and then get in the car, this is what can happen. so we're not talking about a hard-core alcoholic, according to history. we're talking about the fact that the chemical of alcohol can impact basic reasoning like getting in the car with seven girls and asking a crazy question and then drinking after you know what the potential answer could be. >> i am so perplexed by her allegedly asking who thinks we're going to have an accident and all seven kids raising their

hand. to try to analyze that, well, think of the analysis. we're bowing to come back in a moment. more on this tragic assault on children in just a bit. we're also taking your calls tho issue. 1-877-jvm-says. 1-877-586-7297. tell me what you think. coming up, it's been two months since kristi cornwell went missing. her brother tell us how and why he is taking matters into his own hands. extraordinary efforts to find his abducted sister. we'll talk to him. first, a mourning father barely able to keep it together after a senseless dwi crash robs him of his precious daughter. >> i gave her money and she hugged me and she said love you, daddy.

andrew is devastated by the accident that occurred, the tragedy that occurred. he's done all he could. at the scene, he did everything he could to save her life. and it's a burden that he'll have to suffer and live with for the rest of his life. >> and that is the attorney for a cop accused of driving drunk and hitting a woman and knocking her into the air and killing her, and it took like -- something like seven hours and 20 minutes to test this cop's blood alcohol level. by the time they tested it, he had zero. he came back zero. that's a huge controversy that is making headlines in new york city right now. but what about the victim? what about their families? we're back talking about this horror of alcohol abuse, especially when it's consumed by people who get behind the wheel, especially when they then pile kids into the car, which has happened now in two cases.

with deadly results. judy, florida, your question or thought, ma'am? >> caller: jane, what were the parents of these girls allow their children to get into the car with her in the first place when they knew she was drinking at the party? >> well, sarah, you're "the new york daily news" reporter. we know the father of the girl who was killed is outraged because he had gone to great lengths to make sure that everything was just done right to the letter when it concerned his daughter going to this sleepover. tell us about that. >> he related to me that he wasn't really happy about his daughter going to sleep over at this woman's house he didn't know previously. so he actually met carmen at the party where all the children were at before they headed back on to the henry hudson parkway. he said that was around 8:00 p.m. he said she had no signs of drinking, she didn't look intoxicated, so he felt like it was okay for her to go and spend the night but he had no idea this was going to be the results of that. >> yeah.

i mean, there's no way to protect your children from everything and i don't think, dr. reef karim, that we should be blaming the children's parents who were not there at the time that this woman took the kids in the car when she was drunk, because these parents are in agony right now. this dad just lost a child. he's angry. he's not to blame. he's the victim here. >> yeah. he's absolutely the victim. all parents, i mean, this is such a tragedy. we can't blame them. you're not going to know, you can't be a fortune teller in regards to this. what this case does bring up, though, is that this was social drinking. listen, just a couple of drinks can change your brain enough whereby you cannot drink. there's a reason we have a legal limit. that legal limit has to do with do you have the capacity, do you have the brain power at that moment in time when you're under the influence to actually get behind the wheel of a car, and you know, you asked a really great question, which is if there are kids involved in the car, should there be a harsher

penalty. i agree with that. because you're taking on the responsibility of not only your own kid, but other kids as well, and there should be no drinking when you're doing that. and that's the bottom line. >> the problem with the dui laws is that the dui laws require us to basically be self-regulating. i mean, bars have parking lots so people can drive up to a bar. there's not a breathalyzer exam at the door when you go out so you're supposed to stop as an individual and say you know what, i wonder if i've had too much to drink, i wonder what my blood alcohol level is. >> but how about this. how about if you've got a kid in the car, you can't have any alcohol on you. you can't have a drop. that to me is a law that makes sense, mark eiglarsh. >> i'm with you. i'm with you as far as if we look at this but then the father, let's say, who has a beer at dinner with his family

cannot legally do that. i don't think that that's going to pass. i think that obviously is a problem. i do want to go back to one other point made. what's ironic is that the people making the decision as to whether they're okay to drive has had several drinks in their system as we have learned, their frontal lobes are now grossly affected. they're in no position to make that call as to whether they should drive home so the answer is if you're drinking, just don't get behind the wheel. i don't need any more defense business. i just don't. >> jane? >> yes. >> jane, there's basic research out there that has looked at people getting breathalyzer tests when they leave a bar and seeing what they're predicting their blood level will be for alcohol versus what it actually is, and their subjective thoughts about how much they drank or what their blood level would be was significantly different than what it actually was. >> of course. >> so people just have no clue. i love the idea of having breathalyzers at the bar and you

have to use it on your way out. that would be amazing if we could ever do that. >> we have to leave it right there. thank you to my fantastic panel. if you identify at all with the issue of alcohol addiction or any addiction for that matter, you're not alone. last night, here in new york city, i was interviewed by ashleigh banfield about my new book "i want" which outlines my struggle to get sober which i did 14 1/2 years ago. we spoke to a packed house. >> i think what's really a problem in this country is that so many people aren't self-aware. they're flying blind, as i was before i went into therapy. if you don't have the 12 steps and you don't have a program of therapy, you're not going to really know why you're doing anything, much less why you're doing something addictively. >> take the first step in becoming self-aware. order my book online at cnn.com/jane. it's also out in bookstores. coming up, more trouble for missing haleigh cummings' stepmom misty. her lawyer has drop-kicked her as a client.

we will tell you why. then a missing georgia woman's family takes matters into their own hands. we'll talk with kristi cornwell's brother about his desperate heroic efforts. he is doing everything he can to find his abducted sister. there she is. why is he taking to the skies?

tonight, "issues" keeps the spotlight on the war on women. in the case of kristi cornwell. this mother was walking by herself in rural georgia, getting some exercise, minding her own business, when she was snatched, abducted off the road. that was two months ago. she hasn't been spotted since. her family totally desperate, totally helpless. but they decided not to leave it to law enforcement to find kristi. they have taken the incredible step of conducting their own investigation. her brother, richard, has spent more than 20 hours searching for kristi in his own plane. now, he sent us this video that was shot over the weekend. kristi's family has combed

through woods and ditches, they have organized private searches on horseback. the family even sent postcards to every single address in union county, georgia, where their precious kristi disappeared. that's 8,000 addresses. i am honored to have kristi's brother, richard cornwell, back with me today. richard, you are so strong on the surface but i know that you are in agony. i know this is a torture for you. tell us more aut why your family has taken this task upon yourselves instead of just leaving it to the cops. >> well, as law enforcement scaled down their physical searches, we felt it was important to continue those. that's when we ramped up our own efforts with aerial searches in addition to ground searches. >> so you're a pilot, you actually got into a plane and flew around literally looking for your sister from the sky. >> that's correct. we have been flying over union county and the tristate area

looking for the vehicles of interest that have been identified by investigators, and we're looking for those vehicles that might have been abandoned or otherwise disposed of in junkyards or burned or otherwise disposed of. >> kristi's family also looking for primitive campsites like the one set up by this hideous murderer, gary hilton. gary hilton is serving life in prison for killing meredith emerson last year. that's the wrong videotape, obviously. meredith was hiking with her dog near hilton's campsite when he abducted her and i think we do have a map of the area to show you. kristi and meredith were both kidnapped in union county, georgia, but suffice it to say, very close together. just miles apart. this is my illustration of the war on women. this is just a rural area in georgia and two women abducted just miles apart from each other in a very short period of time. richard, what about your search for a primitive campsites?

>> well, we continue to fly over these remote areas of the tristate area and we monitor those campsites and try to determine whether these campsites are staying in one place a little longer than normal. >> how are you coping with this? when i read and heard about this story of your precious sister simply going out for a walk to get exercise near her parents' home, on the phone with her boyfriend who's all the way in atlanta, and he hears her getting abducted and then nothing. a cell phone found three and a half miles away and that's it. how are you coping with not knowing? >> well, my therapy is to stay busy and as long as i'm accomplishing something every day, i can sleep at night and that's my therapy is to stay busy and keep the adrenaline pumping. >> we got to leave it there. come back soon.

ron cummings now misty's lawyer wants out. what's going on with misty? we'll get to the bomb of it.